Bites and Pieces: Perfect Chicken

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Fairlington Blade

I’ve mostly been on the road this week. My sons finished kindergarten (yay!) on Wednesday, which happens to be the day that my wife was starting a week long job for the US Forest Service. I’m transferring to a new job in July, so a family break seemed warranted.

I found a surprise along the way. There’s a pretty decent Italian place in Lewisburg, WV, of all places (Giovanni’s). I ordered lasagna for Secondo, pasta with greens and sausage for Primo (he’s on a health kick), and a roasted veggie salad for myself. I figured I could hoover up what they left behind. Well, the salad was terrific. A good balance of veggies and the roasted squash really added heart. The pasta and greens didn’t look like much, but looks can be deceiving. They used broccoli rabe for the greens and a mild sausage that balanced the dish. The pasta was penne and cooked al dente. The lasagna was simple–a couple layers of noodles with ricotta in the middle and marinara on top. I took a bite of it and got a surprise. The noodles were tender and the ricotta is as good as anything I picked up at the Italian Store in Arlington. Turns out they make everything in house. This is the kind of restaurant everyone wishes they had in their neighborhood. The total was $37, including two sodas.

But that’s not important right now. I’m writing about chicken. The day after I arrived at the lake, my brother made a beer can chicken. I’d never tried it before. It was quite good, but he misjudged the timing (we didn’t have a thermometer) and so the inner portions were undercooked. That’s the eternal problem with roasting a chicken. Undercooked meat or dried out breast meat (or in the worst of all cases, both). How to solve it?

One of my sons was wanting chicken and I know my parents enjoy it. So, what to do? On a whim, I decided to try a butterflied chicken. Cut out the backbone, flatten the thing, and roast it. As a bonus, you can use the wings and the back to make a nice mini batch of stock. I did a bit of hunting about and came upon Kenji Alt’s blog. He used to appear on America’s Test Kitchen. The method seemed straightforward and dispensed with turning the chicken. The ideal is 150 degrees for breast meat and 170 for dark meat. I was shocked when the meat thermometer registered the perfect temperature both times. And the chicken was perfect! 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Take a 3 1/2 – 4 lb. chicken. Brine it if you like (I do) and air dry. Cut out the backbone with some kitchen shears. Flatten the beastie. Spread a tablespoon of vegetable oil (sesame oil is tasty) over the top and season with salt and pepper. I shoved a couple tablespoons of butter between the skin of the breasts and the meat. It may be gilding the lily, but what the hey.

3. Slide up a half dozen small (1″) potatoes. Toss with oil and put in the bottom of a roasting pan. Put a flat rack on top and place the chicken on it. [Note: don’t use a V-rack for a butterflied bird. If you don’t have a flat rack, just put it right on the potatoes.]

4. Roast the bird for about 45 minutes, until the breast meat registers 150 degrees and the thigh registers 170 degrees. As I noted above, it worked perfectly for me.

5. Let the bird rest for 5 minutes and then enjoy!

 

BB

Filed under: Bites and Pieces, cooking, food, fun stuff | 4 Comments »

Long Lost Bits ‘n Pieces

Posted on June 18, 2012 by ScottC

I’m bored, so figured I would resurrect an old ATiM standby.

Viral video, dueling covers of Call Me Maybe by the Harvard baseball team and the SMU women’s swimming team. I vote for the women, although Harvard was the original.

Apparel at the Obama store gives us a good idea of how Obama views America…a collection of special interest groups: African Americans for Obama; Latino’s for Obama; Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (seriously) for Obama; LGBT for Obama; Jewish Americans for Obama. Ah, Obama, a true uniter.

Molecules with unusual and silly names.

The science behind X-rays, microwave ovens, lasers, and other cool stuff explained.

One of my favorite shows from the UK. A sort of candid camera type show called Trigger Happy TV.

