strawberry rhubarb pie

 

ingredients for 9 (or 10) inch pie

 

double pie crust or single crust and your favorite crumb topping
 1/2 (1/3) C sugar
3T (4T) cornstarch
1/2 tsp (heaping) cinnamon
1/4 tsp (heaping) nutmeg
2 (3) C sliced rhubarb
2 (3) C sliced strawberries
2 Tbsp butter, cubed if using double crust
you can use frozen fruit but let it thaw 10-15 min, until it is partially thawed but still icy.

 

1. slice strawberries & rhubarb into uniform pieces.

2. set bottom crust into 9-inch pie (or 10-inch tart) pan.

3. combine dry ingredients; stir well.  pour onto fruit and toss to coat.  turn into prepared crust.

(4. place butter cubes on fruit)

5. sprinkle prepared crumb topping OR roll top crust over fruit & butter.  pinch edges to seal and flute, if desired.  make sure to vent the top crust.  i use tiny cookie cutters to make designs in crust.

6. place foil around edges and bake at 375 for 25 min (50 for frozen fruit).  remove foil and continue baking 20-25 min (20-30 for frozen fruit).  cool completely on wire rack.

7. roll remaining dough scraps and sprinkle with cinnamon& sugar. prick crust & bake with pie for 15-20 min.  yums.

curiouser and curiouser

 

we moved into our house in 2005; sometime that fall, we got an irate phone call from an old man who insisted that we had to come and replace his windows because he paid us.  i tried very nicely to reassure him that he had the wrong number.  i felt bad for the guy, but uh, nope.  wrong number.

sometime in 2007 a baltimore county sheriff came to the door with a court summons... for a roofing company.  i can't remember the name.  he asked for the guy and i was totally thrown off, no idea who he was talking about.  i fetched my ID and told him he could come in and look around if he liked, but no roofers here.  i mentioned the weird phone call from a couple years prior.  he left without anything further.

today i went to the post office with a postcard, dropped in my mailbox that said they had a letter needing signature confirmation.  when i showed my ID she asked if i had my business card.  stumped, i answered, "no, i don't have one."  she asked if i was with everett roofing.  since i do have "roofing" going on in my house, i said, "maybe it's from my contractor?  can i see the return address?"  

a rather large virginia law firm sprawled across the front of the envelope, stuffed thick with about two maple trees' worth of paper.  nope.  not for me.

upon spending an hour (that i don't have) searching for everett roofing or contracting or something, i have found nothing related to my phone number or address.  

preplexed, i am.

off to make a chocolate cake.

moroccan spiced beef kabobs

 

adapted from the McCormick 3-step cooking cookbook

because i can't have dairy, i've omitted the yogurt and made this a simple dry rub for the meat, leaving the veggies to roast on the grill in their own yumminess, without a sauce.  my favorite grilling veggies for beef kabobs are videlia onions, yellow squash, cherry tomatoes and green pepper.  oh, and my recipe feeds a family of six, sometimes with leftovers...sometimes not!

2 Tbs minced onion
1 tsp dalmation cinnamon (regular works too)
1/2 tsp black or white pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder (i used minced garlic)
2-3 pounds cubed beef

mix spices together.  shake over meat in either a plastic bag or tupperware container big enough to allow movement of meat and spices.  make sure all sides of cubes get spiced.  skewer with veggies (or separate) and grill over med heat 18-20 minutes, turning to keep from burning on one side.  OR bake in 450* oven 12-15 minutes or until edges are browned and crisp.  serve hot, rolled in whole wheat tortillas or with couscous and salad.

headline news

 

westboro bastards church:  the bastards will be protesting "outside" of meade high school (no reports of exactly where they are allowed) thursday morning during arrival, approximately 6-7:30 am.  if i didn't live so far from the base, i would be there to help create a barrier between these animals and the children of military families who attend this school.  i have heard that several friends are attending for the same reason, and i want to thank you all for doing this.  i can't imagine the parents actually sending their kids to school tomorrow; if we were still stationed there, i know i wouldn't.  i also know that as a hot-headed teenager, i would have been right in the faces of the bastards if this happened at my high school, and i hope there is a measure of protection planned for that situation; the hot-headed teen situation, that is.  my thoughts are with my military families.... as always.

had to have the talk about "don't get into a stranger's vehicle EVER" with my kids again because some nine-year-old-knuckleheads in this area jumped into a pedophile's car on the way to school yesterday.  seriously???  yes...  those kids SHOULD HAVE known better, and were obviously not paying attention to the message the past four years of elementary school when the message has been broadcast.  come on, parents: it is ultimately YOUR job to educate your children with the help of the schools.

you hear all the negative attention this evening about how awful all of us TSA child predators are?  

