Ca-Joh

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

I've been a Bad Blogger— Please Don't Hate me

I have been preoccupied with work lately and have not had much time to think, let along blog. I realize that if I don't say something, that people may just forget that I haven't posted in a while and never come back.

The sad thing is that I am three posts away from my 300th post and since I have not been reading your blogs either… you may never know of my accomplishment. I was going to write 300 things that I share with my wife— but after looking over the now 325 items, I realized that much of it makes NO sense when taken out of context. Also, many more of them have accompanying singing or hand gestures which makes listing them not worth listing.

I have been feeling my age (blog age) lately and will probably write my 300th post about that. Please spread the word around that I am going to have my 300th post and stay tuned.

Friday, April 30, 2010

F2: Chef Hats off to Mom

Welcome again to Friday's Feast¹. Today I'll be talking about this month's theme.

This months theme is Moms and cooking. One of the things we all have in common is that we have a mom. Many of us even have fond memories of our mothers and even memories of her cooking or cooking with her. So what I'm looking for is anything that includes your mother and food.

If you don't want to disappoint your mother, be sure to leave a comment and include the URL so I can include you in an upcoming feast. Don't think that you have to come up with a post right away either. If you have already posted on this topic in the past— your links are always welcome.

¹ If you don't know what Friday's Feast is all about, please read the Friday's Feast page for a more detailed explanation. If you want to join in on the feast— be sure to leave a comment and include the URL to your post so I and others can know of your contribution. Also, if you want to see a particular topic— feel free to suggest it as well (I'm always looking for new inspirations).

Monday, April 26, 2010

Spin Cycle: Character Development

This weeks Spin Cycle is about roles. I thought I would spin it up a bit and talk about a role I played in a musical and how that role was defined.

When I was a freshman in college I was involved in the spring musical "Showboat". Our director encouraged every one of us (no matter how small a part it was) to come up with a character history so that every character was more believable. In order for you to better appreciate my character, I think you need to know the parts I played so you can better appreciate the history (and future) of this role:

The only speaking role I had was Jeb the backwoodsman. Jeb was a sort of "Sidekick" to the other backwoodsman who intimidated a few of the main characters. All I was required to say was "I reckon"— but I had to say it about four different ways throughout the entire scene.

I later played a waiter at the Trocadero during the Chicago scenes. I also played a gambler who played poker with the lead character Gaylord Ravenal. With these three roles in mind, I chose to weave all of them together into one person. Here is what I came up with:

Well, you see Jud (he was originally named Jud) lived in Oklahoma as a hired hand until got into a fight with a curly haired jerk who swiftly pronounced him dead. So Jud changed his name to Jeb and moved east and hung around the Mississippi pestering Showboats up and down the river.

He then decided to go to Chicago for the worlds fair and landed a job as a waiter at the Trocadero. After work was where he took his earnings and gambled them and made his money grow.

Once he made enough money, he went to visit his cousins the Clampets. And then one day he was shootin' for some food when up from the ground came a bublin' crude… He then decided to change his last name from Fry to Clampet and move to California where he sold his story to some television writers and the rest is history.

Friday, April 23, 2010

F2: April Showers

Welcome again to Friday's Feast¹. Today I'll be talking about rainy day recipes.

Participants in this weeks Feast are as follows:

Beverly @ Beverly's Back Porch
Here's a Pimento and Cheese Toasts recipe that can be used instead of Grilled Cheese sandwiches.

Rainy days— they seem to change the whole dynamic. As a child it means that you can't go outside to play. As a parent it means that you somehow have to keep the children indoors and well entertained. I think it also changes what you decide to serve.

I'm not sure if it is the darkened skies, or something else— but I tend to not feel like cooking whenever it rains. I usually try and pull out a simple recipe that does not require a lot of preparation time. I tend to lean more towards things like soup and sandwiches… Tomato soup and Grilled Cheese is probably tops on the list. I also lean towards an occasional roast since I just have to add spices and throw it in the oven.

What about you… Do you change what you serve whenever it rains? Are there certain go-to recipes that you turn to when there is a change in the weather? If you are so inspired to write a post, feel free to include a link to your post when you comment so I can share it with others as well.

There is just one more week in April. Since I am moving more towards a theme a month, here are some ways of interpreting this month's theme if you want to participate in the feast:

April is in my [Blank]. What foods remind you of this month.
Spring is in the air. What spring like foods do you partake in?
April showers bring….
This year April also has Easter, do you have any Easter dishes or traditions you want to share.

So… if you have anything that relates to this topic, be sure to leave a comment and include the URL so I can include you in next weeks feast. Even if you have already posted on this topic in the past— your links are always welcome.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Spin Cycle: Let's Get Chalked

This weeks Spin Cycle is about catch phrases. This is a post that I made back in August of 2008, but felt that I should re-post this since it shows the actual birth of a catch phrase.

