Friday, December 28, 2007

Chicken Bahg

In the Deep South (aka 'The Lowcountry') you call it Chicken Bog. It's basically a few simple ingredients...chicken (duh), white rice, and some form of sausauge (usually kielbasa). It tastes about like it sounds...white. If you want extra flavor, you can add vinegar (WHITE vinegar!). I decided to revamp it a bit, here is what I came up with.

Stuff You Need

  • About 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into strips. I like thighs because they don't get stringy like boneless skinless white meat does.

  • 2 or 3 pieces of Andouille sausauge, casings removed. You can also use Chorizo, but I like Andouille for it's more subtle flavors.

  • One medium onion, diced.

  • One Green Bell Pepper, diced

  • One Red Bell Pepper, diced

  • 2 Cloves Garlic, Minced (OR if you are like me and use the Garlic in a jar, 1 tsp)

  • One Can diced tomatoes, drained (You can substitute with a can of RoTel if you want to give it a little extra kick)

  • Half a small can (about 2 tbsp) Pineapple Chunks, drained.

  • Two Cups Chicken Broth

  • One cup long grain white rice

  • Salt and Pepper

  • One Teaspoon Cayanne Pepper

  • 1/2 Teaspoon Parsley

  • Chopped Green Onion for topping

  • One teaspoon Vegetable Oil




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Just a few of the ingredients I recommend.

To start, heat the teaspoon of oil over medium heat in a reasonably sized dutch oven or pot. Add the sausage and brown. Salt and Pepper your chicken and add to the pot until cooked through, about 8 minuites.

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Chicken and Sausauge in a pot, obviously not done yet.

Once the chicken and sausage are cooked all the way through and show no pink spots, remove the meat and drain all but about one tsp of the drippings. Return to heat (reduced to medium low), add the onion and cook until soft, about 3 minuites. Add the Red & Green bell pepper and the garlic, cook another 2-3 minuites.

Add the pineapple, tomatoes, chicken broth, cayanne pepper and parsley and bring to a simmer. Stir in the rice and return to simmer. Lastly add the chicken and sausage in a single layer on top.

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Getting There!

Cook for about 25 min, partially covered. Once it's done you can add the green onion (or your garnish of choice). The Tabasco Mild Green Jalapeno sauce is nothing short of awesome added to this dish.

Hope you like!

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Hells Yeah!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Oh BLAHG!

Oh Blog, you poor, ignored little bugger. I have been able to unstick myself from Battlestar Galactica reruns long enough to update you. I'm very ashamed of this neglect.

Well, little, sad, unread & ignored one...what's new with you? Oh right, nothing. What's new with me? Well! Here is the laundry list...

- We love living in St. Paul. Burnsville is lousy with soccer moms, minivans, and only one Olive Garden. I got a library card, and when the wind is not blowing cold ass air in our faces, we walk the three blocks over and browse books. It's fun.

- I finished my blanket made of T-shirts...Sorry this picture is so dark. It was fun to make.

- Brian is Graduating this week! Of course he's immediately going to attempt entering the PhD program of Asian Languages & Literature, (yes, you skip the postgrad and go right into PhD, but you do get a master's out of it anyway, I know...wierd). Anyway, I am very proud, so much so that I let him get an Xbox 360. I have since fallen in love with Guitar Hero. Dammit!

- My job is still...my job. Meh. But I will hopefully be enrolling in Online Classes at the Art Institutue of Minneapolis. We'll see.

- My mom came to visit! We didn't get into the first fight. Miracle.

I guess the biggest thing to mention is that two days after my last post, my dad got the liver he'd been waiting for for oh...seven years. I flew down to Duke courtesy of Aunt Betty and stayed there for 2 weeks while he recovered. It was actually pretty awesome. He was out of the hospital after five days, which is practically unheard of. We went to see Transformers less than a week after his surgery! The movie sucked, but being able to go to the movie was better than great.

I don't know why I always attempt lengthy blog posts when I have to get ready for work. Write another 5 minuites or shave my legs? Bah, it's winter. Nobody shaves their legs in winter, right?

Thursday, June 21, 2007

In Soviet Russia...

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Hotdog Eats You!!!

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Bringing Scully Back

I love it when both of my bosses are out. Instead of doing real work I get caught up on my blogging. Just remember to delete those cookies!

No update yet on Dad's new Liver. As of today Duke's Transplant Clinic is saying "It could be any day now". So I'm sitting on a small mound of vacation time like a mad little squirrel sitting on her winter nuts....her winter stockpile of nuts. Speaking of nuts, I wish Angel & Firefly fans had had the organization and resources that Jericho fans did. They got their cancelled show back on the air, and all it took was 25 million pounds of Peanuts. Somewhere, Joss Whedon is weeping.

