"Journalists were never intended to be the cheerleaders of a society, the conductors of applause, the sycophants. Tragically, that is their assigned role in authoritarian societies, but not here -- not yet." Chet Huntley (1911 - 1974) NBC News co-anchor 1956 - 1970
Dear Chet, be glad you're dead; it ain't like that today.
Speaking of death, I had this thought - the older you are when you die, the bigger the welcoming crowd in Heaven!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
E Mail To My Sister
12/7/11
TO: Gussie
FROM: Peanut
Subj. Late Christmas Present - Sorreee!
But when it gets there, you won't mind at all.
Remember how you howled like a bag of hyenas at the photo you sent me? The one of the license plate that reads: "Illinois! Where Our E-Governors Make Your License Plates!" This is related to that...
And it's also to replace that tacky display of your kids bronzed baby shoes! Remember the part about they're now 28 and 31? And no it isn't MY bronzed baby shoes. Mother threw them out to make room for yours...
But I digress. I got you something you will love. I had to go through channels to get it, but it's been "got." First I called my good friend Steve Diels who is the representative for the proud Redondo Beach 4th District. I've seen in the past how powerful he is and what a full Rollidex he's got... Diels called the Head Warden of the Illinois Prison System and Diels promises me that you will get Rod Blago's VERY FIRST LICENSE PLATE! They're going to be numbered and sold like a fine print to the public. The Warden said to thank you for a great idea!
Of course, it's actually MY great idea, but you see how generous your sister can be?
TO: Gussie
FROM: Peanut
Subj. Late Christmas Present - Sorreee!
But when it gets there, you won't mind at all.
Remember how you howled like a bag of hyenas at the photo you sent me? The one of the license plate that reads: "Illinois! Where Our E-Governors Make Your License Plates!" This is related to that...
And it's also to replace that tacky display of your kids bronzed baby shoes! Remember the part about they're now 28 and 31? And no it isn't MY bronzed baby shoes. Mother threw them out to make room for yours...
But I digress. I got you something you will love. I had to go through channels to get it, but it's been "got." First I called my good friend Steve Diels who is the representative for the proud Redondo Beach 4th District. I've seen in the past how powerful he is and what a full Rollidex he's got... Diels called the Head Warden of the Illinois Prison System and Diels promises me that you will get Rod Blago's VERY FIRST LICENSE PLATE! They're going to be numbered and sold like a fine print to the public. The Warden said to thank you for a great idea!
Of course, it's actually MY great idea, but you see how generous your sister can be?
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
The Big, Fat Blowhard
"Hemingway's Boat, Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost 1934 - 1961" by Paul Hendricson Alfred A. Knopf 531 pages $40
Disclaimer: I have never been a Hemingway fan, am not one now and am unlikely to change my opinion of him (stated in my title above) in the foreseeable future.
The only reason I picked it up at the library is that the Sunday LA Times listed it among the top 10 non-fiction books of the week.
The author uses the boat as a device to show another side of Hemingway. By now, Hemingway has been turned in so many circles to "see another side of him" - genius or madman? that he's as round as a pole. His African safaris, his love of bull fighting, his pugilistic ways, rudeness, four wives, bipolarity, alcoholism, suicide... there seems to be very little that we don't already know.
But this came as quite a surprie to me. Hemingway and his second wife, Pauline, had two sons. The younger was named Gregory, but nicknamed "GiGi." Time magaine in their obituary for him listed him as "Gloria Hemingway" because at the time of his death, age 69, he had undergone sex change surgery!
Despite considering this surgery as early as 1973, he didn't actually go through with it until 1995. This was after four marriages and divorces and eight children!
He died of a massive and sudden stroke in the Miami-Dade Women's Detention Center, where he was being held on charges of indecent exposure. It was said that he was trying to pull on a pair of too-tight women's panties, collapsed and died, then and there.
Disclaimer: I have never been a Hemingway fan, am not one now and am unlikely to change my opinion of him (stated in my title above) in the foreseeable future.
The only reason I picked it up at the library is that the Sunday LA Times listed it among the top 10 non-fiction books of the week.
