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does it matter if we use kosher all-beef hotdogs? i don't want to make it any more difficult...

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first of all: speaking english would likely be a step forward in the verbal evolution of many native west virginians.

second of all: it's actually a quite discriminatory step as it can be used to prevent info getting to non-english speakers about important and essential services or events.

third of all: yes, i have been to west virginia.

Would like to think they were trying to say that English is our first language and the one we use in all our official documents. But this sort of "sneakin in the back door" with English-only provisions sounds like an attempt at exclusion to me.

Kind of sad that they think that English is the only language. I guess everyone else who wanted to live there better learn the lanuage or leave the state. Can you imagine DC doing that or getting rid of all the "foreigners"? I hope not.

among the myriad problems with legislation such as this is that it means that the state need only print official documents in english. for example, if a spanish speaker who may speak some english but not read it tries to apply for a loan, food stamps, welfare, or any other type of public or private assistance, they will need to bring an interpreter with them. the state can refuse to provide that service anymore, or to print translated materials, under the theory that english is the official language. it's a shame and is a less than thinly-veiled affront to immigrants or non-english speakers. i think it's terrible. ...and tara is correct, what about those native west virginians who they think speak and read english? what's going to happen to them when they find out that all they really speak is some sort of pidgeon appalachian. so sad.

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Anyone got a good joke? I'll trade an account for a good one. Try to keep them kinda clean.

To explain better I have to give you a little background. In a time long-long ago I used to keep all of my change in my car. As I went to a drive thru, car wash, or other driving related activity, I would use up my change paying for things. I was at symbiosis with my normal change collection process throughout the rest of my day. Eventually I gave up my car and no longer had the outlet for using up my change. It began to pile up in drawers, on the kitchen counter, next to the bed, anywhere that was convenient to throw down coins. It started to become a big mess, as well as an expensive habit.

One day I decided I was going to make a conscious effort to get rid of all of that change. I could take it to the grocery store and cash it at one of those coin machines, but that seemed like cheating. I could also roll it up and take it to the bank, but that seemed like too much coordination. I decided to get rid of the change the old fashioned way... spend it.

It has taken several years to get rid of all the change. To make the system work I had to make a game out of it. Every time I left the house I would fill my pocket with some assorted change, whenever possible I would use up all of the smaller coins and then the larger ones. After a while I even developed the perfect assortment coins that would yield the best reduction in amount of coins, with the least weight in my pocket, and as many payment options as possible. It actually became such a habit that if I could get rid of nine pennies in one shot I was so excited I might come home and load up on more for the rest of the day.

It is very satisfying being free from the coins that cluttered my life. I almost feel like a smoker who just had their last cigarette, an drug addict who just had their last hit, or a college student who just payed off their last credit card bill. I will remember this experience for the rest of my days and never let the change pile up again.

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congratulations on this wonderful success. and how symbolic to enter a new year of your life unburdened by the presence and weight of extra clutter in your life... ahhh...

it's a good thing you didn't have to go through metal detectors........ever count up all that you saved?

I think it's terrific that you were finally able to get rid of all that change, but I'm wondering if all the folks on the receiving end appreciated all your coins.

Glad to have your blog back....I've missed you!

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First I thought I would run the bread machine. I haven't run that guy in years, but I ordered way too many eggs and was looking for a chance to use them up before they started going bad. I have the machine running in "dough mode" right now that will turn into garlic French baguette later on this evening.

Realizing that I was really only going to use two eggs in the bread endeavor, I decided some deviled eggs would be perfect. It's also been a while since I had to boil the things, so I thought it would be best to look up the proper timing for the eggs to cook. Naturally I reference my trusty Joy of Cooking where I saw ingredients that amazed and enticed at the same time.

The recipe had yolk moistening options like sour creme, french dressing or even butter with lemon juice and sugar. I opted for pickle juice, dijon mustard, kosher salt, and paprika. Next came the fun part, usually you see paprika sprinkled on top of the eggs, but "Joy" had some other more exotic ideas.

First I tried Worcestershire sauce. It was pretty good. Then I tried ketchup, not as good. As I looked through my pantry for some other ideas I saw a bottle of Tabasco. I thought "people like this stuff on eggs", so I tried it. That was too spicy for me, but I also had a bottle of Tabasco's evil twin - Tobasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce. That was it, perfect. It has a hint of spicy along with a rich smoky flavor. I can't believe I haven't heard of this before.

Moral of the story, experiment with your devils, if you mess one up there's plenty more where that came from.

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i'm thoroughly impressed with your deviled egg presentation skills. however, the real issue is how many of them you can eat at a time. while i'm not a big deviled egg fan - since i'm not crazy about anything being done to the yolk - i am a huge fan of hard-boiled eggs. and while i've never actually tried to power eat them, i'd like to think that i could get thru a dozen without too much difficulty. any thoughts?

Looks delicious. A little spicy, but I think that's what I need in the morning. If you ever give up your day job, I think you might consider being a food editor/photographer. You'd be fantastic!

here's a good preparation guide for hard boiled eggs. i know it's not difficult, generally, but this is a good way that my friend taught me how to do it: boil water in the pot until it bubbles strongly, then throw in a cup-ish of cold water, put the eggs in the water and keep them there for 10-13 minutes (depending on how firm you like the yolk). it works very well and ensures a nice, yellow yolk. give it a try.

Eggs look a little rancid. Any other gourmet ideas?

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We got a couple of inches of the white stuff last night, and the snow is still trickling down, but the temperature is rising just above 32° so it probably won't stick around for too long. I was just laying back checking out the snow, when I noticed these birds sitting out there.

I thought they were supposed to fly South for the winter.

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What a great picture! You'd think that birds couldn't handle that kind of cold, but it's an amazing sight. And you're a great photographer. Thanks

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We saw about 12 to 18 whales, including a rare family group of six, but It's hard to tell exactly how many whales saw because once they dive under water, they call that sounding, you can't tell if it's the same whale that comes back up. The captain said we were not allowed to drive closer than about 100 yards from the whales, but I think we got closer than that. I'm not so sure that we really wanted to get that close though because when the whales come up to breathe they send out a huge gasp of air at 300 miles per hour, their breath is apparently the worst thing you ever experienced, smelling like dead rotting fish.

After about 2 hours of checking out the whales, we got a bonus trip around Anacapa Island to pick up one of the park rangers who had been stationed there. The island is home to very large populations of Brown Pelicans as well as other seabirds. Most of the cliffs where the birds hang out were so covered in poop that it looked like it had snowed recently. Lastly was a group of six harbor seals spotted sunning themselves on the beach.

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WOW! What an experience and what a picture!

You don't see that many whales even off the coast of Alaska. It must have been thrilling....a real whale of a time!

i like the picture you took. good timing.

did you read about the scuba diver that was left by the dive boat off of catalina island? he's suing them for $4m, in part saying that by being out on the water for 5 hours caused him to develop skin cancer. i'm no doctor, but that does seem far afield. i'm glad nothing like that happened to you.

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The 8lb ham I got for Christmas has taken many different forms over the last week. First there was just plain spiral ham with it's smokey molasses goodness, but that got boring. Next came omelets with diced ham and onions, sandwiches, and now soup.

You can see the ham right there, next to his friends carrot, bay leaf and corn. There's also a ton of onions, great northern beans, and celery under there. It's almost done, so I'm off to toast up some Italian bread and serve up a big steaming bowl for myself.

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My comment is: No comment

Great cook, but................

Why did you get a Christmas ham? Where does one get one of those from? I thought only companies like IBM in the 50's gave them out.

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