Last weekend with the kid at home, second-to-last weekend of summer. This calls for a picture:
Isn’t that lovely? This was one bushel in a double row of about two dozen, all of the most beautiful eggplants you ever saw. I didn’t buy one, and I regret it now. Next week, buyin’ that aubergine.
I’m concentrating, in my cooking this week, on Kate’s favorites, even though she doesn’t have many (of my cooking, anyway) and her attendance at meals is hit-or-miss. (And she doesn’t like eggplant.) So Friday was tacos done Bell-style, and blueberry pancakes for Sunday breakfast, and hamburgers and corn on the cob for dinner. I bought the latter at our “local” farmers’ market, the one in front of Woods city hall. Fifty cents an ear in high season, a.k.a. highway robbery over Eastern Market prices, or the Grosse Pointe price. But I’m trying to reserve outrage for those things and people that/who deserve it, so I laid my money down and rode home.
Saturday night I did a whole chicken on the grill. Used a vertical roaster and poured beer in the grease reservoir, thus pulling off a simulacrum of Beer-Butt Chicken, which was the single most-requested recipe from the archives at my alma mater. What that says about the Hoosier palate I leave to you — the second most-requested was some pedestrian lemon-bar thing — but it is an undeniably tasty, and easy, preparation.
Our readers in Fort Wayne were always flipping over Amish recipes, too, many of which had distinct eww factors for me. Heavy on the cheap starches and potted meats, a typical Amish dish — like the haystack supper and its million variations — is field-hand food in its purest form. Question for the room: Is there a culture in which a layer of starch, topped with a layer of protein, vegetables and sauce is not a mainstay? I can’t think of one. A link I’ve posted before: Barack Obama’s beloved Hawaiian plate lunch. Case in point.
So while I count down the days to the (at least part-time) empty nest, some links:
The death of Oliver Sacks prompted the New Yorker to open their archives of his contributions, and I recommend just picking one and enjoying. I liked the one on Spalding Gray’s brain injury and how it may have prompted his suicide, while you might enjoy his 1993 look at Temple Grandin. Or something else. You won’t go wrong.
It’s early, it’s Iowa, polls suck, the usual disclaimers apply, but here we are and Donald Trump is still on top with Dr. Homosexuality I.A. Choice in second. Woot.
Food, cut in half. Why? Because we can.
Monday dawns, and the insects of late summer play their songs.
Sherri said on August 31, 2015 at 1:42 am
Any Radiolab podcast episode with Oliver Sacks is highly recommended. He was a perfect fit with Radiolab.
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Wim said on August 31, 2015 at 1:48 am
The last week of childhood. Ah well. She’ll be back with a big bag of laundry before you know it.
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David C. said on August 31, 2015 at 6:13 am
I’ve never been very impressed with beer can chicken. My favorite way of grilling chicken is to butterfly it, pull back the skin as far as you can, and smearing butter with whatever herbs come to mind underneath the skin and pulling the skin back. Throw it on the grille until the thermometer reads 155°, let it rest for a half hour and it’s perfect.
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coozledad said on August 31, 2015 at 7:13 am
Maybe it was the colostomy bag, maybe it was the way he never denied jerking his little coca monkey’s chain. Maybe it’s the way he always fronted with his dark lower teeth visible, like a betel nut chewer haggling for firewood on a burning ghat, but at the end, when they pulled the plastic bag out of his side, and flushed his veins with formalin, there were as many as twenty people who didn’t arrive at the funeral for the sole purpose of taking a shit on his grave.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/liz-cheney-the-gratitude-americans-feel-for-my-dad-is-matched-only-by-our-love-for-him/
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alex said on August 31, 2015 at 7:23 am
We tried beer-butt chicken when it was a novelty but it wasn’t really good enough to justify doing again. We’re partial to steaks, pork tenderloin and roasted turkeys. Now that I’ve done turkey on the grill I don’t think I’ll ever go back to doing it in the oven. And we’ve never even tried brining it; a rub with salt and other herbs keeps it about as juicy as it needs to be.
Someone the other day asked what’s so important about the Iowa caucuses and why do they bother with them? I wondered the same thing until reading the above-linked article and then I remembered. It’s where the stupidest people in the country come together to select the worst of the candidates in order to cull them out of the race.
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coozledad said on August 31, 2015 at 7:53 am
People are always asking how Carson can be such an idiot and be a neurosurgeon. The Medical specialties industry produces asocial idiots by design. There are notable exceptions. Carson is not one.
