Stopping Advertisements

If you're tired of retrieving and disposing of these weekly advertisements, while never looking at them, you can opt out entirely.  Just go to this link, enter in your information and they should stop in a couple weeks.

http://www.sundayvaluesohio.com

Backpack Cooler

Hiking in the dry western United States requires drinking a lot of water to avoid dehydration.  This backpack cooler holds up to twenty cans plus ice in its no-leak liner, includes two mesh side pockets and padded backpack straps for hauling comfort.  It will sure be better than carrying warm water bottles in everyone's hands.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003I7CLB8

Charred Green Beans With Ricotta And Lemon

The bed for this dish is whipped ricotta cheese, oil and salt.  It's topped with charred green beans  cooked in two tablespoons of oil.  We suggest adding a large clove of minced garlic to the beans a minute before taking them off the heat for a little extra punch.  An awesome side, in less than twenty minutes, that you'll be asking for seconds.

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/3-ingredient-charred-green-beans-with-whipped-ricotta

HDTV Antenna

If you've lost a local cable channel due one of those spats between networks and cable companies, the answer is less than $20 away.  I bought this one so I can pickup local channels on my home office PC monitor (which is a Samsung 32" TV).  A serious cord-cutter may want to invest more, but this one fit my needs perfectly.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S2HWZH2

Running Profits

One of the benefits of running lots of miles is you come across coins from time to time lying on the ground.  This month I decided to start collecting them in a little shot glass to see how much I collected.  As seen below, the total was 26 cents, consisting of one dime, two nickels and six pennies.  That works out at just under one penny per run and a little over 2/10ths of a penny per mile.  At this rate I hope to have enough to buy a small Dairy Queen ice cream cone by next summer.

Google My Maps

It's pretty neat to see a list of addresses mapped out with pins on a Google Map, but to me the best feature is checking addresses to make sure they're proper.  The instructions at the link below will get into the details, but after uploading a CSV file any addresses it can't map are highlighted in red in a data table.  Nice for validating large mailing lists such as wedding invitations or newsletters.

https://www.google.com/earth/outreach/learn/visualize-your-data-on-a-custom-map-using-google-my-maps

Grace Bay Sunset

Every sunset at The Ocean Club Resort on Grace Bay in the Turks and Caicos islands was as different as they were spectacular, and picking a favorite to share (below) wasn't easy.  They varied from serene, cloudless skies to swirling brush strokes of reds, oranges, yellows and blues, and all were stare-worthy.  This resort, which faces west-northwest, is perfectly positioned in June, where the sun is directly perpendicular to the shore line.

https://www.oceanclubresorts.com

Conch

Our island vacation included the Taste of TCI Food Tour, exploring the island and visiting several local foodie destinations, finishing up at the weekly Thursday Fish Fry at Bight Park.  At one of the stops we had a demonstration of how they separate the meat of the conch from the shell.  This expert whacked a certain spot on the conch with this rock hammer, opening a small slot.  Then he inserted a knife to get the conch to let go and voila, fresh conch.

http://www.tasteoftcifoodtours.com

Catamaran Ride - Part 2

During our Turks and Caicos catamaran ride, we had stopped for a bit and noticed a pair of porpoises lazily cruising through the water, fins and snouts occasionally breaking the water.  The fun really started when our boat took off and one of the porpoises decided the race was on and began chasing us, leaping out of the water every few seconds.  Capturing the perfect moment almost eluded me as I snapped pictures as fast as I could, trying to time a leap just right.  The picture below was the lone success, captured right before the porpoise decided the fun was over. 

https://islandvibestours.com

Sheet Pan Caprese Chicken

Easily a middle-of-the-week dinner, this recipe delivers a nice twist with its baked cherry tomatoes bursting with flavor.  I offer a couple changes to the directions, first, don't bother reducing the balsamic vinegar, it's touchy and makes you stand there stirring the entire time.  Second, when finished baking, put it under the broiler for 1-2 minutes, and monitor that closely, to get a nice brown crust on the cheese.  This link contains a video showing just how easy this is to make.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/sheet-pan-caprese-chicken-3876232