Macaroons (egg whites replacement)

Last month, I offered up cake mix macaroon cookies, and I mentioned gluey coconut clumps in context of macaroons. I still think macaroons are gluey and clumpy, but my results taste better than macaroons I remember from way back. This recipe includes information for substituting egg whites with Wilton meringue powder. It also includes my best guess for coconut calories, espite the coconut package squishiness for numbers of servings and calories.

In researching macaroon recipes, I noticed many used egg whites. I myself prefer to avoid recipes that call for only egg whites or only egg yolks—arggghhhh, leftover egg yolks or leftover egg whites! I recalled I have a container of Wilton meringue powder, which I used for making meringue cookies once. (They came out light and airy, but were not a big hit in the household.)

Macaroons should be a good way to try using up some of the powder, I thought. The container showed substitution information of 2 teaspoons of powder and 2 tablespoons of water for one egg white. Interestingly, I could not find macaroon recipes that showed substitution. I encountered macaroon recipes that specified beating egg whites lightly to beating them to stiff peaks. I decided to beat the egg white substitute to a froth.

I looked up macaroon recipes mostly for fewest ingredients, which is my main standard for simplicity. The Scribbler macaroon recipe is intriguing for both simplicity and complication. The blog owner was gracious and prompt in responding to some questions I posted.

The simplicity was in the basic ingredients. The complications lay in the decorative areas, nicely detailed for those who like to add flair to their macaroons. The Scribbler recipe shows several appealing pictures and lists steps to achieve the visual effects.
My pixstrip shows five image areas:

1. Implements
2. Ingredients, dry and wet
3. Mixed ingredients in one bowl
4. Dough spoonfuls on a parchment-lined pan
5. Baked macaroons

Implements

• cooky pan(s)
• pastry blender
• mixer
• medium-large mixing bowl
• small mixing bowl
• measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• rubber spatulas
• parchment paper
• cooling rack for done cookies

Ingredients

• 3 C flaked coconut (~10.5 oz, 3/4 of 14-oz. package)
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1/3 C flour
• 2 T and 2 t Wilton meringue powder and 1/2 C water
  (You can use 4 egg whites.)
• 1 t vanilla extract, optional (I forgot to add it!)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Line the baking pan with parchment paper.
3. Pour the coconut into a medium-large mixing bowl, breaking up the lumps.
4. Add the flour and sugar into the coconut, using the pastry blender to blend well.
5. In the smaller bowl, mix the water and meringue powder together. (I mixed on low speed for one minute, then medium speed for one minute.)
   Note: For using only egg whites, lightly beat them.
6. Add the extract, if you want extract, (Or fuggedaboutit it like I did.)
7. Pour the beaten egg whites or egg-white substitute ingredients into the larger bowl.
8. Use the pastry blender to stir the ingredients together.
9. Use a tablespoon to scoop the dough.
10. Drop the spoon's dough onto the parchment-lined cooky sheet.
11. Bake for about 15-17 minutes until the edges are lightly browned.
12. Transfer the done cookies onto cooling rack.

Calories and coconut servings
The recipe yielded 34 macaroons, calculated to about 66 calories each, 40 that come from coconut—almost 2/3 of each macaroon's calories. YMMV. The coconut was the most problematic ingredient for calculating calories. The package of coconut contains 14 ounces (396 grams).

The nutritional table shows 70 calories for every 2 tablespoons (15 grams) and claims 27 servings for the package. If dividing 396 grams by 15 grams, however, the total servings is 26.4. The front of the package prominently claims to contain 5 1/3 cups. If calculating VOLUME servings at 8 servings per cup (16 tablespoons per cup), the number of servings should be 8 x 5.33, or (gasp!) slightly fewer than *43* servings.

November 14, 2013: I made a double batch to take to a workplace potluck. Instead of using a pastry blender, I wore latex gloves to blend the dry ingredients, then later used a couple of large cooking spoons to stir the egg-white replacement fluid into the dry ingredients. My yield was 84 cookies, about 52 calories each.

Lemon Poppyseed Mini-cupcakes

My recipe calls for following the instructions for boxed lemon cake mix and adding two tablespoons of poppy seeds. Box mixes usually omit information about mini-cupcakes, which are about 1/3 the volume of regular cupcakes (2 1/2 x 1 1/4). The mini-cupcake size is 1 3/4 x 1. This article includes also includes mini-cupcake baking times, yields, and paper liner vs. oil vs. oil/flour methods.

Regular cupcake vs. mini-cupcake

Cake mix boxes usually indicate the yield to be 24 cupcakes. I have encountered recipes that hedge and claim 24 to 30 cupcakes. I have seen recipes claim that a box cake mix should yield 60 mini-cupcakes. My yield was 77, using the recommendation of slightly rounded tablespoon of batter for each pan well. Suggested baking times for regular cupcakes had a range of 15 to 20 minutes for the low end, and 22 to 27 minutes for the high end. If baking mini-cupcakes, use the regular cupcake baking time, but reduce it by maybe 25%. My batches came out fine at 13 to 14 minutes. As for oven temperature, from gleaning various recipes, 350° seems to be common.

Note: For a serving size between regular cupcake and mini-cupcake, cut each cupcake in half. Hypothetical yields per box cake mix batch can be 24 (regular cupcakes), 48 (regular cupcakes cut in half), and 60 (mini-cupcakes).

Paper liner vs. spray-on oil vs. oil/flour spray

In past experiences of using paper liners, it seemed like the paper did not cleanly separate from baked cupcakes without maybe 10% of the cake sticking to the paper. I don't know if the detachment problems were because of the cupcakes being regular size, or because of the cake mix formulation being from pre-pudding eras.

I was pleased that the paper peeled away from the mini-cupcake neatly. The method that yielded the least satisfying results was using spray oil with flour in it. The dispensing was not as easy as with using spray oil. The oil and flour spray method left a thin layer of baked cake inside the wells, and more than with using spray oil.

My pixstrip shows four sections:

1. Implements
2. Ingredients
3. Paper liners, oil spray, oil/flour spray
4. Baked mini-cupcakes

Implements

• mixer
• medium-large mixing bowl
• rubber spatula(s)
• measuring spoon
• measuring cup(s)
• mini-muffin pans (Use different size pans if desired, following baking time suggestions on the cake mix box.)
• cooling rack for done mini-cupcakes
• paper liners, spray oil, or spray oil/flour (Using paper liners yielded the best results for me.)
  Note: Greasing the bottoms of the wells is another batter lining method.

Batter ingredients

• 1 box lemon cake mix (~18 oz.)
• eggs, number as listed on cake mix box
• oil, amount as listed on cake mix box
• water, amount as listed on cake mix box
• 2 T poppy seeds

General instructions for all cake pan sizes (Have the cake mix box handy!)

