Mellowing Spirits Since 1866…Now it’s mellowing my beef roast.

22. January 2008 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

So tonight I’m going to use my other chuck roast. When I bought the chuck roast expressly for the Pioneer Woman pot roast recipe last week, I found a great buy-one-get-one-free special, so the 2nd one has just thawed and is ready for action.

(NOTE: The pot roast was delicious, but I think I might have gone a bit nuts on the rosemary. That’s the only herb left that hasn’t been killed by the drought.)

I’m hesitant to make the exact same recipe twice in a row, so as much as we loved the PW Pot Roast, I searched for something different. And different this will be…Jack Daniels Chuck Roast! The roast is now marinating in my fridge and we’ll grill her up tomorrow for dinner. I can’t wait!


Bathing in my recently-cleaned fridge…


Note how I stuffed the roast into a small dish, to squish the marinade up the sides as high as it will go. Maximizes the surface area getting soaked. I should only require one flip tonight just before bed…or tomorrow morning, depending on when I remember.


Pioneer Woman I am not when it comes to close up photography. I was trying to show the lovely marbling of my roast, but instead you’re mainly seeing plastic Ziploc bag. Oh well.

Stay tuned for the continuing saga of Patricia’s attempts to show the world her cooking prowess…or lack thereof.

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On this cold day, let’s think about something warm!

22. January 2008 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

In this cold weather, I was thinking fondly about the butterfly garden I had planted in my backyard in Florida. I planted most of the stuff in July 2003, after my summer veggie crop croaked from either baking to death in the hot FL sun or rotting to death from torrential FL rains.

But these plants flourished all winter long and by spring 2004, we had several species visiting us. I’d run outside with my HP Photosmart and go snap-happy. This was a great camera for outdoor 16x zoom.

One of my neighbors, who was homeschooling her kids, brought her 9-year-old son over to observe the life cycles in fall 2004. A great science lesson! I wish Jacob was a little older so he could appreciate them more — he enjoyed naming several of the caterpillars after his Thomas and Friends engines!

From 2003 10 13 Bu…

This is a white peacock butterfly on a butterfly bush.

From 2003 10 13 Bu…

Gulf Fritillary on a pink lantana.

From 2003 10 13 Bu…

Monarch on a milkweed.

From 2003 10 13 Bu…

Black Swallowtail caterpillar on a dill plant.

From 2003 10 13 Bu…

Black Swallowtail on parsley.

From 2003 10 13 Bu…

Very young black swallowtail larva on flatleaf parsley. Darwin at work — it looks like bird poop, doesn’t it?

From 2003 10 13 Bu…

Monarch caterpillar on a milkweed. Darwin at work again: the larva’s mouth is on the right side in this picture, but the long antennae-looking appendages on the left are meant to trick predators.

From 2003 10 13 Bu…

Gulf fritillary caterpillar feasting on my purple passion vine.

From 2003 10 13 Bu…

This is the entire passion vine plant that the Gulf Fritillary caterpillars were eating. I think this was taken on December 14, 2004…the sun would only directly hit the right side of the vines, so that’s where the caterpillars would congregate. Consequently, the right side of the plant looks less lush than the right — it got devoured on the right side!

From 2003 10 13 Bu…

By the way, this is the same plant from October 13, 2003. It was about a foot tall when planted in July 2003.

Is this lazy?

21. January 2008 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

Who thinks this might be a lazy thing to do? This is a first for me, making uniform thank you cards.

But HOLY COW, thanks to Google Picasa and Walgreen’s, it’s quite easy to do. I was able to do everything while sitting on my ass at the computer…and the next time I swung past Walgreen’s, all I had to do was pick up the prints and pay the cashier.

I wish there was more space to write text, though. I’m not a fan of saying “Thanks”. I’m more a “Thank You” kind of person. 55-character limit.

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So much for original…

21. January 2008 · Comments Off on So much for original… · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

Came across this tonight.

As Paul would say: “Pleh.”

Pioneer Woman’s Cobbler #1, Take Two

21. January 2008 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

So tonight I attempted PW’s Blackberry Cobbler #1 recipe. I attempted it earlier this month without the self-rising flour and it was not quite what we were expecting. I don’t even think I posted about it, it was so disasterous.

So this week I picked up a small bag of self-rising flour (I’d never purchased it before) and tried it again. It was a hit! I used the remainder of my frozen blackberries from when I went pickin’ in June, plus a cup-or-so of frozen blueberries from the same trip.


In the Oven…looks just like hers (the cobbler, not the oven — don’t look at the oven), doesn’t it?


However, unlike hers, the batter on the edges began rising so high, it enveloped the fruit almost entirely.


The edges browned quite a bit before the center had a chance to set. You like my Pooh Bear potholder? I do. I like how he’s staring at the cobbler, looking a bit puzzled. I have placemats & napkins to match. I think it’s the only thing I’ve ever purchased from Stein Mart…Beavercreek, OH, circa 2000. But back to the cobbler.


Here’s a serving — I say, the gloppier it looks, the better it tastes. And it was quite the winner in the Vollmer house yesterday and today…and probably tomorrow too.

