Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Loved the 60's!

I loved Christmas in the 60's! I use to get presents like these.



This was first on my Christmas list one year.




I still remember mixing up the little packages of cake mix
with a little water and putting the mix in the pans.




Yep, even had one of these! Rock'em Sock'em Robots!
Do you know that this set is selling for $255?
Who knew!



What was your favorite Christmas toy when you were younger?

Happy Tuesday!
- Jennifer

Monday, June 29, 2009

We're going to patent XM

There's extra small (XS) and there's extra large (XL).
Why isn't there an extra medium? (XM)



Have a super Monday!

- Jennifer

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Ozzy

Remember when:

January 20th, at a concert in Des Moines, Iowa someone throws a bat on stage. Stunned by the light, the bat lay motionless and Ozzy thinking it was plastic, (of course he had to be drinking, or high on something to think this thing was plastic!) picks it up and bites the head off of it. The bat then started to flap his wings and Ozzy soon realized it wasn't fake! After the show Ozzy was immediately rushed to the hospital for rabies shots. Ozzy describes it as "one of the most horrible, painful experiences of my life."






So you see.....Ozzy thought it was fake. He's really not a bad guy...
I like Ozzy
Rock on Ozzy, Rock on!

Happy Thursday!
- Jennifer

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Holy Hannah!

Look Sandi...... Minnesota isn't just about snow!
We tied ya in the degree department.
Holy Hannah it was H O T yesterday!




Now where's that pool? And a beer?


Happy Hump Day!

- Jennifer

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

BLECH!

B.E. Earl over at The Verdant Dude has been doing beer/brewery reviews for his blogger buddies based on the State they live in. Turns out Minnesota doesn't have Crap shit for local brewery's. I'm also thankful that he no longer ties Leinenkugel & Arcadia. Wisconsin and Michigan beers with Minnesota! Thanks BEE for all of your hard work!

Here's his review:

"Beer me, Earl!" Reviews - Part 3 of 4

Note: Most of the information gathered in these regional beer profiles has been gleaned from the the wonderful users over at BeerAdvocate. Their reviews are a must for any serious brew-hound. Also, I decided to exclude brewpubs from these profiles and just stick with actual craft breweries. Generally a brewpub makes beer that is only sold in it's own establishment. I wanted to stay with breweries whose product you could actually find at your local store/distributor/bar. Hopefully. And I'm only going to highlight 2 or 3 per region. Also, feel free to nit-pick. I dig beer and all, but I'm certainly not the absolute last word on it. - Earl

This has been a lot of fun, and informative for me as well. I am finding a bunch of beers that I would like to try myself, and I am giving the list to Gia to see if she can get a hold of them thru work. Here goes part III:

Jennifer - "I'm from Minnesota. Beer me, Earl!"
When I first saw Jennifer's beer profile request I thought "Blech...Leinenkugel! I hate that stuff." Then I thought "Hmm...Arcadia. I love that stuff!" Then I realized that Leinenkugel is from Wisconsin and Arcadia is from Michigan. I'm afraid my East-Coast bias is rearing it's ugly head once again in these profiles. Sigh. So it was off to BeerAdvocate for me to see if I recognized anything at all from Minnesota.


Nope. Nada. Zilch. Nothing out of the 11 breweries and 15 brewpubs in the state. But I did find the worst reviewed brewery I have ever seen, and another that was pretty close. Both in Cold Springs. Wow. Anyway, I have decided that I am going to pick a couple of them based solely on my interest in their beers. And based solely on that, I would love to try a bunch of the beers from Surly Brewing Company in Brooklyn Center. Check out the names of THESE beers. CynicAle, Hell, Furious and Tea-Bagged Furious. Awesome! And they come in cans, which I love. Double the awesome! I can't really tell you exactly what kind of beers they are because they brew them specifically so that they can be easily categorized into one style. As their head brewer says ""Surly Brewing Company's beers are NOT brewed to fit into ANY beer style guidelines. So please spread the word!" So I'm doing it. It looks like they are only available in Chicago outside of Minnesota. Pity. I would love to give them a try.

