choosy marys choose...

Recent conversations with friends, family and coworkers have spawned a discussion that often elicits strong, passionate reactions - "real" or generic? Brand loyalty is something that companies of all kinds spend millions of dollars in advertising trying to convince you that their product is the best, always has been, always will be. What we ate as children is usually what we want as adults, which is why these companies start advertising aimed at little ones just old enough to ask their mommies for things in the grocery store.

Upon moving out on my own into the wild blue yonder (read: Greenwood) a few years ago, I began to appreciate the savings generic products provide. I learned when generic will do and when cheapness doesn't cut it, and it developed into a amateur "nature vs. nurture" study of my own. Here are a few of my findings; check them out and see if you can find the pattern:

Acceptable penny-pinching products...

1) To me, if you are throwing something away after its use or literally flushing it into oblivion, it is ridiculous to spend big bucks on it. I'll buy the cheapest napkins, toilet paper and paper towels I can find (KK disagrees with me on the paper towels.), and if the State of Mississippi would let me buy whatever they use in the bathrooms, I would in a minute.

2) In an effort to incorporate more veggies into my diet AND be more fiscally conservative, I've started purchasing generic canned vegetables - I mostly only get the green beans and black-eyed peas and occasionally mandarin oranges, but they are just as good as the real stuff.

3) I never hesitate to take medicine if I think it will help me. Got a headache? Take some medicine and feel better. Car sick? Take some medicine and feel better. Stuffy nose? Take some medicine and feel better. Not to sound like a pill popper, but it's a no-brainer. It's cheaper and just as effective to stock your medicine cabinet with Equate.

4) I can remember my Sunday School teacher one Sunday telling me that a sin is a sin is a sin just like bleach is bleach is bleach. Seriously, it's a chemical compound. It's all the same, people.

5) Thanks to MK, I have painted my nails more in the past 6 months or so than I have in 5 years. And, I'm getting better at it, I must say. But, I'm known to occasionally paint my whole finger, and when I do, I use the cheapest nail polish remover I can find to correct my little masterpiece.

Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby...

1) Few products draw such intense emotions as which ketchup to use. I personally don't care for it (unless combined mustard and pickle on a cheeseburger), but those that do are loyal to the point of severity. For most, I've found Heinz reigns supreme here.

2) I grew up eating rice and cream of mushroom soup, so it was natural for me to indulge in this as an adult occasionally. Those of you NOT using Campbell's are doing yourselves a disservice. Seriously, none of that other junk will do.

3) My dear friend Beth Williams showed me the light when she introduced me to Jif peanut butter. I pretty much bought whatever brand was cheapest prior to her intervention. It really is superior.

4) I don't have ice cream a lot in my house - too many points, and I would be inclined to eat a scoop every time I walked past the freezer. But when I do and I want to top with chocolate syrup, I only use Hershey's.

5) Cereal may not pop into everyone's head when one thinks of a "comfort food," but Cheerios is. What are those others trying to prove? Give it up, Brand X - you'll never get it right.

What do YOU think? Let me know what I may have left out...

state of the (colvard) union

Congrats to the Bulldogs for their definitive win over the Rebs this weekend. It's nice to be perfect - in the SEC, that is - which is less than I can say for our North Mississippi rivals. I love that the Hump is such a tough place to play - kind of like where rankings go to die, per se.

While in Starkville, we visited the Union on campus, and it most certainly puts the old one to shame. If you visit Bulldog Country, it's worth a peek. We didn't venture too far past the food court, but even what little of it we saw was like a different place. I felt that familiar pain that strikes me every time I hit MSU's campus - I think about places I wish I had gone more, things I wish I had taken advantage of, and what it was like to be a carefree college student in general. I could almost picture myself walking across the Drill Field. Sorry to be so sentimental, but that's what State does to me.

And here's this week's Delicious Dish: You may be familiar with the recipe, but if you're not, it's probably the easiest and most delicious dessert ever. It's a great one to take to a friend or bring to a party.

