Cheryl Beckham

Well this morning I had gone to the little gas station down the street from my house, where I purchased a drink called Monster thinking it was just to boost you up a little bit for the day ahead. Unfortunately about 5 hours after drinking it, I had experienced jittery bursts out of no where, and I couldn’t stop thinking about everything at the quick speed it was going.

I got so ahead of myself that I ended up spilling hot coffee all over my white blouse that I had on, what a mess! Now I’m worn out and I feel like I ran 8 miles with no break, about to pass out. Be aware of these drinks they cant be too healthy for you.

I can’t believe that the owner of the restaurant and bar that I tend the bar at has, at the last minute decided to have their doors open and welcoming for the day of Thanksgiving. After finding that most of his employees don’t have immediate family members to celebrate the holiday with, he made his decision based on employee availability. He has been asked numerous times by the “regulars” if he would consider this possibility and he grabbed the bait and definitely ran with it. Just wish he had not waited until the last minute.

So the bad news is that I have to tend bar tomorrow. A bar and restaurant filled with all of the other “loners” in the county will certainly be an interesting shift, they better not be stingy with their wallets, due to their loneliness and depression that is known to hit people harder during the family oriented holiday season.

The good news is that we are promised to be paid overtime for the inconvenience and all of our efforts in making this as pleasant as we possibly can.

When my favorite grocery store puts Sobe bottled drinks on sale, I buy a huge batch of them. They are made out of glass and are difficult to tote in those little plastic bags, but it is not unusual for me to buy 10-12 of them bottles at a time.

The Sobe drinks are wonderfully different from carbonated sodas and not as sweet as colas. I like the green tea flavor the best, but I like all the different ones.

The regular price is $1.69 per bottle. This week the grocery put them on sale at 10 for $10.00 so I bought 6 green teas and 4 assorted other flavors. I love to find a bargain!

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.

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.