http://greasy.com/troutbend/ troutbend's Blog en-us © 03:34:52 Greasy.com All rights reserved. Tue, Dec 03:34:52 2 GMT 30 http://greasy.com/troutbend/finally_calling_recession.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- Most Americans sorely knew it already, but now it's official: The country is in a recession, and it's getting worse. Wall Street convulsed at the news - and a fresh batch of bad economic reports - tanking nearly 680 points. With the economic pain likely to stretch well into 2009, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday he stands ready to lower interest rates yet again and to explore other rescue or revival measures. Rushing in reinforcements, Treasury Secretary ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/finally_calling_recession.html#comments Tue, 2 Dec 2008 03:09:15 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/christmas_parade.html Saturday evening the nearby resort town had its annual Christmas parade. The paper said that usually 25,000 people go there to see it. In the winter there are two roads into that town and one goes past my gate. I went to the post office to get the mail and couldn't believe all the traffic on the highway. I decided to shut the gate and when I got out, accidentally locked the truck with the keys in the ignition and the motor running; that always gives an added element of suspense to these si ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/christmas_parade.html#comments Tue, 2 Dec 2008 01:25:47 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/catholic_opinion.html From today's paper, a followup on my post of yesterday. "The Most Rev. Stephen Blaire, bishop of the Stockton diocese, disagreed with Illo. Catholics were not in need of confession if they voted for Obama after considering many issues, Blaire said. Confession would be necessary only if someone voted for a candidate specifically because of his or her pro-choice ideology, he said. The bishop also said Catholics should not be compelled to disclose how they voted to their priest." http://greasy.com/troutbend/catholic_opinion.html#comments Mon, 1 Dec 2008 18:37:36 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/todays_paper.html "A Roman Catholic priest in Modesto, Calif., has told parishioners that they should confess if they voted for Barack Obama because the president-elect supports abortion. The Rev. Joseph Illo said his parishioners at St. Joseph's Catholic Church shouldn't risk losing their "state of grace" by receiving communion sacrilegiously. He delivered the message in a Nov. 21 letter and during Mass. In an interview last week with the Modesto Bee, Illo said he sent the letter because Catholic teaching ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/todays_paper.html#comments Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:41:50 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/mexicali_bean_lasagna_meatless.html The latest edition of the Colorado Bean News arrived today and among all the technical articles about Bean Regional Production Satistics and Pinto Bean Experimental Lines are some recipes. Here is a meatless recipe that provides complete protein from beans and corn tortillas. Mexicali Lasagna 1 cup fresh cilantro 6 green onions, chopped including tops 10 oz fresh baby spinach 8 6 inch corn tortillas 1 (15 oz) can pinto or black beans, rinsed 1 1/2 cups canned salsa 2 cups shredded Monterey ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/mexicali_bean_lasagna_meatless.html#comments Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:00:44 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/frugal_holiday_decorating.html You know how much I like those little decorating nuggets in the newspapers. This is from the Las Vegas paper: ' "Homeowners can easily give their homes a fresh look this holiday season without spending a lot of money. One simple way to update the look and feel of a room is to add an affordable, bold accent piece, such as a red lamp shade or purple throw pillow," said Joshua Thomas of Target.' Yes, a gaudy new throw pillow will certainly make my season cheerier and take my mind of the bad e ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/frugal_holiday_decorating.html#comments Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:10:32 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/thanksgiving_aftermath.html I ended up going to my author friend's house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a nice time, but I was glad to get home. I've been seeing too much of those people, so time for a break. By going there I passed up an invitation to 'bottom feed' (the hostess's words) with my friend Crazy Karen over in Greeley, and another to dine with Mr. Troutbend's family 90 miles away. The cousin emailed photos after it was over, and I was just so glad I wasn't there to be in those pictures. The food looked g ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/thanksgiving_aftermath.html#comments Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:05:30 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/baking_marathon.html I could tell my friends I'm going to the in-laws and the in-laws I'm going to the friends and then stay home for Thanksgiving, but I've done that in years past so I'm going to the friends. There are assignments for what to bring so today I made special dinner rolls, bread pudding, and pumpkin pie. The dinner rolls have corn meal in them and it's cooked in milk until thick then the yeast and flour are added. They just melt in your mouth. The bread pudding (requested by my hostess) has 8 egg ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/baking_marathon.html#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 03:50:33 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/latin_american_turkey_stuffing.html I'm not planning on company for Thanksgiving so no serious menu planning here, but I'm enjoying watching some of the shows on the Food Network. I record them and watch with half an eye in case there are some new ideas. I know many of you are going to say 'oh, I never watch TV. I'm too high-minded reading great literature and exercising.' Well, I'm watching it for you and reporting. This year's trend in turkey prep appears to be slathering the outside of the turkey with strongly flavored in ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/latin_american_turkey_stuffing.html#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:31:11 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/banana_pudding.html