Not your mamma's pressure cooker

Okay so you know I love the kitchen gadgets and that will probably never change so deal with it! Remember the old pressure cookers that we used to have because our mother's had them? the scary ones that rattled on the stove top and you just watched and waited for it to blow up? The food always did taste better in pressure cookers and you can't beat the efficiency of them. Well there's a new toy in town and it is the new and improved electric pressure cooker. I bought this Wolfgang Puck pressure cooker a few weeks ago and have cooker a few things in it now and really love it. The other day I cooked artichokes in 15 min. and they were fantastic! Before that I tried the recipe that lured me into buying this in the first place. I took a frozen ...I mean frozen package of ground turkey out of the freezer and added organic pasta sauce, organic chicken broth and a box of dry uncooked pasta and threw it in the pressure cooker, closed the lid, pressed the button that says meat and 20 min. later I had a yummy, healthy meal...wow now that's my idea of cooking. Just think of a slow cooker but in reverse, love it - gotta get yourself one, it will save you time and calories.

Sinfully Funny- turn off the music player on the right

Wednesday afternoon I went to see Nunsense with Ardith, Tanya and Winston at the Hilton. The show was pretty funny. This clip  is the first thing you see in the play.
Five of the 19 surviving Little Sisters of Hoboken, a one-time missionary order that ran a leper colony on an island south of France, discover that their cook, Sister Julia, Child of God, accidentally killed the other fifty-two residents of the convent with her tainted vichyssoise while they were off playing bingo with a group of Maryknolls. Upon discovering the disaster, Mother Superior had a vision in which she was told to start a greeting card company to raise funds for the burials. The greeting cards were an enormous success and, thinking there was plenty of money, the Reverend Mother bought a plasma TV for the convent, leaving her with no money in the kitty to pay for the last four burials. With the deceased nuns on ice in the deep freeze, they decide to stage a variety show in the Mount Saint Helen's School auditorium to raise the necessary amount. Participating in the project are Mother Superior Mary Regina, a former circus performer who can not resist the spotlight; her competitive but dignified rival, second-in-command Sister Mary Hubert; Sister Robert Anne, a streetwise nun from Brooklyn; Sister Mary Leo, a novice who is determined to be the world's first ballerina nun; and wacky, childlike Sister Mary Amnesia, who lost her memory when a crucifix fell on her head. The show is a hoot you must go see it.

He's here world!

Isn't he the most beautiful baby? My niece is going to be the best mom in the world I think. She is such a wonderful person and has been trying to have a baby for a few years and now has been blessed with a beautiful baby boy. They named him Logan, nice strong masculine name ...just love it.
Congratulations Kyla and Aaron!!! you are going to be great parents

Logan Olah: Born Aug. 29 12:37 pm 8lbs 20" long

Turn the music player off on the right

Last night Posse number 3 (Jerry, June, Winston and myself) went to see a show at the Hilton called Body & Soul staring Rick Faugno.
Rick has been playing the lead roll in The Jersey Boys for the past 3 1/2 years at the Wynn Hotel here in Vegas. He is playing at the Hilton in this one man show on Monday nights until October when he will leave the Jersey Boys to be out on his own full time. The show was really good and this guy can really sing and dance, if you get a chance go see it you will love it.

Bitchen Concert

Okay so last night the East Side posse and the West side posse came together for the 2011 Hippie Fest at the Hilton. We dug out our Peace & Love garb and jewelry and had a great time with good music and good friends. Dave Mason was just the best of the best we could have listened to him all night long.

Thanks girls for such a fun night out!

Hippiefest

Starring Dave Mason ("We Just Disagree," "Feeling Alright"), Rick Derringer ("Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo," "Real American"), Felix Cavaliere's Rascals ("People Got To Be," "It's a Beautiful Morning") and Gary Wright ("Dream Weaver," "Love is Alive"). Another special guest artist will be named at a later date.  Bring your parents, your grandparents and bring your kids!  It's time to break out the bell bottoms and the tie dye t-shirts and get ready to get groovy . be a hippie for a day at Hippiefest

Grow Tomatos As Big As Your Face?

