RE: Spicy Cheddar Shortbread
Your recipe sounds good BONSE ... and looks like a basic recipe for a similar cookie that is a favorite of my family ..
Our version is slightly different and has a few other things added to it.. :)
Our recipe does not use cornstarch or black pepper. and we don't roll out the dough and cut it with cookie cutter..
But using your basic recipe, we substitute XX-tra sharp cheese .. the sharper the cheese, the tangy-er the taste. :)
We don't grease the cookie sheet because of all the natural oil coming out of the cheese when baking..
What we add to the mix is ....
> 1 cup Rice Crispies
> 1 tbl spoon sunflower seeds
> 1 tbl spoon poppy seeds
> 1 tbl spoon sesame seeds
Because the raw mixture is very dry and stiff with all the extra ingredients added,...
I use my hands and form 1" balls and **squeeze them tightly in my fist** before placing them onto an un-greased Cookie sheet.
**If I don't squeeze them tightly, the extra ingredients tend to separate while baking.**
I then slightly flatten each one with a regular fork so that they have grooves across the top before placing in oven.
As it bakes, the mixture will flatten out..(melt).. into a cookie about 2" across and 1/8" thick... and will turn out to be really crunchy around the edges and chewy in the center ..
I normally make a double or even a triple batch of them during the holidays.
Our version can be frozen also, but they can also be kept in a air tight baggie in your kitchen cabinet for over a month with no health danger or harm to texture and flavor.
I personally have carried a bag of them around for over a month at the time in the pickup truck and in the saddle bags of my motor cycles while traveling around the country and they were still great tasting to the very last one..
Every winter, just before Thanksgiving, since I can remember, Mother and Grandmother made large batches of them along with another cookie called "Noel Balls" ..(over 100 of each +-)..
they would sometimes last until after New Years day, if she managed to hide them from us kids.. :) :)
John
RE: How do you cook for just one person?
After about 30 years in the restaurant business, where I was used to cooking and serving hundreds of people every meal... I finally retired in July 2000.
It is now eight years later and I am just getting used to cooking for ten people instead of hundreds..
Only problem is... I live alone and that means that nine out of ten servings I prepare end up in the refrigerator or freezer .... and I eat a lot of repeat meals during the average week.
Example:...
Sunday .... Fried chicken with mashed potatoes, veggies and fresh rolls
Monday .... Cold chicken leg with fresh salad and day-old dinner roll
Tuesday ... Homemade chicken salad sandwich on two day old dinner roll
Wednesday . Left over chicken salad on wilted lettuce leaf and hard dinner roll
Thursday .. Chicken ala-king served on croûtons made from extra-hard dinner roll
Friday .... Chicken bones and rice soup served with day old croûtons
Saturday .. Chicken bones and rice soup served with saltine crackers
Sunday .... THANK GOD....!!
:) :) :)
John
RE: 1st rv- dumb ? but what is the button by the brake?
.. never did figure out what the yellow light was for.. :) :)John
Perhaps to indicate the hazard flashers are working?
GREAT readin this thread:B
Good question Ryan... but I have no idea... that was about a hundred years ago when I was 16 years old.. :) :) heh heh heh ...
Come to think about it... was there such a thing as "Hazard Flashers" on the 1940's and and early 1950's cars .. ?
My memory is not so great, but I think the first car I ever saw with hazard flashers on it was sometime in the 1970's... or maybe it was in the 1980s that I first saw them on cars..?
While we are on the subject, does anyone know if I ate breakfast this morning ? :) :) :) :)
Maybe some of the car "Buffs" can tell us what year cars and trucks came out with flashers installed ..
RE: How do you remove/lift out a sliding window?
My personal experience with sliding windows is the same as OTHERTONKA...
With the slider in the wide open position, I simply lifted it up and then out..
I am not saying that your's will work the same way... only that all of the sliders I have ever had works this way..
Please come back and let us know what you find out and did ..
Best Wishes,
John
RE: Nevada out of state delivery tax
Hi Boomer, What you say makes sense...
About four or five years ago my old boss who lives in CA took possession of his new motor home out at the Boomtown Truck Stop, located just across the Nevada border.
This took place in December, heavy snow on ground, mountains passes closed and he had to stay overnight in Nevada RV park.. and he made sure that he got a receipt from the RV park.
