January 4, 2008

Four Foods on Friday #11

Val has once again invited us to play with our food via her fun Four Foods on Friday meme, which runs each Friday (duh!) at Fun, Crafts and Recipes. There’s still time for you to play, too. Do a blog post answering the four questions below, then post your link as a comment to the meme thread. Val will do a roundup of answers this evening and give you a couple of links for your trouble.

#1. Brownies. From a box or from scratch?

I usually take the easy way out. Costco has a really ono mix that has chunks of Ghirardelli chocolate - yum! Broke da mout!*

#2. Chicken noodle soup. Does it cure everything? Do you make it from scratch, from a can or from a package?

I make it from scratch. The canned stuff is mushy and too salty. I don’t know if it really does cure anything, but it’s a wonderful comfort food when you’re feeling icky. I also make Hot and Sour Egg Flower Soup (from an envelope) when I’ve got a stuffy head. Opens things right up!

#3. Red skin potato salad. Do you think the red skin provides flavor or color?

I don’t “do” potato salad, but I like red skins. My most recent favorite way to fix them is to cut them into chunks, toss them around in a baggie with a little olive oil, chopped garlic and Hawaiian sea salt & then roast until crisp on the outside. I leave the skins on. Adds a little hint of earthiness to the flavor, but mostly I do it for texture and color.

#4. French toast. How do you make yours?

I beat an egg in a little milk (maybe half a cup?) and add a tablespoon or so of sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Fry in real butter until brown on both sides. Pancakes and French toast are the only things I always remember to drag out my countertop griddle for. I don’t make either very often, just because I live alone & it’s a lot of trouble to make either just for myself.

Ono = Really tasty; yummy!

Broke da mout = Ohhhhhh so ono!

Technorati Tags: blogs, food, meme, recipes

January 3, 2008

Share Some Good Stuff!

Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with the bad news that we forget that there are good things going on around us all the time. We can’t change the headlines, but we can seek out that which is good, that which is uplifting, that which shines with a positive radiance - the good stuff. Here are some recent feel-great stories:

I think that I’m as excited as Val is about the search engine that is helping her support her favorite local charity. This is something we all can do, folks, so make sure you check it out!

Martin knows good citizenship when he sees it and wants to commend MIT for giving their course materials to African shcools that would not have been able to access it through regular online resources.

I can’t quit smiling about the recent news of a Hawaiian Monk Seal sighting on one of our local beaches, though I’m disappointed not to have seen it in person.

You don’t have to share your own local good news if you’re shy, but I hope you’ll make it a point to seek it out for your own benefit. I guarantee you’ll feel better about life once you’ve basked in the glow of some feel-good news. And hey - I’m here for you if you do want to share it. Send me the link to your good news story and I’ll include it in our next roundup of The Good Stuff

Technorati Tags: good news, current events, local stories, meme

Puss Reboots - again!

The last time Sarah won my Tuesday Teaser I just couldn’t do a review of her blog. That’s because she wins so often that I needed to wait awhile and let her get some new blog content. Being a bit of an airhead lately, I kinda, sorta lost track of where I was. I never intended to wait this long, honest! Mea culpa, Sarah! Mea maxima culpa!

Sarah has been blogging at Puss Reboots since 1997, so there’t a lot of history and a lot of content there. It’s generally broken down into several categories. First and foremost, Sarah is a prolific reader and she reviews each book she reads. How prolific, you might ask? Take a look at her reading list for 2007 and you’ll get an idea. If I added correctly, Sarah read and reviewd 380 books during 2007. How she manages that with two small children, a husband and a home needing her attention, I just don’t know. Her slowest month for reading last year was December, when she only logged thirteen books, but maybe that was because she was exhausted from reading her highest monthly total of forty-six in November! Yet she still manages to lead a very full life outside of her literary journeys. Her blog is also a journal of her personal life, so take a scroll through her December archives if you don’t believe me. Make sure you check out her entry on December 26th where she looked back at her year in review. Road trips and children’s activities and vacations - she must be the master of time management to do all she does and still find time to read at all.

