Tracie's World

Had kind of one of those odd dreams right before I woke up this morning, that left me quoting and humming a song by a group called The Proclaimers. The song featured prominently in my dream, which is odd, because it's not one that I've thought much about. But because of that, I went and looked up the lyrics. They're actually quite nice, so I thought I'd share them. They may actually become a new favorite: I'm on my way from misery to happiness today I'm on my way from misery to happiness today I'm on my way to what I want from this world And years from now you'll make it to the next world And everything that you receive up yonder Is what you gave to me the day I wandered I took a right, I took a right turning yesterday I took a right, I took a right turning yesterday I took the road that brought me to your home town I took the bus to streets that I could walk down I walked the streets to find the one I'd looked for I climbed the stair t...

Been thinking a lot lately about the passage from Matthew chapter 7, about how "ye shall know them by their fruits". It's a phrase that's been coming around to me again and again. I guess it's just to remind me how to know what things are good and are worth pursuing and paying attention to. So I loved this picture inside the cover of the August Ensign, which quotes that passage. It's a beautiful reminder to seek after good things.

One last photo of my chef-ing efforts. This morning I was craving something a little more healthy - sort of a detox from my really good burger of last evening. So here's the result, my own version of bran muffins with raisins. 1 c. Wheat flour 1 c. Wheat germ 3 t. baking powder 1/2 c. egg beaters 1/4 c. molasses 1/8 c. canola oil 1 c. almond milk Raisins Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Yummy!

To wash down my really good burger, I needed a refreshing salad to go with it. I decided on a traditional Greek salad, minus the greens. I cut up a few cucumbers, a couple of tomatoes, diced up some red onion, threw in some feta cheese crumbles, then added a splash of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, with some fresh ground black pepper. Easy peasy!

As someone who is dedicated to a mostly meatless lifestyle, it doesn't happen all that frequently, but there are the occasional moments when I crave a good old-fashioned hamburger. And this was one of those weekends. But it wasn't a craving for a fast food burger, but one of those thick and juicy gourmet ones that you can usually only find at a diner or bar. But since it's no fun to get a burger at a diner or bar on my own, I got myself down to the Fresh Market, picked up a nice package of extra lean ground beef, and went to town to create my own really good burger. Here's what I came up with: First, I fried up some fresh onions, using a combo of red and yellow, and cooked them way down until they were completely caramelized.  While the onions were cooking, I took 1/3 pound of the ground beef, and mixed in the rest of my jar of shallots (roughly a tablespoon or two). I also added some garlic powder, and some chili powder, and maybe a 1/2 teaspoon of Thai red curr...

The team had to work a few hours yesterday in support of a new release that went out Friday night, and on those occasions, I find it useful to bring treats. So I left a little early and got myself down to ShopKo to see what I could find, and in the category of "why didn't I think of that?", low and behold, I found manna from heaven, in the form of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Oreos. I also like to refer to them as food of the gods. But whatever you call them when you do try them, I bet you can't eat just one!

Monday I was invited by a friend to see none other than "Weird" Al Yankovic in concert at the Sandy Amphitheater. "Weird" Al's the one who does all the parody versions of famous pop songs. I've been a sort of fan ever since High School, when he first showed up on our radar with "Polkas on '45", and "Dare to Be Stupid". All my band geek friends and I loved him. He took polka, pop, and accordions, and music videos and turned them into hilarious events. With this model, he's had a host of pseudo-hits over the years, tunes like "Eat It", "Like a Surgeon", "Addicted to Spuds", "Fat", "I Lost on Jeopardy", "Amish Paradise", "Tacky", and the list goes on and on. He's the musical icon for nerds and geeks everywhere. In concert, he's super entertaining. There's music videos, costume changes, and all sorts of outrageousness. He made a very grand entrance wal...