Saturday
Crosstown Station is officially open
Wednesday
Yummy Au Gratin Potatoes
10 or so red potatoes (enough to fill your large casserole dish 3/4 of the way)
44 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I bought a 32 oz. bad and a 12 0z. bag)
40 oz. sour cream (I bought a 24 oz. container and a 16 oz. container)
salt
black pepper
Thinly slice enough potatoes to fill your baking dish. (I like to slice them into about 1/8 inch rounds) Salt and pepper sliced potatoes liberally.
Add cheese and sour cream to potatoes. Add more salt and pepper. Mix well.
Sometimes at this point I will fill the dish 1/4 the way with milk for creamier taters.
(reserve 12 oz. of cheese to put over the top near the end of cooking)
Bake at 400 for 1 1/2 hours or until potatoes are very tender.
I like to cook them until the cheese burns a little around the edges. The burnt cheese and potatoes is the best part.
Sunday
I made the family red sauce last night
4lbs. pork neck bones
2 106 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 16 oz. can of tomato paste
1 giant onion
*8 cloves garlic (or more)
*1/3 cup oregano (crushed between palms to release it's oils)
*1/3 cup basil (crushed between palms to release it's oils)
*crushed red pepper to taste (I use 10 or more shakes)
*olive oil
*salt
*black pepper
*pinch of sugar
*splash of Balsalmic vinegar
Heavily salt and black pepper the neck bones. Then, in a large stockpot, brown them in a good amount of olive oil. I like to brown them very well. ( you will have to do this in batches to avoid over-crowding the pot, resulting in braising them, rather than browning them) When finished browning, remove bones from pot and reserve.
Add the garlic and onion to the pot, then add red pepper, salt and black pepper to them. (add more oil if needed) Saute at med-low heat 2 minutes.
Add oregano and basil (crushed between palms to release their oils) to the onions and garlic.
Saute for 2 minutes or until onion softens.
Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste , salt and black pepper. Add splash of vinegar and pinch of sugar. Stir to combine and to help dissolve the tomato paste.
Add the neck bones back into the pot.
Cover and simmer on low for 1 1/2 hours. (don't burn the sauce on the bottom of the pot)
Taste the sauce and reseason. It will always need more of something at this point. Let your taste tell you what it needs. (mine needed another small splash of vinegar and more salt and pepper)
Cover and simmer for 2 more hours or until the bones become tender and start to fall apart.
Remove bones from sauce and RESERVE! The bones are highly prized in my family. For a snack, take a fork and pick the tender meat from the bones. It's the best.
The sauce is now ready for some al dente pasta of your choice. (I use thin spaghetti)
* I really didn't measure any of these ingredients, I'm kinda guessing what I added. Use this as a guideline and let your taste tell you what to add, if anything.
Wine Cellar Sorbets
$62 - $78 - $146 for a 4, 6, or 12-pack
A Sorbet Sommelier? Funny. Wait...what? That's like $15-$12 a pint. Dang! I would like to try one though. Send me pint of the Pinot Nior please.
Saturday
Friday
Thursday
Corinthian Hall to close Jan. 7 for renovations and won’t reopen until at least 2010
I've always contended that Union Station is the obvious place to house the Kansas City Museum. I'm all for restoring this wonderful house but let's get the museum out of there.
The museum's website is even hosted on Union Station's site. WTF? It just seems obvious the museum should be moved into the building. KC seems to screw up everything.
"The city-owned structure, called Corinthian Hall, and the carriage house behind it will get new windows and doors and be cleared of lead paint and asbestos. Then next year officials hope to install a new climate-control system in the 1910 buildings so they can professionally exhibit objects in the museum collection."
"The Awesome Ruben"
Gary Forsee to be named new University of Missouri President
"Barring unforeseen surprises, the 22nd president of the University of Missouri (UM) is expected to be formally selected and introduced on Thursday, Dec. 20, in Columbia, Missouri, according to a UM media advisory released today."
Friday
Get off your recliner this weekend
Roos to Kemper?
18th and Vine just took another kick in the nuts
What is the Jazz District Redevelopment Corp. doing? The answer is very little, if nothing.
