Top Chef Chicago - April 23

Last night was Top Chef night, and boy did I need my Top Chef fix! It was great, in fact I even watched the re-run of it right after the original, two hours of Top Chef, what could be better? Well, blogging about it of course.

Okay, so the Quickfire Challenge is to make a dessert. Now to preface this challenge Padma even says if you have watched in the past you know that dessert has been the downfall of many a chef. So explain to me why we have people who have no idea what to do going into this? Antonia says she has never mae a dessert? Excuse me? Once you knew you were going to be on Top Chef, and espically her who said she practiced for the palette challenge, wouldn't you be learning at least one or two desserts that you could do when the challenge came? Why are you not prepared? I was floored!

To be honest though, I was surprised, all the dishes were pretty well received. Antonia, Mark and Spike (or Andrew, they are beginning to look alike to me) were in the bottom. Dale, Richard and Lisa were in the top, with Richard winning for his Bananna Scallops. I actually thought his dish looked good and I would want to try it. I liked Dale's too.

Elimination Challenge, after a trip to Second City they get a five course menu. The audience at Improv throw out a color, and feeling and a food, and that was what each course was to be. This time, they were allowed to pick their own teams, and so Richard and Dale teamed up, and I thought ok, this will be good. Those two cook alot alike and they get along well, so there can be nothing bad come out of this one, and I was right as they ended up winning for their "Green Preplexed Tofu".

Andrew and Spike teamed up and made a squash soup, which during the PI's Antonia says during the last team challenge he wanted to make soup and she said no, so if he wins with this she is going to throw up....Eat your words girl, he is a better chef than you, because he ended up in the top two, and Antonia was once again in the bottom. Andrew and Spike were "Yellow Vanilla Love" and they made a Squash soup with a Vanilla Creme Fresh. It actually looked good and the comments were all good.

Now that being said, and before I move on to the bottom two, I have to say that the comments from the judges and people eating the dinner, were once again all good. The food has stepped it up a notice, and even the bottom two were good dishes, so it came down to technicalities for the bottom two. This is awesome! i can't remember a season where the quality of the dishes were this high throughout, where all the dishes were good, no on bombed and they have to knit-pick to get to the bottom. I loved it! I am so pumped for the rest of the season!

Antonia and Lisa teamed up and were suppose to make Polish sausage but they added a little Chrizo at the end to the dish instead. Okay, wait....you were given a theme, stick to it. And at the end, judges table, shut up and listen! I wanted to just smack Lisa, but then we all know she is not my favorite. She just wouldn't listen to what they were saying. It was nuts.

Jen and Stephanie were in the bottom too, and I don't think Jen understood that she was to listen to what they had to say either, she was surprised, well. Let's just get to it, in the end they sent jen packing and you know what, I am not sorry. I would have been happy to see Jen, Lisa or Antonia either one go.

Now I just have to say about Lisa, wash your motuh out with soap girl! I am over it! Every time she opens her mouth it is f*&%ing this and f*&%ing that and I am tired of it! I know in the first episode they were all cursing, but once the nerves settled, you hardly ever hear any of them saying anything except when warranted, and then there is Lisa who adds it to every sentence whether it needs it or not. I am done with her, she is negative and doesn't listen. Proven by last week when Dale told her her negative attitude was wearing on people, and she told him to f*&% himself, that right there is an example of the negative attitude, you can't take criticism. I am more than ready to see her go home!

As to who I think might win this? It's between Dale and Richard. They are hands down the best chefs out there this season, and they can cook circles around the others, proven by the fact that no matter who Dale is paired with he ends up in the top, and although Richard had the one bad turn in the bottom with Andrew and Mark, other than that he ends up in the top all the time too. I think it will be exciting to see them continue to cook and wow us throughout.

I think Mark might be in over his head, and I am wondering if he might be going home next week, he does pretty well in the team challenges, as he works well with people, as long as he is with someone strong, he is good, but by himself or with a weak teammate he falters.

Only time will tell.....

What in the world is going on?

Okay, so a friend sent me this article in an email, and I hope the I have sourced it right, to give credit to who originally wrote it, but this is just too much for me to keep my mouth shut on anymore.

Teen Suspended In Beating Of Special Needs Student INDUSTRY (KDKA) ― School officials in Beaver County have suspended a 17-year-old student for allegedly beating a special needs student unconscious while other students recorded the attack on their cell phones. According to witnesses, the attack happened late last week on a school bus in the parking lot of Western Beaver High School. The 16-year-old victim suffered a concussion and broken teeth in the attack. Witnesses tell KDKA that the eleventh-grader attacked the 16-year-old victim for no reason – saying the assault was not provoked in any way. Though the bus driver reportedly tried to stop the attack, the witnesses say the driver was blocked. At least 8 other students recorded the beating with the cell phone cameras. Parents say they're sickened by what happened. "It was just shocking and appalling that students would videotape it and that someone would even think about hitting someone who was disabled," Linda Lamantis told KDKA. "Our kids are being taught that this is OK, it's acceptable," Lamantis added, "that it's entertainment -- it's funny. And it's not. " Police in Industry are now investigating. Investigators are also trying to determine if some students on the bus actually went as far to bet on the "fight."
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

I have no idea what the world is coming to, but I can tell you that when I was in school this never would have happened. I mean 95% of the stuff going on in the schools today didn't happen when I was in school, and if someone had tried them, they would have been marched to the principal's office for a paddling!
Yep, I grew up with paddling as a staple punishment, and no one ever tried anything like this. Somewhere along the way, we have lost the way.
Yes, before you start complaining, I know that there are people who take the paddling and spanking too far, past the edge of normal to abuse, but you know what, that has always been around, and taking punishment out of the schools has not lessened the numbers of abused children, in fact if memory serves me right, the latest numbers are on the rise.
The problem is that kids have no sense of right or wrong anymore, they are allowed to get away with too much, even if they are "punished" for something, the time-outs and taking away things just do not send the message that a good paddling did! I mean, look at the state of our schools. This is not the first case of a beating being taped, I think there have been at least four in the last week, and some ended up on YouTube. Enough is enough, what is it going to take for parents to start being parents again, stop trying to be your child's friend, and demnd respect, teach them right and wrong, and don't let them get away with this crap out of fear that you will hurt their feelings. This is ridiculous. We have taking all the parenting away from parents and the schools no longer have any power over children, and we have a nation full of disgruntled kids that have no idea what is right or wrong and do things like this for fun!
Enough! What is it going to take for enough people to get angry and stand up? I for one do not want any of my children to end up this way, and I refuse to pander to them in fear of damaging their egos.

Freelance Writing

If you haven't figured this out yet, I am going to let you in on a little secret, I love to write! I love to read as well, and being able to write is just fun for me. I have always dreamed of writing a book, or at least supporting myself with my writing, but I never knew where to go or how to start.

I started my blog in the beginning because I was trying to sell my handcrafted items, and although I still make them and sell them, they are more a relaxation for me than a business. I still love to make them and that is the reward. As my attitude and thoughts changed, so this blog changed. I started talking more about family and the kids, thinking it would be good for my brothers who are in Kansas to see the kids and what is going on, but I can't get them to read them anyway, so it became more of my journal. The more I read about blogging and writing, the more I realized that I could take any topic and write on it, it would develop my skills as a writer and I would learn more.

Recently I found some freelance writing, online writing opportunities through this website, and although I am not sure of my skills at this point, I am so excited. The idea that I could one day be writing for other people, that I could learn and practice and get better at writing to the point that one day I might even be able to get that book in the back of my mind out and into print, that is just exciting.

Why do you blog? Do you tell a story, the story of your life and your family and your day, or do you blog to share information? Do you blog for the fun of writing or is it work? I love to hear from others, and that is one thing that is big to me, comments. That is how I get better as a writer and learn, comments from others. I would love to know why you blog, why you write and what you think. Thanks for sharing!

Looking for Workboots?

My Dad is one of those guys that has to wear special workboots in his job, you know the stell toed things, and Mom and I have always been looking for them, because they aren't always the easiest things to find, and when you do find them there isn't alot of selection.

Well, I just came across a website for work boots, and it looks pretty good. They offer free ground shipping on orders over $50, and you all know, if you know anything about workboots, that making an order at that level is not hard to do. They even have to steel toed shoes that look more like dress shoes, instead of your typical work boots. Those are the ones that my Dad likes and that he wears in his job at the factory. They also seem to be the harder ones to find than the others. We used to have to buy his through the Union because we couldn't find them anywhere else. Good to know there is an option now.

Well, I think I need to do a little more looking around. Father's Day is coming up and that sounds like a pretty good excuse to do some shopping, and with Free Ground shipping on orders over $50, that is just another reason for me to do some shopping.

I'm off to spend some money! Check them out if you have a chance!!

