Tastes from Home Giveaway!

When someone says the word 'home' what pops into your head? Family? Food? Sights? Sounds? The first thing I think of at the mention of the word 'home' is always my mother, the second thing is cooking with my mother. So what could be more appropriate for a "Tastes from Home" contest than to share my own recipe for a favorite childhood food --- buttery mashed potatoes. Take a gander at this:

Granny's Homemade 'Lumpy' Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Ingredients:

3-5 medium-sized white potatoes

1/4 to 1/2 Cup of whole milk

1/2 Cup of butter

1 tsp Cracked Black Pepper

1 tsp Salt

Utensils:

2-quart sauce pan w/ lid

vegetable brush

collander (or paper towels)

large mixing bowl

measuring cups

measuring spoons

fork

Instructions:
Scrub potatoes clean w/ vegetable brush + cold water. Allow to drain in a collander or pat dry w/ paper towels.

Bring 3-4 cups of water to a boil in a sauce pan. Add potatoes, cover with lid, and boil until tender (~20 minutes). Once potatoes are tender, remove from heat, and drain in collander. (Shake collander as necessary to remove any excess water.)

Pour potatoes into a mixing bowl. Use a fork to break apart tender potatoes into chunks. Add milk and butter a little at a time, beating potatoes with fork after each addition. Continue this routine until the potatoes are a lumpy mash. Add pepper and salt to taste.

Eat and enjoy!
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There's a blog giveaway coming up farther down in the post...

Cutting the Cable

I've finally taken the plunge. Yesterday, I cancelled cable service and today is my first day with OTA broadcast only. Funny thing --- as there are so many local 'niche' channels --- I actually get more channels now than I ever did with cable TV. (I'm not much for generic telly watching, I'm mostly a movie watcher, and when I do watch TV it tends to be timeshifted/on demand via streaming services, thus I only had the basic cable package.)

I've got a very basic single-rabbit-ear antenna, and I can pull in signals for 59 channels (at various levels of clarity). This is neato! There are channels covering all sorts of things, from 24-hr news (France 24) to MTV in Spanish (MTVtr3s). I'm excited, even though I know I won't watch much random TV. I do like 'retro' channels and there are at least 4 that I can pick up (METV, RTV, Oldie Goldie, and This TV).

The local channel guide, which shows the programming schedules for area OTA broadcasts, lists ~70 channels. So this means there are about 10 channels that I can't currently pick up, either due to interference or not having a strong enough antenna,etc..

Anyone out there on the OTA bandwagon who can recommend a good DTV antenna? I like playing with all the capabilities of my Samsung Smart TV [46" 240hz 3D 1080p HDTV] even if I don't actually watch it much.... it's Energy Star certified!

Between my own media library (I'm slowly upgrading my physical media collection to blu-ray), all the new OTA channels, streaming services like Vudu, Crackle, Blockbuster on Demand, Vimeo, and Hulu; and disc rental kiosks, I seem to have everything covered. Ah, smell the geek cred.

Where's Xavier?

XOJET and L'Ermitage Beverly Hills Hotel are sponsoring a contest where entrants take photos of the XOJET mascot, Xavier C. Bear, in various locations while traveling. The best photo (as determined by voting) will win a trip to LA on XOJET and a stay at the L'Ermitage.

I received my Xavier plush today. Now, I've just got to remember to take the thing with me when we road-trip across country toward the end of the month, and then remember to bring a camera and take pictures, so I can can enter the dang contest.

I'll try to remember to update this post with a few snaps, once the deed is done. Where's Xavier? Currently, still packed in a box.