Apple Fixins and Thunder Fridakus!

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The Day After Thursday Quote
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I used to believe that anything was better than nothing.
Now I know that sometimes nothing is better.
-- Glenda Jackson

It’s that wonderful day of the week again…Friday! Friday is great for all sorts of things; including planning the weekend. For us, it’s Fitness Friday in the office (up to 70 pushups as a group) and Fridaku Fixin’s for you most generous readers of the Life’s Pursuit blog. As you know, I am a big fan of things that aren’t complicated and don’t require a whole lot of time. Life is just too short to not be enjoying. Celebrating my 8 yr wedding anniversary Thursday just might drag right on into the weekend. Meanwhile, here’s a simple recipe that just might be good for your timeline and your waistline too.

All Day Applesauce with Frozen Yogurt

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Today's Crockpot Recipe
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All Day Applesauce with Frozen Yogurt

2 pounds Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1/4 cup sugar (optional)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Grated nutmeg
6 1/4-cup scoops fat-free, no-sugar-added vanilla frozen yogurt

Lay apple slices in a 3-quart or larger crock pot.
Combine sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over apples and
drizzle with lemon juice.

Cover and cook on low for 6 1/2 to 8 hours. To serve,
spoon hot apples into 6 dessert dishes. Top each with a
scoop of frozen yogurt. Lightly sprinkle with nutmeg and serve.

Thunder Flirts
Low rumbling thunder
Thick drops pelting shaded windows
Streaks of Lightning wink.

Double Barrel Justice: The Buckshot Edition

Long held as a country standard and the brunt of many odd family histories, the double barrel has seen its day. Dare I say in spite of that, they still survive til this day. Sure more sophisticated and modern arms have been developed; but this personal motivator remains a behind-the-scenes negotiator.

So if the double barrel is so effective; what’s the problem? Well it is true that it would be difficult to miss your target. That’s part of the issue. You don’t miss. In fact, you may not miss anything for a five-ten foot target area. So yes, you got the wolf; but you also got the rabbit, chicken and bulldog. The bacon was heading for the skillet anyhow. Obviously the power of the weapon is mass destruction. I submit to you that the power of the tongue is far greater. We hold the power of life and death in the words we speak from our high caliber mouths.

James 3:7-9 (New International Version)
7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.

Romans 3:13 (New International Version)

 13"Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit."[a] 
 "The poison of vipers is on their lips."[b]

Proverbs 18:21 (New International Version)
21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Friday Fixins, Spicy Chicken Wings and Fridakus!

It's Friday again and as typical, it started out with a bang. I typically meet with a men's group on Friday mornings. It is often a moment of divine fellowship, good Cracker Barrel food and learning laughter. I had bacon and coffee. By the time I got to the office, I was already in a good mood. The day started off with plenty of laughter with the cohorts and boss. My iPOD is piping in What Great Bosses Know by Jill Geisler from the Poynter Institute while I am working on a magazine layout. Yes, its a beautiful day in the Music City and it would appear to be heading into a great weekend of friends, a wedding, working out, eating and quality time with the Mrs.

Somehow we have managed to adopt a "Fitness Friday" routine in the graphics department. We four guys do pushups every Friday. Its been great. Since we were all at different levels, we began at 5 and are now up to 60. That's pretty impressive that we are all now at 60-70 pushups. Despite not being able to talk the boss into having pancakes and bacon delivered to the office; he has been great. A laughing environment that gets its job done is a more than comforting situation. We are learning, burning and growing. All in a day's work.

Well on to the Friday Fixin's: my attempt to create some level of consistency in my weekly blog. Today's recipe comes to me from a newsletter I receive called Day Zines that Chet Day presents. You can sign up for the free newsletter too. Since everybody seems to be talking about sports, this dish is an easy, no lose recipe that requires no work on the maker's part.

Spicy Chicken Wings

image courtesy of Nibbledish.com

INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED:
3 Tbs vinegar
24 chicken wing drummettes
1/4 cup hot pepper sauce -- or less
1/2 cup melted butter
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch dry salad dressing mix

Mix all ingredients together except chicken wings and salad dressing mix. Place chicken wings in your crockpot,
pour mixture over wings and sprinkle with dry dressing mix and paprika as you layer them. Cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours.

Mmmmm, mmmmm, good wings! Are there really that many chickens in the world? Anywho… The other good thing about Friday are the haikus. Haikus have a line repletion of 5, 7, 5 in syllables and are typically about nature; but we are pretty flexible on that area. My cohort, Andy of the blog It Depends also participates in Fridaku!

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image courtesy of Rob Wilcox

Waning Nashville Flood Waters

Morning sunrise, warm
Receeding waters, moist air
Hope, faith, thankfulness.

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image courtesy of Carl Schulz


Dynamite Downtown; Shaking Down Under

The earth rumbles deep
Buildings shake, attention drawn tight
Dynamite the ground.

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image courtesy of USM.Maine.edu

The Persistence of Time

Melting the time piece
Stretching now like old gum
A day stalls hours long.

The Rain Overfloweth!

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Originally uploaded by energyfeeder

It was like something out of the story of Noah! It rained, rained and rained some more. Kids tend to love anything grownups consider dangerous or have to pay for later. As you may not know, TN was hit by major flooding and is still on the mend from the unruly waters.