So.....sick.......ack

Hi gang, just want to apologize for not blogging as of late, I appear to be dieing of some mutant strain of the uncommon cold. It's been going on for like 4 weeks now (same thing happened last year this time, weird), and has been sapping my excess energy. Your patience is appreciated.

An old fashioned land grab

Just read this over at Crooks and Liars in reference to New Orleans.

On the 12th day before Christmas, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is planning to unleash teams of bulldozers to demolish thousands of low-income apartments in New Orleans. Despite Katrina causing the worst affordable housing crisis since the Civil War, HUD is spending $762 million in taxpayer funds to tear down over 4600 public housing subsidized apartments and replace them with 744 similarly subsidized units–an 82% reduction. HUD is in charge and a one person HUD employee makes all the local housing authority decisions. HUD took over the local housing authority years ago–all decisions are made in Washington DC. HUD plans to build an additional 1000 market rate and tax credit units–which will still result in a net loss of 2700 apartments to New Orleans–the remaining new apartments will cost an average cost of over $400,000 each!

Affordable housing is at a critical point along the Gulf Coast. Over 50,000 families still living in tiny FEMA trailers are being systematically forced out. Over 90,000 homeowners in Louisiana are still waiting to receive federal recovery funds from the Road Home. In New Orleans, hundreds of the estimated 12,000 homeless have taken up residence in small tents across the street from City Hall and under the I-10.

I had suspected from week one of the Katrina debacle that this was going to be a white man's land grab, and this evidence is the clincher. We NEED to get a Democrat in office, stat, in enough time to turn this shitshow around.

Somebody call the Waaaaaaambulance!!!!

Via The Hill

“In a political maneuver designed to block my ability to make recess appointments, congressional leaders arranged for a senator to come in every three days or so, bang a gavel, wait for about 30 seconds, bang a gavel again, and then leave,” Bush said. “Under the Senate rules, this counts as a full day. If 30 seconds is a full day, no wonder Congress has got a lot of work to do.”

Senate Democrats had held pro forma sessions throughout the Thanksgiving break to keep the Senate “in session” and block Bush from making recess appointments.

Did I mention I hate this guy?

"Okay, lemme see here, this here's the NIE huh? Uncle Dick, will you read it to me? There's some powerfully big words in there. Don't you go making up stuff neither Uncle Dick, like last time, I likes my stories just the way they is."

fucking moron

UPDATE: A good point, considering Uncle Dick is STILL pushing for a war with Iran

Atrios adds:

“It must be understood that since our intelligence agencies don’t believe Iran has a nuclear weapons program, it also means that they don’t know where such a program would be physically located if it did exist. This means that any desires of Dick Cheney and his people to bomb Iran simply involve… bombing the shit out of Iran.”

These are very scary people

LIAR!!!!

Video via Talking Points Memo, the look of contempt on his fucking face really pisses me off, he just fucking lies to the press (and don't get me started on how they just let him do that, the CIA had new info on Iran and the president didn't even ask what it was?? Bullshit!) and sneers at the American public. I fucking hate that guy.

Oh yeah! You all think just Ron Paul can bring the krazy???!!!??

I have no idea what can even be said about this video. Priceless.

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

Nate 7 31 07 033, originally uploaded by devilham13.

Hope you all have the chance to chill on your couch, have a cold one, and chill out with someone like that little fella right there. Watch some football, people, it's the law.

Green Team is GO!

Yeah, you know? the more I watched that video, the less funny it got. Let's just chaulk it up to holiday week boozing

In which I laugh so hard I puke on my keyboard

Mukasey Applies for the Position

President Bush eagerly accepts the 'application' from now Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

Aaaaaaaaand speaking of turkey my friends and I got together this Saturday and celebrated a beautiful holiday we refer to as Friends Thanksgiving.

Many friends of mine don't have family who live close enough by that they can go home and have their prospective mothers fix them up a holiday turkey, and some of us that do have that luxury, kind of dread it because our families are crazy. It's a lose lose situation.

I happen to love thanksgiving (despite my crazy family), so I invented the holiday 'Friends Thanksgiving', a holiday so nice, I do it twice.

So the gang came over on Sunday and I barbecued a whole turkey (it came out amazing, slow smoked, dark mahogany color, deep rich flavor...unbelievable), brewed up some gravy, and made enough stuffing to feed all of Boston. We had a great time, I might have even had TOO good a time, as I had to work on Monday, but was still doing whiskey shots at 10 at night. That was a tactical error.

Riding into work on the train I bumped into two girls I worked with, and had to confess that I was still a little tipsy from the night before. Which as you professionals know, it just means the hangover is coming a little later on, as opposed to right when you wake up.

In the end, I recommend a day like Friends Thanksgiving, a lot less stressful than the real thing, and the holidays are far more fun when spent with the loved ones you chose, as opposed to those thrust on you (not that I don't love my fam, I do, it's just trying at times is all).

This had me a giggling

The always irreverant Jesus' General has some great campaign posters up for the Gulianni camp!
Check them out!

Happy (belated) Halloween!!!

Annual Ninja Day Parade!

Slips by unnoticed yet again!

via videosift.com

Quote of the Day

Here's a fun quote from John Cole over at Balloon Juice

I am going live with my theory, the only thing I can come up with for the rampant asshattery and thorough idiocy we have witnessed lately from the right-wing blogosphere:

They are now working in concert to say as many stupid things as possible so that we are unable to document and mock them all.

It is the only thing that makes sense.

It is John, it is the only thing that makes sense

Oh. My. God.

Okay, I just blew my coffee out my nose, this is frakking hilarious. Few people in the world are more crazy and/or self obsessed than Pammy.



Make sure you are in a safe location before viewing, I was laughing hysterically at work, not a good thing.

