Veggie Burger , can I get fries with that?

On February 4, 2015 By DGThomaIn Family, Food, Humor/Light Hearted, Travel, WritingLeave a comment

When I first gave up red meat, chicken, pork etc., there were very few options for fast food dining. Sometimes when you travel it feels like fast food is the only option and certainly the most convenient. Today most national chain restaurants and many small local diners offer multiple options for vegetarians, vegans or any other meal plan you may follow.

Veggie burgers aren’t my favorite meal, but when Burger King started serving veggie burgers a few years ago, BK went to the top of my list for grabbing a quick meal while traveling. Today, people who want more alternative menu choices have many more options. I can almost always find a salad, a fish option or a bean dish. At the Counter Custom Built Burgers in NYC, I had a wonderful custom made Ahi Tuna burger. Many restaurants have developed their own veggie burger recipes. Elevation Burger in Austin, TX has a vegetarian and a vegan option. Both are equally delicious and made from real vegetables.

Recently, in the Dallas, TX area I was trying to find a quick drive thru meal. We stopped at a Taco Cabana, but I was stuck on the phone. I waved my husband inside thinking I just wasn’t in the mood for beans and rice.

There was an In-N-Out next door to the Taco Cabana. We pulled up to the drive thru window, I asked, “Do you have a veggie burger?”

A cheery, “Yes we do!” floated through the speaker. “Awesome”, I thought and replied, “I’ll take the combo with a veggie burger. No cheese and no sauce.” As she repeated back, “A veggie burger with lettuce and tomato only?” I answered, “That’s correct.”

As I Anticipated some yummy salty French fries, I pulled up to the window. This was my first visit to an In-N-Out burger and so far it was looking good. Receiving my food from a smiling server, we pulled into a parking spot to “check” the order. Diving into the fries was a delicious treat; hot, crispy, fresh and salty. Unwrapping the burger, I quickly realized something wasn’t quite right.

There was definitely lettuce and tomato, but that was it. No patty, just bread, lettuce and tomato. My husband carried the burger back inside. When the server asked if I only wanted lettuce and tomato and I said yes, that’s what I got.

When he came back out carrying the burger , he confirmed, “Nope, this is the In-N-Out version of a veggie burger.” Laughing, I had a delicious lettuce and tomato sandwich. At least it didn’t have any soy. Kudos to In-N-Out on the most authentic veggie burger I’ve ever had.

The Legacy

On January 14, 2015January 18, 2015 By DGThomaIn Family, Writing1 Comment

If you ask me if I am like my mother I would tell you no. Her name was Dorothy Jane Cooper Greenway. She was a caregiver and a lifetime homemaker. I am a professional and work in an office away from my home. But those are only superficial differences. My mother was a strong and determined woman. She battled numerous physical ailments and was in a wheel chair for many years. She gifted us with the realization that nothing was unattainable if we worked hard enough. She would listen carefully and value your opinion right before she convinced you she was right and you were wrong. From my mother I learned to be a diplomat.

Mom was also a peacemaker, doing what she could to keep everyone happy. She gifted us with a talent for mediation.

Today is the day I say goodbye to my mother. I’m really glad she isn’t suffering, but selfishly I still want her to be at the end of the phone when I call.
As I sat in the floor this morning, scrubbing baseboards at 5:00 AM I reflected on my mother. I want the house to be clean for everyone coming to celebrate her life. I believe perhaps I am like my mother in many ways and for that I’m extremely grateful.

How Could I Resist “He’s the One”

On January 7, 2015January 7, 2015 By DGThomaIn Family, Humor/Light Hearted, Musings, Travel, Writing6 Comments

I recently resurrected crocheting as a hobby. It’s been years since I created anything with yarn and a crochet needle. Crochet patterns and yarn have changed significantly. I practiced on some old yarn I found stored in my sewing supplies and contemplated what I should create.

When my daughter was scheduled for surgery on her broken ankle, I knew I would have some down time while I waited. I decided it was time to start a project. I intended to pass time during her surgery by crocheting. A great idea, but I didn’t get to the store before the surgery.

