Y’think liberal media bias is made up? Allow me to introduce you to Jill Greenberg . . . Speaking of media bias, I actually turned off NBC’s halftime report as soon as I heard Olby. I couldn’t stand to hear if the there was a Worst Person in the World segment. I wonder what advertisers I missed . . . The GC.com fora have become unreadable for me. There is so much chaff, I have decided not to even seek the wheat any longer . . . the Chargers were screwed on a bad call today . . . The consequence of big days of caching is that it takes a whole day to write the logs, post the images, etc. And I don’t even log on some of the listing sites . . . I expect my crawfish to arrive this week . . . my wonderful wife weeded our front today. Wow! . . . Is it possible to have smoker withdrawal? . . . to make up for being out all day and night yesterday, I made the big breakfast this morning: pancakes, eggs, bacon, adn toast . . . btw, Comcast still sucks . . . say what you want, Tina Fey nailed Sarah Palin last night on SNL . . .
The new Dell mini is not beefy enough to warrant consideration. 1GB of RAM and a 16GB hd is not even what the iPhone supplies these days. Sorry, try again . . . The start of the school year, despite being exhausting, has gone well. Gert and I are much more organized this year and the house has not fallen apart with us going to work now . . . Fred Thompson began the FredPAC. He’s the man I wanted to be president and I sent no money. I sure as hell won’t send any so he can parcel it out the way he chooses. If I am that determined to give money to a candidate, I’ll do it directly without the slippage. So much for conservative values . . . the hurricanes are going to keep me from barbecuing this weekend . . . What is up with this piece in The Weekly? . . . apparently Olby is off the deep end . . .
. . . Axl Rose is trying to resurrect Guns N’ Roses. Of lead guitarist Robin Finck, it is written:
His presence alone brought cool factor into the band. He is the epitome of coolness, really unique in his ways and his looks. And even his posture, his walk, there is confidence, a lot of emotion and artistry and style that make him such a figure on stage.
His guitar riffs are heavy and raw, his rhythms as heavy as any guitar band could hope for. He tempers his screaming leads with soulful control, is also a maestro of pure, string-ripping noise.
Watch Finck’s face and body, he feels the notes in his guts and his body expresses that along with his fingers and a combination of that gives you shivers when you watch somebody live.
Apparently Alan Colmes posted about Republican VP candidate Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin. On air he praised the selection of a woman. On his blog he smeared her. The title of post was Did Palin Take Proper Pre-Natal Care?
Colmes, noted that Palin was in Texas when her water broke in March, took a flight back to Alaska, after consulting her doctor, to give birth. Then he stated:
Still, a Sacramento, Calif., obstetrician who is active in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said when a pregnant woman’s water breaks, she should go right to the hospital because of the risk of infection. That’s true even if the amniotic fluid simply leaks out, said Dr. Laurie Gregg.
Still? Still? Still? Still? Still?
WTF, Alan. Still what?
The use of the word still suggests that this decision and other “pre-natal care” (remember the title of the post) caused Gov. Palin’s fifth child to have Down Syndrome.
It didn’t take long before he was called on this smear. The heat was so hot, the “respected journalist” pulled the post. But nothing is ever gone from the Internet. The entire thing is cached with Google.
A long time ago before I met Gert, I watched the Food Network. My favorite was Too Hot Tamales starring Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger. Another show I recall watching was How to Boil Water. This was the version with Sean Donnellan and Cathy Lowe. Jack McDavid was a favorite too with his show Grillin’ and Chillin’. That show had a co-host. He has now taken over the Food Network’s pedestal.
Bobby Flay is everywhere. While the television network has re-designed itself to not load up on professional chefs, Flay is the resident teacher/master. Search the ‘Net and most folks describe Flay as cocky. I suppose. It’s hard for me to judge as I do not watch the network much. Yes, we like the reality show. And sometimes I’ll tune in just to see what’s up. In this world of 24-hour broadcasting, there’s a lot of nothing on.
Nevertheless, when folks find out I like to cook they immediately assume I watch Food Network. Bobby Flay is the star so I must like him too. Sure, why not? I have nothing against him.
I’ve been researching baby back rib recipes in preparation for the next smoke on the WSM. I thought I would check out the Food Network web site. While there I specifically sought any Flay recipes for ribs. He is all about grilling and I figured I would enjoy something of his.
The search produced little but there was one recipe and the title sounded interesting: Spice-rubbed Chipotle-Molasses Ribs. Yummy! I click on the link. The first thing I see is a big photograph of a charcoal grill (Ranch Kettle?) with a slew of racks on it. Food porn at its best.
Then I read the recipe.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.Combine all spices in a bowl. Rub ribs on both sides with spice mixture.
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the soy sauce, 2 cups of water, and the ginger and bring to a boil. Pour the mixture into the bottom of a roasting pan and place the ribs on a rack in the pan. Brush with the Chipotle-Molasses Sauce. Place in the oven and bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, basting every 15 minutes with the sauce.
These ribs are to be cooked in an oven, not on a grill. What is the photograph of the grill for? Sheesh!
I looked through the links for other recipes from that episode. One of them is titled The Secret to Cooking Great Ribs. Sounds good to me, so I click on it. There are some tips for grilling ribs. Nothing new, but it at least matches the title. But at the bottom of the page I read the following:
This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.
Huh? I understand scaling and I understand substituting for the home cook. But not having tested the recipe? What good is it then? It is published by the network shouldn’t they stand behind it? Shouldn’t they have at least tried it?
The Food Network’s culinary point of view (to use Bob Tuschman’s overused phrase) has changed away from good cooking to good entertainment. There’s a big difference.
