Featured Post

NaNoWriMo: What is it?

Put the ice queens, princesses, witches, monsters, pirates, Doctors, and whatever other costume the kids wore away.  Halloween is almost ove...

Sunday, February 28, 2016

The Voice in the First Half of an Election Year?

Alright folks, it's been a crazy couple of weeks, but I'm excited.  Do you want to know why?  The Voice starts again on Monday, which is also a leap year extra day....I think several hi-jinks will ensue.  For those who were born on a Feb 29, no matter the year, I don't no if I should apologize or envy you.

But enough on the once every four year phenomenon.  No what's got me excited is that if you've subscribed to The Voice's YouTube channel you've likely seen them: the coach ads.  I have yet to see one for Blake, but the three I did see made me laugh.  It also put me in mind of the fact that yes, it's a presidential election year.  So, now I've got even more on my plate to do, because I need to update myself on who is actually running for the election and where they stand on the issues that matter most to me.

Do I care about what they claim they'll do once in office?  Not unless they can explain how and it makes sense to me, but doesn't feel like it goes against what we need.  I haven't been watching the Voice very long, but it one I don't have to sit in front of the TV and watch, either.  I can listen to it while doing other things and not miss out.  Anyway, since I can't watch it when it airs, I have to wait for Hulu to air the episodes.

I don't know which coach I like most, but their ads are worth watching.  I'll post the links below.  What about you?  Do you watch The Voice and, if so, do you have a favorite coach?


Coach Campaign Links:
Pharrell Williams - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZvl6VNfALI
Christina Aguilera - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B20timw0yCo
Adam Levine - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zNJXIoogj0

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Cookbooks: Microwave Cooking, Week 1

So in 2016: It's A New Year!, I mentioned doing a weekly synopsis to help me go through a number of cookbooks to try and cut back the number of them that we have.  I randomly chose a cookbookfrom our large stash.  It's Betty Crocker's Microwave Cooking.  The version I have was printed in it's format in 1986.

The first two recipes I tried out of it were Hamburger Patties on page 10 and Broccoli Italiano on page 50.  The hamburger patties were actually really good.  I did forget the prepared horseradish and brushed homemade ketchup over the top.  Disappointingly, we didn't have buns to put them on, and using regular sandwich bread just wouldn't cut it.  I, however was not a huge fan of the broccoli.  They were easy to make though.  If I had tried a bit better to time it right, I probably wouldn't have had as many frustrations, even if I had read both recipes a few times before starting.

The only real hiccup I ran into was not having ketchup and not wanting to go out to buy it, so my husband found a recipe online and we made our own using vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, and tomato paste.  The ketchup turned out really well.

When it comes to the broccoli italiano, I personally felt that it had too much breadcrumbs used rather than a flavorful mix of crumbs and parmesan cheese topping broccoli.  Perhaps it's just the grittiness that I had an issue with.

These were the only recipes I managed to try out of the cookbook, and it was an easy start.  Would I try to make them again?  We both enjoyed the hamburger patties, and yes, I plan to make them again.  Maybe this time I won't forget the horseradish.  If I choose to ever try the broccoli dish again, I hope to alter it so the breadcrumb topping isn't quite as disappointing.  The broccoli was good, however so there were redeeming qualities to it.

#ThankYouDanielBryan

This past Monday an announcement was made to the world about a wrestler who is retiring.  I should probably remind that I'm not a huge wrestling fan.  There have been a few that when my husband watches them, I'll sit down to watch as well.  This doesn't mean I get annoyed when I miss a particular event or go all crazy when there's an event nearby (not that there is anything wrong with that.  I go crazy about certain authors, and was exceedingly manic for a while in regards to Hawaii Five-O, Once Upon A Time, Bleach, and Grimm.  Let's just say with how varied my interests are, I change manicness regularly).  It's just that this particular wrestler was entertaining even within the between fight story line things.

In case you didn't know who this wrestler was/is, he's not dead, but for health reasons can no longer wrestler (stupid concussions!).  I, for one, will miss Daniel Bryan.  The only other wrestler that I liked and enjoyed watching wrestling because of also retired from the ring for health reasons...only a few short months after I admitted to enjoying watching him.  That particular wrestler was Edge.  Typically I'm not superstitious, but in this case, I think it's justified if I refuse to announce to liking or enjoying watching particular wrestlers as wrestlers.  So, yeah, there's that.

I won't go into all the accomplishments or things that I enjoyed watching about Daniel Bryan, but I will admit that one of my favorites was his time on Team Hell No.  That always made me laugh.  Just the antics between the two and as I think about it now, I've a slight grin forming.  Stupid psychologist/therapist.  Anyway, I just wanting to type how sincerely I'll miss watching Daniel Bryan in the ring, but I hope everything goes well for him and his wife.  I'll miss him, yes, but I hope he's happy as he starts a new chapter of his life.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Super Bowl and FutureLearn

So I meant to post this much earlier, and I would apologize, but that's getting tedious.  I believe I've mentioned that posts might be sporadic.  I promise I'm trying, but I still don't have my computer.  So instead I'd like to thank you for returning to my posts even with the waits between them.

For those who live in the United States of America, today was a bit of a special day - Super Bowl Sunday.  I'm going to be honest.  I know absolutely nothing about the Super Bowl except that it's a huge football event and the commercials during it are usually pretty epic.  That being said, I hope those who watched the Super Bowl were well entertained by either the game or the commercials (whichever reason you were watching it.)  My first time hearing about Super Bowl Sunday was from one of our regularly watched family shows as a kid.  It could have been Full House, Roseanne, or Home Improvement.  I don't really remember which one.  Football has never been a sport I really watched.  Heck, I've never really watched sports.  They tend to bore me from the home sidelines.  Even at the event, if I'm not participating or don't understand the game (like the fact that I just can't seem to grasp the rules of football) I quickly lose interest.

Outside of that...I haven't been up to too much, just trying to keep up on house chores...Oh!  I'm participating in some Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) through Future Learn.  It's kind of nice, and I can take it at me own speed working around everything, even putting a few courses on hold until I have time to return to them.  With my huge list of varying interests, this is a terrific benefit!

Anyway, hoping you guys enjoyed the start of February!  And Happy Valentine's a week early!