The Schindlers' List. From the how-low-will-they-go department ... Terri Schiavo's parents the Schindlers are likely to see a drop in the level of public sympathy for them after this:
"Ghoulish" ... "distasteful" ... yep, that just about sums it up. Should we be surprised by this, though? It seems that the Schindlers were very close to Michael Schiavo during the first three years of their ordeal, until Schiavo won a malpractice judgment against Terri's doctor -- $750,000 for her care, and $300,000 for himself. According to an article in last Sunday's Los Angeles Times, he estrangement between Schiavo and his in-laws began when "[t]he father demanded to know how much money he would be getting from his son-in-law's share of the settlement. 'He always wanted the money," the son-in-law said in court testimony. 'He wants the money. He wants the control.'" The Times article also notes that the accusations levelled against Schiavo by his in-laws seem inconsistent, considering the fact that Schiavo went to community college and earned a nursing certificate so that he could better take care of his wife (he now works as a nurse full-time), and that the Schindlers encouraged him to move on with his life and see other women. "They understood that he might need new companionship, according to court records and family memebers," but now argue that his relationship with his current partner amounts to adultery, and have argued that he is an adulterer, abuser and murderer ... since the family split over the in-laws' desire for the settlement money. Sigh. [ Link to today's entries ]
Christian soldier. From Billmon, whom I'm very, very glad is back, and who is very, very good at finding stuff like this:
Jesus Christ. Then again, as one of Atrios' commenters pointed out, "There's nothing inconsistent with this man's position. Everybody knows torturing somebody stops being fun when they slip into a coma." (And if torture is what we have to do to "win," then we don't deserve to win.) [ Link to today's entries ]
Gumbo z'herbes. "Green gumbo", as it's also called, is a fantastic gumbo that's virtually unknown outside of New Orleans (and even there it's not as well-known). The most traditional version (served on Good Friday) is strictly vegetarian, using up to a dozen or more kinds of greens, but I like mine with andouille and/or smoked pork chops. It's a great idea for dinner tonight. Check out my version, plus Tom Fitzmorris published Chef Leah Chase's version from Dooky Chase's Restaurant in yesterday's issue of The New Orleans Menu Daily. He also talks about a wondrous ingredient in Gumbo z'Herbes, which I remember from childhood:
I don't remember any of my relatives cooking with pepper grass, but I remember picking it and chewing on it as a kid (and that peppery flavor is wonderful). Any o' y'all New Orleanians remember this? Any o' y'all know any neutral grounds or vacant lots where it grows? The Cocktailian. In today's fortnightly column by Gary Regan, the Professor hooks a cocktail from a Russian Hill restaurant -- The Romanza, which looks pretty good. (Gimme just about anything with Campari in it.) Happy Easter! Via Rick, who says, "This may very well be my favorite news story ever."
Yeah, throw the book at 'im, the lil' bastid! (A psychiatry textbook, preferably.) Actually, it's a good thing Bryan didn't get his head bitten off. That's how I always attacked my Easter bunnies (the chocolate variety, at least). Despicable. (Via Armando at dKos: "What's in the Schiavo travesty for the Extreme Right? Green money.
Jesus wept. Blood sport. This entry, about how the utter lunacy involved with the Schiavo case is getting dangerous, is lifted in its entirety from DailyKos under their posted "Steal what you want" policy. This bears reading by all. The rest of this entry is by dKos writer Hunter (emphases mine):
Which of these deeply disturbed people is going to be pushed over the brink by this behavior from the media? We may well find out soon, after she finally dies. Video of the day, and quote of the day. First ... I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Jon Stewart and The Daily Show = brilliance. Here's a clip from The Daily Show where Stewart looks at the abysmal performance of the 24/7 cable "news" networks with regards to the Schiavo debacle. Next, James Wolcott diagnoses the same TV clowns:
Very astute diagnosis, doctors. [ Link to today's entries ]
A case for Sculler and Mouldy! I subscribe to the Irish music/politics/arts magazine Hot Press online, and I get their weekly newsletter as well. Every now and again something from that cries out to be posted, such as today. A thread in their message board asks, "What's the strangest place you've woken up and wondered, 'How the fuck did I get here?'" This cries out for participation from our audience as well. Here are some of the replies:
Thank you, Ireland. Lovely stories. Now it's our readers' turn. I'll begin ... Your tax (and retirement) dollars at work. (Via Wes.) Nice to know that over 70% off us can expect to earn LESS under Dubya's plan for Social Security than we would earn under the existing, "destined-for-bankruptcy" plan.
