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).
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, January 11, 2010
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...
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...
Thursday, January 7, 2010
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?
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?
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
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).
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).
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, January 4, 2010
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.
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.
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