I can have this cake and eat it, too!

Ye socks who know me well, know I'm always looking for a convenient justification for birthday cake consumption.

So, I proclaimed today my "half-birthday," since it's been six whole months since my real birthday and I have to wait another six whole months til my next one.

Thought I had that worked out real well til some smart aleck whose birthday is March 31st asked how their half-birthday should be calculated since there is no September 31st on the calendar.

I suppose one could count off 182.5 days from 3/31 and figure it out that way.

Or, better yet, claim BOTH September 30th AND October 1st!

But, quit bothering me about such things. I'm trying to eat some cake over here!!

Happy Columbus Day . . . well, sort of . . .

It's kinda hard to get into the spirit of this holiday anyway.

It's even harder when you know that the REAL Columbus Day is October 12th (tomorrow).

But, I guess it's more convenient for all the bankers and federal government workers when holidays fall on a Monday or a Friday.

If the rest of us schlubs--at least those of us lucky enough to have jobs any more--still have to show up to work today, I think it would be nice for all those bankers and bureaucrats to deliver us some Italian food for lunch or something . . .

Happy Birthday, Valda!

Looking forward to introducing you to P.f. Chang's tomorrow!

We'll have to try one of those lettuce wraps . . .

No, seriously. We'll have to!

Not exactly what I expected . . .

So, last night yours truly whipped-up some bow tie pasta.

Made so much, in fact, that we had abundant leftovers around this little corner of heaven.

Now, that's not a frequent occurence!

Anyway, I packed up some of the leftovers in one of the handy dandy containers I found in ye olde cubbard.

Confession: I cannot seem to bring myself to throw out any old containers.

I guess, I got bit bad by the recycling bug.

Or, more likely, I'm just too cheap to buy Tupperware.

At any rate, the container I pulled out of the cubbard was an old "Country Crock" tub. Kinda tacky, but it did the job.

The problem today, is I only now discovered that during the mad scramble to get out the door this morning I picked up the actual tub of "Country Crock" out of the refirgerator instead of the leftover pasta.

Faux butter just isn't appetizing . . . at least not on its own.

Guess this means I need to run out for lunch.

Maybe, I should buy some Gladware while I'm out?

Happy Birthday Cake!

It used to be one of the great perks of working in an office environment that, at least once a month, someone was celebrating a birthday.

And, of course, birthdays mean birthday cake.

Unfortunately, there's been a thinning of the herd around this little corner of heaven . . . as, I suppose, there has been everywhere else since the advent of The ObamaNation.

But, I refuse to digress into another soapbox rant.

Why should I when I'm hopped-up on refined sugar?!

That's right, someone around here is marking a fairly significant birthday today. And, yours truly is celebrating!

Now, pass the ice cream . . .

Pencil-in Chik-fil-A for dinner tomorrow

Just a reminder to ye socks that the two South Orlando locations of Chik-fil-A (on Orange Avenue and on Orange Blossom Trail) are supporting Pine Castle Pioneer Days.

Tomorrow from 5pm to 8pm, anyone who tells their order taker that they support PCPD will have the proceeds donated to reviving the annual festival.

If you need more information/directions, email: pinecastlepioneerdays@hotmail.com

Shannon's has ice cream!

Yours truly was invited to lunch with a true Pine Castle oldtimer this afternoon.

The venue was Shannon's Causal Cafe on South Orange Avenue.

Now, I've been there plenty of times before, for both breakfast and lunch.

But, today was the first time I ever tried one of their old-fashioned ice cream sundaes.

They have several varieties, all with quirky local names. Of course, I had to try the "Pine Castle," which came with a layer of crushed pineapples.

Even without the desserts, our table would've had a great time at Shannon's this afternoon. As it was, the ice cream proved the perfect ending. And, it's one of the best ways we've found to combat the summertime heat around this little corner of heaven . . .

Aldi Experiment: Part 2

OK, after the original experiment failed due to lack of currency and debit cards, yours truly decided to give Aldi another try this fine Sunday in sunny Central Florida.

Why oh why, ye socks may ask, would one drive 5 miles to the middle of Pine Hills to pick up some groceries when there is a Publix literally within walking distance of his humble abode?

I suppose it was just the novelty of it all.

The prices weren't bad, either.

But, I'm still unsure whether either of those considerations really made the trip "worth it."

I think "Part 3" of said experiment will involve another location, so stay tuned.

