Psst Look Here, This is Quality Stuff

For Spockgirl and any other foodies who may be lurking about. I give you Coq Au Vin or Chicken and Wine in English. This recipe is a sort of test of French cooking skills, but here I've reduced it to something easy and fun to make. By the way, it smells incredible as it cooks.

Crockpot Coq Au Vin

Part One

8 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs

1 ¾ Cups Red Wine

1 Cup Chicken Broth

1 Teaspoon Salt

½ Teaspoon Black Pepper

3 Cloves of Garlic Chopped Fine

8 Ounces Baby Carrots

8 to 10 Pearl Onions (Use the real ones from the produce dept, they taste better then the canned kind)

6 Strips of Bacon Cooked and Chopped or Crumbled

Bouquet Garnier

This is either a pack of herbs wrapped in cheese cloth or in a Tea Ball, I use a Tea Ball, anyway, put 2 sprigs (or 3 Teaspoons of Chopped) Parsley, 2 Bay leaves and 2 teaspoons of Thyme in your Bouquet.

Put all of this in your crockpot or slow cooker and put it on low heat. Now….walk away. It needs to cook for 6 hours. Your house is gonna smell marvelous….

Part Two

Remove the bouquet after the 6 hours have passed; make a mix of 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 2 tablespoons water. Remove any grease from the top, thighs have allot of fat and this may not even be necessary but check. Add 8 or 16 ounces of button mushrooms (Depends on how much you like mushrooms) and your water and flour mixture. Stir gently and cook on the high setting for 30 minutes. It will thicken and smell even better. Traditionally this is served with potatoes but it’s basically a stew so those aren’t really needed. It’s also traditionally served in a large low soup dish which I do recommend. Cook or get some French bread (For sopping the sauce) and enjoy. You’ve now cooked one of French Cooking’s great tests of skill, Coq Au Vin or Chicken and Wine. But don’t tell a Frenchman how you did it, the shock would kill them.

Thanks Brother

Had a death in the family. My wife's only brother. I'm not sure why I qualify him that way but it seems the natural thing to say. Chuck was a good guy and I liked him because he seemed to like me. He wasn't a saint by any means, and lived a very hard life for the first half but he got pretty close to being right for the second half. So, I give him his due and thank him for the time he spent here and what he did in that time. I have always had a problem with grief, the problem being that my father beat the whole grief thing outta me as a child. Good training for my years as a soldier but piss poor for my years as a human being, father and husband. People cry and I get confused. Why do they cry, tears will change nothing, but that doesn't seem to stop them. I think it brings a release, a release from the pain. I used to wonder where my release was, but I think I have been given a gift of sorts. When they cry they need someone to watch over them, to do the laundry and shopping and cooking and make the calls they hate to make, I am that someone. So I'll hug them and bring them food and nod when they weep because that's what I do. I've got your back. So I'll grieve in my own way and say, thanks Chuck, you were a good brother in law, I am truly glad to have known you. Now I have to run to the commissary buts it ok because dinner will be one of my best recipes.

"Where did all the Republicans go....long time passing"

Lets spend a minute talking about the SOTU or the State of the Union Address if your not all cool and stuff and this ridiculous seating nonsense. Look Republicans, the issue is simple. The democrats got their ass handed to them by those silly voters, in part, because they did a whole laundry list of stuff the voters clearly said they didn't want them to do. N0w they are trying to do a 180 and show those same voters that they are the party of inclusion and understanding. One of the first things you learn as a soldier is, NEVER DO WHAT THE BAD GUYS WANT!!!! If the left wants to sing kumbyah (sp?), then let them do it by themselves on their side of the aisle. Do not enable them any further and do not validate anything they want or say. If a leftist tard says the sky is blue, argue with them that it is actually white and the blue is an optical illusion. Guys, you won, act like it, and if thats too much, we can arrange for your replacement.

Maybe It Won't Be So Bad

Maybe we should be number 2 in the world. No, stop and think about that. I have a buddy who fixes things. People always glad-hand him when he fixes their things and says "You're the man!", where as he responds with "Nope, I'm the Guy, the Man has too many responsibilities and rules. Everybody wants to have a Guy." Perhaps this should be our national strategy. Lets be "The Guy", not "The Man".

What has our status really done for us lately? Pretty much nothing. Some shithole gets a flood and what do the cameras show, some guy yelling about "Where is the Americans?" Nobody asks where the chicoms are or when the chicoms are sending aid. We have shed blood, sweat, and tears for the world. No nation or collection of nations has sacrificed so much for others as has America and what has it gotten us? Not a damn thing but a validation of Murphy's Laws of Combat, Law #1, "If you take more then your fair share of objectives, you'll have more then your fair share to take." I have become so hardened by the rest of the planet that my passport would be better used as a coaster for my drink then for travel right now.

So maybe, being Number 2 wouldn't be so bad. We could get a rest and maybe get our own house in order. Let someone else send its son's and daughters to far away lands to die for some group that hates you anyway. Let someone else spend billions on flood relief for a bunch of folks who refer to you as "The Great Satan". Yeah, I wanna be the "The Guy", everybody wants to have a Guy. That way you can always say, "Relax, I know this Guy."

Ita is ends ut totus res operor

DADT ends and I feel so much sorrow for what is about to happen to my Army. To all the gay soldiers who placed their needs and wishes above the nation's, I hope your happy. Reap what you have sown because now its going to get really bad.

The Tao Continues

"Hate or scorn are not linear. The true man has options when he has had a major wrong done to him. You may enter into "conflict" with the offending party or you may choose to declare them "persona non Grata". The choice is yours to make, but take care in your choice. Weigh your courses of action, but know that you must choose."

You have to repay someone who has done you wrong, its just that simple. That is what this part of the Tao really boils down to. People who screw you, will do it again unless you make it uncomfortable for them.

The Tao of Finrod

I am a peculiar fellow at the best of times. I laugh when it isn't really appropriate and I don't laugh when everyone else is laughing. Over time I've learned to recognize what you think is funny and laugh on queue but I miss it sometimes. I don't really get emotional or weepy. I'm a bit of a stoic you might say. Over time I've written, in my head, rules that I live by and generally I stick by them. Lately though, I've had this odd desire to write the rules down on paper and even to share them. A moment of weakness I suppose but it even happens to me. I am going to post some of these rules here, the Tao of Finrod if you will. So, here is the first of the Tao of Finrod:

When wrong is done to you, an assessment must be done. You must do this quickly and clearly.Was the wrong done by accident or was it purposefully done? Once the assessment is done you must choose a course of action. Minor wrongs, those done by accident or lacking purpose may be overlooked. Major or great wrongs, those done with purpose, poor intent and deliberate effect cannot be overlooked. Major wrongs must be repaid with scorn and hate. Major wrongs cannot be forgiven lest they come from kith or kin and then only rarely.