*A Trip To Belleville

A Happy Belated Birthday to America and cousin Mike.
(Remember the asterisk.)

Deb, Mike, and the Belleville Olsons put on quite a spread this Fourth. There was plentya (yes, I'm just making up words now, and who's going to stop me, Jodi?) food, fun, and fireworks.
Those farm boys really know how to put on a show.

I made this platter in a Martha moment. The bundt almond pound cake is from Clasen's. I filled it with blueberries and surrounded it with blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and more blueberries.

A farm boy will always man the grill. I think Nanci took this photo.

Not everyone works as hard as Alan.

"Chaaa, I ain't no Chihuahua, I was listening for rats."

It wasn't all Spotted Cow and rat terriers. Dairy products were purchased while waiting for Aunt Sara (like Waiting for Godot with cheese) to show us a shortcut.

I discovered they had ice cream next door as I was about to walk into the shortcut, I mean bar. Old age and priorities. Peach Melba would make a good stripper name.

"What the hell does that sign say? I am a little peckish."

The kitty and puppy are the most disturbing, no? Then again, they are butterfly fed.

"You going to the Beast Buffet, Camille?"
"Stupid Chihuahua."

"Take this leash off me or I'll show you a beast buffet. You said something about playing frisbee—what else you got to do."

I'm required to say that there is a permit for these fireworks and that only qualified individuals should attempt to handle and light them off. Or at least put down your beer. It's easier to hold your cigarette that way.

Somewhere Smokey the bear weeps.

We don't need no stinkin' telephoto lenses.

Did I mention Belleville, UFO Capital of the World, has it's own alien landing strip. I've yet to find it and have long since lost directions which I think I got from Dave Barry anyway.
Mike claims it's on his roof.

*What do you get when you give a UFO a tab of acid?

Boom Chicka Boom

Doncha just love it?
A big, boomin' thanks to Lisa and the gang for an explosive Fun Monday.
P.S. Patti over by Candy Yum Yum! made a great gummi find.
PPP.SSsss. A Rhythm & Boom's smiley face to Manager Mom for her Blue Q candy link on Patti's post.

A Quirky Fun Monday

This Fun Monday, Confess Your Quirks, is hosted by Lisa, our ched chum to the north. No, not that kind of chum.
In case you missed this year's slightly soggy Rhythm & Booms, here are some lovely, er, photos (Ab Fab reference and possible quirk) which illustrate the theme.
Warm Up Quirk: I hate crowds, but love the places that hold them before it gets crowded.
A Few More
I'm bad at math and avoid things which intrude on that part of my brain. Who wants candy that makes you check state sales tax. That makes it what, $1.98? What the hell is that?

I only drink tea, but love the smell of coffee. Like Nitro Nanci, who claims she imbibed so much in her youth there isn't any more room left for alcohol, my inner coffee pot overflowed until I went completely off the bean.

I used to hate the color pink. It's tied into an intense dislike of cheerleaders, girlie girls, and the bars of Dove soap which occupied my mouth as a child. The older I get, the less I dislike pink. Except for pink eye, blech. Sorry, Chrissy. (This young lady, let's call her Jessica, put in a 16+ hour day on Saturday. She does not have pink eye.)

I always have to check out fair food concessions whether or not I have money to buy something or the will power not to. I've jumped many a fence to do so.

I haven't forgiven Chris Carter for killing off the Lone Gunmen. Or letting the last two seasons of the X-Files (in theaters July 25) live.

I've been dived bombed by birds so many times (walking or biking on trails), I started to carry a squirt gun. They buzz me with neither tree nor birdhouse in sight. I was walking down the MIDDLE OF THE BLEEPIN' ROAD tonight and they still f*&@ed with me. Bleepin' birds.

I don't consider my salsiccia and peppers done unless they're burned.

I think name calling is mean. Unless it's really funny. Case in point, my nickname in junior high was "Pube Head."

I like big fluffy dogs that lunge at you. Especially when the owner can't control them and you know they're the reason the dog feels it can party. That's okay boy, go for it. Good boy. I've been told my attitude doesn't help.
I often confuse simple concepts and blame it on lack of sleep.
"Uh, I'd like to warm my cookies here—is there a charge for that?"