The author uses the boat as a device to show another side of Hemingway. By now, Hemingway has been turned in so many circles to "see another side of him" - genius or madman? that he's as round as a pole. His African safaris, his love of bull fighting, his pugilistic ways, rudeness, four wives, bipolarity, alcoholism, suicide... there seems to be very little that we don't already know.
But this came as quite a surprie to me. Hemingway and his second wife, Pauline, had two sons. The younger was named Gregory, but nicknamed "GiGi." Time magaine in their obituary for him listed him as "Gloria Hemingway" because at the time of his death, age 69, he had undergone sex change surgery!
Despite considering this surgery as early as 1973, he didn't actually go through with it until 1995. This was after four marriages and divorces and eight children!
He died of a massive and sudden stroke in the Miami-Dade Women's Detention Center, where he was being held on charges of indecent exposure. It was said that he was trying to pull on a pair of too-tight women's panties, collapsed and died, then and there.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Eats Ethiopian Style
Near the Wilshire District's Miracle Mile, there is a street called "Fairfax." This was always traditionally a Jewish neighborhood with delis and kosher meat shops up and down it. Today there are seven Ethiopian restaurants crowding in to stand shoulder to shoulder with them.
Our friend Tony was invited by his niece Kim to have dinner at Meals by Genet, 1053 S. Fairfax, Los Angeles, CA 90019 323-938-9304 mealsbygenet.com
Tony reported back that guests eat with their fingers. "The bread was served, and resembled a napkin -- so not knowing that, I started wiping my fingers with it -- hey, it felt like a damp chamois! Kin said, 'Unk, that's the bread!"
What did it taste like? "Kind of had a 'wheat' taste to it. But I couldn't get over how that bread felt!"
I googled the menu and the mainstay seasonings on your choice of lamb, chicken, beef and some fishes were quite clearly: onion, green chiles and "Ethiopian butter." Prices for entrees ranged from $14 to $21.
All of the Ethiiopian restaurants offered "Ethiopian butter." What could it be? So I found a recipe.
ETHIOPIAN BUTTER
1 lb. sweet butter
1/2 onion, chopped
2 - 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 - 3 pieces of 1/4 in. thick ginger root
3 - 4 cardamom pods
1 cinnamin stick, whole
3 - 4 cloves
1 teas. fenugreek seeds
1/2 teas. turmeric (probably for color)
Melt the butter gently and add all of the above. Simmer on the lowest heat possible for one hour. Pour the golden liquid carefully into a container, leaving all of the solids in the pan bottom. Strain it trhough cheesecloth if you have to and refrigerate it.
Now, I would like to see what that tastes like. Tony couldn't remember and I'm too bone-idle lazy to go to the supermarket for cardamom pods and fenugreek seeds. I wonder if you could get a pot of it to go at Meals by Genet?
Our friend Tony was invited by his niece Kim to have dinner at Meals by Genet, 1053 S. Fairfax, Los Angeles, CA 90019 323-938-9304 mealsbygenet.com
Tony reported back that guests eat with their fingers. "The bread was served, and resembled a napkin -- so not knowing that, I started wiping my fingers with it -- hey, it felt like a damp chamois! Kin said, 'Unk, that's the bread!"
What did it taste like? "Kind of had a 'wheat' taste to it. But I couldn't get over how that bread felt!"
I googled the menu and the mainstay seasonings on your choice of lamb, chicken, beef and some fishes were quite clearly: onion, green chiles and "Ethiopian butter." Prices for entrees ranged from $14 to $21.
All of the Ethiiopian restaurants offered "Ethiopian butter." What could it be? So I found a recipe.
ETHIOPIAN BUTTER
1 lb. sweet butter
1/2 onion, chopped
2 - 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 - 3 pieces of 1/4 in. thick ginger root
3 - 4 cardamom pods
1 cinnamin stick, whole
3 - 4 cloves
1 teas. fenugreek seeds
1/2 teas. turmeric (probably for color)
Melt the butter gently and add all of the above. Simmer on the lowest heat possible for one hour. Pour the golden liquid carefully into a container, leaving all of the solids in the pan bottom. Strain it trhough cheesecloth if you have to and refrigerate it.
