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The Best Monte Cristo Sandwich EVER!

Cravings sometimes strike when you least expect it.  

The other day, while doing my grocery shopping at my local Trader Joe's Market, I was suddenly hit with an intense craving for a sandwich I hadn't had since I was a teenager.  

It was 1970something and Disney World had only recently opened.  My dad had taken the entire family there on vacation.  We stayed at the Polynesian Resort where I had a Monte' Cristo sandwich at their restaurant.  To this day I can recall how delicious it was, how positively sophisticated to a Midwestern girl raised in a town where Uncle John's Pancake House ruled supreme.

And there I was in the middle of Trader Joe's and I had to have one!

I bought the necessary ingredients - ham, turkey, swiss, eggs - and a loaf of Challah, which I figured it would be good with since Challah makes the best French toast ever.  

I got home, unpacked and checked my favorite sites online to seek out recipes.  Epicurious.  Cooks.com.  A simple google search on Monte Cristo ...

Some Monte Cristos were baked, some pan fried and some deep fried.  Some used a simple French toast/egg batter, others used an all out batter with flour and eggs.  Some had just turkey, some had just ham.  

I picked the best of a number of recipes and made my own.  It was sublime.

Presenting here, the best Monte' Cristo sandwich EVER:

• 2 thick slices of challah per sandwich
  
• 1 slice ham/per
  
• 1 slice turkey/per
  
• 1 slice swiss (I like Jarlsberg)
  
• Trader Joe's Garlic Aioli Mustard Sauce
  
• Butter
  
• 2-3 eggs
  
• 1-2 tablespoons of half and half
  
• 1-2 tablespoons of flour
  

Butter the outside of each slice of bread.  Butter the inside of one slice and slather on the Garlic Aioli Mustard to taste.  Layer the ham, turkey and cheese and top with the other slice of bread. Make a nice batter by beating the eggs, half and half and flour together.  Dredge your completed sandwich thoroughly. In saucepan, heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil, add 1-2 tablespoons butter.  Fry over medium to medium high heat until golden on both sides.  Finish off in a 375 oven for 5-10 minutes to thoroughly heat through.  Serve with a side of maple syrup for dipping ... inhale!

ARGH!!!! WHERE IS SCRABULOUS (most recently known as Lexulous)???

I will confess.  I am an addict.

Food?  No.  Prescription painkillers?  No.  Shopping.  Again, no.  

What I have is a relatively harmless addiction to playing Scrabble online.  As far as addictions go, it could be worse.  My addiction is basically harmless.  Merely a time-waster.

It started when I discovered the Agarwalla brothers' game,  Scrabulous, back in 2007 .  

The Scrabble word game had been a favorite of mine since early teens.  I'd tried "officially sanctioned" by Scrabble sites to play the game, but found they weren't at all worthwhile.  They were all horribly glitchy, static and boring so I didn't pursue it further.  But Scrabulous ... Scrabulous was seamless (even on my Mac, Firefox browser), quick, safe (very rarely did one find any hostile folks posting either in the various rooms or in an individual game) and oh, so much fun!  

I played folk from all over the world, including Canada, Australia, the UK, Ireland, India, Africa ... even my own back yard.

I scored my highest word ever, a triple/triple seven letter which included the letter "Q" and brought me around 168 points!

After seeing the Michael Moore movie, Sicko, I was curious about our perception of Canadian health care.  Moore noted in his film that Americans had been fed quite a bit of propaganda about how bad health care was in Canada.  I played the game with quite a few Canucks, so I took to querying every Canadian I played (well over 100) about their experiences with the Canadian health care system and learned that Michael Moore was right - they love their system and it works well for them.

During the election I played with many Obama supporters ... and some non supporters.  

All were friendly and respectful though and it's rare that I've had a bad experience playing Scrabulous or, later on, Lexulous.

Alas, over these many months apparently a lawsuit has been going down between Hasbro and the brothers (hence the name change to Lexulous).

I thought that all was settled.  Lexulous seemed like a dumb name but, hey, if I had my game I was happy.

