poppydawn

Less Paula Deen. More Tyler Florence. It's about the food. Really.

I miss the days when Food Network had cooking shows. I get tired of documentaries and pseudo-cooks like Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee. But damn if I don't love Alton Brown a lot.

I, obviously, would love it if my husband set that particular song as my ringtone! My sense of humor is a bit on the self-deprecating side.

The song that I intend to use to announce my entrances and exits should I ever become wealthy?

They were one of my first favorite bands. "Another One Bites the Dust" was the first 45 I bought on my own accord. I still love 'em. If I ever come into a great deal of money, I'm going to pay someone to carry a boom box that plays nothing but "Fat Bottom Girls" to announce my entrances and exits.

A sure sign that I need to set fire to my television: Dr. Phil, analyzing Dog the Bounty Hunter on Larry King Live. I didn't watch. Had it been a Dog-Dr. Phil cage match, that would have been another story. That would be good TV.

Another vote for "London Calling". It's also perfect flight music. Anything Springsteen, especially from the '70s, although that's pretty obvious. I've always liked his 1986 3-disc live set for road trips. "Being There" is my favorite Wilco roadtrip choice. If I'm driving south and avoiding interstates, I'm all about the classic country. Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, Hank, Patsy ... For exceptionally long trips, there's got to be some really stupid, sing-a-long-able stuff to ease road-induced slappiness. Dead Milkmen. "The Badger Song" is particularly poignant

Oh, I love the original, too. I love the ethereal tone, especially in contrast to the distortion on The Pixies version. One version is sleek and slinky. The other's bombastic and wailing.

I was beginning to wonder if anyone was going to mention these. Those are three of my favorites. His version of "The First Time Every I Saw Your Face" absolutely kills me. I never get tired of either version of that song. Other favorites: Kirsty MacColl - You Just Haven't Earned it Yet, Baby (The Smiths) Ben Folds Five - Video Killed the Radio Star (The Buggles) Rolling Stones - Time is on My Side (Irma Thomas, although I do prefer her version.) The Pixies - Head On (Jesus & Mary Chain) The Ramones - California Sun (The Rivieras) White Stripes - Rated X (Loretta Lynn)

37. Some guessing, some from the vast, useless reaches of my dusty brain. I feel good about myself.

It's been a few years, but I've been to India Palace in Memphis. It was yummy, yummy, yummy! I didn't have the vindaloo, though. We went for the Sunday lunch hangover hog trough buffet. Unless something drastic has happened with the ownership or management, I'd definitely return.

They certainly do! Anything breaded in chickpeas and fried = yummy. I make an awesome chickpea and cauliflower curry.

Forgot to mention: Canada - mustard and onion-flavored potato chips England - for their brief but wonderful foray into curry-flavored Pringles

A word of caution: never exchange bodily fluids with someone who recent ate vindaloo. Learned that one the hard way.

Brazil - big hunks of meat served on swords India - lamb kofta Greece - feta cheese drenched in olive oil and oregano England (via Michigan's Upper Peninsula) - pasties Lebanon - hummus, falafel, and all the other wonderful uses for the otherwise lowly chickpea Vietnam - spring rolls

As much as I love the instant gratification factor of modern technology, I do miss the days of lucking into a band. I bought my first 'Mats album based solely on word-of-mouth. One of the best musical gambles I ever made. Looking forward to the book. I want to read it back-to-back with "Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story" by Laurie Lindeen (Mrs. Westerberg). Yeah, I love rock books.

You got it. I hope everything's okay.

I sold about a gazillion gallons of this when I was catering: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 yellow onion, diced fine 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 green bell pepper, diced Jalapenos, minced (as many or as few as you like) 1 lb. ground beef or stew meat Seasoning mix* 3 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes (Undrained. If you like peppers more than tomatoes, sub one can of chipotles in adobo sauce for one can of tomatoes.) 1 14.5-oz can black beans (undrained) 1 14.5-oz can great northern beans (undrained) 1 14.5-oz. kidney beans (undrained) *Seasoning mix (to taste) salt cumin Cajun seasoning (I like Tony C

I still have my copy of "Ferdinand" that my granny bought for me. Loved that book! I'm waiting for the new Richard Russo from the library. In the meantime I'm reading "How to Traumatize Your Children" and a collection of Eudora Welty short stories.

I also prefer "Trouble", but they're both great. He's excellent in concert. I saw him last December. I knew very little about him before that show. He blew me away. That voice ...

John looks a bit like his mama slicked his hair down with spit. I love it!

Here's my daughter, the butterfly: This is me. I went as your Great-Aunt Mildred, who'd just as soon smack you with her pocketbook as look at you:

The house costume? Awesome! I (and by "I", I mean my clothing designer friend and engineer husband) finished my daughter's costume at midnight last night. She hasn't even tried it on yet. Here are the costumes from the past two years. Last year's spider get-up: The year prior, she was candy corn:

I fell asleep during one of the "Mission Impossible" crapfests on my second date with my husband. I would have walked out, but we were at my house. It was easier to surrender to sleep.

I walked out of "Light of Day", starring Joan Jett and Michael J. Fox. Even at the young age of 14, I knew that was a piece of shit. It seems like there have been one or two others, but I can't remember.