Here are the area businesses they list on their website. Wow...3?
-American Jazz Museum
-Negro League Baseball Museum
-Historic Gem Theater
They haven't attracted any tenants since the Peachtree moved down there 5 years ago.
Thursday
People in Hong Kong are crazy!
They also pay way too much for gas!
Wednesday
Tuesday
Boozing Through a Breakup
Your guide to using hooch to slay that heartache.
This is a fact: A broken heart hurts worse than a broken leg. The pain of lost love is that itch, that horror that no drug can touch. Except one.
Sweet, ever-loving booze, and plenty of it.
On the same note... read the article below. "Backing Up Your Buddy".
The 7 Wonders of ultramodern Dubai
The tallest building in the world is going up.
Check out his underwater hotel:
Hydropolis, the world's first underwater luxury resort, brings new meaning to the "ocean-view room." Situated 66 feet below the surface of the Persian Gulf, Hydropolis will feature 220 guest suites. Reinforced by concrete and steel, its Plexiglas walls and bubble-shaped dome ceilings offer sights of fish and other sea creatures. It's scheduled to open in 2009.
Mike Tyson's Greatest Quotes
More quotes here and here.
“Lennox Lewis, I'm coming for you man. My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I'm just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah!”
Monday
S. Pellegrino World's Best Restaurants of 2007
Friday
Thursday
Jay's files bankruptcy
"Jay's Potato Chips?
A snack-food junkie named Al Capone developed a taste for the chips while betting on the ponies in New York, and asked his supplier to start making them for his speakeasies."
"Word is the Jays Foods potato chip plant on Chicago's South Side is set to close Dec. 5. The brand may survive, under the prospective ownership of Pennsylvania-based Snyder's of Hanover, but I wonder if the chips will remain the same taste wise and symbolically. There was something about eating a Chicago-made potato chip in Chicago that always sat right with me.
What do you think? Should I stick with Jays or switch my allegience to C.J. Vitner Co., maker of Vitner's brand chips? Vitner bills itself as "home of the Chicago style snack," but the plant is in Freeport, about 100 miles northwest of Chicago. At least the company is still headquartered in the city, at 4202 W. 45th St., and family owned."
Wednesday
Is the Entree Heading for Extinction?
"O.K., so maybe it’s not quite time to write the entree’s obituary. But in many major dining cities like New York, San Francisco and Chicago, the main course is under attack.
Although the entree’s ills were first diagnosed in the late 1990s, when the rise of small plates kicked off the tapafication of American menus, the attacks have become more serious lately."
YES! I'm a Bud Light. What beer are you?
You Are Bud Light |
You're not fussy when it comes to beer. If someone hands it to you, you'll drink it. In fact, you don't understand beer snobbery at all. It all tastes the same once you're drunk! You're an enthusiastic drinker, and you can often be found at your neighborhood bar. You're pretty good at holding your liquor too - you've had lots of experience. |
Top 100 drinking songs
I like #s
68. Give Me A Red Hot Mama and An Ice Cold Beer - Smiley Maxdon
69. The Whiskey Makes You Sweeter - Laura Cantrell
77. I'm at Home Getting Hammered(While She's Out Getting Nailed) - Banjo and Sullivan
Check out these little ditties. I guess this guy just died. I wonder how?
Hank Thompson: A Six Pack To Go (mp3)
Hank Thompson: On Tap, In The Can, Or In The Bottle (mp3)
Hank Thompson: Hangover Tavern (mp3)
Hank Thompson: Smoky The Bar (mp3)
Pat Metheny in KC?
Favorite Chef of the moment: Todd English
The last JAM of '07
"Roast: KC Jazz Community. We are the ones who are going to the jazz events. However, we are doing a very poor job of growing the community, the audiences, and the support. It's easy to say that we don't know how to do it any better. That's a cop out! I challenge all of you get with it, get creative and do you part in ‘08 to expand the jazz audience. Help educate those who are on the music genre fence."
Tuesday
Monday
World’s Most Famous Men/Women in a Single Artwork
Here is a discussion page where people try to identify them.