Bits Of Dust

Archive for the ‘General Schtuff’ Category

Woke up this morning with a horrible toothache. Got an appointment tomorrow morning, I shall return when I can see straight again.

I bet you were wondering, “Now why don’t he write?”

After taking the entire month of November off from blogging here at Bits Of Dust, I’m back.

It was an interesting month that’s for sure. I have several recipes to post here over the next couple weeks, including a full dinner menu my 8 year old son prepared for his mom for her birthday.

One recipe I saw last month that I think people need to see, was Chef John’s roasted chicken.

Just like in the real world, getting under the skin can make all the difference in the world.

We woke up this morning and visited our local farmer’s market. While we were there, we bought some pork chops, some chicken, and some soup bones. We also bought two dozen free range eggs, some lettuce, and the kids bought themselves peacock feathers.

We ventured over to the State Farmer’s Market, even though I don’t like that one, to see if they had any tomatoes (the drought here literally killed our local markets and our supply. We were able to purchase 3 boxes (25lbs each) of Roma tomatoes for $4 per box, and 2 boxes of beefsteaks for $9 per box. We made out like bandits.

We also bought three bushels of apples for $17 a piece. Can you say applesauce, apple butter, and apple pie filling? I bet you could.

Behold, the roma tomatoes…

(Click The Image For A Larger View)

We’re going to the farmer’s market(s) tomorrow and I am getting a new digital camera. Should make for some interesting photos real soon.

We love our local farmer’s market, and this week they are scheduled to have fresh meats (pork, lamb, and chicken), as well as free range eggs and lots more… WOOHOO!

On this second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall, please take a moment to remember the victims. More than 1.1 million volunteers have responded to help but more are still needed, and many homes have still not been rebuilt.

Oh sure, everyone knows about the “refugees” of Hurricane Katrina, and many of us, myself included, have our own horror stories about “non-victims” who attempted to take advantage of the system or even demanded that people “take care of them”. But I am not concerned with those people now, as they have disappeared back into the slimy little holes they crawled out of. The people I am concerned about are the real victims of Katrina. The people who took all the proper precautions and fled when they knew the storm was bearing down on them.

Since the day of the disaster, Americans have donated over 14 million hours of volunteer service to help rebuild New Orleans and the other affected areas. This has been the single biggest volunteer response to a disaster in our nation’s history, but there are still many jobs to be done, lots of work to be completed, and many people who still cannot return to their homes.

Several people I know had homes in the affected areas, and luckily most of them have been able to return or have settled elsewhere around the country, but let’s take a moment out of our day and do what we can to help. Heck, I’m not asking you to volunteer, or even donate money, I’m simply asking you to help raise awareness so others will remember as well.

[Hat Tip: Serious Eats]

Earlier today my wife discovered talkr.com.

Talkr.com is a free service which takes your text based blog and creates an audio podcast feed so visitors can listen to your posts rather than read them.

Each post on this site will have a link to listen to the post, and I will be adding a subscribe button in the sidebar as I get time.

For now, you can subscribe to the audio feed with this link (subscribe)

Pretty cool stuff if you ask me.

 
There are an estimated 170,000 people in the United States and Europe who are in need of organs. Many of them face a very dark future and may die if they don’t receive the organs they so desperately need. Over 70,000 people in the United States alone are waiting for kidneys and deceased organ donations are not keeping pace with the demand.

There is a growing need for live donations, and Matching Donors is working to fulfill that need. Matching Donors helps match those willing to donate an organ with those who are so desperately waiting to receive one.

Living donors can safely donate a single kidney, part of their liver, a single lung lobe (out of the five they have), and portions of their pancreas, bone marrow and instestines.

Take a moment out of your day to visit Matching Donors and learn about live organ donation.