Because I would stay with my daughter in Tulsa while she recuperated, I picked up yarn the following evening. Although I had crochet needles at home, I picked up a new set along with a two skeins of yarn, (Yarn Bee, First Love, he’s the one) a beginner refresher book and a basket to hold the yarn. The baskets were half price so I couldn’t resist.

I found a basic afghan pattern and realized I would need a lot more yarn. The yarn I purchased was variegated so I decided not to worry about the lot#.

I headed back to the original Hobby Lobby and discovered I had bought the last two skeins. I did find and purchase 4 small skeins of a nice cotton blend. After all they were on clearance. How could I resist? En route to the second Tulsa location of Hobby Lobby on East 71st, I spotted a Barnes and Nobles and decided I would duck in for just a minute. An hour later I realized I had no idea what time the second Hobby Lobby closed. I paid for my books and rushed off in search of ‘he’s the one’.

As we pulled into the parking lot of the Hobby Lobby on 71st, I could see people milling about as I hurried toward the entrance. No luck. A store employee waved me away and mouthed, “We are closed”.

I searched for the yarn online and discovered it appeared to be sold exclusively at Hobby Lobby. The yarn was out of stock for on-line purchasing. The next morning, I called the store on 71st and found out they were also out. Apparently, ‘he’s the one!’ was a big seller. And so began the quest for ‘he’s the one’. An internet search identified Hobby Lobby stores in two nearby towns. A phone call to Owasso confirmed they were out of the yarn but the Broken Arrow store had 4 skeins in stock.

My husband set off to Broken Arrow to pick the up the yarn. He returned triumphant with the four skeins. That was great but I still needed more yarn.

We would drive home through the Dallas area the next day, so my husband called the Dallas Hobby Lobby on Preston. As I was making lunch, I could hear him on the phone. “Yes, I need to see if you have a specific yarn.” (pause) “Yarn Bee, First Love, he’s the one!” He had to keep repeating, “First Love, he’s the one!” as he was disconnected twice and transferred between departments. I believe he just demonstrated, he is definitely the one! Finally he was told that yes they did have 5 skeins. The sales clerk said no they could not hold them until tomorrow and no he couldn’t purchase them over the phone.

Still searching for yarn, I made an afternoon trip to Tuesday Morning and found 4 skeins of cashmere yarn and 2 of a lovely wool blend on the clearance aisle. Of course I had to buy them!

When we left Tulsa, OK for Austin, TX, I used Google maps to locate a Hobby Lobby in Sherman, TX where we found 4 more skeins of ‘he’s the one!’ on the shelf. Score! Stopping by the clearance section, I found several more skeins of yarn which found their way into my cart.

I now have 10 skeins of ‘he’s the one’, and about the same number of skeins of miscellaneous clearance yarn. Doing the math I realized I could use a few more of ‘he’s the one! We set off to find the Dallas store to determine if they had any of the five skeins left. Upon arriving, I rushed to the yarn department to grab all five skeins which were still on the shelf! I completed the quest! This will be a lovely and fun project!

Now I just have to buy a bigger basket for all the yarn and figure out a few more projects. Aren’t clearance sales wonderful?

Christmas 2014

On December 31, 2014January 1, 2015 By DGThomaIn Family, Humor/Light Hearted, Writing2 Comments

Christmas 2014…. What a crazy and wonderful time we had. Previously I nicknamed 2014 as the year of the broken bones. I suffered through a broken toe and my husband Ron is sporting a trendy black cast while he recovers from a break in his wrist.

As we sprinted to the finish line to usher in 2015, I was a bit relieved to see 2014 come to an end. We are normally very healthy. We exercise and try to eat right so it is outside of the norm for us to have issues.

In December, we traveled to New York City for a bit of relaxation and rejuvenation before heading to Texas on Christmas Eve for our extended family Christmas celebration. We were scheduled to fly out of JFK on the 23^rd. After a long busy day of activities on the 22nd, we received a text from my daughter which read “On my way to hospital, probably broken ankle, I’m okay.” Followed shortly by “Broken on both sides, trying to determine if they will transport to surgery tonight.”

Oh, boy! We were unable to change our flights due to the Christmas travel, so we headed to the airport to standby for any earlier flights. No earlier flights materialized. All things considered, the airport and subsequent travel went relatively smoothly. We flew into Austin, TX, arriving at 9:30 PM where we grabbed our bags, retrieved our car and set off for Tulsa, OK. We stopped about half way to Tulsa for the night. Early the next morning on Christmas Eve we set off again.

While we were trying to get home, my son and daughter had coordinated and moved our Christmas celebration to Tulsa. My son transported gifts, food and family and himself to Tulsa in support of his sister. On Christmas Eve the two of them were sitting in the orthopedic surgeon’s office having her ankle reset, surgery scheduled and making everyone laugh.

By the time I arrived, dinner was being prepared, the house had been spruced and gifts were under the tree. Everyone was smiling, my son-in-law’s parents were dropping by and one of his co-workers was on the way to share in the celebration.

As we gathered around the dinner table, we were all grateful to share a meal and celebrate being together. So while I may have been pre-emptive to declare this the year of the broken bone ended, this is it! No more broken bones allowed!

We had a wonderful new celebration of memories to add to our holiday traditions. Today Christmas is over and we are sitting sipping our coffee and watching the snow fall outside while we were warm and comfortable inside.

Pretending

On December 24, 2014 By DGThomaIn Family, Humor/Light Hearted, Musings, Travel, WritingLeave a comment

When my children were young, we would often launch into spontaneous nonsensical conversations. It might be a perfectly innocent comment that became a springboard. A wondrous adventure would unfold as we each added our own spin. We would slip into role play effortlessly, becoming princesses, elves or ogres depending upon the trigger.

We had fun pretending our way through a diversity of situations without the benefit of any props other than our imagination.

Often, I still go off of imaginative tangents. When I’m on a road trip anything can become fodder for a rambling conversation that the casual observer would find perplexing. Recently, heading toward the town of Stephenville I forgot the name of the next town we would pass through. I asked my husband “Are we almost to Benjamin?”

And my husband replied no, Benjamin is the town we go through on our way to Lubbock. Undeterred, I replied, “Well if we get to Benjamin we’ve gone too far!” Considering Benjamin was about 6 hours beyond where we were headed, that may have been a slight understatement.

A few days later we were driving toward the airport after a long weekend and my husband said something about Timbuktu and I said or Kalamazoo, which made no sense at all. After all Timbuktu is a city in the West African nation of Mali and Kalamazoo is a city in the state of Michigan and there was no reason to discuss either of them. But for no reason at all it made us laugh and laughter is a wonderful thing.

Our car talk is not always so off the wall, but every road trip is an opportunity for slipping into inane conversations and we rarely pass up the opportunity.

Rocking the Streets of San Antonio Texas

On December 10, 2014 By DGThomaIn Exercise, Family, Friends, Travel, Writing2 Comments

The Humana Rock and Roll Marathon was the weekend of December 6^th through December 7^th in San Antonio, Texas. This is the 7^th year l have participated in the San Antonio Rock and Roll marathon. I signed up months ago before this became the year of broken bones. In August, I broke my toe and the healing outlasted my patience! Not to be left out, my husband Ron fell and broke his wrist a few weeks ago. And then, just because we are a little insane we signed up for the Remix challenge which means we ran a 10K on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday.

San Antonio is a beautiful, magical city and one of my favorite places to visit. The expo in the downtown convention center was as entertaining and chaotic as always. I never seem to leave without purchasing something. This time it was new socks and some GU gel blocks. Leaving the expo, we stopped to enjoy the twinkling Christmas lights along the Riverwalk and the Tower of the Americas. It was lovely in the soft evening light.

We didn’t stay in a downtown hotel for this trip, so we had to get up a little earlier to ensure we could find parking. On Saturday, the 10K didn’t start until 9:00 AM and there were only 2500 or so competitors. The parking was easier to find and it turns out it was considerably cheaper. Sunday morning, the official start was 7:30 AM, so we left the comfort of our warm beds a bit early to head back to our parking garage from the previous day. Supply and demand was definitely in play as we had to pay double the fee we had paid on Saturday.

I should clarify that I am not an elite athlete and I enjoy the fun and camaraderie found by those of us crossing the start line 30 minutes after the sprinters in the first corral. When you run slower you can see all sorts of sights along the course.

Sunday morning, we all lined up; the elves, the tutu wearing competitors, the old, the young, and all other 12,000 plus runners, walkers and wheel chair participants. The music was pounding and the weather was just a little chilly.

As expected, I crossed the starting line about 30 minutes after the gun sounded. The course was a bit downhill in the beginning, heading from the Alamodome toward downtown. As we passed the Alamo, many runners, stopped for selfies with the façade and spirits of the Alamo. Leaving downtown took us through Trinity University and hills. The spectators lined the road through Trinity, cheering us up the hills. The enthusiasm was wonderful, but it didn’t really make up for all those hills.

The course in a Rock and Roll marathon is always alive with music and excitement. It is also lined with coaches, family members and complete strangers. Sunday was no exception. Signs along the course proclaimed, “Worst parade ever”; “Run like a Zombie is chasing you” and my favorite, “I’m proud of you complete stranger.”

I think my favorite coach along the course was the gladiator wielding his sword, his face encased in a metal helmet in the parking lot of a Cross fit gym shouting encouragement as we passed. My most memorable athlete was the young man I passed at mile 12, limping to the finish line, carrying his shoes and socks because of blisters on his feet. Dedicated or stubborn I’m not sure but he finished!

At the end, I was so relieved it was over! It was the slowest I’ve ever finished a half marathon, but I felt quite proud to have survived.

We ended our San Antonio trip with a wonderful meal at Canyon Café, a southwestern grill in the Quarry Market. I am never disappointed with the food or service. It was a great meal to end a great trip.

Crab legs, Lobster and Family Traditions

On December 3, 2014 By DGThomaIn Family, Food, Humor/Light Hearted, Writing1 Comment

My father’s birthday is October 31^st. This year he is 81 years young. In spite of typical aging issues, he is remarkably healthy and fit. He has avoided most chronic health conditions. He still drives well, mows his lawn and manages his daily activities with little assistance.

My grandson, Alex’s birthday is October 5^th. This year he is 13 years old. They both live in the same town about 5 hours from where I live.

My husband and I drove down to take them out to dinner to celebrate their respective birthdays. We picked up my Dad first and then drove over to pick up my two grandsons, Alex and James.

Finding ourselves at a chain seafood restaurant, a lively discussion regarding what food to order ensued. Neither my grandson, Alex nor my father (Papa) had ever eaten crab legs or lobster. They both share a love of shrimp.

Debating the merits of al a carte vs platters, Alex and my dad ended up with a plate of food that would have been three meals for me. They had crab legs, lobster tail, fried shrimp, shrimp scampi and rice. My grandson James opted for a traditional steak meal.

Watching my dad and his 13 year old great grandson side by side, cracking the hard shell of the crab was priceless. They each experimented with different techniques to get to the delicious pieces of crab inside. Butter dripped, shells cracked and tall tales flowed. Everyone was smiling!

The lobster dripping in butter was no match for Alex. It was one of his favorite things on the plate. My dad didn’t enjoy the flavor nearly as much, but Alex helped him out and finished his lobster as well his own. Neither my dad nor Alex took home a significant amount of leftovers.

The service wasn’t great. No one served us for quite some time and when everyone else’s food was coming out, the server let me know they were out of what I had ordered. The sides we received were not what we ordered. Even with the issues of service, the memories were priceless.

The Healing Power of Texas Tamales

On November 26, 2014 By DGThomaIn Family, Food, Humor/Light Hearted, WritingLeave a comment

Thanksgiving 2007 is now a wonderful memory. However, at the time my daughter was struggling with life a bit, something she rarely does. As a single mom she was attending law school and had moved many miles and hours away from her support system. Law school is grueling at best but for just that moment in time, I think she was trying to stay afloat and hanging on by a thread.

She was home for Thanksgiving and the kitchen was alive with the sound of laughter, spoons scraping pans and stories of past escapades. My children had taken over my kitchen and I was standing outside the door, loving the scene in front of me.

