Office decorating

Every year at Halloween, I see a new side of people at my office when transformation gets underway for our building's wing decorating contest. For the past hour, the hallway on the way to our bathroom has had at least 20 people being paid to hang plastic sheeting from the ceiling tiles trying to make our floor look like Las Vegas. It is a BIG deal to win the contest to a lot of people around here. Meetings are held inter-departmentally to discuss the Halloween planning. People stay late to decorate. It has nothing to do with what we do and it really should be featured on the show, the Office. The best part about our contest, in my opinion, is the skit that is involved. You have to involve the contest judges in a skit of some sort. Really random people play key roles in said skit. I believe tomorrow our judges will be seeing Diana Ross and the Supremes, 4 Elvises, showgirls and older, aged showgirls, ladies with oxygen tanks playing slot machines and of course, a wedding ceremony. It's pretty funny. We have a full buffet tomorrow (of course). I was asked to be a showgirl and I believe my response was "Hell, no!" I am wearing all black and will be a waitress instead.

Another interesting thing to watch is our whole building's costume contest. People will wear some pretty crazy stuff for a $500 gift certifcate. There is also an individual skit contest where people do dance routines and stuff. Last year, someone did an interpretive dance and I couldn't believe my eyes.

Happy Halloween!

Pork Chops Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Spinach

Well, I cooked again last night. Maybe I'm back?


Elly's Pork Chops Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Spinach Recipe.
I love goat cheese.
I love spinach.
Seemed like an No-S****er as John Taylor would say.

2 boneless pork chops (I don't read directions so did it with the bone and they were great)

1.5 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1/4 cup diced onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup fresh spinach, chopped or torn

Italian seasoning

salt and pepper

1-2 oz. goat cheese
Preheat oven to 350.
Heat a skillet over medium heat and add .5 Tbsp olive oil. Cook onion until translucent. Stir in garlic until fragrant, and then add spinach to wilt. Take off heat.
Stir in goat cheese, salt and pepper and Italian seasoning to taste.
Pound chops slightly and slit a pocket in the side of each chop. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stuff with equal parts of the spinach mixture.
Heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a skillet. When hot, brown the pork chops for about 2 minutes per side.
Move skillet to oven and finish cooking, until internal temperature is about 150, around 15 minutes.

I served this with Daddy's Potatoes... my dad used to make these new potatoes for us on Sundays. My dad wasn't a huge cook, but he did three things well... 1) marinades 2)grilled cheese sandwiches and 3)daddy's potatoes. I am pretty sure these potatoes came out of my parents' favorite 80's Cookbook, the Frugal Gourmet.

Daddy's Potatoes

1 bag new red potatoes peeled (I am lazy and don't peel mine)

1/2 stick butter

1T olive oil

lots of salt

Heat a frying pan with 1/2 stick of butter and 1T olive oil at medium high heat for about 2 minutes. When the oily pan starts to bubble, add the potatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes per side until they get a golden brown color. Add about 1/8th of salt to the top, reduce heat and cover. Cook for 15 more minutes, every 3-4 minutes shaking the pan so as to turn the potatoes inside. You know they are done when soft and golden.... these potatoes really don't need any fixings. They taste good on their own!

Bella: The Movie

We were talking about the movie, Bella, at our Bible study this Tuesday. It comes out this weekend and has won all sorts of awards... Toronto Film Festival Audience Pick, SXSW Film Festival Pick... and is garnering a lot of Academy Award buzz. We are going to see it this weekend because it sounds like a good movie. I am a big fan of love stories and the fact that it takes place in New York is also a good selling feature. Bonus is that many Christian/Catholic groups are endorsing it because it has a subtle pro-life message... Go check it out!

Here is the movie homepage

AC: Obedience

Mrs. Chiz's Chicken

I COOKED last night! For the first time in probably 3 weeks! Considering that I always cook, this is a big change. There has been lots of takeout and instant meals for us lately. No bueno. Anyway, I had a sudden desire for the most delicious and easy chicken meal possible. My sweet and very cute Italian neighbor growing up, Mrs. Chuisano, used to make this dish and passed the recipe on to my mom and ever since it has been one of those meals that us kids always requested for our birthday dinners.... and one of the first things I ate when I decided to eat meat again after becoming a vegetarian in college... and one of those meals that I made for Mike when I wanted to impress him...