The only reason I would ever go under the knife with one of these clowns is because in some cases, you don’t have the choice of simply dying. The law is currently framed in such a way that you must let them fuck you up for life, or kill you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHRb34_5F8g
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Jeff Borden said on August 31, 2015 at 8:48 am
My loathing for Dick Cheney is so visceral that when he came on the television Sunday morning –my wife enjoys “CBS Sunday Morning”– I had to leave the room. It’s always seemed to me that Cheney preyed on W.’s numerous insecurities and daddy issues to push us into that fucking war, the conflict that has turned the entire region into a chaotic hellscape. And now this heartless (literally) prick wants more war? The man who had five deferments to keep him out of Vietnam? And that loony fucking daughter, who has never worked an honest day in her life, but is considered a foreign policy expert because of her genes?
I have a bottle of Oban Scotch waiting for Cheney’s death. Allowing me to enjoy it will be the only good thing this rotten weasel ever did.
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Deborah said on August 31, 2015 at 8:52 am
I just read the Oliver Sacks Temple Grandin piece. I love the way he wrote, I will miss reading new pieces. What a gift.
I’m very interested in Autism and Asperger’s (should that have an ‘s?) since Little Bird is essentially on the spectrum. I recently bought a book by Grandin and decided not to bring it to Chicago to read because I’m so busy with the final touches to the playground. Now I wish I had, I need a diversion.
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Suzanne said on August 31, 2015 at 9:01 am
Loved Sacks’ Musicophilia. Absolutely fascinating book.
Coozle dad-I think medical specialists are a lot like so many engineers I’ve met (& a few clergy). “I know a lot about this specific inaccessible to the average guy subject; therefore, I know everything about everything else.”
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Heather said on August 31, 2015 at 9:03 am
I always think eggplants are so pretty and enjoy eating them, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to cook them at home so that they taste really good. And I am a pretty good cook.
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Deborah said on August 31, 2015 at 9:22 am
Heather, I agree and as Nancy’s photo shows they’re so glossy and the color is so rich. I always want to buy them when I see them at the market but I never know what to do with them. Does anyone have a good recipe or two?
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coozledad said on August 31, 2015 at 9:42 am
Suzanne:That’s most likely the case. The rest of the Republican field is Dunning- Krueger run amok.
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brian stouder said on August 31, 2015 at 9:45 am
So this article – about Jeb! Seeking to lock-down establishment Republican support – caught my eye
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/slipping-in-the-polls-jeb-bush-pushes-to-rack-up-endorsements/2015/08/28/47d0e29a-4d81-11e5-902f-39e9219e574b_story.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_headlines
because one such example is Eric Cantor announced his support for him. And for 3.5 seconds, I thought “Who’d want his support?” – being that he lost in his primary race to a Tea Party guy…and THEN I saw the point. Just like here in Indiana, when the Flying Monkeys of the local rightwing media knocked the stuffing out of Senator Lugar in the primary, only to then lose a United States Senate seat that they would never, ever have lost otherwise.
I don’t like Jeb!, and I think supporting a reckless nabob like Trump is like playing 3-card Monty with the nation’s future…
which raises the question: if we knew that our next president is going to be one of the R’s – who would you settle on?
Jeb! seems the least crazy to me, while Kasich (who I’ve no love for) looks like a conventional loon (as opposed to a shit-for-brains guy like Walker)
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Suzanne said on August 31, 2015 at 9:46 am
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012858-eggplant-tomato-and-chickpea-casserole
Yummy. I have many others I can share
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Jolene said on August 31, 2015 at 10:17 am
I love the way eggplant looks, but it’s one of the few foods I’ve never been able to convince myself to like. That spongy texture just doesn’t do it for me.
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Julie Robinson said on August 31, 2015 at 10:19 am
It always amazes me when local cooks are featured with the recipes they’re known for and they prominently feature heavily processed foods such as canned cream of mushroom soup. Blech.
Jeff B, your take on Cheney strikes me as right on the money.
And speaking of money, Jeb! has so much, how is it possible he won’t win the nomination? In a way, that would be a victory over money ruling elections. I dunno, I find all the Republican candidates so odious it’s hard to cheer for any of them.
Aside from all that, a busy weekend was capped off at a 70th birthday party when celebrant’s eldest child, who’d been known to be halfway around the world just the previous day, came ambling in to surprise everyone. Luckily Mom & Dad have strong hearts, and the proverbial wonderful time was had by all.
And with that, we are closing the Robinson B&B for the summer, having hosted company no fewer than six weekends since mid-May.
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brian stouder said on August 31, 2015 at 10:30 am
Well, I can do egg plant parmesan at Casa’s…
Julie, that sounds like a wonderful event. We were in Logansport this past weekend, so Shelby could take part in a recap of the Guatemala trip, and coincidentally the church also had ‘birthday day’ – where they had 12 tables (one for each month) with different cakes on each one…it was a cake-a-palooza!
And aside from all that, will the R’s make a mountain out of a mole-hill?
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/08/31/obama-to-rename-mt-mckinley-to-denali-during-alaska-trip-that-focuses-on/?intcmp=hpbt1
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Sue said on August 31, 2015 at 10:54 am
This was the year of vegetables in the front yard – rainbow chard along the walkway and Patio Baby eggplants along the side of the house. Oh, my is the patio baby a beautiful plant, compact, muted green foliage, bunches of sweet purple flowers maturing to tiny shiny purple fruits.
But, the eggplants don’t roast well at all. Mushy mush. Will try in ratatouille I guess. I would love to plant again next year because – so gorgeous! – but if I can’t use the eggplants I will feel so wasteful.
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susan said on August 31, 2015 at 10:56 am
Heather @10 – I grow eggplants in my garden. The flower is just as beautiful as the fruit. You could make baba ganoush, which is what I usually do. Or, eggplant parmigiana. Or mousaka</a, which I only made once because it was so much trouble–but TASTY! OR, you just simply look at that eggplant for what it is, a huge nightshade berry to be avoided because everyone knows to keep kids away from nightshade berries because they contain solanine, which can cause convulsions and death if taken in large doses.
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nancy said on August 31, 2015 at 11:01 am
A few years ago I saw a recipe for a simplified eggplant-parm-like dish that you did on the grill. Cut the eggplant lengthwise, salt and oil the cut sides, grill until soft. When they are, mush down a depression in the center and ladle in some tomato sauce and top with cheese. Grill for a minute or two longer and serve. You get the flavors without all the calories.
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Judybusy said on August 31, 2015 at 11:03 am
Eggplant is much beloved in this household. I just bought a whole bunch of 4″ ones at the farmer’s market, and our neighbor gives us hers from her CSA. This week, I’m making a Thai dish with ground pork. It’a recipe from a book, so can’t link to it. I’ll make a coconut chicken soup as a starter, and a vinegery cucumber side dish.
This is a very good Moroccan recipe that we make several times a year. We often use boneless chicken breast instead of bone-in thighs called for, which makes it a bit easier to eat.
Jeff B., you express my loathing for Cheney so well and I agree with your analysis of his manipulation of Bush.
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susan said on August 31, 2015 at 11:05 am
Ooops. Did not close that tag completely. Sorry ’bout that. But it’s all there, anyway (whenever the post leaves moderation. There must be too many links.).
Where is the damned preview button????
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Suzanne said on August 31, 2015 at 11:18 am
This is very good and worth it just to read the recipe:
http://www.salon.com/2010/08/07/ratatouille_weapons_grade_style/
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brian stouder said on August 31, 2015 at 11:22 am
Now don’t go gettin’ JC all riled up. Hell, it’s only Monday!
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Suzanne said on August 31, 2015 at 11:30 am
http://food52.com/recipes/29926-eggplant-baked-pasta-riggidanella
Takes a looking time to make, but boy is it good!!
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Sue said on August 31, 2015 at 11:40 am
I’m going to try that ratatouille.
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alex said on August 31, 2015 at 11:42 am
Heather and Deborah, I was going to suggest roasting eggplant whole on the grill, which is what we do. And yes it turns mushy inside, but it’s good that way. The mush doesn’t have a very strong flavor but benefits from a pat of herb butter or whatever seasonings you happen to like and it makes a nice side dish.
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Diane said on August 31, 2015 at 11:45 am
Yes, I am now seeing on Facebook (I really wish I’d practiced more discrimination when I first got on Facebook and didn’t ‘friend’ everyone who asked) that the ideal ticket is Trump and Carson. Trump for “power and money” and Carson for “brains and humility.”
