Dog On A Root

The number of “Servings” in a recipe is always open for interpretation. It all depends on who you are serving. Children? Teenagers? Adults? Seniors? It might also depend on just how hungry the people you are serving are. For example, this recipe claims to serve two. That’s one pound of ground beef divided in half plus the balance of the ingredients. Despite what you might think when you look at my physique, a half pound of ground beef, plus pasta, plus vegetables is a lot for me to eat. My Shirley and I might typically eat a Quarter-Pounder at McDonald’s. Well, My Shirley wouldn’t. She would likely order a Big Mac which has less than a quarter pound of ground beef.  Of course there’s also the bun, pickles, lettuce, sauce and cheese. We’d likely split medium fries as well. Somehow eating a half pound of ground beef at one sitting however, just seems like a lot to us, no matter what you might serve it with. So the “2 servings” in this meal are usually split between My Shirley and I a...

- jim Young “We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when, But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day.” - Ross Parker & Hughie Charles As a young lad I was always warned to not make a lot of noise when visiting my grandfather because he had PTSD. Of course it was called “shell shock” back then. My grandfather, William S. Young, from Craigvale that is now part of the town of Innisfil, tried to enlist in the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 to serve in the “Great War” which would later become known as “World War I”. But he was only 17 at the time and required his father’s permission which was denied, either because of his age or because he was needed on the farm. Over 2 decades later however, at the age of 40 and with a wife and 3 children, my grandfather joined the Royal Canadian Engineers, 8th Field Company to serve in World War II. After transferring to the 1st Field Squadron, he was eventually sent to Croydon in England, an area that was heavily bombed during World War II d...

- jim Young Following is an article I wrote about 5 years ago, prior to writing for the Great North Arrow. For some reason I never posted it on my website, Dog On A Root. So I have revamped it for its first printing here. A lot of the rules can quickly change in both baseball and hockey, so if some of the points I have made here seem a little dated, that’s why. The rules and stats in this article are based on the rules of MLB and NHL games in 2016. Baseball: You've got a diamond, You've got 9 men,  You've got a hat, and a bat, and that's not all.  You got the bleachers, got 'em from spring 'til fall. You got a dog, and a drink, and an umpire's call. What do you want? Let's play ball. - Matthew Smith Hockey: Hello out there, were on the air it's hockey night tonight! The tension grows, the whistle blows, and the puck goes down the ice. The goalie jumps, and the players bump, and the fans all go insane. Someone roars: "Bobby Scores!" At the g...

When you look at the dimensions of these Rice Krispie Squares, the first thing you might notice is that they are not square, they are rectangular in shape. But I already know they’re not square so you don’t have to tell me they’re not square. It just doesn’t sound right to call them “Rice Krispie Rectangles”.  These are a favourite at our house at Hallowe’en. Actually they are a favourite year round, but My Shirley seldom makes them any other time of year. And they are certainly a favourite of the many trick or treaters we get knocking on our door on October 31.  We make the larger size ones for Hallowe’en. The smaller sized ones aren’t really a “treat” so much as they are a “taste”. It’s really too bad that most people do not give out homemade goodies on Hallowe’en so much any more. It was a big part of the fun tradition that we children, growing up in the 50s and 60s, looked forward to each year.  These days, children are usually instructed to just toss homemade treats...

Thanksgiving is over, the table has been cleared, dishes are done (mostly) and family and guests have gone home. It’s time to put your feet up and relax with a nice cold beer. But cousin Eddy drank the last of your cold beer so you have to stock the fridge first. The problem is, there’s no room in the fridge for more beer. It’s full of leftover turkey dinner. What are you going to do? You could always invite everyone back next week for a helping of leftovers, but you probably won’t be ready for another large gathering of that kind for another couple of months yet, when Christmas rolls around. Here’s a great recipe I got from my sister, Kathy, to help you combine and store your leftovers in one container to make room for the beer and you won’t have to worry about what to make for supper tomorrow night. Better yet, put it in the freezer and you’ll have a prepared meal for another night when you’re not so sick of turkey. This will give you even more room for beer. Stuff Required: Leftover...