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Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

OK. I know you don’t cook Margaritas but this Cinquo de Mayo is special. It’s 150th anniversary of defeat the French forces by the Mexican Army at the Battle of Puebla. (It’s also Dr. TMC’s 70th birthday. Time flies when your living life.)

There are various filling for Quesadillas but essentially they are the Mexican version of the French crepe using a flour tortilla instead of a thin pancake. It can contain vegetables meat or sea food, especially shrimp, or not, but it always has cheese. Use your imagination, be creative.

Quesadillas

The way I make them is rather easy, using mostly store purchased ingredients:

You’ll need a grill pan or a 10″ large, heavy flat skillet, cooking spray or a small bowl of vegetable oil and a brush, a large spatula and a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and a dinner plate.

Preheat the oven to 200° F. Heat the skillet over medium heat, sprayed with vegetable oil. Place a tortilla on a dinner plate. Over half of the tortilla about a inch from the edge, spread some salsa, sprinkle with cheese, refried beans and shredded chicken/beef/pork/shrimp. If you like extra “heat”, add some jalapeño pepper slices. Fold in half. You can also cover one tortilla with fillings and top it with a second but it’s harder to flip.

Gently slide onto the skillet.

Let brown for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown. Using the large spatula, flip, cooking 2 to 3 minutes, until golden brown. Adjust the heat if browning too fast or too slow. Place the finished quesadilla on the lined cookie sheet in the oven to keep warm. Repeat; making sure the pan is lightly oiled.

You can do to or three at a time, depending on the size of the tortilla and the skillet. If you have a grill top on your stove, you can do as many as will fit.

Cut quesadillas in half, thirds or quarters; serve with more salsa, refried beans, sliced jalapeños, sour cream, guacamole and avocado slices.

Margarita

This is the recipe I have used for years without complaints. I use 1800 Reposado Tequila, Rose’s Lime, Triple Sec, Kosher or course ground sea salt and fresh slices of lime. You’ll need either a shaker or a large glass filled with ice and a strainer and you’ll need lots of ice.

Ingredients:

Moisten them rim of a large glass with lime juice. Dip the glass into salt spread on a flat plate. Fill glas with ice.

In the shaker or other large glass filled with ice add tequila, Triple Sec and lime juice. If user a shaker, shake vigorously or mix with a stirrer in the glass. Pour through a strainer into the salt rimmed glass. Serve with extra lime slices.

Cross Posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

Decorating eggs has long been a tradition of Easter. They can be dyed or painted, glittered and stickered with symbols of the season. But the most fabulously decorated eggs of all are those of the House of Fabergé that were created for the Tsars of Russia in the late 1800’s. The very first egg was created for the Empress Maria Fedorovna in 1885 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of her marriage to Tsar Alexander III. Alexander gave the commission to create the special Easter Egg to Peter Carl Fabergé after Maria had admired his beautiful creations. The very first egg was presented to the Empress on Easter morning. It appeared on the outside to be a simple enameled egg, called “The Hen” but inside is a golden yolk; within the yolk is a golden hen; and concealed within the hen is a diamond miniature of the royal crown and a tiny ruby egg. The crown and the ruby egg have long been lost. The Empress was so delighted with the egg that the Tsar rewarded Fabergé with a commission for an Easter egg every year. The requirements are straightforward: each egg must be unique, and each must contain a suitable surprise for the Empress.

Alexander died unexpectedly in 1894 and his eldest son became Tsar Nicholas II. Nicholas, feeling unprepared to assume the reign, decided his best course as ruler was to continue to do everything his father did, including the creation of the Fabergé Egg each Easter for his mother and a second order to be delivered to his new wife, Czarina Alexandra Fedorovna. One of the most elegant eggs was the Fifteenth Anniversary egg (1911), a family album just over five-inches-tall. Exquisitely detailed paintings depict the most notable events of the reign of Nicholas II and each of the family members. “Not only is it a staggering tour-de-force of the jeweler’s art,” says Forbes, “but probably more than any other egg, it is the one most intimately associated with the whole tragedy of Nicholas and Alexandra and that incredibly beautiful family. There are these five children – all these sort of glamorous events surrounding their lives – and there they are looking out at us happily unknowing what was going to happen to them just a few years later.”

The Eggs were so opulent and each one so unique, that they created a demand from other aristocrats, kings and queens and captains if industry. A series of seven eggs was made for the industrialist Alexander Kelch and others were made for the Duchess of Marlborough, the Nobels and the Rothschilds.

After the 1917 Russian Revolution and the assassination of Nicholas and his family, the Tsars treasures including the Fabergé Eggs were moved to the Kremlin Armoury on the orders of Vladimir Lenin. Of the immediate family, only Nicholas’ mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna, escapes the assassin’s bullet. As she makes a hasty departure from her homeland, she brings with her the Order of St. George egg, the last Fabergé Imperial Easter egg she would ever receive from her son Nicholas.

