Good viewing

Clearly trying to fill the gap caused by the writer's strike, NBC has come up with yet another winner. My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad is like American Gladiators starring the average dad...with a few exceptions. To start the show, the dads came out in unitards for an event called 'Alphabet Soup'. The goal of the game is for them to crawl into a bowl of green sludge to search for letters to spell out a key word. Falling repeatedly on the slippery surface, their perseverance was put to the test - especially when their bratty child is screaming "Come on, daddy! Hurry up!"
If you thought that there wouldn't be trash talking because little kids are involved...you would be wrong. In fact, most of it was done by the kids. To the parent of a competitor, one snotty kid yelled "You're gonna lose!" I was really hoping that the other kids would gang up on her and take her out, but they just watched respectively.
Now for those of you thinking that it's not fair to go by athletic ability alone, never fear. There was a quizzing lightning round that asked the tough questions like 'what temperature does water freeze at?' and 'who is Spongebob Squarepants' girlfriend?' Remarkably, the dads knew the answer to the Spongebob question and not the one about freezing water.
The best part of the show was when they brought out a van with 'The Scorpion Kings' painted on the side. It was highly entertaining watching the tough Navy Seal dad squeal like a little girl when he had to carry scorpions from a conveyor belt over to an aquarium.
All in all it was a fairly entertaining show, but I have to say that I am so thankful that the writer's strike is over and great programs are going to return to television soon.

John "Pap" Ungerman 1927-2008

Last Thursday was a bittersweet day in our family. My Pappy, who had been suffering from various health challenges, left us and went to be with the Lord. We realized that his home going was for the best - he isn't in pain anymore, he's rejoicing in Heaven, and he was reunited with his sweetheart on Valentine's Day (my grandmother passed away 20 years ago). But there is still that very human part of us that still wants him to be here with us. And with good reason - my Pappy was one of a kind.
Greeting everyone with a smile and an emphatic "Hey Duke" or "Hi Dear", Pap never met a soul he didn't like.
One of his greatest joys in life was spending time with his family. Looking back, I can't remember a sporting event, school play, or concert that Pap wasn't there for. You couldn't wipe the smile or look of pride off of his face when he was watching his grandkids on the soccer field, basketball court, or stage.
And when it came to traveling, all you had to do was say the word and Pap was game for a trip to Disney World, the beach, Atlantic City, and especially Vegas.
Always a connoisseur of the finer things in life, Pap loved old movies, musicals, episodes of Seinfeld ("Ahh, great show!"), and let's not forget The Three Stooges (nyuk, nyuk, nyuk).
With too many memories and great stories to write about, suffice it to say that Pap was loved, will be greatly missed, and will never be forgotten.

American Gladiators - the return of a classic

Back in September I read a news story online and thought I was dreaming. The headline read: 'American Gladiators Returns to NBC'. My heart skipped a beat. Could this be true? Immediately my mind was flooded with childhood memories of Saturday afternoons watching the original gladiators. It was almost too great to hope for. Commercials later confirmed it and the good news got even better - Hulk Hogan would host it!
The premiere was set for January 6, 2008, and we were ready for it. Surrounded by friends and tasty snacks, we geared up to view some gladiator action in hi-def.
The line-up of American Gladiators didn't disappoint. The guys were beefy and the ladies looked 'corn fed', as my friend Jessica said.
Whoever did the naming & wardrobe for the gladiators should get an award of some kind. A hoss-like girl, complete with braided pigtails, named Hellga? Nice job.
And kudos to the genius who casted Toa and gave him a little skirt and fringy armbands to wear while doing a rain dance. It was captivating.

My two favorite gladiators are polar opposites. The first would be Titan. He looks like a Greek god with his blonde hair and ginormous muscles. Well done, God.

My second favorite is Wolf, whose tag line should be "And now I'll open your throat and feast on your blood". (It was funny when my brother said it - guess you had to be there.) Anyway, Wolf's got some nasty long hair and howls, but is oddly likable. Nick thinks he looks like Ben Stiller's character in Dodgeball. You be the judge.


To wrap up, I'll leave you with a list of highlights from last night and maybe some ways they can improve for next week.