Thanks to a kind young woman I work with, I've been plowing my way through the first seven seasons of the X-files. I just finished Season 3, and aforementioned co-worker practically had to pry it straight out of my grip I liked it so much. Best episode ever? Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'. Brilliant from start to finish.

I feel I would be remiss If I did not make a list of my favorite guest appearances, seasons 1-3:

1. Peter Boyle as the Suicidal Precog
2. Alex Trebek and Jesse Ventura as the Men In Black
3. B.D. Wong (from Law & Order SVU as the Charbroiled Chinatown Cop
4. Giovanni Ribisi as lightning boy
5. Jack Black as french-fried Friend of lightning boy
6. Seth Green as long-haired freaky people (need not apply)
7. Jewel Staite as girl who is kidnapped by Colin Mocherie look-alike
8. Michael J. Anderson as seriously short-fused (ha!) Hotel Manager
9. Guy who played Jenny Calender's Uncle on Buffy as sometimes-conjoined twin guy.
10. Lucy Liu as pointless sick girl. But still...Adorable!
11. Brad Dourif (who beautifully played Doc Cocharan on Deadwood as a psychic on Death Row.
12. Terry O'Quinn (Lost's Locke) as overbearing police guy
13. Lady who played Frazier Crane's Agent Bebe as Clone Lady, aka Eve 6. I guess I have Chris Carter to thank for inspiring Crappy Bands everywhere.

I'd also like to thank Mitch Pileggi's back for making a cameo in Season 3. Is there anyone who just oozes hotness like A.D. Skinner?
An additional shout-out goes to the episode where Scully FINALLY gets to drive. Brian, not being the biggest X-files fan, is back to playing World of Whorecraft, I mean Warcraft. I'm cool with it now, as long as it dosen't get so out of hand I have to take him on the Tyra show or anything. Did you see that episode? The husband left the hospital for 3 hours to play WoW while his WIFE WAS GIVING BIRTH TO THEIR CHILD. If ever a situation called for Tyra Banks, that was it. Personally, I think Blizzard Inc should not require payment of it's players. I think it should in fact be paying money to the player's significant others. Call it reimbursment for the medical bills spent after the stroke they have from asking him twenty times in a two hour span to take out the damn trash, and constantly getting "just after this raid" in response.

*whew*

For a parting thought, here's a good Hippie Joke I heard (or read, I think, on TWOP)...


Q: How can you tell when a Hippie has been in your house?

...

A: He's Still There!!!

Friday, May 18, 2007

Nons Sombres

I can only think of two instances in my life where I have felt so completely exhausted, physically and mentally. The first was when I babysat a 13-month old girl for an entire week, and promptly swore off having children (at least I think I swore off 13-month olds and all babies too small to appreciate Spongebob Squarepants. I prefer they spring from my head like Athena from Zeus, five years old and fully potty-trained). The second time was the three days following my mom's surgery, which I stayed at the hospital and pretty much awake for about 70 hours. When I got a chance to go home and catch some sleep, I snored so loud I woke myself up. True Story.

Now, however, my fun old friend Mr. Insomnia visits me every night, and sometimes he brings along his good friend Ms. Super Distrubing Dreams. I think I've aged about 3 years in the past month. Just in time for summer!

Not that I don't have my reasons...dad has liver cancer and after next friday will be #2 on Duke's transplant list. My brother, grandpa and best friend all have birthdays this coming week and I'll not see a single one of them. Work has been grinding me to a little nub, and people are starting to notice I get sort of...well, evil when I haven't had enough sleep. Evil with horns, the real thing.

Not to worry, a vacation is nigh. After a long sojurn in Europe, BOBI's sister Molls comes home today (well, tonight). Tonight we pick her up from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and tomorrow we're off to the North Shore, where their mom and her husband have a house right on Lake Superior. I could sit out on thier back porch for hours and look at the lake, hunt for sea-glass and skipping rocks on the shore, or just dig the always nicer (except in winter) temperatures. They even have a huge statue of a french guy! Check it out!



This guy is known as Pierre the Voyager. Don't he just Look French! I don't know who those people are, sorry.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Attack!

For no reason, we gots all silly...



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Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Spring Cleaning



My new obsession is Title Trader. Thumbs up for getting rid of stuff I don't want, and getting shiny new stuff in return! It's free, in case you're broke.

