Thu 1 May 2008
Posted in Cats, Good Food, Good for a laugh, Nicky, This, that and the other, Thursday Thirteen
at 0:05
(1) F-bombs away: If and when you get stuck in some company’s voice mail jail, using profanity may not only be good for blowing off steam, it may also actually get a human on the line. Just the same, Miss Manners begs of you, please don’t.
(2) In New York City, someone has been taking discarded plastic bags and turning them into street art. A creation is tied to the ventilation grate above a subway line, and when a train passes, the air inflates the bag-creation and brings it to life in the shape of an animal.
(3) For the past month, we’ve sponsored Black Jordan at Best Friends, but yesterday, they emailed me the good news that Black Jordan has been adopted. As a result, we are now sponsoring a special little cat who goes by the name of Scooter:
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Scooter |
(4) How to write a song, and other mysteries: “We … proceed to vent and hash out our thoughts and feelings, our anger and frustrations, our longings and hopes and try to gently coax them into the shape of a song. And that song must have the three H’s in it…”
(5) Desktop video processing programs have allowed people around the world to release their inner Coppola. While the manual can help a person learn the technical side of putting together a little video for YouTube, the only filmmaking training most of these amateurs have had consists of what they remember from watching something else. That includes me — I try something I saw or heard somewhere, and if it feels like it works, it stays in.
When choosing music for the soundtrack, I know it’d be easy to rip something from a CD, but to stay on the safe side, I look for royalty-free music first. The music on this video, which shows our own little Nicky and his sisters, was composed and recorded by Kevin MacLeod, and posted at his website, Incompetech.com.
A newer site called SoundSnap seems promising for soundtracks as well.
(6) People who remember the Nixon administration will probably nod their heads at this phrase: “Mike Wallace interviewing Henry Kissinger.” Then comes the curveball: Mike Wallace interviewing Henry Kissinger during the Eisenhower Administration — in July 1958.
(7) I try not to be a fanatic about anachronisms and other movie continuity errors, but I notice things that stick out. A person could spend a lot of time learning what others have noticed and subsequently posted at Nitpickers and Continuity Corner.
(8) Here’s a light, green, and meatless recipe for spring rolls, courtesy of Diva Kitty’s Mom. I wonder whether she’s ever tried to crochet a cat hat for Diva Kitty Sophia?
(9) Rumble strips on the edge of the Pennsylvania Turnpike or other U.S. highways are called SNAPs, short for Sonic Nap Alert Pattern.
(10) In professional wrestling terminology, a good guy is a “Face”, short for babyface, and the term for a bad guy is the charmingly old-fashioned “Heel”.
(11) The federal Do Not Call Registry is proof that government can do good things for its citizens. Sign up, and telemarketers can’t call you without breaking the law. When the list began, there was a requirement to re-sign up every 5 years, but you don’t even have to do that anymore. It’s once and done for your home landline, and it’s also illegal to make junk calls to cell phones using automatic dialers.
(12) Kelly’s tummy problems have been much improved since we started feeding him only Stinky Goodness. We gave him a little dry food a couple of times since, but he had the same trouble keeping it down as before. One blogger must be nodding knowingly, because she has already learned six reasons not to feed dry cat food, one of which is euphemistically listed as “gastro-intestinal disorders.”
(13) And finally, speaking of food, a pavilion that was sponsored by the gas industry at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair was called “Festival of Gas.”
Now, I’m not the first nor likely to be the last to learn that there was a restaurant in that pavilion. Yes, you could eat at a place by the name of “Festival of Gas.”
Despite the name, the Festival was considered a good place to eat. No information on whether beans were on the menu…
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Sun 27 Apr 2008
Posted in Good Food, Good Ideas, Green and Growing, Sandy's View
at 15:16
My sister Sandy in Michigan emailed a rebuttal to yesterday’s post:
I love many of the plants that are thought to be weeds. I learned long ago that weeds are simply plants that are growing where you don’t want them to grow.
Dandelions and plantain may be weeds to gardeners, but I remember reading that they were brought over by the American settlers for their many medical and food uses.
The leaves can be eaten cooked or raw, such as in salads or cooked up like kale or mustard greens as greens or used in soup. You can eat the young leaves raw in salads, but the older leaves should be cooked because they have a bitter taste.
Dandelion flowers can be used to make dandelion wine and jelly. Roasted and ground, the dandelion root is a coffee substitute (the same as chicory root) and is good for “spring tonics. The flowers can also be used to make dyes for fabrics.
The milky fluid that you see when you break the stems can be used as a mosquito repellent or can be applied to warts to get rid of them.
On top of all that, cats like them and they’re pretty!
