The Go To Gay Guy — When Only a Gay Guy's Opinion Will Do

The Go To Gay Guy Reviews: Good Cook Pancake Creator

by Dean Hervochon on October 5, 2011

GoodCook.com sent me several items after they got a lot of “action” from the post I did on their great ice cream scoop.

They wanted my opinion on their featured product: The Pancake Creator. They made no requirements of me as to blog about it, they just wanted to know what I thought.

At first I was a little skeptical about it, but once I used it, it was really fun! If you’re creative (or not, see the video!) and have an extra few minutes to make these, you should get this product. You’ll learn from my mistakes if you watch the video…I’m not perfect! OMG!

The Pancake Creator is only $7.99 and it does come with a free spatula—that is WORTHLESS to use with pancakes! It’s too small and I’m not sure that you should/could use a metal spatula on that non-stick pan. I just used a larger plastic spatula — that worked great.

This is a great item if you have kids or you want to make dirty pancakes for your partner! It cleans up easily and doesn’t take up a lot of space in your cabinets.

Here is the link for the GoodCook.com Ice Cream Scoop I mentioned: $9.49 and well worth it!

Let me know what you think and PLEASE, post your comments HERE on the blog. Thanks, Dean

PS: Here’s a really great site on how to make pancake masterpieces: Jim’s Pancakes

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The Best Meatloaf You’ll EVER Eat! I promise!

by Dean Hervochon on September 28, 2011

I’ve perfected meatloaf…and I’m so darn modest!

MEATLOAF – Dean’s Famous!

BROWN SUGAR GLAZE

The Meatloaf Before You Put On The Glaze. This Isn't As Hard As You Think!

3/4 cup - ketchup and/or chili sauce – can mix
6 Tablespoons brown sugar
6 teaspoons cider or white vinegar
1 small can tomato paste
3 tablespoons (or more) of balsamic vinegar

Mix all ingredients in small saucepan, cook down for about 5 minutes -set aside.

MEATLOAF – This makes a very large meat loaf.
Heat oven to 350F.
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large red pepper
1 can chopped green chili
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce
3/4 cup whole milk
3 pounds ground beef – use all organic ground beef if you can get it. 85/15 (works great)
1 2/3 cups italian dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

6-8 ounces thin-sliced bacon (8 to 12 slices, depending on loaf shape)

Saute onion and red pepper, then add garlic and dried thyme – saute until softened, about 5 minutes.
Set aside to cool while preparing remaining ingredients.

Mix eggs with salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, pepper
sauce, smoked paprika, can of chopped green chili and milk or yogurt.

Add this mixture to meat in large bowl along
with bread crumbs, parsley, and cooked onion, red pepper and garlic.
Lightly mix with forks until evenly blended and meat mixture does not stick to bowl.

If mixture sticks, add additional milk, a couple tablespoons at a time, until
mix no longer sticks. DO NOT compact the meat. You don’t wan’t it smashed into a patty! Use forks!
Turn meat mixture onto large foil lined baking pan that has been sprayed with “Pam.”.

With wet hands, pat mixture into approximately 12 x 5-inch loaf shape. Place on foil-lined shallow baking pan. Arrange bacon slices, crosswise, over loaf, overlapping slightly and tucking bacon tip ends under loaf. Kinda braid the bacon. It should cover most of the surface. Brush on all of glaze.

Bake loaf until bacon is crisp and internal temperature of loaf registers
160 degrees, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Check with a thermometer.
Once cooked – broil it for about 5 minutes to get a great glaze on it. WATCH IT!!!
Cool at least 10 minutes.
Cut the meat loaf with a bread knife – “saw” through bacon to keep it from coming off.
Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli or corn.

Let me know what you think.

Here is the segment from NBC5 here in Chicago.

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DOT Co2 Laser — The Go To Gay Guy Has It Done and Documents It

by Dean Hervochon on September 7, 2011

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Ask Dean, The Go To Gay Guy — How Often Do I Really Need To Floss?

by Dean Hervochon on August 24, 2011

Q: “How often do you really need to floss your teeth? If you floss religiously for 2 weeks before your dentist appointment, can they still tell you are not a regular flosser?” (Anonymous — kinda)

Clean Teeth Are Sexy!

OK, this one, I guess is a good question, but I wonder why anyone would want to “fool” their dentist into thinking that they’re a flosser when they really aren’t?

A: Flossing: According to the ADA, you should floss at least once a day…and I think you should only floss the teeth you want to keep…

You floss by cutting off about 18 inches of floss (I use Glide floss or the equivalent) , wrapping around your two index fingers and gently pushing the floss between the teeth, going up to the gum and scraping down with the floss for the top teeth, up for the bottom teeth. Floss away from your gums, not toward them. Roll the floss from one finger to the other so you have new floss for each tooth. The time to floss is after you’ve brushed your teeth — you don’t want to floss particles into your gums. Don’t forget to floss the back of the back teeth too.

