A Truth Journal: LSU: Should A College Athletic Director Be Allowed to Leverage A Sports Commentator To Run a Power Play to Get Rid of a Coach?

Coach Miles carried off the LSU field after victory over Texas A & M. Source:  Crystal LoGiudice/USA TODAY Sports

A Truth Journal: LSU: Should A College Athletic Director Be Allowed to Leverage A Sports Commentator To Run a Power Play to Get Rid of a Coach?: From Denny:  "Hey, I've got an idea; let's leverage this guy Booger McFarland, sports commentator from ESPN and SEC Nation, to be our mouthpiece.  He's already made it clear he is willing to do anything and say anything as mean as possible.  You know he doesn't have any integrity.  He's one of us, he he.  He can slander Coach Les Miles and call for his firing, promoting our weak reasons for why he has to go," says Athletic Director Joe Alleva to a few disgruntled members on the LSU Board of Supervisors and a few wealthy boosters.

Alleva turned Booger loose to grind on the LSU Tigers and run down the brand of both the college and the coach, believing that was a great strategy to get rid of Coach Miles.  After all, Booger bragged he "is great friends with Athletic Director Joe Alleva and LSU President King Alexander."

"Yeah, and let's hide our nasty strategy from the majority of the LSU Board of Supervisors.  Let's keep them in the dark until we have to tell them.  They don't need to know until we have whipped up public sentiment so negative we can easily get rid of Coach Miles.  They never need to find out our game plan until after the coach is gone.  We can brag about what we did and celebrate then.  Agreed?" promises the few conniving members on the LSU Board of Supervisors to Alleva, Alexander and each other, hoping to contain the truth from seeing daylight.

Of course, their nasty plan backfired because of both LSU fan push back and political pressure demanding they quit being Stuck on Stupid immediately.

Hats Off Noel Snow Burlap Throw Pillow

These were the idiots that decided it would be good business to run down the LSU brand - to which in the public's mind Coach Les Miles is so strongly attached - and run down the very successful football program.  Weren't any of these clueless guys aware that LSU's football program is one of the very few profitable college programs in the entire nation?  Why would any person with a brain and an ounce of emotional maturity be Stuck on Stupid and blow up the profits to the state?

And who installed these fools on the LSU Board of Supervisors?  It's past due time that these pot stirrers - with no business sense - get kicked off the LSU Board.  Gov. elect John Bel Edwards will be in office in early January.  He needs to seriously find some better candidates to replace those diva pot stirrers and fast.

"Well, guys, if this blows up in our faces my fingerprints were never on it," declares scared stick LSU President F. King Alexander, "It's on you, Joe."

Yeah, Alexander was in on the plot as well because he never came out and spoke to the public or the press in support of Coach Miles for well over a week while Miles roasted over the open pit of public and media speculation.  Clearly, Alexander and those few LSU Board members hoped Coach Miles would despair at getting savaged that he would feel compelled to resign.  Coach Miles handled the heat and stayed in that hot kitchen to the bitter end, winning public support, forcing the LSU Board, Alexander and Alleva to relent...

A Truth Journal: LSU: Should A College Athletic Director Be Allowed to Leverage A Sports Commentator To Run a Power Play to Get Rid of a Coach?


Related Articles on how this mess all started:

LSU Saw The Light To Keep Coach Les Miles. Political Pressure and Fan Pushback Brought It About

Idiot Gridiron Club Boosters Fire Winning LSU Coach Les Miles

Hats Off Noel Snow Woven Blanket

You are the greatest gift of all: Merry Christmas!

A Truth Journal: Russia: What Is Putin REALLY Doing in Syria?

Shaking hands reluctantly:  Putin, left and Obama, right/AP photo

A Truth Journal: Russia: What Is Putin REALLY Doing in Syria?: From Denny:  You know when Putin is desperate for money - and for international cover - when he comes to the U. S. acting like he is bosom pals with President Obama.  Of course, the real reason he was meeting with Obama - after two years of absence because he was pouting - was to see if Obama was clueless as to what Putin was about to do in Syria.  Putin was satisfied that Obama was indeed unaware and easily fooled.

Putin took that as a sign he could pee on Obama and so he did.  Well, that was stupid because Obama does not forget or forgive easily.  It might take Obama some time for retaliation but he will do something Putin will really fear.

