Grilled Pineapple Upside Down Cake

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I love to make things on the grill! I find it to be relaxing and fun. I also love desert, so about a year ago I set out on a mission to see what kind of good desert recipes I could come up with to make on my grill. I have practiced many times to get the perfect upside down cake. I modified the cake recipe a little to give it some more flavor (good pit masters never just use a standard recipe). This is a very good pineapple upside down cake and quite easy to make.  Its always neat to see the reactions of people that have never had a cake made on a grill before. Below is how I make Grilled Pineapple Upside Down Cake.


Ingredients:


1 box yellow cake mix
1 can sliced pineapples in juice
1 small can crushed pineapple
1 small jar of cherries
1 small package chopped walnuts
1/4 stick of butter
3 eggs
1/3 of cup of vegetable oil

Directions:

I like to use my Lodge 10 inch cast iron skillet for making this cake. It is a great tool to have it you do not have one, I use my for a lot of different things. I take a large mixing bowl and put the dry cake mix in the bowl. I take the juice from the sliced pineapples and pour in to my measuring cup. I add a little water to get the right amount for the cake mix instructions. I also add 3 table spoons of the crushed pineapple to the cake mix. I then add the eggs and the oil and blend until smooth.



After the cake batter is mixed and ready i start assembling he cake. I use the 1/4 stick of butter and heavily butter the inside of the Lodge skillet.


Next add a good handful of the chopped walnuts. 
Next layer is the pineapple and cherries. I layer the pineapples and fill in any voids with a small amount of the left over crushed pineapple. I also take the cherries and put into the center of each pineapple slice.

Now that all the layers are built gently pour your cake batter gently over the pineapple and cherries. I use a 3 zone fire and go with medium high heat. 350 is the ideal temperature as this is what is called for on the cake mix but anywhere in the area is good. It will just take a longer or shorter cooking time. I place the Lodge in center of the cooking grate. I let it bake for about 30-45 minutes and begin checking with a toothpick. When you insert and remove the toothpick it should come out without any batter on it. That is how you tell it is done.

Once the cake is done I let it cool for about 10 minutes. I use a butter knife and run it around the edge of the pan so the cake pulls away slightly. Then I take a dinner plate upside as a lid on the skillet. I take the whole thing and flip it right side up. Then it is time for it to cool for another 10 minutes prior to cutting and serving. You will be very happy with this grilled desert. Enjoy!
  http://www.mikethebbqguy.com/2012/03/grilled-pineapple-upside-down-cake.html

MIKE WALLACE Dead at 93

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Mike Wallace -- who spent 38 years with "60 Minutes" before retiring in 2006 -- has died, CBS News announced today. He was 93. 

Bob Scheiffer, the host of "Face the Nation," announced his passing on CBS this morning, saying that Wallace died on Saturday night in New Haven, CT alongside his family.

Wallace had been in declining health in recent years.

His last interview for CBS was with retired baseball star Roger Clemens, which aired in January 2008. 

Wallace was the first person hired by legendary CBS producer Don Hewitt when he was putting together the staff for "60 Minutes." He won 21 Emmy awards, five DuPont-Columbia journalism awards, and five Peabody awards.


Wallace never had a problem confronting his guests, perhaps best evidenced by two of his more famous interviews -- with Barbra Streisand in 1991 and Louis Farrakhan in 2005