"Better than Death by Chocolate" Ice Cream Sandwich Dessert

Ingredients:

1 box of ice cream sandwiches (I usually get the 12-pack so Kell can eat the extras)
1 jar of caramel sundae topping
1 tub of Cool Whip, defrosted (I get the fat free kind, but it's sort of a wash in this recipe)
1 bag of Heath topping (these are near the chocolate chips), divided or about 8 Skor bars, divided and crushed (Kell prefers Skor bars, but I can't really tell the difference)

Spray a casserole dish with unflavored cooking spray (the size of the dish will determine how many ice cream sandwiches you'll need). Cover the bottom of the dish with the unwrapped sandwiches. I always cut them to fit exactly, but you sure don't have to. (I like to not be able to see any of the bottom of the dish.) Pour the entire jar of caramel topping over the sandwiches, covering completely. Sprinkle about 3/4 of the Heath topping or crushed Skor bars, reserving the rest to top. Spread the entire tub of Cool Whip over the crushed candy (it helps if the tub is completely softened and thawed in the fridge first). Sprinkle the remaining Heath topping or crushed Skor bar (I sometimes drizzle a little caramel on top, too), and freeze to set. Let thaw slightly so it's easy to serve. YUM!

And check out another great review of Ballast AND the awards the picture won! Nina and her crew never cease to amaze.

"Ballast" buzz

I mentioned in my previous post that "Ballast", filmed entirely in Mississippi and cast with Mississippians, was one of the movies braving the cold in Park City, Utah at Sundance. Well, check out these reviews: one by CNN movie critic Tom Charity and another by Newsweek's David Ansen. Our Mississippi motion picture is listed as one of few stand-outs! Congrats Nina and all others who worked on the film!

mississippi's own sundance kid

Few things earn an actor, director, screenwriter or producer street cred better than Sundance. This indie film festival was established in 1981 by the original Sundance Kid himself, Robert Redford, to create an environment that would effectively "foster independence discovery and new voices in American film." The Sundance Institute is the end-all, be-all of independent film showcases in the U.S., supporting features, documentaries, film music and theatre, and putting talented go-getters in touch with seasoned professionals in the film industry. Each year in January, the Sundance Film Festival is held in and around Park City Utah as a celebration and platform for these extraordinary individuals and their works of cinematic art.

One such individual is my colleague and WW buddy, Nina Parikh, who is a program manager in the Mississippi Film Office, a division of MDA. As if getting to go to Sundance isn’t cool enough, Nina’s film Ballast was one of 16 out of thousands selected for the festival’s Dramatic Competition. The entire picture was filmed in Mississippi and cast only with Mississippi actors, only one of whom had prior acting experience. Already getting great reviews, Ballast screenings will continue until Saturday’s awards ceremony. Nina and fellow producer Lance Hammer are keeping their fingers crossed that they’ll find distribution to bring their masterpiece to screens all over the nation, especially in their home state of Mississippi!

Woo hoo, Nina!

heath ledger 1979-2008

Academy Award-winning actor Heath Ledger has died. He was found dead by his housekeeper this afternoon in his Manhattan apartment. Though no cause of death has been determined, there were drugs found near his body.

Heath was best-known for his role in critically-acclaimed Brokeback Mountain, but I first remember him in 10 Things I Hate About You. He was separated from his wife Michelle Williams and leaves behind a 3-year-old daughter, Matilda. Say a little prayer for his family during this difficult time.

another one bites the dust

A moment of silence for all the Fred Thompson for President supporters out there...Ok, he's out; time to move on. I've mentioned this in a previous post, but I wanted to want Fred as my President. I really did. Not sure why, but I am sure it stems from my years of devotion to Law and Order, where Thompson portrayed New York District Attorney Arthur Branch. I think in my mind and probably in the minds of others, Fred Thompson WAS Arthur Branch, the quick-witted Southern lawyer-turned-D.A. on the greatest legal drama of all time. Perhaps that's what the citizens of California were thinking when they elected actor Arnold Schwartzenegger as their Governator.

