* April 1. This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four. - Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson, 1894
* Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed. - Mark Twain
* A fellow who is always declaring he's no fool, usually has his suspicions. - Anonymous
* Politicians never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge. - Thomas Reed
* Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. - Chinese Proverb
* Don't approach a goat from the front, a horse from the back, or a fool from any side. - Jewish Proverb
Hike on over to The Social Poets to enjoy a funny video, funny photos, and - I totally guarantee you haven't seen this fashion outfit - it's the weirdest fashion statement yet. Not even Lady Gaga wore this crazy thing! :)
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
From Denny: Do you like to play with your food? Do you like to take simple everyday items like eggs, toast and wonton wrappers and create something fun and exciting? Do you want the recipes to be quick and easy?
These two recipes are sheer delight from over at the Incredible Egg . If you have ever walked the streets of European cities, you will remember those wonderful small open-faced sandwiches which are satisfying savory snacks while you are seeing the sites. Like in Vienna, Austria, you can walk the main streets between tourist sites and pop into one of those little shops that offer snacks and coffee and pastries, tanking up to fortify yourself for more enjoyable hours of walking tours and shopping. The locals eat a couple of hours before lunch with a snack like this and the same in the afternoon and late at night. These guys eat all the time!
For those who do not know a frittata is an Italian omelet. A crostini is simply translated into "little toast." This crostini recipe is basically a little veggie and cheese omelet perched decoratively on a little toast, appetizer style. To hold the omelet on the toast there is a small bed of "food glue" in the form of a chive and onion cream cheese, bursting with flavor.
You can always add to your omelet anything you enjoy like chopped zucchini, bell pepper and red onion. If you don't have the time to make the cream cheese mixture just use some spreadable cream cheese on hand and add some dried chives and favorite seasoning like Beau Monde.
36 thin baguette slices (about 1/4-inch thick) 3 tbls. olive oil 3/4 cup chive and onion spreadable cream cheese
Frittata:
6 eggs 1/2 cup milk 1/ tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 ozs.) 3/4 cup finely chopped zucchini (I grated it on a cheese grater) 1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper 2 tbls. finely chopped red onion
Directions:
1. To make the crostini: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Brush both sides of bread slices lightly with olive oil, place in single layer on baking sheets. Bake in 375-degree oven until lightly toasted, about 10 minutes; cool on wire racks.
2. To make the frittata: Reduce oven setting to 350 degrees. Coat 36 minimuffin cups with cooking spray.
3. Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper in medium bowl until blended. Add cheese, zucchini, bell pepper and onion; mix well. Spoon about 1 tablespoon egg mixture into each muffin cup.
4. Bake in 350-degree oven until just set, 10-13 minutes. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes; remove from cups.
5. To serve: Spread about 1 teaspoonful cream cheese on each crostini, top with frittata.
*** Make ahead: Crostini can be toasted the day before; cool completely and store in airtight container.
*** Lighter option: Recipe can be made with reduced-fat cheese if desired.
24 wonton wrappers (3-1/4 x 3-inch) 4 EGGS 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour 3 Tbsp. finely chopped ham (1 oz.) 2 Tbsp. finely chopped green onion 2 Tbsp. finely chopped red bell pepper
Directions:
HEAT oven to 350°F. COAT 24 mini muffin cups (1-3/4 x 3/4-inch) with cooking spray. Gently PRESS 1 wonton wrapper into each cup, allowing ends to extend above edges of cup.
BEAT eggs and flour in medium bowl until blended. ADD ham, green onion and bell pepper; mix. SPOON about 1/2 Tbsp. egg mixture into each wonton-lined muffin cup. BAKE in center of 350°F oven until filling is set, 12 to 15 minutes.
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
From Denny: Pull out the tissues because you are going to need them! If you are not crying your eyes out, wondering if you emptied out the tears reservoir, then you need to watch the hour long special of this story. Yes, it's that good. If you are in need of having your faith restored in the goodness of strangers, then this story is for you. These ordinary people will astound, amaze and delight your heart.
The entire town of Grafton, Wisconsin came to the aid of a single mother battling breast cancer who has 13 year old triplets. Two of those triplets are seriously ill with a life long degenerative disease and are already now in wheelchairs. They needed so much. A whole town of neighbors, many who lost their homes and their jobs, came together to help the Longoria family remodel their home so the kids could get around in wider halls and larger spaces.
It's quite an amazing story of what spiritual development is really all about: helping someone else when you have lost so much. There is a man in the process of losing his home because he's been out of work for two months. Yet he came and volunteered every day to renovate the house. There is a hotel owner who gave the family free rooms for the entire time it took to renovate the house.
