The Food Network Will Be Calling Me Soon...

Ok, so I was cooking dinner tonight, and I was thinking about how great it would be to have my own show on the Food Network. (I am SO addicted to the Food Network!) And then it occured to me: I have a blog!! So today I would like to introduce you to "Cooking With Erika." I was going to call it "Recipe of the Day," but then I would feel obligated to add a new recipe every day (and really, who has time for that??). So, here is your very first installment of "Cooking With Erika." (You're so excited, I can tell.)

Tonight, I made Mushroom/Swiss burgers, so that's the recipe I'll share with you. Here's what you do:

First, you'll need enough hamburgers to feed however many people are eating. You'll also need a corresponding number of buns. Cook your burgers however you like.
Next, you'll need these things:
Mushrooms (for four burgers, I use one of the small, square packages of whole mushrooms... you may need more or less than that depending on how many burgers you're making)
Salt and Pepper
Worcestershire sauce
Beef broth
Flour
Olive oil (or butter, or vegetable oil... whatever you like/have in the house)
Swiss cheese
Ok, here's what you do: First, pour about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil into a skillet (one large enough to fit all the mushrooms), and heat it over medium heat. When the skillet is hot, add your mushrooms (sliced). Let them cook a couple minutes, then add salt and pepper (however much you like), worcestershire (2-3 tbsp), and beef broth (about 1/4-1/3 cup). (For a more robust flavor, you could replace half of the broth with red wine... but I figure hey, it's just burgers... no need to get fancy.) Let this simmer about five minutes, then sprinkle a tablespoon of flour on top and mix well. Turn it down to med-low, and let it simmer until it looks like a very thick mushroom gravy.
Put swiss cheese on top of your hot burgers and let it melt a little. Brown the buns under the broiler until they're just golden.
Spread some mushrooms on the bottom bun, top with a burger, top with some mushrooms, then add the top bun.
Voila!
Thank you for tuning in to this session of "Cooking With Erika." :-)

Beggars Shouldn't be Choosers

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,342772,00.html

Ok, so what if it's gross? It contains all of the same nutrients you would get in a regular meal. Cruel and unusual punishment would be not feeding them at all. Or giving them something with no nutritional value. And besides, it's not like EVERYONE has to eat it... just those who can't behave themselves.

Why is it that people in jail seem to think that they should be given the royal treatment?? Especially when they behave like ill-mannered apes while they're there?? Seriously, that would be like sending my four year old to his room because his attitude sucks and then him demanding that while he's in there he should get a Happy Meal and a movie. Boo-freaking-hoo! You want good food? Don't wind up in jail. You want decent food while you're in jail? Don't throw "bodily fluids" and other things at the guards, stupid!

Cruel punishment... listening to the whining of those who feel they're "entitled" to certain privileges just because they have a pulse: THAT is cruel!

Where will YOU be on Sept. 4th?

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7956248?MSNHPHMA

And so the countdown begins...

Global Warming Stuff...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,339831,00.html

I usually add commentary here, but the article pretty much says it all... just a few things that stood out to me:

The EPA projects that if the bill is enacted the size of our economy as
measured by its gross domestic product would shrink by as much as $2.9 trillion
by the year 2050.
That’s a 6.9 percent smaller economy than we otherwise
might have if no action were taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For an
idea of what that might mean, consider our current economic crisis.
During
the fourth quarter of 2007, GDP actually increased by 0.6 percent, yet
trepidation still spread among businesses, consumers and the financial markets.
Though the EPA says that Lieberman-Warner would send our economy in the opposite
direction by more than a factor of 10, few in Congress seem concerned.
For more perspective, consider that during 1929 and 1930, the first two
years of the Great Depression, GDP declined by 8.6 percent and 6.4 percent,
respectively.

Also, (I know I'm centered... I couldn't get back to the left side after the block quote... grr... someone HELP me get the hang of formatting!)

In an instantaneous poll, the Wall Street Journal asked the audience to
select the most pressing societal problem from a list of five that included
infectious disease (malaria, AIDs, etc.), terrorism and global warming. Global warming was the most popular response, receiving 31 percent of the vote, while infectious disease was far behind in last place with only 3 percent of the vote.
It’s an amazing result given that billions are sickened and millions
die every year from infectious disease. The consequences of future global
warming, on the other hand, are entirely speculative

Things to think about... (yeah, centered again... )

Baby Steps to a Better McCain

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/03/26/newsflash-john-mccain-says-something-i-can-cheer/
(By way of Michelle Malkin, one of my favorite bloggers)

Finally, a candidate who has the nerve to say that the government has no business bailing out irresponsible borrowers. It's very demoralizing to be saving to be able to afford a home the old-fashioned way, and then see irresponsible people-- especially those who were buying second homes, or just buying property to try for a profit (it's called a failed business venture, suck it up) getting bail-outs. Kinda makes you feel like a sucker for doing things legitimately.

I'm still not all that enamoured with Sen. McCain, but maybe... just maybe, We The People will get a decent president out of him, yet!

Issue of Faith

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,341574,00.html

Stories like this one really frustrate me. I firmly believe in the power of prayer. I firmly believe that prayer can aid in healing. I even believe that sometimes God will heal someone through prayer alone without medical intervention. But when your child has been seriously ill for THRITY DAYS despite your most fervent prayers, it's TIME TO CALL A DOCTOR!!

