“Yi Uh Do” It Again!

Yi Uh Do, a sushi vendor located in Global Foods in Woodbridge, gets my vote yet again as the best lunch sushi in the area! Nothing too fancy, sodas served in cans, and area food court seating, but the food is fresh, good, and inventive.

We met friends here last weekend, had a great, quick lunch, and didn’t waste half the day in the process!

This is a must-try if you haven’t already.

Bagels, Bunnies, and Bands

I like a good bagel. Not grocery store baked bread circles, mind you, but real boiled-in-water-then-baked-to-crusty-goodness bagels. So much so that I’ve been bringing bags of bagels to work on Fridays for about 14 years. Oh, and with cream cheese, and lately, smoked nova salmon and capers. The coworkers love it.

When I announced yesterday during the morning standup meeting that the bagels were smoking hot from the oven someone commented that it wasn’t Friday. I responded that it was virtual Friday, being the day before Thanksgiving. Another coworker responded, “No, it’s logical friday,” at which point I exclaimed (with a nod to Dave Barry), “Logical Friday!? What a great name for a band!”

This was immediately seized upon by a coworker with more than a smattering of artistic talent, resulting in this drawing.

I showed it to the other half, who wants to make tee shirts.

I think I’ll create a new band name in Rock Band. I wonder if I can make my avatar look like a rabbit?

Cooking With Rachel – Is It As Yummo As It’s Cracked Up To Be?

We are confirmed Food Network junkies. We’re on a first name basis with Alton, Rachel, Guy, Giada, Sandra, Bobby, and the rest of the bunch (in our own minds, that is). I fantasize about being the Next Food Network Star even though I’ve never actually tasted truffles nor cooked anything French, and I’ve only baked cakes twice in my life. Regardless, our admiration isn’t limited to the couch. Oh no. Not at all. We routinely get a craving based on something we’ve seen, and decide to give it a whirl ourselves.

Such was the case with this weekends 30 Minute Meals episode with the queen of EVOO herself, during which she cranked out a thanksgiving themed Shepherds Pie using ground turkey, a basic mirepoix (carrots, onions, and celery) and sweet peas with turkey gravy, and topped with mashed sweet potatoes and cheddar cheese. Looks tempting!

So tonight was the big test. Could we do it, how much time would it take, and would we like the result?

Well, we grabbed the ingredients over lunch at the local Safeway, and upon arrival at home set about creating our dinner. From memory. Without a recipe.

Peeled yams into a pot of boiling water with a bit of salt. Two stalks of celery sliced lengthwise and chopped. Two carrots grated. Half an onion chopped. Into the pan with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Saute medium.

Remove the mirepoix from the pan, add a bit more oil and toss in the turkey. Salt, pepper, and a bit of poultry spice. Spoon out the liquid so the meat actually browns. Meanwhile, drain the yams and mash with a bit more salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of butter.

Nuke the gravy (we cheated and bought premade), add the mirepoix to the turkey, and mix it all together. Taste, add a bit more poultry seasoning, then heat through. Dump into metal loaf pan.

Slather on mashed yams, cover with medium cheddar, and pop into the preheated 450 degree convection toaster oven and wait 6 minutes, until……

Ding! Pull it out to find a deliciously tempting brown on the cheese with bubbles around the edge. Hmmm, looks inviting and smells good!

But how does it taste?

I give it a solid 7 on a scale of 10, with the weak point being the somewhat bland store bought gravy (Rachel made her own using boxed turkey stock). The other half gave it a 6 and wasn;t sure she liked the flavor combination of the cheddar and not too sweet yams. We also forgot to add the frozen sweet peas to the mix, and they would have been a nice addition. Overall, though, definitely edible and filling but not quite “Yummo”. Time? A bit over at about 40 minutes.

Duh Moment #273: “Gun Free Zones” Encourage Mass Killers

Finally, police and the media are catching on to what most pro-self-defense folks have known for years: “No guns” signs and policies identify victim-rich environments where mass murderers know they can kill with impunity. A report by a Cincinatti television station says that the Adams County, Ohio-based Tactical Defense Institute has researched the last forty years worth of school shootings to develop new tactics to combat what they refer to as “active killers” who seek out large groups of defenseless victims. The conclusion: Active killers almost exclusively sought gun free zones for their murderous rampages.

Sheesh, it took a study for this? I wonder how many signs will come down as a result?

Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Okay, so my guy didn’t win. Regardless, the election is over, the people have spoken, and Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States of America. Period. I’m getting used to the idea, and I’m honestly wondering if he’s as bad as the conservative party line has predicted. I’m kinda in a “wait and see” mode, and I’m willing to give him half a chance.

However, not everyone seems willing to share my view. A quick perusal of the FoxNews message boards has two clear groups of people posting: The first are the still very disgruntled conservatives. The second are the Obama supporters very intent on (almost literally) jamming it up our bums. Theres even some guy who writes a taunting paragraph like “What percentage of FOX NEWS FANS are RETARDED? 96% 98% or 100%?”, copies it about five hundred times, and posts it, jamming up the Fox comment system. Sheesh!

So I have two messages: First, for the disheartened McCain supporters, this bit of advice: This is not the first time a bright but inexperienced candidate has won the presidency. Our constitution includes a set of checks and balances that limits the effect of each branch of government. So calm down and take some deep breaths, okay?

Second, for the way too exuberant crowd insistent on repeatedly taunting us, how about toning it down a notch, eh? Your guy has his hands full with a number of sticky issues, and he’s going to make some mistakes, so stop acting like he’s perfect. Give it a rest already.

If there was ever a time we all, as citizens, need to work together this is it.

Veterans Day

To each who served, past or present, thank you for your service!

If you can read, thank a teacher. If you can read English, thank a vet!

The Washington Post admits (gasp!) its bias!

Deborah Howell, the ombudsman for the Washington Post reported on Sunday that reader criticism on the slanted coverage towards Barack Obama was, umm, correct.

Holy cow! They admitted it! Right there! In plain english! Here are the numbers:

Op ed page laudatory pieces: Obama, 32 vs. McCain, 13. Op ed negative pieces: McCain, 58 vs. Obama, 32. Actual news stories about each candidate: Obama, 946 vs. McCain, 786.

Additionally, Howell confirms that they didn’t really probe the issues, lacking significant coverage of each candidate’s energy or science policy or religion issues. Instead, over one thousand articles on the campaign were “horse-race” stories, compared to only 594 issue stories.

The Post even ran more pictures of Obama than McCain, and only after Howell pointed out the disparity on August 3rd did the Post make a conscious effort to improve the ratio.

Personally, I predict that for ratting them out, Howell will be job hunting within the month.

And While No One Was Looking…

Joe Biden wasn’t just talking through his hat when he predicted that President Obama would be tested. Just hours after Barack Obama was declared the winner, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev announced that the Russian government will deploy medium range missiles on the border with Poland and cancel the withdrawal of several intercontinental ballistic missile regiments from western Russia. Well, that didn’t take long, now did it?

In an 85 minute state-of-the-nation address televised across all of Russia that failed to congratulate Barack Obama or even mention him by name, Medvedev criticized the United States for deploying missile shield technology in Europe, declaring, “”Mechanisms must be created to block mistaken, egoistical and sometimes simply dangerous decisions of certain members of the international community.”

Anyone who thinks this announcement is just a coincidence should take off the rose-colored glasses. The world will be watching carefully to see how Obama reacts. Mr. President-elect, I hope you are ready!

Here’s What You Can Do For Me, President Obama

Well, it’s 10:20 PM, Ohio has just been called for Barack, and I’m having a hard time seeing a McCain victory. The truth is that I had been seeing some of the writing on the wall a few days ago. I’ve been mentally preparing for an Obama victory, and trying to find ways to be positive about the next four years.

Here are two things that you can do that I would like:

First, shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison. This thing has been a black eye on the face of America from the beginning. Most of the prisoners have been held for about five years now, so we should be able to either send them to trial or simply let them go. Shoot the guilty ones, free the rest, and be done with this chamber of horrors.

Second, pass a national domestic partnership law. In fact, you don’t even have to use the M-word if it will help. The LGBT community has gone without basic legal protections for their relationships long enough. I can’t begin to decribe the mountain of legal paperwork my spouse and I have to provide just a few basic protections that could be replaced with one piece of paper.

Do these two, and then we’ll talk, OK?

Painless Voting

I am happy to report that my precinct had it totally together. The verification lines were broken down into four alphabetic groups, with each group staffed by three people. There were eight voting machines and only a brief line for them. I was in line all of about ten minutes, voted quickly, and found it all very easy. Given that I had planned about a three hour wait, I was very pleasantly surprised.

Democracy in action!