The AllAmerican RunnerDuck Review, a newsletter for friends and family 12-19-03

December 19, 2003

WELCOME BACK: First off we'd like to wish every single one of you a happy holiday, from our house to yours. This is the last newsletter you'll get before Hanukkah and Christmas. We hope that you and your loved ones will have a great time and remember all the important things and not just the material things. It's an important time to share and reflect with friends and family. Happy Holidays to all!

Now we'd like to correct a mistake in last week's newsletter. Believe it or not Kitty Hawk is not in Florida but North Carolina! A number of our readers informed us of our mistake, especially those readers from North Carolina. I guess it's a good way to see who reads our newsletter. The response to our mistake was pretty good although we try not to make them very often.
Speaking of Kitty Hawk, the celebration of 100 years of flight was a big event. The high point and low point was the reenactment of the actual first flight in a replica of the first Wright Flyer. In case you hadn't heard it didn't quite make lift off. They just didn't have enough wind to get good lift. They made this airplane as exact in every way possible to the original plane. The builders traveled the world over to make sure they got every detail exact. It's really quite an accomplishment since the Wright brothers didn't keep very good notes on the first plane.

What a great weekend and week we've had. Even though it's the busy season for holiday stuff we managed to get some non holiday things done. First we got the new cover for our camper installed and it looks and works great. That should keep the moss, leaves and pine needles off the roof and make spring cleaning much simpler. It's sort of neat because the shorter cover we exchanged didn't have zippers on the side to access the door. This new larger cover does, cool! We've got to say that the ADCO cover is well made and should last a long time.

Next we had to replace the pump in our pond. The pump filters the pond and runs the waterwheel. The old pump was fairly small and just worked OK. This new pump pushes a lot more water and we are already seeing some improvement in the clarity of the water. It had been a couple of weeks since the old pump died and we really missed seeing the waterwheel go around. Since we've installed the new pump we've noticed that the fish seem to be a lot happier.

We also got our Christmas tree up and decorated. We did something totally different this year from years past. Ken usually puts a thousand lights on a eight foot tree then we carefully place several large boxes of ornaments all over it. This year we went back to our childhoods and got a small five foot tree, put on two 100 light strings of clear lights and a few hand made ornaments. We finished it off with construction paper chain garland, strung popcorn on thread and small clusters of cranberries threaded onto loops of wire. It's very simple yet very nice!

To make the week even nicer Ken's brother Ron (www.roadcow.com) showed up from Elk, California. His daughter just had her second baby and so Ron showed up to see his new grandson. While it was a very short stay it was great to see him.

Lastly we also went to see the Christmas ship. Here in Western Washington there is a tradition of the Christmas ship going from area to area around Lake Washington and Puget Sound. It's all decorated and choirs are singing holiday songs. There are a number of other boats that tag along all decorated for the season. It is really quite a site to see. If you've never done it before you can check for a schedule of appearances at www.argosycruises.com/specialevents/xmas.cfm.

Christmas Ship at Juanita Beach

Be sure and check out our craft site. There are lots of great gifts for your holiday shopping. If you are a crafter who would like to sell their creations through our web site please drop us a line and we'll see what we can do. We currently have Wood'n Wares, hand made maple kitchen utensils and Ron Godin's Adirondack art signs on display. Check them out at www.runnerduck.com/craft.htm.

You are logged on to this newsletter as [[-Email-]] and receiving it because you are a friend of mine or a friend of theirs.
If you would like to be removed from receiving this newsletter just send an email to unsubscribe@runnerduck.com leaving the Subject and Body blank.

Thank you,
Ken and Marilyn

Check out our time saving QuickLinks.

(CLICK)

VISIT OUR HOME PAGE AT www.runnerduck.com

Check Out Archive Newsletters Here

Please visit our affiliate
sites listed below. Your
purchases help us keep
this newsletter going.
Thank you!

Click here for thousands of old-time goods!

Please vote for our newsletter at

Rate All American RunnerDuck Review once a day!

Rating:

10 is the best.