As to Syria you really have to wonder where the hell is the Arab League in this terrorism-civil war drama?  Why is it the Middle East expects and blames the U. S. and the EU for not doing enough to stop Russia?  Seriously?  Why are the Middle Eastern countries not doing enough to stop Russia and IS?  It's their back yard.  Why don't the Middle East countries devise their own no-fly zone?  Why should it be the U. S. and the EU to do their job?  "Da ya think?" it has something to do with Middle East wars are money pits with no good outcome seen for decades?

Just because Putin has recently met with the EU countries about Ukraine doesn't mean a thing.  France and Germany and others seem to be convinced of a deadly strategy:  Let's cater to a psychopathic dictator and not complain about what Putin is doing in Syria at this conference. We will complain outside of this Ukraine conference as France did.  Seriously?  Putin sees the EU as weak and easy to manipulate, a psychopath's dream... A Truth Journal: Russia: What Is Putin REALLY Doing in Syria?

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Declare to the world your awesome gift for making people laugh!

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  Currently, proceeds go to Greater BR Food Bank, feeding many military families and veterans, and St. Jude's Children's Hospital too for the great work they have done for children and their families on the Gulf Coast.

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Sports Blue Soccer Woven Throw Pillow

A blue abstract background with bold lettering declaring your love of the sport from Louisiana artist Denny Lyon.

* * *  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  Currently, proceeds go to Greater BR Food Bank, feeding many military families and veterans, and St. Jude's Children's Hospital too for the great work they have done for children and their families on the Gulf Coast.

Romancing The Chocolate: New Orleans Chef Competition Winner: Macadamia Nut Pineapple Up-Side Down Cake, New Orleans Restaurant Links

       Photo: Cynthia Campbell

                                                              
Romancing The Chocolate: New Orleans Chef Competition Winner: Macadamia Nut Pineapple Up-Side Down Cake, New Orleans Restaurant Links: From Denny:  Louisiana is fond of food competitions and New Orleans attracts the top chefs who are willing to compete for charity events and industry competition too.  This tasty recipe competed in a New Orleans Wine and Food Experience competition, developed by Pastry Chef Erin Swanson, Restaurant R’evolution, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the 2014 desserts category silver medal winner.  All those lucky tasters were found returning for seconds of this delicious simple cake!...

... To satisfy your foodie curiosity here's what the other medal winners were cooking and the New Orleans restaurants from which they hail are linked so you can go visit and check out their stellar menus: ...
                                                              
Romancing The Chocolate: New Orleans Chef Competition Winner: Macadamia Nut Pineapple Up-Side Down Cake, New Orleans Restaurant Links

Sleep Majesty King Duvet

Sleep Majesty: Restful, blissful, restorative sleep reigns supreme to pump up our attitude to take on a new day!  Easy to coordinate with other patterns!

Check out what other products besides bedding are available in this design.

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  Also note that I leave up all my designs from year to year so you have the security knowing that you can purchase as your budget permits to coordinate a room.

Labor Day, Football Tailgating: Check Out Some New Drinks, Appetizer Cheesy Zucchini No-Fry Fries with Smoked Paprika Dip Sauce

Photo:  Matthew Mead/AP

From Denny:  Ready to try something new for the Labor Day weekend and tailgating season?  Audition it on Labor Day and check out your reviews, and, if all goes well, you have some winners for the tailgating season.  I know.  I know.  The conventional wisdom is that you are not supposed to audition something new on your guests but my crowd likes to review.  Come on; put a little risk into your life!  

I usually cook up standards I know most people enjoy and then introduce a couple of new things for review and comment.  It's a conversation starter and since my friends tend to be as opinionated as myself, well, they enjoy weighing in.  They even make suggestions to kick it up, tone it down or variations that I might not have considered.  Since I value their input it's all done in good fun.  For my guests to take home I also make copies of the new recipes with space for them to make notes while we discuss the food.
 
The first two drinks up for consideration are old standards with new twists:  a Planter's Punch and a Bloody Mary.  The new twist for the Planter's Punch is that it has some added Camus Cognac with the apple cider, apple juice and pineapple juice.  The new twist for the Bloody Mary is the addition of Lucid Absinthe with the spicy bloody mary mix, worchestershire sauce, horseradish, black pepper, celery salt and garlic salt.  These two drinks come from  Niccole Trzaska at The Liberty Bar in New York City.

