{Recipe} Pink Lemonade Bars

I love cooking, especially desserts. Cakes, cookies, cupcakes, you name it. This recipe is a bit unusual for me, as it's very lemony and very sweet, but I quite like it.

And yes, that is Stormy in the background!

The original recipe was found on Dine & Dash (link), and my comments regarding the recipe are below.

Ingredients

Crust

• 4 sticks (2 cups) butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

Lemonade Topping

• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup lemon juice (I used juice in a can)
• 2 tablespoons lemonade powder (like Country Time)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• Red food coloring
• Powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and grab a 12x18 cake pan or jelly roll pan.
2. Cream together butter and 1 cup granulated sugar. Slowly add salt and flour, mixing until a soft dough forms.
3. Press dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Note: This might be a bit difficult, since the dough is very sticky. I ended up using a spatula to smooth it around.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until slightly brown on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
5. Reduce oven temperature 325ºF.
6. Blend eggs and 1 1/2 cups sugar until fluffy and smooth. Add lemon juice, lemonade powder and food coloring until desired color. Add flour slowly, and continue stirring until well blended. Note: This might take a few minutes. Mixture will be thin and runny.
7. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until firm. Note: Mine bubbled and fizzed a bit at the top as soon as I put it in the oven.
8. Cool completely and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

The lost art of common courtesy

I love talking to people -- friends, coworkers, random strangers. I'll chitchat with the guy at the burger joint about a trip to North Carolina; commiserate with the cashier about unruly children and complain about the weather with a random customer.

One thing that pops up more and more these days is a lack of simple and common courtesy. It's not taught by a majority of parents, dropped from schools and completely forgotten in the workplace.

I'm not that old, I actually just hit a quarter of a century a year and a half ago, but observing people my age and younger is completely painful. I'm not even going to touch the topics of constantly texting, either in a formal restaurant or while driving, or the obsession with vapid television stars and who they are currently in bed with. Those things are trivial, honestly.

What I have a problem with is that most people today constantly interrupt anyone who is speaking, because their sudden thought is clearly more important than anything else anyone might say; they critique others for a lack of respect (waitstaff, cashiers, etc.), when a simple "please" or "thank you" never escapes their lips; and they always bring the conversation back to themselves, instead of inquiring about others.

Some of the best conversationalists I've ever had the pleasure of talking to were ones that listened, asked questions to clarify a topic, or simply just wanted to know more about a person. They shared information about themselves, but kept it light and engaging. They were genuinely curious about everyone they met, and left something behind at the end of every conversation - a smile.

Personally, I'm not the best conversationalist. I'm shy, I tend to forget the punchlines of jokes more often than not, and my sense of humor is a little off. I know I could ask more questions about people, become more engaged with them, but when I try, my tongue seems to stick to the roof of my mouth.

My complaint goes beyond the general public, though; people don't respect each other in the workplace anymore. Employees are abrupt or rude with customers, or vent their frustrations at them. Email etiquette is a lost art, emails sent out with a general tone of "What do you want? Why are you bothering me?" or sent out in cutesy colors or an entire paragraph in the subject line. Coworkers interrupt other coworkers while they are talking with customers, vendors or potential applicants.

We spend so much time concerned with ourselves, instead of engaging with the world around us, and treating others as we ourselves wish to be treated.

There is no one specific cause to the death of common courtesy, it's been on the decline for years, but it is still sad to see it go.

Errorists and Ytpos

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a stickler for grammar and spelling.

(C) Grammarly

Hypocrisy and chocolate-covered pretzels

My days and weeks are slipping by, as I search for a job and try to amuse myself in the interim. I have a lot of time to think, clean and find pictures in the paint on the walls, and I've come to a few conclusions:

• 7:30 a.m. is a great time to wake up, except that you are done with everything by 9:30 a.m.
• My neighbors don't leave for work until 10 a.m., all of them.
• I am committing adultery on my Mac by using a Windows machine during the day.
• The animals are trying to make a dog-cat hybrid out of their fur.
• I am a hypocrite (why did I type hypnotic...?).

It's the last conclusion that I'm having problems with. No one likes to admit fault within themselves, and when we do, we deny it, sugarcoat it, blame others for our problems. "It's not my fault I'm an alcoholic, my work drove me to it." "I only collect 10,000 Star Wars figurines because Tommy beat me up with one in the 5th grade." 

I babble on about acceptance, things could be better if we could just all get along, but really, I don't think these thoughts most of the time. I'm trying to do better, but as the Boyfriend pointed out to me earlier, those thoughts turn into words more often than I care to admit.

I could make excuses, it's so hard to find anything positive in this world of negativity, self-absorption and reality t.v., but really, I have only myself to blame. How can I escape the cycle if I don't work at it? I judge others based on their looks, their vocal inflections, etc., not for the quality of their character. 

The trick of finding one good thing in a person isn't the best course of action for me. I just need to train my inner sarcastic nerd to shut up for a change. 

Yes, I'm sarcastic. Really. I'm surprised you hadn't picked up on it.

It's pushed people away, kept them at arm's length. There have been times I could have made friends, but lost the opportunity because Sarcastic Me decided to come out of hibernation and voice her opinion. 

Stormy, the doggy bench

I was thinking a bit ago that I want to be like my dog. Stop laughing, I don't want to be a dog, I don't particularly care for fleas, fur and sleeping on the floor, but it's how dogs interact with each other and with humans that I like.

My dog Stormy is one of the sweetest and most laid-back dogs you will ever meet. Honestly, you can't annoy her - we've tried. Poking her, prodding her, picking up her paw and dropping it. She simply doesn't care.  She loves people, too. 

When we take her to the dog park, she has to make her rounds - she doesn't care about the other dogs, but she'll go up to each and every single person and demand pet-pets. She goes beyond friendly-dog, she acts like each new person is her best friend. 

I want that outlook - I want each stranger to be a potential friend, not someone to mock, not someone to distrust. 

In other news, I planned last night to be a little fun for the Boyfriend and I, as he has been studying for his CCIE. I'd picked up some white chocolate wafers recently, and I still had some candy dye from my last batch of peanut butter balls. 

Boyfriend didn't want to decorate, he said it would be prettier if I did it, so he was put to work getting the chocolate bags ready and picking out the colors. Well, not much picking out to do, since I was down to green, black, red, yellow and orange. The teal decided to turn the chocolate into one big, messy goop.

He was happiest when he got to eat all the rejects.

Kobe beef - the big lie

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If you go down to your favorite burger or steak joint, chances are, you will see a Kobe beef burger on the menu. Americans buy it by the pound, thinking it is some delicacy, imported straight from Japan, and thus pay an exorbitant fee for the privilege.

Unfortunately, the Kobe beef in America is a lie.

Yes, the beef is a lie.

History of Kobe Beef

Kobe Beef • © Quimm

Kobe refers to beef from the black Tajima breed of Wagyu cattle, from the Hyogo prefecture in Japan. Before becoming a prized dinner, Tajima cattle were used as work animals in the rice fields as early as the second century. Due to herd isolation and feeding techniques, the cattle are now known meat with a well-marbled texture and tenderness.

To be considered Kobe, cattle must have been born in the prefecture and raised on local grasses and water, and must be a bull or virgin cow. From there, it is processed in a Hyogo slaughterhouse and held to strict government standards (such as weight, marbling ratio, etc.).

There are only 3,000 head of certified Kobe beef cattle in the world - and all are in Japan. According to Forbes, "The process is so strict that when the beef is sold, either in stores or restaurants, it must carry the 10-digit identification number so customers know what particular Tajima-gyu cow it came from."

Kobe in American Markets
In 2010, the USDA banned the import of any and all Japanese beef, due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. This includes fresh, frozen, whole, cut, boned or on the bone.

So what is the Kobe beef that your local steakhouse is currently selling?

