not my neighbor

Posted on June 4, 2014 by carla

Has anyone else noticed that now it doesn’t seem to matter if you put yourself on do not call lists or not?

I get a huge amount of unsolicited telemarketing calls even though I am registered on donotcall.gov and Pennsylvania’s do not call list. It is truly annoying at times that the calls persist even if we take the time to register on state and federal do not call lists.

A lot of the calls are with prerecorded messages you can’t get off your phone line once you answer the phone. Other calls are what some people call “India calls”, because they are originating from call centers in India and other and the Philippines and other quasi Third World countries.

I am not trying to slam Third World countries, but I’m tired of the calls aren’t you? And these telemarketers are among the rudest when you ask them to put your number on their do not call list.

From weird credit card solicitations to today’s solicitation which is supposedly senior citizen discount grocery cards or somesuch nonsense, it seems that putting your phone number on do not call lists doesn’t matter.

Last time I checked into Pennsylvania’s do not call list on the state website, I believe they now said they only updated their files quarterly. I have no idea what the national do not call list does. I just wish if they were going to put effort into having a do not call list that it actually meant something.

Today’s caller amused me because it was a 917 area code yet they called themselves “neighbor”. Today’s caller irritated me because it’s a repeat caller.

quick and fresh pasta sauce

Posted on June 3, 2014 by carla

It’s a quick, fresh pasta sauce kind of evening.

Two sweet onions chopped

Five cloves of garlic minced

Two thirds of a container of grape tomatoes cut in thirds

One fresh red bell pepper, chopped

One can of tomato paste – 6 ounces

One can of crushed tomatoes -28 ounces

Kosher salt to taste

One fresh bay leaf

Fresh basil, oregano, and flat leaf Italian parsley chopped – as much as you want. I like a lot of fresh herbs in my sauce

1- 16 ounce package of organic Angus ground beef

1 dash or two of good balsamic vinegar

Extra-virgin olive oil

I toss a little extra virgin olive oil in the bottom of my pasta sauce pot. I add the onions garlic, fresh tomatoes, and one chopped fresh red bell pepper.

I sweat the vegetables down a little with a dash of kosher salt, and then I tossed in the hamburger. I allow the hamburger to cook down, next tossing in the herbs.

Next a small dash or two of balsamic vinegar before I add the canned tomatoes and paste.

I bring everything up over medium heat (stirring often) to close to a boil and then I reduce to simmer cover and let simmer for an hour or hour and a half.

I serve over whatever pasta I happen to have on hand . Tonight it will either be spaghetti or whole-wheat linguine.

I dust each bowl of pasta with some grated Parmesan cheese when I serve

Keeping it simple, this dinner is best with a fresh salad – right now I have some wonderful looking arugula and romaine that I picked up at the local farmers market.

It’s what’s for dinner in my house this evening. Try this sometime and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!