Question of the Week....

Thursday, January 28, 2010....



I've decided to make Thursdays my "Question of the Week" day because I always have questions and am always interested in people's answers.


This Week's Question:What grocery item will you not buy the generic version of?

Last week, I asked hubby to pick up some Q-Tips. I told him, Q-Tips, not generic brand and you know what....he came home with Johnson & Johnson cotton swabs.

Ummm...not generic, but NOT Q-TIPS.

When we went to COSTCO, I noticed they sell Q-Tips and snatched up my 4 pack (smart purchasing people at COSTCO) and when we got home had to show him the difference (he probably couldn't care less, but I wanted him to know I wasn't crazy).

I told this story at my last food pantry party and didn't realize that are other items people feel brand name is the only way to go. I think peanut butter, mayonnaise and ketchup were mentioned (specially, Peter Pan, Hellman's & Heinz).

What's your must have brand name product?

Rant and Rave Wednesday

Wednesday, January 27, 2010...


Any readers following me on a regular basis know if it's Wednesday, it's time to Rant and Rave about the past week. Without further adieu, here are my Rants and Raves from the past week:

Rave: People listened to Beaker and voted again for me in Jules' Out-of-Tune competition. I won't know till later today if I made it to week 5, but want to thank you for taking the time to vote.

Rant: Job searching is incredibly frustrating. At times, I am accepting and patient, but right now I'm not. I guess it's part of the cycle.

Rave: I'm excited because I found a great free resource online to assist me in keeping my mind intact while looking - free online university courses.

Rave: Finding a really good book you can sink your teeth in. I'm reading Cleaving by Julie Powell. Although I find it disturbingly exquisite, I wouldn't recommend this book to people I know. Personally, she's not a someone I have sympathy for. Combine this fact, with the subject of butchering animals, the book is a tough read for most. However, she is raw, honest and is a wonderful writer.

Rave: I totally forgot until Living and Loving in LA reminded me in the comment section how I won 18 Rabbits through a giveaway she had. I'm even more excited because she put them in the mail and I can't wait to try. [FYI - 18 Rabbits does not mean I'm getting 18 new animals, it means I'm trying out a protein bar which is supposedly fabulous].




That's it for me. I would love to read any Rants and Raves you want to share? Just click on the linky thing for anyone that wants to participate in Rant and Rave Wednesday -- or leave them in the comments section here. Please be respectful and do not use the linky thing if you are just promoting your blog (yes, this is another Rant of mine).

Out-of-Tune-Tuesday Competition

Tuesday, January 26, 2010....




Can you believe it? I've made it another week in the Out-of-Tune Tuesday competition and YOU get to vote for me at Jules the originator of Out-of-Tune-Tuesday.

Week 4 required Beaker to sing ABBA and after many problems with my iPod and losing all my music on it (stupid UI), I chose Fernando. A ballad which made the monkey dance like a white man with no rhythm and finally talk.

I thought my singing was horrible last week, but as one of the judges commented, it is just bad. I hit, wait, I miss a note at the end.



Please go and vote at Jules the originator of Out-of-Tune-Tuesday. If not for me, DEFINITELY vote for the monkey. He is an excellent patron and loves the feedback. I know he thinks he's a star.

Focus, Focus, Focus....

Monday, January 25, 2010......


I was raised to believe that Multitasking was what I should strive for in life. Multitasking = Productivity. But does it?

I can understand paying bills online while you're on hold for a live representative on the telephone. In fact, I consider the phone hold music as dead space. However, paying bills online after you begin talking to someone is not productive.

I admit, I've been guilty of multitasking when I shouldn't. I miss out on a lot and am going to try to change my mindset. How? By doing one thing and being in the moment.

Sounds easy, but it's not. I want to be as productive as I can, but sometimes, when multitasking, I miss my mark. I also have a tendency to multi-task 24/7. Times when you're supposed to be enjoying what you're doing right then and instead worry about what's next. The infamous "to-do" list you've created in your head creates havoc on the moment you're supposed to be enjoying.

