Cheryl Beckham

At the grocery store I had a difficult time deciding how much candy to buy for the kids who will be knocking on my door tonight. I finally decided to buy 4 big bags of assorted candies. They were awfully expensive for being little bite size and snack size candies, but I think I will have enough to give a handful of candy to at least 30 kids. Surely that will be enough candy for the night!

To be honest, I am hoping that I have lots of candy left over. I don’t mind sharing it with the trick or treaters, but I have a sweet tooth and it would be nice to have some sweets in the house for a few days.

It’s not Halloween yet but the stores are putting out Christmas toys and decorations already. I hate that. I think most people think the same way. Yet the retailers persist in putting the Christmas things out too early in the season.

That’s probably a good indication of why retail is losing their asses and have been in trouble for the past several years. They don’t listen to what the general public thinks or wants.

I like to shop at Sam’s Club because most of the items in the discount warehouse are a good price. But you can’t count on finding the size and color that you want. You can’t count on the same thing being there next time you go to get it. You can’t check out quickly with just a few items in the basket – there are no express lanes. And you can’t use a VISA card to pay for your purchases.

But I found a nice little daily calendar for under $10 that would be a great Christmas gift for my mother, so I bought it. So I have reluctantly but officially begun my Christmas shopping for this year.

Today I saw cooking tips on a TV show about how to cook a beef brisket. Brisket is a cheap cut of beef that will be dry and tough if you don’t cook it right, so I have always been reluctant to try it. But after watching these tips I have more confidence and i’m going to try it this weekend.

• First, braise the meat and the seasonings on top of the stove to create a seal and keep the juices in while baking.
• Next, do not use a fork to move the meat to the baking pan. Use tongs or a spatula. You don’t want to pierce the meat with a fork as you just sealed it and piercing it will let the juices out, making it dry.
• Put the meat in a baking pan, add one cup of water or stout beer, and cover it with aluminum foil to help keep the juices in.
• Bake it at very low heat, 300 degrees, for 4 hours and do not open the oven door to check on it – leave it closed so the heat in the oven stays even.

As much as I dislike war and wish we didn’t need the armed forces at all, I realize that we do need to have a strong military to defend our country and to help other deserving nations when they are in trouble.

I don’t know anyone actually in the military, although my cousin’s husband was in the Army for about 10 years. He has been out of the Army for a long time and is working with a Government contractor now as a civilian.

So I don’t know why I like to watch The Unit on TV because I really don’t like war type of shows, but I have to say that the men in that show are the most macho, sexy, capable men I have ever seen and I hope there are hundreds of thousands of little boys who watch this show and realize what wonder role models these men are.