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Wednesday, December 5, 2018

For Cat Who Likes Llamas (Wordless Wednesday), Words for Wednesday, and The Cookie Recipe Exchange

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both.  If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.) 


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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     




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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts that encourages us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.    

This month, the prompts are being provided by River at Drifting Through Life.



This week's words are:

1. noose
2. moose
3. soon
4. omen
5. shoe
6. onion

and/or:

1. hourglass
2. fireplace
3. fragment
4. paradise
5. discussing
6. wondering



"Why do I put this around my neck like a NOOSE?  I would almost rather be a MOOSE!  And why do I feel like channeling Dr. Seuss?"  He stood before the mirror, retying the tie he loathed more than any other article of clothing he owned, which explained why he owned only one.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, coming into the bathroom carrying one SHOE.  "Have you seen the mate to this?"

"Just DISCUSSING with the mirror how much I love wearing a necktie," he said with a bit of a smirk.  "And I was WONDERING why there was a shoe on the shelf with the towels," he continued, handing her the one she wanted.

"Oh, I must have set it there when you yelled for me to come help with the FIREPLACE.  I don't know what's happening with me, I keep getting so distracted.  Yesterday it was an ONION set on the computer table, today I'm putting shoes on the towel rack.  Does pregnancy do this to women's brains? Is this an OMEN of what's to come?  I mean, I'm willing to have my HOURGLASS figure replaced with baby stretch marks, but do I have to lose my brains, too?"

"Just part of the PARADISE that is parenthood, I guess," he said, giving her a hug.  "I think it will get better, right now you are still morning sick and we're new to the whole thing and that's enough to distract anyone."

"I hope so, I hate it when a FRAGMENT of a thought goes through my brain so fast I can't even catch it.  I'm dropping the ball a bit too often these days, and SOON I won't be in any shape to bend over and pick it up!"

"We'll pick it up together, don't worry," he said.  "Right now, though, we need to get going or we'll be late."



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One of the things you will find if you read below is that today is Swap a Christmas Cookie Recipe Day.  My friend Jz is doing just that, hosting a cookie recipe exchange.

Please note if you visit her, she sometimes posts content that is higher than a PG rating, and so do some of her other friends whose recipes will be linked.  Please know i am endorsing only those posts which contain a recipe.  After all, who doesn't like getting new recipes for delights at this time of year!

My recipe is for what we call Fudgie Buddies. They are very similar to the flourless cakes that were the rage several years ago.  They should look dry and crackly like brownies, but be soft and fudgy on the inside.

While i've never tried making them gluten free, it might be possible with a very bland wheat flour substitute.  The chocolate flavor would probably cover it.

1 bag semisweet chocolate chips (12 ounces)
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate (2 ounces)
2 tablespoons salted butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
dash salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
optional: 1 cup chopped nuts, or raisins, or both if you like (or neither if someone is allergic to nuts and raisins aren't your thing)

Melt the butter over low heat, then add one cup of the semisweet chips and both squares of baking chocolate.  Stir constantly until it's all melted together, then scrape into a mixing bowl and let it cool a little. (Or leave it in the pot to cool a bit and mix the rest in the pot the way i do, it dirties up fewer things.) 

Stir together the flour, baking powder, and just a dash of salt and set aside (i always put it in a little plastic leftovers container and shake it to mix).

Add the eggs, sugar and vanilla to the chocolate mixture and stir well.  Add the flour mixture and stir well again.

Stir in the other cup of chocolate chips from the bag and nuts or raisins if you want.

Drop by the spoonful onto a lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees until the edges are firm and on the outside they look dull and cracked, like brownies.  How long it takes to bake depends on the size, if you use small spoonfuls, it will be about 8-10 minutes and you will get about 36 cookies.  If you use huge spoonfuls like i do, it will take about 10-12 minutes and you will only get 18 cookies.

Once done, let them sit on the cookie sheet for a moment, then remove them and let them cool (if you don't have your family hovering to take them while they are still warm).


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Today is:

AFL-CIO Day (date of merger in 1955)

Bathtub Party Day -- celebrate how much fun it is to take a nice, long, hot bath in these days when showers prevail; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Boycott Day -- commemoration of the city bus boycott begun this day in 1959 in Birmingham, AL, US in response to the arrest of Rosa Parks

Constitution Day -- Sudan

Day of the Ninja -- sponsored by Ninja Burger! with its own website    

Dingle-Fritter, Gooseberry Humple, Tiger-Get-By, LoneFolding, and Zimbor-Quattor's (Multiple Squishing of) Celebration -- Fairy Calendar

Discovery Day -- Haiti

International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development -- UN

King's Birthday -- Thailand, also National Day and Father's Day (for His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s birth anniversary, the founder and "father" of the nation)

National Sacher Torte Day

Nones of December -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also observed
    Faunalia -- rural festival of Faunus

Repeal Day -- US (celebrating the repeal of Prohibition)

Special Kids Day -- a day to make sure special needs kids get to visit Santa with whatever accomodations they require    

St. Bassus of Nice's Day (Patron of Nice, France)