Seeing Red? If you floss and you see blood when you spit, you’ve got problems. It means that your gums are already inflamed from the bacteria you let sit there. This bacteria eventually hardens into a substance called tartar. Unlike plaque, which can be removed by brushing, tartar only comes off at the dentist’s office.

“If you’re true to your teeth they’ll never be false to you.” (Corny but true)

Bad-Ass Bacteria: Over time, levels of more dangerous types of bacteria build up within the tartar. You’ve basically built a nest for them if you’re not flossing. These really bad-ass bacteria produce toxins (code for: poop in your mouth), which irritates and inflames the gums. This means that you’ve probably got gingivitis which leads to periodontal disease that kills off your teeth and the bone in your jaw. Nice!

Get in the Habit: It only takes 30 days to make anything a habit and if you can do it two weeks before you go to the dentist, try to do it for 30 days beforehand. Don’t forget about that nasty bacteria that you’re letting crap in your mouth — will that motivate you? Also, who wants to kiss a mouth that is full of bacteria and pus? (I think I just threw up a little in my mouth!) We’ve all smelled the rot of gingivitis on someone’s breath — don’t let that person be you. Gingivitis is definitely NOT Gay Guy Approved!

Great Way To "Semi-Floss"

Get The Pick In Your Car: You will love this. Buy: Doctor’s Brushpicks and keep them in your car, at your desk anywhere you’re stationary — you are not allowed to walk around and floss your teeth! No one want to see that! – but I digress. These picks are FANTASTIC! They sell them at Walgreens or you can buy them online. You just push the plastic “hairy” end through your teeth and work it back and forth. It gives you a “mini-floss” every time you use them and it feels great on your gums. They are a lot better than not doing anything. Caution: These are addictive.

Use a Waterpik? I have a friend who uses her Waterpik everyday. She doesn’t floss. She says she’s gotten an A+ at the dentist, for 20 years. Not saying you should stop flossing, but that Waterpik is a great appliance to add to your dental hygiene regimen. I have one, love it.

Awesome Gift! SafeDispense Floss Dispenser

Here’s a Gay Guy Approved Gift! This is one of my favorite gifts to give — especially if the person getting the gift has everything! It is a medical-grade floss dispenser, the kind your dentist uses: SafeDispense Floss Dispenser It is heavy, beautiful and useful.

—Let me know what you think? Please post on the BLOG, not on Facebook. Thanks!

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Ask Dean, The Go To Gay Guy — Which Stall to Use?

by Dean Hervochon on August 11, 2011

Do You Throw Dirty Toilet Paper on the Floor at Home?

Someone asked me a funny question the other night: “Hey GoToGayGuy, which bathroom stall should I use?”

Now, why ask me that question? It’s not like I’m a Republican congressman… It’s funny, but I did know the answer!

If it’s the cleanest stall you want to use, according to a 20/20 report — it’s the 1st one, the one nearest the door. Most people seek privacy when they go to the bathroom, so they will head to the farthest one away from the door. I guess it makes sense since so many people are both pee and pooh shy (blame that on your parents).

You Won't Get A Ticket If You Use It, But You Might Get A Dirty Look

What is usually the case though, is that the “Handicapped/ Special Needs” stall is usually the furthest from the door, yet many people won’t use it for fear that someone in a wheelchair will come into the bathroom while they are using it. Because of all those considerate people, I’ve found that the Handicapped / Special Needs stall is the cleanest. Yes, I use that stall if there are not others available!

Come on, it’s not like I’m “parking” in there, I’m just in for quick drop-off and away I go. Plus, I’ve never seen a sign on the door that says I’ll be “ticketed and towed” if I use that stall. If I do see a handicapped person headed to the bathroom, by all means, I won’t go into the handicapped stall. That just makes sense. I’d really appreciate it if those of you who don’t agree with me that I can use that stall, that you not use that stall, ever!

Purse Alert: Ladies, if you have a purse with you, don’t ever put it on the floor. The floor is full of ugly stuff (fecal matter, viruses, microbes) that can make you and your family sick. Your purse could be dirtiest thing you own if you’re in the habit of putting it on the bathroom floor. It’s not recommended that you hang it on the hook on the door either, that makes it easy pickings for thieves. I guess you’ll have to keep it on your lap or sling it over your shoulder or balance it on your head, life just got a little harder. I’m so glad that I don’t carry a “murse.”

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Passwords — Make Your Own Code And Never Forget Another Password — Ever!

by Dean Hervochon on July 26, 2011

Do you have problems remembering your passwords?

