Author Archives: AiXeLsyD13

That chicken-noodle stuff with breadcrumbs on top.

Posted on by Standard Reply

OK, so this was a picnic/covered dish staple from my mom growing up, and this is the recipe card she gave me then I moved out:

Chicken and Kluski Bake Recipe for: Eric From the Kitchen of: Mom Ingredients: Chicken (Various: thighs, legs, or breasts) Water for boiling Kluski noodles Butter (½ cup total: ¼ cup for the base, ¼ cup for the topping) Bouillon or canned chicken broth (optional, for flavor) Bread crumbs (1 cup) Instructions: Boil the chicken pieces for 45 minutes. (Optional: Boil with celery and onions if you want extra flavor). Remove the chicken from the water, but save the broth. Use the reserved broth to boil the Kluski noodles according to their package directions. Drain the noodles and save about 2 cups of the noodle broth. Put the cooked noodles into a 9x13 inch pan. Pick the chicken meat off of the bones and put it in the pan with the noodles. Add ¼ cup of butter and the 2 cups of saved broth to the pan. (Optional: Add some bouillon for flavor, or you can substitute canned chicken broth). In a separate pan, melt ¼ cup of butter and stir in 1 cup of bread crumbs. Mix the butter and bread crumbs together. Crumble the topping mixture over the top of the noodles and chicken. (You can make as much of this topping as you want). Bake together for about 15 minutes.

[Jump to my recipe.]

I was recently reminded of this, & it’s pretty good comfort food. It’s like if chicken noodle soup was a casserole. Once upon a time I started then abandoned a blog for recipes. I remembered this was living there.

I think I may sauté a mirepoix next time I do this. I also have thought about adding canned condensed cream of chicken soup to make it a creamy casserole.

Sometimes I lack the patience to boil or a chicken or to break-down a rotisserie chicken. I have grilled chicken tenders for this, and this time I baked them. I used rotisserie chicken seasoning, table blend, poultry seasoning, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, & parsley throughout the process.

I’d start by roasting a chicken (425°F for 15 to 20 minutes per pound) & reserving the liquid, using a rotisserie chicken, grilling tenders (6 to 8 minutes on medium-high on a countertop/press) grill, or baking them (20 min. @ 400°F). Just get it to 165°F internal. You can boil a whole chicken too, but that will take some time.

Here’s my version written out:

Ingredients:

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F
  2. Boil noodles according to package directions. I used some chicken stock and a chicken bouillon cube along with the seasonings.
  3. Strain, reserve 2 cups of that liquid or add 2 cups of straight-up broth stock.
  4. Add the noodles and cooked chicken to your 9×13″ casserole dish.
  5. Mix the broth, ¼ cup of your melted butter, & seasoning to taste together then mix into the chicken and noodles.
  6. Melt ¼ cup butter and stir in with breadcrumbs and seasonings to taste, spread over the top of the noodles & chicken.
  7. Bake uncovered for about 15 to 20 minutes until the breadcrumbs are toasty yet not burnt.

Notes:

  • I think a mirepoix might be nice & make it feel more like classic chicken noodle soup.
  • Condensed cream of chicken soup may make this nice.
  • I am tinkering trying to figure out how to get the right amount of liquid to make this without pre-boliling.

Do you make something like this? How do you do it? What do you call it?

Check out my recipes for chicken noodle soup & turkey noodle soup. (Or other soups.)

That Chicken and Noodle Stuff With Breadcrumbs on top.

The Galveston B.B. Stone

Posted on by Standard Reply

OK, so I already blogged about this one. You gotta peep the comments there, one from Orjan Jacobsson is very enlightening! I gave up SquareGuitar.com a log time ago, so all those links are broken, but as of now it still lives via the Wayback Machine.

I wanted to grab some of the info I gathered from there to drop here to go along with my Dewey Decibel FlipOut and Indy Custom FlyCaster posts, hell even the custom Russ Lorenz Shitar. Sorry if most of these links below are just broken or no longer exist. I like weird guitars and obsolete websites, I guess.

A composite photo showing different angles of a uniquely shaped, rectangular-bodied Galveston electric guitar with a sunburst flamed-maple top. The left panel shows the full instrument hanging, the top-right panel shows a close-up of the body and dual humbucker pickups, and the bottom-right panel shows a close-up of the black headstock with the Galveston logo.

The short of where it stands as I understand it now:

Jerker Antony & Orjan Jacobsson designed the guitar, had it manufactured at Un-Sung in Korea, sold it under the Eagle brand in Sweden/Scandinavia and in the U.S.A. under the Galveston brand… Maybe Brownsville too? I still don’t know anything about Galveston, or really Un-Sung. B.B. Stone was a nickname for a salesman, and he was not a player who got a signature. I can assume this was inspired by Bo Diddley’s square guitar meeting 80s flash? Maybe? I should reach back out to these guys and see if I can get some updated information. It seems there are 24 worldwide, and 12 made it here to the US? There there is an orange/butterscotch option and a black/ash one. The names Dae-yong Suk & Chess Lim have come up in searches too.

