Well, There Go The Last Of The Romas . . . Thanks To The Cat

I made the last batch of tomato sauce last week from the last of the previous season's Romas, and dontcha know Mr. Pal here decided to get too friendly with a skunk last night so instead of enjoying the sauce ourselves . . . he got a special bath in it.

The experts say it's a myth that tomato sauce works on skunk, but since it was a little difficult to keep Pal in the sink long enough to really find out, I'm not going to say the experts really know since Pal does smell a little better today, though not acceptably better. It's going to be a long week, I think.

Vangelis: What I'm Listening To Now

In the "tyranny of Greece over Germany", winter is finally getting a proper beating tonight in Michigan so I am enjoying a little light Vangelis over dinner. It transports you to a warmer, more relaxed place which you have been missing for too long but suddenly remember viscerally. This album charted in Europe most popular in Ungarn, followed by Oesterreich, in 1996. Romantics all.

What Do You Call A Country That Eats A Lot Of Seaweed?

A Kombunation.

Bdum bum.

Fix It Again Tony: FIAT Buys Used Car Company

Sympathy for Lido Anthony Iacocca?

FIAT: Found.In.A.Tree.

Eat Lentils Today To Bring Good Luck For The New Year

So say the Italians, according to this story:

We all get another chance in the new year — clean slate, new resolutions. For a little extra push of luck there are culinary superstitions from cultures all over the world. ... Legumes of any kind bring good luck because they resemble coins and, therefore, wealth. ... Italians eat lentils and sausage to bring in the new year. The lentils play the same role as black-eyed peas and the sausages, sliced crosswise, resemble coins. The pork — specifically the fat — signifies abundance.

I was making Lentil Soup from The Silver Palate Cookbook, somewhat modified, when I learned of the superstition (great minds think alike):

8 cups homemade chicken stock

1.5 cups organic green lentils, washed

2 small bay leaves and 2 matching-sized pieces of Parmesan rind (I save these in the freezer)

6 oz. uncured bacon, diced

1 medium organic onion, diced

3 organic carrots, peeled and diced

3 large cloves homegrown garlic, diced

1 tsp. dried thyme leaves

1/4 tsp. celery seed

1/4 tsp. Folgate lavender buds

1. Wash the lentils, drain, and boil gently for 45 minutes in the chicken stock in a covered large soup pot along with the bay leaves and Parmesan rinds, which add a unique creaminess.

2. Meanwhile prepare the bacon and saute in a dutch oven, stirring frequently until crisp over less than medium heat. Reserve for serving.

3. Dice the vegetables as the bacon finishes and sweat them for 20 minutes covered in the bacon fat of the dutch oven over less than medium heat. I add the carrots first, then the onions carefully on top and sweat together for 10 minutes, then I stir and sweat five minutes more, and then I add the garlic on top without stirring for the last five minutes.

4. Add the vegetables to the stock and lentils, which by now should be done. Also add the seasonings, which I grind ahead of time in my coffee grinder very briefly. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and the Parmesan rinds, if you can find them.

5. Serve with reserved bacon dice, and season with salt and pepper to taste with some buttered, toasted bread or an English Muffin.

Good luck!

h/t Monica

Man On Ledge Reluctantly Chooses Turkey Bacon Sandwich With Fries Over Suicide

Hey! Turkey and bacon works for me.

He wanted to live!

Story here:

An officer trained in crisis-intervention began talking to the man, who said he was hungry. Police then procured French fries and a turkey and bacon sandwich from the nearby Hotel deLuxe. The man apparently wasn't overwhelmed when presented with the sandwich. Hull said, “I think at one point he said he wanted a cheeseburger, but beggars can’t be choosers." Police were eventually able to convince the would-be jumper to walk away from the ledge and eat. 

Hatchet Jack's Last Will And Testament: Best Ever Non-Speaking Part In A Movie?

"I, Hatchet Jack, being of sound mind and broke legs, do leaveth my rifle to the next thing who finds it, Lord hope he be a white man. It is a good rifle, and kilt the bear that kilt me. Anyway, I am dead. Sincerley, Hatchet Jack."

