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United States, North Carolina, Carrboro, English, Paul, Male, 56-60, All Music, All Food.

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Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Blair-O-Meter – tomorrow, the Hutton Report… Victory, of sorts, for Blair Michael White, political editor Wednesday January 28, 2004 The Guardian A weakened Tony Blair last night won the briefest of pre-Hutton respites in his battle for survival when MPs grudingly endorsed his university funding bill - by 316 votes to 311 - and Gordon Brown's champions credited the chancellor with the government's hair's-breadth victory. The pair sat side by side as the Conservatives denounced the "utter humiliation" of a government with a paper majority of 161, the biggest revolt on a three-line whip in over 50 years, despite a big prime ministerial campaign. 11:52:38 PM    comment []

At least he didn’t scream… Bushism of the Day By Jacob Weisberg Posted Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2004, at 7:43 AM PT "[T]he illiteracy level of our children are appalling."—Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004 (Thanks to Lewell Gunter.) 5:27:30 PM    comment []

So this is the envisioned soup. Double egg noodles cooked in double chicken broth, topped with sautéed mushrooms and finely grated Gruyere cheese. A lot of work, but worth it, even for one bowl of soup. 4:52:41 PM    comment []

Next thought after you think broth is usually noodles. I thought about using the recipe from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, but was stopped dead in my tracks by this technique:   Take a chunk of dough and roll it out like for pie crust dough. With plastic knives, cut strips of noodles to add to the boiling broth.   Shit! I don’t have any plastic knives. So I started out with the Cuisinart, one egg and 1/3 cup of flour and a teaspoon of lemon juice. I added just a dab of butter and another 1/3 cup flour, but the dough was powdery. One more egg, one more 1/3 cup flour and all’s well.   The Marcato PastaDrive motor is a godsend. It also works on a VillaWare food strainer; it’s a switch hitter. You don’t have to bolt down the pasta machine and both hands are free – useful, say, if you want to snap a photo while you’re cutting the noodles. The noodles are drying on plastic coat hangers on the shower rod (Don’t tell Liz!). There are some mushrooms in the fridge, so they’ll be sliced, sautéed in butter, and thrown atop the broth and noodles – simple on the surface, but with complex overtones.   (Oh, I changed my mind. I didn't go in to work today) 1:54:17 PM    comment []

Larry The Bird Gets Down and “Kosher” First, a couple of misconceptions must be cleared up. Larry is no relation to Larry The Mushroom nor to Larry Bird the former NBA star. Neither will he be truly koshered, since that requires an entire environment dedicated fulltime to the process. I’m just using kosher salt to draw out liquid. It seemed easier to have him butterflied to salt the cavity. Larry will be the second chicken to be cooked in the broth. I’ve also added three leeks, a bunch of parsley, and a variety of leftover vegetable from the fridge. Those are simmering while Larry completes his rite of passage. I’m leaving the fat around Larry’s ass on – that will be schmaltz, thanks to a helpful comment tip from Althaea Officinalis. And where there’s schmaltz, there just might be gribenes. Meshugeneh gens, meshugeneh gribenes. 10:54:17 AM    comment []

Stranger Than Fiction…   Idaho Springs In 1947, the Squirrel Gulch district of the town of Idaho Springs was awash in post-WWII patriotism. Unable to channel their energies rationally, they decided to rename themselves "Steve Canyon," as a tribute to the hero of a W.W.II Sunday comic strip. Two years later, their fervor unspent, they convinced the federal government to pay the Indiana Limestone Company $12,000 to carve a larger-than-life statue of their new namesake. It was shipped to Colorado and formally dedicated on July 8, 1950. Its plaque reads, in part, "The United States Treasury salutes Steve Canyon and through him, all American cartoon characters who serve the Nation."   8:09:51 AM    comment []

Tincture Of Chicken   A 7-pound roaster and maybe 6 pounds of vegetables and herbs. In the Orient, I am told, they will cook up a second, maybe even a third, bird in the broth to accentuate the yang.   2:22:35 AM    comment []

We’ve had another wave of the ice storm, just enough to coat the ground and raise the anxiety level to the point that nearly everything will be closed again Tuesday. I made the mistake of checking work email and there’s no way I can afford another day away. Hah! It has nothing to do with “responsibility.” Cabin fever is in full-tilt boogie mode and even the cats are tired of seeing my face around home. I’m “going in” tomorrow, just for the hell of it. It helps that I enjoy my work and the company of my co-workers (even if that’s mutual, I’ll probably be alone there because of the ice). No one has ever accused me of being obsessively “responsible,” so when I show up I’ll have nothing to hide. They’ll know there are other forces at work. 1:23:56 AM    comment []