Last of 2013 ~ Football ~ Burger Cooked in Waffle Iron

Good 29º New Year's Eve not very foggy morning.

 

 

 

This past year is just about gone. Good for some and bad for others. For those who lost loved ones it was difficult. Brian and Jen lost Atlas, I lost my Maggie and Harley, and my friend Jan Vargo died way too young. Some people had wishes come true, fabulous trips, new grand babies, and happy times. There were tragedies all across this country. We can't dwell on the sad times, we can relish the good times, we can cherish our family and friends and remember worse things are happening to others.Too many of our military lost their lives giving us freedom. Too many law enforcement died in the line of duty protecting us. I salute those men and women and pray their families find peace. God please give us a better year in 2014.  

 

Major brain farts yesterday. I forgot to post the Sunday football scores. So, here they are a day late, with the standings and then the next games this coming weekend...

 

 

 

 

 

Historically this date...

1879 – Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

1960 – The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.

1967 – The Youth International Party, popularly known as the "Yippies", is founded.

.... yeah, well that lasted a long time!

1999 – First President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, resigns from office, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President and successor.

2004 – The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 ft).

And births this date include....

1920 – Rex Allen, American actor, singer, and songwriter (d. 1999)
1937 – Sir Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor

1943 – John Denver, American singer and songwriter (d. 1997)

   ... Loved loved loved his singing!

1943 – Sir Ben Kingsley, English actor

1947 – Tim Matheson, American actor

1959 – Val Kilmer, American actor

1974 – Tony Kanaan, Brazilian racing driver

PICTURE of the day...

Last night's dinner was different and GOOD. I picked up a package of ground lamb the other day at the market. Hadn't had lamb in a while. Jerry always claimed, since he was a Texan, he didn't like lamb...or even the smell of it cooking. So, one day I made hamburger patties out of some and barbecued it. Never said what it was. He ate and liked it. The secret is still with me!! Anyway...........

I mixed up some panko and shredded Parmesan into the ground meat. Made a patty and cooked it on the waffle iron.

Sauce was honey mustard and mayonnaise, topped with sauteéd broccoli slaw.

TV last night was 'the year in review'. Boring. I had a fire in the wood stove, got snuggy in my chair under my blanket and Bruiser jumped up and we both napped!

 

Tonight I will watch the ball drop from NY on my east coast feed at 9pm and then depending.... probably nap in my chair! Excitement abounds! Lots of nut cases up here like to shoot off guns at midnight, so I know I'll be awake then wondering which direction the bullets are going! GAWD I hate that. It's not just a round or two or 6.. they shoot off 20, 30, 40, or 50!!! Nothing like scaring all the critters and people! I know Cliff likes to shoot off firecrackers... another thing that scares the local dogs and cats, but at least it doesn't cause any harm or deaths.

Ah well.. .Happy New Year. Let's hope for the best.

Nuff said. Happy Tuesday. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

December 31st.

National Champagne Day
Today is the day for bubbly. The fizzy flavorful sparkling wine is many people's first taste (literally!) of the New Year, with ceremonial toasts often following that New Year's kiss. Only sparkling wine imported from the Champagne region of France can properly be called champagne. Imitators are referred to as, well, 'sparkling wine!'

Picabo Street ~ Bruiser ~ Dude ~ No Bake Fruitcake ~ Scottish Eggs with Veggies ~ Kennedy Center Honors ~ Soapbox

Good 29º cold toilet seat foggy morning. UGH... so tired of this. Want sun. Got a little yesterday. Warmed to 43º. Hopefully will get some rain like predicted and get rid of the fog. Medford Airport socked in and flights canceled and delayed still...

About 12:30 yesterday....

 

I got this from Cyndi Moreno (wife of the infamous Pete)...

Do you remember the famous Olympic skier Picabo Street (pronounced Pee-Ka-Boo) Well, Picabo is not just an athlete. She is now a nurse currently working at an Intensive Care Unit of a large metropolitan hospital. She is not permitted to answer the hospital telephones any longer. It caused too much confusion when she would answer the phone and say, Picabo, I.C.U. 

A good clean joke is hard to find these days - pass it on! Admit it ... You're smiling) 

Some days it's just not easy to get things done at my desk...when a sleepy cat takes over!

Then if that isn't enough, he finds strange places to hang out and watch what is going on....

Historically this date...

1903 – A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills at least 605.

...obviously a time when there were no plans for escape!

 

1965 – Ferdinand Marcos becomes President of the Philippines.

 

1981 – In the 39th game of his 3rd NHL season Wayne Gretzky scores 5 goals giving him 50 on the year setting a new NHL record previously held by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy who earlier had each scored 50 goals in 50 games.

2006 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is executed.

And births this date include.... If you want to read about each and/or see a photo of them, click on the underlined name....

(Interesting that two band members shared the same birthday and two TV hosts on the same show share the same birthday!)