1. Prepare the cake batter according to cake mix box instructions.
2. Fold in the poppy seeds.
3. Prepare baking pans by using paper liners, spray oil, or spray oil/flour.
4. Pour batter into the baking pan(s) of your choice.
5. Bake as recommended; however, if baking mini-muffins, reduce time by 25%. (Mine came out fine between 13 and 14 minutes.)
6. Test cake for doneness. If done, remove pan(s) from the oven.
7. Transfer cakes (or mini-muffins) onto cooling rack.

Calories and additional information

Total calories for the ingredients I used, the cake mix brand and flavor being the biggest variable, the calories totaled 2900, give or take a few. Dividing the number by my yield of 77 mini-cupcakes comes out to ~38 calories each. YMMV, depending on cake mix brand, egg sizes, and recipe that you use. Also, adding icing or frosting will increase the calories.

Note: The container of the poppy seeds that I bought recommended yellow cake mix and 1 tablespoon of lemon extract for another version of lemon poppyseed cake. I myself advocate minimal ingredients—lemon cake mix instead of yellow cake mix and lemon extract. If someone wants to try the alternate recipe, I would be interested in the contrast results.

Related: "Revisiting Lemon Poppyseed Mini-cupcakes" article | video

Cake Mix Macaroon Cookies

How about a macaroon cooky that tastes a lot better than a gluey coconut clump? How about a cooky that chews like a softish cooky and has dominant coconut texture and flavor? Use a cake mix for the dry-ingredient base.

Most of my recipes are about minimal process and few ingredients. Most recipes I read lose me if I see more than six ingredients or multiple steps or time investment, or a combination of those conditions. Some of my ingredients at home drive my baking choices. One item I had was a bag of coconut I got free with a purchase of something else. I also had a box of white cake mix that I wanted to use up.

I based my recipe mostly on the ExclusivelyRecipes.com French vanilla macaroon bars recipe. A main deviation was mixing 1/3 C cooking oil into the wet ingredients instead of cutting in 1/3 C butter into the cake mix powder. I decided to try making individual cookies instead of shaping the dough into a pan and cutting it into bars after baking. I omitted the chocolate to keep the recipe simple.

Another recipe I consulted was the Chocolate Chip-Coconut Macaroons from the Betty Crocker Ultimate Cake Mix Cookbook. I deviated from the recipe as follows: I used only 2 T water instead of 1 C, used half as much coconut, used 1 egg instead of 3 egg whites, and omitted the chocolate. The recipe is online except that they omitted the quantities for the ingredients, which they want readers to request by email. Smart cookies will be able to infer the quantities, based on this paragraph and my list of ingredients. :-)

My pixstrip shows three images:

1. Implements
2. Ingredients, dry and wet
3. Baked cookies

Implements

• cooky pan(s)
• pastry blender
• medium-large mixing bowl
• small mixing bowl or large cup or jar
• fork or similar item for mixing wet ingredients
• measuring cup
• measuring spoons
• cooky spatula to lift and transfer baked cookies
• cooling rack for done cookies

Ingredients, dry

• 1 1/2 C flaked coconut
• 1 18ish oz. white cake mix

ingredients, wet

• 1 egg
• 1/3 C cooking oil (Replace 1 T with sesame oil if desired for flavor twist.)
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2 T water

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pour the coconut into a medium-large mixing bowl, breaking up the lumps.
3. Pour the cake mix powder into the coconut, using the pastry blender to blend together.
4. In a bowl or large cup, combine the oil, egg, vanilla, and water. For a more aromatic flavor, exchange 1 T of the oil with 1 T sesame oil.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the larger bowl and use a pastry blender to stir the ingredients together.
6. Use a round tablespoon to scoop the dough. Shape to rounded, level, or concave height.
7. Drop the spoon's dough onto the cooky sheet.
8. Bake for about 12+ minutes until the edges are lightly browned.
9. Use the cooky spatula to lift and transfer the done cookies onto cooling rack.

Shaping the dough slightly concave yielded 45 cookies, calculated to about 80 calories each. YMMV.

Additional Past Cooky Recipes

• A Convenient Triple-dose Pnutty Butter Cooky Batch
• A Convenient Cake Mix Cooky Batch [Valentine]
• A Convenient Cake Mix Cooky Batch--Easter
• A Convenient Cake Mix Cooky Batch--German Chocochip Bites

Waffle-grid Tortilla Recipe to Avoid

Instead, make use of some tortilla and biscuit recipes that I compiled links to for ideas. My previous blog article was a recipe for making tortillas by using a waffle cone iron. It was an experiment for omitting sugar in cones and saving loads of calories. The sugarless cones did not harden or keep their moldable shapes like the sugary ones, so I decided to call them waffle-grid tortillas and use them for wraps and foldovers.

I wanted to be able to present a recipe that made use of an online recipe for flour tortillas, using my cone waffle iron as a means to cook both sides of the tortilla. The panfry method requires frying one side of a tortilla and flipping it to cook the other side.

As I researched flour tortilla recipes, I noticed a commonality of ingredients, five items: all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, fat, and fluid. Somehow, I veered into looking up biscuit recipes, many of which had the same five ingredients. The major difference between flour tortillas and biscuits were as follows:

• Biscuit dough—at least twice as much fat as tortilla dough
• Tortilla dough—much more handling (kneading/rolling) than biscuit dough (minimal mixing)
• Tortilla dough—one to two "rest" periods of about 10 to 20 minutes each, depending on recipe, but none for biscuit dough
• Pre-cooking shapes—tortilla dough sheet, to dough balls, to flattened shapes; biscuit dough sheet, to shapes cut with a measuring cup or biscuit cutter

I followed a simple tortilla recipe for ingredients, up until flattening the dough balls. Instead of using a rolling pin or palote, I used thumbs and fingers. Instead of pan frying each tortilla, I baked it in my waffle cone appliance, pressing the clamshell down with a couple of hot pot holders. The results looked decent, although a bit thick. I even took pictures of the stages, so optimistic that waffle-grid tortillas (II) would turn out well!

What a surprise and disappointment to discover they are tough! Not one to throw out food, I've been eating some in small bites, spread with butter and lightly heated. I'm emphasizing that these tortillas were not good results! If you infer the process and try your own batch, don't be surprised that you come up with the same chewy results. If you do come up with more tender results, let me know!

Revisiting some of the recipes, biscuit recipes warned of toughness from overhandling, but the tortilla recipe instructions seemed to contradict, seeming to require dough-playing. Another thought that came to mind was compressing the dough while cooking might have contributed to the less-than-desired results, as the actual recipes indicate airy heat.