The next day after the passes had been re-opened, he drove the motor home back to his home in CA. Because it was winter and he could not use the RV, it was parked on his property until the following May.
Don't remember all the details, but I remember he told me that he was saving several thousands of dollars in sales taxes..
I remembered being shocked at the huge amount of tax involved... never having bought anything that expensive in my life, I guess my mind was thinking "Hundreds" and California was saying "Thousands" .. :) :)
John
RE: 1st rv- dumb ? but what is the button by the brake?
The horn button on the column reminded me that my first car, the 195-? Henry-J. did not come from the factory with electric turn signals.
If you wanted electric turn signals on your old car, you had to buy an adapter kit and install it yourself.
The control box with the lever and bi-metal switch was clamped to the left side of the steering column and the wiring ran down the column and under the dashboard where they were connected into the tail lights circuit.
There were three colored lights on the control box.. two green and one yellow. The green lights blinked when you flipped the lever.. never did figure out what the yellow light was for.. :) :)
As for the suicide knobs being illegal... they may be is some places, but I think the main reason you don't see them anymore is because with the advent of "Power Steering", they were no longer needed and they just kind of faded in to the past.. :)
John
RE: Nevada out of state delivery tax
It has been a long standing practice for California residents to take possession of motor homes and other expensive items in Nevada.. like yachts, expensive cars, airplanes, etc...
Is it legal... YES and NO...
Here is the way it was explained to me by my CPA/book keeper..
The reason Californians take possession in Nevada is to avoid the extremely high Sales tax that California places on those items..
The Nevada sales tax on those items is about half or less than in California... thus the California residents save a lot of money ... we are talking about several thousands of dollars in sales taxes.... BUT .....
BUT..... that sales tax must be paid somewhere ... either in Nevada or California.. there is no such thing as getting away "Tax Free"..
California law says that if the new RV is bought in another state and that state's sales taxes were paid, all the California resident has to do is remain out of California for a certain number of days with the new RV and there will not be any California sales tax levied on the vehicle upon it's return to California..
I'm not sure of the number of days required ... but after the end of that period, the California resident may come home and avoid paying California sales tax...
See Boomer's post about the tax emption form
But then ... California "Property" taxes will eventually sock it to the RV owner.. :) :)
I remember that a few years back, there was something in the news about the California legislature trying to close that tax loophole. But don't know if it was ever passed or not..
John
RE: City Water, Chlorine
For the past 8 years I have been using a "Brita Water Pitcher" because the city water taste bad to me..
The Brita pitcher is fantastic.. it filters out Lead, Mercury and Chlorine and makes tap water taste as good or better than the bottled water you buy ...
I figured it out and it cost about 1.4 cent for each 12 ounce bottle of good tasting water by using the Brita Water Pitcher.
> Each Brita filter cost about $6.00 ... (buy them by the 4-pack)
> Each Brita filter will produce about 40 gallons of clean, good tasting water.
> Each filter will produce about 426.6 bottles of water... (12 ounce size bottle)
1 gallon = 128 ounces
128 x 40 gallons = 5120 ounces
5120 ounces : a 12 ounce bottle = 426.6 bottles
$6 : 426.6 bottles = .1.4 cent per 12 ounce bottle ...
Or in other words ........ using the Brita Water Pitcher I only pay about 1 1/2 cent for each 12 ounce bottle of good tasting water)
How much are you folks paying for your bottled water ?
:) :) :) :)
John
RE: How to dispose of old refer
Have you looked in the yellow pages or talked to some of the local RV parks and asked who they would call for "on-site" repairs to an RV ?
Here is Carson City, Nevada we have no less than 4 RV repairmen with pickup trucks or vans that go out to any type of RV anywhere within 100 miles and work on an RV..
Those same RV repairmen also are glad to take the old fridge off your hands and thank you for it.. They use them for parts ..
They don't pay you for it ... but neither do they charge you to haul it away...
John
RE: The BBQ Song
Ah man... I'm disapointed... it's been almost 6 hours and no one has jumped in to say that I was full of "it" and that it's his state that has the one and only real BBQ instead of my home state of N.C.
Somebody wake me up when it happens... :) :) :) :) heheheheheheheeeeee
John
RE: The BBQ Song
Being born and raised in the eastern "Carolinas", I grew up in BBQ country.