http://www.tmz.com/2012/04/08/mike-wallace-died-cbs-news/

Tiger Woods Finishes Masters With Worst 4-round Score

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods arrived at Augusta National as a favorite to win his fifth green jacket. Instead, he left with his worst score as a pro.A 74 on Sunday put Woods at 5-over 293 for the Masters, which was his worst four-round score since he posted the same number as a first-time amateur way back in 1995. He shot a 291 in 2007, but that was good enough for second that year, when it was windy and bitterly cold. When he left the course Sunday, he was tied for 41st, the same spot he finished in 1995."It was an off week at the wrong time," he said.Woods never broke par on the course where he was so dominant that Masters officials were accused of trying to "Tiger-proof" it when they redesigned parts of it. Worse, he was just 1 under for the week on the par 5s, where he normally collects birdies by the handful.
"If I look back on the week, I played the par 5s atrociously," he said. "This is a golf course you just have to dominate the par 5s, and I did not do that at all this week."Expectations that Woods would win again skyrocketed two weeks ago when he won at Bay Hill – his first PGA Tour victory in 30 months. But things began unraveling when he closed with back-to-back bogeys Thursday, and he went into a full-scale meltdown Friday with a flurry of wayward tee shots, blocked approaches and missed putts from close range.He cursed the bad shots or took mock swings in anger – sometimes doing both. After a poor tee shot on 16, booted his 9-iron about 15 yards.The boorish behavior drew criticism from some fans, and he could be subject to discipline by the PGA Tour.Tour policy states that players can be disciplined for conduct unbecoming a professional even at tournaments that are co-sponsored or approved by the PGA Tour, such as the major championships. The tour doesn't comment on discipline, however, so whether he's fined might never be known."It's just the way it is," Woods said Sunday. "I'm trying to compete, and unfortunately I just didn't play well this week."Woods has been stuck on 14 major championships, four shy of Jack Nicklaus' record, since winning the U.S. Open in a playoff in 2008 – on a broken leg, no less. Since then, there's been the sex scandal that cost him his marriage and several sponsors, and injuries have kept him off the course for long stretches.Now his problem is his swing. He's been reworking it with Sean Foley for more than 18 months, and it remains a work in progress."What's frustrating is I know what to do, and I just don't do it. I get out there and I just don't trust it at all," Woods said. "I can get it on the range, I can get it dialed in there. We'll work on the same things and it feels really good, and I go to the golf course and I just don't quite trust it. It just means I just need to do more reps."When Woods won at Bay Hill, many saw it as a sign that he had mastered the changes he'd made with Foley. But his shots wound up all over the place, and he complained that bad habits were creeping back into his swing, saying he had "the Hank backswing, with the new downswing."Woods worked with Hank Haney from 2004-10."When you get into tough situations, you revert back to your old motor patterns," Woods said. "That's kind of what happened to me this week."But he has no doubt he's on the right path."You're still always working on little things. I know the big things that we're working on are done, but it's the little things, too, now," Woods said. "The details sometimes can be magnified. Especially on a golf course like this, it doesn't take much. You're a yard off here or there, which happened to be quite often, and next thing you know, I'm 40, 50 feet away."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/08/tiger-woods-masters-worst-4-round-score_n_1411295.html

A Visual Approximation of Bubba Watson’s Brilliant Shot in Masters Playoff

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Bubba Watson’s ridiculous shot on hole two of the Masters playoff will be played incessantly over the next few days, and deservedly so. And each year around this time, golf analysts and fanatics alike will discuss the shot with great vigor and enthusiasm thanks to Watson’s wonderful recovery after sending his drive into the woods.Even for those of us who don’t watch or play golf on a regular basis, it’s impossible not to appreciate the shot, especially under such weighty circumstances. For an even deeper appreciation of said shot, take a gander at this visual approximation, which was offered up by this guy after someone on Twitter just couldn’t understand why he stated it was one of the most ridiculous shots he’d ever seen.
It basically took the path of a signature Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sky hook. Unbelievable. What a finish.Note: Since the video of Bubba’s miraculous shot has already been scrubbed from YouTube by the PGA — it worked less than five minutes ago — we swiftly turn to mockery, so here’s the botched Bubba Watson/Billy Payne handshake.http://thebiglead.com/index.php/2012/04/08/a-visual-approximation-of-bubba-watsons-brilliant-shot-in-masters-playoff/

Springfield, Oregon: Matt Groening announces location of “The Simpsons”

