Saturday morning humor
Posted by Michelle Moquin on April 23rd, 2011
Good morning!
I get up every morning about 6:30 am. Even though I love what I do, and I am an early bird, during the week I practically need to drag myself out of bed. Once I am up it’s all good, but those first few minutes in my barely awaken state, I just want to sleep a little longer.
Then Saturday arrives and what do I do? I wake up at 6:15 with energy that I rarely have during the week. This is my time to “sleep in” and all I want to do is get up and enjoy my day. Why? I really don’t know because my weekends are usually work filled too. In fact today I have two clients back to back, and yet, this morning, as tired as I am (I had two clients back to back yesterday too), I got up with more vigor; obviously this feeling is reserved for weekends only. Go figure. I guess I could’ve saved this for “just noticing” but hey, it’s on my mind today.
So that being said, yes I am up, sipping my tea, and yes I am still a bit sleepy. But while enjoying the early morning, I came across this video this morning and thought it was a hoot. Beginning the day with laughter is a good thing. Enjoy.
TED Women
Julia Sweeney – The Talk
Despite her best efforts, comedian Julia Sweeney is forced to tell a little white lie when her 8-year-old begins learning about frog reproduction – and starts to ask some very smart questions.
:) :-P :-) :-P :) :-) :-P
Doug: I really want to see this too. Let’s go soon as it ends soon. How about on your birthday?
Pei, Dawn, Vaugn: Thanks for your comments. Being here in the “beginning” as well as being a “loyal” reader does have it’s benefits. Happy you all see it that way. And no, it doesn’t sound selfish – readers who have been with me since the beginning, or close to it, who have given their precious time to continue reading daily…get to wear the badge of “loyalty”, and therefore reap the benefits of their loyalty. And yes, it has been quite the ride, and my guess is it will continue to be.
Hi Bob: Ha! That was funny. How are you?
Marlene: All of us can; we just need to make a daily effort.
Harris: I have received your e-mail, Including those from Evelyn and Ruth. Thank you. And thanks to you and Anonz for the ghost IP address. I haven’t set it up or tested it yet, which is the reason why I have not responded yet. As soon as I am able I will respond to all of you. Thank you.
PEACE OUT
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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April 23rd, 2011 at 10:33 am
hahaha…that was great : ) I remember my girl asking ‘what’s sex? and me giving the full paragraph about how it’s done, she was 4. I should’ve kept it simple but she caught me off guard after a night out while on vacation. I shut up finally and there we were, heads side by side on pillows looking at each other, she finally said, ‘that sounds silly’ I said, ‘it is’ and that was that until the follwing year…now she looks at me and says ‘oh no, are we going to talk about sex again…?!’ ahhahaha, just want her informed, instead of getting stupid info from pals.
Your loyal reader and fan, Luv, Zen Lill
PS Pei, did we know of each other at all in Sg? There was someone else on here Li, (was it, I’m sorry, so bad with names and couldn’t go back to find it) from Sg a few weeks ago…
PSS when is the other ‘royal’ wedding ; )?
April 23rd, 2011 at 11:15 am
forgot: at GYLB, ‘is supermarket food safe?’ yeah…no…well, kind of…and I know Mischa’s written on this before, there is help and a groovy place to buy better food, (no kickbacks for me either though if they wanted to send me some product I wouldn’t turn it down :) that and please…save the earth/world while you’re at it : ) it’s part of your exercise program this weekend, it’s a brief write bc I’ve got video to shoot this afternoon for my long awaited next project! – ZL
April 23rd, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Chocolate Extravaganza
Shara Aaron, RD
Monica Bearden, RD
Chocolate tastes great — and it’s good for you, too. Its antioxidant flavonols may improve blood flow, blood pressure, skin and brain health.
For these light recipes, use unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process, which has fewer flavonols). It provides chocolaty flavor for only about 25 calories per tablespoon.
COCOA BARBECUE SAUCE
3 Tbsp dark brown sugar
4 tsp chili powder
½ cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup bottled barbecue sauce
1 ¾ cups vegetable stock
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
In a small saucepan, combine first 7 ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
In last 5 minutes of simmer, gradually add cocoa, stirring until dissolved. Stir in cilantro. Remove sauce from heat. Use as a marinade or serve over cooked beef, chicken, fish or pork. Makes about 2 cups or 6 servings.¹
COCOA CURRY SALAD DRESSING
1 Tbsp minced garlic
¾ tsp brown sugar
¼ tsp Dijon mustard
1 ¾ tsp yellow curry paste
5 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup orange juice
¼ cup rice vinegar
½ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp chopped fresh chives
2 tsp chopped fresh parsley
In a medium-size bowl, mix garlic, sugar and mustard. In a separate bowl, mix curry, cocoa, orange juice and vinegar to make a paste.
Stir paste into first bowl. Whisk oil into mixture until fully combined. Stir in seasonings and herbs. Drizzle over salad greens. Makes 8 servings.¹
AIRY CHOCOLATE DELIGHT
½ cup cold water
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 1/3 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Dash of salt
5 Tbsp sugar or sugar substitute*
8 large ice cubes
Pour cold water into a blender, sprinkle gelatin on top and let stand 4 minutes. Stir well. Add boiling water. Cover and blend until gelatin dissolves.
Add milk powder, cocoa, vanilla and salt, and blend on medium speed until well mixed. Add sugar or sugar substitute and ice cubes, and blend on high speed until smooth.
Pour into 8 small bowls, swirling tops. Cover each with tented foil. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm. Makes 8 servings.²
SO-CHOCOLATE SORBET
1 ¼ cups water
¾ cup superfine sugar or sugar substitute*
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 ounces chocolate, finely chopped
Combine water and sugar in a medium-size saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add cocoa and stir for 2 to 4 minutes until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.
Add chocolate and stir until melted. Pour into a bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature, then freeze for 3 or more hours.
Process in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Makes 1 pint or 4 servings.³
*Use a heat-stable sugar substitute that measures like sugar, such as Splenda Granulated.
Recipes: ¹Chef Ken Gladysz, Hotel Hershey… ²Hershey Kitchens… ³Chocolate Manufacturers Assn.
Women’s Health interviewed Shara Aaron, RD, and Monica Bearden, RD, co-owners of NutCom Nutrition Communications.
They are authors of Chocolate — A Healthy Passion (Prometheus), which won a Gourmand World Cookbook Award and from which three of the above recipes are adapted.
They write and lecture nationally on nutrition, health and wellness. http://www.nut-com.com