Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse Cake

     For a chocolate lover, this cake is the end of the search for the perfect chocolate desert.  God made this cake so we could know what paradise will be like after we die.  This is a French style cake and contains no flour. It is more like a dense pudding than a cake, but it slices and serves like a cake.  Make this cake a day in advance because it needs to cool down and be chilled for at least 8 hours.   This recipe is from Cooks Illustrated Nov/Dec 2002.  I do not use the egg yolks as called for in this recipe because it makes the cake much lighter without it.

    Making the cake is very simple, melt the chocolate, whip the eggs, combine and cook.

    Ingredients

• 12 oz bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 12 Tablespoons butter
• 1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 8 eggs 
• 1/8 teaspoons salt
•  2/3 cups light brown sugar

    Prepare:

• Turn oven to 325 degrees
• Get large roast pan out for the water bath
• Butter and flour spring form pan, use parchment or wax circle at the bottom
• Line the outside of the spring form pan in foil to keep water out of the pan during cooking
• Separate 8 eggs
• Put large sauce pan on the stove and heat water for melting chocolate,  I use a large pot and put a metal bowl on top to act as a double boiler.  

    Melt - in a large bowl over large sauce pan filled with water (use this water to fill roast pan for water bath)

• 12 oz bittersweet chocolate chips - Use Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips
• 1 oz unsweetened chocolate - chopped up - I use Baker's 
• 12 Tablespoons butter - recipe calls for unsalted - I just use the regular version   

         Add in to slightly cooled chocolate mixture - 1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract

    Mix - beat in a mixer, until frothy

• 8 egg whites
• 1/8 teaspoons salt

       Add sugar to the mixed egg whites,  and whip until soft peaks are formed.

• 2/3 cups light brown sugar 

     Combine

• 1/3 of beaten egg mixture to chocolate mixture then fold in the remaining egg mixture

Scrape the batter into the spring form pan, place spring form pan in roast pan,  pour hot water into the roast pan.  Cook for 45 to 55 minutes until center reaches 170 degrees ( I have cooked this cake several times and this does not really work.  I usually cook the cake to 170 degrees, turn off the oven and then leave the cake in the oven until the oven cools. )  Remove the cake from the pan, and chill for 8 hours before serving.  It is fantastic alone or with a little bit of powdered sugar on top to hide irregularities.

  I make a whipped topping for this cake, much like the topping used for Tiramisu.  Whip up 1 cup of heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form, add in 1/2 cup of sugar and whip, then add in 1 pound of marscarpone  cheese.

Ann Coulter - Hack Number 1

     Ann Coutler proves in her latest article on Townhall.com, http://bit.ly/ehThi4, that she is a complete hack with no original ideas.  Ann Coulter is 48 years old, but apparently has no plans to grow beyond the third grade intellectually.

     First she starts by name calling, Long Dong Silver - that is sooo funny Ann, hahahaha.  How did you ever come up with that?  There was no way I was going to Google that but I did google Long Dong Silver + TSA, and for some reason someone named Bungalow Bill also made the connection on November 18th in his blog at- http://bit.ly/ejX0N1.  Again, I don't really know why and I don't want to either, please don't enlighten me.

     So apparently Ann wants the security at the congressional office buildings to be just as good at the airports with the enhanced pat downs.  Her infantile argument is that Capital Hill guards can't possibly recognize 435 congressmen any better than TSA agents can recognize passengers on 37,000 flights all across America.  My God, why does this women continue to be given a forum to speak anywhere?   She thinks airports are the same as the local diner:

It can't be because Capitol Hill security guards recognize members of Congress and their staff. TSA agents presumably recognize lots of people going through airport security.  Ten to 20 percent of passengers are frequent fliers taking the same routes over and over again, year after year.

Stop! Stop right there!  OK, so poorly paid TSA agents who work different shifts each week at different gates who see thousands of passengers a day, if not each hour, are the same as Capital Hill security guards who work the same shift at the same door who see only 435 people every day for two years?  Does she think we are stupid or does she just not care if she is insulting us?

In addition, TSA agents will recognize their neighbors of 40 years, their hometown mayor, their children's teachers, local and national celebrities, actors, athletes and other famous personalities. Some TSA agents probably recognize Christian Slater as that guy who sometimes has a gun in his carry-on bag.

