That my Dad got a Keurig coffee maker is actually great news, as now I can use my keurig coupons to save money on buying him different flavors of K-cups coffees for all the special occasions, like his birthday, Father’s Day, and Christmas. The K-cups have come out with several different major brands and dozens of different flavors. There are also K-cups with hot tea, apple cider and hot chocolate available for those who aren’t coffee drinkers or those who want something different.

I didn’t even realize that they needed a new coffeemaker, or I would have bought one for them at Christmas. When I was up there over the summer I noticed that had a big Mr. Coffee coffee maker on the kitchen counter, and that is what they used for breakfast during my visit. I guess my Mother just decided that it would be the perfect gift from her to my Dad and she didn’t want anyone else to buy it for him.

To be honest, I didn’t even know that they knew anything about the Keurig single cup brewing systems. I’ve known about them for years because we had them at work. To the best of my recollection, they have always used a nice 12-cup Mr. Coffee machine and made a pot full of coffee every morning at home before breakfast and then leaving for work. The pot always seemed to be empty by the time they were ready to leave, as I had considered buy them thermal mugs for the hour long drive to their store. But my Mother politely declined when I suggested that.

I wonder if they have a Keurig coffee maker in the store, too? If not, I could buy them one for their anniversary and then they can have one in the store and one at home. That would make it very convenient and practical for buying different flavors of K-Cups for them to keep on hand in the kitchen and in the break room of the store. Of course, buying them a coffeemaker would not be a surprise, as I know that they read my blog. LOL

The best thing about the single cup coffeemakers is that everyone can pick their own favorite flavor and roast of coffee bean and not have to compromise over what someone else picked for a while pot. You make your own flavor and the next person gets to make their favorite flavor. And with the traditional coffee pot serving 10-12 people, depending upon the size of the mugs, the single serve coffeemakers are just as fast serving the same number of people – with 10-12 different flavors if they all want something different.

We got started with some serious overhauling of the landscaping last summer and I think if the weather allows, I can get an early start on planting both a vegetable garden and relocating the shrubbery in the front of the house. I want to put in some raised beds and add some windowboxes across the front of the house. I have two windows in the living room, one window in the dining room and one window in the front bedroom that I use for my home office.

The one window in my home office is not suitable for window box planters because it is centered on the wall along my front porch. But the other three windows along the front would be great if I planted flowers that do well on an east facing wall.

I have imagined a row of three window flower boxes with lots of bright green foliage and perhaps some bright red geraniums. I know geraniums come in several different colors and shades of red. I want to get something bright, that shows up well against the red brick of the house and the fireplace.

One of the things about pumpkin pie is the smell of pumpkin spices that fill the house while the pie is baking. When you first walk in the door and get a big whiff of that wonderful aroma, you mouth starts salivating and your tummy starts grumbling and it is very hard to wait for dinner and then, finally, dessert.

Notice the car up on cinderblocks. The only thing missing is the pitbull chained in the yard.

It will be a big run on fresh and frozen turkeys, but also a run on prime rib, standing rib roasts, and Honeybaked hams. Not everyone likes turkey and depending upon where you live and what your family traditions might be, you could be serving a totally non turkey based meal this Thursday.

When I lived in San Francisco, the Thanksgiving focus was on Dungeness Crab and fresh oysters. November is the start of Dungeness Crab season and everyone grabs up the first catches of the year. Dungeness Crab season always begins mid-November and runs until June. But, the reality is that 80 percent of the Dungeness Crab is brought in by the end of December. So, there is always this Thanksgiving rush to get the biggest, sweetest, freshest crabs. Makes my mouth water just thinking about those.

We used to have big discussions about which chocolates were the best tasting. I have to admit that I grew up thinking that Hersheys chocolate bars were the best treat at the grocery store. Also, we used to get a big Whitman’s Sampler box at Christmas – that was one of our family holiday traditions.

Now I have discovered Godiva chocolates and that is the kind that my wife loves the best. I have tried to entice her with Ghiradelli chocolates, but she won’t budge off the Godiva. Thankfully, there is a Godiva shop inside the Opryland Hotel, so it is always close by.

This is a prime example of do-gooders doing the wrong thing. I know for a fact that a whole lot of kids won’t drink milk at all if all you offer them is the plain vitamin D enriched white stuff. Studies have shown that overall milk consumption drops by over 30% when you remove the option of flavored milks. So all those kids are not going to get their calcium and other nutritional needs met if you withhold flavored milks.

I don’t care how “healthy” something is for you – you are not going to get the benefit of milk if you do not drink it. For 30% of the kids that refuse plain white milk – and I don’t blame them one bit, I can’t stand the stuff – you are robbing them of their milk by withholding chocolate and strawberry flavored milks. I say let the kids and their parents decide if they want to drink the flavored milks and the rest of you who just want white milk, fine. But keep your noses out of the affairs of me and my kids milk and food choices.

I like the idea of making bread on demand and not having to worry about running to the store just for something to make a sandwich out of. I also like the different kinds of breads that you can have alongside dinner instead of just canned biscuits.

There are dozens of really tasty recipes that can be made in the machine. I have tried to make plain white bread twice and it turned out great each time. So now I am going on to the more exotic breads. I’ll let you know which ones I like. If you have a favorite bread machine recipe, please put it in a comment or an email – I am going to be experimenting for a while.

I looked it up on Wikipedia and found that they were first sold in the U. S. in 1968. PI was surprised to read that Pringles are only 42% potato, and  the rest is  wheat starch and a mixture of potato, corn, and rice flours mixed with vegetable oils and an emulsifier and then fried – not baked.

There are several new flavors now. I still like the green onion flavor the best, but they have been getting really creative with different flavors and I do try them all. My favorite new flavor is the honey mustard. I didn’t think I would like it, but it has turned into my second choice.

Happy Easter to all!

Today I decided to go to the grocery store and buy some healthy lunch food items and take them back to the office with me. I can keep them in the refrigerator and just make a fast lunch myself. It will save me time and money, and hopefully this spare tire will start to wear off.

The only splurge on something unhealthy was a pack of bologna. It was on sale for $1 and it was so tempting – I caved and bought a pack to take with me for an occasional sandwich. What can I say? I like my bologna.

So, on my own I am doing some research into food allergies and pediatric allergists that might be able to help him. I did fin a support group, called Kids With Food Allergies, but I am looking for much more detailed information, such as doctors in this area who can see him and online resources that go into detail about symptoms and causes..

For some reason unbeknownst to me, if I open a package of any Pop Tart flavor other than frosted strawberry, the dogs could care less. They totally ignore what I am eating. But if I open the strawberry ones, the dogs line up in a begging row and demand that I share it with them.

As I believe the Pop Tarts might not be all that healthy and are probably not the best diet conscious choice, I don’t mind sharing the Pop Tart with the dogs. I end up getting only about three small bites, which is enough to satisfy my appetite for something sweet and it gets something on my stomach to head off the acid effect of my morning cup of coffee. So it’s a win-win situation when I share with the dogs.

There was an article online that explained the health benefits of green and black teas in a little more detail. They have an amino acid that creates a boost for the immune system, called L-theanine. This amino acid is plentiful in both black tea and green tea, and the decaf versions have it, too.

Another tip from that site:

To get the benefit of up to five times more antioxidants from your tea bag, bob it up and down while you brew the tea.

A Harvard study recently concluded that people who drink 5 cups a day of black tea will have 10 times more virus-fighting interferon in their blood than others who do not drink tea. So I plan to kick up the consumption a notch and help my immune system as much as I can.