Marswolf

Almost Olympics time. I've decided to not whine this year about them being professional athletes rather than amateurs, the way Zeus intended. Beijing is 12 hours ahead of EDT, so consider that if you are trying to catch live action. The best TV schedule I've found is at http://www.hdsportsguide.com/olympics/. You'll also find useful info at http://www.nbcolympics.com/tv_and_online_listings/zone=ET/day=0/index.html. The official Olympic site schedule is at http://en.beijing2008.cn/schedule/. USA Today also has a very good schedule at http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2008-06-17-beijing-week1-schedule_N.htm#nine. Note that the listed times on that site are local Beijing times. Basically, I'm only interested in the outdoor sports. If it's played indoors, I couldn't care less. One exception is if it's in a swimming pool and objectively scored. Subjectively scored events, indoors or outdoors suck. So, if you score points or best times out of doors, That's what I'll be watching. http://www.pocanticohills.org/olympics/summerolympics2.htm has a good overview of the event rules.

I had a simple supper. Sirloin tips with grilled onion and bell pepper and corn. Tonight will be pretty simple too Baked cheese stuffed hot dogs wrapped in bacon and fries, squash, whatever.

It sounds like the company is able to find people who want the job under the pay and conditions they insist upon. There is no indenture. Don't like the job? Find another one. It could be a dangerous job with low pay, on call 24/7, and no chance to quit - like military service. Pardon me if I'm not sympathetic.

From the description, it looks like the first one is a grill and the second, more of a smoker. Mmmmm - barbecue!

I have magazines for my Beretta 92 that have been loaded pretty much constantly for over 20 years. No problems.

Baltimore Colts? Speaking of (sorta') which, have you seen the Colt's new stadium?

Here's another one

Even looks Parkerized!

I'm against food stamps too. My view is very much as in this piece from http://www.objectivistcenter.org/cth--1221-Labor_Unions.aspx The basic concept is that the government doesn't get involved in either union advocacy or restricting what the employer can say to oppose union formation.

I love rote kohl. Took me a little while to figure out why you were putting shoestring potatoes in it, Jason. I make banana bread when I catch bananas on the closeout rack. I came up with a good recipe for homemade Ranch Dressing. I found all sorts of weird copycat recipes for it, including one that used a bunch of saltines. Basically, I read the ingredients label and put the recipe together from what felt right. Ended up substituting instant mashed potato flakes for the maltodextrin. It's really not needed for the right texture if you use real buttermilk and full-fat mayonnaise but the flakes help the texture a little and helps add volume to the dry mix.. I also ignored the carrageenan. Decided I didn't need mildly carcinogenic seaweed sliminess anyway. But MSG is a requirement for the Ranch dressing, in case any of you imagine that you are allergic to it.

Neither side is the deity nor the devil. It's is possible to do a cost/benefit wage study on union membership but both sides only listen to the part they like. Basically, economists tell us that union membership increases benefits for it's members by 10-15%. Union claims of 20-28% increases are pipe dreams or creative accounting Union representation also reduces the number of employees in an industry while apparently increasing the number of deadwood employees, which may explain some of the overtime complaints we are hearing here. The extra wage and benefit money doesn't come from corporate profits (that are only around 8% on average) but primarily from reducing the salary of the other workers. That's what the analysis shows. About 10-15% of the people end up overpaid by 10-15% by underpaying the other 85-90% of the working folks by about 4%. That doesn't sound very "fair" does it? I could go on - but I won't. You can study it yourself. As I say, independent economists understand the figures and analysis is always being done. You can find lots of economic studies on the matter online. Google is our friend. You also find lots of propaganda. Don't believe the folks who have a vested interest.

FAIR wages???

Well, I've shifted to Bacardi Select and Coke. First sip coming down the gullet as soon as I hit submit. No storms today.

From my experience, the workers don't get much from membership in some unions. The benefit is for the crooked union leaders. Unions are a major reasons so many jobs have left the USA. Yeah, they are a great deal for the workers, OK....