But, I digress, without further ado...

Mrs. Chiz's Chicken (feeds 4 with leftovers)
4 chicken breasts, sliced into thin cutlets
3/4 of a block of monterey jack or mozzerella cheese
1 egg
salt and pepper
1 T parmesan cheese
1/2 a stick of margarine/butter
splash of white wine
splash of olive oil
1 cup of italian bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 325
Pour self glass of white wine
Slice your chicken vertically so that it's less than an inch thick and no more than 2.5 inches wide. Think long strips of chicken....
Slice your cheese into rectangular cubes about 1" wide and 2" long
Melt margarine in an 8x8 glass baking pan, add splash each of wine and olive oil
Mix an egg with parmesan and salt and pepper to taste in a shallow mixing bowl
Fill another shallow mixing bowl with bread crumbs
Wrap one chicken cutlet around one stick of cheese
Dip in egg mixture
Dip in bread crumbs so as to be totally coated
Put in your glass pan filled with buttery mixture
Repeat until all chicken is wrapped and dipped. Sing a dipping song if you like. Then be sure to wash your hands as dipping is kinda messy.
Take some of the wine/butter from the pan and drizzle over the top of the chicken.

Bake at 325 for about 35 minutes or until no more pink appears. Serve with rice and veggies. And wine, sweet sweet wine!

Fall Comes to Central Texas

Only in Texas can you be standing in your bikini on the beach on Sunday and then Monday be thinking about turning the heat on. We had a great weekend on the TX Gulf shore at the Sandpiper in Port Aransas. We got a three bedroom condo on the 6th floor with a great view of the ocean. Our place was probably built in 1981, with lots of rattan furniture and mirrored walls, but very well kept and spacious for three little ones running around and 6 adults. We definitely will go again.

Emmy's baptism was great, although the longest ceremony of its type I have ever attended. The deacon didn't understand that you were supposed to choose one verse out of each section of the book, but rather read each and every line... It took an hour and considering our family has 6 kids under the age of 5, I really wish it would have been shorter, but it was nice. Welcome to the church, Emmy!

A cold front came through yesterday and suddenly instead of 80s and 90s, the high was only in the 60s yesterday. It was 45 freakin degrees when I woke up this morning. Mike even turned on the gas logs on the fireplace. I know that I was brought up in the Midwest, but living in the south for 8 years has thinned my skin significantly. A high of 60 is like an artic breeze to me and others.... I even saw people in peacoats and turtlenecks yesterday. It feels nice to have fall, but my nose is going to be sniffly for sure.

AC: Gratitude

Our state fair is a great state fair!

It is so quiet in my office. All I can hear is the sound of traffic passing on Mopac out my window. It's a dreary day. Cloudy and sleepy. Yesterday, I went home with a sniffly nose early and passed out on the couch for a few hours. Comfort is really all I am about these days. We went to Dallas over the weekend and I bought some new loungewear from GapBody. When the concept of loungewear first came out, I didn't understand it. Now with age, I realize that when I get home from work, all I want to do is wear elasticized waistband pants or shorts and I also don't want to feel frumpy in old t-shirts, either... so what is the solution? Loungewear! Amen

We went to the State Fair on Saturday. I'm a big fan of the state fair concept, from looking at quilts and jam contest winners, to free samples of salsa and ice cream in the Food and Fiber building, to dog shows and the bird show where the hawk flies from a cage at the top of the ferris wheel, to the best part, the eating. Mike and I both consumed two corny dogs and the most delicious tornado taters, some lemonade and shared a chocolate nut ice cream bar. We passed on the fried latte, fried cheesecake and the fried peach cobbler. The state fair is so campy, it's wonderful. We always had such a blast at the Iowa State Fair when I was growing up. I am glad Texas has a good one, too.

