Volume Button Shutter

I am totally ashamed that I did not know this camera feature until a few days ago.  Instead of using the round white button on the camera app's screen, you can use either the volume up or the volume down button as the shutter.  So instead of holding the camera in one hand and pressing the white button with the other, you hold the phone in both hands, making it much steadier.  Works on both Gourmet Chef Elaine's iPhone and my Google Pixel 7.  

https://www.isumsoft.com/iphone-tips/take-photos-with-volume-buttons-in-iphone.html

Texas Toast Tomato Pies

With this year's tomato crop delivering some of the best we've tasted, Gourmet Chef Elaine found this simple recipe that was a hit.  It combines Texas Toast (our favorite), a layer of Boursin cheese and mayo, and thick tomato slices topped with shredded sharp Cheddar cheese and chopped chives (from our own patio-grown pots).  Directions and spices needed can be found at the link below.

https://www.southernliving.com/texas-toast-tomato-pies-12008235

Knockoff

I ran across the free (I love free) Knockoff browser extension in the daily email I get from Clark Howard.  After you add it to your web browser, it automatically filters Amazon search results based on the seller’s trademark and brand legitimacy.  By default, it just dims to filtered results (like in the screenshot below), but you can configure it to hide them entirely.  As Clark notes in his in-depth write-up at the link below, "It isn’t a perfect solution for keeping your Amazon purchases safe, but it helps save time by eliminating a lot of the junk."  

https://clark.com/shopping-retail/knockoff-amazon-fake-brands

Reloads

Thanks to my son and daughter-in-law, I had some gift card money to spend at Golf Galaxy, and I spent a half-hour wandering through the store looking for deals.  In addition to finding a nice, lightweight Safari hat, I found the like-new Titleist Pro V1 golf balls from Reload that you see below.  The Pro V1 is one of the very best golf balls on the market, and you can pick up a dozen on Amazon for around $58.  I bought two dozen Reloads for that same money, and they look every bit like brand-new golf balls.  Sweet deal!

https://www.golfgalaxy.com

Golf Cart Ports

I recently noticed, after oh so many years, that the golf carts at Walnut Grove Country Club had a little flip-up cover and was surprised to see there were two USB ports underneath, as seen below.  I guess that shouldn't surprise me in today's tech-connected world, but when I think of golf, I think about disconnecting for a few hours.  I'm torn between putting a USB cable in my golf bag just in case, or being OK with running out of power.  

Deplaning Made Easier

I didn't know that the armrest closest to an airplane's aisle could get raised, as you see below, until I spotted, out of the corner of my eye, a flight attendant helping a passenger.  On this particular plane, there was a small lever, circled in red below, that could be pulled to release the armrest.  Having that out of the way makes wiggling this 70-year-old body out of the seat much easier.

Farmer's Casserole

This is a great make-ahead dish to feed a crowd for tomorrow morning's breakfast.  Layer hash brown potatoes in a casserole dish that's been sprayed with oil, then top with pepper Jack cheese, ham, and green onions.  Pour a mixture of evaporated milk, eggs, pepper, and salt on top of that.  You can refrigerate that overnight or go straight to baking it in a 350-degree, preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, then let it rest a few minutes before serving.  

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/22454/farmers-casserole

Dual Alarms

After checking the battery-powered smoke detectors in our house, I found two that were more than 10 years old and needed replacing.  I opted for the model shown below, which has a 10-year battery, saving the time and expense of replacing the typical 9-volt battery every year.  For about $10 more, I ordered the combo Smoke + Carbon Monoxide model.  This alarm also speaks "Fire!" or "Warning! Carbon Monoxide!" so you know which it detected.  Since we have a gas furnace and a gas stovetop, having this dual-alarm model makes sense.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DDWB196S

Pantry Outlet

The picture below is from Gourmet Chef Elaine's son's house in Texas.  Instead of their toaster taking up counter space, it sits on a shelf in their pantry.  I've never seen a pantry with an electrical outlet, but it certainly adds flexibility to a kitchen.  Pretty clever idea!

