Steven Helmer Publications

  I was in the mood to make some sort of pasta dish for dinner a couple evenings ago but knew my wife was getting a bit burned out on marinara and Alfredo sauces. Fortunately, I remembered seeing Prego Cheesy Bacon Cheese Sauce at one of our grocery stores and ended up picking that up as an alternative. After trying it, I have to say it was a good choice. I wound up using this as part of a fancy macaroni and cheese meal, complete with some hamburger and green peppers. The sauce gave the dinner exactly what I was hoping it would, a cheesy taste with just enough bacon to make it noticeable. Along those same lines, I appreciated having a cheese sauce that tasted like cheese and not like salt (as has been a problem in the past). The thicker sauce was also better than I would have gotten had I simply picked up a cheap box of macaroni and cheese then doctored it up while, at the same time, being less expensive (with a separate box of pasta included in this statement) than picking up a ...

Synopsis: Sally Reynolds answers a job advertisement at Dolls Inc., a doll manufacturing company owned by Mr. Franz. The job pays well, but Sally finds her employers behavior to be a bit eccentric, especially the way he talks to his dolls like they are alive. She becomes even more suspicious when her fiancé, Bob, disappears and Mr. Franz suddenly has a Bob-like doll in his possession. Soon after, following a failed attempt to convince the police she isn't crazy, Sally is drugged and wakes up a fraction of her size as part of Mr. Franz's doll collection. Who's in it? The movie stars John Agar , June Kenney , John Hoyt , Jack Kosslyn and Marlene Willis . Review: I was in the mood for a classic murder mystery but was unable to find one in a timely fashion so, as an alternative, I finally took the time to watch Attack of the Puppet People . I've seen quite a few movies that either feature someone being enlarged or shrunk and since the plots are largely the same, I had m...

Echo and Stormy swiped my seat yesterday when I got up to get a drink. Since they were cooperative, at least for a few minutes (until he did something to make her mad), I snapped this photo of them. ___________________________________________________________ Here are some other cat photos: I Don't Know About that Cat Tired Cat King of the Cat Tree

  My wife is working on a sewing project, and my oldest daughter needed the stove to make something for a work potluck. So, I decided to just stop at the store and pick up some frozen dinners for everyone. This included box of Lunchables Crispy Grilled Cheesies for my youngest (teenage) daughter.  At $5.69, this was at a price that made me temporarily debate this purchase. I could, after all, make a grilled cheese at home for a fraction of the cost. However, I was intrigued by the advertised convenience of making one in the microwave, so I decided to buy it. Overall, it ended up being a pleasant surprise. I had some serious doubts about this product living up to the "crispy" claim. In fact, I can't think of the last time I've made something in the microwave that turned out crispy. As it turned out though, this ended up being as advertised. My daughter popped it into the microwave for 60 seconds and it came out the same way it would have come out had I made it on the s...

Synopsis: Dr. James Xavier develops a serum that will increase human vision to allow people to see ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths. With his primary sponsor threatening to shut down his research funding, Xavier takes the drastic step of testing the serum on himself, only to lose the funding anyway after it works too well, and he winds up hospitalized as a result. Soon after, he accidentally kills one of his colleagues and while a fugitive from the law attempts to raise money for further research by using his X-ray vision to pretend to be a mind reader, run an underground medical clinic and win money at a Las Vegas casino. Who's in it? The movie stars Ray Milland ,  Diana Van der Vlis , Don Rickles , John Hoyt and Harold J. Stone. Review: I came across the Roger Corman-directed X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes last night and thought it sounded interesting enough to give a try. After watching it this morning, I concluded it was an OK film, though maybe not quite what I was expec...

Synopsis: C.S. "Duff" Duffy doesn't talk a lot about his time in Bensonhurst, the Canadian psychiatric hospital he was sent to as a teenager. His friend and business partner, Aberforth "Abe" Allard learns more about Duff's experience when Duff's former bully, Hank Novak, shows up at their detective agency asking them for help for his daughter, Sarah, who has been arrested for murdering her boyfriend, a division III college quarterback with NFL aspirations. The pair agree to help but Duff's sleuthing skills might be hindered by a pair of distractions - his hatred for Novak and the proximity to the unsolved murder of a friend that resulted in Duff being sent to Bensonhurst to begin with. Review: I came across Fourth and Wrong earlier this year but held off on requesting a copy at my library until after I read the book that came before it, The Single Twin . After reading a couple other books in between, I finally checked it out this week and was not ...