"The Global Consciousness Project, also known as the EGG Project, is an international multidisciplinary collaboration of scientists, engineers, artists and others continuously collecting data from a global network of physical random number generators located in 65 host sites worldwide. The archive contains over 10 years of random data in parallel sequences of synchronized 200-bit trials every second."
Are you ready for a healthy, satisfying, nutritious, delicious, hot, home-cooked meal in ONE HOUR?!?
Of course you are!
Let’s get started!
Time’s a-wasting!
Cut open a whole bird by cutting down one side of the spine (use a knife or kitchen shears, it’s player’s choice).
Put it in a baking pan.
Push down on it to split the breast bone/cartilage, to help it lie flat.
Liberally season BOTH SIDES with S&P and your favorite seasonings blends. DON’T BE SHY! And for cryin’ out loud! Be SURE to LAY ON THE SALT! It’ll make the skin crispy! (Salt is hygroscopic — it attracts water, and in this case, it draws it out, thereby crisping the skin.) And use coarse kosher salt… because you can see it easily after applying it, to know how much you’ve used.
Coarsely cut as many red potatoes, carrots, and onions as makes you happy.
Why red potatoes? Yukon gold potatoes are also an excellent choice. They both — red & Yukon gold — hold together better when cooked, but you’re free to do as you wish. After all, YOU’RE the one making this dish — right?
How many “makes you happy”?
Only YOU know the answer to that question!
Spatchcock chicken, leg quarter, skin removed
What constitutes “coarsely cut”?
I’m glad you asked!
This is what constitutes “coarsely” cut, and how it’s done:
1.) Cut potato/onion in half (2 pieces).
2.) Cut those two halves in half, then cut each piece in half again, in the same direction (3 cuts yields a total of 4 pieces, each half).
3.) Hold together the sliced pieces, turn them 90º, then cut crosswise into 3, or 4, even pieces.
4.) Cut whole carrot into 1-2 inch length pieces, do not slice in half lengthwise.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, February 1, 2024
Few things can beat the heartwarming, soul-soothing feeling that a hot bowl of fresh, homemade Tomato Soup provides! It’s a first-class comfort food, to be certain. It’s quick, easy-to-make, and considered a delightful culinary cornerstone.
How difficult, or easy, do you want it to be?
Sometimes, the seemingly easy things are difficult, and the difficult things are easy. And those seemingly easy things take years to master, and perfect.
So it is with Tomato Soup.
The once-fabled “Gray Lady,” aka The New York Times, has been around a while — quite some time. Since 1851, as a matter of fact. But, I assure you, tomato soup, in one form, or another, has most likely been around much longer, even though published recipes for Tomato Soup and variants, are known to 1857 and 1872, while tomato-based ketchup has a history to circa 1812. Up until around 1880 with the invention of pizza in Naples, Italy, Europeans thought the tomato was poisonous, since it is a member of the deadly nightshade family of plants… as are potatoes, eggplant, and peppers.
But, the NYT was once respected. Plagiarism was unheard of there until the 2000s.
Same thing for their recipes — once-respected.
I mean, only the NYT would put GREEN PEAS in guacamole. No kidding.
Bleargh!🤮
The mere thought of it is so utterly detestable, that I refuse to link any semblance of it. You’ll have to do that. Merely telling you, and others, should be enough warning. A word to the wise is sufficient.
And that’s but one MAJOR reason why I no longer read their recipes. They’re whacked out. And to add insult to injury, they expect you to pay them for the privilege of reading any of it… including the miserable recipes.
But, believe it, or else, curiosity got the best of me and I perused a tomato soup recipe at the site.
Yeah… yeah… yeah… I know. Curiosity killed the cat — right?
Fortunately, I’m not a cat. Nor do I play one on Broadway… or teevee.
I’ve known how to make tomato soup with numerous variations for quite some time. It’s dead simple to make. And quick! And one way I’ve done it, and to some extent, still do, is to use tomato paste. Just thin to the desired consistency, add the desired seasonings, and VIOLA!
But I was curious to know what else I could do, what other ingredients I could add, to really make that red stuff SHINE! And that was my motivation. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, January 1, 2024
No animals were harmed in the production of this entry. However, a few did sacrifice their lives in order to make it happen. A huge shout-out to the pig –and– to the chicken. THANK YOU! For all you do, this recipe’s for you!
CAUTION: Images of dead animal parts follow.
Only the hungry should view.
Today is New Year’s Day.
Woo hoo! One more time to get it right. One more trip around the sun.
We’ll see what happens.
In the mean time…
I forgot to pop the bubbly last night.
It wasn’t French… neither was it Spanish, but rather, was Italian — a lovely, inexpensive Prosecco (DOC), a sparkling, extra dry, 2022 vintage, from Bardolino, located along the eastern coast of Lake Garda (Italy’s largest lake), in the province of Verona, in the very north-north-central portion of Italy, directly northwest of Verona.