Highlights:
- Bonnie the Marine splitting her face open but still completing the eliminator round.
- Hulk Hogan's handlebar mustache.
- Hulk Hogan asking a female contender what it was like to have the female gladiator's legs wrapped around her head. (Our living room went silent at that point.)
- Wolf howling...during every competition.
- Titan (the Greek god)...just because.
- The uber-cocky male competitor breaking down in tears when he loses to a contestant who deemed himself 'Spider Monkey'.

Ways to Improve for Next Week:
- When the American Gladiators come out, have them strike a pose to 'Eye of the Tiger'.
- More spandex!
- During the joust, have defeated competitors fall into a pool of boiling hot lava.
- Hulk Hogan tears his shirt off and joins the competition.
- More people making complete fools of themselves on the 45 degree angle treadmill. The look of total defeat on their faces is priceless.
- Lose the stinkin' tornadoes in Missouri, Ron Hearst, so that I can actually watch night two!!

Alright, that's about it. I need to go take shelter from the impending tornadoes.

Fondue Night!

Christmas is coming up and we wanted to find a special way to celebrate with our closest friends without just doing a gift exchange. The six of us put our heads together and came up with fondue night. I know - nothing says Christmas like dipping bread into a bubbling vat of cheese. But we had fun with it. Each couple was responsible for a different type of fondue and the appropriate dippers to go with it.
I attempted a cheddar ranch fondue. It was actually very simple. This is all you need to do:
4 Tbsp. butter
15 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 (1 oz.) package of dry Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
1 1/2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup dry white wine

- In a 4-quart saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the tomatoes and saute, stirring frequently, about 2 minutes. Add the package of Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix and stir gently to dissolve the seasoning mix.
- While the tomatoes are cooking, combine the flour and cheese in a bowl and toss to coat the cheese.
- Add the wine to the tomato mixture, stir once, and then add the cheese, a handful at a time. Heat and stir until the cheese is completely melted. Transfer to a fondue pot set over an alcohol or sterno flame to keep it warm. Serve immediately.

To make sure we had some variety, Annie brought a marinara-based fondue, and Tara (our true chocolate lover) supplied a to-die-for chocolate fondue.

You might wonder what kinds of food to dip in all of these different fondues. We had everything from vegetables to garlic bread, chunks of mozzarella to slices of pepperoni, and marshmallows & fruit (for the chocolate, of course).

Before we ate, Tara filled us in on some fondue-etiquette. Apparently, if your dipper drops into the fondue, you're supposed to kiss the person to your left. The guys really thought this was funny and, Tyler, with Nick on his left, was heard saying 'Oops!' quite a few times.
Our evening wasn't complete until we had a viewing of a Christmas classic - A Christmas Story. Good food, good movie, and good company. If you ask me, it was the perfect way to celebrate the season with the people you love.

Thanksgiving-a recap of the weekend's events

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays...mainly because I like to eat and that's what that day is all about. Over the past few years, though, I've really come to enjoy it even more. I think that's in large part due to the company during that weekend. Nick's family comes into town from all over the country and converge on his grandparents' house for the feast of a lifetime. They've got everything from rutabagas to flaming turkeys and so much more. Does it sound weird yet? You have no idea. Here's a rundown of the day's events.

We arrive at Nick's grandparents' house where the usual hugs and hellos are exchanged, followed by the distribution of the Thanksgiving costumes. No, we don't have our holidays confused, we truly get into the spirit by donning the apparel worn at the first Thanksgiving...sort of. Nick's Grandma thinks this is so fantastic. The guys can wear either Indian headdresses or pilgrim hats with the little white collar and the ladies either wear a headband with a single feather in the back or a lady pilgrim's bonnet and collar. Nick and I scored complimentary outfits this year - check it out.

Next it's time for everyone (all 25 of us) to gather in the living room for the presentation of the Flaming Turkey. Here's the deal - before Nick's grandparents will carve up the turkey, they slice oranges in half and douse sugar cubes in cooking liquor. Then the place the sugar cubes firmly in the orange halves and light them on fire. The result - a turkey surrounded by mini flames. It's truly a sight to behold and my only regret is that I don't have a picture of it.
It's almost time to dig in as we bow our heads as Nick's grandfather gives thanks for the 'bountiful harvest' as he likes to say.
Then everyone digs in, eats way too much, passes out on the couch and then wakes up to have pie.

