Frances Ellen Speaks!

Archive for the ‘Women’ Category

I haven’t listed any American presidents, politicians or religious leaders. That’s an entirely different list. My list is random. Although the names are numbered, no ranking is intended.

1. Prince William – He has done his mother proud.
2. Anwar Sadat – His death was a tragic loss to his country.
3. Joseph, Chief of the Nez Perce tribe – His ill-fated retreat of more than 1,000 miles from federal troops is legendary.
4. Martin Luther King – He had a dream. We’re still working at it.
5. George Carlin – He’s probably my all-time favorite comedian.
6. Paul Newman – A good man.
7. Danny Thomas – He was much more than met the eye. Visit the St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis to see what I mean.
8. John J. Audubon – I’m a birder, so Audubon makes my list. He spent 50 years painting and describing the birds of America.
9. Norman Rockwell - He shared the spirit of America through his paintings. I grew up enjoying his artistry on the covers of The Saturday Evening Post.
10. Thomas Edison - Every time there is a power outage, I wonder what people did before the light bulb.

These are the first ten names that popped into my mind. I probably missed a few of your favorites.

For years, I used to carry gardening gloves in the trunk of my car, in case I ever had to rescue an injured animal.

Don’t laugh too hard. I knew a fellow who carried a long, heavy rope in his trunk, in case he ever had to rescue someone from drowning.

See–my gardening gloves don’t seem so strange now, do they?

Anyway, as it happens, I have moved a turtle or two out of the middle of the road to safety wearing those gloves. But this is a story about a bird.

Many years ago, I was driving on a narrow two-lane street when a Mourning Dove swooped down and I hit it with my car. It lie limp in the road. I wasn’t sure if it was dead or not.

With tears pouring down my face, I pulled my gloves out of the trunk and had just slipped them on when a man, driving on the opposite side of the road, stopped his car.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“I ran into a bird.”

He laughed hysterically. When he looked at my gloved hands, he sneered, “Are you going to operate?”

Then he drove off.

I couldn’t stop crying. The idea of killing a bird horrified me. I walked over to it. I’m sure it was dead, although people have since informed me that birds go into shock and the dove may have been perfectly okay later. I didn’t believe them then and I don’t believe it now. At any rate, I carried the bird to the side of the road and placed it under a bush.

Over the years, I’ve actually saved a lot of birds who went into shock for one reason or another. They fly through badminton nets and into windows. Birds are simply not always equipped to handle human obstacles.

But no matter how many I’ve rehabilitated, I’ve never been able to forget that poor dove, or that guy’s repulsive, insensitive mocking.

So, the Halloween candy is hanging around. And you want it! You swear that Snickers bar is calling your name every time you pass the table.

Here’s the skinny on this sticky situation. Eat the darn thing. It’s a 100 calorie snack. It will give you a boost of energy and your sweet tooth won’t feel denied.

If you’re more the Hershey kiss type, feel free to enjoy four of them–another 100 calorie treat.

Dieting doesn’t have to be all bad news.

Last week I cooked a dish that called for broccoli florets. So there I was–stuck with the leftover stems. What to do. What to do. I chopped them up, threw them into a ziploc bag and put them in the frig.

Today I decided to make this soup. It turned out to be a good, delicious decision.

5 cups water
2 (14 oz) packages frozen, chopped broccoli
OR fresh broccoli, if you have it.
3 cups diced potatoes
¾ cup chopped onion
3 chicken bouillon cubes
2 cans cream of celery soup
6 oz sharp cheddar cheese, cubed
6 oz Colby jack cheese, cubed

Cook the first 5 ingredients for 20 minutes (1/2 hour if using fresh broccoli).

Reduce heat and add soup and cheeses.  Simmer until cheese is melted.

Stir often so cheese does not stick.

Alright, All My Children is one of my guilty pleasures.  I’ve become addicted. I tape every episode.

I was so happy to see Michael Nouri (Caleb) join the cast. He’s been a favorite of mine for years. I hope the writers keep him on for a long time.

And it will be interesting to see if Vincent Irizarry (David) can rise from the dead. (As I understand it, this type of thing happens all the time on the soaps.)

What I’ve noticed lately is the ladies on this soap opera are withering away. It’s like watching skeletons walk across the screen.

Susan Lucci has always been petite, but now there seems to be a lot of slimming down going on. Alicia Minshew, who plays Kendall, is tall and painfully thin. Rebecca Budig (Greenlee) (where did they come up with that name?)  and Christina Bennett Lind (Bianca) aren’t far behind.

It was refreshing to see Jamie Luner’s character, Liza, in her underwear recently. She actually has a “real” woman’s body.

I hope the skeletal look doesn’t become a trend.

That said, here’s a little something on Scott Chandler’s character.

Monday - ABC – “Castle” is back!

Tuesday - CBS – “NCIS” (my favorite) and “NCIS Los Angeles” have returned! And it looks like “NCIS Los Angeles” is giving us a double whammy. Make sure you stay tuned for not only the 9 P.M. slot, but for the 10 P.M., as well.

Thursday - ABC – “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice” are rumored to swing in with some exciting episodes. I hope so, because they were becoming predictable last season.

Thursday - Fox – Have you discovered “Fringe?” (9 P.M.)

Friday - CBS – I’m planning on giving “Blue Bloods” a try. The story line sounds blah to me, but how can you resist Tom Selleck? Perhaps he can pull this dreariness out of the doldrums.

As far as Saturday is concerned, if it weren’t for the PBS lineups and “Saturday Night Live,” we’d be lost.

I suppose I should mention the season premiere of “The Mentalist” on Thursday on CBS. But think about this–have you noticed the formula for “House”, “Lie To Me” and “The Mentalist” are all the same? The lead character is always right. Each of them treat their colleagues as if they are merely there to kowtow to them. And they each love themselves very much. In spite of that, I seem to have been hypnotized by the Mentalist, because I’ll probably end of watching it from time to time.

Oh, well, there’s lots of new shows. If you discover one you love, let me know.