Squash Casserole

I got my hair cut on Friday & my stylist, James, gave me the biggest yellow squash I've ever seen. He had buckets of them he grew on his farm. Lauren is growing squash in her yard & was talking about this awesome squash casserole she made from the Loveless Cafe cookbook. I was excited. I couldn't find the Loveless recipe, but I found one on All Recipes. It was sooo good! The main difference between the two recipes is that I used cheddar cheese & Lauren used Velveeta. Also, mine has eggs & milk; hers doesn't. Other than that, the recipes are pretty much the same.

Here's the recipe I used:


Yellow Squash Casserole


Ingredients:

4 cups sliced yellow squash

1/2 cup chopped onion

35 buttery round crackers, crushed

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Place squash and onion in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour in a small amount of water. Cover, and cook until squash is tender, about 5 minutes. Drain well, and place in a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, mix together cracker crumbs and cheese. Stir half of the cracker mixture into the cooked squash and onions. In a small bowl, mix together eggs and milk, then add to squash mixture. Stir in 1/4 cup melted butter, and season with salt and pepper. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cracker mixture, and dot with 2 tablespoons butter.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Would You Like Cream With That?

Nashville's favorite music blog wrote about the ELO show Friday night, as well as the Those Darlins show Saturday night. Both posts mention one Mr. John Baldwin. Worth reading.

ELO:

http://blogs.nashvillescene.com/nashvillecream/2009/06/how_i_became_the_bomb_and_kind.php

Those Darlins:

http://blogs.nashvillescene.com/nashvillecream/2009/06/those_darlins_and_the_black_li.php

ELO Show

*Photo courtesy of Kat McNutt*

Friday night How I Became the Bomb & Kindercastle played ELO's Out of the Blue in its entirety @ Mercy Lounge. John played with them, as did a 7-person strings section. It was insane. If you weren't there, you missed out. It felt like being at a concert, opposed to being at a local rock show. I've been listening to Out of the Blue all weekend, re-living the show. It really was that good.

I took some pics, but they're pretty crappy. Andy's girlfriend, Kat, took much better pics. Kat's photostream also includes pics from the 2 weeks' worth of practices leading up to the show. Enjoy!

Kat's:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyspore/

Mine:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16828091@N04/sets/72157620545838583/

PYT, Indeed

05.20.84

It was a rare, storm-free day in Okarche on this particular spring day in 1984. It was also my 8th birthday. For whatever reason, I had decided to send 7 out with a bang & invited all of the girls in my class over for a slumber party. Now the population in Okarche in 1984 was well under the 1,147 it is now, so we're talking a fairly small group of girls here. In 1984, Micheal Jackson was King. I had this poster of him above my bed & all I wanted for my birthday was more Micheal Jackson. My parents came through. They not only got me my two first cassette tapes (Thriller & the Footloose soundtrack), they also got me a totally rad, yellow, battery-operated, Sony cassette tape player, with a handle.

Now this may come as a surprise to some of you, but I've always been a little bit... bossy. I know, I know. These poor girls thought they were in for a night of pizza, cake, maybe some ghost stories, etc. They had no idea. Unbeknownst to them, they were in the presence of a miniature Paula Abdul in the making. I had been watching, nay studying, Mtv for weeks, preparing for this night. I had a plan & by God, they were going to do what I told them.

I had opened all of my presents. It was time to get down to business. I adjusted my "Beat It" button, grabbed my aforementioned Sony cassette player & marched my troops out to the front yard. I assembled them by height & dance skill (bad dancers in the back). We went over the routine a few times, then... we danced. We danced like our lives depended on it, or at least I did.

It should be noted that our house was on the main thoroughfare, so everyone driving through town that fateful night saw a yard full of 8 year olds performing various gyrations and pelvic thrusts, sometimes accompanied by failed attempts at synchronized snapping.

It was my best birthday to date, and it was all made possible by one Micheal Jackson. RIP.....

Jab! Cross! Repeat!

I feel like I've gained 100 lbs in the past month. All of my clothes are tight, I'm in a constant state of hunger, & I'm too tired (read: lazy) to work out. Well, that all changed today. Today I dragged my old, tired, out of shape ass to the Downtown Y for kickboxing. Back when I was a mere girl of 28, I used to take kickboxing at the Green Hills Y at least once a week. I loved it. And I was good at it.

