The other day one of my FB friends opined that Flood by They Might Be Giants is one of the best albums ever. I'm not going that far, but it is a fun album.
Here's a couple of songs from the album that I haven't featured before.
Friday, February 28, 2020
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Loaded Cauliflower Bake
This is a recipe I modified slightly from a recipe from Food Network, a TV station that rarely airs real cooking shows anymore. They don't have the cooking shows like they used to. It's all about food competition shows and all that crap.
Anyway, here's what I made for supper last night.
Ingredients
2 heads of cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 package of center cut bacon
1 package of cream cheese (brought to room temperature)
2 cups of shredded cheddar (I used a mixture of sharp and mild)
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
4 green onions, finely chopped
Sour cream
Salt and pepper
Process
Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Using a sheet pain with a wire rack, lay out the bacon and bake for however long it takes for the bacon to be crisp. As that is baking, cut up the cauliflower, add salt and pepper, and place into a large casserole dish.
Take the bacon out and remove it to cool. Using a soup spoon, ladle the bacon grease into the cauliflower. Place the dish into the oven and roast the cauliflower for roughly 25 minutes.
Cut up the room temperature cream cheese into a large bowl and add 1 cup of the cheddar and minced garlic. Mix this as thoroughly as possible. Once the cauliflower is roasted, dollop the cream cheese/cheddar mixture throughout the cauliflower and top the mixture with the remaining cup of cheddar.
Bake it for approximately 10 more minutes and top with the bacon and green onions. Add spoonfuls of sour cream evenly throughout the casserole dish. Place back into the oven for a couple of minutes and then bring it back out and serve.
Anyway, here's what I made for supper last night.
Ingredients
2 heads of cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 package of center cut bacon
1 package of cream cheese (brought to room temperature)
2 cups of shredded cheddar (I used a mixture of sharp and mild)
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
4 green onions, finely chopped
Sour cream
Salt and pepper
Process
Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Using a sheet pain with a wire rack, lay out the bacon and bake for however long it takes for the bacon to be crisp. As that is baking, cut up the cauliflower, add salt and pepper, and place into a large casserole dish.
Take the bacon out and remove it to cool. Using a soup spoon, ladle the bacon grease into the cauliflower. Place the dish into the oven and roast the cauliflower for roughly 25 minutes.
Cut up the room temperature cream cheese into a large bowl and add 1 cup of the cheddar and minced garlic. Mix this as thoroughly as possible. Once the cauliflower is roasted, dollop the cream cheese/cheddar mixture throughout the cauliflower and top the mixture with the remaining cup of cheddar.
Bake it for approximately 10 more minutes and top with the bacon and green onions. Add spoonfuls of sour cream evenly throughout the casserole dish. Place back into the oven for a couple of minutes and then bring it back out and serve.
Friday, February 21, 2020
Music Friday: "East West"
This long, jammy instrumental song is probably my favorite tune from the new release by the band The Third Mind.
Check it out.
Thursday, February 20, 2020
Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Slow Cooker Tikka Masala Chicken
For those who belong to the Aldi Nerd community on Facebook, this one's for you.
Ingredients
3-4 large chicken breasts, fat trimmed and cut into cubes
2 red bell peppers, chopped moderately finely
Half of yellow onion, chopped finely
1 jar of Aldi brand Tikka Masala simmer sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Smidge of cayenne pepper
Process
Chop up the onions and peppers and place them into a large slow cooker. Chop up the chicken and add it atop the onions and peppers. Douse the top with the simmer sauce and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over rice or riced cauliflower.
Since I've never had Tikka Masala before, I don't know how the jarred sauce compares to the real thing, but I enjoyed it. From my reckoning, I felt the dish needed a good bit of freshly cracked black pepper and some cayenne, so I added those.
Ingredients
3-4 large chicken breasts, fat trimmed and cut into cubes
2 red bell peppers, chopped moderately finely
Half of yellow onion, chopped finely
1 jar of Aldi brand Tikka Masala simmer sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Smidge of cayenne pepper
Process
Chop up the onions and peppers and place them into a large slow cooker. Chop up the chicken and add it atop the onions and peppers. Douse the top with the simmer sauce and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over rice or riced cauliflower.
Since I've never had Tikka Masala before, I don't know how the jarred sauce compares to the real thing, but I enjoyed it. From my reckoning, I felt the dish needed a good bit of freshly cracked black pepper and some cayenne, so I added those.
Friday, February 14, 2020
Music Friday: "Time Spent in Los Angeles" & "Fire Away"
Yesterday I was listening to some Dawes when doing some work.
I don't think I've ever featured these songs from Nothing Is Wrong.
I don't think I've ever featured these songs from Nothing Is Wrong.
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Random Notes from a Crank
I've been trying to catch up on my magazine reading, and the December issue of The Atlantic is quite good, an issue that is chocked full of interesting reads.
I've thought about reading Tara Westover's memoir, Educated, and her short interview titled "Left Behind" in print is titled "The Places Where the Recession Never Ended" online and is quite illuminating. Since I live in a rural part of the Midwest, I tend to agree with a number of the contentions at the end of the interview, such as these areas tend to be the harbinger of the "old economy" and that the opioid epidemic is hitting rural areas hard.
As pundits and well-seasoned writers are wont to do when examining the Republican Party, "How America Ends" looks at how the GOP under Moscow Don is targeting a shrinking demographic and how the party might be prone to doing all sorts of heinous crap to keep their hold and sustain their perception as "real Americans."
