World Autism Awareness Day on April 2nd

ASD affects an estimated 3 million individuals in the U.S. and tens of millions worldwide. Autism statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify around 1 in 110 American children as on the autism spectrum. In fact, more children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes or pediatric AIDS combined.

On World Autism Awareness Day, April 2nd, organizations around the world celebrate with fundraising and awareness-raising events. To share your events, please "Like" the World Autism Awareness Day page on Facebook and submit your events by posting the information on the wall.

For more information on Autism and World Autism Awareness Day visit  http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/waad .

Bacon Coffins - Breakfasts & Funerals Will Never Be the Same Again?

I'm not sure what a "bacon memorial tube" is, but if I wasn't planning on being burned on a floating pyre in a viking burial, this is totally what I would do.


J&D Food's, the company that makes Bacon Salt and Bacconaise, has created the world’s first bacon-wrapped casket. As the company states:

“Bacon Coffins are finished with a painted Bacon and Pork shading and accented with gold stationary handles. The interior has an adjustable bed and mattress, a bacon memorial tube and is completed in ivory crepe coffin linens."

The Bacon Coffins are available for $2,999.95 plus shipping.

You should probably jump right on this.

Today's Google Doodle March 27, 2012 - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Birthday

Today's Google Doddle commemorates the 126th birthday of German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. 

For a little background - Mies built a number of notable houses in Germany, including the Lemke House, before moving into furniture, designing chairs and tables. After emigrating to the US he became head of the Armour Institute, later the Illinois Institute of Technology where he designed a number of the campus buildings including the Alumni Hall ad Wishnick Hall.

The Promontory Apartments in Chicago was the first high-rise block designed by Mies and was soon followed by the Lake Shore Apartments, which used steel straight from the mill.

Foodie Fridays: National Chips and Dip Day!

It just gets obscuerer and obscuerer. No, it's not a word but if you like Alice and Wonderland you get it.


So today is National Chips and Dip Day. Why? Because we need it. If it weren't for National Chips and Dip day we might only get Chips and Dip during the Super Bowl. Imagine a whole year without Seven Layer Dip or Spinach Dip. No one wants to live in a world like that ... unless of course they're dieting, but I can pretty much assure you that I will never write about dieting.


In honor of National Chips and Dip Day, here are recipes for the most basic to the most unusual dips out there.


Annie's Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips
From Ann Page on Allrecipes.com

(Yields 10 servings)

Ingredients

• 2 kiwis, peeled and diced
• 2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced
• 8 ounces raspberries
• 1 pound strawberries
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor
•  
• 10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
• butter flavored cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
• 
  
• Directions

1. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.
4. Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

Texas Caviar
From Elkinsmeg on Allrecipes.com
(Yields 8 cups)

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 (8 ounce) bottle zesty Italian dressing
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro
• 
  
• Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together onion, green bell pepper, green onions, jalapeno peppers, garlic, cherry tomatoes, zesty Italian dressing, black beans, black-eyed peas and coriander. Cover and chill in the refrigerator approximately 2 hours. Toss with desired amount of fresh cilantro to serve.

Lobster Dip
From Chef-Girl-L-Dee on Allrecipes.com
(Yields 2 cups)

• 1 (7 ounce) can lobster meat, drained and flaked
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together lobster meat, onion, lemon juice, cream cheese, butter and prepared horseradish. Continue mixing until smooth. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until serving.

• Veronica's Hot Spinach, Artichoke and Chile Dip

  From Wrightwood Girl on AllRecipes.com 
• (Yields 10 servings)
• • Ingredients
  • 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 (4.5 ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 (12 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
  • 1/4 cup canned chopped jalapeno peppers, drained
  • 1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
  • 
    
  • Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. Mix together the cream cheese and mayonnaise in a bowl until smooth. Stir in the green chiles, Parmesan cheese, artichokes, peppers, and spinach. Spoon the mixture into a baking dish.
  3. Bake in preheated oven until slightly browned, about 30 minutes.

  
  

  
  

  Seven Layer Tex Mex Dip

  From Ginny on Allrecipes.com

  (Yields 7 cups)

  
  

  Ingredients

  • 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
  • 1 cup guacamole
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
  • 1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
  • 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onions
  • 1/4 cup black olives, drained
  • 
    
  • Directions

  1. In a large serving dish, spread the refried beans. Layer the guacamole on top of the beans.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix the mayonnaise, sour cream and taco seasoning mix. Spread over the layer of guacamole.
  3. Sprinkle a layer of Cheddar cheese over the mayonnaise mixture layer. Sprinkle tomato, green onions and black olives over the cheese.