Filed under: Bits and Pieces, fun stuff | Tagged: | 2 Comments »

Bits and Pieces (Lulu’s Garden)

Posted on June 8, 2012 by lmsinca

We’ve had one of those years at our house.  You know, one of the memorable ones for crappiness.  Things are looking up however, for the most part.  We even received rent money and the security deposit this week on our rental property, and the new family begins moving in today.  They don’t appear to be hoarders, and yes we did have the house fumigated.  Last weekend my husband and I painted all four bedrooms and this week I cleaned all the floors (again), the bathrooms (again), windows and the broiler.  He cleaned the windows on the enclosed patio, put in a new toilet and cleaned the fireplaces etc.  That’s over finally.  We’ve had a few health issues, some accidental, some related to being over 60 I guess, but so far we’re carrying on pretty well.

One thing that has always kept me from panicking when the worry sets in is working in my garden.  That’s right, the garden comes in ahead of ATiM.  I will try to participate a little more going forward however, as I have missed our discussions.

Anyway, I’ve been growing veggies since I rented my first house at age 20.  When the kids were little we had a fruit orchard and really large garden in the back part of our property (we have a half acre).  That’s all been replaced with a rather large warehouse for the business.  We did manage to find a nice growing spot on the side of the house, outside the bedroom window, for a small garden.  Since it’s just the two of us now it’s perfect and I can look out the window and see our handiwork.

This year I planted a couple of things I’ve never had in my garden before, bok choi and Japanese cucumbers.  In the photo below the bok choi is in the center bottom of the picture between the beets, on the left, and the Japanese cucumber.  At the back of the photo is swiss chard, which we have in our garden nearly year round.   I saute the chard in safflower oil and then add tamari and a little sesame oil and add it to brown rice after the rice is cooked……………………..yummy.

In the photos below are three kinds of summer squash, a few remaining green beans (the dogs dug up most of them), three kinds of lettuce, more swiss chard, and I just planted pumpkins and acorn squash last weekend.  These new veggies took the place of the snow peas, which we already ate, also yummy.

We’re taking a couple of days off this weekend and heading to the beach tomorrow, my favorite destination, so have a great weekend everyone.

Filed under: Bits and Pieces, food, fun stuff | Tagged: | 3 Comments »

Green Jobs

Posted on June 8, 2012 by novahockey

Oil lobbyist friend sent this to me.  Don’t act so shocked, I have friends

Video at: http://dailycaller.com/2012/06/08/labor-dept-counts-oil-lobbyists-garbage-men-bus-drivers-as-green-jobs-video/#ixzz1xD7qDCZn

Here’s the transcript.

REP. DARRELL ISSA: Well, let me — let me run you through some questions here because you’re here because we’re having a green jobs counting discussion.
Does someone who assembles turbines — is that a green job?
MS. JANE OATES: Wind turbines?
REP. ISSA: Yeah. Wind turbines.
MS. OATES: I think we would call any kind of sustainable manufacturing –
REP. ISSA: OK.
MS. OATES: — fitting the definition that was –
REP. ISSA: Does someone who sweeps — does someone who sweeps the floor in a facility that makes solar panels, is that a green job?
MS. OATES: Solar? I’ll give that to –
REP. ISSA: To Galvin?
MS. OATES: — if you don’t mind.
MR. JOHN GALVIN: We define — we have a two-part definition –
REP. ISSA: We already had the briefing on that. So just answer the question. If you’re sweeping the floor in a solar panel production facility, is that a green job?
MR. GALVIN: If you ask me for the number of health care jobs in the United States, I’ll give you the employment from the health care industry.
REP. ISSA: Look, Mr. Galvin –
MR. GALVIN: — nurses and doctors –
REP. ISSA: You did not want to come here as a witness. You are not a delighted witness. So let’s go through this.
I asked you a question. You know the answer. Would you please answer it.
If you sweep the floor in a solar panel facility, is that a green job?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: Thank you. If you drive a hybrid bus — public transportation — is that a green job?
MR. GALVIN: According to our definition, yes.
REP. ISSA: Thank you. What if you’re a college professor teaching classes about environmental studies?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: What about just any school bus driver?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: What about the guy who puts gas in the school bus?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: How about employees at a bicycle shop?
MR. GALVIN: I guess I’m not sure about that.
REP. ISSA: The answer is yes, according to your definition. And you’ve got a lot of them.
What about a clerk at the bicycle repair shop?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: What about someone who works in an antique dealer?
MR. GALVIN: I’m not sure about that either.
REP. ISSA: The answer is yes. Those are — those are recycled goods. They’re antiques; they’re used.
What about someone who works at the Salvation Army in their clothing recycling and furniture?
MR. GALVIN: Right. Because they’re selling recycled goods.
REP. ISSA: OK. What about somebody who opened a store to sell rare manuscripts?
MR. GALVIN: What industry is that?
REP. ISSA: People sell rare books and manuscripts — but they’re rare because they’re old so they’re used.
MR. GALVIN: OK.
REP. ISSA: What about workers at a consignment shop?
MR. GALVIN: That’s a green job.
REP. ISSA: Does the teenage kid who works full time at a used record shop count?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: How about somebody who manufacturers railroads rolling stock — basically, train cars?
MR. GALVIN: I don’t think we classified the manufacture of rail cars as –
REP. ISSA: 48.8 percent of jobs in manufacturing, rail cars counted, according to your statistics. About half of the jobs that are being used to build trains.
OK. How about — just one more here. What about people who work in a trash disposal yard? Do garbage men have green jobs?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.
REP. ISSA: OK. I apologize. The real last last is, how about an oil lobbyist? Wouldn’t an oil lobbyist count as having a green job if they are engaged in advocacy related to environmental issues?
MR. GALVIN: Yes.

