Making Bacon- Right!

Trouble Shoot Your Bacon Problems!

Photo credit: StockFood

What more can we say about bacon? Even vegetarians fall prey to its temptations at times. But for an ingredient so beloved, people muck it up way too often. We're talking limp bacon. Burnt bacon. Soggy bacon. Bacon treated in ways unbecoming of the fine, fine ingredient it is.

Here's how to avoid these classic bacon blunders.

1. Unevenly cooked bacon.

Photo credit: Getty

Don't you hate when half a slice of bacon is burnt to a crisp, but the other is floppy and undercooked? Try baking it in the oven instead of frying it to oblivion. This might be the easiest way to make perfect bacon: Just place the slices in a single layer on a baking tray, rev the oven to about 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake for about 20 minutes. (You could also try brushing it with some maple syrup at the end. Just sayin'.)

2. Burnt bacon.

Some people like their bacon slightly burned, but personally we don't share that sentiment. To avoid burning, remember this credo: slow and steady wins the race. If you're frying your bacon, that means setting your skillet over medium or medium-high heat and no higher. And don't start with cold bacon; let it warm to room temperature, which helps the fat render more quickly.

3. Floppy bacon.

Photo credit: Getty

Quit crowding your bacon! Doing that prevents the glorious strips from crisping up, which means gross, floppy, gross bacon. (Did we mention gross?) Seriously, give the slabs some breathing room.

4. Soggy Bacon

Photo credit: Flickr/ Chris Yarzab

Bacon is great and all, but that bilious, oily residue that slicks your throat afterward is totally not. Your bacon is soggy because you're not cooking it long enough. Sure, burned bacon is awful. But isn't soggy bacon worse? Give it some time to crisp up!

5. Weirdly thin bacon.

Photo credit: Getty

Why settle for sickly little strips of anemic bacon when you can have thick, meaty slabs of salty, beauteous baconitude? Ditch the standard grocery store variety for thick-cut bacon. Your taste buds will thank you.

Follow these rules, and you'll practically be a pro. No need to thank us; we're just doing our jobs. No one should ever have to eat sad bacon. 😉

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From the Desk of:

Rachel Tepper- Jan 17, 2014

Official Message from Congressman Cynthia Lummis about Restricting Women's Rights! And her position in the Uterus Police Squad!

Cynthia is doing her Yeoman's work for her fundamentalist right-wing campaign donors.

Although it is easy for millionaires like her to get abortions because of their mistakes while having sex, for everyone else she thinks it is evil, and is basically a hypocrite.

When her daughter had one, it was OK, when she had one, it was OK, but screw everyone else, right Cynthia?

January 8, 2014     William Harasym 200 Smith Street Apt 410 Sheridan, WY 82801-3842   Dear William:   Thank you for contacting me regarding pro-life issues.  I appreciate this opportunity to respond.   I support overturning Roe v. Wade and returning the ultimate decision of abortion legality to the 50 states.  The people of Wyoming, through the state legislature and the constitutional amendment process, should have the right to establish policy on abortion, adoption, the definition of marriage, and other social and family matters in a manner that is consistent with their values, instead of these decisions being made by the Supreme Court.    Most recently, I voted for House passage of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 1797), which passed the House by a vote of 228-196.  Drafted in light of medical evidence that unborn children start experiencing pain at 20 weeks of age or earlier, H.R. 1797 prohibits elective abortions if the post-fertilization age of the unborn child is 20 weeks or more.  The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.   Further, I oppose federal tax dollars being used for abortions – both domestically and abroad.  Federal family planning dollars are currently provided to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States.  While these dollars cannot directly fund an abortion, Planned Parenthood still uses it to free up money for its abortion-providing affiliates.    To end this federal subsidy of abortion, I have cosponsored and voted for House passage of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.  Introduced by Rep. Chris Smith as H.R. 3 in the last Congress, the bill would have established a permanent, government-wide, prohibition on federal funding for elective abortions and insurance coverage for elective abortions.  This prohibition would apply specifically to Obama Care.  It would not extend to treatment for complications caused by an abortion or an abortion in cases of rape, incest, or to preserve the life of the mother.   H.R. 3 would have also instituted conscience protections for medical providers.  I do not believe that any physician who objects to abortions should be forced to participate in abortions.  All physicians, regardless of source of funding, should have the right to practice medicine pursuant to their personal values regarding life.  I voted for H.R. 3 when it passed the House on May 4, 2011 by a vote of 251-175.  While the U.S. Senate failed to act on this bill before it expired at the end of the 112th Congress, I will continue supporting bills to end the federal abortion subsidy and ensure conscience protections for medical providers.   In order to combat gender-based abortion, in the last Congress I cosponsored H.R. 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA), which was introduced by Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona.  H.R. 3541 would make it a federal offense for doctors to knowingly perform abortions that are sought solely because of the gender of the child.  This is an atrocious practice that is usually pursued to prevent the birth of baby girls in favor of having baby boys.  It is a barbaric form of sex discrimination that is unfortunately occurring in the United States.   I voted in favor of H.R. 3541 when it came to vote on May 31, 2012.  H.R. 3541 received a simple majority vote of 246-148.  However, on a motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, it did not meet the required two-thirds majority vote and was not passed by the House.  Despite this setback, I am committed to seeing this legislation through the House of Representatives.   I also oppose human embryo destroying research, and have instead chosen to support alternative research, using ethically obtained stem-cells as viable alternatives.  That is why I support research and clinical trials that use adult-stem cells.  These stem-cells have been used to successfully treat patients who suffered from Type 1 Diabetes, Leukemia, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, and heart diseases.   Thank you again for taking the time to write to me.  I value your input.  If you haven't done so already, I would like to encourage you to visit my website at www.lummis.house.gov.  There you can sign up to receive my newsletter, and have access to a wealth of other information.  I won't flood your email box, but I will provide you with updates once in a while about activities in Washington that affect our lives in Wyoming.  I hope you will sign up so that we can stay in close touch, and I look forward to seeing you in Wyoming.     Sincerely, Cynthia M. Lummis Member of Congress COMMITTEES Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture Subcommittee on the Interior and the Environment Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education E-Mail Via Website http://lummis.house.gov Follow Me on Twitter Like my Facebook Page DC Office Location: 113 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-2311 District Office Locations Cheyenne Casper Rock Springs Sheridan