Happy Birthday Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein!

Just popped over to one of my favorite blogs Monkey Muck and saw that it was his birthday...so many happy returns to you sir, I will raise a Guinness to you tonight, you can be sure.

Hi! I've been busy, and I know it's been awhile, so I've cooked you some things to make amends!

First, I made a pan Pizza. This is easily done if you have the right kind of pan. In this case, it's cast iron....man, I love my cast iron pans.
In case you were wondering, that's salami on it, my current favorite cold cut.

Then (and I am sorry, I don't have a finished product shot of this), but I made shrimp scampi, my wife insisted. First I like to get all my ingredients prepped and ready to go.

You'll see I have some grated Parmesan, lemon zest, onion, garlic, tomato, parsley, and though you can't see it here, some white wine and cold butter cubed up. And of course, shrimp peeled and de-veined (and PLEASE, PLEASE, it's a pet peeve of mine, but if your going to serve shrimp in a dish (as opposed to 'cocktail style', where I have no problem with this) TAKE OFF THE TAIL SHELL!!!! it's the polite thing to do).

I saute the shrimp first, partially, then remove it. Add the onion until wilted and translucent, then the garlic. De glaze the pan with the white wine and then let it reduce. Once it's near depleted, add the COLD cubed butter and work it into the mix (your making a butter sauce, or a buerre blanc (I don't know how to spell it, just how to make it), making sure not to let it boil (this will cause your sauce to 'break', i.e. water separates from the fat...my old chef would make you throw it out). Now toss in your cooked pasta and shrimp, add the tomato and parsley, and cook til' warm. Serve with some crusty bread to mop it up.

What's this? It's been two days since the scampi and you still have left over bread??? I am glad you came to me then! Did you know for under $4 dollars (at least here in Boston) you can get 2lbs of muscles? You didn't? Well you can! And let me tell you, once you find that out, you'll make them twice a month for sure. Again, prepare your mise en place (everything in it's place..i.e. prep). Here I have some slices of that day old bread, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper, some onion, julienned, garlic, green beans, tomato and chopped parsley. Also some white wine (yes, a lot of the same ingredients as the scampi, I know, but it's how you save money, using the same ingredients, but making different meals), heavy cream, grainy Dijon mustard, and last, but certainly not least, some double smoked bacon...I love this stuff, it's slab bacon, that's been smoked twice so it has this amazing smoky flavor and a rich mahogany color... I would put it on ice cream (if I ate ice cream that is). I think it goes without saying that I have some muscles in my sink rinsed off and culled of the dead ones. A little trick I use to find the live ones is this (since it's not just that they have there shells shut, some live ones are open), give the open ones a flick with your finger, and then put aside as you rinse and inspect the rest, if when your done inspecting, the shell has not closed, then he is dead, if the shell is shut, then the sneaky bastard was just playing possum. We will have none of that. Render out your bacon first, then add your onions to soften and become translucent.


Add the garlic, and let it go for about 15 seconds, then deglaze with white wine. Throw in your muscles and then put a lid on your pan. When all the muscles have opened, pull them out of the pan (don't worry if bacon and or onions stick to the shell, no big deal, they will go back in soon enough), and reduce the wine and muscle juice. Add the cream and about 2 tbls of grainy mustard and let simmer for about 2 minutes, then re-introduce the muscles.


I forgot to mention that while all this was happening, you would be toasting the bread in your broiler until golden brown and delicious.


Place your bread, well, now it's a crostini, in the center of your plate, and scoop a big heap o' muscles on top, and don't be shy with the broth neither, as it's unbelievable when it's soaked into your bread...er...crostini.

Grab a glass of that white wine you had there and enjoy! Can you believe it's only $4 dollars for 2lbs of these things??!!!?? I mean, that's just one serving right there!!!!

...Then I have a bridge to sell you

From the "if you hadn't realized this yet" department comes news that the Bush administration was using warantless wiretapping PRIOR to the 9/11 attacks.

I am not convinced that the current administration has no intentions NOT to attempt a hostile takeover of our government providing they lose the next elections, and I think findings like this bolster my fears, 9/11 has nothing to do with there power grab, it's just a convenient truth.

Do what you can strip these people of power. One thing that heartens me is the military brass that have retired that are speaking out against these assholes. I feel as though the Cheney crowd has assumed that the military was in there pocket, and would blindly follow their lead. It's good to see that's not the case.

Moving on up, to the big time

Had my review at work today and it went swimmingly. Got myself a smidge of a raise, that will be nice, and a project that I had worked on and fought for all year was given high praise by the partner in charge of my department.

Now I know one should never really take to heart what a fat cat businessman says, but what can I do? I respond well to positive reinforcement.

So raise a glass for me tonight, and I will to you *clink*, today was a good day

Scraping and Planing

Ahh, Scraping and Planing, such good times. Saw my dentist today, and I had to pay HIM to have my teeth scraped, and then planed. In earlier times, he would have to pay ME.

All kidding aside, this places me at sort of a dental day one, a restart if you will. If I maintain good dental hygiene, it will be as if I never had not gone (double negative, I know!) to the dentist in the last 15 years or so, so it's all good, and worth the sacrifice.

We picked up the Little Guy's Halloween costume yesterday, and let me tell you, it's the cutest thing in the world, pictures will be posted shortly.

Look everyone, I made you some fried chicken!

Mmmmmmmmmm....is there anything better than a batch of fried chicken? I didn't think so. I start by cutting up a whole chicken and soaking it in buttermilk overnight. This does two things, one, it makes a nice wet coating for the flour to stick to the chicken with, and secondly, the enzymes in the buttermilk will help to tenderize the chicken. Also, buttermilk I think adds a complexity of flavor that you just don't get with just plain milk.