Filed under: Energy, fun stuff, green energy | 8 Comments »

Venus transits the Sun

Posted on June 5, 2012 by markinaustin

This is the last transit in our lifetimes.  Do not stare at the Sun with your naked eyes or view with a telescope or binoculars.  Use welders’ darkest goggles.  I have never trusted the smoke colored plastic they give out for solar eclipses.  The safe way to view is with an old fashioned homemade pinhole “camera”.  See:

http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/2443-solar-eclipse-viewer.html

 

Begins 5 PM CDT.

Filed under: fun stuff | 2 Comments »

Tribute to MCA

Posted on May 17, 2012 by novahockey

http://vimeo.com/42106181

This may or may not be your thing, but I found this to be hilarious. The only flaw that I can see is the use of guns, which were not in the original.

And here’s the original

Filed under: fun stuff, music | 10 Comments »

Friday Fodder…

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Dave!

I read the following story and I figured that it was a good way to cap off a week.  It’s one of those things that I find funny even though there are financial implications to it…  The title of it: 

This Is Not a Joke: Government Issues Study of a Study About Studies

The Pentagon was inundated with so many studies in 2010 that it commissioned a study to determined how much it cost to produce all those studies.

Now the Government’s Accounting Office has reviewed the Pentagon’s study and concluded in a report this week that it’s a flop.

The study of a study of studies began in 2010 when Defense Secretary Robert Gates complained that his department was “awash in taskings for reports and studies.” He wanted to know how much they cost.

Two years later, the Pentagon review is still continuing, which prompted Congress to ask the GAO to look over the Pentagon’s shoulder. What they found lacked military precision.

The GAO found only nine studies that had been scrutinized by the Pentagon review, but the military was unable to “readily retrieve documentation” for six of  the reports.

The Department of Defense’s “approach is not fully consistent with relevant cost estimating best practices and cost accounting standards,” the GAO concluded. In fact, they often did not include items like manpower, the report found.

The Pentagon “partially concurs” with the GAO’s report.

The cost of the study of the study of the studies was not immediately available from the GAO.

Filed under: dod, fun stuff | 10 Comments »

Morning links

Posted on April 24, 2012 by ScottC

A few links that may be of interest…

Climate alarmist James Lovelock admits to being, well, a bit alarmist.

Voter ID laws? We don’t need no stinkin’ voter ID laws.

A Chinese company markets a new pair of sunglasses by naming them after Helen Keller.

The Obama admin embraces the implied racism of disparate impact laws.

Cool time lapse video of girl growing up, from infant to 12 years old.

Filed under: fun stuff, racism, voter ID laws | Tagged: | 35 Comments »

Weekend Report

Posted on April 14, 2012 by markinaustin

Fix income inequality with $10 million loans for everyone!