You’re not alone and hacking and “phishing” into your accounts is a real threat to you so you better get your passwords in order. The best passwords contain letters, numbers and punctuation symbols / characters. You should not have the same password for all of your sites either, but I’m sure you already know that. Right? So, how do your remember different, secure passwords for every site you use? You create an algorithm. “A what? I can’t do that!” Oh yes you can! I literally just taught this to a ten year old. Keep reading…even if you failed high school math. This is easy once you get the hang of it. Don’t worry, The Go To Gay Guy to the rescue!

To create safe, secure, unique passwords — for each site you visit — all you have to do is remember “the code” in how you create them. That’s what’s called an algorithm — a step by step method to make something work. I owe this post to my friend and “GoToGeekGirl” Julie Gomoll. Check her site out. She’s a savant when it comes to “content marketing” and if you currently have a blog or website, she is amazing at getting you national recognition. JulesSays.com

Make Your Own Algorithm…uh oh…did I just lose you?

Here’s an example of how you could do it:

1. Decide what letters you’re going to use from the name of the website you’re on – you have to do this. Such as, if you’re using “Gmail.com”, pick two or three or even four letters from the website’s name. Let’s say you are going to use the code of using the first two letters of the website’s name and the last letter. So, for Gmail,that would be the: “G,m and l (note I always keep the first letter as a capital to add even more security.)

2. The next thing you need to do, is pick 4 – 7 numbers that you can remember. You could use your phone number, zip code or any number of digits you can remember and that come easy to you. Let’s say you pick four numbers: 1234 (don’t pick something that easy!) In your code, you could put the first two numbers at the beginning before your first two letters and the last two numbers before the last letter(s) you picked. Here’s how that would look if we used Gmail: 12Gm34l Get it? I put two of my “always numbers” before the first two letters of “Gmail” and the other two of my “always numbers”after those letters, followed by the last letter of “Gmail”, the “l”. 12Gm34l Can you see it? It’s making sense, right?

3. To add even more uniqueness to it, you could start and end your password with a special character (or put them anywhere you want, just so you remember where you always put them.) You could use anything on your keyboard. ?, !, $, %… So, here’s how your new Gmail password might look: !!12Go34e!! —Your Yahoo password could be: !!12Ya34o!! —Citibank: !!12Ci34k!! —Your Hotmail password would be: !!12Ho34l!! Facebook: !!12Fa34k!! Get it? You’ll never get anything less than VERY STRONG when the site is telling you how secure your password is, if you use letters, numbers and characters.

It takes some practice to use your code, but once you start using it, you’ll never go back to remembering passwords. It’s going to feel odd to you that you really won’t actually know any of your passwords off the top of your head, you’ll just know the “code” to get into your sites. You’ll probably make mistakes when the site requires you to re-type your password, be careful when you type, you’ll get the hang of it after just a few sign-ins. Stick with it. Your code is your code, make it unique and change it from what I’ve used as an example here! Devise a code with rules you can remember and if you have to change your password often, devise a code for what you will do when that occurs. I’d suggest that you take out a pencil and write down how you’re going to devise your own code. Letters here, number there, characters here. You can use any order or characters, but always use some of the letters from the site you’re on to make it unique. Let me know how this works for you or if you’ve got any questions. Pass it on to your friends… If you’d like to make a comment on this, please make the comments on this site, rather than Facebook. Thanks, Dean

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CUTE Retro Dresses – Under $50.00

by Dean Hervochon on July 25, 2011

Cool Retro Dress for Under $50

I get asked all the time about women’s fashion. Here’s a great site where you can buy a really cute summer dress for under $50.

They’ve got several styles to choose from…choose carefully! About half of them are cute…the rest. Well, you get my point!

I think you’ll really like them.

Daily Runway

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Controlling Mosquitoes — The Best Way To Keep Them Off of You — Chemical Free

by Dean Hervochon on July 13, 2011

What A Little Pig! Look At That Mess!

Get Rid Of Unwanted Party “Guests.”

I have a large deck (I said DECK) and there’s nothing better than being out on it in the spring, summer and fall in Chicago. Friends have nicknamed the deck: “The Garagemahal” because it is built on top of our garage and it is just a little grand. Grand as it may be, there’s one thing that ruins it — mosquitoes.

When those bastards show up, they’ll ruin your party faster than a drunk ex-boyfriend who gave you crabs. I am a mosquito magnet. All my friends know to sit next to me because the mosquitoes LOVE me. (Who needs a dog with “friends” like that?) Now listen, you’ve got to keep mosquitoes away from you! They carry all sorts of nasty diseases: West Nile Virus, Encephalitis, Dengue Fever, Malaria and Yellow Fever. You want a swollen brain? Pay attention!