     So, I guess, your local TSA agent is just like the local dog catcher or constable, just hanging out, chewing the tobaccee, touching your junk.

     She claims the policy is elitist because congressmen don't get the enhanced pat down while proposing that the elite (recognizable celebs) be given special treatment.  According to her we should give James Caan and Al Gore special treatment because we recognize them, but not Bob Smith, your insurance agent who is going to his first insurance convention in Omaha.  Why would she rail against elitism and then argue for it?  We don't know, we will never know.  If asked, she will deflect by making some other inane statement.

     She is incensed that members of congress are exempt from screenings.  For a constitutional lawyer, she does not seem understand that members of Congress should not be subject to Executive Branch procedures, presumably to keep the Executive branch from using that power to prevent Congress from sitting and doing its job. Duh. 

    This women has never had an original thought in her head.  She is a good writer and communicator, much like McDonald's is a great restaurant.  Please stop feeding the baby by reading this crap.

No inflation

The prices on the attached graph were downloaded from the Bureau of Labor statistics from the U.S Goverment web site.  The commodities are electricity, oranges, tomatoes, bananas, apples, milk, eggs, chicken, ground beef, bread, gasoline, and local utilities.

As can be clearly seen from the graph, prices have been falling to the same point as 2005, not rising as Glenn Beck has been saying.  What is not included on this graph are the things people don't buy on a regular basis which are falling more than market basket items.  Such items as computers, TVs, appliances, internet services, telephone, etc. have fallen dramatically in price.

Thanksgiving 2010 - "Sticky" Turkey recipe

     I did all my shopping for Thanksgiving today. My ex is giving me a turkey he got from somebody.  You might think this will save a lot of money, but turkey seems to be the least expensive item on the list. I bought some heavy cream and it cost over 7$ for a quart.  All together the Thanksgiving items cost about $100.00.

     This year the menu is: Turkey, 24 hour layer salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, cornbread-sausage stuffing, cranberry relish, pumkin pie, and apple pie.  Drinks are eggnog, and sparkling cider.  

     My favorite chicken/turkey recipe is called "Sticky Chicken".  Double this for turkey.

     Start the night before you plan on serving.  First clean the cavity well.  Combine all spices.  Pat the inside and outside of the chicken dry with paper towels.   Rub the inside and outside of the chicken with the spice mixture, making sure it is deep down in the skin (this is where you find out why this is called "sticky" chicken).  Place the chicken in a plastic bag and store until 2 hours before cooking time.  For the turkey, just cover it as best you can with plastic wrap.  When ready to cook, remove the plastic wrap or bag, chop an onion into quarter size pieces and put the onion into the cavity.  Place the bird into a shallow roasting pan.  Roast at 325 degrees for 2 hours.  For the Turkey, follow the directions for cooking times and temperatures that came with your Turkey.   During the cooking time, baste after 1/2 hour and then every 15 minutes until done and golden brown.

   Spice mixture - double for turkey

• 4 tsp of salt
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ground thyme
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

This is really delicious, the spice mixture gets into the skin and flesh and makes a great tasting gravy.
  

Why Republicans will always need social issues

     The rise of the Tea Party coalition which includes Log Cabin republicans and the "Homo-Cons" has led many to wonder if the Republicans should give up on social issues and focus only on fiscal issues. I believe Republicans will always need social issues because during good economic times and relative peace, Republicans have no message for the voters other than social issues.  Republicans have three main messages for the American people:  small government/reduced spending, national security and conservative social policy.  Of the three above, the message of social policy resonates regardless of the economy and international political situations whereas Republican messages are weak during economic prosperity and relative international peace.


     During economic prosperity, Democrats can woo the voters with  social programs based on spending whatever surplus is available.  Americans are susceptible to this because they are very generous and want to help others.  When a politician points out any economic disparity, and Democrats are very good at this, Americans want to fix the problems and help the underprivileged.  Democrats will have a solution to the problems, always in the form of more government spending and bureaucracies.  When Americans are secure in their jobs and are optimistic about the future they are more susceptible to the Democratic message of adding programs or additional benefits for the underprivileged.