The following recipe links that I compiled call for the ingredients in common of all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, fat, and fluid:

Flour Tortillas

• http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0%2C1757%2C130189-249197%2C00.html
• http://www.food.com/recipe/flour-tortillas-diaz-101601 (scalable)
• http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homemade-flour-tortillas/ (scalable)
• http://www.texasrollingpins.com/tortillarecipe.html

Biscuits

• http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,164,151169-240195,00.html
• http://oldfashionedliving.com/biscuits.html
• http://vegetarian.about.com/od/breakfastrecipe1/r/biscuit1.htm

The recipes that called for shortening or lard instead of oil required cutting the fat into the dry ingredients before mixing in the fluid. The recipe I used called for oil, which I stirred into the fluid (milk). Most of the recipes called for water for the fluid, but some called for milk. Maybe some knowledgeable cook can enlighten about using milk vs. water, aside from nutritional benefits of using milk.

All my previous articles featuring recipes were successes. This time, I wrote about a failed recipe. In failure, however, lessons learned, with curiosity for a different approach in the future, is an experience gained.

Waffle-grid Tortillas

Just after Christmas while browsing for post-holiday sales in a department store, I spotted a clerk placing a sale sign for an appliance that I'd been lightly considering buying for the last couple of years. I'd seen waffle cone makers selling for $20, which I just wasn't willing to commit for. Woohoo! The sign said $7.99! What a deal! It took me a couple of months to try a recipe. A bit time consuming, and calorie-loaded because of a lot of sugar called for.

About a month later, I talked to an associate about waffle cones, how I was amazed that the baked disks were moldable for about only 10 seconds. He speculated that sugar in the batter crystallizes during the baking and hardens them when they cool. I decided to try making sugarless waffle cones. Well, I confirmed that the baked results did not retain a molded shape after cooling, whether cone or tube. So, this recipe is making waffle-grid tortillas, which are good for folding over or rolling up after microwaving fillings in them. (I've tried cheese and spinach, and cheese only.)

My tortilla recipe has significantly fewer calories than either the Simply Vanilla Wafer Cones or Orange Cinnamon Waffle Cones recipe at the Bella Waffle Cone Maker pdf manual, which I used for my basis. My tortilla batch makes about 11 5-inch disks. Interestingly, both waffle cone recipes claim 6-9 sweet cones for 2-3 T batter per waffle shape, although the volume of flour differs by about a third: 2/3 C flour all-purpose vs. 1 C cake flour.

My pixstrip's boundaries delineate the following sections:

1. Equipment and utensils
2. Ingredients
   1. Eggs and mixing
   2. Flour (replacement for cake flour)
   3. Oil and water, and mixing them into the flour and eggs
3. Batter baking process
4. Baked tortilla, microwaving with cheese (foldover, rollup)

Equipment and utensils

• Waffle cone maker
• Mixer (I used an electric hand mixer.)
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Rubber spatula(s)
• Plastic spatula
• Mixing bowls
• Cooling rack
• Cone shaper (for reference only, in case you decide to make sweet waffle cones)

Ingredients

I created the following table that shows ingredients and amounts for two model waffle cone recipes, and the would-have-been unsweetened cone recipe.

Note: Recipe #1 sweet refers to Orange Cinnamon Waffle Cones. Recipe #2 sweetrefers to Simply Vanilla Wafer Cones.

Ingredient	#1 sweet	#2 sweet	Tortilla
1 whole egg + 1 egg white	✔	—	—
2 eggs	—	✔	✔
1/4 t salt	✔	✔	✔
1/2 C granulated sugar	✔	—	—
2/3 C granulated sugar	—	✔	—
1 t ground cinnamon	✔	✔	—
2/3 C sifted all-purpose flour	✔	—	—
1 C cake flour (can sub with 1 C flour -2 T flour +2 T cornstarch)	—	✔	—
2/3 C cake flour (subbed with 2/3 C all-purpose flour -4/3 t flour +4/3 t cornstarch)	—	—	✔
2 T butter, melted and cooled slightly	✔	—	—
2 T vegetable oil	—	✔	✔
1 t orange extract	✔	—	—
1 t vanilla extract	—	✔	—
1/3 C water (Add more if needed.)	✔	✔	✔

Recommended: Spray oil application about every other tortilla or so.

 Eggs and mixing

Beat the eggs. If you want to make cone waffles, this is the stage where you mix in sugar after beating the eggs, then also add extract(s).

 Flour (replacement for cake flour)

Choose the flour type and amount. I used the 2/3 C cake flour replacement.

 Oil and water, and mixing them into the flour and eggs

Blend the flour, cake flour, or cake flour substitutions into the beaten eggs.

Batter baking process

Prepare the iron as instructed with your appliance. Because I've used mine a few times, I've only wiped the cooking surfaces with a clean, warm, damp kitchen rag for cleaning preparation, sprayed the cooking surfaces, and plugged the cord. Heating time is a minute or so.

For each disk, pour about 2 T batter, close the lid, and heat for about 60 seconds.

Note: The lid tended to not stay locked, so I held down the lid, using an oven pad for each hand. (Warning: The lid gets hot.)

Move the cooked disk onto the cooling rack. Continue the batter dispensing and baking process until you use up the batter.

Baked tortilla, microwaving with cheese (foldover, rollup)

If desired, as depicted on pixstrip, place filling on disk, microwave (about a minute, depending on filling, microwave power, and your preference), and fold over or roll up. Repeat for as many tacos or wraps as you want.

In case you want to use store-bought tortillas for fast preparation, try my convenient spinach-cheese taco recipe.

Creating a YouTube Playlist

YouTube playlist for this article, playlist compilation article

My February blog article was about YouTube video playlists that correspond to music-theme articles I had written. With this article, you can create your own YouTube playlist. Play the videos for viewing and listening, or for just listening.

The assumption is that you have successfully registered for online accounts and know how to enter basic information requested of you. You should also be aware of and can handle interface requests for demographic information. Enter information and set the privacy controls that you feel comfortable with (wink).

Start at http://www.youtube.com/. In the page that opens, you must open a Google account or log in. Follow the steps. When a welcome page at YouTube opens for you, you can start creating your playlist. Click [your user ID] > Video Manager > Playlists. Download my tiled .png file with screenshot images.

Initial Considerations

Consider establishing a theme for your playlist. Think music genre, time period, artist, tempo. Search for YouTube videos that fit your theme. For my article, summer songs is my theme. Billboard's top 30 summer songs helped remind me of some additional songs for my final playlist.

Creating and Naming Your Playlist

1. After you settle on a theme, at the Playlist webpage, click New playlist.
2. At the New Playlist window, enter the playlist title and playlist description, and click Create Playlist.
3. The Edit Playlist page opens. While you create the playlist, for now, you might want to click Private until you finish the playlist creation process.
4. Click Save.

Adding Videos to Your Playlist

Two methods of adding videos to a playlist is using the Playlist interface or adding videos while you play them.

Using the Playlist Page for Adding a Video

When you click Save at the Edit Playlist page, a new webpage opens, displaying the playlist title and description. You can click Edit Playlist and add video URLs in this interface. Click Add Video by URL, and follow the prompts.

