Tag: food

pancakes with a secret ingredient

I had lunch yesterday with a guy who said he recently cooked some pancakes in bacon grease.  And wouldn’t you know, the infamous Important Doctor was sitting next to him, grinning like he was smart or something.  The guy who invented this said they were really good, but he decided to limit how many he did that way because it couldn’t be healthy at all.  He said it created a slightly crunchy shell around the pancake that tasted great.  I’d like to try one…

I imagine you could add bacon grease to a lot of dishes to make them better, and the Important Doctor claims this is good for you, but I have yet to see any documented proof of this.  If only he would create some graphs to show how that works…

the special days of April, pt 2

Now we continue our look at the special days / celebrations / observances in April.  (Click here to see part 1.)

  • 15 Income Tax Day — Honestly, I’d rather not celebrate this.  To me, it’s a deadline, not a holiday.  Nonetheless, it is found on some holiday lists.  Whatever…
  • 16 National Stress Awareness Day — We should aim to live stress-free lives.  That’s a lofty goal, I realize, but it is possible.  That doesn’t mean there won’t be stressful circumstances, but we don’t have to get stressed out.  We can’t completely conquer it on our own, but with the peace of God, we can live without stress and anxiety.
  • 17 Blah, Blah, Blah Day — Apparently this is a day for rambling.  Do you know how much fun it can be to ramble on and on randomly?  It can be hilarious, too.  But you must not force it to happen, because it needs to be spontaneous.  And I don’t mean just talking about the same subject for a long time, to the point that your listeners are totally bored — I mean letting the conversation jump around randomly.  (Some examples are here and here.  Our free-for-all stories are also very random.)
  • 17 National Cheeseball Day — Mmm…  cheeseballs and Ritz crackers…
  • 18 International Juggler’s Day — I know, juggling may not seem as cool as it once did, but it can still be fun.  Try juggling various office supplies in your cubicle at work.  If some go over the walls, that just adds to the excitement.  Your co-workers will get a kick out of it.  🙂
  • 18 Pet Owners Independence Day — This sounded strange to me, so I glanced online to see what it’s about.  No one knows for sure, but one place suggested making your pets go to work while you stayed home to just sleep and eat.  It sounds like a good idea in theory (especially the staying home part), but your pet may not have the experience necessary to competently do your job for a day.  But imagine how funny it would be to see your office filled with pets!  🙂
  • 19 National Garlic Day — Look at it this way : garlic cheese biscuits.
  • 19 Humorous Day — Obviously this means you should be humorous today.  (And, of course, this blog is a great place to do so.)  Some people really need to be humorous more often.  There seems to be an increasing number of humorless people these days, from politicians to lobbyists and special interest groups and the “politically correct” crowd.  We all need to laugh — it’s good for you, and it helps you get through life easier.
  • 20 Look Alike Day — On this day you can choose to look like anyone you want.  You can even choose to dress up like a pirate or a ninja.  Come to think of it, a great holiday would be that everyone had to dress up as a pirate OR a ninja.  That would make work a lot more interesting, plus you would see where everyone stands in the infamous debate over which is superior.
  • 20 Volunteer Recognition Day — I volunteer for this blog, so I qualify.  My salary for providing all this original entertainment is zero, zip, nada.  So if you want to thank me, today is a good day for it.  (FYI, I accept cookies, U.S. currency, free lunches, gift cards, and, of course, verbal thanks.)
  • 20 Cuckoo Day — I’m cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!
  • 21 Kindergarten Day — Perhaps we should all go back to Kindergarten on this day, to realize how far we have come.  We should spend the day coloring, having cookies and milk, and taking naps.  I’m sure there was probably more to kindergarten, but that’s what I remember most.  🙂
  • 23 Lover’s Day — We’ve already got Valentine’s Day, which is enough of a hassle.  Next…
  • 23 Take a Chance Day — What you do today is obvious — take a chance.  For example, suppose there’s a girl you’ve been wanting to ask out on a date, but you’re scared because you don’t know what she’d say.  So on this day, you take the chance.  Even if she totally rejects you and never speaks to you again and gets a restraining order against you, at least you took a chance.
  • 23 World Laboratory Day — I’d like to take a tour of a mad scientist’s laboratory.  (I hear that the Important Evil Genius (E.D) has a lot of retro equipment which would be neat to see, if he still has any working secret lairs.)
  • 23 International Sing Out Day — Sing out, and enjoy singing.  If singing isn’t your gift, you might want to keep it in your car or in the shower, but enjoy your singing.  If you have musical talent, let others enjoy it.
  • 24 Pig in a Blanket Day — This isn’t anything too special, except that you get to eat, which is why I included it.  (There’s not nearly enough eating holidays this month!)
  • 27 National Prime Rib Day — Ahh, here we go, a day to eat steak!  And remember, diets don’t apply on holidays, so order a large steak and get a loaded baked potato to go with it.
  • 27 Tell a Story Day — I’ll tell ya a story, lad — it’s about a guy who got in my way, and it’s not a happy ending.  Oh, wait, that’s not the point.  Today you should exercise your imagination, let your creativity run wild.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a great author or not.  Just write what you enjoy.  Also, we have an outlet here on this blog for such things : our free-for-all stories.  There’s usually one in progress, so click the link to check it out.  You’re all welcome to participate.  It’s a good time.
  • 28 Kiss Your Mate Day — Hopefully you don’t need a reminder for this…
  • 29 National Shrimp Scampi Day — This is what I’m talkin’ about!  Red Lobster, here I come!  They should offer an all-you-can-eat shrimp platter on this day, which includes shrimp scampi.
  • bad hair day30 Hairstyle Appreciation Day — I don’t really care how other people style their hair — that’s their business.  Although some folks’ hair does look a mess, like they didn’t fix it after going to bed with wet hair.  I have trouble appreciating that, even if it is a holiday.  But to each their own, I suppose.
  • 30 National Honesty Day — We should be honest every day.  Of course, that doesn’t mean we have to say everything we’re thinking — there is something called tact.  But we shouldn’t ever lie or be dishonest.

