USA Trend

Serves 6| Hands-On Time: 05m | Total Time: 50m
Ingredients

* 6 medium sweet potatoes, unpeeled
* 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Pierce each sweet potato several times with the tines of a fork. Place the sweet potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Make a slit in the top of each sweet potato. Top with 1 tablespoon of butter and season with the salt and pepper.



Nutritional Information

* Per Serving
* Calories 214Calories From Fat 50%

* Fat 12g
* Sat Fat 7g
* Cholesterol 31mg
* Sodium 230mg
* Carbohydrate 26g
* Fiber 4g
* Sugar 5g
* Protein 2g

source: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/baked-sweet-potatoes-10000001537621/index.html

Baby boomers fondly remember the simple classic green bean casserole as a Thanksgiving favorite. This version is updated a bit to add fresh mushrooms. It also uses frozen green beans which contain less salt and retain more color. The traditional dish is considered almost decadent these days with cream of mushroom soup and crispy fried onions on top. Feel free to make the noted substitutions to fit your diet, but it will not taste quite the same. You may find you will need more salt than when using canned green beans.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:

* 8 ounces fresh white mushrooms, brushed clean, trimmed, and quartered
* 1 teaspoon butter or olive oil
* 1 pound frozen green beans, unthawed (or 2 cans (16 ounces each) cut green beans, drained)
* 1 can (10.10-3/4 ounces) undiluted condensed cream of mushroom soup
* 1/2 cup heavy cream, half-and-half or milk
* 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
* 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
* 1 can (2.8 ounces) French-fried onions, divided use
* 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
* Kosher salt to taste

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. F.

Place a heavy skillet over medium high heat. When pan is hot, add mushrooms and butter or olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Saute mushrooms until they release their liquid and mushrooms begin to soften. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add frozen green beans, cream of mushroom soup, heavy cream, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, half of the fried onions, pepper, and salt to taste. Mix until combined.

Pour green bean mixture into a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and top with the remaining half can of fried onions. Bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes until onion topping is browned and crispy.

Notes: Green bean casserole is a traditional Thanksgiving comfort food for many, but enjoyed year-round. If you wish, you may substitute blanched fresh green beans, non-fat or low-fat milk, and low-sodium cream of mushroom soup, but do not expect it to taste like the original that Mom or Grandma used to make!

source: http://homecooking.about.com/od/vegetablerecipes/r/blv305.htm

Pop & Hiss will be posting live throughout the night. There may be typos.

This is a post largely about a couple of songs that don't even deserve to be written about. Jennifer Lopez gave what will surely be the most cringe-inducing, embarrassing performance of the night at Sunday's American Music Awards with her "On the Floor." It wasn't that Lopez wasn't really wearing any clothes, as audiences expect that nowadays. Instead, it was Lopez's choice of an accessory, which in this case was a car. When the actual commercial ran not too long after the performance, the only difference was the emphasis on the name of the brand.

Worse, however, was OneRepublic, which arrived simply to tell the world that it'd been living quite well off its one massive hit, "Apologize." New song "Good Life" is little more than a city-by-city list of where the band has thrown away cash. "My friends in L.A., they don't know," sang Ryan Tedder, "where I've been the past few years." He then told us: China, Paris, Colorado, etc. Fascinating, Ryan. Tell us more.

The awards show's now about half over, and the best moment of the night so far came when Nicki Minaj won favorite album for her "Pink Friday" over releases from Jaz-Z & Kanye West and Lil Wayne. It was her second award of the night. "This one is actually going to make me cry," she said. "I can't believe this is happening." She thanked God and Lil Wayne, and said her mom had a publicist and was putting out a gospel album. "I'm like, Mom, please, you can't be serious."

-- Todd Martens
Photo: Jennifer Lopez performs at the 2011 American Music Awards. Credit: Matt Sayles / Associated Press
source :http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/11/amas-2011-.html