In a bid to acquire more foreign currency, Joseph Stalin had many of the eggs sold in 1927. Many of the eggs were sold to Armand Hammer, president of Occidental Petroleum and a personal friend of Lenin, whose father was founder of the United States Communist party. After the collection in the Kremlin Armoury, the largest gathering of Fabergé eggs was assembled by Malcolm Forbes. Totalling nine eggs, and approximately 180 other Fabergé objects, the collection was put up for auction at Sotheby’s in February 2004 by Forbes’ heirs. Before the auction even began the collection was purchased in its entirety by the oligarch Victor Vekselberg for a sum estimated between $90 and $120 million. The Winter Egg, studded with 1,660 diamonds, and made from quartz, platinum, and orthoclase, garnered the highest bid for any single egg. It was sold by Christies in 2002 for $9.6 million to a private collector on Qatar.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

So now that you’ve finished dying eggs naturally using onion skins, what do you do with all those onions? Make French Onion Soup, bien sûr!

French onion soup in France is served as the traditional French farmer’s breakfast or the end of the day repast for the late night café and theater crowd. It was made famous in the great open market of Les Halles in Paris where hungry truckers converged from all over France with their fresh produce. On my first visit to Paris in 1966, I made a late night visit to Les Halles with some friends to savor the tradition and practice my very rusty college French. The truckers and waiters in the little café we “invaded” were quite friendly and chuckled as they good heartedly corrected my pronunciation. Needless to say, je parle français bien mieux maintenant. Les Halles was torn down in 1971 and replaced with a modern shopping area, the Forum des Halles. But I digress, we are here for the food.

My favorite recipe is from Bernard Clayton, Jr.’s The Complete Book of Soups and Stews with some variations. It is from a restaurant near the Halles Metro station. M. Calyton’s version uses a hearty homemade beef stock which is time consuming to make. I found that either Swanson’s or College Inn Beef Broth produces a good result, just reduce the salt. The low sodium broth didn’t produce the hearty broth that’s needed to compliment the flavor of the caramelized onions and the cheese.

You will need some “special” equipment for this soup: individual oven-proof bowls, enough to hold 1 1/2 to 2 cups. I have the bowls with a handle and a lid that serve double duty for baked beans, and other soups and stews. You will also need cheesecloth for le sachet d’épices, that’s a spice bag for you Americans ;-), and butcher’s twine or some other cotton twine. Those items can be found in the gadget aisles of most large grocery stores.

Soupe à l’oignon des Halles

 

   

Yesterday, I wrote (in the third person) to tell you with certainty that I had won the Mega Zillions jackport, more than $500 million.  Some of you greeted this news with your usual skepticism. I didn’t mind. You were clearly mistaken. And anyway, I was on my way to the bank.

I awoke this morning to discover to my shock and anger that nobody, that’s right, nobody was camped at my kitchen door waiting for the nouveau nouveau riche (me) to arise and to begin to dispense money in accord with my vaunted, self declared philanthropic inclinations.  No. That did not happen. Nobody was there.

Why was nobody there, you have the nerve to ask? Because a vast conspiracy had emerged over night and through connivance had deprived me of my winnings. In fact, of all of my winnings. Not only that. They gave my money to their minions in other states far from here.

This shall not stand. I demand a full investigation of this fraud. And I want my $5 back.

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

Spring officially sprang at 1:14 AM Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday. Partially because this is a “Leap Year”, in some times zones the Spring Equinox came as early as March 19 ending the winter that wasn’t for which many of us were relieved.

In case you did know the Spring Equinox is also called the “Vernal Equinox”, ver bring the Latin derivative for “spring.”  It occurs when the sun crosses the celestial equator and night and day are equal. It is really just a moment in time and if you blink, you missed it. In 45 BC, Julius Caesar set the date for the start of Spring on March 25th but sometime between the 4th and 16th centuries, the calendar drifted with respect to the equinox, such that the equinox began occurring on about March 21st.  

There are lots celebrations in many countries and cultures including the internet. Google celebrated with one of its popular animated “doodles.”

In Iran, ancient new year’s festival of Nowruz is celebrated:

According to the ancient Persian mythology Jamshid, the mythological king of Persia, ascended to the throne on this day and each year this is commemorated with festivities for two weeks. These festivities recall the story of creation and the ancient cosmology of Iranian and Persian people.

In many Arab countries, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the Spring equinox and the Jewish celebration of Passover starts on the first full moon after the Northern Hemisphere vernal equinox.

Most Christian churches calculate Easter as the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox but the Eastern Orthodox Churches use the older Julian calendar so the actual date of Easter differs.