     What can Republicans offer in the way of solutions for economic disparities?  Conservative, small government Republicans should say the problem does not need a new government program or additional spending because in a country of 300 million people, the very small number of people affected does not warrant the expense or the decrease in liberty that any government spending and bureaucracy causes.  Or Republicans say that we should keep increasing freedom by putting more money in the hands of individuals to grow the economy.  Either way, we look unfeeling or inactive.  In a nation of optimistic radicals, both of these are weak messages to get Americans to the polls.
 
     Republicans need social issues to bring voters to the polls.  George W. Bush did this exceeding well during his first run for the Presidency when he  brought together the southern christian coalition.  He had to talk about social issues because the country was at peace and the economy was going well.  The social issues Bush ran on were the Education policy of No Child Left Behind,  reduced dependency on foreign oil, tax breaks for families with the Earned Income Tax Credit.  All of these issues were heavily promoted as social values that affected the family and the ability of the working class to succeed and keep their families together.  Later he became identified with the Defense of Marriage Act and the elimination of Federal Funding for abortion and fetal stem cell research; clearly social values issues.

   The 2004 presidential election was another example of how Republicans benefited from a social values agenda.  In 2004, 14 states passed constitutional amendments banning, in some form, gay marriage.  Many of these states are normally considered swing states.  The following states had a marriage amendment, were swing states and also went for George Bush in 2004: Ohio, Georgia, Missouri, and Montana.  The electoral college total for these 4 states was 49 with George Bush winning the election by 35 electoral college votes: 286  to 251.  Many conservatives believed the constitutional amendments in these states, and others caused conservatives to come to the polls and therefore give George W. Bush another term during a time of an unpopular war and fairly stagnant GDP growth during most of his first term.

    Many of the social conservative issues are not things the Federal Government should be involved with or can change.  Clearly, the anti-abortion agenda does not change the Supreme court ruling on Roe Vs. Wade and banning Federal funding of fetal stem cell research does not stop private fetal stem cell research.   This position may be cynical and overly pragmatic to hard line fiscal conservatives who hope to increase the Republican "tent" to bring in voters who are interested in fiscal issues but generally repulsed by the social agenda.

     The social conservative voters may not be pretty as they cling to their guns and bibles.  Likewise, the social conservative agenda may seem like a small tent idea, but to win we need some type of active message for voters, even if there is nothing the Federal government can or should do to move the agenda forwar

What is a pork barrel

     My Mom grew up on a farm during the depression.  To give some idea about how she lived her early life, she was 12 years old before the farm had an indoor toilet.  Her life was hard because she was the  oldest of 12 children and had a lot of responsibilities.  One of the jobs she was given in  the fall during the pig slaughter was the scraping of the pig intestines.  Just so you know, when you are in the grocery store and the sausages say "natural casing", they mean pig intestine.  My Mom told me the job of cleaning the intestines was a high status job....I am wondering now if someone was tricking her into doing a really crappy job (pun intended).  Anyway, she had to turn the pig intestines inside out, then scrape and clean all the junk out of the "casing".  She had to do this while making sure the casing was intact so it could be filled with sausage.

     So, what is a pork barrel?  It is a barrel filled with pork.  Of course, there was no refrigeration, so the barrel had to be filled in a specific way.  First they poured fat in the bottom of the barrel, then a layer of pig parts.    They filled up the barrel in successive layers, sealing each layer in fat.   The layering was important because they had to use the pig fat to seal the pork parts away from bacteria and oxygen to preserve it. My Mom did not mention salting the pork which was a common method of preserving as seen below.  I wonder if it was a difference between northern climate and a southern climate.  I know they definitely used fat as a sealant though.

     The Pork Barrel was stored in the cellar.  They slaughtered the pigs in the cool of the fall so the cellar was fairly cool since the farm was in Ohio.  Over the winter, when pork was being served, one of the kids had to go to the cellar and reach into the barrel and pull out the meat cuts needed.  They had to pull out a layer and then reseal the fat back over the remaining layer.  Having kids responsible for this seems a bit scary because of the chance of contamination, but, apparently, they all had very healthy immune systems because they all lived to a ripe old age.

     And now you can guess what is  meant by scraping the bottom of the barrel.

