Twango's Tidbits

Pelosi and Reid are spineless

2009-12-10T11:54:00.002-06:00

You don't give a damn about the American electorate anymore than the pubs. So, what'd ya get Nancy? Free Botox for all the female members? How bout you Harry? Perhaps you got all the male members free Viagra.

Fuck you

Yes we did

2008-11-05T06:56:00.003-06:00

Donating and volunteering, in addition to work, sleep, and petite have certainly kept me busy, but what a good busy it turned out to be.

Watching Obama give his acceptance speech, I had tears in my eyes. I was so tired, but it was like I was all coked up, couldn't sleep for squat.

Of all that we have lost over the last 8 years, it felt like we got one of those things back, respect from around the world.

Never will a child of any color in this country feel as if the highest office in the land is beyond their grasp.

Seeing the faces of the African Americans who walked alongside King (in body or in spirit), who never thought they would see this day. The tears of Jesse Jackson and John Lewis, the cracking voices of Eugene Robinson and Harold Ford. The faces of all the Obama supporters in the crowds at Grant Park, Time Square, Morehouse and Spellman. All realizing that this dream they have been having the last 21 months has come true.

John McCain gave an excellent speech as well. He seemed like the McCain that started this race and I hope he has indeed found that part of him again.

Ok, another lapse, but

2008-10-30T21:07:00.002-05:00

These ladies rock and I had to tell you (especially you JoJo-you will LOVE them). I linked to this specific post, well cause it totally rocked my socks off!

Margaret and Helen - Best Friends for Sixty Years and Counting…

McCain's attacks fuel dangerous hatred

2008-10-10T18:35:00.003-05:00

This is a wonderfully written op-ed to John McCain by lifelong Pub and someone who worked to get McCain elected in 2000.

McCain's attacks fuel dangerous hatred-Frank Schaeffer, Baltimore Sun

John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that surround the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are a bitterly divided country on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.

Stop! Think! Your rallies are beginning to look, sound, feel and smell like lynch mobs.

John McCain, you're walking a perilous line. If you do not stand up for all that is good in America and declare that Senator Obama is a patriot, fit for office, and denounce your hate-filled supporters when they scream out "Terrorist" or "Kill him," history will hold you responsible for all that follows.

John McCain's Rage is a National Security Concern

2008-10-09T20:29:00.001-05:00

He's a scary, scary, little man

McCain plans to cut Medicaid and Medicare

2008-10-06T09:10:00.002-05:00

So, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that McCain plans to cut Medicaid and Medicare to help fund his health care plan.

McCain plans to cut Medicaid and Medicare

John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs.
The Republican presidential nominee has said little about the proposed cuts, but they are needed to keep his health-care plan "budget neutral," as he has promised. The McCain campaign hasn't given a specific figure for the cuts, but didn't dispute the analysts' estimate.

In the months since Sen. McCain introduced his health plan, statements made by his campaign have implied that the new tax credits he is proposing to help Americans buy health insurance would be paid for with other tax increases.
But Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain's senior policy adviser, said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled. Medicare spending for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 is estimated at $457.5 billion.

While it may not be a surprise, it is October

2008-10-05T23:35:00.001-05:00

Keating Economics

Something to think about donchakneaux ;)

Flirting with voting for McCain

2008-10-05T21:31:00.002-05:00

Well here's a must read for you:

Make Believe Maverick - The Real John McCain

John McCain's health records must be released

2008-09-29T13:30:00.001-05:00

A crisis that could make the US election a cleaner contest by Johann Hari

2008-09-20T07:17:00.003-05:00

It's not long and it is a must read. This article, IMO, tells one all they need to know to make their decision on November 4.

Ever heard of the Teapot Dome scandal? I'm banking that anyone reading this wasn't alive back then, and like me, might have been fuzzy on what exactly the Teapot Dome scandal entailed. Well, this article is a nice little refresher course as to what exactly this scandal was about.

A crisis that could make the US election a cleaner contest

Can the collapse of Lehman Brothers ram a rare taste of reality into the campaign? The facts are plain. John McCain enthusiastically backed every one of George Bush's moves to deregulate the banks and the mortgage industry that caused this collapse, while Barack Obama opposed them. This isn't just a credit crunch; it's a conservatism crunch. The right got their dream of a totally unregulated "shadow" banking sector –and it swiftly imploded, bringing the world economy down with it.

Yet McCain's indignant promises to "close this casino" are being reported straight, without even bothering to look at this record – or noticing that he is cashing cheques from Wall Street lobbyists as fast as they can be written. They know their man: McCain's mantra even after this collapse began was: "I am always for less regulation." Indeed, McCain's current adverts saying he will not let the "recklessness" that led to Lehman Brothers' demise happen again are in part funded by left-over donations from... Lehman Brothers.

McCain knows his stances on the economy and foreign policy are opposed by 80 percent of the population as barely-trimmed Bush. So he needs to toss up a confetti of distraction-issues instead – and Palin was the biggest distraction of all. This attempt to run down the clock was working with slick efficiency until the stock exchange's opening bell started to sound like a death-knell. He is gathering fistfuls more of confetti as we speak.

The best key to unlocking these tactics may lie in a story that might seem at first glance a yellowing old scandal, but it is actually as fresh as tomorrow's Google News. By 1920, the oil age had revved into first gear. Cars were being bought all over America, so the petrol price was at an all-time high. The bosses of Big Oil were desperate for new oilfields – and there was one in particular they coveted. In Wyoming, there was a vast oilfield called the Teapot Dome reserve, shaped like a teapot and containing more oil than the whole of California. But the oilmen were shut out: it had been set aside to supply the navy with oil if there was ever a national emergency.

So Big Oil thought of a solution. They decided to buy the presidency. A consortium led by Jake Hamon – a JR Ewing for the Jazz Age – started to buy the delegates to the 1920 Republican Convention with brown-envelope bribes, one by one. Once they owned a hefty block, they approached the initial front-runner – General Leonard Wood – and said they would make him the Republican nominee if in return he promised to make Hamon Secretary of the Interior – and therefore boss of Teapot Dome. Wood yelled: "I am an American soldier. I'll be damned if I'll betray my country! Get the hell out of here."

So Big Oil picked a different candidate instead: an obscure, bumbling Senator called Warren G Harding, who had been a 40-1 shot at the start of the convention. He had barely been out of Ohio and had only fuzzy ideas about politics – but he could be marketed as Mr Normal, the 1920s equivalent of a hockey mom. Big Oil lavishly funded a PR campaign selling him to ordinary Americans as One of You. He was pictured at baseball games eating hot dogs with his sweet family – while his opponent was presented as arid and "elitist".

good grief

2008-09-08T21:22:00.003-05:00

If someone has truly made an informed decision and they honestly feel that McCain is the guy, these are not the people I'm speaking of. I may not understand your reason, like you don't understand mine, but I can certainly respect that like I would hope you would my choice.

Ya know, if someone uses Obama's skin color as their reason to not vote for him, I feel sad for them. Something as important as electing arguably one of the most, if not the most powerful person(s) in the world and they are letting petty insecurities get in their way of sitting down and truly taking a look at the issues, it is just incomprehensible to me. It says a lot about our nation as well. We place so much importance on fame, athletes, celebs, whatever instead of where that importance should be placed. Teachers, firefighters, policeman, military, nurses, doctors, and the list goes on- get far less of our attention as a whole. It is no wonder we (myself included) voted George Bush in for 2 terms and are now seriously considering voting for John McCain.

No wonder the rest of the world laughs at us and mocks us. We are chock full of idiots.

The web is full of articles from reputable sources. Instead of reading some fluff for 2 hours online, read something that informs for one of those hours.

Mavericks my ass

2008-09-08T17:38:00.001-05:00

John McShame and Bush in lipstick - mavericks. HA

Anyone who believes that will also believe that Ed McMahon just knocked on my front door and is headed to their house.

What more is there to say

2008-09-06T05:40:00.002-05:00

Jon Stewart, really, really, really phukin rocks

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=184111

Jon Stewart - I love that man

2008-09-04T20:54:00.003-05:00

I don't need to say a thing. The buffons that Jon is highlighting do it all

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=184086

CNN Cafferty: Palin vetting?

2008-09-03T10:26:00.001-05:00

hmmmmmmmmm

Former POW says McCain is

2008-09-03T09:51:00.001-05:00

as it says at the end of the vid, psssssst, do something

Just freakin weird

2008-08-30T21:55:00.002-05:00

Now yesterday, I was shocked. Today, while still shocked, my mind is in a complete whirl. Waiting for the punch line. My lack of trust in this current administration, McDuh included, makes me wonder what the ulterior motive is. I mean, they faked a letter to give them a reason to go to war in Iraq. Why wouldn't they do something like this. They've gotten away with every other damn thing. Or did McCain pull a maverick outta his hat and come up with this doozy on his own. If he did, it had to have been a last minute, knee-jerk reaction with absolutely ZERO thought. I mean, if reports are correct, he didn't even vet her!!!!! I can't find the link right now, but I'll find it and come back and post it.

makes the mind want to EXPLODE!

An Alaskan's view on Palin

2008-08-29T21:10:00.002-05:00

John McCain is 72. While not a single one of us is guaranteed tomorrow, let's face it, it is a very real possibility that he will not be around to finish out his term if (God forbid) he is elected. He has a responsibility to the country to choose someone who can step in and lead. Many had the argument that Obama doesn't have enough experience, so he shored that up with Biden. There is no question that Biden would be able to step in and run this country if need be.

What is McCain thinking? One Alaskans Perspective

An excerpt regarding "TrooperGate"

Here it is…what we in Alaska call “TrooperGate”.
Sarah Palin’s sister Molly married a guy named Mike Wooten who is an Alaska State Trooper. Mike and Molly had a rocky marriage. When the marriage broke up, there was a bitter custody fight that is still ongoing. During the custody investigation, all sorts of things were brought up about Wooten including the fact that he had illegally shot a moose (yes folks this is Alaska), driven drunk, and used a taser (on the test setting, he reminds us) on his 11-year old stepson, who supposedly had asked to see what it felt like. While Wooten has turned out to be a less than stellar figure, the fact that Palin’s father accompanied him on the infamous moose hunt, and that many of the dozens of charges brought up by the Palin family happened long before they were ever reported smacked of desperate custody fight. Wooten’s story is that he was basically stalked by the family.
After all this, Wooten was investigated and disciplined on two counts and allowed to kept his position with the troopers. Enter Walt Monegan, Palin’s appointed new chief of the Department of Public Safety and head of the troopers. Monegan was beloved by the troopers, did a bang-up job with minimal funding and suddenly got axed. Palin was out of town and Monegan got “offered another job” (aka fired) with no explanation to Alaskans. Pressure was put on the governor to give details, because rumors started to swirl around the fact that the highly respected Monegan was fired because he refused to fire the aforementioned Mike Wooten. Palin vehemently denied ever talking to Monegan or pressuring Monegan in any way to fire Wooten, or that anyone on her staff did. Over the weeks it has come out that not only was pressure applied, there were literally dozens of conversations in which pressure was applied to fire him. Monegan has testified to this fact, spurring an ongoing investigation by the Alaska state legislature. But, before this investigation got underway, Palin sent the Alaska State Attorney General out to do some investigative work of his own so she could find out in advance what the real investigation was going to find. (No, I’m not making this up). The AG interviewed several people, unbeknownst to the actual appointed investigator or the Legislature! Palin’s investigation of herself uncovered a recorded phone call retained by the Alaska State Troopers from Frank Bailey, a Palin underling, putting pressure on a trooper about the Wooten non-firing. Todd Palin (governor’s husband) even talked to Monegan himself in Palin’s office while she was away. Bailey is now on paid administrative leave.
As if this weren’t enough, Monegan’s appointed replacement Chuck Kopp, turns out to have been the center of his own little scandal. He received a letter of reprimand and was reassigned after sexual harrassment allegations by a former coworker who didn’t like all the unwanted kissing and hugging in the office. Was he vetted? Obviously not. When he was questioned about all this, his comment was that no one had asked him and he thought they all knew. Kopp, defiant, still claimed to have done nothing wrong and said to the press that there was no way he was stepping down from his new position. Twenty four hours later, he stepped down. Later it was uncovered that he received a $10,000 severance package for his two weeks on the job from Palin. Monegan got nothing.

Beware my fellow Obama-Biden supporters

2008-08-29T19:42:00.002-05:00

Scott Shrake has a good point people. We cannot take for granted that our country will pay enough attention to know this chick is not ready for this position. Complacency is the enemy 'my friends'

Palin '08 = Bush '00

Some time ago someone wrote this elegy for the last eight years (I'm paraphrasing): "Do you remember how you felt that first time you ever encountered George W. Bush, early in the 2000 campaign? Remember that feeling?"

I do. First, stunned. Then, my head cocked to one side, one eyebrow arched, I chuckle at the absurdity...

This can't be. THIS is who they're putting up to run? Have they heard him try to speak in public? It's so insulting to suggest that the country would elect this person.

Comparing the records of the presidential candidates and the one known VP

2008-08-27T16:45:00.004-05:00

Alright, what's your issue? Compare the voting records of Obama, Biden, and McCain. All this information came from Project Vote Smart. All figures are interest group ratings from 2007, except when those figures were not available, in those cases the ratings are from 2006 or 2005-2006.

Look at records, don't vote blindly. Inform yourself so you make a smart choice.

Here are the links to Project Vote Smart:

Senator Obama

Senator Biden

Senator McCain

Abortion Issues.

In 2007 NARAL Pro-Choice America gave Senator Obama a grade of 100.

In 2007 NARAL Pro-Choice America gave Senator Biden a grade of 75.

In 2007 NARAL Pro-Choice America gave Senator McCain a grade of 0

Animal Welfare

Senator Obama supported the interests of the The Humane Society of the United States 75 percent in 2007.

Senator Biden supported the interests of the The Humane Society of the United States 75 percent in 2007.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the The Humane Society of the United States 25 percent in 2007.

Civil Rights and Human Rights Issues

2007 American Civil Liberties Union gave Senator Obama a grade of 80.

2007 American Civil Liberties Union gave Senator Biden a grade of 75.

2007 American Civil Liberties Union gave Senator McCain a grade of 50.

Senator Obama supported the interests of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 85 percent in 2007

Senator Biden supported the interests of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 85 percent in 2007.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 15 percent in 2007.

Senator Obama supported the interests of the Human Rights Campaign 89 percent in 2005-2006

Senator Biden supported the interests of the Human Rights Campaign 78 percent in 2005-2006.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the Human Rights Campaign 33 percent in 2005-2006

Conservative Issues

Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Conservative Union 7 percent in 2007

Senator Biden supported the interests of the American Conservative Union 0 percent in 2007.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the American Conservative Union 80 percent in 2007.

Education Issues

2007 National Education Association gave Senator Obama a grade of A.

In 2007 National Education Association gave Senator Biden a grade of A.

