Chuck Williams 1915-2015: Long live Williams-Sonoma

Read the tribute here, and an obituary here.

Happiness is the Ramones' Suzy is a Headbanger

Here.

Happiness is that the winter solstice is finally behind us, as of 11:49 PM yesterday in Grand Rapids, MI

The official solstice date and time for Grand Rapids, Michigan was December 21st, 2015, at 11:49PM, Eastern Standard Time.

Daylight hours will now gradually increase.

Here's a table showing what to expect in that department for every day of 2016.

Calculate for your location, here, courtesy of the U.S. Naval Observatory.

Happiness is redneck English on "The Grillin' Guys" radio program

"Happy holidays to ya. It's a great time to be a grillin' guy. Mother nature's favoring us with some inclemently warm weather so there's plenty of time to get out in your backyard and cook for your family and friends."

Catch the podcast for December 19th here.

 

 

 

Clement or inclement, I'm from Wisconsin, so if it's Sunday, I'm grillin' . . . on charcoal.

AP investigation discovers slaves in Thailand peel our shrimp, so buy American instead

From the story here:

"U.S. customs records show the shrimp made its way into the supply chains of major U.S. food stores and retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, Whole Foods, Dollar General and Petco, along with restaurants such as Red Lobster and Olive Garden.

"It also entered the supply chains of some of America's best-known seafood brands and pet foods, including Chicken of the Sea and Fancy Feast, which are sold in grocery stores from Safeway and Schnucks to Piggly Wiggly and Albertsons. AP reporters went to supermarkets in all 50 states and found shrimp products from supply chains tainted with forced labor.

"European and Asian import and export records are confidential, but the Thai companies receiving shrimp tracked by the AP all say they ship to Europe and Asia as well."

Fight slavery. Source your shrimp from US waters. It will say so right on the package.

The Extra Virgin Olive Oil scam strikes Italy hard: Bertolli, Santa Sabina, Primadonna, Antica Badia, Carapelli, Coricelli and Sasso all accused

From the report here:

"The producers caught up in the investigation include big names such as Bertolli, Santa Sabina, Primadonna, which is sold through the discount supermarket chain Lidl, and Antica Badia, which is sold through another cheap supermarket chain, Eurospin. The others are Carapelli, Coricelli and Sasso. They are accused of passing off the slightly lower quality virgin olive oil as extra-virgin – the highest quality and the most expensive." 

I've used two of the named companies' products myself and have to say they were quite disappointing, insipid in fact, just lamp oil. My olive oil of choice continues to be Filippo Berio in the 3-litre can. The can clearly states "Packed in Italy with oils of Italy, Spain, Greece and Tunisia". It's not "pure Italian" and doesn't pretend to be. It claims to be "green-gold", which it is, not pure green. The flavor, color and aroma is acceptable for the price, which is sometimes as low as $20, about $7 per litre. Is it really "extra virgin"? They say so.

A little humor to kick off November

IN NOVEMBER

The naked hills lie wanton to the breeze;

The fields are nude, the groves unfrocked;

Bare are the shivering limbs of shameless trees --

What wonder that the corn is shocked?

-- Ed Mott, Puck Magazine, 1888

Happiness is Italian beef sandwiches and fries made at home

My version costs $2.13 a serving vs. $6.99 plus tax at Wally's in Park Ridge, IL. No offense to Wally's, who saved my sorry butt more than once in 1988.

The beef was $4.49/lb. The jar of peppers $3.35. The 8-pack of buns was a buck. The giant bag of french fries at Sam's was $6.88 for 32 servings!


















Italian Beef and French Fries

3.2 pounds beef chuck
1 jar Dell' Alpe Pepperoncini
1 package white hamburger buns
Ore Ida Fast Food Fries


Brown the chuck in a large cast iron skillet on medium, ten minutes on a side.

Drop the chuck into a Le Creuset oval oven, dump the pepperoncini on top and put on the lid.

Bake at 170 degrees F for ten hours.

Remove from the oven and reserve the peppers for serving, drain the liquid and shred the beef. Return shredded beef to the pan and keep warm, adding back juice to moisten as desired.

Bake the fries per the package directions.

Serve a half cup of the shredded beef on a bun with the fries on the side.