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Sue said on August 31, 2015 at 11:54 am
Diane, I heard Trump and Palin. Slogan: “You’re Fired! I Quit!”
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Judybusy said on August 31, 2015 at 12:02 pm
Diane, you might know this, but you can unfriend people, or less drastically, hide them, so they don’t show up in your feed. I do this for most people who post more than once a day, and those with idiot political positions.
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brian stouder said on August 31, 2015 at 12:12 pm
My lovely wife (in addition to the young folks) does the Facebook thing, and she has the beast tamed much the same way as Judybusy describes.
I imagine it is like eating in a cacophonous cafeteria – where the trick is to always filter out most of what is going on
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Jolene said on August 31, 2015 at 12:57 pm
Here’s two or three minutes of cuteness in celebration of the birthday of Itzhak Perlman, a world-famous violinist.
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Deborah said on August 31, 2015 at 1:22 pm
That was cute, Jolene.
I’m at Whole Foods in Lincoln Park, I came here just to buy eggplant, but the ones here look horrible so I’ll wait until tomorrow and buy some at the farmers market that is in front of the Contemporary Art Museum a couple of blocks from my place. Shoulda known. I think I’m going to make the chick pea recipe that Susan mentioned but I’ll use chopped tomatoes from fresh ones I get at the market too.
I did something momentous last week. I signed up for Medicare, I turn 65 in October and you can sign up early so you’re ready to go when you’re eligable. Not too early though, I tried it a couple of months ago and it popped up that I had to wait a bit. It’s very easy to do online.
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Deborah said on August 31, 2015 at 1:24 pm
Oops it was Suzanne who linked to the chick pea recipe.
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LAMary said on August 31, 2015 at 1:41 pm
I think it’s a Marcella Hazan recipe that I use. Grill slices of eggplant and layer them with basil leaves and add salt and pepper and good olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Let it sit a while and serve it at room temperature. You can do the same thing with zucchini or summer squash.
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Bruce Fields said on August 31, 2015 at 1:51 pm
“And speaking of money, Jeb! has so much, how is it possible he won’t win the nomination? In a way, that would be a victory over money ruling elections.”
Well, in our enthusiasm (which I share) to curb the influence of money in elections, sometimes we forget that they still *are* in the end decided by popular vote, not by burning two piles of money and seeing which lasts longer. And voters can be weird and ornery and hard to influence, especially (as with primaries) when turnout’s smaller. There’s plenty of cases of the money losing, and even in cases where it doesn’t the causation is often in the other direction. (It’s advantageous to side with the winner).
Which isn’t without its drawbacks. I’d think on average that donors pursuing some kind of self-interest would avoid falling for the most transparent loons–haven’t those been mostly funded by the occasional rich crank (often themselves)?
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Jolene said on August 31, 2015 at 2:02 pm
More entertainment: Photos from Iran by the people who do Humans of New York.
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Brandon said on August 31, 2015 at 2:08 pm
The New York Times article was pretty accurate but what’s this “flip-flop set”?
Like, for instance, Rainbow Drive-In in Honolulu, popular among the flip-flop set
I’d write it “Rainbow Drive-In in Honolulu, popular with locals.” For one thing, we don’t have flip-flops in Hawaii, we have slippahs.
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Sherri said on August 31, 2015 at 2:13 pm
Is MichaelG in Spain now? I can’t remember when he was leaving.
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Jolene said on August 31, 2015 at 2:15 pm
Speaking of Iran, here is the current whip list for the Iran deal. There are at least two who represent nn.com readers (Cantwell from Washington and Peters from Michigan) who need to be reminded that their constituents want the Iran deal to be approved.
There are a few other undecideds too. Check the list to see where your senator stands. The main uncertainties are red or purple state Democrats or Democrats whose constituencies contain lots of Jewish voters. So far, though, only two Dems have declared that they will not support the deal.
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Jenine said on August 31, 2015 at 2:27 pm
Simple babaghanoush or eggplant pate recipe originally from the Moosewood folks: Stab the eggplant all over and broil. Keep turning it every three minutes-ish so it doesn’t burn, until it is getting soft and starting to collapse. Put it in a glass bowl and cover with a plate to let it finish steaming. (I usually broil two small eggplants at once.) When cool remove stem, skin and the biggest clumps of seeds. Mash or blend with the juice of a good sized lemon, up to half a cup of tahini (sesame seed paste now available at my supermarket, thank gods!), a couple of green onions, a good bunch of parsley minced and a drizzle of olive oil. I prefer it without garlic. So good on any kind of flat bread.