This appetizer recipe is from Chef Sara Moulton, one of the busiest TV chefs.  Check out this link to her site for online cooking classes, links to her TV shows and awesome easy recipes.  Sara has enjoyed a long career:  a 25-year stint at Gourmet magazine (which had a run from 1941 - 2009), hosted several Food Network shows for a decade, hosts public TV's "Sara's Weeknight Meals" and has written three cookbooks, one of which is "Sara Moulton's Everyday Family Dinners."  Whew! All while raising her own family.  It's no wonder she specializes in quick and easy food.

Sara developed this tasty zucchini fries recipe as a way to use up all those crazy zucchini multiplying in your garden and on the grocer's shelves at the end of summer.  Sara says, "What if I told you there's a way to transform the whole lot of them [zucchini] into a delicious dish resembling french fries, but without all the calories?"  Well, she has my attention.  How about you?  Sara continues, "The secret involves cutting your zucchini into fry-like sticks, then cooking them in a way that delivers that signature crunch but without the deep-frying."

To get that toasted taste and golden color for the breaded zucchini without deep frying, you start by toasting up some panko breadcrumbs in a dry skillet.  Sara also advises to pay attention to which cheese grater you use:  a fine wand-style grater has two-thirds more volume than if you grate the cheese on the fine side of a box grater.  Sara used a wand-style cheese grater that produced 5 Tablespoons of grated cheese in this recipe.  If you use the box grater you will only need 1 1/2 to 2 Tablespoons of grated cheese.  Who knew?

The usual basic breading technique is employed to get the crumb mixture glued to the zucchini sticks:  dip first in flour, then the beaten egg, then the breadcrumbs.  Sara advises that if you skip the flour then the crumbs have a tendency to fall off.  Stick to the recipe and don't deviate on this step.

For entertaining this recipe is a good one because you can stop at the breading stage an hour ahead of time, parking the breaded zucchini on a cookie cooling rack just before dinner or when you want to serve at the party.  The cooling rack keeps air circulating around the zucchini sticks so they don't get soggy.  When you are ready to bake, transfer the zucchini sticks to a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes.

The dipping sauce is a kicked up aioli, a garlic mayonnaise.  Sara added extra lemon juice to cut the sweetness of the commercial mayonnaise and some smoked paprika.  Who doesn't love smoked paprika?  It's definitely a standard at our house.  I can get downright cranky if my local grocer is found to have an empty space on that spice shelf.  Of course, the remedy I've used many times, as I am not one to be denied - is to buy regular paprika and mix it in with what's left of the smoked paprika.  It doesn't take but a couple of days for the small amount of smoked paprika to influence and infuse the regular paprika for a lighter smoked taste.  It's also a way to cut the price of smoked paprika if you are on a budget but still want to enjoy.

So, check out some new cocktails for entertaining and a new appetizer twist on the humble but plentiful zucchini!  Be sure to check at the end of the post for links to more recipe posts...

Louisiana Seafood Reusable Shopping Bag

Check out awesome Louisiana eating: oysters, shrimp, crawfish, gumbo, jambalaya

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Super Simple Breakfast: Texas Hash, Sausage and Egg Casserole, More Casserole Links

Photo: Sausage Egg Casserole from AllRecipes.com

From Denny:  Going to the beach for Labor Day?  Company coming and you are wondering what is easy to cook up for a hungry crowd?  Here are a couple of easy recipes for breakfast any time of the day.  They are also the kind of flexible recipes that you can add some of your favorite ingredients or seasonings to your taste.

Texas Hash is so simple for breakfast, lunch or a quick dinner.  It's a great recipe for using up pre-cooked rice.  This recipe calls for cooking the rice ahead of time.  If you are going to the beach you could easily pre-cook the rice, package it up to make the dish later so it would not take long to complete the cooking.  This Texas Hash is made with ground beef instead of the traditional leftover roast beef or chuck roast which is also quite tasty.

Just brown up the ground beef - how about ground sirloin for extra awesome flavor? - add a chopped onion to saute.  This recipe calls for browning the onion which I'm no fan of because it tends to give off a really strong burned taste to the dish.  It's better to first brown the meat, turn down the heat and then slower saute the onion until soft and sweet.

