go rebs

Wow, that was quick: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/sec/2007-11-27-mississippi-nutt_N.htm

houston, we have a problem (oooh, so cliche)

When I started this blog, I figured I wouldn't write much about sports and for two months I did OK. I thought my handle would speak for my allegiance. Then my team beat the #1 team in the country (see previous post).

Now the coach has left. He'll be OK, but we won't be. The state and the coach both contributed to this severance, however, it is the state that will pay the price. (For those of you not familiar with Arkansas Razorback sports--there is no "Razorback Nation" or anything like that--it is simply the state of Arkansas.)

Prior congratulations to Nebraska or A&M or any of the dozens of schools with head coach openings which actually lands Coach Nutt. Your team will improve--especially in overtime games.

Good luck Coach. I'm selfish and I'm not happy. I'll try to stay away from sports from now on.

oh yes we dih ud

kcrazorback's regular blog readers both know that he is an Arkansas Razorback. He bleeds cardinal red. He trains his four year old daughter to cheer the full whoo pig sooiee cheer--you know the one with the 16-beat whoos.

Next week, Arkansas will not play for the SEC championship. Arkansas will not play in a BCS bowl game. Arkansas will not be ranked #1 in the country. But, for today--just this one day--Arkansas was better than the #1 team in the country. ``Hey, we were the best team in the country today,'' boasted Houston Nutt.

Way to go Hogs.

Good luck LSU! I hope you whip UGA or the Vols next week.

Go Jayhawks on Saturday night!

it really is green

Final Thanksgiving post: This was a good turkey day. I did not overeat. I did enjoy it very much. I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, my family did not have T-giving with my mother today. I am certain that she had a lovely dinner with her sister and my brother and his family. I suspect there were other family and guests there as well. I also am sure that the pumpkin pie was green.

Yes, green pumpkin pie is a family tradition. It must be in the recipe. Ginger, perhaps? Anyway, I always am leary of other people's orange pumpkin pie because I'd never had it that way. Pumpkin pie is supposed to be green. It's always been green and that's what I want.

Here's hoping you all had your very own version of hot hominy, turkey and dressing with chicken, two kinds of gravy, monkey bread, orange pie and green pumpkin pie. And, here's hoping you didn't forget to give thanks.

two kinds of gravy

T minus one day. Turkey and dressing aren't complete without the gravy. But why must we suffer through gravy with giblets? The purists (I guess) like giblets in their gravy. Thankfully, mom always made two versions of the gravy, one sans giblets. It seems like, while doing dishes, there was always a lot of giblet-laden gravy left while I barely got to even lick the non-giblet gravy ladle clean.

orange you glad there's pie

OK, this is one even I don't get. Orange pie for dessert on Thanksgiving. What it seems to be is that the mom, in her effort to please everyone tries to make at least one dish specifically for each family member. While that's overkill, it is nice when it's for you. That's mom.

But the orange pie is definitely not for me. I think it might be for my sister, but I'm not sure. I don't think I've ever tried it. I'm sure it's good. I probably still won't ever try it, though. I'll leave it for my sister.

The pecan pie is for me. Call me a traditionalist.

monkey bread on turkey day

Still T minus 2 days.

Thanksgiving dinner includes monkey bread. Monkey bread is individual little pieces of bread that are pulled apart by hand. Typically, made with bread dough of a similar consistency to biscuits, but smaller chunks--baked pressed lightly together in a large pan several inches deep. Usually, it had cinammon, sugar and butter baked right in. In the family I grew up in and (I guess) through the mid-south, this is a regular part of the meal--i.e., not dessert.

Monkey bread is simple and quick to make with lots of recipes out there. Enjoy.

turkey and dressing with chicken

T minus two days and counting.

T of course stands for turkey. Turkey is usually served with dressing--a bread 'stuffing' that (in my family) was never actually stuffed in the turkey. Our dressing was baked in a pan over a layer of chicken. Yes, that's right. Our turkey and dressing was turkey and dressing with chicken.

I think my mom prepared it that way because dad insisted. Dad probably wanted it that way because that was how it had been prepared in his family when he was a kid. My depression-era paternal grandparents probably did that so that everyone in the family could get some meat even if it was a combination of both chicken and turkey. I don't know if chicken was cheaper then, but suspect my grandparents had their own chickens but would have had to buy a turkey. Having spent money on turkey, it was probably served to adults and guests while the kids mostly got chicken.

