2998 Delicious pumpkin recipes

As announced publicly here 4 weeks ago (after a summer of wonderful travel and even more wonderful eating on the run) I planned to cut back on the calories and step up the exercise. I posted my 13 food triggers. So far, that has worked very well. I'm not a list maker by nature, but this is working for me, and I would probably throw out my shoulder again patting myself on the back. I'm feeling something I haven't experienced in a long, long time--space in my jeans.

But it is boring! Say what you want about fruits and vegetables, all their health benefits and antioxidants, vitamins, etc., they just don't satisfy the way a cracker with butter and cheese would. However, let me tell you about pumpkins.
Photo borrowed from "on the rock."
Pumpkin doesn't have to be cut from the vine and cooked and mashed. No, Libby's has done that for you! If you're the mother earth type, be my guest. One serving (can label) has only 40 calories, 20% of your fiber needs for the day, and a whopping 300% of Vitamin A (80% as beta carotene), and also has small amounts of C, E, Calcium and iron. And there's nothing in the can except pumpkin.

"The key nutrient that boosts pumpkin to the top of the SuperFoods Rx list is the synergistic combination of carotenoids, powerful antioxidants which have been shown to decrease the risk of various cancers, including those of the lung, colon, bladder, breast, and skin, lower the rate of heart disease, and decrease the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. Pumpkin contains one of the richest supplies of bioavailable alpha-carotene and beta-carotene to be found. Canned pumpkin is one of those foods that give the lie to the notion that fresh is always best." SuperFoods Rx.

So here's what I did:
1 8oz. fat free cream cheese blended with
3/4 C. Splenda
drop or two of vanilla
pinch of salt
2/3 can of pure pumpkin (about 10 oz.)
1/2 8 oz. carton of sugar free Cool Whip
Use spices accordingly--label calls for cinnamon, ginger, cloves in varying amounts--because this isn't cooked after you mix it, I'd go easy.

Put in a graham cracker 8-9 in. crust, or to reduce calories more, use small dessert cups. Top with some Cool Whip after letting it set-up in the frig for a few hours.
I drizzled some sugar free hot fudge on top--yummy combination. Neither chocolate nor graham cracker crust are food triggers for me, even so this is so yummy, next time I'll put it in a dish.

Then because I had 1/3 of a can left over, I decided to try pumpkin egg nog. I wasn't sure how this would work out--had never even thought about it, but here's what I did, and it is yummy too.

1 qt. low fat milk
2 eggs
4 Tbsp Splenda
1 tsp vanilla
teeny pinch of salt

Beat with egg beater until eggs are thoroughly mixed.
Put 5 oz. pumpkin puree in the blender and add about a cup of the milk/egg mix.
Whirl a few seconds. Canned pumpkin is sort of thick and this smooths it out. Add back to the milk/egg mix.
Cook at low heat for 5-10 minutes or so. (Don't ever eat raw or uncooked eggs--I was a vet med librarian and trust me on this! The stories I could tell!)
Sprinkle to taste with cinnamon and/or nutmeg.

Chill. Although warmed up is good too. Enjoy a healthy, low fat, refreshing and seasonal drink in front of the fireplace.

Elevator accident at Ohio State

You probably saw this story on the national news--about the freshman at Ohio State who was crushed by the dorm elevator. According to the report I heard yesterday, there were 24 students jammed in the elevator, about 1100 lbs. beyond the weight limit. The accident is under investigation, but the version I heard was that the doors wouldn't close as it started to move, so Andrew Polakowski, a freshman pre-business major, tried to escape by climbing out. The other 23 were stuck in the elevator and I just can't even imagine their horror as they watched him struggle. I know they get counseling for elementary kids after school disasters, but surely this is an image that will stay with them the rest of their lives.

The elevator passed inspection in July, but now the local news is finding students who report problems they've had in the past. The crowd around that freshman dorm is probably made up of lawyers.

