Happy Valentine’s Day! (also Fiesta Friday #3)

Tags

blog event, DPchallenge, Fiesta Friday #3, humor, link party, Valentine's day

Valentine’s Day can be the most exciting day of the year for you, or the most miserable, depending on your situation. But Valentine’s Day that happens to also be a Fiesta Friday day should never be a miserable day for anyone. Whether you receive a valentine or not today, you should see to it that you celebrate the day with us.

Look what I made for you:

If neither of them makes you happy, how about a story? That’s what I’m bringing to the party. I hope you’ll like it.

***

This happened when I was in college. Remember those happy, carefree days, when you didn’t have to do anything? No waking up early to go to school, no homework to turn in the next day, and no studying required? Sigh… college was heaven.

On Valentine’s day one year, my roommate and I decided to have a contest on who would receive the most roses. The winner got to wear a tiara for a week. It was her idea. Trust me, I was not into that sort of thing.

Well, she won. She received more roses than I did. I think she sent some of them to herself. Really, how many secret admirers can you have? Besides, while I received less roses, I had a poem written for me. So, in my mind, I won.

Okay, it was a lame poem. Short four-liner that went kinda like this:

I see you!
Hi!
It’s me!
Surprise!

With all those exclamation points! But it came from this really sweet guy. He enjoyed making my day by giving me surprises like showing up in front of my apartment door unannounced and uninvited. I had no idea how he gained access. He didn’t live there so he didn’t have a key and I never buzzed him in.

But still, it was so nice of him to go through the trouble of waiting for someone to let him in.

Sometimes he even showed up with flowers. Flowers that he stole for me. Yes, how sweet was that? He went on his bicycle in the middle of the night and cut tulips from campus gardens to present to me. So considerate.

And one time, he took a picture of me while I was throwing away my trash. I found out about it when the photo showed up in my mailbox. Accompanied with a four-liner poem, of course.

He must have used his tele lens to take the photo. That I could figure out. What I couldn’t figure out was how he was able to be in position to take my picture exactly when I was there. It must have been such a coincidence or he must have been waiting all day. Wasn’t that so sweet?

See, with an admirer like that, who wouldn’t feel like a winner? So, I didn’t feel jealous at all that my roommate bested me in the most roses received (some of which she sent to herself, I’m certain of it) and ended up with the tiara. Pfft…who cares about a tiara? I bought myself one and wore it whenever she wasn’t around, anyway.

Still have it, and still wear it (when no one is around). So there, Cherie!

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Hump day joke

Tags

funny things children say, humor, jokes, out of the mouths of babes

No, I’m not introducing a new regular feature. Fiesta Friday is enough for now. I’m just sharing a little joke today to help you get through the week. Sometimes you need a little push to get to the finish line.

So, my son enjoyed being an only child for a few years before a sibling came along. Having a sibling meant he could no longer monopolize mommy. As much as he loved his baby sister, there were times when he got frustrated because he had to share his mommy, who was his best friend at the time.

Like this one time when he wanted mommy to play with him. Mommy would have been very happy to comply, of course. Except that baby sister had waken up from her nap and started crying.

Big brother threw his hands up in the air, let out a big sigh, and barked an order to mommy, “Why don’t you try milking her?”

Photo from La Leche League

He meant this, of course. You think I can submit this to Reader’s Digest for “Out of the mouths of babes” and get money for it? Is Reader’s Digest still around? 

Fiesta Friday Friendly Reminder

Tags

blog party, Fiesta Friday, Fiesta Friday Blog Party, Zero to Hero, zerotohero

Fiesta Friday #1 starts tomorrow, at 8 am. Everybody is encouraged to join. To learn how, go to Fiesta Friday Blog Party Guidelines.

An even friendlier reminder for those who have “RSVPed”.

***

My psychic prowess has reached a new level. Once again, I anticipated correctly the next Zero to Hero assignment. We are to set an editorial calendar for our blog, by adding a regular feature. Well, what do you know, Fiesta Friday will be a regular feature on The Novice Gardener. Maybe in the future I’ll add more regular features, such as Music of the Month, Weed of the Week, or Saturday Salad, something like that. But for now, Fiesta Friday will suffice.

This Zero to Hero is coming to a close. Just one more day, one more assignment. It’s so, so sad there won’t be any more homework. I’ve gotten so used to multitasking because of it. Thank goodness there’s Fiesta Friday to look forward to. Zero to Hero participants, please join the party. I might suffer from post-Z2H withdrawal symptoms if I don’t see you again. It feels like being in a close-knit family going through the challenge with you, and it will be hard to see the family break up.

Lamb Shank Curry Quest

Tags

curry, dinner, food, lamb shank, lamb shanks, recipe

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away (my kitchen), there lived a hungry girl (me) who yearned for a platter of saffron rice on which a stewed lamb shank was perched in its juicy drippiness. Like the one she once devoured in the outdoor kitchen of her grandmamma’s, where just right outside palm tress swayed gently in the breeze and the sound of a phoenix singing could be heard from a distance. (Actually it was a Persian restaurant in Washington DC, my grandmother was vegan and would have never cooked lamb, and phoenixes are not even real, let alone sing.)

In this state of yearning, the girl wandered aimlessly so and was soon transported into a magical place, where anything and everything you could ever want, you can have with just a snap of your fingers (in real life, this place is called the internet, and you click your mouse to command things to come forward.)

She came across a tavern, where outside there was an enticing display of le plat du jour, featuring lamb shank curry, the very thing she was yearning for. Alas, the tavern was abandoned, and there was not a single soul around to help her procure the curry. (I follow Lucy on her blog, Feast Without Regret, where I found her excellent lamb shank curry recipe. Unfortunately, it seems she’s no longer active on that blog. She does, however, have another blog.)

This is Lucy’s curry

It soon dawned on the girl that the idea of a magical land seemed to be but a big, cruel joke. (No matter how hard I clicked my mouse, I could not command that curry to come forward. This internet thing is the biggest tease there is.)

So the girl swore right there and then, a la Scarlett O’Hara,”As God is my witness, they’re not going to beat me. I’m going to live through this and when it’s all over, I’ll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk, if I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again, for lamb shank curry!”