-- Jeremiah Johnson, 1972

Anton Ego Is Dead: Peter O'Toole's Alter (1932-2013)

Interesting insight from film critic Robbie Collin, here:

One of my own favourites came in a film in which we never saw him: the Pixar animation Ratatouille, in which he played Anton Ego, a seemingly unpleasable food critic whose heart is finally melted by a perfectly prepared portion of the French dish.

“The world is often unkind to new talent; new creations,” he says in the film’s closing scenes. “The new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new: an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source.”

I’ll admit I shed a tear when I first heard O’Toole speak those lines, and yet the words are delivered with such simplicity you can scarcely detect a scrap of the actor’s craft in them. What’s the trick? Acknowledging each emotion without sinking into it. Navigating the script like a seasoned traveller. And above all, not minding that it hurts.

If You Are From Wisconsin, This Is Hamburger Weather

It's colder where I am tonight in Michigan than where I grew up in Wisconsin, but only by 1 degree F. But it didn't stop me from making a charcoal fire and grilling up some delicious hamburgers for supper. It just takes longer for the coals to reach optimum gray and red, about forty minutes instead of twenty.

I served the hamburgers with melted sharp cheddar cheese (what else?) and some ketchup on nice white hamburger buns, with steamed petite peas and green beans in butter on the side.

With a glass of red wine, wunderbar darling! 

Si Robertson: "There's 20 million people in the world. And I'm supposed to know about one?"

Si Robertson goes a little si-cho about not knowing who Clint Bowyer is in "Drag Me To Glory", Episode 12, Season 2, November 28, 2012 broadcast of Duck Dynasty.

That's funny, Jack!

"I lost my ba-lance"

"Well go find it!"

(see it here)

Unclog A Drain Cheap, Easy And Home-Made

Here's another one I've seen online in several places which I decided to try after wasting money on expensive drain opening products. I'm not sure why it works so well, but it does. Perhaps the rapid expansion combined with the acidity is the explanation. If your problem is something other than hair and soap scum I can't say it will work, but this preparation got rid of two slow tub/shower drains for me, cutting right through the gunk just like that. No more toes soaking in a puddle!

Drain Opener

1 cup baking soda

1 cup white vinegar

Remove whatever cover/plug is over your drain. Spoon in 1 cup of baking soda, and dump the excess over the hole. Cover with an inverted Pyrex 2-cup measuring cup. Slowly pour 1 cup vinegar into the hole, slightly lifting one edge of the Pyrex by the handle as you do. It'll bubble up all over the place, but it will drain back down, so don't pause. Let stand at least thirty minutes and flush with a liberal amount of hot water.

Clean Your Shower And Tub Cheap, Easy And Home-Made

This is all over the place online if you look for it. I decided to try it and it worked great for me. Just spray it on liberally, leave it on for 15 minutes or so, then rub it all around with a damp rope mop to get into any rounded spaces. Rinse thoroughly and you are done! My shower has never been cleaner. It's amazing!

Shower Cleaner Recipe

Equal parts Dawn Ultra dishwashing liquid and warm vinegar in an empty spray bottle. Three ounces each is enough for one tub and shower combination, walls and all. Add the Dawn first, then the warm vinegar. Shake a little and you are ready to ROCK A LOT!

It's the clinging action of the soap which keeps the vinegar on the verticals which does the trick. If your shower is particularly nasty, you can skimp just a little on the vinegar to increase the clinging action of more soap in the mixture.

Whaddaya Mean You're Outta Shrimp? Shrimp Prices Skyrocket, Lobster Prices Plummet.

They were all out of Lake Perch last night at the local Michigan restaurant we frequent, so we ordered the shrimp instead, only to find out they didn't have any shrimp either! Disease has ravaged key shrimp farms in Asia, reducing supplies, while warmer Atlantic waters have dramatically boosted lobster populations.

CNN Money reports here:

Shrimp prices are skyrocketing to all-time highs, amid a disease that's plaguing the three largest prawn producers: Thailand, China and Vietnam. White shrimp prices are nearing $6 a pound, up 56% from a year ago, according to an Urner Barry index. ... As of August, the average 4 oz. lobster tail cost $13.25, according to Urner Barry. That still costs more than 2 pounds of shrimp, but it's the lowest price in 11 years, as warmer water and fewer predators have led to an abundant supply of lobsters.

