Cocktail Confessions

Well, here it is, Episode 15.  I wish I could say I’m really happy with the outcome, but in my own humble opinion, it’s “meh” at best.  Why you ask?  Originally, I had sat down last weekend with my friend Brian Liles (yet again) and had made a sweet recording that was a good solid hour plus.  It could have easily been broken into two seperate Podcasts, and I think it was one of our best yet.  There was a myriad of interesting topics on the table as well as we had at least three to four craft beers in us each as we made it.

However, due to the fact that I hadn’t take the time to reboot my computer after some auto-installed patches from Microsoft prior to our recording, it seems that Audacity (my podcast recording software) somehow corrupted the data.  No matter how many times I tried to recover the orphan files after a failed save attempt, I just couldn’t resurect it.  As I say in this podcast, let that be a lesson to all you tech heads out there.  Always reboot your PC after critical patches are downloaded and installed.  I clearly should have known better, so I have no one to blame but myself.

Feeling somewhat pressed to have a new episode ready, I took my portable Zoom to work and made this recording on my lunch break while sitting in my car.  I’m happy with the audio quality, but as you’ll hear, there was really no set agenda for this one.  It’s about 40 minutes of me ranting on some of my political views, Howard Stern, and my upcoming business trip to Atlanta, GA.  Also, I was able to throw in a cocktail recipe, the ‘original’ Texas-tini (not my version from a few weeks back in which I thought I was so clever with the name), and a recipe for grilling artichokes.  Hence the title ‘Smorgasbord’.

In other news, I’m rapidly approaching my 40th birthday (8 days from this writing) and I am clearly having a mild midlife crisis.  I hope its not too evident in my recording, but I’ve been feeling a bit under pressure lately in various personal aspects: financial, work, trying to be a father to a teenage girl, etc. So perhaps that lends to my somewhat dour attitude in if you pick up on it.  Hopefully I’ll snap out of it soon because it really just doesn’t feel like me and I’m very aware of it.

I’ll work on the show notes and recipes contained within later if I get a chance, but suffice to say I will be out on business the next week (starting tomorrow) so I most likely won’t be making any updates here for at least a week. 

As I usually do, I try an pick an intro song that encapsulates either my mood or something that somehow pertains to the audio content of the episode.  Here, I chose “Take this Job and Shove it” by Johnny Paycheck.  I have two comments about this: 1) Yeah, I’m not gonna be quitting my job anytime soon, but the last few weeks, I really feel as if I’ve been holding back my frustration on various career related issues and I’m just not that happy overall, and 2) I really thought Johnny ‘Paycheck’ was a fake name and he was trying to cash in on the name Johnny Cash, especially when you have a song about a job and then shoving it.  Turns out, I was partially correct, as his real name was Donald Eugene Lytle.

Texas-Tini II

• 3 oz whisky (try a sweet or smooth blend like Crown Royal or Canadian Mist)
• 1.5 oz sweet vermouth
• 1/2 oz Blue Curacao (orange flavored liquer, but blue in color)
• Shake all three ingrediants over ice and pour in sugar rimmed martini glass, or mix all three in lowball glass over ice and skip sugar.

Grilled Artichoke

• 2 fresh artichokes, stems cut at least 1 inch from base.
• Place artichokes in pot of boiling water with the freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon to reduce oxidation of leaves (prevents leaves from turning brown). (Optional: zest some of the lemon peel and add zest (to taste) to fresh mayo.  Mix, and chill in advance for dipping.  Lemon zest adds a nice fresh, flavorful kick to the mayo).
• Remove after 25-28 minutes of cooking, drain excess water, and let cool enough to handle.
• Preheat grill to medium-low heat/flame.
• With sharp knife, cut artichoke in half, lengthwise and remove choke/heart (purpleish center with bristles) with spoon.
• Brush halves with olive oil and season with kosher or sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
• Place flat side down on grill, cooking approx 2-3 minutes, then turn 45 degrees and cook additional 2-3 minutes or until nice grill marks appear.  In the last few minutes, ‘drizzle’ some quality balsamic vinegar over artichokes for additional flavor and color.
• Serve with fresh lemon zest mayo (above), and/or melted butter and garlic combo.

Show Notes

• Coming soon

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One of the old adage’s we have all heard time and time again, but seemingly and knowingly tend to ignore for various (and quite possibly mischievous) reasons is to never talk politics or religion with those you are close with or coworkers.

I came across a recent news article online regarding an anonymous benefactor back in Minneapolis who purchased some billboard space and had the following picture adorned on the side of the highway.  Personally, I found the picture quite funny as former President Bush looks a tad cartoonish here, but more so in lieu of all the pop-shots the media has been taken this last year at the right and Sarah Palin.

Now before you get your own personal panties in a tizzy, I’ll have you know that while I do consider myself a person who leans towards the conservative side of things, my stance the last few years has grown increasingly Independent.  See, personally, I wasn’t happy with the last few years of the Bush administration, not because of his convictions or morals, but more so because I thought his administration dropped the ball on a few things and forgot about many others.  I believe the GOP had lost sight of their core constituents and stopped listening to those who placed them into office.  I am one of those Americans who no longer believe that those in Washington were working for the people, but working for their own designs and elitist agenda.

That goes for both parties, and while I’ll be the first to say I will never be a ‘liberal’ or lean so far left that I throw all common sense out the window, the ‘right’ hasn’t been doing themselves any favors in my eyes either. 

Enter the 2008 election where the messiah of Hope and Change was elected to nauseating heights and the masses began to trip over themselves as they abandoned all common sense and truly became blind and deaf to the world around changing around them. 

Now it’s more than a year later and this administration continues to blame the previous guard for all their shortcomings.  Healthcare?  No.  Immigration?  No.  Guantonimo?  No.  Iraq?  No.  National Security?  No.  Stimulus?  No.  Housing market?  Not yet.  Iran?  Still no.  The list goes on and on, but I digress.

I placed this picture on my Facebook page as an attempts of humor, and I was shocked on how quickly and visceral the comments were from my ‘liberal’ friends.  Yes, I do have friends who swing left, but I always find it very amusing that they are also the most intolerant and one-track mind when it comes to politics.  The party that proclaims to be progressive, enlightened, and tolerant of all viewpoints….really isn’t.  No, sadly when it comes to politics and religion, if you can’t agree with them or sit back and laugh, they take their ball home from the sandbox and pout.

Does that mean all liberals?  Before you flood my email and comments with yet more knee jerk reactions, the answer is no, of course not all liberals are this uptight.  I’m just stating from my own personal pool of friends (who will remain nameless here) is the old “They can dish it out, but can’t take it themselves” attitude.  When Obama won and was sworn in I can’t recall any of my conservative friends throwing a hissy fit.  However, you mention any of the string of quantifiable instances that Obama hasn’t been able to pull off any of his agenda of ‘change’ as promised you better duck for cover and steel yourself for the tirade of insults that are about to fly your way.

To my liberal friends….lighten up, drink a cocktail..or in your case two or three.  We’re still friends, we’re still adults, act your age and prove me wrong that you can actually handle a little criticism, even if in jest.  You only have three years left to enjoy this mess anyway.