Bowing to Greet, Etc.

After having poked around the web about bows, and discovering lots of different conventions, I had decided that simple is good. 1) Face the other person. 2) Bring palms together. 3) Bow slightly. Look friendly by making eye contact and smiling during the bow.

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February 29, 2020: I published my article about bowing in late 2015. In light of recent coronavirus (Covid-19) news, bowing to greet seems even more appropriate to consider. My Google news search results for "banning handshaking" shows concerns in workplaces and sports.

Stats, Maps, Graphs: "Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by Johns Hopkins CSSE"

Another tracking resource (Reuters): "Tracking the spread of the novel coronavirus"

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In the last few years, people have more reasons to bow instead of shake hands, more so in greeting. Note the proliferation of hand sanitizers. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Hammacher Schlemmer Mmy Oh Mmy

Perusal of a dozen or so eye-catch items spotted in the Hammacher Schlemmer holiday catalog. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pineapple Slicing/Coring Gadget--Beyond Use Recs

On and off throughout the years, I've been using my pineapple slicer and corer (mostly referred to as "gadget" for the rest of this article), along with a knife and plate. Read the entire article for cutting-up methodology and comment there, please.

Sliced-Veggie Lentil Soup

Make an easy, robust soup that contains four veggies (1/2 pound each of carrots, celery, zucchini, and yellow squash), a 1-pound bag of lentils, and ~8 cups of water and seasonings (or broth). Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Simply Simple Pineapple Cupcakes

How about pineapple cake that isn't upside-down cake or coconut-pineapple combo (piña colada-ish)? This recipe uses a standard recipe for yellow cake mix and crushed pineapple. Pineapple juice replaces the water. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Stuck Blender Blade?

*** 7/24/2016
Accompanying video now available at YouTube—"Stuck Blender Blade?"

Does your blender blade seem stuck and not moving? Before you buy a new blender or blender blade, test for non-function, then try a home remedy of FIRST resort. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Some Words (Homonyms) and Non-synonymous Antonyms

Ever thought about words that have more than one antonym, and that those antonyms are not synonyms to each other? As an example, during a car ride, one word that I am often cognizant about is "right". The best word to confirm a traffic turn is "correct", not "right", especially if turning left. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pancake-mIx Baked Donuts

My recipe makes 6 baked donuts, using pancake mix, water, and decorative sprinkles. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

PB & Jammin' Sandwich Mysteriously Not Findable on the Web

What's mysterious to me is that I've been unable to unearth "PB & Jammin' Sandwich" online for recipe title or for the recipe ingredients. PB & J it is, with pumpkin subbing for half the peanut butter. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pokin' Ripped Jeans

Have you bought new holey pants for yourself? For someone else? Apparently, the trend of ripped jeans has been around for awhile. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Low-Sodium Scratch Biscuits

This recipe for is for both drop and cut biscuits, as the pixstrip indicates. Using potassium-based baking powder greatly reduces the sodium. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Frequently Used Electrical Long-time Kitchen Items

Do you have kitchen gadgets or appliances that you you've had for a long time and still frequently use? I previously wrote about non-electrical kitchen items. This time, I talk mostly about electrical appliances, such as my popcorn air popper and salad shooter. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Frequently Used Non-electrical Long-time Kitchen Items

Do you have kitchen gadgets or appliances that you you've had for a long time and still frequently use? These non-electrical kitchen items are so old that some are practically considered classics—many not available off the shelf anymore. I've had them sometime between about 15 years and, uh, a few decades. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Watermelon Pick N Cut

*** 9/4/2016
Accompanying video now available at YouTube—"Watermelon Pick N Cut" 
 

It's a good time of the year to have your pick of watermelons for quality, quantity, and price. My picking method is the one that a cousin told me about her father using—"Pick the ugly one." My method of cutting chunks and storing unused the unused portion for later cuts helps prevent mushiness, thus, extending the refrigerator life of the melon. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Confetti Cupcake Bites

My recipe makes half-size cupcakes, using nonpareils and jimmies in two half batches during one baking session. Contrast the results of the sprinkle types, and decide on your own single or duo sprinkle-type morsels. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Rainbow Nonpareil Cake Mix Cookies

Multicolor sprinkle decorations for packaged cookies, cakes, and cake mixes tend to more often be jimmies than nonpareils. These cookies vary from the ones I made when I used the Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip cake mix. Instead of using cake mix that already includes multicolor jimmies, I used basic cake mix and added rainbow nonpareils. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Instant Pancake Mix, Info Table, Etc., for 12 Brands

Previously, I wrote Whataburger pancakes, Whataburger pancake mix, and scratch pancakes. Recently, a relative told me that she used to cook pancakes from scratch for her kids when they were growing up. At that time, no companies made convenient pancake powder, the "complete" kind that required only water. Read the entire article for the 12-brand info compilation and comment there, please.

Whataburger Pancakes, Mix, or Scratch

Tried Whataburger pancakes? Yummy, quick, and economical! Know that you can buy Whataburger Pancake Mix at HEB? Have you tried making scratch pancakes? Also yummy, even more economical, but not quick! The scratch recipe, which I've used for many years (with slight occasional tweaks) … Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Why Are So Many Tortilla Chips Triangles?

These shapes force the eater to form a Wallace (of Wallace and Grommit) mouth shape for minimizing messiness when the chips have flavor powders, dip, queso, or nacho toppings. These chips can be (and have been) hazardous, especially if the toppings are hot, melted, or both. Ow! Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Baking Cookies with Trader Joe Cake MIx

Instead of the standard cake mix that weighs about 15.25 ounces or so to make cake mix cookies, the Trader Joe's cake mix weighed 28 ounces. This baking experiment required some improvisation that produced results that differ from my standard cake mix cookies. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Do Vultures Really Eat Only Dead Prey?

Know the stereotype about a flock of vultures circling overhead, waiting for potential prey to die? They then approach the dead prey, feasting as they pick it apart. Can it be true that they don't kill a prey, but wait until it dies? Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Grateful for Autofills By Google and IMDB

How's your spelling for unusual names? Do you use autofill features to help spell words or names correctly? Read the entire article and comment there, please.

EZ Buttery Confetti Cake Mix Cookies

This recipe features Betty Crocker Party Rainbow Chip cake mix. Using butter makes the cookies softer and fluffier than using oil. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Krusteaz Choco Caramel Squares

These sweet-tooth munchies have a fudge-brownie cooky base, topped with non-nut nougat and chopped nuts. Read the entire article and comment there, please.