"The Personal Life Is Dead . . ."

"The personal life is dead in Russia. History killed it."

See "Strelnikov" say it, here.

Dr. Zhivago (1965)

And it's nearly dead in The United Surveillance States Of America as well.

Bunny Has Left The Building

Well, the bunny has just left the building. I swear he grew an inch taller overnight even though he didn't touch the carrot and lettuce we left out for him right next to the piano before we went to bed.

I slept on the couch last night in the hope that I'd wake up and catch the little fellow trying to get out where he came in, but no such luck.

I woke up about 2:45 this morning and evidently while I slept bunny had decided to leave the confines of the piano and drop some turds in the dining room and pee in the corner. The cats came up from the basement about 5 and went out, but not before Pal's nose clued me in to the present on the tile in the corner. So even though I was awake and heard some clunks in the piano around 4 I was disappointed in my silent watch. Just as well. They are almost impossible to catch with three sets of bare hands, let alone one.

So after making some inquiries this morning I had resolved to line the bottom of the piano with fresh cut onions by removing the access panel above the pedals, but when my son decided to begin his piano practice he discovered that bunny had already come out of his own accord, and was behind it again. I guess enduring one more practice session was just too much to ask of bunny, and no, my son is not practicing Prokofiev at present. 

We prodded him with a long stick once again and bunny decided to head to the breakfast nook, by-passing once again (!) the wide open front door. But eventually we coaxed him back there, and though he stopped short of exiting, a gentle push with a shirt had him tumbling out and finally off the stairs to ground.

Just another day in paradise.

Good luck little bunny. You are a hail fellow well met, or something.

The Day of the Bunny

Pal Kitty showed up at the patio door this morning about 8:30 carrying one of these in his mouth. I think it's his first real bunny. He's kind of lazy about hunting, letting his sister do all the work, so it was kind of a surprise.

Well, on examination through the glass I could see he hadn't really hurt it, and as I cracked the door open he put it down in front of me, all proud like, when the bunny took off across the deck looking to escape.

Just one problem. There is no stair to the deck, just a couple of narrow boards for cat ramps in two different places. As I tried to separate bunny and kitty, who had decided the chase was on again, bunny decided . . . to head into the house through the patio door, which I had, of course, absent-mindedly left open.

And off bunny went, behind the couch toward the stairs to the second floor, then out of the corner of my eye back out again on the other side and . . . where? Down the basement stair, or into the dining room?

Having searched the latter I concluded bunny must have headed to ground, as they say. And I've spent the better part of the day looking for bunny in the nether regions of my basement, cleaning up some boxes and packing material for the recyclers tomorrow while I'm at it, doing some vacuuming and discovering that bunny could be just about anywhere in view of all the boxes with stuff in them still piled everywhere after moving into this place over five years ago. I eventually took a break for a late lunch around 2:00 and had a coffee and a quiet sit down on the couch to read for a while, when out of the corner of my eye I caught the sight of bunny. It was being quiet which did the trick.

Bunny decided to head for the patio door, which I managed to open for her, moving ever so slowly behind her and to her left, but she wouldn't go for the opening. Instead, she headed . . . back for the dining room.

But where? Well, a look behind the piano showed she was back there between it and the wall. So, this is where she had been all day.

Well, we opened all the doors, to the front (nearest the piano) with a clear line of sight to the open patio door to the deck in the back the other direction, and also the service door to the garage, in case she'd want to leave that way. Well, to make a long story short, bunny avoided front door, ran toward service door and hid behind the washer, and finally escaped through the arms and legs of the three of us back to the safety of . . . the piano. But this time, she's crawled up inside the frame just out of reach, where she must have gone the first time in the morning where I couldn't see her.

I've been waiting quietly for bunny to come out now for about an hour and a half, but there's nothing happening . . . kind of like the whole day, the day of the bunny.

You are here :)

Earth from Saturn as viewed by Cassini

"Hot Child In The City" (1978)

See him sing it, here.