2997 National Education Association gave Senator McCain a grade of F.

Senator Obama supported the interests of the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) 100 percent in 2007

Senator Biden supported the interests of the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) 100 percent in 2007.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) 0 percent in 2007.

Energy Issues

Senator Obama supported the interests of the Campaign for America's Future 100 percent in 2005-2006 on energy legislation.

Senator Biden supported the interests of the Campaign for America's Future 83 percent in 2005-2006 on energy legislation.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the Campaign for America's Future 17 percent in 2005-2006 on energy legislation.

Environmental Issues

2007 Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to League of Conservation Voters's position, Senator Obama received a rating of 67.

2007 Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to League of Conservation Voters's position, Senator Biden received a rating of 67.

2007 Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to League of Conservation Voters's position, Senator McCain received a rating of 0.

Family and Children Issues

2007 Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to Children's Defense Fund's position, Senator Obama received a rating of 60.

2007 Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to Children's Defense Fund's position, Senator Biden received a rating of 50.

2007 Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to Children's Defense Fund's position, Senator McCain received a rating of 10.

(The Family Research Council is an extremely right-wing organization founded and lead by Dr. James Dobson)

In 2007 Family Research Council gave Senator Obama a grade of 0.

In 2007 Family Research Council gave Senator Biden a grade of 0.

In 2007 Family Research Council gave Senator McCain a grade of 42.

Foreign Aid and Policy Issues

Senator Obama supported the interests of the Council for a Livable World 81 percent in 2007

Senator Biden supported the interests of the Council for a Livable World 77 percent in 2007.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the Council for a Livable World 0 percent in 2007.

Senator Obama supported the interests of the Peace Action West 100 percent in 2007.

Senator Biden supported the interests of the Peace Action West 86 percent in 2007.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the Peace Action West 0 percent in 2007.

Senator Obama supported the interests of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 83 percent in 2005-2006.

Senator Biden supported the interests of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 75 percent in 2005-2006.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 25 percent in 2005-2006

Health Issues

Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Academy of Family Physicians 100 percent in 2007.

Senator Biden supported the interests of the American Academy of Family Physicians 100 percent in 2007.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the American Academy of Family Physicians 0 percent in 2007.

Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Nurses Association 100 percent in 2005-2006.

Senator Biden supported the interests of the American Nurses Association 100 percent in 2005-2006.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the American Nurses Association 20 percent in 2005-2006.

Labor

Senator Obama supported the interests of the AFL-CIO 100 percent in 2007.

Senator Biden supported the interests of the AFL-CIO 100 percent in 2007

Senator McCain supported the interests of the AFL-CIO 0 percent in 2007.

Senator Obama supported the interests of the Service Employees International Union 75 percent in 2007.

Senator Biden supported the interests of the Service Employees International Union 83 percent in 2007.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the Service Employees International Union 8 percent in 2007.

Liberal

Senator Obama supported the interests of the Americans for Democratic Action 75 percent in 2007

Senator Biden supported the interests of the Americans for Democratic Action 75 percent in 2007.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the Americans for Democratic Action 10 percent in 2007.

Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Composite Liberal Score 95.5 percent in 2007.

Senator Biden supported the interests of the National Journal - Composite Liberal Score 94.2 percent in 2007.

Senator McCain supported the interests of the National Journal - Liberal on Social Policy 40 percent in 2007

Veterans Issues

2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 80 percent in 2006.

Senator Biden supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 75 percent in 2006.

2006 Senator McCain supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 20 percent in 2006.

2006 In 2006 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave Senator Obama a grade of B+.

In 2006 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave Senator Biden a grade of B+.

2006 In 2006 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave Senator McCain a grade of D.

Welfare and Poverty

"RESULTS is a nonprofit grassroots advocacy organization committed to creating the political will to end hunger and the worst aspects of poverty.”

Senator Obama supported the interests of the RESULTS 100 percent in 2005-2006

Senator Biden supported the interests of the RESULTS 100 percent in 2005-2006.

2Senator McCain supported the interests of the RESULTS 23 percent in 2005-2006

Women's Issues

Sen. Obama supported the interests of the National Organization for Women 91 percent in 2005-2006.

Senator Biden supported the interests of the National Organization for Women 91 percent in 2005-2006.

2005-2006 Senator McCain supported the interests of the National Organization for Women 13 percent in 2005-2006

MONTANA GOV SCHWEITZER STEALS SHOW: Blasts Bush,

2008-08-27T10:14:00.001-05:00

This is a really great speech. Montana, you done good electing this guy! I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for him in the near future

John McCain don't know so much

2008-08-25T20:16:00.001-05:00

Since McBush loves humor in ads, he should love this one.

Yes Jo, I really do suck

2008-08-24T07:10:00.002-05:00

But it's a good excuse. Between the election and the sexiest gentleman I know (not to mention quitting the job I didn't like, looking for a job, finding a job, and takin care of the kiddo....)

It's too early to get really deep, but maybe I'll get my shit in gear later today and pay homage with some musings. :)

Until then, a pic of the beeeeyoooootiful view I got to see everyday with said sexiest gentleman I know.

The front door (plus friend and sexy gentleman) of my friend's villa.

Lago Trasimeno (my friend, his wife, and the sexy gentleman)

John McCain on Gay Marriage

2008-08-24T06:59:00.001-05:00

I do suck. I've been fairly busy and just haven't had much time for the innerwebs. There's a whole lotta pollytics going on!!!! I'm going to TRY to be much better about getting here.

So Obama announced his pick for VP yesterday. I'm quite thrilled personally. I've got a lot of respect and admiration for Joe Biden. Biden is the real straight-talk express. McBush just pretends to want to be. People are worried that Biden's mouth might get him in trouble. I don't know why. I mean, the main stream media has certainly allowed John McCain to say all sorts of stupid idiotic stuff and not call him on it. Seems he can't open his mouth without a lie falling out. Biden merely has to speak the truth about the horridness that will come with 4 years of McBush.

So, this vid speaks to McCain's "straight-talk". Hopefully I'll get a chance to post some McBush lies or double-speak daily.

I know, I know

2008-07-21T21:30:00.001-05:00

I totally suck.

I still haven't finished posting about my trip.

Hoping to get back here tomorrow and do just that.

Jukebox John

2008-07-12T07:58:00.002-05:00

What a great name that is for the presumptive Republican nom who flops about more than a fish out of water.

Jukebox John changes his tune every few minutes

Now for your reading pleasure, the official list of McCain Flip-Flops. An astounding 61 in total thus far.

National Security Policy

1. McCain thought Bush’s warrantless-wiretap program circumvented the law; now he believes the opposite.

2. McCain insisted that everyone, even “terrible killers,” “the worst kind of scum of humanity,” and detainees at Guantanamo Bay, “deserve to have some adjudication of their cases,” even if that means “releasing some of them.” McCain now believes the opposite.

3. He opposed indefinite detention of terrorist suspects. When the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion, he called it “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.”

4. In February 2008, McCain reversed course on prohibiting waterboarding.

5. McCain was for closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay before he was against it.

6. When Barack Obama talked about going after terrorists in Pakistani mountains with predators, McCain criticized him for it. He’s since come to the opposite conclusion.

Foreign Policy

7. McCain was for kicking Russia out of the G8 before he was against it.

8. McCain supported moving “towards normalization of relations” with Cuba. Now he believes the opposite.

9. McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Hamas. Now he believes the opposite.

10. McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Syria. Now he believes the opposite.

11. McCain is both for and against a “rogue state rollback” as a focus of his foreign policy vision.

12. McCain used to champion the Law of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty’s behalf before a Senate committee. Now he opposes it.

13. McCain was against divestment from South Africa before he was for it.

Military Policy

14. McCain recently claimed that he was the “greatest critic” of Rumsfeld’s failed Iraq policy. In December 2003, McCain praised the same strategy as “a mission accomplished.” In March 2004, he said, “I’m confident we’re on the right course.” In December 2005, he said, “Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.”

15. McCain has changed his mind about a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq on multiple occasions, concluding, on multiple occasions, that a Korea-like presence is both a good and a bad idea.

16. McCain said before the war in Iraq, “We will win this conflict. We will win it easily.” Four years later, McCain said he knew all along that the war in Iraq war was “probably going to be long and hard and tough.”

17. McCain has repeatedly said it’s a dangerous mistake to tell the “enemy” when U.S. troops would be out of Iraq. In May, McCain announced that most American troops would be home from Iraq by 2013.

18. McCain was against expanding the GI Bill before he was for it.

Domestic Policy

19. McCain defended “privatizing” Social Security. Now he says he’s against privatization (though he actually still supports it.)

20. McCain wanted to change the Republican Party platform to protect abortion rights in cases of rape and incest. Now he doesn’t.

21. McCain supported storing spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now he believes the opposite.

22. He argued the NRA should not have a role in the Republican Party’s policy making. Now he believes the opposite.

23. In 1998, he championed raising cigarette taxes to fund programs to cut underage smoking, insisting that it would prevent illnesses and provide resources for public health programs. Now, McCain opposes a $0.61-per-pack tax increase, won’t commit to supporting a regulation bill he’s co-sponsoring, and has hired Philip Morris’ former lobbyist as his senior campaign adviser.

24. McCain is both for and against earmarks for Arizona.

25. McCain’s first mortgage plan was premised on the notion that homeowners facing foreclosure shouldn’t be “rewarded” for acting “irresponsibly.” His second mortgage plan took largely the opposite position.

26. McCain went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed.

27. McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it.

28. McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he’s pro-ethanol.

29. McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.

30. In 2005, McCain endorsed intelligent design creationism, a year later he said the opposite, and a few months after that, he was both for and against creationism at the same time.

Economic Policy

31. McCain was against Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthy before he was for them.

32. John McCain initially argued that economics is not an area of expertise for him, saying, “I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues; I still need to be educated,” and “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.” He now falsely denies ever having made these remarks and insists that he has a “very strong” understanding of economics.

33. McCain vowed, if elected, to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term. Soon after, he decided he would no longer even try to reach that goal. And soon after that, McCain abandoned his second position and went back to his first.

34. McCain said in 2005 that he opposed the tax cuts because they were “too tilted to the wealthy.” By 2007, he denied ever having said this, and falsely argued that he opposed the cuts because of increased government spending.

35. McCain thought the estate tax was perfectly fair. Now he believes the opposite.

36. McCain pledged in February 2008 that he would not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Specifically, McCain was asked if he is a “‘read my lips’ candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?” referring to George H.W. Bush’s 1988 pledge. “No new taxes,” McCain responded. Two weeks later, McCain said, “I’m not making a ‘read my lips’ statement, in that I will not raise taxes.”

37. McCain has changed his entire economic worldview on multiple occasions.

38. McCain believes Americans are both better and worse off economically than they were before Bush took office.

Energy Policy

39. McCain supported the moratorium on coastal drilling ; now he’s against it.

40. McCain recently announced his strong opposition to a windfall-tax on oil company profits. Three weeks earlier, he was perfectly comfortable with the idea.

41. McCain endorsed a cap-and-trade policy with a mandatory emissions cap. In mid-June, McCain announced he wants the caps to voluntary.

42. McCain explained his belief that a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax would provide an immediate economic stimulus. Shortly thereafter, he argued the exact opposite.

43. McCain supported the Lieberman/Warner legislation to combat global warming. Now he doesn’t.

Immigration Policy

44. McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants’ kids who graduate from high school. Now he’s against it.

45. On immigration policy in general, McCain announced in February 2008 that he would vote against his own bill.

46. In April, McCain promised voters that he would secure the borders “before proceeding to other reform measures.” Two months later, he abandoned his public pledge, pretended that he’d never made the promise in the first place, and vowed that a comprehensive immigration reform policy has always been, and would always be, his “top priority.”

Judicial Policy and the Rule of Law

47. McCain said he would “not impose a litmus test on any nominee.” He used to promise the opposite.

48. McCain believes the telecoms should be forced to explain their role in the administration’s warrantless surveillance program as a condition for retroactive immunity. He used to believe the opposite.

49. McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade to saying the exact opposite.

Campaign, Ethics, and Lobbying Reform

50. McCain supported his own lobbying-reform legislation from 1997. Now he doesn’t.

51. In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving “feedback” on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he opposes his own measure.

52. McCain supported a campaign-finance bill, which bore his name, on strengthening the public-financing system. In June 2007, he abandoned his own legislation.

Politics and Associations

53. McCain wanted political support from radical televangelist John Hagee. Now he doesn’t. (He also believes his endorsement from Hagee was both a good and bad idea.)

54. McCain wanted political support from radical televangelist Rod Parsley. Now he doesn’t.

55. McCain says he considered and did not consider joining John Kerry’s Democratic ticket in 2004.

56. McCain is both for and against attacking Barack Obama over his former pastor at his former church.

57. McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks.

58. In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.

59. McCain was against presidential candidates campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it.

60. McCain decided in 2000 that he didn’t want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he “would taint the image of the ‘Straight Talk Express.’” Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.

61. McCain believed powerful right-wing activist/lobbyist Grover Norquist was “corrupt, a shill for dictators, and (with just a dose of sarcasm) Jack Abramoff’s gay lover.” McCain now considers Norquist a key political ally.

And while I realize there are some who believe these constant flip-flops are irrelevant, I respectfully disagree.

A bit more about my trip

2008-07-10T18:35:00.002-05:00

First, I have some ladies I need to call out.

I want to say, Pearl, JoJo, and Eque your voices are missed on hot topics. We are having a good time, but y'all are seriously missed.

Let's talk about food! This isn't in any order, I'm just gonna talk about the pictures as they posted.

Yes ladies and germs, those are truffles and that is my friend's hand. These truffles had not been processed in any way as yet. They were delivered about an hour before our visit took place. Lucky us because this enabled us to see what happened with them after the delivery.

A huge wheel of Parmesan. Now, I know not all of us can afford to have an ginormous wheel just hanging around, but for those in the industry or those at home who do have the ginormous wheel hanging about, we would take the cooked pasta and dump it into the Parmesan bowl, stir it about and then serve. Quite tasty.

This is the outdoor pizza oven. It's handmade, not pre-fab. It was like porn to my friend and I. This is Cristiano's station during the outdoor wedding stuff.

Now you get to meet Cristiano. Very nice guy. He said that somewhere on YouTube there is a video of him doing karaoke of Renato Zero. He spoke some English, more than we did Italian. He wanted to come back with us to the states. The girl is Cristina. Very nice, but very controlling. Either she thought our Italian speaking skills directly correlated to our cooking skills, or she was afraid she would get the blame if we screwed something up. Her name was constantly being screamed. Cristina where is...Cristina do... Very sweet girl though.

Here is Igor the chef with Cristiano. Igor spoke less English than did Cristiano, but it sure made for an interesting time. A whole lot of hand gestures and sounds, but a lot of trading as well. Come si dice and Come dite xxx in Italiano. He got more aggravated with my friend since my friend is used to hearing 'what do you want me to do now chef' so he is used to being the master, not the visitor.

