Ignore my face – Marie Callender’s did right by us Hot hubby Michael and I have been cooking all morning, but I was reminded of the time we did a ‘pre-cooked’ Thanksgiving meal from Marie Callender’s. p.s. it turned out tasty, but we like our family tradition-recipes 🙂 We are a household that cooks on the holidays. In the past several years, Michael has become more and more the ‘foodie,’ which bodes well for me 🙂 Michael does his Food Network & New Jersey Italian thing, and I offer my southern/soul food cuisine. But I thought I’d do a little #TBT when in 2013 we experimented with a prepared Thanksgiving meal from Marie Callenders.
Like the original Pilgrims, Michael returns from foraging in the wilderness for our Thanksgiving feast. p.s. check out the bicep. Nice, right?
Armed with my cookbooks, I’m taken a bit aback.
Michael is so proud.
Now, wait a minute…. Oven? Microwave?
Truth.
Michael attempts to help with the mashed potatoes
Michael poses to show how hard it is to unpack the box from MC. Note the flour splashed on his face…
“Look at me! Look at all I prepared!”
Intimate but bountiful. OK – I’m loving the ease of all this.
“Not yet, kids…. not yet….”
The glass table top helps to tell the backstage story of what’s going on down under…
This pic represents pure love. Not thinking it’s love of Michael and I, but “pure love….”
I made Michael take this cheesy pic. Thanks to wonder dog Bruno for photog duties.
Ok, I have to admit – Marie Callender’s rocked Thanksgiving this year
(stock images via Depositphotos) While some folks around the country are a bit done with the adding of these or those numbers amid the aftermath of the presidential election, the statisticians at Pornhub decided to crunch some figures themselves. While they weren’t able to predict who each state voted for, they were able to ascertain what each state was searching for on the adult website during election week! “The top relative search is the term that was more often searched in each state when compared to all other states,” writes the streaming platform on its blog. “It’s a snap-shot of what was truly in the hearts and on the minds of everyday Americans while they waited to find out who their next president will be.” For some states, size clearly matters – Pennsylvania (‘fat a**’), West Virginia (‘chubby’), and Alabama (‘big booty’). Maturity was a factor for viewers in Ohio (‘cougar’), South Carolina (‘grandma’), and Tennessee (‘granny’). Local flavors were the thing in some states like Texas (‘sexmex’) and Louisiana (‘popeyes’). There were some random searches like Iowans expressed an interest in ‘yoga pants,’ Georgia had ‘tickling’ on its mind, and Connecticut was up for ‘wedgie’ action. I’m not gonna ask about Oregon’s fascination with ‘succubus.’ A few states were on the (excuse me) less-creative side with terms like Florida (‘Trump’), Delaware (‘Election’), Nevada (‘Vegas’), Utah (‘Mormon’), and the District of Colombia (‘Vote’). And in the “If you can’t spell it you shouldn’t be watching it” category, Mississippi wins with (cue the sad trombone sound) ‘pron.’ Check out the full graphic via Pornhub below.
International superstar Dolly Parton (image via InstagramDolly P) Amid yesterday’s big news that Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine appears to be 95% effective in preventing infection of the virus, folks noticed that international superstar Dolly Parton had been a part of the solution. Back in April, our Lady Parton donated $1 million to help advance the research being done by Moderna. Because, of course…
Yes, Dolly Parton part-funded research which went towards the Moderna vaccine which has reported 94.5% effectiveness. pic.twitter.com/tdyFWRnvsz
Alex Trebek (image via Jeopardy!) Longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek has passed away at the age of 80 after a nearly two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. From PEOPLE:
In a somber video message to fans shared March 6, the ABC game show host vowed to “fight” the disease and also continue working on the game show, which he hosted for 35 years. “Now normally the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I’m going to fight this and I’m going to keep working,” he said.
He also asked his fans to lift up prayers on his behalf. “And with the love and support of my family and friends, and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease,” continued Trebek, who also quipped that he must continue working because of the terms of his contract through the 2021-22 season.