1920 – Jack Lord, American actor (d. 1998)

1934 – Joseph Bologna, American actor

1934 – Del Shannon, American singer (d. 1990)

1934 – Russ Tamblyn, American actor, dancer, and singer

1935 – Sandy Koufax, American baseball player

1942 – Michael Nesmith, American singer, songwriter, actor, and musician (The Monkees)

1945 – Davy Jones, English singer, songwriter and actor (The Monkees)(d. 2012)

1953 – Meredith Vieira, American television journalist and game show host

1957 – Matt Lauer, American newscaster

1975 – Tiger Woods, American golfer

 

Yesterday I had to take the trash out to the road, pick up is this morning. Dude hadn't had good run in a while so he was a happy camper.... This was around 2pm..... a tad more sun... still fog hanging on the mountain side.

 

 

Earlier I had made "no bake fruit cake" a recipe the infamous Trish Bowler...(wife of Lt. John LASD ret) had given me. Strange recipe. I made half of the original ... 1½ boxes of vanilla wafers, crushed. 1# of  pecans (calls for walnuts), 1# yellow raisins, 1# candied cherries, 1# candied pineapple, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, and 3/4 cup whiskey.

 

I used my largest bowl  to mix it all in.... using my hands. Trish said the original recipe for double this amount she had to mix in a trash bag in the sink! Interesting about the whiskey...found an unopened bottle in the cupboard with a tag that said, "Merry Christmas to Jerry from Sid and Charline"... that had to be from 1997 or 1998. She passed away in 1999 and he a short time later. Jerry loved 'Jack in the Black' but when I decided I liked tequila he crossed over and became a tequila nut also.

Refrigerated the cake after packing it into the loaf pans...

A knife run around the edges and a little encouragement it came out of the pan and I sliced it. Really good. Very tasty. (Yes Big Dave, you will get some!)

Dinner last night was a couple Scottish Eggs heated in infused olive oil and some stir-fried veggies (broccoli slaw, mushrooms, celery, carrots, and tomatoes...

Last night I recorded (Tivo'd) the Kennedy Center Honors..... that way I can scan through the commercials and the boring parts. Enjoyed Billy Joel, Shirley McLaine, Herbie Hancock, and Carlos Santana. Didn't know who Martina Arroyo (opera singer) was. Loved the dancing and singing and music. Then there was this idiot who was elected President sitting there with his smug arrogant smirk and  CHEWING GUM with his mouth partly open! OMG! Presidential? Class? NOT! What a piece of work... It's the "it's all about me" thing. GAWD, 3 more years of this asshole!

Ok Ok Ok.... off 

 

All I know. Nuff said. Happy Monday. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

National Bicarbonate of Soda Day, or Baking Soda Day, celebrates the many benefits and uses of Bicarbonate of Soda. Just how does Baking Soda work and what, specifically, does it do? Few people seem to know. It's quite simple. We will skip the chemistry lesson and how Baking Soda is made. Let's just talk to what it is, and what it does. Bicarbonate of soda is a chemical compound - sodium carbonate or sodium bi-carbonate. When heated, it creates carbon dioxide, a gas. The gas aids a variety of bakery products to rise as they cook. Many people just think of Bicarbonate of Soda as something you use for baking. But, it has so many more uses. Here are just a few of them:

• Baking- helps baked goods, like bread, to rise
• Relieve stomach indigestion and heartburn when mixed in water
• Removing odors in the refrigerator, vents, storage areas, and closets
• Removing odor in kitty litter
• It is used in fire extinguishers for grease and oil fires
• It is often used as a cleaning agent
• It can be used as a meat tenderizer
• Put it in water with beans to minimize flatulance from eating beans
• Polish Silverware
• Remove burned food from a pot or a pan

Fog Turkeys Deer ~ Photo Safari ~ Scottish Eggs

Good 29º somewhat foggy morning. Warmed to a frigid 34º yesterday and the fog never lifted. Gloomy all day. Not a drop of sunlight. ICK!

I saw the turkeys out in the pasture, keeping close together... about 50 of them...

and in the upper pasture were the deer....

Well, first thing this morning I have donated $100.... $50 to the USO and $50 to DAV via email. I like donating to those groups. I also donate to the UCLA brain cancer research because of Brian's friend Kio. He is in remission and doing great! I donate $ and take dog/cat food and treats to the local Rogue Valley Humane Society. I also play "free kibble" .... go to http://www.freekibble.com/ and scroll to the bottom of the page. Sign up for daily reminders. Play the game and they will donate kibble to shelter animals. Also, check out the photos folks have sent in of their dogs and cats...  The Bruise will be on there soon...

http://www.pinterest.com/freekibble/what-makes-you-happy-dog-edition/

 

Debbie put this on her FB page. I agree, but it did say "My President"... I did a change, since he's not "MY" President!

 

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And BTW.....

"ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) - Wade Phillips would like to put an asterisk on Peyton Manning's touchdown record.
The Houston Texans' interim coach said Friday the league agreed with him that Manning's record-tying 50th TD toss Sunday shouldn't have counted because Eric Decker bobbled the ball."
So.... see, he's hasn't passed up Tom Brady! LOL.
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I was reading in our local paper about a couple who live in Rogue River and recently traveled to Uganda and So. Africa. She has a blog with amazing photos...  http://www.ordinarylife-mk.blogspot.com/
Here's a couple of my favorits from her blog...

