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Pizza Returns

Lisa Strafford — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 21:52:57 GMT

Jeeze, I haven't given a damn about pizza in thirty five years. Used to (in my teens and college years) live on the stuff. Last night brought back all of the wonder I used to feel for pizza.

We were in Peoria, IL for a pleasant evening of Christmas programming with the grandkids featured. Christopher and Colin Scheer both were fabulous performers in the Lutheran school Christmas program. Afterwards, we went over to Agatucci's Pizza Restaurant on University. In a former life, with the first husband, 25 years ago, I'd eaten at Agatucci's a few times.

MAN ALIVE WAS IT GOOD!

I remembered that it was pretty tasty, but had forgotten just how good. We ordered two large pies, a garden plus olives and a sausage, pepperoni, mushroom for the six of us. The toppings tasted fresh and in balance with the amount of cheese and sauce. All in all, just awesome pizza. Three salads with the house vinegar/oil mix and four beers finished the order. So here is my question...

How come nobody in the Quad Cities can match this crust? It was thin, crispy and tasty by itself. There was no sign of oil dripping from these pizzas and the crusts were cooked all the way across. Condiments on the table include "Tiger sauce", Franks hot sauce, salt and pepper. I seem to recall the commercial bottles of Tiger sauce from 25 years ago, but now there is a yellow sweet/sour kind that is pretty tasty.

The salads were not fancy, but a nice foil for the pizzas. Anyhow, I like Clint's pizza, and who doesn't like Happy Joe's taco pizza? Pinnocchio's in Milan was good, but I haven't been since the new name/owners. If there are pizzas like we ate last night in the Quads, I don't know where. My waistline is glad that Agatucci's is 90 miles away! The kids tell us that Davis Pizza, also in Peoria is very similar. Myself, I'll stick with what I know.

We met Tony Agatucci, one of the owners, as he went to school with the SIL, Chris. Nice to put a personal touch on the experience. If you get to Peoria give Agatucci's Pizza a try. It is worth the trip!

Sister Grows Up

Lisa Strafford — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 20:50:47 GMT

The Norwich terrier puppy, Sister, is growing up.

She surprised the Door Nut this morning with a sharp bark followed by a leap and a crunch.
The barn always harbors a rat or two under the hay. Sister is going to make short work of
the individuals silly enough to venture out when she patrols.

We tend to still think of her as this.

She is not that little puppy any more. She is a veteran of 2 levels of obedience training
with Norm Aguirre at K9U in East Moline, IL. She has spent the summer on camping
trips and logged more miles than most dogs accrue in a lifetime.

So on Tuesday, think of Sister Eva and wish her a Happy Birthday. I'll probably forget.

Early Spring is Grand!

Lisa Strafford — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:24:00 GMT

I had forgotten how wonderful early spring can be. Horseback riding in the
Big River State Forest between Keithsburg and Oquawka, Illinois made for
a magical weekend.

It is only our second trip out this year with the horses. The camper is
nowhere near correctly packed, the horses are still barefoot, the food
supplies lacked many things, Mike had no clean T shirts and I forgot to pack
shampoo. I made a trip to Fisher's market in Oquawka and we made do.

The weekends best thing, the memory that is stuck in my mind is simply
the fresh, green brilliance of the pine needles.

My eyes were mesmerized by the green color of the pine trees in the forest.
Seems that the trees, or most of the pines at least, shed ALL of their
needles last year or over the winter. There was a 2" carpet of umber color
pine needles everywhere in the pine woods. Each and every pine tree
carried the most vibrant, verdant green needle bundles I've ever seen.
We rode for about 2 hours both Saturday and Sunday and I am still amazed
and thrilled with the pure, true greenness of the woods.

I am quite sure that as soon as the rest of the forest wakes up to warmer,
longer days that the competing variety of greens will dim the brilliance of
the long pine needles. This must stand as my little bit of reverence for a
color I've not noticed before. WOW!

The Bulge Battle Continues

Lisa Strafford — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:24:00 GMT

Damn food; damn calories; damn fat; damn age.

Darn, I was hoping I'd feel better after that. Rats.
The family (minus Izzi) did indeed go on our cruise
at Christmas time. I will attempt to get a few pictures
up here soon. We traveled on the Costa Atlantica
to the Western Caribbean.

The itinerary was:
Sea day
Key West
Jamaica
Grand Cayman
Cozumel
Sea day

Of course we came home on the 26th of December
and the midwest was under a new blanket of snow.
Just meant that we drove home from Chicago instead
of flying. All three families managed to travel home
without major delay.

