contribution post - the absurd bird

Sorry kids for the lack of updates, my computer decided not to let me upload photos and now I only have one contact in so lets see if I can type in a straight line shall we? THIS POST IS AWESOME. I LOVE JILLIAN'S BLOG.

Hello again Shiny Paper-lets...

This time I am bringing you a recipe! Yay! Jordan said that she is in a recipe rut so I am offering my services. I made this Monday night and it was pretty good. I would have preferred it on rigatoni pasta though so please try it with rigatoni instead of spaghetti if you can help it. I made this out of a family chicken recipe combined with something I saw Rachael Ray do on TV last week. If it bears any resemblance to a published recipe, it was unintentional, but really... how many versions of things can there be? Anyway... here it goes.

Italian Sausage and Green Pepper Sauce

Ingredients:

1lb Rigatoni pasta (I used spaghetti because that is what I had)

1lb Italian Sausage (mild or spicy your choice)

2 Green Bell Peppers

1 Onion (small)

3 Garlic cloves

1 28oz. can Diced Tomatoes

2 heaping tbsp. of Tomato Paste

1 oz. can Tomato Sauce (can be omitted)

1 12oz. can Olives (pitted)

2 tbsp. Italian Seasoning

2 tbsp. Salt

1 tbsp. Pepper

2 tbsp. Olive Oil

Obligatory Parmesan Dusting



Ok... Put the sausage into a large pan (whatever you want to make the sauce in) and fill it with just enough water to cover the sausage and put on the stove to boil. Once it boils, turn the heat back and let it simmer. Doing this will cook the sausage through without burning the outside first and incidentally make it easy to cut them up nice and pretty. Once the sausage is cooked through (about 10-12 minutes), pour out the water and brown the sausage in the pan with a scant amount of oil. Once they are browned, put them on a cutting board...



I know this picture is totally phallic and trust me, I am holding in a plethora of "that's what she said" descriptions right now...



Cut up the sausage at and angle. It looks prettier this way and also makes is easier to get each piece of sausage into your mouth (that's what she said... sorry... i have no control). Set this aside while you return the pan to the heat and build the sauce.

Dice the onion, bell peppers and garlic. Add them to the hot pan with the olive oil and let them cook until the onions are soft and translucent. Then add salt, pepper and sausage to the pan.



Then add the two heaping tablespoons of tomato paste



Stir the ingredients until the tomato paste is spread evenly and let it cook out for 1 minute. Tomato paste (especially out of a can) sometimes has a metallic taste and letting it cook out like this will help to bring out the concentrated tomato flavor instead of the metal flavor. After this, add the Italian seasoning, olives, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Stir it all together and then cover and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes.



About 10 minutes into your sauce simmering, turn on your pot of water to boil the pasta. When it is boiling, cook the pasta to the package instructions and drain. Your sauce should be ready by the time the pasta is done. This recipe makes a ridiculous amount of sauce so I was actually able to freeze about 3 cups of it to be used at a later date. You can make two pounds of pasta and feed an army or save some for another night, you choice. It would be really delicious on top of of a thick toasted slice of french bread or something too! Yum!

Toss with the pasta and then plate your serving. Dust the finished plate with the obligatory Parmesan cheese sprinkle and be on your merry way to a full stomach.



It was so filling that I only ate half of what was on my plate but the hubby and baby finished theirs. Here's to hoping that your family likes it too!! See you in two weeks!!

the absurd bird - contribution post

We are so lucky to have Jillian here again with her contribution post. I have a feeling this one will be a wee bit sentimental for many of us. Take it away.

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Hello Shiny Paper Readers... Guess who's back? Back again? The Absurd Bird's back... Tell a friend


The End of an Era...


Like many girls within a 10 year span of my birth year, I sang along to Whitney Houston songs a lot. I had "The Bodyguard" soundtrack on tape and wore it out. I would sing along while I did my chores with my Walkman headphones on, thinking that someday I would be able to hit those notes too. Actually, in my head, I already thought that I could. Unfortunately, I was wrong... as are most people who try to sing any of Whitney's songs.

When I was old enough to go to a bar, I discovered the world of karaoke. It is safe to say that I spent most of my young drinking days in search of the approval of a bar room full of strangers. I would sometimes hear a "You were great!" or a "Nice job!", but my favorite thing to hear was "You should audition for American Idol!". So I did... twice... it didn't go well. I have such a problem with nerves. I botched nearly all of my high school musical auditions because I would get too nervous and mess up the words. Performance competitions are just not for me I guess.