I’d love to find the owners of the rest of them out there in the wild. Please, share your stories and photos in the comments!

An image comparing two guitar headstocks side-by-side against a wooden background. The left panel shows a black Galveston headstock with strings, and the right panel shows a natural-wood Eagle headstock with a cutout center and three tuning pegs on each side. Blue text at the bottom reads: "The headstock is the main difference between the Galveston B.B. Stone model & Eagle B.B. Stone model."

The original synopsis from me (via SquareGuitar.com):

My band was playing show at the American Music Café, a venue in Murrysville Pennsylvania with an attached music store. The venue & music store would be described by many locals as a “shady” business place. We played there a lot because it was easy to book shows, & a lot of our fans & friends all seemed to gravitate to the place because of the growing (at the time) void of live all-ages music venues. Every once in a while a cool or strange guitar went through the store among the usual myriad of second-rate knock-offs. On Saturday December 23rd, 2000… I saw the “square guitar”, and bought it that day. I actually ended up trading in a Cimar by Ibanez Strat clone guitar that I had purchased earlier in the week in trade for it.

Trying to find out anything about the guitar manufacturers that use the Galveston brand can prove to be difficult. The best I can gather is that they’re made in a factory somewhere in Korea.

The model name is not listed anywhere on my guitar, & I didn’t know what it was until I came across a black & white photo on some discount guitar store’s website. I noticed that he headstock is quite different from my guitar though, and there was no visible name on the headstock of the pictured guitar, but I’m getting closer.

  • The first piece of useful information about the Galveston B.B. Stone that I came across was a review found at Harmony Central. Check it out here. – I don’t know if I agree with this guys ratings 100%, but he seems to have a lead on Galveston, Silverstar, and Un-Sung Musical Insruments… and what he’s equating it to as far as existing models. I haven’t been able to find anything out about Silverstar or Un-Sung Musical Instruments either, but if you have any information on any of the aforementioned companies, please let me know.
  • Through my searching, I did find two useful sites: Eagle Instruments & B.B. Stone & Son Musical Instruments. Eagle instruments apparently makes the exact same B.B. Stone Signature model, & they’re actually the originator. They give these Specifications.
  • From that website, I was able to discover & e-mail the actual designer of the guitar, Jerker Antoni. This is my correspondence with him, we were sightly confusing each other at the beginning. Maybe it has to do with the language barrier?
  • I sent the same e-mail to B.B. Stone himself, and got a little less of a reply. I think there was a slightly stonger language barrier here.
  • I can only see one major difference between the Galveston & Eagle models, the headstock. Also, the Eagle models appear to have the words “B.B. Stone” on them.
  • Know anything about this guitar? Where did you find it? Remember the day you bought it? Please share it with us!

My Emails from Jerker Antony:

—–Original Message—–
From: Jerker Antoni
To: ERiC AiXeLsyD
Sent: 7/8/2004 11:54 AM
Subject: SV: Mail från hemsidan (Galveston B.B. Stone?)

OK – now I understand what model it is – it is the B.B. Stone model, not
the Flash B.B. model.
In Scandinavia we used the Eagle head as you can see on attached
picture. We sold just 24 pcs all in all world wide I think.

I designed it (like I told you about the Flash B.B.) – but this model
was designed totally from scratch, and not like the other models with
the B.B. names like Flash B.B. aso.
Still with indonesian mahogany body and canadian hard rock maple neck.
It was never imported by Sam Ash or anybody else from what I know, I
think there are just 8 or 12 pcs in the USA and all imported by
Galveston.
Thanks for the pictures, I might put one up on our hompage later and
link to your homepage if that is OK.
Take care!


—–Ursprungligt meddelande—–
Från: ERiC AiXeLsyD
Skickat: den 7 juli 2004 23:44
Till: ‘Jerker Antoni‘
Kopia: ‘eric@aixelsyd.com‘
Ämne: RE: Mail från hemsidan (Galveston B.B. Stone?)


Wow Jerker,

You don’t know how long I’ve been searching for the origins of my
guitar! Here’s a picture of my collection:


When my band plays out though, people always ask to see the “square
guitar”, ha ha ha. It’s what I use on stage mostly. I love the feel of
the fretboard, and I love the sound. It does have great sustain, &
someday I might replace the pickups with something a little screamier…
but for now, I love what I’ve got. I’m assuming it was made in Korea &
it’s from a small run. It’s next to impossible to find anything out
about the company Galveston, but it looks like I somehow surpassed them
& got right to the source!

I don’t know how I can thank you enough for the explanation, or for the
great guitar design. I will tell you to keep up the great work, & link
you to some photographs of me with the guitar in action:


You’re my hero, dude!


