Kris Carlson's Weblog

Solo Almond Crescents - Cookies

1 cup butter softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

1 can Solo Almond filling

2 cups all-pupose flour

confectioners sugar

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in Almond extract and almond filling until blended.  Stir in flour with wooden spoonto make stiff dough.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours until dough is no longer sticky.  Preheat over to 325F.

Dust hands with flour.  Shape teaspoonsfulls of dough into small tapered crescents about 2 1/2 inches long.  Place on ungreased backing sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.  

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until cookies are firm and light brown.  Cool on baking sheet on wire rack 1 minute.  Remove from baking sheets and cool on racks.  Dust with confectioners sugarwhile cookies are still warm.  Cool completely.  Store in airtight containers.

Salmon With Piccadilly Salsa

Ingredients:

1 pound Salmon Fillets

1/2 stick unsalted butter, metled

Salsa Ingredients:

1 red pepper, dried

1/2 cup minced sweet onions

1/2 cup diced pineapple (unsweetened, or fresh)

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1/3 cup minced gherkins

1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice

Salt and cheyenne pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions:

Combine all Salsa ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. 

Preheat over to 350 degrees F

Pour half the butter into shallow oven-safe pan.  Add the salmon and pour the remainder of the butter on top.  Bake for 7 minutes.  Do not turn.  Serve with pan juices and piccadilly salsa

 

Corned Beef Casserole

Oh yeah....

1 pkg meduim noodles (cook partially) - use no yolks, they are the best

1 can corned beef - you can go larger here, for the meat lover in you

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can condensed milk - only use the best

1/4 cup diced green pepper

1/4 cup grated cheese - now this is where skimping will ruin the dish.  User the best grated cheese.

top with buttered crumbs - huh? buttered crumbs? use your imagination.

Bake @ 350 for 45 minutes.

SoBe and South East Florida

I filed this under Health, Mental Health that is.  I just finished watching the Miami Vice movie with Colin Farrel and Jamie Foxx, on video.  I saw it in the theater when it first came out, as well.  I don't think it's that good of a movie, but I love anything South Florida.  I lived in Miami for 7 years.  The scene that most brought back memories for me was the scene at the end of the movie when Sonny sends off Isabella.  The scene is set in the morning, just before sunrise.  The air is so rich at that time of day; and especially in The Keys near the water where the scene is filmed.  And the safe house they use in that scene, like the one from the original Miami Vice series, are so cool.  Now they're very expensive.

So I'm inspired to get my ass back there for good.  I'm in Michigan right now, and growing ever weary of the snow as the years increase.  The summers in Michigan are nice, but the Winters suck.  I would like to have a lake house in Michigan or Wisconsin for the summer, and my primary residence in South East Florida near Miami.  And if I have enough money, right smack in the heart of Miami.

I'll have to make a small fortune in the next couple of years.  I'm going to watch something on TV or watch an episode of Miami Vice or read something in a magazine or on the web about South Florida every day to keep me inspired.  I've grown complacent.  The last time I was there I vowed I would never leave, but here I am.  I let another person get inside my head and then I lost site of my goals.  So tonight I am rededicating myself to returning to South Florida permanently.  Every day I will review my goals and determine if I have made progress toward reaching them in a reasonable time.  Every day I will do something that brings me closer to a permanent move to Miami, and in style too, no bullshit.  Every day I will remind myself how, and under what circumstances I lost sight of my dream to take permanent residence in the Miami - South Florida area.  How I let someone get inside my head when I was living there.  Every single day!   

Yes, I'm angry.  I lived there for 7 years.  I loved it most of the time.  It's not perfect, like anywhere else.  But the weather is kick ass, in my opinion; and I like the latin flare.  When the occational hurricane threatens I can go to my lake house in Wisconsin or my Ranch in Montana.   So I'm going to make some obscene amount of money and be prepared for my move to SoBe when that day arrives.

Vitamin C and The Psychosomatic Response

Have you heard of taking Vitamin C when you are feeling a bit under the weather? Well, I do and I can attest that it has helped me. Now is my response to the supplement psychosomatic or is there a good reason for why I take vitamin C when I start feeling like I have something coming on?

I've been reading some articles about Vitamin C (VC) and it's benefit for the common cold and some other ailments. Most purport that VC has no direct effect on fighting the common cold or other viruses. Not being an MD or any other type of trained physician, I would have to say, based on my intuition and experience, that VC has an indirect effect on such things. First, through the strengthening of the immune system; and second through the psychosomatic response.

Whenever I think of the psychosomatic response I am reminded of the skit on SNL with Billy Crystal where he plays this guy who is possessed with looking good. He is trying to argue which is better, to look good or to feel good. He says it is better to look good than to feel good, because when you look good you feel good. Then he argues the case for feeling good. He says it is better to feeling good, because when you feel good you look good, and after all it is most important to look good. I don't remember the exact lines right now, but I love that argument because he is describing the psychosomatic response. That if you feel good then you look good, and vice versa.

So I say, if you believe VC helps make you feel better when you are feeling punk, then take it. It's water-soluble and you can take mega doses without harm. My intuition tells me that the effect VC has is both psychosomatic and physiological. It will help strength the immune system and therefore fight off any bacterial or viral infections.

Oral Chelation: Beneficial or Harmful?

An ad in The Street dot com's Weekend Edition claimed to reverse plaque buildup in arteries.  I inserted the image that came with the email in this post.  Man, if this really works, can you imagine the benefits?  The positive mental attitude that would come from knowing that your arteries aren't clogged, and better yet, open as much as posible.

 

So I went to click on the ad and up pops a test box with the link information in it.  It's a doubleclick ad.  I say to myself, "there's doubleclick gathering information and invading my privacy yet again."  So I copy the link information, edit it, and go to the site without doubleclick sniffing my butt.  It's a cheesy copywrite style sales letter.  I start to read it, and even though I'm interested in what they have to say, I just can't stand the way the sales letter is written. I hit it for Google and do a search for Oral Chelation and find several interesting ads right away.

I've placed a few link from that search here for you to check out.  The one that I found most interesting was the one that suggests Oral Chelation is actually harmful: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=33484  By the way, I've started using SearchMash since my friend, who is in the know, brought it to my attention.  Here are the search results: http://www.searchmash.com/search/oral+chelation 

It's kind of interesting to note that Oral Chelation actually got it's own domain name: http://www.oralchelation.com/