I find a lot of stuff that nobody else but me thinks is cool.

Movie Candy Series: Sour Jujyfruits

What says blockbuster like a box of Jujyfruits? Okay, Icees, popcorn, Sour Patch Kids, whatever you can sneak into the theater. If I'm nibbling Jujyfruits I'm probably at the movies, and no matter how bad it gets (Love Guru), you're eating Jujyfruits and flicking popcorn at the loud mouth in front of you.
Not that I'd do that. Peanut shells work best.
Sour Jujyfruits don't flick well, and like revenge, are best served cold. They're too soft and taste like uncooked JELL-O. Better just out of the fridge, Sour Jujyfruits don't travel well. Their tartness can't overcome their blandness, making each flavor difficult to distinguish. They are the original Jujyfruits' boring evil twin.
The flavors are supposed to be Lime, Grape, Lemon, Raspberry, and Orange. I'd rename them: Something Sour, That's a Little Different I Guess it Could be Grape, Kind of Like a Melted Lemon Drop, Some Kind of Berry I Can't Believe I'm Eating These After Taking Photos of Them on a Picnic Table Full of Duck Poop, and Something Else Sour.
There's a whole world of gummy and sour gummy candies out there and these don't compare.

Stick with the original Jujyfruits and keep reaching for the Sour Patch Kids.

Jujyworthy Movies:
Get Smart
The movie is surprisingly loyal if not as funny as the Mel Brooks and Buck Henry series. But then again, I'm no longer eight. It's got potential and a few laugh out loud guffaws. The kids in the audience were chatting up the dance scene after the movie.
Spoiler Alert: Bill Murray in a tree is hilarious.
Anne Hathaway channels Barbara Feldon, Steve Carell looks the part and makes an interesting nerd, Alan Arkin rejoins Carell (Little Miss Sunshine) as an Edward Platt plus, and the not so surprise character at the end is another piece of almost perfect casting. The almost is Terence Stamp—give us a better Siegfried!





Iron Man
Robert Downey Jr. and some slick SFX save the film. I was more interested in his booze soaked party boy than his Iron Man. Jeff Bridges makes a lousy villain, Gwyneth Paltrow is good and unexpected as Pepper Potts, and Terrence Howard is wasted as the understanding hard-nosed-but-not-really, military guy. Good action, needs more bad boy, certainly not a problem for Downey Jr. (he was so sweet when they shot Back To School here while Rodney Dangerfield was a grumpy old dick. If you want the real dish, ask the caterer).







Kung Fu Panda
Vince (age 17) wanted to see this movie, and I think Bug (on punishment, couldn't go) did too. We loved it, the audience loved it. Funny, well-paced, see it.

Meme Schmeme: Six Questions

Very few people I'd do this for, Chrissy is one of them.
But I won't enjoy it and I'm only using photos I'm sorting through anyway. (Look at my dad as a baby, and he claims he doesn't have a sweet tooth.)


Ten Years Ago I was sitting at a computer in a cubicle at a job I loathed. I was clock watching and trying to mentally leave my surroundings. I thought Falling Down was a mighty fine film.


Six Things To Do
˚ Plan a trip to Noah's Ark
˚ Make path for piece of junk washer to exit and new piece of junk washer to enter
˚ Buy more candy
˚ Eat more cheese (it still is, after all, Dairy Month)
˚ Make alternate plans for trip to Noah's Ark when plans unravel
˚ Lose weight


Fav Snackage
Please refer to the Gummy Pyramid (I told you I was sorting though old photos).


What I'd Do If I Were Loaded
That's loaded, not load bearing.
What I'm doing now, only more of it. And further away for longer periods of time. With a house, several dogs, and cabana boys.


Places I Have Lived
Madison, WI
La-X (the city, not the airport)
The Twin Cities

Oh, I've wasted my life.

