LIVE THREAD! HAPPY NEW YEAR WEEKEND!!-Resolutions?Recipes? Family? Plans? Hopes? Dreams? Share here!

All our wonderful friends!! ^ | 12/30/05 | Jim Robinson, for bringing us together!

[paulat]

Holy moley! If the Seahawks go all the way...this will be my third city!!

I lived in Chicago during the Bears' heyday...then SF for the Montana Niners...and now this (knock on wood)!!

I should rent myself out to move to the city of the next Super Bowl champ!!!

[caryatid]

We had a truly remarkable "regular" cat. Sarge could not be trusted outside on his own; so, I taught him to walk on a leash. It took two weeks. You could set your clock by our four o'clock walk every afternoon. We both looked forward to it. Sarge would prance and, with a 16' retractable leash, learned to pace himself and walk very effectively with me. Alas, he died of a heart attack 3 years ago.

A year ago, we got a Maine Coon kitten [our second Maine Coon]. He is a good-cat-in-training ... has a long way to go ... and walking on a leash is one of our projects for the New Year. I have high hopes that I will end up with another good walking companion.

[Stayingawayfromthedarkside]

LOL!!! Hey, you could move to Dallas. If I moved there, they would probably turn into the Cardinals.

[paulat]

Thanks, txsleuth...I think we may taper off tonight, 'cause there just isn't the all-night toy wrapping, etc., that goes with Christmas.

Tomorrow's the big day, though...maybe we can start a poll on Dick Clark vs. Reege!!!

[Graymatter]

Plans? I am reading a book to my youngest. The book is Bill Sammons' "At Any Cost" (How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election). This will take another 24 hours so that's my agenda.
Resolutions? Gonna stop being such a political junkie. Spend more time with the kid. Hmm.
Seriously, I aim to make my doctors look foolish, by surviving my (undisclosed) illness so I live to see the next Republican president elected. And to spend more time with the kid! :)
Oh yes, and I have to finish reading the internet. Silently.

Some things I really should finish writing too, but that's not important. *snort*

[paulat]

Hope you get to all your goals (prayers for the "undisclosed")....

The kid will look back on this time for the rest of his/her life...and will pass it on!

Happy New Year!

[Rte66]

Well, I'm always the night crew wherever I post, so I guess I'm in "after the host", as opposed to "before the zot"?

No plans for 2006; in a slump and plans are a set-up for failure for me these days. Dreams died a long time ago.

Hoping and praying to have a return to some semblance of good health, if at all possible. Many many more things on my wish list, and lots of people on my prayer lists.

Will only see fireworks on TV, which is not like really seeing them or shooting them. My favorites are the only ones that aren't being banned -- the mortar shells -- the most fun you can have for your fireworks dollar. *sigh* I *will* try to do some confetti poppers, but it might not be a good idea where I am now.

Ummm, traditions ... would love to have all mine back. Isn't it the Italians who throw all their furniture out the windows on New Year's Day? I'd love to trade places with them.

Food things, of course. I just finished off the cornbread salad I knoshed on all week. My Rte66 Blackeye Chili will be in the crockpot all day tomorrow (today, Saturday) and ready for eating right after midnight. Ham hocks, pork sausage, bacon--all kinds of pig products are in that, for living "high on the hog" in 2006. I usually have cabbage rolls or red cabbage with apples, but didn't get to it this year.

Will be making a big batch of my special spring rolls to "put up" in the freezer, and they're filled with Napa cabbage--so that will be my "money" (ha ha) food this time around. Not like the others worked for me, anyway. I'll have them for Lunar New Year's this month, too!

Oh, also my RedHot Cinnamon Poached Apples. They're not for any reason except I love them with some gorgonzola. I wrestled my first quince last night, poaching it way too long to try to get it red for some quince paste, but it worked. Also have two pomegranates to juice--so these are my RED things for my wonderful Holiday Bowl Champion OU Sooners (Big Red) and my Red Home State of TX.

Happy New Year to ALL!!