This is something I will never understand. The region I was in had this odd affinity for hot dogs. Not with chili, cheese, mustard and onions (or however you make them). Nope, here you have some appetizers topped with hot dogs and olives. They also make pizza with hot dogs on them. To each his own. The guests liked them though, so that's all that matters.

This is Marco. Very sweet guy. He spoke the most English, so there was a lot of 'MARCO' going on. What was so funny, was the first time I heard them scream for him, being the smartass I am (and my friend-it was simultaneous) we hollered back 'POLO'. Apparently that is fairly universal as everyone in the kitchen had a laugh.

This is the fish counter at the local Conad store. Ok, my friend and I are totally juvenile because every time we drove past a Conad store, we giggled and said under our breath, gonads. Anyway, the fish counter was awesome. Actually, the fish counter at most of the markets we went to was awesome. Don't know if you can see it, but that's a whole freakin swordfish. SWEET

An action shot of my friend. He was manning the grill. A huge piece of Ahi tuna and then some mortadella. Now, he and I don't eat cooked tuna. If we do, it's been lightly seared. The people at this wedding, not so much. They were horrified at first. It killed him to cook it so much, but what ya gonna do.

This was at a supermarket. I forget the name of the market, but would you get a load of that hunk of mortadella. It was 12' long and weighed in at 2,300 pounds. It was quite tasty too.

Fresh pasta. Perhaps they have companies doing this in the US, but I don't personally know of any, so it was way cool to me. The restaurant has a fresh pasta supplier. The pasta was brought in a couple of hours before it was needed. They brought raviolis (various stuffings), spaghetti, rigatoni, farfalle, you name it, was was brought in. Too damned cool

Now, I don't have any pictures of the pizza, but it was certainly to die for. I don't usually like thin crust, at least not American style thin crust. This was wafer thin, crisp as could be, and of course, cooked in a huge pizza oven that was powered by wood. It's not the one in the picture above, this was inside the restaurant. It was probably 8 or 9 feet deep, if not more. Tomato sauce was used, but the pizza wasn't drowned in sauce like it is here. If pizza around here was like this, I'd actually eat pizza more than once in a blue moon.

Overall, this region goes for simplicity. You aren't hit smack in the face with basil, oregano, marjoram, garlic, onion, etc. The typical dish had either onion or garlic, but not both. A little chiffonade of basil and that was it, well, except for the salt and pepper. It was very different than I expected, but still wonderful.

Torte al testo. I can't say enough about this tasty little sandwich. It's kind of a thick flat bread, slice it to where you can stuff it, then shove prosciutto and cheese inside. Put on the griddle, flat top, skillet, or whatever and heat until the cheese is melty. Addicted is a good word. They did many other tortes. At a festival we went to one night, I had one that was stuffed with Italian sausage and collard greens. Bliss.

Semi-freddo made with Baci candy. Gelato made with Baci. Baci period. It's a creamy dark chocolate with a hazelnut center. YUMMMM. The word Baci means kiss.

Ok, so, I guess that's it for now. I'll post more in the coming days. After my trip though, I'm really having to force myself to be on the computer for more than 30 minutes or so. One can live without the computer for two weeks and live to tell the tale.

Took me long enough

2008-07-08T07:03:00.009-05:00

Ok, I'm finally ready to blog.

My trip was fantastic. I've been home now since Friday night. Getting back into the groove here. It's taking a lot of my energy to do that. I know, it sounds silly, but I'm having a lot of internal fights with myself. After 2 weeks there, I know that is where I belong.

The natural beauty is just amazing. Coming back to my flatland just isn't the same. The history that surrounded me was so hard to wrap my brain around. I was staying in a place that is over 1000 years old. The wall surrounding the city was built before Christ walked the earth by the Etruscans. Walking the streets that St. Francis walked is chilling and calming at the same time. I was in a constant state of wow. Every morning, stepping outside and seeing this:

When I was ready for a cappuccino in the morning or a drink at night, I'd sit here, under the umbrellas. Half the town would congregate here. Having a gelato, caffe, panini, or drink.

Sitting in front of The Palazzetto Del Podesta where the coffee bar is located, we would be looking at San Crispolto church and the fountain. Our residence was located next door and to the left of San Crispolto church. San Crispolto (or Crispolito) is the Patron Saint of Bettona.

It was really interesting how so many would gather at the Palazzetto to sit and chat. Everyone would be there, discussing the days events. Sometimes there were other tourists there, you could hear them speaking in French or German, but the rarity was someone speaking English. Then one night sitting at the caffe, my companion had gone inside to get us another drink and this older gentleman commented to me 'lovely night we are having here'. It was a very thick Scottish brogue and a bit hard to understand, but after only hearing my companions voice in English, it was a wonderful sound. I wish I would have taken a picture of Mario. He was born in Bettona and full-blooded Italian, but for whatever reason, he moved to Scotland at a very young age. He was back in Bettona to visit his sister and brother-in-law. You could tell he was missing the English language as well. He loved to sit with us and chat. He was at least 80, walked with a cane, and had had a couple of strokes over the last few years.

As our day was over, this is the door we would go through to get to our apartment. The door is the front door of my friend's home. You may not be into that type of stuff, but the craftmanship was just beautiful. The two women are Ola on the left (our hostess) and her neighbor lady, never did catch her name.

The last thing we would see at night before bed (well, night is relative, it was typically early morning)

So, in the next few days, I'll post some more photos and tell about those.

While there, I really missed ice and A/C. Now that I'm home, ice and A/C really aren't that big of a deal.

Finally home

2008-07-05T06:34:00.003-05:00

We returned home on July 4. We left June 19. To say I'm exhausted would be an understatement. I will be posting pics and talking about our trip, but it will likely be a couple of days. I head out in a few to get my daughter from camp and then I'll have all of her washing plus mine; not to mention recovering from the jet lag.

nice to be home, but wishing I was back in Italy.

Ok, I have to put up some pictures, so here is a teaser.

The beautiful view from the balcony of our apartment.

This view is from Cinque Cerre, a street in Bettona. It is about 1.5 miles further up the mountain our village is located on.

Brogal Vini vineyards. Absolutely gorgeous.

It's FINALLY here

2008-06-19T06:13:00.004-05:00

Today is the day.

In 29 hours, I'll be landing in Rome. My plane leaves in 10 hours. I cannot wait. Land of espresso, art, Renaissance, and architecture, here I come.

I must finish packing, not much. Have to pack shampoo, toothpaste, etc, but not until I've had my shower this morning.

I'll return July 4 and will hopefully have a ton of photos to post.

ciao

He Said It First

2008-06-18T12:27:00.001-05:00

Yeah, that's who I want running the country. Old news or not, it's still newsworthy to me.

Oil, Gas, and Futures

2008-06-18T11:27:00.002-05:00

So, you wondering why it costs so much to fill-up lately?

Ice, Ice, Baby

This from page 1 of the Executive Summary of that Senate investigation, there is this one troubling line: "Today, U.S. oil inventories are at an eight-year high, and OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) oil inventories are at a 20-year high."
That’s odd because, in 2006, just like today, the media reporting covered the serious international shortage of oil and justified oil’s high price. Even more troubling is that the House of Representatives held a hearing this past December, ominously titled "Energy Speculation and Price Manipulation." How did it pass under the radar that both the Senate and the House studied the issue of price manipulation in our energy markets and both concluded that it was unregulated, massive trading in one futures market that was really driving up the price of oil and natural gas? And given that conclusion, why has Congress done nothing about it?

{snip}

A week ago Goldman Sachs issued a new investor note, suggesting that somewhere between six months to two years, the price of oil could go into a "super spike" and prices jump as high as $200 per barrel. It became the major story of the night. Ignored in the reporting frenzy was that many legitimate and well-respected oil analysts dismissed Goldman Sachs’ prediction as groundless.

Get ready for the next shock to your system. In the past month we have added 11.9 million barrels of oil into our stock reserves, giving us 32.3 million more barrels of oil than we had on hand January 1. On May 5, we found out that for the second time in as many years, Iran was storing its excess crude oil on tankers in the Persian Gulf, because it had run out of storage space in the desert and was awaiting buyers for its heavy crude. That same day Saudi Arabia cut the discount price for its Arabian Heavy crude to $7.45, hoping to entice more buyers for immediate delivery. We didn’t hear that news, either.

{snip}

It’s amazing how quickly we forget our recent history. Congressional hearings in 2001, blasting certain Wall Street executives for using the media to sell the public on stocks in order to bid up the price – so their firm could divest of its shares without taking a beating. Meanwhile, other trusted advisors pushed stocks that were fundamentally worthless, because their affiliated banks had large loan agreements with those companies.

The year before Enron had been caught manipulating the California energy market, even forcing rolling blackouts across the northern part of their state apparently just for effect – to support their claim that there just wasn’t enough electricity to go around. Again, we now know that claim was untrue. It was Enron shutting down certain power generation plants, while placing bets on their unregulated energy futures market. The net cost to California consumers was almost $8 billion.

Ice, Ice, Baby - The Conclusion

Record high prices without record low oil inventories, analysts saying that so much money flows into oil commodities that it gives the impression of shortages, when in fact no shortage exists. That mirrors the situation in the commodities market for food, as Bloomberg pointed out in its April 28 article, "Wall Street Grain Hoarding Brings Farmers, Consumers Near Ruin": "Commodity investors control more U.S. crops than ever before, competing with governments and consumers for dwindling food supplies." That’s right; food, oil and gasoline have become an "asset class." No longer are you fighting a neighbor at the supermarket over the last box of Cheerios®; now you’re fighting the futures traders, who are actually determining what you will pay for that cereal.

We started as a society that worships hard labor and the basic business ethic of building value into the goods you create. How’d we get from there to worshiping Wall Street’s billion-dollar boys — who create nothing, build nothing, own nothing and deliver no goods, and yet can throw so much money into products made by others that they determine what we consumers will pay for those goods?

It wasn’t always this way.

In the past, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission acted as the cop on the beat, ensuring that buyers in the market were not distorting or manipulating prices beyond what supply and demand normally dictate. Certainly, if a hard frost hit Florida and cost growers an orange crop, then bidding up the price of the remaining oranges was both a wise investment and allowed under the trading rules. Right now investors know that if they borrow and invest huge amounts in commodities futures, they can create a shortage on paper – which drives prices up just like an actual shortage of any given product would. What kept traders from cornering the market that way in the past were the government’s anti-manipulation rules.

{snip}

The late, infamous Enron head, Ken Lay, realized in the eighties that he could make more money bidding up energy in the futures market than by actually creating and selling energy. But, under then-current rules, how much you could make swapping paper was limited. Fortuitously, Lay had excellent Texas political connections; and in November of 1992, the head of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission moved to exempt energy-derivative contracts and related swaps from any government oversight.

A vote was hurriedly put together before the Clinton White House would take over, and so Lay could finally start "dark" – unregulated – futures trading. The head of the CFTC was Wendy Gramm, wife of Texas Senator Phil Gramm; five weeks after she left, she became a board member of Enron in Houston.

Fast-forward to late 2000 and H.R. 5660, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, sponsored by Republican Congressman Thomas Ewing of Illinois. That bill went nowhere, even though Tom Delay’s wife Christine was then working for a Washington lobbying firm, Alexander Strategies – which Enron had paid $200,000 to push through legislation for permanent energy deregulation in these "dark" markets.

Six months later came Senate Bill 3283, also named the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. This time around the sponsor was Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, and now Phil Gramm was listed as one of the bill’s co-sponsors. Like it had in the House, this bill was destined to go nowhere until, late one night, it was attached as a rider to an 11,000-page appropriations bill – which was signed into law by President Clinton.

Now traders had an officially deregulated market for energy futures. Worse, that bill also deregulated many financial instruments – including the collateralized debt obligations that are at the center of today’s mortgage crisis, which may well cost us more than $1 trillion before it’s over.

John McCain Debates Himself on Supporting Bush

2008-06-17T17:46:00.001-05:00

So Mr. McCain, do you happen to know which way is up?

Interesting site I stumbled across this morning

2008-06-17T11:47:00.003-05:00

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

I'm still checking it out, but it is quite interesting thus far.

First, 538 is the number of electors in the electoral college.

Now, from the site's FAQ:

How is this site different from other compilations of polls like Real Clear Politics?

There are several ways that the FiveThityEight methodology differs from other poll compilations. Firstly, we assign each poll a weighting based on that pollster's historical track record, the poll's sample size, and the recentness of the poll. More reliable polls are weighted more heavily in our averages. Secondly, we include a regression estimate based on the demograhics in each state among our 'polls', which helps to account for outlier polls and to stabilize the results. Thirdly, we simulate the election 10,000 times for each site update in order to provide a probabilistic assessment of electoral outcomes.

More interesting information on the man who wants to be president

2008-06-16T22:43:00.001-05:00

McCain's Secret, Questionable Record

The New York Times' front-page story about McCain declining promotion to admiral lacks credibility for other reasons as well. For example, McCain had been promoted to captain on August 1, 1979, so he wouldn't have been due for another promotion by March of 1981.

Retired Admiral Peter Booth, who was promoted to rear admiral in 1981, flatly disputes Lehman's claim about McCain. "No, John McCain was not selected for flag rank, for admiral. With all due respect, I think I was selected that same year, and I have never heard anything even remotely like that. To begin with, John Lehman did not select Navy flag officers. That was done with a very august selection board headed by a four-star admiral. The Secretary of the Navy does not appoint. He is in the approval chain, but he is not on the committee.

"I have never heard a story, even remotely, that John McCain was going to be a flag officer. I was early selected for captain, in 1976, and I was regular selected for admiral in 1981. So it's probably five or six years, I guess. I've never heard of anybody being selected for flag rank within three or four years of making captain, ever."

{snip}

Is McCain now getting away with more by hiding his official history and by having his national security adviser inflate McCain's resume with a bogus promotion to admiral humbly declined? If so, McCain may be attempting to hide why the Navy was in fact slow to promote him upwards despite his suffering as a POW and his distinguished naval heritage.

One possible reason: After McCain had returned from Vietnam as a war hero and was physically rehabilitated, he was urged by his medical caretakers and military colleagues never to fly again. But McCain insisted on going up. As Carl Bernstein reported in Vanity Fair, he piloted an ultra-light, single propeller plane -- and crashed another time. His fifth loss of a plane has vanished from public records, but should be a subject of discussion in his Navy file. It wouldn't be surprising if his naval superiors worried that McCain was just too defiant, too reckless and too crash prone.

Regardless, McCain owes it to the country to release his complete naval records so that American voters can see his documented history and make an informed decision.

Interesting scenario

2008-06-16T08:31:00.002-05:00

When McCain Drops Out

When the Republicans choose their candidate on September 4th, there is a very real chance that they could throw the election into an unexpected chaos as they pull a genuine September Surprise.

