Wednesday, November 19, 2008

NOW THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKIN’ ABOUT

There's a little nip in the air. All across the country we hear tell that winter is approaching. I don't think the temperature got up to 70 degrees farenheit here today. Now before you go sending me hate mail and leaving comments about how I'm such a biatch for complaining about great weather, let's be clear: I'm not complaining. In fact I love it! I'm simply stating that it's getting cooler/colder all across the country and Canada too. I know this because My Harley Stud gives me a weather report for the location of pretty much every friend and relative we have every morning.

What is it about middle age men and their fascination with the weather? When D2 was getting ready to go off to college, D1 informed her that, "Every telephone conversation you have with Daddy will start with: So what's the weather like there?" It's not just MHS either. I call my Daddy almost every day on my way home from work. Almost without fail, every conversation will include the difference between the weather here and where he lives, 200 miles north of here. Both MHS and the Biker Nazi have downloaded special weather applications to their phones so they can easily check the weather conditions any where they please. And they please to check them everywhere everyday. My brother, Smitty, watches the weather channel on Maui and if he sees a storm anywhere in the state of Florida, he will call to make sure I'm OK. I have a cousin, BoBo, who drives cross country for a living and he also is a weather channel fan. I guess that should be expected in his line of work though. My point is that every man I know of middle age and up fancies themselves as some sort of meteorologist. I almost forgot to mention our friend, Wolfgang Johnny, who actually is the chief meterologist of our local news station. We blame him for every crappy day we have. And the poor guy gets no credit when the weather is good.

The funny thing about cooler weather when you live in Florida is that we have so few opportunities to wear our winter clothes. So if the temperature dips into the 60's you will see everyone's leather jackets and boots, wool sweaters and scarves. Yeah we bundle up like it's a daggone blizzard because we know this may be all the cool weather we get and we have to wear every piece of winter apparel that we own while we can. It's pretty funny because usually by noon, everyone is mellllllttttting. Layers, people, it's all about layers.

With the cooler weather upon us, MHS and I love a fire in the fire place. It's so cozy. It doesn't take too much of a drop of the mercury for us to turn off the a/c, open the windows and build a roaring fire in the fireplace.

A few days ago Daddy mentioned that Daisy made a Hoosier specialty for dinner: Beans and cornbread. Jan over at Jan's Sushi Bar mentioned black eyed peas and cornbread the other day too. Between the two of them, I started to long for, crave and dream of a big pot of ham and beans and buttery cornbread. I'm pretty sure my cornbread recipe is the best in the world. No lie! I thought about posting the recipes for these two delectable concoctions but I'm not sure that I am not just one of a few people that like this sort of comfort food. MHS loves the cornbread but is not a big fan of beans unless it's chili. So if you're interested, let me know and I will share. Be warned though, I measure nothing.

I'm still trying to shake this stupid cold and skipped the gym today so I thought that enjoying some comfort food and relaxing by a nice fire might be just the ticket to cure what ails me. That and the Airborne that Midlife Slices and D1 keep pushing on me. *wink* Love ya, ladies! And PS neither one of them bothered to tell me how terrible it tastes!

So if you need me, I'll be right here.

21 comments:

Stepping said...

First time I have ever been FIRST!
The fire looks so inviting and the beans and cornbread look delicious! Please post the recipe for your cornbread.

Anonymous said...

seconding the cornbread recipe request...once again, PerfectSister will likely be the one making it LOL...

and you poor baby...really?!...it got below 70!...should i send you my downfilled longjohns? LOL

and you can tell MHS that here in lotusland, it's supposed to get down to 4C, which is about 38 in americanspeak...so it looks like i'll be scraping ice off the car tomorrow morning...crap...

Pseudo said...

Lord that looks good. I'd kill (thistle), for the cornbread recipe. ; -)

Over here it's actually about as cold as it gets and I'm making me some pumpkin and lentil soup right now. Cornbread would have gone real good with it.

Anonymous said...

I love a good fire too and I've had one 3 mornings so far. Post your cornbread recipe, already. LOL And the reason I didn't tell you how bad that stuff tastes is because I knew you wouldn't try it. The secret is.....tiny bit of water and slug it down with one gulp then chase it with something....anything.

Now for my corn pancake recipe......listen up and pay attention because it's a secret and I'm only going to tell you once.

You buy one box of Jiffy Cornbread mix and follow the directions on the side for corn pancakes. Delicious!!! :)

I cook mine in a skillet coated with butter...and they are excellent. Muah!!

Smart Mouth Broad said...

Stepping Thru-Congrats on your first FIRST!

Thistle-Now just stop! It is cold uh chilly here today. I wore a turtleneck for goodness sakes! I think I will have to tell MHS to put you on his regular report. Oh and I'll email you my address so get those longjohns packed up.

Pseudo-LOL on killing Thistle

Looks like 3 votes for cornbread and that's good enough for me. I'll post it tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Smart Mouth Broad said...

MLS-AWWW, See how you take care of me. I'm going to try your pancakes. Wait til you see the cornbread recipe......

Anonymous said...

Mmm, that looks delicious!! I'm not really allowed into the kitchen anymore after making Jan's Pad Thai recipe, but I loves the corn bread, heh.

Anonymous said...

mmmm... That looks like a nice warm home cooked meal! I could go for one of them on this cold night! It's 34 degrees tonight! Yeah, I got a text this morning with the weather all over! I loved it because I knew before I even got out of bed how cold it was outside! See ya soon!

Bear Naked said...

Sorry--this Canuck is giggling like a mad fool at your perception of the winter season.
60F here is when we put on our longer length shorts.
And maybe socks.

Bear((( )))

Smart Mouth Broad said...

GF-I think what you need is another attempt. My cornbread is really easy. I'll post it tonite.