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90044692?Kentucky%20family%20upset%20after%20TSA%20does%20pat%20down%20of%206-year-old%20daughter  while i will admit, the video shows the TSO giving a standard patdown when clearly the child is under 12 and should have received a modified patdown, i will leave you this evening with a little light reading on why i will continue to pat down children and the elderly.  i trust no one.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/02/taliban-buying-children-to-serve-as-suicide-bomber/

http://www.betar.co.uk/articles/betar1059578683.php

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/04/21/Child-bombers-in-training-arrested-in-Iraq/UPI-48761240326883/

stupid shit

 

the disappointment fills in the cracks, pulls up my doubts, shakes the dust off and hangs them, blinking, in the bright light for everyone to see.

tired of playing the game when everyone knows the rules but me. i am the walking definition of "failure to thrive."

anybody want a worthless kate? i hear she's really good at stupid shit like laundry and dishes.

try again

 

still shaking my head about this one.

she handed me a ticket.  and as i'm skimming the ticket with my hand still outstretched, waiting for her ID, she said, "oh," and rummaged for her ID in her giant designer-ish looking trunk/purse.  21 march on the ticket...  wait.  21st.  i looked at my co-worker, totally confused. 

"dude, today's the 22nd, right?"

he looked at the ticket in his hand, looked at the date on his watch, and nodded.

"ma'am," i read over the ticket again, and saw that it originated in salt lake city.  "ma'am, i need your baltimore boarding pass.  with today's date." 

she rolled her eyes.  "this is all they gave me in salt lake city.  it says baltimore right here."

"it does say baltimore as the connection, but this is for a flight from yesterday.  you have to have a ticket with today's date that originates in baltimore."

"well, i don't have one.  this is all they gave me."  *insert dramatic sigh*

sometimes, planes with connecting flights have mechanical trouble and the airline simply decides to re-book the flight for the following day.  passengers are on their own to get a hotel or just spend the night in the terminal.  i asked my co-worker to check with the supervisor to see if the airline had a delayed flight, continuing this morning.  often times, the airline will provide us with a flight number and new departure time so we can validate the original ticket.  the news came back that there were no delayed flights from the previous day.  okay then.  "ma'am, this ticket is not valid.  you can go back to the ticket counter and have them re-print your boarding pass if you've lost it.  even if i let you in with this, which i can't, it won't have the right flight information in the bar code.  you can't board a plane with this ticket."

she almost stamped her feet at me.  she stalked off to the ticket counter and i asked my co-worker about the person she arrived with... confirmed that his boarding pass was for today and from baltimore.

apparently i forgot to tell her not to wait in line.  i usually say that, so they don't have to go all the way to the end and wait so long just to get a ticket re-printed.  i guess i was just so surprised that she insisted on the invalid ticket that i just lost my mind and forgot.  twenty minutes later....

"oh, my gosh, did you go to the end of the line???  i expected you to be back right away!"

"yes," with a haughty toss of her hair.  "i went all the way through that line.  and then she didn't want to print me a boarding pass because i like i already told you, it said baltimore on it.  I'm going to need you to get some consistency, here."

i raised my eyebrows.  "consistency?"

"yes.  i assume this is some TSA rule or something, but if the airline thinks the ticket is fine, you should too."

with a snort, i replied, "for all i know, since i do not have the airline software or equipment to read your ticketing information, you are not currently booked on any flights, and are trying to get through security on yesterday's boarding pass for some unknown reason.  regulations state that a passenger must have a valid boarding pass for the exact date of travel from the current airport along with valid photo ID in order to pass through the security checkpoint.  if you do not have a valid boarding pass for the current date of travel from the airport in which you are standing, you are not boarding a plane.  there is your consistency.  you can't board a plane in atlanta with a boarding pass that says baltimore, either.  i already explained to you that if you tried to board with this ticket, it would not read as a flight currently filed in today's flight plan.  i will have my supervisor contact your airline representative and remind them of their obligations to provide their passengers with valid tickets for travel.  have a nice day."

oh, and this took pace at 4:45am.  yes.  seriously.  i would ask 'who tries to get on a plane with yesterday's boarding pass, insisting that it's the right one?' but i've seen people drive to baltimore with tickets that fly out of DC.  yeah.  that doesn't work either.

this rant is not an endorsement of the named company

Today's rant is brought to you by All State Plumbing, Heating and Cooling. Please do not take this rant as endorsement of their products and services.

