RECR's Blog

My son has a box of sidewalk chalk.  I have decided that I love sidewalk chalk.  Lots of fun for the little ones...and very little mess that you need to worry about cleaning up....other then hands and clothes.  :-)  The rest can be handled with a garden hose or a good rain. 

I was cruising the web one day looking for images for my blogs...and I came across a ton of sidewalk art.  And, I decided I would post a few of the best images on here for everyone to see.  If you have not seen this stuff before, it is AMAZING!!!

There is nothing more satifying on cold fall nights than a good hot bowl of homemade soup.  So, as the weather has turned, so has my culinary venture. 

(I just made this for dinner the other night...and I thought it was good enough to share with all my foodie friends on AR.) 

Blushing Onion Soup

1/4 Cup butter or margarine (1/2 Stick)
5 Cups Thinly Sliced Onion
2 cloves garlic, Finely Chopped
1 bottle low sodium tomato juice (64 Oz)
1 1/2 Cup water (hot)
3 T. Beef Flavored Instant Bouillon Granules or 3 Bouillon Cubes
3 T. Dried parsley flakes
8 Slices French bread 
4 Cups Shredded mozzarella Cheese

Before you do anything else, put the bouillon cubes (or granules) into the hot water and let them dissolve.  This will make your life sooo much easier in the long run. 

Now, in large kettle, over medium heat, melt butter. I use a bit more butter than the recipe says...but, who doesnt, right??

Cook the onions and garlic in the butter until tender, about 10 minutes.  You will have to stay on top of this to avoid the onions carmalizing to the bottom of the pan.  So, stir frequently to ensure even cooking.

Add everything else....tomato juice, water, bouillon and parsley. Bring this mishmash to boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered 20 to 30 minutes. Stir occasionally as you do not want the onions to char to the bottom of the pan. Be careful to make sure the heat is on low...or you will cook the onions down to an unrecognizable paste. 

Now, to serve, ladle your soup into 8 ovenproof soup bowls.  Make sure you have a good scoop of onions in each bowl. Top With bread slices and sprinkle generously with cheese. Throw them under the broiler for around 2 to 3 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve at once. Serves 8.

One thing I must tell you at this point about the whole 'serve at once' thing....both the bowls and the contents of the bowls will be LAVA HOT!!!!  So, I recommend you pull them out of the oven and wait about 5 minutes or so before attempting to eat them or you will be in a trauma ward starting at a nurse named Larry who is trying to choke back the laughter as they schedule a skin graft for your tongue and the roof of your mouth.  (Its amazing to me the clarity with which I could recall that detail....)

Enjoy!!

I love quotations from people from around the world that prove a good point.  This one, I think, is one of the best quotes about making your point that I have ever read.

"If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver.  Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time -- a tremendous whack."  - Winston Churchill

I now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging.

If you would like information about getting more clients, contact Clint Miller of www.recr.com.  You can either call at 800-977-7058 or email me at clintmiller@recr.com.  Also, you can follow RECR on Twitter by clicking on www.twitter.com/recr.

Awhile back, I wrote a fairly well received piece about modern conveniences and how they were specifically targeted to me.  Many commented on it...and several people asked me if this was going to be a theme that I was going to continue with.  (I hate to leave my participle dangling like that, but that's the only way I can end this sentence and make this joke funny...)  I agreed that at some point, this topic would be revisited...and here it is.  And again....allow me to reiterate - This stuff was built for me!

Water coolers!!!  Is there really anything more convenient than a water cooler in your office???  Gone are the days of having to get up out of your desk and actually walking to the kitchen or bathroom (or any place with running water, really) with a glass in hand with the sole purpose of getting a drink.  You have to turn the water on...and like everyone else...stick your hand into the water waiting for it to get colder.  (Don't tell me you haven't done this...lol)  Fill your cup...take a slurp or two...only to dump the rest of the water back down the drain and return to your desk.  Now, all you have to do is take a couple steps, fill your vessel with agua, and then return.  The productivity gained as a result around the country must be staggering!!!  But, aside from that...now you have a full glass/bottle of water at your desk.  And, since there is no drain next to the desk (at least, not next to mine there isn't....and I know, Ive looked!), you are compelled to drink the entire thing!  My opinion: water coolers are designed by health conscious productivity mongers that don't like wasting water.  People like me.  :-)  But, anything that makes me exercise less...Hey, that's a good idea!