Buc-ee's Red Lights

In the spacious and super-clean bathrooms at Buc-ee's, there are lights on top of each stall to indicate whether it's occupied or not.  With a quick glance, you can find a green light and "off you go" (pun intended).  That's way better than walking past doors looking for a little green on the lock.  This attention to detail is one of the many things I love about Buc-ee's.

https://buc-ees.com

Larriwood Avenue

We live on Larriwood Avenue in Kettering, Ohio.  I really didn't need to add the city or state to that since there is only one Larriwood Avenue in the entire United States.  I figured the name had something to do with someone back in the mid-1950s when the house was built.  I reviewed the original plat books, available at the link below, for an entry for Larriwood Avenue, which turned up these four names: George R. and Miriam E. Steller, Swango & Sons Construction, and C.W. Zimmerman.

George was a Registered Land Surveyor, and he surveyed, engineered, and certified dozens of residential and commercial plat maps across Montgomery and Butler counties from the 1920s through the 1950s.  He and Miriam were prominent local figures and philanthropists in the Dayton–Kettering area of Montgomery County, Ohio, and owned the land our plat is built on.  In 1962, George and Miriam donated 4.4 acres of land at the corner of David Road and Marshall Road to the Dayton YMCA (now called South YMCA).  Our plat is called Miriam Acres, and there is a Miriam Drive a few houses away.  I presume they were named after her.  But no connection was found to Larriwood Avenue.

Swango & Sons Construction, our home's builder, was owned by Stanley Sterling Swango Jr. Again, no connection could be found for Larriwood Avenue; however, it turns out that Stanley Jr. is Gourmet Chef Elaine's 14th cousin twice removed.  How weird is that?

C.W. (Carl) Zimmerman also signed our plat book entry, and his company was the general contractor that built Miriam Acres.  Searching his family tree in familysearch.org, I found he had a son, Lawrence Lee Zimmerman, who died in 1944 at the age of five months.  I believe our street is named after him.

https://www.mcohio.org/DocumentCenter/View/1737/Recorded-Plat-Books-PDF

BBQ Chicken Legs

The recipe at the link below calls for chicken thighs, but when our Dot's Market had chicken legs on sale for $1.49 a pound, we did the old switcharoo.  The legs were marinated in a sweet-and-spicy mixture, refrigerated, then brought back to room temperature before being put on the grill.  We didn't follow the cooking directions in the recipe, opting to cook the legs over indirect heat until their internal temperature reached 165 degrees, then move them to very hot direct heat to crisp them up, and finally cover them in BBQ sauce back on the indirect side.  

https://grilledcheesesocial.com/wprm_print/bbq-chicken-thigh-recipe-grilled-or-baked

Aggravation Off

Back in 2017, I blogged about Stop/Start Technology, the car feature that stops your car's engine when you're not moving and restarts it when you lift your foot off the brake.  I said back then that I was OK with it, but I've changed my mind.  Since neither of our cars has that feature, it continually startles me when the engine shuts off.  I also don't like the extra wear and tear on the starter, which would eventually cause an expensive repair.  

Fortunately, there is a button to turn that "feature" off.  It's the middle button in the picture below, the one with the "A" with an arc around it.  I'm sure the "A" stands for Aggravation.

Deck Extension

After having the hot tub removed, we had to do something with the deck.  We could have just had a railing installed, but instead opted to add the 4'x8' extension you see below.  A friend suggested calling Ryan Struve at Broken 9 Design, and he and his crew did a great job making it look seamless.  Not seen is the third red umbrella that provides shade from the afternoon on.  It's amazing how much bigger the deck looks, and it's more functional.  Yeah!

https://www.instagram.com/broken_9_design

The Little Things

The checkout lane you see below is from an H.E.B. (named after Howard E. Butt) grocery store in College Station, Texas.  Did you notice that the plastic separators are located on the side closest to the customer?  It makes it a bit easier for the customer to grab one, but it's a little more difficult for the cashier.   While just a little thing, it typifies how H.E.B. runs their stores; the customer first.  That attention to detail was a stunner.

https://www.heb.com

Using AI To Explain Ritz Crackers

Gourmet Chef Elaine has always loved Ritz crackers, but recently noticed they didn't seem the same.  I turned to the Google Gemini chatbot to find out if others had noticed changes.  The AI answer you see below shows lots of people have noticed and several of the reasons why.  Then she threw the rest of the box in the trash.