Nobody's buying your Social Security bullshit, Mr. Shrub. Also, 80% of the country disapproves of what you and your party are doing to interfere in the Schiavo family's private tragedy. Keep it up. [ Link to today's entries ]
Activist legislators. There's an excellent article by Dahlia Lithwick in yesterday's Slate about the boundless overreaching behind Congress' Schiavo bill.
Cocktail of the day. Wes dug this one out of The Stork Club Bar Book, and given the location of that legendary nightclub the drink's name is only fitting. We had a slight variation -- Wes used Old Overholt rye instead of the "blended whiskey" the original called for; for the most part I have no use for most generic blended whiskey.
For such a simple drink, it's quite tasty. Quote of the day. Arguing that politicians were not qualified to make medical decisions:
(Thanks, Shari!) [ Link to today's entries ]
The "Culture of Life." The moral of this appalling spectacle, folks? Write a goddamn living will NOW, for Christ's sake. Did y'all happen to notice that the whole rallying cry for Congress to interfere in this case came from Tom DeLay, the ethics-challenged (to say the least) House majority leader who was "facing inquiries into fund-raising improprieties in Texas and potential violations of House travel rules in Washington, [when he took] a prominent role in rallying conservatives to the Schiavo cause, [which] also provided a sudden distraction from his troubles"? They don't give a shit about this woman or her family, or how much worse they're making an already painful situation. This is pure politics at its most disgusting. My friend Rick adds, "The other thing I
heard this morning which proves this is all just political grandstanding
(as if we didn't already know that) is the fact that there was absolutely
no reason for Bush to 'rush back to Washington' to sign the bill. He
could've signed it at the ranch in Texas but wanted to make a point of
going back to DC to do it.
Bastards. Scott Bateman comments:
More on that Texas law from Digby:
Here's what We the People think, via an ABC News poll. (.pdf file)
Prepare your living will and/or advance health care directive today. The U.S. Living Will Registry provides a way to store your wishes with constant access to family and health care providers; you should also file hard copies with various family members and/or your attorney. You must leave instructions if you want control over what happens to you when you're incapacitated; otherwise, as Josh Marshall put it, Tom DeLay will decide it for you. UPDATE: Scott McLellan lied about the Texas bill today (via Think Progress, via Kos): At the gaggle this morning, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan defended a law Bush signed as governor of Texas in 1999: Kos: "McClellan's response was a flat out lie. There's no gray area in the law." Civilized America. We're a beacon of light, freedom and civilization for the entire world, right? Try again.
Would you like to know how many American prisoners died, from ALL causes natural or otherwise, while in the custody of the North Vietnamese during the entire 11 years of the Vietnam War? One hundred fourteen. Gee, y'all! All we have to do is off seven more innocent pe-- er, terr'r'sts, and we'll beat that V.C. record! That'll teach them for whipping our asses in that war. 'Scuse me while I go be sick now ... They're tryin' to wash us away. There was a great series of subplots in Star Trek: Deep Spece 9 where Captain Benjamin Sisko, who was from a 24th Century New Orleans, would sometimes return to his dad's Creole restaurant to visit. Unfortunately, we have to ask the question -- Will there be a New Orleans in the 24th Century? (Via Mike.)
All I can really say is ... if New Orleans is to be destroyed, please -- not until after I'm dead. I think we'll hold out that long, barring a direct hit from a Category 4-5 hurricane. [ Link to today's entries ]
Cocktail of the day. Our pal Chris Viljoen has sent in yet another fascinating cocktail recipe, providing a glimpse of the cocktailian culture in Brazil. Chris says this drink is very popular in São Paulo at the moment. This was the most fascinating one yet, although one that can get a little expensive. It calls for fresh passion fruit pulp, two passion fruits' worth for each drink, and in supermarkets those little suckers can go for $2.50 each. Try to find one in a farmer's market, where the price is more likely to be reasonable ... or else, move to a place like Brazil, where I assume they're cheap and plentiful. Make sure your passion fruits are wrinkly but not dry and overly shriveled before you cut them in half and scoop out the pulp -- that's when they're at the height of their ripeness. You can make vanilla sugar by slicing a vanilla bean in half and, after scraping the seeds out for another use, placing the bean husk in a bowl of sugar. The bean pod will add a wonderful flavor and aroma to the sugar. I didn't have any of that handy, so I used Monin's Organic Vanilla syrup, which is an excellent, shelf-stable product. Chris says he watched the bartender as he made it, but the guy wouldn't give him the measurements under orders from his stinky boss. It may need some tweaking, but was pretty good as is.
