Rss

this side of heaven

Category :





What's for dinner?

Category :


Pizza... that is. For the first time we made homemade pizza using store-bought dough since making your own could take a lot of work. Most of the time, we'd order pizza which is tomato-based with lots of peperoni (or the works) so this time, for our homemade pizza, we decided on something light and healthy. The recipe for this pizza was shared by my boss who found it on the internet when he was looking for a recipe that will use whatever ingredients he had at home.

He found this recipe for "Spinach and Feta" cheese pizza which he also shared to the women in the office.



Spinach & Feta Cheese Pizza

  • store-bought dough (or you can make your own)
  • fresh spinach, chopped (we use baby spinach)
  • garlic, chopped
  • onions, sliced any way you want
  • olives
  • crumbled feta cheese
  • mozzarella cheese
  • olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare dough on a clean and floured surface to knead. Drizzle pizza pan with olive oil to prevent dough from sticking to pan. Place the dough on pizza pan. Arrange the toppings by drizzling olive oil first, then spread mozzarella cheese all over. Then add spinach, garlic, feta cheese, onions and olives alternately. Drizzle with olive oil before going in to the oven.

Pizza came out really good. This is worth making cause it not only taste very good but also the ingredients use are healthy and simple to make.

Russell Peters - the "ultimate comic"

Category :

If you haven't seen Russell Peters perform his stand-up comedy yet, you are missing a lot. He is one of the funniest comedian around and is for sure a rising star. Latest news about him is that he now moved to Hollywood and will soon star in his own TV show. Peters describes himself as a South East Asian (India) who grew up and was raised in Ontario, Canada.

His kind of comedy is deeply rooted in something that is close to home... his family, his community, his culture and his motherland (India). However, because of his travels abroad, his act has included his experiences and observations of the countries that he has visited. He is much like Margaret Cho (Korea), John Leguizamo (Puerto Rico), Paul Rodriguez (Mexico) and other unknown and undiscovered talents whose keen observations of everyday life make it appear that life is funny. However, what sets him apart from the rest is the man is a genius not only for the kind of comedic material that he comes up with but he is also great at doing accents.

One of our student employees, Anish, shared this 45 mins. show called "Uncensored" about 4 years ago. I thought that this was one hilarious act and I really loved it. One thing about his act is that you can easily relate to what he is saying.

You can just imagine, how happy I was when I saw this show posted on youtube. This was on Russel's website for sometime but after a while it was taken out.

So for 45 mins. don't try to do anything. Just watch the show and laugh out loud. You won't regret it... Thank you zeeshan for sharing.

another bollywood skit...

Category :

This is another comedic skit performed by Canadian comic, Winston Spear. Another one of my favorites... Lots of laughs here.

Hari Puttar... (Harry Potter-Bollywood style)

Category :

I was browsing the web when I happen to see this parody of Harry Potter. I loved it and wanted to share it with you. If you appreciate "Bollywood" movies and understand the nuances of dancing and the singing that is always incorporated in these films, you will find this movie amusing...

Bill Withers

Category :

I just want to share here 2 of my favorite songs written by Bill Withers. Both are "feel good" songs and I am sure that you will want to listen for more...


Lovely Day (written and sung by Bill Withers)



Just the Two of Us (written by Bill Withers & sung by Grover Washington Jr.)

Hairspray

Category :

You Can't Stop the Beat



Without Love



This is for all the "Hairspray" fans... Most reviews for the movie were positive and it gave people a warm fuzzy feeling after watching the show. Enjoy these "slideshows" posted by Speedy73.

Political Correctness... just for laughs*

Category :

Due to the climate of political correctness now pervading America; Kentuckians, Tennesseans and West Virginians will no longer be referred to as "HILLBILLIES." You must now refer to them as APPALACHIAN-AMERICANS.

And furthermore...

HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT WOMEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:

1 She is not a "BABE" or a "CHICK" - She is a "BREASTED AMERICAN."

2. She is not "EASY" - She is "HORIZONTALLY ACCESSIBLE."

3. She is not a "DUMB BLONDE" - She is a "LIGHT-HAIRED DETOUR OFF THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY."

4. She has not "BEEN AROUND" - She is a "PREVIOUSLY-ENJOYED COMPANION."

5 She does not "NAG" you - She becomes "VERBALLY REPETITIVE."

6. She is not a "TWO-BIT HOOKER" - She is a "LOW COST PROVIDER."



HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT MEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:

1. He does not have a "BEER GUT" - He has developed a "LIQUID GRAIN STORAGE FACILITY."

2. He is not a "BAD DANCER" - He is "OVERLY CAUCASIAN."

3. He does not "GET LOST ALL THE TIME" - He "INVESTIGATES ALTERNATIVE DESTINATIONS."

4. He is not "BALDING" - He is in "FOLLICLE REGRESSION."

5. He does not act like a "TOTAL ASS" - He develops a case of "RECTAL-CRANIAL INVERSION."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
*shared by EB

YMCA Parody

Category :

This video is a bit dark and grainy but it is worth watching especially after you realize that...

