Rambling Thursday...Some Of This & Some Of That ...

Kool-Aid Pickles Recipe

Ingredients:
1 jar (46-ounce size) whole regular dill pickles, drained
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups water
2 packets Unsweetened Cherry Kool-Aid

Directions:
Drain and discard the juice from the pickle jar. Remove the pickles from the jar and cut each one in half lengthwise. Return the pickles to the jar and set aside. Pickle chips can also be used. In a large measuring cup, combine the sugar, water and Kool-Aid. Mix until the sugar has completely dissolved. Pour enough of the liquid into the pickle jar to cover the pickles. Discard any excess. Cover the jar and refrigerate at least 24 hours. Several days to a week is better. Makes a red colored, sweet, sour, salty pickle treat.

Apple and Spinach Salad
Serves 6

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
8 cups fresh baby spinach (about 8 ounces)
1 large apple, cored and thinly sliced
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled blue cheese
Directions:
Combine juices, mustard, honey, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk together. Place onions and spinach in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss together. Top with blue cheese.

Fresh Herbs

Looking for healthy, simple ways to take a dish from bland to brilliant? Do what professional chefs do: Use herbs.
Have you ever wondered why everything tastes so exquisite in fine restaurants? If you've talked to anyone in the food industry, you know: lots of butter. (Indeed, I even had a chef confess to me that the dastardly secret to his delicious egg white omelets was heavy cream.)
But there's another tack you can take at home: liberal use of fresh herbs. They add a sprightly complexity that can't be matched by dried, and are perhaps the single most transformative ingredient you can use to make your own cooking taste more like the work of a professional chef.
Growing your own herbs in a kitchen box takes little work other than daily watering; fresh herbs are also available year round in grocery stores, generally for under $2. So make it a policy to have at least one kind in the fridge, and see what a difference they can make in your cooking.


Basil
Lucky is the gardener with a thriving basil plant; these emerald-green satiny leaves emit the perfume of summer.

Chives
These oniony shoots are a boon to any busy cook. When you don't feel like getting out the cutting board to chop up an onion, snip these crunchy greens into a dish with a pair of scissors.

Cilantro
A somewhat polarizing herb, cilantro is prized in Chinese, Thai, Portuguese and Latin American cooking.

Dill
Don't let the delicate fronds fool you: Dill packs a lot of punch and tastes like a cross between celery, parsley and fresh fennel.

Marjoram
Though in the same family as oregano, velvety-leafed marjoram is more mellow, with floral notes as well as hints of sage and thyme.

Mint
Anyone who's tasted fresh mint can remember the shock of its bright, herbal pungency.

Oregano
If you have trouble telling oregano's somewhat fuzzy leaves from marjoram's, that's because they're so closely related.

Parsley
Parsley deserves a seat of honor in the pantheon of herbs for its ability to freshen almost any dish as well as to boost the flavor of any other herb paired with it.

Rosemary
Fresh rosemary looks, tastes and smells as if it's been stripped from a pine tree, along with some citrusy notes.

Sage
These fuzzy, sometimes silvery leaves are beautiful and strongly scented with the high notes of menthol and the low notes of the woods.

Tarragon
With its long, slender, pointy green leaves, tarragon has a lovely, gentle combination of licorice, basil and green-tasting qualities, plus a pleasant lemony-sour aftertaste.

Thyme
The foundation of many slow-cooked French dishes, thyme tastes deeply herbal and almost meaty.

Need Some Humor?

There was a very self-sufficient blind man, who did a lot of traveling alone. He was making his first trip to Texas and happened to be seated next to a Texan on the flight.
The Texan spent a lot of time telling him how everything is bigger and better in Texas. By the time the blind man had reached his destination, a large resort hotel, he was very excited about being in Texas.
The long trip had worn him out a little so he decided to stop at the bar for a small soda and a light snack before going up to his room to unpack this clothes.
When the waitress set down his drink, it was in a huge mug. "Wow, I had heard everything in Texas is bigger," he told her.
"That's right,"she replied. The blind man ate his snack and finished his drink. After drinking such a large amount, it was only natural his next stop was going to have to be the restroom. He asked the waitress for directions. She told him to turn left at the register and it would be the second door on the right.
He reached the first door and continued down the hall. A few steps later he stumbled slightly and missed the second door altogether and ended up going through the 3rd door instead. Not realizing he had entered the swimming area he walked forward and immediately fell into the swimming pool.
Remembering everything he had heard about things being bigger in Texas, as soon as he had his head above water he started shouting "Don't flush! Don't flush!"

Rambling Thursday's Laughter Is The Best Medicine!!!