Other new obsessions include Craigslist, Deadwood, Cooking, and Anderson Cooper. But really, who could blame me?

Monday, March 12, 2007

!!!!!

Showtime is taking my favorite raido show This American Life and turning it into a weekly series.

If you've never listened to TAL...


One of the problems with our show from the start has been that whenever we try to describe it in a sentence or two, it sounds awful. For instance: Each week we choose a theme and put together different kinds of stories on that theme. That doesn't sound like something we'd want to listen to on the radio, and it's our show. In the early days of the program, in frustration, we'd sometimes tell public radio program directors that it's basically just like Car Talk. Except just one guy hosting. And no cars.

It's easy to say what we're not. We're not a news show or a talk show or a call-in show. We're not really formatted like other radio shows at all.

Instead, we do these stories that are like movies for radio. There are people in dramatic situations where things happen to them. There are funny moments and emotional moments and – hopefully – moments where the people in the story say interesting, surprising things about it all. It has to be surprising. It has to be fun. There are shows on public radio with no sense of fun or surprise and we hate those shows.

The program is on more than 500 public radio stations across the country. It's probably airing this weekend on a station near you, or you can just listen to the show here on this site. You can podcast or download last weekend's new show for free, stream older shows for free via any of our archive pages, or buy CDs. There are Greatest Hits CDs and other merch.

We have the themes because mostly they make it sound like there's a reason to hear a story about, say, a contest where everyone stands around a truck for days until one person is left standing ... or a grown man trying to convince his friend that he has heard the greatest phone message ever made ... or a man who's obsessed with Niagara Falls, lives minutes from the Falls, writes and thinks about the Falls all the time, but who can't bring himself to actually visit the Falls, because, as he says, "they've ruined the Falls." If you're not doing stories about the news, or celebrities, or things people have ever heard of elsewhere, you have to give people a reason to keep listening. The themes make it seem like there is a reason.

We think of the show as journalism. One of the people who helped shape the program, Paul Tough, says that what we're doing is applying the tools of journalism to everyday lives, personal lives.



Which is true. It's also true that the journalism we do tends to use a lot of the techniques of fiction: scenes and characters and narrative threads.

Meanwhile, the fiction we have on the show functions like journalism: it's fiction that describes what it's like to be here, now, in America. What we like are stories that are both funny and sad. Personal and sort of epic at the same time.

Some of the writers whose work has been on the program: David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell, Russell Banks, Dave Eggers, David Rakoff, Tobias Wolff, Jhumpa Lahiri, Anne Lamott, Michael Lewis, Michael Chabon, Nick Hornby, Alex Kotlowitz, Dan Savage, David Foster Wallace, Spalding Gray, Chris Ware, Gay Talese, Haruki Murakami, Aimee Bender, Lydia Davis, Junot Diaz, Sherman Alexie, Bill Buford.



We view the show as an experiment. We try things. There was the show where we taped for 24 hours in an all-night restaurant. And the show where we put a band together from the musicians' classified ads. And the show where we followed a group of swing voters for months, recorded their reactions to everything that happened in the election up through their final decision. And the show where one of our contributors went on a fast to find out if, in fact, fasting leads to enlightenment as promised.

We sometimes think of it as a documentary show for people who normally hate documentaries. A public radio show for people who don't necessarily care for public radio.

We're also producing a television show for the Showtime network, which will debut in 2007.


I can not tell you how much I love the idea!

Preview it here.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Fuck YOU, Ann!

God, how I hate Ann Coulter.

I hope by now everyone has heard her comments regarding John Edwards...


"I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, but it turns out that you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I'm - so, kind of at an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards, so I think I'll just conclude here and take your questions," said Coulter, whose comment was followed by applause.



You can get the full story here, and hopefully it will encourage you to visit Edward's website. I did. So there, Ann!

And as an added bonus, I'm providing a link to my lover Henry Rollins' Love Letter to Ann Coulter, because really, who could say it better?

I'm going to pull out the big gun now, the one I only use for super head cases....

Ann Coulter, you are a cunt.

There, I said it.



p.s. I also heard today that the Geico Cavemen are getting a TV pilot. What. The. Fuck. Deadwood gets cancelled and Cavemen get a pilot? People suck sometimes.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Snow Day...For Rizzle

Imagine my joy when I was told I would be leaving at 2:15 today, and that the station was closing early due to heavy snow...Imagine my disappointment when I was told it was unpaid. Such as it is, I never look a gift horse (nor any horse) in the mouth, but take my 2 hours 15 minuites and run.

Taking a page from Sleep Goblins book, we went out in the snow to play. Brian tried his best at snowmanship, but tonights snow was far too dry and powdery.


