Homemade Pizza for Dinner, and the Titans are 10-0!

What a great night!

At some point today I was inspired for us to make our own homemade pizzas. I’d seen a few Plurks lately by Migly about his own adventures making homemade pizzas.  He even posted pics, so I decided to follow his lead and do the same.  So since Suzette and I had already planned go grocery shopping today, all I had to do was talk her into getting the pizza makings so we could make our pizzas.  I was smart enough to time it right so the pizzas would be ready sometime around the start of the Titans game.  It worked out pretty well.

Our first stop was Publix.  For the most part, we buy our groceries at Wal-Mart simply because it cheaper.  But Wal-Mart doesn’t have the largest selection of items in the store, so sometimes we have to go elsewhere in order to get all the things we want.  That was the case today as I like Newman’s Own popcorn and Wal-Mart doesn’t carry the brand.  While at Publix we also got dessert, which I’ll talk about later.  Since I knew there may be limited supplies for making a pizza at Wal-Mart, we went ahead and took a look at what Publix had to offer.  We picked up a can of Centos Pizza sauce.  Everything else we got at Wal-Mart including cheese, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, and bacon.  I only like my pizza with peperoni.  Suzette like it “Hawaiian” style.  We had pineapple at home, so we were all set, except for one thing.  We had no crust.  Wal-Mart was out fo the only good brand of pizza crust mix they carried (Martha White).  All that was left was their generic brand and “Jiffy” brand. YUK!  So we ended up buying one of the Chef Boy Ardee pizza in a box sets.  We only used the crust from this set.

Now that we had all the ingredients, it was time to mix it up.  We made the dough from the mix and halved it.  I think I actually ended up with a little more than my half, but Suzette was OK with that.  after putting a decent amount of sauce on top of the dough, it was time to add the cheese and the toppings.  Suzette first put plain mozzarella, then her Canadian bacon, bacon (she had fried this put before we even started mixing the dough), and pineapple. On top of all that, she put another layer of mozzarella/cheddar mix.  For mine I put a healthy layer of plain mozzarella with little of the cheddar mix on top of it and as many pepperonis I could get to fit on it.  We actually bought new cake pans while at Wal-Mart, so that’s what we were using for this.  Now they’re ready for the oven.

Ready for the oven!

We were both pretty excited to see how they tuned out.  Me personally, I was upset to find out that the light inside the oven is broken.  There would be no checking them without opening the oven.  After about 20 minutes, we opened the oven to take a peek.  Even though we were both hungry and eager to try our new creations, we decided they weren’t quite done yet, so we shut the oven and waited about five more minutes.  Again we opened the oven and decided they were ready.

All of the sudden, the whole apartment was filled with the wonderful aroma of homemade pizza.  We couldn’t wait to taste them.  At some point while the pizzas were in the oven, the Titans game started  So I wanted to hurry and get them on a plate and get to the game.

Yes, it tastes as good as it looks.  Without being too prideful, I have to say we did a great job.  Not only did we get to eat some wonderful pizza that we had fun making, it was something we did together.  With Suzette spending so much time on her school work and be dividing my time between work and the Church, it’s always nice to do some activity together like that.  It was fun.

Once all my pizza was gone and Suzette felt she had had enough pizza, it was time for dessert. I mentioned we picked up dessert at Publix.  I’m sure glad we did too.  We each got a slice of bakery cheesecake.

The label the bakery put on this was “Monster Cheesecake”. About half of the slice was covered in a chocolate shell, like you sometimes see on ice cream.  I didn’t really like the shell, so I ate the cake out of it.  Suzette did the same.

We finished super about half time in the game.  I think the Titans were waiting for us to finish eating before playing some football.  They were really full of fail in the first half.  But they came back strong in the second half and win the game.

I was really pleased that Suzette stayed in the living room and watched almost the whole game.  Neither one us has ever really been a football fan until this year.  I was sort of pulled in by the amazing Superbowl game last year.  I think it’s starting to grow on both of us, but maybe a little slower for her.  I have to say tough, for a first year football fan, it’s great year to live in Nashville.

We’ve already made plans for a similar supper next week.  What’s on the menu you ask?  We’re leaning towards homemade sliders and onion rings.  If we can’t think of anything better until then, that’s what it’ll be.

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My encounter with Saint Raphael the Arch-Angel

Since the feast day of Saint Raphael was just recently celebrated, I thought I would tell my own little story about my encounter with this saint.