Puss Reboots is also a showcase for Sarah’s digital art. You can see all of her eye candy displayed at the above link. Being a generous soul, she shares some freebies with her doting public, but she also sells some of her work. It’s easy to lose several hours browsing and gazing. I’m just warning you so you can plan your time before you click the link! Oh, and since you’re going to be there anyway, check out her free tutorials while you’re there. I’m telling you, the woman should be declared a national treasure.

I’m sorry to say that it’s too late to win Dragonhaven, which Sarah gave away at the end of December, but she’s got two new giveaways in the works, so get yourself over there and register to win How Big is Your God (drawing to be held on January 7th) and Four Wives (drawing on January 17th.) See, I told you she’s a generous soul! Go check her out!

Technorati Tags: blogs, digital art, reading

January 2, 2008

Win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer!

A couple of months ago I blogged about the Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and how much easier my life would be if I had one. There was a contest going on at that time and some of the posties who blogged about the mixer actually won one. Alas, I was not one of the lucky few. But my pal Lori is giving me another shot at it and, generous soul that I am, I’m going to lower my odds of winning by sharing the info with you. See how I take care of you?

A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!

You can enter by writing a post about the contest and including the paragraph above, or by doing any one of several other things to promote Lori’s blogs and the contest. Her blogs are pretty cool, so you can feel good about sending your readers over to check her out. Her prize is a lot better than the measly ones I’ve offered for my own contests, too, so I’m betting she’ll get plenty of new traffic and lots of entries from the promotion. I can’t in good conscience, ask you not to enter because I want her contest to be a roaring success and I want you to have a chance to win too. So instead I’ll just ask you to cross your fingers for me, okay? I really, really want that mixer, even if it is pineapple yellow and wont’t go with my kitchem. Hmmmm! I’ve been needing to repaint the kitchen anyway. Winning that pretty mixer could motivate me, ya think?

Technorati Tags: A Cowboy’s Wife, blogs, contests, Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer, My Wooden Spoon

December 27, 2007

Share Some Good Stuff!

Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with the bad news that we forget that there are good things going on around us all the time. We can’t change the headlines, but we can seek out that which is good, that which is uplifting, that which shines with a positive radiance - the good stuff. Here are some recent feel-great stories:

Karen made me smile with her story of how the US Navy came to the rescue of a young girl who became ill aboard a cruise ship.

Val found an uplifting story about a forward-thinking social entrepreneurial program that is making life better for disabled adults.

Pelf’s submission is not a story from mainstream news sources, but just this once I’m bending the rules. Pelf is soliciting bloggers for a group-writing project titled 31 Ways to Save the Ocean. Go read her post, pick a topic and blog about the things we all can do to keep our oceans clean, healthy and productive.

Finally, I had to share the good news when the Keiki Slippah Project brought Christmas to local kids who live on the beaches or in homeless shelters.

I know there are many more encouraging stories out there, especially this time of year when good will abounds. A lot of my readers have scaled back their online time in favor of holiday activities and family togetherness this week. As the holidays wind down and we get back into our same old dull routines, I hope you’ll make it a point to look beyond the headlines for the Good Stuff, and then come share it with the rest of us! Post your story on your blog and submit the link to me anytime to be included in the next roundup!

Technorati Tags: good news, current events, local stories, meme

Share some Good Stuff

There are good news stories spilling out of the newspapers and over the airwaves this week, as the holiday spirit of goodness and charity overflows. Is there a feel-good story you’d like to share? Blog about a story from your own local news sources and send me the link. I’ll do a roundup this evening and hook you up with a link. Look beyond the ugly headlines today and Share Some Good Stuff!

Technorati Tags: good news, current events, local stories, meme

December 20, 2007

Share Some Good Stuff

Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with the bad news that we forget that there are good things going on around us all the time. We can’t change the headlines, but we can seek out that which is good, that which is uplifting, that which shines with a positive radiance - the good stuff. Here’s some recent feel-great stories:

Corrin found a heart-warming (and foot-warming!) story about a twelve year old girl who is collecting Socks for Soldiers. She’s doing a spectacular job of it, too!