Christopher - YMCA (funny)

_________________________________________________________________
*Shared by H. David

LIFE IN THE 1500'S*

Category :


The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be . Here are some facts about the 1500s:**

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water".

Houses had thatched roofs -thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying, "It's ra
ining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirty. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a thresh hold.

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat..

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leak onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and re-use the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a ...dead ringer..

**Author Unknown**
__________________________________________________________________________
*Thanks to my friend S. Brown for sending this to me.
**Urban legend
***
Photo from http://www.florilegium.org/

Welcome Back, Potter

Category :

Finally, the last book on the Harry Potter series is out. I'm sure that by now, someone out there didn't sleep a wink as soon as they got their copy of the book and seriously thumb their way thru every page afraid that they will miss anything if they stop reading.

Judging from daughter, Dominique's reaction, this book is a page turner and she even had to stop reading every now and then cause the emotion gets the better of her. Now, this reaction is coming from somebody who is the epitome of coolness and seldom losing her poise in extreme situations. Now if it were my eldest daughter, Karrol, I wouldn't be surprise since they are poles apart.

But anyways, Dominique plans to stay up late and try to get as far as she can with the book.

Choosing Confidence

Category :

Carefully examining a display in the drugstore, a man asked the
pharmacist, "Do you really guarantee this hair-restorer?"

The pharmacist responded, "Better than that, sir. We give a comb with
every bottle." Wouldn't you love to have that kind of confidence?

One man quipped, "When it comes to believing in myself, I'm an
agnostic." One of the greatest problems many people experience is lack
of confidence. Some don't believe in their ability to speak in public,
others are afraid to try something they've never done before, and
still others do not have the confidence to overcome their shyness.

Do you know that you can become more confident? One effective
technique is to learn to do what you're afraid to do.

I led a seminar a few years ago where I asked for three volunteers to
speak to the group the next day. One young woman named Judy was the
first to raise her hand. She explained to me later why she did so:
"When you asked for three volunteers," Judy said, "I felt a knot of
fear in my stomach. I've never done anything like this before and I've
never really believed I could. But the fear was telling me something,"
she continued. "So...BECAUSE I felt so anxious, I decided that this
was something I had to do. But I must to tell you, I'm terrified!"

She made up her mind to DO that which she was afraid to do. And the
following day, Judy's five-minute talk was superb! She was honest and
genuine, speaking right from her heart. Now she is more confident
about her ability to speak in public.

People who are confident have choices. People who are fearful too
often avoid much of life because they are afraid to venture into
unknown territory.

Jim Loehr said, "With confidence, you can reach truly amazing heights;
without confidence, even the simplest accomplishments are beyond your
grasp." When you make what you're afraid to do what you CHOOSE to do,
you will soon have the confidence TO DO whatever you choose!

-- Steve Goodier

Ron Mueck - "Art Imitates Life"

Category :

Just when you think that you've been exposed to different kinds of art and just when you think that you can't be surprised anymore in this millenium, once again, we are presented with art that has been described as amazing, incredibly life-like but not life-size, yet characteristically understated. The artist is Ron Mueck and he has been around for some time now but his art is making the rounds online recently since some of his works are being exhibited in Texas and Brooklyn, New York. Mueck's art is so realistic that he doesn't shy away from showing us what we paintakingly hide from everyone even though we all have the same physical make up and attributes. Much has been written about his work that you won't be at a lost as to finding raving and maybe a bad review or 2 against Mueck's art.

Mask (1997)


Mask II (self-portrait)


Big Man (2000) - Hirshorn Museum & Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC



Mask III (2005)



Two Women Grim (2005)



Boy (2000) - Aros Museum in Aarhaus, Denmark





Spooning Couple (2005)


Wild Man (2005)



Pregnant Woman (2002)










Giant Baby Head




A Girl

Humor For Logophiles (Lovers Of Words)*

Category :



I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Police were called to a day care where a 3-year-old was resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.

The butcher backed up into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.

To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.

The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

A thief who stole a calendar got 12 months.

A thief fell and broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.

Thieves who steal corn from a garden could be charged with stalking.

We'll never run out of math teachers because they always multiply.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.

The math professor went crazy with the blackboard. He did a number on it.

The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.

The dead batteries were given out free of charge.

If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.

A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

A will is a dead giveaway.

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

A backward poet writes inverse.

In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.

A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.

If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.

Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.