House Republicans, all of which are men, is advancing a bill that contains far-reaching restrictions on abortion access. The bill, called the "Rape Audit Bill", H.R. 7!

"The Attacks on Women's Health Keep Coming" It's only January 15th, but Republican legislators and their activist allies are not wasting any time when it comes to the war on women. Just today, both the Supreme Court and Congress considered new restrictions that could limit basic access to abortion. A panel of House Republicans, all of which are men, is advancing a bill that contains far-reaching restrictions on abortion access. The bill, the so-called Rape Audit, H.R. 7, aims to limit access to abortion by making it much more difficult for women to purchase private insurance that covers abortion (as most private plans currently do) with their own money. (Similar laws were passed by seven states last year.) In addition to increasing taxes on women and small businesses, it would also empower the IRS to conduct audits of rape survivors to ensure they're not merely pretending to be raped. Pro-choice legislators and advocates have been pushing back against this assault, including a group of Democratic congresswomen who sternly told the GOP to "stop wasting taxpayers' time and dollars waging attacks on women's constitutionally protected right to make informed health care decisions about their own bodies." Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), who chairs the Judiciary Committee, claimed the bill is actually a jobs plan because denying women access to abortions will make them have more children, who will in turn help grow the economy. Another leading anti-abortion legislator, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), blocked a Democratic effort to amend the bill with legislation that cracks down on workplace discrimination against pregnant women by claiming that abortion access has nothing do with pregnant women. ​ CREDIT: DEMOCRATIC LEADER NANCY PELOSI 2. The Supreme Court may rule to eliminate buffer zones at abortion clinics, allowing protesters almost unlimited access to patients and staff. Depending on how the Justices rule in McCullen v. Coakley, a case they heard today, cities and states may no longer be allowed to enact buffer zones around reproductive health care facilities. Since protests outside of clinics often turn violent, abortion providers say that buffer zones are critical for ensuring the safety of their patients and staff. In fact, there have been over 4,700 incidents of clinic violence and 140 clinic blockades since 1995. Justices Scalia and Alito incredulously claimed that anti-abortion activists who gather outside clinics and harass patients and staff aren't actually even protesting, they merely want to "speak quietly" to patients. It appears likely that Alito, Scalia, Kennedy (who has long opposed buffer zones) will be able to find at least two other justices to strike down the Massachusetts law and perhaps overturn a 2000 ruling that upheld a similar law in Colorado. It's worth noting that the Supreme Court bans protests on its own plaza. 3. In the past 3 years, states have enacted more abortion restrictions than during the entire previous decade. A new report from the Guttmacher Institute notes that between 2011 and 2013, state legislatures enacted 205 laws that restrict women's reproductive rights. In the decade prior, between 2001 and 2010, states enacted 189 such restrictions. While the campaign against abortion rights rages on nationwide, Guttmacher points out that the multiple, often overlapping restrictions enacted just a few states — North Dakota, Texas, Arkansas, and North Carolina — helped drive the spike. CREDIT: GUTTMACHER INSTITUTE 4. States with anti-choice governors and state legislatures outweigh states with pro-choice ones. The two charts below illustrate the imbalance. And in a new state-by-state report card released this week by NARAL Pro-Choice America, 25 states receive a failing grade for reproductive rights while America on the whole gets just a 'D' grade. Choice Positions Of Governors CREDIT: NARAL Choice Positions Of State Governments CREDIT: NARAL BOTTOM LINE: Women's health advocates are hopeful that this year will prove to be a turning point in the fight over women's reproductive rights, but so far we're seeing more of the same from their opponents. From the Progress Report. And By CAP Action War Room