Slices of chicken cordon bleu, christened with a Dijon béchamel sauce (butter, cream, milk, flour, garlic powder, Dijon mustard, Parmigiano Reggiano). Background, whole wheat crackers with Fromager d’Affinois, a cow’s milk French double-cream soft cheese.
Again, it rests in the refrigerator, unopened.
And the traditional Southern New Year’s fare of greens (mustard/turnip/collard) cooked with smoked hog jowl/ham hock/smoked turkey neck, onion/garlic, its pot-likker combined with the buttermilk cracklin’ cornbread, and black-eyed peas, with green onions… was absent.
Instead, Chicken Cordon Bleu was on the menu.
The term “cordon bleu” translates from French literally as “rope blue,” though long figuratively interpreted as blue ribbon, is a flattened, often rolled, seasoned chicken breast with a slice of ham & melted cheese in the middle, coated in fine breadcrumbs, sautéed, then baked. It is served with a Dijon mustard-based cream & butter sauce, made with flour, flavored with Parmigiano-Reggiano, S&P, and thinned with whole milk.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Let’s Cook! In Praise of the Humble, Versatile Potato.
If you read recipes, as I often do, you’re bound to have seen at least one recipe for Potato Soup.
Many, if not most, or — dare I say it? — even all recipes for Potato Soup have so MANY so-called “garnishments” that you wonder if you’re eating Potato Soup, or something else, like a puréed casserole, or some such thing.
Perhaps instead those ingredients should be called “amendments” — like soil amendments, for example, defined as being things added to change something to which they’re added… because they FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE the ENTIRE dish — flavor, texture — EVERYTHING, so that the potato becomes lost in the mix, and essentially disappears as a foundational element of the dish, making the additions to it the center-of-attention.
It’s hardly recognizable as a potato, per se, aside from the traditional, well-worn add-ons like sour cream, chives, bacon, onions, cheese, butter, pepper, parsley, milk, buttermilk, pulled pork, celery, celery seed, chicken broth, ancho chili powder, green onions, flour, and goodness knows what all else.
Even for a so-called “loaded” baked potato, that’s a whole lotta’ stuff… that COMPLETELY HIDES, COVERS UP, and MASQUERADES as a “potato.”
Make NO mistake.
It is NOT.
It’s some type of casserole, using a potato as an excuse to exist.
This recipe is NOT that.
Not by a long shot.
Not even hardly.
Look… many, perhaps even most, folks like potatoes. And to be certain, not only are there are numerous types of potatoes, they are ubiquitous globally, including Sweet — and there are numerous varieties even within that group — by some accounts, several thousands. By the way… in the language of horticulture, the proper term that describes a variation (a variety, or type) in a plant is “cultivar.”
Then, we have the Russet, Yukon Gold, Red, etc. And within the greater potato genre, per se, there are multiple thousands upon thousands, tens of thousands, even, of varieties and cultivars of potatoes globally. So, it’s not as if there are only 3, or 4 types. It’s just that “your” grocery store chain has chosen to sell those limited few types, and the farmers… well, the farmers grow ’em, god love ’em. It seems as if we’re broaching upon narrowing to monoculture… almost.
Each of those types and cultivars have their own unique characteristics, including variations in Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, May 5, 2023
Over the years, I’ve met, known, and been friends with several vegetarians in my lifetime, and quite frankly, all of them have been very pleasant people, kind, generous, giving, well-mannered, studious, professionals, and in most cases, religious, specifically, Seventh Day Adventist, a Christian sect that practices the Jewish custom of meeting on Saturdays (the Sabbath) for corporate worship, and resting from their labors.
They weren’t at all radicalized or “high pressure” animal rights activists, mean greenies, or other off-the-wall types — just plain ol’ nice, family, folk.
And as a tenet of their faith, they are vegetarian — some lacto-ovo, some pescatarian, some vegan. And you know you’ve made friends with them when they invite you to share a meal with them — that’s true of any people, religious, or not — and I have always considered it great honor to share a meal with them. One such time was Thanksgiving several years ago, when I was Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, March 20, 2023
Generally speaking, recipes are merely broad guidelines for the creation of a dish. Very few recipes are anything like the precision necessary in rocket science… although some websites would have their gullible readers to think so.
Fortunately, the best part of cooking and being a cook, is that you get to eat your own mistakes. And THAT is often the best teacher.
So, with the obvious being “said,” here’s a carrot raisin salad, which at its most basic, contains carrots, raisins, and mayonnaise. The dish depicted here contains the following jazzed up ingredients: A stick of celery, key lime juice + apple cider vinegar (ACV), sugar, a tad salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins (of course), dried cranberries (aka “craisins”), and walnuts.😋
Naturally, shredded carrots are the primary ingredient. So if you’re planning on making this dish, you’ll need more carrots than anything else. How many? How about you being the judge of that? It’s YOUR dish, and you’ll make it YOUR way — which is another beautiful part about cooking: It’s highly customizable.
