JustJill,
It really looks good; would you please share your recipe?
Thank you in advance,
John
Outstanding photograph. This ship has a formidable history and was the subject of a poem I had to learn and recite in high school in 1958.
Old Ironsides
By Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon’s roar;—
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more!
Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o’er the flood
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor’s tread,
Or know the conquered knee;—
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!
O, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every thread-bare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,—
The lightning and the gale!
Carmichael John
I wanted to post a picture of the dish, but my family smelled the flagrance of if and told me “Dad, just serve it and stop with the photography already”, so I did. The other reason for not posting a picture is that the chicken, sauce, and sauce covered risotto like rice were white on a white plate and that looked kind of bland.
Here is the recipe: Note: if you are health food conscious then this is definitely NOT the dish for you. It is not only calorie enriched, but also cholesterol enhanced. You can feel your veins and arteries screaming as you consume it, but your taste buds will be sighing with moans of pleasure!
Chicken with Really Good Super Excellent Fine Sauce
Stock:
2 leeks cut into 1/4" rings
½ Onion chopped
5 stalks of celery chopped
2 medium carrots chopped
4 anchovies, minced
1 T white miso paste
8 oz dry vermouth
12 tips of chicken wings or some throw away parts of chicken with bones uncooked
1 box of chicken broth
½ large jar of “Better than Bullion” chicken extract
16 C water
2 bay leaves
1/4 handful of dried thyme (note: consider the hands medium sized)
½ handful of dried tarragon
½ handful of dried chervil
½ stick of butter
Saute the vegetables in the melted butter in a Dutch oven, then add the anchovies, miso paste, dry vermouth, and chicken broth. Mix the chicken extract with the water with a whisk, and add that. After it comes to a boil add the chicken wing tips(optional: but if you have them use them) then the herbs and bay leaves.
Poaching the Chicken:
4 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Add to the above stock, and allow to SIMMER until the internal temp of the chicken reaches 160°F. Remove the chicken and allow to rest, covered with foil on a plate.
Making the Rice:
1 C rice
2 -3 C of the stock, strained
1 - 2 shallots minced
1/3 red bell pepper, minced
1/3 green bell pepper, minced
Butter
a heavy pinch of Saffron
Place about 2 T of butter in a sauce pan and melt. Add the minced shallots and the minced bell peppers then saute until soft, the shallots should NOT be dark. Add, then add the rice and stir around to coat the rice with the butter, bell peppers, and shallots. Add the strained stock and the saffron. Cook until no bubbles, cover and set aside for the rice can absorb the remaining moisture.
The Super Excellent Fine Sauce:
NOTE: you have two options here: (1) blend the stock/broth with a hand blender or (2) Do NOT blend the stock/broth and instead strain it before adding all of the below ingredients and cooked mushrooms.
2 cans of creme of chicken soup
2 C of heavy cream
3/5 C sliced mushrooms
½ C sliced Shiitake mushrooms
6 T Butter
6 T flour
salt & pepper
First make a roux, equal parts of butter and flour, cook until light brown, DO NOT OVERCOOK it! It should be blonde in color. Set aside.
Saute the mushrooms in butter until nicely browned, add enough salt an pepper so that it pleases your taste buds. Add the 2 cans of soup and the cream. Add enough blended or strained stock to make a runny sauce. Cook it down to concentrate the flavors. Now add the roux in spoonfuls until you get the thickness you want for the sauce, and continue cooking until thickened to your desired consistency. Make sure that sauce is hot before serving!
Serving:
Slice the chicken into ½ “ slices. Pack the rice into some sort of molding device, a can with both ends cut out works well. Place cylinder of rice in center of plate. Place chicken around it and pour sauce over both chicken and rice. Decorate with a half of a cherry tomato in top of the rice cylinder and some parsley or tarragon sprinkled over the chicken.
Now go visit your cardiologist!
I had the same problem. I had deep brain stimulation surgery. it was an overnight stay at the hospital. The surgeons insert a probe into your brain and a control unit into your chest. You turn it on each morning and off in the evening. The batteries last 5 years before another surgery is required to change the batteries. Once you turn it on, the hand tremors cease completely. It is a miracle cure but does take some time to go through the process. It is far better than drugs. I had it about seven years ago and it was a miracle cure. Ask your physician to refer you to a brain surgeon.
John
Quixdraw,
Thank you, that article answered my question about the texture of the chestnuts I had received. I feel better now.
John
Thank you Gene,
You answered my question about the stickyness and slipperyness that concerned me. I appreciate your detailed answer.
John
I have never eaten or used chestnuts before, so I do not know what they are suppose to be like. I bought some that were vacuum packed in foil pouches through the internet. When I opened a pouch, the chestnuts were slick to the feel, almost slimy, but soft and not crunchy. I tasted one and it did not taste bad, it had a mild nutty taste. However, the slickness troubles me; I do not know if it is the sign of rot or mold or something that should not be there. Would someone who knows about chestnuts be kind enough to advise me. Thank you in advance.