Easy peasy. Weepy cheapy.




h/t Don Wade, may he rest in peace

Happiness is Yogi Berra saying "If I had to do it over, I'd do it again"

Yogi Berra 1925-2015: May he rest in peace

Happiness is Chinese braised beef with 5-spice seasoning you can make from scratch

Chinese 5-spice seasoning


1.5 T anise seed
2.5 t fennel seed
1.5 t ground cinnamon
0.5 t ground black pepper
0.5 t ground white pepper (optional)
0.5 t ground clove
0.5 t ground ginger (optional)

If you use them all it's 7-spice seasoning, right?! The dominant spice is obviously the anise seed.

Put them all in a coffee grinder and pulse until powdery, about 15 seconds.

This was wonderful for a nice Chinese beef braise I made today.

Recipes for that will vary, but I used one teaspoon (t) of the above for about 3 pounds of beef chuck, as well as 6 big cloves of garlic pressed, a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger root finely diced, a bunch of green onions chopped and .25 t hot red pepper flakes (or use a fresh red chilli pepper).

You coat the raw cubed beef with 2 T salted flour in a freezer bag and brown that in a pan in batches in oil. Take your time and do that right and you won't be sorry. The browned meat then goes into the crock pot, after which I very briefly sauteed the mixture above in the fat left in the pan, a couple of minutes.

Then I added 2 cups of beef stock I had ready, made from a bouillon cube, 3 T of Tamari sauce, 3 T of red wine and 2 t sugar to the pan, heating and scraping and mixing until nice and hot.

The contents of the pan go over the meat in the crock pot, then cover it and cook on low at least six hours.

Serve the meat and gravy over Jasmine rice with a vegetable on the side. I chose green peas.

It was so good I wanted seconds and thirds and fourths.

Happiness is Dominick's wild white Gulf of Mexico shrimp on sale for $8.99 a pound

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a coffee mug in the microwave, add 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and 3 teaspoons of hot curry powder.

Mix thoroughly.

Peel the shrimp and place in a broiler pan in a mound.

Pour on the mixture to coat, spread out in one layer and broil on high for 8 minutes.

Serve with pasta and a fresh vegetable.

Wedding anniversary dinner, just like that!

Happiness is a late summer grilled paprika pork chop served with a glass of cold Moscato

• Prepare a hot charcoal fire burned until all the tops are thoroughly gray, banked to one side.
• Season the pork chops liberally with kosher salt, ground black pepper, and paprika on both sides. Press the seasonings in with a fork.
• Grill for five minutes on a side with the grill cover on. First side over the coals, second side overlapping the perimeter of the coals, bone end over the coals. 
• Serve with fried green beans in butter and boiled potatoes, and a glass of cold, cheap Moscato.
• Happiness is that easy.

Happiness is the Reinheitsgebot of 1487

Happiness is Gussie Fink-Nottle saying "Madeline makes me sick!"

Richard Braine as Gussie

"Madeline! Don't talk to me about Madeline! Madeline makes me sick!" he hissed.

-- P. G. Wodehouse, Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, 1963

Happiness is an old Conway Twitty joke

Why wouldn't Kitty Carlisle marry Conway Twitty?

Because in the end she didn't want to be known as Kitty Twitty.

Happiness is French girls marching for the traditional family in Paris

To keep "who" and "whom" straight, just remember this

Bob "Zoey" Tur threatens Ben Shapiro

There once was a fairy named Bloom

who took a lesbian up to his room

They spent the whole night

having a fight

over who would do what with which to whom.

Happiness is a new clothes washing machine

GE Top Loader GTWN5650F2WS, a cross between an old fashioned agitator type and a high efficiency. You can fill it to the level you choose, or let the machine do the choosing for you. Retails for $699 and replaces a fancy Whirlpool Cabrio which failed in its seventh year. Now that I've caught up on all my laundry, I can state that I'm very pleased with the ease of use, performance and appearance. And Lowe's does a great job from in store experience through installation.

Which gin are you?

I'm a Beefeater. Take the gin quiz here.

Happiness is that he came home a winner . . . 70 years ago

Happiness is the rich almost chocolatey taste of Kimbo Espresso napoletano

Happiness is new product available exclusively at Lowe's

Here.

Happiness is a sunny 76 degree F Sunday and a gin and tonic

Happiness is clean running water

One in nine in the world lacked access to safe water last year, about 11% of the world's population in 2014.

Happiness is an actual email from Radio Hall of Famer Garry Meier

We miss you Garry! Enjoy the beach! WGN's nuts!

Yeah their nuts, and their ankles, too.

Johnsonville hits a homer with its all new Naturals line of sausages and bratwurst

I tried a package of the Mild Italian sausages last night, and they were tremendous, and no headache the day after either because they contain no MSG. The package says "Mild" but these sausages pack a nice little punch which reminds you of a hot Italian sausage without being hot.

