Kris Carlson's Weblog

Limpa Bread

This stuff is really good.  We can only get this bread once a year, and only from Donlan's Fish and Seafoods in Flint Michigan. 

Buy a loaf of Limpa Bread.  The loaves come round, so it is easy to hollow them out and make a bread bowl.  Cut or scoop out bite size pieces of bread, leaving behind about 3/4 to 1 inch of bread on the sides and bottom.  Make the Shrimp dip below, and fill the bread bowl.  Dip the bread pieces, and when you run out of those, eat the bowl.

Dip:
8 ounces of Cream Cheese 
Worchestershire sauce - 1/2 to 1 teaspoon to taste
Chopped small onion
1 can Cream of Shrimp Soup
1 can little shrimp (tiny size)
garlic salt - to taste

Combine the ingredients until smooth.  Add Worchestershire Sauce and Garlic Salt last gradually, tasting as you go.  You can always sweeten the pot.  So add a little then taste.  Too much of this stuff will make the dip taste bad.

Enjoy !!

Gazpacho

Serving Size: 8

Ingredients

3 cups tomatoes, red ripe, seeded and diced
2 cups red bell pepper, diced medium
2 cups red onions, diced medium
1/2 cup celery, diced medium
2 cups cucumber, diced medium
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 cups organic vegetable juice
pinch cayenne
1 teaspoon cumin

Method

Mix diced tomato, peppers, red onions, celery and cucumber together in a medium bowl. Divide the mixture in half and separate in two bowls.

Add garlic to one of the bowls and empty into blender. Add vinegar to the blender and puree until smooth.

Add the vegetable juice, cayenne and cumin to the blender. Blend.

Add the puree to the bowl of diced vegetables.

Refrigerate overnight. Garnish with lemon and cilantro.

Frank's Redhot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Bake time: 20 minutes; Prep time: 5 minutes

Makes about 4 cups of dip

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese softened

2 cups (9.75 oz each) Swanson Premium Chunk Chicken Breast, drained

1/2 cup any flavor Frank's Redhot sauce

1/2 cup blue cheese salad dressing

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Assorted vegetables or crackers

1. Stir cream cheese in deep baking dish until smooth.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until hot and bubbling.  Stir and serve w/veggies, crackers and/or tortillas

Jerzy Drozd

For some reason I felt compelled to write about these bass guitars I found a few years ago.  It seems they have gone more commercial since I first learned of them.  But they still make a work of art that you can make music with.  The company is Jerzy Drozd, and they make some beautiful bass guitars.

Personally, I'm into 4 string fretless bass's.  Jerzy Drozd makes a lot of 5 string bass's.  These things are expensive too.  What is really cool is the website.  They have put together an amazing website for the interested.  Check it!

http://www.jerzydrozdbasses.com/

Keep It Simple

It really is this simple.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it”
(Psalm 118:24, NLT)

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

Happiness isn’t just a random feeling; happiness is a choice. It’s a decision that we have to make by an act of our will. All throughout life, you’re going to have plenty of opportunities to lose your joy. We all go through disappointments. We all have times when things don’t go our way. It’s very easy to let the circumstances of life make us sour and dejected until we just go through the motions of day-to-day living. But if you’re going to live in victory, if you’re going to thrive the way God intends, you’ve got to make the decision that you’re going to enjoy your life. You’ve got to choose to be happy in spite of your circumstances, every single day.

Today, remember, this is the day that the Lord has made! Choose to rejoice and be glad in it! As you choose joy, you are tapping into His strength which will carry you through to victory all the days of your life!

I am a Rotarian

I joined The Rotary Club of Fenton in October, 2009.  My mom has been a Rotarian for many years and has tried to get me to join.  Recently, I have undergone many changes regarding how I conduct my life.  Consequently, I saw the Rotary as a wonderful opportunity to serve my fellow man, among other things.  I am honored to have been asked to join, and have Nick Popa as my sponsor.  

The Fenton Rotary Club recently asked me if I would like to take over webmaster duties for their website at http://www.fentonrotaryclub.org/.  I'm excited about using my computer skills to revamp the site into a community portal for our Club where they can post news, upload pictures, and even have their own blog. 

I found a video that inspired me to create this post. Check out this link http://www.rotary.org/en/AboutUs/Pages/ridefault.aspx, and watch the video below.  

Socialism

"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out 
of other people's money."