Fake Funeral notification by Dirtbags!

I notified the real funeral home about this low-life with the following note-

"Someone is using your funeral homes good name and even colors as a phishing scheme to folks who might have recently lost a loved one. They even copied the copyright/web design by Frazer Consultants data.
This is serious, and just letting you know, and giving you a heads up, because you may be getting calls regarding it.
I did a screenshot of their notice, which I am going to post on my website."

There was a link attached which I didn't add because it can only be trouble. If someone wants it, I'll send it to you, and it starts out with:

http://justbags.nl/box/…/FuneralInvitation (Not the entire link.)

From the Desk of:
William D. Harasym

From: Eubank Funeral Home
Sent: ‎Wednesday‎, ‎January‎ ‎15‎, ‎2014 ‎9‎:‎20‎ ‎AM
To: williamharasym@msn.com

Eubank Funeral Home & Cremation Services
For this unprecedented event, we offer our deepest prayers of condolence and invite to you to be present at the celebration of your friends life service on Thursday, January 17, 2014 that will take place at Eubank Funeral Home at 11:00 a.m. Please find invitation and more detailed information about the farewell ceremony here. Best wishes and prayers, Funeral home receptionist, Arnav Bennett
Copyright 2014 Funeral Home Website Design By: Frazer Consultants LLC

UPDATE: Frontier Airlines 1st human response from comment sent 5 days ago!

UPDATE regarding the 1st comment I sent to FRONTIER AIRLINES on January 5, 2014 @ 10:36 AM, 5 days ago.

From: Frontier Airlines
Sent: ‎Thursday‎, ‎January‎ ‎9‎, ‎2014 ‎8‎:‎33‎ ‎AM
To: williamharasym@msn.com

Recently you contacted us for personal assistance.

Your request and our response is displayed below.

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.

Subject
---------------------------------------------------------------
EarlyReturns travel dates? When are they, once a year?


Discussion Thread
---------------------------------------------------------------
Response Via Email(Erin) - 01/09/2014 08:33 AM
William,

Thank you for your feedback expressing your concerns about EarlyReturns® award seat availability and the difficulties you encountered in trying to book a reservation.

We understand your disappointment in having earned enough miles for an award ticket, yet being unable to successfully book a reservation. A limited number of seats are allotted for award bookings and these seats book quickly, especially on our higher traffic routes. Seats are released at the same time that flights are loaded for sale. There may be instances where our flights are not sold out, but the award seat allotment is full.

Please know, we have the Choice award option. By using more miles, you are able to book an award ticket based on broader availability. Choice awards include two free checked bags. For a complete list of all award types, I have included the following link:
http://www.flyfrontier.com/frequent-flyers/use-your-miles/redeem-miles

In regards to your past dated mileage credit for 01/02/2014. Miles normally post within a week after each flight is flown. Due to our year end process taking place, new 2014 flight credit will show a delay in posting,  we expect you will see the miles in your account after 01/16/14.

We appreciate your patience and hope to serve you again aboard a future Frontier Airlines flight.

Sincerely,

Erin
EarlyReturns Loyalty Agent
Frontier Airlines
*******************
EarlyReturns® Service Center: 866-263-2759
Fax: 720-374-4673
Monday - Friday, 6:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (Mountain Time)
Saturday - Sunday, 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. (Mountain Time)
________________________________________________________________

Auto-Response - 01/05/2014 10:36 AM
We are currently receiving a high volume of emails. We will respond to your email as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.