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Taking a break from all my worries sure does help a lot.

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Those would be my "foot" prints.

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Brian works on his wouldn't-be snowman.

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Knee-deep!

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No point to this one, I just really like my hat.

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The Stalwart Hero.

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This was actually a few days ago when I was cutting Brian's hair...I just wanted to give him a little emo mohawk...it's really cute with the red hair!

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Winter Storm Warning

There has been a lot of Buzz about the winter storm hitting Minnesota this weekend, we even cancelled going up to Two Harbors (damn it) for fear of being stuck in snow, freezing rain & 50 mph winds in the no-man's land between Duluth and the Twin Cities. So when I woke up at 3:00 a.m., I checked out the window to see if it was snowing. It had, in fact, already snowed...maybe a half inch. When I got back up at 7:00, it had not snowed any more than that. However, judging from the dark, swollen look of the sky, It looks as though we are about to be Fucked by Snow. All I could think was "I wish I'd stocked up on Chicken Wings."
What? I just woke up.

I wonder how Sleep Goblin and D.S. are faring, and if Wisconsin has in fact been Fucked by Snow yet.


So we may be staying in today...not that Brian could go anywhere since he sprained his ankle and is still kind of limpy. I'd like to pile up on the couch with Chicken Wings (damn it), Dr. Pepper, and a pile of movies...starting with Cleopatra, not because it's a good movie because really? It's not. No, I think my desire to see this movie stems directly from the fact that I'm still watching Rome on HBO. Also, I always thought Rex Harrison was totally Hot as Ceaser. What? Shut Up.


Ahh, Liz.


This is a much earlier version starring the Vivien Leigh. Has anyone out there seen this one? I'd like to watch it but I'd like a little feedback first.


Second in line for my fantasy viewing party would have to be Cry Baby aka an awesome movie/musical and the first movie I ever thought Johnny Depp was hot in. Yeow. By that time, Brian may have thrown himself off the roof. The only musicals he likes are Wicked and Grease. I managed to get him to sit through The Sound of Music with me...and I think he'd probably rather die that watch South Pacific or Guys and Dolls. His loss!


Three great reasons to watch this movie...Ricki Lake, Johnny Depp (the Winona Years) and Tracy Lords, yes that Tracy Lords.


Buy Me this Shirt!!!

Rounding it off owuld have to be How to Marry a Millionaire. Because I have a sincere appreciation for beauty, and this movie is packed with the 3 most awesomely beautiful women of their day. I like to think of it as an earlier, much earlier version of Charlie's Angels. Except instead of fight crime they try to find rich guys to marry. And Monroe was even hotter in Glasses.


Marilyn and Betty Grable.


Movies would be more fun if they still advertised like they used to, no?

And now...


Come to mama.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Whupped.

I actually have been working on this retrospective on the Emo "movement", but right now I'm too tired to finish it. We're having a site visit tommorow from a huge company we're trying to woo, so things at work are crazy. I spent a half an hour under my desk yesterday bundling cables. It was so much fun, like camp! You want to hear something funny about my work vs. home life? Has everyone seen that Emerald Nuts commercail where Robert Gulet 'messes with your stuff'? If not watch it here. It's funny. This is, I'm neat. I'm not crazy psycho neat...I just don't like clutter. Everyone at work notices this (since I'm pretty much alone in the 'no clutter' camp) and says "Wow, your place must be soooooo clean". I just give a little 'heh' and go back to work, but what I'd like to tell them is that Robert Gulet visits me in my home, in the guise of Brian. We got a visit this past weekend from his mom & sister, and mom noted "It does NOT look like Brian lives here! You must have to tidy up all the time!" Well, she would know. Still...vindication!

A few other notes...
  • Could we just please please please bury Anna Nicole Smith already? Stop fighting over her corpse...it's CREEPY.
  • I want to see the movie 300 so bad it's not even funny....
  • I'm a little shocked to discover I'm laughing harder at the Colbert Report than I am the Daily show.


Next time...Emo!

Sunday, February 11, 2007

One year ago...

It was one year ago this week I was hopping on a plane to spend some quality time with the new man in my life Bobi. It was without a single doubt the best time I have ever had in my life. He was romantic, attentive, respectful, funny, and most of all...adorable! So one year later how does he stack up?

The same, only now I add 'messy' to that list.

So, taking a look back for this very happy landmark...



















Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Why your ass should be watching Heroes...