You all know that the problems of children and the homeless are the ones that tug most fiercely at my heartstrings. Karen blogged about an alumni association that is making a homeless child’s dream come true. That’s what I’m talking about!

My pal Val has some good news that hits closer to home. She’s very proud of her young son who got caught committing random acts of kindness. Knowing his mom, it doesn’t surprise me at all that he’s such a good kid!

And, finally - I had a hard time selecting good stuff to share this week simply because I found so many wonderful stories! The holidays bring out the best in people, and I shared several stories about good people doing good things. Ah, lucky we live Hawaii!

Does the front page of your local paper sometimes make you feel like the world is a terrible place? It’s not, you know, but you may have to do a little sleuthing to find the evidence. Skip over those bleak headlines every now and then and go right to the inside pages. Dig out the stories of hope and kindness. Make sure you let me know when you blog about the Good Stuff so I can help you share!

Technorati Tags: good news, current events, local stories, meme

My gal pal Val

We didn’t have much money when I was growing up. My mom was very frugal with whatever money was available, but the important things got taken care of. My folks believed everyone should have a good mattress and good shoes, so they never went low-budget on those things. With four kids, all in glasses and three with braces on their teeth, though, there just wasn’t much “extra” to go around. Still, I don’t remember knowing we were “poor” when we were quite young, probably because we always had fun stuff to do and didn’t know we were missing anything. I was thinking about that when I browsed through Fun, Crafts and Recipes to put together a review for my friend Val. I remember making our own paste with flour and water, and I remember we always had a good supply of “Play Dough,” long before Hasboro or whoever it was started selling the stuff. Bubbles were probably a nickel a bottle back then, but Mom wasn’t going to spend that nickel (times four) when the ingredients were close to hand. Looking through the Val’s craft ideas turned into a nostalgia trip for me, because she’s got instructions for many of the things Mom made, and that you can still make with your kids (it’s so much more fun when you do it together!)

Where Val really shines, though, is with her cooking recipes. I copied her slow-cooked California Tamale Pie recipe and have it on my kitchen bulletin board so I’ll remember to get the ingredients. I can’t imagine why someone would spoil such a fine recipe with black olives (I guess that’s the “California part of the dish) but I’ll adapt it to my tastes because it sounds heavenly! Many of Val’s recipes are the comfort foods you’ve known since childhood, like onion soup and pound cake, but some have been updated to reflect the ingredients in our modern pantry and the appliances we rely on these days (like slow-cookers.) I guarantee you’ll find something there that will send you on a stroll down memory lane!

I can’t talk about Fun, Crafts and Recipes without mentioning two special features. Val’s first-ever contest is going on right now. I’ve entered (several times, in fact) and you’re going to want to do the same. The prize is a copy of Dad’s Own Cookbook, which is marketed as being for beginners. Don’t believe it! Yes, it looks like a great primer for new cooks, but it’s also chock-full of basic recipes you might not have handy through other sources. If I don’t win I’ll be buying a copy of my own.

Val’s other special feature is Four Foods on Friday. You’ve probably seen that on my blog. Each week Val poses four questions. Her readers answer in a post on their own blog, then Val synopsizes the entries on Fridays. It’s a fun meme for everyone who eats - that’s you, right? Go play, then browse around Fun, Crafts and Recipes. You’ll find some good stuff there - you have my solemn promise!

Technorati Tags: blogs, contests, crafts, recipes

December 17, 2007

Bloggers Unite in Acts of Kindness

I believe that everything we do can have an effect on people around us and even across the globe. The ripple effect itself is neutral and can carry large cumberson acts of ugliness as easily as small kindnesses. As an extreme example of the former, does anyone doubt that the events of September 11, 2001, hatched in one man’s black heart, had an impact on millions of people around the globe, creating suspicion, uneasiness and even hatred in many? Conversely, one woman’s wish that the children around her could all have shoes led to the creation of The Slippah Fund, which has provided slippers and Christmas cheer to hundreds of children around the island of Oahu.