They bake up a wonderful golden brown in the oven in no time at all, and go wonderfully with pasta and red sauce.

Thank you, Johnsonville.

Happiness is the first rain of spring

Sweet rain is falling

the grass is growing green

children look to heaven

their faces washing clean.

-- Honeytree's "Sweet Rain", 1973

"Modesty" meets up with Honesty

There once was a dame misnamed Modesty
who met up with a cad they called Honesty
he exclaimed with a leer
Ah, excuse me my dear
but your décolletage is delightfully chesty.

Spock is dead . . .

. . . live long and prosper, Spock.

Moderate coffee consumption associated with reduced risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease and Parkinson's Disease

Harry Callahan doesn't take sugar in his coffee

Reported here:

In regards to food safety, updated and previously unexamined areas of food safety were studied. No previous DGACs [Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committees] have reported on coffee/caffeine consumption and health. Currently, strong evidence shows that consumption of coffee within the moderate range (3 to 5 cups per day or up to 400 mg/d caffeine) is not associated with increased long-term health risks among healthy individuals. In fact, consistent evidence indicates that coffee consumption is associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in healthy adults. Moreover, moderate evidence shows a protective association between coffee/caffeine intake and risk of Parkinson’s disease. Therefore, moderate coffee consumption can be incorporated into a healthy dietary pattern, along with other healthful behaviors. To meet the growing demand of coffee, there is a need to consider sustainability issues of coffee production in economic and environmental terms. However, it should be noted that coffee as it is normally consumed can contain added calories from cream, milk, and added sugars. Care should be taken to minimize the amount of calories from added sugars and high-fat dairy or dairy substitutes added to coffee.

Happiness is a break from the deep-freeze

Happiness is dark Swiss chocolate with lavender

Happiness is a hot buckwheat waffle on a cold day from the Breville Classic Round Waffle Maker

Model #BWM520XL produces crispy buckwheat waffles from a PFOA-free die-cast aluminum surface.

Available at Williams-Sonoma.

Happiness is finding French Green Lentils at the vegetarian foods emporium

Happiness is finding four Cafe Au Lait Cups by Apilco for my birthday

Lately my Italian sausage comes from G. B. Russo & Son of Grand Rapids, Michigan

They always run out of the "hot", which is the most popular here at home. So I often have to get the sweet, which is just fine, and one they call "wine and cheese", which I've grown to crave. The latter reminds me just a little of a veal bratwurst, but only because the color is similar after cooking. The flavor is delightful with my own naked sweet roma tomato sauce.

I hope to go there again, tomorrow.

Happiness is gas . . . at $1.66/gallon in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Hey! Gas makes babies smile, so why not me?

Garbagello's Pizza and Pasta . . .

. . . where tonight's pizza tastes just like last night's, because it probably is.

Garbagello's, where WE scrape the plate for YOU!

Garbagello's. Looks like garbage, tastes like garbage, this time, every time! Garbagello's!

1-800-555-2345 

Let's hear it for awful beer: Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer has been killing Budweiser!

Whattayamean Pabst doesn't advertise?

From the story in The New York Post, here:

Even as Budweiser sales have fallen from 50 million barrels a year at the peak, in 1988, to 16 million today, PBR has gone the other way. PBR sales have been on a tear for more than five years and are now up to some 6 million barrels a year. ... The main difference between Pabst and Bud, though, is that Pabst doesn’t advertise: That’s been policy since 1985. The success is strictly a word-of-mouth phenomenon. ... And anyway, Pabst tastes better than Bud: According to Beer Advocate, it gets a crowd-sourced score of 69 (“poor”), compared with 57 (“awful”) for Budweiser, on a scale of 1 to 100.

If McDonald's wants its mojo back it should make french fries the old-fashioned way

Seen here.

"In the good old days, McDonald's fries were cooked in beef tallow. But customer demand for less saturated fat prompted a switch to vegetable oil in the early '90s."

Double Corn Bread in a cast iron skillet

Same as Betty Crocker, just use corn flour instead of the all-purpose flour, and double the milk to two cups.

DOUBLE CORN BREAD

1 c yellow cornmeal

1 c corn flour

2 T sugar

4 t baking powder

.5 t salt

2 c milk

.25 c vegetable shortening

1 egg

Grease the skillet.

Combine all ingredients in a blender bowl and blend until thoroughly mixed.