From http://www.pabst.com/ I had no idea that Pabst marketed so many beer brands. I looked when I first bought the pack. No mention of fire brewing. BTW, the last working day for the Detroit brewery was May 31, 1985. [ame] [/ame]I notice that they do Schmidt Beer. I knew the Philadelphia company had been gone for some time. It consistently won the Playboy Magazine beer tastings in its time. And it was cheap! I wonder if the current stuff tastes the same? Damn, now I'll have to start a search for the stuff.

I have certainly been in a number of places where I was served mystery meat. I always found it best to just be polite, smile and eat it. If it doesn't kill the locals, it probably won't kill me and I'm sure I have eaten worst in survival training. I always think back to the first guy who ate an oyster out of desperation and found out it was actually tasty. I have two tiny tomatoes on my three vines. Probably not enough for canning? I did have a bunch of spare cucumbers, so I put up a lifetime supply of cucumber relish the other day. Delicious with turnips or rutabagas, but I've never tried it with anything else. But it is something simple to do with all of those all of those cukes that are far too many to eat after they come in. Lunch today is grilled ground chuck with grilled onions, bell peppers and mushrooms marinated in olive oil and fresh herbs. Sides will be grilled in husk herbed corn on the cob, grilled summer squash, cucumbers in sour cream and fresh dill, pineapple rings with cottage cheese, and tossed salad with homemade honey mustard dressing. And beer. So much for the body mass index.

Well, technically it's a Stroh's Light. I got a 15-pack at Food Lion in Bristol on the Virginia side. Brewed by The Stroh Brewery Co., P. O. Box 739; Milwaukee, WI 53201. The can is telling me to not drink while I'm pregnant.

I'm having Stroh's with my Buffalo Wings and cigar.

Well, the meal is done and none too soon. Lots of rumbles from the other side of my ridge. The storm should hit at just the right time for a cigar and another beer. The easy winner was grilled wings as opposed to fried ones, either breaded or not. No comparison. The breading was fine, but no better than the naked ones. I can see they would hold a bit more sauce for restaurant service. The winner of the naked-naked grilled wings vs the naked but basted in sauce for the last five minutes was the basted ones. And standard butter/Franks sauce vs the same sauce with the honey added was the honey recipe - but not by much. The non-honey but basted ones were almost as good. I'll probably add a bit more heat next time. Cayenne went into the breading mix, and Frank's sauce is primarily cayenne. but more would be good. So I'm pleased with the experiment and still have a dozen wing segments in the freezer for the next time. Only used half of my $2.49 package. I'll have to keep a lookout for more closeout specials. My sauce ended up at 1/2 cup (one stick) of melted salted butter and 3 tablespoons of Frank's Wing Sauce. I'll probably move up to 5 or 6 tablespoons of Frank's sauce next time and a three or four tablespoons of honey. The honey sauce does have to be kept a bit more warm to prevent congealing. Of course 5 seconds or so in the microwave takes care of that. BEWARE of exploding butter sauces in the microwave! And the rain just began. Where are those cigars?

I'm doing four cooking techniques. 1. Grilled and sauce added later. 2. Grilled and sauce grilled on at the end 3. Deep fried with breading. 4 Deep fried with no breading. I'm also doing a standard butter and Franks sauce and one with some honey added. I'm waiting on the breading but into the second beer already.

