by jphilo | Aug 12, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
Modern conveniences make our lives so much easier. Here are ten I’m determined to not take for granted.
10. Door knobs. Laura Ingalls Wilder did her darndest to make latch strings sound cozy in the Little House series. But have you ever tried to work one? Door knobs are a vast improvement.
9. Comfy shoes. If your job doesn’t require much standing, this one sounds pretty lame. But teachers, sales clerks, nurses, and other people who stand most of the day never take comfy shoes for granted.
8. Bedsteads. The older a person gets, the more a bed on legs is appreciated. For people who live where creepy, crawlies consider your castle their castle, this appreciation comes much sooner.
7. Gardening gloves. A welcome replacement for fingernail brushes that scrub the skin raw and still leave dirt under fingernails.
6. Heating and cooling units. They beat chopping wood all winter and sweating all summer to pieces.
5. Running water. Need I say more?
4. The garden hose. As contrary and twisty these snaky green wonders can be, they are much better than packing pails of water hither and yon across the lawn.
3. Drain strainers. If you’ve ever poked a plumber’s snake down a bathtub drain, you know why this one’s on the list.
2. Gas and electric stoves. How did cooks in the olden days regulate the temperature to bake cookies and pies with a wood stove? That’s a skill I’m grateful not to have learned.
1. Window screens. Can you imagine the days before before air conditioning and window screens when people had two options in the heat of the summer? Open the windows to cool off the house and share your bedroom with hoards of skeeters, flies and other flying pests. Or shut the windows and cook all night in solitude. The thought makes me grateful every time I open the windows to let the breeze in our house.
What modern convenience do you not take for granted? Leave a comment.
Photo Credit: Gualberto107 at www.freedigitalphotos.net
by jphilo | Aug 5, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. One of your earliest memories is of the pool party birthday when you turned five. Granted, it was only a kiddie pool with six inches of water in the side yard. But it was great fun. And as the photographs of the event show, you look pretty good in your swimsuit.
9. There’s never any homework to finish before the party begins.
8. In the same vein, parties never have to break up early because there’s school tomorrow.
7. Sometimes, your birthday coincides with your vacation, and you get to celebrate in far away places like Alaska, Idaho, Washington state, or your aunt and uncle’s farm in southwest Minnesota.
6. Even though you live in a four season state like Iowa, birthday meals can be eaten outside.
5. There’s no need for fancy decorations on a cake when everywhere you look, God has decorated July with flowers.
4. Fresh-picked sweet corn is on the birthday meal menu.
3. Because July is smack dab in the middle of peach season, your birthday cake can be fresh peach pie.
2. You can use the coffee house gift card at your favorite coffee shop to order not just coffee, but iced coffee…and then sit at a table outside to enjoy it.
1. Your sweetheart can ride a motorcycle to the store to purchase the most hilarious Modern Family gift bag ever in which to place the coffee house gift card he bought. Then he can hide both bag and card under his shirt to sneak it through the kitchen where you are cooking sweet corn for supper. That’s a Phil Dunphy moment if there ever was one.
by jphilo | Jul 29, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
Any writer will tell you that writing a first draft is tough stuff. This month and next, I’m struggling through the initial draft of my book on PTSD in kids. Here are the top ten reason’s it’s akin to pulling teeth…at least in my book.
10. Because writing a rough draft is…rough. Hence the name.
9. Fear of the blank page.
8. Keeping one’s butt in the chair until the blank page is filled does wonders for word count, but it’s hard on the back.
7. Fear of the blank page.
6. I use my hands when I talk, so it’s very hard to get my point across with words alone.
5. Fear of the blank page.
4. I worry about piling on the facts until their sheer magnitude overwhelms readers.
3. Fear of the blank page.
2. I worry about leaving out too many facts so readers can’t follow what’s been written.
1. Fear of the blank page.
Photo Credit: nattavut at www.freedigitalphoto.net
by jphilo | Jul 22, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. It lowers grocery bills so there’s more money to spend on air conditioning.
9. Anyone who gets weekly produce through a community supported agriculture (CSA) share has plenty of veggies to eat.
8. Those with dairy allergies that limit food choices when out and about have a different excuse to explain their picky eating habits.
7. Selections in restaurants’ “fit and trim” category, which consist mostly of salads, are appropriate summer eating.
6. It’s the perfect opportunity to learn to drink iced coffee black.
5. The virtuous feeling that comes with eating healthy almost cancels out the sweaty feeling that comes with summer’s 100% humidity and 100° temperatures.
4. A July diet is the perfect excuse to not do RAGBRAI. You know, “Got to avoid the pie” and all that.
3. No need to heat up the kitchen baking dessert.
2. In July, the produce aisle is a dessert buffet–berries, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, pineapple, peaches–the list goes on and on.
1. A July diet helps a person avoid scenes like this when putting on cute, skinny, summer jeans.
by jphilo | Jul 15, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. Radio ads during sports broadcasts feature seed corn, soybean hybrid, fertilizers, and the like.
9. During the recession, Iowa’s unemployment rate was 2–4% lower than the national rate.
8. Unbearable hot, humid summer days and nights are interrupted by cooler, less humid reprieves that make a person appreciate good weather.
7. Cookie’s Barbeque Sauce.
6. Drives in the country on summer Sunday afternoons or evenings.
5. Fresh produce stands from June through September.
4. Soil so rich your son, whose college major is Soils, takes pictures of garden dirt when he comes for a visit.
3. After a childhood devoid of raptors, the eagles and falcons are back, soaring on the updrafts.
2. The green, verdant beauty of our country lane, which brings tears to my eyes each time I drive home.
1. Sweet corn, sweet corn, and more sweet corn.
by jphilo | Jul 8, 2014 | Recipes, Top Ten Tuesday
Summer in Iowa and the eatin’ is tasty! Gardens are overflowing with produce, and in honor of this bounteous time of year, here this year’s top ten favorite recipes that feature fresh herbs, fruits and veggies. Enjoy!
10. In the spirit of the “Life is short so eat dessert first” school of thought, I’m kicking things off with the recipe for strawberry-rhubarb pie.
9. Any meat marinated in this teriyaki sauce and stir fried with fresh garden veggies will be a summer time hit.
8. I found this kale and sausage tart recipe late last summer, and it was an instant hit.
7. The man of steel loves this grilled turkey pesto sandwich, made with basil pesto (see #5). He’s glad that this summer food is good any time of year, since pesto is easy to freeze and thaw.
6. Tomato season is just beginning. Once it’s in full swing, this fresh summer salsa makes short work of extra tomatoes, peppers, and onions.
5. Non-dairy basil pesto. Spread it on pizza and sandwiches or toss it with pasta. It freezes beautifully, too!
4. No summer recipe list is complete without Grandma Fern’s wilted lettuce. It’s delicious and uses massive amounts of garden lettuce and spinach, too.
3. This absolutely delicious grilled shrimp salad is a summer staple at our house. We feel so virtuous eating it because it’s low-cal and very healthy.
2. Peanut-cilantro pesto vaulted near the top of our summer favorites list about 5 seconds after the man of steel and I tasted it. We like it on crackers, sandwiches, and tossed with pasta. Divine!
1. And finally, the top summer recipe on our little gravel road is fresh peach pie. In a week or two, when the Colorado, Michigan, and Missouri peaches hit the grocery stores, this pie will grace every potluck or food-related social event we attend.
What’s your favorite summer recipe? Leave a link to it in the comment box or share the recipe. Happy eating!
