Travelin' with VerDell and Lurlene

Self Medicating….In the Comfort Zone

The experts will tell you straight out that comfort foods; be they warm, soft and starchy or salty, sweet and crunchy are most often consumed in response to emotional stress.  That being said, I am so grateful that I had that five pound bag of taters in the pantry last week.   That and cheese, but the cheese story will have to come later.

I was tellin' a friend about my Christmas and all the things that went on and she said, "Good Lord, it sounds more like the "Little Advent Calendar of Horrors."  I rolled...and even imagined what that little calendar would look like.  But bein as I don't want to put energy into that project...I decided to cook up something instead. 

I know I talk a lot about usin' food for comfort, but I also use talkin with good friends who share my wicked sense of humor to bust out the boogy zone.   Can't beat'um...or mash'um or butter'um but they are the best medicine in the world.

Thanks everyone...for helpin me eat taters, and broccoli casseroles and all things fat and fluffy!  You save me every day.

Mashed Taters

The ultimate comfort food: can be substituted for Xanax or Zoloft as long as walking five miles is added to your daily routine.

5 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces

2 teaspoons salt, plus more, to taste

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/4 cups half-and-half, heated

 Freshly ground white pepper, to taste

Put the potatoes and the 2 teaspoons salt in a large pot, add water to cover the potatoes by 3 inches and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. 

Reduce the heat to medium-low and gently cook the potatoes until they are tender when pierced with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain well in a colander. 

Add the butter and gradually add the half-and-half, beating constantly with a large spoon, until the potatoes are smooth and creamy. Season with salt and white pepper and transfer to a warmed serving dish or a soup bowl that fits comfortably on your lap. 

Serve immediately. Serves 8 to 10 or 1 to 2, jus depends.

Jus Jokin'

Up my sleeve

I've been holdin this card for quite some time.
Somebody's gotta do it.

Live Simply

I recently fell in love with a new fragrance...I thought I just had to have it, but it was way out of my price range...I thought about it and thought about it and tried to justify the indulgence. Then this happened...and now I'm usin' Bounce.
Have a blessed New Year everyone!
May your joys be plenty.
Love,
Lurlene

Shift Key

Shift Key

I Got Rhythm

Gingerbread Goddess

VerDell says it's important to put the daily musin's from the Book of Lurlene here on the Mustard.  I usually jus post'um on FaceBook, but she worries that one day FB will just melt away...and somehow things will be safer on Mustard.  I don't see her logic, but I don't like to fret her.

Her Bubba gave her a new torch for Christmas, she's been wantin to do some weldin and such, but she is beside herself because there's oxygen and acetylene canisters sittin down in the basement.  VerDell worries too much; there's a 1935 gas furnace down there that I figure will blow before her tanks...but she picks and chooses what bothers her. 

It bothers me that I can't stop eatin' cookies...and that no matter how hard I try, I can't loose not one pound of flesh in the Winter.  It dawned on me that that just wasn't natural.  We're all programed to store fat in the winter.  That bein' rationalized, I felt better about my muffin top...until spring.


  

A Christmas Toddy from the Crowbar

Don't drive after you drink this okay?

 Ingredients
4 cups (unsweetened) apple cider
1 cup cranberry juice
1 cup tequila (or more if you're not flyin or drivin afterwards)
1/4 cup triple sec
3 cinnamon sticks, a few cloves if you like (I like)
Lime slices for garnish'

Heat cider and cranberry juice with cinnamon sticks and cloves until hot. (do not let boil)
Remove from heat. 
Stir in tequila and liqueur. 
Serve in mugs. Garnish with lime. 

Find a place that gives you peace
put your feet up and enjoy

Merry Christmas everyone!

Love Buck, Lurlene and Mojo (the crow)