[decal]

"Pinging for a hangover recipie"

Oh, that's easy - just drink too much non-clear liquor - you'll get a hangover every time.

Now, PREVENTING a hangover - that's also easy.

The process is twofold: (1) Before retiring for the night, eat something really salty (Fritos® works best for me) without drinking anything. (2) When you wake up thirsty a couple of hours later, drink a lot of water.

That's all there is to it; you'll be nicely hydrated and ready to face the world.

[Graymatter]

Thank you paulat! Back atcha, have a wonderful new year!

[paulat]

Yo! You sound like a pretty good cook without the fancy stove!!!

This is neither here nor there...but I want to share a post I posted earlier... ________________________________

"you might think about joining the FReeper Protein Folding Team. We're kicking DU's collective a$$. It's fun, and you really are helping out science. I'm folding proteins as we speak.

Just search on "folding" so you get the latest post. The guys are really nice and will help you get set up.

I just joined and it doesn't slow down your machine at all...I am running databases all day long, and I would have noticed it if it did.

It's just really a fun thing to be part of.

________________________________

Like I said...I don't mean it in any particular way...it's just some way to help (and kick DU butt!) It's pretty interesting to see the diseases we are fighting.

Let me know if you join, and I'll look for you on the team list!

[Rte66]

Thanks, I'll check it out.

[RushCrush]

Nice thread!

My resolution:

to refrain from negative thoughts or talking about others. Sure hope other FReepers have the same idea! hint.....hint!

[carlo3b]

Happy (almost) new years!
I actually have a recipe request...
My Lithuanian/ Polish mother who has since passed on, used to make a dish I would *love* to know how to make.
I think it was called " klatski's" Or something similar. It was pork, beef and seasonings in a dough shell, that was cooked in boiling water. It was served in a sour cream/onion sauce.
VERY OT I know, But I am desperate!

The dish you described that your Grandma prepared I think was Pierogi's.. I grew up in Chicago, and loved to eat in every possible ethnic restaurant that wonderful city had to offer, and there was a true cornucopia of choices.. That is were I discovered that there was a distinguishing difference between Russian, German, Polish, and Lithuanian Pierogi's.. I've hunted every Polish recipe website known to mankind and this is what I came up with.. Ha! .. I hope these are correct..

Pierogi

6 servings

2 Eggs
1/2 c Water
2 c Flour
1/2 ts Salt
Pepper to taste

Mound flour on kneading board and make hole in center. Drop eggs into hole and cut into flour with a knife. Add salt and water and knead until firm. Let rest for 10 minutes covered with a warm bowl. Divide dough in halves and roll thin. Cut circles with a large biscuit cutter. Place a small mound of filling a little to one side on each round of dough. Moisten edge with a little water, fold over and press edges firmly together. Be sure they are well sealed to prevent the filling from running out. Drop the pierogi into salted boiling water. Cook gently for 3 to 5 minutes. Lift out of water carefully with a perforated spoon. The dough has a tendency to dry while you are working. A dry dough will not seal completely. We suggest rolling out a large circle of dough, placing small mounds of filling far enough apart to allow for cutting, and folding the dough over the mounds of filling. Then cut with a small biscuit cutter and seal firmly. Never crowd or pile pierogi. The uncooked will stick and the cooked will lose shape and lightness.

Note: Pierogi can be frozen after boiling and they keep well. I prefer all my pierogi fried in butter and onions and seasoned with salt and pepper. They should be fried on a medium low heat till golden brown.

Basic Meat Filling

12 servings

• 1 1/2 lb Ground beef or ground beef -and pork
• 2 lg Onions (finely chopped)
• 1/2 lb Butter divided Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 c Chopped mushrooms (optional
• 4 tb Sour cream (optional)

Saute meat in 1/3 of butter till almost fully cooked. (Meat should not be overcooked.) Drain. Use balance of butter and saute onion till crystal clear. Add meat seasonings and optional ingredients to taste. Let mixture cool.

