Shawn Hill presents : THUMBS UP! AMERICA

I want to give a thumbs up to several American Institutions today.

These companies have impressed me with their amazing patriotism and ability to inspire!

Thumbs up you guys! Great Friggin Job!

These companies offer a great service at an even greater price.

That's two things for one!! (which merits plenty of exclamation marks!!!!)

And like Mr. Joseph Foglia, my color blind high school chemistry teacher, I love a Two-Fer.

AND! There is no better Two-Fer than GREAT SERVICE at a GREAT PRICE!!

First off I would like to give a Thumbs UP! to TIME Magazine.

Product Description : GOOD, CLEAN, Infotainment. News, Facts, Figures, Opinions and Global Happenings delivered to your door step 56 times a year in an easy to read package.

AMAZING PRICE: $29.95 thats 53 CENTS an issue!

How can TIME offer a savings of $247.25 !!??!!

I'm pretty sure we only payed $19.95 for our subscription though....

I will have to confirm with Marine. I do remember being amazed at the fact it was only 20 bucks to get a subscription.

My second thumbs up goes to Ben and Jerry.

Yes, I do mean the creators of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. Not only do they offer delicious varieties of premium Ice Cream at a great price but they have also held true to their values.

I was unaware of their amazing efforts to maintain a small piece of common sense and humanity in Corporate America. My whole mindset was changed when I watched a BIO feature on Ben and Jerry. I suggest that you WATCH the DOCUMENTARY. You can find it available on NETFLIX. It is extremely informative and touching.

A bonus thumbs up goes to BIOGRAPHY for providing amazing information to Americans for years. !!

My Third and Final Thumbs up goes to Trader Joe's.

Another Company that has held on to Common Sense.

Thank you for offering a splendid variety of Vintage Sodas.

This Orange Cream particularly quenched my thirst these past few hot days.

Satisfaction for under a DOLLAR a bottle! Awesome.

THUMBS UP! ! ! !

(thumbs up logo comings soon)

Brownies, S'mores, and Wookies, Oh My!

Normally, when it comes to brownies, I have one recipe I use and one recipe only - it's the recipe for the brownies at Tartine Bakery in San Francisco that they have so conveniently provided in their amazing cookbook. That recipe yields brownies that are so incredibly fudgey, chocolatey and rich and just all around amazing - I've never known anyone to turn one down. Thank you, Tartine Bakery, for your use of science and your generosity; your brownies make my taste buds happy.



Now, I wouldn't consider myself a brownie purist (come on, I like a little somethin' besides chocolate in there on occasion) but the Tartine brownie is definitely a brownie for purists. It's so incredibly delicious all on it's own, it would almost be blasphemous to tamper with it. Which is why, when I felt a craving for s'mores brownies come on, I decided to turn to another recipe.

Thank David Lebovitz for this one; it's similar to the Tartine brownie, but with a little less chocolate and a little more sugar so this one was perfect for what I intended to do with it. Make brownie batter as instructed, throw in some graham crackers and hershey's chocolate, top with marshmallows, and what have you got? S'mores Brownies, Chewbacca approved.

Chewy Brownies/S'mores Brownies

adapted from David Lebovitz, The Perfect Scoop

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 oz semisweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

for s'mores brownies you'll also need:
a handful of marshmallows, cut in half
three Hershey's bars
four graham crackers



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare an 8x8 pan however you prefer; either with foil, or butter, or both.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the chocolate pieces and stir constantly with a spatula over very low heat until the chocolate is melted.

Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, then the eggs one at a time, and the vanilla. Stir in the flour and the salt. Beat the batter vigorously for 30 seconds, until it begins to form a smooth ball. Stir in the chocolate chips.

For brownie purists: Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and bake for 30 minutes, until the center feels just about set. Remove from the oven and let cool.

For s'mores brownies: Scrape half of the batter into your pan, lay graham crackers down in a single layer on top of the batter, then layer the hershey's bars on top of that, and spread the rest of the batter across the top. Once your batter is spread pretty evenly and covers the layers underneath, sprinkle marshmallows across the top of the batter, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once completely cool, I recommend leaving the pan in your refrigerator overnight; believe me, it makes cutting through those brownies so much cleaner.

mmmm, chocolate :)

Money - It's a crime

MONEY DOESN'T GROW ON TREES!!

We have all heard this before from our parents.

