With college starting for just about everyone in our group next week, a friend treated my son and three of her six to the movies today. They saw TinTin and said it was a very good movie and worth going to see. They were the only three in the theater for most of the movie so enjoyed not having to worry about too much laughter or talking about the movie. It gave me a couple of hours to browse at the fabric store and purchase a couple of needed but boring items required for my projects.
I treated everyone to a late lunch out after the movie. Even with the lure of ice cream sundaes, they were too full to take me up on the offer. There is a great ice cream parlor in the area and their ice cream desserts are way too big and elaborate to consume after a normal lunch. We are thinking of going before the end of the week and make that our 'main' meal of the day! Hey, they put nuts on the topping. Nuts are healthy, right? And whipped cream is a dairy product. Oh, and don't forget that chocolate has antioxidents in it!
I'm going with a quick chicken and pasta meal since I've been out of the house most of the day. Pasta with a cheesy broth and chunks of grilled chicken sounds pretty good. I'm glad I bothered to learn to cook in my early years because it save a lot of wear and tear on hungry tempers and the budget these days!
Cooler weather and overcast a good part of the day so we still hold hope that we have some winter before spring takes over.
Gave up following the primaries this week. It is sort of like football to me . . . You wait until they clear the pile of players, figure out the score, and go to the polls.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Humorous but, sadly, all too true . . .
THE NEW ANT and the Grasshopper, Two Versions:
The ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER
This one is a little different....
Two Different Versions ...
Two Different Morals
OLD VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE OLD STORY:
Be responsible for yourself!
MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house
and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving..
CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper
next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast.
How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not EasyBeing Green...'
Occupy the Anthill stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the SEIU group singing, We shall overcome.
Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray for the grasshopper's sake, while he damns the ants.
President Obama condems the ant and blames President Bush 43, President Bush 41, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight..
Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.
The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government GreenCzar and given to the grasshopper.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and peaceful, neighborhood.
The entire Nation collapses bringing the rest of the free world with it.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
Be careful how you vote in 2012.
The ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER
This one is a little different....
Two Different Versions ...
Two Different Morals
OLD VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE OLD STORY:
Be responsible for yourself!
MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house
and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving..
CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper
next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast.
How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not EasyBeing Green...'
Occupy the Anthill stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the SEIU group singing, We shall overcome.
Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray for the grasshopper's sake, while he damns the ants.
President Obama condems the ant and blames President Bush 43, President Bush 41, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight..
Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.
The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government GreenCzar and given to the grasshopper.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and peaceful, neighborhood.
The entire Nation collapses bringing the rest of the free world with it.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
Be careful how you vote in 2012.
Juicy Chicken!
As most of you discover, chicken is usually the least expensive meat on the market. When I have a busy day, I usually end up putting the chicke in the oven with wedges of potato and go about my other chores. This is a handy way to cope with dinner on a crazy day but the chicken doesn't always come out juicy and tender. I'm not saying it is bad but I don't like to settle for just okay.
Yesterday, I put the chicken pieces in a sturdy plastic bag and poured in the juice of two lemons and 1/4 cup soy sauce. I sealed it shut and put it in the refrigerator. During the day, I would flip over the bag to insure the marinade was reaching all the chicken.
For dinner preparations, I drained the chicken and patted off the excess marinade. I tossed each piece in seasoned flour and placed on a parchment paper lined baking pan. I also scrubbed and quartered some potatoes for the baking pan only I rubbed them with a bit of olive oil and then into the same seasoned flour. The fat from the chicken would crisp the flour coating whereas the potatoes didn't have that advantage. I baked it all at 350 degrees for about an hour but this depends on the size of your chicken pieces.
I was amazed at how tender and juicy the chicken turned out. My children actually ate it down to the bone and the visiting kittens didn't mind the scraps. What greater praise, right? :-)
Yesterday, I put the chicken pieces in a sturdy plastic bag and poured in the juice of two lemons and 1/4 cup soy sauce. I sealed it shut and put it in the refrigerator. During the day, I would flip over the bag to insure the marinade was reaching all the chicken.
For dinner preparations, I drained the chicken and patted off the excess marinade. I tossed each piece in seasoned flour and placed on a parchment paper lined baking pan. I also scrubbed and quartered some potatoes for the baking pan only I rubbed them with a bit of olive oil and then into the same seasoned flour. The fat from the chicken would crisp the flour coating whereas the potatoes didn't have that advantage. I baked it all at 350 degrees for about an hour but this depends on the size of your chicken pieces.
I was amazed at how tender and juicy the chicken turned out. My children actually ate it down to the bone and the visiting kittens didn't mind the scraps. What greater praise, right? :-)
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