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Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons, has officially identified the fictional Springfield inhabited by the yellow-hued family to be Springfield, Oregon. Since the show’s inception in 1989, the true location of Springfield has been kept secret, with the idea that fans would think of Springfield as their own regardless of where they lived, Groening said Tuesday in an interview with Smithsonian Magazine. (Photo: AP / Twentieth Century Fox / Matt Groening)(Now, to some of you fancy New York intellectuals out there, Groening’s announcement may not quite qualify as a “literary event,” but for the past 25 years the Simpson’s Springfield has comprised one of the most most fully realized comic landscapes in the history of American fiction. Thus any information pertaining to the hometown of our nation’s favorite eternally irreverent, yellow-skinned family is not only breaking news, but culturally significant.)
Still, speculation raged. In 2007, Springfield, Vt., won a competition to premier a film version of The Simpsons, beating some dozen other Springfields around the nation. Further muddling the issue, there are nearly 40 Springfields in the United States. “Whenever people say it’s Springfield, Ohio, or Springfield Massachusetts, or Springfield wherever, I always go ‘yup’ that’s right,” Groening told Smithsonian.

But the speculation is over for good. Springfield is a town in western Oregon near Eugene, with about 60,000 residents.

As Groening told the Smithsonian, "Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon. The only reason is that when I was a kid, the TV show 'Father Knows Best' took place in the town of Springfield, and I was thrilled because I imagined that it was the town next to Portland, my hometown. When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name. I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it’s their Springfield.' And they do."

While this news may come as a surprise to some fans, ABC news reports that natives of the real Springfield, Ore., were made aware of their town’s special place in television history back in 2007, by way of a commemorative plaque signed by Groening, reading “Yo to Springfield Oregon, the real Springfield!”
           
Some may lament the loss of universality that the vagueness of the fictional Springfield’s whereabouts allowed the town to maintain. But in the end, who cares? The Simpson’s Springfield is a comic stand-in for all the small, off-center towns throughout America, made even more relevant by the fact that it actually exists.

Here’s to another 25 years in Springfield, Oregon. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/pageviews/2012/04/springfield-oregon-matt-groening-announces-location-of-%E2%80%9Cthe-simpsons%E2%80%9D

Day Eleven, Cushing's Awareness Challenge

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In March of 1987, after the endo finally  confirmed that I had Cushing's, I saw sent to a local hospital where they repeated all those same tests for another week and decided that it was not my adrenal gland (Cushing's Syndrome) creating the problem. The doctors and nurses had no idea what to do with me, so they put me on the brain cancer ward.

When I left this hospital after a week, we didn't know any more than we had before.

As luck would have it, NIH (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland) was doing a clinical trial of Cushing's. I live in the same area as NIH so it was not too inconvenient but very scary at first to think of being tested there. At that time I only had a choice of NIH, Mayo Clinic and a place in Quebec to do this then-rare pituitary surgery called a Transsphenoidal Resection.

My husband asked my endo if it were his wife, if he would recommend this surgery.  The endo responded that he was divorcing his wife - he didn't care what happened to her.  Oh, my!

I chose NIH - closest and free. After I was interviewed by the Doctors there, I got a letter that I had been accepted into the clinical trial.

The night before I was admitted, I signed my will.  I was sure I was going to die there.  If not during testing, as a result of surgery.

The first time I was there was for 6 weeks as an inpatient. More of the same tests.

There were about 12 of us there and it was nice not to be alone with this mystery disease. Many of these Cushies (mostly women) were getting bald, couldn't walk, having strokes, had diabetes. One was blind, one had a heart attack while I was there. Several were from Greece.

Towards the end of my testing period, I was looking forward to the surgery just to get this whole mess over with - either a cure or dying. While I was at NIH, I was gaining about a pound a day!

During the time I was home the weekend  before surgery, a college classmate of mine (I didn't know her) DID die at NIH of a Cushing's-related problem. I'm so glad I didn't find out until reading the alumnae magazine a couple months later!  She was the same class, same major, same home-town, same disease...

We have a Scottish doctor named James Lind to thank for the clinical trial.  He  conducted the first ever clinical trial in 1747 and developed the theory that citrus fruits cured scurvy.  Lind  compared the effects of various different acidic substances, ranging from vinegar to cider, on groups of afflicted sailors, and found that the group who were given oranges and lemons had largely recovered from scurvy after 6 days.