Add the can of diced tomato - or take the time to add diced fresh beefsteak tomato.  Season with a packet of taco seasoning.  Of course, I would add extra garlic powder, smoked paprika, cumin and some dried ginger to taste.  We like a lot of spices in this part of the South.  Serve with loads of shredded cheddar cheese or your favorite cheese like maybe some Parmesan or Romano or Asiago or Monterey Jack or even fresh Mexican cheese.

The Sausage and Egg Casserole is a safe bet for company visits when everyone is a bit tired from the trip.  You can make this ahead of their arrival and bake the next morning.  How simple and effortless is that? ...

Funny Dont Bug Me Coffee Travel Mug

When you are still waking up just let this graphic tell the world not to mess with you

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Summer Food: Raspberry Almond Cheesecake Tartlets

       Photo by Helana Brigman

From Denny:  Do you enjoy cheesecake but want an easier way to make it?  Then this recipe is for you.  I like cheesecake too but find it too large for just two of us to eat and too time consuming to make unless I plan on entertaining a hungry crowd.  

A springform pan is an absolute must to make a proper cheesecake - and the patience of a saint to leave the oven door cracked open as it slowly cools down for hours so you can hopefully avoid it cracking straight down the middle like an ugly scar.  Usually, I've been pretty lucky over the years.  Of course, when I wasn't lucky it was evident that a wonderful fruit topping like blueberry or strawberry could hide a multitude of sins just like gravy on a screwed up dinner. :)

Well, this recipe from food writer Helana Brigman is for the cheesecake challenged and the impatient.  You make this cheesecake in mini tartlets pans that are individual portions in just bite sized pieces rather than a huge honking slice of 6,000 calories like you get served at the Cheesecake Bistro.

What's involved in this recipe is to first make a simple graham cracker crust you crush up in your food processor or blender.  If you don't have that available then resort to the manual method of crushing graham crackers between two pieces of waxed paper using a pastry rolling pin.  

If you are really desperate just use a heavy jar of applesauce or canned "something" to roll over the waxed paper.  Yes, I have been wildly creative over the years, especially when the weather was too yucky to run out and get an ingredient that was missing or the electricity went out.  During hurricanes it's easy to get bored so you start working on what you can for a meal until the electricity comes back on to finish it.

The cheese filling could not be simpler:  cream cheese, vanilla, sugar and lemon zest.

The fruit glaze is made with fresh ripe strawberries, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice that you heat up in a nonstick pan.  If you don't like nonstick pans like I don't then use a double boiler.  Just place medium high heated water in bottom pot that is turned down to a slow simmer and place a smaller pot or even a pasta bowl on top to heat your ingredients.  Just be careful as you remove the cooked fruit glaze from the bottom pot because the steam can burn you.

Assemble by lightly spraying your tartlet pans with oil or rub with a little soft butter.  Press the crushed graham cracker crumb mixture until you line the sides well.  Bake the crust.  Make your cheese filling and spread over the cooled crusts.  Make your fruit glaze, cool it, and then spread onto the tartlets.  There will be leftover fruit glaze you can enjoy on your pancakes or ice cream.  Rinse your raspberries and arrange in the center of the tartlets with sprinkles of sliced almonds all along the outside edges in a ring.

Now contain yourself and any sticky fingers in the house!  Chill the assembled tartlets for three hours before serving.  If you plan to keep them overnight - or if they survive that long at your house - then be sure to cover with plastic wrap to prevent them from losing moisture or absorbing any possible refrigerator odors.

Yes, you can enjoy making cheesecake at home with this easy recipe!  Try it with different fruits like blueberry or peaches...

Keep Calm, Really? Potholder

Unleash your funny inner emotional diva!

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Keep Calm Really? Queen Duvet

Unleash your funny inner emotional diva!  Design also available in twin and king sizes with pillow cases, pillows, t-shirts and more products.

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Breakfast: Easy Simple French Toast Casserole

        The Advocate photo: HEATHER MCCLELLAND 

From Denny:  Whether it's the holidays, a busy summer when the kids are out of school or company came to visit, we all need something fast and simple to put together that's a crowd pleaser.  This simple easy to assemble breakfast casserole fits that bill!

All the ingredients required are a loaf of good French bread, a full 8 ounces of your favorite brand of cream cheese, milk, maple syrup, butter, sugar and eggs.  Add fresh fruit to serve and it's that easy!