The food, with the exception of desserts, was
absolutely fabulous. I gained six pounds. Dammit.
Anyhow, I'm back on the exercise, portion control
routine.

Repair, Don't Replace!

Lisa Strafford — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:08:00 GMT

As the economy continues to spiral...sorta downward, most of us are
contemplating repairs when offered the choice. If you have the
choice to fix a door, as opposed to replacing the door, we can fix
them most of the time.

I won't mince words. There are well known companies in the Quad
Cities and probably the rest of the country for that matter, who are
telling people that if you have a broken spring, you need a new door.

THIS IS RIDICULOUS! Since these companies have chosen NOT
to repair springs, nor to carry springs in their inventory, they are
technically telling you the truth. THEY cannot repair your garage
doors. Insist on the whole truth.

Find a door company where the employees actually know how doors
work. Strafford Door knows. 309-762-6085.

CUTE!

Lisa Strafford — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:59:00 GMT

I hope you can all see this -

Mike and I are both totally, completely, madly in love with this
little bit of doggy. MAN! I'd forgotten just how cute and endearing
itty bitty critters can be.

Of course, the greyhound, Albert, hates her. His nose is out of joint
big time. He is slowly learning to ignore her. We are giving him
lots of attention so that he doesn't feel displaced. (Kind of a pain...)

Dan Goranson is taking these pictures. His series of shots are here -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastiowa/sets/72157625624566631/
with/5325658924/

Her name is Sister Eva and she is 10 weeks old. The breed is
Norwich terrier. More to come as we are now entertained just by
watching a puppy be a puppy.

Monday we begin puppy obedience class at K9U with Norm Aguirre.

Pissin' My Money Away

Lisa Strafford — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 01:20:00 GMT

Are we really paying the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.
to spend time wasting their efforts trying to repeal the health care bill?

The senate won't even call the repeal bill and the president will exercise
the veto. My daddy would have called it pissin' in the wind. I don't get it.

I hope like hell that they are not drawing a tax funded paycheck.

This country has enough problems and challenges that we CANNOT
afford this kind of waste. I guess that if they are working on their own
dimes, it is OK... But they're NOT.

Understand that I know that the new plan is nowhere near perfect.
We cannot have the same health care the senators and representatives
have. They have single payer health care. God forbid we should
be exposed to that!

That single payer deally is from satan. Just ask 'em. BTW - ask
'em to give it up. Not likely.

I'm glad that I am healthy. Hope it lasts!

Old Folks

Lisa Strafford — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:16:00 GMT

Evidently I have joined the ranks. I know that I'm an "old folk"
when I catch myself saying things like, "What the h@ll are
they thinking?" when I see so many young women having
children alone.

    1. Don't they know that children do, grow, perform and just
    are better when they have 2 parents who love them?

    2. Raising children is HARD, if you want to do it well. (I,
    myself, was not tough or brave enough to have kids.)

    3. Your first child is the END of your childhood. Ask any
    mom.

    4. Someday, sooner rather than later, the fathers of all
    these babies are gonna be called to pay their share.

    5. The finest thing about parents I think I've ever heard is this:
         The best thing a father can do for his children is to
        love their mother.
         The best thing a mother can do for her children is to
        love their father.

    6. I am among the fortunate; my mother and father loved
    each other, and us.

So, if I'm old folks, so be it. I can stand it.

Snowy Sunday Musings

Lisa Strafford — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:31:00 GMT

Four inches of snow in the Orion area...

It is pretty. The Door Guy is going goose hunting this afternoon. The Northern
geese have finally started to arrive.

I put the greyhound's (Albert) coat on and let him outside a couple minutes ago.
Evidently the electric fence is off since I have a yard full of horses. Albert
bounced up to Star (new horse here) barking like crazy and she took off in the
other direction. Foo Foo (the DG's grey horse) watched Star run, lowered her
head and took right off after Albert. You could almost read her little horsey mind,
"The new horse might be dumb enough to run from your skinny ass, but I'm not!
Take some of these hooves!"

Albert, of course, was immediately on the front porch barking to get in, away
from the big, bad horse.

Sunday morning television is full of the inability of the Congress to do ANYTHING
worthwhile. I thought that we elected these people to work FOR us. It truly
seems that they are too busy fighting each other to do what is best for the people
of this country. I am TRULY sick of the partisanship. The politicians seem to
think that the American people are too dumb to realize that wars and social
programs have to be paid for. I think we would all survive if the same tax laws
from the Clinton years were back in place.

