I'm also interested in Odd Stories.

And I think I will share a few with you today. (If you are under 18 stop here.....that means you Lissette...if you read the whole post, I'm pretty sure I will hear from your Mom!) As you all know I like to peruse the Yahoo! News section many time a day. I found one story a little odd, and after I read it a link to another story had me laughing. And the comments...the comments...well read them for yourself! Boiling Mad: Crabs Feel Pain Do Animal's Enjoy Sex? (take a look at the links at the end of THIS story....all I can say to them is , "Huh?") I read both of them and laughed. Now, I'm not poking fun at anyone that is a vegetarian for moral reasons (promise) I just think it is weird that the pain of crabs (not THOSE kind of crabs) warrants a study. I also think I didn't really need to know if Animal's like sex or not....I've never wondered. Who thinks about this stuff and thinks they need money to study that kind of stuff? Give me your opinions....I'd love to hear them! PS...no music post this week....but if you are dying for something new, I've heard the Blue October CD is pretty good!

I'm a Mom finally making good on my promise!

OK...I got lazy this weekend and didn't type up the tutorial I promised. Will you guys forgive me? I hope you don't have jalapenos and green peppers hanging out in your fridge waiting to become jelly, because they probably aren't good anymore. OK without further ado, Here we go!

Gather your ingredients: (recipe is here)

Ingredients: Green Bell Peppers, Jalapeno Peppers, sugar, red wine vinegar, liquid pectin, red food coloring.

Chop the green peppers:

Green peppers in the food chopper

Chopped Green Peppers

Green Peppers have a lot of water in them...so if you chop them in a chopper and not by hand, made sure you drain them very well....like as well as you drain frozen/thawed spinach. (No pic of that..sorry!)

Green peppers, drained Now, slice the jalapenos and scrape the seeds and membranes out (I didn't do that this batch..it gave the jelly more heat, but the seeds have a less than palatable texture, make sure you at least get rid of the seeds). Then chop. A chopper is fine, these peppers don't have much water in them.

Jalapenos in the chopper Both diced peppers

Time to get cookin'! Add the sugar to a big stock pot:

Then add the red wine vinegar: And the peppers: Stir these ingredients together over high heat an bring to a boil. (I would have taken a picture of that, but I was afraid of my camera getting splashed by the jelly.) Boil for one minute. Reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, but gently. While is it boiling get your red food coloring and Certo brand liquid pectin at the ready:

And have your jars ready to fill: The next few steps are fairly quick, and since I didn't have an assistant helping me (maybe next time I'll see if Hyacinth will come over) I couldn't get pictures, or the jelly would have been ruined. Once the 5 minutes are up, add as much food coloring as you'd like. You can make it as red as you want, or as pink...hell you can even make it green if you really want. Add the pectin, both packets at once and a quickly as you can. Stir it all together and let it sit for about 30 seconds or so. In our elevation, the pectin doesn't set as quickly as it does in New Orleans so when I made this the first time, the first couple of jars I filled had chunks of peppers floating at the top, instead of suspended throughout the jelly. After it sets a bit, pour it into the jars (a ladle works really well for this). Wipe off any jelly you may have spilled onto the mouth's of the jars, unless you are unlike me, and didn't spill any. Immediately set the lids onto the jars and tighten as much as possible. Things might still be hot, so be careful! Throughout the day tighten the lids until they won't tighten anymore, and put labels on them. I dated my jelly as well as this time I put my name on the labels, since I have been giving them away as gifts, and I want to take all the credit myself! Here is the finished product pre-lidded:

No pic of the finished product post-lidded....maybe some of you will be lucky enough to receive one as a gift!

That's my tutorial...and my food post for the week. Next week, I hope to have a cookie recipe...if only I could find those damn cinnamon chips. Two more local grocery stores to search, then off to Gygi's if I can't find them!

I'm a Mom that is crazy busy, taking time out to post some music shit.

OK... so it really isn't "shit" unless you don't like the music I am going to talk about. I haven't heard anything new recently, well, not any new bands/artists, but some "old" bands have some new music. I keep hearing about how great the new Depeche Mode song "Wrong" is. But I haven't had a chance to really listen to it. (Although I am sure it is great...it's DM) Franz Ferdinand has a new CD. I think I like all of their stuff, just as I do the music by The Killers, but I really like the song "No You Girls" (thanks James!) Last.fm doesn't have the full track on the website, but I am sure you can find it somewhere else (I use last.fm because it is user friendly. I don't have to be a computer nerd to understand how to listen to a song) Coconut Records has a new single....."Microphone" is good. It is pretty catchy, and I started singing it after hearing the chorus one time (that is one thing that helps me decide if it is a good song, if I can sing it, BUT it is not the only thing that makes a song good). That is all I can think of that is new right now. I know the rest of you might have some music insight too (I saw something on FB about a new NIN single???)....let me know if I missed anything great!

