The Tangeman Family Blog

The "Elvis Sandwich"

2009-12-20T10:58:00.001-08:00

Having heard of the famous 'Elvis Sandwich' for many years, I decided to try it. Research on the web reveals that many versions exist. The basic model is peanut butter and ripe banana on white bread, grilled in cow butter. Honey is sometimes added, and usually bacon too. I tested three versions: pb and banana, pb and bacon, and pb, banana, bacon and honey. The pb, bacon, and banana was tops with me. The honey didn't seem to be that good in the combination. Pb with just banana was also good.
Enjoy!

Avatar

2009-12-19T10:02:00.000-08:00

I saw Avatar in 3-D last night, and I must say that it's a pretty amazing experience. The new "real" 3-D technology is worth the price of admission on its own. The tech has come a long way since the old red and blue lenses. It has gone beyond gimmick and arrived at a place where it truly enhances the viewing experience. Then there's the movie itself. Let me just say I came away with the same kind of awed feeling I had as a kid seeing Empire Strikes Back or Indiana Jones for the first time.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
"Avatar's shock and awe demand to be seen. You've never experienced anything like it, and neither has anyone else."

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
"A quantum leap in movie magic; watching it, I began to understand how people in 1933 must have felt when they saw "King Kong."

ReelViews James Berardinelli
"Avatar is entertainment of the highest order. It's the best movie of 2009."

Premiere Nick Starkey
"This is, simply put, one of the most beautiful movies you’ll ever see."

2009 CA Visits Complete - Fall Retrospective

2009-12-18T22:45:00.000-08:00

More people come to visit you when there is a baby around. Over the past few months Jack has had visits from all of his Grandparents as well as Uncle Bill and Aunt Erin. Here are few of the snaps from those visits plus a few extras thrown in for good measure.

Here Jack reads Hand, Hand, Fingers Thumb with Granny. Dum-ditty Dum-ditty Dum Dum Dum.

Jack's favorite color is definitely orange. Here's his favorite shirt - a gift from Aunt Jasper and Uncle Dermie.

A trip to the zoo with Grandpa...Jack, of course, needed to wear his monkey jacket.

Here's Jack and Mom while Granny bakes some cinnamon rolls in the kitchen.

Driving the trolley at the mall...

Here we are outside the Silverado Vineyards in the Stags Leap District of Napa. Their Sangiovese is a steal!

Stylish Jack.

Jammies, glasses and a fancy hat...dressed for Village play.

With Mimi and Grandpa - looks closely and you can see his Star Wars shirt featuring Yoda - picked up at Old Navy!

Thanksgiving dinner with friends.

Jack's hoping for visits from everyone again in 2010 as well!

Reindeer or Rabbit?

2009-12-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

As I was browsing the holiday candy at Walgreens, I noticed what at first glance appeared to be some chocolate Easter bunnies. Upon closer inspection, I determined that they were in fact chocolate reindeer. Of course, the only way you could tell the two apart is by the writing on the package. I guess someone at the Lindt company decided that that foil wrapped bunny looked enough like a reindeer that they would just go with it and not change the design.

Stephie's Christmas Dance

2009-12-16T05:33:00.000-08:00

Battle of the Super Lights

2009-12-14T23:02:00.000-08:00

I recently got a chance to compare the two ultra low calorie beer offerings from Budweiser and Miller. They both taste like passable light beers. I probably prefer the MGD 64 over the Bud Select 55, because the Bud seemed to have a bit of a skunky aftertaste. Some folks call it a robust finish, but I call it skunky aftertaste. By way of comparison, a regular bottle of Budweiser has 145 calories. Bud Light has 110. Bud Select has 99. Samuel Adams has 160. Sam Adams Light has 124. One Jelly Belly has 4 calories. I would recommend both of these super lights.

Jack Meets Santa - Year 3

2009-12-14T04:45:00.000-08:00

Jack and his third encounter with Santa Claus earlier this month. He was a little skeptical at first but warmed up enough to sit on his lap and tell him he was hoping for a red tricycle this year for Christmas.

Recall Jack's 2008 Santa picture where the poor guy was mostly just scared.

Year one, back in '07, seems like a long time ago!

Jack Getting Excited for Christmas (Volume 2)

2009-12-12T09:27:00.000-08:00

Jack gets excited when the Christms tree lights come on.

Jack's Getting Excited for Christmas

2009-12-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

Grandpa, however, is somewhat less interested!

Snow! In Sacramento!!!

2009-12-07T21:10:00.000-08:00

Snow in Michigan? Yawn. Snow in Nebraska? Tell me if it exceeds 10 inches. Even Arkansas gets a little snow on occasion. But in Folsom, California (at an elevation of ~200 feet above sea level) snow is more rare than hen's teeth.

Last night, however, it was supposed to come and by 3:00am it was falling like a banshee. We ended up with about an inch in total and it was mostly melted by noon.

Ranger, an old veteran of snow from his days in Colorado, is right at home.

Jack is intrigued initially, then declares that he doesn't really like snow!

Texas Pecan Cake

2009-12-07T10:22:00.001-08:00

Desperate Dylan does Drummer

2009-12-04T11:50:00.001-08:00

Bob Dylan, the greatest singer who ever lived, has recorded Drummer Boy, the worst song ever written. The results are available on the pictured album.