Lift Bridge Brewery in Stillwater is probably the newest brewery in Minnesota. They only have 6 beers or so in their stable, but they all sound interesting and their website is simple and informative. One beer that they brew, in particular, tickles my fancy. It's called Biscotti and it is a Belgian-style ale inspired by the biscotti recipe of one of the brewer's grandmother. Grains of Paradise, Vanilla and anise notes are present in addition to the traditional hops, oats, honey, malt Belgian yeast. Sounds sooo tasty. Since it is so new, I would assume that it is only available local, but you never know. Check it out.


Now you'll have to excuse me. I'm off to go open up a nice tasty, frosty Bud Light!


Happy Hiccup Tuesday!
- Jennifer

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day!!!!

I just wanted to wish all you Dad's out there a very Happy Father's Day!!!!


Sandi

from Magma, Texas

Friday, June 19, 2009

I'm still eating it so there!


Food maker Nestle USA on Friday voluntarily recalled its Toll House refrigerated cookie dough products after a number of illnesses were reported by those who ate the dough raw.


The FDA advised consumers to throw away any prepackaged, refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough products in their homes.


Well........ I don't care. I'm still eating the stuff because IT'S GOOD!!

Have a Super Father's Day Weekend!

- Jennifer

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Classic Cars

We're going to the "Back to the 50's Classic Car Show" this weekend. We'll be seeing a lot of these. Oh, one other thing. Why do guys always drive classic cars with their right arm extended up on the top of the seat? To look cool? What happened to both hands on the wheel at the 10 & 2 position? I don't get it.

Anyway, Have a Wonderful Thursday!

- Jennifer


Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Back away from our fainting goats!

Chuck, your such a loser!




Happy Wednesday!
- Jennifer

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Mr. Favre to be a Minnesota Viking!!

Well.... it's true! Mr. Favre is coming to Minnesota to play for the VIKINGS!!!! Pop the corn, grab a beer. Lot's of it because we are going to kick all of your asses this year. Except you Peyton, you always rock in my book!! Go Colts!

Have a super Tuesday!
- Jennifer






Monday, June 15, 2009

Just because he rocks!



You Go Spongebob Squarepants!
- Jennifer

Friday, June 12, 2009

Time for Another Recipe!

Ya'll remember my story about my husband having his hip replaced? Yes? No? No matter, cause the best part of his surgery (although husband may disagree here) was our close friends, John and Carol, brought us some of the most amazing broccoli casserole I've EVER had in my life. I talked Carol into sharing the recipe with me and now I'm going to share it with you!!!! At our church, if there are 5 Sunday's in the month, on the 5th Sunday we have a covered dish lunch. Some of the best food I've ever tasted in my life I've had at church on 5th Sunday. I made this dish last Sunday and took it. There was maybe 5 tablespoons left........(fortunately, this recipe makes a huge amount and I had set some aside for us!!!)

Since it was the first time I'd made it using Carol's recipe I was a little apprehensive. Nothing ever tastes quite as good as when someone else makes it. Well, it tasted exactly like Carol's.

Carol's Broccoli Rice Recipe (for 9 x 13 casserole dish - makes ALOT - the casserole dish will be full)

Ingredients

celery, chopped (2 cups) - I think I used 3-4 ribs
1 large white onion, chopped (approximately 2 cups)
Broccoli - I used two 26 oz. bags of frozen chopped or florets broccoli (or at least 3 large bunches of fresh broccoli florets) - whatever floats your boat
2 cups Velveeta cheese, cut up into cubes
2-1/2 cups butter (oh yeahhhhhh........butter!!!!)
2 can's Cream of Mushroom Soup
2-1/4 cups long grain rice, cooked
Pam cooking spray

Preparation

Rice: Place 1-1/4 cups of rice in pan and add 2-1/2 cups water and 3 teaspoons butter. Bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer and simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is fluffy (if some gets burned, just don't add that part! lol.) Dump into a large (AKA HUGE BOWL) bowl and set aside.

Broccoli: Place all of the broccoli in a large pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Let boil until broccoli can be broken up with a fork. Drain (being especially careful not to drain on your foot - but we won't go there!!!)and then set aside to cool and then chop into smaller pieces. I left mine in the strainer after draining and cut it into smaller pieces with a sharp knife.

