"Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Writing Well"
Aloha! Kailani is the brain-child behind this fun Friday meme. If you feel inclined to answer my question, please post your answer in the comment section. Sound fun? Of course it does! Want to answer more questions? Hop over to An Island Life and play along!
(Please feel free to answer the question below, even if you’re not playing Aloha Friday!)
My question:
What’s your most treasured object from childhood?
Aloha! Kailani is the brain-child behind this fun Friday meme. If you feel inclined to answer my question, please post your answer in the comment section. Sound fun? Of course it does! Want to answer more questions? Hop over to An Island Life and play along!
(Please feel free to answer the question below, even if you’re not playing Aloha Friday!)
My question:
How do you measure success?
More from Write From Karen
Aloha! Kailani is the brain-child behind this fun Friday meme. If you feel inclined to answer my question, please post your answer in the comment section. Sound fun? Of course it does! Want to answer more questions? Hop over to An Island Life and play along!
(Please feel free to answer the question below, even if you’re not playing Aloha Friday!)
My question:
What global problem do you care about most?
My answer:
I’d have to say anything to do with children – hunger, abuse, education. They’re so innocent. It upsets me that so many children are in such dire straits. They deserve a good, stable life.
You?
More from Write From Karen
Want to fool your family on April Fool’s Day? Here’s a sneaky way to do that, at the dinner table.
(All of these recipes can be found at Family Fun. No, this is not a sponsored post).
Pile your dinner plates with a meal fit for April Fools’ Day. Just be sure to eat dinner first.
Ingredients
* Store-bought cupcake or poundcake
* Store-bought buttercream frosting
* Strawberry ice cream sauce
* Butter knife
* Chocolate malt balls
* Blanched walnuts or almonds
* Coconut
* Shallow baking pan
* Blender
* Green sprinkles
* White chocolate
* Double broiler or microwave
* Spoon
* Lady fingers
Instructions
1. Place a half of cupcake (top or bottom) or a half a slice of pound cake in the center of a plate.
2. Spoon the buttercream frosting into a decorating tube fitted with a large, circular tip and pipe it in a looping fashion around the sides of the biscuit or cake – do not frost the top.
3. Spoon strawberry ice cream sauce on top of the muffin or cake to cover. Drizzle a little over portions of the spaghetti as well.
4. For the meatballs, use a butter knife to rough up the surface of two or three chocolate covered malt balls. Place them on top of the “sauce.”
5. For the Parmesan cheese, crush a handful of blanched almonds or walnuts in a blender and then sprinkle the pieces over the sauce and “meatballs.”
6. For the garlic bread, toast some coconut (for garlic) in a shallow baking pan at 350º, stirring often, for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden. For butter, melt 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips in a double broiler or heat them in a microwave for about 1and 1/2 minutes at half power and stir until smooth. Spread the melted white chocolate on the toasted lady fingers. Top with the toasted coconut and green sprinkles for parsley.
This April Fools’ Day, pull a fast one (or better yet, a fast-food one!) on your kids by replacing a classic salty snack with a little something sweet: sugary fake fries.
Ingredients
* 1 package of plain, prepared breadstick dough
* Kitchen scissors
* Sugar
* White envelope
* Seedless strawberry jam
Instructions
1. Begin by unrolling the dough and separating the breadsticks. Use kitchen scissors to cut them into 1/4-inch-wide sticks.
2. Roll all the sticks in sugar, then bake them on a cookie sheet according to the package directions or until golden brown (ours took about 8 minutes). Leave them on the tray until they’re cool.
3. Make this mix-up even more fun by putting the fries in a fast-food fry sleeve (the cutoff end of a sealed envelope; ours was 2 1/2 inches deep) and serving them with a side of “ketchup” (jam whisked with a fork to a smooth consistency).
On April Fools’ Day, trick your family with a tiny breakfast that’s really a cleverly disguised dessert.
Ingredients
* FOR THE EGGS:
* 3 tablespoons white chocolate chips
* 12 yellow M&MS
* FOR THE FAKIN’:
* 1 square caramel
* 1 Tootsie Roll Midgee
Instructions
1. For the eggs: Melt the white chocolate chips according to the package directions. Transfer the melted chocolate to a ziplock bag and snip off a corner.
