Well, I am actually not so sure about it being Russian, but it’s definitely a gourmet recipe shared by my Mom. What prompted me to make it was a visit to a local soup place where I paid four dollars for a ladle of mushroom soup. For some reason that price really bothered me; I’ve always thought that the soup was a poor man’s meal, often seen dispensed to the hungry people waiting in line in the Depression movies. Unless the soup is made of some exotic ingredient, I don’t see why it should be pricey, and mushroom soup is no exception. So the same night I called my Mom and wrote down the recipe.
The shortest route from Kansas City to Memphis is via Springfield, MO and rural Arkansas where highway is controlled by the roaming gangs of deer who stand around the road contemplating if they will let you live. I wouldn’t recommend driving there in the dark.
I didn’t want to go to Memphis. Even though I learned English trying to sing along with Elvis (and that’s why people often ask me if I am from Tupelo), I didn’t feel the need to visit his house and other Memphis attractions didn’t really seem worthy of a fairly boring 8-hour drive. Usually we try to see things along the way, but there wasn’t much to see and the only memorable item was a town called Cabool, mostly because of how out-of-place the name seemed somewhere in rural Missouri.
Memphis turned out to be a fun place for a weekend trip, with enough things to keep you busy for a few days.
Borscht has only a few ingredients and some of them are on the American most hated foods list: beets, cabbage and V8 (or tomato juice). And yet it’s so delicious.
No tax is more objectionable to me than the Kansas City, MO earnings tax. While I can somehow justify federal, state, county, property and sales taxes that may be needed to maintain the welfare of the country, state, schools in my community, etc., there is no discernible benefit I can see resulting from me paying a share of my earnings to the greedy inhabitants of Kansas City, MO. I’d rather burn the money than give it to the city that mugs non-residents for one percent of their income just because it can’t generate enough money from its own residents and/or sales and business activity. Unfortunately burning the money doesn’t absolve a person from paying taxes. I know, I know – many other cities have earnings tax and somewhere in Philadelphia it is over 4.5% so you don’t need to try to convince me that it’s a great idea; by some strange coincidence 100% of the people who like the earnings tax reside inside the city limits of the KCMO. I don’t and I don’t.
Back to the tax advice part of this post. If your place of employment is located in Kansas City,MO but you worked at least one full day outside the city limits i.e. went to an out-of-town conference or spent a day at the customer site in the beautiful Johnson County AND you are a non-resident, you are owed a refund. Lets say that you made $100,000 last year and Kansas City wants to confiscate $1,000 from you just because your employer made a horrible mistake when picking a location for the business. If you work 260 days a year, your earnings tax is little less than four dollars a day, therefore, if you traveled for 20 days that year you are owed close to $80. These calculations will not come up in your tax software, you will have to fill out a form and provide some supporting documentation such as travel records or an appointment book.
Lots of work for just a few dollars a day? When was the last time the city of Kansas City let you get away without paying for a parking ticket? Get your money back! They are counting on your inaction so they can keep your money. Even if your refund is five bucks it will require a lot more than 5 dollars worth of work at the City Hall, they will read your forms, review your paperwork, issue a check, buy a stamp – more action than you will ever get for your money, and you will spend your money the way you see fit, hopefully in your own community, where people are thankful for your business.
Starting in 1954 the Sugar Information, Inc. published ads in the Life Magazine and others promoting the health and weight-loss benefits of sugar. Of course in the 1950’s the sugar was delicious, healthy and local, not the corporate white death we have to eat today. Girls used it for an energy boost during a long school day; women used it for dieting so they can look good on the beach; men used it for penis enlargement …well, ads didn’t actually mention men so no one knows what they used it for.
I want that America back. Free of disgusting diet drinks and sugar-free Jell-O. Where sugar slimmed you down instead of making you fat. Where sugar cured diabetes and cancer. Where you could eat a teaspoon of sugar to keep you from getting hungry between other teaspoons of sugar. I want this awesome America back.
That’s why I will be voting for Ron Paul in November even if he is not on the ballot and I am not registered to vote.
No tax is more objectionable to me than the Kansas City, MO earnings tax. While I can somehow justify federal, state, county, property and sales taxes that may be needed to maintain the welfare of the country, state, schools in my community, etc., there is no discernible benefit I can see resulting from me paying a share of my earnings to the greedy inhabitants of Kansas City, MO. I’d rather burn the money than give it to the city that mugs non-residents for one percent of their income just because it can’t generate enough money from its own residents and/or sales and business activity. Unfortunately burning the money doesn’t absolve a person from paying taxes. I know, I know – many other cities have earnings tax and somewhere in Philadelphia it is over 4.5% so you don’t need to try to convince me that it’s a great idea; by some strange coincidence 100% of the people who like the earnings tax reside inside the city limits of the KCMO. I don’t and I don’t.