First of all, God gave us doctors for a reason. Just because you take your sick child (or self for that matter) to a doctor does not mean that you don't trust God with your health. It's not like doctors are a recent invention. Surely, if we were not to seek medical advice from a professional, God would have told us at some point. I'm not saying I can quote the Bible cover to cover, but something tells me if "Thou shalt not visit a doctor" were in there, I'd remember it. Seeing a doctor is not an admission of poor faith, it's an admission of good common sense. God admires initiative.

Second of all, stories like this inevitably make it into the news. And then the entire secular world feels the need to point at Christians and say things like, "Oh, those backward, ignorant Christians... afraid to see a doctor... blah, blah, blah..." you know the drill. I have a pretty thick skin, and I'm fairly capable of rolling my eyes when the finger-pointing starts, but I just hate to leave the wrong impression with people. I hate for people to get the wrong idea about me as an individual, and, by extension, I hate for people to have the wrong idea about the things I believe.

The worst part of all, though, is that a girl died. When it could have been prevented by an insulin shot. Nearly as bad is the fact that now, these parents believe that she died because they didn't have enough faith.

Would You Go?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,341609,00.html

Sounds like fun, but I'm kinda claustrophobic.... a condition I fear might be worse when flying through a vacuum... (I have the same nervousness about submarines)
Anyway, I saw this and thought it was cool, so I'm sharing! :-)

A Victory for Good Ole' Common Sense!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23715954/?GT1=43001

I must say, this actually surprised me! Finally, the comman man beats the PC police! It is a day of victory for all (who posses common sense).

Seriously, who did they think his sign was offending?? If they could read it, then they were obviously also capable of placing their order in English.

I had planned on posting an essay that I had written and submitted to our local paper (which they mercilessly edited into a senseless ramble... I was in tears when I saw what they did to it), but it's saved on my jump drive as a Word document, and my computer has just all of a sudden forgotten that it actually does have Microsoft Word, and tells me that I have to insert the disk to install it... (So now I have to go borrow it from my dad again...) I REALLY hate computers sometimes... Anyway... to my point... The essay I had planned to post with this was about pushing to establish English as the official language of the US. Maybe I'll get that put up... someday...

By the way, was anyone else totally craving a good cheesesteak after reading that article?? Mmm... I haven't had one since I was in PA a couple of years ago!

Apparently, They Skipped English Class to Protest the War...

I haven't laughed so hard in awhile...

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=29330_Zombie_in_Berkeley-_5_Years_To_Many&only

I am the self-proclaimed "English Police." It drives most people nuts, but it's just one of my (many) quirks. That being said, I can totally understand why the author was so fixated on the sign.

I'm not sure what's funnier: The fact that we "unenlightened" conservatives are supposed to believe that these "enlightened," seditious, weinies are somehow intellectually superior to us... OR the fact that these people actually marched several blocks holding the grammatically incorrect sign.

They're Just Doing the Killing-and-Burying-the-Bodies-in-the-Backyard that American's Won't Do

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,338228,00.html

Ok this, to me, is the key line:
"Cartels frequently use 'safe houses' in border cities to store drugs, house gunmen and dispose of dead rivals."
Now, surely I don't have to point out the obvious to you by saying that the reason they establish these little 'safe houses' in border citites is so that they're close to the border-- where they do their business. And what business are they doing along the border?? Why, distributing drugs into the US, of course.
Now... don't get me wrong here... of course if there was not a market for the drugs that they're smuggling, these 'safe houses' (ask the bodies the officials uncovered how "safe" these houses are...) wouldn't be necessary. But, while the whole "just legalize 'em" thing looks mildly intelligent on paper, I just can't see it working out in the real world.
Which brings me to my point:
BUILD A FREAKING FENCE AND USE FORCE TO APPREHEND ANYONE TRYING TO SNEAK PAST IT!!!!!! If you can't get across the border, then these little 'safe houses' lose their usability (I don't know if that's a word, but it works).
Ok... thus concludes my current complaint...

First and Second Impressions

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,338076,00.html (Eventually I'll figure out how to make the links smaller... gimme time...)

Ok, so my first thought upon seeing the headline (before I actually clicked on it and read the story), was "What is this guy smoking??" DON'T give them the death penalty?? What the heck?? We ought to stick 'em in a building, then smash an airplane into it, then let them decide whether to die in the rubble or jump to their deaths.

But that was just my initial knee-jerk reaction. So I kept reading, and you know what?? He has a point.

These guys WANT the death penalty. If we want to actually punish them, let's lock them up, throw away the key, and let them die of old age. That way when they go, they'll just be old, ugly geezers-- not "glorified" martyrs.

To borrow a quote from the movie "Cars," (which I have been subjected to seeing more times than any normal adult ought to) "I wanna put him in jail 'til he rots. No, scratch that. I wanna put him in jail 'til the jail rots, and then we'll build a new jail on top of it..."

Anyway... that's my Saturday two-cents.

Calling All Nerds and Geeks!!

Ok, I've just found the coolest website ever, so I'm sharing! For all of you who, like me, can't get enough of learning! :-)
http://www.damninteresting.com/

Ann Coulter

http://www.anncoulter.com/

I love her humor... her column this week is pretty good... just thought I'd share. :-)