Beef Filling

4 serving

• 1 lg Onion, sliced
• 2 tb Margarine
• 1 3/4 c ground Beef
• 3/4 c Cooked rice
• 2 ts Beef broth
• 3 ts Hot water
• 1 tb Parsley, chopped
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Sauté onion in margarine. Stir in meat and rice. Dissolve bouillon in hot water. Add to meat mixture with parsley and salt & pepper to taste.

Cabbage Filling

12 serving

• 1 Head cabbage
• 7 Cans of sauerkraut 10 oz. cans
• 1 Small onion
• 1 Clove of garlic
• 10 tb butter
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Parboil cabbage in boiling water for ten to fifteen minutes. Rinse, drain, cool, and thoroughly wring moisture from cabbage and sauerkraut; set aside. The drier the cabbage and sauerkraut the less time required to complete cooking. Sauté onion and garlic in 2 Tbsp. butter. Add cabbage and sauerkraut and remainder of butter; cook for approximately one half hour or until cabbage is soft and mixture is "reasonably" dry. It is important that the mixture not be too moist in order to prevent wetting dough during the filling process ... wet dough will cause pierogi to break open during cooking!

Allow mixture to stand in refrigerator (in covered bowl) for twenty four hours
prior to filling pierogi dough.

Cheese Filling

8 servings

• 2 c Cottage or farmers cheese
• 2 Eggs (slightly beaten)
• 2 tb Sugar
• 2 tb Butter
• 6 tb Currants (optional)
• 1/2 ts Cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 c Raisins (optional)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Cream eggs and butter together. Add other ingredients and mix well. Note: If using cottage cheese, use only the egg yolks.

Fruit Filling

4 servings

• 2 c Pitted cherries, blueberries, or apples
• 3/4 c Water
• 1/3 c Sugar (optional)
• 1/2 ts Cinnamon or cardamom
• 1 ts Lemon juice
• 3 tb Dry bread crumbs
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine fruit water and sugar in saucepan. bring to boil. Simmer until fruit is tender and water is almost gone. Remove from heat. mash slightly with potato masher. Add cinnamon and lemon juice. Cook and stir over low heat until thick. Stir in enough bread crumbs to further thicken.

Mushroom Filling

4 servings

• 2 pkg Mushrooms, soaked and chopped
• 1 lb Button mushrooms
• 1/2 Medium onion, chopped
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Soak Shitake mushrooms in warm water for at least an hour. Chop 1 lb button mushrooms roughly and 1/2 medium onion and sauté in butter until mushrooms cook down. Chop Shitake mushrooms fine and add mushrooms (and water they have been soaked in) in the to pan & simmer 5-6 min, until liquid starts to evaporate. Salt & pepper lightly. (This holds nicely in the refrigerator - if you make the mushrooms the day before you make the pierogi's, they will absorb more flavor from the cooking liquid - or so it seems, but I'm not a chemist).

Potato Filling

12 servings

• 2 lb Potatoes (6 medium)
• 1/2 lb Butter
• 1 Minced onion (optional)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook potatoes till tender, drain well. Add butter, salt and pepper, onion and mash. When mixture is cool it is ready to use. Note: You may wish to combine cheese, or sauerkraut with potatoes; if so, it is best to combine 2/3 mashed potatoes to 1/3 other ingredients.

Sausage Filling

4 servings

• 10 oz Kielbasa, skin and chop
• 1/2 c Cheese, grated
• 1/2 c Mushrooms, chopped
• 1/4 c Bread crumbs, fine and dry
• 1 Egg
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Fry the kielbasa in a pan and mix all ingredients together.

[carlo3b]

I, for one, plan on returning every bit of farming equipment that I have ever borrowed...

That should keep those pesky Babylonian's off your back.. LOL

[EQAndyBuzz]

I plan on taking up smoking, buying an SUV, drink more caffenated products and eat only ice cream.

[carlo3b]

How about a real New Year Resolution?? Can I persuade you to, QUIT SMOKING?

The anatomy of a former smoker.. or, Dead man coughing..
If you are a smoker, or have someone close to you that is entrapped by the addiction to tobacco, I have something to share with you. I am telling you this in hopes of persuading you to do whatever it takes to stop the damage that smoking is doing to your/their body and mind as quickly as possible..