Rock on!
-Eric Carroll a.k.a. ERiC AiXeLsyD – www.aixelsyd.com

—–Original Message—–
From: Jerker Antoni 
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 2:47 PM
To: ERiC AiXeLsyD
Subject: SV: Mail från hemsidan (Galveston B.B. Stone?)

Dear Eric,
I designed that model. It is a great guitar, light and easy and with
better sustain than most Les Pauls, as the body is from indonesian light
mahogany, and the neck is not from mahogany but from hard rock canadian
maple. Pickups are OK for korean made, but that is easy to change if you
want.
They got so popular here that Gibson sent their lawyers to sue us, they
thought it was a copy of their LP model but they just had the picture,
and they did not see the backside of the instrument with the body shape
going through the neck like an S-curve. So I took a picture of the
backside and they gave that thing up.
We called it Eagla Flash LP as all models I designed with star inlays in
the fretboard were called Flash something, but Gibsons lawyers thought
LP stood for Les Paul so they were still angry.
So we changed the name to Flash B.B. as B.B. Stone was the boss of the
factory that produce them, Un Sung in Inchon, Korea, south of Seoul.
The B.B. Stone name is another story, his korean name was very odd, so I
asked him to interprete it in english, and it meant Big Brave Stone, so
I thought he would be better remembered as B.B. Stone. So he changed his
name and he also put up his own company later on using this name.
We sold a few hundred of this model in Sweden, and also a few hundred in
the USA, some to Sam Ash (they used the Brownsville logo for their own
imports), and some to other importers like the guys with the Galveston
logo.
They all use other headstocks, we had our own Eagle headstock which I
think looks better.
Later on we made other versions of it like the Mezz signature model, the
same instrument but with oil finish for even better sound. The guy Mezz
is a great guitar player and singer, american that lives in Europe.
His father was jazz musician Mezz Mezzrow, who wrote a classic jazz book
in the 50’s.
Take care of the guitar – it is really a great instrument – especially
compared to the Gibson models which I think are great looking junk for
the guys that were not allowed to play with doys when they were young,
so now they compare the looks of the birds maple tops of their Les
Pauls…
Best regards

Jerker

—–Ursprungligt meddelande—–
Från: ERiC AiXeLsyD
Skickat: den 7 juli 2004 20:07
Till: ‘eagle@eagleinstruments.nu‘
Ämne: Mail från hemsidan (Galveston B.B. Stone?)

Hello,

I found your sites at www.bbstone.co.kr & www.eagleinstruments.nu and
I was wondering if you knew anything about the Galvestion B.B. Stone
model guitar? I belive that I own one, only it does not have the B.B.
Stone logo, or the correct headstock… I cannot find any history on
Galveston or the guitar itself. I was wondering if you could possibly
help me out?


Thank you,
-Eric

My Email from B.B. Stone:

—–Original Message—–
From: BB.Stone
To: ERiC AiXeLsyD
Sent: 7/10/2004 11:38 AM
Subject: RE: Galveston B.B. Stone Model Guitar?Dear Eric

I have developed “BB.Stone” guitar before I established my own company.
At that time, Galveston purchased guitars. I am now selling various
kinds of musical instruments and guitar parts. I hope this will help
your questions.


Best Regards.


BB

Insight from Orjan Jacobsson:

Orjan Jacobsson's avatarOrjan Jacobsson

 says:

Edit

Hello I was one of the owners of Eagle Instruments AB Sweden. Jerker Antoni and I Orjan Jacobsson. This guitar was designed by Jerker that´s right. We made about 12-18 pcs of it under our brand Eagle. Since there are too many Eagle branded products out there we could not use that name in other countries than Sweden. Other companies like Galveston bought guitars under their own labels to sell. Some of them through Sam Ash under the brand Brownsville. Made by Un Sung in Inchon Korea.
BB Stone is no blues guy from Korea. He was the salesman at Un Sung. Hes name was something like Dae Young Suk. That did not sound so good Jerker thought. He asked him to translate this korean name into English. He said it means “Big Brave Stone” Hence that: BB Stone. So Jerker named him that. Today he uses this on his buisness card. He has his own Company today and don´t work for Un Sung. Funny story isn´t it?

A wide shot of a guitarist performing live on stage with a wide stance. He is wearing a dark t-shirt, a black beanie, and light-colored jeans, playing the rectangular yellow sunburst electric guitar with a microphone stand in the foreground.
A live action shot of a guitarist wearing a cap and playing the yellow sunburst electric guitar while standing directly behind a large, ornate carved wooden statue of a standing bear that matches his height on stage.
A composite image showing three electric guitars mounted side-by-side on a rustic wooden plank wall. From left to right: A Dewey Decibel FlipOut, a sunburst double-cutaway guitar with a white pickguard, The Indy Custom FlyCaster a bright yellow V-shaped-bottom guitar with a black pickguard and a matching yellow neck, and the yellow sunburst flamed-maple Galveston BB Stone guitar with a rectangular body.

“Punk” Punk

Posted on by Standard Reply

You already know I have a playlist problem. You already know I like punk rock.