I'd like to think that I advanced the knowledge of Cushing's at least a little bit by being a guinea  pig in 1987-1989.

From the NIH: http://endocrine.niddk.nih.gov/pubs/cushings/cushings.aspx

Hope through Research

Several components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conduct and support research on Cushing's syndrome and other disorders of the endocrine system, including the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Cancer Institute, and the National Center for Research Resources.

NIH-supported scientists are conducting intensive research into the normal and abnormal function of the major endocrine glands and the many hormones of the endocrine system. Researchers continue to study the effects of excess cortisol, including its effect on brain structure and function. To refine the diagnostic process, studies are under way to assess the accuracy of existing screening tests and the effectiveness of new imaging techniques to evaluate patients with ectopic ACTH syndrome. Researchers are also investigating jugular vein sampling as a less invasive alternative to petrosal sinus sampling. Research into treatment options includes study of a new drug to treat the symptoms of Cushing's syndrome caused by ectopic ACTH secretion.

Studies are under way to understand the causes of benign endocrine tumor formation, such as those that cause most cases of Cushing's syndrome. In a few pituitary adenomas, specific gene defects have been identified and may provide important clues to understanding tumor formation. Endocrine factors may also play a role. Increasing evidence suggests that tumor formation is a multistep process. Understanding the basis of Cushing's syndrome will yield new approaches to therapy.

The NIH supports research related to Cushing's syndrome at medical centers throughout the United States. Scientists are also treating patients with Cushing's syndrome at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD. Physicians who are interested in referring an adult patient may contact Lynnette Nieman, M.D., at NICHD, 10 Center Drive, Room 1-3140, Bethesda, MD 20892-1109, or by phone at 301-496-8935. Physicians interested in referring a child or adolescent may contact Constantine Stratakis, M.D., D.Sc., at NICHD, 10 Center Drive, Room 1-3330, Bethesda, MD 20892-1103, or by phone at 301-402-1998.

 

Counting Today There Are Only Six Days Left...

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...To support Cushing's patients by only clicking a link. Click here to make a difference!

Feel free to share the link around, click more than once, post to Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.  Every click is worth $5.00 to Cushing's organizations which support patients.

Thank you for your support!

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Support Cushing's ...With A Click.

From Corcept, the makers of Korlym:

Corcept Therapeutics will donate $5 for every person who clicks to support people with Cushing's. Corcept has jump-started the effort to build awareness and support with a $15,000 contribution to provide support through the Cushing's Support and Research Foundation and Cushing's Help.

With your support, we can aim even higher!*

Take part...and spread the word.

*Donations up to $30,000. Program ends April 20, 2012

Click here to make a difference!

 

Day Fifteen, Cushing’s Awareness Challenge

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Because it's a Sunday again, this is a semi-religious post...

After I was finished with the Cushing's long diagnostic process, surgery and several post-op visits to NIH, I was asked to give the scripture reading at my church. The man who did the sermon that week was the survivor of a horrific accident where he and his family were hit by a van while waiting at an airport.

I thought I had written down the verse carefully. I practiced and practiced, I don't like speaking in front of a crowd but I said I would. When I got to church, the verse was different. Maybe I wrote it down wrong, maybe someone changed it. Whatever.

This verse has come to have so much meaning in my life. When I saw at a book called A Musician's Book of Psalms each day had a different psalm. On my birthday, there was "my" psalm so I had to buy this book!

Psalm 116 (New International Version)

1 I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.

2 Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.

3 The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came upon me;
I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.

4 Then I called on the name of the LORD:
"O LORD, save me!"

5 The LORD is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.

6 The LORD protects the simplehearted;
when I was in great need, he saved me.

7 Be at rest once more, O my soul,
for the LORD has been good to you.

8 For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,

9 that I may walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.

10 I believed; therefore I said,
"I am greatly afflicted."

11 And in my dismay I said,
"All men are liars."

12 How can I repay the LORD
for all his goodness to me?

13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD.

14 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.

15 Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his saints.

16 O LORD, truly I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant;
you have freed me from my chains.

17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you
and call on the name of the LORD.

