Torianna's Corner

Today, I spent some time (a Pomodoro session’s worth) helping Sweet Thing with the replacement of the front yard faucet. Earlier today, he had dug the hole bigger, but he was a bit hampered by all of the gravel that was in the hole. So, he asked me to do what I could to remove the gravel.

Even though it was Task #3 on “the three tasks” for today, it was the first task that I tackled, and I’m glad I did it first! The Pomodoro timer proved to be just the right amount of time to get ‘er done before the mosquitoes made an appearance and started eating me alive!

Anyway… Here’s a “before” pic of the task at hand:

Rocks to remove…

Here’s an “after” pic of the task:

All gone…

Yay! I was successfully able to remove all of the rocks from the bottom on the hole that Sweet Thing dug,

AND…

I managed to add the “Before” and “After” pics ALL BY MYSELF, which is quite a feat in and of itself for the “technology-challenged” author!

Whew! I just hope I can remember what I actually did to add the pics to this vanity post, so I can continue adding ’em to future posts! Wish me luck ‘cuz I’m gonna need it!

The words of wisdom that I’ll be featuring in this vanity post are from a recent e-newsletter from Maria Gracia, the founder of the Get Organized Now! Web site. Maria is a wonderful “fountain of information”, and I really enjoy reading her daily newsletters because I invariably pick up lots of tips and tricks related to organizing as well as words of wisdom, which often arrive in my inbox in a timely manner.

Today’s words of wisdom are about confidence — as it (of course) relates to organizing. So… Without further ado, here they are:

Confidence is …

“I may not finish this today, but I can make it better.”

“You do not need to feel completely confident before you start. Confidence grows through action. Every small decision gives it a little more strength.”

“I can make decisions. I can improve my surroundings. I can trust myself to follow through.”

“The more often you act on that message, the more confident you become. This is why small organizing projects can be so powerful.”

So, yeah… Those are some encouraging words of wisdom that I definitely needed to “hear” right now, and tomorrow, I’m going to work on making things better around here, knowing that I probably won’t finish everything that needs to be done today. And the next day, I’m going to do the same things: making things better by making small decisions to improve my surroundings — though, my “following through” may need some work.

If you’ve got any words of wisdom about confidence (or anything else that you’d like to share with me), please leave a comment below.

Since tomorrow is a “Tasty Tuesdays” day, I did a quick search on the National Day Calendar Web site to find out whether there were any food-related national days on 29 September. I was looking for a recipe to feature in “Tasty Tuesdays” vanity post for tomorrow. Sadly, there weren’t any, so I decided to honor not one, but TWO of the National Months (National Chicken Month and National Potato Month) in a single recipe!

After searching for “recipes using both chicken and potatoes, I got LOTS of results, but I wasn’t in the mood to go through all of them. So… I used one of my tried-and-true ways to narrow down the results: Counting by sevens! I counted down to the 7th result, which was a Web site that featured LOTS of chicken and potatoes! Once on that Web site (delish.com), I counted down to the 7th recipe (which was easy because they were numbered!), and that 7th recipe is the one I’m going to feature in the “Tasty Tuesdays” vanity post for tomorrow! Without further ado, here’s #7:

Greek Chicken Potato Salad

Ingredients

FOR THE DRESSING

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 small red onion, very thinly sliced

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE POTATO SALAD

3 cups chicken breast strips (See notes below)

2 pounds mixed baby potatoes, halved

2 cucumbers, thinly sliced into half moons (See notes below)

1 1/2 cups halved cherry tomatoes

3/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved (See notes below)

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill sprigs, plus more for serving

1 cup firm feta cheese, crumbled, plus more for serving (See notes below)

Directions

1. Make dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together lemon juice and mustard. While whisking, slowly add oil until fully combined. Stir in red onion, then season with salt and pepper. Let sit while making potato salad.
2. Make potato salad: Arrange chicken breast strips in a single layer on a microwave-safe plate and heat covered with a paper towel on high until warm, about 2 minutes. Let cool slightly and then transfer to a work surface and slice into bite-sized pieces.
3. Meanwhile, in a large pot, cover potatoes with water and season generously with salt. Bring water to a boil and cook until potatoes are easily pierced with a knife, about 10 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool potatoes.
4. Transfer potatoes to a large bowl and add sliced chicken breast, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, and dill. Drizzle with dressing and gently toss to combine. Gently fold in the feta.
5. Serve garnished with more dill and more feta.