So, in the spirit of punk, because punk carries so many different definitions to so many punks… I made a playlist of a bunch of songs that have the word “punk” in the title (or “punks” or punx”). Punks love quantizing and categorizing and awarding punk points, right? This one’s to anger the gatekeepers. It even has a decidedly not punk track or two. Plus, the narrative is silly if you read down through the titles.

Someone somewhere will be big mad that the Casualties and MxPx are on the same playlist, no doubt.

Punk Punk | Amazon Music | AiXeLsyD13 Playlist Thumbnail

I listen on Amazon Music. You can import it to your preferred music streaming service with Tune My Music.

You can check out the list here:

1What Is Punk?The Mr. T ExperienceNight Shift At the Thrill Factory
2Punk Rock Is The Answer [Explicit]Hi-StandardThe Gift [Explicit]
3Scholarship In Punk [Explicit]GuttermouthGusto
4Punk Rock 101 [Explicit]Diesel BoyCock Rock
5Keep It PunkThe QueersBack to the Basement [Explicit]
6Punk RockThe CasualtiesDie Hards
7Punkrocker (feat. Iggy Pop)TeddybearsSoft Machine (U.S. Version)
8Punk rocker (2023 ver.)RUMKICKSBorn Rude [Explicit]
9Punk RockerCrazy & the BrainsPunk Rocker
10I’m Punk [Explicit]GuttermouthThe Album Formerly Known As Full Length LP [Explicit]
11I’m A PunkSaint City OrchestraChaos
12Proud to be Punk [Explicit]The CasualtiesStay out of Order [Explicit]
13I’m Not a PunkDescendentsMilo Goes to College [Explicit]
14You’re Not PunkWeekend NachosStill
15Punk Rock Rulebook88 Fingers LouieBack On The Streets (Remixed and Remastered)
16Punk PoliceThe Hard-OnsVery Exciting!
17It’s My Job To Keep Punk Rock Elite [Explicit]NOFXSo Long & Thanks For All The Shoes [Explicit]
18We Were Punk FirstDead PioneersDead Pioneers [Explicit]
19Judy Is a Punk (2016 Remaster)RamonesRamones (40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) [2016 Remaster]
20Tamara Is A Punk [Explicit]The QueersPunk Rock Confidential [Explicit]
21Sheena Is a Punk Rocker (2017 Remaster)RamonesRocket to Russia (40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
22Terry Punk!Peelander-ZSuper DX Hitz
23Dean Is a PunkApocalypse HobokenEasy Instructions For Complex Machinery
24Punk Rock BillySlightly StoopidEverything You Need
25For the Punx [Explicit]The CasualtiesThe Early Years 1990 – 1995 [Explicit]
26Punk Rock GirlThe Dead MilkmenBeelzebubba [Explicit]
27Punk Guy [Explicit]NOFXPunk In Drublic [Explicit]
28Punk Rock GirlsThe QueersDon’t Back Down [Explicit]
29Punk Rock LoveThe CasualtiesFor the Punx
3021st Century PunkSardonicaJust for Us Hardcore Kids
31The Shape of Punk to ComeRefusedThe Shape Of Punk To Come [Explicit]
32Street PunxTotal ChaosStreet Punx
33Street Punk [Explicit]The CasualtiesStay out of Order [Explicit]
34Chaos PunxThe CasualtiesFor the Punx
35Punx 4 LifeKomptoir ChaosPunx 4 Life
36South Shore Chaos Punx [Explicit]Unwanted NoiseTonight We Die
37All My Friends Are PunksWorthington’s LawFunnier! Punkier! Bandier! [Explicit]
38Punk Rock MomYouth BrigadeHappy Hour
39Punks Not DadPunks Not DadWe Are The Dads
40She’s a PunkThe MangesRocket to You 93-03
41Kitty Cat’s a PunkThe SablowskisAll My Friends Are Grounded
42Pirate PunkJolly JackersPirate Punk
43Punk Rock PrincessSomething CorporateLeaving Through The Window
44Pink PunkPeelander-ZSuper DX Hitz
45Surf PunkDown By LawDown By Law
46Punk Rock PrincessDizzy SunfistPUNK ROCK PRINCESS
47Punk Rock WerewolfThe DollyrotsLove Songs, Werewolves & Zombies
48Panda PunkPeelander-ZSuper DX Hitz
49Punk Rock Loser [Explicit]Viagra BoysCave World (Deluxe) [Explicit]
50Those Anarcho Punks Are Mysterious [Explicit]Against Me!The Acoustic EP [Explicit]
51Punk Rock ClichéNOFXDouble Album [Explicit]
52Punx & SkinsThe CasualtiesFor the Punx
53Punx & SkinsThe CasualtiesLive at the Fireside Bowl
54Punk Rock and HardcoreDad BrainsPunk Rock and Hardcore
55True Punk And Oi!Resistance 77Songs for the Nanny State