There is an AIDS charity CEO, living on 40% less income now and facing an uncertain personal financial future, who showed up to organize and raise funding - cheerfully. Another story is of a mother who lost her son 19 years ago and today came to be the interior designer for this family's renovated home. She said this is the first time she has not felt emotional pain since the death of her child.
This first video is a clip that was featured on the news. The other video clips tell the story. The full story and more links are at Dateline and it's an hour show worth watching. It reminds me of a real life story to match the famous Christmas movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." What's so much fun about this story of giving is how the giving rolled into something bigger than the project itself. People got into the spirit of giving and the joy was contagious, drawing thousands of people to volunteer during construction or to help fund the project.
A Circle of Hands is a poem written by one of the volunteers to remember the "Hometown Heroes" project that healed the town.
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
From Denny: This is a fun video of kid chefs in competition for the best peanut butter recipe. Let me tell you this video clip is worth watching as they are quite creative and these recipes adults will enjoy too. They use peanut butter much like Mexican recipes use cheese, as a binder in a quesadilla, pita bread, lettuce wrap or grilled sandwich. Several of these recipes are tasty ideas to use for leftover chicken breast and bits of fresh fruit. Take a look:
• 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter • 1 tablespoon reduced fat cream cheese • 2 teaspoons preserves • 1/2 small to medium Macintosh apple, core removed and sliced into 6 slices • 2 slices whole wheat bread • 1/4 cup skim milk • 1/4 cup egg substitute • 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1 teaspoon sugar • 1/2 tablespoon butter • 1/4 cup maple syrup • Sprinkle of confectioners
DIRECTIONS
Take 1 tablespoon peanut butter and spread on one slice of whole wheat bread. Then spread 2 teaspoons of preserves on top of the peanut butter. Take the other slice of whole wheat bread and spread the second tablespoon of peanut butter on it. Spread 1 tablespoon reduced fat cream cheese on top of the peanut butter. Place the 6 apple slices in a single layer on top of the cream cheese. Place the first slice of bread on top of the slice with the apples.
Mix the skim milk, egg substitute, vanilla and sugar in a shallow bowl. On medium heat melt butter in a small fry pan until the pan has a coating of butter. Remove the extra butter and put aside and use if needed. Take the sandwich and carefully coat both sides of the sandwich with the egg substitute mixture by placing in a shallow bowl for a few seconds on each side. Place in the fry pan and cook until one side is lightly browned, then carefully flip the sandwich. Then cook until lightly browned. Remove from heat and cool for a few minutes before slicing into four quarters.
Place the sandwich on a plate with extra apple slices, maple syrup in a small cup for dipping, and a sprinkle of confectioners' sugar.
PB & Fruity says 'Let us Rap'
From: Rachel Granillo, Clovis, Calif.
INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 cup chopped cooked chicken breast • 2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter • 3 tablespoons chopped Fuji apple • 2 tablespoons chopped black or red grapes • 1 tablespoons light mayonnaise • 2 teaspoons honey • Iceberg lettuce
DIRECTIONS
Chop chicken meat and fruit, mix in bowl. Mix in peanut butter, mayonnaise and honey. Spoon into open lettuce leaf, roll and serve.
More Rockin' Moroccan Peanutty Pitas
From: West Mylroie, Santa Clara, Utah
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, plus more for garnish • 1 cup prepared hummus • 1/2 cup Jif Creamy Peanut Butter • 1 tablespoon lemon juice • 1/2 cup chopped green onion • 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken • 1 large tomato, seeded and diced • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro • 2 large pita pockets
DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, combine paprika, hummus, peanut butter and lemon juice. Transfer half of peanut butter mixture to medium bowl and combine with green onion, chicken, tomato and cilantro. Fill pitas with chicken mixture.
Cut into 8 triangles and serve with remaining peanut hummus. Garnish sandwiches and hummus with a sprinkle of smoked paprika, if desired.
Peanut butter and banana quesadilla with fresh fruit salsa and vanilla yogurt
From: Lauren Wright, Waukesha, Wis.
INGREDIENTS
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter • 2 large flour burrito size tortilla • 1 banana • 1 kiwi • 1 golden delicious apple • 5 large strawberries • 18 raspberries • 1 teaspoon strawberry preserves • 6 oz. low fat vanilla yogurt
DIRECTIONS
Note: Fruit salsa and yogurt should be prepared just before preparing quesadilla.
