Memorial Day was just that!

Memorial Day was the same as last year.  Cook out at Penny and Cathy's.  But the memorial part was coming home and a guy named Daniel and his wife came to get the pickup that I sold on eBay.  Cash in hand they arrived right on time.  And they were a delight to meet!

I had told him it needed a new battery and to deduct that from the price so he came with not only a new battery, but tools to install it!  Guy thought of everything.  The truck had not been started in a couple months so I was hopeful it would not disappoint me and it didn't!  New battery, turn the key and life under the hood!  We discussed why I had bought it in the first place and I explained that it was for my 16 year old son and the driving force behind a 1969 Chevy pickup was insurance costs.  See, there is no way to hurt one of them, but they can do a lot of damage.  So that was a lost cause.

We discussed how safe his son would be surrounded with all that steel.  I remarked that the kid would never know the agony of his first dent or scratch.  Mother concurred!

I watched it drive down the driveway and was a little remorseful that I had not gotten myself busy and restored it myself, but if I have one more thing to do, my head is going to explode!  Today I am taking a little break from eBay and I know that tomorrow I will regret it, but such is life.  I am going to get the thing that makes a photograph into a digital image and do a little introduction to my middle daughter, like I said I would do how long ago? 

OK, that is my short little report for the day and I am now off to do stuff that needs done.  Wish me well, but that recliner is looking mighty tempting about now!

This is enough to make me want to give up eating!

 Know what that is up there?  Looks like a bowl of mashed potatoes, maybe?  Or maybe it is a bowl of ice cream?  First let me tell you what I made the other day.  It was client outing for the month of March at SCAP.  We were going bowling so I made Sloppy Joe's for lunch.  Kimie always comes when we have those and I love her baby! 

I like to try to cook kind of healthy most of the time, so I got me 6 pounds of hamburger.  I put this in a big pot and cover it with water.  Then I work the water into the hamburger.  This does 2 things.  First it makes the whole pot a more even consistency, no lumps.  Then it renders the fat out a little better then browning it in a skillet and trying to drain it all off the meat.  Then I pour the whole thing in a strainer set in a big stainless steel bowl.  Result is very dry hamburger with very little fat.  Then I throw it all back in the crock pot and add my onions, peppers, ketchup, garlic, brown sugar and what ever else and set it to simmer.  Result is some of the best Sloppy Joe's you are ever going to bite into and no preservatives except what snuck in with the ketchup.

So here set this bowl of water with grease on top of it.  What to do with that.  Can't put it in the sink.  Won't pour it over the fence cause the Llama's might eat it and get sick.  One solution and the only one I could think of was to let the grease get cool and harden and then skim it off and put it in the trash.  Crisis averted.

So when I got home that evening the grease was indeed firm enough to remove.  So I did that I put it in this bowl.  I dumped the water and washed that bowl and went to bed.  The next morning when I got up and went to make coffee I found this on the counter.  First thought was it was a bowl of mashed potatoes some one forgot to put away.  Silly Lou!  It was that bowl of fat!  Light bulb went on and I knew what I had to do. 

When we think about fat, it is something we never visualize.  Well here it is for you to look at and think about.  This bowl of fat weighs in at 12 ounces, sans bowl.  6 pounds of hamburger yields 12 ounces of fat or 12.5% fat.  That equates to roughly 2 ounces of fat in each pound of hamburger.  Visual here....picture a pound of hamburger made into 4 patties.  Half of one of those patties is solid fat.  Now picture your self with a spoon dipping in that bowl and chowing down on a couple spoonfuls of that crap in that bowl. When you read the nutritional info on the back of a package of what ever, think about this.

This is fat.  This is what it looks like.  Whether it shows up in a pot pie, a bowl of ice cream, a pat of butter, glass of milk, or a doughnut, this is what it looks like.  Ever watch the Biggest Loser?  I rest my case.

Do not misconstrue this message.  Our bodies do require fat.  Check with your doctor or dietitian as to your needs.  I profess to being ignorant in these matters and bring a doughnut to the party and I am all over that sucker.  Just thought you would like to see what it looks like piled up in a bowl!

The feeble mind is easily amused!

Lunch with Grandma Lou!

Isn't it amazing that when you think there is no way to go but down,  life has a way of shaking you right out of that funk?  So I had company for lunch and when lunch was over, I had a nap.  There is nothing to perk an old lady up like a one year old, a 1 1/2 year old and a big old 6 year old.   Especially if I have ice cream and peaches to go with hamburgers.