Pragmatists and Idealists At War
This story is so fitting for today’s world. It’s been told for decades in various forms, if not centuries. It was included in an episode of The Closer, Season 2, Episode 15 : Serving The King.
Asst. Chief Brenda Lee Johnson explains that she heard this story while working at the CIA. Part of a Lecture for Agents.
The Struggle To Control Civilization
We’re always fighting the same fight. Using the Dark Ages as an example. Continue reading
Vickie’s Swedish Meatballs
I love this dish. My Dad made this when I was in my teens, but I always felt something was missing. A friend of mine invited me for dinner and he cooked this dish based on his Mom’s family recipe.
Over the years I’ve altered both those recipes to my family’s taste. Out went the green peppers, in went a few spices. Out went the soy sauce and in went the Worcestershire sauce.
You can make the meatballs from scratch, or use store bought meatballs. And it doesn’t matter what kind of pasta noodles you use either. We like egg noodles in this dish, but fettuccine works well too.
Ingredients
Directions
Alternatives
Serve
© 1997-2021 Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D., Springwolf’s Creations. All Rights Reserved.
Vickie’s Beef or Chicken Burritos – with White Queso
As we’ve gotten older, really hot food has become a problem. Especially for me. But we still love Mexican food. So we’ve come up with alternative recipes for our favorite dishes. This is one of those recipes. Of course you can make a few alterations to this recipe and hotten it up for those in your house who like spicy food.
This is just my quick and easy burritos with White Queso sauce. To make this a big family meal, think about adding some Spanish rice on the side.
Aidan’s White Queso Sauce Continue reading
Aidan’s White Queso Sauce/Dip
One of our favorite restaurants in the Richmond Virginia area is Mexico Palace. The Spotsylvania store was our local branch. The folks there are always friendly, efficient and the food is great!
Now that we live in NC, our son has turned his hand to duplicating their White Queso dip. It’s great as a dip or a white sauce over burritos, enchiladas or whatever Mexican dish you enjoy. This is his current version of their Queso. Even if it’s not exactly theirs, it’s really really good!
Use as a White Sauce for Beef Burritos.
Preparation Time: 20 min
Makes 2 cups Continue reading
The Questions That Simply Won’t Go Away
By Springwolf – Updated 03/2021
It’s a continual question from those who don’t know racing and don’t take the time to learn. Is NASCAR really a sport? Are Race Car Drivers Athletes? Of course the answer to both is YES! But that doesn’t stop the annual questions from critics who have no idea what they’re talking about in the first place.
Anthony Wayne Stewart
3-Time NASCAR Cup Champion
Every year some ‘sports writer’ or newspaper columnist voices the question and then attempts to answer it by saying NASCAR is just a southern activity attended by beer drinking rednecks. They profess to know more than the millions of fans who watch their favorite driver, team and races by claiming that NASCAR isn’t a sport and the drivers aren’t athletes. “All they do is make left turns and waste gas” is their typical line.
Sadly their rhetoric is voiced by the millions of people who don’t have a clue what racing is about. Add to that the age of Twitter and Facebook which gives a platform to people to degrade and put down anyone who does see things the way they do.
After a while it does get annoying and fans of NASCAR sometimes feel the need or desire to respond to these questions. We all know it falls on deaf ears and rarely makes a difference. But many of us love our sport and want to defend it against those that simply use stereotypical put-downs to degrade something they don’t understand. Continue reading
Find Settings On Your Favorite Classic Wallpaper
When Android updated the way they handle Wallpapers and Themes, some of the “classic” Live Wallpapers were adversely affected. One of my favorite Wallpapers Koi by Kittehface, was one of these.
Since that initial Theme rollout, additional updates have made it possible to run those Wallpapers again. But you may have trouble customizing the settings for your Live Wallpaper. If you try to access those settings through the app, or through the Desktop and Screen Saver settings, you may notice there are no customization icons or menu options. That happened to my favorite Koi fishes Wallpaper. So how do you get to those settings?
Koi by Kittehface
Setting Your Favorite Old Live Wallpaper
When I bought my first cell phone, it was a simple Nextel flip phone. I can’t even think about how long ago that was. 1997, 98 maybe. A lot has changed since those “olden days”, as my son calls them. Mostly the changes have been really cool things and even us old folks can’t imagine life without a Smart Phone.
A few not so good things have happened to the technology too. No I’m not talking about the social and personal aspects. I’m talking about updates, upgrades, leaving some of our favorite apps in the dust, causing us to look for an acceptable replacement. And often being frustrated because we can’t find that exact match, especially for those of us who don’t like change.
The only constant in the Universe,
is that Things Change. Never give up.
~ Springwolf 🐾 © 1990
Vickie’s Roast Beast Stew
Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve loved the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Especially the ending when the Grinch is serving the ‘roast beast’ for dinner. The name was the inspiration for my own roast beef concoction. A delectable beef stew to calm any beastly appetite.
This slow cooked roast beast is best prepared in a large crock pot and cooks over night. There’s little you need to do during the slow cook. But boy does it fill the house with a delectable aroma. I think it’s perfect for those cold snowy days, when you crave something warm in your tummy. And it’s easy to make, which leaves more time for sledding and snowball fights.
Preparation time:
GrandMa Sandy’s Cracked Pepper Roast Beef
A perfect recipe to stick to your bones on a cold winters day. This roast dish has a French flair with the base being Aus Jus. You can make the sauce from scratch, or use Sandy’s option and purchase a package of McCormick Aus Jus.
Sandy preferred to make this roast in a pressure cooker. But through the years, she opted for an easier method and prepared this dish in a crock pot instead.
I recommend the crock pot as well. It’s less dangerous. If you’ve ever been around a pressure cooker that exploded, you’ll understand. Hmm, I wonder what happened to my Mom’s pressure cooker. I believe it went missing after an explosion incident, and that’s when the crock pot appeared. Continue reading
Our Holiday Stocking Holder
When my son was little, decorating for the holidays suddenly became more fun. Like a lot of little boys, he loved trains! When he was about 4, I found the perfect stocking holder set, a train! The set has become one of our holiday traditional decorations to put out on the fireplace mantle each year. When we moved from Virginia to North Carolina, we also had the chance to bring my husband’s oldest son into our celebrations. Which meant we needed another train car for the additional stocking. Finding another car to go with our existing train wasn’t easy and we were forced to find an alternative during that first holiday. Thankfully he’s 20 years older than our son, so he wasn’t offended But I’ve made it a mission to find an additional train car to go with our existing set. Enter eBay!
Here’s what I’ve found out about our train set. They’re rare and they seem to be VERY popular! Two things that create challenges for eBay buyers. It means they’re not listed very often. And they’re often very expensive! This year, 2019, there’s an Egg Nog car listed for $325 and the current bids are over $420. Wow! Still I’m determined. I’m hoping to find the Santa and one of the tanker cars to add to my set.