Usually when a recipe calls for sugar I often substitute agave syrup or brown rice syrup or even molasses.  If you don't like or can enjoy cow's milk why not substitute almond milk?  When butter is in a recipe I choose to clarify it just because we love the extra boost of flavor at our house from browning and filtering out the milk solids - as well as the added health benefits.  You could use margarine in this recipe as a substitute too.  And, to gild the lily, why not add a few shakes of nutmeg and/or cinnamon, some chopped pecans or walnuts before baking?  Yeah, Flavor Town is the name at our house...

Sports Blue Soccer Queen Duvet

A blue abstract background with bold lettering declaring your love of the sport from Louisiana artist Denny Lyon.  Available in twin and king sizes and on other products too!

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Sports Blue Soccer Woven Throw Pillow

A blue abstract background with bold lettering declaring your love of the sport from Louisiana artist Denny Lyon.  Available on other products too!

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Summer Food: Blueberry Yum Yum Cake Says It All

From Denny:  This sheet pan cake of creamy goodness only requires two cups of fresh blueberries.  First you make a simple syrup of water and sugar, add cornstarch to thicken, then add the blueberries.  Set the blueberry topping aside to cool while you create the crust.

The crust is a yummy combination of finely chopped pecans, butter and flour that you pat into the sheet pan and bake for about 10 to 20 minutes to make your tasty crust.  Set aside to cool.

To make your filling you combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar together and when that is well combined you add in the whipped topping, pouring it into the cooled crust.

After the blueberry topping has cooled then pour over the cream cheese-powdered sugar-whipping topping mixture.  Now set the sheet pan of blueberry goodness into the fridge to chill well.  Serve to screams of total delight!

Cooper Name Mug

Shooting star Cooper says, "I'm the man!" What confidence! Who doesn't want to drink coffee every morning with him?  More products available in this name design for your pet or your man! 

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Summer Food: Cream Cheese Pastry Blueberry-Apple Cobbler and Traditional Blueberry Cobbler

        The Advocate photo: HEATHER MCCLELLAND 

From Denny:  Blueberries.  The awesome blue food we all love.  So, I went hunting for something interesting in the cobbler department for us this week.  The first recipe is from our local newspaper, a blueberry cobbler made with a cream cheese pastry and a filling that consists of a combination of blueberries, apple and lemon.  A cream cheese pastry always tastes great with a fruit filling, especially blueberries!  It's a simple and straightforward pastry recipe with flour, salt and butter but also with cream cheese and a bit of orange juice added to the pastry to spike up the flavor.

The filling calls for fresh blueberries, an apple and lemon juice and lemon zest.  While this recipe calls for sugar I often substitute brown rice syrup or agave syrup in its place for a lower glycemic index than refined white sugar.  Try it half sugar and half agave as an idea, whatever you like at your house, just try experimenting until you find that sweet spot Goldilocks zone for your taste buds!

The second recipe is a traditional blueberry cobbler made in a 9-inch square baking pan like you do for brownies and is from a local Louisiana blueberry grower.  When a recipe calls for margarine, well, I'm no fan of margarine, so I use clarified butter.  If you don't have the time to make your own clarified butter it's now available in grocery stores as I saw a jar in Trader Joe's just last week.

Also note that I use "Tablespoon" and "teaspoon" as an easier read so you don't get confused by small type - by writing it out instead of an abbreviation and also capitalizing Tablespoon.  There have been those moments when I was busy and scan read a recipe only to make a mistake with too much or too little of an ingredient so I changed all my recipes to reflect what I do here on my food blogs.  The whole point is to enjoy a good food experience!

Oh, and the Denny Lyon Gifts ads are from my Cafe Press store.  The profits go to my two favorite charities:  the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank that feeds half of Louisiana and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital that has helped thousands of children on the Gulf Coast.  After all, should anyone go hungry in America?  Should any parent have to emotionally stress and experience financial ruin because their child got sick?  Thank you to those of you supporting my gift store effort!...

Maggie Name Dog Tags

Human or pet Ms. Maggie deserves her own personalized jewelry too!

Loads of other products and names available so check back often as new ones added.

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Maggie Name Woven Throw Pillow

Human or pet Ms. Maggie is in the house and deserves her own special pillow!