18 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,

19 in the courts of the house of the LORD—
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD.

 

I carry a print out of this everywhere I go because I find it very soothing. "when I was in great need, he saved me." This print out is in a plastic page saver.

On the other side there is an article I found after my kidney cancer.  You can read that article in Day Twenty-nine, coming up on April 29, 2012.  Plan Ahead!

Day Nineteen, Cushing's Awareness Challenge

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In Day 10 on April 10, 2012, I wrote about how we got the Cushing's colors of blue and yellow.  This post is going to be about the first Cushing's ribbons.

 

I was on vacation  in September, 2001 when SuziQ called me to let me know that we had had our first Cushie casualty (that we knew about).

On the message boards, Lorrie wrote: Our dear friend, Janice died this past Tuesday, September 4, 2001. I received an IM from her best friend Janine, tonight. Janine had been reading the boards, as Janice had told her about this site, and she came upon my name and decided to IM me. I am grateful that she did. She said that she knew that Janice would want all of us to know that she didn't just stop posting.

For all of the newcomers to the board that did not know Janice, she was a very caring individual. She always had something positive to say. Janice was 36 years old, was married and had no children. She had a miscarriage in December and began to have symptoms of Cushing's during that pregnancy. After the pregnancy, she continued to have symptoms. When discussing this with her doctor, she was told that her symptoms were just related to her D&C. She did not buy this and continued until she received the accurate diagnosis of Cushing's Syndrome (adrenal) in March of 2001. Tragically, Janice's tumor was cancerous, a very rare form of Cushing's.

Janice then had her tumor and adrenal gland removed by open adrenalectomy, a few months ago. She then began chemotherapy. She was very brave through this even though she experienced severe side effects, including weakness and dizziness. She continued to post on this board at times and even though she was going through so much, she continued with a positive attitude. She even gave me a referral to a doctor a few weeks ago. She was my inspiration. Whenever I thought I had it bad, I thought of what she was dealing with, and I gained more perspective.

Janice was having difficulty with low potassium levels and difficulty breathing. She was admitted to the hospital, a CT scan was done and showed tumor metastasis to the lungs. She then was begun on a more aggressive regimen of chemo. She was discharged and apparently seemed to be doing well.

The potassium then began to drop again, she spiked a temp and she was again admitted to the hospital. She improved and was set to be discharged and then she threw a blood clot into her lungs. She was required to be put on a ventilator. She apparently was at high risk for a heart attack. Her husband did not want her to suffer anymore and did not want her to suffer the pain of a heart attack and so chose for the doctors to discontinue the ventilator on Tuesday. She died shortly thereafter.

Janice was our friend. She was a Cushie sister. I will always remember her. Janine asked me to let her know when we get the Cushing's ribbons made as she and the rest of Janice's family would like to wear them in her memory. She said that Janice would want to do anything she could to make others more aware of Cushing's.

The image at the top of the page shows the first blue and yellow ribbon which were worn at Janice's funeral.  When we had our "official ribbons" made, we sent several to Janice's family.

Janice was the first of us to die but there have been more, way too many more, over the years.  I'll write a bit more about that on Day 21.

 

Day Twenty, Cushing's Awareness Challenge

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This is one of the suggestions from the Cushing's Awareness Challenge post:

What have you learned about the medical community since you have become sick?

This one is so easy.  I've said it a thousand times - you know your own body better than any doctor will.  Most doctors have never seen a Cushing's patient, few ever will in the future.

If you believe you have Cushing's (or any other rare disease), learn what you can about it, connect with other patients, make a timeline of symptoms and photographs. Read, take notes, save all your doctors notes, keep your lab findings, get second/third/ten or more opinions.

This is your life, your one and only shot (no pun intended!) at it.  Make it the best and healthiest that you can.

When my friend and fellow e-patient Dave deBronkart learned he had a rare and terminal kidney cancer, he turned to a group of fellow patients online  and found a medical treatment that even his own doctors didn't know. It saved his life.

In this video he calls on all patients to talk with one another, know their own health data, and make health care better one e-Patient at a time.