Episode 8: "Common Threads" Options

[Radyms13]

When I saw Andrew make that statement I gagged and fell down. Drew was alarmed. He thought I was having another heart attack, but, no, I was just grossed out. Andrew with a boner is not an image I want stuck in my head, especially if he's wearing that football helmet. What...a...dork.

OHHH hope you're OK not bruised or anything from the fall. I know ---it is a bad mental image. But you are so right---dork is the perfect description.

[Radyms13]

Hi Rady! How's it going?
Now I don't know if I'll be alright watching NFL, they'll look like a bunch of Andrew's playing ball!

Hey schweetie! It's going.

I don't watch NFL, but I, for some reason, can't get the image out of my head---when he was trying to take the helmet off without undoing the chin strap. I wanted to check and see if his shoes were on the right feet!!!!

[Mluv]

Dale opted for turkey bratwurst and Spike went puttanesca, but there was still a lot of chicken in use for this Cheap Healthy Challenge. Andrew, Antonia, Lisa, Nikki, Richard, Stephie, went to the chicken.

One can make a nice pasta dish using some braised turkey drumstick though, or thighs, the meat becomes tender, just falls off the bone, stays very moist, and has a richer flavor than white meat poultry.

Probably a bad idea, with kids involved, to go to chicken livers and make a version of Spaghetti a la Caruso? It's chicken livers and mushrooms in a red sauce.

Something using that often regrettable but inexpensive farm-raised Tilapia?

I love chicken Livers!!
Have you ever tried them breaded and fried?

My mother often made them in a red sauce with lots of bell peppers and Worshestire sauce.
Do you have the recipe for Spaghetti a la Carusso? If so I would love it!

[teleburst]

Tele, you were clear. I wasn't misunderstanding you or thinking you were talking about influences. Just passing on a note about our histories back there. This history of what has gone on is part of what makes it all interesting.

Agreed!

You need that curry book that I talked about.

Any suggestions about good Vietnamese books? The only one I have is The Best of Nicole Routhier. I see that she has another book, The Foods of Vietnam. I especially prize books that have the kind of background that you provide.

[Radyms13]

I love chicken Livers!!
Have you ever tried them breaded and fried?

My mother often made them in a red sauce with lots of bell peppers and Worshestire sauce.
Do you have the recipe for Spaghetti a la Carusso? If so I would love it!

Ok my mom used to make chicken livers wrapped in BACON!!!

[Mluv]

Hey schweetie! It's going.

I don't watch NFL, but I, for some reason, can't get the image out of my head---when he was trying to take the helmet off without undoing the chin strap. I wanted to check and see if his shoes were on the right feet!!!!

That was priceless!!!
See now, I have this motherly tendency of just hugging him and saying soothing things to him. LOL!!!
He might be going soon!

[Mluv]

Ok my mom used to make chicken livers wrapped in BACON!!!

Now that's just plain cruel! Dont' mess with me! YUMMMMM

[dcjewbear]

Hi Rady! How's it going?
Now I don't know if I'll be alright watching NFL, they'll look like a bunch of Andrew's playing ball!

Aarrgghh! I am a huge football fan, owner of season tickets for the Redskins, and a frequent visitor to the Ravens stadium, when it's possible (Drew's from Balmer). Now, whenever I see a football game, I'll have that mental picture.

I feel unclean.

[SimonBao]

I love chicken Livers!!
Have you ever tried them breaded and fried?

My mother often made them in a red sauce with lots of bell peppers and Worshestire sauce.
Do you have the recipe for Spaghetti a la Carusso? If so I would love it!

Mluv, I haven't had them breaded and fried. But, I do take some flour, get it fairly strongly seasoned with salt, quite a lot of black pepper, and garlic powder. That's about the only time I use garlic powder, but there's no plausible subsitute for it. Clean the livers, drain them and let them dry a bit, shake them in a plastic bag with the seasoned flour, then fry them.

I like them that way but what's surprising is how much others like them that way too. They aren't "crispy," you'd never cook a chicken liver long enough to become crispy, but the coating is still essential. And livers cooked that way fit in well on an American dinner plate or in the middle of a Viet dinner table.

And here's a familiar recipe for Spaghetti a la Caruso. It's good, on its own merits, but also makes a nice change from other red pasta sauces.

[Mluv]

Aarrgghh! I am a huge football fan, owner of season tickets for the Redskins, and a frequent visitor to the Ravens stadium, when it's possible (Drew's from Balmer). Now, whenever I see a football game, I'll have that mental picture.

I feel unclean.

What's the name of the linebacker from MSU? He was drafted back in 2005 (I could be seriously wrong but I remember because that' s when my sister graduated from there)

[Radyms13]

That was priceless!!!
See now, I have this motherly tendency of just hugging him and saying soothing things to him. LOL!!!
He might be going soon!

Oh you're a better woman than I am! I want to shake him and ask *What in he11 are you thinking??*

[SimonBao]

Agreed!

You need that curry book that I talked about.

Any suggestions about good Vietnamese books? The only one I have is The Best of Nicole Routhier. I see that she has another book, The Foods of Vietnam. I especially prize books that have the kind of background that you provide.

Tele, whatever you do, do NOT purchase or borrow a book by some British or Aussie guy named Reid, "New Vietnamese Cooking" or "New Vietnamese Cuisine" or some similar title. Don't get me started.

