When I heard our zoo got two new lions, I couldn’t wait to go and see. Denis and I went last week and there they were… asleep. I wanted to take a picture but they wouldn’t move. I tried to explain to the lions that I drove a long way to come and see them and the least they could do is wake up. A bunch of other people were standing by with cameras just like me, but the lazy lions wouldn’t give us the time of day.

Still, I refused to leave. Good things take time and finally, the male started making low growling noises and I expected him to start moving around. All he did was yawn and go back to sleep. I think it was a yawn. Maybe he was hoping someone would throw a snack in there… like a club sandwich, or a couple of warthogs.

Gone but not forgotten! Here’s a story that appeared online today about some of the talk show hosts from the 90’s.

Here’s the whole article: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/ricki-lake-jenny-jones-now/story?id=22588152#

They left out a lot of other ones though… Remember Gerlado Rivera, Jane Whitney, Gordon Elliott, Queen Latifah, Montel Williams, Rosie O’Donnell, Leeza Gibbons, Sharon Osborne, Rachael Ray, Rolonda Watts, Mark Walberg, who did I leave out?

Jenny Jones crashed my website! But it’s not me. The other Jenny Jones is a snowboarder from Britain who just made history at the Sochi Winter Olympics by winning  Britain’s first ever medal on snow. Congratulations to the other Jenny Jones. Her name was trending on Yahoo and when people clicked, it went to me and overloaded my website.

What are the odds? Two blondes with the same name, but the other one actually has talent. I also noticed a third “Jenny Jones” and she is a politician in England. So one is an Olympic medalist, another is a British labor politician, and I’m just here baking cookies. Maybe I should be rethinking my purpose in life… … … … … … … … (I just did. And I’m good.) 🙂

I guess my new hobby is making cooking videos at home, and I guess people like them. I’ve already had over a million views! I never expected that! But it just motivates me to make more of my little How-To vignettes in the kitchen. What really surprised me was which ones are the most popular.

My number one most popular video on youtube? Pepperoni pizza!

Well, I guess that doesn’t surprise me. Who doesn’t like pizza and my video shows a healthier way to make it. But then, the next most popular video? Polish cabbage rolls!

This was a complete surprise. Even I don’t make them very often because they take a lot of work but I thought the process might be interesting to some people. So it seems they like it, right? Not exactly. Oh, I did receive lots of positive comments at first… from this country… but then they found my video in Poland.

They called me names. They said I forgot where I came from. They said I was not Polish. Apparently, I have highly insulted the entire population of Poland with my…. tasty, delicious, healthy cabbage rolls. I got hate mail. “That’s not how we make them in Poland.” “No self-respecting Pole puts mushrooms in cabbage rolls.” “We don’t put meat in our golabki! What is wrong with you?” “Only a simpleton would take the cabbage out of the pot to remove the leaves.” “That’s not how my babcia made them.”

To me the best way to deal with offensive people is with humor. So how many Poles does it take to make a cabbage roll? Only one. But he has to make sure the cabbage is round; otherwise, it won’t even roll around once.

When I heard the county fair was coming to town, I marked it on the calendar. THIS is the day I will ride my Tilt-a-Whirl. I planned it months ago and even got a confirmation that they indeed had a Tilt-a-Whirl from someone who was there. So last Thursday, we headed to the L.A. County Fair.

It was an hour’s drive but I didn’t care. My Tilt-a-Whirl was there. It was the only reason Denis was willing to drive for an hour and be there on a hot and windy day. As if the amusement ride wouldn’t be enough, we arrived and went to get tickets and guess what? Senior Discount!!

Once we were in Denis said, “Do you want to go see the animals first?” “No. Tilt-a-Whirl.” “How about the prize winning pies? You love to bake.” “No. Tilt-a-Whirl.” I had a singular goal and nothing was going to slow me down. I thought I would ride five times, twice right away, go see the animals, two more rides, then the pies, and one more ride before we left.

This Tilt-a-Whirl wasn’t the traditional red but it was even prettier, painted in pink and purple. As if this wasn’t the best day ever (no traffic + senior discount) there was hardly anybody on the ride! No line at all. Denis bought some ride tickets, and I saw only two cars with other riders so I could pick any of the other cars. Denis got the camera ready while I handed the ride operator (let’s call him “Satan”) my tickets.

“You can’t ride,” said Satan. “WHAT? Why not?” “No single riders,” Satan replied. “But there’s nobody here,” I said, “That’s for when there’s a line. I drove an hour to ride this Tilt-a-Whirl. Most of the cars are empty.” “No, you can’t ride,” said Satan, “No single riders.” Denis offered to ride with me but I was wearing a nice shirt and didn’t want him throwing up on it. It was a long, sad, ride home. Satan could probably get a job at a restaurant and if Jesus himself walked in he’d say, “Sorry. No shirt, no shoes, no service.”

Here’s a nice article I was invited to do about my favorite comfort foods for the top5.com website. (I think they asked the right person) It was not easy deciding on the final five – I had five more that didn’t make it. They were: rice pudding, pepperoni pizza, meat loaf, pączki, and pierogi. Eliminating these was like deciding which one of my children I should leave behind. I don’t have children but I do have love for potatoes. Happy Labor Day, everyone!

http://healthy-foods.top5.com/jenny-jones-top-5-comfort-foods-i-love-to-make/

I have a new website dedicated solely to my love of cooking. For anyone who loves to cook, has questions, or just wants to learn, that’s the place to go. You’ll find hundreds of my easy recipes, lots of helpful hints, and best of all I don’t allow ads and never do paid endorsements. It’s all free.

 To visit Jenny Can Cook click here.

We are off to the Greek Theater tonight to see A Prairie Home Companion with guest stars Martin Sheen, Colin Hay, and Lily Tomlin!