Saturday, July 7, 2012

99 Bottles of Beer


I thought I was on a roll, recommitting to weekly words of wisdom and food gorging recipes. Reached the two year and 500 follower mark, and was feeling pretty darn filled with self-importance. But my little followers, you have let me down. Dead comment zone last post, was it weak writing, poor friend choice?  Sigh.  You know how sensitive bloggers are and how we need constant validation.  At this point our heroine, Mrs. Tuna, kicks the ground with her scuffed sneaker and a sulky aw shucks routine.



But today is a big day.  This little blog is hitting its 100 post mark.  Sometimes it feels like I’ve written 100,000 posts sometime 10. My original goal was one post a week, I’m not too far off the mark and only a few redundant reruns.  So today will be a little bit of a recap. Link arms with me for a stroll down memory lane Team Tuna.

A strong contender held the number one most viewed spot until recently was the "New Adventures ofthe Naughty Schoolgirl”. The key Google search words were naughty schoolgirl, cooked chicken, kill chicken, kill schoolgirl. What the hell was in that post to merit that.  It was an innocent recounting of returning to college of a middle aged woman, not some remake of Bridget Jones eating puppies for brunch.  It was knocked out of the running by “Resolutions of a 49 Year OldMuffin Top”. I am happy to report I still have not gotten a tramp stamp, had vodka or started any craft projects, so my New Year’s promises are intact.

The numero uno commented on post was my nervous first day back at Arizona State and my amazing parking spot overlooking the Men’s Diving Team practice with “Zodiac Killer”. Clap, clap, clap, dive again my handsome Adonis, triple twist my young buck…..ahem. I mean it’s important that the youth today exercise and not become couch potatoes getting fat right?

Today I tried a new vegetarian recipe that amazingly took me way less time than I would have figured.

Spicy fried corn, Sweet Onion, and Red Pepper

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup chopped onion
Cut kernels from 5 big ears of fresh corn (just cut down the sides with a sharp knife, it was pretty quick).
1 red pepper dice into 1/ 4 inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2/3 cup cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Heat butter and oil in large skillet to very hot. Add onion and cook for 2 minutes stirring. Add corn, red pepper, salt and sugar and sauté until vegetables have browned lightly or 5-6 minutes. Resist the urge to over stir so it browns.  In bowl, whisk together cream, mustard, chili powder and red pepper flakes. Pour liquid over corn stirring often until liquid is absorbed about 3 minutes.  Literally, the whole thing took me about 15 minutes to make.


But the bigger question is what even made Mrs. Tuna blog in the first place?  A few months after my mom passed away from a lengthy battle with cancer I was missing her terribly. She was a world class chef and had reinvented herself as a professional writer in her retirement.  I was afraid if I didn’t share our funny stories and her recipes I would forget all the things that made her so special to my siblings and me.  And so Team Tuna, every time you cook something from this blog, remember the inspiration of my heartfelt words and cook it with the same love it was prepared for me by my mom.

xoxoxoxo Dawn


32 comments:

Anonymous said...

WONDERFUL photo of your Mom. I know how much you miss her, and always will I am afraid. At least you have Capt Retard, the four legged shedding machine, as a constant reminder of her love of all creatures. xoxo! mS. a

Unknown said...

Dang, Woman! I have the house almost packed, and it looks like I get to do most of the garage too. Just a quick 'hello,' in honor of one of those great moms.

Twisted Susan said...

Your mom inspired you to cook and blog, that's lovely.
My mom inspired me to drink and curse.

Jojo said...

Congratulations to you on all of your metrics and a special salute to the incredible woman who inspired it all. Such a nice tribute to mom.

mamahasspoken said...

My mom has been gone for the past 15 years.
I still miss her every day.
As for what brings people to your blog, I've got perverts and law breakers coming to mine in that my biggest hits are naughty underwear and what comes in certified mail ;o)

Kirby Carespodi said...

I started blogging during my dad's illness, and then just kept going. I enjoy reading your recipes, but haven't tried too many--I'm a pretty lousy cook. But this one sounds easy enough...

Janie Junebug said...

YOU wrote a post and I didn't comment on it? What the hell was wrong with me?

Love,
Lola

Marianne said...

Validation, validation, validation.

And your mom is an inspiration to writers everywhere. I hope she has the best darn word processor in the sky.

Tina@WhatWeKeep said...