I think there is every reason to believe John McCain won't be the nominee. Ok, let me say that again. McCain will not be the Republican candidate in November.

{snip}

The reasons are simple. He can't win. Now that Obama is the presumptive Democratic nominee -- the polls all show that McCain's pro-war stance and Bush endorsement make him a lost cause in November. That combined with soft stand on litmus test conservative issues make him an unpopular candidate among the base. I know some Democrats that think the Republicans are planning to let McCain lose and 'sit this one out' so that they can hang the democrats with a bad economy and a war that is a morass. But that just isn't how they play. They play to win every hand -- think about 2000 with a popular Democratic president and good economy and a solid VP running for president. Why did they put up Bush? And why did they fight so hard? Because, you don't ever throw a game. And they're not going to throw this one.

I cannot believe it

2008-06-14T09:48:00.002-05:00

First, I must say, rest in peace Tim Russert. You were one of the best, if not the best. I cannot imagine the run up to November without your input and insights. Your smile and obvious zest for life was infectious. The tributes from your colleagues have been touching and heart warming, giving those of us a look into your life and the Tim Russert we didn't know.

It's almost time. I leave for Italy in just 5 days and 6 hours. I don't really have a whole lot to say that isn't political or about Italy and this wasn't going to be a political post but I did want to do something since I've been so lack in blogging. So, here's some more pictures of places I will get to see.

on this last one, that blue in the distance is the Adriatic Sea. I think that's the bluest blue I've ever seen when it comes to water. I cannot wait to step into that!!!!

John McCain... Electable?

2008-06-10T17:59:00.001-05:00

Our nation and the world cannot deal with 4 years of McCain.

Watch this video. It's only 8 minutes long and it gives you some insight into McCain.

So you don't like Obama. Please look into Bob Barr, Ron Paul, or anyone but McCain.

McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare

2008-05-30T19:23:00.001-05:00

Come on and climb aboard the straight talk express

a must read (and a good one too)

2008-05-25T18:07:00.002-05:00

I wasn't a fan of the Clinton's the first go around, but outside of that, Chez Pazienza says it all for me.

The World I Knew: Why It's Time for Hillary Clinton To Go

The sad irony that in my eyes -- the eyes of someone for whom the Clintons once represented a stand against politics-as-usual -- Hillary Clinton has become the very thing she purported to stand against so many years ago certainly isn't lost on me. The fact that the Clintons' notorious narcissism and sense of entitlement has reached such a level of insurmountability that Mrs. Clinton can assail not simply her opponent but the Kennedy-esque legacy of hope she believes he represents is repugnant in ways I'm not sure I can properly express. I knew Hillary Clinton could be a political monster when she deemed it necessary; I had no idea she could allow herself to become Grendel -- forfeiting her principles so handily that those of us who once believed in her and her husband's future for the country are now left to wonder whether there were ever principles there at all.

WooHoo

2008-05-19T19:17:00.002-05:00

Another piece of my trip has fallen into place. I was passportless. I had the tickets bought before getting a passport. I went last Wednesday, paid $160, and my passport arrived in the mail today.

I had asked my friend in Italy what types of clothing I should be bringing. OH, casual he said. Problem of course, casual to an Italian is totally different from casual to an American. I started reading online in regards to etiquette, etc, and I guess I need to go shopping. We are to meet some important people there and while he said casual, I just don't see tennis shoes, jeans, and a Hanes t-shirt after what I had read.

I hate to shop for clothes. I really do. If I'm not in need of anything, I will find all sorts of stuff to buy. However, if I'm on a mission, I'm not gonna find shit. I was really hoping to fit everything in one suitcase and have an empty one to fill up with stuff I purchase in Italy. Looks like I'll have to fit the stuff I buy in with the clothes I bring. :(

Nothing else really going on. Still can't stand my job and the hours, but, it's providing me with the money I'm gonna be spending, so what ya gonna do.

Tickets bought

2008-05-13T20:35:00.002-05:00

One more step completed for the trip to Italia.

We purchased tickets today. So, here are some places I will be visiting:

Perugia

Assisi

Spoleto

Oriveto

Roma

To say I'm stoked is a complete understatement

Something important

2008-05-10T04:50:00.002-05:00

Orphaned Work

Mark Simon:Mind Your Business

"Currently, you don't have to register your artwork to own the copyright. You own a copyright as soon as you create something. International law also supports this. Right now, registration allows you to sue for damages, in addition to fair value.

What makes me so MAD about this new legislation is that it legalizes THEFT! The only people who benefit from this are those who want to make use of our creative works without paying for them and large companies who will run the new private copyright registries.

These registries are companies that you would be forced to pay in order to register every single image, photo, sketch or creative work.

It is currently against international law to coerce people to register their work for copyright because there are so many inherent problems with it. But because big business can push through laws in the United States, our country is about to break with the rest of the world, again, and take your rights away.

With the tens of millions of photos and pieces of artwork created each year, the bounty for forcing everyone to pay a registration fee would be enormous. We lose our rights and our creations, and someone else makes money at our expense.

This includes every sketch, painting, photo, sculpture, drawing, video, song and every other type of creative endeavor. All of it is at risk!

If the Orphan Works legislation passes, you and I and all creatives will lose virtually all the rights to not only our future work but to everything we've created over the past 34 years, unless we register it with the new, untested and privately run (by the friends and cronies of the U.S. government) registries. Even then, there is no guarantee that someone wishing to steal your personal creations won't successfully call your work an orphan work, and then legally use it for free.

In short, if Congress passes this law, YOU WILL LOSE THE RIGHT TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR OWN CREATIONS!"

Do all of us a favor (by all of us, I'm talking about your children, your grandchildren, your future children and grandchildren, people you know, people you don't know) and let your representatives know this is a bunch of crap.

Online Petition

Assistance in creating a letter to your representatives

Government Site on Copyrights

how weird is this

2008-05-06T03:06:00.002-05:00

For the last several days, I've not been able to log into blogspot. I try and it tells me that Java is disabled, but Java isn't disabled. Everything I tried failed. Today (night, morning, whatever it is), same thing, only this time by clicking on the little orange symbol thingy it let me in. Go freaking figure.

I've been annoyed by that and was surprised it allowed me in just now. I've got nothing to say though cause I really wasn't expecting it. Kind of like when you call someone and you always get their voicemail and they happen to answer and it throws you off and you give them a 'ohhh, I didn't expect you to answer' and they respond with a 'well why the phuk did ya call'.

So, I'll just say 44 days and counting down.

Dadgummit

2008-04-27T07:55:00.002-05:00

I came here to post about something specific. I'm gonna end up posting about something totally different.

My niece stayed the night. For some reason, my sister left the dog too. Ordinarily this would not be a bad thing, as our dog loves to play with her dog. HOWEVER, my eldest is here recovering from surgery and along with her is her cat. It took some time for our dog and the cat to get along. Sister says before leaving, ohhh, my dog will be fine where the cat is concerned. WRONG. As soon as she was gone, her dog began chasing the cat, trying to EAT the cat. Poor kitty is going to need kitty tranquilizers.

When sister came to bring eldest niece, she of course brought her two youngest with her. The cat has gotten used to us, but kitty does not like little children. Their 3 hour long visit was about 2 hours, 59 minutes too long for poor kitty. Then to leave the dog too. I had to put kitty, kitty litter box, kitty water and food in one room and shut the door. I put both dogs out this morning and let kitty out. He was still so scared, he just sat in the doorway forever.

So, just now, I step outside to drink my coffee, listen to the birdies waking up, can't watch the squirrels running about as they are avoiding the yard with 2 dogs roaming about, and read the paper. Kitty jumps in the window to look out and sister's dog tries to eat kitty through the window. I could hear him hissing form the other side.

I cannot wait for this visit to end!!!!!

Greed Sucks

2008-04-24T19:31:00.003-05:00

So there's a global food crisis and it boils down to this:

A commodities dealer named Christoph Eibl soberly concludes that financial managers just want to "benefit from the scarcity of these commodities."

So disgusting. People in the world are going hungry so people like hedge fund manager Dwight Anderson can get rich.

From the standpoint of these investors, poor harvests that drive up prices are only good for their portfolios. Many investors either don't care or are simply oblivious to the fact that by investing in the global casino, they could be gambling away the daily food supply of the world's poorest people.

You can read the article here and find links to more on the subject.

so there was the pink elephant

2008-04-22T19:41:00.003-05:00

Nothing to do with pink elephants, I just didn't know what I wanted to title this post.

I'm trying to get back in the habit of posting a blog. I really have nothing to say other than I hope PA rocked the vote for Obama.

That and I'm freakin tired. Have I mentioned I don't like getting up at 3am?

that's all

Well, you coulda knocked me over

2008-04-21T20:26:00.002-05:00

I've never much cared for Michael Moore, but his blog today is something I totally agree with.

Go figure. He supports Obama, but it isn't just that he supports Obama, it's what he has to say.

ugggghhhh

2008-04-21T16:08:00.002-05:00

I really do NOT like waking at 3am. I much prefer going to bed at 3am.

So, tomorrow is the big day in PA for the Democrats. I'm still very much an Obamacan so you know how I hope the folks in PA lean. I'm really just ready for it to be over. Then we can begin concentrating on November.

I do not want McCain in there. I firmly believe that would be like Bush III.

Ack, I'm so freakin tired, I am having a difficult time formulating coherent thoughts that make it from my mind to my fingers to of course here. I want a nap, but if I took a nap, I'd never sleep tonight.

bitch, bitch, bitch, and bitch some more.

I'm done whining now.

If all goes as planned

2008-04-20T10:56:00.005-05:00

I should be winging my way to Rome in about 2 months. My dear friends have extended the invitation to stay with them at their villa and the best part is my best friend in the entire world will be there with me.

Bettona

A view of Bettona

And here is another view of Bettona, sitting atop the hill:

Bettona is in the Perugia, Umbria. Umbria is in Central Italy and is a land locked area. It is known as 'The Green Heart of Italy". Perugia

Umbria-Wiki link
Welcome to Umbria

One great things about visiting is that I will be near my favorite olive oil, coffee, and porcelain. All located within this region and my dear friends are friends with these people. I have links to each of these here on my blog. Capoccetti Coffee, Cufrol Olive Oil, and porcelain in Deruta.

Another great thing is of course the historical aspect. I am such a history geek it is not EVEN funny. I know that when our plane lands in Roma, I will likely cry. Not boohoo sobbing, but tears that I am finally in the land I have wanted to be in for longer than I can remember. I could so picture myself calling my mom and telling her to go about procuring a passport for my youngest as I am not returning.

A third great thing is that we have both been invited to work with others in our industry and learn the true Italian way, not the Americanized version of Italian. I hope I'm not jinxing anything by posting, but I am so excited that I am finding it quite difficult to contain.

The villa I will be staying at in Bettona is over 1100 years old. To be able to touch, see, smell, history in this way, well, it is indescribable. I'm not Catholic, but to be RIGHTTHERE, the Vatican, St. Peters Square, the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps. The archaeologoical importance is mind boggling. Crap, I'm tearing up thinking about it all.

To be so close and be able to visit Pompeii, HOLYCRAP.

The markets, the restaurants, the pastries, the cheese, the truffles, the coffee-Ohhhhh the coffee, the meats.

I just cannot wait. I have always felt I was born in the wrong place and should have been born in Italia. But perhaps if I was born an Italian, I wouldn't have the appreciation I have for it, much like I probably do not have the true appreciation for where I live.

Just lil ol' me again

2008-04-20T09:04:00.002-05:00

I'm trying to get back in the habit of coming here to post, even if it's just some stuff like this. I may not be grammatically correct, but you'll get over it.

These ramblings are coffee induced.

1. I'm going to miss visiting Gumbo YaYa daily.
2. What I'm really going to miss: The people that choose not to join up elsewhere.
3. The women who make me think through their own intelligence and wisdom, not to mention their humor. I'm not sure who else doesn't plan to make the move to our new digs, but JoJo, Pearl, and Sunshine - I'm really going to miss you ladies and I hope you each reconsider.
4. You've each made my life richer and I love you.
5. Those that are making the move to the new digs, I'm so glad. I would be lost without you all. There are certainly too many of you all to even name. But like those who aren't coming along for the ride, I love you all too.
6. Each and everyone of you are the sisters I have chosen.
7. JoJo, you know the political discussions are gonna get fun come August.
8. MWAH to you all!!!

Wow

2008-04-19T09:27:00.003-05:00

I've been really bad about keeping this thing updated. I keep telling myself I'm going to be better, but my schedule has been so erratic for so long that it's hard.

Hopefully now that I have a permanent job, I will get on a schedule. I'll have to. Gotta be up at 3am to be at work by 5am. I get off at 2pm, but when you are used to going to bed at 3am and now have to get up at that time, it really phuks with your system.

I've spent an inordinate amount of time of late with my dear friends from Italy. They decided to return to Italy and just fly back when business requires. Sucks for me as I do so love spending time with them. I was finally able to introduce them to my bestest friend, SB, and they love him as much as I do and vice-versa, he loves them as much as I do. That rocks my socks. These people had become my surrogate brother and sister and they feel the same way towards him. My intention was to go visit them in June and they invited SB to come as well. I love that part. Now when I go, my barely Italian speaking self will have another American along. He's as much into history as I am and we like so much of the same stuff. It will make it nice because we will likely want to see most of the same things.

I'm hoping that after a week or so of this new schedule, I'll be used to the weird sleep times (well, weird for me) and my brain will function as it should.

Another thing that has taken up a lot of my time of late. My favorite place to hang my hat on the web is closing down. Some will understand, others won't. These women (and 5 men) have been a huge part of my life. We have been with one another (me almost 6 years, some of them for 10 years) through marriages, divorces, pregnancies, births, deaths, graduations, new jobs, losing jobs, and everything in between. The site was (still is until 21 April) hosted by Harper Collins for the author Rebecca Wells. In their short-sightedness, they have chosen to pull the plug. I guess we aren't in the target demographic-women who love to read and buy books. Oh wait, that's who we are. I thank them for all the years they've given, but they've shown they are nothing more than a cold-hearted corporation in the end. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything different. They can still kiss my lily white ass.

Luckily for us, some others have stepped up and started groups where we can still be together. Many have become best friends, travelling to meet each other and the bonds that have been forged were all made possible by the web. Lord knows I would have never found a sister-at-heart in a woman in small town Arizona (whom I've never even met) without this place. Yeah, I'm rambling, but you get the picture. I've enjoyed the last few years with these ladies (and 5 men). They've helped me learn and grow in ways I don't believe would have ever been possible, or it would have taken much longer than what it has. They are the sisters I've chosen to have in my life. Thank goodness most have decided to continue with a new spot.