Making the best of it

One thing yours truly has learned in recent years is this: If you have to do something you'd rather not do, then try to balance it out with doing something fun that you wouldn't normally do.

Today, as I had to head up to Apopka to deal with the pending vacancy at ye olde rental property, I decided to make the journey more palatable with a sidetrip to Renninger's Flea Market in Mount Dora.

Said sidetrip was made all the better by undertaking it with some good friends and eating way too much Mexican food afterwards!

To make things better, I found the house in great condition and got to show it to some great people, too. In fact, I'm hopeful that it may not go unrented for too long after all!

Don't let anyone tell you that flea markets, friends, and food can't cure what ails you!

Exploring Aldi

For a little over a year now, Central Florida has seen German grocery store chain enter the market. (pun intended)

Yet, yours truly has to admit that, until this morning, he had never set foot inside of one.

Mostly, that's due to the fact that there isn't one nearby ye olde abode.

But, feeling more adventuresome than usual this morning, I decided to check out the location on West 50.

Coupla notes for ye socks who haven't yet enjoyed the Aldi experience:

1. Bring a quarter. They won't let you have a shopping cart unless you give them a quarter. The good news is, you get it back IF you return the cart instead of acting like a lazy bum and leaving it to roam the parking lot.

2. Bring your own bags/boxes. If you don't, they'll charge you a small fee per bag.

3. Bring CASH (or a debit card). They do not accept personal checks or credit cards.

I wish someone had clued me in to that last bit of information before I trucked it over to Pine Hills . . . unfortunately, this resulted in my Aldi visit being a fruitless effort. (again, pun intended) Publix got my money again this week!

Mmmm . . . blueberries!

Don't know how healthy this is, but yours truly got his day started this morning with a big fat wedge of blueberry pie.

Thanks to the friendly folks over at Shannon's Casual Cafe on South Orange Avenue for getting the sugar high started early around this little corner of heaven!

Look out world, pie plus coffee equals one extra alert sock!

Gimme a stack!

Of steaming hot pancakes, that is.

And, don't be stingy with the butter and syrup!

There are very few better ways to get your day started.

Although, I do have to admit that the variety that slides off the griddle in this little corner of heaven may also be labeled as enthusiasm-quenching gut gaskets; because, all-too-often they induce a Thanksgiving-like food coma . . .

Ah, well . . .

Uh, oh . . . we're out of Sweet n Low . . .

You know what that means, ye socks . . .

Yours truly will be adding REAL SUGAR to ye olde coffee cup this morning . . .

Consider yourselves warned!

I am in sooooo much trouble . . .

It's that time of year, again.

Everywhere I turn, it seems a box of Girl Scout cookies is calling my name!

I suppose there are worse afflictions . . .

Anyway, I'd like to encourage ye socks to get out there and support Scouting by buying a couple of boxes yourselves . . . then, invite me over to help empty them!!

Routine disruption

Being a creature of many habits, yours truly discovered today that a disruption of one can have a cascading effect on the rest of the day . . . and, that's not necessarily a bad thing!

Case in point: today. As I was rushing out the door to work, I realized that I hadn't plugged ye olde mobile phone into the charger last night.

Hmmm . . .

New phone. Haven't tested it before. Maybe, it'll hold yesterday's charge for another day . . . or, at least thru work hours?

Unfortunately, no.

That was the down side.

The up side has been that dead cell phones don't ring, so it's been an unusually quiet afternoon around this little corner of heaven. Even had time to whip up some homemade quesadillas!

But, fear not, said mobile phone is back on its charger as I type this . . .

I know, marshmallows woulda tasted better . . .

Considering the weather forecasters are saying it will drop down to 26 degrees in this little corner of heaven tonight, and given the fact that the master of the house is unwilling to crank the heater above 66 degrees, yours truly decided a cup of hot cocoa would be a good accompaniment for some much-anticipated NCIS viewing.

Unfortunately, as I was getting situated in "command central," ye olde clicker fell straight into my steaming mug of chocolatey goodness . . .

Now, none of the buttons below the first row of numbers will work. Or, I should say, they don't work as intended.

I'm wondering how difficult it's going to be to get Bright House to give me a new one. (Already know how hard it's going to be to get up to change the channel and adjust the volume!)

Keep warm out there, ye socks!

Peanut butter oatmeal cookies

Follow-up to yesterday's post . . .