Why The Wisconsin Candy Dish?
Because Candy Jones was taken. This started as a class assignment with a lot more local dish and professional type stuff like interviews and research. So here I am no longer being graded, doing a meme.

Procrastination Sunday: QBZ Warheads

Summer, baseball, a Sunday drive to visit the Ho Chunk Nation. All reasons why this post is short and sweet. And sour in a good way.
QBZ Warheads were on the new product sale rack at Walgreen's in mid-May so I bought them, ate them alone, ate them on the phone, took a nap, then ate the rest with Butter Snaps.
I tossed a bag to Bug who snarfed them in seconds without comment.
That, from a 12-year-old, is high praise.
The niblet blocks, not as crazy sour as other Warheads, are almost mellow in comparison. They're an approachable snacking size and the colors are fun and appealing. The sour fruit chews are easy for aging (or rotting) teeth to chew, so keep chewing while there's a tooth in your head (the new slogan of the American Dental Association).
This post is dedicated to our youngest taste tester, Bug, wishing him a sweet congratulations on winning yesterday's Home Run Derby at the WMLL ball park.

Way to smack a ball, Bug!

Home Run Derby photo by Jackie, aka Bug's granny

Emily's Chocolate-Covered Fruit

"Are you Wisconsin Candy Dish?"
"Why yes. Yes I am."
A delivery guy showed up with a box of chocolate-covered fruit from Emily's the other day, still chilly in it's cold storage pack. I didn't think those things actually worked, but they do. Mmm, thermal control.
Maybe the thick, waxy coating on the Everyday Chocolates from Emily's Everyday Treasures helped keep them from melting. Like they did minutes after arranging them in candy dishes on Nitro Nanci's garden table. And of course Nanci has to rearrange everything; so that didn't help.

If you like sugar with your sugar, I mean fruit, this is a less guiltier than usual pleasure.
The worst I can say about this candy, is that the chocolate gets in the way of some succulent dried fruit.
The strawberries and cherries tasted the best, countering the thick, waxy dark chocolate with their girth, and in the cherry's case, a sweet tartness. They're made from sour cherries which taste nothing like the ones we used to chuck over the fence into the Erdman's backyard because, well, we hated them. We threw rotten apples from the Prestigiacomo side, and rotten plums, tomatoes, cherries, and apples from ours. A malevolent fruit salad.
Judging from the mouthful of strawberry chocolates Nanci shoved in her mouth (you do not want to see that photo), she preferred the Chocolate-Covered Strawberries.
She managed to say, "Mmpff, good. Cost at store? Bllmmpff, haven't seen them. Strawberry."


There was something odd going on with one of the blueberry chocolates. I was eating them by the handful, thinking, "Blueberries and dark chocolate, how healthy am I. Where are the pork rinds?"
Then I ate one which tasted like my last lip wax.
However, despite radioactive dog drool which had to be scrubbed off Silkwood style, and the feeding frenzy which was last night's Mallard's game, I polished off the last of them without incident when I got home. (The funky animal in question is Rufus, who dragged me around the duck pond like a discarded peanut shell stuck to his fur. More on the mammoth St. Bernard later.)
I would get a pack of the cherry Emily's, and the strawberry is not without its charm. The cranberry? Eh. The chocolate blueberries might be okay on a road trip.
If there were a thin milk chocolate coating on Emily's chocolate-covered fruit, I'd be eating them right now.

A Walk On The Wet Side

After The Aftermath

Houses didn't collapse into draining lakes around here, but things weren't quite right with a few objects al fresco.

A picnic table submerged in water is just what those upstart ducks need. And remember boys and girls, don't eat lunch at Mendota Park in sandals—a Lake Mendota duck will nibble your toes. And now that the picnic tables are a bit moist, you're bait.

Is that where I left the Raspberry Cheesecake ice cream?

Let's have another look.
Can anyone resist a Doberman in sunglasses?

Cheesecake swimming in raspberry ice cream (swimming in Lake Mendota). Mmm, melty.

Back in my freezer you go, prodigal ice cream.

Does anyone remember where we parked the car?

The parking lot belongs to Them! now.

Has Yo Jimbo been here?