Columbus Dispatch account

Monday Memories

October is National Roller Skating Month! Take the family skating. When I was a young girl, there was a roller rink across from the White Pines State Park, about 7 miles south of our town, near Dixon, Illinois. There is still a rink at that location, but I don't know if it is the same building. The rules certainly look the same. The floor was made of terrazzo, there was an audience seating area, a place to check out skates if you didn't own them, a changing area with nice murals of the area, and a snack bar. I'm not sure when it was built but I remember that my mother used to take us there on Saturday afternoons when I was in grade school, and if she would fall down, all of us would rush over and help her up.

White Pines Rink in early 50s

Borrowed from the rink site
On Sunday afternoons, someone would beg a parent (often my father who didn't seem to mind even though he drove a truck 6 days a week) to drive a carload to the rink. When I was a freshman in high school I dated a senior from Polo, Illinois, called "The Cisco Kid" by my schoolmates because he wore a leather fringed jacket and cowboy boots. He was a wonderful, graceful skater, so in order to keep up, I had to learn too. My skating days outlasted the relationship.

There was a short, plump woman who played the organ. The sides of the rink rolled up in sections like garage doors and the gravel drive way was slopped allowing people in their cars and watch the skaters. Sometimes in the summer you might look out in the dark and see a disgruntled boy in a car, and the ex-girlfriend was skating with someone else. Oh, it was very exciting! In the winter, the rink was all closed up, so you skated in extremely dusty conditions, and when you got home, your hair was gray!

The rink manager would announce certain "skates," and the really good skaters would show their skills--a waltz, or backward skate, or ladies choice, or a progressive skate, where you skated in a large circle and the men moved forward to a new partner. I don't remember the name of the owner, but for awhile in the 1970s my cousin Ron owned it.

First I used my mother's skates, then she gave me my own pair in a fancy blue case for Christmas one year. I think I kept them for over 40 years, and probably donated them when we move here. Skating isn't like riding a bicycle, I discovered. It's a skill that must be used or you forget how to balance. If I were to get on skates today, it would be the same as the very first time--but the bones are not quite as flexible. The last time I was on roller skates was probably in college.

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My visitors and those I'll visit this week are:Ma, Viamarie, Mrs. Lifecruiser, Debbie, Lazy Daisy, Lady Bug, Janene, Michelle, Anna, ChelleY. Jen, Melli Becki, Paul, Friday's Child, Irish Church Lady,Cozy Reader

National Roller Skating Month
roller rinks
1950s

2995 American families are unprepared

"Drs. Richard Dagrosa and John McManus, both emergency physicians in the military, surveyed people in San Antonio, Texas, including patients in two military hospital emergency departments. The survey results show no significant differences among military, retired military and civilian families in regard to having a disaster plan, designating a meeting place or having a disaster kit. Only half the families in the survey had prepared any kind of disaster plan, and only one-third possessed a disaster kit." Their survey was released during the annual meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) in New Orleans, October 15-18. Dagrosa is stationed at Wright-Patterson near Dayton.
Story from Responder Safety.

You can get the Emergency guidelines and recommendations from the American Red Cross which provides a list for Disaster Supplies Kit.

2994 Two day golf tournament

Friday when I was returning from a few errands, streets around here were filled with cars and the golf course was crowded with young people. It was a 2-day, 36 hole tournament, and the Upper Arlington (our community) team beat the defending Division I Dublin Jerome team. UA had two powerhouse members, but they couldn't have won without the full team.
The sun came out the second day

Same scene with zoom
As I've mentioned before, I think golf is as much fun as watching ice melt, but I have to admit, it makes more sense for a young person to build their eye hand skills and team rapport in golf than in basketball or football, or in computer gaming, because they can play well into their 80s, if they like the game. My father-in-law had knee replacements from punishing his legs in basketball long after they should've been benched, and my brother-in-law has done the same thing in hand-ball. Not that you can't throw out your shoulder or back in golf, but most of the life time injuries I've seen from sports have been from over use and under smarts.

