Got rid of the star

I managed to get rid of the stupid looking star by changing the template. I am still learning about this blogging stuff.

I can't figure out how to get rid of the texaco star on the heading, but I am working on it.
Jo Ann

Brandon's chili recipe

"Thai Chili Chili"
2 cups brown rice (cooked)2 large cans of beef stock soup with vegetables3/4 pound roast beef, cut into tiny pieces 10 Thai chilies (whole, with seeds inside) Cabernet to taste (1/2 cup) Malibu coconut rum to taste (1 cup)3/4 Fuji apple cut into tiny piecessalt, pepper, onion powder, garlic, ginger3 tablespoons Siracha chili sauce
Spices are to taste. I like a lot of ginger. A little curry powder might be interesting. Mix the rice, stock, roast beef, 10 chilies, apple, and Siracha with the spices and simmer on low heat for two hours. I made my chili the night before, added half the rum and half the cab, refrigerated overnight, and added the rest of the rum and cab to wake it up the next evening.I used a 2004 Bordeaux, though I believe any merlot, cabernet, or pinot noir will do nicely. Rum provides necessary sweetness but coconut milk will probably serve the same function. All of the alcohol will cook out, by the way, so this chili is appropriate for kids of all ages. Finally, you can pick up Siracha Chili Sauce in the Asian aisle at the grocery store. It's as hot as Tabasco but has a far superior flavor. Give it a try.

Some thoughts about cats!

I am writting this at 3:45 on a cold December Saturday morning. I have not been to sleep yet. Probably hassomething to do with Joel calling and telling me that Jenny is having contractions and Makenna may be on the way. He called back later to tell me that the contractions had gone away and so all the excitment had to be delt with. You know the way you lay trying to sleep and have all of the good grandmother senarios running throughyour mind...
Anyway at 3:00 I decided to change rooms to try and get to sleep. Sometimes that helps. I have a great couch in the living room.Long enough to stretch out on, or curl up on, comfey cushions, etc. So I grab my pillow, and down comforter aand stretch out on the couch to REALLY try to get to sleep. 3:00am is really the deadline for me, after thatI am in real trouble the next day. SO I am serious about the sleep thing.
Now here is where the cat comes in.
For the last seven years I have been sharing my world with a calico cat named Mazie. Lovely cat. Sweet, 98%of the time. Someday I will tell you about the other 2%. Anyway, Mazie decided that it was a wonderful ideato sleep on the couch with me. If you are not a cat person, this will seem odd to you. I used to be a dog person.I alway had a dog. Love dogs. Now we have cats. Love them too. It is not true that there are onlytwo kinds of people in the world. Cat people and Dog people. Not so. I have even heard of people thatcan't stand either cats or dogs. I only know one or two of these.
Anyway, if you have every shared a couch with a cat, you know that there are rituals involved. 1. No you can't sit on my chest. People don't like that. You can sit on my stomach. That is better.
2. You want to lick my nose?..OK...thank you (visualize scrunched up face here).... You do know that peopledon't actually lick cat's noses.... Would you like me to scratch your ears? Yes, OK here you go.....
3. How about a pet.... Oh, you like that... good, have some more.....
WOW! that is a lot of fur comming off...How does that work anyway... I know I just did this earlier this evening. This stuff must grow like crazy.May be the key to the energy crisis, if we could figure out how to convert it to fuel. Have to ask my brotherHe can make fuel out of french fry grease, maybe there is a future in cat fur. This brush has half a cat in it.
Anyway, now that I have written this up, maybe the cat and I can finally get some sleep.
Just some thoughts about cats.

Welcome to our blog

Hello Dayspring,

I have set this up for our use. I am new to blogging, so it is pretty basic. Please feel free to add your comments.

Jo Ann