Yesterday morning Greg and I drove to the west side of town to go to see a lady about a tomato...oh wait a minute I meant to say see a lady about growing a tomato. Greg has a veggie garden out in our back yard and grows all sorts of things and for the most part it always goes pretty well. This year one of my new students told us about this lady here in town that is a test gardener....meaning she does all sorts of growing
tests for the local nursery's. She also holds gardening classes in her back yard where you can see all her beautiful veggies growing. I'm not into all that dirt stuff but even I found it pretty interesting.
Here's a little background on her:

If it's hot where you live, our new method combined with our super heat tolerant tomato variety may very well work for you. Because, when it comes to growing tomatoes in high summer heat, , , It's different, , , way, way different." Since 1995 The Sweet Tomato Test Garden has continually tested new seed varieties, methods of growing tomatoes and products in our desert garden, always looking to improve the growing method, tomato quality and size of the harvest for desert gardeners. The combination of growing method and tomato variety I discovered now applies to the tomatoes we grow for our own table, my improved growing method is used for our trial tomato varieties. We assume; if our successful method does not produce lots of big tomatoes in our test beds then it is the fault of the tomato variety being unable to set in our desert heat.

If I can do it, You can do it ! Picked July/Aug in Hot Las Vegas, Nevada Read what others are saying: New Jersey Championship Tomato Weigh-In

Yes, this is not very scientific and we have no microscopes or laboratory. What we do have is a continuous supply of big tomatoes during the summer. So, I leave it to the biologists and horticulturists to work this over. I am just a humble Master Gardener searching for ways all of us can grow lots of big tomatoes in the hot desert. As you travel around our site you will find desert gardening information, articles, a place for your tomato photos and recipes, plus wonderful products that will help you have a better garden in the hot desert. For the real scoop on growing tomatoes in the desert be sure to order our book, "Growing the Tomato in Las Vegas in Terrible Dirt and Desert Heat." It was written after years of research and tells you what we finally found out to insure picking lots of tasty, big tomatoes in the hot desert. If you live in a hot climate other than the desert, my method may very well work for you. Leslie Doyle Oh and one more thing .....her home is on Sheila Street just off Jones ...I had to take this photo, I have a sister named Sheila

Fledge is complete

Well it's that time a year when my eagles have hatched and now taken their first flight (fledge)
These are amazing birds and I learn something new each year I watch and engage in the chat room.
The live web camera will soon be turned off now that the eagles are off and out of the nest until next year when the parents return to lay more eggs and the process starts over again.

Q. How old are the eaglets when they fledge?
A. Nest departure as early as 8 weeks of age has been reported, but 11 to 13 weeks appear to be the most common ages.
The Hornby eaglets have usually fledged at 12 weeks of age. In 2009, the chick fledged at 85 days of age (the exact age reported in Doug’s book).

Q. Do bald eagle siblings fledge at the same time?
A. They fledge a few (or more) days apart, depending on hatching interval and sex.

Q. When they fledge, are the eaglets just pushed out of the nest?
A. No. While some eaglets fledge ‘prematurely’ (have a mishap when over- or underestimating distance to a branch), the majority take their first flights by choice and under their own control.

Q. Is it true that 40% of bald eaglets do not survive their first flight?
A. While this is widely reported on some websites and in some books, more recent studies (and nest cam studies) indicate that this is not the case. (See “survival”, below).

Q. Do bald eagle parents starve out the eaglets to force them to fledge?
A. No; they continue to bring food to the nest.
In 2009, Mom and Dad Hornby delivered 19 fish to the nest the day before their chick fledged.

Q. Do the eaglets try to follow the adult when they leave the nest?
A. Yes; once the eaglet has flown from the nest and landed, the parents will coax it to follow (luring it with food). The eaglets will follow the adults back to the nest and feed there until such time as they begin to feed alongside the parents; at that point, their foraging abilities improve quickly and they become less and less dependent upon their parents.

Q How long will bald eagle parents continue to feed the chicks after they fledge?
A. Studies indicate that this period varies; the average across the entire range is about six weeks.

Q. How does an eaglet learn what food items to hunt? Do eaglets learn to hunt from their parent or is this instinct?
A. The eaglet first learns to recognize foods in the nest; when it fledges and follows the parents, it learns by watching them and other eagles. It continues to learn by observation and through trial and error. The predator’s instinct to pursue prey is innate and is fine-tuned through learning and experience.

Q. How do you sex eaglets?
A. Biologists measure beaks and feet to determine sex but this method, while good, is not always accurate. Eaglets in studies are weighed and measured prior to banding and many biologists now also take blood samples to confirm sex.