I'm out for now. Hoping to return somewhat soon, but I won't make promises this time.

coming to a blog near you

2008-04-01T00:15:00.002-05:00

that's right. I've been super busy and a blog was the last thing on my mind. A friend mentioned over the weekend that I hadn't updated in quite some time, reminding me it's been some time.

so, I'm going to get back into the groove of doing this.

The Clintonian Narcissism of 2008

2008-03-12T22:25:00.002-05:00

Ya know, I need to quit going to other sites. I have in mind what I wish to say, but then I stumble across someone who has said it far more eloquently than I ever could.

Character as Destiny

At the heart of how to repair a nation -- there is one essential ingredient to examine; and that, of course, is character. Over the next six weeks until Pennsylvania, we must think about that; the character of our leaders, of our nation. Because as Heraclites stated with total clarity -- character IS destiny.

So magnanimous of Billary

2008-03-10T22:40:00.002-05:00

So, Obama is ahead in pledged and superdelegate counts. Obama with 1595 and Clinton with 1484. Yet Billary is extending the offer for Obama to be HER running mate?

Ummm, hello. Are you living in George's fantasy land too?

So, Obama is not ready to be CIC according to Billary, then why ask him to be VP?

You can't have it both ways Hillary.

Will Thomas has it all right here for you.

Obama: If I'm Not Ready, Why Suggest Vice Presidency?

Obama says it best.

"They are trying to hoodwink you."

McClinton

2008-03-10T21:32:00.002-05:00

Nice piece by Paul Abrams. I quoted my favorite part below the link.

"McClinton" (The Empire Strikes Back) vs. Obama (Bill Foster Provides A Glimpse of an Obama Presidency)

The Clinton campaign has flailed about looking for a message, a slogan, a reason for her candidacy. "Experience", "Change", "Experience to Bring Change", "Solutions", "Ready to Lead", almost every week there is a different slogan. But, the real message of "experience"is that she -- like McCain -- is part of the establishment and will defend it. That is what her alignment with McCain is all about.
Who takes more lobbyist money than any other candidate, Republican or Democrat? Hillary. Who has more lobbyists in positions of power in the campaign? McCain. Who defended paid lobbyists? Hillary (at the YearlyKos convention). Get the picture?
Here is the establishment's game: once Barack is out of the way, the battle is between two different parts of the establishment, two overlapping groups that, while they fight for ultimate power, are never very far out of it even when the other faction takes over. It is musical chairs where there are as many chairs as people.

Bill Maher and Terry McAuliffe

2008-03-10T21:04:00.003-05:00

I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with Bill Maher

Hillary Uncensored

2008-03-09T21:39:00.005-05:00

An interesting video. Watch it here or go to the link

Hillary Uncensored

Jane Smiley, I give you a standing ovation

2008-03-09T21:08:00.003-05:00

I do believe that Jane Smiley has hit a home-run with this. The highlighted paragraph below is dare I say, poetry.

I'm Already Against the Next War

Some weeks ago, I wrote a Huff post about a remark Bill Clinton made, that if Hillary became the nominee, the presidential campaign would be exceptionally "polite". We now see that he wasn't joking. Both Clintons are in favor of the status quo, and will fight tooth and nail to maintain it. They are surrounded by advisors who both literally and figuratively are married to the Republicans. They are, indeed, now part of the "vast right wing conspiracy".

10 Questions for Hillary Supporters

2008-03-09T10:59:00.000-05:00

These are questions I have too. Go on, click that link.

10 Questions for Hillary Supporters

Daschle Suggests Clinton Aide Should Resign For Starr Comparison

2008-03-08T21:42:00.003-06:00

Why just suggest Tom? Why not demand his head? Everyone knows that Billary and friends consider Ken Starr to be a monster. Wolfson's intent is clear. Ken Starr is a very dirty, nasty, vile word to the Clinton camp. Far nastier a word than 'monster'.

Daschle Suggests Clinton Aide Should Resign For Starr Comparison

"It's comments like [Wolfson's] that make me question whether we do have the same standards," said the former Senate Majority Leader. "I don't think that you can make a statement like that and consider yourself within the bounds of civility. I mean, this shouldn't be tolerated. It's not acceptable, and it's unfortunate."

Clinton, Genocide and a Campaign Gaffe

2008-03-08T21:29:00.004-06:00

I had not read up on Samantha Power. I didn't know her background. I've somehow missed all of this over the last few days on the various news programs. I'm wondering now, did I miss it or was it just not there. So, thank you Marc Cooper for informing us just who this woman is. It is a shame. I can understand the Obama camp's side. He's trying to keep everything above the mud, unlike his opponents people.

Clinton, Genocide and a Campaign Gaffe

Power was rightfully awarded the Pulitzer for her finely written and downright horrifying book "A Problem From Hell" which, in macabre detail, describes the calculated indifference of the Clinton administration when 800,000 Rwandans were being systematically butchered. The red phone rang and rang and rang again. I don't know where Hillary was then. But her husband and his entire experienced foreign policy team - from the brass in the Pentagon to the congenitally feckless Secretary of State Warren Christopher - just let it ring.
and
And as more than one researcher has amply documented the case, the bloody paralysis of the Clinton administration in the face of the Rwandan genocide owed not at all to a lack of information, but rather to a lack of will. A reviewer of Power's book for The New York Times, perhaps summed it up best, saying that the picture of Clinton that emerges from this reading is that of an "amoral narcissist."

Larry David has a nice way with words

2008-03-08T21:17:00.001-06:00

On the Red Phone

How is it that she became the one who's perceived as more equipped to answer that 3 a.m. call than the unflappable Obama? He, with the ice in his veins, who doesn't panic when he's losing or get too giddy when he's winning, who's as comfortable in his own skin as she's uncomfortable in hers.

Hello Billary, are you listening

2008-03-08T20:38:00.004-06:00

Hey, King and Queen Clinton, I believe Gary Hart is talking to you. Maybe you both need a visit to the ENT so they get that earwax build-up taken care of? Perhaps then you will hear your party speaking to you both. Hopefully you both aren't figuring out how to call Obama Nixon.

Oh, and in case you didn't hear ME the first time:

SHAME ON YOU HILLARY CLINTON

Breaking the Final Rule

It will come as a surprise to many people that there are rules in politics. Most of those rules are unwritten and are based on common understandings, acceptable practices, and the best interest of the political party a candidate seeks to lead. One of those rules is this: Do not provide ammunition to the opposition party that can be used to destroy your party's nominee. This is a hyper-truth where the presidential contest is concerned.

and

Politics ain't beanbag," is the old slogan. But that does not mean that it must also be rule-or-ruin, me-first-and-only-me, my way or the highway. That is not politics. That is raw, unrestrained ambition for power that cannot accept the will of the voters.

Good news no matter who wins the Democratic primary

2008-03-07T20:43:00.002-06:00

Same-sex marriage inching toward general acceptance

Gay-marriage supporters have time on their side. Public opinion is shifting in their favor. Eventually, California's ban on same-sex marriage will be lifted.

But many gay couples, activists and lawyers say they have waited long enough. They are ready for change, and they think California is, too. So they are taking a calculated risk.

It's about time. I mean, seriously people. Does anyone TRULY believe that two lesbians or two gay men getting married is going to ruin marriage for all? I've been married and divorced. How many reading this have also been married and divorced (maybe more than once).

Are there really people that feel being gay is a choice? Life's hard enough. Why choose to be something that so many feel such disdain for.

A Clinton Scandal Primer

2008-03-07T13:02:00.002-06:00

My goodness, there are good reads all over the innerwebz today.

A Clinton Scandal Primer

One of the most important topics in the 2008 presidential campaign has been almost completely ignored by the mainstream media: Corruption. Despite all of the claims that Barack Obama has been the beneficiary of media bias, and Hillary Clinton its victim, the reality is exactly the opposite of this, at least on the corruption issue. While the media has swarmed over the very minor Tony Rezko scandal, where there is zero evidence that Obama did any political favors, the press has ignored the long record of political scandals associated with the Clintons, despite the fact that Clinton's service as First Lady is the cornerstone of her claim to be experienced. Today's lead editorial in the Chicago Tribune is one of the rare exceptions to the media silence about Hillary's past scandals.

Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish

2008-03-07T12:51:00.003-06:00

Reliving The Psychodrama

This is another good read. This part really resonated with me, especially the last part which I have bolded. Even with her wins on March 4, they are still fighting amongst themselves within her campaign.

Does anyone truly wish for these two to be back in residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.?

Remember: Bill Clinton could have settled the Paula Jones lawsuit easily years before he put the entire country through the wringer. Remember: Hillary Clinton could have killed what turned out to be the Whitewater non-story at the very outset by disclosing everything she could. Remember: the Clintons could have prepared for primaries and caucuses after February 5, as any careful candidate would. They chose not to do any of these things. Not because they are incompetent. But because they live to risk.

Hillary's New Math Problem

2008-03-07T12:28:00.001-06:00

Hillary's New Math Problem

Interesting read. Good news to me. Seems it is next to impossible for Billary to get the numbers.

So, how do you think Billary will go about stealing it?

Clinton and Nafta-gate

2008-03-07T11:44:00.002-06:00

Link upon link regarding Billary's role in the whole Nafta-gate issue

ABC - Anybody But Clinton

2008-03-07T10:43:00.003-06:00

So Billary is willing to win this contest at any cost?

They (yeah, I said they. Do you really believe Bill is gonna be a quiet 'First Lady') prefer to extol the wonders that are John McCain, the Republican candidate over their competition in the Democratic party. It appears as if this woman does not have the countries best interests at heart. She has her best interests at heart. She would prefer her own party loses if she can't be the winner.

You scream 'Shame on you Barack Obama'. I say shame on you Hillary Clinton. You are nothing more than a self-serving egotistical individual (I say individual, I'd far rather call her a completely different word, but I shall refrain).

She accuses the Republicans and Bush of using fear, yet she is beginning to incorporate this same strategy into her campaign.

She calls Obama Ken Starr because he asks about her financial records. Oh come on now.

The campaign had gone rather politely, until Billary did not see the red carpet unfolding at their feet, paving the way for their coronation.

I do hope that the rank and file of the Democratic party are paying attention to Billary and the lengths at which they will go to get their way.

I hope that Howard Dean and the DNC will pull Billary aside and give them what for.

How long before the female portion of Billary is crying about the boys picking on her. I'm sorry woman (you aren't a lady in my book), while I'd love to see a woman in office, I pray to God that woman isn't you. You don't deserve it. I want my daughters to be able to look at the first woman president and feel proud. I don't see them looking at you with pride on their face.

Interesting, thought provoking, curious still

2008-02-16T08:44:00.015-06:00

I poached this from my friend Fiz.

You think God is trying to tell us something about food? Certainly makes one look at the cheeseburger sitting in front of them in a totally different way.

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye and YES science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four chambers. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Eggplant, Avocados and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries

Grapefruits, Oranges, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like body cells. Today's research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

Sometimes

2008-02-11T22:37:00.000-06:00

I could not for the life of me figure out why I was getting so many hits on chocolate tart the last few days.

Then it hit me. Valentines Day.

One thing I can't figure out however is why people need a picture of a recipe. Perhaps because of what I do, I don't need a picture. I read the ingredients and can see what it is going to look like and usually how it will taste. Maybe not everyone can do that. I don't know.

I'm re-reading Culinary Artistry. A book I love. It discusses the art of cooking. The architecture of taste. Seasons. It is a book I find invaluable, as do many of my fellow professionals. It's a must read for me.

I am all over the place mind wise today. So much running through my mind. Mostly of late, it is politics. Barack Obama. If you get it, you'll know. I know, I know, he's a politician, but when was the last time so many have been so excited over one individual. A uniter that the current occupant was never able to be. Republicans and Democrats, all races and ages, and my goodness the younger crowd. How wonderful for them to have someone they can so fully get behind. For many, this will be their first presidential election, and they will be voting for someone, not against someone. I cannot for the life of me understand why the working class democrats are more for Clinton. For goodness sake, Obama just finished paying off his student loans while Clinton is able to write herself a check for 5 million. Perception I suppose. Lack of investigation is another. Comfort zone still another. Apparently I'm part of the latte and white wine crowd (while I prefer a cappuccino to a latte, I do love me some red wine).

If you are on the fence between Obama and Clinton, listen to his speeches, they are all over YouTube. Search blogs and read of people's accounts about being at an event. Go to his website and read about his positions.

Yes We Can

Pineapple

2008-02-11T08:19:00.000-06:00

Yummy!! I do so love pineapple.

Pineapple lovers, this site has everything you've ever wanted to know about pineapple and more.

I actually have stuff to say today, but not just yet.

Yeah, I know, I suck

2008-02-05T23:07:00.000-06:00

I swear, this industry I have chosen will kill you dead.

Long hours, bad eating habits (ironic eh), and little sleep(not to mention a few other things).

The schedule I've been on has seen me not cooking for close to a month(at home cooking, work doesn't count), I know it's been at least 3 weeks. Everything is go, go, go, we need you here, there, and everywhere at the same time.

Now, I've been able to be home tonight, which has been a nice thing, but as tired as I am, I almost feel as if I'm jacked up on something, I suppose the cappuccino I had earlier(like an hour ago), might have something to do with it.

I've been able to watch election returns. So freakin cool. My political side is coming out of hibernation.

I now have nothing left to say other than I really want some Chinese food. Pork dumplings, YUMMMM

Life

2008-02-03T23:22:00.000-06:00

I love spending time with my bestestfriendever.

Doesn't matter what we do, I just enjoy being with him. I do so worry about him sometimes though. He doesn't sleep, when he does, it's so erratic. His eating, erratic also. Work however, gets his everything. Loves what he does. Unfortunately, he isn't 20 anylonger. You can't burn that candle at both ends and the middle and not have it mess with you.

We had some really tasty Chinese food. I had never been there. I'll be going back for sure.

Other than that, I've been far busier than I care to be. Way too much stuff, I'm in a sensory overload. I worry about him and his candle burning ways, yet I do the same damn thing.

No wonder that those in my profession have such a high divorce rate. I don't see how anyone outside of other industry folks can deal. Problem there of course, I believe that every kitchen person I know has a lot of similarities, including bulldogishness, brick wall's, ego, aggressiveness, sense of humor, and very much tell it like it is type people.

work, work, work

2008-01-31T23:52:00.000-06:00

So, between work and some personal matters, I'm once again meeting myself coming and going. Or however that is said.

Tonights Special Comment by Keith Olberman was wonderful. It should be posted here soon. Right now it's just an excerpt.

I really have nothing else to say though. Work was work, busy, but not as long as my 17hr one the other day. At least I wasn't my friend. He logged 23.5 hours that day. came in at 3am and clocked out at 2:35 am.

Now I'm going to bed. I stayed on the phone a long time last night, a little over 2 hours, with the sexiest man I know. Just like sitting face to face, lost all track of time.

sitting here watching

2008-01-28T20:49:00.000-06:00

The State of the Union address. It's funny (weird funny, not haha funny) when you notice what gets a round of applause and what doesn't. Who joins in the applause and who continues sitting on their hands. Who continues reading their book and who doesn't. But it's really odd when you see them all, both sides of the aisle stand up and applaud together.