That concludes the special holidays in April.  I hope you found something you could celebrate.

how to eat what you want and be healthy

The government recommends we get so many vitamins and minerals in our daily diet to be healthy and fit.  However, many of our food choices don’t contain sufficient amounts of them, so we have to make do with what we have.  You could take vitamin supplements, but they don’t taste good, and they aren’t very filling, nor are they fun.  Another possible option is that you keep eating until you get a sufficient amount of your daily nutrients.  For example, if you’re eating pizza for lunch, but each slice has only 10% of the Vitamin C you need each day, then you’ll just have to eat 10 pieces.  This will ensure your body is getting all the required vitamins and minerals that it needs, plus you will enjoy the process of being healthy and eating right.  🙂

Granted, you may take in a few extra calories and thus gain a few pounds, but you’re giving your body the nutrition it needs.  What’s more important — being healthy or being skinny?  (And, when it comes to eating, being happy or eating small portions of boring foods?)

the special days of January, pt 3

Here’s part 3 of the special days and holidays in January.

  • 24 Compliment Day — One website suggests giving at least 5 compliments to different people on this day.  I’ll give one now (which should meet the goal all at once) : You obviously have good taste in blogs, since you’re here reading this one.  🙂
  • 26 Spouse’s Day — Isn’t there already a holiday for this, like Valentine’s Day?  Oh, I know — Valentine’s Day is mainly for the women, because they get expensive roses and teddy bears and chocolates, and guys usually get nothing but a card.  So maybe this day is the more balanced of the holidays.
  • chocolate cake27 Chocolate Cake Day — Woohoo!  You know what to do : eat… lots… of… cake.
  • 27 Punch the Clock Day — This is an innovative idea, especially if applied to the clock at work.  Just make sure that you don’t lose track of when 5:00 rolls around if you break the clock.
  • 28 Fun at Work Day — Personally I have more fun not working, but at least this is better than a typical work day.  Unfortunately, the 28th falls on a Monday this year, which makes it even more difficult to carry out.  Here at Buffet o’ Blog we’ve had a couple of discussions (here and here) on ways to improve the work day.  Since these aren’t implemented full-time yet, this would be a good day to start.
  • 29 National Cornchip Day — We take them for granted now, but they haven’t been around forever.  Fritos corn chips debuted in 1961.  How do you celebrate this day?  Eat corn chips, preferably with cheese dip and/or salsa.
  • 30 National Inane Answering Message Day — Oh, this is a fun one!  Back when I was single and lived at the “Bachelor Pad”, we often put inane messages for callers to hear, and sometimes people left inane messages.  I still like to leave funny messages for friends when I know they won’t answer their phone.  (I know for a fact that Mango-Man despises the theme song from Sanford & Son, so it’s a great prank to call his work number after hours and leave that song on there.  He will act all upset and stuff, but he will really get a kick out of it, so everyone do this!)  🙂
  • 31 Backward Day — Is this because of the rap group Kris Kross?  Just kidding.  I looked online and found this about the holiday : “Try writing backwards or reading backwards.  Wear your shirt with the back in the front.  Eat your meal, starting with dessert.  Now that’s what I call fun!  Walk backwards, or talk backwards.  Play a board game backwards, from the finish line to the start.  Are you starting to get the picture!?  This day is limited only by your imagination.”  Um, no.  Although I guess we could play a board game like Monopoly backwards, where I start with all the money and properties with hotels.  🙂
  • 31 Inspire Your Heart with Art Day — Again, I looked online and found something amusing on this : “Look at a piece of art and ask yourself: What is telling me?  How does it make me feel?  What emotions is it evoking (if any) within me?”  I’m no art expert, but what I usually think about contemporary art is, “You paid how much for that?!?”  I suppose you could consider the environment of video games as art, especially something like Super Mario Galaxy, with its various unique worlds.  Yeah, that sounds like a good way to celebrate this day.

Hey, we finally reached the end!  January had a lot of special days, huh?  Or maybe January had a lot of rambling concerning its special days.  🙂  Anyway, there you have it.  As always, you’re welcome to share any thoughts in the comments.