While we’re on the subject…
Last night, on my local news, there was an elderly gentleman who was a Hillary supporter. He was all about Hillary. He was wearing a Hillary hat, an “I *heart* Hillary” t-shirt, etc. He claims he has never voted Republican in his entire life (he looked to be in his 80s); always Democrat. You may be asking yourself, why was this man on the news? Well, it’s because he’s now voting for John McCain. Why? Because he wants Hillary to be able to run again in 2012.
Talk about getting my blood boiling. Holy crap. What kind of ass backwards thinking is this?!
(Not to mention: I’m not sure that particular gentleman will be alive in 2012. Just sayin’.)
I absolutely cannot understand the Hillary supporters who are switching over and voting for McCain. I know Barack Obama is not every Democrat’s candidate of choice. I’ll even say that there is probably a Democrat out there who would be better suited for the job. But the fact of the matter is, this is our Democratic nominee. He is who we have to work with this time around. I understand the concerns about his experience, I do. But to vote McCain?
I just don’t get how people get from Point A (Hillary) to Point B (McCain?!?). Maybe I am blind and deaf here, but during the Democratic primary debates, I was struck by the similarities between Obama and Clinton. They seemingly wanted very similar things, just had different ways of getting there. I live in New York and as you know, Hillary is one of our senators. I have never been a big fan of hers, but I sure as hell would have voted for her if she had been chosen as the Democratic nominee.
Truthfully, I find all of this to be pretty scary.
For the Hillary supporters who are now voting McCain, I have to ask why they were voting for Hillary in the first place. If it was based on the fact that her beliefs were in line with their beliefs, it seems like a no-brainer that Obama would now be the candidate of choice.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I love debating politics. I enjoy talking to people who have different outlooks on things than I do, and I never bash anyone for their beliefs. So please don’t be offended by what I write if you don’t agree with me. I put all of this out there for the sake of discussion. Go ahead and comment and tell me what you think.
First it was Joe Biden. Now it’s Hillary Clinton.
Basically, John McCain’s camp has utilized them to do his dirty work for him.
I will admit, it is pretty smart. McCain can take a break from bashing Obama (we’ll see how long that lasts) by instead using the words of Obama’s former rivals against him.
The ad with Biden shows a clip of Senator Biden saying he will stand behind his statement that Barack Obama is not ready to be President of the United States.
The “Passed Over” ad that features Hillary tries to accomplish three things, as far as I can tell:
1) To imply that Obama betrayed Democrats by not picking Hillary as VP.
2) Further question Obama’s ability to be President, using Hillary’s words.
3) Try to turn Hillary supporters against Obama, and therefore gain more votes for himself.
Again, I say… smart.
But out of all the (probably) thousands of political ads I have seen in my time, these ones really bother me. I know that a main reason is because I am an Obama supporter. I just can’t help but be annoyed by it.
All of these statements by Biden and HRC are taken out of context. Little snippets from here and there, all things that were said during the primary season. They were all competing against each other for the same job. Of course they were all doing their best to point out the potential flaws of each of their competitors, and Obama was one of them. Of course they were going to nitpick Obama’s policies, lack of experience, etc. They were trying to win primary elections! They were on the road to trying to win the job as President of the United States!
There was a widely distributed and frequently played clip of HRC yesterday telling a crowd of her supporters (about McCain’s ad), “I am Hillary Clinton, and I DO NOT approve this message.” It must be extremely frustrating for someone to take your words and try to use them against the person you are now supporting. I’m glad she spoke out about it… especially to the supporters who McCain is trying so hard to recruit over to his side.
I think what I find most frustrating is that this tactic could EASILY be used against McCain as well. Having fellow Democrats speak out against Barack in the primary season is not unique. Republicans spoke out against Republicans. You think Romney, Huckabee, and the like weren’t nitpicking McCain as well? Of course they were; it’s what they had to do to try to win votes.
It sounds like Romney is on the very short list of running mates for McCain. Go back to the Republican primary debates and listen to all Romney had to say about John McCain. I think Romney actually said that McCain will destroy America. Well jeez, as long as we’re talking about votes of confidence in the candidates…
Honestly, I hate political ads altogether. Especially the negative ones. I know they come with the territory, but I’d rather concentrate on debating the issues than listen to politicians sling mud back and forth.
I post stuff like this not to force my political beliefs onto others. I just need an outlet to vent about the things going on in my head, and I also really enjoy discussing politics (with both Democrats and Republicans! Shocking, I know!). If you have a different view, certainly let me know in the comments!
I spent the evening in the kitchen.
