I know it's been a while since I've blogged. I'm bad and a slacker. Hopefully I'll try to get back into the swing of things for those of you who actually read my blog.
While sitting here on the couch, being lazy on a Saturday afternoon I came across an infomercial for the Loud 'N Clear.
I get the point. For a mere $20 you get a cheaper option to a hearing aid with a "stylish" twist. They boast that it will help the hard of hearing as well as enhance hearing for others so you can hear conversations from far away. So, not only do you get to hear what girls at a party are saying about you at a party, but you get to look like a douchebag at the same time! All that's missing is an Ed Hardy T-shirt.
Forget how stupid you look while wearing, if it works what difference does it make? I really don't see how this could be used for everything the commercial boasts. Most likely it can amplify sound, that is the easy part. What it doesn't say is to what degree. The ad says you can hear all the action at the big game while showing someone in the middle of a cheering crowd. If this $20 gadget amplifies enough to hear a kid at a little league game sliding into home plate fifty feet away, what does the screaming parent next to you sound like?
Do people really not consider this? From some reviews I have read online it doesn't really work anyway, but it astonishes me how easily people can be "tricked" into ordering such crap.
I was going to do a "Tonight's Menu" a week or so ago, but I was very unhappy with the way things were going. I made some Rainbow Trout and was having problems. Even though everything tasted alright, Jenny loved it, I was not happy so I just erased all of the photos. So here we are with what I made tonight, some yummy comfort food.
On Tonight's Menu: Meatloaf with Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes and Steamed Asparagus
I started with pulsing a box of Garlic & Cheese croutons in the food processor until rather smooth. Normally I would just use the garlic flavor but this was the closest I found at the store. It turned out to be a good thing.
Then I pulsed a chopped carrot, chopped onion, a few cloves of garlic, fresh black pepper, thyme, chili powder and cayenne. Usually all the dry herbs and such would go with the croutons, but I forgot. Oh well.
Onto to the meat! Most of the time I use a mixture of regular ground chuck and ground sirloin, but I was at Whole Foods and they didn't have the sirloin. Yes, I could have them grind some sirloin but I didn't want to wait. What they did have was ground buffalo. I thought that might be pretty tasty, so that is what I got.
After everything is combined you can either put it into a loaf pan and then turn it out onto a parchment lined sheet pan, or if you don't have a loaf pan, like me, then just form it into a loaf on the pan.
Once your meatloaf is in a 325º oven you can make the sauce. Just whisk together some ketchup, Heinz 57, worcestershire, Tabasco, cumin and honey.
Ten minutes after the meatloaf has been in the oven slide it out and baste with the sauce. It is also a good idea to put a probe thermometer in and set the alarm for 155º. You want to put the probe at an angle about halfway into the loaf.
When the alarm goes off pull the meatloaf out of the oven, remove the probe and baste on a little more sauce. You should also cover loosely with foil and let the meat rest for about five minutes. ALWAYS REST YOUR MEAT!
Once all is said and done you are ready to plate. I served with some great sour cream mashed potatoes and some steamed asparagus.
If I had anything to do over again I would blanch the asparagus and drop it into an ice bath instead of steaming. No big deal, everything tasted wonderful and there are plenty of leftovers for a meatloaf sandwich tomorrow. Yea! Fulci even had a great time licking the plates. He looks a bit like a giraffe, don't you think?
I understand that people do not think of movies the same way as myself. To some people they are just a way to kill a couple of hours and be mildly entertained in the process. Few have respect for the theater going experience anymore, as evident by their rude behavior, talking and such. Something that has always annoyed me is people getting up during a movie, for whatever reason. I witnessed someone recently get to a movie quite a bit early with the family and they were sharing one of the large, refillable, popcorn buckets. They ate as quickly as possible and when the trailers ended and the movie began one of them arose to get more popcorn. Why the hell did they wait until the movie started? Is this not the reason they paid money to get in the theater? The last time I can remember getting up for anything during a movie was during Independence Day in 1996. I never got up during movies but this was a second viewing and I knew what was coming up so I decided to run grab a pickle. I was with a friend and we were near the front of the packed theater and on my way out I slipped on some soda and crashed in front of everyone. There was thunderous laughter and my ass hurt. This was a sign from the movie gods to not get up while the projector is running.
Probably the number one reason people get up during a movie is to go to the bathroom. This is something I have also never understood. Have you no bladder control? I understand there are certain times that when you have to go, you REALLY have to go. I highly doubt all of these people have a very dire situation brewing. Personally there has not been a situation in my memory where I had to go or there would be problems. I even sat through all of Titanic, which I really didn't enjoy, and I had to go pretty bad by the time the credit began to roll (I even stayed during all of them too).
Now it has come to my attention there is a website out there called Run Pee. On this site you can look up a movie and see at which points during any film you should get up to go to the bathroom. It looks like this:
You see the timeline and under it will give you a "vague" description of what happens right before you'll have a couple of minutes to alleviate you bladder. If you want to know what happens during the time you will miss, you can click the box below and the scrambled text will spoil the scene. Many have been raving about this site, and how it is a great tool for movie goers, I, of course, have a problem with this.