How much mayonnaise? Again, it’s “Player’s Choice” — as much, or as little, as your heart desires.
Don’t like mayonnaise? No problem. Use salad dressing, or some other condiment (though I dare say, mustard probably would not be a good substitution). But hey! To each, their own. One never knows.
Don’t like celery? Not a problem. Omit it.
Sodium restricted diet? (Celery is also sodium laden.) Omit the tiny pinch of salt. But I will say this, about that: Salt, common table salt, even just a slight amount, enhances sweetness.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Spaghetti! Who doesn’t like it?
Spaghetti is an easy-enough meal to prepare, and it can be as simple, or as complex, as one desires.
And despite that, as some things often are, they can be deceptively simple, or even challenging to master.
While with recipes, whether found online, on boxes, or in magazines and books, there seems to be a somewhat straight-forward approach to making certain dishes, even with renown and very popular ones, sometimes, the “Whys & Wherefores,” i.e., the rationales, the reasons why one does a certain thing a certain way, are typically omitted. And, that can be to the detriment of a burgeoning cook, or aspiring chef.
So, we’ll set out to, at least in small part, make a correction… at least as concerning spaghetti.
1.) Salt
Salt the water which the noodles boil in — HEAVILY, not a mere sprinkle, or a dash, or two. Lay it on!
Why?
Salt is hygroscopic, which means that it draws, or attracts, water.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, February 9, 2022
LEFT to RIGHT: Spaghetti noodles, tomato-based meat sauce, freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Ever get tired of eating mediocre spaghetti?
Of course you so.
But, how can you make your otherwise boring spaghetti a world-class dish?
It’s easier than you think.
Naturally, there are a few (very few) “secrets,” or tips-n-tricks, that everyone should know, and understand, in order to improve the character and quality of the dish.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, December 4, 2021
Perhaps you’d be surprised at the MANY “knock-off,” el-cheapo, wanna-be, so-called “recipes” for AIOLI.
For some, it’s a Johnny-come-lately to the faux phood scene, a veritable “flash-in-the pan” — here today, gone tomorrow — and something, some trick of “the new and kewl” to attract, and FOOL, or DECEIVE, folks into believing that a great amount of effort, or love, went into making a food item.
Pretty pictures adorn all kinds of websites, magazines, and newspapers — online, and in print — that depict food as an artistic creation… and to be certain, there’s little doubt that some of it is. Certain cakes come to mind, for example.
The finished product… GENUINE, AUTHENTIC aioli.
But most food is not “art,” though it can, and should be, presented attractively. And the reason for that, the reason why food should be presented attractively, is that we FIRST ‘eat’ with our eyes. That is to say, that, what we see whets our appetite. However, for food made in a restaurant, the olfactory sensation is largely missing, because almost no one goes into any restaurant and smells the food cooking. It’s not like your grandma’s, or mama’s kitchen, wherein the savory aromas of food waft throughout the house, eagerly increasing your expectations as mealtime approaches.
But, back to the aioli.
At its essence, aioli is almost pure garlic in a spreadable form. I write ‘almost’ because it has olive oil in it, and cannot be made without it. And, there’s some salt, as well. But the amount, volume, quantity, etc., of salt is up to the maker. And though salt may not be 100% absolutely required, or a mandatory item like garlic or olive oil, it is HIGHLY recommended to be a constituent part of aioli. In other words, just put some in. Don’t neglect it.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, August 24, 2021
A simple dish like pinto beans can quickly and easily become a hearty, tasty, complex-flavored dish with the addition of a few ingredients. Seen here, are the beans with all extra ingredients added, just before cooking in the pressure cooker. When pressure cooking beans, it’s NOT necessary to soak them. Simply rinse them off, throw ’em in the pot, fasten the lid, and cook away! They’re ready in a jiffy! How long’s a “jiffy”? About 15-20 minutes +/- depending upon how well you like ’em cooked. No more soaking overnight baloney!
Beans and cornbread.
There you have it!
How much more simple could it be, eh?
And honestly, that’s a meal unto itself.
If you wanted, you could add some rice to it, either separately, or mixed in.
But, we’ll just concentrate on the two, for now.
So… here’s what you’ll need for the beans & cornbread.
NOTE:Milk can be clabbered/curdled using a small amount of vinegar or lemon juice (both are acid). Soured milk should not be discarded, and can be used in cooking, in lieu of buttermilk or milk, and can be added to buttermilk.
If it seems like a lot of ingredients… IT IS!