This recipe from my Mom's old cookbook.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- half cup of shortening
- 1 cup beanut butter
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 cups oatmeal
- 1.75 cups of flour

Preheat the oven to 350.

Mix ingredients together.

Roll into 1-inch balls.

Place on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10 minutes per batch.

Yield varies depending on number of dough-eating spectators . . .

Merry Christmas Eve!

Becky's Infamous Heart Attack Casserole

In case ye socks need a carb load to kick the merry-making into high gear, I offer the following simplified recipe received from Becky Mosteller.

Ingredients:
- 2 bags of hash browns
- 1 bag of shredded cheese of your choice
- 1 small container of sour cream
- 1 can of French's fried onions

Mix everything together, except for half the cheese.

Spread into favorite casserole dish.

Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Cover with tin foil.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350.

Remove foil and pop back in oven until cheese starts to brown. (Judgement call)

The only thing that could increase the likelihood of a heart attack (imho) would be to sprinkle bacon bits on top!

Salt and pepper to taste!

Now, get back to wrapping those presents!

Bring cash to Shannon's

My regular Thursday morning crew decided to mix things up a bit this week by moving our rendezvous point down a few storefronts to Shannon's Casual Cafe.

Ye local socks have no doubt spotted the place south of downtown Orlando. It's in that commercial center wedged between Fort Gatlin and Lake Jenny Jewell, on the east side of Orange Avenue.

Anyway, yours truly had heard good things about their blueberry pie. Decadent choice for breakfast, I know, but it's almost Christmas.

A couple of things you need to know about this place, if you care to visit it yourselves:

1. You have to go up to the register to place your order and pay before sitting down. They will bring your food to you, but that's the extent of the table service. If you want a refill on your coffee or other beverage, you have to do it yourself.

2. They are one of the few remaining places in this neck o the woods that don't accept credit/debit cards, so bring cash! Yours truly suffered a bit of an embarassment when they didn't make him aware of this rule until after his order was placed. Fortunately, one of my posse was flush with cash and able to come to my rescue.

Go if ye must. And, the blueberry pie is indeed quite good. But, this is no Carole's Place . . .

Biloxi is noticeably different

Even 4+ years after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, abundant evidence of her fury may be found across the region.

Today marked the first time yours truly had returned to this little corner of heaven since the storm.

Frankly, it was shocking.

On the drive down US90, where so many beautiful old homes once stood sentinel over Biloxi Beach, only a few new facsimiles and far too many ghostly foundations remained.

I was told that all the casinos had pretty much been rebuilt. But, I can tell you that Treasure Bay (where yours truly will be spending the night) is nothing like it was before.

They used to have this really cool pirate ship permanently moored in the gulf waters. Of course, that's gone. In the mean time, they've moved all their gaming into the first two floors of their old hotel on the other side of 90. And, they've pretty much ditched the whole pirate theme, which begs the question why they even bother still calling themselves Treasure Bay. Replacing the former kitsch is a bunch of colorful art glass, like the chandelier pictured here. (Apologies for the image quality in advance, took 4 shots and believe it or not this was the best one!)

One of the first things I noticed in walking through the casino is that they have covered up all the slots where passive wagerers like myself used to drop quarters on their way to and fro. Kinda funny when you think about it, slot machines with no slots. But, I guess they are now catering to the more active gamblers who will perch themselves in front of the machines for hours on end. They don't want to be bothered with feeding coins into slots or collecting them as occasional winnings. Instead, they simply feed greenbacks and bar-coded vouchers into the one-armed bandits.

Oh, wait, you probably shouldn't call them "one-armed bandits" anymore. While most of the machines do have a little lever on the side that you would expect on a slot machine, everyone I observed was simply mashing the plastic buttons on the front. The traditional method requires too much effort and, I suppose, will eventually go the way of the coins.

I will say this about Treasure Bay: they have a great buffet. Tonight it featured Dungeness crab. And, we were lucky to have a wonderful waitress named Ok Sun who not only taught us her shell-cracking techniques but also filled our plates in the process.

Beyond recommending the buffet, I would caution any of ye socks planning to stay at the Treasure Bay hotel on two points. First, request a room above the 4th floor, or your only view will be of the maintenance decks. Second, bring your own blanket, as the comforters weigh approximately fifty pounds and the unwitting slumberer could potentially break an arm just rolling-over.

More tomorrow on the changes in Biloxi as this mini-vacation continues.