56Punx In Las Vegas [Explicit]The Bouncing SoulsLive
57Skins, Punx and Drunx [Explicit]Lars Frederiksen & The BastardsViking [Explicit]
58The Gypsy, The Punk, And The Fool (A Tale)Mischief BrewSmash The Windows
59Football Beer and Punk Rock [Explicit]Knock OffFootball Beer and Punk Rock [Explicit]
60Just Another Punk BandAbrasive WheelsWhen the Punks Go Marching In
61Punk Rawk ShowMxPxTriple Shot
62Punk Rock Song [Explicit]Bad ReligionThe Gray Race [Explicit]
63Super Famous Punk Song37 CentsDessert for Breakfast
64Not Another Folk Punk Song [Explicit]Little FootWhat Did You Expect? [Explicit]
65Punk Rock SongsResistance 77Songs for the Nanny State
66Punk PartyAlexGrohlPunk Party
67PunkhouseScreeching WeaselSuburban Vermin
68Punk House of HorrorTeenage BottlerocketFreak Out!
69Punk Rock PlanetThe EyelinersHere Comes Trouble
70Punk It UpLaughin’NoseLaughin’ Complete Emi Tracks
71Punk Rock Confidential RevisitedThe QueersPunk Rock Confidential Revisited [Explicit]
72Loud Proud ‘N’ PunkThe BusinessSuburban Rebels
73Toxic PunkTurtlesjr.OfficialToxic Punk
74Punks And DrunksDown By LawAll Scratched Up! [Explicit]
75Punk and DrunkRichiesWinter Wonderland
76Punk’s Not Sad [Explicit]Crummy StuffPunk’s Not Sad (25th Anniversary Remastered Edition) [Explicit]
77Drink Drank PunkAnti-FlagDie for the Government [Explicit]
78White Punks On Dope [Explicit]The TubesThe Tubes
79For the Punx [Explicit]The CasualtiesFor the Punx
80Queer Punk Revolution!Eat My FearNew Era
81When the Punks Go Marching InAbrasive WheelsWhen the Punks Go Marching In
82Punx UniteThe CasualtiesUnderground Army
83Punk Rock United (Step I)Down By LawChampions At Heart [Explicit]
84Punk As Fuck [Explicit]Down By Lawpunkrockacademyfightsong [Explicit]
85Nazi Punks Fuck Off [Explicit]Dead KennedysPlastic Surgery Disasters/In God We Trust, Inc. [Explicit]
86(Alt-Right) Punks Fuck Off [Explicit]Hardly BoysDear Diarrhea [Explicit]
87PUNK is nowhereRUMKICKSPUNK is nowhere
88Davey Destroyed the Punk SceneAnti-FlagDie for the Government [Explicit]
89A Punk Rock Tale of Woe [Explicit]GuttermouthGot It Made [Explicit]
90Punk Rock Changed My LifeJonah MaddoxTogether We Are Taller [Explicit]
91Punk Rock Changed My Life (Full Band Version)SMFCThe First Four Songs
92Punk Rock Ruined My Life [Explicit]Worlds Scariest Police ChasesNOFX and Out Come The Wolves Dookie [Explicit]
93Punk Rock Ruined My Life [Explicit]ControlPunk Rock Ruined My Life [Explicit]
94Punk Rock Ruined My Life [Explicit]Thirsty CursesPunk Rock Ruined My Life [Explicit]
95Punk’s Not Dead [Explicit]Bottle RatAll My Friends Are Animals [Explicit]
96Punk No DieTotal ChaosPatriotic Shock [Explicit]
97Punk Is DeadCrassThe Feeding of the 5000 (Remastered) [Explicit]
98Punk Rock Shows in HeavenApes of the StateWhat’s Another Night? [Explicit]
99Punk Decay [Explicit]BreakoutNothing in Sight [Explicit]
100Punk’s Not Dead [Explicit]The ExploitedPunk’s Not Dead [Explicit]
101Punk’s Dead [Explicit]SOFT PLAYHEAVY JELLY [Explicit]
102Punk is Dead [Explicit]The MerkinsShame Stain [Explicit]
103Punk’s Not Dead but I’m Not Far OffResistance 77Punk’s Not Dead but I’m Not Far Off
104Punk WonDown By Lawpunkrockacademyfightsong [Explicit]
105Sheena Is A Punk RockerHuntingtonsRocket To Ramonia (Remastered)
106Judy Is A PunkHuntingtonsRocket To Ramonia (Remastered)
107Punk Rock GirlStreetlight Manifesto99 Songs of Revolution Vol. 1
108Punk Rock GirlsThe DollyrotsDown the Rabbit Hole
109Punk Rock GirlMxPxOn The Cover II
110Punk Rock Love [Explicit]The CasualtiesThe Early Years 1990 – 1995 [Explicit]
111Punkhouse (2023 Remaster)Screeching WeaselKill The Musicians (2023 Remaster)
112Punk OneLike A MotorcycleHigh Hopes
113Punk TwoLike A MotorcycleDead Broke [Explicit]
114Atomic Punk (2015 Remaster)Van HalenVan Halen (Remastered)

So, am I missing anything? I feel like I’m always missing something. Which tracks do you love or hate here? Hit me with some of your playlists.