Congrats on your accomplishment- your mom would be proud.
I love corn so I'm making this for sure.
Who knows what brings a response on our blogs? I just blog what I please. Followers aren't necessarily readers, so it doesn't matter to me.
Maybe we were all drunk that day???
Chin up, Buttercup~ we won't let you down again.;)

Vapid Vixen said...

Oh wow. I had no idea your blog is a tribute to your Mom. I love it even more now!

Andrea said...

Wait! I was there and thought I commented. Thanks for letting us into your world and sharing your recipes! Your mom would love it here!

Mentorship Director said...

I think your Mom would be proud. I think she'd also love how much laughter and pure fun you bring to the world. Congratulations on hitting 500.... I still think you should write a cook book!

Claire Justine said...

Lovely tribute to your mom.

Val said...

That comment thing? I'm sure it was a simple oversight on my part. I must have been trying to figure out why people come to my blog looking for "Missouri monster" and "Mrs. Brady with long hair."

Sultan said...

Nice post.

Chris Dean said...

First off, I left a momment, darn it, (Stomps filthy, bare foot like a two year old) so don't yell at me. (Finished statement by sticking tongue out at you.)
Second, this is one yummy dish! (The food, NOT the dive team...)
Also? I love the reason you started blogging. It's a beautiful testament to your Mom. Please, keep it up!

a real mother said...

I'm happy to be a part of Team Tuna! I love this post but I'm going to go back and read some others. Something tells me I'm going to like them too (and stay away from that tramp stamp, sister!!)

Lisa said...

Congratulations!

I have no idea how I missed your last post - but we've been coming and going with traveling, etc. Anyway, that's my excuse!

Congrats again on 100 fabulous posts!

Bibi @ Bibi's Culinary Journey said...

Awwww, love the recap and even more story behind your blogging....very touching. Your mom looks like a wonderful lady:)

Kimberly said...

That is such a beautiful beautiful way of spreading the awesomeness that is your mom. I never knew that.
Congrats on your 100...you win nothing but a high five and a cheer to keep on writing.
If only we got confetti and a cake...wouldn't that be nice :)

Sandra said...

See, I did not know what or how you started blogging. Now I do. As for "kill the schoolgirl" that's probably because of a comment i left. I hate school and I am a girl. Yes, I'm taking credit for that google search.
So when should we go on that romantic walk and have our candlelight dinner my dear Mrs. Tuna. Will our husbands mind that we are cheating on them? Well, mine probably won't even notice as long as we don't get in the way of his tv.

Ms. G said...

Oh Dear! If my brain hadn't been pixie dust for awhile there I never would have missed a post!

I love your reason for beginning the blog. I think mine partially was born because I missed talking with my mom : )

Nicki said...

I didn't know that's why you started this blog! I love it even more now.

Stephanie said...

Oh sweet friend, I had no idea yuor Mama was the inspiration behind your blog...and now I love it more!

PS I think summer and vacations have caused all our blogs to take a hit in the comment dept. I know my commenting is down and my comments are too!

DB Stewart said...

Sorry I wasn't there last week; working and vacationing interferes with everything!

sandra tyler said...

a lovely tribute to your mom.

AiringMyLaundry said...

Your Mom sounds like she was a wonderful person.

Happy 100 posts!

AiringMyLaundry said...

You won a copy of Gone Missing over at my blog. Congrats! Please e-mail at Princess543@yahoo.com with your address!

Emily Meyers said...

Hey there! I just found your cute blog via the hop and I'm your newest follower! I'd love to have you as my blog friend too and check out a huge giveaway I'm having right now!!

Hope to see you there! Thanks so much lady!
Emily

http://emilymmeyers.blogspot.com/2012/07/chi-bling-giveaway-winner.html

CaffeinatedOCMommy said...

Where's the 99 bottles in the recipe Darling?? Anyway, congrats and a big Cups Up! to you and your FABulous Mom for encouraging you to start this wonderful blog... xoxo

The Defiant Marshmallow said...

Count me as another one who didn't know why you began the blog. And another one who didn't comment.

I was, um...under the weather, on vacation, held up in traffic, couldn't find my computer, the dog ate my fingers...

Something like that.

I may not always comment (for which you should probably be thankful), but I love your blog. The downside is that Lady Marshmallow is becoming suspicious of my giving her recipes from a strange woman.
(you know what I mean)

Write on!

Crazy Life of a Writing Mom said...

I'm crying right now. What a beautiful tribute.

Congrats on 100 and such a wonderful reason for beginning this journey.