I'm sure Fred's announcement wasn't even a blip on the radar screen to the other candidates on either side of the aisle - Romney's busy combing his hair, Guiliani is busy smiling, Hillary is busy trying to convince us that she's cooler than Barack Obama and Barack is probably hanging out with Oprah or busting a move with Ellen. I do not, however, think Fred arrived upon this decision lightly - though his numbers were low (single digits in some places) and he'd lost support, don't count him out just yet. I wouldn't be surprised if he wound up on a bumper sticker as someone's VP running mate. Stay tuned...

i'm it...

Ok, my dear friend Claire, a.k.a. "I was the actress who played Pippi," has recently tagged me in this skeletons-in-the-closet virus effecting blogs everywhere. Evidently I'm supposed to share some little-known facts about myself with you all, the number of which is determined by my favorite number. I think my favorite number in this case will actually be determined by how many little-known facts about myself I can come up with.

1) I can't tell time. In college, I was a slave to my Ironman digital watch, and I gave it up when I entered the work force. I usually consult my computer or cell phone for time checks, so I consider time telling a sort of a lost art like thank you note writing or Latin. However, when I went to Japan where I had no cell phone, I had to purchase a digital watch that looked like a real grown-up one.

2) I am terrified of vomiting, food poisoning and the stomach virus. This fear reached OCD proportions when I moved out and on my own after college, at the pinnacle of my anxiety. When I hear of the SV "going around," I worry about it so much that I make myself sick. I avoid buffets whenever possible, post-game tailgate food, and not a meal goes by that I don't worry about what kind of bacteria I may have just injested. Psychotic and irrational, huh? Ah, but you love me anyway.

3) I used to have the top of my ear pierced - not super-extreme, but whatever. This may surprise some of you, others may not be at all. I did it in Destin after my freshman year in college and kept it until after I graduated. I came this close to getting my nose pierced, too, but chickened out at the last minute.

I tag MK and KK.

It's Monday and MLK day, and I'm off work. YAY! And, as Monday dictates, here's this week's Delicious Dish. I found this one in Rachael Ray's magazine, but it's also online.

Pretzel Turtles

Ingredients:

One 14-oz. bag soft caramels
One 10-oz. bag pretzel nuggets (I couldn't find these, so I used the honey pretzel twists and broke them into 3 pieces.)
12 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped (I don't like dark chocolate, so I used a bag of milk chocolate chips.)
2 cups almonds, toasted and finely chopped (I used slivered almonds and chopped them up in smaller pieces myself.)

Instructions:

1) Unwrap the caramels, then, using a rolling pin, roll out each one into a 1/8-inch-thick oval (I found it to be easier to just do this by hand). Wrap a caramel around each pretzel nugget, pinching the ends to seal.
2) In a double boiler over simmering water, melt half the chocolate, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Add the remaining chocolate, remove the top of the double boiler from the saucepan and stir until smooth (I just put it all in there at once).
3) Place the almonds in a shallow bowl. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Using a fork, dip a caramel-covered pretzel in the chocolate to coat, tapping off any excess chocolate. Transfer the pretzel to the almonds and toss to coat; place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pretzels. Let stand until set, about 3 hours.

* My special advice - this isn't a whip-it-up-in-a-few-minutes type of project. They're delicious, but a little time consuming. I'd get all your pretzels ready for dipping before you even melt the chocolate. It's just as easy to make a bunch as it is just a few, so they'd make great handmade gifts.

On a sad note, Rick Burgess of the Rick & Bubba radio show out of Birmingham lost his youngest son, 2-year-old Bronner this weekend. I don't know the Burgesses personally, but I've been a big fan of their show for many years. When you're saying your prayers tonight, please lift up our brothers and sisters in Christ, The Burgesses, and pray that they'll find the strength to live day to day.

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18