And, it’s WELL WORTH IT!
Besides… any cook worth their salt will use numerous spices, herbs, and seasonings… because NOBODY BUT NOBODY enjoys bland food. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, November 23, 2019
I decided to cook the Thanksgiving turkey today… because I can.
And, as always, it’ll be low & slow – 350°F for about 3-4hrs +/-.
Kinda’ like barbecue, only shorter.
The bird’s not really large, it’s only about 12-13 pounds, or so.
The cavity is stuffed with coarsely cut vegetables (including shiitake, and crimini/portobello mushrooms, red, white, and yellow onions, carrots, celery, and various peppers) all which are coated with pulverized dried bread crumbs, and two blocks of pulverized dried cheeses.
The top/exterior has paprika and coarse kosher salt with some mild pepper sauce (Valentina brand “Red Label” – it’s WAY flavorful, and not too hot for most tastes).
Before stuffing the cavity, coarse kosher salt, garlic powder, paprika, and “Badia brand Complete Seasoning” was applied.
And, ALWAYS, always, always!!! Cook turkeys (and chicken) breast side down, of course!
Why?
Because it keeps the breast moist and tender – and prevents it from dying out.
Here’s how and why it works.
As the bird begins to cook, when the fat starts to render (melt), it runs DOWN (remember that thing called “gravity”?), into the breast meat, thereby “juicifying” it.
And a bit of bragging here – I have NEVER cooked a bad turkey, no matter how I’ve cooked it. Even my very first one was perfect.
Also, there’s NO need to “baste.” That’s an utter waste of time & effort. If you insist on cooking it breast side up, put the thing in a bag if you’re gonna’ do it that way.
How will you know when it’s done?
Smell.
And a little tug on the leg.
Never cook by time, or use a thermometer. That’s an amateur’s chore, or a fool’s errand. Cook it until you like how it turns out. (What’s the BEST part about being a cook? You get to eat your mistakes!)
Seriously.
Don’t cook by time, or “internal temperature.”
Seriously.
Don’t.
You’ll smell it when it’s done, and ready.
Here’s how you check.
First of all, you’ll smell it.
And THEN! you check.
Here’s how you check:
Just open the oven door, pull out the rack, and using a fork, or your finger, “flick” the leg.
If it bounces back, it’s not ready.
If it gives way, it’s ready.
It’s just that simple.
Look, folks… cooking ain’t rocket surgery, or brain science.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, February 1, 2019
Mexican lasagna!?!
Yeah.
The first layer is soft corn tortillas. Be sure to cover the sides of the dish.
That’s what I thought when I read the text message sent to me by a friend.
I’d never heard of “Mexican lasagna,” but the ingredients and pictures intrigued me, so I decided that I’d try my hand at it. After all, I do enjoy cooking, because for me, it’s a creative outlet. And besides… who DOESN’T like eating, eh?
Layer as you wish. But first place a layer of sauce atop the soft corn tortillas, followed by the meat. Seen here, the pinto beans with sausage atop a layer of vegetables (onion, olives, tomatillos, salsa verde, tomaotes, bell pepper, cilantro, etc.) and cheese. Mustn’t forget the Pepper Jack cheese!
And, like most recipes, I make it my own, because as I see it, recipes are essentially broad guidelines, rather than precise and exacting hard-and-fast rules for cooking or preparing any dish.
Top with crushed corn tortilla chips before adding the next layer.
So, I set off to procure the ingredients which I didn’t have on hand, purposely omitting any ingredients which I didn’t think “fit,” and adding ones which I thought would accentuate the dish.
Be GENEROUS with the veggies and other ingredients. DO NOT BE STINGY!
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, December 7, 2018
Baby, it’s dumb inside.
Has anyone banned “Dixie”?
Remember:
Libraries celebrate “Banned Book Week” by encouraging EVERYONE to read books that were once banned, like “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” or, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” because “it highlights the value of free and open access to information.”
Citing the #MeToo movement, and pointing to the line in the song “say, what’s in this drink?,” some radio stations have moved to “ban” the 1949 Academy Award winning song which was featured in the motion picture Neptune’s Daughter, and sung by Ricardo Montalbán and Esther Williams.
Critics decry it as an inference to “slipping a mickey” – an old, colloquial term for a date rape drug – into the woman’s drink.
However, I can’t count the number of times folks have asked me what’s in drinks I’ve made. One of the most notable ones being Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, November 14, 2018
By definition, classic, authentic French bread has only 4 ingredients:
1.) Flour
2.) Salt
3.) Yeast
4.) Water
For some, baking is a mysteriously puzzling process. For others – as with math – it comes easily. Either way, it’s a learned process, can be taught, and the products it produces may be further developed, refined and enjoyed.
