Oh, how rude of me not to give you the Christmas breakfast menu: a Dutch Baby Oven Pancake with spiced cooked apples and a side of Honeysuckle Italian style ground Turkey made into a sausage which I spiced up extra with some seasoned brown rice, smokey paprika, garlic and extra virgin olive oil before shaping into small patties and cooking on the stovetop. Yeah, it's a tough day at our house all right. :)
And, yes, I made the roast turkey yesterday since we like to celebrate Christmas Eve as well so that pressure is non-existent. Made a wonderful wet rub for the turkey that sat a day uncovered in the fridge to marinate: rubbed under the skin and on top with a mixture of red moscato wine, extra virgin oil, and lovely spices and herbs like marjoram, rosemary, sage, ginger, sea salt, black pepper, smokey paprika, garlic powder, a touch of lite soy sauce and more. Blanched the green beans earlier in the week so all that needs to be done today is to heat them up in clarified butter and some spices as a side dish. All the cooking left is to bake the Louisiana sweet potatoes which are a divine dish in themselves they are so sweet! .... Click on the title link above to view the funny quotes at my quotes blog...
For plenty of holiday recipes and recipes for the entire year you can check out my four food blogs where I collect the best of our local cooks, my own recipes and variations, as well as the news and food networks:
Inspire: Keep your Joy up and flowing to attract order and harmony into your life all year long! Available in t-shirts for men, women, kids and baby along with bedding, pillows, dining, entertaining and technology like for your latest phone case! Phone cases listed here.
President Barack Obama discusses Ukraine during a meeting with members of his National Security Staff in the Oval Office, Feb. 28, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Weekly Address: This Labor Day, Let’s Talk About the Minimum Wage
WASHINGTON, DC —In this week’s address, the President wished Americans a Happy Labor Day weekend, highlighted the important economic progress we’ve made, and reaffirmed his commitment to accelerate our progress and ensure that our growing economy fuels a strong middle class. To do this, the President reiterated that Congress should do right by hardworking Americans across the country and raise the minimum wage and he praised the 13 states and Washington, DC as well as employers large and small who have heeded his call and taken action to provide their citizens and employees a fair wage. The President underscored that America built the world’s greatest middle class by making sure that everyone who’s willing to work hard and play by the rules can get ahead – an economic patriotism worth remembering this Labor Day, and every day....
Spice up your home decor with this exotic look! More products like mugs, all styles of great t-shirts, baby items available in this design at Denny Lyon Gifts @ Cafe Press.
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Updates with new links added!From Denny: Presidents' Day comes and goes in a flash. Some years it's wildly popular generating interesting articles and other years, well, no one cares. Seems like this year is one of those off years for interest, especially with the winter Olympics in full swing in Sochi, Russia, garnering so much attention.
Poking around online I found some amusing - and downright weird - facts about the U. S. Presidents you may not know - just when you thought you heard it all. Yeah, trivia kings and queens live at our house.
President John F. Kennedy, known for a great education and his wealth, had an annoying father to say the least. In his application to study at Harvard, it was, well, just plain "unimpressive by today's standards." His father, Joseph, was a Harvard alum. What did he say to help his son get into the university? Wouldn't you think a father would try to be helpful to get his son accepted?
Joseph Kennedy's recommendation said of his son, who later became a popular President, Jack "was careless and lacks application." Are you kidding me? Of course, what do you expect from a bootlegging crook? Here's a factoid: Joseph Kennedy, as U. S. ambassador to Britain, also wanted to allow Britain to be destroyed in WWII as he considered them to be total losers, unable to withstand the German onslaught. Joseph Kennedy preferred for America to make a deal with the devil: Hitler. So, obviously, this guy didn't know how to size up a situation - or a person - accurately...
From Denny: Start your New Year off right with lots of laughter and some smart advice on meeting those New Year resolutions. And, hey, thanks for visiting all these blogs this past year, much appreciated!
Let Good Times Roll celebrates Mardi Gras all year long!
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A Christmas Post: Funny Charlie Brown Christmas Flash Mob: NYC Snoopy Boogie:From Denny: Ready for some holiday fun? Nothing like a Christmas themed flash mob to make you smile. Dancing to the famous Peanuts comic strip tune, "It's A Charlie Brown Christmas" a flash mob entertained New York City this week, recreating the animated original. Schroeder banged away on his famous piano. Linus danced with his security blanket. Snoopy was truly larger than life and danced his doggy boogie, stealing the show. Get a grin and enjoy this cute video, guaranteed to melt away all that holiday shopping stress!
Spread some happiness all during the holiday season and beyond!
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Dennys Food and Recipes: Turkey Cooking Tips: How Good Is Your Holiday Roast Turkey?: From Denny: Roasted my Thanksgiving turkey a day early. Sure beats stressing on the Big Day. Also, my husband, affectionately known as "Satan" misses out on trying to micro-manage the cooking, driving me absolutely crazy. He never did learn to cook but thinks he knows how to tell you all about how to do it anyway. Getting the Big Bird done a day early is a win-win for everyone as he was less stressed just as much as me!
Though he did try only twice this season to be ever so irritating: once, when taste testing the fabulous gravy he made The Yuck! Face but could not keep his composure for long, laughed, and then raved about it as one of the best yet. Later he decided he just had to tell me how to cut the French bread for sandwiches his way rather than the normal slices I was doing for hot garlic bread, his favorite. Since I'm basically The Spatial Engineer in this house (just ask me to pack a car for travel and I am The Expert on finding every nook and cranny to fill) I explained to him how his way made no sense but cut a few slices for him anyway. He was so disappointed to realize I was right after all. "Satan" lost that round. Never a dull moment at our house, that's for sure!
Hey, we should all be challenging theWhite House chef to a Roast Turkey Cook Off. Bet mine is one of The Best! We love spices at our house and every year I create something different. This year's wet rub spices were swimming in clarified butter: sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, smokey paprika, cumin, curry powder, marjoram leaves, lite sodium soy sauce, Moscato wine and Remy Martin cognac...
From Denny: Well, it's Father's Day and a hearty congrats to all the Dads and just regular non-Dads out there around the globe. There really are some cool men who are supportive of women every day in quiet ways and you deserve some serious kudos!
Is your cat giving you "face" with this large meow and mugging you for treats?
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AP video clip of twin bombings at marathon. From Denny: With about 100 injured, some horrifically, and two dead, this was a sad day at the Boston Marathon. Two explosions went off near the finish line. About 23,000 people attended the event.
Across town, about four miles away, there was a fire at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. In the first reports it was first thought the issue at the Kennedy Library was an explosion but is now called a fire. Officials do not know if the twin bombings and the Library fire are connected.
Here's what officials know: pretty much nothing. Right now they are in the early hours of first treating the many injured and securing the area for investigation. Police have asked everyone in the area to not use their cell phones in case there are more explosives that could be detonated. Officials have also asked everyone to remain indoors, sheltering place. Police did find two more undetonated bombs in the area after the other two bombs went off.
2 funny video clips, lots of hilarious photo memes and great jokes! From Denny: How the comedy fun just keeps rockin' on! These guys just don't give up. They create the funniest news commentary in America. OK, some of it is borderline tasteful but then you wouldn't be checking out this post if that mattered. These jokes and video clips are just from the month of March 2013. Yes, these comics are prolific and it takes a good week to round up the jokes and a few of the best clips. If you have some additional comedy clips you really enjoyed, and want others to know about, just leave the urls in the comment box, and, thanks! Last month the world viewed the installation of a new Pope after Pope Benedict resigned, the first to give up the job in almost 700 years. This new Pope already did tremendous church reform in Argentina. The entire world is holding their breath to see if Pope Francis, a Jesuit, has the nerve and ability to reform the entire Catholic Church. While he is figuring it out hopefully he will not get poisoned by the infamous Curia Creeps who managed to kill off a number of popes over the centuries. Meanwhile, the polls are in agreement Pope Francis is a pretty cool and humble guy, something the church has needed for a very long time: a breath of fresh air. Of course, the comics had a field day with the awkward situation of a living former Pope and the newly installed Pope in the same timeline. Because there was so much global media coverage about the process to figure out how to elect a new Pope while the other guy was still alive there are a multitude of jokes about that process - true and imaginary. You know how comics roll, they have imaginary friends even as adults, so expect the unexpected. There are a truck load of gay marriage jokes. Every politician is suddenly wanting to get in on the act of agreeing gay marriage is fine to do now after they lost the culture war. They all have an eye on running for President in 2016 and the country has shifted its views on gay marriage. Most people "get it" that you don't deny other Americans their civil rights whether you agree with their lifestyle or not. "Just Chill" is the new word, especially among Millennial Americans who don't see what all the Baby Boomer fuss is about in the first place. If they could they would tell their grandparents two words: Grow Up! And, oh, the hilarious copious political jokes - for which I live to collect. You will never experience a sad day in your life again if you bookmark any of these joke posts on any of my many blogs. In fact, the reason I started collecting so many funny quotes and crazy political jokes highlighting absurd human behavior, was to help de-stress my fellow Americans in a down economy and chaotic job loss environment! I guess this is where I should list the various blogs where I've parked more comedy and funny video clips for the past four years, especially of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert: Dennys Funny Quotes The Social Poets Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd Dennys News
* * * Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new! And a special thanks to those of you supporting this effort! You rock!
* * * Support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new!
Pot of Gold? You didn't really believe that blarney did you?
Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new!
Warriors Pearl Foundation: New Funny St. Paddys Day Design: Pot of Gold:From Denny: Mardi Gras is past, the Lenten season is upon us and St. Patrick's Day is coming sooner than you think! Get ready and wear a funny hilari-tee to show your Irish support! This new Denny Lyon design celebrates the "green" holiday in humorous teasing style.
Check out Denny Lyon Gifts for more products from denny lyon designs sporting this design. Help support the effort to gather funds for homeless female military veterans by purchasing any of the merchandise in this Cafe Press store...
A Christmas Post: True Christmas Story: Funny Christmas Conversations: From Denny: Think back. How much can you remember about the things your parents used to tell you about Santa? This Christmas Eve my husband and I started that conversation. Though we have been married many years there were still some things we did not know about each other.
We laughed about the incredible stories our parents told us on Christmas Eve. It was becoming a contest between whose parents were the most outrageous storytellers.
Do you remember the funny and downright lame excuses your parents used to give you when talking about Santa coming to visit on Christmas Eve? 3 videos.
Comfort Food From Louisiana: 8 Roast Turkey Recipes: Thanksgiving and Christmas: From Denny: Looking for an interesting recipe twist to the holiday dinner? Want a modern version of a classic turkey recipe? Whether it's Thanksgiving or Christmas good cooks everywhere like to try a new recipe for the holidays every now and then.
Now matter how much we love tradition there are those times when a new recipe is the hit of the season and the family says, "This one is a winner; make it for next year too!" And that's how many food traditions start.
I'm one of those cooks that likes to compare a pack of recipes against each other to determine which I like best. Sometimes, I'm just searching for a good tweak on what I'm already making for the feast. Other years I'm just so bored making the same ol' thing I have to have a change somewhere in the menu.
Tell the world how you really feel about coming back to work. Proceeds go to helping homeless female military vets. Check it out on the shopkeeper's bio at Denny Lyon Gifts.
Dennys World of Quotes: 73 Funny Halloween Quotes and Famous Poems: From Denny: Everyone have a fun Halloween night! Attended our local symphony this week (awesome performance of complex Russian music) and didn't you know there was a middle-aged woman with the fun Halloween spirit. (The kids in attendance sure enjoyed it.) She did her makeup like a zombie and quickly woke up the old guys snoring in the back row. There is nothing more enjoyable than the unexpected just when you thought something would be oh, too predictable. :)
Check out this glistening silver spider web for your Halloween and autumn entertaining!
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Enjoy a campy Halloween all year round: Satan's calling: don't answer...
*** T-shirts available in this design ***
From Denny: Check out some campy fun for Halloween! I double dare you to answer the door to the little kiddies when you give out candy this year. It's witty; it's fun and not too creepy for the faint of heart.
It's sure to get a laugh out of the parents standing behind their kids on the sidewalk on the Halloween Candy Walk through the neighborhood. Definitely an alternative to the typical costume or
hours of spooky makeup. Sport this funny phone design (or the many t-shirt designs too) at those special holiday parties - or make it your motto year round.
How did I come up with this design? We just got through Hurricane Isaac here in Louisiana and I sure had plenty of time to think creatively while I was off the grid for a few days. You can read about my experience in this post on my political blog.
