Biceps, Football and Family

I handed Biceps the camera during our nephew’s football game. That evening, as I downloaded the one hundred and thirty eight shots that Biceps took, I realized what a mistake I had made.
Never hand a camera to a man that not only loves his nephews, but also loves football.

Biceps documented everything that our nephews did on the field; from their cute little stances to their runs down the field. Biceps shot everything. Everything.
Let me reiterate: one hundred and thirty eight pictures taken during a one hour game.

Nephew #1 makes a quick move to the left, confusing the opponent and the opponent’s buddy.

Uncle and Auntie admire their nephew’s aptitude and dexterity.
The Father, via silent internal monologue that only someone related to him could understand, remarks, “That’s my boy”.

Nephew #4 supports his brothers with a rock and roll sign, economically doubling as a ‘pacy’.

Nephew #2 is encouraged by his mother to play nice and give the other players ‘high fives’. I tell him to go and kick some major butt.
He did and their team ‘won’. Although, we weren’t supposed to be keeping score. Hypothetically, if one was keeping score, they would know that his team won by a lot.
But, I wasn’t keeping score…so who knows.

Trust me, these two knew.
And Biceps knew.
You don’t just run around flashing victory signs to the camera for nothing.

Chicken Vegetable Soup with Brown Rice

The weather is turning colder, the noses are getting stuffier and the preferred meal, as of late, is soup.
I love making a ginormous amount of Chicken Vegetable Soup and freezing most of it in smaller containers for later use. Plus, this recipe is soup-er easy to make and soup-er tasty.
That was dorky, I know. Forgive me.

I usually freeze the bones of any bird that I have cooked at one time or another, saving it just for this recipe.
But, if you don’t have frozen bird carcasses, you can use approximately 6 cups of ready chicken broth or 8 chicken bouillon cubes for the base flavor, adding cooked chicken to the pot.

Here’s what you’ll need for the Chicken Vegetable Soup:
2-3 Cups Chopped Celery, leaves and all
4 Red Potatoes
5 Medium Carrots
2 Yellow Onions
2-3 Cups Brown Rice
2 Cans of Stewed Tomatoes
1 Can of No Salt Added Corn
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Thyme
1/4-1/2 tsp Pepper (depending on your preference)
1/2-1 tsp Salt (depending on your preference)
3 Frozen Bird Carcasses (see instructions above if you don’t have this)
5 Bay Leaves

Fill a large stock pot or canning pot with water and add the bird carcasses and bay leaves. Bring the pot to a rolling boil, and then turn the heat down to medium.
Let it cook for 30 minutes and then remove the pot from the heat to cool.
While that’s happening, prep your veggies!

Chop 2-3 cups of celery into chunks, using the entire stalk-including the leaves. Grab a large bowl and throw the celery into it.

Dice up four red potatoes into bite sized pieces and add them to the bowl.

Next, chop the five medium carrots into bite sized pieces and also add them to the bowl.

Dice up both of the yellow onions. You guessed it, add it to the bowl.

Add two cups of brown rice to the bowl.

Add the 1 tsp of oregano and 1 tsp of thyme to the bowl.

Next, add the 1/2-1 tsp of salt and the 1/4-1/2 tsp of pepper, depending upon how salty and peppery you like your food.

Add the 1 can of undrained corn and the 2 cans of undrained stewed tomatoes. If the tomatoes are in big chunks as mine were, chop them up into smaller pieces.

Once the bone water is cool to the touch, use a ladle to remove the bones. The water is a yummy broth that will become the base of your soup.

Once the bones are cool, pick off any remaining meat that is still on the bones, adding it to the broth water.
Throw in the bowl of veggies and spices. Bring the pot to boil again and allow it to boil for two minutes. Then turn the heat down to a low simmer with the lid tilted. Cook for an hour or until the rice is tender.
If you refrigerate your soup and allow the flavors to mingle for a day, the soup will be even better the next day.

This recipe makes a large amount of soup. Freeze as much of it as you can and enjoy it throughout the week.
Like a fine wine and my man, Biceps, this soup gets better with age….

Give me the Gelato and I promise I’ll be good.

While on assignment, (I have always wanted to say that), I discovered a tasty little treat in downtown Tulsa.
Mod’s Coffee and Crepes has everything your little sweet tooth desires. Let me just repeat the name: Coffee and Crepes. But then add to that list: Gelato, Salads and Soups. Anything that you could ever want is right there for the taking.
I am not getting paid by Mod’s, nor do I get any gelato kick-backs for this. I just wanted to share with all of you something that I found pretty dang cool. Pun totally intended.

The staff at Mod’s is unprecedentedly nice. I mean it-they are just darn good people. The niceness of employees at any establishment is becoming more and more important to me as I get old and cantankerous.

Mod’s is situated in the historic Philtower Building on Boston Street in downtown Tulsa.
The building is a gorgeous masterpiece from the oil boom era.

As I sipped my delicious latte, I gazed upon the marbled walls and the gold-encrusted ceiling of the Philtower. I pictured the hatted ladies and the suit-clad men that had hurried through these halls long ago; smoking cigarettes and reading newspapers.

The faint scent of a cooking crepe brought me back to reality, reminding me of the fact that I was wearing cowboy boots-not a fancy dress with pearls.

And obviously, the gelato is outrageously good. I only had a teensy bite and my stomach craved more…much more. Biceps and I just might have to make this a date night spot. If you are in the downtown Tulsa area, stop by Mod’s Coffee and Crepes.
You won’t be sorry.

Vintage Gloves

Grandma blessed me with several pairs of her fancy gloves.
I love slipping my hands into the soft fabric and prancing about the house, pretending that I am a proper lady.
I envision myself as Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly.
What happened to women like that?

I might try to start a new trend of glove wearing. These are just too dang cute to leave sitting in my dresser drawer.

And, they compliment all of my vintage dresses. I think gloves would be rather cute with the right purse, heels and a vintage dress.
I think the public is ready for gloves to come back into fashion.

This soft yellow pair is my favorite. I just love the detailing around the bottom.

Wearing the gloves thrust me into doing everything in a very dramatic way.
I walk with my head held high, saying things to Biceps like, ‘Oh, Dahling!,’ and ‘If only you knew how very much I love you,’ while batting my eyelashes incessantly.
It’s probably best that I don’t wear these out in public, on second thought.