Dog On A Root

 

First Published : October 11, 2021 Updated: September 28, 2025  Here's a nice festive looking little appetizer to serve with crackers for Thanksgiving. But you needn't worry. Despite what the title might suggest, there is no pumpkin in this cheeseball. That would just be gross. If this recipe looks a little bit familiar, it's because it is. It's actually the same recipe as  “jim's Cheesy Christmas Wreath” that I shared with you previously. The only difference in this recipe is the presentation. This cheese ball is coloured and formed to look like a pumpkin instead of a Christmas Wreath. Hint: I’ll let you in on a little secret. I’m colour blind and had a little trouble getting the pumpkin the right shade of orange. If you have the same problem you can do what I did. Use your favourite photoshop app to touch up the pictures you take of your Pumpkin Cheeseball to help your Thanksgiving memories achieve a Norman Rockwell status. Prep Time: ½ hour Wait Time: 3 hour...

- jim Young “La Gente Del Barrio (The People Of The Neighbourhood)”, It’s a Tito Thing - Hector Lebron Special achievements deserve special awards. While money can be a great motivator, it isn’t the only  motivator. And contrary to popular belief it isn’t even always the best motivator.  Sometimes it’s the simple things in life, like a gold star or a pat on the back that can motivate people the most. It’s recognition from your peers, the people you respect and admire. A sense of belonging.  In 2011, the MLB banned milestone bonuses from being recognized as part of a player’s contract, effectively outlawing a bonus for a player achieving 3,000 hits, 500 home runs etc.  And while there may be no extra money for something like hitting a home run in Major League Baseball, it does not diminish the batter’s desire to hit one out of the park every time he gets up to bat. Just to make it a little more fun (because after all, when it comes right down to it, baseball is stil...

- jim Young “I’ve told you a million times not to exaggerate!” - anon Everyone exaggerates. Wait! That’s a lie. Maybe not everyone. Actually that wasn’t really a lie even though everyone may not really exaggerate. It was just an exaggeration. Confused? So what’s the difference? A lie can be defined as an untrue statement usually with the intent to deceive.  An exaggeration, while technically a lie, on the other hand is most often an attempt to embellish a true story to make it sound more interesting or more dramatic than it probably is. In the opening quote, while you may not have really been told a “million times” not to exaggerate, the main point is you have been told on more than one occasion not to exaggerate. “A million times” was added to emphasize it was a lot of times that you’ve been told and it's not intended to be taken literally. A pathological liar will soon be discovered as a fraud by everyone around him until the only person that believes his lies is himself. A comp...

- jim Young "If we demand, or acquiesce to, a COVID-19 vaccine passport, what happens with other communicable diseases, such as measles? Will we continue to ignore whether people are vaccinated against these diseases the way we did pre-COVID-19, or will we require passports for all diseases that have a vaccine?" - Barry Glass I am fully vaccinated. And by “fully”, I mean I received my second vaccine more than the required time frame of 14 days ago. I am not bragging, it’s just a statement of fact that might surprise you in light of my position on the Vaccine Passport. I wish everyone would get the Covid-19 Vaccine. At the very least, it would make things simpler. But mostly I wish everyone would get the Covid-19 Vaccine for their own protection. I could give you all the reasons that I believe that, but I doubt it’s going to change anyone’s mind.  My name is jim Young. I am not a doctor, nor do I have any post-nominal letters to attach after my name that would afford me any...

- jim Young Well maybe not everywhere in Ontario, but apparently it is at Rogers Centre during the Blue Jays Baseball Games. With a seating capacity of 49,282 and attendance limited to 15,000 fans you would think physical distancing would not be a problem. That ratio works out to about 1 fan for every 3.3 seats which should allow everyone to be physically distanced by the required 2 metres for any given game. Pods of up to 4 people in the “physically distanced” seats are available to accommodate fans living in the same household so this should provide a little extra room just to be safe. However not ALL the seats at Rogers Center are being put to use.  One-third of the seating available for sale (100L and 200L outfield and bases) is allocated to the optional “physical distancing” seats.  The remaining two-thirds of the seats available for sale (100L and 200L infield and TD Clubhouse) are designated as “standard seating”.  The other sections are closed and remain empty. T...

-  jim Young How do you spell Canada with 3 letters?  You’ve got your C, eh? and your N, eh? &  and your D, eh? I’m Canadian, eh? Sorry.  When I say “sorry” , I’m not really apologizing for being Canadian. I am proud to be a Canadian. Damn proud! So why would I say “Sorry” ?  Canadians are known for being polite. (Sadly, not ALL Canadians are polite ALL the time, but overall it’s just one of the idiosyncrasies we’ve become known for.) So while it might seem that I am apologizing for being Canadian I am really just apologizing in case you are, for some unknown reason, offended that I am a Canadian.  Canadians politely apologize so much that most provinces have adopted an “apology legislation” which states that “an apology does not constitute an admission of fault or liability following an accident.” Just like, “I’m sorry that you may be offended that I am a Canadian” , when I say “Sorry” , following a fender bender, I am simply saying “I am sorry that ...