Lately I have been craving roasted chicken. I had bought a roasting hen last week but when I opened the package, it just didn’t smell right so I chunked it in the trash. I don’t have time to be sick. Last night when we left the office, I stopped and picked up another chicken. It was too late to cook, but I WANTED chicken. So when I got home, I dried off the bird, slathered it in olive oil, stuffed it with basil and rosemary along with several tiny jalapenos, the only fresh things I have growing, salt & pepper, then into my 450-degree oven (450 for about thirty-five minutes, then turn off and don’t open oven door for another thirty minutes – internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.) It’s always perfect. I was wondering what I could do for the next hour. Hmmm. How about mashed potatoes? Yes, I heartedly agreed with myself. I halved potatoes, threw them in boiling water with salt, then watched a movie about George Bush on Netflix, while I cleaned up the kitchen. When the potatoes were done, I peeled them, added lots of butter, cream, and some chicken bouillon, then mashed them roughly so there were some chunks. I cooked extra so I could use the leftovers to make my mom’s potato pancakes. If you have never done this, try it. They’re delicious. Here’s the ingredients. My momma would be proud.
About 2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
1 large egg
Several chopped green onions
About 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour – maybe more, maybe less, depending on how wet your mashed potatoes are.
Salt and pepper to taste – (maybe your mashed potatoes already have enough salt and pepper)
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Combine everything, then heat skillet with a little butter or olive oil, add large spoonful of batter to pan and smooth out until about ½ inch thick. Cook until golden, flip, top with a little dab of sour cream and more green onions, or with ketchup if you’re feeling brave. I personally eat them as I cook them, like a hot cookie. I think my mom added a little baking powder too. I always forget that. This food sure brings back memories of growing up.
Then, this morning I was looking at Better Homes and Gardens, and they suggested making a dip from leftover mashed potatoes by mixing in cream cheese, shredded cheddar or Colby Jack, sour cream, bacon, chopped green onions, and a little top-off of low-salt steak seasoning or BBQ spice (nah), then bake uncovered in a pie plate until cheese is melted & serve with crackers, chips or veggies. They also had a recipe for Spiced Potato Pastry Pockets where you add Indian spices and vegetables to your leftover mashed potatoes, then wrap them in store-bought pie crusts. Of course, you have to actually have leftovers to do all of this. Hmmm. Here’s another idea for leftover Thanksgiving gravy. Take frozen seasoned fries, bake them, then pour over a little hot gravy, add cheese curds or torn fresh mozzarella, a little chopped parsley, then add a little more hot gravy. Hmmm. I am so hungry right now. Bon Appetit.
“Do, or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda
A break-in at an Ohio mink farm released as many as 40,000 minks into the wild. Authorities warned local farmers and residents because mink resemble ferrets and weasels, are not considered dangerous, but they stick to a diet consisting of fresh kills, and they regularly hunt prey that are bigger than themselves – like rabbits, chickens, koi and other fish.
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” John Lennon
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Singer Livingston Taylor is 72. Actor Juliet Mills of Nanny and the Professor is 81. Actor Goldie Hawn is 77. Keyboardist Lonnie Jordan of War is 74. Brother of James. Actor-singer Lorna Luft is 70. Daughter of Judy Garland. Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman is 60. Actor Nicollette Sheridan is 59. Singer Bjork is 57. Comedian-director Terry Gilliam of Monty Python is 82. Singer songwriter Jesse Colin Young of The Youngbloods is 81. Guitarist-actor Little Steven aka Steven Van Zandt of The E Street Band and The Sopranos is 72. Bassist Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads is 72.
Actor, producer, activist, and philanthropist, Marlo Thomas is 85. Daughter of Danny Thomas. Some of us remember her from That Girl, the show about Ann Marie, a beautiful, up-and-coming actress with a writer boyfriend played by Ted Bessell, who leaves her parent’s home, moves to New York City, and struggles with many different temporary jobs while trying to become an actress on Broadway. She was also the producer of That Girl and after producing 136 episodes in five successful years, Thomas decided to end the series. Clairol was their sponsor and they wanted to end the show with a wedding. Thomas said, “I just can’t do that to these women and girls who followed Ann Marie’s adventure. I can’t now say that the only happy ending is a wedding because I don’t believe it. There was a big ruckus about it, but I wouldn’t do it. On the last show, Ann Marie took Donald to a women’s lib meeting, which made nobody happy but me. I loved it.”
Jason David Frank, who played the Green Power Ranger Tommy Oliver on the 1990’s children’s series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, has died. He was 49.
