Weekend Update (Friday Edition):
Blidgets
Well, there they are, my new collection of blidgets, over there to the left. Instead of explaining what they are, I’ll ask you to play with them — you won’t get hurt! I think they’re pretty cool.
It’s my plan to change one or two of them every month, as the whim suits me. For the most part, I’ve chosen Web logs that have strong visual components; and I’ve steered away from ultra-well-known sites. For a start, anyway.
With luck, Widgetbox will take off, and all busy bloggers will offer their own blidgets, just as I’ve done way down on the right-hand side, below the Archives. I don’t know what happens when someone tries to “get” it, but these are early hours, much less days.
Right now, I’m waiting for one of the blogs to which I’ve blidgeted add a new entry.
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I had a good day. I got to the movies very much on the early side —10:20 showings are rare — so, even with lunch at Burger Heaven and two grocery stops, I had a full afternoon for pottering. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, and a lot of time at my desk, but I was never rushed or tense. It was just one thing after another — the way I like it.
For dinner, I made fried chicken again. When I dragged out the deep fryer last weekend, it had been a very long since I had made fried chicken. I made two miscalculations: the fat was too hot (by ten degrees), and, once it was done, I kept the chicken warm in too hot an oven. In other words, it was rather miserably overcooked. This week, I avoided both mistakes, and the result was excellent.
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And since I’m talking about food, I’d better describe the shrimp and vodka sauce that I improvised the other night. I shelled and deveined seven shrimp (don’t ask me, “why seven?”), and cut them into small pieces — three or four per. I minced a bunch of green onions, including a bit of the green. I minced two cloves of garlic. The shrimp, onions, and garlic stayed in separate bowls until I was ready to cook.
Into a hot saucepan that could have been smaller, I poured a teaspoon (or maybe two) of oil, and tossed in the shrimp right away. When the shrimp bits were partially pink, i tossed in the onions, and when the onions looked halfway done, in went the garlic. Less than a minute later, I deglazed with a splash of Vermouth. Then I threw in half a tub of Buitoni vodka sauce. I spooned in a few globs of Eli’s roast-tomato pasta sauce, just for texture — and to use up the sauce. When the spaghetti was cooked, I tossed it into the saucepan. Lordy, it was good. And since I had a tub of frozen shrimp in the freezer, and the vodka sauce was left over from an earlier use, the only thing that I bought fresh for the dish was the bunch of green onions.
OK, this is scary. I whipped up a dinner for MEL as an antidote to the hell that has been his office of late and it was somewhat similar: al dente linguini, dressed with garlic and red pepper-infused olive oil, tossed with diced fresh cherry tomatoes, sliced scallions and the juice of one lemon, topped with oil-poached shrimp (lightly salted with sea salt on one side) and dusted with Parmegiano Reggiano and cracked pepper. Note: oil poaching of fish and shellfish results in perfect doneness and texture and it holds in the oil on low heat almost indefinitely, allowing for late spouses, overlong pre-dinner party conversation, balky children, and fascinating TV programs, all of which tend to ruin water poached fish.
I read this, thought what a coincidence, I must tell Quatorze, and there is his post. It was delicious. I will have the leftovers for lunch, prior to walking Lucy and waiting for a call to go in the office, which I hope does not come.
Steaks tonight………