I loved karaoke though because it was pretty anonymous and I am decent enough not to get booed off stage. There are always more "interesting" performers than I. One of the funny things about karaoke "culture" is that when someone decides to sing a Whitney Houston song, you know that they are either (A) Really Good (B) Think they are really good or (C) Really Drunk. Most people will turn around to actually watch a person who decides to sing Whitney. It is funny to watch the whole room turn to hear the first few notes... if it is good (obviously not as good as Whitney, but we are talking about a local watering hole crowd here) people happily return to their conversations or comment on the stellar voice they get to hear. Sadly, most times they are a train wreck and no one looks away and the room has a collective laugh as the performers expense... Hence, I will never perform a Whitney song at karaoke unless I am totally inebriated which will of course limit my performance abilities. Besides, I kind of have a lower voice for a chick so the high stuff doesn't really work for me. If I am feeling daring I would rather sing my epic rendition of "Wonder Boy" by Tenacious D than attempt a Whitney Houston classic, at least in public. I have been known to pull out a little "Greatest Love of All" while showering... because I truly do believe that children are our future...

I guess what I am getting at is that Whitney Houston had a voice that all other voices would be judged by, eventually even her own. I was never enveloped in her career or drug addiction or failed marriage. None of that really mattered to me. All that mattered was that she made me love singing (well, her and The Little Mermaid) and although I will never sing like her, I still try to this day. Her voice was amazing and we may never hear anything even close to it again. So thanks, Whitney. Thanks for giving me endless shower tunes to belt out and songs to clean by; Anthems to scream and songs for when I wanna dance with somebody (usually my son). I will never forget your voice and am glad that I was lucky enough to live through your best times.

Lesson: Whitney is rad and don't sing her songs at karaoke unless you want to look silly.

Here is a tribute by my favorite male singer of all time... Chris Cornell!!! Thanks Shiny Paper readers for indulging me here and if you like what I have to say, come check me out at my blog HERE.




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Thank you my dear. Seriously did that video give anyone else chills or is it just me?

contribution post - the absurb bird...also known as jillian

Soooo it is now time to introduce you to my other contributor. Along with Michael Doxey sharing Glitter Bombed with us every week, I will be having Jillian of The Absurd Bird. She will be sharing all of her life and wisdom with you every other week and you will like it.

Hello Shiny Paper lovers!!

I am Jillian, The Absurd Bird. I was asked so kindly by "That Jordan Girl" to be a regular contributor to her blog. I was totally jazzed that she thinks I am so great, I still don't know why, but I decided to roll with it.



I figure that the best way to introduce myself is with a few fun facts about me...

I am 30 years old. I have been married for almost two years to one of the funniest men on the planet. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I am a very lucky girl to have him. We have a beautiful 10 month old son who is the light of my life (oh my... I even scared myself with how cliche that sounds). We have a cute little house and a cute little dog and we rightly think that we are pretty cute ourselves.

The name for my blog came out of a 30 minute discussion with my husband. I just wanted it to be short, catchy and to be about me. I just kept telling him "I am just a weird girl. What is another way to say 'the weird girl'?", and then I said it and the rest is recent history.



I have weird eating habits. I like to eat my burgers around the outside first and eat the middle last. I also like to eat the filling out of burritos first and then eat the tortilla last. I like to eat those things last because they are my favorite parts. I figure that if I ever wanted to go on a diet, I could just omit the things I eat first and skip to my favorite parts. Most things I do have some sort of system to them even if it doesn't make sense to other people. My husband understands them... I have no idea how, but he does. We both are in love with each other's little absurdities, which I firmly believe is the only way to truly love someone.

My inner monologue sometimes has a British accent because I am addicted to Jane Austen and all the movies of her books. Insults sound so much better in late 18th century Britain. At least they do in my head... I worry a lot about things that never happen, but when I tell myself not to worry about them because they don't happen, a little voice in my head says that they will happen if I don't worry. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place.



So this is a little about me and there is plenty more on my blog here. Thanks so much to Jordan! I hope that I don't disappoint your readers! I think this journey will be a fun one... or at least weirdly entertaining, right?