It was pretty weird, but really enjoyable. The slight tartness of the ripe passion fruit pulp with its heavenly tropical perfume, the additional perfume of the vanilla, the tartness of the lime and the touch of fire from the cayenne (the weirdest part) made for quite an experience. Maybe when the weather gets warmer we'll have these as well as Caipirinhas. Thanks again, Chris! A cocktail for Hunter. The new issue of the Regans' Ardent Spirits newsletter is out, and there's a fascinating cocktail-creation challenge within:
Wes got busy last night while I was at the radio statoin, but didn't care for the result; doubtless he'll try again. I'm giving it some thought myself, but I'm extending Gary's challenge to Looka! readers. See what you can come up with, and email Gary Regan -- gary (at) ardentspirits (dot) com -- with the results. Quote of the day. Priceless. From The New Republic issue of November 23, 1987, via BeatBushBlog:
Heh. [ Link to today's entries ]
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig agaibh. Or to break out of my extremely limited ability as a gaeilgeoir ... Happy St. Paddy's Day, all o' yis.
A glass of 12-year-old John Power's for me today, I should think. Maybe something a little nicer when I get home from my radio shift tonight ... Wes, should we open the Midleton Very Rare 2003 and have a drop of that later? It's been over a year since we got that bottle, and sure if St. Patrick's Day isn't a day to open it I don't know what is. Oh, speaking of my radio shift ... tonight on "Down Home" I'll be doing my annual all-Irish St. Patrick's Day special. Expect to hear music from Planxty (natch), The Bothy Band, Gráda, Altan, Mark Geary, The Frames, Mic Christopher, Kíla, Ron Kavana, Patrick Street, musicians from Matt Molloy's Pub in Westport and Tigh Neachtain in Galway, and a whole lot more. The craic will be ninety, so tune in at 7pm Pacific Time, 88.5 FM in Los Angeles, and streaming at www.kcsn.org everywhere else. Cocktail of the day. I had one all ready to go, but of course I can't be featuring a Brazilian feckin' cocktail on St. Patrick's Day, so we'll do that one tomorrow. Today we drink the pure drop, the old craythur, the best thing in nature, for sinkin' your sorrows and raisin' your joys. No poití today (for that'll surely take off the top of your head, as I recall from one evening years ago after an after-hours session in Lisdoonvarna), but fine Irish whiskey. Neat is a great way to take it, with a drop of water to open the flavor. However, as much as such a thing might be frowned upon in the thirty-two counties (despite concoctions such as Paddy's and fizzy red lemonade), I'll recommend a cocktail based on Irish whiskey for today. It's one of my own creation, featured here before but due for a revival, as I rather like it. I'd recommend a pint along the way as well, as long as we're celebrating, and a soundtrack provided by myself if you're tuning in at the proper time. I'll make sure I've got Van the Man and Dónal on during the show -- when you hear them, you'll know when to start mixing.
Yeah, it's a long way to Buffalo, and a long long way to Belfast city too ... The (rest of the) Top 100 Irish albums of all time. Well, Hot Press lot finally published the people's choice of the Irish top 100, to go along with last year's list of the Top 100 as voted by Irish musicians. We left off with Bell X1 at number 11...