When I got home, I immediately started working on a cookie cake for a potluck lunch at work tomorrow. I used the excellent Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but spread it into a pizza pan. I baked it until it looked done and took it out. It came out pretty well, but I’d probably bake it for a little less time next time I make it.
Later on, once it cooled, I actually decorated it with buttercream frosting, using my new cake decorating skills. I would love to show a photo of it (it came out so awesome!) but I decorated it with a company logo, and I don’t want the whole blogging world to know where I work. So you’ll just have to imagine an extremely well decorated cookie cake in your heads! :)
On Saturday, we went to a local farm market and bought an absolutely HUGE (seriously, it’s about the size of our dog) zucchini for only $0.50. I decided I should start using it, so I shredded some to use in zucchini bread. The recipe is below. The three cups needed for the recipe barely made a dent in this thing. We’ll definitely be eating more zucchini this week.
Before tonight, I had never actually made zucchini bread before. I didn’t have a tried and true recipe, so I adapted one I found on recipezaar.com. I made note of what I changed in the recipe below. It came out really well! It’s moist and delicious, and best of all, low fat! I’m all about decreasing the guilt without decreasing the taste (when possible). Try it out!
Low-Fat Zucchini Bread
(Adapted from RecipeZaar)
Ingredients:
– 1 3/4 cups sugar
– 3 eggs
– 3 cups flour (I used 1 1/2 cups all purpose, and 1 1/2 cups whole wheat)
– 2-3 cups zucchini, grated or finely diced
– 2 tbsp. oil
– 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
– 1 teaspoon baking soda
– 1/4 teaspoon salt
– 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
– 1 tablespoon cinnamon
– 1 tablespoon vanilla
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all ingredients.
2. Pour into 2 loaf pans.
3. Bake for 45-55 minutes (until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean).
This is a recipe that came from Amber over at Amber’s Delectable Delights.
We first tried this more than a month ago, shortly after we returned from our honeymoon. We made it again this weekend and we decided that it is seriously one of our favorite recipes ever!
It is the perfect combination of spicy and sweet. It has quite a bit of kick to it, so you should lessen the red pepper flakes if you don’t like much spice.
The first time we made it, we made it exactly according to the recipe… just chicken and rice. It felt weird to us to just be eating meat and rice, so we said then that the next time we made it, we would add broccoli into the dish. We added it right into the chicken and sauce mixture, and it was delicious!
Bourbon Chicken
(Source: RecipeZaar.com)
Ingredients:
-2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces (we only used 1 lb., but made the same amount of sauce so that there would be enough to cover our broccoli)
-1-2 tablespoon olive oil
-1 garlic clove, crushed
-1/4 teaspoon ginger
-3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
-1/4 cup apple juice
-1/3 cup light brown sugar
-2 tablespoons ketchup
-1 tablespoon cider vinegar
-1/2 cup water
-1/3 cup soy sauce
-3-4 cups cooked broccoli florets (my addition)
Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned. Remove Chicken.
2. Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved.
3. Add chicken and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat and simmer, about 20 minutes. Add cooked broccoli during last 5 minutes of simmering time to coat evenly with sauce and to reheat the broccoli. Serve over hot rice.
(NOTE: Like Amber, I used a slurry (cornstarch and water) to thicken the sauce.)
Saw this drink recipe late last week over on Good Things Catered.
This weekend, being hot and summery like it was, seemed to be the perfect opportunity to try it. I will admit that I have never had a regular mojito. I’m not much into club soda-based drinks, so I never had a reason to like it. But with watermelon? Sounded good.
Overall, we liked it. I had a little bit of a “consistency” problem with it, though. Muddling the limes and the mint together gives you a little bit of pulp, which I hate. Also, dumping the limes and leaves right into the drink… I don’t know, I felt like I was constantly trying not to eat a whole mint leaf. But who knows, I may have done something wrong. And again, I’ve never had an actual mojito, so I’ve never experienced anything quite like this! But it was a refreshing drink and had good flavor.
Watermelon Mojitos
Ingredients:
-2 ripe large limes, washed and cut into 8 slices each
-4 sprigs mint, washed and leaves removed
-1/4 c. sugar
-3 cups seedless watermelon, cubed
-1 ample c. clear rumice
Directions:
1. In bottom of cocktail shaker, muddle limes, mint leaves and sugar until completely dissolved and combined.
2. Add lime mixture to pitcher with ample amount of ice.
3. In bowl of blender, add watermelon and blend until liquefied, about 30 seconds.
4. Add watermelon juice to pitcher.
5. Add rum to pitcher and stir to combine well.
6. Adjust taste to liking and serve over ice. (We ended up blending about 2 cups more watermelon and adding it into the drink for a little more melon flavor.)
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
