Don't waste the wine!

There I was, browsing the wine aisle for something different from the usual Moscato, Oliver, or Reggae Red. I walked back and forth again and again looking for something to strike my fancy when, there it was, a black bottle with one red blood drop looking thing on it and the words sweet red.

The bottle cost about $10, which is a little more than I like to pay. My favorite only cost $7 or $8. However, of course I bought it. I mean come on, it looked cool and seemed like it would taste delish. I put it in the fridge right when I got home. I didn’t even take my coat off because I was so excited to get it chilled and try it. A few hours later, Kerry (one of my besties) and I settled down with a cold glass of Red Drop wine. Now first let me tell you, I am by no means a wine connoisseur. I would like to be and I’m trying to learn more about wine and what I like by just trying new things. I picked up my glass, swirled it around, and gave it a good whiff. It had a barrel/wood smell. That is not a good sign for me. The smell reminded me of a merlot, and I would rather die of dehydration than to drink a merlot. I took a sip and….wow, it was disgusting. This beautiful “sweet” wine was as dry as can be. We ended up putting it back in the fridge and opening some Lotto Moscato. I told Kerry to take the Red Drop home with her. Although she didn’t like it, she was at least able to finish her glass. She advised me to keep it in the fridge and use it to cook with.

This was a good idea so; I kept it in the fridge for a couple weeks awaiting a good recipe to come along. I have never cooked with wine, besides the occasional marsala. They say to cook with wine that you would drink. Although I didn’t like it, it was still a good wine.

Today I decided to experiment a little with this “cooking with wine” thing. Not sure exactly what I was doing or how it would turn out I threw a few ingredients into the good ol’ crock-pot and let it cook for 8 hours. The house smelled great and at first taste, it was delish.

I looked online and I guess I made a sort of…trailer park beef burgundy. I will include the recipe. I used a whole cup of red wine. I’m sure the wine cooked off in the 8 hours because I planned to feed it to my boys. Is that bad? Anyway, they loved it and both of them had seconds. I couldn’t believe it. I made a creation that everyone ate. And just let me tell you. My boys are the fussiest eaters ever. If it isn’t mac and cheese, pizza, or chicken nuggets, they usually won’t touch it. So the fact that they even tasted this concoction was a big surprise. So, here’s what I did…

In a crock-pot, mix the following ingredients. 1 normal size can of cream of mushroom soup, 1 pk. Of onion soup mix, 1 cup of red wine, 1 chopped onion, ½ c. of mushrooms, 1 ½ pounds of round steak, and a little bit of pepper. Just throw everything in there, put the lid on it, and let it cook away. When it is done, shred the beef and serve it atop some egg noodles. YUM.

I was surprised that it wasn’t salty or…winey. A perfect end to the day. Now I want some popcorn. Or ice cream......or popcorn on ice cream. Lol, i'm craving something sweet and salty.

Now for a clip of something that happened today:

As we sat down to eat, my chair moved in a weird way and made a fart sound. My boys laughed so I continued to make the sound so that they would know that it was the chair and not Mom who “did it”. Of course, with a bunch of little boys, it wasn’t a smart move to keep making the sound. I couldn’t convince them that it was the chair. It WAS the chair people. I was being taunted, “Ohh, hahaha, Mommy farted. Mommy farted a lot. Hahaha!” Since they didn’t believe me, what else was I to do but claim it? I said, “HEY! Girls don’t fart. That sound you heard was actually baby unicorns being released into the world to sprinkle sugar on cookies!” I thought my comment would confuse them and ultimately, make them stop giggling. I ended up creating my own monsters because all I heard after that was how bad they wanted some sugar cookies. Ugh, a girl can’t win. Moral of the story…Just say excuse me and move on.

Public Etiquette

Let me start out by saying that I think of myself as a compassionate, nice, church going woman who loves her children, friends, and family. So do not take what I am about to say the wrong way…

Working in retail, I see a lot of crazy things. However, most recently, I was quite taken by surprise. So there I was, (admitting) leaning on the jewelry counter and looking out at the rest of the store. I do this fairly often, usually just to look out and see how many people are in the store. Well, Tuesday I leaned over and beheld a young mother and her newborn, infant baby. My first thought was, “Aww, what a cute baby. And she’s such a young girl to be a mom.” Of course, that last part was none of my business but I was surprised. I went over to see the baby and talk to the young lady. The baby was three weeks old and the mother had just turned seventeen. I guess that is not much of a surprise in this day and age. The baby was dressed in one of those white onsies and the neck part was wet with spit-up. He was not wearing a hat or socks and the only blanket around was folded up on top of the diaper bag. I was wearing pants and a long sleeve shirt and I was still freezing. The store is always somewhat chilly and there was that baby, lying in the car seat with just a onsie on. I was immediately angry but thought that maybe she had just unbundled him. So..Yes, I watched her like a hawk the whole time she was in the store. As she was checking out, I walked over near where she was and watched as she put her bags in the cart and just wheeled the baby right out into the elements outside. The blanket was still folded on top of the diaper bag. What the heck was she thinking? I mean, the winter has been unusually warm but a three-week-old baby should rarely even leave home, nonetheless come out into public practically wearing just a diaper. The saddest part of this story is, that kind of thing has happened before.

On a not so serious note, people are messy! Not all people of course, but a big majority of them are. People will put things anywhere, or take thirty items into a fitting room, try them all on, and then leave them all on the floor (pants inside out and shirts just thrown here and there). I wonder what their homes look like. Secondly, I don’t know how this happens but…I think women pee on the toilet seats more than men do.  Okay, that was gross but it had to be said. Every day I see it…and still cannot believe it.

Cart etiquette is also an important life lesson that everyone should learn. Do they teach that in school? They should! It seems so minuet but wait and listen. Have you ever been to Wal-Mart during a busy shopping holiday? If so, you know what I mean. People cut in front of you, drive all over the place, stop their carts in the middle of the aisle and walk away, and let their kids get all crazy either with it or in it. This was actual the fuel behind this whole post today. I was in Town & Country and this man was following behind me with his cart really close. I could tell he was in a hurry but there were people in front of me going slower as well as people beside me, so I couldn’t just hurry up and go for this guy. When I got a window, I sped up a little so this guy could get around me and he noticed. Before I could think, BANG!!! He crashed the front of his cart right into the back of my heels. I couldn’t help but to scream right there in the store and buckle at the knees. I turned around and yelled, “HOLY MOTHER OF….(a child looked at me)…ABRAHAM LINCOLN!” This guy turned around and high tailed it out of there without so much as an “oops”.

Lastly, to all the parents out there, it is okay to discipline your children in public. I’m not saying to abuse them or spank them. But a discrete and abrupt stop to abort bad behavior is perfectly acceptable. Don’t scream at them or spank them because that would just humiliate them and what does that really do anyway? You would end up giving your child a complex when they are older. I hate seeing children act up and I hate it even more when the parent’s reaction is to ignore the behavior. I think parents are scared to do anything to correct their children in public. I have actually corrected children’s behavior when their parents would not. I of course would only do this if the child was in danger and the parent did not recognize or do anything to fix it.

All I am basically saying is that there is proper etiquette when in public. Anything from driving our carts to raising our children, some people just need to be aware of their surroundings and in the case of the mother with the naked baby, GET HELP, TAKE CLASSES, AND DRESS THAT BABY!