It will be so nice to see this country standing together again. That is probably fairly pollyannaish of me, but I would love to see it once again. We've been divided for so many years. Some of our children know nothing but this division. How neat it will be for them to see unification for the first time or again. I know, we won't all be on the exact same page, there will always be someone who is unhappy. But if we can get the majority of us together, how cool would that be.

Nancy Pelosi just looked like she would love to bitch slap the Pres. Of course, this was one of those moments when the Republicans and Lieberman stood and applauded.

No, I've not cooked anything. I'm living off PB&J and cereal right now. Such is life.

This is getting old

2008-01-25T18:07:00.000-06:00

It's been cold and rainy for days. I might as well be in London or some shit. Cold for days, fine. Rainy for days, fine. Cold AND rainy for days, not fine. The humidity is fairly high so the cold just goes straight to your bones. It seems impossible to warm up, well, unless you take a hot shower. People freak out. Some rain falls and it's like they are all f'n chicken little, running around screaming the sky is falling. They do 30mph on the highway or 80mph. No happy medium. They are either putting along or running up your ass. Don't even get me started about the damned 18-wheelers. The spray from their trucks. Gawd. I got stuck between two yesterday. A car in front of me doing around 40, the same speed as the two semi-trucks. If that dumbass would have sped up by just 5 freaking mph, it would have been good. But no, instead, there I am, stuck between these two behemoths, getting sprayed from the left and right, damn windshield wipers could not keep up.

I still haven't cooked or baked a damn thing. Since Monday, I've put in almost 80 hours and there is still tomorrow. I've got to be there at 4am, which means I need to wake up at 2am, and I'll be there until 8 tomorrow night. Once I get there, I'm good. But I so do not like having to wake up to an alarm and lets face it, getting up at the unnatural time of 2am (when I am normally going to bed), well, an alarm is needed. Waking up by an alarm just starts my day off on a bad note. You are in a nice deep slumber and then out of nowhere comes this high-pitched annoying noise. I think I'd rather have Celine Dion suddenly warbling at my bedside. Ahhh, maybe not that bad.

Off to bed so I can awake at 2am.

PHUK

If I was smart

2008-01-23T19:47:00.000-06:00

I would have been taking pictures of the stuff we've been making this week at work.

Alas, I've just been too damned busy. Maybe I'll do better tomorrow. It's been a busy, busy week. 4 jobs on Monday, 3 on Tuesday, had 3 today. We have 3 tomorrow, 1 huge one on Friday, and then 2 freakin enormous ones on Saturday. I'm enjoying helping my friend out, but I don't think I care much for the catering world. I prefer my food ala minute and that's how I prefer to serve it, well, except desserts.

Competitions

2008-01-18T13:29:00.000-06:00

While I didn't compete at the Ben E. Keith show this year, I did attend.

There were some truly gorgeous cakes this year. Only a couple of centerpieces, which made we want to kick myself in the ass, as that is what category I would have entered. OH well. It was nice to go to a competition and enjoy it instead of stressing over setup, judging, critique, and announcements.

Sugar Centerpiece

Cake

Cake (my favorite, but then, I absolutely love purses)

Sugar Centerpiece

More of the previous Sugar Centerpiece

Chocolate sculpture

Cake

Cake

More of the previous cake. I was trying to get the detail on the baby's face, but that didn't work. It was gorgeous.

So, after the competition, M (my best female friend) and I went to see another friend (the sexiest man alive). Visited with him a bit, then headed out to the open house a friends company had going on. They were short handed. Since she and I were in uniform, we couldn't let a friend go up in flames (or down in flames), so we pitched in to help. That was fun. I hadn't been in a kitchen in some time (outside of home anyway) since I've made the transition to management. I'm going to start helping them with some of their catering gigs. Keep my kitchen skills up and network some more.

After we left there, we went and had a few drinks with the sexiest man alive. Ended up being one helluva long day, getting up at 4am and not getting back into the bed until 1am, but that's cool. I much prefer a day like that to a stagnant day.

All in all, it was fun. My friends company already called me and I'm going to work 3 gigs with them next week. WooHoo!!

I know, I'm not consistent

2008-01-13T20:11:00.001-06:00

I'm doing a lot of back and forth between my home and my daughter's home. It would be so much easier if she stayed here, she doesn't want to. Typical 20 year old I suppose. I don't care that I'm putting everyone else out, making them sleep on an uncomfortable couch. I don't want to come there where I can sleep in a bed and you can be comfortable in your bed. I don't care that this is throwing yours and everyone else's schedules out of whack. I seriously think I'm going to have to tell her, sorry but this is how it is going to be. It will make life easier on us all.

Anyway, I did manage to make a Spinach and Tangerine Salad and take photos of it at some point. Spinach and citrus fruits pair nicely together. I didn't use a dressing, just some of the juice from the tangerine. That's me though. You may not like that. I've also had this with vidalia onion vinaigrette and just a vinaigrette made with a little canola oil, citrus juice, salt, pepper, and vinegar. I wouldn't suggest a heavy overpowering dressing like ranch or thousand island, a French might work fine.

Spinach of course is packed with nutrients as are tangerines. I had this for lunch one day. I really did not believe that a few handfuls of spinach and a couple of little tangerines would fill me up, but it did.

2 cups spinach leaves, whole, baby
2 whole tangerine, whole, sectioned

Combine and eat.

Nutritional Analysis
Calories: 87 kcal
% Calories from Fat: 4
% Calories from Carbs: 85
% Calories from Protein: 11
Total Fat (g): trace
Saturated Fat (g): trace
Monounsaturated Fat (g): trace
Polyunsaturated Fat (g): trace
Cholesterol (mg): 0
Sodium (mg): 49
Potassium (mg): 599
Total Carbohydrates (g): 21
Dietary Fiber (g): 5
Protein (g): 3
Calcium (mg): 83
Iron (mg): 2
Zinc (mg): 1
Vitamin C (mg): 69
Vitamin A (IU): 5579
Vitamin B6 (mg): 0.2
Vitamin B12 (mcg): 0
Thiamin (mg): 0.2
Riboflavin (mg): 0.1
Folacin (mcg): 151
Niacin (mg): 1

Food Exchanges
Starch/Bread: 0
Lean Meat: 0
Vegetable: 0.5
Fruit: 1
Non-Fat Milk: 0
Fat: 0
Other Carbs: 0

Now, if you want to add a vinaigrette, here is a tangerine vinaigrette. This is for one. Double it to 1/8 cup each oil and vinegar, and a 1/4 cup tangerine juice for two. Substitute any citrus juice of your choice.

1/16 cup canola oil
1/16 cup rice wine vinegar
1/8 cup tangerine juice

Whisk together ingredients, add a little kosher salt to taste, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Nutritional Analysis
Calories: 136 kcal
% Calories from Fat: 88
% Calories from Carbs: 11
% Calories from Protein: 0
Total Fat (g): 14
Saturated Fat (g): 1
Monounsaturated Fat (g): 8
Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 4
Cholesterol (mg): 0
Sodium (mg): trace
Potassium (mg): 70
Total Carbohydrates (g): 4
Dietary Fiber (g): trace
Protein (g): trace
Calcium (mg): 6
Iron (mg): trace
Zinc (mg): trace
Vitamin C (mg): 10
Vitamin A (IU): 130
Vitamin B6 (mg): trace
Vitamin B12 (mcg): 0
Thiamin (mg): trace
Riboflavin (mg): trace
Folacin (mcg): 1
Niacin (mg): trace

Food Exchanges
Starch/Bread: 0
Lean Meat: 0
Vegetable: 0
Fruit: 0
Non-Fat Milk: 0
Fat: 2.5
Other Carbs: 0

Today was go, go, go

2008-01-10T22:24:00.000-06:00

I really don't remember eating all day, well, until about 7 tonight. Needless to say, I didn't cook. I had a sandwich. I had it with mayo too. I'd been trying to avoid mayo. I'm a Hellmanns kinda gal. It becomes Best Foods mayo west of the Rockies. Anyway, I had gone shopping the other day and decided, I'm sick of light mayo, it doesn't taste the same. Yeah, sure, I know how to make it, but that's kind of like knowing how to make a hot dog. Who the hell wants to eat it then. So, the other day, I decided to try out the Hellmanns Canola Oil Mayonnaise. First off, I swear, it tastes the SAME. Not only does it taste the same, but it contains no saturated fat or trans fat and has half the fat of mayonnaise, it is rich in Omega 3, and contains 6% of your RDA for Vitamin E and 20% of your RDA for Vitamin K.

All this of course means for me, no more dry sandwiches. I'm not a mustard kinda gal for the most part. Not on a sandwich.

This is like having my cake and getting to eat it to.

I'm a bum

2008-01-08T22:41:00.000-06:00

I didn't take any photos of anything I made today.

One thing I made today was a Bittersweet Chocolate Sorbet. It's yummy, rich, and decadent as can be and about half the fat of ice cream. It can be a dessert or a palate cleanser and it's very simple to make.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces

Procedure:

1. Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and stir once. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat. (this is simple syrup)

2. Add the chocolate pieces to the syrup, without stirring.

3. Cover and let cool for 10 minutes.

4. Stir gently until smooth.

5. Refrigerate for 1 hour, until completely chilled.

6. Pour into a container and freeze.

7. Serve in a chilled wine glass.

Nutritional Analysis
Calories: 295 kcal
% Calories from Fat: 60
% Calories from Carbs: 35
% Calories from Protein: 5
Total Fat (g): 24
Saturated Fat (g): 14
Monounsaturated Fat (g): 8
Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 1
Cholesterol (mg): 0
Sodium (mg): 8
Potassium (mg): 355
Total Carbohydrates (g): 31
Dietary Fiber (g): 7
Protein (g): 4
Calcium (mg): 33
Iron (mg): 3
Zinc (mg): 2
Vitamin C (mg): 0
Vitamin A (IU): 42
Vitamin B6 (mg): trace
Vitamin B12 (mcg): 0
Thiamin (mg): trace
Riboflavin (mg): 0.1
Folacin (mcg): 3
Niacin (mg): trace

Food Exchanges
Starch/Bread: 1
Lean Meat: 0.5
Vegetable: 0
Fruit: 0
Non-Fat Milk: 0
Fat: 4.5
Other Carbs: 1.5

Spinach Stuffed Roulade

2008-01-07T21:15:00.001-06:00

Ok, while this serves 8, you can really get about 10-12 servings out of it. I had to cut each slice in half. If it was the only thing on the table, I could see 8, but when you have a salad, veggies, fruit, pasta, and bread, well, you just won't be able to eat a whole slice. I say you won't, I imagine there are some that could eat 1 or 2 slices, but, we don't wish for our ass to arrive 5 minutes after the rest of our body. If you go with 12 servings, the calories drop to 338 and fat drops to 22grams.

Served with a couple spoonfuls of fresh tomato sauce, a little bit of angel hair pasta, and that's some good eating. Unfortunately on this one, things got haywire right at dinner time and I didn't end up getting a picture of the final product, but you can look at the last picture and imagine it browned a bit, and there you have it.

Ingredients:
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1 large shallot, chopped
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
20 ounces frozen spinach, squeezed dry
8 ounces italian cheese blend
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil

Procedure:
1. Combine ground beef, bread crumbs, eggs, parsley, half of the shallots, garlic, seasonings, salt and pepper in large bowl; mix well.

2. Place on 12X12-inch sheet of foil moistened with water. Cover with 12X14-inch sheet of waxed paper moistened with water.

3. With hands or rolling pin, press meat mixture into 12X12-inch square. Refrigerate 2 hours or until well chilled.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove waxed paper from ground beef mixture.

5. Spread spinach, remaining shallots and cheese over ground beef mixture, leaving 1-inch border.

6. Starting at one end, roll up jelly-roll style, using foil as a guide and removing foil while rolling. Seal edges tightly.

7. Place roulade seam side down in foil-lined 13X9-inch baking pan. Bake, uncovered, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting into 1-inch slices.

Nutritional Analysis
Calories: 506 kcal
% Calories from Fat: 59
% Calories from Carbs: 15
% Calories from Protein: 26
Total Fat (g): 33
Saturated Fat (g): 14
Monounsaturated Fat (g): 11
Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 1
Cholesterol (mg): 152
Sodium (mg): 751
Potassium (mg): 773
Total Carbohydrates (g): 19
Dietary Fiber (g): 3
Protein (g): 33
Calcium (mg): 344
Iron (mg): 6
Zinc (mg): 5
Vitamin C (mg): 22
Vitamin A (IU): 5267
Vitamin B6 (mg): 0.4
Vitamin B12 (mcg): 2.8
Thiamin (mg): 0.3
Riboflavin (mg): 0.5
Folacin (mcg): 177
Niacin (mg): 7

Food Exchanges
Starch/Bread: 1
Lean Meat: 3
Vegetable: 0.5
Fruit: 0
Non-Fat Milk: 0
Fat: 3.5
Other Carbs: 0

Pork Chops or The Best Dang Poke Chops

2008-01-06T19:56:00.000-06:00

This is one of my family's favorite ways to have pork chops. I've been making them this way for a couple of years and is a recipe a YaYa posted some time ago on that board. You can use any cut of pork chop, actually, the cheaper cuts are better in this, as the extended cooking time really gets them tender, not to mention makes a very flavorful broth. Adding other seasonings, while it might work for some, just isn't needed for this particular recipe. If you wanted to turn the broth into a gravy, I guess you could by adding some flour and all, but I save the broth and freeze it. Then, the next time I want this, all I have to do is pull the frozen broth out and use it. There is no need to add salt the next time, although I do add pepper, but just a pinch. Each time, it is more flavorful.

While I wouldn't exactly say it is 'diet food', it isn't bad either. Someone on Atkins or maybe South Beach would find this fits nicely. Truly, when I use the 6 oz size chops, I get two meals out of it, because we usually only each eat a half of a chop, when you add veggies, etc that you are having for dinner. I'll use a leftover half the next day on a salad, slicing it thin and going wild with the cruciferous stuff.

While I have not tried this with anything other than pork, a nice tough cut of beef would also be nice in it.

Ingredients:
24 ounces pork center loin chops
1 large onion, sliced thin
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
water

Procedure:
1. Season pork chops. Preheat saute pan. Once hot, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add seasoned pork chops.

