Monkeys and keyboards aside, one Random + CSS still doesn't make poop.

randomsome1 @ 2009-07-26T22:33:00

2009-07-27T04:16:52Z

I've got this Harlan Ellison quote up in my profile. I found it, I loved it, I snagged it as a mirror of my own dirty optimistic leanings.

My philosophy of life is that the meek shall inherit nothing but debasement, frustration and ignoble deaths; that there is security in personal strength; that you can fight City Hall and win; that any action is better than no action, even if it's the wrong action; that you never reach glory or self-fulfillment unless you're willing to risk everything, dare anything, put yourself dead on the line every time; and that once one becomes strong or rich or potent or powerful it is the responsibility of the strong to help the weak become strong.

Imagine my surprise to find that Harlan Ellison, despite his words' implications, is a bit of an anti-woman racist douchebag. Not only has he apparently started throwing all sorts of strange slurs at a WoC (woman of color) blogger--he sexually assaulted one Connie Wilson, the guest of honor at the '06 Hugo awards, in front of hundreds of people.

I still love the quote; I still love the idea behind it. But to keep it up is to support the man, in all of his frothing, grabbing, overly-entitled insanity. So it's got to go.

(Strangely, the subsequent quote becomes much more appropriate.)

More's a pity, since I've heard so many wonderful things about his writing. (I don't remember if I've read any, but now it's kinda like Orson Scott Card--I'm not sure I'd be able to stomach it based on some of the things he's said/done.)

~~~

I made an awesome barbecue sauce last night with ketchup, creamy Dijon mustard, Old Bay, cranberry chipotle sauce, and a three-finger pinch of ginger. The mustard made it savory, the cranberry part gave it a sweet edge while the chipotle part kicked, and the ginger gave it an awesome smell & aftertaste. I ph34r I'll never be able to replicate it again.

So I went from overly complicated to ridiculously simple. About a cup of ketchup (I bought it by the gallon at Sam's. Don't ask.), about 1/2 to 2/3 a cup of dark brown sugar, and two or three heaping tablespoons of chili powder later (I used almost half of a new container), and I had something sweet & spicy that was very very tasty over chicken on the grill.

~~~

I think I cracked something in my ankle. D: Running circles 'round the bookstore's gonna be interesting . . .

randomsome1 @ 2009-06-27T20:13:00

2009-06-28T00:33:24Z

I pulled a muscle sometime yesterday, became extremely, unpleasantly aware of it this morning, and sometime during my highly medicated & immobile afternoon, realized that I'm one of those people who would've gone absolutely batshit insane if subjected to the rest cure. I got up and down and back up again despite not really being able to use my right arm or turn my head; I sorted a billion little mixed bits of stuff I don't really have use for; I tried to make more things despite myself; I tried to convince Snuggly Hubby that I needed to buy him an early birthday dinner (if he'd just drive me somewhere) . . .

This sucks. :P

Next step is to medicate with alcohol and ice cream. And maybe more of this:

In short: A pound and a half of deep fried mashed potato smilies, half a pound of cheese, a pound of steak slices, sour cream, jalapeno & cheese sour cream (no, one kind wasn't enough), and a half pound of bacon. I might not survive my next helping, but damn it I'll die happy.

strange alchemy

2009-02-06T05:18:10Z

Standard deviled eggs filling:
egg yolks, crushed to tiny crumbles
mayo
Old Bay
mustard powder
probably onion powder

What happened when I decided my salad filling would be better without a salad attached:
egg yolks, crushed to tiny crumbles
Old Bay
mustard powder & some onion powder
half an avocado, smushed into the above until smooth
bacon ranch dressing to smooth it out a little more
Frank's Red Hot. Just because.

This variant seems a little smoother and less heavy than the standard, mayo-filled one, though it has a bit of a greenish hue and an avocado aftertaste. I'm not dead from it yet, but I ph34r for those around me tomorrow.

Next option'll be egg, blue cheese dressing, old bay, and avocado, with some silly salad-like garnish and additions as needed. I wanna find out how toxic this can get before . . .

. . . I'm gonna inflict this on the workplace. :D :D :D

procrastination, much? :P

2009-01-27T02:49:08Z

Also? Come summer, I definitely must replicate and grill this little bit of happiness. (So I'm writing it down before I forget.)