Get some oil going in your electric skillet (I actually have some excellent cast iron pans that I absolutely love, but I have found that this cheapo skillet does such a good job with fried chicken, keeping the browning even on all the pieces with a minimal amount of moving the chicken around, not so much with my cast iron), I heat the oil to about 325-315. Some might think that's kind of low, and it is, but again, I have experimented quite a bit with this recipe, and have found cooking it slightly lower than the conventional wisdom would suggest, guarantees crispy brown outside, with a fully cooked inside. If this were boneless chicken pieces (like say boneless, skinless thighs, my favorites), then I would go for a higher oil temp such as 350 to 365, always remember bones slow down cooking time, factor it in when your cooking bone in meats. Make sure to prepare a dredging bowl with flour, salt and pepper, and I like to put Old Bay Seasoning in....I know, it's odd, but I shit you not it's good...reminds me of the 11 herbs and spices in the kernel's recipe (even though there chicken is crap, you have to admit to craving it once and awhile).

Once your oil has reached it's optimal temperature, lift your chicken one piece at a time out of the buttermilk, letting excess milk fall off the chicken (if you drop it in the flour too wet, you will get less yield from the flour), and then dredge it in your flour mix, placing the chicken skin side down into the hot oil.

After a few minutes (about 8 or 10 or so) you will notice blood peeking out around the bones of the chicken pieces, this means that the heat is getting into the center of the pieces, I check the undersides and see if there golden brown at this point, if so, it's time to flip em'.

Wow, that's looking good eh? Let it finish up (another 8 to 10 minutes on this side, until golden brown as well), and while it's doing it's thing, why don't you make a nice salad to go with it? It's been unseasonably warm here in Boston, so I decided to make cole slaw, sort of an indoor summer picnic dinner. A tiny gentleman in the background approves of my decision.

Some people use the bagged pre-cut slaw from the supermarket, but that's not for me, I hand cut the carrots and cabbage. They put a chemical on the bagged stuff to keep it fresh and the flavor disgusts me.

Drain off the excess oil on the chicken by letting it rest on some paper towels.
And then serve!

Last but not least a gratuitous photo of the toy Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein that my son got for his birthday. He loves to play with it, imagining all the adventures that the REAL Dr. goes on everyday.

I am SO sorry

I have to apologize for the lite posting as of late, real life (to use the MMORPG parlaince) has poked it's god awful nose in business again, and in the interest of full disclosure, fake life has creeped in as well....I have become addicted to one of those MMORPG's I mentioned earlier. FYI for those not in the know, that would be a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (is my geek showing? does it make you nervous?).

Besides the full time job, and the little one to take care of, not to mention a significant other to spend time with, I decided it would be a good idea to take on a digital time sink.

That wasn't blogging.

I am an idiot.

If it makes you think a little less harshly upon me, the game is based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, and is a nerdly paradise.

Oh, I made it past the layoffs at my work (to be honest I was in no danger, I am not in the department that's fat needed trimming), I have another 'Scraping and Planing' appointment coming up at my dentist, and the in-laws dropped by yesterday. Once I get some clear thoughts on that last part, I will prepare a post for you reading pleasure.

It's America's Dream Ticket

Showing the nation that he can 'get her done', Fred Thompson makes and early announcement for his running mate. A nation breathes a heavy sigh of relief...we're gonna be OK.

Bad news here at work

Looks like there letting a bunch of folk go, which stinks for me because I'm the guy who has to collect their computer equipment....a potentially ugly task.

Boiled Dinner, one of my favorites

Tonight (or to be exact, today) I am making one of my all time favorite meals, Irish American Boiled Dinner, I say Irish American, because I have been told by actual Irish people from Ireland, that they don't eat this dish, they use another cut of meat.

But I'm not from Ireland, my great grandparents, yes, they were, but not me (my grandfather was even an Irish cop in Boston, Sgt. Joe McGill, he was the Sgt. of the Division 16 police station, so let it be known that my family embraces our stereotypes...I'm even a drunk!), so I'm using corned beef brisket for my boiled dinner.

Preparation is as simple as can be, cover the brisket with cold water, about an inch over the top of the brisket (mind you, it will float, so approximate), you could, at this point, just get it a' simmering (it's been corned, i.e. brined in a salty flavorful solution), but I like to add a couple of extra flavors here, so I added 4 bay leaves, one onion (approximately, I actually used left over onion ends I had from other dishes, and don't be afraid to throw em in skin and all, we will be straining the pot liquor later) and about a quarter cup of whole peppercorns. Set your stove to medium low, and let this thing simmer for at least 4 hours, or until fork tender.

I then pull out the meat, and rest it in a roasting pan, I strain the pot liquor (the left over water from the simmer) removing the peppercorns and spent onions. I use this liquid to boil the vegetable components of this dish, cabbage, potato, and carrot.

Lastly, I crank up my oven, and place the brisket in the oven at a very high temp, what I want is to get a quick brown crust on the outside (as far as I know, I am the only person who likes to do this step, but I do like it, it's just not the usual method is all). Once the crust is established, slice against the grain into luscious thin strips and serve with your veggies and a side of mustard, it's Irish American bliss.

I saw The Departed yesterday, and wanted to reconnect with my roots.

Now that wasn't so bad now was it?

My dentist appointment went remarkably well. It just goes to show (as my own Mom pointed out to me) that there have been many advances in dentistry since I have gone to see one. The worst part was being administered the Novocain, 6 needles on my upper gum, 6 below, on some sensitive gums. It also goes to show that the dentist I grew up with is the stereotypical sadist type, who encouraged us not to use Novocain for things like, root canals, and tooth extraction (this is not a joke, I thought it was just us kids, my brother and sisters, who were at fault, like we were all wimps or something, turns out the guy was kinda sick, so says my Mom). My dental hygienist was very gentle and was genuinely concerned for my comfort, I can't praise her enough. The second part of the procedure takes place next month, and then I will be back to normal, for the most part, in the dental department, none the worse for ware for not going in .....I think it must be at least, oh god, 15 years. Kids, don't be like me, go to the dentist.

