Dennys: News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food

13 April 2010

Awesome Cajun Barbecued Shrimp — New Orleans Style



Another version of delicious BBQ shrimp by scaredy_kat @ flickr

From Denny: Here's a seafood recipe that is quick, easy, incredibly delicious, a crowd pleaser and quite popular! What more could you ask for in a recipe? There are as many variations of this dish as there are "Down on the Bayou" cooks from Louisiana to Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Of course, you will want to use Louisiana shrimp. They are far superior to shrimp from the toxic heavy metal waters of China. They are also fresh.

This particular recipe came from a local person whose son has a delightful blog where he recounts his new food experiences. He is a nine year old food critic! Every kid is a food critic as any parent will know. This one writes about it and it's a good blog. I thought it would be fun to help promote his writing and his family's recipe he enjoys.





Barbecued Shrimp — New Orleans Style

From: Sean Prados whose 9 year old son, Michael, writes Junior Food Critic, a blog where he writes about his food discoveries and kid friendly restaurants.

Serves: 8 to 10

Ingredients:

2 lbs. (8 sticks) unsalted butter, divided
1 large onion, very finely minced
3 ribs celery, finely minced
5 to 10 cloves garlic, finely minced (roasted garlic best)
3 to 4 tbls. chopped parsley
2 tbls. chopped rosemary leaves
4 to 5 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 (12-oz.) Abita Amber Beer (full-bodied or dark beer if this is not available in your area)
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
4 lbs. shrimp, heads and shells on
Salt, pepper and Creole seasoning, to taste
1 lemon, cut in wedges
2 green onions, chopped


Directions:

1. Over medium-high heat, melt 2 sticks butter in large skillet or paella pan. Sauté onion and celery 3 to 4 minutes. Then add garlic.

2. Stir in parsley, rosemary, thyme and bay leaf; simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Melt remaining butter and add to pan with beer and Worcestershire sauce.

4. Submerge shrimp in sauce and add seasonings to taste. You may need to do this in batches. Over-seasoning works since shells prevent some absorption.

5. Squeeze lemon juice over shrimp after cooking. Garnish with green onions. Serve with French bread for dipping.


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12 April 2010

Funny Tax Man Cartoons

From Denny: Check out the latest funny cartoonists commenting, lamenting and downright complaining about tax season. Didn't they ever hear of the software Turbo Tax? Walks you right through it - only to find out all your itemized deductions did not add up to the allowed level that you could have done in the first place in only 5 minutes. Oh, well... :)

One of my favorite cartoons is the one where Daddy is asking his kid to pull a number out of a magician's hat that he can give to the IRS. Nothing like creative accounting! Of course, saving the best for last is the cartoon about the IRS going to the ends of the earth to locate and fine those wealthy off shore tax cheats.

Keep grinning as the deadline for getting this year's taxes mailed out is closing in on us. These silly cartoons will keep you laughing as you rush to the post office before midnight.





































*** ALSO for more fun over at Dennys Funny Quotes:


More Funny Tax Cartoons to Keep You Laughing



*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

Funny Odd Couples: Cats and Their Weirdo Friends

From Denny: Cats must have been the original artists created in the world. They cross species boundaries easily for some unusual friendships. Check out the latest "homies" of choice odd couples for a grin! Included are some "conversations" if cats could talk...






Hey, cabbie! Can you give me a ride over to 32nd Street? It's on your way.






There's a reason why I'm named the pig. Just who do you think you are? Get outta my way, cat! Notice how the cat slips on by him anyway to win the race. :)







We are only snuggling. Nothing to worry about here. He's not my type. I only like bad boys.







This crazy crow keeps stalking me. I thought cats were supposed to be the famous stalkers in the animal kingdom. Oh, well, when you have fans you might as well enjoy your fame!







Who are you? I'm the patient dog, silly cat. It's my job to teach you house manners.






So, what's for dinner, Mr. Bear? Guess who came to dinner... Did I invite you, silly cat? Are you crazy to mess with me or what??? You are so lucky I am still waking up from my winter's nap.







Hi, Honey kitty. Hi, baby, how's it going today? Oh, by the way, I'm not the local salt lick for the neighborhood. I'm just saying...








Do you think our fur coats are too matchy-matchy or anything? I hope we don't get reported to "What Not to Wear" TV show! You keep watch while I sleep and let me know if the camera crews show up unexpectedly.







Hmmmm... what's for dinner or should I settle for conversation?







Sweetie, you need a shave! Your horse whiskers are tickling me!







I just got downsized from Geico for faking a British accent and doing it badly. Can you spare a gecko a bit of your meal? I promise I won't eat too much.







Kiss me, you silly rabbit! Tell me about your day.







