I’m contacted fairly regularly by websites that want to exchange links or otherwise get a mention from CBSOP.  For the most part, these sites have nothing to do with cooking, food or recipes and are ignored summarily.  Every once-in-a-while though, someone contacts me with a site that I feel is worth passing along to the folks that make this place what it is.  You, the readers of this blog.  You guys rock and I only want to let you know about things that you’ll actually be able to use.  This is one of them.

Onlinerecipefinders.com is all of these things.  Though it feels a bit spartan and is a tad clunky to use, the recipe finder functions as you would expect it to, in an “old school Google” kind of way.  The results are relevant, the system is responsive and the amount of results is satisfying.  In short if you hit the search recipe button, you’re gonna get a good lot of choices to browse through.

The results are all in PDF format, which is a bit of a drag, but it’s something I can live with.  It only takes a second to pull up the file and read through it.  Less time than many food blogs take to load.  The plus side is that you can download recipes directly to your hard drive for later use; A very useful feature if you are just starting out on a digital recipe library since PDF’s index extremely well on both Mac and Windows and are searchable.

My end opinion is that this is a site with great potential.  While I do think the site needs a bit more polish and user interface adjustments, the simple interface is refreshing, the results show what you’re looking for and the recipes are not just skimmed off of other food blogs. With some smoothing over it could very easily become one of my go-to reference libraries for inspiration and I give a thumbs-up to the developers of the site.  They’ll have a winner if they keep it up.

I’ll be sure to let you know of any new happenings with this site.  Why not go check it out for yourself?

This review was sponsored by onlinerecipesfinder.com.  All opinions given are my own and in no way constitute a conflict of interest.

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Though I must admit that the food at a tailgate party is by far my favorite part of the day, there are a few other things that the rabid fans in your group might find both fun and useful for the perfect tailgate party.  Themed party plates and banners are fun, and the die hard fan will want to be decked out in team colors with official NFL clothing and perhaps a little face paint (for the more serious fans.)

A great spread with chips and salsa, brats, dogs, burgers and assorted finger foods is a must, of course.  Your bunch may prefer subs, hogies or wings.  some would rather have a steaming bowl of chili.  I think it depends on the region and the fan, but as long as there is good food, good friends, a decent game and a lot of laughter it’s the perfect party.

I’m sure there are a few in your bunch who like to bet on football while having a few too many of their favorite beverages, and that’s just fine too as long as it’s all in fun.  After all, wh doesn’t enjoy a good wager every now and then?

What foods do you make for your tailgate parties?  I’m the chili and wings type myself, but I’m sure other people have different favorites.  Let me know in the comments and I’ll try my hand at some of those recipes between now and game season next year!

For those who like chili as much as I do, here’s a great recipe for a no-bean chili that works just as well as a hot-dog topper as it does steaming in a bowl.  Enjoy!

Southern Chili Georgia Style

Ingredients:

• 3 lb chuck,cut in chunks
• 3 tsp. vegetable oil
• 1-1/2 cup  beef broth
• 1-1/2 cup  chicken broth
• 4-1/2 tbsp  California chili powder
• 4 tbsp.  Gebhardt chili powder
• 1/2 tbsp.  New Mexico hot chili powder
• 1/2 tbsp.  chimayo chile powder
• 1/2 tbsp.  pasilla powder
• 3-1/2 tbsp.  cumin
• 1 tbsp.  granulated garlic
• 4 tsp.  onion powder
• 1/2 tbsp.  brown sugar
• 1 tsp. Tabasco or your favorite hot sauce
• 8 oz. tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup  canned diced green chilies

Method:

Brown meat and add to chili pot along with broths, tomato sauce, and green chiles. Add 2/3 of the spices. simmer for approximately two hours.

Add remaining spices. Cook 1 hr or until meat is tender. Add salt to taste.

Share and Enjoy!

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It doesn’t matter that your cell phone, PDA, or toaster can keep the time.  Regardless of the ability of these multitasking machines that today’s technology provides us, everyone still loves a humble and simple uni-tasker; the simple yet invaluable watch

Your watch may not be able to collect your email, surf the web or balance your checkbook, but what they do they do with an unfailing and sometimes comforting degree of accuracy.  They tell the time and keep your day on track.

