JMGarciaIII

This year, for a number of different reasons -- including some nearly valid ones -- Christmas hath crept upon us as a thief in the night. This means that a lot of stuff we normally do (i.e. that we do NOT fail to do) has gotten done late and amid much rush, with imprecations muttered under the breath. At least from my end of things. In my beloved's case there has been much motion -- none of it forward -- which allows her to labor under the misconception that movement equals progress. But! Because I am a fairminded sort, I shoulder half of the Christmas burdens. One task which was mine this year: the Making Room Thing. For those of you "who cannot be arsed" to remember, this is the day when we gather all the $#!+ toys accumulated since last Christmas, inspect ruthlessly and donate the stuff that simply isn't being used. People who ought know better say Advent's not a penitential season (minor or otherwise) but will readily agree it is a preparatory season in which

Since the blogosphere, as the lovely and gracious Karen (in honor of whose bizarro sensibilities I offer the title above) has aptly decreed, is now on a foodie kick; and since we managed to get to the market; and since this has been a relatively cool (for us, anyway) autumn, I decided to make one of the very first Real Grown Up edibles I ever made* only I'd try some flavor variations. So, I bring you Chipotle Braised Short Ribs of Beef with Tropical Gremolata (Serves two, but it doubles or triples very nicely if you have the hardware and/or patience for this sort of thing. Well worth it.) Sea salt Freshly ground black pepper Peanut oil (or whatever you are not allergic to) 1 lime 4 cups beef stock 7-8 short ribs, bone in, about 1¾ lbs (cut into individual ribs, not across) 1 small yellow onion (sweet onions are fine, but avoid the "supersweets") 4 cloves garlic 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (coriander leaf) 2 chipotle chiles (the kind packed in "adobo" w

Some of you gasped in disbelief that I would publicly posit a notion so contrary to tradition -- what with me being hidebound and reactionary and all -- as a frozen margarita. So, in the interest of fairness, justice, equal time and balance, here is my "straight-up" margarita. Incidentally, there are many fanciful tales about how/when the margarita originated. Most of them are utter, frightful bilge. The rest are merely wrong. "Margarita" is simply the Spanish word for "daisy" and there was (still, is, FWIW) a drink called the "Daisy" and it was gin, grenadine and lemon juice served in a sugar-rimmed glass. Replacing these ingredients with tequila and those with which is usually associated (lime and salt) and triple sec in lieu of grenadine to take the edge off and voilá : Margarita. Anyway. The main difference, ingredient-wise, between my frozen and straight-up versions is in the proportion of Cointreau to tequila. (Keep in mind that most recipe

...bloggery shall resume any second now. -J.

I canNOT wait to see what the lovely and gracious Karen and the lovely and gracious Mary Jo blog about today's events. Make sure you ask Karen about the "St. Ignatius Battery Charger." I'll leave it at that until they blog first. That all said, I had to swing back after dropping them off at the airport because I had to feed assorted people. Which, pending their review of today, is the subject of this post. Your task for this week is simple, but hardly easy. Find yourself a GOOD butcher. This means an independent operator (either an independent shop, or a good butcher dept. in an independent market), because moving plastic-wrapped sirloins and boneless/skinless chicken breasts from the back to the refrigerated case is not the same thing. You need someone who can score you the good stuff, and the hard-to-find stuff. You may want breast of veal, or a saddle of lamb or free-range capon or Kobe (or Hereford, or whatever) beef, or some unusual cuts like flatirons or hange

Yes, yes...I know that OKCupid tests totally mangle Blogger posts/templates, so I cleaned it up as best I could, dropping some things that were messing me up. Still. A guy must be allowed to preen. the Wit (66% dark, 30% spontaneous, 36% vulgar) your humor style: CLEAN COMPLEX DARK You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty -- after all isn't that The Simpsons ' philosophy? -- but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat. I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer. Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion. The 3-Variable Funny Test! - it rules - If you're interested, try my best friend's best test: The Genghis Khan Geneti