Pray for my SOUL!!!! or at least my comfort

You may remember last month that I mentioned that I was going to the dentist for the first time in umpteen years. The visit went somewhat smoothly, as I only had 3 cavities (I guess my teeth are kind of hard) which is good.

But good is always counterbalanced by the bad (like Fox News! always fair and balanced) and I have to have a procedure done on the base of my teeth called "scraping and planing", which, I am told, is a fairly descriptive name for the procedure.

In the interest of science and for the betterment of the blogging community as a whole, I will report on this procedure once completed, look for my blog later today...if I live.

Tooling around with an ancient copy of Illustrator

Tell me what you think of the new banner (I got jealous of Becca from No Smoking in the Skull Cave, her banners are incredible), maybe when my illustrator skills get better I can do a better job, but for now....I kinda like it.

Would you like a buffalo wing? Take two! There's plenty!

Wipped up a batch for the Patriots Home field opener....I freaking love buffalo wings!

Milestone

As of 6:00pm tonight, my little guy has MASTERED walking, tomorrow, he takes over America.

The Jeannie Jonston Pub

The last restaurant I worked in before hanging up my apron for good and retiring from professional food service was the pub at the end of my street. I was still kind of recovering from my broken leg, and wanted some part time work while I continued on with school (for the computers), so I walked on down the street and asked if they were looking for help. The bartender seemed very eager for me to fill out an application, but they were out, so he asked if I could come back later, which I did.

I rolled in again around 5:30 and the owner Hank had arrived, they wanted me to start right then and there! Okay, I said, why not, let me just get my tools (knives, spatulas, etc., I kept it all in a toolbox from my hotel cooking days), and we'll get this party started. You see, the head cook of the pub had gone MIA (turns out he was in the poky) and the owner had been cooking for the last 3 days.....and he ain't no cook, believe me.

It was a trial by fire, the kitchen was a disaster area, food was unwrapped and unlabeled, meats had turned, in short, it was a shitshow. However, I am a professional, and I cleaned up as I went along, threw out the bad foods, and wrapped and labeled the good, all the while cooking up a menu that was brand spanking new to me (not THAT big a deal, since it was pub grub, but still, when you don't know where everything is it can be hard, oh, and I also had to do the dishes too, the kitchen was literally too small for another body to be in there doing dishes).

A few days later the full time guy got out of jail. The owner told me since I helped him out of a pinch, that I could pick which days I wanted to work, I chose Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and noooo weekends (I had school on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other Saturday), for awhile there life was sweet.

The head cook, however, was a slob...oh, and a crack addict, and he didn't like what I was doing to his little world. One day I stopped by for a beer on one of my off days, and he tried to tell me to stop wrapping and labeling the prep work on my days because it's too difficult for him to unwrap it for use!!! I just looked at him for a few seconds, and then said "yeah, I can't do that".

Let me tell you something about myself, in the kitchen, I am a bit of a control freak. It's my nature to fix what's wrong in a kitchen and get the ship steering right, this was not to the liking of the head cook, so he did what any sane person would do, smoked a ton of crack, beat his wife and got thrown in jail for 6 months, problem solved!

I told the owner Hank "look man, you need a head cook, school is wrapping up for me, let me do one year here for you, fix your kitchen, fix your menu, and make this a place where people would want to eat", he was happy to take the offer. That following year I did all the ordering, cooking, cleaning and menu retuning for the pub, it was a pretty good time, and when my shift was done, he let me drink for free, which was HUGE (well hugely dangerous, I kinda drank too much during that period).

All told, I worked there for one year (plus a few months extra as a favor while we looked for a suitable replacement), and still drink there to this day, in fact, less than 24 hours ago to be exact. I met people who I will be friends with for life, and some folk who I never want to see again, all told it was a fun year, and a great way to hang up my hat on the cooking world. I will leave you with a picture of me, in the window of the Jeannie J, screaming to be let out (you can see this photo and more on the Jeannie Jonston's web site where I am still (it's been 3 years now Hank, change the site!) listed as an employee...I am Unkle Joe)

Who wants a slice of Calzone???

Okay, let's talk about an easy no fuss dinner that you can make yourself, you can serve it for dinner, or slice it smaller and serve it as an appetizer or hors de vors at your next dinner party.

While you could make your own calzone/pizza dough (they are identical), I have found that your local supermarket or bakery can provide you with a perfectly portioned parcel of dough for very little er, dough. Lame joke I know.


Buying your dough will save you HOURS of time, believe me. Pizza dough is easy to make, but the rising process is time consuming, I would just assume buy it than wait that long. HOWEVER, you will have to wait some, as if you try and roll out cold pizza dough, you are fixing up a recipe for frustration (believe me, in my restaurant days I had been known to have meltdowns and throw uncooperative dough across the kitchen, but what can you do when the orders are up?). So do yourself a favor, let the dough rest at room temperature (or even a bit warmer), in a flour lined bowl, covered with a damp tea towel. You can use it when it's room temperature.

In the meantime, whilst you wait patiently on your dough to proof and get pliable, you can prep the fixins. I want to stress that you can stuff these bad boys with anything you want, healthy things, unhealthy things, hard things, soft, you get it, I have even heard tell of desert calzones...but that sounds gross to me (I have no sweet tooth).



So I started by searing up some of Tony's awesome sausage links (Tony is the butcher of my local Italian butcher shop, he is a sweet genius of meat). Once the sausage had cooked out I threw in some onions and peppers to carmelize in the lovely pork juices.



