12 days of Christmas - Muppet style!

The quality of this leaves something to be desired but still, its one of my all time favorite Muppet routines.

Beware of the Doghouse!

Prop 8

A Keith Olbermann rant I completely agree with.

War

I spent the morning at the funeral of a young man who was 28. He was a soldier in the US Army and spent 15 months in Iraq but was recently training at Ft. Benning. No one knows what happened yet although he’s had issues with drugs in his past. It was a full fledged military funeral. 21 gun salute, Taps, flag presented to the mother… very touching. It was hard to watch his fellow soldiers break down in tears as they hugged Justin’s mother. They each presented her with a carnation. The whole thing just gave me goosebumps and made me think about our servicemen and women. My father was a Marine so I’ve always had a high respect for the Military but I think sometimes I forget what a sacrifice it really is for the soldiers and for the families that are left behind while their loved ones go off to foreign lands. My dad went to Vietnam not once, but twice. He has never spoken about it to this day. I wonder if he would be a different man had he not seen whatever it was he saw over there. But that’s another post.

Take a minute today to remember our freedoms and the people who fight to keep those freedoms intact. God Bless the USA.

Roasted Red Pepper Lasagna

My friend SA made this for our church Progressive Dinner Saturday night. I was dreading it because I don’t like red peppers but my mom always taught me to be polite when you eat at someone else’s house so I tried it. I DO like red peppers, I DO i DO – Sam I Am!!! It was so good in fact I could have eaten it for breakfast the next morning. Here is her recipe…

Roasted Red Pepper Lasagna

This is a recipe I’ve been using for almost 10 years. I’ve made several adjustments in that time frame and now I think I have it pretty well the way I want it. I used to roast the peppers myself, but the recipe tastes just as good with the canned ones, and they’re only $1 a jar at Dollar Tree (cheaper than fresh ones). You can substitute Ricotta for the cream cheese in the filling, it just depends on your taste buds! Enjoy!

1 1/2 jars (18 oz total) roasted red peppers, julienned, then cut into 1/2″ pieces
8 lasagna noodles
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. olive oil or canola oil
1 can (28 oz) crushed or pureed tomatoes
2 T. parsley
1 t. sugar
1 t. basil
1/2 t. pepper
1/4 c. butter
1/3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground nutmeg (or to taste–if you use freshly grated, use less–it’s strong!)
2 1/2 c. milk or half & half or heavy cream (however rich you want it to be)
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1 c. Parmesan cheese
1 12 oz package Mozzarella cheese

Cook lasagna noodles according to directions. In a skillet, cook red peppers and garlic in oil for about 3 minutes (till the house is nice and smelly), then add the tomatoes, parsley, sugar, basil and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. In a saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour, salt and nutmeg until smooth. Gradually add milk/half & half/heavy cream. Bring to a boil, cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Add cream cheese and Parmesan cheese, stir until all cheese is mostly melted.

Spread 1 cup pepper sauce in a 13 x 9 x 2 baking pan, coated with nonstick cooking spray. Top with 4 noodles, half of the white sauce, half of the pepper sauce, and 1 1/2 c. Mozzarella. Repeat layers, sprinkling all remaining Mozzarella on top.

Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Paul Newman

My mom and I were just talking about him yesterday after seeing Nights in Rodanthe. I was comparing Richard Gere to Paul Newman in Message in a Bottle. He passed away last night. Not really a surprise since I’d heard he had cancer but still so very sad. He and his wife were a true Hollywood love story. I’ll miss his piercing blue eyes.

9/11

The only news show this morning talking about 9/11 is Fox. Everyone else is talking about the election, the dangers of crocs, and Hurricane Ike (who definitely deserves his 15 minutes of fame right now). Everything seems so normal. But this date will never be normal. The memories are burned into my brain as clearly as when I saw the Challenger explode, as clearly as the day our school principal announced the President was shot, as clearly as the day I sat with my brother at a memorial for John Lennon. But somehow, these memories are so much harder to think about. Somehow my brain still wants to think it was all just a horrible dream that everyone I know happened to have. But it certainly wasn’t a dream. It did happen. And today I feel the need to remember. Our FDNY tshirts are all faded and worn out. My husband bought it for me that October and all proceeds went to the Firefighters Fund. He bought one for each of us so that we could feel like we were contributing if even just in the smallest way. So today I’ll wear my Mary Poppins – Broadway shirt as a small way of remembering.

God Bless America