Here are some factoids from the last two versions of the Harper's Index:
I've thought about reading Tara Westover's memoir, Educated, and her short interview titled "Left Behind" in print is titled "The Places Where the Recession Never Ended" online and is quite illuminating. Since I live in a rural part of the Midwest, I tend to agree with a number of the contentions at the end of the interview, such as these areas tend to be the harbinger of the "old economy" and that the opioid epidemic is hitting rural areas hard.
As pundits and well-seasoned writers are wont to do when examining the Republican Party, "How America Ends" looks at how the GOP under Moscow Don is targeting a shrinking demographic and how the party might be prone to doing all sorts of heinous crap to keep their hold and sustain their perception as "real Americans."
Here are some factoids from the last two versions of the Harper's Index:
- Percentage of Uber riders who never tip: 60
- Who always tip: 1
- Estimated number of people who could go unaccounted for in the 2020 census because of an "increased climate of fear": 4,000,000
- Average effective tax rate, as a percentage of income, paid by the richest 400 households in the United States in 2018: 23
- By the poorest half of American households: 24
- Percentage by which owning a dog lowers one's risk of death: 24
- Percentage of American men who say they would not feel "very comfortable" with a woman as president: 51
- Of American women who say so: 41
- Percentage of Americans aged 13 to 38 who would be willing to post sponsored content to their social-media accounts: 86
- Number of pending patent applications for variations of the phrase "OK, Boomer": 6
In the online version of The Atlantic, Cohen penned a good piece about Romney's speech about voting yes for conviction: "In the Long Run, Romney Wins." I think he's right. He was the only GOP with guts to do what's right.
Sunday, February 9, 2020
Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Green Lentil, Roasted Pepper, and Spinach Soup
I adapted this recipe from the most recent issue of Milk Street Magazine.
Ingredients
1/2 a yellow onion, diced
1 and a half tablespoons of ground cumin
1 and a half tablespoons of smoked paprika
1 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper
3 bay leaves
1 and a half cups of dried green lentils
1 jar of roasted bell peppers, drained and chopped finely
2 cartons (32 oz. each) of chicken stock
1 bag of baby spinach (6-8 oz)
Salt and pepper to taste
Process
Coat a large Dutch oven with olive oil over medium-high heat. Sweat down the diced onions for 5-8 minutes. Add the cumin, paprika, pepper, and bay leaves and cook briefly for about a minute. Add in the lentils, roasted pepper, and the stock. Adjust the heat to high until it boils.
Reduce the heat to low and cover. Stir occasionally. It'll take approximately 35 minutes for the lentils to soften. Once that time has elapsed, take out the bay leaves and add in the spinach to wilt it. Salt and pepper to taste.
With the combo of smoked paprika and cumin coupled with the roasted peppers, the soup has a smoky flavor that I enjoy.
Ingredients
1/2 a yellow onion, diced
1 and a half tablespoons of ground cumin
1 and a half tablespoons of smoked paprika
1 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper
3 bay leaves
1 and a half cups of dried green lentils
1 jar of roasted bell peppers, drained and chopped finely
2 cartons (32 oz. each) of chicken stock
1 bag of baby spinach (6-8 oz)
Salt and pepper to taste
Process
Coat a large Dutch oven with olive oil over medium-high heat. Sweat down the diced onions for 5-8 minutes. Add the cumin, paprika, pepper, and bay leaves and cook briefly for about a minute. Add in the lentils, roasted pepper, and the stock. Adjust the heat to high until it boils.
Reduce the heat to low and cover. Stir occasionally. It'll take approximately 35 minutes for the lentils to soften. Once that time has elapsed, take out the bay leaves and add in the spinach to wilt it. Salt and pepper to taste.
With the combo of smoked paprika and cumin coupled with the roasted peppers, the soup has a smoky flavor that I enjoy.
Music Friday: "In Hiding"
I'm late with my Music Friday post. I got back from Chicago on Friday night, and then I forgot to post yesterday.
With the weather the way it is around these parts, flurries of snow yesterday and then rain today, this song sums up the mood of the weekend. It's the kind of weather that makes one want to hole in his or her house and just chill.
With the weather the way it is around these parts, flurries of snow yesterday and then rain today, this song sums up the mood of the weekend. It's the kind of weather that makes one want to hole in his or her house and just chill.
Monday, February 3, 2020
Musing of the Moment: Iowa Caucus ~ Regrets
One of my biggest regrets is that I never got to participate in the Iowa Caucus. I lived my growing years in Waterloo, Iowa and then moved to Missouri to go to school at Truman State University. When I moved to Kirksville, I registered as a voter in Missouri. And the first presidential election I voted in was in 1992.
Since I follow politics fairly closely, I've been fascinated ty the Iowa Caucus. When my parents were still alive, they caucused initially for Richardson and then moved to Obama's camp at their caucus site when Richardson didn't have enough people.
To all the good people caucusing in Iowa today, thank you.
And I am jealous.
Since I follow politics fairly closely, I've been fascinated ty the Iowa Caucus. When my parents were still alive, they caucused initially for Richardson and then moved to Obama's camp at their caucus site when Richardson didn't have enough people.
To all the good people caucusing in Iowa today, thank you.
And I am jealous.
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