If you know me, you know that my wife Suzette is from the Philippines.  We met online in 2002 and after chating online and on the phone for a few months I decided to go over and meet her in person.  Part of my preparation of the trip was to seek out a blessing form a priest I know for the journey. Now when asked who the patron saint of travelers is, any Catholic is likely to answer with Saint Christopher.  His name is a good answer, so I was a little surprised when father invoked Saint Raphael in the blessing. Saint Raphael is is also a good friendly saint to the traveler who is going on a long journey. While father did not knwo the reason for my trip, he did know where I was going. Since I was traveling so far away, he decided to ask for this Saint’s intercession on my behalf for my long journey to the Philippines.

After wards father and I were casually talking about the Saint as he had to explain to me the why Saint Raphael, instead of the expected Saint Christopher.  He then asked me why I was going to the Phillipines.  I told him it was ot meet a woman I had met on Catholic Singles Online. He looked at me like I was crazy.  When I asked him what was wrong, he simply answered, “Saint Raphael is also the patron of those seeking a spouse”. Of course it would only be a couple of short years later that Suzette and I were married.  So as Paul Harvey would say, “Now you know the rest of the story”.

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Me Right now

So like sheep following the gas tanker to the gas station, I am following the “Me Right Now” meme. This is me right now. I just got back from Mass.

Here’s the meme:
1. Take a picture of yourself right now.
2. Don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair…just take a picture.
3. Post that picture with NO editing.
4. Post these instructions with your picture.

If you’re reading this and haven’t done it, do it now. ;)

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9/11 Memorial

What was I doing on 9/11? It doesn’t matter.  Many, many others were dying. Let’s take a moment to pray for those who lost their lives, for their families who miss them and for those who survived.

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The Gospel for 9/11

As I watch the news coverage today of the memorial events and repeats of the footage of this day seven years ago, I get angry. I admit that for a while my heart fills with rage. I feel the need for revenge. For this reason I am so glad that Father Seraphim Beshoner posted an interesting Tweet this morning.

on the anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, wondering if today’s Gospel takes on special meaning

Let’s go ahead and take a look at this scripture.

27 “But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

29 To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.

30 Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again.

31 And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.

35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return;  and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.

36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

38 give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

(Saint Luke 6:27-38 – RSV-CE)

Thank you father for giving me perspective!

Now don’t get me wrong, I do not believe we are to turn our backs on our enemies to make it easier for them to shoot us. We should never forget what happened seven years ago. I do however think we as a nation need to pursue our national security with right intentions that don’t include hatred or revenge. I also feel we as individuals need to be more loving of our enemies.  We always talk about how powerful prayer is.  Let’s apply that to our enemies and see how powerful it can be. Let’s put our prayers where our mouth is. I think we’ll be surprised.  So let’s forgive for our enemies, pray for our enemies. Let’s pray for peace, not only in the world but also in the hearts of anyone that are filled with anger, hatred and revenge.

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Ping.FM WP Plugin test

Let’s try a test of the pingPressFm plugin. Cross your fingers….

Posted in computers, geek | 3 Comments

Proof that Catholics can be fun

My good friend Paul Camarata, host of the SaintCast recorded this song for his 100th episode. Now there’s a video for it. It’s a real riot….

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Zosimus“, that kills me every time……

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Ginger’s Friday afternoon Disco meme

So Lindsey at Theogeo started it with a story about mid-town Memphis at the wee hours of the morning and a video of BeeGees doing Jive Talkin’. Then Ginger posted her own video clip from Saturday Night Fever.

Well, here’s my pick for feel good disco music for the afternoon. Debbie Harry is so punk rock!

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But I can’t really end it there. Speaking of punk rock, let’s see some faux disco from Johnny Rotten himself.

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I LOVE the glasses..

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Wednesday Morning Update


Mobile post sent by thicke using Utterz Replies.  mp3
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Snow in Gallatin

Well, it seems a winter storm has rolled through this part of the country. We decided to come back to Memphis early and it looks like that was the right thing to do. Here’s some pictures of what was dumped here.

Snow in Gallatin

Outside shot form my office window.

Snow in Gallatin

Another shot form the office window. I wasn’t sure how they would turn out, so I took two.

Snow in Gallatin

This is our back patio. You can see the bottom of the bike wheel is under the snow.

Snow in Gallatin

Another one from the back patio. You can see the fold-up chair and flip flop covered in snow.

Snow in Gallatin

Another one of the flip flop and the door step. It seems the snow has piled up against the wall and door.

Snow in Gallatin

This is the weird one. This is the staircase in the covered breezeway. You can see the snow piled up pretty heavily on the top step.

Snow in Gallatin

Another shot of the whole staircase.

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