2005-06-23

TheSoupbox.com - 12 Fresh Soups Everyday

IceBox!SoupBox!TheSoupbox.com - 12 Fresh Soups Everyday: "FREE Icyfruit ALL DAY FRIDAY, June 24
Lemon - Lime - Kiwi - Coconut - Pineapple Banana - Orange - Raspberry - Cherry - Peach Watermelon - Grape - Strawberry - Passion Fruit Mango -Blueberry - Blackberry - IcyChocolate Cantaloupe - Grapefruit - and more "

Guacamole

GuacamoleI always use Diana Kennedy's recipe – she is, after all, one of the world's foremost authories on the regional traditional cuisines of Mexico. I have two of her cookbooks, and I think the recipe is the same in both. Anyway, I found it online too. This certainly beats the preserved crap you can get from trader joe's.

2005-06-22

Honey Ice Cream

101 Cookbooks: "Honey Ice Cream"

2005-06-19

Gay or Straight? Hard to Tell - New York Times

a handy table to see where you fall.Gay or Straight? Hard to Tell - New York Times: "The result is a new gray area that is rendering gaydar - that totally unscientific sixth sense that many people rely on to tell if a man is gay or straight - as outmoded as Windows 2000. It's not that straight men look more stereotypically gay per se, or that out-of-the-closet gay men look straight. What's happening is that many men have migrated to a middle ground where the cues traditionally used to pigeonhole sexual orientation - hair, clothing, voice, body language - are more and more ambiguous. Make jokes about it. Call it what you will: 'gay vague' will do. But the poles are melting fast."

2005-06-17

worth a giggle

It's no Making Fiends, but Savage Chickens is just silly enough.
Return of Lemons

NPR : British Sit-Coms' Winning Formula

equation 1

NPR : British Sit-Coms' Winning Formula: "Robert Siegel talks with Dr. Helen Pilcher, a molecular neurobiologist and stand-up comedian who specializes in scientific jokes, about her formula for writing hit British TV shows."

Also other places.

  • r = recognizability of main char.
  • d = main char. delusions of grandeur
  • v = verbal wittiness
  • f = amount someone falls over
  • α = success of any plot or scheme
  • ΔS = difference social status highest and lowest char.

Manjoo on stem cell research

Salon.com News | Everything you always wanted to know about the stem cell debate: "George Bush's opposition to stem cell research is intellectually and morally incoherent. Here's why."

2005-06-16

Uncle Sam Really Wants You - New York Times

Uncle Sam Really Wants You - New York Times: "Schools with kids from wealthier families (and a high percentage of collegebound students) are not viewed as good prospects by military recruiters. It's as if those schools had posted signs at the entrances saying, 'Don't bother.' The kids in those schools are not the kids who fight America's wars."

2005-06-15

Jamaican Jerk Rub

Everyone who's had a well-marinated jerk chicken grilled over natural lump charcoal has raved about its complex, slightly spicy, flavor that complements chicken marvelously (especially dark meat — we all know thighs are the best pieces).

Of course, when we made it at Steve & Shane's barbecue and there were a couple middle-aged gay men there, they had to make those uncomfortable sexually-tinged remarks their kind are given to, such as "I want to know which of these young chickens jerked the meat! hee hee hee." I raised my eyebrow witheringly. I think I was also holding a big knife. Anyway, on to the recipes:

  • This from GlobalGourmet is probably the closest to what we make. Fresh thyme, either from your garden or from an herb purveyor at the local farmer's market is essential. We also got these marvelous green onions from Nichols Farm that they called "Egyptian Multipliers." They had a powerful onion taste tinged with sweetness and an almost gingery quality.
  • Naturally, we consulted several other recipes such as these and more to figure out just what was essential, or not, and to discern what are sort of bastard ingredients like white onions or jalapeños.