—Margaret Thatcher

Riso-Hudson Enneagram

"temet nosce" - Know thyself - The Matrix

"te nosce" - Know thyself - http://www.yuni.com/library/latin_7.html#T

"nosce te ipsum" - Know thyself (inscription at the temple of Apollo in Delphi.) 

Personally, I prefer The Matrix version of Know thyself.  

So I'm picking up a print out at the copy machine at work and happen to see a printout a fellow worker has made.  It is the results of something called the Riso-Hudson Enneagram.  Having been a seeker of self knowledge via Myers-Briggs typology, my curiousity is piqued.  So I make a quick mental note and return to my computer and do a quick search online.  I find several books at Amazon.com on the subject, and order 1.  It arrived today, and I read the first couple of pages and decide to see if I can find the test online for free.  I do!  So I take it.  I took the short version, and the long version at http://similarminds.com.  Even though my particular personality type is not typically well received by a select few, I believe the results are accurate with one exception.  I'm always willing to help people whenever I can.  I think it was the way the questions were phrased that indicate Type 2 is my weakest.  My philisophy is "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish, and feed him for a lifetime."  Consequently, when one is weak minded and lazy, I will give.  But when someone is willing to learn, I will help.

When I finished, some links were presented, so I'm placing them here for you to see.

Main Type	Overall Self

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test

Enneagram Test Results Type 1 Perfectionism |||||||||||||||| 64% Type 2 Helpfulness |||||||||||| 42% Type 3 Image Focus |||||||||||||| 60% Type 4 Hypersensitivity |||||||||||||| 52% Type 5 Detachment |||||||||||||||| 65% Type 6 Anxiety |||||||||||||||||| 74% Type 7 Adventurousness |||||||||||||| 52% Type 8 Aggressiveness |||||||||||||||||||| 81% Type 9 Calmness |||||||||||| 44% Your main type is 8 Your variant is sexual

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test

If you know me, let me know if you think the results are accurate.  Given my type, I will consider your input very valuable.

I've been reading the book I bought regarding my type.  It's fascinating stuff.  While I read along, I find myself agreeing with so much of what is being said.

Join me, take the test and find out more about yourself.

Ciao

Alternative Investments

As you may already know, I have made my living as a trader of leveraged instruments in the past.  I've always traded my own money, mostly because I didn't have to file regulatory documents or be licensed in some way.  However, what I discovered, quite painfully, is that 10% isn't always 10%.  That is, 10% of 10,000 is smaller than 10% of 100,000.  Follow me?

While surfing, I came across a website with CTA Information.  Check it out http://www.cta-info.com/  It's got interesting information about an area of Investing that has been cloaked in secrecy for years.  Only recently, in the past 5 years, has Managed Futures been brought out of the shadows so the ordinary investor can learn about these Alternative Investment vehicles.  Managed Futures, in particular those practicing trend following strategies, have a tendency to be negatively correlated to stock indexes during down periods, and positively correlated to stock indexes during up periods.

I first heard about these types of accounts when I was reading an article by a member of the Oxford Club, A.C. Green.  He wrote about Managed Futures accounts and told the story of the Turtles.  This short article changed my life.  The story of the Turtles is compelling and inspiring.  Since I first read that article, there has been a lot written about The Turtles.  Prior to 2001, when I first read about the Turtles, they too were cloaked in secrecy.  Since then Curtis Faith (an original turtle) and Michael Covel (an author an turtle historian) have written a great deal about The Turtles, Managed Futures and Trend Following. 

The corrosive thread that binds all these super hot traders of commodities, is CTA designation.  Most of the big dollar commodity traders are CTA's and they manager other peoples money.  This is where 10% is relative.

Cowboy Cookies - Texas

3 cups flour (3.5)

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp baking soda

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1.5 cup (3 sticks) butter

1.5 cup sugar

1.5 cup light brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

3 cup chocolate chips

3 cup old fashioned oats

2 cup flake coconut

2 cup chopped pecans

Mix first 5 ingredients into bowl, set aside.  Beat butter & sugar till creamy, add vanilla, eggs - each separate, then add flour mixture till they are combined.  Add chocolate chips, coconut, pecans, & oats.  Drop cookies on ungreased cookie sheet.  This recipe calls to make them huge, but she makes them like reg. chocolate chip cookies.  If you use light brown sugar, they will be light; and dark brown sugar will be dark.

Big cookies make 3 dozen. 350 degrees F for 17-20 minutes

Small cookies make 6 dozen. 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes