An Attempt to Avoid Humiliating Anecdotes About My Friends and Family

One of my favorite writers is David Sedaris. I think he's hilarious and brilliant. I started to read his books last summer, and I couldn't put them down. As soon as I finished Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, I had to pick up Me Talk Pretty One Day, and so on and so on until I got to When You are Engulfed in Flames. And when I had read all of his books I started reading every internet article I could get my hands on. And one of the most frequently asked questions in interviews with him is this one from this Time article (here): "DO YOU EVER WORRY THAT YOU'LL RUN OUT OF HUMILIATING ANECDOTES ABOUT YOUR FAMILY?"

He usually answers that his family and friends alternate between telling him not to write about them anymore and then subsequently asking why he isn't writing about them anymore. Which always leads to me think about the people in my life and their place on this blog. The blog as it is now isn't as private as I intended it to be. Which I don't mind. I've attached my full name to it, and I put a lot of thought into the content, taking into consideration my friends and family's feelings before writing to avoid the awkward "so I read on your blog..." conversations. Since starting the blog I have joined BlogHer's ad network, which promotes my blog content and makes it more public. I comment on virtual strangers blogs, linking them to mine, and subsequently "meeting" new people, further exposing my little corner of the internet. It's been a largely positive experience.

I won't be invited back to future family Thanksgivings if I'm not kind to my family on the blog (although why wouldn't I be - my mother's side of the family who I'll be celebrating with is awesome), and I might share with them David Sedaris' holiday collection Holidays On Ice to give them something to be thankful for, since they can sleep better at night knowing our family's holiday antics aren't enshrined in a best-selling novel, or on my little blog. I'm spending another much needed long weekend with my family and taking a little midwestern tour through Indiana and Illinois (I'll be back in Decatur, IL for Thanksgiving again, where I was last year).

Come to think of it though, we're more Griswold than we are Sedaris...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Is It Possible to Mess Up a Casserole That You Can't Mess Up?

Whenever there is a potluck, I'm always the first to RSVP to make sure I'm able to sign up to bring plates or cups or ice.  Past contributions to Thanksgiving potlucks have been jellied cranberry sauce straight from the can, a store bought pie, and a liter of coke.  However, this year my office potluck required two contributions.  I was in for the jellied cranberry sauce, but they asked me to bring green beans, preferably in the form of a casserole, as well.  

I decided to make the casserole, and for the first time, contribute an actual dish to a potluck that I prepared myself.  This monumental occasion was, of course, documented.

I decided not to attempt any fancy Food Network recipes and instead went by what was on the back of the French's crunchy onions box.  I call this recipe "Ole Standby Green Bean Casserole."  I halted my food prep halfway through to take a picture.  It was messy but so far, so good.  

I then dumped everything I had measured and prepared into my newly-purchased casserole dish.  In the event that my green bean casserole didn't taste good, I didn't want to embarrass myself further with nasty, old, probably hand-me-down from my Mom dishes.  There's another excuse for me not to cook - until it's appropriate for me to register for wedding gifts, I'm dragging my heels at stocking my kitchen with necessary bakeware.   

I threw it in the oven and then waited for Denton to comment at the unusual smell coming from the kitchen.  "Is that lovely smell coming from the oven?  Are you cooking?"  "Why yes, I am dear."*

*This is a fictional exchange.  I bragged so much prior to starting this that D already knew what was going down.  And he had the nerve to tell me he didn't like green bean casserole.  Well it's not for you, buddy.  Humph.

On an unrelated note (but I took this picture while I was cooking and had to share it somewhere) - aren't my Cole Haan flats cute?  I'm kind of obsessed with purple this season and I'm so in love with these.   

Back to the food.  I put the casserole in the oven a little longer than the recommended thirty minutes, because it looked kind of soupy.  I was still a little disappointed and worried when it was done.

But after a night in the fridge, three minutes in the microwave at work, and some fresh fried onions, it was good to go at the potluck.  Even the seasoned cooking veterans said "This is yum!" but usually followed up with "You can't mess up green bean casserole."  

They ate the whole thing!  And there were no other green bean casseroles there to compare it to.  And it wasn't the saddest dish either, because you may notice to the right that the mashed potatoes are in plastic dishes and are the kind your stir and heat up in the microwave.  They weren't half bad.  "You can't ruin microwave mashed potatoes."

Ole Standby Green Bean Casserole

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

3/4 cup of milk

1/8 tsp. of black pepper

2 cans of green beans (drained)

1 1/3 cups of french fried onions

Directions

Mix soup, milk and pepper.  Stir in beans and 2/3 cup of french fried onions.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until it doesn't look so soupy to you.

Stir and top with onions, bake for another five minutes, or wait and reheat it for three to five minutes in your office's kitchen.

Serve to non-judgemental office mates in your new casserole dish, solicit compliments, and be smug that your very first potluck contribution wasn't unsuccessful.

Is There Such a Thing as Thanksgiving Cheer?

Fabulous K is thankful for her blog readers this week, and I am too!  

Hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving week, and I am feeling extra thankful since there is only two more workdays left and I'm traveling soon to visit my wonderful family.  

So hello, and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  Visit Fabulous K's Holiday Hello here.  I'm really looking forward to her giveaway next week, and I'm thinking a new blog design might be in my future soon...

What is Hippie Chili?

Every time I've attempted to cook in the last year, it's been documented on this blog. It's all here. And there's only five posts. I've said it before, but in my defense, Denton really enjoys making dinner and because it's often just the two of us, or occasionally just myself, I don't put as much effort into being a domestic diva as I would like to.