Note: During the Creating an Naming Your Playlist stage, you CAN add URLs before saving the playlist. Follow the prompts. Continue adding YouTube URLs of videos that you want.

Newly added (September 2012)—Creating a YouTube Playlist PDQ, which emphasizes minimal keystrokes for the playlist creation process. The information is helpful if you have already successfully created your first playlist.

Adding a Video While Playing It

1. Find and start playing a YouTube video.
2. When you find one that you want to save in your playlist, just beneath the video window, click Add to. This action opens the "Add to playlist" window and displays your playlist name.
3. Highlight and click your playlist name.
4. Enter a note, and click Add Note. Or just click Close.
5. Continue viewing videos and adding them.

Testing Your Playlist for Continuity

If your saved playlist is in a different browser window, go to it, and click Refresh/Reload so that changes to the list of videos show up. Otherwise, click [your user ID] > Video Manager > Playlists > [your new playlist]. Click the circled arrow (Play All) to test the playlist. Check for problem pages about copyright violations or disallowance of the video in a playlist. If either disallowance page shows up, the playlist automatically rolls over to the next video in your list.

When you click to play the playlist, the first video starts up. After it finishes, the next video starts playing. The process continues through the videos until the last video finishes playing. A successful playlist plays the videos without encountering error pages (disallowance messages). These messages tend to be about copyright or not-allowed-in-a-playlist information.

Shortening the Time for Testing your Playlist

To vet the playlist without needing to listen to the entire collection in real time, interrupt and advance each video while it plays. Click the forward arrow. Each time you do, the front number, which precedes the forward slash, counts to the next number. (The number that follows the slash indicates the total number of videos in your playlist.)

Encountering Error Pages with Your Playlist

If you encounter a disallowance message during playback, note the video. If you want, find a replacement video and add it to the playlist as it plays. Return to the playlist page and click the playlist hyperlink text, which displays the individual videos. Click the video that is just AHEAD of the one you just added. At the video window, click the forward arrow and confirm the added video does not open a disallowance page.

If your addition succeeded, delete the initial video as follows:

1. Click [your user ID] > Video Manager > Playlists.
2. Click Edit to display the list of individual videos.
3. Click the X at the right of the video, which marks it for deletion.
4. Click Save to finalize the deletion.

Reordering your Videos

If you want to change the order that the videos play, you can shift them with three move options:

• Quick move-to-top
• Quick move-to-bottom
• Click-and-drag (Be sure to FIRMLY drag the video to the position you want.)

1. Click Edit Playlist to display the list of individual videos.
2. Change the order of the videos as desired.
3. While you are still in edit-playlist mode, you can select one of the video images as your playlist thumbnail icon. If you don't choose one, your playlist displays a nondescript icon.
4. Click Save.

Uncloaking Your Playlist

If you initially made your playlist private, you can now make it public.

1. At your playlist, click Edit Playlist to display the list of individual videos.
2. Change the Private setting to Public.
3. Click the Settings checkboxes if you want.
4. Click Save.

2nd Life 4 Cereal Packaging

Reuse and repurpose your cereal packaging. Reuse the bags. Create stick fans and make campaign sings with the box fronts and backs.

About a year ago, I wrote about cold cereals. I mentioned I would return to talking about cereals, but regarding packaging. Most cereals come in waxy bags inside rectangular boxes. (Malt-O-Meal bagged cereal doesn't apply.)

Two re-uses for the packaging are bags for food storage and stick fan signs. The stick fans are especially timely for upcoming warm weather and this year's elections. The pixstrip shows the two main uses—food storage (bags), and message stick fans (box fronts and backs).

Food Storage

I don't save and use every cereal bag that I run across. And my usage is usually for some items that I freeze, mostly meats. I use bags of the cereals that are fairly flavor-neutral. These cereals tend to be unsweetened, nearly unsweetened, and free of gumminess or candy stickiness. I parcel servings so that the papers separate portions, whether for single or double servings. This usage is especially good for raw meat for easy defrost later.

If I cut and cook meat for stir-frying, after I cook and cool the meat, I parcel it into maybe one-pound packages, flatten each, fold over the tops, and freeze for a few hours. The flat shape freezes the cooked meat fast. And I can break up the layers into convenient portions for making my own microwave meals with other ingredients. Or I gather up the newly frozen bags and store them all into a Ziploc bag.

Stick Fan Signs

I put most cereal boxes in the recycle bucket these days because I eat way more cereal than I have reasons to make signs for. I share the information for reusers and repruposers who have not thought about another use for the boxes. Use fronts and backs for making campaign stick fans or I'm-here signs. At some events, you can use signs that serve both purposes.

The series of images in the second row of my pixstrip shows a progression of steps. You need a cereal box, something to cut it with (paper cutter recommended), craft sticks that are available at craft stores, stapler and staples, and sheets of paper with slogans.

1. Open up the cereal box. Trim as indicated—folded in half, tops and bottoms trimmed, sides trimmed.
2. Place a craft stick at each panel and staple twice. (Try different boxes for size. Rotate for landscape orientation.)
3. Create and print out slogans. Staple sheets onto the stick fans.

Tip: By cutting a tall cereal box in half along the width, you can make two smaller landscape signs.

You can also use snack food boxes for making signs. Think cheese crackers and boxed cookies. Happy signing!

Tagging Your LinkedIn Connectees

October 18, 2013: LinkedIn changed the Connections interface, integrating interaction info. The methodology I explained in this article no longer applies. For LinkedIn non-newbies, click Network > Contacts, filter and sort for your contact, hover over the contact, click Tag, and make your tagging changes accordingly.

April 22, 2014: I updated the LinkedIn tagging process—"Revisiting Tagging Your LinkedIn(r) Connections". The PDF file of the step-by-step procedure, including screen captures, is downloadable at https://app.box.com/s/ju04h698elb8j5dc0m0.

LinkedIn account holders might or might not be aware of or use the feature of connectee Tags, a way to customize and categorize connection groupings. Veteran account holders might already be familiar with Tags and make good use of them. Newer account holders might be still be working on filling their profiles and adding new connections. This article is for newbies and others who want to be able to go into their Connections page and quickly find connectees grouped by common keywords, or use the feature for related purposes.

Note: Although connectee is not listed in dictionaries, I use the the term for this article. I feel it more indicates a person than connection does for LinkedIn context.

You can create custom groups and assign names (called Tags, functionally keywords) that indicate characteristics for your connectees. For example, the default Tags that LinkedIn assigns are based on the original invitation reason, such as colleague, classmate, group member, partner, and friend. Untagged, I have concluded, apply to connectees that I invited or who invited me and had inserted an email address after selecting Other (reason for connection). Your invitation choices might vary slightly from what I list.

By grouping your connectees, you can filter and find specific connectees by company, function, profession, or other category. You can assign multiple tags to connectees. For example, a connectee can be a co-worker, a professional organization associate, and a classmate.