I had the rice and broccoli cooking while I was making the sauce. That way the rice and broccoli were done about the time I had finished the sauce.

The Sauce: melt 3-1/2 sticks of butter in a large skillet. To this, add the chopped celery and saute until just about done. Then add the chopped onions to the celery and butter and finish cooking until both the celery and onions are soft. Add 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, stir and mix thoroughly. To this, add the 2 cups of cubed cheese a few at a time while they melt evenly, until all cheese has been used.

Now add the broccoli to the bowl with the cooked rice and mix it up. Gradually add your sauce to the broccoli/rice mixture. Stir and mix as you go. If it's soupy looking, that's great!

Spray your 9 x 13 casserole dish with Pam cooking spray and then add mixture. Cook uncovered in a 350 degree oven until browned and bubbling.

Now, if you need even more than this, here's the recipe for the 6 x 11 casserole dish.

1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1-1/2 sticks of butter
2 cups cooked rice (1 cup of rice to 2 cups water)
2 cups broccoli florets or chopped broccoli
2 cups Velveeta cheese, cubed

Use instructions above to prepare this smaller dish.

I hope you enjoy this. Please let me know how you like it!!!!! :)

~Blessings~
Sandi

P.S. JENNIFER!!!! WHERE'S THE SALSA?

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Our President


It's "kind of" cool to see a President being himself!

Happy Thursday!

- Jennifer

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Must haves

I'm sure you've purchased a "must have" kitchen item.
Used it once and then they sit on the shelve never to be seen again.
I've done it ..... plenty of times! Here are two that come to mind.



I spent $60.00 frickin dollars for the Magic Bullet. I used it ONCE! Maybe I should sell it on EBay. "1 - Gently Used Magic Bullet"

How about you? Have any of these stashed away in the kitchen cupboard?

HAPPY HUMP DAY!

- Jennifer

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Bud!

I not only love Budlight.....I love my horses! What a great combination. This one puts a tear in my eye! Enjoy! - Jennifer




Friday, June 5, 2009

My Video of the Indy 500 - 2009 Start

Enjoy! This is what it's like. This is the video I took of the start of this years Indy 500!






It's Phryday's Photo Fiesta over at Candid Carrie's Go say hi to Carrie (my Wisconsin neighbor) and take a look at all of her blogger's crazy fun foto's!!


Have a super Weekend!!


- Jennifer

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Name That Mosquito!

I own a mosquito. Who doesn't in Minnesota? I've had him for over 20 years. Don't mind his missing eyeball. It fell off somewhere along the interstate when I moved back to Minnesota. He's a tad rusty too. Maybe I'll give him a new coat of paint this weekend.
I can't toss him, my brother and sis-in-law bought him for me and I'm kind of attached to the little sucker. He's lived in a lot of places. Even out of the country!


Another thing he's missing besides his eyeball is a name. Should I name him?
Any ideas?




This is where he resides! On the corner of the patio.



Happy Friday Eve!!

- Jennifer

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

I'm a Loser!

Last week Dr. Zibbs over at the That Blue Yak held a contest to design a new header for him. He was getting sick of his gay garden header. So off I went to my photo editor and created what I thought was a pretty nice header. Sadly, I didn't win. Maybe I should have spent more than 1.7 minutes on my creation. Below is the header I designed. Head on over to That Blue Yak and see what the other loser's created! The winner's design is up now on Zibb's page and it is amazing!


Happy I'm A Loser Wednesday!!

- Jennifer

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

The Triple D Burger

I love this guy. No really, Guy Fiera from the Food Network.



While filming his show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
at Joe's Gizzard City in MI, Guy created a new burger.

It's a battered deep fried burger. Bun and all. Doesn't this look delish???


The Triple D Burger



All I can say is I would stop eating for one week if only I could try one.
As you can imagine, it's not low in calories / fat! Excuse me while
I go get a beer. This photo is making me thirsty!

Happy Fat Tuesday!

- Jennifer

Monday, June 1, 2009

Monday

Have you ever Googled "Monday"? I didn't think so.
So here, let me help you out!



I have no idea why blades of grass would have anything to do with Monday but I don't run the internet.

Have a Super Monday Anyway!

- Jennifer