Check out these woodworking specials

Launch your
web site for
only $9.95 per
month with your
special Duck Discount at

What's New This Week? Ken's daughter Jenni celebrates her birthday this weekend. It's always easy to remember her birthday because she was a winter solstice baby born December 21st. This year the winter solstice falls on the 22nd but we remembered any way. Speaking of winter solstice, it's hard to imagine winter getting much worse in different parts of the country. The north east as well as the Midwest has gotten pretty hammered lately. Here in the Great Northwet it's weather as usual, a couple of beautiful days followed by clouds, rain, highs 48 and lows 36, week after week after week. Just three months to go and spring will begin :-) What ever your weather we hope that your holidays will be merry and bright.

DigiTalk

A new subscriber who was referred to us by one of our readers reminded us that just deleting suspicious email off of our servers may not be enough. Last week we told you that one way to help protect yourself from emails that may contain viruses was to delete them from your server before they are even delivered to your in-box. (you can read the story here if you missed it, www.runnerduck.com/12-12-03.htm.
Mike said, One little thing I'd point out on the tech side: Although viewing your email on a web browser is a somewhat effective way to eliminate the virus threat, it doesn't take the place of having a good anti-virus program. The reason is that most viruses are received from someone you know. And there are script virii that easily could not be recognized by an untrained eye in a browser and don't appear as attachments. Personally, I use Panda antivirus and it has worked flawlessly.

Thanks Mike for that great tip.

SITE OF THE WEEK

We thought we'd bring you some just plain nice sites to celebrate the season. There is nothing particularly fancy about these other then they make you feel good and are fun. The first is from Roger H. and is a picture that you can bring to life clicking on the prompts. Go to http://holidays.blastcomm.com and enjoy.

Several people sent me this one and oh what fun! http://web.icq.com/shockwave/0,,4845,00.swf

Dennis and Carol sent this. There is a pop-up that you can delete but once that's gone it's really cute and fun.
http://ww12.e-tractions.com/snowglobe/globe.htm. If you know what Lemmings are then you will notice some resemblance to these little people.

We hope you enjoy these and enjoy your holidays!

GREAT DEALS FOR RunnerDuck SUBSCRIBERS

We have two great offers for you this week. Free cookware and 20% discounts. Just click on the banners below for more information. Be sure to use your RunnerDuck coupon # C89982.

(CLICK) Save 20% on 1 item at Cooking.com. Use coupon # C89982 at checkout. Offer ends 12/31/03.

MARILYN'S CORNER

Gift Bag Toppers

Here's a simple way to wrap your gifts and yet make the package look really nice. This requires a little creativity on your part to come up with different designs but these suggestions should get you started.

Here's what you'll need:

Gift bags or your own bags.
Colored Craft paper.

With a piece of colored craft paper the width of the bad, or a little smaller, lay out your design. In our examples above we used Christmas trees, stocking and Christmas lights. You can create any design you like.
Fold the paper over and cut the pattern on both sides.
Cut a slit in the center of the fold for the bag handles to go through.
You can add other items like the gold tie I used for the Christmas lights or draw or stamp on them.
Put the present in the bag, close the top with a staple or tape to help hold it shut and put your topper on top.

Make them with your children and come up with all kinds of creative designs. Be sure to help your younger children with the scissors.

We hope you enjoy Marilyn's Corner and look forward to all the fun things she brings you each week. If you have a fun project that would be suitable for our newsletter we'd love to share it with our readers. Just contact marilyn@runnerduck.com and we'll do the rest.

Remember we have all of our past projects archived on our web site at www.runnerduck.com. Just click on the Projects or Kids Only Eggs.

Great Gifts for Kids

Time is getting really short. You can still get some great toys ordered through Toys R Us and delivered by Christmas but do it now or you'll miss it. Just click on the link below for a great selection.

(CLICK on the Picture)

The Tempos
News and CD of the Week

In the spirit of the season here is the 23rd Psalm from our friend Jeff F.