There are many types of "Smoked", "Grilled", or otherwise cooked meats
... but none of then are actually "BBQ".
The original and still the only true "BBQ" can only be found in eastern North Carolina..
BBQ is made from PORK... and only pork... no other meat can be called true BBQ.
The pig can be either cooked in a pit of hardwood charcoal or on a rotisserie over a bed of hardwood charcoal..
While cooking the pig is constantly basted with the fat drippings. Depending on size of pig, it takes about 6 to 12 hours to properly cook a pig for BBQ..
Once the pig is properly done,, the meat is "Shredded" off using ordinary forks... yes, a fork like you eat with ... or you can simply pull the meat off in large pieces and then chop it up.. either way is fine.
The BBQ meat is then tossed with a cayenne pepper & vinegar mixture..
BBQ can be served in a bun or bread to make a sandwich to take on a fishing or hunting trip... etc. ..
But to serve BBQ in the traditional way, it is placed on a paper plate along with "Creamy" Cole Slaw, "Creamy" potato salad and deep fried hush puppies..
The most famous and best tasting BBQ in the entire world is made by an old school mate of mine, Wilbur King, owner of "King's BBQ" ... located on the New Bern highway just east of Kinston, North Carolina..
Wilbur inherited the restaurant from his father, who got it from his father..
King's BBQ is so famous and so good that he ships BBQ with all the trimmings all over America.
You can check out out his web site at .. http://www.kingsbbq.com
RE: insulating water hose
NOTE: .. do allow the heat tape to overlap itself.. this can cause a "Hot Spot" that can melt the heat tape together and short it out..\
I think you left out a "NOT"/
bumpy
WHEWWWWWWW ! ! ! ... Thanks Bumpy.... I'm sure glad you caught that mistake..
Sometimes my fingers are faster than my brain waves... :) :)
Thanks again,
John
RE: insulating water hose
Hello Dick, The following is an old post of mine that I periodically repost in the fall of the year when some folks are getting prepared for winter living in their RV.. Hopefully the information will help you also..
Best Wishes,
John
-Begin post here-
**********************************************************************
There is a lot of mis-conception about using heat tapes and water hoses..
Please remember while reading this ... I am not saying that everyone should do as I do... only that they should research the heat tape/water hose issue and use their own common sense to make their own decision..
There are about a dozen RV forums on the Internet and the heat tape question is debated on all of them..
Here are excerpts from some of my past postings on the subject..
********************************************************************
I have always used the regular "WHITE" water hoses... I have never had one to break or melt due to freezing weather or using a heat tape...
However... I had one burst in August because the hose was laying in the sun without any protection. The sun heated the hose up so much that the water built up enough pressure to actually "Blow" a hole in the hose..
After that disaster, I leave the heat tape and insulation on the water hose all year round... never had a problem since..
yes, I do unplug the heat tape in the summer months, but thats only to free up the receptacle for the outside lighting and BBQ..
I have always "Spiraled" the heat tape around the white water hose and have NEVER had a problem of any type...
I make a spiral about every 3 feet... so a 10 foot hose, would have three turns around it..
NOTE: .. do NOT allow the heat tape to overlap itself.. this can cause a "Hot Spot" that can melt the heat tape together and short it out..
Stories of heat tapes melting the white water hose are hogwash...
it can't happen because under normal operation and with proper installation,
the heat "tape" never gets hotter that 40/45 degrees .... and about the only thing that 45 degrees can melt is ice cubes and ice cream..
NOTE: A heat "TAPE" is different from the "Commercial" single wire type of "pipe heating wires" used on metal pipes like in dairy farm operations... never try to use any type of "commercial" heat tape on any kind of non-metal pipe/hose.
A "Heat Tape" is a long plastic ribbon that is attached to the water hose that feeds your trailer when you are hooked up to city water.
It works just like an electric blanket does on your bed or the forced air furnace in your home or RV.... It cycles on and off to maintain a pre-set temperature that is controlled by a thermostat.
In the case of a heat tape, it's non-adjustable thermostat is set to maintain a temperature of about 40/45 degrees on your water hose so the water won't freeze during the winter.
A heat tape does NOT stay on all the time... it has a thermostat and will cycle on and off as needed..
