Happy Birthday Daddooo we can't wait to see yout his weekend!!!! 

Food Shopping: Consider the Alternative

Are you overwhelmed whenever you go to the supermarket? Do you plan to buy just a few things and end up spending a fortune? Will this help you stop? Probably not, but it will give you a laugh.... or a few even!!!!

Someone once said that one should never go food shopping when hungry ( this would cause us to buy more groceries than planned) . (This silly statement may have been made by the same person who said that the moon was made out of Swiss cheese, but I couldn’t swear to it.) It does make sense though, if you think about it. Being full can put a damper on impulse. I don’t know about you, but whenever I go shopping for "just a few things," I always end up spending more than I meant to. And so I have devised a system with few rules of the road to be applied every time you even come close to the door to your favorite supermarket. They are divided up into three categories; before the shop, during the shop and afterwards.

The very first thing you must do is realize that being prepared isn’t only for boy scouts. Park as far away from the market as possible. It may slow you down, as it will force you to at least think about how far you have to travel with that "big fat heavy cart." It also helps to never take a cart inside the store with you. You will always need one and that is precisely the point.
You can carry only so much in that little basket...

Never....Shop.... in nasty weather. Blizzards, torrential rains and monsoons are very good; hurricanes are even better( really worse) . Apart from the thrill of never knowing whether you will live to get home, there is something about rain, snow and murderous winds that turns one’s thoughts to home, hearth and over-stocking such staples as rice, soups, pet food and Haagen Das. Food shopping under these conditions will encourage you to buy more than you will ever need of everything under the sun. Oh, and by the way, avoid the sun. It’s no help at all.

Shop early in the morning and wear a mask. (Avoid cashiers and managers as they might think you are trying to rob them.) No one will recognize you, and you can buy all that junk food without looking over your shoulder or feeling guilty. (And if you do this, don’t buy low fat potato chips and the like. Go all the way! Hell, you only live once!) Don’t think about the fact that no one you know is watching you shop because any normal human being will be asleep at this hour. Why aren’t you?

Buy lots of cottage cheese and yogurt in all flavors and varieties. Vow to eat all before that dreaded expiration date. Make sure they all have different dates or you will really be sorry you made that promise!

Leave your glasses at home if you wear them and bring them with you if you don’t. And don’t forget those coupons. step by step. By nightfall, you should be home safe and sound and may only need one Valium to get to sleep.

Last but not least is the trip home. Try a new way to get there (preferably in bad weather with or without your glasses depending on whether you need them or not).

If all of the above fails, consider bulk shopping. Places like Sam’s Club, Price Club and others offer mayhem at very reasonable prices.

Think about it???

The birthday count down is offically ticking for my folks!!! 

Happy belated Day.... Yes i carved this pumpkin a few years ago!!! 

Happy November....

I hope everyone had a really creepy candy filled Halloween. I got the candy but that was it. i had to work as usual, but that no surprise. I gotten behindin my blogging lately,,, shame on me. I had a nassty case of sickness that came back to haunt me more than one time. But i think it's really finally going away this time knock on wood!!!! Hmmmm....November.... That the time of year when My Dad and Mom's birthday's happen andit's good to see they have put out lists so I won't be forced to get them underbritches. On the other hand for all I know they may be disappointed if they do not recieve them... maybe i should plan on geting those drawers any way, hehehe

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY
* National Men Make Dinner Day ( I never heard about this one...I like that)
* National French Fried Clam Day
* All Hallow's Day*
World Vegan Day ( hug a tree everybody)

1798 Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness was born. He was the son of Arthur Guinness, and joined the family brewing business. When his father died, he became sole owner and built up the business. He was also elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1851.

1841 The first wagon of settlers left Independence, Missouri for the trip to California.

1997 Victor Mills died. He was a chemical engineer who worked for Proctor & Gamble. Among his many accomplishments, he improved Duncan Hines cake mix, and Jif peanut butter, and invented Pampers disposable diapers. ( he was a great amn in my eyes... i love Jif and of course cake too!!!)