Loads of other products and names available so check back often as new ones added.

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Summer Food: Deliciously Easy Small Blueberry Cake

                                                                         Photo: The Advocate/HEATHER MCCLELLAND

 

From Denny:  This is an easy to assemble cake, practically a dump cake after you add together the dry ingredients and milk.  You pour the melted butter over the batter without stirring and layer loads of blueberries on top and then bake to get this marbling effect.

Make sure you are using aluminum free baking powder, an easy find at most grocery stores these days and always at health food stores like Trader Joe's.  You could also substitute agave syrup for the white sugar to lower the glycemic index.  I'm considering trying it with brown rice syrup to see how it performs so I'll let you know later how that turns out.  (First we have to finish off my experiment with a rice pudding recipe that came out quite well.)

While this recipe calls for Louisiana blueberries there are plenty of other blueberry growers with very delicious berries in Texas, Mississippi and California and other states too.  Since blueberries have grown in popularity more farmers have turned to growing them.  Get what is local to you so the berries will be fresh.  Buy USA berries which supports workers and farmers in America.

This is a small pan cake (9" x 9") so it is suitable for just a snack for a few friends or a couple of people who regularly cook for two - with leftovers.  Oh, that's too bad, you mean there might be more to enjoy for breakfast?  This would be wonderful at tea time or a coffee break snack at the office or home as this little cake will travel well for picnics and gatherings too.  It would even taste great chilled for the hot summer weather.  Blueberries are awesome and healthy!

Oh, and a big thank you to those of you supporting Denny Lyon Gifts by purchasing products like aprons, t-shirts, pillows, bedding and mugs.  My profits (paid by Cafe Press) go to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank here in Louisiana that basically feeds half of the state and also to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, two of my favorite charities that help a lot of children.  Who should go hungry in America?  Who should experience financial ruin because your child gets sick?  So, I started up my small store at Cafe Press for some creative fun of designing and to give to these charities.  So, again, thank you for your support.  You guys rock!...

Lucy Name Mug

Is your fav person, dog or cat named Lucy? Check out fun products for her! "Lucy is in the house!" Loads of other names available so check back often as new ones added.

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Lucy Name Canvas Lunch Tote

Lucy - whether human or beloved pet - deserves her own special tote for her yummy treats!

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Summer Food: Easy Blueberry Heaven Trifle

Advocate photo/HEATHER MCCLELLAND

From Denny:   Could this week get any hotter?  With 100 degree highs and a 115 degree heat index this summer is turning out to be a real scorcher.  It brings to mind a Downton Abbey episode when Lord Grantham was arm-twisted by the women of the family to quit drinking for six months until his health issue was confirmed or denied: "Good God, man! Steady on!"  Any time we don't like something or want to complain at our house that's our new go-to phrase for laughs.

Cooling summer desserts come to mind when the weather is uncooperatively too hot.  In fact, before the age of air conditioning it was custom to never eat a hot meal.  The vegetables were as cold as the meats on the plate.  You still see some of that mindset in places like Greece where the concept of a hot vegetable is considered strange.  They boil their vegetables and then chill them before even considering offering them to a guest or family.  With this kind of outrageous weather the idea sounds good!  It certainly takes the stress off the body for getting too hot.

What?! You've heard enough about the ridiculous hot weather and Greek culture?  How about this easy recipe that is kid friendly too that the family could help with this one.  This one is easy to assemble as it involves a purchased angel food cake torn into chunks, cream cheese (whipped or not), sweetened condensed milk, a box of Jell-O vanilla pudding, whipping cream, toasted pecans (Louisiana pecans, if you can get them, because they sure are wonderful) and a honking huge quart of fresh blueberries.  Remember, this trifle does serve 10 to 12 people.  Enjoy!...

Lucy Name Mug

Is your fav person, dog or cat named Lucy? Check out fun products for her! "Lucy is in the house!"  Loads of other names available so check back often as new ones added.

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  

Lucy Name Canvas Lunch Tote

Lucy - whether human or beloved pet - deserves her own special tote for her yummy treats!

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  

Summer Food: Blueberry Lemonade To Beat The Heat

2TheAdvocate photo: HEATHER MCCLELLAND

From Denny:  Blue food.  It's pretty to look at and cooling in this summer heat.  Blueberries are the very essence of summer.  Did you know the silvery bloom on blueberries is a naturally protective waxy coating?  