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Thu 24 Apr 2008
Posted in Good Food
at 0:05
The recipe on AllRecipes.com is called “Clone of a Cinnabon”, and when Pat found it, she asked if I’d be interested in making it. (Pat does nearly all the cooking at our house, but I try to help her out by baking treats from time to time.)
At AllRecipes, it reads “Save yourself a lot of money by making your own homemade cinnamon rolls! The dough is made in the bread machine and everything else is done by hand. … Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.”
“After the dough has doubled in size turn it out… and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.”
“Roll dough into a 16×21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture.”
“Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled…” Here’s one of the two pans of rolls. It was Pat’s idea to use parchment paper instead of greasing the baking pan.
“Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and salt…”
“…Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.” And, it goes (nearly) without saying, Enjoy.
The recipe carried a 5-star rating at AllRecipes, and both of us agreed. Breakfast has been pretty special this week, and with only enough rolls left for today and tomorrow, I’m planning to make another batch over the weekend.
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By the way, WordPress says this is post #1000 since the Good Cats laid claim to this quiet corner of cyberspace in late 2005. Well, if nothing else, you have to admire my persistence and my nerve… [grin]
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Sat 12 Apr 2008
Posted in Good Food, This, that and the other
at 21:05
Clipping from an article about The Masters golf tournament in the Saturday, April 12 edition of the French newspaper Le Monde.
I laughed, but upon further review and Googling, that place near Augusta, Georgia, actually may have called it peach clobber.
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With all that in mind, this is Georgia native Paula Deen’s recipe for peach cobbler:
4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups milk
Ground cinnamon, optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.
Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.
To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with your choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
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Wed 2 Apr 2008
Posted in Good Food
at 0:05
Sunday afternoon, Pat made white bean and tomato soup with ham, grating some Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top. The bread came from our bread machine that same day. It was all delicious.
White Bean and Tomato Soup With Ham
Serves 6
2 slices bacon
1 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10 oz) bag baby spinach, cut into thin slices
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1 (14-1/2 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (28 oz) can or 2 (14 or 15 oz) cans white beans, drained
3/4 cup chopped cooked ham
5 fresh fresh sage leaves, minced
5 sprigs fresh thyme, minced
5 sprigs fresh parsley, minced
Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until just crisp, turning several times, about 4 minutes. Remove bacon; crumble. Set aside.
Add onion and celery to skillet; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic; cook 1 minute. Stir in spinach; cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Season with red pepper flakes, allspice, salt and black pepper.
Add chicken broth, tomatoes, beans, ham, sage, thyme and parsley. Cook until flavors blend, about 20 minutes.
Calories 206; Protein 17g; Fat 6g; Chol 11mg; Sodium 1,467mg; Carbs 31g; Fiber 10g
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Wed 5 Mar 2008
Posted in Good Food, The Good things in life
at 0:05
Saturday morning, I baked some Peanut Butter Swirled Brownies. This photo was taken shortly after they came out of the oven, and there are not nearly that many brownies left already… 
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Wed 13 Feb 2008
Posted in Good Food, The Good things in life
at 0:05
What’s for supper? Every day, that question needs to be answered, and Pat does better than most at coming up with a good answer every day.
This past weekend, she was wandering the aisles at a supermarket with a vague idea of making something from the chicken tenderloins that were on sale.
Then she saw a beef soup bone marked down and it gave her an idea. She went down a mental checklist:
- Do I have all the ingredients for soup? Probably. Carrots, got ‘em; celery, got it… can use some of those tomatoes from the garden this year, they’re in the freezer downstairs.
- I might not have beef broth but I can substitute Better Than Bouillon.
- It’s a little late in the afternoon to start, but using a pressure cooker on the soup bone will speed it up.
Once she got home, she started making soup at 3:30, and it was ready and on the table by 5:30.
And let me tell you, on a cold day, a warm homemade soup was delicious…
Old-fashioned Vegetable Soup
1 beef soup bone with meat
1 - 2 Tbs. fat
4 cups water
1 med. onion, chopped
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup cut-up celery & leaves (2 stalks)
1 can tomatoes (2 cups)
3 sprigs parsley, finely cut
1 Tbs. salt
1/2 bay leaf, crumbled
3 peppercorns (Pat uses more like a dozen)
1/4 tsp. marjoram
1/4 tsp. thyme
Cut meat off bone into small chunks. Brown in hot fat in large kettle.
Add water and bone and simmer covered 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. Remove bone and skim fat from top of soup.
Add vegetables, salt, bay leaf and peppercorns tied in cheesecloth bag (bouquet garni), marjoram, and thyme; cook an additional 20 - 30 minutes, till vegetables are tender.
Remove bouquet garni before serving.
Makes 6-8 servings.
(Recipe from Betty Crocker’s New Picture Cook Book (1961), page 405.)
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