Pour and scrape into the skillet.

Bake at 425 degrees F about 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Serve with breakfast sausage and maple syrup, or with lots of butter and honey on top.

Twinings Jasmine Green Tea, loose leaf: Our tea of choice since May

Bagged tea is just too darned expensive anymore. A typical cost is 13 cents a cup when you buy a 20-bag box for $2.59. Bags are convenient, but loose tea is much cheaper, AND IT'S BETTER. Twinings Jasmine Green Tea, loose leaf, has been our tea of choice since May.

Two people consuming two cups a day will burn through 24 boxes of bagged tea in four months, at a cost of over $62. The cost is even higher for a high quality bagged version of Jasmine green tea. But Twinings delicious, fragrant, loose green tea has cost us barely $35 over the same period for the same level of consumption.

Amazon is a great place to get it.

Best product yet for your dishwasher: OxiClean Extreme Power Crystals

I'm almost finished with my first bottle of OxiClean Dishwasher Detergent 4x Extreme Power Crystals and I can say my dishes haven't been this sparkling clean in a long time. Even the tea stains in my white porcelain mugs are gone, and the stains in the plastic cutting boards have almost completely disappeared.

This stuff is good, and worth every penny compared to everything else I've tried. Forget the rest, and forget about trying to make your own out of TSP and cheap dish detergent powder. OxiClean has figured out how to beat the Nazis who forced manufacturers to castrate every decent dishwashing product on the market by taking the phosphates out. OxiClean has a bunch of sodium compounds in this product, plus enzymes, which do the trick. I'm not sure which is the silver bullet, but whatever it is, it's working.  

Use in combination with the liquid "Booster" product in your rinse agent dispenser.

Scrambled eggs pesto

When I maka da pesto in the blender, I end up with a bunch of pesto stuck to the sides and blade of the blender which won't come off easily but would be a sin to waste.

What to do?

Take a couple of slices of white bread, tear 'em up into a few pieces and give them a whirl in the blender for 20 seconds or so. The bread will soak up everything real nice.

Dump the pulverized bread out onto a clean plate in a nice heap.

Then top the heap with a hot scrambled egg, or a fried sunny side up one if you prefer.

It's FABULOUS! 

One reason I'm happy living in lower Michigan

Lake Michigan protects me from this.

He that hath no beard is less than a man

BEATRICE
Too curst is more than curst: I shall lessen God's
sending that way; for it is said, 'God sends a curst
cow short horns;' but to a cow too curst he sends none.
LEONATO
So, by being too curst, God will send you no horns.
BEATRICE
Just, if he send me no husband; for the which
blessing I am at him upon my knees every morning and
evening. Lord, I could not endure a husband with a
beard on his face: I had rather lie in the woollen.
LEONATO
You may light on a husband that hath no beard.
BEATRICE
What should I do with him? dress him in my apparel
and make him my waiting-gentlewoman? He that hath a
beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no
beard is less than a man: and he that is more than
a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a
man, I am not for him: therefore, I will even take
sixpence in earnest of the bear-ward, and lead his
apes into hell.

-- Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Act II, Scene I.

Tommy Ramone was a mensch

From the Tyler Evans interview with Tommy Ramone in 2012, here:

Mickey Leigh announced that Joey Ramone’s second posthumous album …Ya Know? is coming out at the end of May. I couldn’t help but notice that you’re not one of the producers on the record.

It’s just so heart wrenchingly sad that Joey’s not around. I didn’t think I was up to it. It was just too heart-breaking. It would have just been emotionally so hard for me, because working on a record, the way I work; I get very into it, very intense. I just found it overwhelming, ya know?

Did you get a chance to talk to all of the guys before they passed?

Oh yeah. I talked to them all the time, especially Johnny and Joey. Dee Dee I didn’t, Dee Dee was fine, ya know? What happened with Dee Dee was really freaky. Joey was sick and Johnny was sick, and I talked to them … sad times, very sad times. Those guys are with me all the time, which is why it would have been so hard to work on that record.

If you don’t mind me asking, what do you miss the most about them?

It’s like family, ya know? It’s an emotional thing, they’re always with me. They’re just so much a part of my life that it’s like missing a part of you, a big part of you. Just their personalities, it was so intense really, the relationships. In a sense, they’re always there. It just surrounds me all the time.

What a rotten day: Tommy Ramone has died

The last of the original four.

"[The Ramones] gave everything they could in every show. They weren't the type to phone it in, if you see what I mean."

-- Tommy Ramone, 2007