Dancing with The Stars - ResultsShow - April 22

Last night was the results show on Dancing with the Stars, and you know, that means another star went home.





Marlee Matlin and her dancing partner, Fabian were in the bottom two, and they were annouced as in the bottom at the very beginning of the show, which I hated.

They shared bottom two, or the red light with Mario and Karina, and while I know that Marlee was not the best dancer, I would have been fine with Karina and Mario leaving last night, but alas that was not to be as Marlee and Fabian were sent home.

You know, I loved watching Marlee dance. I know the fast dances were her downfall, but then what did you expect. I am just so amazed and proud of her to see a deaf woman get out there and do as well as she did.
She learned the slower dances and looked great, and she tried as hard as she could on the faster dances, but they were too hard, which says nothing against Marlee. I think she is a wonderful actress and person and I am just so proud that she risked it and got out there on the dance floor and showed they what she had.

For next week....well, I personally have just had enough of Karina, her personalty is just wearing on me, so she and Mario can go. Then Shannon Elizabeth and Derek, although I love watching Derek, she just still has not figured out how to look like a woman on the dance floor, no hips, and she can cry all she wants, in dancing the hips have to be there, and no just there, but overly exaggerated to show up. I think she is starting to learn to move the hips, but not enough to show up. Personally, I think Kristi wins this season, there is no one that can even come close to her, but then there is Mark Ballas bad luck, last year he had one of the best dancers in Sabrina Bryan and got kicked off way too soon, but still I think she wins it all. As to who can go the whole way with her....well, really, no one else is anywhere close.

Okay, so next week we get two dances. Let's see how they do!

The Sugar Camp Quilt

The Sugar Camp Quilt
by: Jennifer Chiaverini
Elm Creek Quilts Novel Series, book seven

The Sugar Camp Quilt is the seventh book in the series, but is completely new in the way it is written. This book is set entirely in the past, in fact, pre-Civil War, but the Underground Railroad is alive and running through Creeks Crossing.

In the Runaway Quilt, through the journal of the family member, we met some of the past people in Creeks Crossing, including the Wright's, and the Nelson's, and Doctor Granger. This book goes back to the time when Doctor Granger is a young boy of sixteen just starting his training as a doctor, and although he is mentioned in the book, he is not actually around for most of the events, save one small time frame during the passing of Uncle Jacob. Most of the story revolves around Dorthea Granger, who we met in the Runaway Quilt as Dorthea Nelson. This tells us of her life and introduces us to Mr. Nelson.

Dorthea is somewhat shelter and has no idea that people don't believe the Bible the way she was raised and that anyone in their town could actually think Slavery is right is beyond her. This book opens her eyes to the fact that people she just assumed to be like her because they lived in Creeks Crossing are in fact slavecathers, and she is appauled to say the least. It is her coming of age story in the time pre-civil war and the quilts factor in again in the story line.

I loved the book. Again the quilts were wonderful and to read a young girl, much like I would think I might have been, so completely unaware that people out there could hate each other this much and not believe that all are created equal, was wonderful to read. I think you will enjoy this one also!

The Master Quilter

The Master Quilter
by: Jennifer Chiaverini
Elm Creek Quilts Novel, book six

So, Andrew and Sylvia grew tired of everyone at Elm Creek Quilts planning every detail of their wedding, although they knew their friends were only doing it out of love, enough was enough, so behind their backs and in complete surprise, Andrew and Sylvia turned the annual Christmas Gathering into their own wedding. Now that the shock has worn off, the Elm Creek Quilter's turn their attention to the Wedding Quilt. Andrew and Slyvia got married without a wedding quilt, and Sylvia being the driving force behind Elm Creek Quilts, well they had to come up with a master plan.

In secret, they appeal to quilters all over to send in a quilt block of their choice that makes them think of Sylvia, and once in they will assemble them into the Master of all quilts.

The problem is secrets, once secret leads to more and more, and as the story unfolds we find that each person at Elm Creek is hiding something that would best be dealt with together.

The book is broken up into mini-books, or a group of chapters devoted to one person, and then as you read the next person so see a completely different view of what was told in the frist person, so it is told by someone else. The way tht Jennifer was able to weave these together is masterful, she wove a sotry better than a quilt and it was wonderful, and really kept me interested and looking forward to how another person saw what was going on and what would eventually happen. In the end, all came out for the best, but the twists and turns were amazing! I loved they way she wove this story!