Every once in a while you will get a sad angry eggplant that stays hard and will not turn to delicious mush. Bid it farewell and try again.
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Judybusy said on August 31, 2015 at 2:43 pm
LAMary’s recipe is really good–our version is fried in olive oil, which eggplant soaks up like a sponge, so not so healthy. We also add bits of crushed garlic. That dish is called crack eggplant in our house because it’s addictive. I love baba ganoush, too.
Jolene, I’ve been following HONY in Iran; I love all the diverse stories. I do hope they are able to break free of the mullah rule someday; Persian culture is so deep, so amazing. I’d love to visit there someday, but only if I could really connect with a local family, like a student exchange but for adults. I’d probably have to be in the closet, too, which would be drag. So, yeah, likely never gonna happen.
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Heather said on August 31, 2015 at 2:57 pm
Jenine, your suggestion reminded me of a story that also functions as a safety warning: many, many moons ago when I was just starting to cook, I decided to broil an eggplant for some recipe or another, but neglected to stab it. When I opened it up to prod it with a utensil, it promptly exploded all over the inside of the oven. Luckily I didn’t get any in my face! Good times.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on August 31, 2015 at 3:11 pm
“Bid it farewell and try again.”
Such good advice in any number of fields.
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brian stouder said on August 31, 2015 at 4:11 pm
Heather, good God!
This is why I never make light of people who can cook. There must be an infinite number of ways to injure yourself and/or poison your loved ones!
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Sherri said on August 31, 2015 at 4:11 pm
I love baba ghanoush, and ratatouille, and moussaka, and eggplant in various pasta and Chinese dishes I’ve had. Yum.
Jolene, I’ve called Cantwell’s office and expressed my feelings about the importance of her supporting the Iran deal. I don’t know why she’s hesitating. I wouldn’t think that AIPAC was a big force out here.
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Diane said on August 31, 2015 at 4:15 pm
Sue @29 If only my FB “friends” were that clever.
Judybusy@30 I knew I could unfriend them but didn’t want the hurt feelings that would entail but hiding them or otherwise decreasing the amount of their stuff that makes it to my newsfeed sounds like a good, sanity enhancing idea! Thank you, I will look into how to do that.
Jolene@30 Thanks for the link and reminder. I’m in Colorado and will email Sen. Bennett’s office in a spirit of hope and Sen. Gardner’s in the spirit of lost causes.
Thanks to you all for the recipe discussion-I will now be making ratatouille this weekend. Fall is already starting to beckon here in Colorado and that strikes me as the perfect summer to fall crossover meal.
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Dorothy said on August 31, 2015 at 4:17 pm
It’s Itzhak’s birthday today, too?! And Van Morrison, Richard Gere, Debbie Gibson, my friend Fred Ricketts, my cousin Chrissie and me! Happy birthday to us.
Have I asked before if anyone here has a copy of Thug Kitchen? The recipes all sound amazing and the dialogue in the book just makes me scream with laughter. Well, maybe not scream but close. It’s hilarious. I bought a copy at Half Price Books about 3 weeks ago and finally used it this weekend. We made Moroccan spiced couscous yesterday to go with our chicken and it was really good. There are no meat recipes in the cookbook.
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Deborah said on August 31, 2015 at 4:22 pm
Happy Birthday Dorothy! That deserves an exclamation point.
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Jolene said on August 31, 2015 at 4:38 pm
Happy birthday, Dorothy, and thanks, Sherri and Diane, for the follow-up re calling senators. I always feel that I am being a pest by bringing up this idea, but they often talk about what they’re hearing in their calls and email as justification for their votes, so it seems worthwhile and is so easy. It’s not the same as being a well-funded lobbyist, but I do think they understand that even lobbyists only have one vote.
And I was surprised too, Sherri, that Cantwell was among the undecided. Murray was also a relatively late decider, and when I nagged my Seattle sister to call them, she was surprised that they hadn’t already declared their support.
One of my senators (Kaine) was an early supporter, but the other (Warner, a moderate Dem) is still on the fence. Virginia is, of course, loaded with military personnel and veterans, and many parts are quite conservative. He had a very close election last time out, so he may be worried about taking a stand that supports Obama. I’m trying to encourage him!