Every day we have numerous opportunities to start a ripple, for good or ill. As bloggers we impact our readers, who can influence their readers, on and on, ad infinitum. Bloggers Unite is an acknowledgement of the power we can weild for change and has issued a challenge to all bloggers everywhere:

Bloggers Unite challenges bloggers everywhere, on December 17th, to do something good offline — an act of kindness — and then post about it on their blogs, using words, pictures, and/or videos to tell the story.

“Maybe 20,000 bloggers, vloggers, photographers will make a difference.”

I’m stuck in my office right now and won’t be out and about until this afternoon, but I didn’t want to pass by the opportunity to spread the word to other bloggers so they might be motivated to join in. I’ve chosen, therefore, to post this morning about another blogger who is making a difference.

I run a contest on my blog every Tuesday. Linking it here would be self-serving, so let’s skip that part. A while back I suggested to my readers that they could use their prize, a linky love post, to publicize a charitable or non-profit site instead of their own blog. Chuck Foxtrot liked that idea and asked me to review a charity of my choice when he won the weekly contest. I posted about Chemo Angels, an organization that provides tangible support to people with cancer who are undergoing the rigors of chemotherapy. Last week Chuck stepped up to the plate again.

Two weeks ago a terrible storm blew through Hawaii. It was a difficult and uncomfortable time for me and my neighbors as we lost power and were stranded for several days because access to our coast was blocked by downed utility poles. I blogged it once the power was back on, of course, and mentioned that I had lost a few hundred dollars or so of food because of the lack of refrigeration. I don’t have a lot of money and certainly could have done without the expense of restocking, but imagine, if you will, the more serious repercussions for my neighbors who live on the beach. Emergency shelters were opened, but many of our homeless are distrustful of such places and chose to ride out the storm on their own. Their flimsy tents and tarps could not withstand the gale-force winds. They lost their shelters and whatever food, clothing and other possessions they had. Local charitable groups sprang into action to try to help. It was those efforts I thought of when I got an email from Chuck. Each month I draw the name of one of my weekly contest winners and award that blogger a small gift card. Chuck won the drawing for November and this was his reaction:

“I like $10 as much as the next guy, but please use the $10 to restore your refrigerator to its normally stocked condition or send it along to a local charity to help with the storm. I know $10 isn’t much, but it’s my contribution to the Hawaiian storm recovery effort.”

Mahalo Chuck! Your ten dollars is feeding a homeless family today, or perhaps helped purchase a new tent to provide them shelter and privacy. A small act of kindness on your behalf has sent out ripples that have reached across an ocean to someone in need. I salute you my indiosyncratic friend. You’re one of the good guys. Mahalo nui loa!

While I’m out and about today I’ll be looking for an opportunity to perform my own act of kindness. Won’t you do the same, and come back and tell me all about it? Just this once, toot your own horn and tell me about the good thing you’ve done!

Technorati Tags: acts of kindness, bloggers, Bloggers Unite, charities

December 13, 2007

Share Some Good Stuff

Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with the bad news that we forget that there are good things going on around us all the time. We can’t change the headlines, but we can seek out that which is good, that which is uplifting, that which shines with a positive radiance - the good stuff. Here’s some recent feel-great stories:

Two young people in Norwell, Massachusetts came up with a charitable program that benefits the givers as well as the recievers. Chatbug Karen shared their story.

The Kiwanis Club in Marlboro, New Jersey is looking out for kids who might not be able to look out for themselves Val is praising them and the other organizations that assisted the project.

In the aftermath of our recent storm, I found that adversity can bring out the best in people.

Isn’t there some good news in your own community that you’d like to share? Write a post about it and send me the link. I’ll hook you up with a link above. Let’s ignore the ugly headlines, dig down deep and Share Some Good Stuff!

Technorati Tags: good news, current events, local stories, meme