Not that we don't need to cut spending, I'm just sayin'.

A Happy Man

Lisa Strafford — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:58:00 GMT

The door guy hauled himself out of bed at an ungodly early, dark hour on
Saturday morning. He met the Darling husband, Dan G. at the farm on
Rock River near Moline. I'm going to try to let the pictures tell the rest of
the story.

Photo by Dan Goranson

For those of you who are observant, the door guy has wet paws; the dog has
dry paws. This is NOT how it is supposed to work...

We did have an absolutely fabulous dinner featuring one of these dead fellas.
Mike and I, along with the Darling couple, Dan and Kimberly ate like royalty
Saturday night on roast goose with grapes, seared brussel sprouts w/ bacon,
herb salad, latkes and a spicy, fruity glaze sauce for the goose. Oh yeah,
Amish sour dough, pumpkin challah to soak up the juices. Sometimes I hurt
my own arm pattin' myself on the back, but damn, it was good food!

An aside, I rendered the goose fat instead of throwing it away, and then fried
the latkes in the goose fat. MAN-O-MAN yum.

Coincidences are fun!

Lisa Strafford — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 20:54:00 GMT

Sunday the Door Nut and I loaded Jade and Foo Foo into the big trailer and
went up Route 5 to Morrison/Rockwood State Park. The Cat Ranchers live
near us and loaded their horses and kids too. Seemed like lots of folks
we know had the same idea. About half of the Red Boots group was also
at Morrison for a trail ride. It was a cool coincidence!

Just in case you didn't get outside...IT WAS FABULOUS WEATHER!
We rode for a couple hours and then had what might be the last picnic of
2010. Wonderful 13 bean soup, wild rice with root vegetables and quail soup
and Amish sourdough pumpkin challah.
And yes, I know that you cannot have Amish sourdough pumpkin challah. But I made it and that IS
what it was.

If I could find my other purse, I would have taken pictures. When I find the
damn thing, I will.

Just a Thought

Lisa Strafford — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 01:14:00 GMT

Long time... good to be back online.

We are now without a Livestock Guardian dog. Our old male, Fred passed away in August. Of course, almost immediately
we began to lose chickens, guineas and peafowl to predators. Rather than raise a puppy and wait nearly 2 years for it to grow
up, I contacted a couple rescues. Seemed to be the right thing to do.
The rescue folks don't seem to know much about the dogs they "save".
These folks are convinced that many of the dogs need to be "house or companion" dogs. I have seen what Anatolian Shepherd dogs
become when they do not have work. THEY ARE SCARY DOGS. They protect, to the death, whatever they deem to be their charges.
I truly hope that they are aware of the liability they are taking. Jeeze.

Another thought - Our greyhound, Albert, is doing his skinny best to fill the big doggy shoes Fred left. The only time we have losses
is when Albert is at doggy day care and we are out of town. Apparently Albert is a pretty good LGD, in spite of himself. According to
the prints, we've had a big cat, bobcat or cougar as well as the raccoons, opossums, cats, dogs and coyotes. I hope we find a dog
soon.

The weather today was stunning! The Door guy and I took Foo Foo and Jade out for a spin this pm. The world North of Orion is a
study in earth tones. I am amazed at how fulsome the tall grass prairie looks. Tomorrow we're gonna check out Morrison/Rockwood
State Park.

In closing, I am fully aware of why people buy canned pumpkin. I roasted an old fashion cooking pumpkin. 2 loaves of pumpkin challah
in the oven as I type. 3 - 2 cup bags of cooked pumpkin in the freezer. Pumpkin pancakes for breakfast tomorrow. With all this, the
pumpkin is a pain in the ass to roast and clean. Yuck. If it all tastes superb, maybe I will try it again, otherwise, not so much.

Later-

Cheapest? Sure that is what you want?

Lisa Strafford — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:27:05 GMT

Ok, I know, I know...the customer is always right. Yeah bullshit. If the
customer was always right, they wouldn't need experts.

You know, we are the ones with the dirty hands. We keep the world
working. Lemme see - there is the fellow who keeps your car running
correctly, the guy who installed your cable/dish, whatever makes your
TV work, the folks who make sure that your roof doesn't leak, (<-----this
is REALLY hard dirty work), the guys who build/repair your house, the
plumbers, electricians and HVAC guys who make the house livable.

