Suzanne Schaffer

It's true. I could have died. I was in the kitchen doing some dishes when a guy just like the one pictured above came scurrying towards me with ill intent written all over his 8,000,000 wiggly legs. I'm pretty sure you heard me scream. Thankfully, I had the hot water on so I grabbed the spray hose and scalded him to death. Centipedes have always been my worst bug. I have a long history with them, and none of it good. Then there's this guy. The seventeen year cicada. Since my run-in with him back in Waynesburg in the mid-90s I've dubbed him the devil-bug. Look at those beady blood red eyes. Nothing good can come of this. Nothing. My friend in North Carolina announced that her area is due for a visit from these creatures this year. I was planning to surprise her with a visit. That will now wait until 2014 And down here I was going to put a picture of the massive spider that was plotting my death last week. It was in the toilet. On the water. Waiting to kill me. Ple

This is a carton of store brand vanilla ice cream. Check the ingredients. Corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup are always one t o avoid. It may cost less, but junk food usually does. This is B reyer's vanilla. There are even better choices than this one, but this will work for today. The ingredient list is a lot shorter. It has sugar instead of cor n syrup and you know it tastes better. It's ice cream season. You don't need to avoid it altogether . Have fun. Eat well . Read labels. Remember: Just because they sell it in the store doesn't mean you should eat it. 

You're lovely even with your scars

What better snack is there than popcorn? It's one of my favorites and if I'm ever stuck on a deserted island somewhere blissfully away from sociopaths, it's on my list of few things I get to keep with me. Popcorn is easy to make, is filling, and is full of fiber , in case you're having problems in that area, it will *ahem* move things along.    Here's a bag of popcorn from the grocery store. Already popped and ready to eat. The ingredients don't look too bad at first glance. Then you read that it, "Contains: MILK" and yet that isn't in the list of ingredients. Hmmm....what else are they not telling you about? Today is April 17th. This bag of popcorn has a date on it of May 28th. So it'll "be good" for at least another month. When exactly was this popped? Wouldn't you rather eat popcorn that was fresh? Because you know what that bagged stuff is going to taste like. It's going to taste like artificial flavors and salt.

And that's all I have to say today.

My husband recently came home from a 10 -day missions trip to India. Thi s is what he brought back for me. This man knows me. And I love it.

Found this over the weekend at TJ Maxx. I'd not tried Brusse ls Sprouts before. These were really good. I mean, seriously good. Bough t some of t his too. I've had pickled garlic before. It's amazing. Just munch on the whole clo ves, or slice them up and add to a salad. Mmmm. Since I liked the pickled ones I bought a bag of these. I'm goin g to try them tonight. Wish me luck. My dad had s uch an aversion to them that all I ever heard was how horrible they were. I guess after all this ti me I should try them myself!

In case you wonder why I 've enabled "accept/reject" on comments and have to view the m myself instead of them automatically publishing , let me show you why. This comment just appeared on a book review that I did:   There іs оne woгd you cаn ԁesсribe ceiling fans with lights - practiсal. so that the fаn doеѕ nοt become so looѕe that it might fall. Depending оn the homeoωnеr's choice, they can either have up lights or down lights in them. Okay, now you know. What does that have to do with the book I reviewed? The characters in the book didn't even have ceiling fans....  

This past weekend my daughter and I visited a Chinese congregation in a nearby town. We'd been wanting to do this for a while and the timing was never right . The English service wa s set to start at 9:30 so we arrived about ten minutes early and went inside. Before entering the sanc tuary we visited the bathroom. I 've since been told that this building used to house a Christian school and I suppose that those were the folks who painted the ladies bathroom to look like this:   Is tha t not lovely? I melted when I saw it. What an excellent reminder for young women (and old ones...) After finding a seat we were surprised that there weren't many people there. Right before the service began the white pastor came up to us and welcome d us, mentioning warning that they ask visitors to stand and introduce themselves. When the time came I stood and gave our names and where we were from. Soon we were greeted by almost every person in the room, which had filled up over ti

This is a packet of t aco seasoning. Look at all of those ingredients. Did you know that anything labeled , "natural flavor" could be anything ? You probably don't want to imagine what they mean by that. Did you know that you can make your own taco seasoning at home, thereby eliminating the "natural flavo r" and controlling the amount of salt that's in it. It is one of the easiest things to make, a nd you can play with the seasonings to customize it. Homemade taco seasoning: 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 tabl espoon cumin 1 tablespoon coriander 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper  And her e is Rachael Ray's recipe for taco seasoning: 1 tablespoon chili pow der 1 tablespoon cumin 1 tablespoon garlic po w der 1 tablespoon onion powder 1/4 tablespoon crushed red pepper  Remember: Just because they sell it in the store doesn't mean you should eat it.    

This is a bag of frozen french fries. Check out that ingredient list. It isn't very long, but do you know what those extra things are? Shouldn't fries just be potatoes and oil? They can be. I make my own oven baked fries.  I make them at least twice a week. Sometimes more. It's super easy and takes only a little longer than the frozen bagged ones, plus they taste better. I use a Pampered Chef bar pan (stone ware) because they are pretty much non-stick without being poisonous. They are easier to make the fries on than a regular metal cookie sheet. You can use any kind of potato that you want. My favorite are the golden potatoes. They have a rich flavor (I usually get the organic ones when I can). You can use white ones, red ones, or russets. I keep the skin on. Wash the potatoes and then slice them into the size and shape that you want. Put them on your pan and then drizzle with olive oil. I prefer olive oil because it's heart-healthy and tastes great.