Stayed tuned....

Hello all,

So my husband and I have toying with the idea of a after graduation cruise, for family and close friends. I think it's a great way to celebrate and take a really fun and affordable vacation. So were curious about where everyone would like to go? Eastern or western Caribbean? There are really plenty of choices. But planning early is the key to our success......
January 2007, mark your calendar.....


In other NEWS.....I previosly mentioned that i would some of the recent pictures....so here they are....

Guess who. Thats right it's The brothers Coe!! 

Greg and his brother Roy celebrating brothers day. This a very special day to our family because this is the day Roy came to live with the Coe's. And from this day forward would be know as brothers day!!! 

I Know it's been a while...Testing 1...2...3... Were back on track with photo's and all. So keep an eye out because you could be the next one seen....This a picture Joe my lil sisters, fiancé at dinner last weekend when the in-laws were up. I know we have a little catching up to do, in the the next week I'll try to post some of the high lights of the past month or so when there were no pictures due to technical difficulties. So if you see my my Computer Guru Thank him ( that's my dad if you don't know), he tamed my confused computer... Thanks dad for all the computer assistance. And a shout out to my folks, I had a great time visiting.( and the meat loaf was extra delicious) well it's really late so I'll give you a recap of my week tomorrow!!!

Lunch and a movie anyone?

So what's everyone up to today....work? The usual daily running around trying to get everything done in time. i know how you all feel, I not at work but I'm trying get time to visit with everyone before I head back to Jax. i got to do lunch today with My husbands Folks and Grandma. I should say it was more like breakfast because i had pancakes and sausage and so did grandma. But it was goood!!!! We had fun chit chatting fun was had by all. Then this afternoon Mom and I took in a movie. The only thing that sucks is the fact that you pay quite a bit to see a movie you have to watch commercials, I don't mind the movie previews and all. Getting back to the movie, Wallace and Gromit The curse of the Ware rabbit. I give it 2 thumbs up, I think I'm going to have to take the Mr. K-C to see it.

Yummy!! Yummy!

I had a delicious chocolate milkshake, you know the one I'm talking about. The new one at steak and shake, I give it 2 thumbs up( i licked them both). We split one shake because it was more than enough. My Mom did the honor of picking one up after a little shopping trip. We were looking for Mother of the Bride dressing for the up coming weddin'. We saw the good the bad and the ugly. So of them were so ugly, do people really wear some of these things??? I guess so, not everyone can have good taste like me.

In other news:
Least Competent Criminals
Whatever Happened to the Concept of Keeping a Low Profile? Sonja Aguirre, 18, was arrested in Greenwood Village, Colo., in March when, while allegedly carrying 265 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $500,000, she decided to save a few steps and park in a handicap space. And Edgar Galvan, 28, and Jose Clark, 27, were arrested in Orlando, Fla., in July when, though allegedly carrying 550 pounds of marijuana, they nonetheless hauled it in an SUV with an expired license plate. And, according to police in Dayton, Ohio, in August, a man and a teenager, who were intending to rob a marijuana-growing couple of their large inventory, were arrested shortly beforehand when they tried to save a few bucks by shoplifting pantyhose (to wear as disguises in the robbery) from a Rite Aid drug store. [WKMG-TV (Orlando)-AP, 7-20-05] [KMGH-TV (Denver), 3-31-05] [Dayton Daily News, 8-20-05]

talk about being a dumba**. sometimes i do foolish things, but that just being and idiot. Duh

see you next time!!!

Hello all!!!! from the west coast, of course I mean the west coast of FL....

I took a few days off over the weekend to visit with the in-laws. Fun was had by all! Then Sunday afternoon I jumped to the other side of the state to hang with my really cool folks. I'll be hanging out over here through Thursday... Wooohoo!!!

