A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, “Please wake me at 5:00 AM.” He left it where he knew she would find it. The next morning the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn’t wakened him when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, “It is 5:00 AM. Wake up.”

Tsk, tsk, men are not equipped for these kinds of contests! LOL

Coincidentally, two different people reminded me yesterday that I'd promised to post my favorite meatloaf and spaghetti sauce recipes after I got back from my mom's. It had honestly slipped my mind until I got the reminders. So here's my meatloaf recipe - I'll post the spaghetti recipe another time.

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1 lb. ground beef
1 c. rolled oats
3/4 c. (6 oz. can) V8 vegetable juice
1 egg
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/3 c. chopped onion
ketchup

OPTIONAL: chopped celery, chopped green pepper, shredded carrot or shredded zucchini

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In mixing bowl, combine rolled oats and V8 juice; allow 10 minutes for oats to absorb the juice. Add ground beef, egg, salt, pepper and chopped onion; mix thoroughly (best done with your hands IMO). Form into a loaf in a baking pan (I use an 11"x7" Pyrex pan). Bake for 45 minutes; brush top and sides with ketchup. Bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand at least 10 minutes before slicing.

HINT: Put a little water on your hands before forming the meatloaf. The meat mixture won't stick to your hands if they're wet.

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Hope you enjoy!

...that sometime during the night my blog reached the 10,000 view level. Wow, whaddaya know?!

Saw something on the local news last night I thought I'd share. A 76 year old man was arrested yesterday for sexual battery. Posing as a doctor, he'd gone door to door offering free breast exams to women. I guess because he wore a stethoscope around his neck and was so harmless looking - like a kindly, gray haired grandfather - he actually got a couple of takers. He fondled their breasts at length but then when he started to do more ("more" wasn't explained by the newscaster), the women stopped him, got him to leave and called the police. The man was easy to track down, like I said he was going door to door and was still in the neighborhood. He was arrested without incident and booked for sexual battery and another charge I can't remember.

Sheesh, what some guys will do to cop a feel!

"No game in the world is as tidy and dramatically neat as baseball, with cause and effect, crime and punishment, motive and result, so clearly defined." - Paul Gallico (sportswriter)

"Baseball is like church. Many attend, but few understand." - Wes Westrum (Mets manager 1965-67)

"Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer." - Ted Williams

"Any time you think you have the game conquered, the game will turn around and punch you right in the nose." - Mike Schmidt

"It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." - A. Bartlett Giamatti

...until the season starts! GO ANGELS!!!

New strapless dress: $85
New shoes: $60
New hairdo: $45
Catching the bouquet (while everyone else is staring at your boobs): PRICELESS

Our weather here hit for the cycle yesterday - we got rain, sleet, hail and snow. And the sun even peeked out briefly! What an amazing day. Then it was clear last night and the temp dropped below 30 degrees, but it doesn't look like we lost any plants. Right now it's in the 40's and kinda cloudy. I talked to a couple of our neighbors this morning and they were complaining about the weather, but personally I love it. We seldom get a true winter here so I'm enjoying this little piece of it while it lasts.

Yep, it's actually snowing here right now. And D and I don't even live in the mountains! This is so incredibly cool. And beautiful. The flakes are huge, and snow is starting to blanket the ground. I love it!!!

I’ve been asked for more recipes, so here’s one I made the other night that’s been a longtime family favorite. I got this recipe from the Mexican-born wife of a former co-worker of D’s. It called for a pound of fresh tomatillos that I used to have to peel and boil and crush (pain in the butt), but then several years ago I substituted a can of salsa verde after seeing tomatillos are the main ingredient of that. Now it’s one of the easiest dinners I make – and one of the best. I’d put this chili verde up against most any Mexican restaurant’s, it’s that good.

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1 tbsp. oil
2 lbs. trimmed pork
1 – 7 oz. can Embasa or Herdez salsa verde (mild)
1 – 4 oz. can diced green chiles (use the 7 oz. can if you LOVE green chiles)
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. cumin
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 c. hot water

Cut pork into 3/4” cubes. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Fry pork, onion and garlic in hot oil until the meat changes color; drain. Add remainder of ingredients (water should cover meat - add more if needed); bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cover pan. Simmer for approximately 2 hours or until meat is very soft, stirring occasionally.

Thicken before serving: in a small, lidded container (like a Tupperware container) put 1/2 c. cold water and 1/4 c. flour; cover and shake well to blend. SLOWLY pour the flour/water mixture into the simmering chili verde, stirring constantly. (If you don’t stir constantly, you’ll end up with a lot of little dumplings in your chili!) If it’s still not thick enough for you, add more flour/water mixture; if it’s too thick, thin with a little water.

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We’ve always made burritos out of this chili, too, adding Mexican rice, chopped onion, tomato and lettuce, shredded Monterey jack cheese, and chunks of avocado if we’ve got it. We prefer these burritos “wet”: after making the burrito (using a large flour tortilla), put it on a microwave-safe dinner plate, spoon more chili verde on top and cover with more shredded jack cheese. Microwave for approximately 45 seconds; top with a dollop of sour cream, if desired. You’ll need a knife and fork to eat a wet burrito, but oh are they good!