From the category archives:

American Culture

Funny police report: drunk awakes in Walmart with the munchies, stuffs candy in his pants

February 17, 2012

in American Culture,Crime,Ephrata,Humor

You can’t make this stuff up and a Walmart store is the perfect setting for this.

Brian Bowman, 53, of Lititz, was charged with retail theft and public drunkenness at Walmart, 890 E. Main St., on Monday after he was reported to be asleep inside the store. Before police arrived, Bowman awoke and walked around the store, eating food and stuffing candy in his pants.

What does ‘stuff candy in his pants’ mean? Was Bowman stuffing a Snickers bars down his pants rather than into the pockets, like into his crotch?

Some more questions …

[read more]

Tagged as: Brian Bowman, criminal behavior, Ephrata, funny police report, Lancaster County, Lancaster newspapers police log, Lititz PA, police log, public drunkeness, retail theft, Walmart

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Finally! My first trip to and first growler of craft beer from St. Boniface, a nano-brewery in Ephrata

February 13, 2012

in American Culture,Business & Economy,Ephrata

St. Boniface Craft Breweing CompanyFinally, after more than a year since it opened, I traveled to St. Boniface Craft Brewing, only five blocks from my home.

That first growler was filled with the mighty tasty Extra Special Bitter (ESB), a classic English pub, session, style brew. Looking forward to trying the 3lb IPA next.

Boy Howdy! These guys know what they’re doing, and they’re also Reformation Christians. Beer and Reformed theology, it doesn’t get any better than that. Check them out on Thursdays, 7-9pm, and Saturdays, 9am-4pm.

Visit their Facebook page for more info.

(Special kudos to Tom Nicholas who invited me and purchased the fill of my first growler.)

Tagged as: beer, craft beer, Double IPA, English bitter beer, Ephrata, IPA, micro brewery, nano-brewery, PA, St Boniface Brewing, Stout beer

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A great chili recipe made even better with Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce

January 28, 2012

in American Culture,My Life,Recipes

I’ve updated my latest and greatest chili recipe. If you like your chili savory, spicy, and with better than average heat, you’re gonna love this revised addition.

I’ve integrated Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce for extra heat and a wonderful aromatic smoky flavor.

The chipotle peppers can be found in the ethnic or specialty section of your favorite grocer. All it takes is one pepper, about a tablespoon, minced and mixed with tomato paste to add savory flavor to the chili. If you want to add more, then go for it. You will not be disappointed if you love savory and spicy chili.

Here’s Craig’s newly updated Chili recipe.

Tagged as: adobo sauce, chili, chipotle peppers, Craig Hartranft, healthy, low fat chili, recipe, turkey burger, turkey chili

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Persona Non Grata’s Quantum Leap: entertaining and intriguing progressive heavy metal from Greece

8 January 2012 American Culture

Possibly indicative of the album title, Greek progressives Persona Non Grata hoped to ‘up their game’ with their sophomore release, Quantum Leap. Released in December, this fine work of progressive metal could easily be added to the best of 2011, right along side their peers Symphony X and Dream Theater.

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With ‘Show Me How to Live,’ Royal Hunt returns with D.C. Cooper and one fine album of epic melodic metal

5 December 2011 American Culture

The creation of keyboardist Andre Andersen, Royal Hunt has been going strong for better than 20 years. Their first mainstream success came in the mid-Nineties with Moving Target (1995) and Paradox (1997) with D.C. Cooper on lead vocals. Recently, following a reunion tour, Andersen asked Cooper to return to the Royal Hunt fold. The result [...]

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Theocracy’s As the World Bleeds offers an exciting blend of Christianity and epic melodic heavy metal

23 November 2011 American Culture

Another three years has passed and so Atlanta’s Theocracy returns with their third album As the World Bleeds. Considering the strength of its predecessor, Mirror of Souls, this album was born with certain expectations already in place. Fret not fans as you will not be disappointed.

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This new chili recipe hits all the right hot spots

5 November 2011 American Culture

Revised:  January 24, 2012; change below in italics. I found an interesting recipe for chili with beans in, of all places, a calender from Classic Rock magazine. The use of tomato paste, parsley, and spices other than a quick dose of straight generic chili powder was appealing. After several experiments with this recipe, I came [...]

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A Moment in Chiros: Lance King’s solo debut a tour de force of melodic progressive power metal

30 October 2011 American Culture

Okay, so here’s the short review: Buy this album. If you dig well-composed and entertaining melodic progressive power metal with powerful and versatile vocals, then Lance King’s first solo project, A Moment in Chiros is simply primo material. So head on over to Nightmare Records and order the album; otherwise read on if you want [...]

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Knight Area’s Nine Paths: simply great melodic progressive rock!

10 October 2011 American Culture

Knight Area’s fourth release, Nine Paths, is simply a great sounding album of melodic progressive rock. Earlier works were likely gathered under the symphonic rock genre also. But Nine Paths seems to find Knight Area upping the rock ante just a bit. With that said, don’t think that founder, composer, and keyboardist Gerben Klazinga is [...]

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Cole slaw with cilantro and sauteed garlic, a fresh and delicious alternative to the traditional mayo slaw

6 October 2011 American Culture

I stumbled across this ‘different’ recipe for slaw salad in a grocery store flyer. There’s no mayonnaise, traditional white vinegar, paprika, celery seed or some combination of these ingredients. The garlic gives the salad some bite, and a smoky flavor. The cilantro brightens the whole salad for a fresh feeling. After several tries, I discovered [...]

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