Also, at our house when the husband gets just a little too demanding and obnoxious he gets called "Satan." He loves the moniker. He really is behaviorally challenged on a regular basis. There are those days when I'm tempted to let him run out and play in traffic. This moniker is his cue to dial it back when I've had enough. He enjoys the scathing satire so much he gets back to nice - at least for a while... you know how Satan does.
So, of course, darling Satan just had to help in the making of this design. After all, it's his alter ego - and we all know what a pride problem Satan possesses. It's also fun to mock The Biggest Historical Scumbag of all time. Definitely a win-win in my book!
I'm currently designing over at Cafe Press in order to fund my new charity (Warriors Pearl Foundation, check out the blog) to help out homeless female military veterans. Currently, the Pentagon does nothing for them and there are only a couple of half-way houses operating (on a shoestring budget) in North Carolina. I thought I'd donate my time, art and photos to developing clothing, technology, home decor items to raise funds. Join the cause and thank you! Visit Denny Lyon Gifts.
* * * Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress - - see what's new! (yes, my new charity - why stand on the sidelines when you can actively do something about a problem?)
From Denny: You know it isn't cool any more when the old guys adopt the younger generation's culture like flash mobs. :)
Seriously, this was a group of seniors from the World War 2 generation that remember growing up in the tough economic times of the Great Depression.
They also remember how they used to pick up their spirits - and those around them - by singing in groups their favorite patriotic songs on holidays like President's Day.
Seniors from three different retirement communities came together in one public place to sing "America The Beautiful" and "God Bless America" in Beaverton, Oregon. Many of the 100 plus flag-waving participants were almost 100 years old.
This event carried a lot of meaning and a lot of memories for them. They were well received by the surprised and smiling camera-phone wielding younger generation, happy to document the event and post it on Twitter and other social sites.
Here's the link to the local news station's video of the event if the embedded version does not seem to be working. President's Day was Monday, 20 Feb 2012. Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) was yesterday, Tuesday, 21 Feb 2012. And, today, I'm just getting around to posting it all. :)
The Swamp House at New Orleans Audubon Zoo that houses T-Boy Nutria, the Groundhog Day prognosticator - Image via Wikipedia
From Denny: Groundhog Day contenders are popping up all over America. Groundhogs are not native to Louisiana (because it's too hot) but we didn't allow a little factoid like that to stop us. Louisiana likes its holidays so what effort was it to rustle up another creative idea than to draft the swamp rat nutria into the Groundhog Day?
Up in the northern part of America it's considered really bad news when a groundhog sees its shadow, foretelling another miserable six weeks of winter. But here in Louisiana it means a spring that is shorter than usual.
A short spring means summer's grueling heat and drippy humidity will return sooner than desired. So, you see, burrow-loving animals can come in handy to predict the weather both in the chilly North and the hottie Deep South.
Louisiana's answer to Groundhog Day
Louisiana sports two famous nutria - and a crawfish - for the Groundhog Day predictions: Pierre C. Shadeaux hails from New Iberia and T-Boy Nutria enjoys his crib at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. Personally, I think they should rename the New Orleans guy "New Orleans Louie" - but no one stopped long enough to ask my opinion. It just goes to show you can be number one in Louisiana on Twitter (warriorlight) for the most tweets but you still can't get no respect from your local peeps. :)
Pierre C. Shadeaux of New Iberia (about 2 hours outside of New Orleans, near Texas)
This is Pierre C. Shadeaux and this year he predicted a longer spring and milder summer for 2012.
From Will Chapman, creator of the Cajun Groundhog Day celebration in New Iberia and publisher of the Daily Iberian newspaper: "As Southerners, we don't want some Yankee groundhog predicting our weather, so we turned to a nutria, the closest thing we could find to a groundhog. "If Pierre sees his shadow, it's bad news for locals as it means a short spring and that summer's heat and humidity will be here early. No shadow for Pierre, and its good news - a longer spring, milder temperatures - a postponement of summer's heat and humidity."
Chapman explains about Pierre, "Pierre lives in the swamps. Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries agents are nice enough to bring Pierre to town. He stays at a local veterinarian's office for a few days, where he gets spa-like treatment as he's pampered, cleaned up, fed and hopefully gotten into a good temperament and a good frame of mind for making his prediction. And then they bring him over that morning and put him in the cottage."
