Today I took the day off work because I needed an extra day off, and because I wanted to play golf. I didn't play all that well, but it was better than working, even though I have a good job. As the saying goes, a bad day on the golf course is still better than a good day at work.
At one point in the round, I hit some really stupidly bad shots. I mentioned to my friend Gary, that it's a good thing I'm better at my real job than I am at golf because nobody would be silly enough to pay me to play golf.
Still, it got me pondering...why didn't I practice more? My dad always said I needed to practice if I really wanted to get really good, but all I ever did was play 18 holes then go home. I think there's a lesson in there that I should have listened to my dad...but don't tell him that.
So, I guess I will continue my day job and golf when time allows. The consequences of not heeding the wisdom of your parents reach far into adulthood.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
I'm a Feta Fanatic!
Attention! I'm bringing randomness back to Jake's Random Ramblings.
So, a few months ago my wife and I went out to supper and I ordered a pasta dish with Feta Cheese. I've never been an adventurous cheese eater, though I've always loved cheese. Up until a few months ago, parmesan was probably fanciest cheese I've ever eaten. But, now that I've tried the Greek Feta Cheese, I'm hooked and will look for more exciting cheese adventures. As they say, Feta is Fantastic (ok, well they may not say that, but I just did).
Here are some feta facts for all my fellow feta fanatics...note I found most of this at Wikipedia, but they are usually at least semi-correct, so I'm running with it:
1) From food.com: Feta cheese is a cheese made from goat's or sheep's milk which is dry and crumbly with a tangy taste.
2) From wikipedia: Feta is a white cheese with small holes, a compact touch, few cuts, and no skin. Being soft or sometimes semi-hard, feta is usually formed into square cakes. Its flavor is tangy and salty, ranging from mild to sharp. Its maximum moisture is 56%, its minimum fat content in dry matter is 43%, and its pH usually ranges from 4.4 to 4.6.
3) From wikipedia: After a long legal battle with Denmark, which produced a cheese under the same name using artificially blanched cow's milk, the term "feta" has been a protected designation origin (PDO) since July 2002, which limits the term within the European Union to feta made exclusively of sheep's/goat's milk in Greece. According to the Commission, the biodiversity of the land coupled with the special breeds of sheep and goats used for milk is what gives feta cheese a specific aroma and flavor.
So far, I've only eaten the flavorful feta in pastas, but I can imagine that it would be excellent on salads, and I'm really tempted to add it to lasagna in small amounts, since too much of it would overpower the other cheeses.
Here's hoping you have some fabulous feta forays in your future.
So, a few months ago my wife and I went out to supper and I ordered a pasta dish with Feta Cheese. I've never been an adventurous cheese eater, though I've always loved cheese. Up until a few months ago, parmesan was probably fanciest cheese I've ever eaten. But, now that I've tried the Greek Feta Cheese, I'm hooked and will look for more exciting cheese adventures. As they say, Feta is Fantastic (ok, well they may not say that, but I just did).
Here are some feta facts for all my fellow feta fanatics...note I found most of this at Wikipedia, but they are usually at least semi-correct, so I'm running with it:
1) From food.com: Feta cheese is a cheese made from goat's or sheep's milk which is dry and crumbly with a tangy taste.
2) From wikipedia: Feta is a white cheese with small holes, a compact touch, few cuts, and no skin. Being soft or sometimes semi-hard, feta is usually formed into square cakes. Its flavor is tangy and salty, ranging from mild to sharp. Its maximum moisture is 56%, its minimum fat content in dry matter is 43%, and its pH usually ranges from 4.4 to 4.6.
3) From wikipedia: After a long legal battle with Denmark, which produced a cheese under the same name using artificially blanched cow's milk, the term "feta" has been a protected designation origin (PDO) since July 2002, which limits the term within the European Union to feta made exclusively of sheep's/goat's milk in Greece. According to the Commission, the biodiversity of the land coupled with the special breeds of sheep and goats used for milk is what gives feta cheese a specific aroma and flavor.
So far, I've only eaten the flavorful feta in pastas, but I can imagine that it would be excellent on salads, and I'm really tempted to add it to lasagna in small amounts, since too much of it would overpower the other cheeses.
Here's hoping you have some fabulous feta forays in your future.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
TV Series Review: "Warehouse 13", Season 2
My wife and I finished watching season 2 of "Warehouse 13" last night. "Warehouse 13" is a SyFy series about 2 secret service agents, Pete Lattimer and Myka Bearing, who work for a secret government warehouse in South Dakota, collecting dangerous supernatural artifacts and storing them away from the public. Being from South Dakota originally, I do have to comment that there isn't really a town name Univille located in the badlands near a secret government warehouse...that we know of anyway...
