Just Some Poetry.

Just Some Poetry.

by akeejaho @ HubPages

From Denny: I found this as a wonderful poem expressing a husband's love for his wife. The husband suffers from bipolar depression so he deeply understands how profoundly his wife's love affects him positively and appreciates her. (What every woman wants to hear!)

As a writing exercise this is a delightful take on how to write love poetry from a completely different angle without the usual greeting card mushiness.

Here's the comment I left for the author: "I'm always up for an unconventional take on love poetry and this little gem of a poem takes the prize. Awesome how you contrast inner and outer light, talking on two levels simultaneously, delivered with utter directness and simplicity, well done!"

Photo by AmahRa58 @ flickr


husband and wife, inner light, Light, love poetry, men and women, relationshiops, romance and love, Society and Culture, writing exercise

Video: Making the Best Burger from the 21 Clubs Famous Chef

From Denny: It's still summer and Labor Day weekend is coming up quickly! Take some tips from this famous chef at the 21 Club about their famous burgers. And invite me over to your place, pahleez! :)

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Chocolate News: Cadbury Chocolate Bows to Consumer Boycott, Deletes Nasty Palm Oil

From Denny: Thanks to one of my fellow bloggers, Stoneweaver, we have news that the huge chocolate giant, Cadbury, has finally bowed to consumer pressure about the concerns of using palm oil in its chocolate.

I quit buying their product a long time ago because of the extreme oiliness of it as the 2 point type was too small to see it was the palm oil to which I was objecting (or should I say it was my stomach that was objecting). Apparently, the reason so many other people quit buying their product was because of the association of palm tree plantations and the huge destruction of the rain forests.

The company didn't expressly place palm oil on their label but rather only marked it as vegetable oil. Remember, palm oil has a huge level of saturated fat even though it is a vegetable oil.

And the relationship to the destruction of the rain forests you ask? Turns out the palm tree plantations have taken over former rain forest land in places like Borneo and Sumatra to the tune of millions of acres. Of course, once they took over the land to produce palm oil all the former animals went homeless. At least chocolate lovers worldwide have taken a stand about this loss of habitat for our beloved animals. Sometimes, you just have to check your sweet tooth at the door as there are more important things to consider. Talk about kill your interest in a yummy chocolate bar.

Also, Greenpeace contends that 96% of palm oil produced worldwide is not certified sustainable. Well, that only leaves a mere 4% that is and Cadbury certainly isn't part of that small percentage of concerned global citizens.

Greenpeace also informs us that the demand for palm oil is rocketing at a fast pace worldwide and that's why the rush to slash and burn pristine habitats to farm the land for, you guessed it, money!

What products does palm oil go into these days? Margarine is the prime draw. (I knew there was a reason I never liked the stuff. Give me clarified real butter any day as clarifying it gets rid of the cholesterol clogging garbage.) Then chocolate, cream cheese, cosmetics and now biodiesel fuel are the reasons for the uptick in demand. Seventy percent of this palm oil ends up in our food (and we wonder why we are fat in America) and the rest goes to the increasing biofuel industry.

In the rush to keep down fossil fuel emissions globally we are creating another climate change issue by cutting down the lungs of our planet, the rain forest!

So, the next time you purchase a chocolate candy bar, borrow someone's reader glasses at a high magnification and read that tiny tiny print on the wrapper. Check for palm oil. If you find it, then the next thing you do is this: hurl the damn candy bar clear across the store and bounce it off a few walls, hoping it lands in the trashcan. Because that's all it is: trash.

Congrats and kudos go out to all the people who boycotted Cadbury chocolate and wrote news stories about this irresponsible destruction of the rain forests.

Recipe: Fast and Easy Sloppy Joe Biscuit Pot Pies

Key West, Florida bar called Sloppy Joe's Image by bfraz via Flickr

From Denny: School season is fast approaching and busy moms need some easy recipes with little hassle to keep from being overwhelmed and over tired. Pillsbury always comes up with easy ideas at their site.

Normally, I'm not the biggest fan of frozen mixed vegetables. The only veggies that seem to do well in the freezer in my mind are things like peas or beans like lima beans and other normally dried beans. Okra doesn't do too badly either. Potatoes? Forget it! :) Seriously though, frozen veggies should work just fine here as the chili sauce will overpower any possible "freezer taste." The mustard and brown sugar will also help the flavor tremendously.

As to frozen biscuits that's your choice. I like to control what kind of fat, preferably that without cholesterol, that goes into my food so I make my own, cut them out and then freeze individually on a tray. When rock solid frozen I then place them in freezer baggies and they can last a good year if that were actually possible in our house! :)

This recipe is simple, fast and tailored to individual portions so if you want to spice up (for adults) or down (for young children or picky eaters) it can be done quickly. To make it more Cajun I'd add extra garlic powder and Cajun seasoning like Tony Chachere's (low sodium version).

Meat already has a lot of salt in it naturally, especially chicken as the sellers plump up that chicken you buy in the supermarket with injections of salt water. Sweet, huh? The up side is that salt does kill bacteria so in that sense it can be a good thing. Just watch how much salt you add to any recipe with chicken in it.

Fast and Easy Sloppy Joe Biscuit Pot Pies

From: Pillsbury.com

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1/2 pound lean (at least 80%) ground beef
(Denny: you could substitute ground turkey or chicken)

1/4 cup chopped onion (from a medium onion)

3/4 cup frozen mixed vegetables (add some fresh chopped celery too)

1 teaspoon packed brown sugar

1/2 teapoon dry ground mustard

3/4 cup chili sauce

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 Pillsbury Grands Frozen Buttermilk Biscuits (from 25-oz. bag)

2 teaspoons milk

1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds, if desired


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Spray an 8-inch skillet with cooking spray. Add ground beef and onion and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until
beef is thoroughly cooked. Drain.

3. Stir in frozen mixed vegetables, brown sugar, mustard, chili sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender.

4. Spoon beef mixture into 2 (1-1/2-cup) ungreased ovenproof bowls or ramekins. Top each with frozen biscuit. Brush each biscuit with milk, sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired.

5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until biscuits are deep golden brown.


Photo: Key West, Florida bar called Sloppy Joe's Image by bfraz via Flickr

Video: 3 Favorite Family Easy Dessert Recipes

From Denny: The Today Show had hundreds of entries for this competition! They were looking for family recipes handed down through the generations and found some good ones that will appeal to a lot of people. These are also fast easy recipes, enjoy! Wait until you see the last one with chocolate, easiest one of all.

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desserts, dessert recipes, recipes, chocolate, baking and confections