At the most basically fundamental level, making bread is the transformation of raw grains into deliciously tasty finished products. An entire language surrounding the baking of bread has arisen, and as our understanding of the art and science of bread-making continues to be developed, new terms may emerge. However, there remain time-tested terms about which many have heard – even if they’re not fully understood – and it is with those most basic terms and processes that French bread is understood, and made.
So in order to understand the how’s and why’s of bread-making, it’s equally important to understand the historical context in which French bread emerged.
Unlike bread in general, French bread’s history is relatively new, per se, and dates to the mid-to-late 1700’s – a revolutionary era in which France and the United States were forming.
Like the American Revolution, the French Revolution gave power to the people who were also subjected to abuse by terror-inducing government actions, including the forced quartering of troops (lodging & feeding) in private residences without either invitation by, or reimbursement to, the owners, and included shortages and rationing of staple food supplies because of many continuous years of harshly inclement climate and weather conditions resulting in crop failures, and other agricultural catastrophes.
Market speculation didn’t help matters, and prices for all foods rose rapidly, precipitously and exponentially, especially and particularly for wheat, and significantly adversely affected the poor and impoverished, who could no longer afford to buy flour. And what flour they were able to afford was of grossly inferior quality and poorly milled, which processing left many bran hulls in the final product.
But the pièce de résistance was mass starvation.
While the few wealthy elites had plenty of money to afford all kinds of food, the majority did not, and were literally starving. Consequentially, crimes of theft, murder, and prostitution were common because people didn’t have enough money to feed their families, and resorted to such activities merely to stay alive.
King Louis XVI and his royal entourage at the royal castle in Versailles were isolated from, oblivious, and indifferent to the escalating crisis of the people’s suffering. And while in response to the appellate courts’ orders to reduce spending, he did so begrudgingly, most of his token attempts to pacify by claiming reform were thwarted by his appointed judges.
During the age of Enlightenment many writers, pamphleteers and publishers informed or inflamed public opinion, and used opposition to the government as a resource to mobilize public opinion in opposition to the monarchy, which in turn tried to repress what became known as “underground” literature. Today, they would be called the “fake news” media.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, August 7, 2018
“Nothing says loving like something from the oven.”
– anonymous
To the idea of pot pies, some folks say things like, “You know, I’ve never liked pot pies, but probably because it was always store bought.”
-or-
“He HATES pot pies. I LOVE them.”
And then, after looking at the ingredients I used, they say this…
“That recipe looks scrumptious.”
-and-
“I’ll have to try this recipe. He might eat it if I make it.”
Understand this: Most all recipes – and that means 99.99% – have their origin in someone’s kitchen – not in a giant factory vat or laboratory test tube.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, June 25, 2017
Who doesn‘t like pizza?
Why, it’s practically unAmerican to not like pizza! Have you ever made your own pizza at home? Ever wanted to make a Deep Dish Pizza at home? Good news – you can! And I’ll share images and a recipe which will help get you started.
This may come as a complete surprise to some, but pizza is BIG BUSINESS in the United States.
Top 50 Pizza Chains’ Annual Sales by State (Click to enlarge)
And as Marketplace Host and Senior EditorKai Ryssdal says, “but first, let’s do the numbers…”
According to CHD Expert, a foodservice industry marketing trends & data organization, at the end of September 2016, there were 76,723 pizza restaurants in operation in the United States.
In their 2016 Pizza Consumer Trend Report, foodservice industry researcher Technomic found that 41% of consumers polled say they eat pizza once a week, a 55% increase from the 26% reported only 2 years ago.
And a 2016 Morgan Stanley report found that pizza delivery is a $30 billion industry, but could be be worth over $210 billion — which is the total amount Americans currently spent on off-premise dining. And of that $30 billion figure, over 1/3 – $11 billion – are delivery orders which are placed online, and nearly 2/3 of those online orders are… pizza.
So with impressive data like that, it should come as no surprise that a Harris Poll found that Americans’ No. 1 favorite comfort food is pizza, which also had twice as many votes as any other dish… including chocolate.
Now, for a recipe, and the how-to.
There are many seemingly innumerable styles of pizza, which vary with stuffed crusts, in shape, size, ingredients, and any other number of variations in pizza, and fortunately, this one will be simple enough to make at home.
We’re going to make the entire thing, including the crust.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, June 12, 2017
A good and longtime friend shared recently about making buttermilk popsicles at home with family, using a recipe presumably which came from Steel City Pops, a trendy nouveau foodery in Birmingham, AL. And giving credit where credit is due, Alabama has some mighty fine eateries, and an amazing wealth in it’s diversity of food. As evidence of that fact, Chef Frank Stitt, owner of Birmingham restaurants Highlands Bar and Grill, Bottega Restaurant, and Chez Fonfon has been on the James Beard Foundation Award‘s radar for quite some time, and most recently, NPR recognized the excellent oysters produced by Murder Point Oysters using farming methods in that Bayou La Batre, Alabama Gulf Coast town, which were also feted by Chef Emeril Lagasse. Alabama food is a literal treasure of gastronomic proportion. And it’s not just limited to the holiest of holies… barbecue.
