BooksRule

Not me! I get my hair cut at one of those chain places that doesn't charge much. Of course, I just get my hair cut very short 'Jamie lee Curtis style', so nothing fancy. I get there with it washed and want to get in and out with as little contact as possible as quickly as possible. (I hate having my hair cut. Can't you tell? I'm way overdue, as a matter of fact.) I'm sure I could google it, but is getting one's hair cut via fire really a thing? I thought that the fake neighbor would turn out to be a distant relative of the people who used to own the house and was trying to get access to find something hidden in the walls or attic or something. I never would have guessed phony coupon crook.

Update: My two kitty girls had some ham for a late lunch and also some bits for supper. They are happy.

I just put a ham in the oven to heat up. Both of my cats are on high alert because they know that there's a ham around here somewhere--they can smell it. They keep wandering around, sniffing. I'm trying to watch TV, and they keep getting on the couch and in my lap--looking all around me and staring at me. I guess they think I have it concealed on my person somewhere. I keep telling them that they're going to have to be patient and that it's going to be a while. I promised them that they will get ham soon, but I'm not sure they believe me. Cats!

I didn't like the whole '1950s-60s sitcom dream' story, but I think that every show has to have one of those types of plotlines during the run of the show--although it's usually another sitcom that does it ('King of Queens' had Doug act out 'The Honeymooners', for example). So, maybe they got it out of their system and we're done with it. (Although, they haven't had a 'musical episode' yet, have they? That's generally another 'must' for a show. Eeek!) Was the arrow lady the only rescue?

I had never heard of Ryuichi Sakamoto until a couple of years ago, when I watched the movie 'Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence' for the first time. I found the theme to that movie very compelling.

According to google, 100 pounds in 1968 equals 1,670 pounds in 2023. No wonder Phyllis was appalled.

I don't shop Amazon, but I do love these two ads: The one with the new destructive dog: And the one with the 'cool cat' girl:

I find canned beets to be pretty firm. I like the kind of earthy taste, too. ETA: I cooked fresh beets one time, and thought it wasn't worth the trouble. The red juice stained everything and the results tasted just like the canned ones to me. I'll stick to canned beets.

I buy very few canned veggies (I try to stick to fresh or frozen), but I do buy canned tomatoes, beets, and potatoes. The potatoes are really good if you drain them, cut up the bigger ones into halves (you can buy cans of sliced potatoes, but I never liked those for some reason), put them into a baking dish and dab some butter on them. I also sprinkled either some paprika or garlic salt on as well, but you could use whatever seasoning you like. I just bake them in the oven (350 or whatever temp I have it set on for anything else I'm baking at the same time--usually chicken or a pork chop), and take them out when they start to get a slight color from the butter. You might want to give them a stir halfway through baking. I don't know how long I usually bake them for--it depends on what temp I have it on at the time. I've never burned any, though. Occasionally, I do get a can that has potatoes that are slightly watery in texture (I hate that), but most of the time they are firm and don't get mushy at all. I don't know if different brands are better than others, but I usually get Del Monte. I've also tried making skillet potatoes out of them (just heating/browning them in a little butter in a skillet on the stove, but I like the oven method better.

I don't know how new they are, but I tried some of the El Paso brand Fiesta Twists Cinnamon Churro flavor. I love Stacy's Cinnamon Sugar pita chips, but I can only find them in one store that's not close to me, so I thought I would give these a try. I was not impressed. They had a little 'bite' (maybe a touch of pepper) along with the cinnamon that I probably would have gotten used to and maybe even started to like, but to me the crunch was too 'hard' (instead of a just melty crunch). It was the same type of crunch I find in kettle-style potato chips (which I don't care for either).

I've working an evening shift today, so I just have a Lean Cuisine-type dinner in the staff breakroom freeze for supper and I just snacked for lunch. But I did make a big pan of corned beef hash for a late breakfast and it was really good. I softened some onions in a little oil, minced up the last of the corned beef brisket I cooked this past weekend, and added it to the pan along with a can of drained whole potatoes that I cut into little chunks (I keep a few cans of potatoes on hand because I like to put butter and garlic salt on them and brown them in the oven for a side dish now and then). They held their shape very well.

I don't have a problem with the storyline of 'the lying nun' (hee!), but I agree with others that it could have been written better. She has no remorse and is so smug about getting what she wants by lying. She sees no problem with it other than kind of a 'oops, my bad!' and goes on to do it again. If she was lying to get things and then was actually remorseful about it but just had a problem with stopping (compulsive liar?) we might have some sympathy. I also agree that there should be consequences, such as having them share the scooter. As for PBS (and Netflix) cutting scenes, as far as I can tell only the DVDs are uncut. I've watched them through season 10 (I was fortunate enough to be able to add those to my university library's collection and can check them out whenever I want to--yay, me!) and cut scenes seem to be there. I've only noticed an occasional substitution in music choices.

Well, I made a batch of Boxty, and I wasn't impressed. I'm going to stick with latkes. I don't know if it was the mashed potato or the flour (it seemed to call for more flour than I thought it should), but they were very 'pancake-y' in the middle. I like latkes because they are usually crispier. The only change I made to the recipe was that I added some finely chopped yellow onion (instead of putting some green onion as a garnish). I did eat the crispy edge, though, those were fine. On the other hand, the corned beef brisket that I cooked for 8 hours on low in the slow cooker was yummy. Fork tender and melt in your mouth. I plan to turn most of the leftovers into hash (with potato and onion) later this week.

