Ham Sandwich Indicted!

So, this past weekend marked the 4th happening of my annual chili cook-off. The parental units were once again kind enough to offer up not only their lovely home, but also sprang for the rental of a giant TV. While Ohio State decimated Northwestern, guests and competitors sampled and judged 8 different--and very creative--chilies. The prizes this year were spices from Penzey's , with the first place winner--a spicy sweet number made with homegrown hot peppers--winning a 4 pack of assorted chili powders and a bottle of wine. Second place was a smokey chipotle chili made with chorizo and London broil, and third place was the "Don't Mess with Texas" chili made with beef shoulder. Yum. And I should note--I'll do a future post of the various entries if I'm able to get the competitors to share them. (I just did my standard Beef and Chocolate Chili from Tyler Florence--It's so delicious, I've not been able to find a way to improve upon it.) A fire in the fire...

I love New York City. It's one of my favorite places in the world, and I always find myself rejuvenated after a trip there. This past weekend was a jam-packed one of catching up with friends, family, and doing my fare share of eating and celebrating Halloween. We had dinner at Supper , on the Lower East Side, and I indulged in a bowl of melt-in-your mouth gnocchi with a tomato cream sauce. Saturday found me waiting for a girlfriend at Greenmarket in Union Square, where I bought some fresh apple cider and a bottle of cherry wine from Eve's Cidery in upstate NY. The Greenmarket's a great place any time during the growing season, but right now, with the harvest, it's downright amazing. As tempted as I was to load up on all sorts of goodies, I refrained, but am of course now regretting not trying to bring home some cheese or a bottle of Eve's Apple Ice Wine. Maybe next time... Below, I'm offering a little food market porn to get your week started off right. :)

So lately, I've been on a bread making kick. It started when I finally got around to trying the no-knead bread recipe from the NYTimes. It's here . And it's good, as long as you plan a little bit ahead. So far, I've tried the original recipe, one with rosemary and thyme, and one with whole wheat flour. The whole wheat flour one was the least, shall we say, delicious, if only because it was really dense. But hey, it's good for cleaning out the system, I'm sure. Last night I tackled pizza dough. I was not quite through the NYTimes Sunday magazine, when I came across the Eat/Memory article they always have near the end. It was for a pizza that the author shared with Picasso (yes, as in Pablo) several years ago. I jumped up, found that I had all sorts of stuff on hand for a pizza and went to town. Several hours later, I realized that I never had finished the magazine...sometimes the ADD really kicks in. Here's my take on the dough they offered and the...

This is already in wide circulation, but I thought I'd post anyway, for a couple of reasons: one, I have been remiss in my blog updates, due to a spike in the juvenile crime rate. Two, anytime I can highlight a judge who writes an opinion that doesn't make me want to stab my eyes out of boredom, I will. And three, I agree with him...the officer had probable cause to stop and search the defendant. To say otherwise, is blind naivete--two dudes in a bad part of town in the super early morning house making a hand-off on a corner really can't be construed as anything but a drug deal. In my (apparently dissenting) opinion, anyways. Roberts' text is here . And for those of you who have no idea what Roberts did, he wrote the first few paragraphs of his dissenting opinon in the style of the typical detective novel. Clever.

Last night I went on a baking/cooking spree and made 2 loaves of zucchini bread and a batch of salsa verde. (Tried and failed to get rid of excess zucchini, did manage to use all the tomatillos.) I used a recipe from Paula Deen as a starting point for the bread. And before I go any further, let me just say that I really do love Paula Deen. She's the Queen of Unabashed Excess, and I think it's wonderful. In a world full of fake butter, stevia, and portion control, she's perfectly content to just add a little extra butter or sugar. (Or butter, and mayonnaise, and cheese...) However, there are some limits. Her zucchini bread recipe called for 3 cups of sugar (3!) to 3.25 cups of flour--that's a pretty intense ratio. I tweaked a couple of other ingredients and came up with the following delicious bread--sweet and spicy, but not cloying, and perfectly moist. (In my humble opinion.) Better Zucchini Bread 3 1/4 c. all purpose flour 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons ground n...

I spent the night at my parent's house last night, and am sitting at their computer looking out at the front lawn/street, writing this post. 10 minutes ago, I saw my neighbor's cat, Scooter, run by with a baby bunny in his jaws. "Oh, there's natural instincts at work, " I thought. 5 minutes later, I saw the baby bunny run back in front of my house, making a bee line for the relative shelter of my car tires, followed closely by Scooter. "Wow! Baby bunny made it out alive, well done!" I decided to push the pendulum of natural balance in favor of baby bunny so went outside to shoo Scooter away from my car, and his cornered quarry. "Run baby bunny!" I cried. After carrying Scooter back towards his house (he turned around and came right back behind me), I checked on baby bunny. Still crouched by the tire, and oh, had a nasty wound on his hind leg. I gave baby bunny a little poke. "Go baby bunny, go!" Baby bunny just sat there, nose t...

I know everyone else is doing it, but here's another set of rules for tomorrow's VP debate. You can thank me on Friday morning, when you can't remember any of the drivel that was spouted the night before. Also, it looks like we'll be playing at Barley's on High St.---come on down and join! The Vice Presidential Debate Drinking Game (brought to you by Cliff, Ethan, myself, and of course, the internet): Take a drink if : Palin touches her glasses and/or becomes more “adorable” Palin says “hockey mom,” “Russia,” “9/11,” or “maverick” Palin just rephrases the question she’s asked in an attempt to make it an answer. (Two if she uses the moderator’s name repeatedly) Biden mentions taking the train to work or questions Palin’s experience. Biden makes a historically inaccurate reference. Biden makes a condescending reference or gives a condescending look. Either of the candidates says anything folksy. Two drinks if it's the actual word "folks." Either of the...