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Yes, consumers have widely reported and noted quiet recipe and ingredient adjustments in Ritz crackers over recent years, leading to noticeable changes in taste and texture.

Key Ingredient and Recipe Shifts

Fats and Oils: The most substantial long-term shift involves replacing older shortening components—following the 2018 FDA ban on partially hydrogenated oils—with modern vegetable oil blends containing soybean, canola, and palm oil.

Texture and Taste Complaints: Consumers note that the crackers feel drier, crumble more easily, and lack the distinct flaky, buttery richness they historically had. 

Subtle Adjustments: Shoppers and food observers report minor adjustments over time, such as changes to sugar prominence, adjustments to salt content, and the inclusion of additives like rosemary extract for preservation.

Shrinkflation: Alongside these recipe murmurs, parent company Mondelez reduced package sizes by roughly 30% while keeping prices steady, increasing consumer scrutiny on overall product quality.

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https://gemini.google.com

Avocado Toast

Gourmet Chef Elaine and I eat lunch out about once a month, and one of our favorite spots is First Watch.  On our last visit, I had decided to have something really different and selected the masterpiece you see below.  It's fresh-smashed avocado on whole grain toast, two eggs cooked completely, and smoked salmon.  Oh yeah, and some green, leafy things that I left behind.  

https://firstwatch.com/menu/avocado-toast

Bag Of Nuts

The unopened bag of salted cashews you see below came home with us from the Austin airport.  We decided to have a Bloody Mary since we were at our gate with plenty of time to spare.  We found a seat at the bar where we were told they didn't serve alcohol until 10:00 am on Sunday mornings.  A short wait wasn't a bother, but then when we went to order, we found out about the strange Texas law that you had to order food with your drink from 10:00 am to noon.  The kitchen didn't open until 10:30 am, but the workaround was to order one of three snacks, and we opted for the nuts.  Texas law doesn't say you have to eat that food while you drink, and being that we were not hungry, we just packed it away for another day.  Sigh.

Driving Away

I took the picture below in a recent car we rented, which had a feature I've never seen before.  If you're stopped and the car in front of you begins to move forward, a chime rings and the message "Leading vehicle is driving away" is displayed.  It would probably be more accurate to display "Get your eyes off your bleeping smartphone and back on the road where they belong."  

I believe that if you make it easier to be a Distracted Driver, you'll be more of a Distracted Driver.  You can't fix stupid.

Texas Roads

On our way to visit our grandkids in Texas, I noticed road signs like the one below that had the unfamiliar "FM" designation.  Researching what that meant led to an interesting history lesson.

"FM" stands for "Farm to Market" and began in Texas in 1936, and was designed to help farmers get their goods to market.  It was immediately popular, grew quickly, and there are now 3,370 FM roads in Texas.  You will see some signs using "FM" and others labeled "Farm Road".  Same thing.

Soon the ranchers wanted to get in on a good thing, and in 1943 the first "RM", "Ranch to Market" road was completed.  Other designations you might encounter are "SH" (State Highway), "RR" (Ranch Road, a subset of Ranch to Market Roads), "PA" (Principal Artery), "BU" (Business Route), and "SL" (State Loop).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm-to-market_road

Getting A Photo From A Video

I wanted to capture an image from a video I had of our grandchildren in their pool.  I asked AI how to do this, and it presented several options.  The easiest was to bring up the video, go into Edit mode, slide over to the frame I wanted, and take a screenshot.  Since the image had the entire screen, not just the part I wanted, I needed to crop it.  Easy peasy.  Just tap on the image, and some editing options appear, including cropping.  Adjust the borders and save the image.  

On an iPad/iPhone, the image ends up in your Photos.  On Android, it's in the Screenshots folder.  Other than that, the procedure is identical, and you can find it in greater detail at the link below.

https://www.trustedreviews.com/how-to/get-still-photos-from-iphone-videos-4400675