What to serve as a side dish? Guess who may be coming for dinner? It could well be the Govenor's wife....or Clay Aiken!

Food - You've got the main dish already prepared in your mind, but you cannot for the life of you decide what to make as a side dish. Here is a great hash brown recipe from The St. Paul Grill, located in St. Paul, MN. These hash browns are so crispy and good, they are the perfect compliment to any fine cut of meat or breakfast dish you're serving. We serve these for Christmas with Prime Rib.

St. Paul Grill Hash Brown Potatoes
1 lb. Fresh Hash Brown Potatoes
1 oz. White Onion Chopped
2 oz. Bacon Chopped
3 oz. Clarified Butter

Heat butter in 8” Teflon saute pan
Add ½ potatoes, spread onion and bacon evenly over surface
Top with remaining potatoes
Brown to crispy on both sides for about 10 minutes
Serve hot from the pan on serving plate.

Dish - Suspicous minds want to know: Do you ever pick up a penny believing it will bring you good luck? Or do you let it lay right where it was dropped if - it's "tails" side up? Some people believe the "tails" side up will do the opposite of heads - bring you bad luck - not me. (but then I own a black cat too.) A penny found, is a, well, a penny found - and into my piggy bank it goes! My momma didn't raise no fool. She taught me to never look at a gift-penny on the ground, and not pick it up! Plus, I am NOT one of those "straight up now" kinda people, "I am more of the "hit me with your best shot" type. Heads, tails, sideways, it don't matter to me - just give me the MONEY!

Do you ever....get a fortune cookie, only for the "luck of 'fortune'" it may bring? And what happens when you get 2 fortunes in one fortune cookie? Will you be extra-fortunate? Will both fortunes come true? If this is true, I hate to think of what happens when you don't get a fortune in your cookie.

Or..... do you ever....pull a wish bone, actually believing your wish will come true if you end up with the larger portion of the wish bone? Leaving the person who got the short end of the bone, feeling like a turkey!

I must admit, I have done all of the above; heck, I have even crossed fingers, knees, and toes.

Minneapolis gossip ~ Minneapolis' tie to American Idol! Randy Kelly, guess who may be coming for dinner? http://www.starmagazine.com/clay_aiken_dating_reed_kelly/news/14947

Obama calls on Illinois governor to resign ~ It is quite obvious that Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich did not pick up enough pennies, because his luck has just done run out! He doesn't have enough money in his piggy bank to buy his way out of this one! We all know that - because he was trying to get his wife a job. Anyway you flip the coin, it's not coming up heads or tails, it's landing sideways and rolling down the street into the Chicago sewer system where all the other stinky things reside. (I'm just glad it's not Minnesota's Govenor their talking about - remember Jesse Ventura?)

PS - They should have sent the re-enforcer, OPRAH, to ask for the governors resignation. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/10/obama.blagojevich/index.html

The News on foreclosures ~ CNN Money reports "Foreclosures dip, but hold the applause!"
~ NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Foreclosure filings dropped 7% from October to November, according a report released Thursday. But don't break out the bubbly. The tide of foreclosures may be ebbing now, but the flood isn't over yet.
"There are several indications that this lower activity is simply a temporary lull before another foreclosure storm hits in the coming months," James Saccacio, Realty Trac's CEO, said in a statement. ~
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We all know, and understand, that the media is in the industry of "reporting the news" to the masses, but somewhere along the line, it went from "reporting" to "sensationalizing." The theory behind all of this sensationalizing, is to simply create a love/hate relationship with the "masses," thus being you and I. They have figured how to report the news in a way that grabs our attention - sensationalizing achieves just that! And the media, knows and understands, that we are a generation that lives for out-of -the-box thinking. (We love them for this) Out with the ordinary, in with the new - we want something unique and sensational!

When the media is discussing what works, and what doesn't, amongst themselves they say: "We'll give them sensational, addictive news." "They'll hate us in the beginning, but we will get'em in the end." (We hate them for this.) What are we going to do, sue them?

I say - applause this dip in the foreclosure rates and don't worry about when it may end, it's positive and that's enough for me! http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/11/real_estate/foreclosures_sink/index.htm

Embellish - Be a light that shines brightly ~ Dawn Erickson