Apparently, Hooters does a breading, but they let the wings sit in the breading mix for about an hour, thus getting a thick coating. Here is a copycat recipe I found: Buffalo Wings like Hooter's® Lightly breaded in seasoned flour, deep-fried 'till crispy, then coated in a Buffalo sauce custom-flavored to your desired heat level. Prep. Time: 1:45 Serves: 4 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. paprika 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper 1/4 tsp. black pepper 20 chicken wing segments 1/2 cup butter OR margarine 1/2 cup hot sauce (see Notes, below) -In a shallow dish, combine flour, salt, paprika, garlic powder, and peppers. -Coat chicken entirely in the flour mixture; refrigerate coated wings for 1 hour; coat chicken again with remaining flour mixture. -In a 2-quart saucepan, heat butter and hot sauce just until butter melts; turn heat to low and keep warm on stove top. -Deep-fry chicken, 8 - 10 pieces at a time, in 375 degree oil (vegetable oil, canola oil, or peanut oil) for 13 minutes, turning once or twice. -Drain chicken on a wire cooling rack for 30 seconds, then immediately toss fried chicken in buffalo sauce mixture and remove with a slotted spoon. -Repeat with remaining chicken. Adjusting the spiciness of the sauce: As is, the recipe produces a medium sauce. To change the amount of spiciness, simply adjust the butter-to-hot sauce-ratio: Mild: Use 3/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup hot sauce. Hot: Use 1/4 cup butter and 3/4 cup hot sauce. Notes: I use Frank's® Buffalo Wing sauce in the recipe, as I enjoy the flavor of Buffalo sauce, but not the heat. If you like spice, you can use regular Frank's® Hot Sauce. I'm sure another hot sauce like Tabasco® would work fine, but Frank's® has a great flavor, not just heat. Use ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing as a dip for these fabulous wings! Looks like the original Anchor Bar recipe just salted the wings and deep fried them without breading. OK, all you wing grillers....what heat setting do you use - low to high? I'm guessing low.In my experience, putting a sauce on meat while grilling just leads to burned sauce by the time the meat is done unless it's something like barbecue in a real pit. Or is grill and then sauce the way to go?

I'll do them tomorrow. Yeah, I know to trim off the wing tip but thanks for mentioning it. It will go into the stock pot. Actually probably in the freezer until I find a nead for some stock. I'll probably head up to Abingdon for the Highlands Festival in the morning. Have to see if a friend is there with his artwork again this year as well as hit the antique tents again. Did that earlier this week but was with another friend who is only interested in the antiques. There's a cousin of mine from Georgia selling antiques. We don't really know each other, but he's in my family database. Actually a fourth cousin. So it's wings and beer in the afternoon. I may try some on the grill and some in the fryer. BTW, I found out that Hooters sells a breading mix (not batter). See http://www.hotsauceblog.com/hotsaucearchives/how-to-make-hot-wings-a-step-by-step-guide/. That's the most recommended hot sauce site on the web apparently. Stricky, I have OTC Prilosec. I only visit doctors when ordered to do a physical for my job. Hopefully, that means I've seen my last MD before the big one gets me.

OK, it's wing time! Since I've never had them, I'm wingin' it. I was out yesterday and dropped by a grocery that had a "family pack" of chicken wings. 3.13 pounds, normally $7.17 marked down to $2.49. They are supposed to be green and fuzzy, aren't they? It all washed off. Since I really don't know what I'm doing, I'm gonna' sorta' maybe go by several recipes I found. I decided to go with Frank's RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce with some added butter. Haven't decided whether to marinate and do on the grill or dredge in flour and deep fry. I think batter would probably be a thicker crust than I'd want. I'm leaning toward a buttermilk soak and a dredge in flour followed by deep frying, to keep the calorie count high. I may use lard just to thumb my nose at the healthy eaters. I'm sure I'll find some trans-fat to use. While I like Bleu Cheese, I think I'll pass on it this time. I may make some fake Ranch dressing to eat with the celery or mix with the sauce. Might throw in some French goat milk Feta. I made Honey Mustard dressing this morning, but that doesn't sound too good with wings. While I wouldn't call Frank's sauce "Red Hot" I will be taking a Prilosec, Pepsid, and three Tums before I get started. Lots and lots of beer is chilling. I'll probably do this tomorrow, so if you have any suggestions, please comment. Hmmm, guess I'd better go get more beer if this is for tomorrow.

I didn't have to get used to squeezing the grip. It was totally natural for me.

Most of the time stereotypes are true. That's how they got to be stereotypes.