NOTES:

1. This recipe originally featured “Tyson Grilled & Ready Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Strips”, but I have issues with the Tyson brand. Consequently, I used a different brand of chicken breast strips in this recipe.
2. Originally, this recipe called for “Persian cucumbers”, but since I don’t think my local grocery store carries anything but regular ol’ cucumbers, that’s what I used.
3. Again, this recipe called for Kalamata olives, but my local grocery store only had black olives or the green (pimiento-stuffed) olives. I used the green (pimiento-stuffed) olives since that’s what I had on hand AND because this recipe reminds me of my favorite kind of potato salad: Italian Potato Salad.
4. Because I’ve never eaten/made anything with feta cheese, I substituted what I had on hand: Parmesan cheese, which is the kind of cheese called for in my Italian Potato Salad recipe.

So, there you have it: this week’s “Tasty Tuesdays” recipe for Greek Chicken Potato Salad in honor of both National Chicken Month AND National Potato Month!

I know that summer is long gone, but I hope you’ll give this Greek Chicken Potato Salad a try like I did! I’d love to find out whether you followed the recipe exactly OR made changes like I did, so please take a moment to leave a comment below.

In the meantime… I know I’ll be making another batch because I love the addition of the chicken breast strips! Turns a simple side into a complete meal (with a carb, a protein, and two veggies), especially with the addition of some kind of fruit (Apple Crisp, anyone?) for dessert.

Bon Appétit!

In Vanity Post #108 last week, I mentioned that I love it when a plan comes together, and in that post, I was talking about the plan I created for fixing the veteran’s quilt that I started last year. Well… Today, I have some good news: It’s REALLY coming together!

Between Vanity Post #104 and now, I have:

• taken out all of the blocks that need to be changed;
• created four more solid blue blocks; AND
• inserted the first of the solid blue blocks into the quilt top!

I wasn’t sure how difficult it was going to be to insert/replace blocks in each of the six rows, so I decided to give it a try tonight — after creating the fourth solid blue block! It turned out to be much easier than I thought, AND the first row is now complete!!

However, I did discover something not-so-good: I forgot to take out one of the solid red blocks — the kind of block that led me down the path to creating my current plan. So… Before I can start working on Row #2, I’ll have to:

1. take out that darned solid red block; and
2. figure out whether I have enough solid blue blocks (the replacements for the solid red blocks) OR if I’ll have to make one more of ’em.

In any case, I’m REALLY pleased that the plan for my veteran’s quilt is coming together!

Have you ever noticed that things take longer to do than you think they would? I have, and I can’t help but wonder why this is true more often than not.

A few days ago, I encountered this situation, and it irritated me — probably because I was undoubtedly in a hurry. I can’t remember what I was doing at the time, so I didn’t think much of it then — except, of course, the fact that it irritated me.

Well… It happened again! Yesterday, I was packing a birthday box for my Darlin’ Daughter, and I didn’t think it would take very long for me to gather all of its contents together, wrap everything, and pack it all into a box for shipping. So, I had that task plus a couple others on “The Three Tasks” list for the day.

Knowing that I needed to get it into the mail at least four days prior to her birthday (since I’ve noticed that it takes at least that long for mail to reach her), I made this task the top priority for the day, but I should have known…

Things take longer to do than you think they would!

Lo and behold! Packing that birthday box took longer — A LOT longer — than I thought it would!! Like almost all afternoon! I spent FIVE AND A HALF hours getting that darned birthday box ready to ship!!

Of course, I must admit that I did get sidetracked a couple of times — once during the gathering process when I spent some time boxing up some of my sewing “stuff” AND again during the wrapping process when I remembered something I should have done days ago.

The good news is that the birthday box is FINALLY ready to mail. I hope (1) the birthday box reaches my Darlin’ Daughter BEFORE her birthday (since I’m trying to be more like Mom when it comes to birthdays), and (2) that she likes everything I sent her!

And on that note, I’m going to close this vanity post, but before I go, I want you to do something for me:

Please heed the advice from this cautionary tale of mine by adding extra time to your schedule for completing the important tasks because…

Things take longer to do than you think they would!

As the title of this vanity post indicates, I am going to continue experimenting with adding photos to my vanity posts… AND, if successful, I might even decide to make such posts with pictures a regular feature — after I get the process “down pat” as I said yesterday.

Once again, the experiment commences…

A dragon at rest

Yay! This experiment was even more successful that I thought it would be, primarily because I did something I’ve never done before: I replaced one picture with another one!!

When I began today’s experiment, I successfully added a photo to this vanity post, but I didn’t think it was worthy enough to be featured. At that point, I knew I needed to find a way to get rid of it. I thought that if I right-clicked on the photo, I’d have the option to “cut” it. However… When I clicked on the (unworthy) photo, there was no “cut” option. Instead, a “pop up” box appeared above it — full of at least nine icons that I didn’t recognize — BUT it did have something I DID recognize: the word “Replace”.

So… That is exactly what I did! I replaced the unworthy photo (of more clouds) with the above photo of the “dragon at rest” — the cloud that was featured in yesterday’s vanity post!

Lately, when I’ve been taking pictures, I’ve been playing with the “zoom” feature of my camera. Since it features zoom settings of .5, 1, 2, and 5, I’ll select a subject to photograph (in this case the cloud that reminded me of a dragon) and will then take photos of it at the various zoom settings. I can’t remember whether this was taken at a zoom setting of 1 or 2, but I’m sure yesterday’s photo was taken at the zoom setting of 5 because it appears to be closer to the viewers — you and I.

I think I’m starting to feel more comfortable with the process of adding photos to my vanity posts! Now, I’ve just got to start feeling more comfortable with the process of getting them onto Zenny without it CRASHING like it did the most recent time I tried uploading photos — including these two “dragon” photos!

Yesterday, I saw some intriguing clouds, so I spent some time taking pictures of ’em, so…

Today, I thought I’d try to share one of ’em with y’all — mostly, as an experiment to see if I can figure out how to include photos in more of these vanity posts, especially since virtually all of the Web sites I’ve visited lately feature LOTS of photos in their posts.

And now the experiment commences…

An intriguing cloud

Yay! I was successfully able to add the photo I took of an intriguing cloud — one that reminded me of a dragon lying on its back with its tail in the trees.

However, I’m not quite sure how I did it, so I’m sure there’s probably going to be more of these experiments in the future — at least until I’m sure I’ve got the process “down pat” as they say.

In this week’s (early) “Tasty Tuesdays” vanity post, I’m going to be featuring a recipe for “the Pullman Loaf”, which, according to a very interesting article on the cookscook.com Web site, was a loaf of particular bread that was “bred to travel”. Even though I’d love to go into the very interesting history of this particular loaf of bread, I’m just going to provide a link to the article where I found this week’s featured recipe AFTER the recipe itself. So… Without further ado, here’s the recipe from Edward Bottone at thecookscook.com:

Pullman Sandwich Loaf

Ingredients

• 4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
• 3 Tablespoons dehydrated potato flakes
• 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (The Diamond Crystal brand is less salty than other brands.)
• 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2/3 cup lukewarm milk
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, dry milk, potato flakes, salt, sugar, and yeast. Add 1 cup lukewarm water, milk and butter. Stir to mix. Using your hands or a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, knead to form a smooth, soft dough.
2. Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover, and allow the dough to rise in a warm spot until puffy and nearly doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
3. Lightly grease a 13-inch pain de pie pan (Pullman Loaf pan) and lid. Gently deflate dough and transfer to a lightly greased work surface. Shape into a 13-inch log and fit it into the pan. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow dough to rise until it’s just below the lip of the pan, 45 minutes to 1 hour or longer (the longer the rise the better the flavor).
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the plastic and slide the cover onto the pan. Bake the bread for 25 minutes. Remove the lid and return the bread to the oven to bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, until it is a deep tan color with an internal temperature on an instant-read thermometer of 190 degrees F.
5. Remove the bread from the oven and turn out onto a rack to cool completely. Store in a plastic bag, or wrapped at room temperature, for 4 days, or slice and freeze for up to 3 months.