2. Squeeze nickel-size portions of the chocolate onto a sheet of waxed paper, then gently press a yellow M&M, letter side down, into the center of each. Let the candies cool. Makes 12 eggs.
3. For the fakin’: Remove the wrapping from a square caramel and a Tootsie Roll Midgee. Microwave the candies for 4 seconds to make them soft. Use your thumb and forefinger to slightly flatten each candy piece, then press them together.
4. Halve the candy, then stack and press the pieces into alternating layers.
5. Slice a 1/4-inch-wide piece from the stack. Pinch and stretch the piece lengthwise into a flat bacon strip, then cut it in half. Add ripples to each half by gently bending the edges. Makes 3 strips (6 pieces).
At first glance, a slice of this pie appears to offer something sweet: chocolate filling topped with strawberry whipped cream. But unsuspecting diners are in for a surprise…. It’s really a shepherd’s pie in disguise! Cocoa, molasses, and barbecue sauce give the meat its chocolaty color, while whipped potatoes infused with beet juice complete the deception. The best part of the prank is that you’re also making dinner!
Ingredients
* “CHOCOLATE” MEAT LOAF FILLING
* 1/3 cup barbecue sauce
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1 tablespoon dark, unsulfured molasses
* 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa
* 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
* 1 small onion, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon canola oil
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 2/3 cup bread crumbs
* 1 1/4 pounds lean ground beef
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* “STRAWBERRY” POTATO TOPPING
* 2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
* Salt
* 1/2 cup canned sliced beets (not pickled)
* 1/4 cup (or more) warm milk
* 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Instructions
1. Heat the oven to 350º. In a small saucepan, combine the barbecue sauce, milk, molasses, cocoa, and chili powder. Set the pan over medium heat and whisk the mixture until it is lukewarm and the cocoa is completely dissolved. Set it aside to cool.
2. Sauté the onions in the tablespoon of canola oil until they are transparent, about 7 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the salt, celery salt, pepper, and bread crumbs. Then add the beef, egg, sauce mixture, and onion. Thoroughly mix the ingredients using your hands or a wooden spoon.
4. Remove the pie shell from the freezer. (We placed ours in a Pyrex dish to help ensure that the pie would bake evenly.) Transfer the meat to the shell, spreading it evenly with a spoon. Bake it until the meat is cooked through, about 60 minutes.
5. While the pie is baking, prepare the mashed potato topping. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and add enough water to completely submerge them. Salt the water lightly, cover the pot, and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and cook the potatoes at a low boil until they are tender, about 12 minutes.
6. While the potatoes cook, puree the beets and 1/4 cup warm milk in a blender until only small bits of beet are left in the mixture. Set aside.
7. Drain the potatoes and transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and pureed beets and, using an electric mixer, whip the mixture until it’s smooth and fluffy. Add more milk if needed and salt to taste.
8. Spread the whipped potatoes over the top of the cooked meat pie with a spatula, as you would whipped cream, mounding it slightly in the center. Slice and serve the pie while the potatoes are still hot. Makes 8 servings.
This nutty mix of veggie impostors is guaranteed to cause a stir!
Ingredients
* Fruit Roll-Ups, 2 to 3 green rolls and 1 red roll
* 1 1/2 teaspoons hulled sunflower seeds
* 1 1/2 cups dried apple rings
* 3/4 cup dried pineapple chunks
* 1/2 cup cashews
Instructions
1. First, make a bunch of pea pods. For each one, cut a 2 1/4-inch square from a green fruit roll. Arrange five or six sunflower seeds (for peas) on the strip in a vertical row, just off center. Fold the strip in half over the seeds and press the edges together to seal them. Use a butter knife or kitchen scissors to trim the sealed edges into a rounded pod shape.
2. Next, cut the red fruit roll into thin pepper strips and the apple rings into bite-size chicken pieces. For the full effect, combine the pea pods, pepper strips, chicken pieces, pineapple chunks, and cashews in a frying pan. Or serve the mix on plates with chopsticks. Makes three cups
Bon Appétit and have fun!
Aloha! Kailani is the brain-child behind this fun Friday meme. If you feel inclined to answer my question, please post your answer in the comment section. Sound fun? Of course it does! Want to answer more questions? Hop over to An Island Life and play along!
