Website Updates

So I’ve discovered a WordPress plugin called RootsPersona that will automatically create the individual person files and link them all together.  Now when I update my family tree records, I won’t have to manually update a half a dozen pages, which should make it much easier to keep this website updated.  It’ll take be a little while to figure out how to use the new plugin effectively, so bear with me.

A rare non-family posting

This website is dedicated to my family.  I use this website as a base to publish my genealogical research, share family pictures and recipes, and to be a point of contact with people who may be distantly related.  Whether I update this website once a week or once a year, this website is here for everyone to see.

Web blogs are set up to allow their author’s to share their passions with the world, and two of mine (besides my family) is politics and technology.  Its not often when so many of my passions converge into a single entity, so when I heard of this happening, I just had to share it with you.

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, H.R. 3261) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA, S. 968) are in the works in Congress.  These bills would give the government and the bill’s commercial backers (the MPAA, RIAA, GoDaddy.com depending on who’s asking them, and others) unprecedented authority to have essentially have websites shutdown on demand.  If you combine the broadly and ill-defined terms of this bill with the fact that EVERYTHING in Washington becomes corrupted over time, this leads to the very real potential for oppressive censorship of the internet for little or no provocation.

The bills’ lead backer is Republican Congressman Lamar Smith continues to defend the bills despite growing protests from the internet community and conservative politicians in Washington.  Congress will vote on these bills sometime within the next two weeks, and I urge everyone to call their Representative or Senator and tell them to vote No on SOPA and PIPA.  Yes, online piracy should be addressed, but not at the expense of our freedoms.

Thanks, for reading.  I’ll step down from my soapbox now.

Bob Lee

 

Below are some links for more information:

To lookup and contact your Congressional representatives in Washington, D.C.

Neglected…

Wow, its been almost a year since I last updated the website.  This is no good.  I resolve to be better about maintaining the site in the new year (lets see how long that lasts).

Big news in the family: Samantha is engaged!

Yes, my bratty lil’ sis has found a great guy and I wish Sam, Chris, and Cody all the happiness in the world.  No date is set yet.  So stay tuned.  I may update with details (…next year?).

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy start in the New Year.

Uncle Bobby

 

BTW… I know several people have left comments and have tried to contact me through the website over the last year (and a half).  I’m sorry, I haven’t been ignoring you.  I just forget about the website from time to time.  I’ll try to get in touch with each of you in the near future.

Deviled Eggs

This is mom’s deviled egg recipe.  It’s always made for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

Deviled Eggs
 
Print
Recipe type: Side Dish
Ingredients
  • 12 hard-boiled eggs
  • 4 Tbsp mustard
  • 3 Tbsp mayo
  • 1 Tbsp dill relish
  • Tabasco (to taste)
  • Paprika (to taste)
Instructions
  1. Shell the eggs. Cut the whites in half and set the yolks aside.
  2. Mash the yolks and mix in the mustard, mayo, relish, and a dash of Tabasco.
  3. Scoop the yolk mixture into the halved egg whites.
  4. Sprinkle paprika on top of the eggs.

Gibblet Gravy

So, this past Christmas, I watched my grandmother make the gibblet gravy for the turkey.  And of course, there’s no measuring of anything.  Just add stuff until it looks and tastes right.  Over the course of the past few years, she’s been passing off various cooking duties to other people, but this is pretty much the last recipe she does herself.  Largely since everyone else is busy fixing all of the other food.

Gibblet Gravy
 
Print
Recipe type: Sauce
Ingredients
  • Gibblets from the turkey
  • Broth from the turkey
  • Can of chicken broth
  • Celery (chopped)
  • Onion (chopped)
  • Flour
  • Salt
  • Pepper
Instructions
  1. Boil turkey gibblets. Cut them up and set aside.
  2. Take some broth from the turkey. Strain the broth. Heat in pot on the oven.
  3. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in (a little at a time) 3-5 big spoon fulls of flour.
  4. Add ~1/2 can of chicken broth (depends of how much turkey broth used).
  5. Add in gibblets along with chopped celery and onion.
  6. Stir on high heat till it thickens.