What’s the non copyrighted or trademarked name for Beefaroni?

Posted on by Standard Reply

I’m gonna call it beefaroni anyway, because these names are just ridiculous:

The dish commonly sold as “Beefaroni” (a trademarked name owned by Conagra Brands) has several regional and generic names. Depending on where you are in the US, the most common non-trademarked names for this ground beef and macaroni tomato skillet are American Goulash, American Chop Suey, Slumgullion, or Johnny Marzetti. [1, 2, 3]

Right?

A white bowl full of homemade beefaroni - spiraling pasta with ground beef.
Boy are deez tasty.

At any rate, I was hungry for it… and I am not a fan of the Chef Boyardee stuff/ (Sorry, Chef!) We would have this occasionally when I was growing up, and it’s a comfort meal I guess. It’s easy enough, and safe for the beef part these days, pretty economical.

Below is how I do it. How do you do it, & what do you call it?

Stuff yinz need:

How to do it:

  1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in a stock pot, ad the bouillon cubes, Italian blend, & Dash.
  2. Brown the ground beef in your skillet, hit it will all those spices… or whatever you got or like. We don’t measure here. Season until you think it’s too much, then keep going a little bit.
  3. Drop that Cavatappi or whatever pasta shape you dig into that water for 7 minutes or the recommended time on the box. Make sure you stir it up every once in a while.
  4. Drain the pasta, leave a lil’ bit of pasta water, return it to the warm yet off burner.
  5. Dump in the ground beef, the tomato soup, and stir like you practiced with the pasta.
  6. Put it in a bowl and eat it.

Notes?

  • Yeah, tomato soup! Not tomato sauce, pasta sauce, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, or any of that for me. This is cheap.
  • Obviously if you would prefer any of that, do it.
  • Sauteed onions, diced tomatoes, some type of beans, or even bell peppers would probably be great in this.
  • This is a memory I’m not messing with though. I’m keeping it basic and cheap.

There you have it. I know it hit the spot for me.

A close-up photo of a pot containing delicious spiraling cavatappi pasta with ground beef covered in condensed tomato soup. It's red and warm image overall.
Comfort Food / Struggle Meal

Pizza Pockets

Posted on by Standard Reply

So, a while back I made some things, and I don’t know if they were calzones or stromboli because no one can seem to fully agree on the definitions of either. Yes, I know definitions exist, but restaurants are all over out here calling them the wrong thing and people will confidently give you their contradicting hyper-regional opinions as gospel. Maybe it’s a turnover? I like alliteration, so Pizza Pocket it is.

[ Just The Recipe | Cooked Wiki | Only the Recipe ]

The first ones I made were not pretty. They were more half-moon shaped, one was not sealed well. They were delicious, but not awesome. I used pizza dough balls from Aldi and I did not do a great job stretching it.

This time I made some for lunch, and they looked pretty good. I put fillings in to order for each of us, and put our initials on top so they didn’t get mixed up. I got a resounding seal of approval on these, so I’m putting it here to make it again.

A top-down view of a parchment paper lined baking sheet holding four large, crispy, golden-brown pizza pockets. Each pocket features a personalized family initial carved into the top crust to identify the different fillings, with hints of glorious melted cheese peeking through.
Pizza Pockets!

Here’s what I used:

  • Giant Eagle pizza dough pop-tube
  • Jarred pizza sauce
  • Shredded Italian blend cheese
  • Shredded Mozzarella cheese
  • Parmesan cheese (the powdery shake kind)
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ stick butter
  • “Toppings:” (Fillings?)
    • canned mushroom stems & pieces
    • canned black olive slices
    • jarred roasted red peppers
    • diced ham
    • mini pepperoni
  • Spices:
    • garlic powder
    • onion powder
    • paprika
    • Italian blend
    • parsley
    • Dash table blend

Here’s how I made them:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° (Or if you’re weird like me, preheat it to 425° then crank it down to 400° after you put the food in.)
  2. Put down some parchment paper on a large baking sheet because washing dishes sucks.
  3. Put any wet toppings like the mushrooms, olives, & red pepper on a paper towel or two do drain & dry off a bit.
  4. Melt the butter in a microwavable bowl, add in spices to taste.
  5. Crack the eggs into another bowl, whisk (or fork), and add spices again.
  6. Pop open the scary dough tubes with a spoon, roll them out, and cut them in half the short way.
  7. Put down the Italian cheese blend on half of the half. I didn’t measure, but I did use the whole bag. Leave room on the edges so you can seal the dough.
  8. Spoon on a very little bit of the pizza sauce.
  9. Add your preferred toppings, keeping track of who gets what. I took ’em all!
  10. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese.
  11. Top with a little bit of Mozzarella.
  12. Hit the edges with some egg wash.
  13. Fold over the dough to make a nice rectangle, and use a fork to crimp the 3 “open” edges.
  14. Brush the egg wash on top, then brush the melted butter on top of that.
  15. Add extra spices on top if you think it needs it, and go for more parmesan too.
  16. Cut slits in the top shaped like everyone’s initials so you know whose is whose.
  17. Pop that in the oven at 400° for 20 minutes and you get what I got in the picture.

