kara

Does anyone have a subscription for this? I have a pressing need to find some information, and I have read bad things about being able to cancel their "free trial."

For various reasons, I need to increase the amount of healthy veggies in my diet. This weekend we had deli-style broccoli salad from a grocery store, and I did my best to recreate it tonight. I don't even like broccoli that much, and I ate a ton of this salad.
Ingredients
2 heads of broccoli, chopped (green!)
1/2 red onion, finely diced (purple!)
1 large carrot, shredded or finely chopped (or, do what I did and use a veggie peeler to make short, small strips) (orange!)
handful of baco bits (can also use a few strips of real bacon, cooked crispy, dried and crumbled) (red!)
handful of raisins, I used golden raisins because they're prettier (and yellow)
3/4 cup of vegannaise (or mayo) - you may need more depending on how many veggies you've used
splash of apple cider vinegar - 2-3 tbsp.
2-3 tbsp brown sugar
Whisk together mayo, vinegar and sugar. It should be thick, but thin enough to pour easily.
Assemble veggies/raisins/bits in large bowl, pour mayo mixture over and mix together very well
Chill in fridge for an hour before serving.
My better half doesn't like baco bits; otherwise, I think this would have been a major success at dinner tonight.

Rainbow Salad sounds a lot better than Broccoli Salad.
I had a request for vegan recipes awhile ago - @matthew, this one's for you!

@jenks says she'll find a dog treat recipe that uses canned pumpkin, and until then I'm posting this other (relatively simple) one that I found somewhere online:

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup skim milk powder
1 tablespoon (or 1 package) dry yeast
3 1/2 cups lukewarm chicken or meat broth

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm chicken or meat broth. The richer this broth is, the better your dog will like the biscuits. Let yeast broth mixture set 10 min. Then stir in flour mixture. Roll resulting dough out 1/4" thick. Cut dog biscuit shapes from dough. Brush biscuits with egg wash. Bake on greased cookie sheets at 300* for 45 min. Then turn off oven and leave in overnight to finish hardening. Makes 60 medium-sized biscuits.

I have a dog biscuit shaped cookie cutter all ready to go.

I love Rachael Ray - her shows, her recipes, and her whole quirky style.
Her album? Her CHRISTMAS SINGING ALBUM? That's just wrong.

Who wants to share their holiday cookie recipes? I'm making my Kara Kanes again, and probably a selection of chocolate covered treats, boiled cookies, and bone-shaped dog biscuits for the puppies in my life.

I'm doing cheap, yet classy and crafty, gifts for the holidays this year, and am stumped on just a few VIPs on my list. Anyone have any ideas for what to buy, make, or steal for the following people?
- 55+ish male, works in psychology/social science/education, loves to read
- 25ish female, also works in the psychology field, lives in a much warmer climate than WNY
- late 20s professional couple
- my grandma & grandpa, who are awesome, but their Christmas wishlist is generally just "we want all you kids to be happy, don't buy anything."

I love @jenks ' Heifer international idea, but I don't think any of the above would fully appreciate it.

We're in a place with a built-in microwave, and I'd like to part with my Sharp Half-Pint model (white) that has served us well for a few years. It's in good condition, is a square shape (good for dorm rooms), and holds most types of dishes and containers up to 10 inches.
Shoot me an email if you're interested. I've listed it on CL too, and am happy to deliver to a fellow (e:strip)per.

We're changing our (verizon) phone plan soon, and I need recommendations on a new phone. Right now we have Samsung
SCH-a670 - we're looking for something sturdy (I've run them through the washer and dryer before), good battery life, camera (but not a super-high quality), preferably compatible with a USB cord.
Any tips on dealing with verizon sales people who most assuredly will try to gouge us on fees and $$ to upgrade and to change the plan?

From youtube:

Shame on him.
And when I see stem-cell research opponents showing as much concern for children once they are born in comparison to growing cellular tissue in a petri dish, I might have some respect for their views.

And shame on CBS for such a misleading lede on their web site, summarizing Michael J. Fox's interview on the CBS Evening News
"Fox: I was Over-Medicated in Stem Cell Ad."
I would draw anyone's attention to the fact that without his medication, at this point in the disease's progression, that man would be unable to speak.

Although, for the foreseeable future, I'm now a few miles removed from the damage that Buffalo's received, I've started a list of essential items that are should be packed away for situations just like this.
(a dented car roof/car door and spoiled food in the fridge will, hopefully, be the extent of our damage).
- candles, matches and a lighter. Duh. When it's dark, you need to be able to see what you're doing. Flashlights (a super-heavy duty one, a headlamp that runs on rechargeable batteries, and one of those "shakeable" flashlights that runs on a magnet are also in our light arsenal.)
- an inverter for the car. When I had to go out to update the college home page in the dark, and in 12 inches of snow, it was convenient, relatively, to drag a surge protector and my 'puter to have the car with the inverter at my disposal. It's absolutely vital for charging cell phones and rechargeable batteries, too.
- cell phones and chargers. I'd never seen the inside of a telephone wire outside of a textbook before yesterday.
- notepad and pen. Good for taking down info, making lists of things to buy, and doodling while wasting away the cold, dark hours. I have a moleskine. Keeping the emergency numbers for local police, NiMo and the gas company are also a good idea.
- Radio. While you can go for the kind that runs on batteries, we prefer the kind that you windup/crank, with a battery option.
- Camera - disposable or one w/ recharge batteries. Great for taking pictures of incredible snow drifts or damage to your car/house.
- shovels. I was saddened to see so many people trying to dig out their cars with brooms and dustpans. People: those don't work nearly as well as small garbage cans and large tupperware containers. This weekend we invested in a complete car emergency kit ($20 at wallyworld) that includes a collapsable shovel.
- clean water for drinking and washing, plus water for pets. I filled up a bunch of jugs with water as soon as the power went out.
- snacks. Chips and salsa are good, as are granola bars, pb&j sandwiches, canned fruit, applesauce, crackers, s'mores (substitute marshmellow fluff for the marshmellow). If you have access to a grill, propane or otherwise (use it outside, people!), cook up your soon-to-be-spoiled meat, heat water for some rice or ramen, or just hope there's a pizza place within walking distance that's open. (Just pizza on Main had power as of yesterday afternoon).
- an alternative place to crash. Enough said.

Many thanks to @mrmike using his superpowers to make our internet connection work!