Kat had asked for tamales to round out our normal Thanksgiving fare and we had not been able to find any. Although tamales are a staple over the holidays in much of Texas, we had waited too late to order them.

My son, Rich proclaimed we would just make our own tamales. In our family, we tend to think we can tackle anything, even though none of us had ever attempted to make homemade tamales. So after a trip to the grocery store we were ready to get started. The plan was to get things ready the night before Thanksgiving and then assemble them on Thanksgiving Day. Making tamales is a lot of work! While we didn’t follow a recipe for making the tamales, we did look up how long they should be cooked.

Up at 6:00 AM on Thanksgiving morning, we set up an assembly line. Richie made all the fillings and was in charge of preparing the husks and spreading them with masa. The rest of us assisted with the actual assembly. We made traditional pork tamales for the kids and black bean for me.

We had a wonderful time stirring, mixing, rolling and wrapping tamales, but most of all, we laughed and talked and made unforgettable memories. All because a sister wanted tamales and a brother was determined she would have them. We haven’t had a Thanksgiving without tamales since that year.

We skipped the Black Friday sales and opted for family time all weekend. That is a tradition, I hope we can continue always and forever.

Memories of A Middle Child

On November 19, 2014 By DGThomaIn Family, Food, Writing4 Comments

Growing up in a family of 5 children is lovely and maddening. As family position goes, I am right in the middle. To my older sister and brother, I was the baby. To my two younger sisters, I was one of the big kids. Honestly I was probably more the baby since we three older siblings were so close in age. My oldest sister was born on July 6^th, 18 months later in January my brother was born. Queue forward to July 6^th 18 months after my brother was born; I was born. Yes I was born on my sister’s third birthday. How I love to remind her, I am wonderful gift!

Whichever I am, one of the oldest or the baby, I was very shy and terribly dependent on my mother when I was young. So when my grandparents invited me to spend a week with them in Rush Springs, OK, no one thought I would go. Especially not my mother, who assured me no one, would be able to come pick me up before the next weekend.

But I did go and I had the time of my young life. For just one week, I went from being the middle child with four siblings to becoming an only child. For one entire week, I had my grandparents completely to myself and was allowed to wander around the farm on my own. I named each chicken and watched them pecking the ground for hours. I climbed the apple tree and I talked to my grandparents. I felt like a princess.

My two favorite memories of the week were the weekly trip to the grocery store and my grandmother making lemon pudding.

The grocery store was unlike any grocery store you would find today. It was a small locally owned store crowded with shelves of canned goods, dry goods and fresh produce. But my most vivid memory was the “drawing”. We had been wandering the narrow aisles, mostly window shopping, but a few things made their way into the cart.

Suddenly, it got quiet in the store and Mr. Teal, the grocery store owner called out, “Who wants a ticket. One dollar for a chance at this week’s basket of groceries.” A current of excitement moved through the crowd. Understanding my grandparents were extremely conservative with their money, I was shocked when my grandfather was one of the first people to pay a dollar for a ticket.

What a wondrous thing it was. It was my first experience with the pure joy of chance and anticipation. For only a dollar, there was a chance to take all those groceries home for free. Mr. Teal drew numbers from a cup and called a few numbers. I watched my grandfather’s face. With the complete faith of youth, I waited for him to go collect the groceries. Of course our number wasn’t drawn and we left without the groceries.

Even though I was disappointed when we didn’t win, I remember vividly, how I felt waiting with my grandparents for the “drawing.” It still makes me smile.

My other favorite memory was of my grandmother making a lemon pudding in the large country kitchen. She stirred fresh milk into a sugary mixture in a pot on the stove-top. She was making a pudding and I asked if she was making a banana pudding. My mother often made wonderful banana pudding with vanilla wafers. She said she was making a lemon pudding and we were going to put lemon cookies on top! Then she explained she always put sugar cookies on vanilla pudding and lemon cookies on lemon pudding! I have no idea why that was so remarkable to me but I always thought it was extremely creative!

There were so many good memories from than that week but these two memories transport me back to my grandparents farm and a wonderful week with two of my favorite people.

