Local Creepy

YJDKIY could barely whip out the iPhone to photo this, so excuse the quality. If you can't tell, its a fake sleeve and hand slammed in the trunk.

Happy Holidays!

Be of good cheer!

This little pig went to the market?

This little pig had none...idea that is.


It took quite awhile for YJDKIY to figure this one out. Why would you want to "get your hiney shot" at Walgreens? Is this some kind of small town Christmas tradition?

Enough with the semantics already!

Lately, YJDKIY has been hearing a lot of conversation, er, gripe, about the greeting of choice during this holiday season. Merry Christmas? Happy Holidays? Season's Greetings? Which is it? Which is more politically correct, which is more religious, etc. etc. etc.

(CNN) -- Americans are in a war that pits the politically correct against Christmas carolers, some say. They say it's a battle that plays out in the halls of Congress, retail stores and public schools across the country, and it's one that's been raging for years.

Republican Rep. Henry Brown of South Carolina introduced a resolution this month asking that the House express support for the use of Christmas symbols and traditions and frown on any attempt to ban references to the holiday.

"Each year, I could see a diminishing value of the spiritual part of Christmas," Brown said. "It would seem like another group would go from the Christmas spirit to the holiday spirit."

I'm sure you have your own thoughts on which it should be. But YJDKIY is tired of being looked at condescendingly for saying Happy Holidays! I'm not trying to be politically correct or anti-Christian. When I say Happy Holidays, I simply mean best wishes for Christmas, New Years and whatever other holidays and traditions you choose to celebrate before I see you again. GET OVER IT and just be merry AND happy, which is the whole point of what we're saying anyway, isn't it?
The Christmas season,^[1][2] the holiday season^{[note 1]}, or simply the holidays is an annual festive period that surrounds the Christmas holiday and other holidays. It is sometimes synonymous with the winter season, and is usually said to occur between late November and early January. Traditionally, the only holidays included in the "season" were Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day (in some countries), New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and Epiphany. In recent times, this definition has begun to expand to include Yule, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Thanksgiving and Black Friday.^[7] Due to the phenomenon of Christmas creep and the informal inclusion of American Thanksgiving, the "winter" holiday season has begun to extend into late autumn, which may include the holidays of ThanksgivingHalloween. (Wikipedia)

In fact, the following are ALL observed from late November to early January. So THERE!

11/17 - World Peace Day
4th Thursday - Thanksgiving
12/1 - World AIDS Day
8 Days/Nights - Hanukkah
12/7 - Pearl Harbor Day
12/15 - Bill of Rights Day
12/18 - Islamic New Year (just in 2009)
12/21 - Yule
12/22 - Winter Solstice
12/24 - Christmas Eve and Eggnog Day
12/25 - Christmas Day
12/26 - Boxing Day, Kwanza Begins through 1/1
12/31- New Year's Eve
1/1 - New Year's Day
1/2 - Science Fiction Day
1/3 - Festival of Sleep Day

ANOTHER new blog toy

Gray Days by yjdkiy on Polyvore. Check out the supercool visual shopping tool!

Add It Up

It's holiday party week at work. 3/5 nights this week had social-professional occasions, and to keep YJDKIY from snacking on the less than not so good for you, well, snacks, I decided to make a pot of soup and have a bit as a pre-party dinner. It's a lot easier to pass up the passed hors d'oeuvres without a tummy screaming FEEEEEEDMEEE.






TORTELLINI SOUP
Dry Barilla Tortellinis - $4.95
Pacific Low Sodium Vegetable Broth - 2/$4 (but I only used $3 worth)
Baby Spinach - $3.50 (only used about $2.75 worth)
Sweet Yellow Onion - $.79
Red Bell Pepper - $2.79 (this was the WEIRDEST r.b. pepper EVER. I swear it tasted like nasturtiums, which I know is equally as weird. I think it was too green. Honestly, I avoided eating it in the soup)
3 carrots - in fridge, we'll say $.50 though
3 garlic gloves (not pictured, absent on portrait day apparently!) - in stock, but hows $.05
Seasoning - in cabinet (thyme, parsley, oregano, garlic powder, kosher salt, white whine vinegar)
TOTAL: $14.83
SERVINGS: Guessing 6-8
PRICE PER SERVING: roughly $2

Not bad, but the baby spinach and pepper were a little pricey for their contributions. I recommend acquiring spinach at Sam's Club where it is much cheaper and just as fresh and subbing the pepper for something else...dunno what though.