By Sheila Bair, Published: April 13

Are you concerned about growing income inequality in America? Are you resentful of all that wealth concentrated in the 1 percent? I’ve got the perfect solution, a modest proposal that involves just a small adjustment in the Federal Reserve’s easy monetary policy. Best of all, it will mean that none of us have to work for a living anymore.

For several years now, the Fed has been making money available to the financial sector at near-zero interest rates. Big banks and hedge funds, among others, have taken this cheap money and invested it in securities with high yields. This type of profit-making, called the “carry trade,” has been enormously profitable for them.

So why not let everyone participate?

Under my plan, each American household could borrow $10 million from the Fed at zero interest. The more conservative among us can take that money and buy 10-year Treasury bonds. At the current 2 percent annual interest rate, we can pocket a nice $200,000 a year to live on. The more adventuresome can buy 10-year Greek debt at 21 percent, for an annual income of $2.1 million. Or if Greece is a little too risky for you, go with Portugal, at about 12 percent, or $1.2 million dollars a year. (No sense in getting greedy.)

Think of what we can do with all that money. We can pay off our underwater mortgages and replenish our retirement accounts without spending one day schlepping into the office. With a few quick keystrokes, we’ll be golden for the next 10 years.

Of course, we will have to persuade Congress to pass a law authorizing all this Fed lending, but that shouldn’t be hard. Congress is really good at spending money, so long as lawmakers don’t have to come up with a way to pay for it. Just look at the way the Democrats agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts if the Republicans agreed to cut Social Security taxes and extend unemployment benefits. Who says bipartisanship is dead?

And while that deal blew bigger holes in the deficit, my proposal won’t cost taxpayers anything because the Fed is just going to print the money. All we need is about $1,200 trillion, or $10 million for 120 million households. We will all cross our hearts and promise to pay the money back in full after 10 years so the Fed won’t lose any dough. It can hold our Portuguese debt as collateral just to make sure.

Because we will be making money in basically the same way as hedge fund managers, we should have to pay only 15 percent in taxes, just like they do. And since we will be earning money through investments, not work, we won’t have to pay Social Security taxes or Medicare premiums. That means no more money will go into these programs, but so what? No one will need them anymore, with all the cash we’ll be raking in thanks to our cheap loans from the Fed.

Come to think of it, by getting rid of work, we can eliminate a lot of government programs. For instance, who needs unemployment benefits and job retraining when everyone has joined the investor class? And forget the trade deficit. Heck, we want those foreign workers to keep providing us with goods and services.

We can stop worrying about education, too. Who needs to understand the value of pi or the history of civilization when all you have to do to make a living is order up a few trades? Let the kids stay home with us. They can play video games while we pop bonbons and watch the soaps and talk shows. The liberals will love this plan because it reduces income inequality; the conservatives will love it because it promotes family time.

I’m really excited! This is the best American financial innovation since liar loans and pick-a-payment mortgages. I can’t wait to get my super PAC started to help candidates who support this important cause. I think I will call my proposal the “Get Rid of Employment and Education Directive.”

Some may worry about inflation and long-term stability under my proposal. I say they lack faith in our country. So what if it cost 50 billion marks to mail a letter when the German central bank tried printing money to pay idle workers in 1923?

That couldn’t happen here. This is America. Why should hedge funds and big financial institutions get all the goodies?

Look out 1 percent, here we come.

outlook@washpost.com

Sheila Bair is a former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and a regular contributor to Fortune Magazine.

Filed under: Federal Reserve, fun stuff | 28 Comments »

NHL Picks

Posted on April 11, 2012 by novahockey

I will have nothing to say on health policy for awhile. My schedule is packed from here until early June.

Pens in 6
Bruins in 5
Devils in 5
Rangers in 6

Kings in 7
Blues in 6
Blackhawks in 7
Predators in 7

Pens over Preds in 6
Fluery is your Conn Smythe winner — only because Malkin won’t be able to abuse Ruk’s team, as seen below:

Filed under: fun stuff | 22 Comments »

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