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brian stouder said on August 31, 2015 at 4:42 pm
yes indeed – Happy birthday, Dorothy!!
“Thug Kitchen” sounds interesting, indeed. Imagining the naming possibilities has me chuckling already….
Maybe a nice car-bomb soufflé, or for dessert a loan shark lardy cake, or a basket og Good Fella fat rascals…
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alex said on August 31, 2015 at 5:06 pm
Joe Donnelley (D) is supporting it, and the hate mail it’s generating in local media is quite something. Our other senator, Dan Coats (R) is immovable. He has been making the rounds writing guest columns in all of the local papers and appearances where he’s touting all of the GOP talking points on the Iran deal and ridiculing Obama to boot. I’m amazed that none of the local media have pressed him on why his esteemed Republican colleague Richard Lugar is in favor of the deal. (Of course, our local media are pretty ineffectual most of the time.)
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on August 31, 2015 at 5:09 pm
Paging Elmore Leonard: http://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/local/2015/08/31/bucyrus-post-handles-deceased-man-vehicle/71460382/
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Basset said on August 31, 2015 at 5:35 pm
couldn’t see it, behind a paywall.
meanwhile, I’m already the old guy at work and hitting 60 this week is not gonna help any.
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Danny said on August 31, 2015 at 5:51 pm
Jeff Borden, an addition to our recent border discussion:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-240-immigrants-arrested-ice-20150831-story.html
But the article is weird. In one paragraph they have the ICE spokesperson cautioning against concluding that crime involving immigrants is up:
“One of the challenges we’re facing is because of state law and local policies, more individuals who are potentially deportable with significant criminal histories are being released onto the street instead of being turned over to ICE,” said agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice. “I think to infer from [the sweep] that potentially foreign nationals are committing more crimes is flawed.”
But in the next paragraph we have:
Among the people captured, 191 were from Mexico and the rest were from 21 other countries including France, Ghana, Peru and Thailand, the agency said. A majority of them had convictions for violent felonies or weapons or sex abuse charges.
So perhaps all we can conclude is that this has been an ongoing trend for so long that it isn’t trending upward… or perhaps some folks start behaving better once they cross to avoid scrutiny.
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Connie said on August 31, 2015 at 6:50 pm
Bassett, I am hitting sixty with you this week.
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David C. said on August 31, 2015 at 7:00 pm
This is probably more than anyone ever wanted to know about beer can/butt chicken. I ventured into the comments, I figured cooking, how bad could that be. Well, pretty bad.
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/debunking_beer_can_chicken.html
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Charlotte said on August 31, 2015 at 7:40 pm
Himself is quite allergic so we don’t do eggplant around here these days — but I had a grilled eggplant “sandwich” that used to be quite popular at potluck barbecues. Slice the eggplant crosswise into nice rounds (not too thick, but too thin and they’ll fall apart). Olive oil and salt both sides, then make sandwiches with mozzerella and roasted red pepper and some basil inside. Grill until the outsides are all crispy and the cheese gets all melty. They’re delicious, and they get even nicer when they sit for a few minutes off the grill.
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Deborah said on August 31, 2015 at 7:47 pm
David C, that was pretty entertaining to read.
I’m sweating out the last details of the playground. I can’t beleive how much work this has been. Saturday is the grand opening and I’ve been scrambling around getting last minute stuff for that. There are a few glitches in the workmanship on the equipment but those won’t be fixed now until after the opening. The biggest glitch is the planting. All of it looks pretty wilted. The playground is supposed to be surrounded with plants that monarchs like. The amazing thing is that within about 24 hours the butterflies found it. I know they are in trouble generally because of farming techniques etc. But these little guys must have been desperate.
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brian stouder said on August 31, 2015 at 8:30 pm
Basset and Connie – if I’m alive in March, it will be double-nickel for me.
60 just means that much closer to being done with the work-a-day life, and time for a victory lap (with any luck), I say
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alex said on August 31, 2015 at 8:32 pm
So, Dexter, what do you know about Father John’s Brewing Company in your town?
Funny, it seems like somebody else just told me about this place recently. Anyway, my partner has been asked to serve as the church organist for an upcoming wedding there.
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basset said on August 31, 2015 at 10:07 pm
“Debunking” beer can chicken? Once again, some food snob says that if we only knew more about it we would realize that we’re not supposed to like it. Sorry.