PS: I knew nasturtiums were edible, but Wiki just proved I'm not crazy!
All parts of the plant are edible. The flower has most often been consumed, making for an especially ornamental salad ingredient; it has a slightly peppery taste reminiscent of watercress, and is also used in stir fry. The unripe seed pods can be harvested and pickled with hot vinegar, to produce a condiment and garnish, sometimes used in place of capers, although the taste is strongly peppery. The mashua (T. tuberosum) produces an edible underground tuber that is a major food source in parts of the Andes.

Are you my brother?

Is it just YJDKIY or does this man slightly resemble Chevy Chase? Every time I log on to the Duke Power bill pay website, it slightly disturbs me to see him. I can't decide if it was intentional. If so, why? If not, same question.

That's all.

Small Town Fun

I love reading small town newspapers. You just never know what you'll find! Feel free to submit your own! {note that this post will be updated as future amusements present themselves}

• Authorities believe a dispute between neighbors in Kannapolis has resulted in a family's well being contaminated. The Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident at the Billy Odell Payne home, 355 Tree Limb Lane, off Gold Fish Road. Payne noticed a change in his well water, both in color and taste. The workers found a petroleum product which appeared to be burnt motor oil in the well.
• According to the report, someone drilled holes into Fink's home, set a piece of paper on fire, and pushed it through the wall.
  
• Jerry Ballard Greer, also known as Frog, 21, of 377 Len Moretz Road, Boone, was served with a warrant for arrest on a charge of communicating threats out of Ashe County. He is scheduled to appear in district court in Jefferson on Dec. 4 in lieu of a written promise bond.
• Lowery, identified as the bride's mother, reported the theft included 20 pounds of shrimp, 45 chicken breasts, a tray of green beans, a tray of rice pilaf, a tray of squash medley, a tray of cheese crackers and a gallon of tea. Police Chief Mark Wilhelm, who was working security at the wedding event, estimated there were 125 to 150 guests. Wilhelm and another officer who were working security at the event left around 10 p.m. when the event ended. According to the police report, a caterer from a Winston-Salem company said he saw two guys with blue coats carrying off the food.
• The idea of wrapping a diaper around the town’s water tower was dumped by the Weldon Board of Commissioners Tuesday.The diaper idea was part of a plan by Kimberly-Clark for a Huggies Diaper commercial. Huggies representatives approached Weldon Public Works Director Donald Crowder about the project, in which they would put a diaper on the water tower near Halifax Community College and film it briefly before taking it down.
• A Hug [sic] Tinder Box, by Louise Hoffman Broach
  “They think it started in the fireplace, it was somewhat obvious,” he said. “It was a 100-year-old house at least; there was a lot of old wood, and I was still fixing it up and put more wood inside. It was a huge tinder box.”
• The county commissioners were flirting with disaster Monday morning but decided to stay a bachelor for the moment.
  
  

Ummmmmm

Ok we all know YJDKIY loves the creative melting pot that is Etsy. (reminder for holiday shopping!) But this is a little much I think.

Is your pet feeling left in the dirt because of his/her unsightly rear?
I’ve got them covered... Rear Gear [is] a cheerful solution to
be-rid your favorite pet’s un-manicured back side.

I want to know immediately who bought these, who put them on the pet, and what the pet thought about that. It would last about 2 seconds with the YJDKIY canine contingent. And what happens when they have to go?

Fiesta!

Panko Crusted Cajun Catfish
(lightly coat filets in egg beaters, dip in Panko mixed with a little Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning, bake @ 425 degrees for 25 minutes, broiled for 5)

Sliced Avocado

Homemade Salsa
(chopped tomatoes, red onion, green pepper, fresh garlic, fresh cilantro, corn and black beans, with a half a lime of juice, pepper, and a tiny squirt of agave)

Served with basmati and corn chips over shredded red leaf lettuce.