This is embarrassing but I don't care, what I feel is not as important as what it might do to help you quit smoking ASAP. I have just undergone my 4th medical surgery in the past year.. the 6th in the past 3 years. I can lay my health problems directly on my prolonged smoking habit. I was a 30 year chain-smoking, workaholic, that had shortness of breath, hypertension, hacking cough, sleep deprivation, rheumatoid arthritis, impotence, and severe periodontal disease. Each of those life altering, life threatening, chronic problems have both a direct as well as a indirect link to cigarette smoking.. Many of my maladies had the prospect of some recovery with lifelong dietary modifications, physical therapy and the endless use of potent drugs. However, many of those drugs created new problems and their own complications and disorders..

Although I did quit smoking more than 8 years ago, it was years after I knew I had severe problems that I refused to address..

When I did finally begin to face the problems, it was primarily as a reaction to the aforementioned ailments, and only as a last ditch effort to save myself a lifetime of additional debilitating, respiratory catastrophes..

I prolonged my life, and I thank God for that, but it was too damned close, and much too expensive..

Why would some smokers rather DIE than QUIT!
Why do people start smoking when there is such credible evidence that smoking cigarettes is harmful to ones health and with countless messages everywhere, decrying the long-term effects of using tobacco?

An even better question is: what would bring an intelligent human to make a decision to start, or continue a ghastly, annoying, and expensive habit, that  unquestionably causes damage to their delicate body parts, a habitual action that directly impacts the quality of their life, makes them sick, stink, causes their own friends, family, and strangers to shirk from their presence, and as a kicker, shortens their own miserable existence?

Sadly, eighty percent of smokers who quit do so without being in any program – and studies show that 95% of these self-reliant quitters fail, and go right back to smoking. It's the same rate of recidivism as with heroin. With a 95% chance of failure without a program, you may wish to consider getting some help this time around.

For those who have repeatedly failed at quitting in the past, it's comforting to learn that most smokers in fact fail several times before stopping successfully. Your past failures are not a lesson that you are unable to quit. Instead, they are part of the normal journey toward becoming a nonsmoker.

You need to get your resolve up, and try again. YOU CAN DO IT!
Get help -- lots of it. Get into a good program, or better yet, a combination of more than one. Call your local branch of the American Cancer Society, or the American Lung or Heart Associations. All have inexpensive and effective, mainstream programs.

Other top of the line, physician endorsed methods: nicotine replacement and Zyban. The nicotine patch or gum are now available over-the-counter at any pharmacy. The anti-depressant Zyban and nicotine inhaler require a prescription.

The Schick-Shadel Treatment Centers offer aversion therapy -- self administering a mild electric shock from an ordinary 9 volt battery as one smokes a cigarette. They claim a 95% initial success rate, and 50% after a year. Buy a How to Quit Smoking Book, or a motivational cassette tape program in a bookstore, and listen to the tapes in your car. Every little bit helps!

There is ANOTHER WAY that worked for me..
Can someone quit without going crazy, or gaining new problems, such as weight gain etc.. As you can imagine from what I have been through, I know the horror stories in trying to kick the smoking habit. I tried to quit smoking every way imaginable without success and thought I would never rid myself of the scourge. I had my kids and friends constantly nagging me to stop, and I had just about given up, until a friend introduced me to Hypnosis. He swore by it, it worked for him and his wife, so I thought, why not!

In just one evening, in less than an hour, I became a nonsmoker, and I never looked back, NEVER!

My mission here is to restore your faith in yourself. You CAN quit. Just look around and you will see hundreds of folks just like you that have already quit after they thought they couldn't. Even if you've failed several times in the past, understand that this is normal. You're not alone.

[cartoonistx]

[Dustbunny]

LOL....... The cat comes along too but not on a leash.

[paulat]

Carlo...I hope you don't mind if we bump some of your posts through the next couple of days....

Thank you!

MM - ping!

[paulat]

LOL!!!