Now, I would like to see what that tastes like. Tony couldn't remember and I'm too bone-idle lazy to go to the supermarket for cardamom pods and fenugreek seeds. I wonder if you could get a pot of it to go at Meals by Genet?
Saturday, December 3, 2011
The Smokin' Hot Chef!
I wouldn't care of Chef Curtis Stone couldn't even turn on a gas stove! He's that cute. Aussie openness; tousled, streaky blond hair and pale, clear eyes. Ladies, if he ever gives a cooking class, sign up!
That out of the way, "Cooking with Curtis" by Curtis Sonte Pavilion Books 157 pages plus a recipe index $29.95
Curtis has selected foods he feels appropriate for the four seasons and then gives readers three ways to cook it - Easy - four or five ingredients and minimal cooking time; Every Day Cooking - six to eight ingredients and an hour or less to prepare it and Fancy - when you want to knock family and friends eyes out of their sockets and are willing to spend an hour or more in the kitchen and maybe even use some exotic ingredients.
One of his Summer entrees are what he calls "prawns" and what we call, "Great, big shrimp."
Barbecue Prawns with Olive Oil, Lemon Juice and Fresh Parsley segues into Platter of Fruit di Mare wit Raspberry Vinaigrette which includes prawns, clams, mussels and oysters. The grand gesture is Prawns with Caramelized Endive and Endive Foam.
This book was published in 2005 which may have been mid-rage for foamed sauces which are pretty much passe today.
I'd always wondered how thee foams were created and now I know. When the sauce you've made for a dish is finished, take out about one-third of it and ... are you ready? Beat it with an egg beater!
I'm anti-foam; it looks (to me) like someone spit on my food. Still, if hot young Curtis offered me some that he'd made... I'd probably take it!
That out of the way, "Cooking with Curtis" by Curtis Sonte Pavilion Books 157 pages plus a recipe index $29.95
Curtis has selected foods he feels appropriate for the four seasons and then gives readers three ways to cook it - Easy - four or five ingredients and minimal cooking time; Every Day Cooking - six to eight ingredients and an hour or less to prepare it and Fancy - when you want to knock family and friends eyes out of their sockets and are willing to spend an hour or more in the kitchen and maybe even use some exotic ingredients.
One of his Summer entrees are what he calls "prawns" and what we call, "Great, big shrimp."
Barbecue Prawns with Olive Oil, Lemon Juice and Fresh Parsley segues into Platter of Fruit di Mare wit Raspberry Vinaigrette which includes prawns, clams, mussels and oysters. The grand gesture is Prawns with Caramelized Endive and Endive Foam.
This book was published in 2005 which may have been mid-rage for foamed sauces which are pretty much passe today.
I'd always wondered how thee foams were created and now I know. When the sauce you've made for a dish is finished, take out about one-third of it and ... are you ready? Beat it with an egg beater!
I'm anti-foam; it looks (to me) like someone spit on my food. Still, if hot young Curtis offered me some that he'd made... I'd probably take it!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Newsweek = News Weak
The cover story for the week of December 5th is an article on sex addiction under the banner of "Wellness Crisis!" This is about as unlikely a subject as I could imagine to be either a crisis or to have an addiction served up under the "wellness" banner.
Professionals who treat it claim that between 3 and 5 per cent of the US population or possibly as many as 9 million people are affected by it. The US population is 308 million, so I hardly see that this is a crisis. In fact what I do see is an ad for the movie "Shame" starring Michael Fassbender, directed by Steve McQueen. The movie just happens to get a half-page photo and a half page of hype -- boxed within the article and as a part of it.
"This year the epidemic has spread to movies and TV." C'mon, movies like "Shame" and TV series like "Bad Sex" created this "epidemic."
Just so you can get in on the action, the article helpfully points out that addicts are GPS apps for hook-ups (gay variety) in 192 countries. So - it's okay to travel! Someone will be there for you!
"Valerie" who starred in the article "ended up homeless on food stamps," but a mere two pages later she's signed up for four (four) months of rehab. I've read that the average rehab cost is $30,000/month so I'm wondering where did "Valerie" dig up $1.2 million for it?