Directions for quesadilla: Take 1 large flour tortilla and add 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter to the center of the tortilla and then spread the peanut butter out evenly, leaving about 1 inch of tortilla around the entire outside of the tortilla. Next take the banana and slice thin slices (making circular pieces). Place bananas evenly on top of peanut butter. Place last flour tortilla on top then place quesadilla in pre-heated quesadilla maker for 5-7 minutes or in 10-inch non-stick frying pan for 5-7 minutes, turning once. Cut into 6 triangular pieces and serve with vanilla yogurt and fruit salsa.
Directions for fruit salsa: Take the skin off 1 kiwi and then finely chop kiwi, then put into a small mixing bowl. Take half of the apple, less seeds and core, finely chop and add to small mixing bowl. Cut stem tops off strawberries, then finely chop raspberries and add to small mixing bowl. Then stir in 1 teaspoon strawberry preserves then place part of the fruit salsa into a small serving dish.
Directions for vanilla yogurt: Open the 6 oz. container of low fat vanilla yogurt and pour into a small serving dish.
Chickenchita
From: Stephanie Hosko, Plymouth, Mich.
INGREDIENTS
• 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter • 1 small can crushed pineapple in juice • 2 teaspoons of soy sauce • 3 tablespoons olive oil • 1 large flour tortilla • 1 chicken breast • 1/2 cup red pepper strips • 2 large lettuce leaves (such as romaine) • 2 rosemary sprigs • Parsley or chives for garnish (optional) • Salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS
Mix together peanut butter, 2 tablespoons of the pineapple juice and 2 teaspoons soy sauce. Set aside. Rub the chicken breast with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and season with the rosemary, salt and pepper. Heat another tablespoon of the olive oil in a large frying pan, and grill the chicken until cooked through, then set aside.
Next, add the red pepper strips and sauté until soft. Spread the peanut butter mixture onto the tortilla, leaving about a half inch border. Cut the chicken into small, bite-sized pieces. Layer the diced chicken, red pepper strips, 2 tablespoons crushed pineapple and the 2 lettuce leaves on top of the tortilla.
Roll the tortilla up envelope-style, and tuck in the sides. Heat the last tablespoon of olive oil on a grill pan, over medium heat. Slowly grill the tortilla, turning once, until crisp. Garnish with a dollop of peanut butter, and a sprig of parsley or a few chives.
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
From Denny: This funny polar bear says it all: Whew! Time to take it easy after a long harsh winter!
If you are a blogger like me with the Blogger platform at blogspot.com, and you haven't already heard about it since it came out a couple of weeks ago, you might want to check out this new feature from Blogger: Blogger in Draft. I spent the entire weekend playing around with the possibilities and decided to change over to this new dashboard and template offerings.
Blogger has come out with some outstanding new templates and the ability to widen margins of all your columns to imitate the old stretch template or create your own ideas of what appeals to you. Be as creative as you like! Read that as embedding videos and cartoons will now work better. Before, if you had a background from somewhere else - like I was doing - you had to reduce the width of your template down to the Minima template offered by Blogger. Then you could not run the cartoons at all as they were chopped off on the right side.
You now have many choices of how to arrange your columns just like a newspaper. There is a good variety of stunning backgrounds from which to choose - and believe me I've been choosing all this weekend for 12 blogs! :) I would like to see them expand their background choices in various colors and genre but what they have offered so far is plenty for most bloggers.
What am I still looking for from Blogger? To the folks at Blogger: I'm looking for more seasonal choices that have a sophisticated look, peaceful or spiritual, as opposed to just fun or downright cheesy. Backgrounds tailored to writing, poetry, art and literature other than the standard stack of books would be great - like beautiful calligraphy pens and parchment papers, stylized handwriting or fonts offered on the background and for the blog. You might want to consider backgrounds of America's cities like New Orleans and others for those of us with regional food blogs.
I'd also like to see the ability to post headlines and 200 word summary excerpts of up to 10 posts per page so people could easily choose what they want to read much like Wordpress already offers. Scrolling at the top of the page or at the header of the most recent posts would be cool like you see at newspaper sites online. Dreamer, that's me! So far, Blogger is on a roll so keep up the good work, guys! Oh, and if you could ever get that Google Connect or Followers Gadget to work with Google AdSense ads on the same page it would be much appreciated too.
On to the posts of the week and a few extra recipe posts from the past two weeks in case you missed anything good! :) Finally got caught up over at my science blog this weekend with some interesting stories so be sure to check out their offerings. Please bookmark this post to catch up on all the interesting news, great recipes and beautiful photography in our world! :) Enjoy...
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
From Denny: Check out the latest Cheeky Quote Day over at The Social Poets! Here are a few of the funny quotes:
