Time to hibernate

It's about that time of year, weather getting colder the hot chocolate cravings start up, that's not really the case where I am, but for other people it is. Every once in a while it gets down in the 60s here, if that counts. It's time to pick up a Starbucks drink, if only because it has a cute winter scene on it, it's like an accessory + caffeine.

That also means it gets dark really quckly. So, whenever I get home from work, the sun is basically down. That means all I want to do is sit on the couch and veg. Game over. I still have Halloween candy hanging around that I continuously munch on (gummy body parts, in case you were wondering) all I want to do is make really thick, buttery, starchy food and I don't want to work out. That basically means it's time to hibernate for the winter. It's getting cold anyway, so a layer of fat would do me good <--- said no one ever (except maybe Eskimos.)

So, every other day I attempt to drag my sorry self to the gym at my apartment complex, because running in the dark is terrifying. When I first started running in Florida I was jumping at every rustle of branches and leaf noises because I thought alligators were going to jump out and snap me up. "Jump" really isn't the correct word. I know that alligators can't jump, per se. But I did think they were going to run up to me and bite my leg off, or that I'd end up wrestling around on the ground with one Crocodile  Hunter style.

 

I had to, I love/miss Steve Irwin.

And that was during the day. At night there are creatures and fiends and rapists and muggers and ghosts or Blaire Witches or something. I run with pepper spray during the day, at night I'd need to run with a cross bow. 

Sometimes when I'm feeling especially lazy and I don't want to make the (maybe) 4 minute walk to the workout room, I just do those squat, lunge, jumping jack, wall sit things that you find on Pinterest. The problem is then I'm scared the people downstairs will come knock on my door and complain about the noise from me jumping. You just can't win during the winter. 

Might as well just accept our fate, right? We can always start working out in the spring to lose weight for swim suit season....which is all the time down here. Whatever. 

Here's a really delish recipe that would be groovy for a football related gathering or just because you like buffalo chicken flavored stuff. Bonus: It's slightly spicy depending on what kind of sauce you use (yay! because it's cold out probably), and you can bulk up for the frigid temperatures because it has a ton of ranch, potatoes and cheese in it. You know that sounds good and you want to make it now. Don't pretend. 

The recipe comes from the blog Holy Cannoli Recipes.

Buffalo Chicken and Potato Casserole

• 1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch strips

• 1/3 c. Franks hot sauce

• 5c. red potatoes, grated w/ box grater 

• 1 c. light ranch dressing/ blue cheese

• 1/2 c. cheddar cheese, shredded

• 1 (10 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup

• 1/2 c. panko

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Grate potatoes and lay out and pat with a paper towel to try to get some of the moisture out.
3. In medium bowl, stir together chicken strips and buffalo sauce. Spoon into baking dish in a single layer.
4. In the same bowl, stir together potatoes, dressing, cheese and soup. Spread over chicken. Sprinkle panko evenly over the top.
5. Cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes; uncover and bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender and juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.

The Post-Election Blues

I knew this was going to happen, but it doesn’t make it any better. I knew the losers of the election would write terrible, hate-filled posts and the winners would celebrate how much better life is going to be all over social media.  It wouldn’t matter who won or lost, this was going to happen either way.

If all the political sludge upsets you today, whether you won or lost, I’m going to write a list of things that are positive. Also, for the record, if you are still upset today, I assume you didn’t make the cookie recipe I suggested yesterday. You should have, I’m just saying.

1.     The world hasn’t been destroyed by an enormous asteroid. I’m pretty jazzed that last night while I slept I didn’t go the way of the dinosaur.

2.     A nuclear war didn’t erupt wiping out most of our major cities and polluting our food supply. Because I don’t have arms growing from my shoulder blades from radiation, I’m in an upbeat mood.

3.     Anarchy hasn’t consumed towns and cities in our great nation. I haven’t seen any evidence personally of looting and graffiti in places where looting and graffiti don’t already happen. Because I haven’t seen a single Molotov cocktail today, I am a happy camper.

4.     Aliens have decided that today is not the day they are going to take over our planet. When that day comes, I assume it will be a lot like the movie Mars Attacks! That isn’t the case today, which is something to rejoice about.

5.     I still have all my fingers and toes and the ability to move my limbs. I could have woken up at the hands of some crazy serial killer, psychopath a la Saw or Hostile. You didn’t wake up limb-less either. See? That’s a good thing. 