In Japan the Spring Equinox became an official holiday in 1948, Shunbun no hi.

We Pagans celebrate Ostara, one of the Eight Sabats of the Wheel, as a season of rebirth. The name is derived from Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility, and many symbols are associated with Ostara, including colored eggs and, what else? Rabbits:

In medieval societies in Europe, the March hare was viewed as a major fertility symbol — this is a species of rabbit that is nocturnal most of the year, but in March when mating season begins, there are bunnies everywhere all day long. The female of the species is superfecund and can conceive a second litter while still pregnant with a first. As if that wasn’t enough, the males tend to get frustrated when rebuffed by their mates, and bounce around erratically when discouraged.

Colored eggs are one of the symbols of fertility with an interesting, and this unconfirmed scary, history from Witches’ Voice :

(T)he traditional coloring and giving of eggs at Easter has very pagan associations. For eggs are clearly one of the most potent symbols of fertility, and spring is the season when animals begin to mate and flowers and trees pollinate and reproduce. In England and Northern Europe, eggs were often employed in folk magic when women wanted to be blessed with children. There is a great scene in the film The Wicker Man where a woman sits upon a tombstone in the cemetery, holding a child against her bared breasts with one hand, and holding up an egg in the other, rocking back and forth as she stares at the scandalized (and very uptight!) Sargent Howie. Many cultures have a strong tradition of egg coloring; among Greeks, eggs are traditionally dyed dark red and given as gifts.

As for the Easter egg hunt, a fun game for kids, I have heard at least one pagan teacher say that there is a rather scary history to this. As with many elements of our “ancient history, ” there is little or no factual documentation to back this up. But the story goes like this: Eggs were decorated and offered as gifts and to bring blessings of prosperity and abundance in the coming year; this was common in Old Europe. As Christianity rose and the ways of the “Old Religion” were shunned, people took to hiding the eggs and having children make a game out of finding them. This would take place with all the children of the village looking at the same time in everyone’s gardens and beneath fences and other spots.

It is said, however, that those people who sought to seek out heathens and heretics would bribe children with coins or threats, and once those children uncovered eggs on someone’s property, that person was then accused of practicing the old ways. I have never read any historical account of this, so I cannot offer a source for this story (though I assume the person who first told me found it somewhere); when I find one, I will let you know!

Oh, and that egg and, this year’s broom balancing thing, a myth that was debunked. Sorry.

Whatever you believe, or not, get out there in the garden or the park and celebrate the warmth of the sun, the longer days, renewal and rebirth.

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

Some really great news, all be it, in the grand scheme of things not all that earth shaking but a win for an wounded Iraq veteran and her bomb sniffing dog, Sgt. Rex who will be reunited thanks to the efforts of New York Sen, Chuck Schumer and an animal loving blogosphere.

Wounded combat dog to rejoin Marine veteran

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Monday night that the Air Force has agreed to release Sgt. Rex into the care of former Cpl. Megan Leavey, of Rockland County, just north of New York City.

Leavey was injured with Rex in 2006 while trying to disarm an explosive. They convalesced together.

Rex is credited with saving lives and uncovering explosives that saved more.

Schumer had intervened when Leavey, a Purple Heart recipient, was first denied in her effort to adopt Rex in 2007. Rex had recovered with Leavey from their injuries, and Rex was returned to service.

Now Rex, a black and brown German Shepherd, is 10 years old and can’t continue his military service, but Schumer said bureaucracy still stood in the way of the adoption.

“We salute the Air Force and the Marines for doing the right thing and allowing Rex to be with Corporal Leavey,” Schumer said Monday night. “One canine, one human, both heroes. They should be united shortly, and we’re glad it’s happening.” [..]

Schumer, a Democrat, had sought to help Leavey cut through red tape to reunite the pair. He also started a national online petition to help persuade the Air Force to act quicker.

“It’s only appropriate and right that the two of them enjoy their retirement from the service together,” Schumer said. “I again want to thank the Air Force and Marines for moving so quickly, and I want to thank the thousands of New Yorkers and Americans who showed their support online.”

Leavey recently told MSNBC that Rex is her partner and she loves him.

“We have been through so much together,” she said. “… I’ve spent day and night with this dog. It’s a very strong bond.”

Thank you, especially. to our dear friend and blog partner, davidseth, who brought this to the attention of our readers at The Stars Hollow Gazette, Docudharma and Daily Kos, with his website, Dream Antilles.

Thank you to our dog loving friend, noweasels, at Daily Kos who had a recommended diary to get more signatures on the petition.

Thank you to Sen. Schumer, who has worked to petition the Department of Defense to reunite Cpl. Leavey and Sgt Rex.

And thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone who signed the petition, sent an e-mail, recommended an article to reunite these two veterans.