The El Camino

2009-12-04T03:47:00.000-08:00

Steph and I went to Starbucks the other morning and I parked fairly close to an older El Camino. For some reason I grabbed the camera, which was in the cup holder and snapped a photo of said Camino. We then headed into Starbucks and a gentleman (you can actually see him in the corner of the picture) commented jokingly that we owed him a picture fee. The Camino was his. I think I made the guy's day when I told him how cool his car was!

Jake the Snake

2009-12-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

Jake has not been seen of late on this blog. He is now three and a half years old and is doing well. Jake and I wish a happy holiday season to all blog visitors.

The Advent Countdown Begins! With Uncle Ranger

2009-12-01T06:12:00.000-08:00

24 Days until Christmas.

Project Warm-a-Pup

2009-11-30T18:12:00.000-08:00

When we're at work, Yuki is normally left in his outdoor dog run. But with Winter approaching and Yuki getting long in the tooth, I have growing concerns about how much cold the animal can endure. To assist in this matter, I devised a plan to insulate Yuki's dogloo using a blanket, a large staple gun, and some industrial strength velcro.

I plastered half of the velcro all over the underbelly of the dogloo's roof. Then I stuck and stapled the other half of the velcro to one side of a blanket which I had cut in a circle.

I then stuck the blanket onto the interior roof and walls of the dogloo. After the blanket was secured, I cut out a door sized piece of blanket, cut strips in it, and velcroed it into the door.

This is not a pretty job, but it seems like it'll be very warm. My main concern for failure is that the sticky back on the velcro might fail causing the blanket to fall on Yuki's head. This is, however, an acceptable risk.

Yuki Gets Crack at Turkey Carcass

2009-11-26T14:25:00.000-08:00

Yuki behaved himself all day as we prepared and ate the Thanksgiving dinner. To reward his good behavior, I decided to let him have a go at the turkey carcass after I had picked most of the meat off of it.

Yuki did enjoy the carcass, but I became concerned that he would ingest some sharp bones so I cut his fun off a little short. Regardless, it will go down as one of Yuki's better days.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T06:53:00.000-08:00

This turkey snap comes from earlier in the year (April) when mating season was in full force for the birds. Hopefully this guy isn't on someone's table!

A Very Special Christmas 7

2009-11-25T22:07:00.000-08:00

In order to keep the tradition going, someone (preferably Robert) should buy the new "A Very Special Christmas" disc which hit stores Tuesday. Dad will take particular interest in track number five, which is a reggae version of his favorite "The Little Drummer Boy".

Amazon Lightning Deals - Blood Diamond for $2 - Few people give a rip...

2009-11-23T21:04:00.001-08:00

Amazon is now offering their "Lightning Deals". Kind of a 5 days of Black Friday type thing. Many of them sell out fairly quickly. It is interesting to see which ones don't.

One such loser is the movie Blood Diamond for $2 which seemed to draw a collective yawn from America.

Yuki Destroys Fake Tree

2009-11-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

We had a new roof put on our house this week. When the crew showed up, we were at work and Yuki was in his outdoor kennel. It seems Yuki took exception to the strange men in his yard. He reacted by totally destroying the base of the fake tree that has been in his kennel for many months without incident.

That night, I took Yuki for his normal walk around the neighborhood. It just happened to be the night before trash day, and as luck would have it, we stumbled upon another very similar fake tree that had been placed by someone's garbage can. That's the same way I found the original fake tree! Yuki didn't have to go even one day without a nice fake tree in his kennel! Hopefully he won't destroy the new one.

YUKI!

2009-11-21T10:06:00.000-08:00

Waffle Cookie Revisited

2009-11-17T13:06:00.000-08:00

You should read my previous post entitled 'Waffle Cookie Success'. Using the receipe and waffle iron described there, I tested different cooking times. Too long, the cookie is overly crunchy or even burned. Too short, it can be gummy and very tough to get out of the iron in one piece. I had the best results using 2 minutes 45 seconds with 21 grams (3/4 ounce) of dough. This is a rounded teaspoonful. After this time, open the iron, turn it over, and shake the cookies (4 of them in quarters of the little Belgian iron) onto the counter. Let them cool for a few minutes before you try to handle them. This makes a good cookie, crunchier than the normal chip cookie because of the waffle indentations.

The California Coffee Scene

2009-11-17T06:33:00.000-08:00

A few months ago Steph came home with a fancy new coffee maker. It is a Keurig and features single cup coffee "pods". They call them K-cups. It can make tea and iced beverages as well and all in all is pretty cool. I certainly have gone from drinking almost no coffee to having a cup or two on the week-ends.

One unexpected development since we got this new coffee maker is Jack's insistence on making the coffee. He can pretty much do all the steps as evidenced in the below video.

World's Tallest Telescoping Style Signpost

2009-11-16T18:39:00.000-08:00

It's a not so well known fact that the Burger King in Cozad, NE features the world's tallest telescoping style signpost. At least, it did at one point. Driving by Cozad today, I decided to snap some long overdue pics of the famed signpost. I also went inside the Burger King, and was saddened to discover that the mini museum to the signpost that used to be in the lobby is now gone. I asked an employee about it, and he looked at me like I was an idiot. Fortunately, an older woman who had apparently worked at the store for a long time was familiar with the signpost's lore. She said they had taken the mini museum down a few years ago, but she wasn't sure why. She figured it was because they had built a taller telescoping style signpost somewhere else. A search of the web has yielded no additional information. That means that this blog post will have to stand as the only permanent recognition of this great telescoping style signpost.