By the end of August, Trebek had completed his chemotherapy treatments, and announced in a video that he was “on the mend.”
“I’ve gone through a lot of chemotherapy, and thankfully that is now over,” he said. “I’m on the mend and that’s all I can hope for right now.”
Sadly, he announced in September 2019 that he had to undergo chemotherapy again.
Since he joined Jeopardy! in 1984, Trebek hosted over 8,000 episodes of the venerable game show. Along the way, Trebek’s work was recognized with several accolades including 8 Daytime Emmy Awards as well as a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999. But it was the viewers and players who held Trebek in perhaps the highest regard. In November of 2019, I wrote about a moment on the show when a contestant realized he couldn’t win the episode, he decided to use his final Jeopardy! answer to send a message of love to the beloved host. Contestant Dhruv Gaur wrote “We love you, Alex” after being stumped on the answer. The hashtag #WeLoveYouAlex soon began trending on Twitter.
I was not ready for this touching moment on today’s @Jeopardy episode when a player sent a touching message. Hearing Alex Trebek’s unshakeable voice break got me. #weloveyoualexpic.twitter.com/GDsqdm0Qqm
In 2014, the easy-going Canadian-born host penned an essay for Salon Magazine expressing his support for the LGBTQ community: “I’m in favor of equal pay for women, and the Lilly Ledbetter act. I believe in equal rights for the LGBT community; in fact, this winter, I braved the Minnesota winter weather to attend a gay wedding (which was officiated over by my wife).” Rest in peace Alex Trebek.
Jeopardy! is saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends. Thank you, Alex. pic.twitter.com/Yk2a90CHIM
Adult performer Quin Quire (images via screen capture)
Porn performer Quin Quire (nope, never heard of him) raised eyebrows on Sunday when he tweeted his opinion that “Covid 19 isn’t deadly enough.”
Quire’s tweet read, “Covid 19 isn’t deadly enough in my opinion. It’s good to kill off the weak from a population to ensure the BEST survival for the group. If it kills me it’s my time but I’m tired of letting the weakest people tell us how to live our lives. F**k you.”
A few minutes later, he followed that up with, “Meditate on, and accept the idea of your own death. Your life will be better for it. Happy #DayoftheDead.”
For those who don’t know, Day of the Dead (Dia de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday recognized on November 1 and encourages remembering friends and family who have died. How Quire conflated remembering those who have passed with giving a thumbs up to the coronavirus isn’t clear.
It’s notable that Quire limited replies to the original tweet to people he mentioned in the tweet. Of course, he didn’t mention anyone in particular in the message.
The Twitterverse wasn’t sure if Quire, who refers to himself as an “adult film star since ’12,” might have been hacked, was serious in his messaging, maybe having a bad reaction to medications, simply cold-hearted, or just looking for attention.