My late, beloved dog, Mulder, would approve.

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

I felt a special twinge the other day when I heard that Davy Jones had died of a heart attack at age 66. I thought, “Wow, he was 66? Where has time gone?” I wasn’t alone. The baby boomer generation is aging more rapidly than we care to admit and Davy’s death was a cruel reminder of the passage or our youthful idols.

Davy Jones was the British member a contrived American Rock and Roll group for a 1966 television series that was not so much a parody of the more famous Beatles but a mimic of the group that appealed to a slightly younger fan base. Not quites as popular as the British counterparts but The Monkees had their appeal and their hit songs, “Last Train to Clarksville”, “Daydream Believer” and “I’m a Believer” which became a hit once again when it was redone by Smashing Pumpkins for the movie “Shrek”. Off and on over the years thanks to MTV and the cable network, “Nickelodeon“, “Monkee Mania” was reignited and there were several reunions and tours.

The Monkees were the “cool” group that used to hang around with Frank Zappa, a very young Jack Nicholson, boxer Sonny Liston, famous stripper Carol Doda, Glenn Campbell and members of The Byrds. Many of their songs were written by . Neil Diamond, Gerry Goffin and Carole King, Harry Nilsson, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, and many other highly regarded writers. The musicians that accompanies the group were just as well known and accomplished, drummer “Fast” Eddie Hoh, Lowell George, Stephen Stills, Buddy Miles and Neil Young. The Monkees, too, were accomplished musicians and played their own instruments. From a contrived TV group, they proved to the world that they were a bona fide group.

In February 2011, Davy announced another reunion, An Evening with The Monkees: The 45th Anniversary Tour, which would be his last. Davy sadly passed away on February 29 and with him died part of the youth of many of his fans.

The Wheel Turns. Blessed Be

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

That was Frenchman Dujardin’ reaction to winning the Oscar over favorite American George Clooney. There were the expected winners, “The Artist” taking the top three awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Dujardin’s Best Actor, putting the movies total statue count at six. It was followed closely by “Hugo” with five. The win for Best Actress by Meryl Streep for her portrayal of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady” was an upset for favored nominee, Viola Davis for her role in “The Help“. I’m sure Melissa Harris Perry is pleased, she hated “The Help.” You can find all the winners marked with an asterisk in last night’s Live Blog diary.

It was an interesting night that was both old and new. Old in the age of many of the winners, Christopher Plummer, Best Supporting Actor, at 82 is the Academy’s oldest recipient.”You’re only two years older than me, darling!” Plummer said to the Oscar he was clutching. “Where have you been all my life?” In the ninth stint as host, a much older, comedian Billy Crystal along with a receding hairline was a lot of funnier than last year’s co-hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway. The new was that the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress wasn’t the first award given. As with last year all the life time and humanitarian awards are given the night before at a special ceremony, much like all the technical awards, with the winners announced and introduced en masse. It does shorten the show and the tedium.

There were some politics, inevitable in an election year. On of the proudest moments was when “A Separation“, became the first Iranian movie to win the Best foreign Language Film. In his acceptance speech, director Asghar Farhadi read a statement graciously thanking the Academy:

“At this time, many Iranians all over the world are watching us and I imagine them to be very happy,” director Farhadi said while accepting the Oscar.

“At a time of talk of war, intimidation and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their county, Iran, is spoken here through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics.”

“I proudly offer this award to the people of my country, the people who respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment.”

During last night’s broadcast, Center for Consumer Freedom, a corporate front group run by right-wing PR flack Rick Berman that is closely tied to the food industry purchased air time to run an attack ad on the Humane Society of the United States claiming that only a small percentage of their donations went to shelters. Of course they forgot to include the work the Humane Society does fighting animal cruelty in the courts and in legislatures. Sheesh

One of the most obvious politic quotes came from Tom Hanks, introducing Christian Bale, slyly  quipped, “A dark knight, an American psycho, a charismatic crack addict — you’ll get to choose one on Super Tuesday!”  That’s about right.

Then there were the fashions with the usual hits and misses. Most of the men looked dashing in their tuxedos wit a few minor faux pas, like George Clooney’s Armani pants pooling around the top of his shoes and a number of more well endowed ladies in ill fitting stapless gowns. But the talk of the night were the ladies in red, or shades of red.

Ladies in Red left to right: Livia Firth in Valentino for the Green Carpet Challenge; Natalie Portman in vintage Christian Dior; Jane Seymour.

I guess it’s a matter of taste.

In 1991 at Super Bowl XXV, Whitney gave this flawless performance of the National Anthem that has yet to be matched.

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

Jon Stewart gives his critique of President Obama’s State of the Union.

He doesn’t spare the Republican response for Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels or the GOP candidates.