Sugarloaf Key

Steven talking to Millie about our upcoming trip to the Keys....

Arroz con Gandules

If you're looking for a yummy and cheap meal that makes enough for leftovers, consider Arroz con Gandules (rice and pigeon peas). The traditional way to make it is without meat, but add some ham or sausage or linguicia or kielbasa or whatever and you have a fabulous, easy-to-cook, meal for a small or large crowd. Woot!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup sofrito
1/2 cup chopped ham (or cooked pork pieces)
2 cups rice
4 cups water
1 packet sazón
1 15-ounce can Pigeon Peas/Gandules (drained and rinsed)

Preparation:

1. Heat olive oil in a 6-quart pot. Saute the sofrito and chopped ham for 1 minute.
2. Add the rice, water, sazón and gandules.
3. Bring to a boil. Let boil for 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Cover, reduce heat to medium low, and cook for 35 to 40 minutes.
Tip: Do not use a lid with a vent that allows the steam to escape. Never lift the lid while cooking.
5. When finished cooking, stir the rice before serving. It should be light and fluffy.

Servings: 4 to 6 people.

Big rise in vasectomies

I read an article recently about how in these tough economic times more and more men are choosing to have vasectomies. In the article they discuss how men are concerned about having children after they have lost their jobs. I can't blame them.

This led me to research the specifics of a vasectomy. Ouch. Ice packs and no work for four days. That's a big deal for a procedure that takes fifteen minutes! Wowzers.

Ru Paul's Drag Race

Steven and I watched Ru Paul's Drag race the other day on LogoTV. At first I thought it was a complete train wreck, but then I began to like it. It is a silly show and definitely not something that is going to teach you much, but it is interesting and the queens are cute. They are more sincere than I thought they would be (or perhaps they are really good actors), and I found myself rooting for the one I liked most (I'm not telling, as I haven't seen the finale yet).

So, if you're bored and subscribe to LogoTV (we don't, we were at a bar), check out Ru Paul's Drag Race. It's cute and funny and sassy.

Recycling Day

Tuesday nights our neighborhood puts out its recycling bins. It is interesting to walk Millie on recycling nights for two reasons: first, she wants to stick her snout in everyones bins, and second, what an interesting bunch of people in our neighborhood.

You can tell who are big drinkers, who doesn't drink at all, who reads a million magazines, who has cats. It's all very fascinating to me. Plus, it makes me feel not as bad to compare our bins to everyone else. When we have a party, though, our neighbors must wonder what happened to cause 4 million beer and vodka containers to fill up our bins!

Keep on recycling America!

The Poop Fan

We have this thing at the end of our street. I'm not exactly sure what it's purpose is, but I think it has something to do with the sewer system. It is on the corner of our street and I frequently walk by it while out walking Millie. What is interesting about this contraption is that it has a fan in it and it blows out a lot of air. Air that smells like poop. It is the strangest thing. There is a house on the corner and they must hate having this poop smell fan in their yard. Sometimes the smell is worse than others and I think the thing is problematic because too often there are city trucks parked around it. In fact, the other night when we had 7 inches of rain there was a generator connected to the poop fan to keep it going.

I heard a rumor that one time the poop fan exploded and there was a river of waste flowing down our street. I hope that is just an urban myth. I need to take a picture of it and post it on here. It's a strange one, that poop fan.

Note to self

Post about 'The Poop Fan' and

'Recyling Day'

I Eat Cannibals

Does anyone remember this song? I think it is from 1982. I just heard it on the radio and immediately had to look it up. What an interesting song. The band is Total Coelo.

The Pop Up Book of Sex

Just arrived on our coffee table!

The Shit Box!

Thanks Pianca. This is wonderful. I need to keep one in my car for emergencies.

The Shit Box.

This toilet flushes everything!

I can't remember the last time I poo'ed some chess pieces, but I can sleep easy at night knowing that this toilet will flush 3 and a half pounds of dry dog food.

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Jamabalaya - a video of sorts

Search my site for the exact measurments. Don't forget the jalapeno muffins!

This made my day

99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced On The Internet

I have seen some, others not YET! Oh, Charlie the Unicorn. I am so happy you are on this list. You are certainly in my top 5.

Greg Rutter's Definitive List of The 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced On The Internet Unless You're a Loser or Old or Something
(In No Particular Order)

http://www.youshouldhaveseenthis.com/

Cool sign holding guy

I am pretty sure I have seen this guy on the corner of Route 1 in Boca Raton. The only bad part is you have no idea what the sign he is holding is for. I guess it doesn't matter.

Sleepwalking Dog

Oh, too cute. Poor thing.

Key West!

We had so much fun this weekend in Key West. All the same great places are still there and it was fun to show my mother and stepfather around the island. The only issue we had was our dinner on Saturday night.

The guy at our guest house made us reservations at a nearby restaurant. None of us had been, and our original choice for dinner that night was full and couldn't take us until very late. No problem, Key West is pretty laid back and so our we, so we headed over to the new place to have dinner. We arrived a few minutes early and noticed that the sidewalk outside was jammed with people who were also waiting to be seated. Uh oh. The hostess told us it wouldn't be long before we had a table (we had a reservation, after all). So we waited. And waited. And finally had a glass of wine outside while we wait some more. Finally, after almost 45 minutes of waiting we gave up and went to the restaurant we had eaten at the night before.

Azure, located on the corner of Fleming and Grinnell, is simply wonderful. The first night we had a 7 o'clock reservation and I was a little worried when we arrived because the place was empty. They sat us outside on their lovely terrace and we perused the wine menu. Not long after, the place filled up and was packed by the time we left. We all had delicious meals, including steak, sea bass, grouper, and I had a seafood medley. The wine was wonderful, the food scrumptious and the service was very good. I would definitely recommend it if you are travelling in the Key West area. The average entree price is around $25.

The second night we ate there (!!!) we sat inside (they were again full) and had pretty much the same meals, except that I had gnocchi and we tried a different wine. We even had dessert this time, and port wine (which always gives me a headache, will I ever learn?). My mother heard that the chef at Morton's in Chicago was the chef at Azure. Cool!

The ambiance is great, so go check out Azure! Oh, and it is not far from Duval Street, so you can get your drink and party on before and after dining here!