I was going to make a treat to take to work today for St. Patrick's Day, but didn't have time. So, I'm going to bake up something on Sunday to take to work on Monday. 'St. Patrick's Day treat' basically translates to some type of brownie, bar cookie or cake that has some green component in it. I think I'm just going to take the easy way out and make a 'Lime Poke Cake'--white sheet cake, with ribbons of green from pouring lime jello in the holes. Frosted with whipped cream and decorated with whatever green sprinkle-type candy decor I can find in the pantry. I love making poke cakes, but usually choose the recipes that have a pudding and/or cream cheese mixture as the filling (I do have a key lime one that is luscious, but will save that one for summer). But the jello kind is kind of how traditional poke cakes started, and they are pretty. And easy.

I'm going to cook a belated St. Patrick's Day dinner either tomorrow or Sunday. I plan to put a corned beef brisket to cook in the slow cooker, but I also want to try my hand at boxty. Have any of you ever made these and if so, do you have any tips? I've found recipes online and they look pretty easy (and I love anything potato-y), but there might be some tweaks that would make them better.

I recently redeemed a coupon (at Harbor Freight) for a pressure washer. It was the first time I had done this on my phone (via an e-mail message) and I had it ready and waiting when I was in line. I held that phone like a hand grenade because I was afraid I would do something to 'lose' the coupon (and then have to scramble to find it again). In my defense, I was still learning my smart phone at the time.

I'm pretty sure I've peeved about this before, but I'm going to peeve again. It really irks me when people checking out at the store wait until everything has been scanned, bagged, and it in their cart before they root around for their wallet in their pocket, purse, etc. for their credit/debit card. Didn't they know they would be asked for this item at some point? I was behind someone a few minutes ago who even gathered up all of his bags from the carousel-thingy and arranged them in his cart before he got out his wallet. The, he had to rummage through about 20 cards before he found the one he wanted. My back hurt, my knees hurt, and my right foot hurt (from dropping a heavy figurine on my toes this morning--nothing broken, only scraped and bruised) and I just wanted to get home. If I hadn't gotten so many frozen dinners for upcoming lunches I could have gone through the '20 items or less' line.

I know! I was like 'yay, we're finally going to know' and then...cut, skip. Hen: 'Why am I even having this conversation with that person?' Chim: 'See? The crazy just sucks you in.'

I'm so glad that I checked the schedule online and didn't rely on the on-screen cable guide on my TV. It had the 'other' one listed. When I saw that it was the Sherman brothers' one, I set my DVR. It's always been a favorite of mine, mainly due to nostalgia. I think I went to see it at the theater multiple times when it came out, mainly because I was about the same age as Jeff East and had a huge crush on him. I still like watching it (Celeste Holm is great and Lucille Benson was always a hoot), but the songs seem a little cheesy now, except for the theme song, sung by Charley Pride. It's still a great song, especially when watching the scene with the riverboat coming into the dock -- sideways! -- with the huge Mississippi on screen.

I just caught a re-run a couple of days ago where Denny's bio-mom (the drug addict) pointed out a man in the park standing a few yards away from the group and said he was Denny's dad (the man waved). It was definitely the same actor playing him. I also seem to remember an episode where Denny's adopted moms met with the social worker and they all talked about what kind of contact the man would have with Denny, but I don't remember if they discussed verifying that he was Denny's father.

Probably, though I know I would have to google the issue as to how much to use. I know I've seen the substitution listed on other recipes (self-rising vs. regular flour and baking power).

I've found that Jiffy does well as muffins, but doesn't rise up enough for me if I use it to make a small square pan of cornbread. It's too thin. I do buy if when I want cornbread to go with soup or something, because making the muffins is fine. It works well if you want to use it as a base for something else (such as a casserole that calls for a cornbread layer or topping. I find that it works as well as making cornbread from scratch. I've only made this once or twice, but I ate at a restaurant in Lexington, KY a long time ago that had the best cornbread. They were known for it and gave out postcards with the recipe. I lost the recipe, but googling will find it. If you want a thick cornbread that has sour cream, cream corn, and yes, it does have sugar in it, along with the usual cornbread ingredients, try this one (it almost has the texture of a pound cake and makes a big pan): https://www.cooks.com/recipe/b872n0xw/deshas-homemade-cornbread.html

I'm watching the 2nd half of the two-parter where Peggy and Hank go skydiving in celebration of their 20th anniversary (after consuming an entire bottle of tequila). Three scenes made me laugh out loud-- the part when Peggy crashed into the ground shouldn't have been funny, but the flock of birds that take flight when it happened is a perfect touch. And when Hank runs over to her, the most prominent part of her that's sticking out of the person-shaped dent in the ground are her big feet. Finally, when they are wheeling her into the hospital and her parachute opens with a woosh! So funny.

Patricia was his assistant in the early days of the series. I liked her character and wish that they had kept her on. Nothing ever ruffled her feathers and she kept Richard in line and on schedule (usually).

Here in the south, a fairly common last name is Cuevas (pronounced 'Kwavus'). That could be her last name. ETA: I checked imdb, and it is indeed Cuevas.