When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

A grenade falling onto a kitchen floor in , France resulted in linoleum blown apart.

You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.

He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.

A calendar's days are numbered.

A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

A plateau is a high form of flattery.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.

If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.

When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

Acupuncture: a jab well done.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
*Thanks to my friend, Susan Brown, for sharing this.
++Cartoon borrowed from http://michaelocc.com/

Karrol's Photos from Portugal

Category :

I am sharing Karrol's photos taken from her spring break trip to Portugal last March. This trip was actually her college's (Regis College) glee club performance to the cities/towns of Algarve, Lisbon and Fatima notably at Fatima Cathedral.


"Kaze" Shabu-Shabu

Category :

After the "Riverdance" show that we watch the past weekend, we ventured towards Chinatown to have dinner. One thing great about the theatre district is its proximity to Chinatown where the after-theatre crowd could easily weave their way in to the area and choose from a variety of dinner options. The choices are not really limited to Asian cuisine since a lot of other restaurants with specialties ranging from Italian, to Mediterranean to American fusion and so forth have also sprouted within walking distance.

I began researching for a nice place that we could go to and thought about going "dimsum". However, the week before I happen to be watching "TV Diner" (One of my favorite foodie show, another one is "Phantom Gourmet") and these 2 young girls mentioned this great shabu-shabu place in Chinatown. Now that solved my dilemma as to where we are to go for dinner and I continued my research online. For a great dining experience, one has to read other diners' reviews and we were'nt disappointed.

Kaze Shabu-Shabu which is located on the corner of Essex and Harrison St. in Boston is the place to be for an inexpensive and quality dining experience. For those who do not know, shabu is a Japanese term for hotpot stickers (which is its Chinese counterpart). According to one story, the word shabu was the sound that it makes once meat, seafood, vegetables, etc hits the pot of boiling water. Hmmmm! I'm still trying to figure this one out. I thought that I would usually hear "sizzle". But anyways, you can read more interesting stories about it here.

Though one reviewer suggested that appetizers can be skipped because the entrees get to you faster anyways, we still decided to get 2 appetizers, just so that we can try them. We ordered the Cream Corn (see photo below) and the Crispy Seafood Wrap (no photo because, everybody got so excited that we forgot to take a picture). But believe you me, both appetizers were excellent that we couldn't wait for the next dish to come.

As our soup base, I'm glad that we decided to go for the dual soup and chose meat based and the other was Thai Tom Yun which was also highly recommended. Although, I had some misgivings about the Thai soup because it was suppose to be hot and spicy but to my delight it was not really that hot nor too spicy after all. This is similar to our "sinigang" soup base with maybe some chili added to it.

For our entree, we chose the surf and turf combo plate because it has seafood and chicken as our meat. Our waitstaff suggested that we get 2 plates instead of one and this we shared with the 4 of us.

The premise for shabu dining is to cook your meat, seafood and vegetables in the pot of your chosen boiling soup base. They do give you instructions on how long your proteins and veggies should be cook but it is really no sweat for experienced cooks. However, for those who don't even know how to boil water, I guess you should just try to "wing" it. If you happen to take your meat out prematurely, just place it on the bowl or dish provided and scoop some boiling broth on it. The broth will surely cook your meat or seafood in a few seconds. I even use the soup to put on my rice since I really love to do so whenever we have soup during mealtime.

Not a lot of the reviewers that I've read talked about dessert but since we were getting to be adventurous that night and after that wonderful meal we then decided to try their desserts after we saw their extensive list. We had 2 bowls of green tea ice cream, the Chocolate Mousse cake and the Mango Mousse cake. The cakes were heavenly, not too sweet nor too heavy on the palate. I believe that their desserts complimented the main course and it didn't fail to impress us. Next time, I'll have a cake all to myself... :-)

All in all, Kaze, gave us an experience that we would not easily forget. Ambience was just right for my taste. Cleanliness was strictly observed and the waitstaff were all attentive to our needs. This is one place that you will want to bring in your friends and family and introduce them to a different dining experience. I can't wait to go back...


Table Setting at Kaze

Soup Base: Meat (l) and Thai Tom Yun (r)

Surf and Turf: Salmon, Shrimp, Fish cake, Scallops, Clams, White Fish, Squid, Chicken

Combo plates come with a side order of rice or noodles, fresh vegetables and other condiments. In the middle is the "Cream Corn" appetizer.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Mango Mousse Cake

Followers

Earth Shots Photo of the Day
Photobucket     K-Dreams. . .



*******************************

Big hugs and lots of kisses to my daughter, Karrol, for re-designing my blogsite. She is responsible for making my blog look cool... If you want to check out her own blog, visit K-Dream Palace and her contributing articles at AATheory.