From Wikipedia - http://bit.ly/EN7S
         More generally, a barrel of salt pork was a common larder item in 19th century households, and could be used as a measure of the family's financial well-being. For example, in his 1845 novel The Chainbearer, James Fenimore Cooper wrote, "I hold a family to be in a desperate way, when the mother can see the bottom of the pork barrel."^[5]

Gay Marriage - Yes but not the way you conceive of it.

Marriage - a positive social good for protecting women and children during the period of child rearing

Marriage - never, ever, ever, on any continent, at any time or in any culture was about love or emotion.

Childbearing - usually was associated with marriage, either before, during or after.  Was encouraged as a positive social good for the support and rearing of children.  Basically supported by almost every study that has ever been done.   

Divorce and/or no marriage is almost always only results in poverty for children.

Tyson Chicken fingers

     This chicken is really, really tender.  I almost never buy pre-processed meat like this, especially chicken.     The biggest problem with chicken breast is that it can be very dry.  The Tyson chicken is individually frozen and already soaked in a tenderizer. 

     I use this is my Pot Crock cream cheese chicken recipe.

In a crock pot, on  high.

Melt - one stick of butter (1/2 pound), 1 - (8 oz) package of cream cheese,  1 - package of italian dressing mix.  Melt these ingrediants and stir a bit to meld.  Put in chicken.  Cook until cooked through - about 4 hours.

I serve this over noodles and my boys can't get enough of it.

Star Trek, Prejudice & Sarajevo Syndrome

     In the Star Trek universe there was no prejudice.  There were blacks, Chinese, Scots, and a couple of white dudes.  There were no religions unless they were weird alien religions like Spock's weird sex fiend religion.  All the nations were peaceful and everyone worked together.

     We all want to live in a Star Trek universe.  We are raising kids in America who can live in that world.  When I was growing up, I never heard any racial, religious, or nation-of-origin slurs.  The first time I heard anyone talk like that was when I watched "All In The Family".  I am still shocked at the anti-semitism of people like Mel Gibson when it erupts from under the surface of a seeming well adjusted person.    But how do we raise a nation of children who don't hate, in a world of people who do?  It seems a disservice to our children to raise them to believe they are living in a Star Trek universe when there are truly horrific racial and religious prejudices.

   I just read the story of the Sarajevo Haggadah, a Jewish prayer book, that has been saved over its life by a Catholic priest, and two Muslims.  First it was saved from burning by a Catholic priest in Venice.  In Sarajevo, it was saved, by Muslims, during the second world war from the Nazis and during the Bosnian War from bombing.  This story is always told as an uplifting tale of people working together to save something beautiful even when the book is from a faith that they disagree with. The thing that is missing from this tale are the terrible acts which forced these people to save the book.  These great acts of courage would not be necessary in an atmosphere of peace, prosperity and lack of prejudice.  The forces that caused these acts of courage were forces of unimaginable horror.

      The first recorded salvation of the book was in Venice.  The book was saved from burning by a Catholic priest during the burning of Jewish holy books.  Why was it saved? Who knows?  But we know what it was saved from - hate and prejudice.

     The book was saved by a Muslim museum curator in Sarajevo during WWII.  The Nazis were burning Jewish holy books and the Nazi general who came for the book was told the book had already been picked up by another German officer.  Brave, yes, ecumenical, yes, but the reason he had to be brave was the genocidal hate toward all things Jewish.

    During the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina another Muslim museum curator had to risk his life to save the book.  The Serbs had placed a siege around Sarajevo and proceeded to bomb the capital, killing tens of thousands and reducing the city to Medieval sanitary standards. The city was being bombed everyday and no building was spared including the National Museum where the book was held.  This modern war was the equivalent in hate motivated massacres and atrocities to WWII, albeit in microcosm.  Both sides strived to cleanse their areas of ethnic and religious minorities.  As the war came to a close these efforts intensified.

     Sarajevo was the home of the 1984 Olympics and the people of Sarajevo felt that they had a new type of city, one where Jews, Christian, and Muslims could live in peace forever.  They were horribly wrong. Neighbors turned against neighbor.  Young snipers targeted and killed school mates.  This, Sarajevo Syndrome, the belief that this time it can't happen here, to us, because we are civilized, has proved to be wrong time and time again.