Newly renovated Scarlet course, which was built in 1938, and completely revamped supervised by Jack Nicklaus in 2005-2006.

golf tournaments, high school sports, leisure activities

2993 The New York Times Editor admits to being a blabbermouth

Now he admits the terrorist banking data surveillance program was legal and that there's no evidence that anyone’s private data had actually been misused, so the story shouldn't have been leaked! Well, isn't that just so special. Michelle Malkin takes him to the woodshed. His reason--that the Bush administration had been critical of the Times--makes no sense at all. It's not like the Times hasn't been dishing it out. Besides, it's a newspaper, not a kid getting bullied on the playground. Riehl World View suspects the NYT wants Hillary in the White House, so they don't want the uber-left mucking around for 2 years.

New York Times, Byron Calame, surveillance program

2992 The Foley Follies

Flipping through the channels yesterday, I skipped c-span's coverage of the Foley investigation. I noticed there was a WaPo story in the paper today. Buried in it was:

"No one interviewed could cite any instance in which Foley had sex with a former page."

Three dozen interviews.

. . .his behavior was within "well-accepted norms of the page program."

Three dozen interviews.

"one page played along" because he had political ambitions. He never considered reporting Foley.

Now, when does the investigation begin of Congressmen who approached female pages and staff with inappropriate or sexual remarks, innuendo and little side trips to death? You know, those who know how to drive a car and use a phone, but might not be capable of IMs or who follied in the days before e-mail? Massachusetts seems to have a corner on the sex with staff and page problem--Kennedy and Studds.
Even so, I award this to the media, who just can't get enough of this non-story.

Media bias
Mark Foley
Liberal MSM

2991 The scariest blog out there

Last night blogger seemed to be down--so if your site meter took a hit, that's why. I couldn't read a single blog hosted at blogger.com--not my own, and not yours. So I flipped through my bookmarks just to see if I had some that were not located on this blog's links (which is usually how I find my favs). Sort of wish I'd watched TV instead. I read through 5 or 6 items in Counterterrorism Blog, and folks, I gotta tell ya, that's one scary website. You won't need any Halloween preparations--just read that one.

Scanning the list of biographies of the contributors, I thought this author has an interesting perspective, having been a member of all the "big-3" religions, and on both sides of the terrorism fence.

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross is a senior consultant for the Gerard Group International, a Massachusetts-based counterterrorism and homeland security firm. He frequently works with federal and local law enforcement, providing analysis of possible terrorist threats and activity as well as conducting topical training seminars. Daveed brings a unique perspective to his work. Born into a Jewish family, he converted to Islam in his early twenties and ended up working for the head U.S. office of the Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, an international Wahhabi charity that served as a major al-Qaeda financier. Prior to 9/11, Daveed left the Islamic faith for Christianity. By the time the FBI raided the Al Haramain offices where he worked, he was ready to assist the investigation. The experience is detailed in Daveed's first book, My Year Inside Radical Islam, which will hit stores in February 2007.

counterterrorism
Homeland Security
War on Terror

2990 Halloween Party

It's probably been 20 years since we've been to a Halloween Party, so when my husband asked yesterday if we still had our masks and costumes to wear to T & J's, I was pretty sure we didn't. When we were celebrating our son-in-law's birthday Friday night at the Rusty Bucket, they mentioned their friends T & J were having a party and would we like to tag along as their guests. We had nothing going on, so we said yes. It was within my husband's 24 hour range for being spontaneous.

T's father brought along some emergency costumes, so my husband did dress up a bit after we got there in a pink hat and glasses--actually a good disguise--I pretended not to know him! The food was catered--yummy brisket, bbq pork, baked beans and cole slaw, with a dessert contest, contributed by the guests. The hosts have a home with a big yard in our old neighborhood with lots of activities for the children--karaoke, one of those inflatable play gyms, a haunted house, and even a porta-potty to take care of the beer that was passing through. Free standing log burners provided us some warmth for the night chill. With the catered meal and the activities for children incorporated, the hosts were able to mingle and have a bit of fun with their guests.

