Here is a list of websites that offer food and cooking info you can use when planning your holiday meals! Each link will open in a new browser window.
1. The Splendid Table's "Turkey Confidential" - This page contains the two-hour Thanksgiving episode of America Public Media's food and cooking show, The Splendid Table. In addition to the recording, there are twenty-one recipes covering all holiday meal courses, and even great ways to fix leftovers. Lynne Rossetto Kasper's style is very friendly, positive, and she gives easy-to-follow recipe ideas and cooking tips. Her love of cooking and how it brings family and friends together shines through every episode.
2. McCormick's "How Old Are Your Spices" - If you have McCormick brand herbs and spices in your pantry, you can find out how old they are in mere seconds. Simply enter the product code on the bottom of your spice jar and the city listed on the label in their easy-to-use form. I discovered my poultry seasoning was thirteen years old! Even if the McCormick website says your flavoring is out-of-date, double check it yourself. Take these three steps to see if it's time to run to your favorite spice store:
Look at the herb or spice: Is it faded or discolored?
Open the jar and smell it: Can you smell anything? If not, it's probably lost all flavor.
Taste the herb or spice: Either taste a bit on your finger or mix some flavoring into a small amount of cottage cheese or plain yogurt. If there is no discernable flavor, toss it.
(I tested my poultry seasoning and it was a goner.)
3. Consumer Report's "Wine Buying Guide" - If you are unfamiliar with wine styles, how to serve and store wines, or typical wine lingo, this page and its links will get you started on the delicious vine-ripened path. This section is open to the public. Consumer Reports also offers ratings and other information for their online and magazine subscribers.
4. All About Beer's "Stylistically Speaking" - Going the barley-and-hops route, but not sure what beer style would go best with turkey, ham, or roast beef? Check out All About Beer magazine's online beer style guide! The listings are reprints from their magazine. Be sure to click on the Next link at the bottom of the page to discover even more types of beer. When you click on the Read More link, you'll get in-depth information about a beer style, and some representative beers. Ready for even more beer information? See their extensive Buyer's Guide for Beer Lovers. I've enjoyed reading All About Beer for several years. They contain some good info for hard-core beer fans and brewers, along with new-to-beer friendly reviews and beer-centric travel ideas.
5. Cheese.com - Want a little cheese with that wine (or beer)? Find out everything you wanted to know about cheese and what to expect when you're expecting to eat cheese on this website.
And of course, ask your local food specialty shop, artisan producer, friends and family for great ideas to make your holidays special!
Here are some photos from our attempted BP MS150 2009 Saint Arnold Team volunteer set-up day, April 17, 2009.
The eight of us got together late in the morning, loaded up the food, supplies, and the riders' luggage for both La Grange and Austin. We ended up with five vehicles, three of them pulling trailers. The Saint Arnold MS150 team has over 350 riders, so we need a lot of stuff to take care of them properly! While we were loading and getting everything together, we watched the weather forecast. It hadn't started raining in Houston yet, but we knew a bad storm was on the way. The clouds were threatening and we heard a bit of thunder.
We stopped in Sealy for a quick lunch. The rain started coming down pretty hard while we were eating.
We drove through on and off rain and moderate traffic along I-10 to Columbus, where we turned north onto Hwy 71.
Then the rain really started coming down. We think we saw hail for a moment, but then it just settled into heavy rain and strong easterly winds. We drove through the severe weather, with occasionally awesome lightning until about Ellinger.
As we drove to La Grange, the major rivers, the Brazos and Colorado, were very full - up to and over some of the trees on its banks. I've seen the rivers that high before, usually once or twice per year when we have lots of rain. Even though I'm used to it, the power and size of the rushing water is still humbling to me.
What was surprising is the amount of flooding along Hwy 71. All of the fields and pastures had several inches of water on them, and they were draining into creeks and streams that are dry most of the time. In fact, I didn't know there were that many stream beds viewable from the highway because I had never seen water in them. All of these creeks had flood-stage rushing water, flowing into the drainage ditches along the highway.
At one point, we saw the most amazing thing. A huge flooded pasture was draining towards a highway ditch. Everything was covered in water, so it looked like a small lake. Close to the highway, there must be a large drain hole because we saw a huge mass of dried rushes/cattails/cornstalks, at least 6 feet across, just spinning around and around in a powerful whirlpool. The vortex wasn't pulling the stalks down, just spinning them in a very cool, and kinda scary way. We drove by too fast and I was too surprised to take a picture, but everyone else we talked to who saw it was amazed also. One guy did say he took a picture of it and I hope to see it.