This past Saturday was National Yoga Day. Although, my sister keeps trying to convince me of its merits, I'm not a fan of the actual movements (although restorative yoga is a great way to stretch and relax), but I am fan of the end result: meditation. [Note: Yoga was created to allow people to sit still comfortably for hours to meditate through the practice of yoga poses -- I don't meditate for hours, no downward dog for me.] It's been awhile since I've been on a regular practice of meditating and need to start again. For me, meditation helps me to focus on the here-and-now and I think I need that.

Question of the Week....

Thursday, January 21, 2010....



I've decided to make Thursdays my "Question of the Week" day because I always have questions and am always interested in people's answers.


This Week's Question: Is there a particular snack you have to have when traveling?


For me, if I'm taking a long road trip, I get Slim Jims. Not sure why, but it is a must.

This is the only time I eat them.

Odd. Very odd.

Rant and Rave Wednesday

Wednesday, January 20, 2010...


Any readers following me on a regular basis know if it's Wednesday, it's time to Rant and Rave about the past week. Without further adieu, here are my Rants and Raves from the past week:

Rave: People listened to Beaker and voted again for me in Jules' Out-of-Tune competition. I won't know till later today if I made it to week 4, but want to thank you for taking the time to vote.

Rave: Tomorrow is my next food pantry dinner party and since I've been on a roll, I'm making Beef Bourguignon again. This was actually a special request.

Rant: I gained last month and it upsets me. Not just because I gained weight, but I base my food pantry contributions upon the number of pounds lost. Ergghhhh...

Rant: Not finding my rhythm. I mentioned last week how I'm in a winter funk and part of the funk is how I handle the day. Do I control it or does it control me? Okay, that's a completely different entry.

Rave: My Christmas decorations are down! Yes, Dan you can mock me. But, before you mock me, I think I deserve some points for getting the stuff down before the end of January.



That's it for me. I would love to read any Rants and Raves you want to share? Just click on the linky thing for anyone that wants to participate in Rant and Rave Wednesday -- or leave them in the comments section here. Please be respectful and do not use the linky thing if you are just promoting your blog (yes, this is another Rant of mine).

Out-of-Tune-Tuesday Competition

Tuesday, January 19, 2010....




Once again, I've made it another week in the Out-of-Tune Tuesday competition and YOU get to vote for me at Jules the originator of Out-of-Tune-Tuesday.

Week 3 required Beaker to sing a 70's rock ballad and after much research and being depressed, Beaker picked a Bread song to sing because it was short.

I also didn't think it possible to sing worse than the week before, but I did.



Please go and vote at Jules the originator of Out-of-Tune-Tuesday. If not for me, DEFINITELY vote for the monkey. He is an excellent patron and loves the feedback. I know he thinks he's a star.

Question of the Week....

Thursday, January 14, 2010....



I've decided to make Thursdays my "Question of the Week" day because I always have questions and am always interested in people's answers.


This Week's Question:Has your hometown changed a lot since you were a kid?

For me, my town was constantly growing and changing because I grew up outside New York City and the town is a commuter's town for many people.

Although, hotels and apartment buildings started going up like crazy, it was one single thing that happened when I realized my hometown had changed even before I had a chance to move away.

As a small kid, my dad would take my sister and I to this little purple diner that was about 1 mile away from my house. I think the diner may have been 500 square feet, but it had this great counter with spinning stools and served the best hash browns that I have yet to duplicate.

The parking lot was always full and every other weekend YogaGirl and I spent a magical morning with my dad (the other weekends he took my brother to the diner). I wasn't a child of divorced parents, but my dad worked in NYC and spent a great deal of time on the train commuting. This was our time.

