Matt in the Middle: Open Wide!!!!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Open Wide!!!!

Which of these is Area 19?

Last night I went to sleep around 11:00 PM and have been up since 1:00 AM. For the past several months I have had pain near tooth #19 in my mouth (where else?). You know I brush my teeth while I am showering as well as a couple of other times a day and I floss. I do a pretty good job; especially on these cold days when the water in the shower is warm. Even so, it was my hope that I had a cavity in which I now call my Area #19. Look mom. no cavities. DRAT and DOUBLE DRAT - no cavities! So I received a referral for a Endodontist. Now I guess they will find jaw cancer or that I need a root canal or something fun to blog about. The mild discomfort has steadily grown in my tooth, jaw, behind my left ear and caused me headaches most of the time. I am not making light of jaw cancer...but if I have something bad like that I want to prepare myself with the best medicine and I will make the best of it come what may. I will also whine like a baby, of course. I am also thinking that this may have something to do with me having poor sleeping habits. Figuring this sleep thing out is like pulling teeth for bloggin' out loud. MADYM just looked up Endodontics for me and they mainly do root canals. I have always wanted to visit Panama. Well....Sugar Momma is out of town you know...I need someone and you already know MADYM so the blog will continue to have the same cast of characters. What's a blogger to do? Isn't the Maid of Honor's job kind of like a Vice Wife anyway? That was my understanding.

MIDDLE MATT Limo service - now with Ferrari's

Does anyone have timeshare in the Palatine/Arlington Heights area? I am planning several trips to this region of the MIDDLE very soon and I may be interested in swapping for time in Exciting, Exotic Dekalb. Tomorrow I take Splenda to Arlington Heights for a carpool-meet so she can go snowboarding at Devil's Head at about 11:00 AM then I come home. Then Sugar Momma flies back into O'Hare and MIDDLE MATT LIMO SERVICE is on the road again at probably 9:00 PM or so and then back west. Then we have to be at Harper College in Palatine at 10:00 AM for an 11:00 game for a 46-team basketball tournament and then back west. Then Sunday we go back to Harper College and Splenda will return sometime Sunday probably after we have passed Arlington Heights and are back in or near Dekalb. Then I will turn around and go pick her up. Maybe I should just let her take one of the cars but I have concerns there. I know I keep blogging about this but it is mainly so I don't forget anything. I may actually get a hotel in that area Saturday night because a hotel would be cheaper than the fuel and much more convenient. Also, they will have HMO (I mean HBO) and a pool. Can you say...CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST?

Thanks but no thanks. I love my peeps too much!

The blog must be getting more popular because I got contacted by a company called Blogsvertise that wants me to use them for my blogs. It's a company that gives bloggers websites and products to promote and they pay them for mentioning their products, sites.... You know I mention products and services and things all the time but I do not get paid by anyone to blog or mention products... I mention things I like and dislike and tell you about them. Blogsvertise has you write a blog about their wares dejour and then you submit the blog to them for approval prior to posting it and then when they censor it or do whatever they do to it. Then they let you post it and you get paid in a Paypal account. Just know this...I AIN'T NO SELL-OUT. I don't have anything against sell-outs, actually, but it's not the way I roll; at least not right now. Maybe I should agree to try it and totally bash their products and see if they approve the blogs...nah! Maybe I am giving them a bad-rap, I don't know. It just doesn't sound like it's for us though does it? This is Pirate Blog baby!!!!

Thanks for stopping by, as always. I would be lost without you. Have a nice ThirstDay. I will try not to run through my itinerary again tomorrow with you as I think I have it down by now. TTTT...MITM (put the Limo in the coconut and tell me I AM OUT)!

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Matt In The Middle Blogssary

