7 Quick Takes (at least I hope they're quick)

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I wasn't planning on posting anything today, but since I haven't tried a 30-minute blog in a few weeks, I figured I'd see if I could pull it off with a QUICK 7 Quick Takes post. I'm not using a timer, but I'll try to watch my little clock on the computer very carefully!

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Things are getting EXTREMELY busy around here for the boys and me! I've been at our parish preschool almost every day trying to get the classroom set up. We've been having some renovations done at church over the summer, including taking out a walk-in closet in the three-year-old classroom to create more classroom space. Even though there were some floor-to-ceiling cabinets installed, there is less storage space for toys and things, so my co-worker and I have been trying to decide which toys we want to get rid of, and how to store the rest of them efficiently. We need to have the room ready by next Thursday, when the parents will bring their children to meet the teachers and see the classroom. (I'm also going to teach Religious Education again; last night at our first catechist meeting, Father R. asked me, "So, you're teaching preschool AND Religious Ed? How's that going?" I don't know, Father; I haven't started yet. I forgot to ask him to pray for me, but I'm pretty sure he will. He had a big grin on his face, so I think he's confident I can pull it off.)

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Meanwhile, we are trying to gather together last-minute items for the start of school for the boys; do you know how hard it is to find green pens? I've inventoried the uniforms, and I think I might get a couple more pairs of pants for Curly since he grew by leaps and bounds over the summer; plus I have two pairs of pants for Larry that I ordered last spring that came with no hems. This means I have to hem them myself. I've been putting this task off because I don't sew; the last time I tried to hem a pair of pants for Joe (many years ago) it looked so bad I swore I'd never do that again. Since school starts on Monday, I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and do that over the weekend.

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Whenever we go to Burger King (which is almost never, but over the summer we travelled quite a bit, which means more stops on the road for fast food) Curly orders onion rings with his burger instead of fries. Since Moe is allergic to eggs and milk, things that are typically in onion ring batter (although truthfully, I don't think I've ever actually checked the ingredients on Burger King onion rings), he has never tried them. Lately he has been asking for onion rings, and this week I decided to take a stab at making them myself. I found this recipe over at AllRecipies.com:

1 large onion, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk, or as needed
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
seasoned salt to taste
1 quart oil for frying, or as needed

1.Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C).
2.Separate the onion slices into rings, and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3.Dip the onion slices into the flour mixture until they are all coated; set aside. Whisk the egg and milk into the flour mixture using a fork. Dip the floured rings into the batter to coat, then place on a wire rack to drain until the batter stops dripping. The wire rack may be placed over a sheet of aluminum foil for easier clean up. Spread the bread crumbs out on a plate or shallow dish. Place rings one at a time into the crumbs, and scoop the crumbs up over the ring to coat. Give it a hard tap as you remove it from the crumbs. The coating should cling very well. Repeat with remaining rings.
4.Deep fry the rings a few at a time for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to paper towels to drain. Season with seasoning salt, and serve.

For Moe's allergies, I used Egg Replacer and soy milk; for the bread crumbs I cut up a couple of stale bagels we had purchased last week at the beach and put them in the food processor.

Oh, my, were they ever delicious! (Oh dang, I just realized I have to download the picture I took to my computer; looks like this blog will take more than 30 minutes.) I might make them tomorrow to take to our friend's fiftieth birthday party; I'm supposed to bring an appitizer or side dish, and I haven't had time to really think about what to make.

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I'm thinking about doing the unthinkable and starting a second blog. I've had the idea floating around in my head for quite a while, but it's taking me a long time to decide to actually do it. Without revealing the exact theme, I will tell you that it involves books and cooking. Which means I would actually need to try new recipes, many of which will involve a lot of improvising, and post them online. Have you seen the movie "Julie and Julia?" Julie decides to make something from Julia Child's cookbook EVERY DAY and blog about what she made, and finish in a year. This--if I ever get it going--will be something along those lines, but not quite; I will tell you that I will NOT try and attempt this every day for a year; in fact I think I'll be lucky to get in more than one post a month. I was actually thinking about starting it this weekend, but since I have so much to do getting ready for school and all (plus I have some domestic chores I'm hoping to catch up on) I'm not too optimistic about that. Certain things are going out of season, though, and if I don't start it soon it will put me out of synch. Anyway, it might happen, it might not; stay tuned and be patient! :)

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I've already been at this post for more than 30 minutes. I need to hurry up and get off here so I can start my day.

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I have a lot of blogs that I follow, and I wish I could read every post on every one of them, but if I did that I wouldn't do anything else. I want you to check out one particular blog, though, that I ALWAYS read (even if I have to play catch-up from time to time): it's Small Things, written by my friend Ginny. I started following her blog because I've known her for several years, and her oldest son was in Kindergarten with Moe at the Montessori school. Ginny posts beautiful stories and photos about her family and their everyday activities--including accounts of their recent endeavor to raise laying hens. They seem to be doing a great job with that so far.

I'm hoping over the weekend to play with my blog and try and make my own photos bigger like hers, and I've gotten some tips about how to do that from Allison at A Broken Fortress. I might add a few more links to the sidebar, too. Wish me luck!

No 30-minute blog today. That was wishful thinking. Enjoy, and be sure to check out Jennifer's Conversion Diary for her 7 Quick Takes post for this week! She has created a blogging phenomenon with this meme. Thanks, Jennifer!