"Jerk", it turns out, actually refers to tenderizing the meat and encouraging absorption of the marinade, specifically by poking it all over with a fork. So get yourself a fresh chicken from the market, cut it into pieces, and jerk away. I use about ¼ cup of the rub for a whole chicken. Then, I splash about that same amount or more of adark rum over it and let it marinate at least 4 hours if not up to 48. Although a gas grill is acceptable, nothing tastes quite as good as wood or real wood charcoal. Briquettes, of course, are unacceptable.

jeanna for gainesville city commission!

alpha draft material here

Potato-chorizo soup : patatas a la riojana

Basque Cookbook link to AmazonAlthough some recipes include additives such as green bell peppers or bay leaves, I prefer the simpler version found in my excellent Basque cookbook, The Basque Table by Teresa Barrenechea (many other wonderful recipes from the book are online too!). It is roughly reproduced below. Just six ingredients, and two of those are water and salt!

Ingredients

  • 1kg starchy potatoes such as russets (2.5 pounds)
  • 8oz dry spanish chorizo (spicy is extra-tasty)
  • 1 medium yellow onion
  • 2 teaspoons pimentón (smoked paprika): hungarian would do, but it's not the same thing
  • sea salt, to taste
  • water.

Method

Remove the casing from the chorizo, and dice the onion. Peel and dcut the potatoes into one-inch pieces, preferably by cutting part-way and then angling the knife so as to break the potato.

Sauté the onion in the olive oil for about five minutes, until it is somewhat translucent. Add the chorizo and cook another minute or so.

Add the potatoes, paprika, and salt. Stir all around for a bit and then cover with water about an inch above the potatoes. Simmer until the potatoes are soft. I like to crush a few against the side of the pot to thicken the soup. Serve with good crusty bread and Spanish red wine.

2005-06-13

From the daily show

The laughably offensive stupid football team's PR video about "how not to embarrass the team."

2005-06-10

So we didn't get to see much

  • guy in thong; nice tattoo though.
  • WTF?!
  • The tightly choreographed dance number!

Because we didn't have any interest in actually going inside the Hilton Hotel and convention center where the new International Mister Leather was crowned (belted? chained?), and we didn't see that many of them out on the streets, but I think the official event photos kind of speak for themselves. Enjoy. I think it's interesting – though I don't understand the whole 'leather' thing – that the second runner-up in the pageant is an M.D. from Louisiana. Don't miss the moving speech[.doc] by the winner, which I've posted here because on the official site it's only available in the proprietary Word format.

IML SPEECH

Michael Egdes
IML 2005
Mr. Ramrod 2004
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Distinguished judges, leather family and friends:

Tonight, I’d like to share with you what it means to me to be a Leatherman. I dedicate these thoughts to the memory of Robert Davolt, and to all those whom we have loved and lost.

Rope, shackles, dungeon, sling.
Crack the whip or feel the sting,

Safe, consensual, sane and fun,
One for all, or all on one.

Slave’s heart, Master’s will,
Bound in service, forged in steel.

Mentor’s guidance, lover’s care,
Warmth, compassion, always there.

Tom of Finland, Gold Coast Bar,
Old Guard, Harleys, lit cigar.

Soaked in history, drenched in sweat,
Leather Archives won’t forget.

Leather souls, no longer here,
Feel their presence, always near.

Black and blue, white and red,
Leads our battles, drapes our dead.

Tailored hides—my second skin,
But my leather lives within.

Now, as our year comes to a start,
Remember, it’s about the heart!

Cover, gauntlet, harness, glove,
Headspace, heartspace, heartbeat, love.

Thank you.

2005-06-03

Roundup of some articles

mostly from NYT.
  • Love and oxytocin again, with a mention of voles
  • Lesbian Drosophila
  • So the article is just a video game review but the headline grabbed my attention: "Game Theory: In a Realistic Battle, Errors Are Costly"
  • Part 1 of a Salon series on globalization: The World in the iPod

niftful widgets I don't see anywhere else

tea time clock and kitchen timer.
English documentation please! It appears that tea timer notifies through Growl, which is awesome.

2005-06-02

open file formats?

from microsoft? that means Office might actually have to compete on features... and that the worst parts of the Word Doc format might die! More here, from /.