Happiness is an Omaha Steaks Filet Mignon Burger on the grill

About $5 a pop for 5.3 oz. of delicious, tender beef with a whopping 16g of saturated fat per burger, a full day's allocation of dangerous, heart-clogging lard if you have coronary artery disease, or want to get it.

Still, a nice gift for that occasional transgression of the rules.

I washed it down with a head of broccoli!

Some of the top food sources for vitamin B12, per ounce (daily need is 6 micrograms)

Some of the top food sources for vitamin B12, per 28 grams or roughly 1 ounce (daily need is 6 micrograms):

clams: 27.6 micrograms

liver: 23.9 micrograms

fortified cereal: 5.8 micrograms

mackerel: 5.3 micrograms

king crab: 3.2 micrograms

beef steak: 2.1 micrograms

swiss cheese: 0.8 micrograms

fortified tofu: 0.6 micrograms

eggs: 0.3 micrograms

low fat yogurt: 0.1 micrograms

More here.

Happiness is mutton chops

 

 

 Old Cross condemns all persons to be fops,

That can't regale themselves with mutton chops.

-- William King, The Art of Cookery, in imitation of Horace's Art of Poetry (Humbly inscrib'd to the Honourable Beef Steak Club), 1708

Happiness is T-bones for $7.99/lb

Meat included!

Happiness is fast and easy grilled Mexican lime chicken cutlets for fajitas

The recipe is here:

2.0 lbs chicken cutlets (from Omaha Steaks, thanks Gramps!)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/8 cup olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Whisk ingredients together in a large bowl, throw in the thawed chicken and marinate up to 2 hours, grill it, slice it and serve it with your favorite salsa in a warm flour tortilla.

Happiness is Camille Paglia, who once ate two steaks during an interview, tearing into Meryl Streep

Noted here:

At last we were seated at a small table a few yards from the first. We would remain there for the next 4 hours and 45 minutes. In the grand scheme of Paglia interviews, mine was brief. When Francesca Stanfill profiled her for a New York cover story, in 1991, their conversation lasted ten hours, long enough for Paglia to consume two steaks: one for lunch and a second for dinner. ...  “I have been on an anti–Meryl Streep campaign for about 30 years,” she said. When Trump called the actress “overrated” in a January tweet, “I wanted to leap into print and take that line but I couldn’t, because Trump said it.” ... In the general election, as a resident of Pennsylvania, she voted for Jill Stein. ... She approved — of all things — of the Women’s March. “I think it’s important that women rediscover solidarity with themselves,” she said. ... Still, the pussy hats: She buried her face in her hands as she discussed them. “I was horrified, horrified by the pink pussy hats,” she said; the pink pussy hats were “a major embarrassment to contemporary feminism.”

T-Bone Tuesday

It's cold and blustery outside, but I fired up the charcoal anyway and grilled a single 1.3 pound Angus T-Bone. Wind has been in the 25mph range most of the day, and temps in the low to mid 20s. Just like Wisconsin when I was a boy.

I picked up three of these T-Bones for about $8.50 each last week and put two in the freezer. You defrost one all day in the frig until grilling time, and grill over hot coals in a covered grill about 6 minutes on a side for medium rare. It served three of us, with some Jasmine rice and steamed green beans on the side, for well less than $4 per person. The bone will simmer on the stove tomorrow to make some beef stock for soup. Maybe beef and barley with mushroom.

Steak. It's what's for dinner during Protestant Lent.

Weird Al Parody of Lady Gaga: I'm Really Not Insane, I Just Perform This Way

Video here. Controversy here.

Weird Al's lyrics, perhaps the pinnacle of his career, expressing the Olympian height of his powers:

My mama told me when I was hatched
Act like a superstar
Save your allowance, buy a bubble dress
And someday you will go far

Now on red carpets, well, I'm hard to miss
The press follows everywhere I go
I'll poke your eye out with a dress like this . . .
Back off and enjoy the show!

