This is such a great idea...

Especially for those people like our state legislators who have a second home in the cooler parts of the state where they can spend as much time as possible during the heat of the summer and save 10 cents a gallon while doing it!

Lawmakers are looking to give Arizona drivers some relief from high fuel prices this summer with a 10-cent-per-gallon rebate on gas taxes. [azcentral.com | news]

How about a simple pot of Pinto Beans for this week's Recipe Carnival

With all of the Mexican food recipes I've done so far, I thought I should add this as a side dish. Cooking a good pot of beans is not as simple as you may expect, there are some important things to consider such as sorting out the discolored or broken beans, the freshness of the beans, when to add salt, and soaking the beans before cooking. Here's how I do it...

• pinto beans
• 5 cloves garlic
• water
• salt

1. sort out broken and discolored beans and any rocks that may be packaged with them
2. rinse in a colander under cold running water
3. in a pressure cooker, cover beans with at least an inch and a half to two inches of water and bring up to pressure
4. turn off the heat, let the pressure subside, and re-rinse the beans in the colander (optionally, you could soak the beans over night in cold water)
5. add the beans back to the pressure cooker and cover with at least an inch and a half to two inches of water
6. add garlic cloves
7. bring up to pressure and cook for 40 to 50 minutes at pressure
8. turn off the heat, let the pressure subside
9. salt to taste after beans are done cooking(Salt will harden the beans during cooking)

Traditionally, lard would be added while cooking, but I think they come out great with just the garlic. For a little variation try adding salsa or green or red chili when serving. Additionally, you can mash them and re-fry them (to reduce the liquid present) for burritos. Enjoy!

Previous entries:
Welsh Pancakes
Pan Fried Steak with Red Wine Reduction
Hot Peanut Chicken Stir Fry
Uncle Dave's Green Chili Stew
Corned Beef from Scratch
Canton Beef and vegetable soup
Enchilada Pie
Meatloaf
Taco Tangle's

A brief interlude...

I was getting gas after dinner this evening... What do you think of the view? 

What I'm reading...

I highly recommend this book... Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman 

This is pretty funny...

Three species of 'Slime Mold beetles'!

Reuters - President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld can now also be called bushi, cheneyi and rumsfeldi, or simply slime-mold beetles. [Yahoo! News: Reader Ratings]

Comming to you live and with broadband ;-)

This is pretty cool!

The never-ending roller coaster of emotions for the parents of deceased war hero Lori Piestewa has reached a new high.  Extreme Makeover touched by Gilbert girl's selflessness * Mom, Hopi, hero: Piestewa an icon [azcentral.com | news]

I love getting comments like this one!

This was from the Taco Tangle recipe

We made these for lunch today and everyone loved them! I even found the El Pato sauce at the grocery store here in Georgia. Thanks for a quick, easy, and very tasty recipe. [Comments for drublin00 - HaloScan.com]

WhooHooo!

The Valley is gearing up for playoff NBA action, and the Phoenix Suns are now selling first-round NBA playoffs tickets. [Latest news from The Business Journal of Phoenix]

I'm back...

Just in the nick of time too... does anyone else find it odd that armed guards would not have permission to shoot to kill? What's the point of being armed if your not allowed to shoot?

Kinda reminds me of Barney Fife and the one bullet he kept in his pocket!

The Arizona Legislature sent Gov. Janet Napolitano a bill that would authorize private security guards to shoot and kill to protect the Palo Verde nuclear plant. [azcentral.com | news]