I(or you, or we, or whatever)'ll need:

Chicken pieces
one giant can of pineapple juice
cardamom
garlic powder
coconut milk
and rum

Marinate the chicken in the pineapple juice, cardamom, and garlic powder for a few hours. Toss into a pan (hopefully a grill) with a little of the marinade and cook on medium for a bit, then slather in coconut milk and cook some more on low to make sure everything comes out tender. Then add enough rum to set the mess on fire.

This shall be easier and probably safer outside. :P Inside I barely put a quarter shot onto the mix--in part because it's far too cold to burn down the house, and in part because whenever I add alcohol to a recipe I tend to ruin the recipe.

It needs a big pot of basmati rice, and kabobs, and big chunky seared pineapple slices and possibly some shrimp too. It smells like Hawaii and India had a big drunken potluck--like cardamom and pina coladas and chicken and a little like fire. And it taaaastes . . . very much like it smells, like a less intense Indian food. *_*

Yeah, gotta try this on the grill when the weather gets better.

Okay, gotta do something productive now. :P

multitasking

2008-09-14T07:07:17Z

Did I mention that the locals turned the bridge foundation for the closest mine into a community center/amphitheater of sorts? They had a concert earlier tonight. It was too far away for me to hear very well, but I left the windows open anyway.

~~

True Blood the tv series = silly/messy crack. I'm sending the first two episodes to whoever I can get to hold still. I don't take it seriously (which is good, because it doesn't take itself seriously) and though I (seriously) hate Sookie's brother the series might become something I follow for a while.

~~

I picked up a huge piece of salmon from Aldi's (the local ubercheap food store), baked it with some old bay & seasoning salt, and . . . still found it utterly & astoundingly bland. I guess that's what you get at $6 for 1.5 pounds. I ate maybe a third of the thing and gave up--and for someone who likes seafood this much, that's damned sad.

So tonight I had a big lump of salmon in the fridge and nothing but a general ideal to aim it at. Bland salmon sucks. I wanted it to be flavorful, heavier, more savory, less . . . plain.

Yeah, you can guess where this was going. A short trip to the grocery store later and lookie! I have something close to a ~~variant on a soupy theme~~ normal recipe!

Salmon Chowder-type stuff

A third of a gallon of milk (whole if you can get it, 2% otherwise. Skim isn't real milk, stop lying to yourself.)

A pound of cooked salmon, broken up

A pound and a quarter of those little red-skinned potatoes, diced but not peeled

A quarter pound of white onion, minced (I used half a half-pound onion)

A double-handful of diced celery--maybe a cup and a half

A tablespoon of flour (+ a little water, for thickening)

A stick of butter ~~Fuck you, I'm Southern!~~

Old Bay seasoning, salt, pepper to taste

(I threw in my last few ounces of fish stock too, but I don't know if it did much in the grand scheme of things.)

Okay! Pour the milk and butter into a big pot. Throw in all the veggies and bring it to a simmer until the onions & potatoes are tender. (Stir frequently so it doesn't burn!) Add the salmon, stir in the flour-water-paste stuff, and cook for another fifteen minutes or half hour. Then nom. :D Results look kinda awful but taste pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

~~

The more I look at my excel spreadsheet for NYAF stock, the more I go all whiny and avoidant. I don't wanna sew, even with the machine. I also compulsively prowl ebay. It's like porn for prospective retailers. I might need intervention.

But as long as I'm still being productive it isn't a problem, right?

BTW: Anyone have any suggestions for these little bell tassel thingies? I've got a bunch and not many ideas. There's only so many people who'd want 'em as earrings . . . I think. They're definitely funnily-shaped for cowry fall or belt additions.

(ohshit it's 3am)

Lotsa food!

2008-03-03T00:45:07Z

zen_of_nihilism

It's been a while since I went into kamikaze cooking mode. But today I had some time off, the remains of a ham + its bone, and a special request from the better half for "something different."

The result is ham bone soup & chicken parm with potatoes. Sorry to you lj-feed people, because this is long and fairly pic-heavy. :P

I have a deep-rooted hate for whatever thick and grainy ham-bone-and-bean soup it was my parents tried to feed me when I was a child, so my only intention when I started this soup was that it be low on beans.