6.     Did you know there’s a caldera in Yellow Stone National Park? That’s like a massive super volcano-type thing for those of you that didn’t have to take a whole class in college about Yellow Stone (true story.) It’s just hanging out there below the surface, until it just gets so bored that it’s going to be like, “Well, guess it’s about time to wipe out this continent, that’ll be exciting.” And then we are all going to suffocate, probably. That didn’t happen, so yay!

7.     Is the zombie apocalypse upon us? I haven’t seen the undead wandering around today. I know I haven’t seen anyone eating another person’s face. That’s a win on the life scoreboard I feel like.

8.     Was the ability to voice your hateful or joyous opinion stripped away? It wasn’t? You’re allowed to post pictures of crying bald eagles, unflattering gifs, unintelligent rants about the amendments that were passed or not and insensitive comments about the losers or winners of the race. There we go. You are doing better than some people in nations across the world.

Does that make you feel better? If it doesn’t, reevaluate your life and get back to me. I’m telling you though, those cookies are miracle workers. 

MAKE THESE! What are you waiting for? If you don't like them ... you're un-American, there I said it.

Bonfire Night

This is my blog post from a year ago on my old blog Nearly A Belle. I'm going to watch V for Vendetta tonight and bake Election Day patriotic cookies. Enjoy Bonfire Night (Guy Fawkes Day) with the background to one of the original articles I wrote in Bama. 

Remember, remember the fifth of November the gunpowder, treason and plot...

In America, Guy Fawkes Day or Bonfire Night isn't even celebrated. Most people only know this rhyme from the 2006 movie V for Vendetta. But in England it is a very real holiday, that, according to James Sharpe, a professor at the University of York, England, is getting ousted by Halloween. It's still a family event, where people get together with friends and there are fireworks, but it isn't as popular as it once was. I interviewed Sharpe for my most recent article about Guy Fawkes and the implications of the Guy Fawkes mask being worn by Occupy protesters and the hacker group Anonymous.

A few things that didn't make it into my article:

• Guy Fawkes Day was almost an American holiday. It was celebrated in the colonies, and very popular in Boston, but they called it Pope Day. You see, Guy Fawkes was a Catholic, the plot was to blow up Parliament because the Catholics were being severely oppressed in England. Blowing up Parliament was supposed to send them a message, but they were caught. During different points after this England was even more against Catholics than normal and would burn an effigy of the Pope on Bonfire Night instead of one of Fawkes. In America, they burned the Pope, hence Pope Day. George Washington was the one to stop this because he really needed the Catholics to help his cause.
• The Protestants thought the discovery of the plot was divine intervention and started having a special service every Nov. 5, that's what really cemented Guy Fawkes Day as a national holiday.
• Fawkes was tortured intensely after he was captured with the stock pile of gunpowder. He finally cracked and gave up the names of his co-conspiritores.
• Fawkes wasn't the central character, a man by the last name of Catesby led the activist group Fawkes became a part of. He, and a few others, were killed attempting to lead a revolt and the others involved were captured.
• The ones captured were sentenced to be hanged but not until they died. Then they were to be cut up (quartered) and displayed in prominent places as warnings to others. This was the penalty for treason.

I enjoy knowing the true story of Fawkes. But I do happen to enjoy the movie. There are such wonderful, empowering quotes. And although Fawkes and V are for violence in order to promote their agendas, the idea is that they thought they had no other choice. Violence in this way was better than no change at all.

Today those that wear the mask sometimes don't understand this fully. The story is about change which the modern movements want, but they are also trying to be peaceful. In this way the two don't fit. I hope that those that adopted the mask will do their research and understand the man they are representing. As the English say he was, "the only man to enter Parliament with honest intentions."

My favorite quotes from V for Vendetta:

"An inch. It is small and it is fragile and it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must NEVER let them take it from us. I hope that whoever you are, you escape this place. I hope that the worlds turns, and that things get better. But what I hope most of all is that you understand what I mean when I tell you that, even though I do not know you, and even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you, I love you. With all my heart, I love you."

"I, like God, do not play with dice and do not believe in coincidence."

"My father was a writer. You would've liked him. He used to say that artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up."

"You wear a mask for so long you forget who you are beneath it."

...I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.