Pork Roast

My mother-in-law made this delicious pork roast for us not too long ago. I couldn't believe how easy it was and just had to share the recipe. It's also that time of the year when warm "comfort food" dishes replace the salads and grilling out that we ate during the summer. What you need:

• pork roast
• 1 c. water
• 1 envelope onion soup mix
• potatoes

Directions:

• Cut potatoes into chunks and put in the bottom of a slow cooker. Put the pork roast on top of the potatoes.
• Combine water and onion soup mix in a small bowl. Pour over the top of the roast.
• Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 8 to 9 hours or until the meat is tender enough to fall apart.

Bear roast starts fire that destroys garage

A bear roast cooking in an oven in a garage in Hamlin Twp. is believed to be the cause of a fire that destroyed the garage. Area firefighters believe this is the first time they have ever heard of a bear roast causing a fire. Thankfully no one was injured during the blaze. The only losses were lawn equipment, tools, and some mounted animals that were stored in the garage.

I guess the bear got the last laugh on this one.

Read the full story in the Ludington Daily News.

Michigan Gas prices week of 9/5/06

Wow! Was I wrong last week or what? I predicted that the price of gas would go up by the weekend (as it almost always does) and instead it went down. The average price of gas in Michigan as of today is $2.602. Around here in southwest Michigan the price of regular unleaded has hovered around $2.57 since the middle of last week. I heard a report that the price of a barrel of oil has dropped to $68 or less as of this morning.

Too bad the prices were so high during the summer. I am sure that Michigan's tourism industry will end up reporting a down or no-growth level in state tourism for the summer of 2006.

Gas price data courtesy of AAA's Fuel Gauge Report.

Top 10 Regrets from Summer 2006

Most everybody gets to the tail end of summer and thinks about things they should have done or wished they had done. I know I had planned on getting more projects finished around the house, but I certainly don't regret that ;). Here is a list of 10 things that I thought about when I looked back at this past summer. I know there are still a few weeks of summer left, but my wife has gone back to school teaching and we just don't have the freedom to do everything we want now. For me, the spirit of summer is pretty much over.

Here is the list of 10 Things I should have done (or done more of) this summer:

1. Ate more ice cream (remember, there is ALWAYS room for ice cream)
2. Drank more lemonade and less water
3. Watched more sunsets
4. Sat on the back deck and enjoyed the evening
5. Gone to the beach more
6. Spent an afternoon reading a book
7. Gone to a Detroit Tigers game
8. Gone camping more
9. Spent more time relaxing in the yard and less time mowing it
10. Slowed down and enjoyed those lazy summer days

2006 Labor Day Bridge Walk

Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end to summer and once again about 50,000 folks in Michigan celebrated by participating in the 49th annual Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk. Security was tight for the event as it has been since 9-11.

The above picture was captured at www.MackinacBridge.org under the "Bridge Cams" link. The only camera still in operation is from the St. Ignace side of the bridge. There used to be one from the Mackinaw City side that offered a profile shot of the bridge. I don't know what happened to that one.

Teen builds ballpark in his Grosse Point Woods backyard

Rob Hathaway has a passion for ballfields that goes back to his first view of the beloved ballpark at "The Corner," Tiger Stadium. Inspired by the lush field, Rob asked and received permission from his mom to build a pitcher's mound in the backyard. As Rob heads off to college this fall he leaves his father in charge of groundskeeping for the little ballpark that includes a mini Green Monster (from fabled Fenway Park in Boston) and two scoreboards. He put a lot of his own time and money into the project over the years to the tune of about $7,000.

You HAVE to check out the pictures over at the Detroit Free Press. Man, it makes me wish I had done something like that as a kid.

I had my own little ballfield in our yard when I was growing up. Home plate was a rough creosote soaked electric pole and my "Green Monster" was in centerfield - an outbuilding where you received credit for a home run if the ball landed on the rooftop. The bases were miniature orange traffic cones and the sandbox in right field was in play.

If you didn't have enough players to field a full team (living in the country we never had a full team) you could leave a "ghostie" on base and go back to hit again. Once and awhile I tried to have my "ghostie" steal a base, but I was always overruled. With the outdoor light on the barn you could even play night games if you wanted.

You know, come to think of it I did have a pretty cool field growing up. Sure there weren't any scoreboards or realistic looking outfield fences and a warning track. But I have such fond memories of playing a simple game of baseball with my dad, sisters, or cousins at my own "field of dreams" that I think it more than makes up for not having a more realistic looking field.

I only hope that I can create such fun memories for my son in our backyard.