I'm a Mom that is crazy busy.

I didn't get everything done today that I wanted to. I wanted to spend more time at my friend Mel's neighborhood park with the kids. I wanted to snap my fingers and have a clean house (yeah, yeah, I know I'm dreaming with that one). I wanted to find Vampire Brand wine for a party I have coming up on Saturday (they only have it during Halloween). I wanted to give you a great recipe post. None of that happened today. But I will give you a so-so recipe post, something quick and easy, and I think fairly versatile. A little while ago, I needed a recipe for salmon. During the summer I usually just throw a little kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, on it, then brush a dill/lemon/olive oil/minced garlic "marinade" over the top and stick it on a cedar plank then let Seth smoke it. Since it is NOT summer, I didn't have a clue how to cook it. All Recipes com to the rescue! I found a great marinade that was easy, needed household ingredients, and I think it would be great on some chicken breasts, then grilled or even pan fried. The link is below! Enjoy! Baked Salmon II P.S. Sometime this weekend I will finally put up a tutorial post about Pepper Jelly, I promise!!

I'm shifting my themed posts this week.

Today was a long day....I didn't get a chance to write a food post (and I would just pound one out right now, but I am not one to be able to just write and post, I have to revise multiple times). I will write one tomorrow, complete with pics (that is the hardest part sometimes) and then Friday will be music day. Then maybe Saturday I will add a Plinky post. Or not. Or whatever I feel like...it is MY blog.

I'm a Mom having some St. Patrick's Day Fun!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today has been a busy day in the Behunin household! Not only did we have to find something green to wear today (Colin even has green hair!), we also had a Kindergarten Program, Dentist appointments (Lillian's 1st), and Dad took the day off of work to get his bike ready for Spring.

For 8 years now, the Kindergarten classes at Colin's school have put together a St. Patrick's Day Program. The kids were asked to make Leprechaun traps to try to catch Lucky the Leprechaun and steal his Gold. Lucky taunted them in the week before St. Patrick's Day, playing tricks on them in the classroom, and putting things in their cubby's to help remind them to get their traps ready.

Colin's trap consisted of a box with Gold at one end tempting Lucky. If Lucky went through the door trying to steal the gold (not heeding the "Do Not Touch The Gold" sign), then he would get stuck on sticky tape and not be able to get out. Colin had the idea, and Mom gathered the materials, he chose what to use, and both Dad and Mom helped him put it all together. Lucky was not caught by any of the creative traps the Kindergartners created, but it looked like he had a fun time trying to get away!

Here are a few pics....note the last two pictures with cute little Leprechaun hand and foot prints, awesome!

Finished Trap

Tempting Gold (in a Leprechaun Hat) Sticky Tape to catch Lucky

Lucky's hand prints and footprints

The kids told a parent helper how their traps worked and we got to see that video at the end of the program that consisted of poems, songs, and speeches all about St. Patrick's Day and Leprechauns. Colin was assigned something to say about St. Patrick's Day and the origins of the Holiday, but alas....he didn't want to read it. He was either too shy, or scared or even tired (my fault, I forgot his medicine) to read it, so the program went without. :( I don't have any pics of the program, (we ordered the DVD) but it is just as well because there were a few rude parents that wouldn't sit down, or stand in the back or let their kids stand on the chairs, so I wouldn't have been able to get any good shots anyway. (Damn parents!) Tonight we are having Shepherd's pie for dinner (need to get that started) and the kids and I will make green rice krispie treats for dessert. No green beer, but there might be a little sipping of wine later on, and quite possibly a new St. Patrick's day baby born to some friends of ours (YAY Andy and Cindy!) Hope your St. Patrick's Day was as good as ours!

I'm a Mom just getting around to a music post.

OK, so I didn't deliver on the "The Black Keys" review last week, and I'm only going to kinda deliver this week. As you Mom's know....it is hard to find time to really listen to music, uninterrupted, and with a critics ear, so I haven't had a chance to get to know The Black Keys on a more intimate basis. When I first heard them (don't remember which song it was) I thought "The White Stripes have a new song" then I looked at the satellite radio and it wasn't The White Stripes. Last.fm says they are similar to The White Stripes & The Raconteurs, so I wasn't too far off base. I'm still not sure if I like them, or if I think they are just ripping off Jack White. Maybe listen a little more, and see what you think. I'll try to find some time to listen more and really decide what I think.