Then ... tragedy of epic proportions struck.

(From Wiki)  On December 2, 2008, Lexulous announced the fact that users might notice "minor changes" in the game, which would be explained later.  The score multipliers have changed in layout from Scrabble (including a 4x multiplier for the first time) and the point scores for the tiles no longer match those of Scrabble.  Every player is given 8 tiles instead of 7.

Talk about cold turkey.  I've been depressed for days ... I'm livid at Hasbro AND Mattel (what a DUH lawsuit ... any idiot could tell that Scrabulous was luring all kinds of young, newbie players who promptly bought board games) and angry at the brothers for changing the game.

What is a Scrabble junkie to do?!

Obama's Acceptance Speech - Brilliant, Absolutely Brilliant

Tonight, for the first time in many years, I am proud to be an American.

Tonight, for the first time in many years, I feel hopeful.

I was born a Democrat, raised a Democrat, spent months out of my fourteenth year pounding the pavement for George McGovern and worked for the Democratic Party for ten years.

But my loyalty has been tested the past 15 or 20 years.

It seemed like even when the Democrats WON, they lost.  Look at what they've done - or rather NOT done - since taking control of the house and senate.  

It's been hard to call myself a Democrat anymore, particularly when my views harken back to the days of Bobby Kennedy.  Particularly when I subscribe to "liberal" notions, like a quality education for all and health care for all.

The Democrats had moved so far right of liberal that I had trouble identifying anymore.

When it appeared that Barack Obama would secure the Democratic nomination I thought to myself  "well the Democrats have gone and mucked it up again."

With our nation's media in the secure stranglehold of the Republican Party I could just imagine the field day they'd have with Obama.  

I was wrong.  

Here is a brilliant man with fresh ideas and a new way of looking at challenges.  Here is someone who inspires with hope rather than pandering to fear.

Here is the one person who CAN take us out of the quagmire into which we've sunk as a nation and restore our credibility throughout the world.

The Ebay Scam

It's no surprise that eBay's shares recently fell 13.8 percent.  They've been on a downward spiral since before current CEO Donahoe, harkening back to Republican businesswoman extradinaire Meg Whitman who seemed hell bent on using the same Wal-Mart-like tactics to squeeze and squeeze every last penny of profit out of eBay without taking into account sellers, buyers, the origins of the company or long-term prosperity.

Indeed, as a seller, I was recently charged well over $100 for eBay services that I had cancelled months ago (and eBay acknowledged that I had, in fact, cancelled these services months ago but I have yet to see a dime in refunds).  They've used the same tactic with many, many other sellers in an attempt to bolster their sagging numbers with shareholders.

eBay = Greedbay.

Death of a Hamster

I never expected to be so devastated by the death of a hamster.

A little over a year ago my youngest daughter, Abbey, begged me for a hamster. In stereotypical fashion she promised to care for it, including feeding, cleaning out the cage and giving it plenty of loving attention. In just as stereotypical fashion she didn’t. Whenever I visited, for Abbey lives with her dad about a mile away, Munchkin, so named because the box he came home in resembled a Dunkin Donuts Munchkin carrier, seemed rather starved for affection – gnawing on the bars of his cage and climbing to the top only to drop off as if in suicide mission mode. One weekend when Abbey spent several days she brought Munchkin with her and he ended up staying.

To be honest, Abbey didn’t seem to miss him in the slightest. And me? Well I grew mighty attached to the little yellow furball.

Munchkin’s personality was enchanting – sweet and joyful, yet with a decidedly stubborn streak if he didn’t want any part of what you wanted him to do. He loved roaming the house in his ball, but even better he loved those rare occasions when the ball’s lid would fall off and, for a few brief moments until I discovered the empty ball, he would have utter freedom. One such occurrence happened when I was playing Scrabble online and completely forgot that Munchie was enjoying his ball. When I came downstairs it was to find his ball in the living room, empty, and the cat batting away beneath the refrigerator.