Breakfast, other than the hash browns, was a standard fare. It was the conversation, trivia questions and having a race with YogaGirl to figure out the tax on the bill what I remembered most about those trips. [Note: I don't think I ever beat YogaGirl at this game because she is 4 years older].

At some point, things changed. I thought it was because my sister didn't want to go to breakfast because she was getting older; or it was because my dad started playing golf on Saturdays. But, we stopped going.


The diner closed and remained vacant on the over sized lot for what seemed years and always hopeful that another person would revive the diner. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Instead, Vince McMahon demolished the building and put up a large office building of glass and the initials WWE at the very top of this building, the new home of the World Wrestling Entertainment corporation.

Forget the corporations that came to the town or the population growth, to me, my hometown changed when Vince McMahon squashed my favorite purple diner.

Rant and Rave Wednesday

Wednesday, January 13, 2010...


Any readers following me on a regular basis know if it's Wednesday, it's time to Rant and Rave about the past week. Without further adieu, here are my Rants and Raves from the past week:

Rave: People listened to Beaker and voted for me in Jules' Out-of-Tune competition and I want to thank you for it. I moved on the second week of the competition with a strip song and won't know till later today if I made it to week 3.

Rave: My trip into NYC. Although freezing out, I had a great time with friends and YogaGirl.

Rant: If you're going to pull out of driveway and cut me off (when you really should have waited) don't DRIVE 10 miles under the speed limit. Seriously, the speed limit was 25 mph and you're going 15? You're killing me.

Rant: I'm officially in a winter funk. It's been a couple of weeks now and although I'm not alone, I don't feel any consolation in this fact. I'm not depressed, but have no energy, brain fog...basically, the case of the blahs. Now I know why bears hibernate during the winter.


That's it for me. I would love to read any Rants and Raves you want to share? Just click on the linky thing for anyone that wants to participate in Rant and Rave Wednesday -- or leave them in the comments section here. Please be respectful and do not use the linky thing if you are just promoting your blog (yes, this is another Rant of mine).

Out-of-Tune-Tuesday Competition

Tuesday, January 12, 2010....




Today is the big day. Today is the day I show the world I can't sing for a hill of beans and YOU get to vote for me at Jules the originator of Out-of-Tune-Tuesday.

I made it to week 2 and was given the challenge of a strip club song. I have to say unlike some of the other contestants, I was handicapped because Beaker is not hot and sexy. He did his best. Right now there is some technical issue with not being able to see all the comments from the judges.



Please go and vote at Jules the originator of Out-of-Tune-Tuesday. If not for me, DEFINITELY vote for the monkey. He is an excellent patron and loves the feedback. I know he thinks he's a star.

Little Ms Blogger....Please Pack Your Knives and Go....

Monday, January 11, 2010.....

Any fan of the show Top Chef would understand this comment. For others, Top Chef is a reality t.v. show where contestants, who are chefs with outstanding credentials, have to cook up tempting treats or meals typically in a ridiculous amount of time for an insane amount of people and 4 judges who determine if their food is good enough to move onto another challenge.

Along the way, contestants cook for renown chefs in the cooking world, win prizes but ultimately end up with the title of Top Chef and a large cash prize.

You never want to be part of the judges' "I think your food sucks" (okay, they never say that) judgement table AND you definitely never want to hear Padma Lakshmi tell you to "Please pack your knives and go". Ouch. Talking about a cutting remark (I couldn't resist).

Saturday, I went into NYC with 2 gfs and met YogaGirl for a lecture hosted by the New York Times for their Arts and Leisure weekend. Our panel consisted of Padma Lakshmi, Gail Simmons (regular judges on the show) and Eric Ripert (guest judge and owner of Le Bernardin). Frank Bruni, ex food critic for NY Times, was the moderator asking a fair amount of questions and keeping the talk interesting.

Here's what I learned:

- Padma is funny, but can talk...A LOT....Although funny, interrupting others is not funny in my book. Luckily, the funny outweighed the rudeness.

- TC is in 20 countries.