I'm sure my critics will say it's a grotesque display
Well, they can bite me, baby, I perform this way
I might be wearin' Swiss cheese or maybe covered with bees
It doesn't mean I'm crazy - I perform this way

Ooh, my little monsters pay . . . lots 'cause I perform this way
Baby, I perform this way

Ooh, don't worry, I'm okay . . . Hey, I just perform this way
I'm not crazy, I perform this way

I'll be a troll or evil queen
I'll be a human jelly bean
'Cause every day is Halloween
For me . . .

I'm so completely original
My new look is all the rage
I'll wrap my small intestines 'round my neck
And set fire to myself on stage

I'll wear a porcupine on my head
On a W - H - I - M
And for no reason now I'll sing in French
Excusez-moi, Qui a pete?

Got my straight jacket today, it's made of gold lame
No, not because I'm crazy - I perform this way
I strap prime rib to my feet, cover myself with raw meat
I'll bet you've never seen a skirt steak worn this way

Don't be offended when you see
My latest pop monstrosity
I'm strange, weird, shocking, odd, bizarre
I'm Frankenstein, I'm Avatar
That's nothing too embarrassing
I'll honestly do anything
But wear white after Labor Day
'Cause baby, I perform this way!

Hope you won't think it's cliche if I go nude today
Don't call the cops now, baby - I perform this way
No reason I should regret all the attention I get
I'm not completely crazy, I perform this way, yeah

I perform this way - hey,
I perform this way - hey . . .
I'm always deviating from the norm this way - hey
I perform this way - hey,
I perform this way - hey . . .
I'm really not insane,
I just perform this way - hey

Video from the Grammy Awards.

Yogurt Lemon Thyme Marinated Chicken Breasts

Turkey breast meat, without the skin, is "the leanest source of meat protein on the planet," according to Steven Pratt in his SuperFoods HealthStyle. Its rich nutrient profile of selenium, B vitamins and zinc is thought to cut the risk for cancer while contributing to cardiovascular health. One of its other wonderful features is that it has 27 times less saturated fat than fresh ham, and 22 times less than flank steak! Ninety-five percent lean ground beef has 12 times more saturated fat than turkey breast. Even compared with chicken breast without the skin, turkey breast has 4 times less saturated fat. If the genetic cards you've been dealt put you at risk for cancer and cardiovascular disease, which end of that spectrum are you going to get your meat from? Although higher in saturated fat, boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale for $.99/lb. are hard to pass up.

A delicious way to eat turkey or chicken breast is broiled, but high heat broiling often turns it into rubber. The solution to this problem is to brine the meat, but to save on time, I brine and marinate at the same time, incorporating other superfoods and their sidekicks to add healthfulness and flavor. The last time I made this my family said, "Make it every Sunday!"

Yogurt Lemon Thyme Marinated Chicken Breasts

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

.5 t sugar

.5 t salt

2 T fresh lemon juice

.5 cup plain fat-free yogurt

3 T extra virgin olive oil

1 handful fresh thyme sprigs, washed and dried

Rinse the breasts, dry, and place in a shallow Pyrex baker. Into the bowl of a food processor, strip the thyme leaves off the sprigs. You'll want about two tablespoons full (or substitute one tablespoon dried thyme if you must). Then add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Pour this mixture over the breasts, then lift the breasts a little to coat the undersides. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for up to six hours before using, turning after three hours. I've marinated for as little as three hours with good results. Another way to marinate easily is to use a fresh clean freezer bag. Drop the breasts in and pour in the marinade. Seal it up and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.

When you're ready to cook, set the broiler to high with a rack in the center of the oven. Into a stainless steel broiler pan place a smaller rack to elevate the meat while broiling. Remove the breasts from the marinade but don't scrape it off, and place them in the broiler pan. Broil 15 minutes on side one, and about 10 minutes on side two, and serve. You won't be disappointed!