John
Quixdraw,
I have a pressure cooker just like that and I use it at least twice a month. It works really well. Your Goulash looks great and I would very much like to make it. May I please have your recipe. Incidentally, one of the first things posted was Shish Tawook, I looked it up on the internet and it is now in our dinner rotation. Thank you for that one also.
This forum on UHH is the first thing I look at each day. It is great! Thank you.
John
Mark,
Thank you so very much. The photograph of the young girl survivor
of the concentration camp drawing "home" will haunt me for many
years to come. The first photograph showing the group wearing
masks shows that many things have not changed.
John
Subject: 911 story
It is now more than 20 years since 9/11 and here is a wonderful story about
that terrible day.
It is from a flight attendant on Delta Flight 15, written following 9-11:
On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, we were about 5 hours out of
Frankfurt, flying over the North Atlantic.
All of a sudden the curtains parted and I was told to go to the
cockpit, immediately, to see the captain. As soon as I got there I
noticed that the crew had that "All Business" look on their faces.
The captain handed me a printed message. It was from Delta's main
office in Atlanta and simply read, "All airways over the Continental
United States are closed to commercial air traffic. Land ASAP at the
nearest airport. Advise your destination."
No one said a word about what this could mean. We knew it was a
serious situation and we needed to find terra firma quickly. The
captain determined that the nearest airport was 400 miles behind us in
Gander, Newfoundland.
He requested approval for a route change from the Canadian traffic
controller and approval was granted immediately -- no questions asked.
We found out later, of course, why there was no hesitation in
approving our request.
While the flight crew prepared the airplane for landing, another
message arrived from Atlanta telling us about some terrorist activity
in the New York area. A few minutes later word came in about the
hijackings.
We decided to LIE to the passengers while we were still in the air.
We told them the plane had a simple instrument problem and that we
needed to land at the nearest airport in Gander, Newfoundland, to have
it checked out.
We promised to give more information after landing in Gander. There
was much grumbling among the passengers, but that's nothing new!
Forty minutes later, we landed in Gander. Local time at Gander was
12:30 PM!...that's 11:00 AM EST.
There were already about 20 other airplanes on the ground from all
over the world that had taken this detour on their way to the U.S.
After we parked on the ramp, the captain made the following
announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, you must be wondering if all
these airplanes around us have the same instrument problem as we have.
The reality is that we are here for another reason." Then he went on
to explain the little bit we knew about the situation in the U.S.
There were loud gasps and stares of disbelief. The captain informed
passengers that Ground Control in Gander told us to stay put.
The Canadian Government was in charge of our situation and no one was
allowed to get off the aircraft. No one on the ground was allowed to
come near any of the air crafts. Only airport police would come
around periodically, look us over and go on to the next airplane. In
the next hour or so more planes landed and Gander ended up with 53
airplanes from all over the world, 27 of which were U.S. commercial
jets.
Meanwhile, bits of news started to come in over the aircraft radio and
for the first time we learned that airplanes were flown into the World
Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon in D.C. People were
trying to use their cell phones, but were unable to connect due to a
different cell system in Canada. Some did get through, but were only
able to get to the Canadian operator who would tell them that the
lines to the U.S. were either blocked or jammed.
Sometime in the evening the news filtered to us that the World Trade
Center buildings had collapsed and that a fourth hijacking had
resulted in a crash. By now the passengers were emotionally and
physically exhausted, not to mention frightened, but everyone stayed
amazingly calm. We had only to look out the window at the 52 other
stranded aircraft to realize that we were not the only ones in this
predicament.
We had been told earlier that they would be allowing people off the
planes one plane at a time. At 6 P.M., Gander airport told us that
our turn to deplane would be 11 am the next morning. Passengers were
not happy, but they simply resigned themselves to this news without
much noise and started to prepare themselves to spend the night on the
airplane.
Gander had promised us medical attention, if needed, water, and
lavatory servicing. And they were true to their word. Fortunately,
we had no medical situations to worry about. We did have a young lady
who was 33 weeks into her pregnancy. We took REALLY good care of her.
The night passed without incident despite the uncomfortable sleeping
arrangements.
About 10:30 on the morning of the 12th, a convoy of school buses
showed up. We got off the plane and were taken to the terminal where
we went through Immigration and Customs and then had to register with
the Red Cross.
After that, we (the crew) were separated from the passengers and were
taken in vans to a small hotel. We had no idea where our passengers
were going. We learned from the Red Cross that the town of Gander has
a population of 10,400 people and they had about 10,500 passengers to
take care of from all the airplanes that were forced into Gander! We
were told to just relax at the hotel and we would be contacted when
the U.S. airports opened again, but not to expect that call for a
while.
