Weekend Joke

Three cooks, one from Kentucky, one from California and one from Oregon were sitting on a park bench passing the time. Suddenly, the cook from Kentucky reaches under the bench and drags out a new bottle of bourbon, takes a big swig, tosses the bottle into the air and shoots it with a pistol.

"What did you do that for?" asks the cook from California.

"We got lots of bourbon in Kentucky" was the reply.

Next the cook from California takes out a bottle of fine wine, takes a huge swig, throws the bottle into the air and shoots it with a pistol.

"What did you do that for?" asks the cook from Oregon.

"We got lots of wine in California" was the reply.

The cook from Oregon takes out a bottle of Henry's Private Reserve beer, takes a humongous swig and shoots the cook from California.

"What did you do that for?" asks the cook from Kentucky.

"We got lots of Californians in Oregon" was the reply.

Fine Art Friday - a day late

A Peeled Clementine by Duane Keiser

Pumpkin Bread Pudding?

Bread pudding made with challah bread, pumpkin, spices, half and half ... and then topped with a caramel sauce?

Oh, I am there, especially when I consider that I was trying to figure out what to make for Monday's book club. Could be time to get pumpkin-ish! And The Anchoress has it spelled out for us.

Thoughts for Food

From my quote journal.

A lot of people have never really had the chance to taste a decent apple pie, but after a minute's sensual reflection will know positively what they would expect if they did. They can taste it on their mind's tongue...

M.F.K. Fisher

Weekend Joke

A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband.

Suddenly her husband burst into the kitchen. "Careful ... CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my GOSH! You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my GOSH! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK! Careful ... CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!"

The wife stared at him. "What the hell is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?"

The husband calmly replied, "I wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving with you in the car."

I am increasingly approving of The Nutrition Diva

She is part of the Quick & Dirty Tips podcasting family. I enjoy several of those podcasts as a matter of fact.

What makes me point out The Nutrition Diva? She uses common sense. And science.

I like that.

For instance, I had fallen prey to high fructose hysteria (to my shame, as I now realize) and she helped shake me into common sense (emphasis added):

... As is so often the case, a little chemistry helps makes things a lot clearer. Table sugar, or sucrose, is actually made up of two types of sugar molecules; it’s about equal parts glucose and fructose.

Regular corn syrup, the kind that you can buy on the grocery store, has a different profile. It’s much lower in fructose than table sugar. You heard me correctly: Corn syrup is naturally quite low in fructose. And that makes it a poor substitute for table sugar. Things made with regular corn syrup don’t taste the same as things made with table sugar.

The breakthrough for food manufacturers came when they figured out how to produce a corn syrup that was higher in fructose. High-fructose corn syrup actually has about the same amount of fructose as regular table sugar—making it a viable alternative for food processing. Because corn syrup is so much cheaper than cane sugar, manufacturers quickly adopted it and high-fructose corn syrup has largely replaced cane sugar in manufactured foods.

But here’s what gets lost in the high-fructose hysteria: Foods and drinks made with high-fructose corn syrup are, in general, no higher in fructose than foods made with regular sugar. But they are cheaper. ...

Or this bit of information about how much water to drink? Now, this one I knew. But it was refreshing to hear a little known bit of information being brought to light through a venue that is fairly popular (or so I'd bet):

... I bet you’ve heard it said that you need to drink at least eight glasses of water a day in order to stay properly hydrated. Perhaps you’ve also read that by the time you feel thirsty you’re already in an advanced state of dehydration, or that most of us are chronically dehydrated. Chances are also good that you’ve been told that drinking caffeinated beverages like tea and coffee cause you to lose more fluid than you take in.

What would you say if I told you that all of these widely held truths are little more than urban legends?

I can almost hear your shocked expressions! The dehydration myth has become so firmly entrenched in our collective consciousness that it may indeed come as a surprise to learn that there is very little scientific support for any of these notions. ...

Yep.

You don't have to listen to the podcast if you'd rather read. Full transcripts are available for each show.

Now Serving Hot Links

My Family's Noodle Kugel
From Smitten Kitchen. I've never been attracted to noodle puddings but this looks darned good. Also, Smitten Kitchen is where I found that fantastic Iced Coffee recipe as well as this Majestic and Moist Honey Cake recipe which wowed a group of people at our house earlier this week. (Rita, that's the recipe you asked for...) So, yes, I trust her.

Butter, Part 1
Finishing up the amazingly complete five part series about olive oil, Just Food Now turns their attention to butter. Great writing, interesting photos, and recipes. Dive in!

A Home Cooked Japanese Lunch
What do the Japanese really eat at home? Go along with World Foodie Guide and find out.

In Search of West Texas Asado
No, not carne asada. That's what Homesick Texan thought too but found out differently. I have to say those photos and that recipe look darned good. That may be some football kinda food for our near future...

The Scent of a Kitchen
Tigers & Strawberries is musing on this subject. I, myself, am partial to the smell of Chinese food ... good thing that I don't let it bother me that a stir-fry scent lingers until the next day. This is one I am going to muse further about myself.

100 Days of Holidays

Eat Em Up Ghosts

Better Homes and Gardens has just launched 100 Days of Holidays.

• more than 400 new slide shows
• free recipes, craft projects, and decorating ideas
• 100 daily email newsletters
• 50 new how to videos
• five fun new interactive tools
• three online courses
• new photo contests

I have been a fan of Better Homes and Gardens' Christmas cookie magazines and recipes for many, many years.

I wish I'd have had their website around when I was trying to come up with ways to fulfill our girls' Halloween costume ideas. One year, Hannah was Medusa. Now that takes some ingenuity!

If you check out their holiday section you can find not only costume ideas but recipes for some very clever Halloween goodies. Which all takes me back to the year that Rose made "brain" cookies. You know, if you use enough black food coloring, a garlic press, and some cookie dough ... you can come up with grayish brains with nice, gooey green frosting on top. Ugh! Everyone loved them!

Of course, the website will be moving on through the holiday season as the days whip by. I highly recommend this spot for those last-minute (or even planned) family necessities as Halloween parties, Thanksgiving celebrations, and Christmas gift needs pop up. What's best of all is that a craft-hating person like me can do most of these pretty easily.

Check it out.

(You do have to sign up, but it is free. When it goes to the second window that wants all your contact info, if you don't want to give it then you can just back out. You're still signed up and get access.)

Thoughts for Food

From my quote journal.

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully.

"It's the same thing," he said.”

A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Weekend Joke

Did you hear that in New York the Stop and Shop grocery chain merged with the A&P?

Now it's called the Stop & P.

Fine Art Friday

Churros in Barcelona from one of my very favorite photographers, Barcelona Photoblog.