I had a bad food day yesterday -ate like a bear. So I woke up today determined to do better. Ate a healthy breakfast, got to work & looked to see what the class schedule was at the Y. Kickboxing at 12:15. Done!

1) I was the fattest & worst dressed in the class.
2) The class was 60 minutes, not 45 like I'm used to.
3) I've still got it.

Apparently kickboxing is like riding a bike; you never forget. Who knew? You know what else I learned today? I'm competitive as shit. I was in a class of girls in their twenties, wearing gym outfits, all under 150 lbs & I not only kept up with them, I was kicking higher & harder than all of them by the end of the class. That's right bitches, there's still muscle in these enormous thighs.

So anyway, I had a blast. Oh, and I knew the teacher. He used to teach Step & Sculpt at the Green Hills Y. MK, you know who I'm talking about. His boyfriend used to take the classes & stand right behind him. The teacher is tall & thin & the boyfriend was shorter & had a Hitler mustache. Anyway, he used to annoy me, but I really liked him today, probably because he kept telling me I was doing a good job (I lied at the beginning of class & said I was a beginner).

So I think I'm going to try & go every Wed. I'm excited. I'm so sick of the elliptical & the treadmill, I could die. I also want to start using my Wii Fit. I haven't used it since I set it up & it told me I was obese. I guess I need to get on it & figure out what all it does. I don't even know. I think I'm also going to buy the Active personal trainer game for it. I keep seeing ads for it & it looks interesting. Plus, it's only like $30. $30 for an at-home personal trainer? Yeah, I'm totally buying that.

Martin's BBQ Joint

I've been wanting to eat at Martin's BBQ Joint since I saw Terry Bulger do a segment on it a year or so ago. Two things have kept me away, they're in Nolensville & they're closed on Sundays. The final straw was reading about them in the current Bon Appetit magazine. John typically works on Saturdays, but this Saturday he didn't, so we headed down to Nolensville.

IT WAS SO GOOD!!! I ordered the brisket tacos -amazing! John got the basic brisket plate, which everyone else in the restaurant also seemed to be eating. It's clearly the standard. Whatever, I'll never stray from those tacos. They were the best thing ever. There is also a Martin's BBQ Joint blog, which you know I love.

Obviously, I highly recommend Martin's BBQ Joint. It's not a bad drive from Nashville & you can do what we did & take the scenic route home. We made an afternoon of it.

More pics here.

Adjourned!

Session is adjourned until January 2010. Finally! This was the longest & most stressful Session I've ever been through, especially this last month. I took tomorrow off to recover.

Here's a list of things I won't be doing tomorrow:

Going to work
Talking to or seeing my boss
Sitting through 6+ hours of Session
Eating from a vending machine
Updating my Twitter every 5 minutes
Talking, listening, or thinking about guns

And here's a list of things I will do tomorrow:

See my husband
Sleep
Eat dinner
Talk to someone besides Lauren/Mike/Sam/Megan
Attempt to clear out my TiVo
Work-out (ha, who am I kidding?)
Answer emails
Would love a massage, but can probably find better ways to spend $70

A Shaved Dog & A Clean House

I had Linda shaved yesterday. She looks ridiculous, but at least she's not shedding anymore. She seems to like it. You can honestly tell a difference in her demeanor. She's got to feel better having all of that weight off. John said she looks like "teenage Linda." Bless her....

I bought a planter for the front porch yesterday & put some plants/flowers in it. While uploading my new pics to Flickr, I decided to organize all of my house pics into 1 big collection. You can see it here. The collection is called Our House.

More pics of Linda here.

Summer Reading

One of my favorite authors, Jen Lancaster, just posted on her blog a list of great summer/beach reads. I've read some of the books she's recommended before & I've found them to be just as entertaining as her books. Enjoy!

See complete list here.

Volume IV: Through Adversity To The Stars

Through Adversity To The Stars is the 4th digital EP from How I Became the Bomb. This set includes one of my favorite songs, "Harvest."

Do not pass go, do not collect $200, go directly to howibecamethebomb.com & download these songs. They're awesome & they're free (with a valid email address).

Support your local musicians!