St. Nicholas' Eve  -- Belgium; Czech Republic; Hungary; Netherlands; Romania; Slovakia; parts of the UK; special observances include
     Avond -- Leewvarden, West Friesland (St. Nicholas visits and, if you are good, promises to return with trinkets and candies, which are left in waiting shoes)
     Bonhomme Noel -- France (Celebration of "Goodman Christmas")
     Klausjagen -- Arth and Kussnacht, Switzerland (with a procession of mitre-wearing figures by the Lake of Four Cantons)
     Krampuslauf -- Austria (St. Nicholas celebration, which begins the evening before the Saint's day, involving chasing and throwing snowballs at the Krampus, the imp who travels with St. Nick to punish the bad children)
     Zwarte Piet -- "Black Peter", the companion of St. Nicholas who keeps track of the good and bad children, arrives in many areas tonight

Swap a Christmas Cookie Recipe Day -- because it's fun to try new ones



Birthdays Today:

Frankie Muniz, 1985
Margaret Cho, 1968
Gary Allan, 1967
John Rzeznik, 1965
Art Monk, 1957
Morgan Brittany, 1950
Jim Messina, 1947
Jose Carreras, 1946
Jeroen Krabbe, 1944
J.J. Cale, 1938
Chad Mitchell, 1936
Calvin Trillin, 1935
Joan Didion, 1934
Little Richard, 1932
Otto Preminger, 1906
Strom Thurmond, 1902
Walt Disney, 1901
Bill Picket, 1870
George Armstrong Custer, 1839
Christina Rossetti, 1830
Martin Van Buren, 1782


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Catskills on Broadway"(Revue), 1991
"I Do! I Do!"(Musical), 1966
"Band on the Run"(Album), 1973 (US release date)
"The Dark at the Top of the Stairs"(Inge play), 1957
"The Abbot and Costello Show"(TV), 1952
"Dragnet"(TV), 1951
"Kejser og Gililaer/Emperor and Galilean"(Ibsen play), 1896
"Symphonie Fantastique"(Berlioz symphony), 1830

Today in History:

Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations, BC63
An earthquake in Naples leave about 35,000 dead, 1465
All Jews are expelled from Portugal by order of King Manuel I, 1496
London auctioneers Christie's hold their first sale, 1766
Henry Knox begins the transport of Fort Ticonderoga artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts, a key to later forcing the British Fleet out of Boston Harbor, 1775
C F Schoenbein obtains patent for cellulose nitrate explosive, 1846
President Polk confirms that gold has been discovered in California, triggering the next year's "Gold Rush", 1848
Daniel Stillson of Massachusetts patents the first practical pipe wrench, 1876
The first automated telephone switching system is patented, 1879
The first electric car makes its debut; it could go 15 miles between charges, 1893
University of Pittsburg makes the first use of numbers on football jerseys, 1908
The American League for Physical Culture is founded in NYC, the first US nudist organization, 1929
The 21st Amendment, which repealed Prohibition, is ratified, 1933
Sister Elizabeth Kenny's new treatment for infantile paralysis receives approval, 1941 
A cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing at least 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow, 1952
The United Nations General Assembly adopts Pakistan's resolution on security of non-Nuclear States, 1976
Shuttle Atlantis launches world's 1st nuclear-war-fighting satellite. 1988
The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there, 2005
Human remains previously found in 1991 are finally identified by Russian and American scientists as those of Tsar Nicholas II, 2008
Malta becomes the first country in Europe to outlaw conversion therapy, 2015
Russia is banned from the next Winter Olympics in South Korea over state-sponsored doping, 2017

16 comments:

  1. I really love your take on River's prompts.
    I have a soft spot for llamas too. A one l lama is a priest. A two l llama is a beast. And I will bet a silk pyjama that there is no such thing as a three l lllama (sorry).

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  2. Sounds like a nice cookie recipe to try out one of these days. Thank you and have a lovely day!

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  3. Haha!those are perfectly placed :-)

    Have a lalatastic week :-)

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  4. Excellent. Bravo. Absolutely done with ease...no shoehorning here.

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  5. We like those things in the first photo, especially the llama. Always love your list of weird days for today.

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  6. (When I first saw your post title, I thought it said, "For Cats Who Like Limas"... and I was very confused! Garcon! More coffee, please!")

    Your Fudgie Buddies look terrific! And really, a huge spoon is the only way to go when doling out chocolate...
    Thanks for playing along, my friend!

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  7. I'll taste test any results from swap a Christmas cookie recipe day.

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  8. I have to wonder now why we use the term for mate for our other shoe. Why not partner.
    Coffee is on

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  9. Recipe exchanges are most fun. There are a lot of goodness out there this time of year.

    I love your stories. You put them together so well.

    Cute Wordless Wednesday photograph. It made me LOL.

    May you and Sweetie have a great Wordless Wednesday. ♥

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  10. I'm sure someone could put a moose noose in a Dr. Seuss spoof. Happy Birthday, electric car! :)

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  11. HA! Our Mom has a Christmas shirt with the Fa La La La Llamas on it!

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  12. Love the pic of the 2 paintings and play on words!

    Happy Day to you,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  13. LOLOL!! She thinks Pregnancy is bad! Wait until Menopause!!

    Loved your story, as usual!

    Thanks for sharing your great writing talent.

    - Lisa

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  14. Cute story. I like the llamas too. And thank you for sharing this recipe, it sounds yummy! XO

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  15. I LOVE your story, it's so sweet. And I like her husband's attitude towards helping. "We're in this together".The fudgie buddies sound delicious too, I'm going to have to try them.

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  16. Mimi,

    Did you snap the pictures of the funny artwork? Those are great and so purrrfect for the season at hand. :) Furtastic job with your creative writing words prompt! Pregnancy really does mess the head. lol

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