My note to myself says, "Make this one short," so you'll find a short list of treasures and some end-of-summer silly. The next issue, on September 1, will be properly ignored by you until after Labor Day weekend . . . and then you will no doubt be back at your desk ready to take on Life As It Is Lived. And Tour the Sites will open some major Internet treasures to help you do it.

     Janette

----Table of Contents----

l. Roadfood: Great U.S. Regional Food
2. Auto Trader
3. Lemon Laws
4. Getting the Honest Lowdown
5. Programmable Pet Dish
6. Highly Controversial Feature
7. Let 'em Cook!
8. Recipe: Homemade Pizza Pops

1. ROADFOOD: GREAT U.S. REGIONAL FOOD

     Roadfood is served in little roadside restaurants treasured by the locals . . . like the Avon Cafe near Avon, Montana, where my husband and I recently enjoyed a meal. You don't have to search for the Avon Cafe. If you're on the highway that goes by Avon, there's no other eating place for miles. The Avon Cafe is filled with customers in tractor caps and ones who have wandered in from the highway. I first noticed that the cook toasted his hamburger buns on the grill. A significant touch of course. And it looked like they might have homemade desserts. I ordered the German chocolate cake and got a towering chocolate wonder held together with lush coconut icing. Ate part, finished off the rest in two installments in my hotel room as dessert for the next two evenings. A happy memory.

     And shades of Calvin Trillin, the food writer who during the eighties campaigned against Mid-American restaurants called something like, "La Maison de la Casa House, Continental Cuisine." When someone wanted him to go to one, he'd ask, "When you take your family out to eat, where do you go?" It was generally to a barbecue place. Trillin loved barbecue . . . but what would you expect of a man who said, "The best restaurants in the world are, of course, in Kansas City. Not all of them. Only the top four or five."

     I tried the Trillin system in New Orleans (before Katrina), and wound up in a great place with linoleum floors, baby highchairs, and a waitress who called me "honey." She showed me how to pick apart about a bushel of crawfish. A lovely meal.

     Roadfood will introduce you to many more.

http://roadfood.com/

2. AUTO TRADER

     Auto Trader lets you find the right car, new or used, sell your car, and do research on cars. They say, "Get a competitive price quote from a local dealer in three easy steps. Free, no-obligation price request. Prices come from the largest and best dealer network. Your credit card information is not required. A price request will not affect your credit rating."

     And that's only the beginning of what Auto Trader will do for you.

http://www.autotrader.com/

3. LEMON LAWS

     Yes, there really are lemon laws, and they aren't just for cars. The website says, "Are you driving a lemon car, truck, van, SUV, motorcycle, boat or dealing with a lemon consumer product? The state lemon laws and other federal consumer protection laws could help you get rid of that lemon!" Each state has its own lemon law, and the varying requirements are listed on this site. Down with lemons!

http://www.lemonlawamerica.com/

4. GETTING THE HONEST LOWDOWN

     I've been getting letters from a firm that says it will advertise my books for free. Sounded awfully good. Actually a little too good. I put the firm's name into the Google search box.

     The top website Google gave me was the firm's own sales website. But following it were angry complaints from people who have been cheated by this firm!

     Yes, Google is wonderful! Use it to evaluate websites, software, and products sold on and off the web. For example, I was thinking of downloading a certain kind of software. I put into the Google search box, "blip-de-blip software." Got back a number of references that rated the software as excellent.

     Do you wonder if a website is on the up-and-up? Put into the Google search box, "about blip-de-blip.com." (Be sure to put about.) Google will list first the website you're evaluating, but after that you'll find comments by people describing what they think of that website. And sometimes they've had really nasty experiences!

     So don't get cheated. Get Google.

http://www.google.com/

5. PROGRAMMABLE PET DISH

     Here's a pet dish that can be programmed to open at your pet's feeding times. It also "talks." As you can imagine, it isn't cheap, but I'm sure you've noticed that your pet isn't cheap either. It's $59.95. The pet dish, that is. You can find it - plus a "bark stopper" that will re-program your dog's bark - in the "iPet" section.

http://www.viatekproducts.com/

6. HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL FEATURE

     If you thought a programmable pet dish was silly, take a look at the highly controversial subject coming up: men who wear socks with sandals. Be warned! Some of the things you will see are not pretty. Children will naturally need parental guidance, such as, "Daddy's legs look MUCH better than that in shorts." As my husband likes to say, "I'm serial."

     And a serial warning: once you've seen the tattooed biker and the guys in kilts, the experience sorta goes downhill.

http://www.sandalandsoxer.co.uk/home.htm

7. LET 'EM COOK!

     Are the little natives getting restless? For budding cooks and budding gourmets, here are 592 recipes for kids to make -- though the recipes assume an adult is in charge. The "frozen treats" are mostly healthy and easy, and the "gross but fun" recipes like Boogers on a Stick will thrill certain little boys right down to their toesies.

http://www.justkidsrecipes.com/index.shtml

8. RECIPE: HOMEMADE PIZZA POPS

     This kids' recipe is from Hummie's Kids' Page on Recipe Circus:

http://recipecircus.com/recipes/Hummie/

     And, frankly, the average adult will enjoy these pizza pops as much as the children. Bringing the margarine to room temperature ahead of time would simplify things.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup warm water
2 pkg yeast
2 tsp sugar
3 cups flour
2/3 cup margarine
1 egg

FILLING:

2 cups grated cheese
1-3/4 cup pizza sauce
2 cups of your favorite topping, such as pepperoni or mushrooms.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix warm water, yeast and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes.
2. Mix flour and margarine then add egg and last yeast.
3. Roll dough out, cut into circles, fill with filling.
4. Pinch edges close and bake at 350 degree.

FINAL COMMENT (from recipe originator):

     "This is a very good recipe. My little guy loves them."

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MISSED SOME ISSUES?

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WARNING!

     If your e-mail box sometimes gets full, you are in danger of falling off the subscription list of Tour the Sites. Not because I want to lose you, but because, if your box is full when I send out a newsletter, you are automatically kicked off the list. I don't like that policy, but I don't have any say. If you change your e-mail address or get a new kind of spam filter, you may also fall off. So do keep an eye on your newsletters, which should arrive around the first and fifteenth of each month. If you haven't gotten one for a month, let me know and I'll be happy to put you back on the mailing list. Because I'd really hate to lose you.

Janette
Newsletter@tourthesites.com

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© Copyright 2006 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.