Photo source

I have found that a lot of terms that describe being inebriated are quite graphic:

Let's get plowed…: —getting so drunk that you feel like you have been plowed under the ground.
Let's get pissed…: —getting so drunk it is as if your blood has turned to urine (probably due to the large amount of alcohol you have consumed).
Let's get trashed…: —getting so drunk it is as if your body has been thrown in a garbage can.
Let's get chalked…

When I was attending Illinois State University I noticed what appeared to be an outline of a person on a wall. It struck my friend and I as particularly funny because it looked a lot like a police outline. This got us to thinking… what if this is "real"? Then it got us to wondering… what if you are so drunk that you pass out and everybody thinks your dead, will the police draw an outline around your body?

So…
Let's get chalked!!!

Friday, April 16, 2010

F2: Jelly Bean Hunt

Welcome again to Friday's Feast¹. Today I'll be talking about one of our Easter traditions.

Participants in this weeks Feast are as follows:

NOBODY

Perhaps I am being too demanding— or perhaps I'm not promoting myself enough. If you can't contribute, perhaps you can spread the word around.

Many of us hide Easter eggs for Easter— we hide Jelly Beans. Even though I may have commented about this on other people's blogs I felt that I should share this tradition since I find it quite unique.

We take different colored pairs of jelly beans and hide them in the living room. Now the main rule is that you need to hide it in plain sight— "It's In my belly!" doesn't count. One of the other rules is that you can't hide it with other jelly beans (damn).

Not to give away some of the better spots, but I believe one of the most clever ones was when my step-son decided to put a white jelly bean on the ceiling. He accomplished this with that 3M stretch stuff that is used on hooks (because it's white too). I don't know how many times someone has hid a jelly bean on someone who is not participating. I rather like those that are hid when the color of the jelly bean does not match what it is hidden with. At this past Easter, my brother-in-law hid a purple jelly bean on top of a yellow tulip. I think that this past Easter we found a jelly bean from last year (but I can't be sure)

What about you… do you have any unique Easter traditions?

This month is April. Since I am moving more towards a theme a month, here are some ways of interpreting this month's theme:

April is in my [Blank]. What foods remind you of this month.
Spring is in the air. What spring like foods do you partake in?
April showers bring…. Mixology anyone?
This year April also has Easter, do you have any Easter dishes or traditions you want to share.

Friday, April 9, 2010

F2: Easter

Welcome again to Friday's Feast¹. Today I'll be talking about our Easter celebration.

Participants in this weeks Feast are as follows:

Beverly @ Beverly's Back Porch
Asparagus and Artichoke (AKA: Asparachoke) how spring is that.
Beverly @ Beverly's Back Porch
I never thought you could make a pie with strawberries.

Even though Easter has past for some of us, there are still the Greek Orthodox who seem to celebrate a week later. I like many of us celebrated Easter this past Sunday. For this year's Easter we had a pretty looking spread:

The Easter Spread

I don't know how many of you have ever bought butter in the shape of a lamb, but it appears to have become a tradition at our household:

Lambie Butter!

Being in a mostly Jewish neighborhood, we tend to see things like lamb in the grocery store. This year we saw that Leg of Lamb was on sale, so we got some. We also made a fresh green salad with red onions, dried cranberries, and walnuts:

Close up of the Leg of Lamb and the Salad

My wife works at a bakery so she was able to obtain a loaf of rainbow bread. This is bread that uses different colored dough that is braided together and baked. We also made green beans and parsley potatoes. We typically melt butter in with parsley to use to put on top of the red potatoes:

Rainbow Bread, Green Beans, and Parsley Potatoes

Since two of our guests don't eat meat but do eat fish (I know there's a term for it but can't think of what it is officially called)— we made some salmon fillets that were cooked with lemon pepper and topped with fresh dill:

Close up of the Salmon

For desert we exchanged chocolate eggs from Fannie May (no not the bank) as well as other Easter candies. My wife saw some orange flavored chocolate slices which she affectionately called "Chocolate Chips" at the store and bought those along with some shortbread to put in with sherbet:

The Aftermath (AKA: Desert)

I guess I didn't get pictures of everything— but all in all it was a festive meal enjoyed by everybody who attended.

This month is April. Since I am moving more towards a theme a month, here are some ways of interpreting this month's theme:

April is in my [Blank]. What foods remind you of this month.
Spring is in the air. What spring like foods do you partake in?
April showers bring…. Mixology anyone?
This year April also has Easter, do you have any Easter dishes or traditions you want to share.