But when my parents came down recently, they asked if we could have dinner at my house the night they flew into Houston. Normally I'd just ask Denton to cook or run to the pre-made meals at Central Market, but I decided to actually prepare something myself, and it didn't turn into a horrible disaster.

I made vegetarian chili, which I renamed "Hippie Chili," because it's vegetarian and I used all organic foods.

Meg's Hippie Chilli



Ingredients:

• 2 cans of organic black beans
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 bag of frozen corn
  
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) tomatoes with juice
• 1 or 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil; Saute onion and garlic until soft, about 3 to 5 mins. Add peppers, tomatoes, chili powder and cumin. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, for three minutes. Transer to slow cooker.

Add all other ingredients, then cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 7 hours, or until chili is thick and beans are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish each serving with shredded cheese if desired.

This picture was taken after we had dug in - it was really tasty (and hot!) and was super filling. I also served it with crackers.

I'm a huge fan of the crock pot liner - it makes clean up very, very easy. I'm just a huge fan of how the crock pot makes every thing very, very easy.

My New Year's Resolution for the past two years has been to be more domestic. Third year's a charm, right?

Lou's Greatest Hits

Kelly's Korner "Show Us Your Life" is pet themed this week. And how could Lou and I not participate? Louis is my cat and he's pretty much the star of this blog. I have tried for the past year to feature him in "Lou's Dedicated Weekly Post" (although I'm going to attempt to be more creative and actually write a title for posts moving forward), and I decided for the Show Us Your Life/Lou's Dedicated Weekly Post to feature some of my favorite posts from the past.

Click on the bold font below to read some of Lou's "Best of" posts:

The Myth Behind Lou's Name...He was not named after a Louis Vuitton handbag
Lou's Adoption Story...Our "Adopt-iversary" is April 22
Lou's Trick...He only has one
Lou's Morning Snuggle...It's legendary
Lou's Morning Snuggle Caught on Tape...Guess that's 2 tricks - he comes when called
Louis Immortalized in Pop Art...We love my Dad's Photography and Andy Warhol
Lou Ponders Country Life...He's so cute

And here's Lou in various stages of cuteness:

And click here to see the archive of Lou's Dedicated Weekly Posts!

High Fashion: Canadian Edition

It's easy to keep up with my Texan-Canadian parents through my Dad's Blog, Apparently Random Travel Blog (formerly Lost in Japan). Our friends and family that follow the blog are always admiring Dad's nature photography, but I like to keep an eye on his fashion sense. And lately, he has not disappointed. His winter wear is a vast improvement over his summer staple, the Mandals (man-sandals). Lately, he picked out a new winter hat for himself, and I have to say, it's awesome.

Seriously, I had to have one. And Dad said they come in all different varieties of animals. Which one do you think I got?

(Both photos lifted from Dad's Blog)

I got a cat hat, of course. I had Dad bribe me for the photography equipment that he's been shipping to my apartment and bring me my very own sock cat hat.

I know some of you might be scared right now and may want to take away my license to dress myself. That's fair. Maybe you'll find solace in that it rarely gets below 50 degrees in Houston, rendering it unnecessary to ever where this hat, but for the skiing I'm planning to do over Christmas in Banff. Maybe it makes you feel better to know that a love of animal sock hats is genetic, and unless one of your family members has a sock-hat wearing relative, you won't have to suffer the humiliation of being seen with them and their beloved hat. Light a candle for Denton, who has been hit with a Snuggie and sock hat punch all in one weekend.

But it could be possible that some of you agree - the cat sock hat is too cute. And the tasteful gray goes with my red peacoat. I can't wait for it to be cold enough to wear it. I'm so excited.

Week 28: The Liz Logelin Foundation

Don't miss the post below here where I'm rocking a Snuggie, but even more important than my new purchase is the opportunity to have your donation to the Liz Logelin Foundation matched today by GiveMN.org.

From the Liz Logelin Foundation Donor page on GiveMN.org (here):

On March 24, 2008, little Madeline Elizabeth Logelin came into this world.

The next day, her mother left it.

From this impossibly tragic event, a community was born. A community of individuals, united in their desire to help and support Madeline and her father, Matt. This community formed the basis for what would become a worldwide charitable foundation:

The Liz Logelin Foundation – For the Love of Liz.

After the catastrophic loss of his wife, Matt Logelin coped by turning not only to his wonderfully supportive family and friends, but to the internet. He had already begun a casual blog to keep friends and family abreast of Liz’s pregnancy; within 2 weeks of her passing, that blog became what it is today: a place where Matt can share his joys and frustrations, challenges and heartbreaks; where concerned friends, new and old, can meet, talk, laugh, and cry with Matt; and most importantly, where other widows and widowers can offer – and be offered – support and friendship.

So strong and large was the community that spontaneously formed around Matt and Madeline, it seemed not only natural, but necessary to harness the strength of that network and turn it into something – something that could help ease the pain and lighten the load felt by widows and widowers everywhere.

And it all sprang from the Love of Liz.

I donated to the Liz Logelin Foundation's $7 on the 7th campaign (here), and they've since been recieved their 501(c) (3) non profit status recognized as a non-profit. Matt and Madeline are currently in India while Matt writes his book, and Madeline's nanny, Rachel, promised over Twitter (twitter.com/raemoe) that readers who matched her $10 donation would get a postcard from India. I'm sold! I love this organization, and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Matt Logelin's blog, mattlogelin.com.

Go here to check it out! Double the donations!