I visited What Geeks Eat this morning and found a recipe for bbq and cole slaw--just in case you want to have a party.

Halloween Costumes
party ideas

2989 Ranting about Safire

One of my links, Language Hat, doesn't much like William Safire's columns on language. Here's a recent rant. . . about the word rant. It's a word that bloggers use frequently, so you need to compare and contrast the two versions.

"Today's column is about the word rant. I'm used to his pretending that whatever word or phrase he's decided to pick on is "enjoying a boom" and having a "sudden, unforeseen blossoming," so that's not what bothered me. No, it was this, from his obligatory paragraph on etymology: "The German verb ranzen, 'to dance about gaily, to frolic,' was picked up in English in Richard Brome’s 1641 play, 'The Joviall Crew': 'The more the merrier, I am resolved to Rant it to the last.'" There are two species of idiocy here. The first, the Common or Garden Variety of Safire Idiocy, is the pretense that the first citation in the OED is the very first time the word was used in English, so the user (in this case Ben Jonson's pal Richard Brome, pronounced "broom," whose comedy A Jovial Crew was the last play performed before the closing of the theaters under the Puritans) is said to have invented it or personally imported it, whichever applies. The second is the claim that it is from German ranzen. Every dictionary I have says it's from the (obsolete) Dutch verb ranten, which (as you will note) looks and sounds a lot more like the English word; the OED (presumably where Safire or his assistant went for the information) adds "cf. G. ranzen to frolic, spring about, etc." Cf. means 'compare,' and the German is added as a related word; it clearly was not the direct source. And whatever the source, the word was presumably borrowed by somebody who hung out with foreigners and liked the word enough to start using it; it caught on and was used by an unknowable number of merrie olde Englishmen before Brome put it in his comedy and became the First Citation. Please, Safire & Co., use your heads before repeating this tiresome error!

William Safire
English language
blog rants

2988 Fiddling with the template

I subscribe to Boogie Jack's Almost a Newsletter. He's really writing for those of you who have web pages for business, and he's got a new book just about due, but I often find little tips I can use for my blog. Today, I learned how to bold an italicized phrase or quote. It's pretty simple, and is imbedded now in my template, so you'll probably be seeing it often if I can remember to use it. I also learned how to make an outlined indented list of items, but I don't have any particular use for tha at the moment.

Also I've created another blog! This one will have a limited audience and will disappear sometime during 2007 because I made it for my class reunion next July. I'm hoping to find some other class members to be on the "team" but it will be my first time at creating a blog with other writers. The instructions at blogger weren't all that clear. Here's the site for the reunion.

The Flower Quiz

I am a Sunflower What Flower Are You?

The explanation on the quiz said something about my smile (that part doesn't print), however, this site says some not very nice things about sunflowers.

they are passive aggressive
they kill other flowers
they keep gardeners from reaching their full potential
their husks can be used as a weed killer, so don't compost them

Maybe I should try for a different flower.

The Circleville Pumpkin Festival

Congratulations to our neighbor to the south, Circleville (est. pop. 13,559 in 2005), which is celebrating its 100th festival honoring the pumpkin. We took our children to this about 30 years ago. I had never seen so many food stands in one small space in my life. . . except everything was made from pumpkin. It's cool and rainy this week--as it often is for this celebration.


This image is from "daily dose of imagery," ©2006 sam javanrouh used with permission. He has some terrific photos and he was sweet to let me use this very appropriate photo.