Customer By Web Form (William Harasym) - 01/05/2014 10:36 AM
Hey Frontier,

How does one know when they can use their benefits from EarlyReturns? Do you constantly punch in dates, and hope for a date? What good are they when you can't use them when you want to travel? Just another way of the airlines of nickel and dime-ing folks, and screwing them out of their rewards? Why is it only on your dates, whatever they are? and not when the customer wants to travel? It's all BS!

Thanks for your time, and I use to brag about you guys, but now, forget about it, and guess I'll go fly United, American, Delta or Southwest now. You might as well hand out KY Jelly when you promote your Rewards program and Credit Card on board the aircraft. It's all smoke and mirrors, with the ultimate goal of F'in the customer!

Good Night and good luck!

William D. Harasym
USAF Veteran (Disabled)

FRONTIER Airlines EarlyReturns: Mileage Credit Request!

As of yet I haven't received an actual human response, plus I got the typical corporate double-speak.

Here is where they sent me with their response at Twitter: 

Notice how it says under "How to Request Retroactive Credit" -

#1: Please note that miles take 3 BUSINESS DAYS from date of travel to post.

Yet in the following e-mail auto-response it says 15 Business Days, so which one is it?

At this point it really doesn't matter because every one of the flights I would take to Florida and then back home to Wyoming have no EarlyReturns seats, unless of course I break up the flight into tiny segments, so that the flights to and from Sheridan to Denver, then reversed a month later have to be booked with Great Lakes, which charge an arm and a leg for that short hop. And the Denver to Tampa leg has a seat going east, but the seat going west is double the airmile price.

Anyway I work it it's still no bargain, and basically corporate BS and how to screw your own airline customers.

So Frontier, you've lost a dedicated customer, and advocate for your airlines. But it was you choice to play these Mickey Mouse bullshit games.

Here is the tweet from them earlier today:

 

The link they gave me was to the contact form above that stated the 3 business day timeframe. Oops!

From: Frontier Airlines
Sent: ‎Wednesday‎, ‎January‎ ‎8‎, ‎2014 ‎4‎:‎05‎ ‎PM

_____________________________________________________________________
Thank you for contacting Frontier Airlines. Your request has been received.

Discussion Thread
Auto-Response	01/08/2014 04:05 PM
Thank you for contacting Frontier Airlines EarlyReturns®. Your request for mileage credit has been received. After travel has been verified, your account will be manually credited within 15 business days. If we have additional questions, we will contact you again. We look forward to welcoming you onboard future Frontier Airlines flights. EarlyReturns Frontier Airlines
Customer By Web Form (William Harasym)	01/08/2014 04:05 PM
Well, more then 3 business days have come and gone, but still nothing. What would it be like if people booked flights, but decided to pay you maybe 3 or 5 or 15 business days later, because as I was told, we can do it manually with our abacus any chits of paper? Here is what your help line said: "Your request for mileage credit has been received. After travel has been verified, your account will be manually credited within 15 business days." Travel verified? Didn't they know I was on the aircraft the second we pulled away from the jetway? I did check-in, so? 15 business days? WTF? We are in the 21st Century, aren't we? Do you need me to buy you a computer with a nice bookkeeping program on it? I use to brag about you folks, but you have deeply disappointed me, first with your BS Rewards Program, and secondly with your nonchalant attitude of giving customers there just due. Why is it you are so quick to take our money, but getting reward miles, or even having your miles posted is like getting blood from a stone? Every March for the last 9 years I visited Florida to visit my aging parents, and hang out with them for a month, go to ballgames, go out to eat, etc. So this March, I'll be doing the same thing, but it's even more important as my mom just passed away in December, so my dad is looking forward to my visit. But you seem to be real cheap SOBs when it comes to me being able to use my EarlyReturn reward miles. I can't use it for my entire trip, all booked on Frontier, but only on 1 leg each way, and on 1 of those 2 legs, my only choice is using double miles, and for what, the same seat? I live on Social Security Disability because of an inoperable brain tumor, albeit slow-growing, along with other neurological and physical issues. So this year I had hoped to use my EarlyReturns air-miles to get me to and from Florida as I had enough for a round-trip, or so it said on my account page. And I'd have a little extra geld in my pocket for other things, but noo..., no such luck with that idea! Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, you never get my business ever again, and I will scream from the highest mountain on how you screwed over a veteran who is disabled, and believe me, I have no problems doing just that. And that isn't a threat, just a promise I'd keep. It is truly sad the way airlines have nickel and dimed their customers over the last 2 decades, ever since deregulation, but I thought Frontier was above that, but you are not. You are all the same, just take, take, take, and giving up anything is like getting blood from a stone. Shame on you all!

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