The heat tape must be used in combination with some type of insulation. By itself it does a very poor job.
There are several types and brand names of heat tapes on the market, but the only one that I can recommend is the one made by "Frost King"..
It is bright orange in color and has a black button where the thermostat is ...
Please note... and this is VERY IMPORTANT ...
Do NOT wrap the black button inside the foam tube against the hose..
Yes, I know that the instructions say to lay the button against the pipe/hose... but DON'T DO IT..
let the button hang outside the foam tube and be exposed to the winter's cold air.
If the button thermostat is insulated from the outside temperature, it does not know when to turn itself on until it's too late and the metal hose couplings are frozen.
And yes, I learned this the hard way many years ago...
Heat tapes come in different lengths, simply measure the length of your water hose first
and then buy the length of heat tape recommended on the back of the heat tape package for that length water hose.
Heat tapes cost about $15 to $30 depending on length. But they will last for 20 plus years if taken care of properly. Most hardware stores and places like Wal-Mart carry them as well as the insulation..
The best insulation to use are the "Foam Tubes" (about 99 cent each) with the split down the entire length and are designed to simply slip over the water hose.
Most people then wrap some type of string or electrician's tape around the insulated hose about every 24 inches, so the wind won't blow the insulation tubes off.
Please NOTE:... it is NOT necessary to completely seal the foam covered hose using things like duct tape or plastic sheeting....
just put a little piece of tape or string every two feet along the hose to keep the wind from blowing the foam tubes off.
Caution... do not wrap the string or tape too tight... you want the foam to retain it's puffed-up round shape... if you squeeze the foam down against the hose by tying or taping too tight.. those squeezed down spots will not have the same insulating quality as the rest of the insulation tube..
Once again folks.... I am not saying that you have to do it my way ...
I only post this to give you something to think about and to help you decide how you want to handle the situation to satisfy yourself....
Best Wishes,
John
*********************************************************************
RE: Convenience Food
Hi CRUZETTE,
Being retired from the restaurant business and being a bachelor, I don't like to cook any more than I have to.
So I solved the problem by ....
#1. Shopping once a month
#2. Cooking once a month
#3. Freezing once a month
Yeh, I know it sounds crazy, but it works..
I shop on the day my S.S. check arrives and I cook up lots of "Freezable" foods that night..
********************************************************************************
For example:...#1
I bought a large frozen package of "Orange Chicken" from the dented can store. ($2.99). The instructions say it will feed 4 people for 2 meals... for me, that means I can get 8 meals from that one package.
I fry up all the little chicken pieces in large pan and than stir in sauce as per instructions.. Then, using the "Snack" size baggies, I fill and freeze 8 baggies.
When mealtime comes around, I "Nuke" some instant rice in a covered bowl and then nuke the orange chicken and stir them together in the same bowl.
Top the mixture off with a little diced green onion or maybe diced bell pepper, shredded carrot, spoonful of salted peanuts,.. etc, etc.. . or in other words... whatever I happen to find in the fridge.
Voila... if eaten once a week, that equals 2 months worth of Orange Chicken dinners, served with a dinner roll and glass of ice tea or other drink.
the cost is about 75 cent per person.
********************************************************************************
Example:... #2.
Sausages, Polish, Italian, etc.. cook up a dozen of them the way you want and freeze.
When mealtime comes... nuke a sausage and serve with instant rice, canned veggies, and warm tortilla smeared with mustard and shredded cheese and rolled up..
Cost is about $1 per serving
In a hurry that day ?... nuke the sausage and roll it up in the tortilla with the mustard and cheese.. and away you go..
Cost is about 75 cent per serving
Preparation time for either way .. about 10 minutes
********************************************************************************
Example:... #3.
Breakfast foods... cook up 2 or 3 pounds of bacon all at once and freeze in paper towel lined gallon size baggie...(paper towel soaks up grease)
Dice and cook about 6 or 8 medium size potatoes with diced onion until done but still very firm.. ...(green onion is great and adds color)..
freeze in "Snack Size Baggies" .. each little baggie will easily hold 2 servings of potatoes.
When breakfast comes....
> Toss potatoes into fry pan and brown, (about 5 minutes)...
> move potatoes to one side of fry pan and crack eggs into same pan...
