Potato Skins

Gourmet Chef Elaine commented that it's been ages since she had potato skins and that we never see them in restaurants anymore.  I made the skins you see below with the recipe at the link and then used all the scooped-out potatoes to make a batch of gnocchi.   Crumbled bacon, Cheddar cheese, sour cream, and green onions are added to the baked skins and then put under the broiler for a couple of minutes until it bubbles.  Combined with her perfectly cooked filet and asparagus, this made an awesome Sunday dinner.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/282216/homemade-potato-skins

Vizio Volume Leveling

For months I've been complaining that the crowd noise during football games was so loud I could barely hear the announcers.  I figured some doofus at the television network thought that was a good idea, but it turns out it was a setting on my Vizio TV that was at fault.  In the audio menu, there is a "Volume Leveling" setting (see the image below) that was turned on, and turning it off solved the problem.  The other TVs have a similar setting, but those were already off and they worked fine.  The link below describes the best settings for our Vizio, but you can Google search for the best audio settings for your specific TV.

https://settingsbase.com/best-audio-settings-for-vizio-tv

Precision Pen

WD-40 is one of my best friends, but the normal spray can is impossible to use without needing a couple of rags to clean up the excess that's bound to happen.  So whoever the design Brainiac that developed the Precision Pen shown below is now my best friend.  Pop the cap and press down to release a little lubricant at a time.  

Thanks to my daughter and son-in-law for this awesome Christmas present!

https://www.amazon.com/WD-40-Precision-Lubrication-Pin-Point-Controlled/dp/B0C8PW3L5N

Christmas Tree Napkins

We spotted these napkins, folded to resemble Christmas Trees, at Walnut Grove Country Club.  You might think this would be hard to do, but as the video at the link below demonstrates, it's pretty straightforward.  Two folds to make the napkin a square, four folds to make the triangles, two folds to make it a tree, and four tucks to make it pretty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plkWFQ89XyE

Key Rings

My Infiniti G37x and house key are all that's left on my keychain shown below.  And with the G37x and Infiniti QX60 having nearly identical fobs, there are different colored house keys on each like this yellow tweety bird.  I prefer these larger format keys as they are easier for me to turn and this one key works on all our external doors.  Having a fob with a single key has been a goal for quite a while and the last barcode key tag, from Dot's Market, was eliminated when they upgraded their cashier system.  Happy days!

Homemade Bolognese

The bolognese on top of the pappardelle pasta you see below is meaty and flavorful and the recipe at the link below says it makes eight servings but that's likely a lowball number.  The one ingredient you must be careful with is the cinnamon.  Try folding in a little bit at a time so you don't go overboard.  Cinnamon is the ingredient that gives Cincinnati-style chili its distinctive taste and too much might be a turnoff.  If you're looking for a new warm-your-belly winter dish, give this one a try.

https://damndelicious.net/2022/12/12/the-best-homemade-bolognese

Titleist TS2

New golf clubs are expensive enough, but buying a new top-of-the-line driver is ridiculous.  Instead, I opted for the demo Titleist TS2 on sale at Walnut Grove Country Club for $200.  The shaft and the top of the club are in mint condition and there are only a few minor marks on the bottom of the club which is to be expected.  I pick up about 25+ years of newer technology over the TaylorMade R580XD it replaces.  Hopefully, that makes up for me being 25+ years older.

https://www.titleist.com/golf-clubs/golf-drivers/ts2

One-Way Airfares

I recently read Clark Howard's article (link below) about trying to combine one-way fares to get a better price and it paid off booking last week's flights to and from Las Vegas.  Not only did we get a decent price, but the flight to Vegas on Delta and the Spirit flight back to Dayton both took off in the early afternoon and were direct flights.  I wouldn't recommend splitting carriers if the flights aren't direct, as any delay that causes you to miss your connection would be on your dime.

I didn't have an image for this blog so I asked the Grok AI tool (available inside Twitter/X) to create "a mashup of the Delta Airlines and Spirit Airlines logos" and that's what you see below. 

https://clark.com/travel/one-way-flights-save

DDD Map

We're big fans of Guy Fieri's TV series Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (aka DDD). Each episode features three hand-picked restaurants where Guy goes into the kitchen, watches, and comments as their chef makes a signature dish or two.  I wanted to see which places he's visited in Las Vegas and instead of looking at lists, I found that someone had created a handy map (at the link below) with all those places and Guy's own restaurants.  One of Guy's restaurants is on the Las Vegas Strip in the Linq Hotel, a very likely destination during our next trip out west.

https://dddfanmap.com

Frankie's Forest Park

Frankie's Forest Park, located on North Main Street just north of Dayton, Ohio, originated as a zoo in 1928 featuring African animals captured by Fred Patterson, son of NCR founder John Patterson. That closed in 1935 amid the Great Depression and re-opened as an amusement park featuring the Comet roller coaster and a train ride that included a section through the woods (i.e. forest). Bumper cars, a roller skating rink, and a picnic area were also available and a 1/5 mile speedway was added in the 1950s. Following the park’s closure in 1958, the land was reborn as Forest Park Plaza, a strip mall featuring stores such as J.C. Penney, Gallenkamp Shoes, and Woolworths. The plaza was closed and demolished in 2013 and is still a large, vacant lot.