Depends on the restaurant. Some restaurants simply call any higher-cut of steak "Kobe" and inflate the price. Other restaurants serve "American Kobe," which comes from Japanese Wagyu cattle imported to America and crossbred with Angus cows, or 100% Wagyu cattle themselves.

What makes those cattle different? Diet, first off. The Tajimi cattle have a special diet (which does include sake and beer), plus regulation and bloodlines. There are 100% Wagyu, percentage Wagyu, purebred Wagyu (which does not mean 100% pure), etc. Also, these cattle are fed whatever each individual owner wants to feed them.

Regulation in the U.S.
Quite simply, there is none. The U.S. does not recognize the Japanese's trademark on Kobe beef, so any Joe Blow is free to use "Kobe" on whatever beef he wants (or even pork! Chicken!). Some local cities/counties might have ordinances in place for false advertisement, but it is rarely enforced, simply because no one files a complaint.

So, next time you go out, skip the Kobe burger or hot dog and stick with an Angus burger. It's more likely to be legit, and less likely to infringe upon someone's copyright.

Sources and Other Reading Material
"American Kobe-style beef replaces the real thing," MSNBC, published Dec. 29 2005
"Bogus beef: Miami restaurants say it's Kobe, but it's not," Miami New Times, published Oct. 8 2009
"Forbes: No Real ‘Kobe’ Beef in U.S.," Investor Times, published April 13, 2012
"Food's Biggest Scam: The Great Kobe Beef Lie," Forbes, published April 12, 2012
"Kobe And Wagyu Beef: Final Thoughts And Clarifications," Forbes, published April 19, 2012
"Kobe Beef: Food's Biggest Scam," theKitchn, published April 27, 2012
"Fake Food: That's Not Kobe Beef You're Eating," NPR, published April 22, 2012
"Kobe Beef," Wikipedia, updated August 7, 2012

Smiles make the world go round

I'm not one to stand on a soap box and preach about inequality or social injustice to the entire world (though I will defend my beliefs to friends and the like), but one thing I am adamant about is that we need more smiles in the world.

Yes, smiles.

Smiles and kindness.

We go through our days wrapped in a bubble of self-absorption, only concerned with our immediate affairs. "I need to pick up potatoes from the grocery store." "There's traffic on the highway, I should leave work 10 minutes early." We never stop and look at the people around us, and think about how we impact their lives, even briefly. The cashier at the grocery store, the toll worker taking our change. 

Everyone has ideas for how to make the world a better place, and it's all done on a grand scheme - make everyone go to church, remove religion from government and schools, add purple goats to every street corner, but people never think about what they can do to make the world better, even in a small way.

I'm not talking about recycling, or turning off the lights. I'm talking about our interactions with other human beings. We're polite and friendly to our peers, colleagues, family; people who we consider important or crucial in our lives, for whatever reason, but we give no thought to those we interact with daily, people who have no names, or whose faces blur together after a while.

What I'm trying to say is smile. Smile at the cashier when you finish checking out, be pleasant to the waitress who takes your order. Say "please" and "thank you" to the busboy at the hotel. This isn't something profound, or based in a religious book - it's common courtesy that has gone the way of the dodo. 

So many problems can be avoided if we are simply civil to each other, no matter what our political persuasion is, or our religious beliefs or the color of our skin. That can all be put aside for a few minutes just to smile.

I'm a firm believer that if you smile at someone, you pass that smile along. A smile costs you nothing, but it could brighten someone's day. If I pick up an order at a restaurant, it's amazing what a simple quick of the mouth will do to someone's mood and attitude. People don't expect it in this day and age, and it saddens me.

It might be a bit naive, or a bit outdated, but I believe in starting small.

So next time you go to the store, instead of texting a friend, smile at the cashier, so they can pass that smile to their next customer, who can, in turn, pass it onto someone else. And who knows? Maybe that smile might come back to you when you need it one day.

Vacuums, spices, oh my!

In the span of 10 minutes, I not only managed to make the Boyfriend's nose burn, but vacuumed out the freezer.

Say what?