There is one solution that works better than anything you’ve ever tried and it couldn’t be easier, cheaper or healthier to use. You just turn on a FAN!

This Fan Works Great, But It's Loud. Also, You Have To Cover It When You're Not Using It, So It Won't Get Wet

Buy yourself a fan that you can put on your deck or patio, turn it on and say: “Hasta La Vista Blood-Sucking Baby!” It is amazing how well it works. No need for citronella or OFF if you’ve got a fan going. Here’s why it works:

1. Those Mini-Vampires Can’t Land! It’s like creating a special little tornado—just for them! (It brings me joy just to type that…)

2. Mosquitoes Love It When You Breathe. Yep, every time you exhale you’re basically saying: “Here mosquito, mosquito, mosquito” because you’re emitting carbon dioxide — it’s like catnip for mosquitoes. I guess if you can hold your breath for an hour or so you won’t need the fan, but that’s likely to ruin your makeup. The fan disperses the carbon dioxide away from you…and then the mosquitoes lose all their attraction for you. (This is the one time I am happy to be dissed!)

3. Stop Your Sweating! Yeah, good luck on that one! Your sweat, which has lactic acid in it and your body heat are two other things that make you attractive to suck on…for the mosquitoes, at least. Guess what the fan does? I’m sure you didn’t know this. It cools you! Yeah, get a load of that!

Small "Vornado" Fan. Quiet and You Can Put It Away Easily. Works Well.

Here’s some tips on the fans:

—You will probably need more than one fan if you’ve got a sizable deck.

—If you buy the big industrial type floor fan, they work great, but they’re loud.

—You can buy an “outdoor” fan, but they tend to be more expensive. We just use indoor fans and cover/put them away when we’re through. If you’re using an indoor fan outside, make sure you’ve got it plugged into a GFI outlet or you could electrocute yourself if the fan gets wet.

Invite me to your next party, I’ll be a big fan, promise!

*If you would like to make a comment, PLEASE make it here, on this site and not on Facebook. (It’s a Search Engine Optimization issue.) Thanks!

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Split Heels? Super Glue ‘Em!

by Dean Hervochon on July 11, 2011

I’m Not A Doctor…But!

Split Heel — OUCH! This is about the size of split you can close-up with the glue

If you’re like me, when summer comes along, I start wearing my flip-flops and it initially plays hell on my heels because I don’t moisture enough. My feet get very dry and inevitably, I’ll get a “split” or two on the back of my heels (that caption to the right is not my heel — I’d never let them get THAT dry and gross!). OUCH! You wanna talk about something that is painful? Each step reminds you that your heel is in bad shape and it feels like it’s splitting more as you trod along. It makes you miserable.

I have a solution! Superglue your cracked heels closed! You heard it right, Superglue. Like I said, I’m not a doctor but when I was on vacation with a dermatologist, a friend had the split-heel issue. The doctor told my friend to get some Superglue and then the he GLUED my friend’s split heel together. My friend stood up and was amazed that it worked and how great it felt — immediately. Do this only if you’re a healthy adult. If you’ve got circulatory issues or other medical issues, I’d ask my doctor first. If the split is really deep or you have a number of splits — don’t be Dr. Frankenstein on yourself — just go to the doctor.

Super Glue To The Rescue!

Here’s How You Do It:

1. Make sure your heels are clean, clean, clean. Inside the split should be washed several times with soap and water and then cleaned with hydrogen peroxide. Did I say clean it? You don’t want an infection.

2. Dry the heels completely before applying the glue. Maybe use a blow dryer on low to make sure you get the inside of the split as dry as possible.

3. Use a new tube of Superglue to avoid germs. Don’t get the kind of glue that you have to mix with another compound to make it work — you want to be able to just squeeze the glue right into the split.

4. Pull the split apart a little, apply the Superglue and squeeze the heel together for about a minute or so — be careful not to get it on your fingers or you’ll loose your fingerprints for awhile!

5. As soon as the glue dries (and it dries really fast), stand up, thank me and let me know how it worked for you! You’ll think you’ve been to Lourdes.

Like I said, I’ve done it a number of times and I’ve never had one problem with it.

ONCE AGAIN: Like anything concerning your body, if you DO have a problem with your heels after trying this, get to the doctor!

A friend had the cracked heel issue and it’s best to avoid getting your feet in that condition in the first place. He recommends a lotion with 25% Urea in it called ‘Flexitol Heel Balm’. It does take several weeks of use to get results; the old skin just falls off. He also uses a Ped Egg to get rid of all the old skin as well. That combination made his heels normal again. Alrighty then!

PLEASE Post All Comments On This Website, Not Facebook. THANK YOU — This helps a lot with Search Engine Optimization!

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