> while eggs are cooking, wrap 2 pieces (?) of bacon in paper towel and nuke for one minute.
There you have a good hearty breakfast in less than 10 minutes and cost about $1 per serving.
*******************************************************************************
These are some examples of the way I conserve time and money and eat pretty good meals.. without stinking up the RV with those "Greasy" smells every day..
Cleaning up grease splatters once a month beats doing it three times a day.. :) :)
A busy person's best friend is their "Crock Pot"... I love mine and use it several times per week in winter time when hot "Comfort" meals are wanted... stews, soups, "Baked" Chicken, Rump "Roast" .. etc...
Best Wishes,
John
RE: Receiving cable tv in campgrounds in 2009
I have no idea what "Package" he has with Dish... All I really know what he told me...
He has two humongous 50" (+ ? ) televisions with a Dish receiver on each one and he has "So-Called" high speed internet connection combined in the Dish network package.
As for the number of channels,, he has more channels that God... and what makes he and I both disgusted is that 90% of those channels are stuff that neither of us like... channels like ... Sports, Music, Cooking, Gardening, Mexican, etc....
The only thing I have ever seen him watch is one channel that shows a stock market tape running across the top of the screen and the other channel that showed the evening local news.
As to how long Dish has been Digital.. I don't know that either... because I got rid of my Dish system back in 1988 and have not kept up with the satellite companies since then.
As for him being notified by Dish company and the resulting shipment of the "Digital" receivers... once again I only know what I read in the letter he got from Dish and what he told me..
The letter stated that he had to "upgrade" his receivers to be able to watch the new digital format coming next year..
He was instructed to send back the old receivers in the boxes that the new ones came in.
I wonder if different parts of the country have different rates, packages and programming specifics like digital in one place and analog in another place ?
Maybe, IF... that is the way it works, it could explain why his is so different from where you are at ... ??
I'm just thinking out loud here because I don't know anything about how their system actually works..
Myself and his other friends are going to convince him to drop the dish service when his contract expires and get him to subscribe to Charter cable..
Charter Cable has 75 channels plus all the local northern Nevada television stations for about $40.00 per month... ( I only pay $25 a month for the same Charter Cable package )
and with Charter Cable service, he can combine "extreme high speed" internet connection for only $30 more per month with no contract...
And since his house is already wired for cable, there will be no hook-up fee when he switches over.
His girlfriend and I were teasing him and said that if he doesn't get rid of that Dish and switch over to Cable, we were going to sneak over to his house one night and steal the dish off his roof.. :) :)
John
RE: Review: Best TV converter box IMHO
ROY, which box are you talking about ?
The one I got from Walmart, RCA DTA800 B1 can control my television's ON/OFF, Volume, Channels, Mute, .....
John
RE: Receiving cable tv in campgrounds in 2009
Several months ago I read an article that said in the year 2012 ( 2014 ? ) all cable television will be converted to digital.
Don't remember the details, been too long ago.
DISH satellite system already needs a digital type of control box installed to be able to watch some channels.
My friend has been using Dish television for several years. This past May/June, he moved into a new house. When he had the Dish system moved over to the new house, it cost him a small fortune to have it installed and set up.
Then in late June he received a notice from Dish network that his system needed to be upgraded with a "Digital" receiver box.
The receiver was free from Dish, but he had to pay for the installation and setup. ..... HUH ?? ....
I tried to tell him that there was no "Set Up" needed for the digital box... you simply set it in place and plug in the cables.... everything is clear as a bell in the instruction booklet that came with the receiver.
But would he listen... nope... I found out later that after I left, he called and ordered the installation for the following week.
All of his friends and his family tried to get him to drop Dish and go to Cable.. but he said that he had another year to go on his current contract with Dish.
His account with the Dish network cost him almost $200.00 a month.
I tried to explain to him that with Cable, he could get both television, and high speed internet and phone service for about half of what he is paying to Dish..
He said that "Maybe" when the Dish contract expired, he might switch over to Cable..
Oh well..... we all tried to help him, but he is too hardheaded to listen... so we all just backed off and left him alone..
John
RE: Wall Drug, South Dakota, I-90
WOW !!!! what a fantastic picture...
Did you send a copy to the Wall Drug ?
I bet they would hang it on the wall or maybe even use it in their advertisements..
John