Most films are made and put you in a story and they set everything up so that you are caught up in what is on the screen. When you leave the theater, for any reason, all this accomplishes is taking you out of the world the filmmakers spent so long trying to create. Even if you are at a bad flick, like the latest Mike Meyers tragedy, getting up and leaving does not just affect you. There are other people in the theater with you, and when you walk by, in front of, or around them it distracts. I don't spend ten bucks to have you walking in front of me. If you have to go to the bathroom just hold it! If you have poor bladder control, or are going to a longer film (i.e. Lord of the Rings) then don't get the bucket size of soda at the concession stand. It is that simple.
If the website were not enough to piss me off, they have escalated to the next level - an iPhone app. The iPhone is freaking wonderful, and the apps only make it better, but this is a bad idea. All this app does is not only encourage people to get up during the film, but now they are going to pull out their phones while the movie is going and distract those around them with the glow. I see no good coming of this.
Why can't people just sit down, shut up and watch the damn movie?
Working long hours and having little computer time has a negative impact on my blogging, but today there are a few things I wanted to say regardless of sleep. Thanks to the explosion on Twitter today I was kept up to date on the situation with Michael Jackson. I know everyone and their mother is blogging about this right now, but I still want to express some feelings.
For as long as I can remember in my brief life there has been Michael Jackson. I cannot remember a time with out him. Off the Wall came out a year before I was born so I was never alive in a world without him - until now. My cousin was a big fan, as well as anyone on the planet, so I heard his music from the very beginning. By the time I was old enough to know a little, around four, I would emulate Michael everywhere. I had a small "Beat It" style jacket, white glove, glittered socks (which I still have) and, of course, the penny loafers. In fact, it was at the shoe store where my show would begin.
The name of the store escapes me at the moment, but it is a kids shoe store in Ft. Worth and this is where my mom always took us for footwear. While trying on the penny loafers I would proceed to do my Michael impersonation. "Beat It," "Billie Jean" or "Thiller" and all the dancing that came along. Learning how to moonwalk was one of the greatest things to me at the time, and it's something I still enjoy doing on occasion.
At this young age all I wanted was to grow up to be Michael Jackson. I would either tell people I wanted to be him or a singer just like him. In my copy of the Dr. Suess My Book About Me I have Jackson's name written in my just-learned-to-write chicken scratch under "Hero." He was my hero, but I was not alone. Kids and adults all over the world worshiped the ground on which he walked. Girls would cry like babies and even pass out during his concerts all because they were witnessing him perform. I never got a chance to see him live, but it was something I wished for all the time. Just the other day I was talking about the few acts that I would pay a lot of money to see if they came through Dallas again and his name was on the top of that list. Sadly, I will never get a chance to see him in the flesh.
Not everyone of my friends knows how much I love MJ. Sure, I had his music on my iPod, but who doesn't have a few of his songs? I have bought everyone of his albums at one time or another (with the exception of Invincible which I heard, but did not really like), and some I bought on vinyl, then cassette and finally CD. Yes, this means I even bought Dangerous. The first two solo albums are the best, without a doubt, and Bad has its moments, but just does not compare. Most of his albums' weight came from Quincy Jones being behind the sounds and lyrics, but no one has been a performer like Michael. An incredible dancer who moved like no one before. Just watch in the video below where he debuted the moonwalk at the Motown 25th anniversary show. The crowd went nuts, as did everyone watching their TV sets at home. No one could believe their eyes. Now so many people have been so heavily influenced by this man that it borders on plagiarism. This was just a small piece of what the man did to make his mark on the world. Look at the "Thriller" video (which is on MTV right now, it's even the long version) - this basically revolutionized the music video. There had been videos before where people would have a bit of a "story" involved, but Michael's musical short films grew the attention of the nation and were helmed by accomplished film directors (John Landis, Martin Scorsese). These videos featured elaborate budgets, FX and choreography that people cannot help but repeat. We had a copy of "Thriller" from the first airing that I pretty much wore out from so many viewings.
I read the news while I was working and while it did depress me quite a bit, there was not much time to think about the news. On the way home I put on some of his music and shed a couple of tears for the man behind the music that has been with me for my entire life. Have I turned into one of the fainting concert girls? I hope not, but I am saddened by his passing, mostly because of the shock. They say the celebrity deaths happen in threes, but I never would have expected Michael. Ed McMahon was old and not doing well and Farrah's cancer had been widely publicized, but this came out of the blue. I still cannot believe what has happened.
A lot of people probably wonder why anyone is sad for the death of a "deviant" such as Michael Jackson. I'm not sure if he did everything he was accused of, but I will admit there was something fishy happening. Why anyone let their child spend the night, alone, with a non-family member adult is beyond me. He had his moment and his artistic, and personal, choices took him somewhere that it was hard to watch. I'm not condoning the actions he is accused of, nor is this any excuse, but this is what a bad effect abuse can have on a person.
I hope people take the time to remember the good things about Michael, and the good times. Listen to some Jackson 5 or anything from Off the Wall or Thriller and you will find it hard not to remember a time you were in love with the King of Pop.
