This recipe.....the "Doughnut Hole", is not one that is fun, tasty or the one that originated with "Dunkin Donuts" and their "Time to Make the Donuts Guy".  But instead, this is a recipe for sure disaster, and is brought to you courtesy of our Federal Government. 

If you are a senior citizen and are on Medicare, it is one predicament that you are probably very aware of, dread with a passion and try like the dickens to avoid. (If your prescription medications exceed $2700.00 in a calendar year, your coverage is severed until such time as you pay out of pocket and additional $4350.00. Then you are tossed into the "catastrophic pool" where your coverage resumes. Only 5% of those who fall into this trap each year make it to the other side.  The rest languish in pain and suffering.)

On the other hand, if you are young, suddenly disabled and dependent upon Medicare and Medicaid for your existence, this is a nightmare straight from hell.  It is a calamity that continues to grow, fester and totally ruin your life. Many people who encounter this "dark hole" are forced to go without basic necessities, including paying their other monthly obligations.......food, rent, mortgage, telephone, electric, insurance, etc., and are basically told to contact Montelle Williams and his traveling drug bus.......The Partnership for Prescription Assistance. 

In the process, and......... the over the top wait for an answer - 6-8 weeks, you are supposed to go on as if nothing at all had happened.  In the meantime, the bill collectors continue to call, the list of unpaid and delinquent invoices continue to grow, and your self esteem and basic welfare begin to crumble like yesterday's shortbread crust.  In short, your life becomes a living hell, and trying to get from one day to the next is a huge challenge. 

I've written, emailed, contacted and solicited everyone I know who might have a contact, a clue or an answer for this dilemma, and so far I've come up pretty empty.  Recently I was given hope by a local health agency official that I might qualify for a special program that could provide some basic coverage.  I applied, was told I qualified, but now have to wait until they have the opportunity to process my claim - 2-4 weeks.  Give me a break!

In the meantime I've anguished about my loss of enthusiasm for this blog, the cookbook project and waking up each morning.  I'm sorry to vent, but somehow I felt that sharing this with all of you might just help, or at the very least provide some viable feedback from the few of you who still follow me.  

I thank you for letting me rant about some very important non-food issues, but felt it was time I come totally clean.  I LOVE the food industry, have spent over 30 years in sales and marketing promoting everything from Oreo's to Planter's Peanuts, and also adore the food blogging community. Please forgive my absence, but most of all........please bear with me as I try to resurrect myself and move forward.  

You guys are the best

Sincerely..........Mark

I apologize, but I've been completely tied up with a cookbook fundraising campaign...."Alphabet Soup.....The ABC's of Comfort Food for Shattered Nerves." and haven't had much time for anything else. Believe me, I had no idea winter was passing and spring was here until I actually looked at the calendar! 

Putting together a cookbook, as I've heard from many of you here before, is tremendously time consuming, and the hours and days just seem to pass so quickly. Next thing you know, a month has passed and you have no idea where the time went.  All you do know, is that you've been eating and sleeping the creation of a cookbook, and all that goes with it.

Our cookbook however, is different. It is not a done deal.........published and waiting patiently for you to buy it.  Instead, we are actually just at the very beginning! 

We are asking all members of the CMTA (Charcot Marie Tooth Association...........Association for those afflicted with a form of hereditary peripheral neuropathy) and their family, friends and supporters of CMT research everywhere for their favorite comforting recipes. These cherished, comforting recipes will create a unique, first class cookbook that will be used as a fundraising vehicle to help fund CMT research through the Star initiative. This debilitating form of neuropathy affects over 2.6 million people worldwide, and in fact, this year's ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association has CMT, as does the legendary Julie Newmar (Catwoman from the Batman series) and many, many more. I shared some of my story with you last year, shortly after I joined the food blogging universe.  

We've also begun to reach out to culinary icons in the food industry for their support, and I'm proud to announce that Ina Garten was the first to jump on board. I'm also going to ask (beg......pretty please) some of my favorites here in the blogging universe.........David, Elise, Dorie, Matt, Adam, Ed, Cat, Elizabeth, Martha, Bobby,  etc for their support as well. 