Our friend Jeri (elderjane) is on her cruise now. They celebrated Thanksgiving early and she told me one of the desserts was Paula Deen's Banana Pudding. I told her she made it sound so good I might make it for my own Thanksgiving. However, looking at the recipe, I am probably going to chicken out because it calls for too many fattening ingredients. I'm not as overtly health conscious as some of you say you are, but I do have some limits. And it's not just the calories, some of it is that ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/banana_pudding.html#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:15:49 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/bean_soup_christmas.html We don't exchange Christmas gifts in our family because Mr. Troutbend's family can't be bothered to think of anybody but themselves - according to his mother. But some of them still do exchange gifts which irritates me because I used to enjoy making homemade things to give them. Now I know what you are thinking: they probably told only me that there will be no gift exchange because they didn't want any more of those hand-knitted dish cloths. Whatever. In my defense: my technique has improv ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/bean_soup_christmas.html#comments Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:59:59 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/vienna_sausage_beanee_weenee.html A book I read recently mentioned Vienna sausage and someone pronouncing it vy-enna. I can't remember which book this was or how it fit into the story, but we've got a couple cans of them that came in Las Vegas hotel gift baskets, so that's what I had for supper tonight. When I was a kid, the only time we had Vienna Sausage aka 'little weenies' was when we visited my grandparents at Ismay Trading Post in southwest Colorado. If you go there you can get a 'lunch' that is a can of Vienna Sausa ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/vienna_sausage_beanee_weenee.html#comments Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:55:24 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/movie_marathon_3.html We just got home from three nights at the Rio in Las Vegas with unlimited movies. Here are the movies I saw and what I thought of them. Mamma Mia: Lame, just lame - bad acting, lousy singing, goofy plot. Meryl Streep did some of her own singing as did Pierce Brosnan (shudder). It reminded me of Paint Your Wagon where Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin tried to sing. I fast-forwarded through a lot of the songs just because the singing was so horrible. The whole thing lacked energy and spark that ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/movie_marathon_3.html#comments Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:40:06 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/many_years.html From Today's Paper: "Cat back home after more than 13 years A Santa Rosa, Calif., couple recently had an unexpected reunion with an old housemate: their pet cat who went missing more than 13 years ago. George, who was last seen by Melinda Merman and Frank Walburg in 1995, was turned in to an animal hospital after the manager of a mobile home park trapped the sickly feline. A microchip implanted in George allowed him to be traced back to his owners." I wonder if the cat recognized his forme ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/many_years.html#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:03:37 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/great_icon_passes.html Maybe you've seen this one. Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 98. Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisens, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies and Captain Crunch. Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/great_icon_passes.html#comments Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:07:58 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/pillsbury_bake_winner.html The million dollar winning recipe at the Pillsbury Bake Off was peanut butter cookies filled with peanut butter cream. It calls for refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough that you slice. You mix powdered sugar into peanut butter to make the filling. Roll it into balls and surround each ball with cookie dough. Roll the balls in chopped peanuts mixed with cinnamon sugar. Place on cookie sheets and mash flat with the bottom of a glass sprayed with cooking spray. Thicker will have more cream ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/pillsbury_bake_winner.html#comments Sun, 9 Nov 2008 19:19:37 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/frito_pie_recipe.html Take a small bag of Fritos and cut it open on the side. Put it on an oven-proof plate and smother with heated chili and your favorite toppings, such as sour cream, shredded cheese, diced onion, and maybe some sliced jalapeno peppers. If you have a little salsa or maybe some taco sauce packets from Taco Bell, that might be good sprinkled over the top. You might want to stick the plate into a hot oven for a couple minutes to melt the cheese before you put on the toppings, or not. You could a ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/frito_pie_recipe.html#comments Sun, 9 Nov 2008 03:42:27 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/couple_photos_email.html Craft idea: Crocheted outfit A new use for flip-flop sandals. Cute Florida ladies playing wii at the library. One is Mr. Troutbend's auntie. Recent photo of my uncle's house near Hovenweep in the Four Corners area, southwest Colorado. http://greasy.com/troutbend/couple_photos_email.html#comments Sat, 8 Nov 2008 17:30:39 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/really_good_news.html The results are in on the asbestos and lead paint testing on our rental house and it is as good as it can be under the circumstances. Yes, the outside is all asbestos siding that will have to be removed and sent to a special landfill before the house can be torn down, but single-family residences are exempt from strenuous abatement of the lead-based paint that is on the exterior under the asbestos siding. So, big sigh of relief. It will be expensive to deal with, but not as horrible as it ... http://greasy.com/troutbend/really_good_news.html#comments Fri, 7 Nov 2008 22:43:26 GMT http://greasy.com/troutbend/cats_photos.html http://greasy.com/troutbend/cats_photos.html#comments Fri, 7 Nov 2008 19:56:05 GMT