I watched the 134th Kentucky Derby this evening as is my usual tradition to officially start thinking about the three weeks of Indy Car racing that we’re gearing up for this coming week. It was a good race in which Big Brown won, but after the race, runner-up Eight Belles collapsed and was euthanized (a.k.a. “put to sleep”) on the track. Man, I’m glad that my kids weren’t in the living room when that happened and I probably would have changed the channel the moment they showed the horse lying on the track (anyone who knows even a little bit about horses knows that’s not a good thing). I know that it happens, but that is still truly sad to see. (And I’m just waiting to see what PETA has to say.)

Anyway, I’m getting excited about the track opening up and am looking forward to the Indy 500 and festivities. The month of May is quite exciting around here. And I’m praying that we avoid any tragedy ourselves here…that’s been plenty of that through the years.

Last week the Holiday season bug bit me hard, as I’m craving all of my favorite holiday foods (Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Years). Thank goodness tomorrow is Thanksgiving.

Salivate with me if you will…

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This ad is from the coupon section found in the Sunday Indianapolis Star in November 2007.  For some reason Thanksgiving ads don’t seem to get much attention as everyone is eager to roll out the Christmas ads the moment Halloween is over.  That said, there wasn’t that wide of a selection to choose from.  But there are numerous Christmas ones showing up (which I promise not to post until after Thanksgiving).

Last year I said that I’d probably cut back on my “endless shrimp” consumption at Red Lobster this year. Well, I was wrong…

We headed down to Red Lobster a few weeks ago for the fourth year in a row and I kicked my personal “best” up to 82 shrimp this year. I could have eaten more but everyone else was bored of watching me eat, so I stopped while I still felt good (and before I got left at the restaurant).

For those of you wondering what the “trick” is to eating that many shrimp (and a salad and biscuits) AND to not feel miserable afterwards, it’s really quite simple. Here’s what I did this year…

1. Ate some Slyders the night before. I think that those bad boys are the key to an iron stomach…if you can handle 7 or 8 of those puppies , you can handle anything. (Side note: while they are small, that’s really twice as many as I’d suggest eating at one time.)
2. Started the day off with a small “meal”…just some bread.
3. Had a sandwich for lunch.
4. Didn’t drink a whole lot at dinner.
5. Ate mostly Shrimp Scampi. You don’t have the breading that comes with fried shrimp and the garlic butter helps.

So there you have it. And I can’t take all of the credit as I’ve watched too many “competitive eating” events this year and have gained tips here and there (thanks to ESPN for thinking that eating is really a sport).

And a word of personal advice. If you start to feel uncomfortable, you’ve already had too much and should really stop eating. It’s really not worth it to needlessly feel sick to your stomach and you won’t enjoy shrimp much for a while after that. Just trust me on this one and don’t do it.

So what will next year hold? I’m making no predictions since I’m obviously not too good at that. But you can be sure that my goal won’t be a number, but rather not feeling bad afterward and truly enjoying my feast of shrimp.

So when is the 2008 Valentines Day candy going to appear? I’m having a hankering for Sweet Tart Hearts and buying over priced flowers, aren’t you?

OK, I’m being a little sarcastic (maybe not about the candy part), but is it just me or are the retailers truly pushing out the various “holiday” merchandise much quicker than before? I began to see “back-to-school” supplies in early July (presumably to make way for the upcoming “seasonal” items), Halloween costumes and candy in late August (at both Target and Wal-Mart) and Christmas merchandise in mid-September (at Target and I’d assume the same at Wal-Mart and other similar retailers). Then in yesterday’s paper I saw Halloween and Christmas items in the Kohl’s ad on the same page. (Apparently fall/harvest/Thanksgiving is all lumped together with Halloween.)

Being a “marketing type” and knowing that Halloween and Christmas merchandise are both huge money makers for retailers, I can understand why you’d want these items in front of customers as long as possible. But it’s a little creepy looking at graveyards, skeletons, zombies, mummies, witches, werewolves, vampires, bats, rats, spiders and disembodied heads in crystal balls while hearing Bing Crosby singing “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” in the background. But maybe it’s just me…