Digital picture frames!!  OMG, have you seen these??  What an invention!!  I LOVE DIGITAL PICTURE FRAMES!!!!  First off, I'm a very proud parent.  My desk is continually littered with photos of my kids doing one thing or another.  And with my digital camera, all I have to do is print anything I want...or order prints online and fill frame after frame after frame.  It got to the point that my desk was more of a shrine than a desk.  So, I buy a digital picture frame.  I upload about 100 pics of my kids on there...and set it to change every couple of minutes.  But, I goofed the other day.  I set the picture to change like...every 14 seconds or something stupid like that.  There is nothing more A.D.D. inducing than a flashing photo frame on your desk that changes 4 or 5 times a minute!!!  I spent 7 hours on Friday last week trying to figure out how to fix that damn thing...after spending all day Thursday trying to concentrate on work and having my brain completely consumed by this 9 inch motion picture on my desk.  My eyes still hurt.

Accountants!!  Stop laughing...I'm not kidding.  Now, I realize that accountants aren't exactly a modern idea...But, Accountants were put on this planet for people like me.  I have had a checking account since I was 16.  I've even owned my own business.  And, not one time...ever...during my entire checking account life have I been able to get my balance to actually be correct!  Not once!!  EVER!!!  Now, I'm a fairly intelligent guy.  I even went to college and graduated with a 3.8 GPA and a degree in Business Admin.  The really funny part is that I have a minor in math!  But, accounting?????  That's a completely foreign language to me.  Accounting isn't math.  Im not sure what it is entirely...probably the language of the angels for all I know...All I do know is I have absolutely no idea how to get any of it to make any sense.  And, I have no problems with admitting to the world that, if it weren't for my accountant, I would have had to declare bankruptcy or be forced to sit on a wooden stool in the corner of the bank with a DUNCE cap on my head made out of folded balance sheets. 

If you would like information on how to get more clients from www.recr.com, please contact Clint Miller at 800-977-7058 or follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/recr.

I have to admit...Im a mountain man at heart.  But, my roots are in the south.  Im a 6th generation American and the only one to be raised outside of the Mason-Dixon line or west of the Mississippi.  So, I have a fair amount of good ol' fashioined redneck blood in me. 

So, with that in mind, I wanted to pay some respect to the ingenuity of my fellow rednecks.  Lets just take a quick snapshot of the things that we wouldnt have were it not for the glorious people of the south:

• Jack Daniels.  (Ok, I dont need to say any more, do I?)
• Moonshine or any major form of alcoholic production in general.  (Bootleggers of the world, unite!)
• Alligator skin boots and handbags, alligator farms, alligator restaurants...pretty much anything involving the alligator can fall into this category.  (I, for one, would not be caught dead within 100 ft of a live alligator.  Those suckers scare the holy beejeezus out of me!)
• Anything Creole!  (And being a foodie like I am, I would be sooo sad to not have this around!)
• Bass fishing tournaments!  (Any excuse to fish!)
• Airboats!  (Any way to get to fish we cant get to with other boats!)
• Monster Trucks!  (Again, I dont need to say anything else here...)
• And the ultimate advent of the south -- Nascar!  Gotta love Nascar!  Gotta love anyone willing to drive 1,000 miles just to watch someone else drive 500 miles!  (Im not really sure what Nascar stands for, but Im pretty sure its 'Non-Athletic Sport Centered Around Rednecks'.)

Aside from those outstanding and 'cant-live-without' contributions to society, I have complied a stack of inventions and oddities that are truly "Redneck".

If you would like information about www.recr.com and how we can provide you with clients, please contact Clint Miller.  You can either call 800-977-7058 or email me at clintmiller@recr.com.  Or, follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/recr.

It's nearly impossible to speak to anyone in this profession that has not had an amazing or unreal listing at some point during thier career or while working with www.recr.com. 

In fact, many of the agents I work with have regailed me with one yarn or another with regard to what wonderful homes they have had the pleasure of representing in thier history in real estate. 

But, Im fairly certain that only a select handful of agents (if any at all) can say that they have had anything like these homes...These are INCREDIBLE!  Id Love To See The Listing Ads For These!!