This is my daddy. I'm thinking this pic was taken about 1964 or 1965. Several, I mean several years before I was born. Ok, Ok, Ok 4 years.

I'm a tad bit proud of this vinegar loving, tomato growing fanatic. This man takes a teaspoon of vinegar every day. He's like the dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding who sprays Windex on everything. He says it keeps the fleas away but I still haven't figured it out......there's no fleas in Oklahoma say in November thru March. I think this is where I've learned that you do not need a lot of different, high dollar products to do things like cooking, cleaning, treating a medical issue, or just eating/drinking it. Seriously, my sister and I did not have cough syrup growing up......daddy would line us up and give us a teaspoon of vinegar and honey.  We never asked questions, he held our nose and down the hatch it went.  Gag me with a spoon. We now taunt him and occasionally ask if he bathes in it. I think he does.  So let me share a few things that I have learned about vinegar.

1. There's all kinds of vinegar. White, red wine, balsamic (my favorite), rice, distilled, and on and on.

2. It makes a great blend for your HOMEMADE salad dressing. Don't ever, ever buy the bottled kind. you are throwing your money away not to mention filling your gut with all kinds of extra ingredients.

3. It goes good on your fish at Long John Silvers. It is good on potato chips. I like the Lays Salt and Vinegar. My boys think I'm weird.

4.  Here's a recipe that I recently found. The new craze is boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Notice it has a honey/vinegar glaze....and it is good.


Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs $
  Click to see savings
  

  
  
• Cooking spray
• 6 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.
3. Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.

David Bonom, Cooking Light
MARCH 2007

5. Fill a mason jar, ball jar, cleaned out pickle jar full of apple cider vinegar and put it by your outside door.  It keeps the black flies out of your house.   (Thank you Lori Fulk, you are thinking like HJ)

6.  Mix equal parts of distilled vinegar, water, and rubbing alcohol to clean your floors.

So enough about vinegar. Let me tell you another little tidbit about this guy. He was one of the fastest running backs in the history of the Wagoner High School Bulldog Football team and until recently he was one of top touchdown scorers of all times. Here's the magic number......21 touchdowns in 1962.  I asked him for the statistics and he changed the subject and wanted to talk about everything else under the sun but him. He's not one to toot his own horn. He's so humble. He's bona fide. He's my daddy.

He is supposed to be attending his 50th class reunion this weekend. Just saying, he probably won't go.

Happy Fathers Day HJ.

Now Available

 

Mothers Day Spa Gift Sets

 

 

 

 

Great for mom's, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, BFF's, Secret Sis, or yourself.

 

 Set includes

 

Lavender Eye Pillow

Lavender and Oatmeal Bath Tea

Lavender and Oatmeal Bath Soap

Chill-ax Oil

Nail and Cuticle Oil

Lippy Balm

 

$30.00

 

All wrapped up in a 100% recycled gift box with a pretty pink bow.

 



Valentines

Guess what's in the brown paper bag. 

Summer of 1990

Okay so here it goes. How I landed a job on a cruise ship.

Not sure what happened here. 

 

This is how it all went down. I was nearing the end of my Sophomore year of college in 1990 and my boss informed me that I needed to get out of town, do something, see the world. It just so happened that my cousin was in Oklahoma visiting from California and he just happened to mention that one of his co-pilots daughter had gone to Hawaii to work on a cruise ship....what......say no more....sign me up.....I'm outta here. With a tad more determination the next thing I knew I was on an American Airlines flight headed to Honolulu. Goodbye, Oklahoma. My journal dates, May 30, 1990.

 First things first. Where would I stay. I had already devised a plan that I would stay at the YWCA in Honolulu. As I am writing this I'm wondering to myself, how did I get there. My journal keeps referring to buses and how I had come to despise bus rides. Well I certainly do not remember what happened when I arrived but I do remember calling my mom and dad, crying. I was homesick. I thought to myself, what in the world had I done. I was strong and held it together and made my way to the YWCA.  I would soon find out that there's a lot of odd people in this world. The stay didn't last and before long, after a move to a cheap hotel on Waikiki Beach, a lot of sightseeing and eating all the pineapple I could possibly get my hands on I found myself at the American-Hawaii headquarters talking my way through an interview. Boom, I was hired. After a physical and drug test I was soon sitting in the Union Hall waiting for my name to be called. I didn't know what was about to happen but soon I was about to become an United States Merchant Marine, sailing the high seas of the Pacific Ocean.

That's me doing a life boat drill. I was in charge that seems a little strange to me now.

 It was a little windy don't laugh at the hair.

 Stay tuned......as I continue to share pictures and funny stories of my summer cruising the Hawaiian Islands.

I still can't believe my mom let me do this.