I think the best resource is Andrea Nguyen and her "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen." She is also the cook and author who maintains VietWorldKitchen, and the VietWorldKitchen blog. She's very much about explaining a dish or food's logic, its place in the cuisine, the changes to it over time and according to place, etc. And she starts up great conversations about Authenticity, "Shaking Beef," etc....

[Radyms13]

Aarrgghh! I am a huge football fan, owner of season tickets for the Redskins, and a frequent visitor to the Ravens stadium, when it's possible (Drew's from Balmer). Now, whenever I see a football game, I'll have that mental picture.

I feel unclean.

Oh sweets---by the time football season rolls around again you will have long forgotten Andrew!!

[Mluv]

Mluv, I haven't had them breaded and fried. But, I do take some flour, get it fairly strongly seasoned with salt, quite a lot of black pepper, and garlic powder. That's about the only time I use garlic powder, but there's no plausible subsitute for it. Clean the livers, drain them and let them dry a bit, shake them in a plastic bag with the seasoned flour, then fry them.

I like them that way but what's surprising is how much others like them that way too. They aren't "crispy," you'd never cook a chicken liver long enough to become crispy, but the coating is still essential. And livers cooked that way fit in well on an American dinner plate or in the middle of a Viet dinner table.

And here's a familiar recipe for Spaghetti a la Caruso. It's good, on its own merits, but also makes a nice change from other red pasta sauces.

Thank you!!!

[Radyms13]

Now that's just plain cruel! Dont' mess with me! YUMMMMM

Not trying to be cruel. I haven't had them a long time but now I may have to make a trip to the store. Try them sometime, they are great!

[Mluv]

Oh you're a better woman than I am! I want to shake him and ask *What in he11 are you thinking??*

See... I didn't finished explaining myself... your expresion would be immediately after the hug!

[Mluv]

Not trying to be cruel. I haven't had them a long time but now I may have to make a trip to the store. Try them sometime, they are great!

*drooling* How do you make them? I mean, how do you prepare them?

[SecondTry]

Aarrgghh! I am..........(an) owner of season tickets for the Redskins,

And I like you anyway.


How weird is that?

[johnw]

Funny, I don't remember wall-to-wall coverage of the Right Reverend Pat Robertson when he said virtually the same thing (it wasn't ignored but there was nothing like the firestorm that has erupted over Rev. Wright). I don't remember the right wing component of the media going through the countless hours of outrageous claims that Roberton has made over the years on his TV shows. I don't think I've seen more than a single clip of John Hagee making a single controversial statement that I'm sure could be backed up with plenty of whacko stuff.

I think there's an undercurrent of "look at the crazy black man, honey" that's running through not only right wing outlets like Fox but also more left-leaning organizations like CNN. Of course, it probably helps that I watch Jon Stewart daily since they distill it in a focused and humorous manner. They had a great clip last night about Billy Graham, pulled from the Nixon tapes where he smacks down the Jews in a pretty bad way, and this is the first I've heard of it. And here's a guy who's been the spiritual advisor for virtually every president since then.

Teleburst,
I don't know too much about Rev Robertson as I never watched his show over the years. I know he is anti-Catholic but then I am not a fan of the Catholic church in my area because of the number of pedophile priests in my area that got shuttled off to another parish instead of facing the music. Many years ago my wife was the school nurse for the local catholic school. The priest who was in charge of the school was asked to resign because he had molested a young boy. Only a couple of years ago, this same priest came back to preside over a funeral service for one of the church members. As for Billy Graham I have never been a fan of his either. When I was a boy scout working for my God and Country Award, it used to drive me nuts that my pastor and his wife subsisted on a church allowance which was a mere pitance(we were a small country church) would so admire Billy Graham who was living the life of the rich and the famous. Graham was chauffered around in a Cadillac while my pastor had this little British puddle jumper that wasn't much bigger than a golf cart. The Graham lifestyle was a bit like Rev Wright who lives in a white neighborhood in a $million+ home.

With regards to John Hagee, Hagee is not John McCain's pastor. Hagee endorses John McCain, but it is not a 2-way street in that McCain only is in agreement with some of Hagee's beliefs. Hagee is pro-Jewish and favors a pre-emptive strike on Iran. Although McCain hasn't been forced to come out and completely divorce himself from Hagee like Obama has with Wright, he did say in an interview with George Stephanopoulos that it was probably a mistake to accept Hagee's endorsement.

No, the Rev Wright is not crazy, but he is rooted in the past with all the mistreatment of blacks and needs to let it go. The blacks aren't the only minorities who have suffered in this country but you hardly hear anything from them today. Instead of whining about what happened in the past they have worked to elevate themselves to where oppression by the former oppressors exists no more.

All I can say is that it takes a stretch of the imagination to believe that Obama could be a member of Wright's congregation for 20 years and just lately be aware of the inflamatory statements that Wright said on video.

This post has been edited by johnw: May 2, 2008 - 01:34 PM

[Radyms13]

See... I didn't finished explaining myself... your expresion would be immediately after the hug!

Andrew did pretty well with his kid tho---I liked it when he called the kid chef. What I was waiting for was Spike to take a kids chef's hat.