47% Rule - Matt in the Middle is 47 % estrogen
53% Rule - Matt in the Middle is 53% testosterone
Agitator (the) - Matt's podcast name (revealed in blog and podcast number 2
B. S. - blog stuff
Big Sexy - Jay Cole's drink of choice (Jack and Coke) - doesn't necessarily have to be Jack
Blogcast - our podcast (Dirty Laundry)
Bloggestion - now in Urban Dictionary meaning something suggested on a blog or taking a few minutes to understand (like suggested or digested)
Blogging Suit - like a NASCAR driver's racing suit with all of the sponsors patches
Blogssary - blog glossary
Blogisodes - episodes of this blog
BWAK - blogged with a kiss
Ca-Ching - the sound of the cash register as I try to gain sponsors that will never actually happen (I'm not really that delusional) - same as ka-ching
Cha Cha - revealed to be Sugar Momma's new name on premier podcast
Cheese & Quackers - our resident ducks. she is cheese and he is quackers
Ciaoloha - MITM's new mega-word "discovered" on Columbus Day 2011. It combines "hello," "goodbye," "love," "podcast" and "blog" into one happy little package!
Copyright - something that I think is clever and original that needs to be protected as original intellectual material (like it would really hold up in court)
Dirty Laundry - our podcast/blogcast launched 4/1/11
Discomboobulated - a word Bret Michaels used on Celebrity Apprentice when he meant discombobulated though discomboobulated is an actual word
Fabio - the name my son preferred being called on the blog (the artist formerly known as Sparky)
Judii - the sister I never had but wish I did (my unofficial sister)
Ka-ching - the sound of the cash register as I try to gain sponsors that will never actually happen (I'm not really that delusional) - same as ca-ching
Kajunkles - used for people who don't know how to run correctly. Body parts moving against one another rather than together for the common goal of running (could be a noun, proper noun or a verb). Trying to accomplish something against seemingly impossible odds.
The Lost Sock - Cha Cha's brother (and my brother-in-law). One of the best people I have known in my life.
MADYM - One of my very good friends - Mary. She was given this name based on an acronym of her name by one of my other very good friends Stacee. Together they came up with the MITM theme song idea. She was also our maid of honor or matron of honor (I don't know the difference).
Middle - anything average or center (Middle of the country, Middle of life, average intelligence, a regular joe (or joan)...)
MITM - Matt In The Middle
Ms. Peabody - Maisy (our dog) because of Mr. Peabody
Nature Girl - Another very good friend- Sue. Given this name because of being a combination of Diane Fossey, Caroline Ingalls and Danielle Boone (lady Daniel)
Patent / Patent Pending - something that I think is clever and original that needs to be protected as original intellectual material (like it would really hold up in court)
PFT - Plasma Fun Time - donating plasma - twice a week.
Roz - my pink/fuchsia i-pod nano. Named for Roz Kelly who played Pinky Tuscadero on tv's Happy Days. She goes with me everywhere to play my life's soundtrack and measure my steps with her pedometer.
Sparky - my son's blog pseudonym (see also Fabio)
Splenda - my daughter's blog pseudonym
Sponsorship Patch - when I mention a known product to try to get sponsorships and want to put a patch on my blogging suit
Stacee - a friend from high school that is a great inspiration to me continuously. The Cosmos keep bringing us back together electronically (MySpace, Facebook, Blog...) even though we haven't "seen" each other for nearly thirty years.
Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheels theme song of MITM. Idea suggested by MADY and Stacee
Sugar Momma - my wife, Jill
Trademark - something that I think is clever and original that needs to be protected as original intellectual material (like it would really hold up in court)
TTTT - Ta Ta 'Til Tomorrow
TWSS - that's what she said
WTF - why the face?

Potato Soup

Ingredients Needed:
1 - 32 oz. box Vegetarian Vegetable Broth (I used Swanson's)
can substitute with chicken broth if you wish
1 - package of Country Gravy Mix (I used McCormick's)
okay to use sausage gravy mix if you wish
1 - 26 oz. package of frozen hash browns

Cook hash browns in a large pot. Cook potatoes until slightly browned stirring often so as not to burn the hash browns. While the hash browns are cooking prepare the country gravy mix as directed on package. Once the potatoes are done to your liking slowly pour the broth into the pot with the potatoes and reduce heat and simmer until hot. After the potatoes and broth are hot add the gravy mix and continue to simmer until thickened. Serve and eat.

** special note...I like it extra spicy so I add an extra package of county gravy mix to the finished mixture and whisk and heat.

Just like I always say - add whatever you want (peas, onions...) and make it your own. And, as always, ENJOY!

Sangria Wine Recipe (reposted from 4/22/10)

I also made Sangria yesterday to honor Earth's goodness (truthfully so I could get lit). I am not a wine drinker because most wines are too dry in my opinion and I am not a big fan of cotton-mouth. I liked the movie "Sideways" though so I want to like wine. I was watching Planet Green a couple of days ago while I was cleaning the kitchen and folding laundry like a real man and Emeril Lagasse was making paella on "Emeril Green". He also threw in, as an after-thought, Sangria so I hit the record button. Well he did it very fast and didn't say measurements or anything but he gave the basics so I came up with my own recipe and I think it turned out well though I made A LOT! Sugar Momma says I am a man of excess - isn't that what "man" means? Anyway, here's my Sangria recipe but I suggest you might want to cut the volume down unless you are having a small country over for dinner:

ingredients (I would suggest cutting the liquids in half)

3 liters of inexpensive Shiraz (Frontera Mendoza 2009)
1 cup of Grand Marnier
1 cup of brandy
1 cup of lime juice
3 limes
3 lemons
2 granny smith apples
2 large oranges
12 oz. sugar
33.8 oz sparkling water (Pellegrino)
64 oz. orange juice
ice

In a HUGE bowl slice the fruit and cover with sugar, mix. Add Shiraz and stir. Add ice to hold the fruit under while it drowns in the wine. Add Grand Marnier and brandy and stir. Add lime juice, orange juice and sparkling water and stir. Let sit for awhile so the tastes blend. Taste and add ingredients to taste (I added a little more lime juice and sugar). Find the biggest vessel you own for storage (mine is a pot like they used in those headhunter movies to cook people which is now sitting on our stove). Sweet and fruity just like me. Share with your friends/neighbors and your boss at review time.

Caprese Paninis

Ingredients you will need:

good loaf of bread (I used Italian bread)
mozzarella cheese
pesto sauce (I used jarred Classico brand - found by pastas)
fresh basil leaves
extra virgin olive oil
tomatoes

And here we go:
slice the bread and brush extra virgin olive oil on both sides of each slice. Clean and separate basil leaves. Slice tomatoes. Grate Cheese. Lightly grill one side of each slice of bread. Flip the bread when lightly toasted. After flipping the bread spread pesto on the toasted side and top with shredded cheese while the other side toasts. Once the second side is toasted and the cheese is starting to melt remove it from the

grill and top with two slices of tomato side-by-side and put a basil leaf on each tomato slice. Remove another slice of the toast with the pesto and cheese mixture from the grill and place it cheese/pesto side down on top of the tomato and basil'd toast to form a sandwich. (They could just as easily be done in a frying pan or on a George Foreman Grill...)

Done! Very simple and delicious!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Open Wide!!!!

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