Politics and Entertaining: My List of Fabulous Finds (Week 22)

Another Veteran's Day has come and gone, and Thanksgiving is coming up.

I put the Halloween decorations away and decorated the house for Thanksgiving in record time this year. The snow we got here in Montana last week never completely melted, and more has been added to it. Our bodies have begun to adjust to day-light saving time, although those dark mornings and early night falls are something I will never like. 

We seem to have made the leap from fall to winter, even though that season doesn't officially begin until December 21st. 

A busy time of year

Many people consider this to be the busiest time of year. Calendars are full with plans to visit family or
entertain guests over the holidays, gifts to wrap and buy, and parties to attend. Lots of high school seniors are working hard to finish up essays this week, to meet the November 15th early-action or early-decision admission deadlines of many colleges. My hope for this hectic time of year is that I will maintain a sense of humor, experience the joy of each moment, stay organized ... or at least stay calm!

If my list of Fabulous Finds has a particular theme at all this week, it would be politics and entertaining. This was not intentional - these are simply links to articles that I found compelling throughout the week. I hope that they interest you as well.

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This Week's Fabulous Finds:

~ ~ Friday the 13th. Don't be in the wrong place at the wrong time!

Superstitious people in western parts of the globe consider Friday the 13th to be a day of bad luck ... but perhaps they should be counting their lucky stars that WT1190F is not on a trajectory aimed at them! This article makes me think we need to re-evaluate what we discard in space!

• Space debris to collide with Earth on Friday the 13th, by Mary Bowerman, USA Today

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~ ~ Peanut butter and chocolate tempts me again ...

My favorite flavor combo - I suspect I will be baking this sometime soon!

• Peanut Butter Fudge Cake from the blog Cooking at Home

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~ ~ No corkscrew? - No problem!
Hmmm - wonder if I could do this without breaking the wine bottle?

• How to Open a Bottle of Wine Without a Corkscrew - from Mirabeau Wine

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~ ~ Do you make these cooking mistakes?
Did you know that you should soak your avocado chunks in lime juice before mashing them for guacamole? I didn't! That's just one of the 17 helpful cooking tips I found in this article!

• "17 Cooking Mistakes You're Probably Making" found on Oola!

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~ ~ "Because it's 2015."

Canada's new prime minister Justin Trudeau recently appointed a new cabinet. When asked about his gender-balanced selections, his response was simply "Because it's 2015." This has been applauded by some, but denounced as "grandstanding" by others.

I agree that gender equality should be just an expectation, and not need to be recognized as a big deal - but unfortunately we live in a society where equality is still not the case, and making strides like this is still important. What do you think - which viewpoint in these articles do you agree with more?

• Trudeau's cabinet filled with fresh faces and achieves gender balance,  by Althia Raj, Huffington Post Canada 

• It's 2015 - so skip the grandstanding by Mark Sutcliffe, National Post

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~ ~ Speaking of politics ... a recipe from the 70's

Since I just referred to politics, and next week happens to be American Thanksgiving and Black Friday, it seems a good time to remind you of a recipe I shared last year. Watergate Salad (or what my family now refers to as "Nixon Salad") is a perfect side dish for the holidays! You can find it here:

• Black Friday, and a Recipe with Political Ties.

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~ ~ Will you be serving turkey?

Still planning your Thanksgiving menu? Did you see my List of Fabulous Finds last week - it contains links to recipes to create an entire Thanksgiving Feast. Good luck with all the planning and preparation!

Leave a comment and let me know which of these links interested you the most!

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