Come to think of it. YES IT DOES!

where the hell do you think we get paper from??

TREES!

and what is money printed on???

PAPER!!!!.

So Money does grow on trees.

The government just doesn't want you making your own money. You have to earn it. And that is easier said then done in most cases.

In a world with too many people. and too few jobs, what did you expect when the need for industry finally dropped out.

THEY told us to buy the house.

THEY told us to buy the car.

THEY told us to buy the new plasma screen tv.

THEY told us to put it all on credit.

THEY told us that we would still have a job in 6 months.

I realized what THEY say, isn't always right.

These people which we shall call THEY, just wanted you to buy things. To support the cause. To keep the giant hype machine going.

And now I find myself caught in THEIR little game of supply and demand.

I need supplies and THEY demand I get a job to earn money to buy these said supplies.

As you can tell I have been thinking about money. I need more of it.

but these asshole people in the world want to work you to the bone for little to no pay.

I am worth way more than what THEY want to pay me.

I am sorry if you can't afford good help.

Maybe if you had good help, your business might make more money.

Call me crazy, but what happened to that ideal world picture THEY painted for us.

As of now I can pay my bills, but I can't save any money.

What's the point of being alive if I have to work three jobs just to save money and have a place to live? I will end up with all this money (barely) and nothing to do with it.

Because I will be working ALL the time.

I just don't get it.

It's hard to crawl out of a pile of shit, when there are so many other people ahead of you trying to crawl out of that same bag of shit. WHY IS THERE SO MUCH SHIT??!

And once people crawl out of the shit, it's like there is some secret club, with a secret code, that says you can't help the people in the shit.

Why won't THEY tell us THEIR secrets!

UGHGHGH.

Bottom line, I need money.

Freelance Design work here I come. I will Finally put my training to good use I suppose.

Now to put an online portfolio together.

If only I took things a little more serious when I was younger, maybe I wouldn't have so much to catch up on doing.

I guess that's just who I am. Some Silly Scatter Brained Artist human, that gets distracted by his own brain.

Our first recipe post!

Shawn and I have a go-to recipe for our pizza dough, and you're about to find out what it is! Making your own dough from scratch really isn't as complicated as you might think: the key is fresh yeast and a little patience.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

1.5 tablespoon active dried yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
pinch of sugar
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cup whole wheat flour


Place yeast, water, and sugar in bowl & stir with fork to dissolve. Let sit for 5-10 minutes to activate the yeast.

Use a wooden spoon to mix in the olive oil, salt, and all-purpose flour. Mix in about 1/2 of the whole wheat flour, stirring until the dough forms a mass and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Sprinkle some of the remaining whole wheat flour onto a smooth work surface, and transfer the dough onto it. Begin to knead it, working in the remaining flour a little at a time. Knead 8-10 mins, or until the dough feels elastic and smooth.

Form into a ball, then place it into a lightly oiled mixing bowl and cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk; about an hour or so. (If indentations remain after the dough is poked with 2 fingers, it is ready.)

When you're ready to make your pie, punch down the dough with a fist and knead 1-2 mins. Divide dough as desired. Pat out a dough ball into a flat circle on a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin, roll it out about 3/8-1/4 inch thick. It should be about 1/4" larger than the pan you are using.

Place the dough on a lightly oiled pizza pan and fold the extra dough under to make a rim. Top with your favorite toppings, bake, and enjoy!

Bake for about 20 minutes in a 475 degree oven.

Things you've missed!

Silly business isn't all Shawn and I have been up to these days... we've been keeping busy in the kitchen, as always - trying new recipes and fine tuning old ones. This week we made two things that our kitchen has never seen before: homemade caesar dressing, and we cooked up some beautiful Chilean Sea Bass! The pictures don't do this fish justice.



Caesar salad with homemade dressing, and homemade whole wheat onion pizza.




A blurry sausage and peppers with broccoli and homemade cheese sauce.




Chilean Sea Bass from the local Farmer's Market in Ardmore; baked with lemon and butter, and served with a side of baked paprika french fries.


...

Enough savory! Where's the sweet stuff?

...



Chocolate cookie dough layer, graham cracker layer, peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough layer, and topped with marshmallows. The most awesome cookie layer bars made yet.




Fresh watermelon! Look at that color!


And...

The newest addition to our home: two new gnome friends! One day we'll have a beautiful garden in which they can play.



Check out more photos on our Flickr!

:)