Suggestions/Substitutions/Advice:

  • I measure with my heart. You should too. Trust your judgement. Season until your ancestors tell you to stop.
  • It’s also fun to make mountain pies (if you have a campfire going) or pizza grilled cheese.
  • You could get fancy and do all kinds of stuff like green peppers, pepperoncini, sausage, onion, Ricotta, anchovies, spinach, basil, whatever.
  • Of course use whatever dough or cheese fits your fancy, fits your budget, or is simply what’s available.
  • You can skip the pizza sauce. I also wouldn’t overdo it… you want vents up top to let steam out so it doesn’t stay too wet.

So, do you make something similar? I am way too impatient to make dough, and I seem to even be too impatient to stretch a dough ball properly. These rolled canned tube things were perfect.

Hit me up on the comments or social media replies with some conversation:

  • What would your toppings of choice be?
  • Is this a Calzone, Stromboli, turnover, or what?
  • What would you do different?

Regardless, when making a pizza, calzone, stromboli, you gotta listen to my Punk Rock Pizza Party playlist. Oh and, hey… Did you try and make a meatball club yet? You don’t have to do stuff the same boring way as everyone else. If you did make one, you should get a T-shirt (or at least a button).

I will continue to make weird stuff, and leave pizza to the experts. You could wear this T-shirt while you make pizza 0r eat pizza.

HALLOWEEN MUSIC | Epic Playlist List 💀🎃👻

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OK, I have posted my Halloween Playlists before… but there’s more. Someone asked for spooky songs on Threads today and it kicked me into Halloween mode. It’s basically October, right? You can move these to your preferred streamer with Tune My Music. I have amassed more spooky and spooky-adjacent playlists.

I may have a problem.  Let me know if I’m missing some obvious or obscure bangers!  A lot of these I will listen to on shuffle/random, because I add stuff in what could be aptly described ss manic bursts of energy. Bold ones are ones I probably hit more often.

Halloween Stuff:

Halloween Costumes & Creatures:

Spooky Vibes in General:

Playlists not by me:

I guess if you’re having a party, you might wanna add some pizza songs to your list. Like I said the last time I posted these: You can peep this Misfits tribute from 20 years ago too, and don’t forget to get some Halloween swag or solve some free Halloween mazes.

AiXeLsyD13's Halloween Playlists on Amazon Music

If you wanna do some free Halloween-ish mazes while you listen, peep these:

I probably have Halloween Mazes pop up a lot here.

Bunny Rabbit | Garden & Easter Mazes 🐰🥚🧺🥕🫑🥦🥬🐇

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You should really buy my maze book. It has mazes like this, only in black & white. It has all the solutions, too.

Of course, you can just enjoy these here for free too, just like all the other ones on my blog. I really like it when people share their solutions in the comments or by tagging me on social media.

You can use my maze book like an adult coloring book too. Some people color in all the dead ends until the path is revealed. I fully support maze solution anarchy.

Maybe print these out & try them while you’re waiting for Easter dinner to cook, passing time before your seder meal for Passover, fasting for Ramadan, or you’re contemplating what to plant in your vegetable garden.

If you do celebrate Passover, Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, Beltane, Ostara, Imbolc, Chaitra Navratri, Ram Navami, Vishu, Ugadi, Vaisakhi, Baisakhi, Hanamatsuri, Qingming, Walpirgis, just Spring Equinox… or some other holiday… Would you like a maze themed for that? I try to approach everything with a mix of reverence & levity. I like to learn about other people’s holidays and the meaning & traditions behind them.

A hand-drawn maze where the object is to help a rabbit eat all of the vegetables in your garden.
It's a hand-drawn Easter egg hunt themed maze.

I may have to do a guinea pig themed maze soon…

Oh yeah, you can get the vegetable garden one on a T-shirt or a bunch of other stuff at TeePublic or RedBubble if you’d like to wear it while you garden or hang it on your wall.

Breakfast Bake | Corned Beef Hash, Eggs, & Cheese

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Breakfast Bake | On a plate

I always try to keep a can of corned beef hash hanging out in the pantry for whenever the mood or need strikes. This morning, like most weekend mornings, I was awake before everyone else. I had some coffee, watched a weird movie, and then got hungry.

Heating instructions for corned beef hash, including stove top and oven methods.

I popped out the trusty can of Aldi corned beef hash, and noticed there were oven directions on the back. Oven directions?