So you ask want am I up to? Well I’m doing a little channel surfing...ooooh...what is that Iron Chef America...iron chef Bobby Fay against challenger Ming Tsai . The secret ingredient is duck. Yummy! In luv some good duck. I don’t care for some of the stuff on the food network, but I do like this show. It’s fun to see the chefs in real action, this when you can see what there really made of....now back to the show...peking duck in an hour wow I don’t know about that( it usually takes 3 days) . My money is that the iron chef could lose this one. I wonder how you get to compete, that would totally cool. I don't think I ready quite yet, but someday. Oh... back to the show....times up... wow that went fast... I’m glad I don’t have smell-a-vision or I would be so watering at the mouth... Ming Tsai duck liver creme brulee...interesting. What's Bobby Flay got.... fried duck and grits? I don’t know this is going to be a close one. And the winner of the duck battle is......(side note they have iron chef america hats on the food network website) ....the winner is Ming Tsai. They said that Mings flavor was superb. And was right on choosing the winner ......

I Can't Wakeup!!!

I going to blame the rain, and the the lack of sunshine. How much coffee do i have to drink? really... I'm not the only one with this problem, am I?
It doesn't seem to matter how late or early i go to bed I still find it really hard to wakeup...

You may want to take this test to see if your like me.

The Coffee Test( keep track of your yes and no) answers

Do you use coffee to escape from your problems?

Do you eat spoonfuls of instant coffee because it's easier?

Have you ever waken up in a puddle of your own coffee?

Do you find that it's easier to drink more coffee than to go to sleep?

Have you ever drank cold coffee?

Right out of the pot?

Does your coffee cup resemble a beer stein?

Has anyone ever told you that you "have a problem"?

Do you need coffee:
...to get up in the morning?
...to get out of bed?
...to be injected intravenously to stimulate blood-flow?

Do Native North American Aboriginal Indian Peoples call you "Ona mac towanda" (Smells-like-coffee)?

Does the phrase "Swiss water decaffeinated" strike terror into your heart?

Do you have a coffee maker in more than one room of your house?
...in more than five?
...in your bathroom?

Do the people at Second Cup refuse do give you free coffee cards anymore?
...because you're wearing out their hole-punch?
...and it's bad for the environment?

Do you grind your own coffee?
Do you grow your own coffee?
Do you know Juan Valdez?
...and his donkey?
...intimately?

Do you salivate uncontrollably whenever you hear dripping water?
Is sleep a hobby of yours?
...that you don't like?
...because it's too frustrating?

Response Ratio
Addiction Factor
Yes
No
Analysis:
yes 22-28
no 0-6
You are a well-rounded member of society with a love for life and you are very wise.

yes 15-21
no 7-13
You are a slightly jagged member of society, life's okay but it could be better and you are relatively naive.

Yes 0-15
No 13-28
What are you, some kinda nature-freak tree-hugger!?Coffee's not good enough for you, huh? Here, have some more tofu! How about some alfalfa tea?!?

It's okay to admit you have a problem, you know who you are....

Can you Believe this???
New PSA Reduces Accidental Staplings By 33 Percent
September 28, 2005 Issue 41•39
WASHINGTON, DC—In the wake of a campaign launched by the Occupational Safety And Health Administration this spring, accidental stapling incidents among U.S. office workers have fallen by one-third. "We're pleased that 'Stop, Look, and Swingline!' has done so much to promote public awareness of office-stapler safety," said OSHA head Jonathan Snare. "Our primary areas of concern are the fingertips and the delicate thumb-forefinger webbing." OSHA was inspired to make the film after a 2002 PSA was credited with reducing the number of manila-file-foldering fatalities by 20 percent.

And to make matters even sillier...this is dedicated to one of my co worker's roomate who can't even make grill cheese...even after trying 3 times.....you know who you are!!!!!
You Might Be a Bad Cook If...

Your microwave display reads "TILT!"

You know dinner is ready when the smoke alarm goes off.

Your dog goes to the neighbors' to eat.

Leftover crumbs make a great replacement for kitty litter.
.
Your your roomates are really interested in going to that restaurant that always has trouble passing the health inspection.

If the EPA requires that all your garbage cans be marked with large bright red "biohazard" symbols.