Pinot’s Palette – Painting and so much more!

On November 5, 2014 By DGThomaIn Family, Food, Humor/Light Hearted, WritingLeave a comment

I’ve wanted to try one of those instructor led classes where you paint a picture in a couple of hours that is advertised as something “you aren’t embarrassed to hang on your wall”. I just haven’t made the effort to find out more information.

Thankfully, it wasn’t left up to me to follow through. My granddaughter, Jillian recently surprised me with registration to a class at Pinot’s Palette . She registered us for a class to paint a picture called “Rain Kisses”. I was completely on board for the class but I assured her, my picture wouldn’t look anything like the example in the email.

All I had to do was make flight arrangements and pack a bag. It was lovely that she made the effort to plan a weekend together for just the two of us. Jillian picked me up at the airport and after a wonderful lunch, we headed to the store to pick up snacks for our class. Our beverage of choice was sparkling water. They do offer a stocked bar, but we are too young for alcohol. Okay, at least Jillian is too young. We made it to the class and were immediately greeted by lively music and a smiling hostess/artist. We were directed to our seats where our names had been written in chalk by our canvases. Our paints were already out and a canvas sat on an easel waiting for our creativity to complete it. Jillian and I discussed grabbing our snacks early on, but I suggested we wait until half-time. Jillian indulgently explained it’s a painting class, there is no half-time.

The instructor was wonderful and did a great job guiding us through the process. Our first step was to paint the entire canvas gray. I believe I excelled at this point.

We laughed and joked and had an amazing time. There were two young ladies sitting beside us discussing the female figure and how one of her legs was raised as she kissed her guy under the umbrella. One of them said, who was it that started that leg thing? Wasn’t it in Princess Diaries? I smiled and said, “Actually, I believe it was Doris Day.” The girl smiled tolerantly and said, “Well yes, but we were talking about the 90’s.” I’m thinking she had never heard of Doris Day. Jillian on the other hand smiled and nodded her agreement. I should add that her favorite animation at around the age of three was Betty Boop!

The instructors are actual artists. They lead you through the process step by step and while it isn’t without a bit of effort and maybe some skill, it was much easier than I anticipated.

Since we were going to be out late, (after 10:00 PM) I suggested to Jillian we go for breakfast instead of a late dinner. We chose the Village Inn for our late night breakfast of omelets, waffles, chocolate chip pancakes and hash browns. It was delicious and we had leftovers for breakfast the next morning.

As we ate and discussed our mutual pictures, I pointed out that Jillian had painted a much better “booty” for her guy than I had. Laughing at/with me, she informed me I was a “hoot!”

Friday was spent running errands and getting ready for a garage sale on Saturday. After purchasing a new shelving unit we spent several hours working on putting it together. Normally I’m pretty good at assembling modular furniture but this shelf was becoming quite a challenge. Maybe I was tired but I put the top piece on backwards and had to start over about halfway through the assembly. Finally I was ready to put the doors on only to discover the bottom was backwards, so maybe the sides were the actual problem, but we took it back apart and started over again. By now our hands were sore from the screwdriver and we couldn’t get the small screws to the doors to turn. Giving up temporarily we went to bed leaving the shelf to be tackled another day.

Early Saturday morning we went to my daughter’s to start the garage sale. It was a beautiful day for a sale and while we didn’t have a landslide of customers, we had a wonderful morning together and a freshly organized and cleaned garage! We also met some lovely people.

Saturday night was shelving unit round two. After a nice dinner with my son-in-law and daughter, Jillian and I went shopping for an electric screwdriver. What we came away with was a nice soft handled manual version with various sized ends. It is absolutely amazing what a night’s rest, good food and the right tool can accomplish. Jillian and Nana 1, shelving unit 0! It went together like peanut butter and jelly.

The weekend flew by and Sunday morning arrived way too soon. I am amazed at how much Jillian has grown up and what a caring responsible young lady she has become. I was encouraged that she is still my sweet little girl. She drove me to the airport in her sleep shirt and fuzzy Minnie Mouse sleep pants with the sound of Boston’s Greatest Hits playing in the background.