Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

I've been registered to vote since I was 18. I've lived in this county for 13 years and at my present address for 7. This is the first time I've been called. On the bright side, I get a free bus ride.

I don't often remember my dreams. But last night's was a humdinger. While taking my kids to the water park and digging through my sister-in-law's cabinets, searching for sage, I realized it was Thanksgiving Day and I didn't have a turkey. I probably would have forgotten this dream as well if I had read no blogs today. Thanks, LabRat. Thanks, Michele. My free Kroger turkey is now happily defrosting. Coming soon... Stuffing Bloging. If it ain't cornbread. It ain't stuffing.

Michael Yon Thanks and Praise: I photographed men and women, both Christians and Muslims, placing a cross atop the St. John’s Church in Baghdad. They had taken the cross from storage and a man washed it before carrying it up to the dome. Chris Muir

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to...

Inspired by this bleg from Michele and some slightly cooler temperatures in South Texas, I decided to cook up a pot and document the process for posterity. The Ingredients Although it's pictured, I wound up not using the tomato paste. The diced tomatoes were on sale 3 for $1. Now I know why. Stick with Ro-Tel. Not pictured: BEER! BTW, this is chili for households still containing small children. I've been working at desensitizing their little palates but we've only made it up to a medium on the picante scale so far. MEAT I suppose you can use regular ground beef for chili. You can also use the pink tubes of mystery to make crab cakes but what's the point? Coarse ground beef for chili was $2.99 per pound whereas this 3lb. chuck roast was on sale for $1.99. Whittle into bite-sized chunks. Over med-high heat (leaning to the "high" side) brown the meat in batches in veg oil. Using olive oil really doesn't accomplish anything here other than using up your ...