Hi everybody!

My partner in crime and the Director of Digital Strategy Clif Johnston has been working really hard to put together our new look for my blog.

Please comment on what you think of the new look. We really want to hear from you. If you like what we are doing be SURE to sign up for our newsletter over on the right hand side!

Thanks for looking.

Rachel

Please bear with me as I decide on new template for our blog. And possibly another blog service.

I know this one is almost impossible to read because it is so busy. LOL

Thanks!

Rach

Man, I like avocados, but not to the point of ever craving them before. And the last few days have been crazy for the craving of these little green jobs.

I am the only one who likes them so don’t buy them very often.

So, I open my email and find a thing with a bunch of info on them AND recipes for some things. Not sure if I would try these, but….Do you have favorite recipes ways you like to eat them besides guacamole or on a California Club sammie?

A whole medium avocado contains approximately 21 grams of fat, though most of it is monounsaturated fat. Avocados also have 60% more potassium than bananas. They are rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin E and vitamin K.^[11]. They have the highest fiber content of any fruit - including 75% insoluble and 25% soluble fiber.^[12]
(nutritional info courtesy of wikipedia!)

All recipes courtesy of the Hass Avocado Board
Hass Avocado Hash Browns
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (8-ounce) avocado, diced
1 1/2 pounds frozen hash browns with onion
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
6 tablespoons sour cream for garnish
3 tablespoons prepared tomato salsa for garnish
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro for garnish

Directions:
1. Gently mix lemon juice with avocado and reserve.
2. In a large frying pan, cook potatoes in hot oil, turning frequently, until tender and lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Gently fold avocado into hash browns and continue cooking until well browned, about 3 minutes.
4. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream and 1/2 tablespoon salsa.
5. Sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon cilantro.

and

Avocado Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 12 servings

Cupcake ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 Cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup mashed avocado
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting ingredients:
2 (8-ounces each) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
2. Cream sugar and butter, add the 2 eggs and avocado and mix well.
3. Add the baking soda to the buttermilk and add to the batter.
3. Add spices to flour and then add flour mixture to the batter mixing well.
4. Dust walnuts lightly with flour and add to the batter.
5. Pour batter into muffin tins and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
6. Top with frosting (see frosting preparation).

Frosting preparation:
1. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy.
2. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar.
3. Frost the cupcakes and store leftover frosting in the refrigerator.

Where does the monk and the monkey co-join in the schemata of words.

Which came first the monk or the monkey? Somebody please help me here.

God Bless Texas and Google!

Monk:

The term monk comes from the Greek monachos (μοναχός), commonly translated as a solitary person or living alone.

Monkey:

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word “monkey” may originate in a German version of the Big Virgina fable, published circa 1580. In this version of the fable, a character named Moneke is the son of Martin the Ape. The word Moneke may have been derived from the Italian monna, which means “a female ape”. The name Moneke likely persisted over time due to the popularity of Reynard the Fox.

A group of monkeys may be referred to as a mission or a tribe.

Both words start with Monk

Is this wierd or is this coinkeedink?

Another VD (valentine’s day that is) is here and almost gone. The day is not so much about cheap chocolates and grocery store flower buds as you get older. This year, I have a finer appreciation for what is important maybe? A mate (yes I said mate) who cares about, nurtures and loves you. Who is your best friend, lover and sounding board. A person who will proofread your crap and give it back with perfect changes or articulate improvements. A hand to hold in the cold of the night (when they have stolen all the blankets yet again). The person you can do the same for and more.

I have something amazing this year. The same love I have shared and that has grown over the last 10 years. Pretty damn perfect if I do say so myself.

Ttyl

Words, gotta love them. Interesting little critters one and all.

Who makes up these words? Do they have a special degree in wordology? (is that even a word? Well it is now o’ pal o’ mine)

I make up my own words, and people understand them. I have even come across others actually embracing my new words and using them in their everyday vocab.

But, in the same breath say, you CAN’T make up a word! D’oh….

Somebody smack me and let me know if I am reading this right. I can’t make up a word, if it isn’t in the dictionary, it can’t be real, teachers won’t allow it. YET the words we use and through out every second all over the world, had to come from somewhere….

HELLO people? People created words, they didn’t just fall out of the sky and magically appear. So, why can’t my words be real? Useful tools? Because they aren’t based in Latin? Don’t follow the interesting structural peculiarity of say binomial nomenclature?

Sha”’ right!

More words later.

Yours Tly

Can I be the only person wondering what the hell is water and natural water?

Are they different? Gather friends if you will at the grocery store on aisle 19. Look above to the sign that says this way to “water and natural water”.

Do the grocery conglomerates *truly* think that they can fool us with this new water nomenclature? Is it a surprise attack on our psyche to make us believe that there are other waters out there besides water? H2O has a secret red headed step child that nobody knows about?

Come on people! What is the world coming to. Who knows, but I will take my water straight up and natural if you please.

Your Tly

This is my desk. Both physical and mental. Mostly mental, but my doc says I will be a-ok! Recently I had to move my desk, and pack up the drawers. What a crap receptacle it has become! Feng Shui be damned, if this is an indicator of my life, then I am a mess! Go figure.

So, back to the weird stuff in my desk. There are all kinds of things in my drawers (no comments from the ex’s out there). Strange and wonderful, often bizarro things. Desk art, corporate crap, pens, pencils, rubber bands, toothpicks, salt packets, ancient salsa and katsup packets. Stuff.

The mind works a lot like a desk. A desk holds things, sorts things, categorizes things. Sometimes their are things sitting on your desk, just like they are sitting in your mind. Other things get filed away in drawers to be thought about later. Or in the way deep back of your drawer in the bottom, never to be thought of again (or so we hope).

Who knows just what is going to come out of my desk. There are many things on my mind, there is lots of crapity crap in my desk. It is pretty therapeutic cleaning out both the physical and mental desk.

So, welcome to my desk, let the games begin!

Yours Tly