Happy Christmas to Me!

YJDKIY's $8 birthday and Christmas present to herself!

• blintz (BLIHNTS): A tender, ultrathin pancake that can be made with any number of flours. Rolled to enclose a sweet or savory filling, then sauteed until golden brown
• daizu (DI-ZOO): Japanese term for "dried soybeans"
• Limburger (LIHM-BER-GER): Undoubtedly one of the stinkiest of the strong-smelling cheeses, Limburger has a rind that ranges in color from pinkish orange to reddish brown and a yellow, pasty interior; made from cow's milk and is often soft-ripened for 3-4 weeks or more. It originated in Belgium, most is imported from Germany.
• schmear (SHMEER): Thought ot have come from the Yiddish word shmirn (to smear or grease), the word is used in the culinary wold to describe a dab of something like mayo or cream cheese that's spread on a roll, bagel, etc.
  
• waitron: Though not commonly used today, this unisex term was coined in the 1980s for waitresses and waiters

It also includes ingredient substitutions, pan size conversions, safe cooking temperatures, smoke points of popular oils, wine bottle sizes, food label terms, pasta glossary, British and American cooking terms, seasoning suggestions, retail cuts of meat, key definitions of food additives, and a pronunciation guide.

Note: You could just look it up online at Epicurious' Food Dictionary

ANOTHER Open Letter to the Residents of...

Dear Neighbors,
Bless your heart, I know you mean well. But really, is it necessary to rake your leaf piles into the street and blocking the sidewalk? Not only have you nearly caused accidents by only allowing a narrow single pass road, you've also chased me and my dog into a soggy mess because there is no where to walk.

I promise your grass will grow back. If you don't start taking this into consideration, I may find it necessary to reinforce the city's statement on this:

Leaf Collection Information
Fall is here and the leaves are piling up! Leaf collection will begin on November 2, 2009. Follow these guidelines:

• Rake leaves to the edge of your yard, behind the curb, and not in the street.
• Sticks, rocks, and other debris may damage our equipment. Please, leaves only.
• Do not park vehicles on, in front of, or near your leaves.
• Do not put your leaves on a tarp.

To follow daily progress go to our Leaf Collection Schedule page.

I know our neighborhood is much more considerate than the Boovies, (Esbee says it best) but really, it's a blind right turn, a narrow left turn, a stop sign that you can't even pull up to, and there is no where to walk. Not to mention, you have PLENTY of room on the yard outside of the fence that you don't even use.

Sincerely,

YJDKIY

Local Favorite

Need I say more?

Jiffy Cook

YJDKIY hasn't had a lot of time to whip up tasty delights lately. So, meals have been pretty boring in these parts. A Heritage Select box mix of basmati pilaf from Earthfare (would have preferred plain basmati, too salty!), kale with garlic rice vinegar, and a Morning Star Farms chick'n patty with a little Ken's Healthy Options Honey Dijon. At least it's better than Chic-fil-A?



Jiffy is used in different applications for various short, very short, or extremely short periods of time. In informal speech a "jiffy" means any unspecified short period of time, as in "I'll be back in a jiffy", but in other contexts it has more precise definitions. The word was originally thieves' cant for lightning. The earliest technical usage for jiffy was defined by Gilbert Newton Lewis (1875-1946). He proposed a unit of time called the "jiffy" which was equal to the time it takes light to travel one centimeter. It has since been redefined for different measurements depending on the field of study.
(Wikipedia)

Reposting

Consider it kind of like regifting, but better, because, YJDKIY is in fact regifting this knowledge I just gained to you, and you can regift it without the nasty stigma!

FitSugar's post on Foods Experts Warn Against (but I bet you still eat). And, the complete list from Prevention magazine (image source).

Daddy Warbucks

Today, as YJDKIY was organizing the cabinet, a theme appeared. Man, I buy a lot of Kashi products, I should buy stock in that.

So, I promptly googled this much only to discover some interesting parent company facts. While Food Inc made me think about these, I can't say I have it in me to avoid certain brands because they're owned by others. I think you'll find a lot of your own foods in this list from the Organic Consumers Association, so speak up if you have any ingenious ideas. I'm sure this is just the tip of the iceberg!