23rd Psalm for Bass Players

The Lord is my drummer, I shall not rush.
He maketh me to lay out in tasteful places;
He leadeth me beside cool meter changes;
He restoreth my "one".

He leadeth me in the right repeats For His name's sake. Yea, though I read through the trickiest road maps, I will fear no train wrecks;
For You are with it;
Your ride and Your snare, they comfort me.
You setteth up a solo for me in the presence of mine guitarists;
You annointeth my lines with drive;
My groove overflows. Surely good feel and swing will follow me All the tunes of each set;
And I will dwell in the pocket the whole gig long.

The Tempos big swing band is available for hire. If you have a special event that could use the wonderful music of a classic sixteen piece big band be sure to contact thetempos@runnerduck.com. We perform all over the Seattle area for all sorts of events.

CD Pick of the Week

Ah, back to the jazz! One of my all time favorite key board players is Jimmy Smith. I heard some cuts off of this CD and forgot how great it is. With him is Wes Montgomery one of the all time great guitar players. To top it off, along with many other great musicians, he has with him one of my very favorite drummers, Grady Tate. If you love good jazz and don't yet have this CD then click on the album cover below to order it.

(CLICK)

Remember, we have a link on our web site, www.runnerduck.com, to our ever popular Grammy® Shopper site. If you haven't been there yet just click HERE to see all the 2003 Grammy® winners complete with links to purchase any one of them.

The RunnerDuck web site is hosted by

If you are looking for a great hosting service at a terrific price check them out at www.fastwirenetwork.com. If you mention that you heard about them from RunnerDuck you will get a $5.00 per month "Duck Discount" for as long as you have your account.

THIS WEEK'S FREE RECIPE
Alaskan Stout Creme Brulee

A good friend of ours, Lois S., sent in a great recipe. We call it great because every time we have dinner with her Ken orders Creme Burlee and the restaurant we go to never has it. We haven't made this yet but will over the holidays. We're not sure exactly where she got this recipe so we cannot give proper credit but thanks Lois for thinking of us.

4 cups whipping cream
2/3 cup sugar
8 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
12 oz. bottle of Alaskan Stout
Large pinch of salt
1/3 cup sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place ceramic-baking dish in large roasting pan.
In medium saucepan, bring Alaskan Stout to a slight boil. Reduce to 1/2 cup.
Mix cream and 2/3 cup sugar in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves.
Whisk egg yolks, salt, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into egg yolk mixture. Add reduced Alaskan Stout. Transfer to ceramic baking dish.
Pour hot water into roasting pan so that it comes halfway up the side of the baking dish, being careful not to get water into the custard.
Carefully transfer to oven and bake about 40 minutes or until custard is firm around the edges but still jiggles slightly in the center.
Remove custard from roasting pan and cool on wire rack. This can be made one-day ahead, just make until this point and refrigerate covered.
Evenly spread 1/3-cup sugar over top of custard.
Heat sugar with propane torch until sugar is bubbly and caramelizes (This can also be done 4 - 6" under a broiler for about 2 minutes, providing the custard dish can be used under a broiler).
Chill until topping hardens, at least one hour.
Serve cold with accompanying glasses of Alaskan Stout.

WOW, sounds great Lois, thanks again.

Remember, if you have a recipe you'd like to share please send it to marilyn@runnerduck.com.

Every month we post a new recipe on our web page. Be sure and check out the NEW December recipe at the RunnerDuck Kitchen Store.
We'd be happy to post your favorite recipe there or in our newsletter and give you credit. Just drop a line to marilyn@runnerduck.com.

COOKBOOK
SUGGESTION OF THE WEEK

"Elegantly Easy Creme Brulee & Other Custard Desserts" by Debbie Puente

(CLICK) Ah, nothing like great desserts for the holidays. We think this cookbook will be a nice addition to your dessert library. One person who reviewed this cookbook wrote, This is a magnificent display of creme brulee shown in rare form! Beautiful as well as artful displays of the most elegant dessert on the face of the earth! Delicious is not the word for it. Debbie may not have created the dessert, however she will be responsible for a renewed popularity. Just the photos alone are reason enough to purchase this lovely book. Regarding it being a must have cookbook, it definitely ranks with the famous Cake Bible or even LaRousses Gastronomiqe. A staple for any kitchen library!

