I was visiting at Parkway Rest Stop’s new home on MT. (I hope I got the link right, Jim.) While I was away he finally got fed up with Blogspot, and a friend settled him onto Moveable Type. This is one of the sites he’s posted:
create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide
GO Visit
Hi, All!
I know…I’ve been away for a while. I’ve been busy with office work and family needs. I know you all have too, so I won’t go through the entire song and dance again. I’m happy to say that some of you have kept in touch by e-mail, and I thank you for that.
Billy found a new blog for me to read, bless his heart, and I’d like to pass it on to those of you who have not yet visited. Go visit Legomen Is. He’s an English guy with an interesting view on life and a great sense of humor. I became addicted when I was introduced to his cat….Ruprecht the Unstrokeable.
And I have a newcomer I hope you will encourage. You’ll find that he accuses me of browbeating him (when he was down with a cold, no less) into taking on a blog. As if you can browbeat a Scot to do anything he doesn’t want to do. Go visit Tongue Oil, and meet my friend, Midnight. Right now he’s doing what we have all been told to do, writing about what we know. He knows woodworking, so that’s what he’s been writing about. But I want you to know, he has a LOT more in him to write about….and you’d be wise to add him to your blog roll. PLEASE encourage him to keep posting.
I get to go to dinner tonight! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ll tell you just how wonderful it was sometime later this weekend. Stay warm and safe!
2.3 Million
Yes, that’s right. It will cost advertisers 2.3 MILLION DOLLARS for a thirty second ad on the Super Bowl this weekend.
Doesn’t that figure astound you? The Super Bowl is considered to be the most watched time period on TV, based on statistics from previous years. The volume of viewers in the past is the basis for determining the cost for ads for the current year. I wonder if the teams playing this year will generate as much interest as previous competitions? Or, is it possible that people now tune in just for the ads?
There’s a limit to the number of slots available, and it’s the big hitters who already have well known names who vie for those slots. They know they need to keep their names in the spotlight, to keep generating sales. They want you to remember frogs in a lily pond, or Jordan and Bird drawing up the guidelines for impossible basketball shots. You can see that those images stay with us for years.
But….how many others can you remember? And were are all those dot.com companies who spent that kind of money two years ago??
Wouldn’t it be lovely if they chose to donate their $2.3 million to Habitat for Humanity, or a food pantry, or Head Start? It’s too bad that we don’t give them as much acknowledgement for generosity of that kind as we do for goofy ads.
I can tell you that I’d be more likely to support a company that did good deeds than was just all talk. What about you?
Tostada Casserole
This is for Bogie, in return for her wonderful recipe for Taco Lasagna. I’ve used this as a main meal and as a side dish for a large gathering. Bogie, I have no idea where this recipe comes from, but my family has enjoyed it for some time. I hope you and WS will too.
Tostada Casserole
6 to 8 servings
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 envelope (1 1/4 ounces) taco seasoning mix
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (16 ounces) refried beans
1 can (4 ounces) whole green chilies, drained, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup sliced pitted ripe olives
1 cup baking mix
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup dairy sour cream
1 egg
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (8 ounces)
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a rectangular baking dish 12 x 7 1/2 x 2 inches. Cook and stir the ground beef and onion in a 10 inch skillet until the beef is brown; drain. Stir in seasoning mix, tomato sauce, beans, chilies and olives. Mix the baking mix (I use Bisquick), cornmeal, beaten egg and oil until moistened. Beat the mixture vigorously for 30 seconds. Spread the cornmeal mixture in the greased dish. spoon the beef mixture over the dough. Mix the remaining ingredients and spoon over the beef mixture.. Bake uncovered 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.
I never include the olives when I make this, and I purchase the chilies already seeded and chopped. This really fills the pan, so there isn’t much room to add more cheese.
Cat Test
One of my friends sent this address to me yesterday. Go visit and take the test!
I scored 14 of 16 right, but you all know I’m a cat person.
http://custurd.b3ta.com/hecatorshecat/#
WGN Errs
I have been a loyal WGN Radio listener for low these many decades. I listened to the House that Wally Built as a child, and I remember listening to Roy Leonard talk about his six boys. Bob Collins……..Well, Bob had to be my favorite radio personality of all time. The day he died we lost an incredible man.
I’ve been there as WGN found new people and tightened their ship. I’ve gradually adjusted to the new format, with the exception of the inappropriate verb use during the news, but……now they’ve gone too far!
It’s a GIRL!!!
Okay, I suppose that it’s not quite as exciting for you as it is for us, but DH’s daughter is going to have a girl! I get to make a pink quilt with “Winnie the Pooh” characters.
Only Daughter will be having her baby in late May. She had the last ultrasound recently and they determined the baby is a girl. We got to see the video of the ultrasound! Isn’t it amazing what technology brings us now? We saw the baby’s fist, and feet. We saw her “yawn.” So kewl!
Diabetic diets
It seems that my household is going to be embracing the diabetic diet. I’m starting to do some research on the guidelines, but I have a favor to ask. If you have a good low-fat way to prepare vegetables, would you please share it with me? I’d like to be able to offer variety in our diet and not go overboard on the fat.
Thanks for your help!
More Chocolates
I’m sure I told you all about the chocolates I was given for Christmas. I’m still working my way through them, but I have another sourcce of great chocolate to share with you.
We were shopping at Trader Joe’s at the end of the year and were lined up to check out. My husband knows that I am addicted to all things raspberry. (Raspberry chocolates, raspberry filled cookies, raspberry sauce for cheesecake, raspberry jam, raspberry body paint….) Anyway, he saw a box of dark chocolate and raspberry. He asked if I wanted them, and I shrugged my agreement, thinking of the box of chocolates waiting for me at home.
Well…these are winners, and I don’t mind sharing these. They are “Les Sarments” dark chocolate with raspberry flavour. They are made by Revillon Chocolatiers in France. They are twig shaped.. I don’t drink coffee, but they would be excellent with a cup of coffee after dinner.
Those French sure know their chocolates!
X-Men
I am an “X-Men” convert! When I first heard about “X-men,” I dismissed it as a kid’s cartoon movie. Then, I discovered that Hugh Jackman plays “Wolverine” in the movies. I first saw Jackman in “Kate and Leopold,” and then happened to see him in the role of Curly in an all English cast of “Oklahoma.”
I was working on quilts, and had the DVD player running. My son, on his way out to a convention, dropped off his copies of the two “X-Men” movies, and I watched the first on Saturday morning. I was astounded at what I had missed! They are GREAT movies, and I didn’t need the protective coloration of an eight-year-old to go to the theater to see them. If a third one comes out, I’ll take the kids if they need a ride, but I’ll be happy to go without them.
I replayed the first movie for DH on Saturday night. (It was a cheap date, what can I say??) Sunday morning I watched the second film. I can see we’ll have to have another hot date, so that DH can see the sequel.
Patrick Stewart (Picard in “Star Trek: Next Generation”) is one of the good guys, and Ian McKellan (Gandolph, in “The Lord of the Rings”) is Magneto, one of the bad guys. Halle Berry is “Storm,” one of the good guys. Jackman is superb as Wolverine, and Anna Paquin, who won an Oscar for her performance in “The Piano” as a child, is wonderful as “Rogue.”
The storyline is plausible, and absorbing. Enough is held back in the first movie that you are eager to see the second, to learn more. I hope there will be at least one more movie to come.