Pedro Gonzalez and Andrew Serkin (image via Instagram) It’s my Halloween Edition of InstaHunk Round-Up. First up, Andrew Serkin and Pedro Gonzalez (above) decided on a ‘classic’ masked-up take for the holiday. The Rock was all set to become “the wisest king of all, Mufasa,” but unfortunately, the costume didn’t fit:
Kaila and Erica at their Belize-inspired backyard honeymoon surprise (photo: Rachel Rodgers) As part of their “Honeymoon for Heroes” campaign, the folks at Southwest Rapid Rewards Card from Chase just gave away 1 Million Rapid Rewards Points to essential workers. In partnership with Brides.com, Chase and Southwest surprised five essential worker couples across the country with a pop-up backyard honeymoon experience PLUS 200,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points (about $3K in value) that don’t expire so they can take their real trip (or trips) when they are ready to travel. Chase and Southwest took the time to get to know each couple over the past few months, including their unique love story and ideal honeymoon destination, so that they could design a pop-up backyard honeymoon experience that felt special and personal to their relationship. For example, Erica, who is a pediatric ICU nurse, and Kaila, who is a licensed clinical social worker in New York City, were planning to visit a tropical island for a relaxing beach trip, but had to put their plans on hold when COVID started ramping up across the city. Chase and Southwest decided to surprise them with a Bohemian Picnic backyard honeymoon experience, inspired by the islands of Belize and Turks and Caicos, to give them the chance to relax and unwind on the beach as originally intended, without any of the hassle or worry. Joel and Zenile celebrate their Southwest surprise (photo: Rachel Rodgers) All of the couples also received Southwest’s coveted Companion Pass status through EOY 2021, which allows a Rapid Rewards member’s companion to fly with them free of airline charges every time they book a flight using points. Plus, each of the couples will be featured on Brides.com at the end of the month in a guide to planning weddings and honeymoons. It’s totally a ‘best practice’ to use a credit card like Southwest’s for expenses. If you’re going to be spending the money on the happy nuptials anyway, why not earn points for use towards the honeymoon? As part of the campaign, over 1,000 individuals were surveyed about their honeymoon plans and as you might expect, 2/3 of couples had to change their honeymoon travel plans (coronavirus pandemic, don’t you know…). But 3/4 of couples do intend to stick with their original honeymoon destination when they finally feel comfortable traveling.
Fitness coach Austin Martin (via Instagram) Checking in on some of my favorite InstaHunks this weekend. First up, fitness coach Austin Martin (above) reminds us all to bundle up for winter. Next, Garrett Magee, of Bravo’s Backyard Envy, took some time to explore Joshua Tree National Park:
I discovered this delightful Instagram account of a hottie who began the account with an imaginary beagle, and then he actually got one named Pasta. Pasta, apparently, loves being pushed around in shopping carts – and Target carts are the “SUV of shopping carts.”
Hunter Biden with his dad, Joe Biden Part of what’s wrong with some folks today…I just see a father who loves his son. My dad had no problem telling me he loved me. But apparently, some on Twitter think this is ‘awkward.’ The photo was from an interview feature for Popular Mechanics in 2016 between former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter after the death of the vice president’s other son, Beau, to cancer. Tom Nichols at USA Today gets it right:
It is, in its way, an awkward image. The son looking into the camera, his face calm but haunted. The father’s face is partly hidden, as he embraces his son and puts a kiss on his cheek.
The son is young and strong, and his arms are sturdy as they gently rest around his father. But the father, while old, is even stronger. One arm is in front of his child, the other around the son’s shoulder, as if to hold on to him and to protect him at the same time.
It is a picture of Joe and Hunter Biden, but it would be moving enough were it of any father and son. Even strangers to these men would know what it means. All of us, after all, were once children. (The picture is really a portrait of the son, not the father.)
In this case, to know the circumstances in which it was taken is to know that it is a picture full of pain, love, forgiveness and acceptance, and to look at it for even more than a moment is to experience at least some of those emotions, especially in the memory of our own parents or children.
The answer is yes. I kiss my son, hug him, hold him tight. Tons of tender moments with my little dude. He’s gonna grow up secure, strong, brave, and he’ll always know that he’s loved. So, yes. Keep holding them tight @JoeBiden. https://t.co/45gAz5njUO
Trump Twitter is having a problem with beautiful pic of a wonderful father loving his son asking if it’s appropriate. It’s more than just appropriate. It’s inspiring & admirable, it shows us fathers how we should love our kids. I respect @JoeBiden even more after seeing this pic. pic.twitter.com/RxYZBzFGmz
Trump Twitter is having a problem with beautiful pic of a wonderful father loving his son asking if it’s appropriate. It’s more than just appropriate. It’s inspiring & admirable, it shows us fathers how we should love our kids. I respect @JoeBiden even more after seeing this pic. pic.twitter.com/RxYZBzFGmz
Hat tip to kenneth in the 212 for finding this clever side-by-side ‘Wear A Mask’ reenactment of the iconic opening credits of The Mary Tyler Moore Show brought to today’s COVID-19 times.
