Carol Thies’
Delicious salads

Pineapple Avocado Salad

• 1 head red leaf lettuce
• 1 head green leaf lettuce
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 fresh pineapple cut into bite-sized pieces
• 4 avocados cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 box crouton

Poppy Seed Dressing:

Blend (in blender):

• 2 cups oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup vinegar
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• 2 tsp. salt
• Wedge of red cabbage (1/8 of small head)

Stir in:
3 Tbl. poppy seeds

Strawberry Spinach Salad

• 1 large bag spinach leaves (washed, drained, and broken up)
• 3 baskets fresh strawberries (washed, hulled, and quartered)
• 1 red onion, finely sliced
• 1 pound thin-sliced bacon (1/2-inch pieces, cooked, drained)
• 1 recipe toasted, sugared almonds (recipe follows)
• Poppy seed dressing (recipe above, or Knott’s Berry Farm or Marie Callender’s bottled poppy seed dressing)

Toasted Almonds:

• Place in non-stick pan:
  8 ounces slivered almonds
• 3 or 4 Tbl. sugar
  Cook on high.  Sugar will melt, and almonds will turn brown.  Be careful not to burn.  Turn out on foil or parchment paper.  When cooled, crumble into pieces.

Cowboy Caviar by Carol Thies
Whisk together:

• 3 Tbl. olive oil
• 3 Tbl. red wine vinegar
• 1-1/2 tsp. Tabasco or other hot sauce
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• ½ tsp. salt
  Stir in:
• 2 medium avocados, cut in cubes
• 1 15-ounce can black-eyed peas, drained
• 1 15-ounce can corn kernels, drained
• 2/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 2 Tbl. minced fresh cilantro
• ½ lb. Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• juice of 1 lime
  Serve with tortilla chips

My 2  ¢ents  (continued from page 1)       

states filed a new anti-trust action alleging that Microsoft had abused its market power to thwart competition.  On November 5, 1999, U.S. Judge District Thomas Jackson ruled that even though Microsoft had not engaged in illegal exclusionary dealing, Microsoft had used its monopoly power to maintain its advantage in the marketplace.  Judge Jackson stated in the concluding paragraph of his Findings of Fact:

“Through its conduct toward Netscape, IBM, Compaq, Intel, and others, Microsoft has demonstrated that it will use its prodigious market power and immense profits to harm any firm that insists on pursuing initiatives that could intensify competition against one of Microsoft's core products.”

Because of these actions, the U.S. District Court found that Microsoft has harmed the consumer.  The government and the 19 states still involved in the case recommend that Microsoft be broken into two companies, one supporting the Windows operating system and the other supporting Applications.

It’s difficult for me to accept the finding that the consumer has been harmed.  Yes, Microsoft has been predatory and is hyper-competitive.  Some of its practices have been designed to stifle competition (bundling Internet Explorer, for instance).  Microsoft took advantage of mistakes made by IBM and Apple and dominated a PC marketplace that had to consolidate to grow.  It has dominated the personal computer marketplace and, in doing so, Microsoft established the standard that allowed the development of the personal computer and its relevant technology to travel a cohesive path.  The consumer has benefited from the technology; the country has benefited from the economic expansion fueled by the companies designing and building the technology.  I believe it is a mistake for the government and the courts to interfere in the free market development of this technology.

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