The original 14 superfoods

yogurt

beans

blueberries, salmon, spinach

oats

orange

pumpkin

tea

tomato

soy

turkey

walnut

broccoli

Happiness is Crispy Duck at First Wok Chinese Restaurant served with beautiful turnip "flower" garnish and delicious plum sauce

A delight to the eyes and to the palate.

Try it at 6740 Old 28th Street in Cascade, Michigan.

Happiness is Monty Python's send up of long aristocratic German names: Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplendenschlitter . . .

Johann Gambolputty
de von Ausfern
schplendenschlitter
crasscrenbonfried
diggerdingle
dangledongle
dungleburstein von knackerthrasher applebanger
horowitz
ticolensic
granderknottyspelltinkle
grandlich grumblemeyer spelterwasser
kurstlich himble eisenbahnwagen
gutenabend
bitte ein nürnburger bratwustle gerspurten mitz weimache luber hundsfut gumberaber schönedanker kalbsfleischmittler

aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm.

Here.

 

Or maybe here.

This is the kind of thing which makes San Marzano tomatoes San Marzano tomatoes!

Happiness is whole milk mozzarella on the pizza instead of part-skim: It's more tender and tastes fresher

Happiness is Boar's Head natural casing beef frankfurters

Available at D&W for $8.99 a package of seven, about $1.29 for each 2 oz. 6.5 inch sausage.

You'll want an extra long hot dog bun for these.

Happiness is a three year old Crane Lake Cabernet for $5.29

Tonight I'm drinking a 2013 which isn't as smooth and silky as a Kendall Jackson or anything, but this one has aged very well in the bottle after three years. Better than any other cheap varietal I've tried in quite a while. Maybe I should start cellaring them on sale! If I remember correctly it's the hearty varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon which mellow well with age. Never thought a cheapo would do that, but I was wrong.

Happiness is Florida Georgia Line singin' "Round Here"

Yeah that’s how we do it ’round here.

Happiness is Milwaukee's Best Ice for $0.599 a can

Dead this date for 400 years, I can think of no one's words which make me happier than William Shakespeare's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because ... 

 

his heroes are men, that the love and hatred, the hopes and fears, of his chief personages are such as common to other human beings. ... Shakespeare's excellence is not the fiction of a tale, but the representation of life: and his reputation is therefore safe, till human nature shall be changed.

-- Samuel Johnson

Happiness is "Taxing Deadlines" By Madeleine Begun Kane

Taxing Deadlines

By Madeleine Begun Kane (here):

Did you file your 1040? Not me!

Cuz I need an extension, you see.

Could not get it together.

I’m blaming the weather.

Do I wish it was finished? Mais oui!

Just one more reason bacon is happiness

h/t Theo

Happiness is highest for the intelligent when they spend less time with their friends

The Savannah Theory of Happiness, expanded upon here, indicates happiness declines as population density increases, except among the intelligent, for whom that matters little.

Happiness also generally increases with more interaction with close friends, unless you happen to be very smart, in which case less interaction is better for happiness. 

The latest reason to be optimistic about the future: Eccentricity continues to decline!

Eccentricity has been in decline for all of recorded human history, and will continue to decline until about 30,016 AD.

A measure of the deviation from perfect circularity, eccentricity of the earth's orbit around the sun is cyclical and has been in decline for tens of thousands of years.

In 5,000 BC the eccentricity of the earth's orbit measured .018869. Today it measures .016703, a less elliptical and more circular orbit by 11.5% in just 7,000 years. 

But by about 30,016 AD eccentricity will reach a nadir around .0023088, meaning earth's orbit around the sun will be almost 88% more circular than it was in 5,000 BC.

The more circular the orbit, the less extreme and more predictable should be the gravitational and climatic changes exerted on the earth by our sun.

Think positive!

You are at zero

Happiness is hearing Inspector Clouseau say "Not anymore"

Here.

Happiness is chocolate: Strongly linked to superior brain function

Story here.

My go-to bar is Lindt, 70% cocoa.

One square a day.

Happiness is my daily scrambled egg in butter in a little cast iron skillet

OK, sometimes I use olive oil instead of butter, but butter tastes the best.

1. Heat a small iron skillet (6.5 inch) on medium for about one minute.

2. Meanwhile whisk one large egg in a proper mixing bowl until frothy.

3. Add a splash of milk and beat some more.

4. Add a generous teaspoon of butter to the pan.

5. Once thoroughly melted and coated add the egg mixture.

6. Cook until the egg sets around the edges, back off the heat to low, and push the egg once across the pan with a fork from one side to the other.

7. Allow the egg and butter mixture to pool back and set around the edges again and repeat until done to your liking (I like mine a little underdone and glossy, but not runny). The egg shouldn't stick one bit if you're doing it right.

Happiness is Sonny James singing Young Love

Listen to him here.

Sonny James passed away yesterday at the age of 87, announced last night on Nashville's 650 AM WSM on the Eddie Stubbs Show.

Happiness is the Denver Broncos beating the Carolina Panthers 24-10 in Super Bowl 50

From the story here by Mark Craig of the StarTribune:

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – A brilliant NFL legacy was cemented at Levi’s Stadium in Super Bowl 50 on Sunday night. Congratulations … Wade Phillips.

Time and again, Peyton Manning, the Denver Broncos’ 39-year-old legacy-seeking quarterback, came up short or turned the ball over in his fourth Super Bowl and possibly final game of an 18-year career. But, time and again, Phillips, the 68-year-old defensive coordinator bailed him out by turning loose a swarming defense that stymied the Carolina Panthers’ No. 1-ranked scoring offense and punished MVP quarterback Cam Newton with a Super Bowl record-tying seven sacks en route to a 24-10 victory.

“Great defenses do this all the time,” Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall said. “Two years ago, we had the best offense and we got beat 43-8 in the Super Bowl. Seattle had the best defense and they kicked our butts. [General Manager] John Elway went to work. He built this team for this moment right here.”

To toughen the Broncos, Elway turned to defensive free agents such as DeMarcus Ware, T.J. Ward, Aqib Talib and Darian Stewart. To pull it all together, he and his new coach, Gary Kubiak, turned to Phillips, who was out of work last season after being fired in Houston along with Kubiak. ...

“We were underdogs,” Phillips said. “They said we can’t stop this quarterback or that quarterback. So it’s real gratifying. From unemployed to the Super Bowl is good. From unemployed to winning the Super Bowl is even better.”

Happiness is true love, or a nice MLT

Clip here:

True love is the greatest thing in the world, except for a nice MLT . . . mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

Happiness is real recovery from Multiple Sclerosis

Annette Funicello passed away from the disease in 2013

"A pioneering new stem cell treatment is reversing and then halting the potentially crippling effects of multiple sclerosis. Patients embarking on a ground-breaking trial of the new treatment have found they can walk again and that the disease even appears to be stopped in its tracks."

Read the rest here.

Happiness is Jack Benny saying "I'm thinking it over"

Here.

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