2. Just brown the pork chops. Once brown, add the sliced onions and enough water to cover.

3. Cover and simmer on low for a couple of hours or until the onions have turned to mush, making a gravy with the water.

Nutritional Analysis
Calories: 325 kcal
% Calories from Fat: 64
% Calories from Carbs: 4
% Calories from Protein: 32
Total Fat (g): 23
Saturated Fat (g): 6
Monounsaturated Fat (g): 12
Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 2
Cholesterol (mg): 84
Sodium (mg): 1017
Potassium (mg): 475
Total Carbohydrates (g): 3
Dietary Fiber (g): 1
Protein (g): 26
Calcium (mg): 40
Iron (mg): 1
Zinc (mg): 2
Vitamin C (mg): 3
Vitamin A (IU): 11
Vitamin B6 (mg): 0.6
Vitamin B12 (mcg): 0.7
Thiamin (mg): 1.4
Riboflavin (mg): 0.3
Folacin (mcg): 12
Niacin (mg): 6

Food Exchanges
Starch/Bread: 0
Lean Meat: 3.5
Vegetable: 0.5
Fruit: 0
Non-Fat Milk: 0
Fat: 2.5
Other Carbs: 0

trying to find a routine

2008-01-05T22:14:00.000-06:00

I just cannot seem to get into a routine. sexybeast

Today I helped my bestest out. He's not so hot at typing and since I type 75wpm, it's not a big deal for me. What would take him literally hours takes me maybe 20 minutes. After that, he wanted to check out some computers, so we did that. Then go to eat at this nice little Mexican place. Nice, decent food. For some reason, it's never crowded. I don't know if they get crowded at night when they do karaoke or what, but I do really like the place. Friendly staff, service not so hot, but that's ok. What's great is the outdoor patio. Being able to have a smoke while drinking (cause their margaritas are outta this world) is always a plus.

I'm hoping that once the youngster starts back to school on Monday, I'll be able to get my routine back. Then there is the matter of my nieces (4 and 5) who are living with us temporarily as my family has it's own 'Britney'. Of course, work should start back later this week too, so I'll be adjusting in so many different ways, but that's a good thing I suppose. I cannot wait for us to start preparing to open our restaurant.

Anyway, since I did not cook anything today, I have nothing to post in regards to recipes. Sure, I could post something from my repetoire, but honestly, I didn't want to. I'm thinking tomorrow will be a better day in regards to cooking. Lunch time dates just really throw the day outta whack.

Mashed Baked Sweet Potatoes

2008-01-03T20:24:00.001-06:00

I do so love sweet potatoes. Luckily the rest of my family does to. I typically slather these puppies with butter, cream, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Since I am on a quest to lose a bit of ass, I did away with the butter, cream, and brown sugar. That's right, all I added was fresh grated cinnamon and nutmeg. They are still just as yummy. I knew this, but I really didn't think the family would eat them. Surprise, surprise. They did. The funny thing, one member who claims to not like sweet potatoes, said these were pretty good and I should consider using this as my pie filling. All I could say was WTF?!?! Oh well, they liked them and all their beta-carotene goodness.

So, on with the recipe. It's easy peasy for sure.

Ingredients:

4 medium sweet potatoes, equals about 4 cups
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Take a fork and poke a few holes in the sweet potatoes.

3. Place on sheet tray or aluminum foil, something to catch the juice, and put in oven.

4. Bake until tender, about 1 hour.

5. Cut off the ends of the potatoes and then slice the skin on top. Remove the potatos to a bowl. Add seasonings and then mash with fork or potato masher.

(ok, so, the color in the one above is much better. don't know what happened, but you get the picture)

Nutritional Analysis:

Calories: 148 kcal
% Calories from Fat: 5
% Calories from Carbs: 89
% Calories from Protein: 6
Total Fat (g): 1
Saturated Fat (g): trace
Monounsaturated Fat (g): trace
Polyunsaturated Fat (g): trace
Cholesterol (mg): 0
Sodium (mg): 253
Potassium (mg): 280
Total Carbohydrates (g): 34
Dietary Fiber (g): 5
Protein (g): 2
Calcium (mg): 45
Iron (mg): 1
Zinc (mg): trace
Vitamin C (mg): 30
Vitamin A (IU): 26618
Vitamin B6 (mg): 0.3
Vitamin B12 (mcg): 0
Thiamin (mg): 0.1
Riboflavin (mg): 0.2
Folacin (mcg): 20
Niacin (mg): 1

Food Exchanges
Starch/Bread: 2
Lean Meat: 0
Vegetable: 0
Fruit: 0
Non-Fat Milk: 0
Fat: 0
Other Carbs: 0

Life, or something like it anyway

2008-01-02T15:44:00.000-06:00

I've been staying at my daughter's apartment, kitty sitting while she is in the hospital. I have her laptop, but none of the stuff I use for nutritional analysis or anything for cooking outside of basic pots and pans. She comes home tonight, so hopefully I can get back to blogging.

I'm hoping to post healthier alternatives as I have some excess ass I need to rid myself of. I won't be posting any pics of my excess baggage however, so no need to fret about that. I'm going to be looking at doing food that is good for you, not necessarily diet food. Sure, there will be salads, but I want them to be tasty salads. I'm not really a proponent of pre-packaged foods, but frozen veggies are ok by me. Truth be told, unless you get your veggies on the farm or at a farmer's market, the frozen are healthier as they are flash frozen within hours of being picked, instead of being trucked half-way across the country.

Here's to hoping I'm back up and running tomorrow.

Pepperoni Bread

2007-12-27T09:51:00.000-06:00

New Year's Eve coming up and an appetizer is needed. Super Bowl party on the horizon? Something simple to bring or have on hand is pepperoni bread. If you are so inclined, you can make your own dough, but this is just as good using frozen bread dough. Allow it to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and it will be ready for baking the next day.

The amount of dough I have listed is the size my store carried. It contained 5 loaves that equaled approximately 2 pounds in total. So I ended up with 5 loaves of pepperoni bread. If your store carries differing sizes, use your judgement on the amounts of pepperoni, garlic powder and cheese. You don't want so much that the filling oozes out while baking, but you want enough so that people get a bit of each in every slice. You can brush the top with egg wash, but it isn't needed. I don't. You can also use regular pepperoni and substitute whatever cheese(s) you wish. For that matter, you could use salami or any other pre-cooked meat you choose.

2 pounds frozen bread dough
10 ounces turkey pepperoni, slices
8 ounces italian cheese blend, shredded
2 teaspoons garlic powder

1. Roll out or flatten loaves of bread.

2. Sprinkle a little of the garlic powder across the flattened dough.

3. Sprinkle some of the cheese on the dough, leaving about a 1/2" on each end and side.

4. Place slices of pepperoni on top of the cheese.

5. Now roll the bread, lengthwise. You can either roll so you have a pinwheel or bring one side of the dough to the middle and then the other side, then seal.

6. Now seal the ends.

7. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Place dough, seam side down on sheet tray. Spray the top of the dough with non-stick spray. Place plastic wrap over and let sit for 30 minutes.

8. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

9. Allow to cool before slicing.

Calories:
202 kcal

% Calories from Fat: 30
% Calories from Carbs: 46
% Calories from Protein: 24
Total Fat (g): 7
Saturated Fat (g): 2
Monounsaturated Fat (g): 0
Polyunsaturated Fat (g): trace
Cholesterol (mg): 27
Sodium (mg): 615
Potassium (mg): 3
Total Carbohydrates (g): 22
Dietary Fiber (g): 2
Protein (g): 12
Calcium (mg): 81
Iron (mg): trace
Zinc (mg): trace
Vitamin C (mg): trace
Vitamin A (IU): 128
Vitamin A (RE): 0
Vitamin B6 (mg): trace
Vitamin B12 (mcg): 0
Thiamin (mg): trace
Riboflavin (mg): trace
Folacin (mcg): trace
Niacin (mg): trace

Food Exchanges:
Starch/Bread: 0
Lean Meat: 0
Vegetable: 0
Fruit: 0
Non-Fat Milk: 0
Fat: 0
Other Carbs: 0

Raspberry Coulis

2007-12-19T21:40:00.000-06:00

The term 'coulis' is French for strained liquid. You can make a savory or sweet coulis. A coulis is typically made from either fruits or vegetables and is thick with a smooth and creamy texture. As with any type of sauce, it is used to enhance the flavor as well as to add color to the plate, giving a more sophisticated presentation. Drizzled or pooled next to a dessert or main dish, it will certainly add a 'pop' to your plate. Adding a tablespoon of corn syrup will give the coulis a beautiful shine. I do not use corn syrup as I am against high fructose corn syrup in any application, but that is a rant for another time.

If you don't wish a raspberry coulis, substitute whichever fruit you prefer.

16 ounces pureed raspberries, strained
2 1/2 ounces Granulated sugar
1/2 fluid ounce lemon juice

1. Combine the strained fruit purée with the sugar. Add as much lemon juice as needed to balance the flavor of the sauce. Heat to dissolve sugar.

2. Serve warm or cold.

Calories: 41 kcal
% Calories from Fat: 3
% Calories from Carbs: 94
% Calories from Protein: 3
Total Fat (g): trace
Saturated Fat (g): trace
Monounsaturated Fat (g): trace
Polyunsaturated Fat (g): trace
Cholesterol (mg): 0
Sodium (mg): 1
Potassium (mg): 77
Total Carbohydrates (g): 10
Dietary Fiber (g): 1
Protein (g): trace
Calcium (mg): 7
Iron (mg): trace
Zinc (mg): trace
Vitamin C (mg): 26
Vitamin A (IU): 13
Vitamin A (RE): 1.5
Vitamin B6 (mg): trace
Vitamin B12 (mcg): 0
Thiamin (mg): trace
Riboflavin (mg): trace
Folacin (mcg): 8
Niacin (mg): trace

Food Exchanges
Starch/Bread: 0
Lean Meat: 0
Vegetable: 0
Fruit: 0
Non-Fat Milk: 0
Fat: 0
Other Carbs: 0.5

Raspberry Sauce

2007-12-19T20:50:00.000-06:00

Making a fresh fruit sauce is simple as can be, not to mention it is tastier and far healthier than anything you can buy. You can substitute and equal amount of whatever fruit and perform the same steps. Some fruits will take longer, some will go quicker. You may need to add more or less sugar depending upon your taste. If you prefer honey over sugar, use the same amount. I've not used any sugar substitutes so I am not sure how they will react. I just cannot get past the chemical taste of sugar substitutes.

Using a squeeze bottle makes for an easier time when decorating a plate. Squeeze a dot or several dots, drag a toothpick through to make designs, or just squeeze the sauce out into a design. Depending upon how long you simmer the sauce, it will not be super thick and will spread, so wait until just before service to decorate.

Fruit sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days. You can also freeze the sauce.

2 pints fresh raspberries
2 tablespoons sugar

1. Cook fruit over medium heat with the sugar until juices are released and the sugar is dissolved. This does take a little time, but once the fruit begins to release its juices, you can take a small wooden spoon or heat-resistant spatula and begin to mash the fruits, which will shorten the cooking time a bit.

2. Allow to simmer about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. You will have some reduction, which is good as this makes for a thicker sauce.

3. Remove from heat and strain through cheesecloth. I do this by cutting off a large piece of cheesecloth and doubling it. Then I either get a sauce pot with handles. Tie the cheesecloth to the handles and then pour the sauce in, and allow to drip through, leaving the pulp and seeds behind.

*It is a good idea to rinse your cheesecloth first to get the residue off. This will give you a cleaner looking sauce.

The nutritional analysis is for 1 serving. This recipe will make 4 servings.

Calories: 86 kcal
% Calories from Fat: 6
% Calories from Carbs: 89
% Calories from Protein: 5
Total Fat (g): 1
Saturated Fat (g): 0
Monounsaturated Fat (g): trace
Polyunsaturated Fat (g): trace
Cholesterol (mg): 0
Sodium (mg): trace
Potassium (mg): 193
Total Carbohydrates (g): 21
Dietary Fiber (g): 9
Protein (g): 1
Calcium (mg): 28
Iron (mg): 1
Zinc (mg): 1
Vitamin C (mg): 32
Vitamin A (IU): 165
Vitamin A (RE): 16.5
Vitamin B6 (mg): 0.1
Vitamin B12 (mcg): 0
Thiamin (mg): 0
Riboflavin (mg): 0.1
Folacin (mcg): 33
Niacin (mg): 1

Food Exchanges
Starch/Bread: 0
Lean Meat: 0
Vegetable: 0
Fruit: 1
Non-Fat Milk: 0
Fat: 0
Other Carbs: 0.5

Chocolate Sauce

2007-12-18T09:24:00.000-06:00

Use a good quality chocolate like Vahlrona, Scharffen Berger, or Guittard (many others, but these are my favorites). There is a huge difference in these chocolates which you will notice. Allow a chocolate, any chocolate to just melt on your palate. Pay attention to the mouth feel. Vahlrona leaves you with a clean palate, the typical grocery store chocolate leaves a waxy film.

If you cannot find one of the premium chocolates, the others will do, as this is what most people are used to eating, but if you really want to wow them with flavor, sometimes you get what you pay for.

1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
4 ounces semisweet chocolate or white chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine milk and sugar in heavy-bottom saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Add small pieces of chocolate, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes, until sauce is smooth. Remove from heat and add butter, stir until melted, add vanilla extract. Liqueur may be added if desired.

Per Serving (8 servings)
115 Calories
6g Fat (44.6% calories from fat)
1g Protein
16g Carbohydrate
0g Dietary Fiber
6mg Cholesterol
24mg Sodium

Exchanges:
0 Non-Fat Milk
1 Fat
1 Other Carbohydrates

Crème Anglaise or Vanilla Custard Sauce

2007-12-18T09:12:00.000-06:00

I love Crème Anglaise. You can use it as a sauce of course, but the best part is you can make it into ice cream. Any of the sauce that is leftover, you can put in a container, stick in the fridge, and once frozen, voila, you have vanilla ice cream. Better than any vanilla ice cream I've bought in the store.

1 quart half and half
1 whole vanilla bean, split
12 whole egg yolk, whole
10 ounces Granulated sugar

1. Using a heavy nonreactive saucepan, bring the half-and-half and vanilla bean just to a boil.

2. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Temper the egg mixture with approximately one-third of the hot half-and-half, and then return the entire mixture to the saucepan with the remaining half-and-half. (if you don't temper to bring the egg yolks to the same temperature as the hot mixture, you will have scrambled eggs, and that's just not attractive as a dessert)

3. Cook the sauce over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not allow the sauce to boil.

4. As soon as the sauce thickens, remove it from the heat and pour it through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl. Chill the sauce over an ice bath, then cover and keep refrigerated. The sauce should last 3 to 4 days.

Per Serving (20-2 ounce servings):
154 Calories
9g Fat (49.9% calories from fat)
3g Protein
16g Carbohydrate
0g Dietary Fiber
145mg Cholesterol
24mg Sodium

Exchanges:
0 Lean Meat
0 Non-Fat Milk
1 1/2 Fat
1 Other Carbohydrates

Bitter Chocolate Tart

2007-12-17T21:00:00.000-06:00

This could be served atop a simple creme anglaise, or a white chocolate sauce, but would go magnificently with a raspberry coulis or raspberry sauce. A simple piping of freshly whipped cream on top with a few fresh raspberries, maybe some white chocolate shavings and then topped with a brandy snap or tuile cookie and you'll have a most elegant dessert that was really quite simple to execute.