I own 55 of these; not bad, for what it's worth. But in the don't-get-me-started department, I'll add more in the comments section. [ Link to today's entries ]
Eight hours of food and wine. You may recall a couple of months ago I did a post about The French Laundry's Chef Thomas Keller's technique for poaching lobster in butter. Our friend Robb said, "Mmmm, that sounds so good!", and I said "We should try it sometime ... maybe Jaason can pick some wines," and he said "Pick a date." So we did -- a week ago last Saturday. Robb's partner Jaason, out of all my friends, is probably the most knowledgeable about wine, and we had been talking for ages about my preparing a multi-course dinner for which Jaason would choose the wines. The initial idea was to do an all-Mario Batali meal, mostly from the Babbo cookbook, but butter-poached lobster beckoned instead. I've got lots of pictures and descriptions of technique; it was so relatively easy to do that I wanted to prove that none of you should be intimidated by cooking lobster this way. It's a snap, really, and resulted in the best lobster I've ever tasted in my life. It was the centerpiece of a meal put together with a bag of blood oranges from a friend's tree, some handmade andouille sausage, a lot of lobster stock and cream, stinky blue cheese and honey from one of the remotest points on Earth, and Venezuelan chocolate kissed with a touch of South Africa. The day before Robb had called to relay about a thousand questions from Jaason about the dishes, the flavor aspects, how spicy they were or weren't, whether they contained dairy or not, the specific seasonings used. He apparently had about half his cellar laid out, and was in an agony of indecision. From the background I heard him shout, "Ask him if we can have two wines for each course!" Considering that four bottles of wine plus cocktails and after-dinner Scotch was likely to be too much as it was, I gently encouraged him to decide on only one per course. This, of course, told me that the wines he did end up bringing were going to be fantastic.
My own prep began the day before as well, with the shopping trips, almost as much fun as the cooking. Surfas in the morning, then the European Deluxe Sausage Kitchen at lunchtime. I love going there, with their array of sausages and smoked meats, even though 90% of the time all I get is their excellent Louisiana andouille. This time, though ... the lady in line in front of me ordered a pound of veal bologna. "Veal bologna?" I said. "I've never heard of such a thing!" She boggled. "Oh, I grew up on this stuff! My mom's been coming here since I was a kid, and I'm 50 now ... I can't live without it." I asked for a taste, and ... um, half a pound of veal bologna, please, thinly sliced. This stuff's amazing, spiced in a similar manner to the stuff you ate when you were a kid but more complex, and a real flavor of the meat. Take Oscar Meyer baloney and raise it several exponents, and you'll have this stuff. I also spied a whole side of beautiful smoked pork chops and, thinking ahead to a meal a few days down the line, asked for two of 'em, 3/4" thick. There were several people ahead of me, and by the time I left I smelled like a smoked sausage; the aroma from their big smoker in the back fills the entire place. But I digress ... Next morning's shopping trip was a quick drive to Fish King in Glendale. I wanted the lobsters to be nice and perky, and when you're cooking lobster it's best to buy them as near as possible to the time you're going to cook them, and for me that would be Saturday morning.
I am not normally wont to name my prey, but I decided these two extremely perky specimens ... George and Richard. (Hey, classic ingredient, classic names, right?) George and Richard hung out in the sink while I prepared the water in which they'd briefly steep. The idea behind this technique comes from a lifetime of tough lobster -- how many times have you had lobster, the flavor or which was glorious but the texture of which was like chewing a pencil eraser. Chef Keller's theory is that boiling a lobster for 10-12 minutes is violent; the meat "seizes up", and you can't get any flavor into it. Here we steep the lobsters in just-boiled water with a little vinegar, and for only two minutes -- just long enough for the meat to firm up on the outside enough to remove it from the shell. To 8 quarts of water I added about 1/2 cup of white vinegar and brought the pot to a boil. When the water was fully boiling, I turned off the heat, let the bubbles subside, and into the pot they went for two minutes. You have to work somewhat quickly, because you don't want the meat to overcook at this stage. As soon as the timer chimed I removed the lobsters with tongs and, using heavy cloth oven mitts, went to work on them. The tail was quickly twisted off, and the claws were removed; the claws went back into the hot water to steep for five more minutes. I grasped the fan of the tail and pulled it to one side to remove it; after that, all you need to do is poke your finger into the end of the tail and the tail meat pops right out. Remove the vein, slice in half lengthwise and place on a plate lined with a damp paper towel. Remember that lobsters are juicy and will take in some water when they're boiling/steeping -- I twisted off the tail a bit carelessly, and was rewarded by a huge squirt of hot lobster juice right in the face. (Al |
