Hello Dear Friend!
Welcome to Tastebud Tango, where we "open the hidden treasures" of the Internet. In each issue your Tastebud Tango Lady, Janette Blackwell, will review some extra-special websites -- all of them family safe -- with wisdom, entertainment, and/or help in a multitude of areas. Your tastebuds will also tango to the tune of the special food website reviewed in each issue. If by sad chance these hidden treasures don't interest you, just scroll down to the end of the newsletter and click on "Unsubscribe."
COME TREASURE HUNTING WITH US
As you may know, Tastebud Tango replaces the Nostalgia Notes newsletter. I, as your Tastebud Tango Lady, have some great websites to bring to your attention. I hope that one or more of these sites tickles your fancy and/or reveals Internet treasures that are new to you.
Here's what you'll find in the first issue:
---Table of Contents---
1. Fall colors around the U.S.
2. Mean Kitty, authored by the meanest kitty around
3. Help for flooded homes, homes with mold, pesticides
4. Fre*e and educational games for children and adults
5. Worst pills
6. Earth at night from space
7. Ask the cooking experts
8. Lady Bird Johnson's lace cookies
1. FALL COLORS.
You'll find the current fall colors in states from New Hampshire to California and in between, along with recommended scenic drives, and even why leaves change color, at this excellent U.S. government site. Click on this address for an amazing variety of information:
http://www.fs.fed.us/news/fallcolors/
But there are more fall colors to be seen than many people realize. When we think of spectacular fall color, we think of the luminous blazes of New England. That season is rapidly fading, but in October and early November the southern Appalachians turn into a tapestry of rich, vibrant tones.
In my experience, southern fall colors, such as those we have in Virginia starting October 15-30, are richer and deeper -- as well as later -- than those in New England. You might say that the bright, vibrant New England maples sing soprano, while the Mid-Atlantic red oaks sing bass. The sourwood tree sings tenor, and what a tenor! Rich rose red with purple blends -- the most gorgeous of them all, your Tastebud Tango Lady thinks. The sourwood is a southern tree -- to learn more about it and other individual trees with fall color, go to the North Carolina site below. The site also gives tips to photographers and regional links. Click here:
http://ncnatural.com/fall-color/
---------2. MEAN KITTY
No, no, no! We are not talking about being mean TO kitties. Heaven forbid that we should be mean to kitties. This is a site offering advice by Mean Kitty, who is a kitty and who always takes the side of the kitties.
Mean Kitty's advice is pretty pithy. To the person who complained that his cat didn't want to be chummy, Mean Kitty said, "Try putting tuna between your toes." I think Mean Kitty is one of the funniest sites on the Internet. If you consider putting tuna between your toes to be practical advice, then it's practical as well.
And here's the address of Mean Kitty for you to click on:
http://meankitty.com/advice.htm
3. FLOODED HOMES, HOMES WITH MOLD, PESTICIDES
Are you concerned about toxic black mold in your home? Go to the site below, which is operated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and put "mold" into the search box. For people whose homes have been flooded, this site has valuable information. If you're concerned about pesticides in your soil, radon in your home, or West Nile Virus, they can help you too. Do take time to explore this site -- it's a treasure trove of helpful information on a myriad of subjects! You paid your taxes; now reap the benefits. And here's the address for you to click on:
4. FRE*E AND EDUCATIONAL GAMES FOR CHILDREN
Click on the address below to find some great fre*e PC games. They are advertised as children's games, but adults will enjoy many of them. Games include 3D Ten Thousand, which "provides hours of entertaining PC game play for all ages," and Ancient Ivory, "an award-winning game of strategy and luck." Parents might or might not consider Stone's Throw appropriate for their children to play. Stone's Throw makes it possible to "play three compelling board games, set in a medieval castle, against three levels of computer opponent, or against a friend."
The site also has CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL GAMES -- math and reading games -- that are not fre*e but are very reasonably priced.
5. WORST PILLS
Many prescription drugs on the market, even some of the most heavily advertised, are neither safe nor effective. Adverse reactions to prescription drugs kill and injure thousands of people each year. Let Public Citizen's physicians and pharmacists tell you the things drug companies don't want you to know. Click below on their Worst Pills website:
6. EARTH AT NIGHT FROM SPACE
These photos are fun to look at, and I found them thought provoking as well. For one thing, if you find the approximate area where you live, you'll see that the amount of light in it at night reveals how populated AND how prosperous it is. This is true the world over.
After viewing these photos with great interest, thinking grown-up thoughts about per capita income around the world, I noticed the address of the photos:
http://www.toottoot.com/earthlights.htm
And then I went to just plain toottoot.com, which turned out to be a children's website. And a great one! So this is one site that can be enjoyed, as they like to say, "by all ages." And one that gives thoughtful persons some rather deep thoughts.
Here's the home page for the children's site:
And now, for the tastebud part of Tastebud Tango
7. ASK THE COOKING EXPERTS
Your Tastebud Tango Lady isn't a food expert, but she's found their Internet hideout. Come here to find answers to your cooking questions -- anything from Vietnamese cooking, to food safety, to running a restaurant, to traditional Russian foods. Isn't the Internet amazing?
http://www.allexperts.com/browse.asp?Meta=2
And now for this issue's recipe. Which recipe I found through my own Delightful Food Directory. It has 300,000-plus recipes, from more than 150 CAREFULLY CHOSEN sites -- preferably sites that approach food from a fresh, new angle. In deciding which websites should be listed, I've gone for quality over quantity -- but of course quantity is there too.
This recipe comes from Mignonne's Recipe Box. To find more of Mignonne's recipes -- many using unusual herbs and edible flowers -- come to this address:
http://delightfulfood.com/main.html
AOL members:
Scroll down the main page of the Delightful Food Directory -- which page is alphabetized -- and you'll of course find Mignonne under M. I think you'll enjoy Mignonne's unusual take on food and recipes, and I hope you'll also enjoy her recipe for
Mix flour with coconut. Combine syrup, sugar and margarine in saucepan. Cook over medium heat until well blended. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Blend in flour mixture. Drop by teaspoonful 3-4 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
© Copyright 2005 Janette G. Blackwell. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this newsletter for noncommercial, personal use only. You may forward a copy to someone else as long as the copyright notice is included. Any other use of the materials in this newsletter without prior written permission is prohibited.
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Janette Blackwell