Happy Extraterrestrial Abduction Day!!

Today is Extraterrestrial Abduction Day. For some reason this "holiday" doesn't get much recognition, but for the untold number of people dealing with the trauma of alien abduction this is an important day. Therefore, I've decided to treat it with the gravity it deserves and so have included a list of top places to avoid if you'd rather not be the victim of alien abduction as well as a list of the best resources for helping one cope with a recent abduction.

May the force be with you.

Top Alien Abductions and Locations
1. Roswell, NM (Famous UFO Crash and Mecca for UFO hunters)
2. Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, AZ (Site of Travis Walton abduction made famous by Fire in the Sky)
3. Nome, AK (Erie disappearances made famous in The Fourth Kind)
4. Mexico City, MX (Lights seen by hundreds of witnesses at various times in past years)
5. Indian Head, NH (Site of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction)
6. South Ashburnham, MA (Site of the Betty Andreasson abduction)
7. Buff Ledge, VT (Site of the Buff Ledge Camp abductions)
8. Alamogorde, NM (Site of Sergeant Charles S. Moody's abduction)
9. Allagash River, ME (Site of Allagash abductions)
10. Stanford, KY (Site of Stanford abductions)

UFO Support Groups
1. Starborn (Northern New England)
2. Abduction Buddies (Online support group)
3. United Friends Observer Society (Internationally known support group, based in Walker, NY)

The Museum Of Bad Art (MOBA)

What is this? A dog, a mountain?
Anyone? Anyone?  

This is proof that no interest or hobby is too odd, small, or moronic to be ignored.  If you love  something (like candy cigarettes or otters)  revel in it and see where it can take you.

The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) is a community-based, private institution dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition and celebration of bad art in all its forms and in all its glory. The MOBA collection ranges from the work of talented artists that have gone awry to works of exuberant execution by artists barely in control of the brush. 

What they all have in common is a special quality that sets them apart in one way or another from the merely incompetent. 

Really some of these pieces are no worse than stuff we've all seen in various museums and galleries.  The point of the museum isn't  just to show bad work, anyone can make bad art. The point of the museum is to show 'real' art that is still none-the-less bad art, thus highlighting the fact that 'real' art critics would probably like some of this.  To tell you the truth I don't know what's better the art or the titles - the titles really make these pieces shine.

Be inspired by this and take heart that even sucking at something is better than not doing anything.

Selections From the MOBA Collection

Online gif maker

St. Patrick's Day - Green Cocktail Recipes

St. Patrick's Day is on Saturday. That means instead of the usual St. Patrick's Day bar-hopping, you can treat this like an honest-to-goodness holiday and invite people over for a party. And no St. Patrick's Day party would be complete without some gorgeous green cocktails.

So here are some fab green cocktail recipes for St. Patrick's Day.

May the luck of the Irish be with you.... or at least some aspirin and pizza for your hangover the next day.

Green Flash Cocktail Courtesy of White on Rice Couple
1 oz vodka
1/2 oz Peach Schnapps
1/2 oz Blue Curacao
3 oz orange juice
3 oz sprite
ice


Mix ingredients together, serve over ice. Garnish with an orange slice and maraschino cherry.

Green Tea Mint Julep Courtesy of Cocktail Times

1 1/2 oz of Charbay Green Tea vodka 

1 oz of simple syrup

sprite

3 lemon wedges

8 mint leaves

Muddle 3 lemon wedges with mint leaves. Pour green tea vodka, simple syrup and shake. Strain into highball glass over ice. Top with sprite. Garnish with mint leaves.

Midori Melon Bomb Courtesy of The Nibble

½ part Midori
¾ part golden rum
½ part fresh orange juice

Pour into a tall glass over ice.

Green Lizard Shot Courtesy of Drink Nation

Photo by Taea Thale. samsmith

1 oz. Chartreuse, green
1/2 oz. Rum, overproof/151 proof

Mix ingredients and pour into a shot glass.

Midori Margarita Courtesy of Blender King

6 ounces Tequila
3 ounces Midori
5 ounces Sour Mix
ice

Pour the ingredients except the ice into your blender and blend for about 10 seconds. Then, throw in a handful of ice and blend for another 30 seconds.