Once my dough is ready, I rollout it out on a floured surface into a big oblong oval (is that redundant? I think it might be), I roll it out pretty thin, less than a centimeter thick, but not much thinner than that, think a thin crust pizza. Then arrange the fixins in a line down the center of the oval and liberally apply your favorite cheese, I like good ol' mozzarella for this, fold in the ends and wrap er up like an envelope. I like to tuck the excess underneath, so it looks neat and seamless.



Place the whole rigamarole onto a lightly greased cookie sheet, at this point I also like to cut slices in the top of the calzone, it looks nice, and releases excess steam while cooking, it's a good thing. Brush all exposed sides of the calzone with an egg wash (merely a beaten egg, with a splash of water to loosen it up some), season the outside with some salt and pepper, and I like to grate some fresh Parmesano Regiano on the top, it melts nice, and looks pretty, but you can sprinkle poppy seeds, or sesame seeds, or nothing at all, it's your calzone bub, not mine.

Pop it in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. I like to give the ends (where the dough is thickest) a good tap, if it sounds hollow, I know the dough has cooked through to the center. Allow it to cool for at least 10 minutes, as the cheese will be MOLTEN hot, and the fixins will spill out on you if you don't. Slice it up nice and enjoy with a cold beer or a glass of wine, yumm!

I hope you all learn a valuable lesson from this video

Apologies

Sorry for not blogging lately, that co-worker of mine that I mentioned who was leaving has left as of last week, so my work load has kind of doubled. On the upside, due to circumstances beyond my control, I have, HAVE! to take a week off next week, so expect some steady blogging then. Also this week I plan on doing a calzone post, that I hope you will find interesting, so until then, wish me luck, and let's hope they hire someone soon to give me a hand. Your patience is appreciated.

I tell you, that Digby has a way with words

Some people take their righteous indignation of Bush to the level of poetry, enjoy.

I do realize that I loathe Bush on a visceral level and always have, so I can't say that my impressions of him as person are particularly objective. He is a personality type I can't stand --- his privileged, macho arrogance and nasty, sophomoric social game of primitive dominance are about the least appealing characteristics I can think of in a man. Even if he weren't a complete idiot, which he is, he'd still be an asshole.

He'd still be an asshole, brilliant!

Video of the CHAOS that is my family

My little guy clearly just wishes we would all just shut up and go away.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE GUY!!!!!

Today was the wee man's birthday, so be so kind as to tip a glass friends. We had barbecue over here (as is my way) with smoked baby back ribs in Carolina mustard sauce, creamy potato salad, and Whiskeymaries' excellent heart impairing Mac & Cheese. A good time was had by all.

The kid scene here got a little intense for me, but all in all I was pleased, at least my ribs and sausage were a hit, as well as the previously mentioned Mac & Cheese. So without further ado, here are some phots of the day.

HUZZAH!!!!

Sort of like the shadow in the backround in this next pic

Finally, cake and ice cream!

And as the day ended, we got a well deserved rest.

A hat tip to Whiskeymarie and her Mac & Cheese Recipe!

Just prepped this up for my son's first birthday barbecue, and I must say it's delicious. I took some liberties with the dish (I always do), however, the thing that I took to heart was the American cheese part. It's absolutely necessary, in the past I would use only cheddars, and they melt grainy (especially sharp cheddars) so today I used a mix of American and cheddar (mild as well, we have kids coming over) and it came out lovely. Thanks Whiskeymarie! Your a whiz in the kitchen!

Good Morning! And Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Hello everyone, gearing up for a pretty big day tomorrow. The little guy is having his first birthday. We are gonna barbecue up some ribs and sausage, and invite the family over for a wee celebration. Stop by tomorrow for pictures of the day, as no one can get enough of babies smearing cake all over themselves!

Lord of the Rings Online.........Cool!!!!!

I just read Turbine is releasing a 7 day free trial of LOTR:Online, the MMORPG based in Middle Earth! I am downloading the client right now, but am torn about activating it immediately.....I am on vacation in a few weeks, and would love to neglect my child by playing this!!!

Richard Jewell

Wow, just heard that Richard Jewell has died, if you'll remember he was the security guard who was falsely accused of planting the Atlanta Olympic Park bomb. My heart really went out to this guy, especially when it became clear that the case against him was as weak as it was, and the FBI was playing dirty tricks in order to try him in the court of public opinion. I had always wanted to send him a letter saying that not everyone thought he was guilty, some people were proud of his performance that day (he cleared the area of bystanders when he noticed a suspicious package, minimizing casualties), and that not all Americans believe what is spoon fed to them by corporate media, sadly, I will never get that chance. Tonight, I will raise a glass of Guinness in the memory of this misunderstood man, and say thanks for a job well done.

Please let my son get a better education than this.....PLEASE!!!!!

Larry Craig, listen up!

Actually, I'm not gay, however.

It's ok to be gay. Stop hating yourself, and then projecting that hate onto an entire demographic of people as a form of self flagellation. Get over the stigma, get over yourself, accept yourself, and for the love of god accept other people and their lifestyles. I know I have brought this up before, but weren't republicans supposed to be the party of 'hands off', and de-regulate everything? Why do they think they have the right to regulate the private lives of consenting adults? My message is simple, accept yourself for what you are, accept that there is nothing you can do to change who you are, and accept that that it's the same for everyone around you. We are all in this together, stop trying to throw folks overboard.

So long Gonzo, we hardly knew ye. And frankly, what we did know, we didn't like so much.

Alberto Gonzales and Karl Rove sharing a moment in happier times.

Why the Attic?

Why is this called Devilham's Attic, pretty easy really, I keep my computers in the attic. Sadly, the last two days in Boston have been hot as balls, making the attic fairly uninhabitable. Don't feel to bad for me though, I am lucky enough to own a home, have an amazing wife and son, and an attic to store my machines. Heck, if worse came to worse this could be Devilham's Basement, there's so much room down there! and it's like 20 degrees cooler!

Corporate Bastards!

Check out this video, I swear it's barbecue related!

Hey! This post has everything!

Great post here from Mahablog, it's got it all, even sci-fi references! Seriously, it's a great piece and worth a read

To cool for school

You paid attention during 86% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

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Okay, not as good as Becca at No Smoking in the Skull Cave, but for someone who spent the better part of high school getting high on the hill behind the football field, I feel kind of good about it!

Holy crap! This dude is nuts!! UPDATED

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Let's talk about one of my favorite sandwiches

That would be a gyro (pronounced 'yee-ro), it's a lamb and pork sausage spiked with oregano, slow roasted on a spit and the carved off in thin delectable slices.
This is then wrapped in warm pita bread, softened on a flat top griddle and served with lettuce, tomato, onion, and the amazing yogurt sauce tzatziki. I cannot say enough good things about tzatziki. I make it with good Greek yogurt (this is a little thicker than your American style, however, if you get the American, wrap it in cheesecloth and place in a strainer over a bowl in your fridge, let it sit for about 4 hours or so, enough water will leech out so that you have a reasonable facsimile), I then peel and seed some cucumber, and dice it fine, folding it into the yogurt. A squeeze of lemon juice (please fresh only!), and a little salt and pepper, and voila! An amazing sauce that will go good with any grilled meat.

In Greece, I am told they even put french fries in them, decadence!!!!

If you live in the Boston area, you owe it to yourself to go to Steve's Greek American, on Newbury st. and order one of these heavenly sandwiches, they make the best in town. If you can't hit up Steve's, well, you can take your chances at your local Greek pizza place, you just might get lucky and find a gyro worth loving there. Try it, you'll like it, tell them Devilham sent you!

OOOooooOOHHH Canada! We stand on....

This is an actual quote from the conservative group America Family Matters

Caesar pacified Gaul by mass slaughter; he then used his successful army to crush all political opposition at home and establish himself as permanent ruler of ancient Rome. This brilliant action not only ended the personal threat to Caesar, but ended the civil chaos that was threatening anarchy in ancient Rome – thus marking the start of the ancient Roman Empire that gave peace and prosperity to the known world.

If President Bush copied Julius Caesar by ordering his army to empty Iraq of Arabs and repopulate the country with Americans, he would achieve immediate results: popularity with his military; enrichment of America by converting an Arabian Iraq into an American Iraq (therefore turning it from a liability to an asset); and boost American prestige while terrifying American enemies.

He could then follow Caesar's example and use his newfound popularity with the military to wield military power to become the first permanent president of America, and end the civil chaos caused by the continually squabbling Congress and the out-of-control Supreme Court.

President Bush can fail in his duty to himself, his country, and his God, by becoming “ex-president” Bush or he can become “President-for-Life” Bush: the conqueror of Iraq, who brings sense to the Congress and sanity to the Supreme Court. Then who would be able to stop Bush from emulating Augustus Caesar and becoming ruler of the world? For only an America united under one ruler has the power to save humanity from the threat of a new Dark Age wrought by terrorists armed with nuclear weapons.

I swear to god I would become a Canuck so fast it would make your head spin. All kidding aside, I love this country, and would rather stay and fight for it than run away and abandon it to the likes of these ...monarchists? Imperialists? I don't know what to call them. this has to be one of the most terrifying things I have ever read. Treasonous is the only word to describe it, time to turn the name calling tables on the right and call them out for what they really are. Traitors.

Does this strike anyone else as flat out wrong?

Now, I'm an atheist, but I was raised Irish Catholic, and I do remember most of what was preached to me. I have no recollection of EVER hearing a priest tell me to, or invoke a prayer to do harm to an enemy. Whatever happened to turning the other cheek? This seems to fly in the face of all that I thought Christianity was about. I feel bad for people who believe, it must be very disheartening to see there belief set hijacked by evil.

Looks like a busy week for me

Work is going to be rough for this week, and really the next couple actually. My co-worker has put in his resignation, which means I will be the only IT guy for a company of 130 people. We also have 17 new hires coming in the next few months which means I have to build out laptops for them. I have a desktop to build today for a surprise new hire who starts tomorrow. Ugh. All in all, it's going to be rough going here for a bit. Wish me luck.

Okay, I didn't get the sausage

Unfortunately your old pal Devilham slept in a little this morning and didn't get to the butcher shop in enough time to get some sausage, oh well. On the upside, my butcher DID have some lovely rack of lamb to offer me.


So I made a compound butter with roasted garlic, parsley, mustard and bread crumbs to smear along the top of the seared lamb while it finishes cooking in the oven, observe.



And to serve alongside, I made some skillet potatoes and sauteed green beans.



Lastly I cut 'em and plated them for the wife and me. Delicious!

Carolina Style Barbecue Sauce. You can eat this on ANYTHING

Ingredients

3/4 cup (175 ml) yellow mustard
3/4 cup (175 ml) red wine vinegar
1/4 cup (60 ml) sugar
1-1/2 tbsp (20 ml) butter
2 tsp (10 ml) salt
1/2 tsp (2 ml) Worcestershire
1-1/4 tsp (6 ml) black pepper
1/2 tsp (2 ml) Tabasco

Preparation

combine ingredients in saucepan.
simmer 30 minutes over low heat.
Let stand 1 hour before using.
Refrigerate unused sauce.

I never thought that yellow mustard had much use in the world (except on a straight up classic hot dog, we will discuss on a later date), but since I have delved into the world of barbecue, this condiments usefulness has grown exponentially. My good friend Bryon thinks this is the best thing I make period. I think he's weird.

UPDATE: Hey, this is for Dr. Monkey von Monkerstein, or anyone else who might be watching there diet. The butter part in this recipe? I have almost always left out, in fact, it keeps much better if you do leave it out. if your inclined to have it in, mount the butter on the day of usage as opposed to making it a part of the original mix. but to be perfectly honest, I think the tartness is best served without the roundness of butter, and plays better off my pork rubs as such.

Three simple words

New. Doctor. Who.

I love fridays

Everybodys working for the weekend

Nice, Friday at last. A young mans mind turns to barbecue. I am lucky that I live in a part of Boston known as Roslindale. Roslindale is one of those places that in the 80's and 90's was in pretty rough shape (the area adjacent to it, where my mother grew up, Hyde Park still is sadly), it had a run down feel to it, the parks were neglected, and small businesses had moved on to more lucrative locations. In the late 90's our democratic mayor (I mention this because I find it hard to believe a republican mayor would take this approach to stimulate business, i.e., spend some money) started a program called Boston's Main Streets. This was sort of a take on the 'broken window' theory of urban development, that is, clean up the area, take care of the parks, fix the 'broken windows', and give low interest loans to the existing storefronts targeted specifically at upgrading their facades and show windows. The results? Roslindale square (a scant two blocks from my house) is now the jewel of the Main Streets program, the square is a lovely triangle shaped park, surrounded by funky cool little businesses and restaurants. There are no less than five bakeries in the square, one at the end of my street even, and one of the best Italian restaurants outside of Boston's north end (our Italian American neighborhood). Why am I telling you this, well, it all goes back to barbecue don't it? In the square is a small butcher shop, Tony's Italian Market. The fellow who runs it, Tony, looks to be in his late 60's and is still going strong. One of the most amazing things about this place is when you order hamburger, Tony will grind it for you on the spot from hand cut choice sirloin. You have not lived until you have had a burger made with this stuff, it's texture when cooked is smooth and soft, yet still with enough tooth to feel like your eating a burger, and the flavor is so...so...meaty and good that you feel criminal spoiling it with condiments. He handmakes his own italian sausage, which admittadly most supermarkets will do as well, but let me tell you, his recipe has been perfected, he is at the apex of his career, this is not supermarket sausage. In fact, if you don't make it there by 10am, well, no sausage for you. I intend to be there at 7am. Wish me luck.

Sadly, No!'s LOLcons are hilarious

I couldn't agree more

Just read this article over at the HuffPo, and man I couldn't agree more. I remember thinking the same thing when W was first running "I'm gonna run this country like a business, free market, blah blah blah". What kind of business? Hopefully not like the ones you ran down in Texas you dipshit. This week, and even today with three more mining deaths added to the missing or dead list, we have learned first hand that businesses are soulless machines that want only to expand their profit margins and increase their bottom line. Is that the America you envisioned? Is that what the founding fathers were thinking about when they penned the Constitution? It's time we stopped this glorifying of corporate culture, government is for the betterment of it's citizens, clearly business has another agenda entirely.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means

I think we need to change the word conservetive to consumptive. I have no idea what they are conserving anymore. It's not money, it's not land, it's not oil, or other natural resources, they just consume at a rate that would make a colony of army ants jealous.

Good lord, please stop the stupid, it stings my eyes

This could be one of the most relentlessly stupid things I've read all day

Work...not...ending

My wife and son come back from the cape today, I can't wait to see the little guy, the house has been kinda quiet and lonely without him around. To tide us all over until I can get home and give him a hug, I give you pictures.

Okay, here goes, the Meme of Four

Four Jobs I have had or have in my life

1. My very first job was as a caddy at a local country club. I hated it like poison. My folks thought it was a great idea, and actually forced me and my brother to ride down there every Saturday (on our bikes, it was like five miles away, did I mention I hated it?) at 5:30am so we could lug a leather sack of lead sticks up and down a few miles of grass. If you were lucky you got a dollar tip and a single hot dog for your troubles. No I am not over it yet.

2. Dish dog!! Another job I had was dish washer at the Bell Buoy Restaurant in my coastal New England town. My brother also worked with me, and for a job that usually gets a bad rap, we had a great time working there. It was my first gig in food service, an industry I would be in and out of for the next 20 years, so it was kind of a seminal experience for me that I look upon with fondness. It's possible that time has rosed up the glasses I use to look at this particular job, but who cares, I smile when I think of it.

3. Bicycle Courier. Can you think of a more dangerous job than being a bike courier in a city renowned to be the training ground for taxi drivers in Beirut? I have broken a thumb, several toes, two front teeth, and have had about 30 feet of road rash in total in my short stint as courier. However, on a cool autumn day, no wind, temps in the sixties, there really is no better way to turn a buck.

4. I have mentioned it before, I know, but I was also a chef. This I have done for the bulk of my working career. Now I say chef, which is a head of a kitchen, which I did do for a few years (a catering kitchen called Barsamian's), but I ended my career a simple line cook. This is not as bad as it sounds though, as it was in a prestigious restaurant working under a renowned chef, and at the time it was an excellent opportunity.

Four countries I have visited

1. United States
2. Canada
3. The undiscovered country (my favorite of the Star Trek films)
4. nowhere else *sigh*

Four places I would rather be right now

1. Well, I have to admit, I am a bit of a homebody. I love being home, fiddling with my computers, hanging out with my son, preparing some barbecue treats, and I am home at the moment and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. But this is the game, so the next three answers will be in line with the rules, I just wanted to make the point that I am happy with being right here, right now.