The recipe as it stands:
Ham bone with ham still on it
(a heaping cupful of extra ham, diced)
about two cups chopped celery
about 3/4 cup diced onion (the original piece was a little more than half the size of my fist)
a bag of matchstick-cut carrots
a 16oz bag of frozen corn
a 16 oz bag of green beans
two 12oz cans of baby butterbeans
a 10.75oz can of tomato soup
some bullion cubes and/or more ham, if the soup's too watery for your tastes.

First get a really really big soup pot, plunk the ham bone in, and pour in enough water to cover the bone. The one recipe I looked at online suggested adding cloves and sugar, but as I have no cloves I poured in about three tablespoons worth of the spice & glaze liquid from the bottom of the ham's roasting pan. Boil the ham bone for a little while (I waited until I could just start to pull the remaining ham away from the bone with my spoon), then dump in all the veggies. (I added the extra ham here too, because the mix didn't look nearly hammy enough & I had the impression that my ham bone was a scrawny one.)

Results are colorful, not as heavy as the other soups I've made, and in no way reminiscent of the navy bean monstrosity of my youth. Pre-boil:

Post-boil:

From here: turn the heat to medium, cover the pot, and if you're me you started sealing the latest dreadfall commission. (Did you know Target brand glue is less than half the price of Elmer's? Sheesh!) But for all intents and purposes, this needs left to cook for a while. The last of the ham's gonna be stubborn about coming off the bone, and while butterbeans are some of the least noxious beans I know, they need time to pick up the flavors of whatever they're cooked in. Also be sure that what comes off the bone and remains in your soup isn't gristle! D: That'll put a damper on any sharing spirit, let me tell you.

That all said, the chicken sorta-parm & potatoes is getting the simplest explanation possible. (They almost didn't make it up, but I've only posted about soups here for the past however many times so I figured I could stand some variety.)

The ingredients:
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
spaghetti sauce
cheese (mozzarella or Italian mix)
a few eggs
bread crumbs
oil for frying (I recommend peanut oil--the results are somehow tastier. :D)

about 6 good-sized potatoes
3-4 tbsp butter (melted)
1/2-2/3 cup milk
2 tbsp flour
salt

You'll wanna cook the potatoes first. Peel 'em, rinse 'em, slice 'em thin, boil 'em in salted water until tender, and pile 'em in a good-sized baking pan. Mix the milk, butter, and flour and pour them over the potatoes. Cover it all with foil and put it in the oven @ 350F until the chicken's ready.

The chicken's pretty basic, too: Pour a decent amount of oil into a deep pot & bring to about medium heat. Take the chicken & bread it (dunk it in scrambled egg mixture, then roll it in the bread crumbs), then add it to the oil. Cover for safety, wait, & flip it over if necessary to get all sides cooked.

Once it's done (if you stab it with a fork, the juices will be clear), pull your potatoes out of the oven and put the chicken on top. Pour the spaghetti sauce over the chicken, pour the cheese over everything, and put it all back in oven for a few minutes until it's reached a state of melty goodness.

Results here made Kabuki's day when I tipped my plate too much and dropped the chicken on the floor. But what I got was really really good. :P

World is good. :D

Vacation continues with soup-making!

2008-01-22T20:24:28Z

Really Simple Creamy Chicken Rice Soup

7 cups chicken bullion stock

about a cup and a half of chicken, diced

a 4oz box of whole-grain wild rice (I wanted to use barley but couldn't find it)

2/3 of a 1 lb bag of sliced carrots

4 or 5 stalks of celery, sliced

1 small onion (about the size of a chicken egg), diced

about 2/3 cup milk, about 2-3 tbsp butter, about 2 heaping tbsp flour, a little more than a tbsp of sake (not really necessary if you don't have it), and a pinch each of basil and thyme.

Mix (the flour does best mixed into the milk separately, lest it make lumps), boil for 45 minutes (stirring occasionally) or until the rice has cooked, serve.

The results wasn't very liquidy, so if you like your soup to be more soupy you'll probably want to add more stock, milk, so forth.

Now to get to work on my dreads. :P