Be sure and visit the RunnerDuck Cookbook Store for other great savings on cookbooks and cooking supplies.

PROJECTS

Table Saw Sled

With all that has been going on this past week I've been a little slow getting into the wood shop. Actually I've been in there but working on presents instead of RunnerDuck projects. We'll end up doing this project over a couple of weeks even thought you could easily finish it in a weekend.

Here's what you'll need:

1/2" A1 plywood
6" X 60" X 3/4" Alder or other stable wood.
4" X 26" X 1" Alder
16" X 2" X 3/4" Maple or other hard wood.
1" #8 wood screws

Cut two 16" rails from strips of maple to fit the tracks in your table saw. They will most likely be 3/4" wide and 3/8" thick.
Countersink holes for #8 flat head screws. Put one hole 1" in from each end and then three more holes evenly spaced.

Cut a 1/2" thick piece of plywood 16" X 26".
Set your table saw fence 2" from the edge of the right groove.
Put each rail in the grooves of your table saw with the countersinks facing down. Extend each rail off the back of your table so that the first countersink holes show.
Put the sled on top up against the fence.
Align the rails with the edge of the sled and put a screw in each.
Run the rails and sled to the front of the table saw and repeat the process.
Remove the sled and install the rest of the screws.

Cut two 3/4" thick pieces of alder 26" long.
Glue and clamp the two pieces together being very careful to align the bottom.

That's it for this week. Next week we'll finish it up. Be careful in your shop and have a great holiday.

If you have a project that you would like to share please send us an email and we'll help get it published in the RunnerDuck review. We are looking for woodworking, gardening, crafts and kids projects so send us your thoughts at projects@runnerduck.com .

CONSERVATION TIP

Here's a nice tip for you this holiday season. Turn off the lights, throw a log on the fire and have a nice conversation with your family. Reflect on the year and the season. Think about the good things that have happened and the loved ones that may no longer be with us. Pray for our soldiers out fighting for our freedoms and their loved ones back home. Celebrate the season and enjoy each other. While you will not realize huge savings on your lighting or heating bills from this your soul may be a lot better off for it.

If you have a conservation tip please send it to conservation@runnerduck.com and we'll post it in our newsletter.

JOKE OF THE WEEK

Bill was reminded of this joke when he read last weeks groaner, as if this is a lot better ;-)

In Russia one cold winter night Rudolf and Olga were getting ready for bed. This was a couple that often had their disagreements and this night was no different.

As he looked out the window Rudolf turned to his wife and said, "it looks like we will have some rain tonight."

"Don't be ridiculous" responded Olga, "there's not a cloud in the sky."

The debate of course carried on until her husband said, "Rudolf the Red knows rain dear"

Thanks Bill for another wonderful joke! If you have a joke please send it to us at jokes@runnerduck.com, thanks!

If you want to talk about something just drop us a line at duckmaster@runnerduck.com any time, we like to talk about most anything. We are always looking for content for our newsletter so if you have something to add we'd love to publish it. Assuming it meets our strict family oriented requirements!

If you forward these newsletters to your friends just send us their email address and we'll do the rest. Remember, we never share our email list with anyone, period! Just drop me a line or go to our registration page and sign up your friend.

If you enjoyed this newsletter please tell a friend, if you didn't please tell us but in a nice way, we're very sensitive.

To unsubscribe just click HERE. or send an email to unsubscribe@runnerduck.com.

duckmaster@runnerduck.com

Please tell a friend about RunnerDuck Review

It only takes a second and you can
use the simple little form at
www.runnerduck.com/
register_a_friend.htm.

All rights reserved, RunnerDuck Productions, 2000, 2001, 2002.
RunnerDuck and its logos are property of
RunnerDuck Productions.
All other logos are property of the individual companies.
We can be contacted at duckmaster@runnerduck.com.