I liked season 2 better than season 1. I give it 4.5 stars...I really wish Netflix would embrace the half star concept. This season was very funny, and the rest of the cast got more involved, making for some exciting episodes. There were some good guest stars along the way as well.
I'm just really impressed with the way SyFy keeps rolling out great TV shows. I hope they keep it up for a long time and I'm already looking forward to season 3 of "Warehouse 13".
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Movie Reviews
"Clash of the Titans": If you recall, several months ago, I posted that the preview for the remake of "Clash of the Titans" was the proper way to do a preview. It's too bad the makers of this movie didn't follow through on the movie. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad flick, but it's too short on the story. I really enjoy Greek Mythology, and this movie sort of glosses over that in favor of another battle scene or some cool special effect. It's as if they ran out of money with all the special effects and had to cut the movie 45 minutes short.
Overall, I give this one 3 stars.
"Despicable Me": We went to "Despicable Me" as a family at the cheap theater last night. Another ok movie that just fell short of being really good. There are quite a few laughs sprinkled throughout, but for me the story fell short of matching the feel good nature of the Pixar films, and "How To Train Your Dragon." My wife and kids on the other hand were rolling with laughter and loved the movie, so perhaps I was just in the wrong mood.
Another 3 star flick.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Just a Slip?
Last weekend, the Commander-in-Chief, using the Teleprompter-in-Chief, was speaking to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, when he quoted the following from the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.".
So, what's the problem with that? Well, the actual words that Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration are, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Yes, he left out "by their Creator." Not surprisingly, the Drive-By media is ignoring this slip, but the Conservative Blogs have picked up on it. See what we wouldn't know without blogs? Imagine if George W. Bush would have made such a slip...all we'd hear about is what an idiot he is, but the Bamster screws up, and the media is silent.
Pundits have posed 2 possible theories on this. The first is that it was a mistake by the Teleprompter-In-Chief and Obama wasn't quick enough to catch it. The second, and more plausible, is that Obama's speech writer intentionally left it out so as not to offend Americans who don't believe in God. Notice that neither of these options actually blames Obama.
I'm going to propose a 3rd theory. I'm going to propose that this was an intentional omission by a man who believes that all rights come from the government and not our Creator. This is a man, who by his actions and words obviously has a god complex, and believes that the government he currently runs, should be the central force in our lives. Furthermore, I believe he doesn't agree with the Founders on much. I think that President Obama believes that the Founders gave us too much freedom and limited the power of the Federal Government too much, so I think part of him wants to change the words of the Founders, or the meaning of those words, to suit his purposes whenever he can.
And, to think, Obama would have gotten away with it too, if not for those meddling right-wing blogs and their ability to remember the actual text of the Declaration of Independence.
So, what's the problem with that? Well, the actual words that Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration are, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Yes, he left out "by their Creator." Not surprisingly, the Drive-By media is ignoring this slip, but the Conservative Blogs have picked up on it. See what we wouldn't know without blogs? Imagine if George W. Bush would have made such a slip...all we'd hear about is what an idiot he is, but the Bamster screws up, and the media is silent.
Pundits have posed 2 possible theories on this. The first is that it was a mistake by the Teleprompter-In-Chief and Obama wasn't quick enough to catch it. The second, and more plausible, is that Obama's speech writer intentionally left it out so as not to offend Americans who don't believe in God. Notice that neither of these options actually blames Obama.
I'm going to propose a 3rd theory. I'm going to propose that this was an intentional omission by a man who believes that all rights come from the government and not our Creator. This is a man, who by his actions and words obviously has a god complex, and believes that the government he currently runs, should be the central force in our lives. Furthermore, I believe he doesn't agree with the Founders on much. I think that President Obama believes that the Founders gave us too much freedom and limited the power of the Federal Government too much, so I think part of him wants to change the words of the Founders, or the meaning of those words, to suit his purposes whenever he can.
And, to think, Obama would have gotten away with it too, if not for those meddling right-wing blogs and their ability to remember the actual text of the Declaration of Independence.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Movie Review: "Kick-Ass"
This is going to be a shortish movie review. I was really intrigued by "Kick-Ass" but never went in the theaters, and frankly, now that I've seen it, I'm really glad I didn't spend theater bucks to see this movie. It's not bad, but it's just not great either. It's maybe a 3 star film, but possibly 2.5.