A practical use for grouping connectees by a Tag category is using it for creating a recipient list for an outgoing email. By assigning one particular label, you can display all the appropriate connectees and send the message to only those people. And you can skip needing to view and review your entire list of connectees.

LinkedIn default Tag categories are few, but you can create additional ones. You can add new Tag names as a Manage Tags task, or add them when you review any connectee "skeletal profile" (my term, now referring to as SP). Adding a new Tag name in an SP adds the Tag label to the connectee's profile, and makes the label selectable for any connectee SP that you edit.

Click Contacts > Connections to open the Connections page (Connections tab displayed).
The left section (Filter Connections) displays the number of connections you have, the expandable and collapsible Tags link, the Manage link, and other expandable and collapsible links (but not discussed here). The Tags labels are keywords for your connectees. With Tags expanded, click a category for alphabetically displaying your connectees of that category to the middle of the page. Each of those entries in the list displays the connectee's thumbnail picture or icon, name, number of connections, and Headline text.

Clicking an entry in the list highlights it in blue and displays the SP to the right of the page. Among other pieces of information about the connectee, the SP displays the connectee's name, Headline text, current Tag labels, if any, and the Edit tags link. Click the Edit tags link for adding, changing, or removing keywords that are associated with the connectee.

If adding new Tags (keywords) is something new to you, you might add them by using the Manage function. Click Manage for opening the Manage Tags window. In the text field, enter a keyword, and click the Add New Tag button. Consider keywords that reflect your present company, a previous company, a professional organization, a LinkedIn group name, a profession (particularly for other connectees). The keyword shows up in the list. Continue adding keywords. If you want to remove any keywords, click the choice, and confirm the removal. After modifying your list, close the window by clicking Finished.

One connectee group you should review and assign meaningful Tags to is untagged. Click untagged. In the list of untagged connectees, associate each connectee to at least one keyword. Another group category maybe worthwhile reviewing and reassigning labels is friend, reserving the label for people you truly consider to be actual friends rather than professional acquaintances. Additional ideas for Tags keyword assignments are realtor, recruiter, landscaper, and other roles that your connectees fulfill.

Youtube Playlists of My Music-themed Articles

This article is a compilation of YouTube playlists for articles that I have written and cited music YouTube links. Some of my articles had numerous YouTube links that I divided them up into two or three playlists. I will periodically revisit the playlists to ensure that the links work, finding replacements as appropriate. I will update this article and the table as I write more music-focused articles and include YouTube music links.

Visit my YouTube channel, and click Playlists, then click Grid or List. You can autoplay all the videos in order or individually.

• Grid option: To immediately play the collection, hover over thumbnail, then click Play All. To view the list of selectable videos, click the playlist title.
• List option: To immediately play the collection, hover over thumbnail, then click Play All. To view the list of selectable videos, click View full playlist.

Theme	YouTube playlist link	Blog article link
Superbowl 2017 ads with familiar music	playlist	Familiar Music in Superbowl 2017 Product Ads (2/2017)
Memory lane trip of ads and music	playlist	Familiar Music in Product Ads … (1/2017)
Some lyrical memorizations and related	playlist	Some Lyrical Blasts from the Past (1/2016)
More Halloween music	playlist	Halloween Music Baker's Dozen Matter (11/2012)
Halloween music	playlist	Baker's Dozen Halloween YouTube Links (10/2012)
Dreamy music	playlist 1 of 2, 2 of 2	Dreamy Music (8/2012)
Summer songs	playlist	Individual links not available. Only created the playlist as exercise for Creating a YouTube Playlist (4/2012)
Family	playlist 1 of 2, 2 of 2	Family Matters (12/2011)
Food music (1st in series)	playlist	MnM--Munch n Music (5/2011)
Sweets & misc. (2nd in series)	playlist 1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3	MnM--Munch n Music, Sweetyummies (6/2011)
Alcohol & tobacco consumables (3rd in series)	playlist	MnM--Munch n Music, Sin Ingestibles (7/2011)
TDay travel modes (1st in series)	playlist 1 of 2, 2 of 2	Turkey Week Travel--Planes, Trains N Cars (11/2010)
Water travel (2nd in series)	playlist 1 of 2, 2 of 2	Post-TDay Travel--Water Water Everywhere (11/2010)
Air and ground travel (3rd in series)	playlist 1 of 2, 2 of 2	Post-TDay Travel--Part 3 of 3 (12/2010)
Parody	playlist	Moe-SKI-Toe--I've Got Me Under Your Skin (9/2010)
Button occupations	playlist	Rich Man Poor Man (4/2010)
Phones and letters	playlist	Technical Communications Means (3/2010)
Weird Al	playlist	Dual-theme "Weird Al" Yankovic Songs (10/2009)

Shot Salad Shooter Slicing Cone

My Salad Shooter, by Presto, is a small appliance that I use nearly every week, sometimes a couple of times a week. I've had it for maybe 20 years. Mainly, I use it for slicing carrots and olives. Occasionally, I use it for slicing veggies, especially for my veggie pasta recipe. I use it for chopping nuts and peanuts for making cookies and fudge. I used it for grating cheese in the past, but have since discovered the pre-shredded kind, so I don't salad-shoot-shred cheese no mo'.
My slicing cone is worn out, with some "fractures" that threaten to totally break it, as shown in the outlined areas of the pixstrip. I've done some searches for part availability and bottom-line cost. I've gotten the impression that comparison shopping is more difficult than in the past. Companies might now be less willing to let a viewer see total cost before requiring form filling. I think it might be a psychological nudge so that the visitor invests time and energy into filling information, and might be more committed to purchasing the item. In my online travels for finding a reasonable-cost cone replacement, I stopped at Mending Shed, eBay, and Presto.
Mending Shed
Mendingshed.com has an appealing price $4.95, but the shipping is $11.26, bringing the total to $16.21. Decided to pass on it. Furthermore, their form gave me four different options, but when I chose the post office, the tally screen told me they use only UPS. Hmmm. They could have disclosed that info on the first screen.
eBay
I was amused at the number of listings for a USED slicing cone on eBay. Something I'm going to use on MY food. Really! Not!
Presto
The starting Presto page for buying the part looked simple enough. I even inferred that estimating the cost would be simple. Nooooooo! After I reached the contact info screen, I saw that I needed a user ID and password as part of the form fill-in. Well, I decided I'd just send an email and request the shipping cost info, using the Contact link. Even that effort required more than meets the eye.
The contact page showed that I could use the form to email, or call an 800 number, or send snail mail. As the customer service hours availability didn't coincide with my own availability, I chose to fill the form. What a surprise that the Name field displayed "optional." The reality was that clicking the submit button triggered a you-gotta-give-us-a-name message. OK, so I went ahead and put in something. (Bleah. I dislike places that use contact forms for collecting data.)
The autoreply message that I received stated that they "will be in contact with you within 3 business days." Sure seemed like a long time for waiting for a reply to an inquiry. I think some other companies might have fancier inquiry forms where a consumer can pick a certain topic so the company's system can funnel messages to more specific topic buckets.
Mercifully, Presto got back to me that afternoon. The shipping cost would be $2 for the cone for anywhere in US and Canada. Woohoo! I placed my order. Wouldn't you know, the shipping cost is $3. OK, so I'll write the customer rep after I get my cone. Seems they could improve the customer experience by enabling the customer to more easily find out shipping info, especially a good shipping rate. A couple of more incidentals: ETA is about two weeks, and sales tax goes on top of the part AND shipping.
If anything unusual or unexpected occurs between now and the time my cone arrives, I'll put an addendum to this article. (I want to publish NOW.)

