Monday, July 30, 2018

I've Been Wanting .....

A couple months ago I had the desire for a chicken pot pie for lunch.  My go-to pot pie is Marie Callender's.  But I decided it was too much for lunch, not to mention that it cost more than I would want to spend for a simple lunch.

Banquet pot pies are sub-par.  So they were out.

But I remembered that I used to take Swanson pot pies to work and heat them in the microwave.  They worked well for a lunch meal.  In fact, I remember one specific day when I removed the pot pie from the microwave, and for reasons I no longer recall, I dropped it and it landed top side down on the floor.  I was sooo disappointed because I was really looking forward to this pot pie.  The smell of it already had me salivating.  All was not lost -- I just flipped it back over onto a plate and ate it for lunch.

But I digress.

I looked in four grocery stores for Swanson pot pies and could not find them.  In fact, I did not see any Swanson frozen products.  (I used to like the Swanson fish and chips meals, too.)  I looked in County Market, Schnucks, Meijer, and Walmart.  I was certain I would find Swanson pot pies in one of these stores.  But I came away disappointed each time.

Today I was at ValuCheck.  I casually looked at the pot pies.  Just as I figured: no Swanson pot pies.  I had not looked here previously because ValuCheck is County Market's budget store, and I figured if it was not at County Market, it would not be at ValuCheck.

Boy, was I wrong!  On the very last shelf (bottom) of the vertical freezer case, I found a couple stacks of Swanson Chicken Pot Pies.  I purchased two and left the store feeling victorious.

Saturday, July 28, 2018

Two Things I Like About Winter

1.  The weather is not hot and humid.

2.  Tap water is really, really cold.

Thursday, July 5, 2018

Fireworks


Did you have smiley faces in your fireworks last night?

I did!

Courtesy of “A Capitol Fourth” on PBS last night.


I also watched “Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular.”  (I think I liked the previous title better: “Pops Goes the Fourth.”)

I recorded both programs and watched them this morning.  It made it really handy to fast-forward through the parts that I wasn’t really interested in.  That was mostly performances by current musicians.  I’d listen to a few seconds, and if it didn’t appeal to me, zip to the next.

I have not seen the Boston Pops in quite a while.  They no longer have a program on PBS.  I used to watch the Pops 4th of July program on A&E channel.  But when it went to network TV, it lost its “hometown” feel.  Seemed like they had to make sure to keep it within time constraints in order to get all the commercials in.  I found the show this year on BTV.  Wha’?  Yeah, I’d never heard of it either.  Bloomberg Television, whatever that is.

Keith Lockhart is no longer the boyish youngster he looked in 1995 when he became conductor of the Pops.  Guess that is to be expected.  I missed seeing some of the familiar faces in the orchestra.  There was a trumpet dude whom I’d recognize.  And the older lady who played the piccolo in “The Stars and Stripes Forever” is gone.  I missed her.

One thing that I really like is when these outdoors performances use real cannons during the “1812 Overture.”  I wish they would show how the military personnel are directed to shoot the cannons at the appropriate time.  My guess is there is a musician holding a score and indicating the proper time to shoot them off.