Most people don't wash them until just when ready to eat.  Well, that doesn't work in our house so I pour a large bowl of water, add about 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar and let the entire plastic box and blueberries soak for about 5 minutes to kill bacteria.  Drain the entire box well, dry off a bit with a towel and throw back into the fridge.  Usually, a reputable grocery store - and even from the farm - they give the berries a quick vinegar wash to brush off leaves and bugs.

We all like to dine on blueberries by the handfuls as snacks, toss them on to the breakfast cereal or yogurt and make breakfast muffins. Here's a new twist: how about blueberries in your homemade lemonade?

This interesting recipe (from our local newspaper food writer) combines two fruit syrups:  a blueberry syrup and a lemon syrup.  You only use the blueberry syrup to color the lemonade to your preference.  The remaining blueberry syrup can be used on pancakes, waffles, toast or even in salad dressings.  OK, you got me, this lemonade is so doggone pretty!  Great idea for summer entertaining...

Lucy Name Mug

Is your fav person, dog or cat named Lucy? Check out fun products for her! "Lucy is in the house!"  Loads of other names available so check back often as new ones added.

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Lucy Name Canvas Lunch Tote

Lucy - whether human or beloved pet - deserves her own special tote for her yummy treats!

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BBQ Grilling: 3 Tasty Compound Butters To Complement Your Recipes

AP photo/Matthew Mead -- Compound Butters

From Denny:  Whether you are grilling or baking in the oven specially infused butters offer wonderful flavor choices to celebrate your food!  Chef Sara Moulton is known for easy recipes that can be done at home with a minimum of fuss.  She's also one of my favorite food teachers as she is so relaxed, giving even the novice cook a boost of confidence.

Her first recipe is for an herb butter.  Do you have some favorite herbs that you just can't cook without?  This recipe is all about your favorite combination of herbs, though she does suggest a few to get you started.  While you could substitute a Vidalia sweet onion in place of shallots, well, shallots are that much sweeter, and, oh, so wonderfully flavorful so try to find them in your area.  Shallots, a favorite of classically trained chefs, are usually in plentiful supply in the spring and summer months, often into autumn.

Are you more in the mood for a citrus butter?  Chef Moulton combines the zest and juice of lemons and limes for a sublime summer taste that everyone will enjoy.

How about something more substantial for those manly men who enjoy a great grilled steak?  Oh, this recipe is for you!  Combine this steak butter with Dijon mustard, a fresh finely minced garlic clove and Worchestershire sauce (we prefer Lea & Perrins at our house though you could use the brand you like),  

If you can't grill outside just use a grill pan on the stovetop to get those prized grill marks, turn it over and place it in the oven to finish.  When ready to plate make sure the steak plate has been heating in the oven. Place a large slice of this steak butter onto the plate and then place the steak on top of the butter.  Talk about awesome taste as the butter melts on the very hot plate, spilling out like a gravy for your steak!  That's the method all the old steakhouses of the 1940's and 1950's used before restaurants went to open charcoal or wood fired grilling.

The beauty of all these butters is that all you have to do is roll them into logs and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze until ready to use.  Just slice off the amount you need and return it to the freezer.  How simple is that?  You can make these up way ahead of when you will need them.

Funny Friday Weekend Mug

Tell the world how you really feel about coming back to work.

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BBQ Grilling: Try Grilled Summer Cooling Puttanesca Gazpacho

  AP photo/Matthew Mead

From Denny:  Fancy a cold soup to counter the ridiculous hot heat of the summer?  Gazpacho is everyone's favorite, especially when entertaining for large groups.  This version involves grilling all those delicious veggies like red bell peppers, poblano peppers, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and a head of fresh garlic.  

Let the charred peppers cool before removing the skins and the inside seeds and membranes. Squeeze the cooled soft garlic cloves out of their papery skins and into the food processor.  Add the delicious flavors of capers, Kalamata olives, anchovies, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Make the soup as chunky or as smooth as you like.  Chill well before serving.  To serve, garnish with yummy ricotta cheese and fresh torn herbs like cilantro and basil.  Then sit back and wait for the compliments to arrive!

Sophie Name Dog T-Shirt

Sophie is a sweet pup -and wise - she deserves the very best!

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