Confessions & Concoctions

So I confess I'm tickled pink about the snow on the ground this morning.  I confess I'm not tickled pink about the sleet that's been coming down non-stop for an hour....the sound of it against our bedroom windows is what woke me up this morning.  You know the Pop Rocks candy you ate as a kid and they kinda exploded in your mouth with that sound resonating in your ears?!?  Well, that's what the sleet sounds like!  http://www.poprockscandy.com/

I confess I think it would be really cool to drive a snow plow.  I think I'd feel like a superhero driving down the street in that huge, yellow machine.  The Weather Channel has named this "Historic Winter Storm" THE BEAST.    I think a snow plow driver would be kinda like a superhero - pushing the snow back from THE BEAST so people can get around / helping people / doing good things / coming to peoples' rescue.  I'm thinking a ticker-tape parade would be appropriate!  Hmmmm, my very own ticker-tape parade!  How exciting!!  What to wear, what to wear....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticker-tape_parade

I confess it's been way too long since I've thrown a snowball.  I really don't remember the last time I threw a snowball.  Sad, huh?  As a child it was my all time favorite event - the throwing of the snowball.  Sadly, it was this all time favorite event that got me in trouble.....every single time.  And I do mean every single time.  The most trouble I got in was when we lived in Iowa for a year.  Our driveway was on the left side of the house.  Our house had white siding.  I was a mischievous child.  Okay, I was simply a bad child.  I particularly did not like to be told what to do or when to do what I was told what to do.

So one week there was a lot of snow. I, of course, was ecstatic.  I put on my favorite green coat with the fur trimmed hood, my favorite red gloves and my favorite red snow boots.  I couldn't wait to get home from school and play outside in the snow.  I built snowmen.  I made so many snow angels there wasn't any unused snow left for me to make new snow angels on.  So I decided to throw snowballs.  I decided to throw a lot of snowballs.  I remember I saw my Mom in the kitchen window and I threw snowballs at her.  This promptly resulted in my Mom opening the door and yelling, "Lisa-Margaret, stop throwing those snowballs!  You'll break the window!"   I stood there staring at my Mom waiting for her to close the door and then I threw a snowball at the door she had just closed.  Let's just say that decision was not one of my better decisions.  I was sent to my room that afternoon and then had to listen to yet another one of my Dad's stern "Now Lisa" talks when he got home from work that day.

So a few days passed - more snow had fallen so I was able to make more snow angels. I have no idea why I loved making snow angels so much...I just did.  Heaven knows it wasn't due to me feeling as though I had a connection with angels - I definitely did not sport angel wings!!  So I started throwing the snowballs again.  I started out throwing them at the cherry trees in our backyard.  I got bored with that after a few minutes and made what ultimately would be a beyond bad decision - I decided to throw snowballs at the side of the house covered in white siding.  My Mom never heard me because apparently the white siding absorbed the sound of my snowballs.  I mean, we're talking I was throwing snowballs like an electronic tennis ball machine.

So my Dad comes home.  I, by the time he got home, had put the snowball throwing activity behind me and had moved inside to my room where I listening to records and pretending I was a superstar singing along  - singing along totally tone deaf that is.  So my Dad walks in my room and asks "Lisa, were you throwing snowballs at the side of the house today?"  I immediately recognized that tone of voice coming out of my Dad's mouth.  It was that tone that when he asked you a question it wasn't really a question - it was that tone that was TELLING you that you had done what he was asking if you had done.  This tone was not, as 'ole Martha Stewart would say, "a good thing."  No.  No ma'am.  No way No how.  This tone was a very bad thing!

I looked at my Dad for a few seconds and in those few seconds I decided my fate.  "No Dad" I said.  Well, that was just not smart - not smart at all.  I was then taken outside where my Dad pointed to the tan colored circular marks on the side of the house covered in white siding.  I remember standing there with my Dad staring at the side of the house covered in white siding and realizing I would not be throwing any more snowballs in Iowa.  I remember realizing my record player was about to be taken away.  I also remember thinking....well who KNEW snow had dirt in it and would leave marks on the side of the house covered in white siding.  WHO KNEW??   Well, my Dad sure knew!  I sure know now!  To be perfectly clear....I denied, denied, denied.  Present date, I have never admitted to my Dad I threw snowballs against the side of the house covered in white siding.  Present date, my Dad still tells that story.  I think it's in hopes that I'll one day eventually confess.  No way!  No ma'am!  No Way!  No How!  Well, at least not to him.  I am, however, confessing to ya'll!!  (lol)   http://www.hostesscakes.com/snoballs.asp   (I loved, loved, loved these!!)

So I've created endless concoctions and below is one of them!  I don't remember when I concocted it.  I confess I sometimes get carried away with the fresh garlic.  Not a lot of kisses from Chris those nights.  (lol)


LISA's CONCOCTION
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concoction
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2 bags of quick cook brown rice
chicken, turkey or beef (ground or chopped)
3 fresh garlic cloves (minced)
1 small handful of parsley (chopped)
1/2 of a small wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano (grated - reserve half)
1/2 of a purple onion (chopped)
1 small container of fresh portabello mushrooms
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
1 small container of cream
couple of pours of chicken broth (be careful not to make this dish too "thin")
PAM

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.  Cook the rice per the instructions on the box.  In a pan, thoroughly cook the meat.  I cook / season mine with extra light olive oil, sea salt & pepper.  Combine the rice, meat and other ingredients in a large bowl.  Spray a baking dish with PAM and pour the mixture into the baking pan.  Sprinkle with the reserved Parmigiano Reggiano and cover with foil.  Bake at 350F degrees for 30 minutes.

I confess....it's really, really good!!
"Enjoy!"

Always "Push The Parsley!"
~ A Girl Cook