D2-Good thing you have a nice, new, warm coat, huh?

Bear-Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, I know. *grin*

Anonymous said...

I lived in Arizona for a while and it cracked me up when people would break out the winter gear when the temps "dipped" to the 60s. But after my first year there - I also found that I was freezing in 60 degree weather!

Lori said...

I love fireplaces. Now really I think I should be the one to have a fireplace but sadly I don't.
This morning it is about 16 here but seems colder because there is a nice cold wind blowing. The high today is suppose to be 20...uhg! I talked to my daughter that lives in Florida and she started to say something and stopped and I asked her what she was going to say and she went on to say, "I was going to say it's chilly here today but thought I should shut my mouth." Then she said something about it being only in the 70's. She has already grown used to the Florida weather and freezes her ass off when she comes...even in the summer!

You know when you wrote about people putting on their warm stuff it reminded me of when we were in Gainsville seeing my son and we went shopping to get him something to wear to the wedding. And I was floored that they sell winter type clothing in Florida...it was just like shopping here and a saleswoman over heard my shock and she said something like "it can get really cold here" and then I responded and she said "Are you from Minnesota? And when I said yes she said that she could tell because of my Minnesota accent!!! And then when on to say "forget it, you probally aren't going to think it's cold here." First of all, I don't have an accent. Do I? Okay I probally do because people always guess I am from Minnesota. Dear lord.

That bread and soup look delicious and I too, would love the recipees so please pass them on.
Well, enjoy your fire! Oh and I was going to say that if you ever want to really try out your winter garments, there is an open invitation to come and experience a Minnesota winter...I could take you snowshoeing and icefishing! And I would could find you some lefsa!

The Chicago Blogger said...

It is fah-reezing is Chicago. That fireplace looks awesome! :)

And recipes, please! You know what a food geek I am! :)

Anonymous said...

OMG - we're going to have to have a cornbread smack-down, girl. I've already posted my recipe, if you want to do a search for it on my blog (I also think it's under the "bread" category on my sidebar).

Well, damn. Now I want beans and cornbread, too. I'm making chili this weekend, but the recipe will have to wait - I've committed myself to pies for the next several days.

That I should be committed goes without saying, yes.

Anonymous said...

Very cold here.... Hubby has fireplace going every night now to take the chill off the house after sunset.

Get well soon! Lots of soups and stew... and kleenex too.

BRG

Lo said...

YUM! i love cornbread too. but only if it's warm and i have TONS of melted butter. like two sticks worth. i kid you not.

also? try Zycam. again, it tastes horrid but in one day of taking it, all of my colds are pretty much gone. i hate airborne. it makes me gag!! i found out about Zycam from my sister in law bc they have this cool q-tip looking applicator one for kids, where you wipe this stuff inside your nose and you don't taste/smell anything. amazing. wish they had that when iw as a kid!

Anonymous said...

I must be the exception to the rule about middle aged men and weather...

Course, I'm the exception to a lot of things, huh? :)

That cornbread looks goooooooooood. Southern food. Now I'm hungry.

Wait...

You can cook????!

Wunderwoman said...

Goodness, what I wouldn't do for some of that 70 degree weather. It's COLD here in Indiana!!! If only the hubby would move:-(
Please post recipe for cornbread and beans,
Thanks

Smart Mouth Broad said...

Fancy-I was exactly the same the first year we lived here. My nephew played soccer and MHS and I thought people were nuts when we would go to the games in tshirts and jeans and see people with parkas, blankets, thermos' full of cocoa, mittens, etc. The next year we were right there with them. LOL

Smiles-Daddy lives near Gainesville and it does get much colder there than here. They will get below freezing frequently. And where D2 goes to school is even further north in Florida and she has some very chilly walks to class. But all in all we have it pretty good. I don't know if I would last more than a few days in Minnesota. But it would be fun to try. Stay warm.

Diana-I posted the cornbread recipe last night only because I already had it ready. I didn't get home from work until after 9pm so that was about all I could do was push the publish button. I will work on putting the bean recipe asap.

Jan-I had so much to say but now will have to move on to today's post to talk to you. I will say: Turn about is fair play. LOL I hope you get your craving satisfied.

BRG-Yes, kleenex, lots of kleenex but I have to add to that; soft kleenex. My nose is sore. Stay warm.

Lo-Try my recipe from today's post. It's very easy and quick. Thanks for the zycam recommendation. This sh*t's gettin old!

Slick-Dear, you are the exception to every rule and I don't know but I don't think you are considered mid-life yet. So be prepared to get the weather bug in a few years.

Heck yeah, I can cook. But I'm not sure that this particular recipe for oornbread demonstrates that. LOL

Tawanda-Thanks for stopping by my site. I hope you'll come back and visit again. One recipe down today and hopefully the beans will follow soon. You never know, I forget sometimes. *sigh*

Hedon said...

Men and the weather channel... I don't get it.

Course I am probably too far in the opposite direction. We were given a load that was set to deliver in Houston and we headed toward Texas... about half way there some middle-aged guys and I were talking in a truck-stop about where our loads were going. When I said we were delivering the next day in Houston they all three looked shocked and said, "Well you're not going to make that appointment."

I was completely at a loss and asked them why not. They all three looked extremely disgusted and told me a hurricane was going to hit Houston that night. Sigh... we really should listen to the weather channel once in a while.

Smart Mouth Broad said...

Hedon-That made me laugh remembering that before MHS hit midlife, we were on our way back to Florida from a trip to Indiana. We couldn't figure out why all the traffic was heading North and we seemed to be the only ones going South. Hello Hurricane, Andrew! Duh! In our defense, they didn't broadcast about weather in Florida in other parts of the nation at that time too much. Of course Andrew changed that. Safe travels!