Pest control companies keep pestering you, wanting to buy and patent your recipe for candy Christmas cookies.

The smoke alarm beeps if you even walk near the stove.

Your roomates buyRolaids, Pepto Bismal, and Tums in bulk.

Your homemade bread loaf can be used as a door stop.

The last time you tried to make toast the kitchen caught on fire.

Your apple pie bubbled over and ate the enamel off the bottom of the oven.

You make tuna noodle broccoli surprise for your roommate and the surprise is that it glows in the dark!

Your tuna noodle broccoli surprise melts plastic and silverware.

You used three boxes of scouring pads, a bottle of Drano and a crowbar, but that macaroni and cheese still won't let go of the pan!

You look in a cookbook to find out how to boil water.

You call your mother to ask how long to boil cabbage to make cole slaw.

If anyone has ever broken a tooth while eating your homemade yogurt.

The family pets are no where to be found during dinner.

that's all the silliness for today... seeya next time!!!!

ACK!!!!!

I've been sick this past week with a nasty bug....yuck! That's why you haven't seen any new posts for a few days. Thankfully a lovily thing called antibiotics...came to my rescue. So i was thinking about what i was going to jot down for you folks out there to read...hmmm. Check this out, I typed in under the yahoo search "sucks being sick" , there were 7,310,000 sites listed. You know what even funnier? The first ten or so sites were web logs like mine... talking about how much it really sucks to be sick.... I guess at this time of year it has become a popular topic.

Drink for a Better Nation!

A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo, and when the herd is hunted..... it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. (right?) This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole is maintained or even improved by the of the weakest cows getting squashed.

In much the same way, the human brain can operate only as fast as the slowest brain cells through which the electrical signals pass. Recent studies have shown that while excessive intake of alcohol kills off brain cells, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first.

Thus, regular consumption of beer helps distroy the weaker cells, constantly making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. The result of this in-depth study verifies and validates the link between all-weekend parties and job performance. It also explains why, after a few short years of leaving a university and getting married, most professionals cannot keep up with the performance of the new graduates. (I think this is also the reason that chefs continue to excel in there field for a large number of years) Only those few that stick to the strict regimen of alcoholic consumption can maintain the intellectual levels that they achieve during their college years.

So, this is a call to arms. As our country is losing its technological edge, we must not shudder in our homes. Get back into the bars.....drink that pint. Your company and country need you to be at your peak, and you shouldn't deny yourself the career that you could have. Take life by the bottle and be all that you can be. Alert all of your friends, acquaintances and coworkers that may be in danger of losing their edge.

So get to it.... were running out of time!!!!

Knock! Knock! What did you say?
C-H-E-E-S-E?
What a funny thing it is. A lump of cuddled milk, but say cheese and a picture comes out great, put cheese on the plate, and the food comes out great!

Folks, don’t get cheesed off. What can I do? I am no cheese-paring when it comes to cheese selling.

In fact, the story of my cheese-fixation is long. But I will make short of it. Cheese is, like insulin to diabetes; ambrosia to my addled brain; salvation to my dying spirit. The Blue just lifts me out of the blue.

Ask the Hollanders. They discovered the gourmet’s delight centuries ago; the Yankees took to the tangy flavor quickly enough; the Italians with secret passion; the Britons with some reservation; the Chinese with consummate ease; the Spaniards with a roving eye and the French, those lucky bastards! With their basic instinct for all good things in life have been gobbling it for ages. God bless their farmers!

Paired with nuts, fruit, crackers or wine, savoring the exotic Saint Pauline or Tomme Fraiche is next to Nirvana. Truly, can anything be better than spinach creamed in Peta, melt-in-the-mouth Gouda; a cracker topped with the ripest Brie, or a pizza dripping with Mozzarella --- simply delicious.

In my humble opinion, nothing can be considered ‘rich' or `flavored' without a spattering --- if only a spattering --- of those, yummy cheesy blobs, please let me have the orange rind?