I saw a recipe the other day called "Donna's Nest Eggs"... well, it was for Scotch Eggs. These are a treat, usually deep-fried and served in Scottish & British Pubs..... With Scottish blood in my veins (maternal grandparents both born in Scotland) and Jerry's grandmother Scottish, we loved them. We used to get them at the Loch Ness Monster Pub in Pasadena, just off Fair Oaks and Colorado. The Wikipedia says: " Scotch eggs are usually a picnic food and home-made. In the UK, packaged, plastic-wrapped Scotch eggs are commonly available in supermarkets, corner shops and motorway service stations.
Miniature versions of Scotch eggs are also widely available in British supermarkets, and are sold under the name "savoury eggs", "picnic eggs", "party eggs", "snack eggs", "egg bites" or similar. These contain chopped egg or a quail's egg, rather than a whole chicken egg, and sometimes contain mayonnaise or chopped bacon.
In the United States, many "British-style" pubs and eateries serve fresh-made Scotch eggs. These are usually served hot, with dipping sauces such as ranch dressing, hot sauce, or hot mustard sauce. At the Minnesota State Fair, true to fair tradition, Scotch eggs are served on a stick. Scotch eggs are available at most Renaissance Festivals from Maryland to Texas.

 

I decided to make some...
First... hard boil or bake half a dozen eggs. Cool. Mix 1 pound ground beef, turkey, chicken, or sausage (whichever you prefer) with spices. I used garlic powder, sea salt, pepper, and cloves. Divide evenly, flatten, and roll the peeled egg in the meat. You can dip these into beaten egg and bread crumbs, but I put mayonnaise on each and rolled in Panko. Bake at 400º for 30 minutes.

Baking them like this is less fat and more healthy. Really good. Use any type of sauce for dipping.... siracha and mayo, hot/sweet chili, soy sauce, Worcestershire, etc.... 

Yesterday I snacked too much and didn't want much for dinner... so had popcorn with butter and cheese. Tonight I will fix the Scotch eggs with something good for me!

It’s almost time to ring in the New Year! Make 2014 a little quieter and rust free with the help of WD-40® Multi-Use Product. Use it to:

• Quiet squeaks on strollers and office chairs 
• Lubricate wheels on vacuums
• Remove rust from curtain rods

 

Historically this date....

1778 – American Revolutionary War: 3,000 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia.

1813 – British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York during the War of 1812.

1845 – In accordance with International Boundary delimitation, United States annexes the Mexican state of Texas, following the Manifest Destiny doctrine. The Republic of Texas, which had been independent since the Texas Revolution of 1836, is thereupon admitted as the 28th U.S. state.

1940 – World War II: In The Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe fire-bombs London, killing almost 200 civilians.

2003 – The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.

And births this date include.... (if you want to see photos of these people, click on their name)

1800 – Charles Goodyear, American inventor (d. 1860)

 

1808 – Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (d. 1875) ... Mr. Happy Pants!

1917 – Tom Bradley, American politician (d. 1998)

... 20 years as Mayor of Los Angeles

1921 – Robert C. Baker, Inventor of the chicken nugget (d. 2006)

 

1932 – Inga Swenson, American actress

 

1936 – Mary Tyler Moore, American actress

.....Whaaa? Can't understand why some people ruin a good thing!

 

1938 – Jon Voight, American actor

 

1947 – Ted Danson, American actor

 

1953 – Stanley Tookie Williams, American murderer (d. 2005)

.... leader of the Crips gang in So. Central LA. EXECUTED!

1959 – Paula Poundstone, American comedian

1972 – Jude Law, British actor

All I know. Two more days after today left of 2013... which in some cases has been a lousy year. Come on 2014! Make it a better year for everyone! Nuff said. Happy Sunday. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

December 29th

Pepper Pot Day

Pepper Pot Day commemorates the creation of this thick spicy soup, which was served to the Continental Army during the cold, harsh winter of 1777-1778.  Pepper Pot soup was first made on December 29, 1777. According to the legend........... During the Revolutionary war, the Continental army was camped at Valley Forge.  The winter was cold and harsh. Conditions were deplorable. Food was often scarce. George Washington asked his army's chef to prepare a meal for the army, that would both warm them, and boost their moral. The chef found scraps of tripe, small bits of meat and some peppercorn. He mixed this in with some other ingredients, and created Pepper Pot soup, also known as "Philadelphia Pepper Pot soup”. The hot, and somewhat spicy soup, was well received by the troops. It was  called "the soup that won the war”. Celebrate Pepper Pot Day by making some Pepper Pot soup for the family. Note: while tripe was a main ingredient of this soup, you can substitute with chicken or beef.
http://www.mrfood.com/Soup-Recipes/Pepper-Pot-Soup-from-Mr-Food