We arrived at the Fayette County fairgrounds in La Grange at 4pm. Right before we arrived, we had gotten a call from one of the team riders, saying he had been told the MS150 ride had been canceled. We pulled up and saw a lot of water in the fairground ditches, and some vehicles being turned away from the fairground entrance. The team captain, Ann, talked to the MS150 officials to find out the verdict.
For the first time ever, the MS150 organizers had to cancel the first day of this two-day ride. From what we saw at the fairgrounds (flooded tents, very soft ground, reports of fallen tents) and what we saw along the way, I agree that was the right call.
The ride is along some back highways and state roads, some of which have low spots that had to be flooded. It would be too dangerous to ask not only 13,000 bicyclists, but also the thousands of volunteers to travel on these roads.
Also, the ground was so soft at the fairgrounds, the large trucks and volunteer vehicles would get stuck. There are dozens or maybe hundreds of large circus-size tents in the fairgrounds, and if the stakes cut loose from the ground, large heavy poles would fall, causing another hazard. Finally, all of the generators for lights and sound systems presented a major electrical shock hazard.
As I sit in my warm office in Houston and listen to the rain pour down from the dark sky, I wish I was pouring beer in the rain for tired, wet, and thankful cyclists in La Grange. All of us volunteers were ready to suffer through a bit of rain to support these wonderful people, willing to raise money and ride 180 miles in two days for such a good cause. But we understand that safety has to come first.
Day Two of the BP MS150 is being held tomorrow (Sunday, April 19). It starts in La Grange and goes 80 miles to Austin, where team and ride volunteers will cheer and support the riders able to make the second day. I wish everyone a safe and fun ride!
I had a very easy time voting today. I printed out a copy of the League of Women Voters' Voting Guide with my choices pre-selected before I went to the polls. I made my selections in the federal, state, and local races, including many judges.
My voting philosophy is simple.
1. I vote for a person, not a party.
2. I vote for a person or issue, not against.
3. I only vote if I know something about the candidate.
This led to my decision to not vote for either candidate for State Board of Education. Neither of them were worth my vote.
My studio is a few blocks from my polling place, so I walked there at 11:15 am. I arrived at 11:30 am. There was no line. I was prepared to wait because I brought water, some candy, and a book. Since I had preselected all of my votes, I made almost fifty selections in less than ten minutes, using the electronic voting machines.
A group of us went to WurstFest, a ten-day celebration of sausage (and all that goes with it) in early November. Wurst Fest is in the pretty small town of New Braunfels, TX. The gang we went with, as well as other friends we met at the festival, are all fans and friends of Saint Arnold Brewing.
We had a great time, listening to polka and German folk music, eating ham hocks, sauerkraut, and German potato salad, and drinking Warsteiner dark beer.
We drove our Jeep, with the top down and the doors off. I was at first a little nervous, despite I was wearing my seatbelt and holding onto the support bar, but it was fine. Driving home that evening was cold, though, because the air temps varied between 58 - 65. We had the heater on full-blast, which helped a little bit. It felt at least a little adventurous. :)
I filmed the video handheld with a Panasonic PV-GS320 mini-DV recorder and edited it in Adobe Premiere.
A slightly larger and brighter version of this video is on my personal YouTube channel.
1. The Splendid Table's "Turkey Confidential" - This page contains the two-hour Thanksgiving episode of America Public Media's food and cooking show, The Splendid Table. In addition to the recording, there are twenty-one recipes covering all holiday meal courses, and even great ways to fix leftovers. Lynne Rossetto Kasper's style is very friendly, positive, and she gives easy-to-follow recipe ideas and cooking tips. Her love of cooking and how it brings family and friends together shines through every episode.
2. McCormick's "How Old Are Your Spices" - If you have McCormick brand herbs and spices in your pantry, you can find out how old they are in mere seconds. Simply enter the product code on the bottom of your spice jar and the city listed on the label in their easy-to-use form. I discovered my poultry seasoning was thirteen years old! Even if the McCormick website says your flavoring is out-of-date, double check it yourself. Take these three steps to see if it's time to run to your favorite spice store:
