The Continuous Law of Learning

Or could it possibly be the Law of Continuous Learning?

Or the Continuous Learning Law?

Either way, I think the point of it is that we are all continuously learning something. I know as a new mom, I think I can still say that even though my daughter recently turned one, I am constantly learning something new. Life is never dull, and it seems like time moves much too fast these days.

Even though, that learning is perhaps the most important learning I'm doing these days, it's not the learning in which I'm going to talk about today. I was thinking the other day about all the things I want to learn that are personal things. Things for me, to help me grow as an individual. All the things I'm interested in and how I can improve and possibly put that knowledge to a better use for me.

Well, I am interested in crafts, and I do know how to knit. I've knitted several projects and even designed few of them myself. Which I'm kind of proud of. So my next step was learning to crochet. I wanted to learn for the longest time. And every time I picked up the hook and yarn, I couldn't make it happen. The only thing I would have at the end of the day to show for my efforts was a long chain of yarn. And even though the chain stitch is important, it doesn't really get you anywhere. You know what I mean? Not unless you know what to do with it after you have. That was the part I couldn't make happen.

I read instructional materials, books, etc. Nothing seemed to get the process through my thick skull. So finally one day I decided I was going to see if video would do the trick. YouTube here I come.

I found this very helpful video from the Knit Witch on how to do a single crochet. So I practiced. And I practiced. And I practiced some more, until I thought I might have it right.

Since I wasn't really sure what I was doing, or how to read a crochet pattern, I decided a simple scarf might be the thing for me to do to practice my newly learned skill. So that's what I did.

And the result is this scarf.

I'll attempt to type up the actual pattern I created in my head as I worked along the stitch process and post it soon. But in the meantime, I am extremely proud of my "I Did It My Way Crochet" scarf. I finally tackled the dreaded crochet and improved my skills.

The Dinner That (almost) Was(n't)

As promised, I'm here today to tell you about that dinner fiasco the other night. It all started because I had some cube steak (That's what we call it down here in the south) in the freezer that needed to be cooked up.

Now, I think I should give you a little background at this point. You see, me cooking cube steak is about like me cooking pork chops. I can't do it. For some reason, the dish always turns icky! Don't ask me why, I don't know. It just does.

Anyway, I bought this cube steak a while back in hopes that I would make a wonderfully delicious meal. So it sat, and it sat, and it sat in my freezer until I couldn't stand the sight of it any longer and broke down and pulled it out.

"I'm going to cook you up and you will be yummy!" I says to the package of little buggers.

I actually found a recipe that I thought, hey, if I alter this and change that it just might work. Mind you, this original recipe was for pork chops, which if you remember, I'm not so great at cooking up in the first place. But I was determined, dang it!

So that night I set out to make the devine dinner for my family! Cube Steak in a Mushroom sauce, Mac 'n Cheese, rolls and Strawberry and Spinach salad.

First, the pieces of cube steak were HUGE! Way too big for my pan. I should have opened the package, cut all the steaks in two and then froze in seperate batches. I mean to say that these pieces of meat were huge would probably be an understatement. But at this point it was too late. I had to cook them all. So I started out on my mission.

Step 1: Cook the steaks.

This took way longer than it should have. Because they were so large it took me twice as long to cook them. Not only were they large, but they were thick as well.

Step 2: While steaks are cooking get water on for Mac 'n Cheese.

This was easy. Done!

Step 3: Cut up strawberries and mix dressing.

While working on step three, I was running back to step 1 to check the steaks and flip the steaks and put more steaks in the pan to cook.

Step 4: Assemble salad.

Well, this took longer than I thought. I cut up all the strawberries and feed some to my daughter and then I had to mix the dressing. I actually started to get into a groove until... I smelled something that didn't smell quite right. Then the lightbulb went off.

ARGH! The steaks are burning!!!

As luck would have it, the steaks themselves did not burn, only the pan. But that pan was to be used for the mushroom sauce. And I can't serve up burnt mushroom sauce. Oh no!

