GOOD NEWS
How many times have you been in a fast food restaurant, gotten a packet of mustard, ketchup or relish and struggled to open the packet?

If you read my blog on a regular basis you know I have had that problem.

Well, I have solved it by carrying a small scissors in my handbag and when I run into that situation "I can open it." It always makes me feel good to have a way to avoid that frustrating experience. Not only that, if I see anyone who is having that problem, I offer the scissors to them.

For years, consumers have complained the packets are too messy, too small and too hard to open.

I recently saw an item in the newspaper announcing that Heinz® has finally stepped up to the plate and has unveiled the first major packaging change for the to-go condiment, Dip & Squeeze.



"The new design has a base that's more like a cup for dipping and also a tear-off end for squeezing, plus it holds three three times as much ketchup as a traditional packet.

Heinz will continue to sell the traditional packet. The new packet is in test markets and will roll out at select fast-food restaurants in the fall."

Sounds good to me - I hope it is well received. If it is successful maybe other companies will jump on the bandwagon, improve their packaging and make the consumers happy!

See Heinz Ketchhup on Facebook.

posted by millie garfield @ 3:12 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 10 comments

 
ROLL BACK THE CLOCK
For weeks now a friend of mine has been telling me about a Yiddish class that she attends on a Wednesday afternoon at a local temple. She knows I enjoy speaking the Yiddish language and have expressed interest in attending that class with her.

Every Wednesday afternoon there was always something that came up where I was not able to attend until this past Wednesday.

My first impression was of a very charming and goodlooking gentleman who was playing the piano as we entered.


Piano by J. Weissmahr, on Flickr

I have attended many Yiddish classes over the years and one of the first things the leader does is introduce himself and then goes around the room and asks each person to say their name and a little about themselves in Yiddish. That serves two purposes - we get to know who the leader is and the class gets to wet their whistle.

So all I got to know about him was the fact that he was a skilled piano player and spoke an excellent Yiddish. My friend clued me in to the fact that he was in his 90's.

He handed out song sheets that originally were in English and he transliterated them so that when you read them, they were in Yiddish. He played the piano, sang the tunes and we joined in. What Fun!

As I looked over the songsheets I saw the name "Nat Zumoff." I said to my friend, "I remember that name, so he's the one that translated those songs into yiddish?" "Oh" she said - That's Nat Zumoff conducting the class!!"

Well, did that bring back a flood of memories - The first winter my husband and I spent in Florida we attended a program at a temple that featured Nat Zumoff. That had to be 25 years ago!! He made such an impression on me that I never forgot his name. What I particularly remember was when he sang the Yiddish version of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame."

Immediately after the class ended I introduced myself and told him what I remembered about that afternoon years ago, especially his singing the ballgame song in Yiddish. He was so pleased to hear my thoughts and said, "funny, I was thinking I just might do that song next week."

What happened that day made me think of an expression my mother used to say, "If you don't go out, nothing happens." Well, I went out and something special happened!

posted by millie garfield @ 9:43 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 7 comments

 
My Mom's Blog: Best Blog in all of South Florida


My Mom's Blog is a nominee for the best blog in all of South Florida.

The blog is nomintated in multiple categories:

Family
Humor
Personal

Please vote for My Mom's Blog.

VOTE: Family
VOTE: Humor
VOTE: Personal

Voting for the 2010 BOB Awards begins Feb. 15 at 10 am and ends on Monday, March 1 at 10 am.
You may vote once per category, per day. You may also vote once per day for Best Overall Blog (BOB). You must log in to your SunSentinel.com account in order to vote.

Once you log in, you can just click each category to vote.

Best of Bog Awards.

Update: 2/20 My Mom's Blog has disapeared from the personal category.

posted by Steve Garfield @ 11:41 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 4 comments

 
"AN EDUCATION" is WONDERFUL
This afternoon I had the delightful pleasure of seeing "An Education" starring Carey Mulligan.



I've seen a number of good movies this season but this one takes the cake.

The acting was superb, the story line was very appealing, no blood, no murders and no car crashes.

The movie takes place in the 60's.



Carey Mulligan plays the part of Jenny, a sixteen year old English girl who plans to go to Oxford but at the same time wants to get away from the dull humdrum everyday life at home with her overprotective parents.

One rainy afternoon she meets a handsome and sophisticated man who is twice her age.



Peter Sarsgaard plays the part of David who charms her with his worldly ways. He even wins over her naive parents! (Sarsgaard reminded me of a young Jack Lemmon.) He opens up a whole new world for her, concerts, fine dining and even a weekend in Paris (with her parents approval - that part was unrealistic to me but it made a good storyline.)

In my day when "the girls" had negative things to say about a guy we would say "he was a jerk" David was more than a jerk, he as a downright scroundrel. I won't say any more about that, if or when you see the movie you'll see what I mean.



Jenny's father is played by Alfred Molina who I recently saw in "The Little Traitor." He was great in that movie as he is in this one. Cara Seymour plays Jenny's mother in the film and did a fine job in the role of the silent long suffering wife.

The film ran for 100 minutes and I loved every single minute of it!! What an education!!

Elsewhere:
'An Education' on Facebook.

YouTube:


posted by millie garfield @ 7:21 AM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 5 comments

 
It's Complicated
COMPUTER PROBLEMS FIXED
First off, the problem with my computer has been corrected.



As I suspected it was similar to the problem that I had with the Comcast cabling last season. At that time, the service man got my computer going but took the easy way out and did not really do the job properly.

The fellow that came to service the computer connection this time had to move some furniture away from the wall and then was able to get to the source of the problem - a part had to be replaced. Now, I'm back in business.

MORE REPAIRS NEEDED
Now, for something else that needs to be repaired.



My hip has been giving me trouble for some time now. In November I went to see an orthopedic surgeon and was told that I needed joint replacement surgery. Needless to say, I was not happy about that diagnosis.

I had plans to leave for Florida in December, had my plane ticket, car transport arranged and all the other details taken care of.

The doctor said that after the surgery there would be a recovery time of about six weeks and then I could take off for Florida. My thought was, "sometimes things don't go smoothly and I could be stuck up North in the cold for a length of time."

I decided to go South as planned and made arrangement for the surgery when I return to Massachusetts. I'm not the run around that I usually am down here, limit what I do
in a day and am managing fairly well.

GAMES GO ON
The Mah Jong and card games go on.

POWERFULL AND WELL ACTED
Recently saw "Precious" - a powerful movie, very well acted by Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique.



Gabourey was great as a troubled tenn ager and Mo'Nique was amazing as her mother.

MY FAVORITE
Another movie that gave me some great laughs was "It's Complicated" starring Meryl Streep (my favorite actress) and Alex Baldwin.



What a peach of a pair they are.

HE STILL HAS IT
John Davidson performed at my clubhouse recently, I've seen him a number of times and he still "has it."



What a great talent - he comes across as a down-to-earth person, was on stage for an hour and a half - audience loved him, me too.

STILL IN THERE
Well, I haven't been running around as I usually do but after making this post I realize I'm still in there pitching!!

posted by millie garfield @ 9:21 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 8 comments