Mussels Marinara... goodbye my salty friends! · Saturday January 13, 2007 by colin newell
I know that my readers from CoffeeCrew.Com think I am a swarthy tough guy that catches bullets with his teeth, busts international drug cartels completely alone and roams the mean streets of Victoria at night, in an annoying scratchy man-outfit from Lululemon maintaining law and order…
But no. I am just like you. and you. and you and you.
Except for one minor detail.
This is the first time I have cooked with truely live ingredients.
Mussels. From Saltspring Island – a Gulf Island near Victoria.
Sure, I work with coffee all the time and I think of coffee as a truely living entity… but that is not the point. This is live food.
I bought them. I cleaned them (re-cleaned them actually) and prepared them for their glorious moment.
As I held each mussel in my hand, checking their integrity (liveliness I guess…) and bathing them in a soothing and cool final bath of water, I apologized and thanked each one for the briny goodness to follow…
Mussels with Marinara Sauce
A warming dish to serve on a dreary winter day.
Makes: 3 to 4 servings
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium purple onion, halved and thinly sliced
3 to 4 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 cup dry red wine
14 oz can diced tomatoes and 2 tsp. tomato paste
pinch dried oregano and sugar
pinch chili flakes
salt and pepper to taste
2 lbs fresh mussels*
chopped chinese parsley (cilantro)
Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Add onions, and garlic. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes, or until softened. Add wine, tomatoes, oregano, sugar, salt, chili flakes and pepper. Turn heat to medium-high and simmer sauce 5 minutes. Add mussels, cover and cook until mussels open (discard any that do not). Sprinkle with fresh herbs. Serve as is with lots of warm crusty bread. Serves 3 to 4, depending on appetite.
Note: Rinse mussels in cold water before cooking, removing any beard-like material from their sides. Discard any that do not close when tapped.
This dish goes down extra-well with a very tall glass of Red Wine.
It helps ease the guilt…
The I Generation (or how I learned not to give a rats ass...) · Friday January 12, 2007 by colin newell
A new mobile phone has been launched amid much fanfare and hype. But, as a survey reveals half of adults feel overwhelmed by technology, not everyone’s jumping up and down. link
Ok. Here is the thing.
I have several Mac devotees in my workplace.
One is quite sane. An awesome nice guy in fact.
The other is, well… devoted. Totally dedicated to all things APPLE.
He repeats Mac gospel as if it was nectar delivered from… well. You use your imagination.
When Steve Jobs opened his mouth the other day to reveal the i-Phone, work-buddy was there hanging on to every word like a performing seal.
Virtually every one of Steve Jobs’s verbal ejaculations involves much barking and yelping from the seal-audience that surrounds him.
He clears his throat. They applaud.
His facial expression alone can trigger a virtual melt-down or heat-up of Apple stock.
From my little perch in the Canadian I-goshosphere, I get minute-by-minute updates on apple stock from a co-worker-apple-devoted-guy that owns nary one share of stock. It’s annoying. I mean: Dude. Buy some frickin stock and stop barking and yawning about it.
Back to Jobs for a moment.
His sole role as one of the richer men in the World is to tell us what to buy.. to Tell us what to think… to tell us what to feel.
Shit. I thought this was my job. Well here is my reply:
I-DontGiveA-Rats-Ass
I-DontGIveA-Flying-Fcuk
I-DONT-CARE and
I-Wont-Buy!
I-Free
Thank god almighty, I-free!
Yoga in schools - Don't give Satan a break! · Thursday January 11, 2007 by colin newell
Parents in the small rural area of Quesnel in BC’s interior are upset that their school has introduced yoga as part of physical activity classes. Parents feel that yoga is a religion and shouldn’t be taught in schools, but educators counter that it is no such thing, but rather that it is only stretching.
Local rancher Audrey Cummings doesn’t believe Christian children should be doing yoga at all. “There’s God and there’s the devil, and the devil’s not a gentleman. If you give him any kind of an opening, he will take that.”
While yoga may contain elements of eastern religions, it is not a religious practice. Yoga moves are simply exercises and stretches that include elements of philosophy that attempt to connect the individual back with their body.
A school program to fight childhood obesity that includes yoga is drawing complaints from some Christian parents in the area.
They say yoga is a religion, and shouldn’t be taught in public schools.
Chelsea Brears, who has two children in the school system, said her son was asked to do different poses and “to put his hands together.”
Brears, a Christian, said she doesn’t want her children exposed to another religion during class time.
I have been doing some basic Yoga for years. I used to suffer from Tall Skinny Man Syndrome (yes, I made that syndrome up!) and I have not suffered from one twinge of back pain since I started…
Nor have I been drawn to Satan… I mean…
anymore than usual!
Yes, I do some of the basics from the various Yoga books I have.
No, I know nothing of any of the basic Yoga teachings or Sutras
I figure – in a World dominated by junk food, television and general slothfulness, anything that gives kids a leg-up in the battle against obesity is a good thing.
Enough of celebrity hounding crazies! · Saturday January 6, 2007 by colin newell
Veteran soap star Drake Hogestyn has filed a restraining order against a man who attacked him in his California home.
The actor, who has played John Black on the daytime soap Days of Our Lives for over 20 years, claims Carl Raymond Cheney assaulted him and “physically tried to exorcise the devil from me.”
In court papers, obtained by website TMZ.com, Hogestyn reveals he was relaxing at home with his family when Oregon native Cheney found his way onto his property and charged at the actor’s daughter.
Hogestyn reveals Cheney was carrying a Bible and screaming, “Where is he? I will cast him out!”
The actor adds Cheney was “calling me by my stage name… recalling past storylines, especially the demonic possession of several years past. But more important, he thought I was dead, because the show that aired on Friday 12/29/06 left my character John Black shot and presumed dead.”
Hogestyn spent 10 minutes grappling with Cheney until he and his 25-year-old son Ben were able to restrain him and call the police.
Drake. If you are reading this, come up to Vancouver Island for a nice family weekend away from it all – with my wife and I! We imagine that you must tire of all the crazies down in California.
We can rent a big cabin on the west coast and sit out and watch the sunset over the Pacific while your wife and my wife compare celebrity horror stories.
While we sip single malt scotch and smoke some fat Cuban cigars we can collectively plan the demise of that Stephano Dimera once and for all!