(Please feel free to answer the question below, even if you’re not playing Aloha Friday!)
My question:
Share three things you do every day without fail.
My answers:
1. Drink coffee
2. Get on the Internet
3. Tell my guys that I love them.
You?
More from Write From Karen
Audio version of this blog post
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Dear Erratic Driver,
Look. I have a “thing” for stupid drivers. I do. I guess you might even call it an obsession, really, especially now that my teenage boys are on the brink of driving. But I can not excuse, or even tolerate, drivers like you.
Let me explain …
(And by the way, you better NOT be reading this while you’re driving or I will personally yank open that car door and kick your ass. Just sayin’).
I realize you’re from Arkansas. And at the risk of offending any other Arkansas driver out there that you might show this letter to, it’s sort of a “joke” with us Missourians that Arkansas people? CAN NOT DRIVE. I have no idea where this came from and perhaps it’s just a state-by-state thing, but people like you? Only CONFIRM the “joke.”
You are quite possibly THE worst driver I’ve ever had the misfortune to come across. And I’ve come across a lot in my old age, let me assure you.
Since I know you have no clue what I’m talking about, let me highlight your stupidity:
1. You do not stop at yield signs. You slow down, but you do not stop unless there is traffic coming. There wasn’t any traffic coming. How do I know this? Because I freaking looked. And when this yield sign is on a highway exit ramp? Seriously. DO NOT STOP. I nearly rear-ended you. And though it would have technically been my fault, it would have really been yours because you don’t slam on your brakes and come to a full stop at this type of intersection. Especially when you were going sort of fast to begin with.
2. What was up with the weaving? One minute you’re in the correct lane. The next minute you’re crowding the car next to you. The very next minute you’re hugging the shoulder. Were you drunk? Or were you on your cell phone? Judging by your head and hand movements? You were on the phone. Or maybe you had a drink or two and you wanted to share what it was like to be an idiot AND drunk, who knows. And even though you may not care? The other drivers around you care because you’re putting THEM at risk. And just because YOU don’t value YOUR life, I value mine. In fact, I’m quite fond of breathing, thank you very much.
3. Here’s a bit of advice – when you’re on the highway, it helps to maintain a consistent speed. One minute you were going 50, the next minute you were going 75. It’s not only annoying for the person following you, (that would be me, in case you were confused), it burns up a lot of gas. And though you may pimp yourself out for YOUR gas? I pay good old fashion money for mine and NEWS FLASH! Money is sort of tight right now thanks to a crappy economy because our (and I hesitate to call him MY president because I certainly didn’t vote for him) idiot president likes to spend it faster than it comes in.
But I digress.
4. And thanks. I nearly had a coronary when you realized that your exit was coming up, you were in the fast lane, no one would allow you to get over and you applied the brakes going 70 miles per hour, thereby forcing me to apply my brakes and freaking out the person behind me, who happened to be my husband, by the way. He was following me home from work.
Let me be clear. YOU DO NOT BRAKE ON THE HIGHWAY UNLESS IT’S AN EMERGENCY, not because you were too distracted (and dare I say too stupid to read the sign) and nearly missed your exit.
You must have realized you weren’t going to make it and that you were going to likely cause a several-car pile up behind you if you tried and I for one would like to thank you for at least having the presence of mind to continue onward to the next exit.
In conclusion, I would like to suggest that you take driving lessons and not be allowed to use your cell phone while driving because you’re a menace to yourself, to other drivers and quite possibly humanity, as well.
Oh. And I know this might come as a shock to you? But lady, you’re not the ONLY person out on the roads. We do not exist to accommodate your stupidity so wake the hell up, missy.
Sincerely,
A driver who would like to see her grandchildren some day.
Aloha! Kailani is the brain-child behind this fun Friday meme. If you feel inclined to answer my question, please post your answer in the comment section. Sound fun? Of course it does! Want to answer more questions? Hop over to An Island Life and play along!
(Please feel free to answer the question below, even if you’re not playing Aloha Friday!)
Let’s do an easy one this time:
My question:
If you could shop for free at one store which one would you choose?
My answer: Definitely Amazon. The thought of free books actually makes me hyperventilate. AND, then I could turn around and sell them on my Amazon book store – what a deal! 😀
You?
Write From Karen 