Happy 4th of July

Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th!
Below is a commercial for our local cable company that has been running.  Sorry for the advertisement, but I thought it was appropriate!

Friday's Fave Five: July

 

Once again, Susanne at Living to tell the Story is hosting Friday's Fave Five:  A time to look back over the week and pick 5 of your faves for the week! 

1.  Kolaches

 

 Oh, y'all!  These are to die for!  One of my coworkers is from Pa. and brought me back some of these.  They're from a restaurant in her hometown.  My great-aunt used to make these:  they are a Czech bread, usually a breakfast bread, with fruit or cream cheese.  These were so good; they tasted just like my great-aunt's.  My cousin sent me the recipe that her mom used, but I haven't tried them yet.  It may be time to roll  up my sleeves and try them out.

The funny thing is that the coworker & I were talking at lunch one day, and I have no idea how the topic of kolaches came up.  Anyway, I must have mentioned it or maybe she was talking about the restaurant.  I'm so very glad these lived up to the hype!

 2.    Can you see the little blue thingy in the circle?

 This little guy was a little camera shy and dug down into the soil, but not before I got a picture of his tail!  This is what the little guy's body looks  like:

 

My Jack Russell mutt loves to chase them when she sees them on the back porch.  She is the great skink hunter!

3.  My favorite side to cook with grilled chicken:

 Fresh Broccoli and Noodles

(from The Complete Step-by-Step Diabetic Cookbook)

I modify the recipe, mostly by not really measuring out anything!  Here's how I fix  it:

Cook egg noodles (amount will depend on how many servings you need to get out of this recipe)

Slice mushrooms (of course I use my Pampered Chef Egg Slicer!)

You can use fresh or frozen broccoli (thawed), and since I'm lazy I already had some frozen broccoli, I used that.  Mix the broccoli and mushrooms in a preheated (medium-high heat) skillet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  You can add chopped onions, too, but I just put in some onion powder because I forgot to get an onion!  

Check out how nice the mushrooms look when you use the slicer:

Stir-fry until broccoli is tender (about 4 minutes).

Add garlic powder, pepper, and salt.  

Stir in noodles and 2-3 T margarine.

Cook over medium-high heat, stirring gently, until margarine is melted.

The finished product:

Quick, easy, and oh so good!

4.  I've gotta show y'all how much my New Guinea Impatients have grown.  Looks like  I've finally found something that will grow in the planter on my front porch!  

This is before:

And now:

No wonder the skink likes it in there so much!

5.  Sam Elliott in Did you Hear About the Morgans.  Oh, my.  Now that's a man!  And he looks just as good now as he did the first time I saw him in a movie many years ago (which I think was Tombstone).  They don't make men like that any more.  He may even trump Jethro.  It's  awfully close!

I finally got around to watching that movie yesterday.  I don't really care for Sarah Jessica Parker, but,  let me tell you, she has somebody giving her some excellent advice as far as what movies she is in.   

Okay, I've gotta get this one in, too, even though I've already got my "Five" in!  It cooled off enough Thursday morning that I was able to sit outside  with a coffee and spend some time reading a book.  It doesn't get much better than this:

Oh, I've found another "reality show" that I'm really enjoying:  Police Women of Memphis on TLC.  My favorite is Aubrey.  She looks like a little girl, but she's one tough woman.  And what a great sense of humor.  Husband & I were watching a marathon of the show the other day, and we both talked about how sad it is that some people live like that, and think it's normal.  I shouldn't be surprised...I have a lot of students who live  in a world very similar to that.

Thanks for checking out my FFF!  Feel free to link up at Susanne's and see what kind of week everybody else had!

Also, go by Java's and participate in Follow Friday 40 and Over...all you have to do is link up and go visiting!

In the News

I did this a while ago, and thought it was time for another installment of things that had happened in my neck of the woods that were newsworthy.  Or somebody thought they were, anyway!


1.  A couple of weeks ago, in a small town about an hour, hour & a half away from here, 6 women held a man captive in a thrift store (until the police could arrive).  Why?  He had been watching women try on clothes through a peep hole!  Way to go, women!


2.  Remember the bear story:  a bear was euthanized because he bit a tourist who had gotten too close to him.  The tourist was trying to get a picture of the bear, and the bear ended up biting him on the foot.  Well, Mr. Tourist was back in the news last week: he was being cited for "disturbing a wild animal".  What did the tourist have to say about the bear dying?  He said it was unfortunate, but apparently it wasn't his fault.  You see, he blamed  people that  may or may not have fed the bear in the past for "taming" the bear.  He apparently wants to be some kind of hero, because he said he was glad  it was him  instead of a kid.  The bite didn't even draw blood, but I guess a bite is a bite.  Here's the kicker:  The tourist had just received his degree...in Environmental Studies  Hmmmm...


3.  In another town about an hour away from here, a man robbed a bank, then proceeded to crash into 3 police cruisers, tossing the evidence out in the road as he crashed.  He flipped his truck a few times after  he decided to cross the median to go the wrong way down the interstate.  His name?  He told them it was "John Doe". No police officers were injured, but "John" will be going to jail...after he gets out of the hospital!


4.  In the big city close by, the city council  put off voting on city residents having chickens used for laying eggs.  There will be a limit to how many they can have (6), and the residents have  to keep the coops clean and smell-free.  Okay, let me say this:  How in the world do you keep a chicken coop from  smelling?  The council did approve goats in a couple of parks.  They will be used for eating the kudzu that apparently are taking over the parks.


5.  I don't get the newspaper delivered to the house;  I check online for the news.  The picture that was on the online front page edition of the newspaper showed 2 local girls in front of a movie poster.  Guess what the movie was?  (I'm sure most of you guessed correctly!)  Eclipse.  One middle schooler (who was wearing a shirt with "Wolf Girl" on it) was quoted as saying, " He's awesome, because he's a real man — he don't sparkle".  Really, newspaper?  Could you have not used quotes and paraphrased what the girl said...with correct grammar?

So, has there been anything outside of the ordinary in your newspaper lately?