• Celestial Seasonings®, Westbrae Natural®, Westsoy®, Arrowhead Mills®, Health Valley®, Imagine Foods (Rice Dream), MaraNatha, Bearitos, Garden of Eatin'®, Terra Chips®, Earth's Best® => Hain Celestial Group => HJ Heinz
• Cascadian Farms => Small Planet Foods => General Mills
• Odwalla Juice => Coca Cola
• Boca Burgers => Kraft => Philip Morris
• Seeds of Change => M&M Mars Group
• Silk, Horizon => White Wave => Dean Foods
• Knudsen, After the Fall => Smuckers
• Smart Dogs => Lightlife => ConAgra
• Kashi, Morning Star Farms, Bear Naked => Kellogg's
• Tribe => Nestle

And Here is a great graphic of all this.

Easy as 1, 2, 3

This man no doubt has a legion of handlers - lawyers, agents, publicists, doctors, etc. So how is it that someone with all those "smart" people surrounding him, someone who Sports Illustrated wrote this about: With close to $800 million in total earnings on and off the course over his 13-year career, Tiger should become the first billion-dollar athlete in the next two years -- and he's still only 32, can totally eff up his public relations management?

I think YJDKIY learned this on the second day of my first class in communications. There is one, tried and true rule for sailing through a public disaster: tell it first, tell it yourself, tell it completely. Even Yahoo backs me up on that!

Cases in point: John Edwards, broke every single rule, career done. David Letterman, adhered to the triumvirate, ratings soared.

Tiger, please feel free to pay me half a percent of your earnings and I'll gladly share my college text book with you.

It's coming.....

Fooled you!

Black beans you say? Fooled you! YJDKIY just didn't know these even existed, but is happy to have discovered:

These are much heartier than black beans - the same protein and low carb benefits of edamame, but slightly nuttier and mushier, perfect for replacing black beans. Plus, these are organic and don't have all that gross saucy salty seasoning stuff that a lot of canned black beans have (whether they are labeled as such or not!). Some interesting facts from my google search.

• The English word "soy" is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of 醤油 (しょうゆ, shōyu), the Japanese word for Soya sauce; soya comes from the Dutch adaptation of the same word.
• For human consumption, soybeans must be cooked with "wet" heat in order to destroy the trypsin inhibitors (serine protease inhibitors). It is not advisable to eat raw soybeans.
• Soybeans are considered by many agencies to be a source of complete protein. Soybean protein isolate has a biological value of 74, whole soybeans 96, soybean milk 91, and eggs 97.
• The first research on soybeans in the United States was conducted by George Washington Carver at Tuskegee, Alabama, but he decided it was too exotic a crop for the poor black farmers of the South so he turned his attention to peanuts.
• In 1932-33 the Ford Motor Company spent approximately $1,250,000 on soybean research. By 1935 every Ford car had soy involved in its manufacture.
• In 1997, about 8% of all soybeans cultivated for the commercial market in the United States were genetically modified. In 2006, the figure was 89%.
• The dramatic increase in soyfood sales is largely credited to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of soy as an official cholesterol-lowering food, along with other heart and health benefits.
• In 2008, an epidemiological study of 719 Indonesian elderly found that tofu intake was associated with worse memory, but tempeh (a fermented soy product) intake was associated with better memory.
• A 2006 commentary reviewed the relationship with soy and breast cancer. They stated that soy may prevent breast cancer, but cautioned that the impact of isoflavones on breast tissue needs to be evaluated at the cellular level in women at high risk for breast cancer.^[57] A high consumption of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are found in most types of vegetable oil including soybean oil, may increase the likelihood that postmenopausal women will develop breast cancer.
• Because of the phytoestrogen content, some studies have suggested that there is an inverse correlation between soybean ingestion and testosterone in men.^[60] For this reason, they may protect against the development of prostate cancer.
• Raw soy flour is known to cause pancreatic cancer in rats.
• Soybean futures are traded on the Chicago Board of Trade and have delivery dates in January (F), March (H), May (K), July (N), August (Q), September (U), November (X).