Since I have mentioned the creme anglais, white chocolate sauce, raspberry coulis, raspberry sauce, brandy snap, and tuile, I guess I know what I'll be posting tomorrow.

Pastry:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
9 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½" pieces, chilled
¼ cup sweet dessert wine

Filling:
1 ½ cups heavy cream
10 ½ ounces extra bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (if you cannot find the extra bittersweet or do not like the extra bittersweet, regular bittersweet will work)
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon anise seeds, crushed
1 tablespoon vanilla

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 ½ tablespoons milk, or as needed
2 teaspoons vanilla

1. To make the pastry, combine the flour, salt, powdered sugar, and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse two or three times to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. With the machine running, pour in the wine and process until the dough comes together. Place the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap and gently press into a disk. Wrap tightly and refrigerate 30 minutes. (See notes at end).

2. Butter a 10" fluted tart pan. Roll the dough out between sheets of plastic wrap to a 12" circle about ¼" thick.

3. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Line the tart pan with the dough. Refrigerate until chilled and then trim the excess. (See notes at end).

4. Prick the shell and bake the tart shell for 12 minutes or just until set. Set aside to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 375° F. (See notes at end).

5. To make the filling, in a medium saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate, and stir to melt. Transfer to a medium bowl and let cool for 20 minutes.

6. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs and egg yolk together. Whisk the cocoa and eggs into the chocolate mixture, then whisk in the crushed anise seeds and anisette. Pour the filling into the tart shell, bake for 15 minutes or just until the filling forms a shiny skin, and is slightly firm, but still loose at the center.

7. Cool the tart for 15 minutes on a rack, then remove the sides of the pan and cool completely.

8. To make the glaze, in a medium bowl, beat the powdered sugar with the milk and vanilla to a thin, pourable consistency; add a few more drops of milk if needed. Drizzle over the cooled tart with the glaze. Allow the glaze to harden before service.

*Notes*
The reason you wrap the pastry dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes is to get the butter chilled once again, but to also allow the glutens to relax. Flour contains gluten and the more it is worked, the bigger these strands get. This results in a tough product, whether bread dough, tart dough, or pie dough. Allowing the butter to chill helps you to achieve a flaky crust. As the liquid in the butter turns to steam and evaporates, the dough surrounding that particular piece of butter puffs a bit, giving you the desired flaky texture.

The reason you line your pan with the dough, allow to chill, and then trim is that as the glutens relax, they shrink. If you trim your crust to fit the pan and then chill or immediately bake, it will shrink, resulting in a crust that does not reach the rim of your pan or wherever you had initially wanted the crust to reach.

Pricking the shell is called docking. This allows the steam to escape from the tart shell while keeping the tart shell from puffing too much, as it should be flush with the pan.

Per Serving (8 servings):
669 Calories
52g Fat (66.0% calories from fat)
9g Protein
51g Carbohydrate
7g Dietary Fiber
170mg Cholesterol
175mg Sodium

Exchanges:
2 Grain(Starch)
1/2 Lean Meat
0 Non-Fat Milk
10 Fat
1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates

(Substituting the heavy cream for light whipping cream will save you about 20 calories and 2 grams of fat. Leaving off the glaze will save you approximately 100 calories and 15 grams of carbohydrates. To save on calories, this is the way I would go. A rich dessert such as this, deserves the richness of the heavy cream)

Sweet Potato Soup with Lobster & Orange Crème Fraîche

2007-12-15T19:19:00.000-06:00

This is a most decadent soup and excellent for a first course. Despite how it may sound, it is deceptively simple to make and will certainly wow your guests.

Both the crème fraîche and soup can be made up to 2 days ahead. Just make sure to cover and refrigerate them each separately.

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sour cream
3 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons orange peel, grated
10 tablespoons butter
3 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, cut 1/2" thick
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 large leeks, chopped, white and pale green parts only
1 1/3 cups celery, finely diced
10 cups low sodium chicken broth(may need more for thinning the soup to your preferred thickness)
1 1/3 cups orange juice
3 pounds lobster tails
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

To make crème fraîche:

Mix cream, sour cream, 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger and orange peel in medium bowl to blend. Let stand at room temperature until thickened, about 3 hours. Cover and refrigerate.

Making the Soup:

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in large pot over medium heat. Remove from heat. Add sweet potatoes and sugar and toss to coat. Pour sweet potatoes out onto 2 baking sheets. Roast until very tender and beginning to brown, stir occasionally, about 30 minutes.

2. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in same pot over medium heat. Add leeks, celery and remaining ginger. Sauté until leeks begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add roasted sweet potatoes and sauté 2 minutes. Add 10 cups broth and orange juice. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until leeks and celery are very tender, about 20 minutes.

3. Working in batches, puree soup in processor. Return soup to pot. Thin with more broth, if desired. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Remove lobster meat from shells. Slice into 1/3" thick medallions. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add lobster; sauté until heated through, about 1 minute.

5. Bring soup to simmer. Ladle into bowls. Spoon small dollops of crème fraîche atop soup. Draw a toothpick or skewer through crème fraîche to form design. Arrange lobster on top of the soup and Sprinkle with parsley.

This soup is just as good without the lobster. If you leave out the lobster, your calories drop to 342, lose 1g of fat, protein drops to 12g, lose 1g of carbs, cholesterol drops to 57mg and sodium drops to 570mg. In your exchanges, lean meat drops to 1, while all others stay the same.

Per Serving (12 servings):
444 Calories
20g Fat (44.6% calories from fat)
33g Protein
33g Carbohydrate
3g Dietary Fiber
165mg Cholesterol
905mg Sodium

Exchanges:
1 1/2 Grain(Starch)
4 Lean Meat
1/2 Vegetable
0 Fruit
0 Non-Fat Milk
4 Fat
0 Other Carbohydrates

Because of all the goodies in this soup, I'm adding a few other bits of nutritional data:
134mg Calcium (13% of your RDA)
39 mg Vitamin C (65% of your RDA)
63 mcg Folacin (16% of your RDA)
4 mg Zinc (28% of your RDA)

Butterscotch bars

2007-12-13T23:11:00.001-06:00

Love me some butterscotch bars (as does everyone else who has ever tried them). These are always a big hit at potluck type dinners with friends and family.

Very simple to make and they are so rich, you could probably cut 32 pieces instead of 16 and everyone would be just fine with that, unless of course you have someone with a super sweet tooth. These are seriously rich, even with the fat-free milk and 1/3 less fat cream cheese. I'll give the nutritional analysis for both types as well as for 32 and 16.

Yeah, yeah, I know they aren't organic and there is nothing remotely good for you about these things, but every now and again, we need a little something sweet.

10 ounces butterscotch chips
1/2 cup butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
8 ounces cream cheese - 1/3 less fat
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
14 ounces fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1 cup pecan halves, crushed

1. Preheat oven to 325.

2. Put the butterscotch chips and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. When melted, add the graham crackers. Set aside 2/3 cup. Press the graham cracker/butterscotch mix into the bottom of a 13x9x2 baking pan coated with non-stick spray.

3. In seperate bowl, beat the cream cheese till smooth. Add the milk, egg, and vanilla. Beat until mixed well. Add pecans and mix some more.

4. Pour this on top of the crust mixture in the baking pan. After you have smoothed it out, take the reserve 2/3 cup of the crust mixture and sprinkle over the cream cheese mixture.

5. Bake at 325 for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean.

6. Store in fridge.

Per Serving (16 servings):
320 Calories
15g Fat (42.6% calories from fat)
5g Protein
42g Carbohydrate
1g Dietary Fiber
39mg Cholesterol
219mg Sodium

Exchanges:
1/2 Grain(Starch)
0 Lean Meat
0 Non-Fat Milk
2 1/2 Fat
2 Other Carbohydrates

Per Serving (16 servings-full fat version):
344 Calories
19g Fat (49.3% calories from fat)
5g Protein
40g Carbohydrate
1g Dietary Fiber
53mg Cholesterol
207mg Sodium

Exchanges:
1/2 Grain(Starch)
0 Lean Meat
4 Fat
2 Other Carbohydrates

Per Serving (32 servings):
160 Calories
8g Fat (42.6% calories from fat)
2g Protein
21g Carbohydrate
trace Dietary Fiber
19mg Cholesterol
110mg Sodium

Exchanges:
1/2 Grain(Starch)
0 Lean Meat
0 Non-Fat Milk
1 Fat
1 Other Carbohydrates

Per Serving (32 servings-full fat version):
172 Calories
10g Fat (49.3% calories from fat)
2g Protein
20g Carbohydrate
trace Dietary Fiber
26mg Cholesterol
103mg Sodium

Exchanges:
1/2 Grain(Starch)
0 Lean Meat
2 Fat
1 Other Carbohydrates

Arugula and Prosciutto Salad

2007-12-12T21:32:00.000-06:00

Arugula is an aromatic, peppery salad green and is very popular in Italian cuisine. It grows wild in Asia and all over the entire Mediterranean. In Roman times arugula was grown for both its leaves and the seed. The seed was used for flavoring oils. Arugula is more than just a salad green and can be sauteed or cooked in many other ways.

The making of prosciutto dates back 2000 years. True prosciutto, Prosciutto di Parma, has the DOP label. You will know it by the trademarked ducal crown. The ham is aged for at least 10-12 months and there is only one ingredient used in the treatment and curing and that is salt. This is why Prosciutto di Parma is an absolutely natural product that manages to be delicious, easily digestible and nutritional all at once.

Arugula and Prosciutto Salad

1 large bunch arugula (about 4 cups) - you can substitute with spinach
8 thin slices Prosciutto (about 4 ounces), cut in 1/2-inch wide strips
1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

In a large bowl, combine arugula, Prosciutto, cheese and pine nuts. Toss gently with salad dressing to coat completely. Serve immediately.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a cup whisk olive oil, vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt until blended.

Per Serving (8 - 1/2 cup Servings):
85 Calories
6g Fat (60.9% calories from fat)
7g Protein
2g Carbohydrate
trace Dietary Fiber
14mg Cholesterol
537mg Sodium

Exchanges:
0 Grain(Starch)
1 Lean Meat
0 Vegetable
0 Fruit
1/2 Fat
0 Other Carbohydrates.

Quick Angel Hair Pasta with tomatoes and basil

2007-12-11T23:19:00.000-06:00

Looking for something quick, easy, and healthy? By simply changing the chicken stock to vegetable stock, you can have a tasty vegetarian meal, well, except for the cheese.

Tomatoes are high in lycopene, which I discuss here and here . Of course, there are many more places on the Internet where you can find information on lycopene.

Distender, godere di e mangiare nella buona salute

1 pound Angel Hair, uncooked
3 tablespoons olive oil, prefer extra-virgin
1 tablespoon minced garlic
5 cups tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon basil
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock
5 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Prepare pasta according to package directions; drain. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes. Add hot pasta to skillet; toss well. Add chicken broth and stir. Toss with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Per Serving (6 servings):
397 Calories
10g Fat (22.0% calories from fat)
13g Protein
65g Carbohydrate
4g Dietary Fiber
3mg Cholesterol
365mg Sodium

Exchanges:
4 Grain(Starch)
0 Lean Meat
1 1/2 Vegetable
1 1/2 Fat

Duckbreast Salad with Hazelnut Vinaigrette

2007-12-09T20:46:00.000-06:00

Yummm, yummm, duck breast. This is certainly not something someone on Weight Watchers would want to fix for lunch, but you Atkins people, you are gonna love this. Not really in a typeative mood, so I'll just jump right to the recipe.

2 12-ounce whole boneless duck breasts (350 g)

MARINADE:
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoons green onions, minced
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder

HAZELNUT VINAIGRETTE:
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
3 ounces hazelnut oil
3 ounces walnut or light olive oil
1 tablespoon chives, minced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sugar
4 ounces mixed baby greens
2 ounces hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and chopped coarse

Per Serving (4 servings):
923 Calories
95g Fat (91.8% calories from fat)
16g Protein
3g Carbohydrate
1g Dietary Fiber
93mg Cholesterol
135mg Sodium

Exchanges:
0 Grain(Starch)
2 Lean Meat
1/2 Vegetable
0 Fruit
17 1/2 Fat
0 Other Carbohydrates

1. Trim the excess fat from the duck breasts and separate the breasts into halves.

2. Combine the marinade ingredients. Thoroughly coat the duck with the marinade and marinate for at least 2 hours.

3. Combine the hazelnut vinaigrette ingredients at least 2 hours before service so that the flavors will develop.

4. Wipe the marinade from the breasts and sauté them, skin side down first, in a dry sauté pan until medium rare, approximately 2 1/2 minutes per side. Do not overcook.

5. Arrange a mixture of baby greens on 4 plates. Slice the breasts on the diagonal and arrange on the plates with the greens. Drizzle the hazelnut vinaigrette over the greens, sprinkle with hazelnuts and serve.

Blueberry Scones

2007-12-07T23:52:00.000-06:00

Scones are a traditional Scottish quick bread. The UK scones are typically less sweet compared to the US adaption. I like them both.

I love scones. For breakfast, a snack, with some coffee, and if I liked hot tea, I'd have them with tea too.

If you prefer, omit the blueberries altogether or add raisins instead. Use your imagination. Cranberries, cherries, whatev. Play around with it. You want to add dried apple and cinnamon, great choice, but be careful about adding extra liquids or too much in the way of extra dry ingredients as this will throw off the formula. 2 or 3 teaspoons of cinnamon or nutmeg is fine though.

1 pound All-purpose flour
1 1/2 ounces Granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking powder
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1 teaspoon Salt
4 ounces Unsalted butter, cold
2 Egg yolks
11 fluid ounces half and half
4 ounces blueberries

1. Sift the dry ingredients together, making sure they are blended thoroughly, then add blueberries.
2. Cut in the butter. The mixture should look mealy; do not overmix.
3. Add the milk and stir, combining only until the mixture holds together.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface; knead until it forms one mass, approximately five or six kneadings.
5. Roll out the dough to a thickness of approximately 1/2 inch (1.2 centimeters). Cut as desired.
6. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for approximately 10 minutes.
7. Brush the tops with butter while hot.

Per Serving (1 scone):
136 Calories
6g Fat (40.2% calories from fat)
3g Protein
18g Carbohydrate
1g Dietary Fiber
33mg Cholesterol
210mg Sodium

Exchanges:
1 Grain(Starch)
0 Lean Meat
0 Fruit
0 Non-Fat Milk
1 Fat
0 Other Carbohydrates

Now, if you prefer, use Fat-Free Half and Half. Your calories will drop to 127 and fat drops to 4g. You will lose 1g of protein and the cholesterol will drop to 28g. Sodium rises to 218.