Picture a cheesecake (@*%$^) in a loose-fitting cheesecloth and it sets my heart asunder and my mind racing at super sonic speed on a hundred different planes? Will she? Won’t she?
Even the word does strange things to my constitution. Feel how it rolls off, so effortlessly from the tongue with a gentle whistling sound, C-H-E-E-S-E? Oh La, La! ….

I am not alone in serenading to this “hero amongst all fermented food products” on earth. One cheese head, Tanya Grace Reyes wrote the following ode to the Grecian variety, “Nothing is better than to sit around in my greasy brown paisley robe, eating feta…”Even the Dalai Lama, I am told gorges on it, though perhaps only the yak variety.

Honestly, it gives me goose pimples to think I may run out of my stock-in-trade, one day. I cannot face this dire prospect. So instead of giving me my daily ration of bread, Lord, please grant me my cheese. Amen.

To conclude, here’s a lactic limerick, a Love Haiku from Matt Rosenberg:
Cheddar wins my heart.
Heaven, right here in my mouth.
Please pass the crackers.

Hot Dogs
Occasionally, I run into someone who knows exactly what hot dogs are made of and is dying to enlighten me. Usually, they've seen it on TLC or they know someone in the meat packing business. "They take all the parts of the cow they don't use like the balls and tail and put them in hot dogs. Isn't that gross?"
Yes, it's gross but screw it - I love hot dogs! They're one of those amazing foods that are cheap, versatile, and always taste the same. Best of all, they last forever.
This is something the good people of way back when seemed to truly understand. However, they've gone too far. The creative cooks behind these recipes used hot dogs in everything and anything - cheer to beans and franks!!

Beer is beer right?
Japanese brewer toasts 'taste-changing' beer
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's top brewer Asahi Breweries said it had developed a beer that changes taste over time as the fermentation process continues after it is bottled.
The Asahi Super Yeast Draft changes its aroma and flavor through a second phase of fermentation after its basic taste is created in the primary fermentation at factories, Asahi said in a statement.
The secondary fermentation continues for about two to three months, if bottles are kept in rooms with temperatures between 10 to 20 degrees Celsius (50 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit), Asahi said.
"After a month, its smooth taste is enhanced. In two to three months, the gorgeous aroma increases, giving the beer abundant and smooth flavor with crisp aftertaste," the company said.
The product will be introduced in eastern Japan for this winter.

Interesting to say the least

So how was your weekend?

Well here's a readers digest version of mine....
Friday...let me jump back a few days...wed: I wet into work and prepared for a lunch on thursday that was being done by the former executive chef of the white house. Chef Walter, he's a pretty cool guy to work with, and if anyone asks...he's pretty much like the rest of us chef's. He just so happened to cook for the president for ten years, and when it comes down to it cooking is cooking. I do have to mention my partner in crime Lindsay, had the pleasure of getting into a chive fight with him! Thur: We put on the lunch for about 170 or so people, then it was back to the normal grind of getting ready for friday. Fri: we did a welcome reception for our in coming guest Chefs for a charity event on sat. Lots of pretty food and all, everything went smashing of course! Well my boss ended up with tickets to the football game, and he's not into normal sports, he likes extreme sports. So i ended up with tickets.A free game is always fun when there good tickets that include rockstar parking!! Sat: I ran my but off working with one of the most awesome sushi chefs ever, and even got the honor of wearing a japanese chef coat. He told me after 4 years working with him on this event, and my hard work earned it. That event lasted all night and I didn't get home till late. Sun morning we headed off to the game and were lucky enough to meet up with my former partner in crime, Tiff, we worked together for a couple of years. I hadn't since her and her hubby Dave in over a year. They married and moved away..we tight still...But happened to be in town for the game. Pretty coolll!!! The jags did win, and so did the BUCS..a good day in football!!!So after we meet up with them and so other family and friends. Got some wings a bunch of beer and fun was had by all....boy the weekend was great...but I'm pooped, thank my lucky stars i did not have to work today (mon)...well that's the news for noe...I hope everyone had a great weekend!!!!