- Chefs are NEVER to approach the judges. This keeps the process legit and sometimes the judges do keep in touch with the contestants after the show.

- All judges have equal weight in their vote. I seriously thought as Tom Colchiccio is the head judge, he could over rule all the others.

- There is a 5th unofficial judge of TC: T-Bone, the food photographer. He takes all the photos of the food (which everytime a dish is made, the contestant must make 2 plates, one for the judges another to be photographed) and samples it when finished shooting. When the judges are struggling, the producers may ask TBone for an opinion. However, it didn't sound as TBone influenced anyone's decision as he may typically comment that the food was cold by the time he tasted it and couldn't voice an opinion.

- I learned Padma wears an ear piece when explaining the Quick Fire challenges. She repeats, verbatim, the words of the NBC lawyers via the producer talking in her ear.

- I learned the worst food ever tasted was exactly what I thought it would be, chocolate covered chicken livers Ilan made in Season 2 for Eric Ripert.

- I learned Eric Ripert thinks an interesting challenge would be for the judges to eat blindfolded. I agree. I'm big into presentation influencing my judgment (a topic my husband and I don't see eye-to-eye on).

What I didn't learn was how do I, the experimental home chef, get an opportunity to be a judge for an episode or become a food critic like Frank Bruni.

Ahh...a girl can dream...

Question of the Week.....

Thursday, January 7, 2010....



I've decided to make Thursdays my "Question of the Week" day because I always have questions and am always interested in people's answers.


This Week's Question:What do you consider to be the perfect sandwich?


Last night, hubby came home from work and declared "I've discovered the greatest sandwich". I'm not a roast beef fan, but to him, roast beef with Boursin cheese spread on some special type of bread was heavenly.

To me, finding the perfect flavor combination to create the perfect sandwich is much harder than it sounds. Like the hamburger, a perfect sandwich doesn't always have to be stacked with 5 or more ingredients, but it has to make me want more because it is yummy not because I'm hungry.

As a kid, I loved peanut butter and Fluff (marshmallow spread) sandwiches. In this case, I don't think it was because of the flavor combination. It was because it was the sandwich my mom would make for us when we packed up the car and drove to a Rhode Island beach for the day. It was so fun. An entire day of riding the waves, sand castles and sun.

Although I loved a peanut butter/fluff sandwich, I know it was because I only had it when we spent the day at the beach not because I was eating a sandwich which attracted more sand than my sand pail.

As an adult, a good sandwich is truly appreciated because of the flavors, not any memories associated with it.

I do love a good lobster salad sandwich, but also enjoy a liverwurst sandwich from time-to-time.

So, as I continue my search for the perfect sandwich, do you have any suggestions I should try?

Rant and Rave Wednesday

Wednesday, January 6, 2010...


Any readers following me on a regular basis know if it's Wednesday, it's time to Rant and Rave about the past week. Without further adieu, here are my Rants and Raves from the past week:

Rant: I hate Cablevision for the way they handled the lost of the Food Network and HGTV Channels. Their inability to come to a compromise with Scripps is one thing, but their notification process to subscribers is another. It was unprofessional and I'm in the process of dropping them as my cable and Internet provider.

Rave: People listened to Beaker and voted for me in Jules' Out-of-Tune competition and I want to thank you for it. I won't know until later this evening if Beaker makes it to the next round, but even if we don't, I appreciate you taking the time to vote.

Rant: My car hates the cold and won't cooperate with me. It is being stubborn and not starting. My car is not my friend today.

Rave: Saturday, I'm going into NYC with 2 friends to meet YogaGirl to attend a NYTimes lecture series. Originally, the judges from Top Chef were speaking, but Tom had a conflict and Eric Ripert is stepping in for him. I love him, his show and if you ever get the opportunity to eat at his restaurant do it. The service and food are outstanding.

Rave: I'm happy 2009 is behind me. The beginning of the year always brings this unspoken hope that wonderful things are yet to happen. This year, I definitely know things will be different.

