It's been a while -- regular posting will commence immediately...

I've been taking it easy on the blogging side of things over the past few months, but am starting to get back into the swing of things...

For one thing, the recipes will resume in two weeks -- I've been trying out several new ones and experimenting with various dishes that I think most folks will like. (For example, I found a new place to get spices that carries quality ground peppers -- from jalepeno powder to New Mexico ancho chili and chipoltle powder which I'm looking forward to using.)

I'm also toying with doing a weekly recap from my FaceBook filings -- just to see what the world looked like Twitter-style.

But since it's so hot outside, I invite you to enjoy some old favorites from the refrigerated / frozen dessert files:

More On Energy: Supply, Demand and the Not-so-free Market

Speculators in the market have, rightly, been targeted for thier use of the Enron-loophole to basically compete (unfairly) in a market that is mixed between highly-regulated (see integrated oil companies) and unregulated players (see commodity brokers). This imbalance of power has led to the free flow of capital to a market from sources that a decade ago largely abandoned investment in oil companies -- in favor of the speculative bubble of the dotcom boom. That lack of capital infusion -- and the capital-intensive nature of the oil & gas business -- led to the mega-mergers of 1999 - 2001. Bear in mind that even with all that merger activity among the multi-nationals, their true competition is with national oil companies -- basically branches of their nation-state governments: Pemex (Mexico), Petrobras (Brazil), Pedevesas (Venezuala), Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia), Cinoco (China) ... you get the picture. On the one end, you have national oil companies -- either in OPEC or non-aligned ...

Looking back...

It being "the thing to do" on New Years Eve, here are some of the things that came to my mind about the last decade: Houston & the Weather Tropical Storm Allison flooded Houston causing more than $5.5 B in damage and 41 deaths -- as usual, the story was overlooked by the national media because a) it was happening in Houston and b) they were manically covering the Timothy McVeigh execution countdown. Were it not for 9/11, Allison would have been the largest disaster of 2001. Hurricane Katrina devasted the central Gulf Coast, flooding New Orleans with water and Houston with evacuees. While the nation watched the Bush Administration fail in its duties, Mayor Bill White and the people of Houston stepped into the void -- providing shelter and a path forward for countless "new" Houstonians. Hurricane Rita taught us that our own hurricane plans were inadequate. Hurricane Gustav taught us how quickly a major storm could develop. Hurricane Ike showed how re...

Lemon Coolers Similar to Mexican Wedding Cookies, these lemony shortbread cookies (which used to be a staple of Girl Scout Cookies) are a light and airy treat. Ingredients: For the cookies 1 cup butter (1 stick), unsalted 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cup confectioner’s sugar 4 teaspoons fresh lemon zest 2 tablespoon lemon juice 2 cup all-purpose f lour Powdered sugar coating 2 cup confectioner's sugar 2 tablespoons lemonade mix (Koolaid) Directions Preheat oven to 350 ℉ Cream butter & sugar until fluffy. Add lemon zest, vanilla & lemon juice. Mix well. Mix in flour and beat until combined into a thick dough. (Optional) Chill dough in refrigerator for about 20 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine sugar & lemonade mix. Using a cookie scoop, make 1" balls. Roll cookies in sugar mix and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet about 1-1/2" apart. Bake for about 12-14 minutes or until bottoms are starting to turn golden brown. Remove from oven & cool on a cool...

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