Enter the Rice Cooker!  I’ve had two or three cookers now over the years and this little number – the Black & Decker RC3406 – is hands down the best deal for the money.  I’ve owned it for two years now and probably average at least one batch of rice a week . . . all without problems.  It’s a small cooker intended for one to two people which makes it just the right size for the single divorced “dude”.  The construction is good for the price and you just can’t beat the convenience.  Just throw in your ingredients, push the switch and walk away!  When the rice is done the cooker automatically switches over to the warming function.  The only suggestion I would make is if you are cooking whole grain brown rice you might want to double the water amount as it tends to slightly scorch it otherwise.  As with any appliance you have to learn the idiosyncrasies of your individual unit and adjust accordingly.

I bought mine at Wal-Mart a couple years ago for about $20, I’ve seen them at yard sales and such for as little as $5 – but unsure of working condition.  If you do buy one used make sure the cord is in decent shape and that the teflon coating of the pot isn’t scratched badly.  Amazon sells them new starting at 17.97 and have used ones starting at 15.00 (you can link to them from our site using the search bar on the right).  I imagine Target or other retailers may have them as well.  Now for those recipes!

These are simple side dishes that can be cooked entirely in your rice cooker.  There are many such variations available and even entire recipe books available for rice cooker meals!

Southwestern Beans N Rice:

2 cups whole grain brown rice or Jasmine rice

5 cups water

2 cups Southwestern Blend frozen veggies

teaspoon of butter

(if you like spicy food add some hot peppers to taste)

Put all ingredients in rice cooker, push down button to “cook”

Walk away until unit goes to “warm” setting.

Eat! (you should get two to three meals from this)

(This can be a full meal with the simple addition of a cup or two of chopped ham.  I imagine cooked sausage would be good as well although I’ve never tried it)

Asparagus and Mixed Veggies with Rice:

2 cups whole grain brown rice or jasmine rice

5 cups water

2 cups frozen veggies with asparagus

Put all ingredients in rice cooker, push down button to “cook”

Walk away until unit goes to “warm” setting.

Eat! (you should get two meals from this)

This is great side dish with baked chicken!

So there you are men – a basic review on a rice cooker that I feel is a good bargain for the money and a couple fairly healthy recipes that you can use in your cooker once you buy it.

Hope you enjoy and as always . . . Be Well!

Bill

Today I would like to review a product I have purchased and used, the Rosetta Stone Language Learning Software. Perhaps you have heard of it or seen the many advertisements for it in magazines and on TV and radio. I certainly had. And since I wanted help to pick up another language, Mandarin Chinese, I purchased this product.

Let me compare the products actual use to the advertisements. In the advertisements we are told of the ease of the use of the software and how it simulates how people actually learn by relating what they see to words. All this sounds good!

Apparently to Rosetta Stone this means that they are under no obligation to give you, the purchaser and student, a usable set of instructions for the software. There is a set of instructions, but it is severely lacking in giving you any glue as to what to do with the software, thus leaving you to poke around and use trial and error to figure it out. Don’t waste your time trying to contact any customer service, like many companies nowadays they simply direct you to a webpage(s) that may or may not contain answers to your problem.  Responses to e-mails are vague are simply frustrating.

Assuming you get past all this and try actually using the product you will come to a screen with 4 pictures. Clicking on them causes the software to pronounce a phrase in the language you have purchased. You do have a selection in which you can choose to have the words also displayed on the screen, but none of the selections are for English, so you are never quite sure what it is the phrase you are hearing is meaning. For example; you see a picture of a boy playing, you click and hear the associated phrase. Is the phrase simply about the boy? Is is about what the boy is doing? Is it about what the boy is wearing? Is it about where the boy is at? Or perhaps what the boy is thinking or feeling? You have absolutely no clue! The Rosetta Stone software does not give you an option for an English translation so you will know exactly what the phrase you just heard means! I had to spend months in study and more money on other books and study aids to simply make use of this tool.

If you have dictionaries that help you translate from the language you wish to learn and/or some other language learning tools to assist you, you can make use of the Rosetta Stone product, but as a stand alone learning tool it simply (in my opinion) leaves a lot to be desired.

Hope this helps. See ya later,

Russ

Hey Guys,

First off, compared with the original Nintendo systems, the Retro Duo is much smaller and more lightweight. This, of course, is attributed to 25 years of advancing technology allowing things to be made in this fashion. The unit includes a power cable, RCA audio / video outs and an S-Video output. The unit also comes with two Super Nintendo style controllers. The controller plug ins are identical to the original Super Nintendo controllers, and are compatible with the original Super Nintendo controllers. The systems does not include a light gun, however, they are available. I should point out though, that most of the light guns will not work with Plasma or LCD televisions.

Many of you will undoubtedly remember ( with a certain misty-eyed fondness ) the days of blinking Nintendo lights, blank screens, and blowing on the cartridges to get them to work right. Well, unfortunately for posterity, these days have past. I have used this system extensively and have never personally had any of these problems, SO LONG as the cartridges stay clean. I would recommend cleaning the cartridge contracts with Q-tips and 91% rubbing alcohol on a regular basis.

Because this is essentially early ‘80’s technology, the Retro Duo is pretty simple and straight forward to use. You have a reset button and a single switch that toggles between “OFF”, “8-Bit”, and “16-Bit”. If you can operate a toaster, you can operate a Retro Duo.

Well, I guess it’s time that I address the question that’s been occupying your thoughts if you’ve made it this far. That is, “How much does it cost?” Prices actually vary depending on color, but I sell the silver and gray units in my store for $59.99, and I would gladly ship one to you anywhere in the U.S. for an additional $5.00 shipping. But more about that later.

Another great thing about the Retro Duo is that you can buy games for it for a very reasonable cost. Most of the games we sell in our store for this system average from $5.00 to $15.00 a piece. Many times they can be picked up at garage sales for less than $1.00 each. Compared with the newer systems on the market in which games average $25.00 to $55.00 a piece, I believe it is a very economical way to get some cheap entertainment.

As for dependability, I have to admit that this unit does not appear to be made to the “tough as nails” standards that the original Nintendo’s were made to. However, I have sold many of the Retro Duo’s and have yet to have a single complaint. Additionally, I always provide my customers with a 60 day warranty on the system. There are a couple other companies out there, such as Yobo, who make systems very similar to the Retro Duo. I have dealt with some of these companies in the past. If you want my advice, go with the Retro Duo, the quality is immensely better.

I can really only think of two drawbacks to the Retro Duo. First off, since the unit is so lightweight and is a top loading cartridge system, sometimes the cartridges can be difficult to get out of the system. You just have to steady the unit with one hand and pull the cartridge out with the other. Secondly, I have noticed that on some games the emulation isn’t exactly like the original Nintendo systems. The audio and or video will sometimes be slightly modified from the original. This isn’t to say that the audio and video is poor quality, it just doesn’t always exactly match the way it would look or sound if played on an original Nintendo system.

Overall, I would rate this unit a solid 4 out of 5 stars and believe it is an economical, worthwhile investment. If you have any other questions about this system or if you are interested in ordering one, please feel free to contact me at R & D Games at (870) 508-GAME.

Thanks,

David