2. Japan. Tokyo in particular, seems to be one of the most amazing places on earth. The shear amount of glittery lights, neon, and LED's would send me into an epileptic seizure, I am sure, but it's a chance I am willing to take.

3. Italy. There is something about a country that doesn't provide phone service in all locations, and yet has serious governmental bodies that manage the authenticity of cheese and vinegar that appeals to me. They have their priorities in order.

4. Ireland. I am an Irish American, my families roots are there, and I would love to spend some time on the island. I would take the time to visit Scotland and England as well, while I was there of course.

Four foods I would like to eat

1. Barbecued St. Louis cut pork ribs with Carolina style BBQ sauce. See my earlier posts on this, it is a passion of mine, there is something about the low and slow method of cooking that really appeals to me. I put a lot of love into it.

2. Fried chicken. My recipe is strong, my technique is solid, my chicken is the bomb.

3. Linguine with Clam Sauce. I remember when I was about five my folks took us to an Italian restaurant, and I ordered the linguine with clam sauce, and so began a life long love of the dish. The salty, cheesy, clammy (in a good way) sauce, spiked with red pepper flake and finished with butter was an eye opener for me. For those without an Irish American mother in the 70's, everything I ate before this was boiled to death, I thought I hated food, it was an epiphany. In the future I will post my recipe, try it, you'll like it!

4. Okay, it's a little white trash, but it's my Achilles heal. Taco night. Old El Paso taco kit. I know, I know!!! It's terrible!!! I actually have to push the table away when we make these, or I will gorge myself to sickness on them. I have made fish tacos on several occasions (no kit, corn tortillas, frying my own fist, etc.), and that's really quite nice, but I do love regular old taco night.

Four personal heroes

Wow, I never thought of this before, here goes.

1. Lou Reed. Here's a guy who has kept it real from day one. The Velvet Underground was one of the greatest bands of the 70's, and it's influence can be heard still. I saw Lou play at the Orpheum theater in Boston when I was 18, the band that opened up for them was a little known outfit at the time known as The Pixies. It was a freaking awesome show.

2. Malcomb Reynolds. I know he isn't real, but damn I love his Han Solo attitude, and his theify ways. Who said the heroes have to be real people?

3. My older brother. He can be a crank, a poor sport, and not always right about things, but no one has stood by me or come to my rescue in times of need. He never even questioned a thing when my wife and I lost our apartment a few years back due to a shady landlord, he just left work, got his truck, and helped us move our stuff into storage, lickety split. I owe him quite a bit, and he would never ask me to pay it back.

4. Can I say my wife? A few years back I broke my leg in 3 places. I was out of work for 11 months, and for the first 3 weeks or so after I got out of the hospital, I was so laid out I couldn't even put on my own underwear. She supported our household, and took care of me all by herself and stuck with me through thick and thin. She is truly my personal hero.

Man, that got schmaltzy eh? I guess I am just an old softie.

Four books I have just read, or am reading

1. Dress our Family in Corduroy and Denim, by David Sedaris. Funny collection of essays by the brother of Amy Sedaris, and NPR contributor.

2. Snow Crash, by Neil Stephenson. My friend loaned me this book since I love anachronistic science fiction (preferably the short stories of the golden age), and this fit the bill. It was a tremendously fun read.

3. A Scanner Darkly, by Phillip K. Dick. Good stuff, I even liked the movie based on it, it wasn't a perfect translation (a lot was left out, especially in the end), but served its purpose. Again, anachronistic sci-fi. We don't have plastic houses.

4. Windows Server 2003: Network Administrator, by Craig Hunt and Roberta Bragg. Dry as toast technical manual, however, it's the server software my firm uses, and if I ever want to move up, I have to keep expanding and learning, I am reading this now.

I don't know if I am causing a 'broken chain' situation if I don't tag anyone else. I am new in this here blogosphere, and only know a few folks. To be honest, I was much more of a lurker in the past, and not a poster, and am not sure of who to tag. If I am making a giant breach of protocol by not forwarding this meme please let me know and I will come up with something, but for now would it be ok if I just left it like this?

Tagged by my first Meme!!

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein has tagged me for a meme, I am at work now, and cannot oblige, but look forward to going home and dropping some hammy salty info on y'all

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem!

So the dentist wasn't so bad...this time. I have to come back and get something called a "scrape and plane" ***shudders*** This involves scraping my teeth below the gum line of all the schmutz (that's a technical dentist term, sorry to bore you with my high tech jargon) that's built up on my teeth and then planing the tooth smooth so as to discourage further buildup. It sounds awful. Pray for me.

So as I left work last night a co-worker flagged me down to give her a hand with a printer that was giving her guff, so I naturally obliged. Well, since I was almost out the door I had my keys in my hand, so when I repaired the printer, I accidentally left my keys on the printer. I left for home.

The lovely young lady who I had helped called me on my cell phone (ever present since the leg incident, seriously) to let me know the fate of my keys, no worries says I, I have a spare set at home, just leave them on my desk, and thanks for the call.

I did have a spare set at home, and my wife and son were also both home yesterday, so it really wasn't that big a deal. Those two were getting ready for a road trip to the cape (Cape Cod, the Irish Riviera, God's own country) to spend a few nights at a friends cottage. We all left the house together, me with my spare keys, those two off for some fun in the sun. My plan was to hit the dentist, come back home, shower, shave, and then off to work. On my return from the tooth man, I walked in my house, put my keys on counter, went to get my mail, AND PROMPTLY LOCKED MYSELF OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!

So I had to go to work in shorts and a T-shirt to get my original set of keys and tell my boss, yeah, I won't make it in today after all. But don't cry for me Argentina, I got a 6 pack of Guinness stout, the house to myself, and even a spot of scotch whiskey to turn this day around. That's me, I'm a glass half full of scotch kinda guy, not half empty.