I finally gave into my craving!

This will be a quick post. Next week I'll share a new marinade with you...I just don't have the energy to find the actual recipe again. I have been craving PW's "Spreads" for a few weeks now. They looked really easy to make, so I sucked it up and made them in between doing loads of laundry yesterday. Find the recipe here. They were really easy to make, but I highly reccomend using the best chocolate chips you can find, I used a store brand which is OK for chocolate chip cookies, but not so good for Spreads. The taste was a little off, and I ended up eating one then then throwing the rest away. (Well, Seth and the kids each had one too). OK, next week's food post will be better, I promise.

I'm a "Digital Mom"

After reading that one of my favorite bloggers, Dooce ,was going to be on The Today Show (her second time, BUT her first NOT with Kathie Lee) I knew I wanted to watch. Normally I don't watch The Today Show (Sorry Matt Lauer) I watch Fox13 instead...you know to keep up on local news and weather. I forgot to watch. And I couldn't find the video online. But Dooce was cool enough to put it on her blog today and I've tried to embed it here for you guys to watch too, but it won't load. So take a look at her post here, before you finish reading this post. (I think she looks great, and she is really good on TV.) ________________________________________________________ I love being a Digital Mom. I love knowing how to use computers, love knowing quite a bit about the Internet, and I love, love, love blogging and bloggers. I am on the computer on and off all day long (the great thing about having a laptop and wireless Internet) and I feel more informed about the world, our nation, our state and my friends than I ever have before. Yeah, Yeah, sometimes my housework suffers, but my kids never do (they have learned to play independently, and have learned more about computers themselves) and I love knowing I am not the only Mom in the world that is a Digital Mom. So for those of you out there that want to tell me how stupid and what a waste of time blogging is, stop. I don't care what you think about it, I am still going to blog and enjoy it when I do. To those of you that don't think it is a valid form of communication, open your eyes! Get with the times! People around the world use the Internet and blogging and email to share what is happening in their lives. If you want to know what if going on in my life, what I think about current events, what I have cooked this week, read my blog. If you don't read blogs, you won't know what is going on. Because I'm NOT going to call and tell you (well, I probably will if there is a life changing event, but if I don't, don't get mad at me, I warned you!) (This has been a PSA sponsored by me, a blogger/Digital Mom)

My money's on the shark

The question is:

Who would in a fight between a bear and a shark?

Some shark's have such huge mouth's, they can just eat the bear in one jaw snapping bite. (OK, so I have no research to back this up, it is just what I imagine happening in this crazy head of mine.)

(I started subscribing to "Plinky" so I wouldn't run out of interesting things to say, and so my next wordle won't be mostly about cooking)

I guess I blog about cooking the most.

I have seen of quite a few blogs, a post or a widget made up of the words most used in their posts. I decided to go to Wordle and do one of my blog, just to see what I blog about the most. Apparently, it is cooking. So, if anyone asks what my hobbies are, I will just say, according to Wordle, my only hobby is cooking, since that is what I blog about the most. See below for my blog Wordle (if you click on it, it will get larger)

I make jelly too! (Not Jam!!)

I haven't tried out any new recipes this week, but I feel like I am neglecting my duties as a blog writer if I don't give you some kind of recipe. My friend Nancy (Hi Nancy!) has this awesome Grandma (MawMaw) that hails from New Orleans. I've met her a couple of times in the last few months over the course of her staying in Utah for weeks/months at a time. (Did she ever go home in between Halloween and Thanksgiving? We may never know!) Anyway....she makes this awesome, awesome Pepper Jelly that you pour over softened cream cheese and serve with crackers. She and Nancy (and Jared) were kind enough to show me how to make it one very fun Saturday morning. Nancy has brought this great appetizer to multiple MOMS Club functions, but I am going to be the one to share the recipe with you. Now, some of you might need a tutorial, some of you may not, when I make my next batch this afternoon, I will take pics Ala "Pioneer Woman" and post them next week if you are interested.

Here's the recipe:

Maw Maw’s Pepper Jelly

1 cup jalapeno peppers (seeded and finely chopped)

1 1/3 cup bell pepper (finely chopped)

6 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup red wine vinegar

6 oz. liquid pectin (1 box which comes with 2 3 oz. packages of Certo)

red food coloring

Combine first 4 ingredients. Boil 1 minute. Reduce heat and cook 5 minutes, stir gently, but constantly. Remove from heat, gently add food coloring and pectin. Let rest for about 30 seconds. Poor in jar immediately!

Gather your ingredients and get ready for a tutorial next week. Hope it turns out ok!

Thanks for letting me share the recipe Nancy!