R.I.P. Michael Jackson (1958-2009)
Check out this great article on HitFix by Drew McWeeny (aka Moriarty from Ain't It Cool News).
I love Chinese food. It's no secret, but I cannot get enough far east cuisine. One of the things most people know about Chinese food is what they have learned at the local buffet. While their food is never the best, it's usually rather cheap and you get to try a little bit of everything. Most of the time I would rather have good food, but ever now and again I get a hankering for the buffet. Sue me.
Something that has perplexed me for years is the waitress at the Chinese buffet. You walk to your table, they take a drink order and then you go get your food. Throughout the whole dining experience all this person does is get you refills, slowly, and pick up your dirty plates for your return trip to the smorgasboard. I guess it is nice to have someone bring you the drinks, but then the end of the meal comes. At any normal restaurant there is no question to the validity of the waiter/waitress and tip accordingly to the service. At the buffet you finish and then what? I guess you should tip, but what did they really do? You got all of the food, the plates could have been taken by a busboy, so that just leaves the beverages. Is it really worth dropping a dollar or two for a couple of refills? Sure it's just a couple of bucks, but I don't know that it's really tip worthy. I wish they would just get rid of this and you get your own drinks too. Most every fast food restaurant on the planet has the fountain drink set up, why can't this transfer over to the buffet?
It has been a while since I have done a cooking blog. I wanted to get settled into the new house a bit and get used to the new appliances. I have an oven that works very well, but it is probably the original piece from when the house was built in the early sixties. The stove is one of those flat smooth electric cooktops and it works great as well, but very different from the conventional coils I'm used to. In any event, last night I made some Brinner (that's breakfast for dinner, for those not in the know) and took some pictures for your enjoyment. Enjoy.
On Tonight's Menu: Homemade Buttermilk Pancackes with Scrambled Eggs and Maple Sausage Patties
Now I don't use any store bought mix to make my pancakes, I don't want to do that to my mouth. Instead I use a homemade "instant" pancake mix that I got from my hero Alton Brown from Food Network's Good Eats. For this mix you fill your container of choice with:
6 cups of all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
2 tablespoons of sugar
Then shake everything up and you should be able to keep it in your air tight container for about three months.
When you are ready to make your pancakes get two mixing bowls and separate two eggs.
Now whisk two cups of buttermilk in with the whites and four tablespoons of melted butter with the yolks. The reason you do this is adding the eggs, buttermilk and butter all together is like mixing oil and water together - it just doesn't really want to work. The chemical make-up of the yolks to the butter, and buttermilk with the whites are very similar so by doing this you have a much better bind. Then you can mix the two together. If the butter is pretty warm then it is best to temper with the buttermilk/white mixture.
After all of that is mixed together then you take a much larger mixing bowl with two cups of your "instant" pancake mix in it and add the liquid mixture to the party. The crucial part here is not to over mix. Make sure all of the ingredients are combined, but there will be lumps. Lumps are good, they will cook out.
For cooking my pancakes I use a flat cast iron skillet over medium, sometimes low-medium, heat. Once hot I rub the end of a half stick of butter all over and wipe up the excess with a paper towel. The rest of the butter I throw into a small sauce pot on low, but I'll get to that in a moment. I use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to dish out the batter, I find it gives a good size. Then you flip once the bubbles start as normal, usually about a couple of minutes per side.
Now with that butter in the sauce pot... Instead of putting butter on the pancakes at the table I like to use a spoon and drizzle the some melted butter over each flapjack as soon as it's off the griddle. This way the butter penetrates the disc and you get a richer flavor. Hey, I never said these were healthy.
This "instant" mix makes the best tasting pancakes I've ever made. While last night's were rather plain you can spice them up. Sometimes I add some cinnamon to the mix, or some blueberries, chocolate chips or whatever floats your boat. Once I even added some chopped bits of cooked bacon. It was alright, but not as good as I hoped.
For all of you office drones out there, your prayers have been answered. How many times have you sat at your desk nursing hunger pains for some beans? I know, too many to count. The problem has always been having to get up and walk all the way to the break room and wait for that microwave to heat up your snack, all the while your work is going unfinished. Say goodbye to these problems with Heinz's new invention - The Beanzwave!
Not only does this small microwave (only 7.4 inches in height) make for the perfect snack size and portability, but it runs via USB. This can cook other things besides beans like your tea, or other goods. Heinz did create this to go along with their Snap Pots (small plastic containers of beans) but as long as your food fits in the small opening it will heat in a flash. Not only is this the smallest microwave created it also makes use of mobile phone radio frequencies to heat your item, inside and out, in under a minute.
The Beanzwave has not officially hit the market yet, Heinz is still in the testing phases, but you know you want one. Don't let the, roughly, $160 price tag deter you from beans at your desk in less than a minute. Write your congressman today!
Now instead of getting up and going to that dank break room like a common worker you can propel yourself into the way of the future where all cooking devices will be powered through your computer. I can't wait for the firewire hotplate and the SATA refridgerator!
For those of you not familiar with the hilarity that his 30 Rock, they had a small microwave as a device this season. Click the picture below to watch a clip of The Fun Cooker at Eat Me Daily.
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