I have just enough frozen blueberries left to attempt PW’s Blackberry Cobbler #2 sometime. That one seems to take a bit more skill — not every recipe requires a Microplane, after all. Do you have yours? I love mine!

Thought You Might Want a Laugh…from May 1994

20. January 2008 · 3 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

My Mom took me to do Glamour Shots just before she and my sister moved to Guam when I was in college. Enjoy!

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Vacation to CHINA!

20. January 2008 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

My attempt at another high-class activity posting.

Wouldn’t it be cool to get to spend the Year of the Dragon Chinese New Year in BEIJING, of all places? Well, Dave and I had that privledge, but the Chinese tour guide didn’t think there’d be anything for us to see in that department, so we didn’t see anything related to Chinese New Year.

In February 2000, while we were stationed in Korea, Dave and I went with two other Air Force couples on a 4-day tour of Beijing via a Korean travel agency that catered to English-speakers. It was neat to spend time with non-military English speakers living in Korea, such as English teachers from Canada, Great Britain and Australia.

The tour was a cultural experience in and of itself. They were very strict about what we were and weren’t allowed to see. All of our shopping experiences were regimented and we went to these state-run souvenier stores. Souveniers were definitely more expensive than necessary. Lucky for us, one of the AF gals with us launched a cultural revolution of her own and threatened the tour guide and bus driver that she wouldn’t get back on the bus at the Great Wall until we went to a “real” tourist shopping area. It worked, we went to this area of tents nearby and got SO MUCH for probably 10% of what we would have had to pay at the state-run stores!

I came back with some awesome souveniers — it’s funny, a lot of the younger people on the trip were buying things like stuffed panda bears with light-up red eyes, Little Red Books, and Chairman Mao hats. I was looking for art and jewelry. And that’s what I found. We got a plum blossom watercolor art print from a street vendor for about $5 that we framed up back in Seoul…it was gorgeous. Unfortunately, the movers between FL and NC lost it!

I brought back cloissone vases, silk kites and a wonderful jade bracelet.

So enjoy these pictures and go here for some more.

With Chairman Mao at Tiannamen Square.
From 2000 02 06 China

At the Great Wall. The climb was quite challenging…we were warned to dress appropriately, although some of the girls still wore high heeled shoes on that day.
From 2000 02 06 China

Build a Bear!

19. January 2008 · Comments Off on Build a Bear! · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

On Friday I took the boys to the Build a Bear store in Durham so the boys could use their Christmas gift cards from Cousin Jenn. Timmy was sound asleep when we got there, so Jake was able to go through the bear-making process on his own, and Timmy awakened right before I paid for Jake’s bear (and bear accessories). Then Timmy went through and made up his stuffed doggie.

Jake named his polar bear “Snowy” and got him a winter hat, scarf and mittens, along with Converse-all-star canvas sneakers, pants and a zip-front sweatshirt. I let the boys choose a sound box for their animals, so Jake chose the “Happy Birthday Bear” song — even though it isn’t his birthday. Jake said “It’s Snowy’s Birthday!”.

Timmy got a dog, named him “Timmy Dog” (I know, megalomanical), and dressed him in a Carolina Panthers sweatshirt, carpenter jeans and a pair of soccer cleats. He chose the doggie sounds, which include panting and woofing.

When Timmy gets up from a nap, it takes a LONG time for him to actually “wake up”.
From 2008 01 18 Bu…

Click here for more pics from our trip to the Workshop.

How did my blog get its unusual name?

18. January 2008 · 4 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

I’m trusting that most of you have figured it out by now.

Obviously you can’t just click a site and hear the song, but you could go here and watch the video.

Now…when I came up with the name, Dave was thinking of a different song.

Laundry Day!

17. January 2008 · 9 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

It’s laundry day in the Vollmer house. For those who don’t know, I HATE laundry. Always have. I was quite lucky as a kid — I did a lot of chores in my house growing up (washing dishes, mowing the lawn) but laundry was never one of them. I think my Mom had her way of doing laundry and it was just less work to do it herself rather than deal with us kids messing things up. I understand completely — I get nervous that Dave might accidentally let a bra or sweater go into the dryer and we all know what happens then!

Anyway, before kids, and while Dave and I were both active duty Air Force, our laundry was easily a 1/2 day chore, once a week. One load of whites, one load of colors. Our uniforms were usually being professionally cleaned, so we didn’t even have to worry there.

Of course NOW, particularly in the wintertime, during Timmy’s potty training (that’s another posting, we’re in the home stretch!), the clothes pile up like crazy. Once a week is a no-go. But I’m not disciplined enough to do it daily, which is what many of my friends claim to do: 1-2 small loads per day = 10-15 minutes worth of work per day.

What I do is probably worse: 5-6 very-large-loads every 4-5 days, 1-2 hours of folding/putting away.

And then I really take my time — I’ve been known to let the clothes sit in the dryer or in baskets in the laundry room for as many as 5 days. I’ll just pull what I need from the piles. But typically, I can do everything in one day.

So go ahead — take my poll! I’ve been wondering if I’m sort of a freak because I don’t do laundry daily.

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