Oh, Bono!

You're right Bono, I don't know! Can you remind me, in person preferably!?!?

http://music.msn.com/music/artist/u2/

You ain't nothing but a hound dog....

Elvis is alive (she says with a "Frankenstein"-esque accent)! Alive!

Don't believe me???

I have proof....well, sort of!

So, in the midst of the obscenely crazy month of June, Hubby came home and said we were invited to go see Elvis in concert.

On stage.....

My first response was obvious: "Uh, Elvis is dead."




Hubby: "No, no, no. Ron and his wife, Gina invited us to go see him at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens Concert in the Gardens Series."




Me: "Uh, Elvis is dead."




Hubby: "Duh, it's an Impersonator!"




So, at this point, I'm thinking...."WHATEVER." I'm not going to some Las Vegas-Cheesy-Elvis -Impersonator-Crap-Show. But, because I'm a supportive wife and the folks who invited us are business clients, and the other couple attending are good friends, I put on my Elvis shades, packed a picnic dinner (with an extra bottle of wine in case it was lame) and pretended to be excited.




We arrived at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, found our table (which was very close to the stage), set up our picnics, popped the cork on some wine and hunkered down, waiting for the hunk-a-hunka-burning Impersonator.




Turns out he was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Elvis died when I was 4, so I have no point of reference to the original, but my Mom was a fan and listened to his music a lot. This guy did a fantastic job. His voice, his moves and his costume were all spot on! I've been shaking my hips ever since the show!!

Elvis, Kim and David Starr (#11 Craftsman Truck Series Driver)

The Mr., me, Elvis, Kim, David and our hosts: Gina and Ron meeting The King after the show!

Oy Vay, the brisket was meshuga good!

Since I'm relatively new to this blogging thing and you're still getting to know me, let me give you a little history on me....Jen! I grew up a good (cough) Lutheran girl. Traveling through life, I've had little things come up that keep trying to convince me that I should be Jewish (or perhaps was a Jew in a previous life).



Examples:



1. My first Jew, DR was a very serious boyfriend in high school who.....well, let's just say he was a piece of halvah! He was convinced I was a shiksa goddess (which, of course I am)!



2. My favorite way to have a bagel? Schmeared with red onion, a tomato slice, a few capers and of course....lox!



3. My oldest (in time I've known her, not her age) BFF: a Jew!



4. My new house has a mezuzza on both the front and side door.



5. Some of my favorite sayings: Oy, shmuck, shtik, shlep, chutzpah, klutz, kosher, putz! They just come out naturally. Plus I know a lot of other yiddish words (although I'm not so good at spelling them).



6. I love Challah (Holla!) bread and have a great recipe for creme brulee french toast that uses Challah (Holla!) .



So, if these tidbits aren't enough to convince you, this one will do it: I make a KILLER brisket. I made it tonight and it was so delicious, it was my motivation for this post!



In the spirit of giving, I've decided to share it with you because it's extremely easy, extremely good and if you don't try it Bist Tsedrayt.



Brisket Recipe:

1 (3 to 4 lb.) Brisket

1 (12 oz.) can of Coke (use only Coke, not Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Pepsi, etc). I tried to use something different once and it didn't taste anywhere near as good.

1 envelope of Lipton Onion Soup Mix

2 Tblsp. Hungarian Paprika



Put Brisket in a roasting pan and rub the soup mix and paprika into the Brisket. Pour Coke around brisket, cover with foil and cook in pre-heated oven for 3 hours at 350 degrees. Remove after 3 hours and let sit for 15 minutes. Cut across the grain into thin strips, place back into the pan juices, recover with foil and let cool. After a while, (this is the hard part) put it back in the fridge and reheat the next day for dinner as is, in the pan juices.

Yummy!

What's the point of watching now?

I found out that Ms. Madonna, a 2008 inductee into the Hall of Fame and my 1980's idol is not going to perform at the Induction Ceremony this weekend. What? Every inductee performs....what the hell makes her so special?

Well, let me just share a little of what I consider to be some of her bests looks...the things that make her special:

The Like a Virgin days.....it was the 80's and the word "virgin" in a song seemed so dirty and shocking!

The "Dress you Up" days. I thought she was so fashion forward.....thank God the 8o's are over! Notice how she's slyly flipping us off! She's such a rebel!

My all time favorite Bad Ass Madonna photo! I still try to replicate that "Don't F**k with me look when discipling my kids, cigarette and all (just kidding)!

In the early 90's she went classy on us and taught us all to "Vogue."



Then, of course came the SEX era when her song, "Justify my Love" became a perennial Bang CD favorite around the world!

Now, Madonna is all grown up, and so are we, but she still manages to keep us guessing and wondering what her next incarnation will be. She's still a bad ass.....but I sure would have liked to see her perform at the induction ceremony! I guess I'll have to hold out for her next tour!