2984 New Cybils award for children's and YA lit

There are many bloggers that review children's literature. Kiddie lit is something I never got into--never had a course in it, didn't care much about it when I was a child, and preferred reading "My Bookhouse" to my own children. But I do adore the illustrations and like reading the reviews. These very talented bloggers have inaugurated their own book award, honoring books published in English for children in 2006. Anne Boles Levy, of Book Buds, launched the site this week and will administer the awards process. I link to her. As I understand De Rewels, anyone can nominate a book--you don't have to be a blogger, and you can even be an author.

There are 8 categories and nominations close November 20--some of the categories already have quite a few titles suggested, others are wide open for suggestions.

Cybils Award
Children's literature
Children's Books
blog awards
book reviews

Thursday Thirteen--13 of my favorite posts

In no particular order, here are 13 of my favorite posts I've written. Actually they aren't THE 13 favorite, but I don't have time to reread all 3,000 of them. You don't need to click on all, maybe try just one.

1) Where were all the allergies when I was growing up? So I try to figure it out. See what you think of my unintended consequences of progress as the cause.

2) The premiere issue of Wired. My hobby is collecting first issues of magazines. To track them I started a blog. However, I'm behind in this blog. Wired started in 1993 and I'm still subscribing, although I didn't think much of the first issue.

3) Sewing for sons is on my sewing blog which I did for one month last year. The pictures on this one are some of my favorites.

4) Thirteen things I blog about. Until I wrote this one, I didn't know it would work out to 13.

5) Dance with the one who brought you is about the myth of "budgeting" with coupons. Oh how people hate to hear that retailers aren't in business to give their products away! I may be the only person to tell you the truth about coupons!

6) I feel their pain is my rant about people with 6 figure incomes who can't balance their budget. I've got some good advice for them that you might agree with.

7) Good reasons you shouldn't be feeding the birds. If you've got a bird feeder in your yard, you probably will be shocked!

8) 10 things you might want to know before opening a bookstore (or any small business). Ah, these are great memories of the year I decided I'd give up librarianship and think about opening a bookstore.

9) Health issues. Don't talk to me about the dangers of bird flu or mad cow 'til you read this one.

10) Consistency Counts. This one's really brief and quick to read. Add something if you find an item I forgot.

11) How to donate books to a library. If you're doing a big clean out of your books, take a look at this. I used to get really stinky donations (I was a veterinary medicine librarian). This journal I do not keep at Blogger, but I think anyone can read it.

12) Safe salads and safe sex. I was way ahead of the spinach scare on this one.

13) The value of a college education. This was just about money, and even though no one could disprove it, they still disagreed and tried to shift the topic to non-monetary values of education (it got picked up and discussed at another blog).

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! Leave a comment and I'll add your name and URL. View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Visitors and visited:
Amy, BabyBlue, Barb, Barbara, Beckadoodles, Blessed Assurances, Bubba, Buttercup and Bean, Carey, Carmen, Caylynn, Chaotic Mom, Chelle Y., Cheryl, Dane, Danielle, Darla, Dawn, Denise, DK Raymer, Domestic Geek, Dorothy, Factor 10, Faerylandmom, Expressing myself, Friday's Child, Gattina, Ghost, Irish Church Lady, It’s all about me, Jane, Janeen, JB , Joan,, Joy Renee, Just Tug, Kate, Kaye, Kelly,Kendra, Lady Bug, Lazy Daisy, Mrs. Lifecruiser, Lyndsay, Lynn, Ma, Mar, C.A.Marks, Mary, Michelle, MommyBa, N.Mallory, Nat, Nathalie, Raggedy Randy, Ribbiticus, Shannon, The Shrone, Southern Girl, Sunny Days, Sunshine Blues, Susan, TC, Test, Tigerprr, TNChick,

2981 Am I a loser?

Not as much as the guy where I saw this quiz! I scored as normal.



internet quizzes
personality tests
Surveys

2980 The adorable, perfect birthday card

Yesterday my husband asked for a birthday card from my stash. I poured pored through them. Not much in the birthday category--lots of get well, thinking of you, and sympathy (must be our age group). Yes, I still send cards and letters via the U.S. mail and don't e-mail them. Nothing thrills me more than a first class letter coming through the mail slot, and I'm assuming it is the same for others. If I get sick--don't send an e-mail--send me a REAL card.