Pierre enjoys some decadent Louisiana architecture, a custom-built Acadian home in the style of a traditional Cajun cottage. As many as 100 people show up to view his weather prediction. Word of mouth and the ensuing tourism should increase the crowds in the coming years.
T-Boy Nutria of New Orleans
This is T-Boy Nutria (short for Little Boy in Cajun French) at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans and the Cajun version of a groundhog predicted the same as Pierre C. Shadeaux - a longer spring and milder summer for 2012. These cute little swamp rats grow to twice the size of groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, weighing in at 30 pounds. Yeah, we grow 'em big down South.
The staff at the Audubon Zoo like to create a very special Lady Gaga kind of showy entrance for T-Boy to start off the festivities. This year he popped out of a wedding cake float to discover his "bride" Kim Kardashian.
T-Boy made some other spectacular entrances in previous years in his Louisiana Swamp Exhibit at the zoo. After Hurricane Katrina he emerged - not from a burrow - but from a miniature FEMA trailer.
Last year was quite the show too. He rode a Mardi Gras carnival float past an accusatory traffic camera. His license plate boasted of the New Orleans Saints' world champion football title. What a show off.
What is a nutria you ask?
For the uninitiated, nutria were first brought to Louisiana from South America when some Cajun fools thought they would get rich off their fur coats. Of course, as they are nothing but big rodents, when let loose they multiplied like crazy in the marshes, the bayous, the canals and the swamps - all because they had no natural predator. The nutria set about devastating the wetlands and became a general pest.
Louisiana chefs wasted no time figuring out how to cook up the rodent infestation/harvest and market it in the local grocery stores. Yes, nutria tastes a lot like chicken. Nutria are mighty cute as babies, sweet looking and fuzzy. They grow up a bit ugly, sporting long, fierce orange teeth.
As one of the zoo keepers talks about the choice of a nutria over a groundhog,Rick Atkinson, curator of the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit says, "One of the reasons I really like nutria is that when they make their appearance, the first thing they’re going to do is reach for the piece of corn or carrot I’ve provided and begin to eat - and an eating animal is not a traumatized animal. They don’t easily get rattled, and it’s all about the stomach. They are more outgoing than a groundhog, especially when it comes to food."
Claude the Cajun Crawfish
Who is another groundhog contender for the holiday in Louisiana? There's Claude the Cajun Crawfish from the northern part of the state, Shreveport. The tradition is that if he waves his claws toward the sun then he is signaling the cold spell will come to an end and that it's time to rock on and enjoy Mardi Gras season.
Claude also says he is better at predicting than groundhogs. Why? He says it's because he has no fur standing between him and the weather. He is also annoyed that people like to eat crawfish and even more miffed that no one has ever taken a bite out of Punxsutawney Phil. No photos of Claude as he is a bit camera shy.
Baton Rouge Boudreaux
Baton Rouge is the capital city of Louisiana and we have no Groundhog Day contender yet recognized but a fan base is growing via Twitter - or so we keep telling ourselves. Her name is Baton Rouge Betty Boudreaux and she's a real groundhog. She likes some things to remain traditional - but not all - don't you know. There are enough men in the game; why not a diva female to rock the boat?
Betty Boudreaux likes to sport a hot pink bikini, drink Abita Voodoo beer, dine on King Cake all year round while she drapes herself in mountains of Mardi Gras beads. Her trendy ensemble is topped off with a casually tossed purple feather boa.
To her every day is a party. She's been spotted on the red carpet in large floppy hats with long-stemmed fleur di lis waving at the crowd.
Her BFF is Pierre the Pelican, famous for his movie director styled Martin Scorcese eye wear and jamming swamp parties. Trailing close behind is Betty's faithful bodyguard, Gautreaux the Gator. He's a famous bar bouncer from the French Quarter that migrated up from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He fell in love with Betty and Baton Rouge, never to return to his former home, Sin City. Gautreaux says he has no regrets.
Remember to vote for Baton Rouge Betty Boudreaux next Groundhog Day. Her political platform is a Mardi Gras float in every driveway, a King Cake in every kitchen and a free crawfish boil in every neighborhood.
My virtual world is a rich place teeming with interesting characters, sort of like the real world Louisiana, don't you think? You should never pull a news journalist off the oh, so predictable news and let them loose in the creative world. It can get downright scary in there - or make you laugh.
* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. *
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