I was surprised to see that Sears was selling chicken holders, though – the Sears near us was the last store left in a several-years-dead mall until it finally expired earlier this summer.
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basset said on August 31, 2015 at 10:09 pm
Eggplant… slice into rounds, brush with oil and grill, dress with a sauce of one part tahini, two parts ranch dressing, and enough milk to thin it out. Debunk that, chicken guy.
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Jill said on August 31, 2015 at 10:18 pm
Happy birthday to you, Dorothy. Thanks, everyone, for the recipes. I’ll try some of them. And Brian, I’m leading the way on double nickels; just a couple of weeks until I hit that milestone.
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brian stouder said on August 31, 2015 at 11:29 pm
Jill – early happy Birthday! Age is funny, isn’t it? I cannot believe I’m now older than my dad lived to be; he missed everything (with regard to grand children and the rest), but mom made it a good ways down the road.
I think the Stouder side tended toward shorter lives (my dad’s brother didn’t get past 63, and their mom didn’t make it to 50, and their dad only made it to his 60’s), so there’s that!
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Brandon said on September 1, 2015 at 1:17 am
@basset: Funk these food snobs. What would they say about the Spam musubi? Who cares?!
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David C. said on September 1, 2015 at 6:10 am
It’s not about food snobism, it’s about shoving a can of beer up a chicken not doing what people think it’s doing. First, the steam form the beer doesn’t keep the chicken more moist because the beer doesn’t evaporate. The beer doesn’t add flavor either, see previous. It works for the same reason a vertical roaster works. It’s because standing the chicken on end is a really good way to cook chicken. The rest is pointless showmanship. The article isn’t food snobish, it’s just good food science.
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coozledad said on September 1, 2015 at 8:18 am
You’ve got to be one stupid son of a bitch to need notes for this Bapto-Nazi froth:
http://juanitajean.com/the-king-of-crony-capitalism-asks-people-to-die-for-him/
Bunch of grotesques who worship an evil god.
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Julie Robinson said on September 1, 2015 at 8:45 am
Easiest way to roast a chicken? Head over to Costco, where $4.99 buys you a large, moist, tender and flavorful whole chicken. Bam, you’re done.
Happy birthday to Dorothy and everyone else who has one coming up!
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elaine said on September 1, 2015 at 9:11 am
Dorothy @48 – I also have a copy of “Thug Kitchen”. Just reading the recipes is entertainment in itself. Haven’t had an opportunity to try a recipe out, though I have several bookmarked. And happy belated birthday!
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Connie said on September 1, 2015 at 10:19 am
Easiest way to roast a chicken? Head over to Costco, where $4.99 buys you………Plus you have already paid $50 just for the privilege of shopping there.
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Bob (not Greene) said on September 1, 2015 at 10:58 am
David C. @ 67:
Meathead Goldwyn is a guy I’ve interviewed a couple of times, because he live sin one of the towns that my newspaper covers. He’s quite a character and his whole deal is about the science of cooking. Here’s an article I wrote about him earlier this year: http://www.rblandmark.com/News/Articles/6-9-2015/It-ain't-just-grilling,-it's-science/
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Dexter said on September 1, 2015 at 12:43 pm
alex…it’ a hit. I have never been, but I hear raves about the place. It’s a microbrewery and a restaurant, run by Dr. John Trippy, he of the Fremont, Indiana bison/buffalo farm. The place serves buffalo meat, their menu is online. I have heard some people complain about the high-end pricing, but everything is relative, and most folks around here love “getting their money’s worth”. Ya know what I mean.
Dr. Trippy is a specialist, he rebuilds fractured faces, he re-constructs jaws. He’s quite well respected, and he’s a community leader. His latest project is re-habbing the ancient freight depot hard by the railroad tracks. He had an open house two weeks ago as the project is just getting started. There is a ton of stuff about Father John’s and the doctor’s dentistry work on Google…too many links to post. Father John’s is in the old Baptist church building, one block west of the courthouse on Butler Street. Can’t miss it. It took years of work before the place opened. The only reason I have never been there is that time passed me by in the drinking game and I rarely eat big hunks of meat anymore.
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Dexter said on September 1, 2015 at 12:49 pm
Temple Grandin is a genius and gave one of the most interesting interviews I ever heard. She’s so damn interesting when she talks of “thinking across the spectrum” as she talks about and deals with autism. I remember she invented the method and designed the equipment with which cows and horses are fed.
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