     So how do we raise Star Trek kids in a Sarajevo world?  Creating a world without prejudice and hate requires the right kind of people to fulfill the vision.  Do we inoculate our children to know there is hate when we really don't want them to know it?  Are we really what is on the surface or is there a world of hate just bubbling beneath ready to break free?

Abortion and cognitive dissonance

     On Nov 3rd, right after the Republican big win in the mid-term elections, a group of women started tweeting to an #ihadanabortion hash tag.  The purpose was to publicly come out about their abortions and encourage other women to do the same.  Apparently women who have had an abortion are very stupid about how the laws on abortion work because they didn't know that it is extremely unlikely to overturn a Supreme Court ruling just because one house in congress switches to the Republicans.  They didn't know that even if it was overturned, the state laws would then take precedence if Roe V. Wade is overturned.   Seventeen states have legal abortion,  most of them on the heavily populated east and west coasts.

    

Apologetica - Penn Jillette

     Penn Jilette gave his reasons why he is an atheist on Redeye (Nov 9, 2010).  He started out by saying that he just doesn't believe. Fair enough. Belief in God requires faith and you have it or you don't.    But, then, he went on to give really bad reasons why he is an Atheist. 

      He doesn't believe because his mother suffered when she was dying and he can't believe in a God who lets people suffer.  I couldn't believe in a God who deliberately makes people suffer either.  But I don't believe in that God.  I believe in a God who made a world that requires suffering for the world to work.  We eat animals to live and that requires suffering of the animals.  In order for life to happen, death also has to happen.  Death requires the breaking down of our body.  God doesn't make suffering happen because he likes it.  Suffering happens as the result of the normal and natural process of dying.  Pain is required so that we know when our bodies are broken or to keep us from doing things that will hurt our bodies.  This same protective force also creates suffering.  I wish I could fly but gravity prevents this from happening and makes it hurt when I fall down.  Gravity also keeps the Earth revolving around the Sun.  In order for life to happen on Earth, I can't fly: In order for my body to be protected from injury, I must suffer pain when it breaks down.  God created a world that worked, there are some bad things that happen as a result. 

     God could make all deaths painless and beautiful, negating the natural and normal processes.  Perhaps you would like God to make us all get hit by the No.  5 bus or freeze to death ( a very peaceful death )?  That would be nice but that would negate the need for faith.  If, suddenly, at the end of life, all normal natural processes were suddenly suspended, wouldn't everyone believe in God? Isn't that really the whole deal with God: belief?  How can we have free will to love God,  if God uses a sledge hammer at the end of life to change all we know about the world?

    Penn also brings out the old "there is not enough evidence" argument.  This is the weakest of all arguments of atheism.  All of us goes through life believing very important things with no evidence at all.  Penn wants proof on the very thing which absolutely requires faith.  How many of us have had a DNA test to know for sure if our parents or siblings are actually our parents or siblings.  Wouldn't you want to know if your children are your children?  Yet, almost no one actually requires proof. Almost everything important we believe in life can be proved, yet I am sure that Penn does not go out of his way to actually get that proof.  Why the different standard for God?  He requires proof of God because he simply doesn't believe it.  Why does he have to muddy the waters with this pseudo intellectual argument?  So, Penn, until you start requiring proof of everything you believe, can you leave God out of it?

     Penn then says that if we need a God then we don't have enough love on earth.  Wow, I don't know about you but I don't really feel a lot of love from God everyday.  I don't know a lot of believers who do. Anybody read the Book of Job?    The love Penn says he received from his parents, I see as the love of God, channeled through his parents.  Atheists always believe we can live in this world with morality alone, not understanding how unloving and cruel the world is without the Judeo/Christian God.  Can Penn name one civilization he would have wanted to live in as a normal, average person with a Pagan or even Athiest world view?  I can't.  Not today and certainly not in the past.  We Love because we believe.  Penn is living off the leavings of a believing Judeo/Christian people.

    Penn, if you don't believe, then don't.  But these are weak arguments for atheism.

Link to Penn Jillette's comments here. http://fxn.ws/aqBJVy