I’ve been thinking hard about what to get the women in my life as gifts this year.  All are savvy in the ways of their modern toys.  Each one carries at least three different devices that can give them the time in several different timezones to within a millisecond of precision.  Regardless of that, each one still wears or carries a watch, so what better way to say I was thinking of you than to get them a new, trendy watch.

Michele Watches capture a stunning design philosophy fusing timeless elegance with contemporary art. The designs are whimsical, classic and to be honest, just a little funky.  They are perfectfor the more eclectic women in my life.  Not because they are currently the most sought after “must have” by celebs and the well-to-do, but because a gift that helps to make your life predictable is worth the additional cost. After all, a watch shouldn’t just look good.  It should be expected to work perfectly at all times….

Well, it should look good, too.

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At one time or another everyone finds themselves down at their local print shop to have something printed.  Whether it’s invitations, brochures, business cards or calendars for small business owners to give away to their customers it seems that everyone has a need for printed materials sooner or later.

Unfortunately getting to the printer can be inconvenient and expensive. Not only do you have to spend the time working with someone on the design you need, but you can’t always be sure how qualified or detail oriented the person helping you will be.  In the end it can be frustrating at best, especially if you’ve wasted an afternoon or two in their shop, rather than doing what you needed to be out doing.

Whether you’re a small business owner that needs the time to get the real job done or just a mother that needs to have some family or anniversary greeting cards made for a special occasion, consider using online printing to save yourself some time and money the next time you just have to have that something special printed up.

Don’t worry about the quality of the product.  You’ll have the chance to review he finished piece before you commit to a print run. You can order free samples of their work so that you can see and feel the quality of the work that will be provided for yourself beforehand.

Welcome to the Internet age.  Print online.  It saves you time, effort and money.

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If you’re getting married or know someone who is, there are a million things that need to be done before the big day.  There’s the venue, the dress, guest lists, catering and of course, the rings.  But none of these things does you any good without the wedding invitations.  Seriously.  How are your guests going to find your wedding without an invitation?  how is the caterer going to set the menu without a list of R.S.V.P.’s?  One little piece of paper can make all the difference in the world.

Invitations need to be printed and local print shops can charge an arm and a leg for this service as well as printing for the other stationary necessary for the event.  Looking online can save time, effort and money, as well as a lot of stress if you are planning the event yourself.  123print offers thousands of print options that can help you make the most of this special occasion and any other time you have the need of a professional printing service.  give them a look.  I think you’ll find that tey have something that works for you.

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I’m a serious music fanatic, which is why I’m going to deviate from food related subjects here for just a moment and let you in on a couple of tidbits that will make any music lover extremely happy.  I’d like to take just a moment to tell you about HD Radio.  HD Radio is pure digital quality music, but not from some location ignorant satellite system.  This is radio the way it should be; local and relevant to your area.

You can probably tell from that last statement that I’m not a huge fan of satellite radio, and I’m not.  Not only are the selections they play generally generic, but there’s no local news, road condition information, alerts or even a decent set of DJ’s to love or hate.The only plus to satellite radio until now has been the quality vs. traditional broadcast radio, but no more!

Local radio stations are now broadcasting in high-quality digital audio, this kills the issue of quality, but there are other perks as well.  If you own the right HD Radio tuner, like the JVC KD-HDR20, you can also get a list of songs to download to your iPod with the click of a button from anywhere at any time.

This is called Song Tagging or iTunes Tagging . When you hear a song you like on the radio (assuming it’s got an iPod port), just press the “tag” button to automatically add that song to a playlist called “tagged”.  When you get back to your computer you can easily jump over to the iTunes store and grab a copy of the new songs you like and buy them when you’re ready.  You don’t have to remember the name of the artist, album or even the lyrics, just tag it and get it later.  Simple!

I know a lot of my readers are serious about their iPods and iPhones, so I thought I’d share.  Hopefully most of you will find this as interesting as I do.

At least I hope so…

But now, back to the food!