If you ever get the chance, try turkey and dressing with chicken. It is delicious and might make you sleepy. Hey, maybe that's why my grandparents...

hot hominy

This will be the first post of several related to Thanksgiving food traditions. It should also be noted that families are strange. The family holiday traditions that you grew up with are perfectly normal--until you interact with any family other than your own at a holiday. So, I'm going to post about some of the Thanksgiving menu items that are particular to the family I grew up in--I have no idea if they are normal (meaning I'm pretty sure they are not).

First, hot hominy: that's what we call it. It is hominy casserole--essentially hominy in a spicy cheese sauce and baked. If prepared properly, younger children and in-laws will not be able to tolerate the heat, however, most family members will wonder aloud (do family members ever do anything that is not aloud?) why it seems to be so mild this time.

You're on your own for finding a recipe--however, check this space because my sister may want to comment with the recipe.

don't forget to give thanks

As Thanksgiving approaches, the posts will be coming fastly and furiously. And in those posts, I'll focus on food. So, before that begins, with this post I want to encourage you Americans to remember to give thanks on Thursday.

You have been blessed. Not blessed by just anyone. And, not just blessed, but blessed by God. Not with just the food on your table either--you've been blessed with the mercy-filled gift of His Son--not a gift from God's Son--rather He IS the gift.

Immanuel, God incarnate (God with meat) is also the Bread of Life and we Christians observe His life every week with a feast of bread. We also remember His death every week with wine. Continue this remembrance this Thursday as we feast.

Even if you aren't Christian, God has blessed all nations--including yours--through His Son.

Give Thanks! The feast is prepared.

nacho cheese nachos

When I was a kid, I loved nachos. OK, yeah, I know, I still love nachos. But when I was a kid, I preferred nacho cheese flavored Doritos smothered in nacho sauce.

I think the nacho seasoning coating on the Doritos shielded the actual corn chips underneath just enough to keep them from getting too soggy in the cheese sauce while adding to the overall nacho flavor.

Now that I'm over 40, my tastes are more sophisticated. I like plain corn chips smothered in nacho cheese sauce. But if you made me, I wouldn't complain about eating them like I did back in the day. OK, I'm still something of a kid.

the voyagers

I guess it's time for another HP post. I balanced the family checkbook last night (don't get me started). After the drudgery of checking off each of the items in the register, I used my 12C for actually calculating the balance and the subsequent deficit between how much I thought we had in our account and how much our bank thought we had in our account. OK, enough about the checking account.

I really like the voyagers. Unfortunately, the only one I have is a 12C. This particular model, perhaps more than any other, has stood the test of time. Launched 26 years ago, it is still in production. In fact, there is a 25-year anniversary model as well (introduced last year obviously--get yours now while they're still available).

For a quarter of a century, real estate professionals everywhere snapped up this calculator. I suspect that this was the most popular hp calculator ever because of its utility in this one industry.

I said I like the voyagers. I really would love to have one of each: 11C, 15C and 16C. Especially, the 16C. It is my favorite. I don't have one. But, I do have a 12C. Thank you, real estate.

The 12C has good basic financial tools, with some nifty features (e.g., date math, irr calculations, bond discounts/coupon rates, etc.), but its amortization calculations on they fly were so valuable to the real estate folks for 2+ decades that they were willing to learn RPN.

Of course cheaper calculators and spreadsheets now calculate amortizations just as well. I guess that's why used 12Cs are so easy to find. After 26 years, its still in production, though. I wonder how long it will last.

one church--one building--three ministries

We visited a relative's church in Branson, MO this morning.

The church building is shared by three very different groups: Branson Hills Assembly of God, Harvest Evangelical Free Church and Tabernacle of Praise Ministries (a Messianic Jewish/Christian congregation).

I was most impressed by the cooperation and sense of sharing that seems to exist between the three organizations. Two of these churches share the building at the same time on Sunday mornings, switching auditorium and classroom spaces mid-morning. I observed a greeter for one of the congregations bless members of the other one as they were leaving.