Courtesy of How I Became the Bomb:

"Released June 6th, 2009. Produced by John Baldwin. Recorded at Lake Fever Productions by John Baldwin and Jason Bullock. Mixed by Buckley Miller. Mastered by John Baldwin. Cover photo by Blake McClure."

Go forth & download!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday:
Dinner @ west side Las Maracas, then onto Mercy Lounge for How I Became the Bomb. Drank too much & probably said too much to drummer/political blogger. Whoops....

Saturday:
Drove to Spring Hill & picked up long-awaited wedding album. Love it! While I was doing this, John was driving around Nashville trying to get his hands on the new Palm Pre. He got one & hasn't put it down since. Had belated birthday lunch with MK, exchanged gifts, talked about lack of good/cute clothes to buy lately.

For dinner, our friends Keith & Nicole had us over for a cook-out. It was so much food, so much good food. Nicole ended the night by lighting up the 'ole fire pit & we stuffed ourselves on homemade s'mores. Delicious!

Sunday:
Woke up super early & cleaned fur mountain, aka our house. I swear, I could brush Linda all day, every day & it wouldn't matter in the least. I checked out this "Fur-minator" that everyone keeps telling us to get. What no one told me, is that it costs $60 -for a dog brush. No, thank you. I made that bitch an appointment at PetSmart for this coming Saturday. She's getting sheared. I can't deal with this fur anymore.

I digress.... After cleaning, I trekked out to Opry Mills to return something to Forever 21. Stopped into Ann Taylor Loft because Carolyn had mentioned they were having a big sale. I've been relentlessly searching for short-sleeved cardigans, preferably cheap enough that I can buy more than one. Are you listening, Gap? Well, Ann Taylor came through. They had a plethora of short-sleeved cardigans & they were buy 1, get 1 free. Sold! I spent more than I should have, but I'm now the proud owner of 3 short-sleeved cardigans & 2 new long sleeved cardigans. So if you see me out & about & I'm not wearing a cardigan, don't talk to me, it's probably an impostor.

Gain 10 lbs in 1 Week Lemon Bars Recipe

Courtesy of Paula Deen, via The Lady & Sons, Too! A Whole New Batch of Recipes from Savannah.

LEMON BARS
Yields 24 bars

Crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioner's sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temp

Filling
4 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan. Make the crust: Combine the flour, confectioner's sugar, & salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter to make a crumbly mixture. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. You may need to dip your fingers into a little flour or confectioner's sugar to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers. Bake for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make the filling: Mix the eggs, granulated sugar, flour, & lemon juice. Pour this over the baked crust & bake for 25 minutes longer. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, if desired, when the bars are done.

Quick Update

I've been too busy to blog lately. We're typically out of Session by now, but we're still going strong this year. I've heard we'll adjourn next week, but I'm starting to doubt that... I start summer school tonight. As I've mentioned before, due to budget cuts, there are no classes being offered that apply to me, so I'm taking Financial Management for Healthcare & Non-Profit. It'll count as an elective. Can you feel my excitement? The class starts tonight & meets every Tues & Thurs until July 2nd.

On Sat, I drove to Chattanooga for my friend Rebecca's baby shower. Rebecca was my Chi O big sister & we've remained close friends. It was really good to see her, especially 8 months pregnant. Full photostream here.

In other news..... I'm obese, or so says my new Wii Fit. I've been putting off using it because I knew the first thing you had to do was weigh yourself & let it calculate your BMI. Well, ladies & gentleman, I'm obese & I'm 42. Happy friggin birthday to me.

May was a bad month. I knew I had packed on a few lbs, but I certainly didn't feel I'd become obese. I've been too busy at work to eat like a normal person, so I'm either stress eating at lunch or not eating at all, then eating like a bear when I get home. Plus, birthday depression. Plus, memorial day grill fest. Also worth noting, I made a pan of lemon bars last week & ate the whole pan. I assume this contributed greatly to my rating on the Wii Fit.

Since weighing myself last week, I've been logging what I eat on TheDailyPlate & working out. I've already lost 6 lbs, presumably from not eating anymore lemon bars. God, why is this such a struggle? Why can't I eat lemon bars at every meal & look like an Olsen twin? It's so unfair.