Family Matters

YouTube playlists for this article (1, 2),
playlist compilation article

This time of the year is good for reflecting back on something besides material items, whether acquiring for self or others, imho. I've been musing about music and family themes for some time. Last week, watching the movie version of How to Succeed in Business without Trying resparked my interest when the actors launched into "Brotherhood of Man", a joyful, inspiring song with energetic choreography (hallelujah!). What a surprise when I went to youtube and looked for Brotherhood of Man and found several versions of the performance AND a group with that name!

• Robert Morse is the original Finch of both the stage and movie version of How to Succeed in Business without Trying.
• For those who remember Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller, his portrayal of Finch shows him all grown up.
• This Finch is Daniel Radcliffe. (Yes, Harry Potter!) This youtube video starts out with Robert Morse and Matthew Broderick talking about the play's 50th anniversary. John Larroquette (Night Court) is a co-star in this latest version of the play.
• Now for the OTHER Brotherhood of Man, whom I'd forgotten about over the (um) years. Their moderate hit is "Save Your Kisses for Me."

Even though my article is Family Matters, and brotherhood is not blood relations, I'm being flexible about the etymology regarding family members. From Online Etymology Dictionary, brotherhood:

Originally "relationship of a brother," also "friendly companionship."

Onward to family relations

• Family of Man, by Three Dog Night
• Family Affair, by Sly and the Family Stone
• Soul Train, by MFSB (Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers) & the Three Degrees
• California Dreamin', by Mamas and Papas
• Can't Nobody Hold Me Down, by Puff Daddy (Sean Combs)
• Heard a Word, by Sister Souljah
• Twofer! Family reference for both title and artist! We are Family, by Sister Sledge

Pop and mom

• Papa Was a Rolling Stone, by Temptations
• Your Mama Don't Dance (and Your Daddy Don't Rock and Roll), by Loggins and Messina
• Papa Don't Preach, by Madonna
• Mama Said There'd by Days Like This, by Shirelles
• Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, by James Brown
• Mama Told Me not to Come, by Three Dog Night
• Daddy's Home, by Delfonics
• Mamma Mia, by ABBA

Kids! (and siblings)

• What's the Matter With Kids Today, by Paul Lynde and others, from Bye Bye Birdie
• Blue Eyes (Baby's Got Blue Eyes), by Elton John
• You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby, by Michael Bublé
• Sister Golden Hair, by America
• He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, by the Hollies
• Daniel (My Brother), by Elton John

Parent-offspring relationships

• Cats in the Cradle, by Harry Chapin
• In the Living Years, by Mike and the Mechanics
• I Can Never Go Home Anymore, by the Shangri-Las
• She's Leaving Home, by Beatles
• Mother and Child Reunion, by Paul Simon

Family member references within the song

• Fun, Fun, Fun, by the Beach Boys
  "Your dad was gettin' wise to you"
• Leader of the Band, by David Fogelberg
  "A cabinet maker's son ... My brothers' lives were different"
• Leader of the Pack, by the Shangri-Las
  "One day my dad said, 'Find someone new'"
• Another version of Leader of the Pack, this one by Twisted Sister
  A twist on the iconic original version by the Shangri-Las
• Bohemian Rhapsody, by Queen
  "Mama, I just killed a man"
• What's Going On, by Marvin Gaye
  "Mother, mother ... Brother, brother, brother ...Father, father"
• Another Saturday Night, by Sam Cooke
  "Another fella told me he had a sister"
• Another version of Another Saturday Night, this one by Cat Stevens
• Love Train, by the O'Jays
  "People all over the world (Sisters and brothers)"

A language-derived example for my family theme article is Philadelphia Freedom, by Elton John. From the Online Etymology Dictionary, Philadelphia:

"brotherly love," from philos "loving" + adelphos "brother"

What a difference 200 years make for relationships between the former colonists of the mother country, and the song by a Briton just ahead of the U.S bicentennial. Watch a different performance, which shows people enthusiastically waving their Union Jack and Stars and Stripes flags.

A Convenient Fudge

This fudge recipe requires only three ingredients and spray oil. You can add nuts, peanuts, coconut, or anything else that comes to mind. The main flavor is chocolate. You can change one or more of the ingredients to different flavor(s) for variations.
Ingredients, in the order of processing and adding

• 12 oz. chocolate chips or other meltable candy
• 16 oz. frosting
• 15 large marshmallows (or 1 1/2 cups minis)
• 1/2 cup or more nuts
• spray oil for the pan

My recent ingredients that I have used most recently are peanut butter disks, chocolate frosting, caramel-flavor marshmallows, and chopped peanuts.
Utensils

• 1 large mixing bowl
• 1 cooking spoon
• 1 or more knives for chopping nuts (I use Salad Shooter), cutting the finished fudge
• 1 8" x 8" pan, prepared with spray oil

Instructions

1. Melt chips or other meltable candy in the large mixing bowl in the microwave oven, using reduced power. Check about a minute or so for about two rounds of heating.
2. Add frosting to the bowl. Microwave another minute or so until you can easily blend the ingredients with the spoon.
3. Add marshmallows to the bowl. Microwave another minute or so until you can easily blend the ingredients with the spoon.
4. Add nuts to the bowl. Blend the ingredients with the spoon.
5. Pour ingredients into the spray-oil prepared pan.
6. Refrigerate for no more than two hours. (If longer, the fudge could be difficult to cut.)
7. Cut into 64 pieces (8 x 8) or fewer. (FYI, the paper cups are available at craft stores and baking supply outlets.)

Note: Instead of waiting 2 hours and cutting the fudge block with a knife, you can wait 1 1/2 hours for cooling, then use a cooky spatula edge, pressing down. If edges of middle fudge pieces look a little warped, lightly shape them.

For other recipes, mostly that I tag as convenient, download my blog catalog file and look for the yellow-highlighted rows.

Veggie Pasta

Up until now, I have titled my recipes with "Convenient". This recipe is a bit less convenient, but it's veggie loaded, and produces 10 servings of 8-ounce portions. You can share with family, company, or you can store leftovers in the freezer (using food wrap, Ziploc bags, etc.) for future convenient meals.