When I say burnt, I mean the pan was black! In no way, shape or form could I use it. I had to pull out another pan and make the sauce. So there was no goodness to be used from the pan from the steak seasonings.

The sauce did mix up ok and after that the rest of the meal came together fairly quickly. I had three large pieces of cube steak that were not put back in the sauce to simmer. There simply wasn't enough room. And surprisingly enough, the dish turned out more than just edible, it was pretty good. My hubby said he'd eat it again if I made it. I thought the main dish was a little bland. Maybe because I had to cook the sauce fresh without using the seasonings from the steak pan. Dunno.

The absolute best part was the salad though. And I will let you know about that little dish in an upcoming post. Until then, Ta!

Fiddle-Diddle

Well, it is now officially after Easter, after my baby girl's first birthday and I believe officially spring. I have to say, my Easter dinner did not go as planned below. We ended up going over to my in-law's house. Therefore, I did not cook. So the ham is now frozen, awaiting another day to be enjoyed. The Strawberry and Spinach salad however, was in enjoyed last night. Of which I will tell you all about in tomorrow's post.



But for now, I'm going to tell you that I'm working on a couple of projects that I'm actually getting kind of excited about. I don't have any real details to share yet. Everything is still in the planning stage. But I have become a slight bit obsessed. It's all I can think about. Which isn't a good thing when I have my day job to get done.

Speaking of day jobs, I have to get moving on mine. But don't worry. I'll be back tomorrow, promise, to tell you about that dinner. And be sure to keep an eye for updates on my projects as well.

Dinner is Planned

I have my Easter dinner all planned out I think. This will be my first big dinner. As in, the first big Easter dinner that I, myself, have fully executed. So for good or bad, it’s full steam ahead at this point.

The Menu:

Ham (cooked in the slow cooker with a coating of brown sugar and pineapple)
Strawberry and Spinach Salad
Baked Beans
Bunny Rolls

I may toss in another veggie. Not sure yet. But for now, that’s it for dinner. Now I have to do the shopping to get everything I will need.

Sunday is also my daughter's first birthday. So I'll be cooking up some birthday cake for her as well. Can't wait!!

Showing Off and Gearing Up

I was in the mood to show off a little bit today. So I posted a new photo on my 365 Days of Tess blog. I haven't posted over there in quite some time because, well, because I haven't been taking that many photos lately that don't include a smiling baby face. I do love that smiling baby face!

So if you feel like it jump on over there and take a gander at it and let me know what you think.

In the meantime, I've been thinking about what I want to do with this blog. And I've come the conclusion, I want to have fun, I want to spread the word, talk about things I want to talk about and go with the flow. Now I know there are going to be things that I want to talk about that everyone will not agree on, that's fine. You don't have to agree with me, but you do have to play nice. If you can't don't bother stopping by. Maybe that sounds harsh, but you know what, I don't have the time or patience or inclination to deal with those who can't get along with others simply because you don't see eye to eye.

This blog is not going to be a politically correct blog. So if you come here thinking that, I'm letting you know now, don't.

Speaking of political correctness, which btw I think people take way too far, I heard from a neighbor that in the schools now "The Powers That Be" have changed the nursery rhymes and they are all politically correct. WTF?! What gives them the legal right to alter nursery rhymes that they did not pen themselves? The whole point of the nursery rhymes, the old fables, the fairy tales is to teach our children valuable life lessons. If you alter them then what lesson is there to learn... Oh wait, the lesson to learn is the lesson the "The Powers That Be" want them to learn. Well, sorry. I don't think so! You don't get to make the decisions for my child.

Which is one of many issues I have with the public school systems and how low they have sunk. I want my child to get an education, not just get passed along because "The Powers That Be" want to meet their quotas.

Well, there you have it. A prime example of how my blog is going to go. I had no intention of going into a mini-rant over the public schools. But I did. And I meant it all.

Agree. Disagree. Just be respectful.

If you're still with me, I'll tell you what I was going to talk about today. Food.

But since I derailed myself, I will save the food topic for later. Because trust me, it will be a recurring topic on the blog. :)

On that note, I'll say later gaters until next time.