New Blog!

I've started a new blog - you can find it here: http://www.WaffleTalk.blogspot.com

I started my MomsLeap blog a few months ago when my good friend Lundy asked me about starting a website to be called MomsLeap.com. It seems there was not a single decent resource website geared to Memphis moms. Life got in the way and months went by and neither of us was able to devote the time we needed to get this thing up and going. Of course, there's no such thing as an original idea, on the internet at least. So here we are and at least two moms' resource website franchises have launched blogs geared toward local moms. We've agreed that this is no longer the best use of our time, so are thinking about other possibilities for a new internet venture.

Since this blog has meandered around, away from the special interest blog we originally conceived, I've decided to start a new one and rename it with something more general.

I'll leave this blog up and will spend some time copying posts I think fit well into the new blog. I'm thinking I need to start a food blog, since that's a chunk of what I write about. The great thing about Blogger is that this is all free, so I might do separate blogs about food, day-trading, books, scrapbooking, my new consulting business, gardening or whatever else interests me.

I started my very first blog a couple of years ago, with family pictures (geared toward our relatives). I have another one for our extended family, one for my son's school baseball team, and of course MomsLeap and now Waffle Talk! Lots of blogs.

If you like what I've done, I promise you, you'll enjoy blogging. You'll get in the habit of taking pictures and actually uploading them to your computer! It's just a great creative outlet and fun to share with everyone you're close to. It's very easy to do, but give me a call if you need help getting started.

Waffle Talk

I know you're wondering about the picture of the Toucan. I didn't have any great pictures to share, so I lazily looked in the sample pictures that came on my computer and found this. It reminded me of my upcoming trip to Brazil. Sure enough, the Toucan is native to South America. I doubt we'll see any in the city, but we are taking a side trip to the Iguazu Falls. They are only surpassed by Victoria Falls in Southern Africa. I wonder why I've never heard of them before. We've been to Niagara Falls and that was truly amazing, so I'm excited to see these. I don't know if we'll see the Toucan, but I've been told we'll see lots of wildlife, including very friendly monkeys!

Speaking of Brazil - I'll be leaving two weeks from Monday. It's hard to believe it's almost here. I'm a little nervous about the travel - it's a brutal 24 hour trip. That'll be the farthest from home I've ever been if you don't count the trip back from Japan when I was only a year old (I was born there). My poor mother - I can't imagine traveling that far on a propeller plane (yes, I think it's before jets were commonly used, at least for lowly Air Force NCO families - I know, I'm getting old). She made the trip alone with three kids under the age of seven, including a one year old (but I'm sure I was a little angel). My daddy must have been otherwise occupied with Air Force business. I need to spend some time documenting their stories of Japan and other travels. I remember Puerto Rico well since we lived their while I was seven to ten years old. Those are the most exotic places we lived.

Ok, on to the business at hand. I cooked THE easiest and best thing in the world last night. I didn't take pictues because it doesn't look as pretty as it tastes. It's a recipe from the Memphis Junior League's Heart and Soul cookbook. It's called Criolla's Barbeque Shrimp. I think it's an old recipe and I'm sure I've had it before, but must have forgotten. All you do is melt a stick of butter and stir in 1 tablespoon each of water, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Add salt and pepper and a pound of shrimp. Amazing. The recipe recommends dipping French bread in the sauce, but I made mashed potatoes and used the sauce like gravy (I'm still working on the 20 pounds of potatoes I bought on sale). I also dipped my broccoli in it. You cannot believe how incredible this tastes, and you can tell how easy it is. Try it soon - I promise you'll thank me.

If you don't have the Heart and Soul cookbook, your cookbook library is not complete. I've never made anything from it that's not delicious. I should warn you that everything in it is packed with calories and fat, which, of course, is why it's so wonderful. The surly teenager didn't rave, but he must've liked it because he ate it when he came in from school and for dinner again a little bit later. I wonder if it would be good with chicken.

I have a blissful day with nothing at all planned. Tonight's the big game, Memphis and UCLA in the Final Four. GO TIGERS!