As appointed author of this unique, cookbook campaign, I do have some perks which allows me to decide who can jump on board and lend a hand.  So, I'm asking all of you here to help out with this campaign as well. After all, it's open to friends, family and supporters of those with CMT, and the way I look at it, you are my friends and family as well.  

Your favorite comforting recipes can be sent here. And believe me, I sincerely appreciate your participation in this fundraising campaign.  Also, if you've got more take out menus than recipes lying around, and want to get involved without getting your hands dirty, you can also send a donation for the cookbook campaign as well. Kindly send it to:

CMTA Cookbook Project
2700 Chestnut Street - Chester, PA 19013 

All contributors will have their name printed on our "Sponsors Page", and donation amounts will remain anonymous. 

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your patience while I've been amongst the missing, and look forward to your feedback, comments or generous donations to this worthy cause.

Mark

A.K.A..........Boscoe The Cookie Doctor

  

It's bad enough that you have to put up with a bread stick for sustenance if you don't make arrangements ahead of time, but to charge for something wet to swallow down the humiliating food substitute is really insulting. 

I'd learned to put up with their worst on-time performance in the friendly skies, and even got over the fact that they had lost my luggage several times. The last time they lost my bags they travelled to Hawaii and beyond, and I didn't even get a post card.  They located my baggage 5 days after I got home, and after I had to shell out $200.00 to find suitable attire to wear to a business luncheon. I never got reimbursed for any of that, and chalked it up to the perils of travel today. However, when they announced that they would be charging for the only complimentary amenity left, I said au revoir pour de bon......good bye for good!

Today in USA Today, they announced that effective March 1st, their non-alcoholic beverage service will once again be complimentary. Of course they said it had nothing to do with the fact that they had lost business, only admitting that they felt lonely out there on that unique platform since none of their other brother and sister carriers decided to match their lead. 

They actually believed that since they had gone from last place to first place in on-time arrivals and had suddenly stopped loosing truck loads of luggage, that charging people $2.50 for a bottle of water would be overlooked and justified.  Well, apparently they were wrong, and today my friends they said so without actually admitting to a thing. 

So if you enjoy a cold bottle of water, or sipping on a can of Diet Coke with Lime, by all means book your next trip on US Airways.  It, like the guy reclined on your lap, the lady talking your ear off and the kid sleeping on your shoulder is all included and it's totally free. However, you might want to purchase a blanket and pillow. It will definitely help you adjust to all of the other freebies. 

     

I was speechless for about 5 seconds, before I blurted out something to the effect of trying to make money and asking him if he was new around here. After all, I've been blogging for quite awhile now, he's seen me taking pictures of food before and has heard many friends talking about the photos and stories on my blog. Why would he pose such a question you may ask? Well it's really quite simple........  

Since I began blogging, I've always forgotten to take pictures of just about everything I've made, unless the camera happened to be right in front of me, or I realized my faux pas and took pictures the next day if anything presentable was left. Usually this was done when there was no one here besides China  - my charming Basset Hound or Yum Yum - my aloofish Siamese cat. Many times I wouldn't have anything left at all, so I decided against posting since I had nothing to show. Lately however, I've been trying real hard to keep the camera focused in my mind, so I've been snapping a lot more photos closer to the time the food is fresh out of the oven or ready for presentation. So like Pavlov's dog..........David now realizes that when I put out food, he begins to salivate and I now begin to shoot.  Apparently Pavlov has us both trained. Now if only Pavlox could do that for me the next time I buy a lottery ticket.  

This recipe for baguettes is compliments of epicurious, and I must admit that the simplicity of it had me concerned that the flavor would be somewhat lacking.  Boy, was I wrong.  

The bread came out absolutely wonderful, with only one minor flaw.  It was twisted and somewhat contorted since my pan wasn't big enough to accomodate it properly. Common sense would tell you to break the loaf in half and bake it as two individual loaves, but I had my heart set on one loaf only, so I baked it in an upside down "u" configuration.

Exterior blemishes aside, the texture and flavor of this baguette was devine and the crust was spot on.  Of course, next time I'll simply bake this off as two individual loaves, and avoid the unnecessary twists and turns.