What really surprised me was how violent it was. I was expecting a sort of updated "Mystery Men", but that's not what this movie is. Instead, it's almost 2 movies that eventually cross paths. There's the somehwat humorous story line involving the hero, Kick-Ass and then a much darker story line involving Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) and Hit Girl. They cross a few times and then finally big time at the end.
There are some humorous parts in this movie, but overall it came up short of being what I would classify as an absolute must see. You might like it, you might not, I guess it's up to you if you want to watch it.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Quick Lasagna Recipe
I'm not at the point yet in my cooking where I can make up my own recipes, but I am at the point where I can take a recipe and adapt it to our family's pallet, or at least to fit what my wife and I like. My kids are picky eaters, so I never know what they are going to like.
Tonight, that was the case with the Not-sagna Pasta Toss Recipe from Rachel Ray. We have tried this a couple of times before and we found it average. However, over the past year or so I have managed to adapt a marinara sauce recipe from Tyler Florence that we now really like. I can't find the link to the Tyler Florence original, but I like my adaptation better, so I'll give you that recipe.
Ok, so here is the quick lasagna I made tonight, using the concepts I learned from Rachel Ray's recipe.
Marinara Sauce:
Ingredients:
1 28 oz. can crushed Italian style tomatoes
1 small yellow onion
4-6 cloves of garlic (depending on how much you like garlic)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 Bay Leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Heat the onions and garlic with the olive oil until the onions become translucent looking. Add the tomatoes, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, sugar and bay leaves and let simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
Brown some Italian Sausage and after the marinara has simmered for 15-20 minutes add the browned Italian Sausage. Continue to stir and let simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
Note: This marinara sauce is on the savory side with a little heat, not much, but a little. Cut back on the red pepper and pepper if you prefer a sweeter sauce. You can also leave out some of the oregano.
Noodles:
Ingredients:
13.25 oz box of rotini noodles (though any short noodle would work)
1 and 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
Boil the pasta in salted water until the noodles are al dente. Drain the noodles but save 1/2 - 2/3 cup of the salted pasta water. In a mixing bowl, mix the ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese with the pasta water. Add the pasta and stir to combine.
Combine the noodle/cheese mixture with 3/4 of the marinara sauce/Italian Sausage mixture. Mix thoroughly and then top with the remaining sauce/sausage. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top.
I served this with some Parmesan Garlic Bread. Basically any type of french bread, butter it, top it with Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning and fresh grated Parmesan Cheese. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees then broil it for 2-3 minutes. Very good, very easy.
This whole meal took me about 45 minutes to make tonight...much better than the 2-3 hours it takes me to make real lasagna. This had much of the goodness of lasagna without all the work. If your family likes lasagna, I really think you'll like this recipe.
Tonight, that was the case with the Not-sagna Pasta Toss Recipe from Rachel Ray. We have tried this a couple of times before and we found it average. However, over the past year or so I have managed to adapt a marinara sauce recipe from Tyler Florence that we now really like. I can't find the link to the Tyler Florence original, but I like my adaptation better, so I'll give you that recipe.
Ok, so here is the quick lasagna I made tonight, using the concepts I learned from Rachel Ray's recipe.
Marinara Sauce:
Ingredients:
1 28 oz. can crushed Italian style tomatoes
1 small yellow onion
4-6 cloves of garlic (depending on how much you like garlic)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 Bay Leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Heat the onions and garlic with the olive oil until the onions become translucent looking. Add the tomatoes, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, sugar and bay leaves and let simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
Brown some Italian Sausage and after the marinara has simmered for 15-20 minutes add the browned Italian Sausage. Continue to stir and let simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
Note: This marinara sauce is on the savory side with a little heat, not much, but a little. Cut back on the red pepper and pepper if you prefer a sweeter sauce. You can also leave out some of the oregano.
Noodles:
Ingredients:
13.25 oz box of rotini noodles (though any short noodle would work)
1 and 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
Boil the pasta in salted water until the noodles are al dente. Drain the noodles but save 1/2 - 2/3 cup of the salted pasta water. In a mixing bowl, mix the ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese with the pasta water. Add the pasta and stir to combine.
Combine the noodle/cheese mixture with 3/4 of the marinara sauce/Italian Sausage mixture. Mix thoroughly and then top with the remaining sauce/sausage. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top.
I served this with some Parmesan Garlic Bread. Basically any type of french bread, butter it, top it with Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning and fresh grated Parmesan Cheese. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees then broil it for 2-3 minutes. Very good, very easy.
This whole meal took me about 45 minutes to make tonight...much better than the 2-3 hours it takes me to make real lasagna. This had much of the goodness of lasagna without all the work. If your family likes lasagna, I really think you'll like this recipe.
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