Earlier today, we bought an expandable shelf organizer from the Container Store (here), as our spices were in disarray. While going through all the many jars and bags, we had to play the guessing game "What spice blend is this?" Sometimes I'll make a spice blend, stick it in a bag and forget to label it.

One of the blends was a Cajun spice rub, mild and sweet. The other...not so much. I thought it smelled good, so I asked the Boyfriend to smell it. He takes a big whiff and immediately starts to tear up, his nose was burning from the spices.

Whoops.

I think that one had cayenne, cumin and paprika in it. My bad.

While he was recovering, I went to go pull out a steak for dinner (mm, flank steak) and I didn't realize he had placed Stormy's dog food on top of the freezer. Note: we are trying to train her to eat twice a day, as soon as we put her food down. I open the freezer door and BOOM, dog food all over the freezer, in the ice maker and scattered on the floor.

Le sigh.

Since my broom is out of commission, and we really didn't want to handpick all the dog food in the tiny crevices in the freezer, we decided to vacuum it.

How many people can claim they have vacuumed a freezer?

I'm accident-prone, what can I say? At least the spices are better organized!

Pardon the horrid iPhone picture

{Recipe} Breakfast Casserole

Even though I'm not working right now, weekends still have that "sleep in and relax" feel for me. During the week, I'm a "forget breakfast" or "eat a bowl of cereal" type of girl, but on the weekends, I like to something more substantial. A breakfast casserole is quick, easy and rather versatile.

Plus, it's hard to mess up.

The dogs were a captive audience, until they realized I wasn't going to give them any bacon, and Demon Kitty was indifferent to everything.

Ra was distracted by the kitties

Stormy is rather confused

The Boyfriend Unit ignored all of us, as he's working from home today. Bah humbug.

I originally found this recipe on AllRecipes.com many years ago, and I change it up a bit every time I make it. The original recipe can be found here.

Ingredients

• Hunk of French bread
• 1/2 pound of bacon
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• Dash of salt, pepper, basil and cayenne

Directions

1. Prepare bacon, either via oven at 400ºF for 12 to 15 minutes, or on the stovetop.
2. Break bread up into tiny pieces and cover bottom of glass pie dish.
3. Sprinkle the bacon and cheese over bread cubes.
4. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, spices, salt and pepper. Pour over the bacon and cheese.
5. Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes or until puffed and golden.
6. Admire your handiwork, and promptly eat.

What can I do?

I met up with my aunt Ravani recently, and we spent the day catching up on family news, what’s been going on in each other’s lives and a little of this and that.

Mostly, we spoke of the past. My father died when I was 5, and speaking of him was a taboo in my family, and my mother passed away nearly 4 years ago.

We talked about my memories of my father dying, shared laughs over my mother’s quirks, such as her obsession with chocolate-covered jelly rings (I actually believe these are the same ones she used to buy, the box looks familiar enough), and other such things.

One thing she said about my mother really stuck with me. She related the tale of how she called my mother one day, just needing a shoulder to cry on, and my mother listened and told her that she didn’t know what to say or do, but that’s all my aunt needed - someone to listen, someone who wouldn’t give advice.

I like to think I do a pretty good job listening to people, but I know I can be better. Instead of offering suggestions, I should just step back and go, “What can I do?”

Sometimes all a person needs is a shoulder to cry on, or an ear to vent to. A sounding board, so to speak. We have the thoughts and decisions in our mind, but we just need to work it out for ourselves, and verbalizing that to someone, a friend, a sibling, a stranger, can help us reach that decision.

These thoughts and words aren’t particularly profound or original, but I think they are something we can, and should, follow. We are too quick to form an opinion based off a casual conversation, or too willing to offer advice when someone just needs a friend.

I miss my mother, my friend. We weren’t always close growing up, but we became closer once I became an adult and lived a little (a lot). I knew I could tell her just about anything, she wouldn’t always approve, but she trusted me to live my life how I saw fit. If I made mistakes, I learned from them.

Next time someone comes to you with a heavy heart, don’t offer advice - just listen. Sometimes that can be all anyone needs.