In December 2010, you will recall that our hot water heater suffered a breakdown of sorts. You will recall this, thanks to the wonders of modern social networking, because I so cleverly decided to post a blog about it, entitled 'shitty monday'. Plumber guy spent nearly 3 hours in our house, between 8:30-11:30 that day, changing out 2 elements and a thermostat. I learned that our water is very minerally. If that is a word. The elements that Mr. Plumb pulled out of the water heater were covered in thick coatings of scale. That is ordinary wear and tear. There is nothing I can do about the water coming into the tank from the county to prevent this scaly build-up.  According to my report long ago in December, we got exactly one shower and one load of dishes washed before the water heater tanked again. I placed a call to All State at 2am, knowing full well that no one would answer. I was unable to leave a voicemail; that stumped me. I placed another call through the warranty company upon my return from work. Big mistake. Because we "opened another ticket," All State deemed us 'Non-Urgent' even though the request was on the same order from less than 24 hours previous. The earliest we could be seen was Tuesday.

Tuesday's adventure: I was called at work at 11:30 and told to be ready for my 1:30 appointment in about 15 minutes. Since I was at least 40 minutes away (at 2am no-traffic-speed) and I specifically requested a time for AFTER my arrival at home, I actually had to say the words, "he can show up in 15 minutes, ma'am, but I am south of Baltimore right now and I will be home for my appointment at 1:30." He was blocking the driveway when I arrived home at 1:06. He opened a panel, hit a "reset" button and said, "My colleague will be back in an hour to check the heat." My jaw hit the floor.

Mr. Plumb #2 arrived spot-on one hour later, clanked around a bit, made generally un-encouraging noises like, "I don't understand this..."  "How...??"  and "Now I'm really confused." He clanked some more and in another hour advised me that "the wiring schematic for this water heater is printed backwards, so when it was hooked up on Friday, he followed the schematic, but it was actually backwards. The thermostat from the bottom was reading the top temperature and kicking on the top element and vice versa." My brain fogged over for a minute and I thanked him, dreaming of a nice toasty warm shower... and he left. We went without hot water in our home for a grand total of 8 days, with over five billable hours spent servicing the water heater, at an expense of over $200 including the service fees and hotel bills.

That was fun.  So fun, we wanted a repeat.

Saturday morning (another weekend??!) the hot water ran out like a tall man in a short robe fetching the morning paper. Again, our turnaround was Tuesday because hot water is not an emergency. Seven assholes in this house... you want me to let them all ripen from already-dirty-on-Friday through Tuesday? Take a sniff dahlin'. That is the smell of an emergency. A different company was assigned this service request, with the note that it is a possible 90-day part warranty. I don't have to pay for this service call. w00t! I spent that money on a hotel room for showers for six on Sunday night.

Tuesday, our new plumber arrives. He said that because it was a possible warranty, he was going to replace all three parts again, both elements and the thermostat, and submit them to the warranty company. He was very weirded out by a couple of glaring details, though. First, the elements were not the same age. Both parts were replaced on the same date in December. New Mr. Plumb showed me the buildup of scale: One was clearly a year old, the other was newer, but had more buildup than should warrant for 3 months. Secondly, the "younger" element had a scorch mark. That could have been pre-existing; it could have been the cause of the failure of the water heater this time. New Mr. Plumb showed me that our parts came out of the package at this installation. He advised me to call them directly if something happened in the next week or so. Yup, learned that one last time. Oh and his arrival-work-departure time? In at 3:19, out at 3:55.  That's 35 minutes, jack.

The Kate is NOT amused with the shenanigans of All State Plumbing, Heating and Cooling. I called my home warranty company and told them exactly what had happened, exactly what New Mr. Plumb had showed me with the elements. She took my call very seriously, noted that parts were re-used, and placed them on a "Do Not Use" list for my future repairs. Based on my service history and complaint and what the new plumber submits to the home warranty company in their report (so they get paid for this call), All State may be removed from the list of providers altogether.

Bottom line: don't muck with those of us who know how to use the channels. And blog. *evil grin* 

note: Should everything go well, I will probably add the name of the New Mr. Plumb's company in the future.