(👉Get your Alabama Barbecue Trail app here!👈😋)
Now, I confess an aversion to buttermilk except in cooking. And the reason, of course, is that I’ve tried it. And not just once. In fact, I recollect as a youth visiting with relatives in Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Holiday season is again upon us, and many folks – particularly Southerners – are familiar with a tasty warm beverage known as “Russian Tea.”
Exactly how and where the recipe developed, and how it came by that name is somewhat unclear, but “the font of all knowledge” – and I sarcastically refer to Wikipedia – cites an article entitled “Russian Tea is Favorite Recipe in the South” by Cecily Brownstone in the November 27, 1976 issue of Kentucky New Era newspaper in Hopkinsville.
Interestingly, the story which is perhaps the newspaper’s most renown is the August 1955 Kelly-Hopkinsville Alien Encounter, which may also be known as “Kelly Green Men Case,” or the “Hopkinsville Goblins Case.” It’s a precursor of sorts to a “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” type story in which five adults and seven children reported to Hopkinsville Police that “little men with big heads and long arms,” presumably alien creatures, were attacking their farm house, and that they’d held them off with gunfire “for nearly four hours.” It all started around 7PM when one of the men went out of the house to get a bucket of water, and lasted until 0330 – that’s 3:30AM.
Who knows? Maybe they’d had too much Russian Tea. Anyway, I don’t think you’ll be doing any hallucinating, or discharging any firearms after drinking this, so it’s pretty tame stuff… unless you start adding Kentucky Bourbon or other liquor to it.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, September 12, 2014
Sweet Baby Chicken Bacon Wraps are a tasty combination of sweet and spicy.
With only four ingredients, or more, it’s a quick, easy, simple, affordable and satisfying heavy hors d’oeuvre to make for a crowd. Unless you’re cooking for the Los Angeles Rams.
As we march our way into the holiday season Hades, this is sure to be an outstanding addition to your next party or family get together. Even tailgating!
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, July 4, 2014
SC Restaurant Owner Refuses To Serve Blacks, Cites Religious Beliefs
July 2, 2014
By Manny Schewitz
In South Carolina, a BBQ restaurant owner (Maurice’s Piggy Park BBQ) claimed that he was within his rights to refuse service to blacks based on his religious beliefs. In the case brought before the Supreme Court, Maurice Bessinger stated that his religion required him to keep black people from eating in his restaurant, although he was perfectly OK with taking their money, so long as they ordered their food to-go.
The attorney representing the petitioners suing Piggie Park also addressed in court the “First Amendment religious privilege claim that petitioner asserted that his religion required him” to deny service to black customers.
“I’m just a fair man. I want to be known as a hard-working, Christian man that loves God and wants to further (God’s) work throughout the world as I have been doing throughout the last 25 years.” (Source)
And now for you who actually took the time to read the story instead of basing your outrage solely off a headline before sharing with an ALL CAPS blurb of “SEE? I TOLD YOU THE SOUTH WAS FULL OF RACISTS!!!”, this case was Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, January 13, 2013
Here’s the one-liner you’ll remember, albeit one with significant truth:
“There’s more pork in the Pentagon budget than a Smithfield corporate hog farm feedlot in North Carolina.”
Or, if you prefer:
“There’s more pork in the Pentagon budget than a Paula Deen Christmas recipe.”
And if the Pentagon budget were a recipe, it’d be a recipe for disaster.
The budget for the United States Department of Defense accounts for very nearly 6% of our nation’s budget. It is THE SINGLE LARGEST BUDGET ITEM in the entire budget. The amount of money sifting through the Pentagon’s hands is more than the combined defense budgets of the world’s top 15 wealthiest nations. And, it accounts for 4.7% of our nation’s economy. Late former President Dwight David Eisenhower was spot-on accurate in his Farewell Address to the nation 17 January 1961 when he warned us saying:
“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society.
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
“We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”
None of this is to say, of course, that any kind of spending on national defense is somehow a bad thing, for it is not. Yet Eisenhower specifically warned about even the spiritual implications of the DoD spending “Gone Wild.” However, the last time the people, the Congress, the President or anyone else – including the Comptroller General, the Office of the DoD Inspector General, or the Secretary of Defense ever said anything about being budget hawks on the use of the people’s taxes was September 10, 2001 when SecDefDonald Rumsfeld spoke to the Department of Defense, and announced that the Department of Defense “cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions.” Not only was that money MIA, but he added that…
“The technology revolution has transformed organizations across the private sector, but not ours, not fully, not yet. We are, as they say, tangled in our anchor chain. Our financial systems are decades old. According to some estimates, we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions. We cannot share information from floor to floor in this building because it’s stored on dozens of technological systems that are inaccessible or incompatible.
“We maintain 20 to 25 percent more base infrastructure than we need to support our forces, at an annual waste to taxpayers of some $3 billion to $4 billion. Fully half of our resources go to infrastructure and overhead, and in addition to draining resources from warfighting, these costly and outdated systems, procedures and programs stifle innovation as well. A new idea must often survive the gauntlet of some 17 levels of bureaucracy to make it from a line officer’s to my desk. I have too much respect for a line officer to believe that we need 17 layers between us.” -Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, September 10, 2001
He discovered $2.3 Trillion in the DoD budget of taxpayer monies which had no accounting. It was “Missing In Action.” The next day, the World Trade Centers suffered terrorist attacks. We never heard anything ever again. [Read the text of his speech here: http://www.defense.gov/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=430]
Here’s a video of the CBS news report.
And now, here’s a jet plane that is the veritable aircraft version of a Jack-of-all-Trades-and-Master-of-None, which our nation’s military has previously said they do not need, and already have other more durable, reliable and operable aircraft. And this is a thing that they have continuously said they want, rather than need.
Wants and needs are two entirely different things.
And not only that, but that the entire bidding process related to Defense contracts is fraught with cost overruns, late deliveries and more – all of which would NOT be, and is NOT tolerated in private enterprise. And yet, we somehow think that the sacred cow of Pentagon spending is somehow exempted from the normal rules of operation.
And now, with the budget items heating up again, it would be ludicrously preposterous to presume that the sacred cow of Pentagon slush funds slop trough is in pristine condition.
Other agencies, like American businesses and families throughout, have learned to live within their means, and make do with less.
Durability testing on the most complicated version of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s (LMT) F-35 was halted last month after “multiple” cracks were discovered in the fighter jet, according to the Pentagon’s testing office.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, July 27, 2012
What if the so-called “medical marijuana” proponents could have their cake, and eat it to?
That is, what if they could have the “benefits” they claim they derive from smoking marijuana, while NOT having its intoxicating effects?
Would they still smoke it?
That would tell the story.
It certainly would.
—
What a drag, Israeli firm grows “highless” marijuana
A worker tends to cannabis plants at a plantation near the northern Israeli city of Safed June 11, 2012. REUTERS-Baz Ratner
By Maayan Lubell SAFED, Israel | Tue Jul 3, 2012 9:48am EDT
(Reuters) – They grow in a secret location in northern Israel. A tall fence, security cameras and an armed guard protect them from criminals. A hint of their sweet-scented blossom carries in the air: rows and rows of cannabis plants, as far as the eye can see.
It is here, at a medical marijuana plantation atop the hills of the Galilee, where researchers say they have developed marijuana that can be used to ease the symptoms of some ailments without getting patients high.
A worker tends to cannabis plants at a plantation near the northern Israeli city of Safed June 11, 2012. Credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner
“Sometimes the high is not always what they need. Sometimes it is an unwanted side effect. For some of the people it’s not even pleasant,” said Zack Klein, head of development at Tikun Olam, the company that developed the plant.
Cannabis has more than 60 constituents called cannabinoids. THC is perhaps the best known of those, less so for its medical benefits and more for its psychoactive properties that give people a “high” feeling.
A worker tends to cannabis plants at a plantation near the northern Israeli city of Safed June 11, 2012. Credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Okay, for those of you reading this whom don’t already know, I post photographs on Flickr. As I’ve said, there are only two photographic subjects: 1.) people; and, 2.) things. Food is included in the latter category.
If your tastebudsare brain is working, you’ll need to make this recipe.
Here, from my Flickr page – in all it’s glory – is my recipe.
I like cooking (I wrote that again, just for you folks that’re seeing my photostream – and foodshots – for the first time.) So, I take pictures of the food I cook… and eat. Yup. Wowser, eh?
Anyway… this is a total delight – to prepare and consume! (At least that’s what the consumers said, ’cause I didn’t get to eat much of it! The leftovers were eaten by my neighbors. *LOL*)
I prepared it as part of a “beerbecue” with some friends I’d made through Flickr! Yaay, Flickr! House of Sims – Great folks, great family, great photographer!
Anyway… back to the recipe thingy.
When I’d gone up to Sewanee, TN a few days back, I’d bought some fresh fruit & veggies from a roadside vendor while on the way back home. (I’d purposed to do that, having seen him on the way up there.) Among those items was a huge basket of Rome apples, from (of all places, and appropriately enough) Rome, Georgia. They were tasty!
Again, purposing to do something different with a recipe, I securely applied my “Fly-By-The-Seat-Of-Your-Pants” device and proceeded to adventure in the kitchen.
Having absolutely no recipe from which to work, I set out and made my own! (The Army has patches for “Big Red 1,” the Special Forces vertical sword with lightning bolts across, “Pathfinder,” “Air Assault” and the “Expert/Combat Infantryman Badge.” (Maybe they should make one with a fork, French chef’s knife and spoon/ladle criss-crossed over a skillet and stock pot with a flame at the bottom. I’d wear it!)
Here’s what I did:
Peel & core apples. Reserve peel (this is an important step – do NOT omit it!). Chop apples coarsely. Make a strong NaClH2O mixture (Use little H2O & boil it, folks! It’ll hold more NaCl. Then dilute w H2O.). Add honey – lots of it – to NaClH2O. Rationale: Honey is hygroscopic, so is NaCl. NaCl will not affect apples, but allow the marinade/bath to absorb the flavors. Add: cinnamon, mace, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, ground clove, vanilla, in copious quantity. Big healthy squirt of lemon juice – don’t be stingy! – (sing the opening stanza of the Oscar Mayer song, “My baloney has a first name…” while squirting) Brown Sugar – lots and lots of it. Cranberries – about two handfuls. Marinate apples overnight (minimum 12 hours) in refrigerator – the longer, the better. (Oh yeah… make sure the cranberries are in there, too!) And the peel? You should’ve chopped it up finely and added it to the boiling mixture.
Dough:
Flour, whole wheat/white mixture – just dump it in. Lots’a extra risin’ (that’s “Baking Powder” for the uninitiated). One egg – don’t use those panty-waste, freakin’ micro-eggs – use the honkin’ JUMBO mamas! The bigger, the better. (If anyone asks, act like you know what you’re doing.) Lard (that would be PIG FAT – avoid the hydrogenated stuff – you can make your own by melting it – about two ladles/scoops). Butter – that would be COW MILK FAT (Teats are good – Mooof!) one stick – that’s 1/4 pound. Vanilla – you should have some from when you made the other stuff – and for goodness sake, DON’T be stingy! Cream – aka “Heavy Whipping Cream” (avoiding freaky innuendo here… but, she’s a very kinky girl, the kind you don’t take home to mother – unless you’re bold as love {Have you heard Ricky Skaggs bluegrass version of Rick James’ trademark song? No kidding!}). Vodka (cheap stuff is okay), brandy (your preference), Brown Sugar (how come you taste so good? Did you know that Rolling Stones tune was recorded in Muscle Shoals, AL?), white sugar (yep, but not as much as the good, brown stuff), Almonds – blenderize ’em to a powdery consistency – about 2-3 cups finished product. The astute cook will recognize… it’s a cookie dough! Yaay!
How to:
Combine dry ingredients. Melt fat/butter together, add vanilla & liquor (that’d be the vodka & brandy), cream – again, don’t be stingy! – in separate container. Get your hands in it and mix it all up – but first you gotta’ add the liquid to it! Grease interior of deep-dish baking pan (keeps it from sticking during cooking – and don’t avoid this step by justifying that you use some #$^&! “non-stik” pan – DO IT ANYWAY!) Tear off chunks of the dough and mash it out evenly throughout the pan, lining the bottom and walls. Use a slotted spoon to place marinated apple mixture into pan. Add some liquid, but not all – it should be just below the ingredients’ surface. Roll out remaining dough and apply to surface. Bake @ 350°F for about 30-45 minutes. If you’re a halfway decent cook, you’ll know when it’s done… by smell. Oh yeah… you should’ve put some coarsely chopped pecans under the crust before you cooked it. And just so you’ll know, put a shallow cookie sheet under the pan – it may (translate: most likely will) spill over during cooking.
Now, while that’s cooking you gotta’ do something with that remaining liquid.
Here’s a big giant hint: BOIL IT DOWN! Yep, make a syrup to pour over the top of the cobbler/pie! Hello!? Cooking is all about creativity, ingenuity and efficient use of resources. You know the adage: Waste not, want not.
When it’s done liberally apply butter to the top (while it’s hot, you silly thing, you!), and then pour the syrup all over the top.
Then, take some kind of serving device – preferably a big spoon – and insert it into the pan, gently moving up and under, with a slight twist of the wrist, remove a portion or section of the cooked contents. Place them in a bowl. Apply a heaping portion of vanilla ice cream (chocolate or neapolitan just won’t do in this example) to the top. Using a separate spoon, eat it all up.
And as a tenet of their faith, they are vegetarian — some lacto-ovo, some pescatarian, some vegan. And you know you’ve made friends with them when they invite you to share a meal with them — that’s true of any people, religious, or not — and I have always considered it great honor to share a meal with them. One such time was Thanksgiving several years ago, when I was 
Warm Southern Breeze 