Rant: I hate chain emails. I hate receiving emails telling me if I don't forward to 1000 people in the next 10 minutes my head will explode. I delete these emails. I know I'm tempting fate, but my head is still intact.

That's it for me. I would love to read any Rants and Raves you want to share? Just click on the linky thing for anyone that wants to participate in Rant and Rave Wednesday -- or leave them in the comments section here. Please be respectful and do not use the linky thing if you are just promoting your blog (yes, this is another Rant of mine).

Today - Out of Tune Tuesday Competition

Tuesday, January 5, 2010....




Today is the big day. Today is the day I show the world I can't sing for a hill of beans and YOU get to vote for me at Jules the originator of Out-of-Tune-Tuesday.

Here is my submission, but really, the best part is reading the judges' comments and watching the other contestant submissions.



Of course I love comments here, but please go and vote at Jules the originator of Out-of-Tune-Tuesday. If not for me, vote for the monkey. He has been waiting for feedback. I believe he thinks he may be a star.

Mish Mash Monday

Monday, January 4, 2010.....


Over the past few days there are several things going on that have absolutely no coorelation to one another, but I thought I'd post about here in my mish-mash post.

#1 I joined Studio 30 Plus for bloggers who are over 30, but aren't limited to just the decade of being in their 30's.

I know there is a 20sb blogging community and one for people in their 30's, but after 39 there is no home for us bloggers who older. Now there is and I encourage others to join looking for new blogs written by both men and women (men get the short end of the stick in the blogging community). Enough said.

#2 Tomorrow, Jules will be hosting an Out of Tune Tuesday competition TOMORROW. Where talent is not considered an asset (I hope not) and I signed up. Yup. Tomorrow, you can hear me (okay, me as Beaker the muppet character) sing Like a Virgin. When I sent in my video to Jules she asked me if I was drunk when I did this. I'm not sure why.

I will post about this TOMORROW and put the link out there for you to see for yourself my ability to be a fool and vote for me (sure, shameless plug).

#3 Cablevision. This will make no sense to anyone outside the tri-state area (NY, CT or NJ), but they removed Food Network, HGTV and Weather on the 8s from my channel lineup. Their notification was lame, insulting and as a contract negotiator appeared to be a bunch of BS. Cablevision cited pricing issues, but managed to raise my rates in December and I'm trying to figure out for what. Bite me Cablevision (this rant will reappear on Wednesday, but I couldn't wait).

#4 My birthday statement was to do/try 44 new things in my 44th year of life (I got this idea from McGillicutty back in September) and realized I only tried 7 new things since then. After posting my Out of Comfort Zone question, I realized I needed to work on this. I sat down New Year's Day and started looking up things to do in my area and did/tried 2 new things this weekend. I can't say they moved me out of my comfort zone, but I did change my routine. I think I'm going to enjoy this birthday goal I started.

and....

5) A resolution I made to myself about not talking negatively about a person proved to already have some interesting results. After seeing my father's reaction to a recent eulogy given at a funeral we both attended, I decided to really look at why my father was a bit upset over the eulogy. The eulogy was funny and appropriate for the person, but I believe my father was disturbed by it because he thought it disrespectful as he never says an unkind word about anyone. Ever do this? Ever find yourself in a conversation where you could easily trash another person's character or vent about a person who annoyed you and choose not to? The results are interesting.

This past weekend, I had three opportunities to talk negatively about someone and didn't. The first time I caught myself starting to go down that path and stopped. The other two times I tried very hard to just not talk about the person and realized the only way I was going to avoid being asked for a comment was to tell the other party what I'm doing. One person stated she should do that, but that's not why I'm doing this.

I finally realized it's sometimes easy to get caught up in the trash talk but when I do it, I feel myself getting angry and caught up in stupid emotions. I decided to stop it and I like that I've stopped this bad behavior.