This year, though, Nick and I decided that wasn't enough excitement, so we joined the crazy people and braved the cold in hopes of scoring a great deal on an HDTV. We camped out at Circuit City starting at 8:30 Thursday night and waited until 5am to rush the store. I had a good time, but I can't say I'd do it again. I'm just happy Nick got his TV. So that's it for our Thanksgiving weekend!


Next up - either chicken cheese chowder or Hermione the wonder dog's amazing kill. We'll see.

Worst Halloween Ever

Even though it's not my favorite holiday, I still get excited when Halloween comes around. It's just fun to see what costumes kids pick, how excited they get over some candy, and how exhausted their parents look from walking all over the neighborhood. Last year on Halloween, we had an exceptional amount of trick-or-treater traffic at our door. We hadn't been home from work for more than 20 minutes and there were already little goblins and princesses asking for candy. Since it was supposed to be a nice night, this year we were prepared. Here's how the evening started:
5:30-
Jerilyn: Hey, maybe we should only give one piece per kid so we don't run out.
Nick: Yeah, that's a good idea until we see how many come by.
6:30-
Nick: Oh, I see some trick-or-treaters walking down the street.
Jerilyn: Cool. Maybe they'll stop here next.
7:15-
Nick: Are these stinkin' kids gonna stop here or what?
Jerilyn: I know. We've got the porch light on. What more do they need?
Nick: I don't know, but I'm going to have some candy.
Jerilyn: Me, too. Toss me a box of Nerds.
7:45-
Two boys dressed as Spider Man come to the door. Our attack dog, Oliver, donning his snappy red bandana, greeted them.
Boys: Twick-or-Tweat.
We hand out two pieces of candy to each of them.
8:15-
Jerilyn on the phone with Kim: How many kids have you had?
Kim: About 50.
Jerilyn: 50?!?!?! We've had 3.
Kim: One of them was dressed like a box of popcorn.
Jerilyn talking to Nick: Have we had any interesting costumes?
Nick: We've had THREE kids, Jerilyn!
Kim: Well, I'm sure more will come. It's only...oh, it's already 8:30!
8:30-
Giant suburban full of candy-seeking kids pulls up and unloads directly in front of our front door.
Jerilyn: Hey, there's a ton of kids getting out of that car. I bet they're coming over here.
Kids take off down the road and they and their vehicle are never to be seen again all evening. Nick & Jerilyn each devour a box of Junior Mints.
8:45-
Nick walks outside to scope out the situation. He returns with a grim report.
Nick: There are no kids to be found ANYWHERE! They've disappeared.
At this point, Drunk Dave, who lives diagonal to our house and decorates more for Halloween than Christmas, has blown out the candles in his jack-o-lanterns and called it a night. Nick and I take that as the signal that trick-or-treating has officially ended.

In the infamous words of Homestar Runner, "This is the worst Decemberween ever."

Pumpkin Pie Biscotti

Last week was Boss' Day, so me and the girls in the office decided to fix up a breakfast feast for our fearless leaders. We covered all the flavors, from savory to sweet. My contribution used a favorite fall flavor - pumpkin. So I present to you, fair readers, a recipe for pumpkin pie biscotti.
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup canned pumpkin, not pie mix
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoons vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

- Combine the first five ingredients in a large bowl and stir well.
- Combine the pumpkin, eggs and vanilla, stirring well with a wire whisk.
- Slowly add pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. The mixture will be very crumbly.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat, then add nuts.
- Cook, constantly stirring, until nuts are browned.
- Remove from heat and cool completely. Gently knead nuts into dough.
- Place dough on lightly floured surface and divide into four portions.
- With lightly floured hands, shape each portion into a 1" x 15" log.
- Place logs 3" apart on a cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes.
- Cool for 15 minutes.
- Reduce oven to 300 degrees. Cut each log crosswise in 1" slices.
- Place slices on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Cool completely on wire racks.
Yes, there are a lot of steps to this recipe, but don't be put off by that. When they come out of the oven you'll find that the effort was totally worth it. These are great with your morning cup of coffee or hot tea. Enjoy!