I don't have much to judge it on, but if my impression of these churches is correct, we Christians have a model for how we can accept each other.

i solemnly promise

Ooooh! The calendar has revealed that next week is Thanksgiving.

I will not overeat. I will not overeat. I will not overeat. Hey, is that turkey?

I, um, oh yeah, will not overeat. I will not overeat. It smells like turkey in here.

I wasn't going to do something. What was it? Oh, I will not ove--Is that a Butterball?

I may not overeat. I mean, I will not overeat. I sure do like turkey and all those high-carbohydrate side dishes.

I hope I don't overeat. I shouldn't overeat. OK, I will not overeat.

I solemnly promise to report on this blog how successful I was in not overeating on Thanksgiving.

enough sources of stress already

Family story alert! Yeah, but it's a funny one. We lost Dad six years ago to lung cancer at age 59. He was well known for storytelling. We each had our favorites. Here's mine:

About 1980 plus or minus a couple of years, Dad was a kiln burner at a cement plant in SW Arkansas when his employer required employees to go through stress management training--perfectly suitable for my dad given that kiln burner is one of the more stressful jobs in a cement plant.

On the day of the training, the instructor began the session by breaking the ice with some specific questions designed to show that everyone has some sources of stress in their lives. The first few questions were simple, like 'raise your hand if you've recently experienced a major holiday.' Of course the session was right after Christmas and everyone had just experienced a major holiday. Everyone, Dad included, raised their hands. As the questions continued they got more and more specific:
* Raise your hand if you're married. Dad raised his hand.
* Raise your hand if you have a mortgage. Dad raised his hand.
* Raise your hand if you have children. Dad raised his hand.
* Raise your hand if you have teenagers. Dad raised his hand.
* Raise your hand if you have a baby at home. Dad raised his hand.
* Raise your hand if you're teaching a kid to drive. Dad raised his hand.
* Raise your hand if you...

As the questions got more and more specific, Dad kept raising his hand with each one. Finally, the instructor asked his last question 'raise your hand if you own a Ford Maverick.' Dad raised his hand. The instructor said "Mister, I'm afraid I can't do anything for you."

kraft spaghetti dinner vs. mccormick spaghetti sauce mix

After graduating from college, I moved three hours west for grad school leaving my college sweetheart behind. Fortunately for me and in spite of the distance, she remained my sweetheart then (and does so to this day).

On rare occasions during that difficult year apart, one of us made the trip across northern Arkansas for a way too short weekend visit. The highlight of one of those trips was a trip to the local Food 4 Less grocery store with the end goal of working together to prepare a spaghetti supper. Neither of us had ever cooked much, but we figured that we could start out with an easy assignment and do alright. So spaghetti was our choice for our first effort at preparing a meal together.

We were both students and had keen observation skills. We knew where to find the kitchen, for example. I could even boil water and she was a quick learner. We had watched our own parents prepare spaghetti many times. Having observed our parents prepare spaghetti, we were both sure that we could do it too. Ah, there's the rub. We didn't know that between the two of us, we represented two different families that prepared spaghetti in two completely different ways.

OK, so back to that trip to Food 4 Less. Right there in the pasta aisle, we began to argue about the proper way to prepare spaghetti. I had come from a family which made spaghetti from a box--not just any box either, but Kraft Spaghetti Dinner--the green box. She had come from a family which made spaghetti dinner by buying the spaghetti separately from the spaghetti sauce mix packet--not just any packet either, but McCormick Spaghetti Sauce Mix--the red packet.

After a few minutes of knockdown-dragout verbal sparring we began to laugh when we realized how silly it was that we were arguing over how to buy spaghetti. One method had the noodles and the sauce packet in one package--the other required two packages. Now, what was the argument about?

We made our choice then, and that is the way we still make spaghetti today, but not because her parents or my parents made it that way, but because we decided then that from that point on we'd find our own way to cook--spaghetti or whatever.

We're still cooking 19 years later--in our own way. In fact, we had spaghetti tonight. This story is what I remember nearly every time we eat spaghetti.

I would encourage all young couples to set aside your preconceived ideas about everything (at least everything as important as spaghetti) and go figure out the world with that one special person. He or she is much more important than the number of packages required for one meal. My apologies for the long post.