MICROWAVE PIZZA for 1 couch potato:

• olive oil, garlic powder, italian seasoning and oregano

  on an 8 inch diameter microwave dish and then spread as much of the excess of that onto the bottom of the still frozen 6 inch pizza placed upside down on another dish; then I

• sprinkle the corn meal on top of what's left before placing the frozen pizza right side up on the actual baking dish
  (The dishes came with LeMenu frozen dinners.  They say not to cook over 350 degrees and have survived the past decade in my 500 watt microwave.  Recycling makes sense!)

  NEXT, on the prepared dish and before the additional toppings, I place one:

• 6.25oz 5 inch Little Charlies Deep Dish Pizza; (12 to a box at Sam's Club when they're in stock.)
• jalapenos, mushrooms, olives, tomatillos, etc. go atop the frozen pizza;
• two or three 1/8 x 1/2 x 6 inch slices of mild cheddar go on next;

The crust is never stiff enough to eat without a fork but still tastes grrrrreeeeeat.

STONED OVEN PIZZA for 2 normal (hah!) adults:

Hand beat (50x) the following until it looks good and Italian:  (Doing it by hand gives you the exercise you need for that hour of the day.)

• 1 Chef Boyardee Pizza Crust Mix (from a 13.5oz box);
• 1 Tbspn(+-) oregano mixed into the dry crust mix;
• 1 Tbspn olive oil (100% pure; no cholesterol or salt);
• 1/2 cup warm water (or whatever's called for on the box);

  next, prepare the stone by mixing

• 1/8 tspn garlic powder with
• enough olive oil to cover the stone; and then sprinkle
• 1 tspn+- of corn meal over the entire surface; (The corn meal, having a relatively neutral flavor, acts as miniature ball bearings to keep the pizza dough from sticking to the stone.  That's what helped make the ham rolls so good in Milwaukee back in the 1950s!)

  toss (for those with that skill) or spread, with already ingredient flavored hands (my preferred method), the dough over the entire stone surface; curl a little at the edges to keep whatever sauce you're using from dripping over the edge;

  optionally pre-cook the dough at 425~475 degrees for 3 minutes to stiffen the crust and place the sauce you made or from the

• Chef Boyardee Pizza sauce can (same 13.5oz box) on the dough and then carefully place the

• jalapeños, mushrooms, olives, tomatillos, etc. onto the sauce before the
• italian sausage, pepperoni and other meats - just before the cheese; (You never know when someone impressive might drop by to inspect your pizza, so make sure it always looks good and Italian.)

  optionally cook (still at 425~475 degrees) everything but the cheese, and possibly the mushrooms when you're having problems with them, for 8~12 minutes; before finally adding enough

• shredded Mozzarella/Provolone cheese blend and, optionally, some
• shredded mild cheddar cheese over everything else; (The darkened color of the yellow cheddar can help determine when YOUR oven has finished its job.  Since the oven size, pizza stone/metal pan thickness, amount of sauce and other ingredients all affect the amount of time it takes to cook, you must determine your own optimal times.  Use those shown here as guidelines.)

Remove the stone and place it atop a hot pad.  The stone continues cooking the crust while keeping everything hot for an additional 30 minutes or so.  [ 1/15/2009 update:  I sold my last oven 2 decades ago but do remember that there never was a piece of pizza left atop one of my pizza stones long enough to ever get cold - when alone or during a pizza party with up to a dozen guests. ]

500 watt MICROWAVE POPCORN:

If not already salty enough, even after shaking inside the pre-salted bag, add Jolly Time Instant Buttery Seasoning (imitation buttery flavor).

  Other sites:      KennysCajunCorn     PopcornFork     PopcornLovers

STOVE POPCORN:

2. Once popping has begun, shake the pan every few seconds to keep the heavier unpopped kernals on the bottom of the pan.  If necessary empty some popped corn from the pan to make room for more popping kernals. (Keep the paper bag holding the popped corn closed to contain the heat until you're ready to salt and/or eat it.)

3. Empty the popped corn into a large paper grocery bag for more efficient salting.

4. Salt the popped corn in the bag, shaking it between saltings to evenly distribute the salt to your taste.  

Microwave Tacos: 

3. Size the half lettuce leaf to cover the heated flat tortilla.

4. Finally, make it a taco by adding the cheese, salmon or meat, tomatoes, onions, et al on top of the lettuce; fold or roll it all up and enjoy.  (Pour extra virgin olive oil over the salmon when fish tacos are prepared.)
HINT:  Folding one end of the lettuce will help keep the contents from falling/dripping out while eating the taco.

 

Salmon Tacos: Replace the meat with (cheaper chunk or wild Alaskan fresh caught) salmon fresh from the can and prepare the microwave way.

Tuna Casserole:
(My grandmother's ancient meatless Fridays dinner.)  The ingredients are pictured.  Place chips atop mushroom soup atop peas atop optional, unshown chopped onions atop sprinkling of chopped tarragon leaves atop tuna.  Heat 5 minutes in 500 watt microwave, let stand add more chips or not and heat another 2 minutes.

Real Mexican Tacos:

Secrets: 1. Flatten a small ball of meat onto one-half the raw corn meal tortilla; fold it over; and deep fry in the corn oil for 15 seconds or so per side. (This time intensive process requires the abundant love of those willing to stand over the heat while impatient guests eat the tacos faster than they can be cooked.  My twin sisters had been doing it this way until we made the mistake of introducing tacos to the next generation of kids.  Now, the meat is cooked ahead of time in giant vats and the authentic corn meal tortillas are purchased by the gross!)

2. Add the onions, tomatoes, cheese, lettuce and hot sauce on top of the meat before the taco shell hardens and enjoy while figuring out how to position one's head, mouth and taco to avoid losing all the contents.  (Make sure your fingers are clean.  You'll be licking them a lot!)  

CASCARONES:

Cascarones Wikipedia site quote:       "In the movie West of the Pecos (1945) the eggs   are used to throw at the one you love and this   person must dance the next dance with you." I'll have to view that movie to discover if it represents what I remember of the custom regarding cascarones.

The key aspect I remember is to make sure the object of one's affection (and surrounding witnesses) see the egg just seconds before it's smashed over the head so that its contents appear to be 'for real' sticky egg innerds and not just confetti.

The process of making them involves making one tiny hole on one end and another dime/confetti sized hole on the other - one then blows the egg contents out into a bowl for later cooking.  Experts can blow the contents out without breaking the egg yoke.
    After thorough drying, the confetti is placed inside and the larger end sealed with plain white paper.  Decorations of the egg seem to be the current fad, but that makes the 'fooling' process more difficult - or makes the recipient think it's just a 'hard boiled' egg being smashed over their head.

Taco Dip: