FOOLCiRCLE

You call them chicken breast, my family calls them chicken boom-badi-addas. “Could I have my Chicken a la king without the alla-alla?”

Check out the boobs on that bird, nice! Tonight for dinner I made a beer-can chicken but took it up a notch, or two maybe. First I brined my first chicken. I used a simple brine of 1 cup sea salt, 1 cup white sugar, and 1 gallon cold water. I then also added the rind of one lime to the brine. I let the chicken soak in the brine in the fridge for five hours. While the chicken was brining, I took said lime and juiced the two halves. I then stuffed the halves with a butter and herb mixture and froze them. When the chicken was done brining I rinsed it well twice. I then brushed the whole chicken with about two TBSPs of vegetable oil nd the juice from one lime. I then rubbed the chicken inside, outside, and under the skin with “traditional” beer-can chicken rub. I then inserted the frozen lime and butter halves under the skin onto the breasts. This gave the appearance that the chicken had a boob job, but better served the purpose of a cool melt to moisturize the boobs. The chicken was then cooked on the grill beer-can-style with wood chips for approximately an hour and a half. I served the chicken with a warm fresh spinach salad with toasted pine nuts and balsamic dressing. It was a good winter’s feast.

I better be careful of this homebrew website is going to start to look more like a blog (I don’t know why, but I don’t like that word). Anyway, I figured New Year’s Eve and Day is a typical time of reflection, so come reminisce with me.

I figured I’d help everyone think about the things you may avoid thinking about on a daily basis. I assume anyone who reads this, anyone for that matter, could probably relate to or improve some measure of their life related to the resolutions listed above. For me personally, at some point in my life at least, I have struggled with the idea of all of the above. For me, I like to continuously set new goals, may they be small or large. I think goals are important to help people continue to grow as an individual. Fortunately for most of us New Year’s is a time when we can reevaluate our goals in life and try to remember just what we hold important and prioritize our values. I know I like to celebrate the end of the year and reflect on all the wonderful people and good times that have touched my life, but also to self-evaluate where I could have done more, been stronger, and maybe have been more useful to others. I also like to celebrate the beginning of the new year and anticipate the possibilities of the unknown through excitement, nervousness, and preparation.

Here are a few of my favorite moments from this year wrapped up in a nut-shell.  Hopefully you’ve enjoyed at least a few of these moments with me this year. Thank you all.

 

I hope all of you have had a wonderful 2007 and have lived your lives to the fullest with no regret. I can’t say I have squeezed ever moment out of every day this year, but I’m going to keep on trying to be the best me I can be. I hope 2008 finds all of you in good health, high spirits, with family and friends often, and out of trouble and burden-free.

This is kind of a silly post for me, but I got to play with a new Christmas toy, and I think it’s going to be quite useful.

 

My sister and her family gave Karen and I a cool multi-function Panini Grill for Christmas.  It’s kind of like an uber-George Foreman Grill. It is a panini press (essentially what a GF grill is), a flat top grill, a flat top griddle, and a waffle press all in one. It has interchangeable non-stick plates, closes like a press, or lays flat to use both sides as cooking surfaces. So far we have only used it once for breakfast (see above) and it worked great. Typically for the same meal we would have had to cook it in two shifts, now we can do it all at once. I can’t wait to try the press and the waffle maker too. Thanks Nancy & Chip!

Merry Christmas

What if Christmas didn’t come this year
And no one paid for Christmas cheer?
Who would cry the biggest tear,
The child or the store?

Last night (10.26.07) was another high-brow tournament. This time it was the best fictional villain / bad guy / evil character of all time, again non-seeded and randomly drawn.

Click the tournament picture and you’ll find the results of a few hours of us being idiots.

Things were run very similar as last time with the Greatest Front-Man Tournament. It was Robert, Mitchell, and myself again, Wooly was suppose to be there but something happened and he couldn’t come. I think we had 155 names to start with this time and we had to wean them down to the top 128. Again the names were randomly drawn from a bowl to flush out the brackets, two at a time and then that was the match-up. After the initial 64 match-up the tournament would run as a normal tournament would, well except for out “nah” rule.

Our rule kind of went like this, in the first round each of us were given two “power nahs” in which we were able to say “nah” to any match-up that was pulled out of the bowl. If we used a “power nah” then that match-up would be thrown back into the bowl to be re-pulled in a different combination later. This was typically used to keep heavy hitters from going up against each other too early. For example, if Darth Vader and Megatron went up against each other in the first round then someone might use a “power nah” to throw their names back into the bowl so a big decision like that wouldn’t have to be made too early in the game. After the first round each of us was also given two regular “nahs” that could be used in the second, third, and fourth rounds. What these “nahs” did was basically give the loser of a match-up a second chance. The winner of the match-up had to get a 2 out of 3 vote to stay in verses the normal 50/50 chance – make sense?

Now remember, none of us fully agree with this, this is just what happen when the three of us ran this tournament. It would probably be different with any three people and obviously with any random drawing. There were actually a couple really tough match-ups, a couple that some people totally disagreed with, and a couple that I looked at afterwards and thought ‘how did that happen?’ Regardless, I’m not going to argue with these results, but I am going to say there were a few surprises. If you don’t recognize some of the names go ahead and ask or look them up yourselves, you may be surprised who did and didn’t make the cut. And just for fun, I’ll include the “Jobbers” bracket too. This is the bracket of guys who didn’t make the initial 120 out of the 155 and had to really fight to get one of the last eight spots, whatever. Click on the picture for a larger shot of it.

Happy Halloween!

Sometimes it’s good to be the brewer.

Tonight I enjoyed a 2005 MacRae Strong Scotch Ale.

Gluttony, pure and simple. And, boy, did I enjoy every moment of it. If only every Monday’s menu was so much fun to prepare, to cook, to eat.

 

A delicious tender Delmonico steak seasoned with only salt & pepper grilled to a perfect medium-rare, paired with Russian Purple Fingerling potatoes and root vegetable medley, accompanied with fresh local Jersey tomatoes and Cooper’s Sharp cheese topped with extra virgin olive oil brought back from Trevi in the Umbria region of Italy and fifteen year old Modena balsamic vinegar, and finally complimented by a cool red wine blend both sweet and tart.

Michael Jackson the “Beer Hunter“, writer, and the original beer geek died this morning in his home in England.

I’ve always respected Michael Jackson’s views and insight into beer. He has been doing this “beer thing” much longer than most of us and was the original “rock star” on the beer scene that I can remember. I am sure his studies, travels, books, lectures, articles, and other teachings will long be influential. We have lost a mighty leader today.

OK, two quick things: – 1 – I know this isn’t a beery kind of post, but it is about one of my favorite book series, so deal with it. And – 2 – PLEASE, if you read this post after Harry Potter 7 comes out and especially if you have finished it, PLEASE do not post spoilers in the comments section. Karen and I read the HP books slowly because we read them the way we feel they were supposed to be read, out loud to each other. So it takes us much longer to finish the books then most people. I will be VERY disappointed if someone who knows me ruins the true ending of this series for me. You have been warned.

NOW, onto the meat. I am going to try and organize my thoughts a little bit so it doesn’t seem to sporadic, but this is the kind of thing where one thought tends to lead into another. To anyone who has not read books 1-6 (especially book 6) there are spoilers below, read at your own risk.

• OK, the big one, we’re all thinking it – Is Harry Potter going to die? And I think, YES. I think Harry HAS to die in order for Voldemort to die and I don’t think JKR will leave us in a world where good has not triumphed over evil.
• Who else is going to die? Well, I say not Ron and Hermione, I think they are our happy ending. I say probably Lupin (possibly protecting Tonks), most likely Snape (Harry will be involved one way or another), possibly Neville (the other ‘Non-Chosen One’?), and maybe and unfortunately Hagrid. And Ginny I’m not sure about. I don’t think she’ll die, but I think some how she will be involved very closely to Harry’s death – like, I’m not sure, Harry sacrifices himself to save Ginny from Voldemort thus protecting Ginny with the ‘love is greater then magic’ protection and sacrificing himself at the same time which I think must happen. Plus, by killing Harry it is a way for JKR to say good-bye to the series too, and it’ll help thwart others from writing unofficial HP books (like Star Wars and such).
• Is Sirius Black going to be back (is he really dead)? Oh, he’ll be back! They NEVER explained his death well enough for me to be satisfied. I’ll actually be annoyed if he doesn’t come back. I’m thinking his first appearance will be via the two-way-magic mirror he gave Harry and he’ll be all Superman II style with General Zod and company trapped behind that crazy-glass-looking-portal thing (Phantom Zone). Did anyone follow that? And I think he’ll make a true appearance and kick-ass, haven’t decided if I think he is going to die (again/for real) or if he will be acquitted of all of the wrong charges and welcomed back into the wizarding world though he will never truly fit in again. Maybe he’ll fly off into the sunset with Buckbeak or Norbert the dragon (yes, I think he will be back and I think it was obvious.)
• What about Snape? Where to begin . . . Is Snape a good guy or a bad guy? I thin Snape is a good guy, ‘Dumbledore’s man through and through’ as someone else says about Harry. I think Snape’s story is very rich and purposefully misleading. I’m not sure if he ever was a Death Eater, or actually a spy/double agent for Voldemort. But I do think that whatever he did/said to prove his loyalty to Dumbledore was true. I’m pretty sure we’ll find out what this even was, but by the time Harry or even us readers find out, it may be too late for Snape – he is going to die. But I also think he will turn on the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters in the zero hour. Check out his name Severus Snape – sounds oddly like ‘sever a snake’ doesn’t it? I think said snake could be physical or metaphorical, but I think Snape is a controlled bad-ass, “Don’t tread on me!” OK, What happened between Snape and Dumbledore when Snape killed him? I’m not sure. I don’t really think it was prearranged. I think it was more along the lines of Dumbledore knew Draco didn’t have the balls to kill him, and he also knew about the Unbreakable Vow, and he also had a feeling Snape was a very important player in the game that laid ahead, and possibly the potion Dumbledore had to drink may have really weakened him or shown him something horrible – but anyway, I think it was more along the lines of Dumbledore sacrificing himself to save Snape. Dumbledore seeing that Snape had a larger role still left to play than himself in this adventure.
• Who/what is R.A.B.? Well, I think the obvious choice and the choice that JKR wants us to guess is Regulus Black, Sirius’ brother. I’m not sure about that JKR is the kind of author that likes to spill the beans about big developments, and that just seems way to easy. The only advantage to it being Regulus is that it brings us closer to a Sirius connection. I’m thinking that it stands for a group of people, like the D.A. – Dumbledore’s Army. I have no idea what it means, but my guess is Snape was a part of it. He appears to be close to Voldemort and knows enough about potions that he could have helped pull it off. Oh, a little off subject, yes I think we will see Dumbledore’s Army again.
• Is Dumbledore dead? Dead as a doornail. BUT I know we are still going to get more Dumbledore action. At the least in the form of advise (ala Obi Wan Kanobi) from his portrait in the head masters office. So we will still get Dumbledore advise in this book, but not Dumbledore’s physical help. Not sure how this ties in, but I think Faux the Pheonix will have some sort of reappearance, maybe able to fight for Dumbledore, or maybe not.
• Was Dumbledore right in his guesses on what the 7 Horcruxes were? And will Harry and crew find them all? I’ll start with the second question, yes Harry and company will find and destroy all 7 Horcruxes. Why am I so sure? Again, because I don’t think JKR will leave us in a world where evil triumphs or with a huge open ending like that (for example they find 6 and smite Voldemort so physically he is gone (again) but spiritually 1/7th of him still lives – not going to happen.) No, I don’t think Dumbledore was right, but I think he was close. Obviously Tom Riddle’s diary (1), Marvolo’s ring (2) and Voldemort himself (7) are 3 of the 4 Horcruxes. But I think Voldemort DID plant a Horcrux in an object from each house. Slytherin’s locket (3), Hufflepuff’s cup(4), something from Ravenclaw (5), and something from Gryffindor (6) – and not Nagini the snake.
• So what are the two objects from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor? I don’t have an answer for Ravenclaw, but I’d bet it is something that has already been mentioned in one of the other 6 books. And Gryffindor . . . (this is my BIG revelation where either I’m a genius or an idiot), I think Harry is the heir to Gryffindor and the Horcrux is in him!! I think the Gryffindor family heritage line was hidden at some point for some reason (think The DaVinci Code) and it was never revealed to Harry that he is the heir to Gryffindor. And I think when Harry’s mother sacrificed herself to save Harry (again, the whole love is more powerful than magic thing) somehow at that moment and with Voldemort already planning on killing Harry and using his death to form his 6th Horcrux, things got turned-around somehow and the Horcrux became part of Harry. Think about it, the ultimate sacrifice, in order for Voldemort to die Harry MUST die because a piece of Voldemort is in Harry! To me, it really just makes sense. Plus two other notes that ring along these lines (some how) is the fact that everyone keeps mentioning how much Harry’s eyes look like his mothers (this will mean something) and the fact that Voldemort used Harry’s own blood to resurrect his physical body will be a weakness or a strength in all of this. I’m not sure how these two tie in yet, but mark my words – important.
• Where is Book 7 going to start? I hope with the story of Draco and Snape and what happened with them right after everything hit the fan. Another good start would be Bill and Fleur’s wedding which will be a wizarding galla-event (will Percy be there? will Percy come back to join the Weasley’s good side? I bet Victor Krum could be there or at least in book 7). But I think we’ll start at Privot Drive once more just to show that Harry was there and that the magic put on the house until Harry is an adult is still working? Speaking of Privot Drive, remember in book 5 I think when Aunt Petunia got a howler sent to her via owl? Something along the lines of remember your promise? Well, I don’t think she is a witch or anything, but I am still waiting for her or Uncle Vernon to accidentally use magic or something along those lines some how.

Finally, I am fully ready for this HP book to be the greatest adventure yet, so get ready to buckle-up! We’re going to have the three amigos in search of the pieces to solve the puzzle to the greatest threat to the wizarding world with a climax that will be awesome! I just know it. Enjoy the two pictures of the cover and the special edition cover. You can click on them to enlarge them. Oh, hopefully I covered most of what I wanted to say, but if I think of something else (I had scribbled notes and lost them) I’ll post them here too.

Dude at my work ‘Hey, I here you make some pretty good beer?’
Me “Yeah, I make all sorts of shit.’
Dude ‘I’d like to try some sometime. Can you bring me in a can sometime?’
Me ‘OK, what style do you normally drink’
Dude ‘Oh, just regular, you know Bud.’
Me ‘OK, but I don’t really brew that style. I’ll try to bring you in something lighter that I make that you might like.’
Dude ‘OK because I don’t really like those darker styles like Lager, I just like regular beer.’
Me ‘OK, I’ll try to bring in something you’ll like sometime.’

Guess I’ll never be bringing him a can of my regular homebrew – lunk-head.