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CK

Still many days until the conventions, any of the four of these folks could become the next DC madam.
It all goes back to the most genius of the politicians of the 20th century:
Here are the rules:
1) It matters not who votes, but who counts the votes matters.
2) No man; no problem.
3) And of course from his forebearer the only serious question in a democracy:
Who, whom.
It is no secret that I supported and voted for Dr. Paul in his last presidential run and had the chance to vote for him again in the PA primary this year. The only thing about the doctor that I dislike is that he makes my cynicism less than 100% accurate.
He is running in his congressional district, unopposed. McCain backed a neocon challenger to Dr. Paul; said challenger received less than 30% of the vote. The dems didn't find a willing bellwhether this time around. Last time it was some relative of "Ol Blue Eyes." He might have broken 40%.
And now on an entirely different subject:
Roast Duck
Stabbed ( 1/8th to 1/4 of an inch) several hundred times with a 4 tined fork.
Soaked for hours in a marinade of:
Retsina Wine
Rosemary
Chervil
Tarragon
Sumac
Savory
Roasted in a slow oven until almost done,
then the oven is jumped to 475-500 for the last 8-10 minutes.
Stuffing: Two schools of thought; Stuffing Is Evil. If you believe that stuffing can cause BadThingsToHappen--- then put a cut orange or several cut lemons or apples or onions inside the cavity while the duck cooks and make your preferred stuffing in a pot. Discard the fruit or onions before serving.
If you prefer your stuffing to absorb some of the bird juices and your bird to absorb some of the stuffing flavours, then make a flavourful stuffing but use a tad less moisture than you would for turkey or chicken. ( Yes I know a tad is not scientific, and ducks are not uniform. For the supplier I use I can cut the moisture by about 1/3rd YMWV.)
Save the duck fat that comes out of all those thousands of little fork holes during cooking...it is the best frying fat in the world. Better than bacon grease, right up there with fresh leaf lard.
Save the giblets, bones, heavier drippings and the onions if you stuffed those into the bird instead of stuffing. Put them in a pot with 3 quarts of COLD water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 1.5 hours. Skim the fat, strain, discard the bones and onion. Voila Duck stock. Better than chicken stock for veggie soup, different than beef stock for French onion soup. I have not yet done a duck demi glacé but it should be no different than doing a veal demi glacé.
Duck ( so far ) in this country have not shown to harbour the salmonella that chickens "somehow" picked up. So WTSHTF, comes TEOTWAWKI, ducks is your friend, chickens is just another republican 5th column Down with the Chickens; Up The Duck.

Elaine Meinel Supkis

CK, I have raised a number of different breeds of ducks including wild ducks not to mention geese. I love water fowl and the very best way to cook them is to stuff them with mushrooms and apples and oranges soaked in sugar. Then you set up a basting pan and put these birds on a spit in front of a good fire and turn the crank...in old days, small dogs were used in these wheels and they would run and turn the spit.

This way, all the drippings go into the pan! You ladle this onto the roasting duck or goose. Stick in some nutmeg and this is quite yummy. The stuffing is made from the drippings, of course, which are carmelized a bit from the fire. You add water and it dissolves again. The duck or goose is done when you can pull off the legs with a gentle twist of the hand.

Also, this method prevents the 'dry meat' thing that people dislike. I have cooked 45 lb turkey toms this way but have to have people help turn the spit. My husband once tried this on a half of a COW! It didn't work. heh. This was before he met me.

Paul Jenkins

I'm looking with horror what's happening because it affects me directly (food and energy prices).
I'm wondering if the administration has considered the blow back in the homeland from the retreat from Iraq (which will happen, when I don't know). What happens in two to five years time when you start seeing IED's being used against homeland security by disaffected soldiers caught in the economic depression? Think about it there will be a lot of downsized soldiers (with experience of urban guerilla warfare) who will rage against the administration and some will take extreme action to express this in order to survive.

CK

@Paul: The closest the USA ever came to your scenario was the veteran's bonus marches at the end of Hoover's administration and the beginning of the Rooseveldt admin. Guerilla warfare requires that those trying to be guerillas can think for themselves. American's mostly can't. American's are very good at running with the herd, following whoever yells the loudest and tugging their forelocks to whoever has the hardest mouth.
@Elaine: Yours sounds delightful. I prefer a stuffing of cornbread, oysters or mussels and andouille with onions or shallots or leeks. Of course the duck must be roasted above the drippings catcher ( I left that out, usually I use one of those adjustable lifters to hold the duck above the pan bottom while it is cooking ). I did a duck a la lekvar once ( Cherries were out of season and I am just not much for orange glaze ). It was a bit sweet but interesting. Since I don't yet do spit cooking, I can only ladle the drippings about twice during the cooking in the oven. My own belief is that most folks cook duck at too high a temp for too long trying to drive out all the "grease" ... that's why I cook it at a lower temp for longer and then use the last ten minutes at supernova temp to crackle the skin. Of course letting it sit for 10 minutes after it comes out of the oven will allow the internal temp to come up another couple of degrees.
So now I am approaching 60 days with 0 credit card debt, the offers of 0% credit cards are beginning to clog the mailbox. I was retrospecting the other day and realized that I have had a credit card since 1965, started in college with a Mobil Gasoline card. 42+ years of debt and payments. It really is an incredible feeling to know that that is over.
Cinquo de Mayo tomorrow, thinking about doing sweetbreads for dinner.

Gavin Gaskins


Dear Elaine,

Like you, I watch very little TV news but I occasionally watch Lou Dobbs on CNN. I have been very surprised by his outright contempt for Obama. Does he really think the other candidates offer any better plans for the country? Clearly,he does not believe in his message of change, but change we must. I've decided that I'll either vote for Obama or I won't vote at all.

Thank you,
GMG

Elaine Meinel Supkis

-Dobbs is a racist. That is all. It blinds people to other realities.


Sad, too. Of course, our media is mostly owned by pro-free trade people. Lou Dobbs is allowed on the air but isn't heavily promoted in OTHER media, you notice, The NYT attacks him like he is a rabid dog. He should pay attention to Ron Paul and try to figure things out better.

JSmith

"For he is now rapidly becoming the Ross Perot of this election and lord knows, we need this very badly. Ron knows he won't win the election..."

But he can be a spoiler, like Rossper Oh was. Maybe. If he pulled enough general election votes to spoil. Question is, whose parade does he want to rain on?

"In my own community, I see LOTS of Ron Paul signs. Even some Huckabee signs."

None of those around her at all. Must be a rural thing.

Elaine Meinel Supkis

No signs where you are: black hole time.

JSmith

There are a few signs around, just not Paul or Huckabee signs. Those candidates never had a lot of traction around here in the first place. And it's a bit early yet for signs - the election isn't until November, believe it or not!

"...black hole time."

I perfer to think of it as sliding down the drain of failed candidacies - now they're a footnote to Chapter 53 of some future history book.

Elaine Meinel Supkis

Ron Paul can certainly be a 'spoiler' in this election.

Moncler Billig

Don't know what is wrong what is rite but i know that every one has there own point of view and same goes to this one

2012 Moncler

I just sent this post to a bunch of my friends as I agree with most of what you’re saying here and the way you’ve presented it is awesome.

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