Do you mind if I come inside for a while? Looks like you have a good gig going on there. Listen, squirrel, I am so not letting you anywhere near my food bowl - not now, not ever. Now dance on the window and entertain me.







And the cat exorcist calmly sat there, knowing the snake was trying to slide past him without getting noticed.







And the monkey took his pet kitten down to the local park to show off to all his friends. And the cat said: I'll get you in our next reincarnation. I knew I should have divorced you in the last life time.




Text by Denny Lyon
Copyright 12 April 2010
All Rights Reserved

*** Photos are not mine - free use to make up your own silly captions for them! :)


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

11 April 2010

Weekly Posts Roundup at Dennys Blogs - 11 Apr 2010

From Denny: This has been a wild week. The starting weeks of pollen season and we all have been sneezing and experiencing watery eyes and sheer misery. I've come to the conclusion that the attack of the killer plants is all about putting our bodies on overload so we will start dumping winter's toxins. Spring is the time of year when our livers go through detox - and do it for free! The Big However is that it can be inconvenient scheduling to say the least. When the liver starts detoxing you get sluggish, lethargic and sleepy, not exactly productive. See? Nothing is wrong with you after all; it's just Nature's regular Spring house cleaning. Tell that to your boss while you are dragging in to work or not as peppy as usual... :)

Seems like Blogger has had issues this week as well. It's been sheer hell trying to get anything published. The old editor will accept editing and copy and paste but won't publish. The new editor will not accept editing or copy and paste but hey! just push the publish button and it works! Totally crazy with all the toggling back and forth between Blogger dashboards...

But the good news is that after waiting over a year for a fix on the Google Connect for those of us with blogs that carry Google ads, we no longer experience disappearing followers. I always try to put these widgets on all my blogs so other bloggers can advertise their blogs too when they become followers. That's how many of my readers found me - by seeing me listed as a follower or visitor on someone else's blog. So, please be sure to join up on the various blogs to make sure you get seen - and I have plenty of fellow bloggers as company to keep me sassy! :)

Oh, and if you are a fellow blogger, make sure you count your blog stats with your feed counts. Feedburner does a stellar job of counting your views, clicks and visits to your blogs. These views may not be physical visitors to your blog as they are viewing in a reader - so won't get counted by your blog counters. I finally got around to adding in my feed counts to the totals and was pleasantly surprised and downright shocked at all the counts I had not known were always waiting to be noticed. This week alone over 105,000 folks showed up or viewed in a reader posts on all my blogs. Thank you for such a fabulous response, especially over at Delicious social site! You are amazing! Do try to pay a physical visit to the blogs as each one is created with a specific theme, color sense and emotional or spiritual feel to benefit the reader.

It's funny how when you start a blog - The Social Poets was my first - you never realize how things are going to morph and grow. When I branched off into other blogs to park different themed posts like spiritual quotes and my spiritual thoughts about them over at Beautiful Illustrated Quotations it has been astounding the response for what I figured would be a small niche market. Well, I sure was wrong about that assumption.

When I was having fun tripping through the Creative Commons area of Flickr and put up themed posts over at my photo blog, Visual Insights, again folks flocked to grin along with me! Who knew how much fun we all could have together? Serious or funny - readers are interested in good content. Sooner or later they will find you. So, if you are like I was 18 months ago, thrilled just to have 20 people a month show up at my first blog but wondering how anyone would find out about what my blog was offering, don't despair. Bookmark your posts and your readers will begin to find you through the search engines and social sites. It just takes time.


Here's a tax season grin since I just spent three hours doing my taxes:









The Social Poets:


Whats Happening in America, This Weeks Political Cartoons - 10 Apr 2010

Opinion: Obama Issues Kill Order 4 American Cleric

Funny Allergy Quotes - Cheeky Quote Day 7 Apr 2010

How to Survive Allergy and Pollen Season

Monday Roundup of Late Night Comedy - 5 Apr 2010





Dennys Global Politics:


Iran Pushing 4 Nukes, Reprocessing Spent Nuke Fuel, Palin Unpopular, Political Death Threats - News Headlines 9 Apr 2010

USAs New Weapon Global Strike, U.S.-Russia Nuke Deal, Who Does Not Pay Taxes in America, U.S. Kill Order 4 Cleric - News Headlines 8 Apr 2010

America Not Ready 4 Cyberattacks, Pelosi Death Threats, Iraq Violence, Kyrgyzstan Riots, Skinhead Leaves Hate Behind - News Headlines 7 Apr 2010

Obamas Nuke Policy, China Hacks India, Britain Votes, Net Neutrality, Guilt Study, News Headlines 6 Apr 2010

Breakdown of Who Are Tea Party Members, Bizarre Karzai, Obama Picks New Justice Soon, Immunity for Pope - News Headlines 5 Apr 2010





Beautiful Illustrated Quotations:


Poem: Legacy of Love

Your Dreams: 5 Common Characteristics

Still popular on BIQ: Does Your Life Feel Like a Disaster?