AC: Creativity

Catholic Youth Camp

It's pretty crazy how music can take you back. This morning on my drive to work I heard two songs that had me thinking about the past. The first was Buffalo Stance by Neneh Cherry. The summer this song came out, I was experiencing one of my best weeks at Catholic Youth Camp in Panora, Iowa. I was in between sixth and seventh grade in school and remember hearing this song at the Lodge in the afternoon when my best friend Betsy and I were hanging out with these cool kids from Des Moines, probably making friendship bracelets, looking at old camp pictures on the wall and drinking Mello Yello. Our camp was religious, but in sort of a soft sell way. You had Mass each day and Chapel each night under the stars, and of course, the much-anticipated visit from Pat McManus who tried to keep you off drugs in his "NeverEnding Circle", but other than that, it was a normal camp. Father Tank was about 300 lbs easy and played the electric bass guitar... and his successor, Fr. Jim had an earring (and later left the priesthood and married Gigi the camp nurse so I hear). These people were approachable. Even singing "Leaping the Mountains" from the good ol' Glory and Praise songbook from church became a loud, boisterous, praisefest with dancing and actions. No, don't picture that church camp documentary from recent years, brainwashing kids, we were just having fun and God happened to be there in the midst.

My goal during the Neneh Cherry days was to get a "date" to Campfire and that particular week I had succeeded. I can't exactly recall how the courting took place, but somehow word got to Mark Bliss that I thought he was cute and pretty soon he was inviting me to the campfire. The anticipation leading up to this event was far more important than the actual outcome. I remember getting out my peach colored Caboodles full of makeup and applying the lavender and teal shades that only a 6th grader in the 80s would wear and spraying my high bangs and hair with that fruit-scented hair spray and walking down to be greeted by the ski-jump nosed Bliss leading up to an altogether pretty anticlimatic Campfire. There were scary stories and we probably sang the "Watermelon" song, but it was definitely a G-rated night.

There is a very special spot in my heart for CYC. God was definitely present when I was there and I know he is still with the campers there big time. CYC was my favorite place on earth growing up. Better than Disney World. When I became a teenager, it was better than drinking or any other fun high school activity. In all, the experience of being there was better than anything, really. It was this tiny utopia in northwest Iowa where everyone got along and church was fun. Where the highlight of your day could be anything from spending your $20 to rot your teeth as best you could at the cantine, to playing sand volleyball, to making your CYC name button, to carnival night, to saying goodbye and all the tears cried over bidding farewell to your new friends when they played Michael W. Smith's "Friends are Friends Forever." From camper, I became a counselor and then went on some very life-changing retreats there, especially TEC. If I ever get my hands on some extra money, I would like to donate a large sum knowing that other kids today are being shaped the same way I was. CYC made faith fun and tangible to me in a way my home parish in Marion, IA didn't do.

My other song is a Samples one... I'll get into that some other time...
AC: Transformation

Nothing else compares

I know y'all are sick of pulling up my blog and seeing my pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe, so here I am, though not too much to report lately. We've been at home the past two weeks. Saturday, we went out to the lake and even stopped at a pumpkin patch on our drive out there. There aren't too many northern-type pumpkin patches down here with the apple jelly, corn husks, pies for sale; usually a Texas pumpkin patch is getting your pumpkin at HEB or a church parking lot and I hate that. If we have a little one someday, we are definitely going back to the Marble Falls pumpkin patch to channel my midwestern upbringing. They had tons of pumpkins in a field, pumpkin ice cream, pony rides, hay rides and everything! My pumpkin is adorable. I always pick the tall, but roundish kind. One of my earliest memories is of living in NJ and my mom telling me that some mean kids smashed my pumpkin. It was heartbreaking. I hope that our pumpkins are okay in our new neighborhood in the front yard... Although I could accept the news of smashing a little better at 31, I'd still be upset. I think we will actually have trick-or-treaters this year!

I am feeling pretty uninspired and slothlike overall. I go through fits of productivity and then blah. It seems to be a trend. Though it was pretty great to make a huge bonfire with Mike this weekend and lay on our backs and look at the stars. We even took the hound out on the boat. She liked it! I think the fact that Mike allowed our furry animal who is afraid of getting in the water onto the boat is a testament to how much he loves me.

AC: Openness