When I sold a vintage tin dollhouse on eBay, I got the idea of using Munchkin in the photography. He loved running from room to room, peering out the windows.

Munchkin also loved treats. I hadn’t known that hamsters had pouches until one day when I was feeding him cashews. At first I thought that he was simply a little piggy – one after another he stuffed the cashews in. Then, when he began to resemble Marlon Brando in the Godfather, I realized that he was storing them. Fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds – Munchkin loved it all. He had recently had his first taste of fresh pineapple and his relish of that tiny cube of fruit was a delight to watch. Seeing him store an entire spear of cooked asparagus in his pouch was a sight I will always remember.

I’d been quite upset to learn that hamsters generally have a lifespan of only two years. So when I went to check on him yesterday morning, when he’d been with us only a little over a year, I was more than a little distressed to find that he’d passed in his sleep. He had one of those little plastic hamster beds, the kind that look like dollhouse beds. From the moment it was put in his cage, lined with fluff and tiny vintage flannel blankets, he knew what it was for and slept nowhere else. At first I thought that he was asleep and would peek his head out, in usual fashion, when I called his name. When he didn’t and I went to stroke him, I found him stiff.

He had a send off befitting the joy he spread ... a viewing where he was placed, still in his bed, within an elaborate Victoria's Secret box marked, fittingly, "Angel" on the front. Surrounded by candles and fresh flowers, my daughter's ipod played "Into Dust" while we recalled the charming mannerisms that had made up our beloved yellow rodent, Munchkin. And then he was buried beneath the new small tree in the back yard.

Already I miss our morning routine, when I'd awaken Munchkin for his treat of a fingerful of yogurt, some blueberries or a small handful of nuts. And when I slip into my hot pink terrycloth bath robe after my morning shower, I recall how Munchie liked to ride in the cozy pocket, snuggled up against me and occasionally climbing up to peer out.

Even the cat seems to miss Munchkin’s exuberant ball chases around the house. He was a special little hamster indeed. Rest in peace, Munchkin.

Obama is not Muslim - he is, however, the wrong choice for the Democratic Party

The rumor mills have been grinding.  Particularly amongst folk like those single digit IQ Americans who populate online spots like the AOL message boards.  That means, of course, that FAUX “News” has also picked up on the rumor.  What is it?  Why the rumor that Barack Obama has ties to radical Muslim and doesn’t pledge allegiance to the flag. 

Oooooooh – scary! 

The facts is that Obama was not "raised as a Muslim." He was raised by his mother and grandparents, none of whom were Muslims. His step-father, whom he lived with for only five years, was a Muslim, but a very traditionally Indonesian one.   The dude is currently a practicing Christian. 

Frankly I could give a rat’s ass one way or another.  I am not, however, your average American voter. 

I do care deeply, however, about taking back the White House.   Our country is in big heaps o’ trouble, from the war in Iraq to the economy to the war against the poor to our overriding lack of compassion to the decline of our dollar to the abysmal quality of our public schools to the lack of health care for all to the overmedication of our children leading to our children shooting up high school and college campuses to the gutting of our constitution to the ruination of our media to the … you get the picture.  We are at a point in our great nation’s history when we are no longer great – nor can we pretend to be.  We’ve been screwed people.  Screwed by the Republican party from Nixon to Reagan to Bush to Rove to Bush. 

It’s a big mess.  And it’s gonna take more than inspiration to clean it all up – if indeed it CAN be cleaned up.  It’s gonna take experience and a return to the progressive roots of the Democratic Party. 

Make no mistake. The Republicans are praying Obama wins the Democratic nomination. Ya’all would be playing right into their hands by making it so.  And the Republicans are planting seeds and hoping the little Muslim Obama stories will have gained a life of their own by the time the general election rolls around.  Well, heck, Republicans own the media so they can do more than hope. They’ll be exploiting Americans worst instincts.  Think you're better than that, think it's hard to pull one over on the "bright, educated" American populace?  Hahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

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 Oh my gosh, I can't quit laughing ...