We found out the total scope of the terror back home only after
getting to our hotel and turning on the TV, 24 hours after it all
started.
Meanwhile, we had lots of time on our hands and found that the people
of Gander were extremely friendly. They started calling us the
"plane people." We enjoyed their hospitality, explored the town of
Gander and ended up having a pretty good time.
Two days later, we got that call and were taken back to the Gander
airport. Back on the plane, we were reunited with the passengers and
found out what they had been doing for the past two days. What we
found out was incredible.
Gander and all the surrounding communities (within about a 75
Kilometer radius) had closed all high schools, meeting halls, lodges,
and any other large gathering places. They converted all these
facilities to mass lodging areas for all the stranded travelers. Some
had cots set up, some had mats with sleeping bags and pillows set up.
ALL the high school students were required to volunteer their time to
take care of the "guests." Our 218 passengers ended up in a town
called Lewisporte, about 45 kilometers from Gander where they were put
up in a high school. If any women wanted to be in a women-only
facility, that was arranged. Families were kept together. All the
elderly passengers were taken to private homes.
Remember that young pregnant lady? She was put up in a private home
right across the street from a 24-hour Urgent Care facility. There was
a dentist on call and both male and female nurses remained with the
crowd for the duration.
Phone calls and e-mails to the U.S. and around the world were
available to everyone once a day. During the day, passengers were
offered "Excursion" trips. Some people went on boat cruises of the
lakes and harbors. Some went for hikes in the local forests. Local
bakeries stayed open to make fresh bread for the guests.
Food was prepared by all the residents and brought to the schools.
People were driven to restaurants of their choice and offered
wonderful meals. Everyone was given tokens for local laundromats to
wash their clothes, since luggage was still on the aircraft. In other
words, every single need was met for those stranded travelers.
Passengers were crying while telling us these stories. Finally, when
they were told that U.S. airports had reopened, they were delivered
to the airport right on time and without a single passenger missing or
late. The local Red Cross had all the information about the
whereabouts of each and every passenger and knew which plane they
needed to be on and when all the planes were leaving. They
coordinated everything beautifully.
It was absolutely incredible
When passengers came on board, it was like they had been on a cruise.
Everyone knew each other by name. They were swapping stories of
their stay, impressing each other with who had the better time. Our
flight back to Atlanta looked like a chartered party flight. The crew
just stayed out of their way. It was mind-boggling.
Passengers had totally bonded and were calling each other by their
first names, exchanging phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses.
And then a very unusual thing happened.
One of our passengers approached me and asked if he could make an
announcement over the PA system. We never, ever allow that. But this
time was different. I said "of course" and handed him the mike. He
picked up the PA and reminded everyone about what they had just gone
through in the last few days. He reminded them of the hospitality
they had received at the hands of total strangers. He continued by
saying that he would like to do something in return for the good folks
of Lewisporte.
"He said he was going to set up a Trust Fund under the name of DELTA
15 (our flight number). The purpose of the trust fund is to provide
college scholarships for the high school students of Lewisporte. He
asked for donations of any amount from his fellow traveler’s.
When the paper with donations got back to us with the amounts, names,
phone numbers and addresses, the total was for more than $14,000!
"The gentleman, a MD from Virginia , promised to match the donations
and to start the administrative work on the scholarship. He also said
that he would forward this proposal to Delta Corporate and ask them to
donate as well.
As I write this account, the trust fund is at more than $1.5 million
and has assisted 134 students in their college education.
"I just wanted to share this story because we need good stories right
now. It gives me a little bit of hope to know that some people in a
faraway place were kind to some strangers who literally dropped in on
them.
It reminds me how much good there is in the world."
"In spite of all the rotten things we see going on in today's world
this story confirms that there are still a lot of good people in the
world and when things get bad, they will come forward.
*This is one of those stories that needs to be shared. Please do so...😊
Could anyone recommend a Windows software package that would enable me to capture and record videos off of the internet and store the recording to a file? Please make it one that does not require an extensive learning curve. Thank you in advance.
John
The amount in controversy that can be asked in California small claims court is very limited; it used to be $1,500. Consequently, that is the maximum amount of financial exposure a defendant would have. Lawyer’s fees for preparing and appearing in such a court would be many times that amount, thus many defendants settle the case based just on the pleadings filed. However, every case is different and every state has different court rules thus this strategy does not work all of the time.
Of course if you win, you still have to collect from them and that could be a long drawn-out, frustrating effort in itself.
Good Luck, John
Bozsik,
That sixth image really took my breath away...fantastic composition...and you caught the "decisive moment".
Thank you for sharing and making my morning.
Carmichael John