But I found just the right card--two dalmatians (my favorite dog) sitting on a couch together with a dark blue envelope. "You have to sign my name too," I said, "because it is a 'from both of us' card." And he did, and this morning set off for Bob Evans Restaurant with our photos from Russia and the birthday card for Tom. (This group meets weekly.)

Cuter than this
When he came home he had a sad story to tell. He had propped the card up at the edge of the table next to a divider, and it dropped down a crack where the divider can be lowered or raised! Gone forever until the next time Bob Evans is remodeled. I'll bet those workmen will find a lot of junk--including money.

And it was an expensive card too! Next time, he'll get one of my homemade cards from one of my paintings if he wants to say "Happy Birthday."

2979 How do you count a dead Iraqi? As many times as possible.

Steven E. Moore points out in today's Wall St. Journal the many holes in the methods and conclusions of the Johns Hopkins war dead study done in Iraq. Instead of an error margin of plus or minus 3 or 5%, he estimates 1200%.

"[T]he key to the validity of cluster sampling is to use enough cluster points. In their 2006 report, "Mortality after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: a cross-sectional sample survey," the Johns Hopkins team says it used 47 cluster points for their sample of 1,849 interviews. This is astonishing: I wouldn't survey a junior high school, no less an entire country, using only 47 cluster points."

Other studies, other cluster points, pointed out in the article:

For its 2004 survey of Iraq, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) used 2,200 cluster points of 10 interviews each for a total sample of 21,688.

A 2005 survey conducted by ABC News, Time magazine, the BBC, NHK and Der Spiegel used 135 cluster points with a sample size of 1,711. . .

The International Rescue Committee in the Democratic Republic of Congo, used 750 cluster points

Harvard's School of Public Health, in a 1992 survey of Iraq, used 271 cluster points.

Another study in Kosovo cites the use of 50 cluster points, but this was for a population of just 1.6 million, compared to Iraq's 27 million.

Let's have a do-over.

2978 Have you ever been polled?

I seem to get polled so often, I'm getting suspicious. What am I, the sampled Republican? Mrs. Average Retiree? Next time, I'll ask, and write down the name of the polling company and look them up. Today it was just 2 questions: 1) If the election happened tomorrow, would you vote for Pryce (R) or Kilroy (D). Answer: Pryce. 2) Are you pro-life or pro-choice? Answer: Pro-life. Thank you. Click. The one before this was so skewed to the left, it was almost laughable. I suspect today's was to determine if I needed further encouragement to go to the polls or needed more literature.

Still it might have been a trick question. I think the pollster asked about the Senate race, and Pryce and Kilroy are running for the House (Congressional District 15, Ohio).

political polls
poll questions
poll bias

2977 A pool of peace while driving

I enjoy listening to the radio in the car. My car radio gets better quality sound and more distant stations than anything I have in the house. But sometimes I don't want to hear Glenn Beck screaming, or Rush opining, Paul Harvey's rest of the story, or the clanging rock of contemporary Christian music, so I listen to the Catholic station. Sometimes it is the soothing sounds of the rosary, or a liturgy I'm not familiar with. This morning I heard the best sermon on baptism and confirmation that I think I've ever heard. Some parts were a bit different than Lutheran, and certainly different than Anabaptist, but excellent in presentation and thought. After that there was a touchy-feely chat call-in show by a woman talking about sex roles that wasn't much different than what you'd hear elsewhere, but for a few moments---ah, there was peace.

One of the advantages of listening to Latin hymns is there aren't any new ones. Link to Heretical hymns.

St. Gabriel Radio
Catholic radio
Christian programming
am radio