So, there you have it: a recipe for Pullman Loaf Sandwich Bread, and now I’m going to share with you the promised link in case you wanted to take a “deeper dive” into the fascinating history of the Pullman Loaf Sandwich bread, which was “bred to travel”.

https://www.thecookscook.com/article/the-pullman-loaf-legacy

Don’t know about you, but after I read through the history of this bread, I wanted to do two things:

1. Make a loaf of this bread (so much so that I purchased a pullman loaf pan (the 9″ not the 13″ one, but if I like it I might splurge on the larger pan) just for this purpose!
2. Hop on the closest Amtrak train that I can find, so I can experience train travel first hand — though I’m sure it won’t be the same as train travel was when Pullman Loaf Sandwich Bread was offered to passengers traveling in Pullman cars!

I hope you enjoy making this kind of bread as well as the fascinating history about its creation! As always, I’d love to hear from you, so please take a moment to leave me a comment below.

The other day, I read “A Psalm for Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in “Simple Abundance”, one of my nightstand books, and I thought it was very inspirational — so much so that I transcribed it into my current “Holler Happenings” notebook AND published it in Vanity Post #106.

Well… Yesterday, I read something in that same nightstand book, and I experienced an “Ah, ha!” moment. So, I’m going to transcribe it here, so I can go back to it as often as needed — to serve as a reminder. Without further ado, here are those “words of wisdom”:

“We cannot achieve without ambition.

Action — ambition in motion — is what produces achievement.”

As soon as I read those two sentences, I knew what Mr. Longfellow meant when he said: “Let us, then, be up and doing”, and I realized that it’s the “action” part (or lack thereof, in my case) that has been a problem (if not, the main problem) for me. It’s why I’ve been trying to achieve the same goals for years but not accomplishing any of them.

So… I think “Ambition in motion” is going to be my mantra/motto for my 2026/2027 trip around the sun! I’m hoping that it will remind me that I’ve got to be “up and doing” in order to achieve all of the goals I’ve set for myself.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about the inspirational quote in today’s vanity post, so please leave a comment below.

While perusing nationaldaycalendar.com, I noticed (belatedly) that September 16th was National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day, and that got me to thinking about that tasty sweet treat and how that was (and still is) the only way that I’ve ever liked to eat raisins!

The more I thought about cinnamon raisin bread, the more I wondered whether stores even sell cinnamon raisin bread! Have you seen any cinnamon raisin bread in your local grocery store? I haven’t! Since this yummy reminder of my childhood has captured my attention, I decided to go in search of a (simple) recipe I can use to make myself a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread to enjoy (belatedly) in honor of September’s National Cinnamon Raisin Bread.

Lucky for me (and you, too!), I happened to find one, and I’m going to share it with you. So… Grab your baking supplies and join me as I travel down memory lane and make a loaf of this tasty sweet treat. Without further ado, here’s the recipe (from allrecipes.com):

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
• 2 (o.25 ounce) packages of active dry yeast
• 1 cup raisins
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup margarine (or butter), softened
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. Warm 1 1/2 cups milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until bubbles appear, then remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm.
2. Stir together warm water and yeast in a large bowl; let sit until frothy, about 5 minutes. Mix in raisins, eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, margarine, and salt until combined. Stir in cooled milk. Add flour gradually to make a stiff dough.
3. Remove dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes. Transfer to a large, greased bowl and turn dough to grease the entire surface. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
4. Grease three 9×5-inch loaf pans; set aside.
5. Punch down dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a large rectangle, about 1/2-inch thick. Moisten dough with 2 Tablespoons milk. Mix together remaining 3/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; sprinkle over moistened dough. Roll up tightly into a log, about 3 inches in diameter.
6. Cut log into thirds; tuck under ends to form loaves. Place into the prepared loaf pans and lightly grease the tops. Cover and let rise again, about 1 hour.
7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
8. Bake in the preheated oven until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped, about 45 minutes. (Watch it carefully near the midway point to prevent it from burning.) Remove loaves from the pans and brush with melted butter. Let cool on a wire rack before slicing.

So, there you have it: a recipe for making three loaves of cinnamon raisin bread! I’d love to know (1) whether a grocery store in your “neck of the woods” still sells loaves of cinnamon raisin bread, (2) whether you tried this recipe (and how it turned out, of course); and (3) if you have a recipe for this tasty treat that you’d like to share with me. Until later…

Bon Appétit!