Sorry I didn’t get this information to you about a month ago, but I didn’t see it soon enough. I believe that Christmas gifts should make memories, and this would do the trick. You all remember The Munster’s 1960’s TV show with the spooky looking house at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then I’m sorry because you missed out on some really good TV fun in your younger life. There was Herman (Fred Gwynne), Lily (Yvonne De Carlo), Grandpa (Al Lewis), Eddie (Butch Patrick) and Marilyn (Beverley Owen). In 2001, in Waxahachie, Texas, a couple built a replica of the Munster Mansion (house) after watching all 70 episodes of the show repeatedly. Every cobweb covered painting, the dungeon, rotating suit of armor at the top of the staircase and décor is perfect. There’s even Eddie’s pet dragon Spot that lived under the stairs. Private tours ($120 for a group of 4 or less) are available by appointment, then there are monthly murder-mystery dinners (costumes required), with the Munster Mansion open year-round. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a fun week-end trip for any time of the year. www.munstermansion.com
Have you been pretty cold and wet lately? Yeah, me too. Just remember that June 21st is the official start date of the Sunny Summer Season – the first day of summer. Depending on what day you read this information, that’s only about 209 days from now. Can, and will you survive that long?
Dolly Parton is the new co-host for Miley Cyrus Live from Miami on December 31st, for the second annual Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party, which she co-hosted last year with Pete Davidson. NBC from 10:30 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. in addition to streaming live on Peacock. After a brief appearance in 2002’s Manna from Heaven, Shelley Duvall left her career behind and moved to a quiet and peaceful life in Blanco, Texas. Twenty years later, they just talked her into a cameo appearance in the upcoming horror film, The Forest Hills. Our beloved meteorologist Al Roker has been in the hospital with a blood clot in his leg which then spread to his lungs. In 1996, when Willard Scott retired, Al Roker took his place of honor in weather.
I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land. Jon Stewart
According to WebMD, a couple from Ohio welcomed twins from embryos frozen and stored 30 years ago by an anonymous married couple, and then recently donated. The twins, named Lydia and Timothy Ridgeway are the longest-frozen embryos to result in live birth. “It doesn’t seem like a sperm, or an egg or embryo stored in liquid nitrogen ever experiences time,” said fertility specialist Dr. Jim Toner. “It’s like that Rip Van Winkle thing. It just wakes up 30 years later, and it never knew it was asleep.”
Jay Leno left the burn center where he was treated for third-degree burns for nine days after a gasoline garage fire where his vintage car erupted in flames. Jane Fonda has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma but is expecting a good recovery. She says “I’m ready. I’ve had a great life. Not that I want to go, but I’m aware that it’s going to be sooner rather than later.”
This is terrible. On a dairy farm in Indiana, a piece of farm equipment rolled into a lagoon of manure. A man working on the equipment fell into the lagoon, became trapped, severed his leg, and died. They literally had to drag the lagoon to find the body. Farming is the most dangerous work environment in the US with higher fatalities than police, fire, or other emergency responders. Think about that.
Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-time takes twelve minutes. This is not coincidence. Erma Bombeck
A jury deliberated less than two hours before they sentenced a Texas woman to death for stabbing over 100 times, then beating an expectant mother with a hammer, killing her, then ripping the baby from her womb. When the speeding woman was stopped by the police, she told them that she had just given birth by the side of the road, they rushed her to the hospital where the baby was declared dead. The woman had been lying to her boyfriend about being pregnant for nearly 10 months, faked ultrasounds, had a gender-reveal party, and even posted about her fake pregnancy. Is our world getting crazier?
I like football. I find it’s an exciting strategic game. It’s a great way to avoid conversation with your family at Thanksgiving. Craig Ferguson
The 1970’s well-used brown-suede Birkenstock sandals worn by Steve Jobs who co-founded Apple, recently sold for $218,000 at auction, and set a record for the highest price ever paid for a pair of sandals. Reality TV star, Todd Chrisley has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for bank fraud and tax evasion, with his wife Julie receiving seven years for helping hide their wealth. A Houston woman has earned a Guinness World Record for her size 18 feet. Her right foot measures 13.03 inches, and her left 12.79 inches, typically a women’s size 18 or men’s size 16-17. “I never got on social media to be an object of attention or anything like that or to go into foot fetish world,” she told Guinness. “Five percent of men that do follow me are the ones who send strange and interesting comments into my inbox asking if I would sell them pictures of my feet.” Hmmm. Foot Fetish.
Good news. Teller the Wonder Dog is now doing so well with his new trick of picking out his can of dog food every morning. I call it paw-yum-yum which is different than just paw, which means shake. Sometimes it takes a while to get past hard-headedness, his and mine, but he is doing great. It only took about 6 months of trying. ☹ He’s so cute, and always picks the most expensive can. We wish you the best Thanksgiving with friends and family. Remember the secret to having it all… is knowing you already do.
LISA
Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com