I know I blog about nothing but TV anymore, and it's not as though I'm not reading (Kate Atkinson's Not the End of The World) or listening to new music (Lily Allen's Alright, Still- look out, Stefani). But what takes up most of my time otherwise spent shopping, hanging, going out to dinner, etc. is now spent protecting my supple Southern skin from the dry, dry, superdry cold air. That means a humidifer and lots of tv.

I had a mild curosity about Heroes when it premiered on NBC...which I believe I missed so I could watch Battlestar Galactica (damn I miss DVR). Bri wanted to see it as well, though in his words..."for the Japanese guy". We sort of let it slide and just forgot about it. Then when BSG went on mid-season Hiatus and we finished Season 1 of The Office, we decided to check out The Japanese Guy.

Oh my god! I totally love this show! Anyone who knows me knows I love comic books...and what I love about Heroes (besides the hotties, but we'll get to that in a sec) is that the whole show is shot like a comic book Storyboard. It's creative, it's funny, it's sexy, it's got action, it's everything I've ever wanted in a television show (give or take a plot contrivance here and there). I just read that Eric Roberts would be joining the cast. I can only hope he's evil. And Gay. I had to endure the movie Spun and the only thing that got me through it was Eric Roberts as a Queen of a Drug King.

Which brings me to the other reason to watch this show...the hotness!

Issac Mendez - played by the lusciously named Santiago Cabrera.


He's the artist who paints the future, and comic books, and has bushy hair so of course I love him.

Peter Petrelli - played by Milo Ventimiglia


If you watched Gilmore Girls (and if you haven't then WHY haven't you? Go rent the DVDs Now!) you might know Milo better as Jess, Luke's brilliant-but-socially-malajusted nephew. He's hot here too. And a good actor. His character is sort of like Rogue from the X-men, but without the Hand issues.

Hiro Nakamura and Matt Parkman - Played by Masi Oka and Greg Grunberg


I put these two together because this photo is sooooo cute. Hiro can teleport, bend time and space, and make Waffles sound like the most fun thing in the world (Waffles, Yahoo!). Matt can read peoples thoughts, but his character arc is just plain dull. I love Greg Grunberg though, my love goes back to the days of Felicity.

Nathan Petrelli played by Adrian Pasdar


You might remember Adrian from his role as Chopper in Top Gun. Or, you might not. He plays an aspiring politician who can fly faster than the Concord, and Peter's older bro. Point in fact...he's hot, he's a jerk, he's got a super long head AND...he and Milo Ventimiglia play up the inappropriate brother touching to the point where even the guys on Supernatural are like "Dude". I think they do it on purpose, just to fuck with the audience. And I love them for it.

I'm not getting into Suresh, though he is hot, he's just boring.

I hope I've at least halfway convinced you to abandon your monday night activites in favor of my new addiction. If not go to NBC's Heroes Page where if I'm not mistaken you can watch (or preview) episodes.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Dilemma

TCM showed Victor Victoria today, and it left me with this question...

Does the fact that I found Julie Andrews hot as a woman, a man, and a drag queen make me a Straight Woman, A Gay Man or a Lesbian?

Friday, January 26, 2007

Supernatural



Last night's episode of Supernatural was going pretty well, up to the very end. At which point it became awesome. WonderDean and SuperSam made their getaway right under the noses of the Feds, while Styx's Renegade played in the background.

Could I take a second here to say I love that song? Easily the greatest Styx song ever.

And I'm worried about the place where Jared Padalecki's hair is going. It was on the border of Mulletville last night. I know that the show is all 'gritty' and 'hardcore', but that's one aspect of Metal that does NOT need representation on the show.

Note to CW: Ban Mullets!

That is all.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

I heart Rome

When I was about 12-13, I had an teensy obsession with the Ancient Roman Empire (read: Nerd), and read everything I could about Ceaser, Antony, Augustus, right up to Tiberius. The second season of Rome on HBO just really brings out the history geek in me. And it brings the lusty lusty big time. In the form of one Marc Antony, played by James Purefoy...



I guess Antony (in Ceaser's time anyway) would have been sort of a Rock Star. And with good reason. Has anyone Ever rocked a Toga like this guy?



He looks good in leather too.

Let's not forget my original Rome boyfriend, though married life has made him a kinder, gentler Titus Pullo...



...he is still hot stuff and not to be fooled around with.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Birthday Fun!


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We love red. Seriously.

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Me, my Champagne, my injured kitty.

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You bet your Perogie he's polish.

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More Floor. Blurrier Now

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Bubbles make me happy.

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BOBI is my Snow Angel!

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Beer + Snow = Awesome.

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I'm 29! Let's get tipsy!