I have always just cooked it in a pan. Am I missing out? I would have done eggs in the pan, too. I know I can do eggs in the oven. Wait. Cupcake pan? 8″x8″ glass dish? No. Ceramic pie dish.

I’m making a dish with what I have on hand.

  • A can of corned beef hash.
  • Bell Pepper (I had an orange one)
  • 5 eggs
  • 2 cups shredded cheese
  • Maybe ¼ cup of bacon pieces.
  • Black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, Dash table blend, white pepper, cayenne.

This is what I did…

  1. So, I spread out the canned corned beef hash on to the bottom of the pie dish, and popped it into the preheated 375° oven for 10 minutes.
  2. While that was going on, I diced an orange bell pepper & hit it with paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, & Dash table blend.
  3. I pulled out the hash, added the pepper, and added it back in for 5 minutes.
  4. While that was going on, I popped 5 eggs, some shredded cheese, bacon pieces, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne, & probably more Dash.
  5. I pulled the dish out, poured the egg mixture in, put it back in the oven, and cranked it down to 350° for 12 minutes.
  6. Then I pulled it out, put some more cheese & bacon on top, and put it back in for 7 minutes as it was still a bit liquidy.

It was awesome when I yanked it out of the oven & could not wait to eat.

A slice of cheesy corned beef hash breakfast bake, with visible ham and potato on a white plate, accompanied by a fork.
A baked casserole with a golden cheesy topping, garnished with bits of bacon, in a blue-trimmed white pie dish on a stovetop.

I am faced with a quandary… Is this a casserole, a quiche, or a frittata?

A quiche would have a crust… perhaps like a pie crust or croissant dough? A frittata would be started on the stovetop, and this was all oven, albeit in & out. Maybe an oven-frittata? This wasn’t a particularly deep dish, but casserole may be it. I need you the readers to weigh-in in the comments.

The only changes I’d make are I think I’d like some fresh spinach or at least just parsley to freshen or lighten it up? Also, maybe I would crisp up the corned beef hash a little longer or a higher temp? Maybe on the air fryer or convection setting. Perhaps some sort of dough… like croissant dough on the top or bottom, or biscuits on the top? Maybe doing hash browns on the bottom and canned corned beef on that? I didn’t put milk or cream in the egg mixture, but I could have. I feel like some Red Hot or something would have been good too, or even hot ketchup on the side. A biscuit-gravy style gravy may have been good too.

I feel like I will be doing this again and tweaking the recipe many times.

How would you do it? Do you make something similar?

Shamrocks & Shenanigans ☘️🍀| Mazes for St. Patrick’s Day

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OK, so I drew up a maze with a Leprechaun and a pot o’ gold, because… Stereotypes. I thought it may be a fun activity for people who celebrate their Irish or Celtic heritage this time of year. I do love to rock the Celtic Shenanigans 🍀 playlist on random more often than usual this time of year. You can spare me your “dusting off” Dropkick Murphys/Flogging Molly jokes. I have heard them all, and I listen all year. (I also don’t drink much any more, but my Beer 🍻 playlist also feels stereotypical and apropos.)

A colorful maze featuring a leprechaun on the left encouraging viewers to help him reach his pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, all set against a light green background.

🪙☘️🪙🌈🪙🍀🪙

I also made a shamrock maze & a four-leaf clover maze, for a fun quick activity, & I uploaded them to my TeePublic & RedBubble shops. Everything is on sale right now at TeePublic, including these two designs. Get T-shirts for $16, stickers for $3, or all kinds of other cool stuff. You can even customize the colors of the products, so you can have a black hat or T-shirt, a green one, or whatever you prefer.

Which one do you like more, the shamrock (three-leaf clover) or the lucky four-leaf clover? Should I add this leprechaun maze to the shops too?

A green clover leaf filled with an intricate maze design, featuring arrows indicating entry and exit points.
A green four-leaf clover designed as a maze, with intricate pathways and two yellow arrows pointing downward.
Green t-shirt featuring a black outline of a shamrock filled with a maze design.
Green t-shirt featuring a stylized maze design in the shape of a shamrock.

☘️🍀

Check out all of these mazes, in a printable black & white if you’d like:

A black and white illustration of a shamrock shape filled with an intricate maze design.
A maze illustration featuring a leprechaun on the left, with a speech bubble saying 'Help the Leprechaun get to his pot o' gold!' and a pot of gold at the bottom right, connected to a rainbow.
A black and white illustration of a four-leaf clover designed as a maze, with intricate pathways and arrows pointing downwards.

🍀☘️🍺🤘🍻☘️🍀

They work great as adult coloring book pages too. You can fill in the dead ends to find the path, or just color ’em however you please. I’m a big fan of anarchy.

You can check out my playlists on your preferred streaming service with these links from Tune My Music:

Let me know if you think I’m missing something good for either list!

Also, what do you like to eat for St. Patrick’s Day? I have been hungry for something like this. Maybe with potatoes this time.