So here is my question - Do you want the cheapest expert? Really?
The cheapest? When you call the business, do you tell them that
you are calling to find the cheapest worker? If so, I hope you get the
cheapest.

They are probably grifters.

And I hope you get just exactly what you pay for.

I'll probably step in sh*t here, but after you have told me that you want
the cheapest possible product, be sure to tell me how important you
are, what your title is and just how many hoops I have to jump through
in order to sell you the cheapest possible product. Be sure to insist
on personal care and perfect matches.

And by all means, when I come to your house to measure, and see
that you have never made a purchase from my company and in fact
have bought cheap shit before, then tell me that you were a big buddy
of my deceased parent.

ARGGGGG! I know that in some cultures bartering and bargaining is
normal, but you really make me feel like hanging up on you when you
continually repeat how expensive my prices are. Please do understand
that this tactic only makes me want to charge MORE!

I wish I knew the answer here... Oh well. Have a fine weekend all!

Are We REALLY This Dumb?

Lisa Strafford — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:10:00 GMT

I listen to the TV as I exercise in the morning. This particular
Monday morning my head nearly exploded as I listened. The
news announcer asks the sports announcer, "Where's it at?"
and the sports guy segues into a commercial in which the
car salesman says, "We ain't got none of that." All this in the
morning when there is a large audience, many viewers and
listeners.

MY DEAR HEAVENS, I'll bet every teacher I had from kindergarten
through college would spin and spew. Then again, maybe they
are spinning and spewing. Is the English language degrading
this quickly? I'm not sure I can stand it. Am I all alone? I know
that my grammar is not perfect, but at least I try.

OK, I'm done now.

July Surprise

Lisa Strafford — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:12:09 GMT

This morning my horses were restless. I heard them at 4 am
and again at 4:30. At 5 am they were whinnying and sounded
different. So I climbed out of bed, put the bathrobe on and
stumbled outside to see what was happening.

What to my wondering eyes should appear - but this -

standing in my pasture. I had 4 horses when I went to bed
on June 30th. When I stumbled outside on July 1st, I still
had 4 horses but there was a new mule baby!

The little feller was still wet when I first saw him. He was
just getting his sea legs under him and was pretty wobbly.
His mom, Jenna, decided that she didn't need a bouncing,
mumbling, swearing, berobed audience and left with the
baby for a quieter part of the pasture. I went galloping
back into the house to wake Mike. This was just too cool
for him to miss.

What a handsome little buckskin man he is! His markings
are just perfect. I named him July. Yeah, I know, no
imagination whatsoever. Get over it. Now his name is
July Fisher. So says his owner, John Ritchey.

Queen Day - Thursday

Lisa Strafford — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:48:00 GMT

When rain falls for days on end, mildew and mold ensue. The queen
does not like it. Natures rules suck sometimes.

Forgetting that you have an appointment is a function of getting
older and we should appreciate our good fortune. Natures rules
suck sometimes.

Party planning at a riverfront cottage, following weeks of rain, is
fruitless and foolish. Natures rules suck sometimes.

Beavers are AMAZINGLY persistent in their attempts to build damn
dams. Natures rules suck sometimes.

When puppies, kittens, bunnies, etc. behave in completely abberant
ways, they are reprimanded IMMEDIATELY by their parents or pack
mates. Sometimes, if the infraction is serious enough, parents
even kill their young. Natures rules suck sometimes; the queen
understands.

Behave and enjoy life; the queen decrees.

Laughed Out Loud

Lisa Strafford — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:18:27 GMT

I got a wonderful email from my friend Carole. After I read it I laughed
out loud, all by myself.  I hope this gives you the same belly laugh.

Two 90-year-old women, Rose and Barb had been friends all of their
lives.

When it was clear that Rose was dying, Barb visited her every day.

One day Barb said, 'Rose, we both loved playing women's softball all
our lives, and we played all through High School. Please do me one
favor: when you get to Heaven, somehow you must let me know if
there's women's softball there.'

Rose looked up at Barb from her deathbed and said, 'Barb, you've
been my best friend for many years. If it's at all possible, I'll do this
favor for you.'

Shortly after that, Rose passed on.

A few nights later, Barb was awakened from a sound sleep by a
blinding flash of white light and a voice calling out to her, 'Barb, Barb.'

'Who is it?', asked Barb, sitting up suddenly. 'Who is it?'

'Barb -- it's me, Rose.'

'You're not Rose. Rose just died.'

'I'm telling you, it's me, Rose,' insisted the voice.