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A foodie has to have a kitchen.  To have a kitchen you generally want to wrap a house around it. If you’re considering building a new home, deciding on the floor plan can be a daunting task.  There are thousands of options available, from cookie cutter to full custom. If you’re not feeling the need to fork out the dollars for the full custom option, perhaps you should consider building off of a pre-designed floor plan that you like.

HDA Inc. is finalizing a complete redesign of their website www.HousePlansandMore.com and has all the tools you need to find the plans for the home of your dreams, whether that home be 250 square feet or 5,000+.  You’ll find home plans with 3 bedrooms and two baths and house plans with 6 bedrooms and 5.5 baths. www.HousePlansandMore.com of HDA.Inc. allows you to choose from basic subsistence dwelling or guest house plans all the way up to luxury dream home plans, all from the comfort of your computer screen.

The site as-is is pretty functional, but from the buzz surrounding this relaunch you’ll have in excess of 100 ways to search for the home plan of your dreams and a bookstore to boot, if you’re more the catalog flipping type. (and I admit that I am as well.  I love to dog ear home plan books.)

So: coming this summer…  Be sure to check it out.

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There’s a beach somewhere with my name on it.  My wife’s name is on it, too. In the distance I can just hear my son laughing while he plays in the waves while in the care of someone other than my wife or myself. It’s all a part of the all inclusive vacation of my dreams.  The one that I’d like to take when my wife comes home to stay.

I’d love to say that we regularly head to our travel agent to take advantage of an all inclusive vacation package, or to discuss the finer points of our next series of Caribbean vacations.  We don’t.  We’re just a military family and we get by fairly well, but we’re most definitely not the idle rich.  It’s a dream I have for that day when we travel together for pleasure, not in the service of something larger than ourselves.

One day we’ll find that beach. It’s out there somewhere with our names written in the sand, a cool drink under an umbrella and a few sea turtles nearby.  I can’t wait to see it personally, but that will be some few years from now.  Until then I’ll continue with the dream.  It’s one I’m rather fond of.

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If you’re looking for a Greenville SC restaurant , don’t mess around with the yellow pages or just another Internet search.  Jump over to and get the full experience of the restaurant you’re thinking of, all in high definition video.  The only way it could be better would be if we had smellevision. (Which I hear they’re working on as we speak, but kinda scares me a little bit.)

Imagine being able to take a look inside a restaurant before you decide to visit.  To get a glimpse of the owner and staff in action and have a chance to get a feel for the atmosphere, the service and the menu before you make the decision to dine there. Imagine having a food channel dedicated to the restaurants or services in Greenville that you’re looking for. Imagine taking some of the guesswork out of choosing a new restaurant to try.

I love this concept.  It makes looking for a particular business, event, venue or just a place to stay for the night.  I’m hoping that more cities adopt the concept. I’d spend a lot more time deciding where I was going to stop on road trips and weekends out if I could just look for a place I liked then schedule it in to my trip than I do now.  (OK, right now I just stop wherever looks convenient because I’m in a hurry.)

If you live in or near Greenville or you’re thinking of visiting, be sure to check out greenvillehd.com for restaurants, attractions, shopping, places to stay and a lot more.  You might find yourself planning a trip to south Carolina whether you were thinking about going previously or not.  I know it’s got me thinking about it.

If you go, let me know what you think of the Saffron sidewalk Cafe.  The video really caught my attention. (In fact, it made me hungry…)

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If you’re anything like me, you probably look forward to an ice cold glass of suds after a long hard day.  Nothing says “the day is over” like a good meal, a bit of reading or TV and a great beer.  It’s the perfect end to the day or the week.

The only problem with loving beer is that there are literally thousands to choose from.  Each is distinct and wonderful in its own particular way. Every brewer puts his or her own mark on a beer, adding subtle overtones and flavorings that can be found nowhere else. At the end of the day, how do you decide which brand or style of beer to choose?

If you’d like to try a different beer every month, try joining a beer of the month club through 1-800-beer.com.  They’ll send a different selection every month, leaving you to enjoy your beer, rather than having to decide which beer to try. Their imported beer selections are hand picked by Michael Jackson, the foremost authority on beer (not the pop legend), so you’re sure to find one or more that make your palate sing.

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