The Service:
One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex was staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church.
It was covered with names, and small American flags were mounted on either side of it.
The seven-year-old had been staring at th e plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the boy, and said quietly, "Good morning, Alex."
"Good morning," replied the young man, still focused on the plaque.
"What is this?" Alex asked.
"Well, son, it's a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service."
Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque.
Little Alex's voice was trembling and barely audible when he asked, "Which service, the 9:45 or the 11:15?"

Weight Loss Plan:
A man calls a company and orders their 5-day, 10 lb. weight loss program.
The next day, there's a knock on the door and there stands before him a voluptuous, athletic, 19 year old babe dressed in nothing but a pair of Nike running shoes and a sign around her neck.
She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss company.
The sign reads, "If you can catch me, you can have me."
Without a second thought, he takes off after her.
A few miles later huffing and puffing, he finally gives up.
The same girl shows up for the next four days and the same thing happens.
On the fifth day, he weighs himself and is delighted to find he has lost 10 lbs. as promised.
He calls the company and orders their 5-day/20 pound program.
The next day there's a knock at the door and there stands the most stunning and beautiful woman he has ever seen in his life.
She is wearing nothing but Reebok running shoes and a sign around her neck that reads, "If you catch me you can have me."
Well, he's out the door after her like a shot.
This girl is in excellent shape and he does his best, but no such luck.
So for the next four days, the same routine happens with him gradually getting in better and better shape.
Much to his delight on the fifth day when he weighs himself, he discovers that he has lost another 20 lbs. as promised.
He decides to go for broke and calls the company to order the 7-day/50 pound program.
"Are you sure?" asks the representative on the phone. "This is our most rigorous program."
"Absolutely," he replies, "I haven't felt this good in years."
The next day there's a knock at the door; and when he opens it he finds a huge muscular guy standing there wearing nothing but pink running shoes and a sign around his neck that reads,"If I catch you, you are mine!!!"
He lost 63 pounds that week.

Medical Problem:
An old woman came into her doctor's office and confessed to an embarrassing problem. "I do that all the time, Doctor Johnson, but they're soundless, and they have no odor. In fact, since I've been here, I did it no less than twenty times. What can I do?"
"Here's a prescription, Mrs. Harris. Take these pills three times a day for seven days and come back and see me in a week."
Next week an upset Mrs. Harris marched into Dr. Johnson's office. "Doctor, I don't know what was in those pills, but the problem is worse! I'm doing it just as much, but now it smells terrible! What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Calm down, Mrs. Harris," said the doctor soothingly. "Now that we've fixed your sinuses, we'll work on your hearing!!!"

TGIF & Laughter Is The Best Medicine!!

You Know You Are Living In 2009 If

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
4. You email the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have email addresses.
6. You pull up in your own drive and use your mobile phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7 Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.
8. Leaving the house without your mobile phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
12 You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.
14. You are too busy to notice there was no number 9 on this list.
15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a number 9 on this list

The Phone Call

The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers, dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper, "Hello."
"Is your daddy home?" he asked.
"Yes," whispered the small voice.
"May I talk with him?"
The child whispered, "No."
Surprised, and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your mommy there?"
"Yes."
"May I talk with her?"
Again the small voice whispered, "No."
Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, "Is anybody else there?"
"Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman."
Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman?"
"No, he's busy", whispered the child.
"Busy doing what?"
"Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman", came the whispered answer.
Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the earpiece on the phone the boss asked, "What is that noise?"
"A hello-copper" answered the whispering voice.
"What is going on there?" asked the boss, now alarmed.
In an awed whispering voice the child answered, "The search team just landed the hello-copper."
Alarmed, concerned, and even more then just a little frustrated the boss asked, "What are they searching for?"
Still whispering, the young voice replied along with a muffled giggle: "ME."

The Fishing Trip

One morning the husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap.
Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, and reads her book.
Along comes a Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, 'Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?'
'Reading a book,' she replies, (thinking, 'Isn't that obvious?')
'You're in a Restricted Fishing Area,' he informs her.
'I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading'.
'Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up.'
'For reading a book,' she replies,
'You're in a Restricted Fishing Area,' he informs her again,
'I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading'
'Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up.'
'If you do that, I'll have to charge you with Sexual assault,' says the woman.
'But I haven't even touched you,' says the game warden.
'That's true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment.'
'Have a nice day ma'am,' and he left

About Growing Older

First ~ Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
Second ~ The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
Third ~ Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.
Fourth ~ When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.
Fifth ~ You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.
Sixth ~ I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.
Seventh ~ One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.
Eighth ~ One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.
Ninth ~ Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.
Tenth ~ Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf.
And finally ~ If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you are old.