'Rose! Where are you?'

'In Heaven,' replied Rose. 'I have some really good news and a little
bad news.'

'Tell me the good news first,' said Barb.

'The good news,' Rose said, 'is that there's softball in Heaven. Better
yet all of our old buddies who died before us are here, too. Better
than that, we're all young again. Better still, it's always springtime,
and it never rains or snows. And best of all, we can play softball all
we want, and we never get tired.'

'That's fantastic,' said Barb. 'It's beyond my wildest dreams! So what's
the bad news?'

'You're pitching Tuesday.'

Life is uncertain - eat dessert first.

When We Play, We're Workin'

Lisa Strafford — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:27:00 GMT

Many times, when we are playing, vacations, weekends, etc. it appears to some
folks that we are working.

A couple weekends ago, it was time to clean the coturnix quail that the DG has
been raising. He started out with fewer than a dozen birds and now has a gross
or so at full size. We lined up himself and 3 other ~~victims~~ guys to help with the
butchering. I was nominated to cook afterwards and accepted happily.

If you have a minute, you can pop over to Dan Goranson's photos on FB.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=222708&id=639830672

He was the only helper who actually showed up for the work... And we do bless
him, too. His wife, Kimberly and I cooked up a storm with the first of these
wonderful quail. The fellows spatchcocked the birds. Did I get ya? It means
cut out the backbone and flatten. After we cooled the little devils, they hit a
grand simple marinade of equal parts single malt scotch and grated vidalia
onion for an hour. Then grill over hot coals for about 3 minutes per side.

I am pretty convinced that this was the best tasting work done that weekend.
Oh man did we eat well. I LOVE quail!

I also bought some fresh beets at the farmer's market. After boiling a mess
of quail eggs and cooling and peeling them, I made some pickled beets and
eggs. They rested for a few days and oh my God are they good. Whew!

Queen Day - Thursday Decrees

Lisa Strafford — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:07:00 GMT

The queen decrees that sunny pleasant days should always
occur on the weekend when the queen is NOT stuck in an
office.

The queen has read about the GOP representative from
Texas, Joe Barton, who apologized to the BP CEO for
the scolding he took from the US CEO. Did Texas elect
another moron? Has he seen the pictures? Does he not
think that given hurricane season that Texas might just
get some of that disgusting shit washed up on their shores?
The queen would like a days worth of that dirty stuff
dumped on Joe Barton's property and possessions. He
may not be quite so friendly with the BP execs afterward.
Altho - the oil industry did give him 1.5 mil for his campaign.
I guess that would buy something.

The queen also doesn't understand why diesel vehicles have
to cost SO DAMN much.

May your week and weekend be full of joy!

WII Fit is Working!

Lisa Strafford — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:55:00 GMT

I have continued to ~~torture~~ exercise my old body with the
WII Fit Plus game. Admittedly, I creak and moan as though
I've been on the medieval rack. That said, I must say that
I am still addicted to the darn thing. When we are out of
town and without the machine, I miss it. I miss it a lot.

I do 45 minutes of yoga and strength work each day.
Every week the work gets easier and I add another
exercise every few weeks.

Now, about the results - I am proud. My trousers still fit!
I have lost somewhere around 4 or 5 pounds. MY TROUSERS
STILL FIT! I have not been on a diet and btw - my trousers
still fit. I am somewhat food obsessed anyway; I DO pay
attention to what I eat. The DG and I eat pretty darned
healthy food. I am eating smaller amounts of sweets and
I am stopping when I'm full instead of when the food is gone.
After many years of - "Clean your plate!"- it seems strange.
We are also practicing portion control.

I am eating lots of fruit and raw vegetables. We are drinking
organic milk. It does taste richer than the regular stuff. I
read about the testing of milk to determine the actual nutrients
of commodity vs organic and yep, yep, yep the organic is better
for ya. Apparently now somebody has figured out that the milk
from different types of dairy cows has different properties. Stay
tuned cause it seems that the milk from red or brown cows is
good for you and the milk from black and white cows is not!

I don't make this stuff up! Google it!

My siblings and I got our mother a WII Fit Plus for her birthday
and she is up to 15 minutes each day on hers. She and I do a
bit of yoga and a bit of strength work every morning during the
week. Is that awesome or what? She is 84ish and a wonderful
woman! I'm SO proud of her!

So...I am obsessed with a computer/TV exercise game. With
any luck at all, I'll stay that way and continue to fit into my
trousers!