MUTE MONDAY - DARK (Comedy)

Note - Hope you enjoyed this MM but, unfortunately, I will not be able respond to comments or visit other MMs for the next 2 weeks. I will be gone until after Labor Day (September 7th) and will have limited or no computer availability (don't ask). See you after the end of summer.

MUTE MONDAY - ROCK(umentary)

Easier than it Looks - Troll Poll

Troll is conducting an All-Over-The-Place Poll over at the Troll Report. Here are my answers:

Been arrested? No
Kissed someone you didn’t like? Yes
Slept in until 5 PM? No
Ran a red light? Yes
Been suspended from school? No
Experienced love at first sight? Yes (everyday)
Totaled your car in an accident? Yes (a tree fell on my parked truck)
Been fired from a job? No
Fired somebody? No
Sang karaoke? Yes (badly)
Pointed a gun at someone? No
Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? Yes
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes
Kissed in the rain? No
Had a close brush with death (your own)? Yes
Seen someone die? Yes
Played spin-the-bottle? No
Smoked a cigar? Yes
Sat on a rooftop? Yes
Smuggled something into another country? No
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? Yes
Broken a bone? Yes
Skipped school? Yes
Eaten a bug? Yes
Sleepwalked? No
Walked a moonlit beach? Yes
Rode a motorcycle? Yes
Dumped someone? Yes
Lied to avoid a ticket? No
Ridden in a helicopter? No
Shaved your head? No
Made your boyfriend/girlfriend cry? Yes
Eaten snake? No
Marched/Protested? No
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? No
Puked on amusement ride? No
Seriously & intentionally boycotted something? Yes
Been in a band? No
Been on TV? Yes
Shot a gun? Yes
Skinny-dipped? No
Ridden a surfboard? No
Drank straight from a liquor bottle? Yes
Had surgery? Yes
Streaked? No
Taken by ambulance to hospital? Yes
Passed out when not drinking? Yes (exhaustion)
Peed on a bush? Yes
Donated Blood? Yes
Grabbed electric fence? No
Eaten alligator meat? Yes
Killed an animal when not hunting? Yes
Peed your pants in public? No
Snuck into a movie without paying? No
Written graffiti? No
Still love someone you shouldn’t? No
Been in handcuffs? No
Believe in love? Yes
Sleep on a certain side of the bed? Yes

MUTE MONDAY - JOHNS

MUTE MONDAY - EASTERN (Front - WWI)

Dim Sum Sunday - Summer Soup

Cucumber Soup

Being that we are getting a lot of cucumbers out of the garden right now, the old light bulb went off and I got the idea to do a chilled Cucumber Soup for this weeks Dim Sum Sunday. I got the Cold Cucumber Soup with Mint recipe from Epicureous.com.

Here's what the garden looks like as of last week. There's a lot of cucumbers in there (you just can't see them in this picture). We've had so much rain this summer (and this week - we got pounded again today) that the tomatoes are starting to rot. We have a lot of green ones but I bet I pulled 15 rotten ones off yesterday. Seems like they start to ripen and go right to rot. I'm hoping we get some this week.


I followed the recipe fairly closely. I substituted Low-fat Vanilla Yogurt for the buttermilk, added a little red pepper and I doubled the egg yolk and rice wine vinegar.



I garnished with mint, fresh ground pepper and red onion as was suggested by several reviewers.




After Action Report

I really liked this soup. Sweet and cool and better than I thought it'd be. It could have been a little colder (chilled in the fridge for 2 hours) but other than that, it was nice. The Mrs. liked it but didn't like the onions on top. She even said to save the leftovers for another day. I'm anxious to try it after a day in the fridge. The Pudge didn't like it because he's 11 and soup should be hot. The Boy sort of liked it but had problems with the texture (too gritty). I'll admit it was a little gritty but not off-putting. I pureed it for about 2 minutes.

General Consensus

Will make it again - next summer.