My recipe uses four kinds of vegetables, spaghetti sauce, pasta, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, and a little bit of oil for separating the cooked pasta. The graphic provides a visual cue of the ingredients and stages of preparation.

Ingredients (guide for types and quantity—YMMV)

• 1/2 half pounds each of celery, carrots, zucchini, and crookneck squash, sliced
• 12 ounces of dry pasta
• 28-ounce jar of spaghetti sauce
• 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese (minimum amount)

Utensils

• Dutch oven or pan large enough for cooking and stirring stages
• Large mixing bowl
• Medium-large mixing bowl
• Medium-large strainer
• Baking pan (9 x 13)
• Tablespoon
• Measuring cup (1/4 cup or so)
• Large metal or wooden spoon
• Spoon rest

The following descriptions of the images (grid of 5 across and 4 down) can help walk you through the stages of preparation. Preheat the oven to 375° some time before you put the casserole in the oven, or add about another 15 minutes to the baking time.

1. Image 1 through 5 show the initial stage of raw veggie preparation (paring and slicing). I use a Salad Shooter for making fast and consistent slices for cooking.
2. Images 6 and 7 show the pre-processed, non-veggie ingredients and the measuring items.
3. Images 8, 9, and 10 show the pasta-cooking stage. Cook according to box instructions, strain, and stir in enough oil prevent pasta clumpies.
4. Images 11, 12, and 13 show the veggie-cooking stage. Cook about 8 minutes or until your choice of doneness.
5. Images 14 and 15 show the merge stage for the cooked veggies, pasta, and spaghetti sauce.
6. Image 16 shows the preparation before putting all the cooked ingredients and cheeses into the baking pan. Layer the ingredients into the baking pan as follows:
   

   Parmesan (top)
   Mozzarella
   Mix of sauce, pasta, veggies
   Parmesan
   Mozzarella
   Mix of sauce, pasta, veggies (bottom)

7. Image 17 shows the pan with the ingredients, topped by the final Parmesan cheese layer.
8. Image 18 shows the assembled casserole, covered with aluminum foil, ready for it to go into the oven.
9. Image 19 shows the covered casserole in the oven. Bake at 375° for about 40 minutes. YMMV for time.
10. Image 20 shows the finished casserole. Waiting a few minutes for the casserole to cool down a little helps portioning out rectangles with a griddle spatula or cooky spatula.

For other recipes, you can enter "recipe" in the Blogspot search. Or you can download my article catalog and visually scan for yellow rows, which include links to recipe articles.

Wordle Word Doodle

I’d been interested in Wordles since sometime last year when I encountered the term in a forum. I was so unfamiliar with the term, I initially thought it was Wordie. Wordles have been described as word clouds, from shapes that words would form.

A wordle takes all the words in a text and writes them in the form of a word cloud, using colours or different size letters to show how frequently words are used in that text

My thought is that it’s a blended word, Word + Doodle combined into Wordle. (Take a side trip for more word-blend explanation and view blended words lists.)

The prominent name associated with Wordle creation is Jonathan Feinberg, who created the algorithms and the web application. You can dive right in to the Wordle site, click Create, and follow the instructions. For my own featured Wordle images, I used text from my Texas towns article. (The pixstrip at the top of my article shows an image with the text all vertical, rotated clockwise 90 degrees, and redisplayed as horizontal and rescattered.) The initial Wordle window opened and showed buttons for changing the looks: Edit, Language, Font, Layout, Color. The graphic had the following settings:

• Language
  Remove numbers
  Leave words as spelled
  Remove common English words
• Font
  Teen
• Layout
  Rounder edges
  Vertical
• Color
  Milk paints
  A little variation

Clicking the Randomize button at the bottom of the screen resulted in a combination of changes.

• The Language settings were the same.
• The Font changed from Teen to Goudy Bookletter 1911.
• The Layout settings changed to Rounder Edges and Mostly Horizontal.
• The Color settings changed to the Indian Earthy palette, but still a little variation.

For one more look, I decided to change the Layout orientation to horizontal and Color palette to B/W. Note that the largest words are "Community" and "Lake". Frequency affects the size of the words in a Wordle; the Texas towns article has 16 instances each of "Community" and "Lake".

I've summarized the row of commands that are at the top of the interface as follows:

Edit: Edit has the choices of Undo (Ctrl+Z) and Redo (Ctrl+Y), and they function similarly to browser Previous and Next. The Edit command is a lot more fun after you generate several looks to revisit.

Language: Most of the forced-choice options pertain to removal of common foreign-language words. A few choices are significant for filtering, such as number removal y/n, character case, and removal or not of common words. The common words options are available for 29 languages.

Font: You can play with 32 fonts. It's nice that simple clicking generates the image immediately rather open a window where you require another one or more commands. I found the Owned font to be interesting for the script look with all the characters sized the same. And the Language (case) options have no effect, as though the characters have one case definition.

Layout: Clicking the first choice, Re-layout with current settings, is like randomizing the looks. Continue clicking Layout > Re-layout with current settings until you see a really eye-catching image that you want to capture and save. An extension of using the feature might be setting a graphics program to capture screens in intervals as you continuously click Layout > Re-layout with current settings. Then combine all the screens to create a slide show.

Color: You can pick palette offerings, or make up your own. The default ones primarily have either black or white backgrounds. The results generate immediately, similar to the Language output.

Get moving on your own Wordles! For additional resources, besides the Wordle home site, visit the following sites:

Jonathan Feinberg
Wordle Blog
Weaving Words with Wordle: A Talk with IBM’s Jonathan Feinberg, by Wade Roush 3/16/09

Youtube videos:

• From bochi23
  • wordle - part 1: the basics
  • Wordle - Part 2: Extending Wordle a Bit More
• From Kicode2
  • Wordle tutorial
  • Wordle tutorial part 2

Store Coupon Madness

I clip coupons, mostly grocery store coupons. I also clip eatery coupons, just a lot fewer of them. I've not registered with restaurants.com or groupon. I don't often think to search for coupons online. I myself find that most of the coupons that I see and put any energy into arrive in my Sunday paper. And I dump probably 99%. Call me a bit behind for how I hunt (or not) for savings.

Many years ago, I remember a grocery store at one time hut put up a round-table display with maybe a noble idea that customers would bring in coupons they snipped, and obtain coupons that other people would leave for sharing. I don't remember more than a few weeks had passed that I no longer saw the table. I speculate that maybe the table overflowed from excesses and took too much floor space.

About the early nineties, some local supermarkets started doubling and tripling coupons, up to some maximum value. The campaigns were pretty nice while they lasted. I think they stopped after a year or so. I'm guessing that stores really got squeezed on the margins because of some more diligent customers like me. I do remember that collecting and sorting for the multiple savings was time-consuming, but the payoff pretty good.