Maybe she cut a deal and is washing dishes and doing a little light housework in return for treatment. That would be about as believable as anything else in this poor excuse for advertising -- TV, movies, specific experts and rehabs.
Professionals who treat it claim that between 3 and 5 per cent of the US population or possibly as many as 9 million people are affected by it. The US population is 308 million, so I hardly see that this is a crisis. In fact what I do see is an ad for the movie "Shame" starring Michael Fassbender, directed by Steve McQueen. The movie just happens to get a half-page photo and a half page of hype -- boxed within the article and as a part of it.
"This year the epidemic has spread to movies and TV." C'mon, movies like "Shame" and TV series like "Bad Sex" created this "epidemic."
Just so you can get in on the action, the article helpfully points out that addicts are GPS apps for hook-ups (gay variety) in 192 countries. So - it's okay to travel! Someone will be there for you!
"Valerie" who starred in the article "ended up homeless on food stamps," but a mere two pages later she's signed up for four (four) months of rehab. I've read that the average rehab cost is $30,000/month so I'm wondering where did "Valerie" dig up $1.2 million for it?
Maybe she cut a deal and is washing dishes and doing a little light housework in return for treatment. That would be about as believable as anything else in this poor excuse for advertising -- TV, movies, specific experts and rehabs.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Beautifully Simple Dishes
"The Mozza Cookbook" by Nancy Silverton with Matt Molina and Carolyn Carreno Alfred a. Knoipf 350 pages $35
Silverton opened Osteria Mozza probably five years ago and she said they've had crowds ever since they opened their doors. Reservations for the cheese bar should be a made a month in advance.
Okay, what makes Mozza so hot? Simple dishes! We can duplicate them right in our homes. This is a good thing in these financial times.
Pancetta-wrapped figs with aged balsamic
12 thin slices of pancetta
6 ripe figs cut in half
black pepper to taste
balsamic to drizzle
Wrap a slice of pancetta around the fig, pepper it and put the figs - cut side down - in a heavy skillet and cook 2 or 3 minutes per side. Plate and drizzle with the balsamic to your taste.
SPAGHETTI CACIO E PEPE
12 oz. spaghetti
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 T plus 1 teas. coarsely-ground black pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Pamigiano-Reggiano
1/4 cup freshly-grated pecorino romano
4 teas. finishing quality extra virgin olive oil.
While the pasta cooks, mix the olive oil, pepper and 1/2 cup of the hot pasta water in a large saute pan and bring it up to a boil for a minute. Drain the pasta and toss it into the sauce and stir.
This is an interesting book for people who adore Italian food, but it was a bit difficult for me as I don't speak Italian and Silverton is such a purist about the country that everything that can be said in Italian is. Sample prose: francobolli di brasato al pomodor with basil and riccotta salata al forno (page 177)
Silverton opened Osteria Mozza probably five years ago and she said they've had crowds ever since they opened their doors. Reservations for the cheese bar should be a made a month in advance.
Okay, what makes Mozza so hot? Simple dishes! We can duplicate them right in our homes. This is a good thing in these financial times.
Pancetta-wrapped figs with aged balsamic
12 thin slices of pancetta
6 ripe figs cut in half
black pepper to taste
balsamic to drizzle
Wrap a slice of pancetta around the fig, pepper it and put the figs - cut side down - in a heavy skillet and cook 2 or 3 minutes per side. Plate and drizzle with the balsamic to your taste.
SPAGHETTI CACIO E PEPE
12 oz. spaghetti
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 T plus 1 teas. coarsely-ground black pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Pamigiano-Reggiano
1/4 cup freshly-grated pecorino romano
4 teas. finishing quality extra virgin olive oil.
While the pasta cooks, mix the olive oil, pepper and 1/2 cup of the hot pasta water in a large saute pan and bring it up to a boil for a minute. Drain the pasta and toss it into the sauce and stir.
This is an interesting book for people who adore Italian food, but it was a bit difficult for me as I don't speak Italian and Silverton is such a purist about the country that everything that can be said in Italian is. Sample prose: francobolli di brasato al pomodor with basil and riccotta salata al forno (page 177)
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