3 Quotes About Facing Tough Times

Uplifting Soul Quote: What is Your Power in the World?

Spiritual Energy: Can Simple Words Add to Our Quality of Life?





The Soul Calendar - science:


What Do All the Recent Global Earthquakes Mean?

Come to Iceland: Experience Living With a Volcano in Your Back Yard

Moon Water: Order Up Your Cocktail Today

New Astronomy Photos: Cosmic Rosebud, Winds of Change Black Hole, Orion Nebula





The Healing Waters:


How to Survive Allergy and Pollen Season

A Poem About Healing Ourselves

Unlocking Foods Healing Powers

Good News: Afghan Orphanage Female Director Honored

Beautiful Metaphor for Life: Boats





Food blogs:


Spring Into Grill Season: Mouthwatering Steaks

Chef Rocco Dispiritos Cheap Yet Healthy Comfort Food

Yummy Homemade Coconut Cream Pie

Play Fun With Your Food: Mini Frittata Crostinis, Mini Wonton Quiches

Awesome Sauces 4 Spring and Summer Seafood

Forget the Birds: Awesome Recipes 4 Stale Bread





Humor blogs:


Funny Surfing Peruvian Alpaca

Outrageously Dumb Criminals: Robbers Called Bank For Money To Go

The Funny Side of Allergy Season - Ahh, Choo!


Funny Comics Review The News - 26 Mar 2010





Visual Insights - photo blog:


Funny Odd Couples: Cats and Their Weirdo Friends


Dennys Photo Gallery: Spectacular Sunrises





*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

10 April 2010

Poem: Legacy of Love



*** Never feel what you know is not important enough to share: mentor!

From Denny: This week a famous American teacher passed out of this life and into a new adventure. His name was Jaime Escalante and it was his life story told in the movie "Stand and Deliver." He was well educated and worked at NASA. Yet when he read of the failing schools in Los Angeles he quit his high-paying job and went to teach advanced math at one of those failing schools, Garfield High School. He fought the public school system's failing mindset cemented into the old ways of doing things, believing low income kids were not smart enough or motivated enough to learn advanced math. Escalante proved them all wrong: the educators who ran the schools, the parents and the students.

Escalante brought faith in his students and passion to the job of more than teaching: He was a mentor of gigantic proportions. Today, many of his students are successes, working at NASA or teaching the same calculus to their students that he taught them. Most of all he taught a group of people to believe in themselves. He taught the educators to never give up their faith and reach higher so their students can succeed in life.




Cosmic consciousness by h.koppdelaney @ flickr


Mentoring others is important no matter what stage you are living in your life. You can be young or old. You can teach the young, those older, those your same age. Teach what you know and share your life experiences. You never know who you will inspire. And, as you teach, you learn from them too. Never feel what you know is not important enough to share. Never be too proud to receive knowledge from others eager to share what they have just learned or figured out. For today's shared knowledge just might answer tomorrow's problems - for them and for you. Mentoring: it's a fair exchange, don't you think? :)




Legacy of Love






Have you ever thought about…
All the knowledge in the Universe?
Have you ever thought about…
Your place in millions of information bits?
Have you ever thought about…
Why your experiences were important?






Did you know that on the other end of that information
Lived someone waiting for you to tell them about it?
Did you know that in the world every day there is
A person sharing what they know with someone else
Who yearned for the solutions to their problems but
Did not know where to find that knowledge – until you?






The old speak of their long lives while the young listen.
The young shout their enthusiasm while the old smile.
When tough times strike we all stretch out helping hands.
When Life is sweet we lift up our hearts in shared Joy.
Kindness and sharing creates more kindness and sharing,
Giving comfort and ease to many hearts, lightening the load.





When at first we meet as strangers we become friends.
Sharing our experiences we relax into deep friendships.
Family we become when we give Love and receive Love.
Have you ever seen all the thoughts floating in the Universe
Wondering of their origins and how long they were seeking?
Sharing what you know is your legacy of Love.






Denny Lyon
Copyright 4 April 2010
All Rights Reserved


A Powerful Mentor: Remembering Jaime Escalante


Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy









Photo Credits


Galaxies and universes by Torley @ flickr

Cosmic consciousness by h.koppdelaney @ flickr

Fun in the rain by Nina Matthews Photography @ flickr

Looking into eternity by jasleen_kaur @ flickr

Helping hands by batega @ flickr

Artist's concept of the universe by NASA Goddard Photo and Video @ flickr

Walking into the sun by Harold Laudeus @ flickr


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