I'm less mad now over store coupons than in the past when it seems I embarked on reviewing, clipping, sorting, redeeming, and eventually tossing out numerous saved ones. Alas, so many would expire. Or the store didn't handle the product. Or I waffled over whether I really wanted to hunt down the products. I'm now better at reviewing for items I think I might buy and use coupons for. I've arrived at coupon characteristics that get my attention, for good and bad. The following lists are my coupon raves and peeves.

Coupon characteristics that make me cheer

• General
  • Plenty of coupons for merchandise that I buy
  • Numeric value that amounts to 25 to 50% off or better
  • Buy one, get one free (maybe even buy two, get one free)
  • Applicable savings for single-serving rather than bulk such as packaged candy (evil food)
• Visuals
  • Clearly legible expiration date, preferably one month or more, for a Sunday or end of a month
  • Thorough information, such as store area type, applicable varieties, packaging (weights, counts)—"any size or variety" favored
  • Graphics, such as color pictures for iconic visual processing (My local supermarket has in-house, yellow, portrait-oriented coupons that would be even more attractive with at least line images.)

Coupon characteristics that drive me mad:

• General
  • Dinky value, like 25 or 40¢. Inflation has crept up so much over the years, even $1 savings is no longer necessarily compelling. Don't those nationally known companies marketing people pay attention to how out-of-date those humongous savings look?
  • Discount offers that look good, but the list price is so high that the savings are no savings (predominant condition in drug stores, it seems)
  • No such item in store
  • No such item for that manufacturer
  • No such packaging size for that manufacturer
• Bundling
  • Requirement to buy more than one, such as so-much-off if you buy two
  • Requirement to buy more than one type of product. This condition makes the hunt like a treasure hunt. My supermarket frequently has deals for buying one or two items, and throwing in one to 6 items, many house-brand. Sometimes I bite, often not.
• Expirations
  • Short expiration time window
  • Expiration date placed anywhere except at the top (I hate hunting for dates, especially when they are at the bottom of the coupon.)
  • Expirations that are NOT on Sundays or ends of the months (I'm a Sunday shopper most times, and it bugs me when I miss a coupon by one day because of my own oops.)
  • Time windows with a start date that occurs after the current calendar date
• Visuals
  • Gradient or or other poor contrast between background and foreground
  • Tiny font (sixes, fives, nines, and eights when they all look similar)
  • Illegibility or graphics resolution for varieties of the product (occasionally, misalignment of color layers, particularly in accompanying ad)
  • Lack of information for store area location, particularly for meals that could be room temperature, refrigerated, or frozen Yes, I do microwavable meals! (If I need to hunt, I'm not likely to.)
  • Pet food coupons that accompany ads with pictures resembling people food
  • Oversized coupon, requiring folding
  • Undersized coupon, easily misplaced or misfiled
  • Questionable literalness for items, such as exact flavor, item size that falls outside the coupon listed range

Although my focus is on grocery store coupons, I have a few thoughts about eatery discounts. Likes: Good savings value, expiration, discounts places I go to or would go to. Dislikes, applicable to the ad than the offered discount itself: No address, phone number, maps, web address.

MnM--Munch n Music, Sin Ingestibles

YouTube playlist for this article,
playlist compilation article

This article is the third one in my Munch n Music series. The focus of the first article started out with popcorn and other munchies, and took a side trip to main and side dishes. The focus of the second article was primarily about fruits and desserts, with a revisit to more substantial edibles. This article pertains to ingestibles—alcohol and tobacco. Ingestible isn't listed as a noun like consumable is, but the root meaning of to ingest seems more appropriate than that of to consume.

Alcohol

• Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer
• Beer
• Beer Barrel Polka—Chico Marx, Liberace
• Brandy
• Scotch and Soda
• Pina Colada
• Kisses Sweeter Than Wine
• Bottle of Wine (45rpm disc on 33rpm)
• Red Red Wine
• Sweet Cherry Wine
• Days of Wine and Roses

Tobacco

• Benson & Hedges
• Michael Jackson (Billie Jean footage) & Benson & Hedges
• Benson & Hedges 1987 Animation
• Cigarette Commercial late 1960's Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore (Lighting up Kents)
• Tobacco Road
• Smoke Gets in Your Eyes—Platters' record, Fred & Ginger dancing to band performance
• One Toke Over the Line—Brewer & Shipley, "Gale & Dale" on Lawrence Welk Show
• Smoker Face - Lady Gaga Parody (Blink, and you miss Fred, Barney, and Goofy puffing.)

Not wishing to wander too deeply into dangerous territory, I now close without providing links to Doobie Brothers music, the don't Bogart that joint song, and Purple Haze. You're on your own.

MnM--Munch n Music, Sweetyummies

YouTube playlists for this article (1, 2, 3),
playlist compilation article

Sweet tooth? You've come to the right place for video links of music and sweet stuff. Last month, I wrote about munchies and music. OK, so some of the links pertained to main courses. During my lookups at that time, I ran across more than I wanted to put into one article. This time, I'm listing sweet edibles, in time for Independence Day. Also adding more edibles here rather than in last month's article.

Fruity and tutti frutti

• Apple Blossom Time
• Orange Blossom Special
• Lemon Tree
• Who's in the Strawberry Patch with Sally
• I Heard it Through the Grapevine
• Watermelon Man
• Pineapple Princess
• Yes We Have No Bananas
• Cherry Hill Park
• Cherry Cherry
• Cherry Pie

I must say, the only thing I think sounds sweet about tutti frutti is the phonetic fruity term. It gives me an excuse to paste a link to Little Richard's Tutti Frutti.

Non-fruity sweet stuff

• If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake
• MacArthur Park
• Jurassic Park
• Candy (Manhattan Transfer in formal wear)
• Candyman, Christina Aguilera
• Candy Man, Sammy Davis Jr.
• Candy Man, Roy Orbison
• Lollipop (Dig those over-the-elbow gloves that the Chordettes wore.)
• Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows
• Lollipops and Roses
• My Boy Lollipop
• Sugartime (Perry Como mixing it up with the McGuire Sisters)
• Sugar Sugar
• Honey Honey
• Taste of Honey
• Honey Don't
• Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Huneybunch)
• The Way You Do the Things You Do (quick reference to honey)
• Lollipop (Candyman)

Leftovers

Visit the first part of the Munch n Music series for other main and side dishes.

• Granny Goose Potato Chips (What's in the Bag, Goose?)—not a song, but food-themed oldie commercial
• Mashed Potatoes
• Soup and Sandwich (one of several classic TV commercials on the website)
• Love and Marriage, with clip of Cary Grant & Ingrid Bergman. Recorded most famously by Frank Sinatra. This song was also the theme song for Married With Children TV series.
• Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch (added 7/10/2011)
• Lunch Will Keep Us Together (added 7/10/2011)
• Teach the World to Sing, version 1 and version 2
• Lime in the Coconut

The next Munch n Music article features links to sin ingestibles.