Les Paul, Musician, Inventor, dead at 94

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If your into modern music of any kind, esp that which uses electric guitars for instrumentation, this man is the one who made it all possible. From guitars to recording equipment, he is the originator and the reason behind what it is today. I never got to see him live, and wish I would have had that opportunity.

Edit: Soon after posting this, I found this video thats about 2-3 years old. This guy is not only humble, but he is an absolute hoot!

Got a new camera

For my birthday, Mom got me a Best Buy gift card, and with it, I purchased a Kodak EasyShare M340 digital camera. This is a nice camera. There are quite a few features on it that have me oohhing and ahhhing. There are low light and night photo settings, a setting to photograph fireworks, action shots, even a noob setting that does everything for you but push the button. To illustrate the level of detail this thing captures, I got my lovebird, Honey, in mid flight Click Here.

There are more that I have uploaded of my grand daughter that I think you will agree are much better than the ones we have been taking with our camera phones. Im going to try to get some scenery around here. There hasnt been much success for that with the weather so hot and hazy lately. I havent even been able to see the mountain for several days. Drop me a line, and let me know what you think.

Bobby Flay, grill master

I found this video a while back, and wanted to share this with you guys and gals. Bobby Flay has some great grilling and bbq recipies, so does Mario Batali, but I think that Bobby is a more prolific purveyor of smokey vittles :)

For those of you who know me, I have a special love for good bbq. Pulled pork, brisket, ribs, chicken, even hot dogs and hamburgers taste better when tossed on a grill. So for those of you whose mouth hasnt watered in some time over bbq, here you go!

Crockpot Lovin'

I don't know about you, but there is something about cooking with a crockpot. Sure you can mess it up big in a crockpot, but its so easy to make something good. And a lot of it. If you're like me, you like large portions. A 6 quart crockpot pretty much covers that and then some. You can have dinner, then dinner for lunch, then dinner for breakfast, then dinner again. Its a virtual feast that can keep you eating.

Anyhow, my wife found a couple of recipes on the internet for crockpot chicken, but they weren't quite what she was looking for. So she made a compromise between the two, added some inspiration of her own, and voila! Crockpot lovin'!

Sweet and Sour (kind of) Chicken

1 Whole Chicken (We take the skin off, I'm not a fan of chicken skin)
1/4 cup Braggs Amino Acid* (or soy sauce)
2 tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 onion diced
1 bell pepper sliced into thin strips
4 cloves garlic
1 can water chestnuts(drained)
1 can crushed pineapple(reserve liquid)
1/4 cup corn starch
1 cup chicken broth

Put all ingredients into crockpot except pineapple liquid and corn starch. Set crockpot to low and cook for 6-8 hours.

Mix cornstarch and pineapple liquid, add to crockpot, and cook for another 20 minutes.

* We use Braggs amino acids to substitute for soy sauce. Its gluten free and vinegar free, and tastes like soy sauce. My wife and I both have food allergies, so this is perfect for both of us. You can find it at most health food stores, and some grocery stores are beginning to carry it in their health food section as well. http://www.bragg.com/

Shutterbug!

So, for those of you who know, I am a very proud grandparent! According to my Photobucket account (a free image storage website) I have 361 images of my almost 6 month old granddaughter. I just uploaded 82 pictures today. So far, we have been using a camera phone to take all the pictures, however, we are getting a digital camera soon. She is so adorable, I decided to give everyone who visits this site a view of my picture album. If you notice the sidebar, you'll see there is a slide show of all the pictures we have uploaded currently. Enjoy!

Not exactly a summer recipe...

My wife was looking for recipes for crockpot chicken, and stumbled on this little recipe, that I thought looked interesting, and decided to share it here. I know its a little early for the holidays, however, you cant ever be too prepared, right? Anyhow, it seemed to me that this recipe would probably create a mess in a perfectly good coffee maker, and I only drink my coffee black, so the added flavoring would not appeal to me at all. The idea struck me that if you wrapped the spices in a cheese cloth and tied it off, or, if you put it in a french press, you could brew something like this and it would probably come out quite well. Anyhow, without any further adieu, here it is:

Holiday Hot Perk

2 1/2 cups cranberry juice
2 1/2 cups pineapple juice
1 3/4 cups water

Pour liquids into coffee pot.

1 tsp. cloves
3 sticks cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/2 cup brown sugar

Put dry ingredients into brew basket, then perk.

So its summer time!

For most people around the country, thats kind of a big DUH!, but here in Washington State, its kind of like, Wha!! ETHEL!! WHATS THAT BIG BRIGHT YELLER BALL HANGIN IN THE SKY!! Or so the joke sometimes goes :) Summer here is quite mild, with patches of sunshine here and there. We actually are pretty blessed compared to some places that get incredibly hot, or incredibly cold (in the winter that is), I do feel fortunate to have air conditioning in my apartment for the days when it gets 'a little warmer than usual'.

Anyhow, I was beating my head against the wall the other day trying to remember how to make sun tea. I finally googled it, and found a recipe. Then lo, and behold, I found that I had actually posted one on my forum! I should really look there first for some of the things I try to remember.

Sun Tea

9 bags of Lipton tea(or whatever your favorite is)
A clear 4 qt container, preferably glass. They are usually available around this time of year at most supermarkets or variety stores.
Fill with cold water.
Leave it out in direct sunlight for 4-5 hours.

Pour over a tall glass full of ice, and enjoy!