King Obama Day

So what did you do for our illustrious leader on King-Obama Day?

As if getting out of school and work wasn't honor enough for the memory of MLKing, Obama has decided that it should be a day of service! The great one has spoken, and the media outlets jumped. They told me that I should dedicate the day before the Great Inauguration to serving those less fortunate than myself. Apparently, from the great long list of organizations in need of service, that would be just about everybody... except me. Who knew I was so fortunate.

Now, I realize that I am about to commit heresy, but I could have sworn that MLK's day was already about service.

Sorry, I didn't mean no disrespect to King-O! I just was trying to point out that we seem to overlook His Honorableship's tendency to reinvent the wheel. When he comes up with an idea, it's as if no one had ever thought of it before. I mean, what about when he is caught putting... get this... peanut butter on jelly? Won't the media have a hayday with that one. Oprah will introduce that KC restaurant that serves peanut butter and jelly. The Food Network will run a special on the history of that long-forgotten treat we once enjoyed. Peanut butter, we will be reminded, was invented by George Washington Carver, while jelly, although brought over by the Pilgrims, was never paired with it until the King (Obama, not Elvis) was in a hurry between an environmental summit and an appointment with Bill Ayers, and asked the White House chef for something sweet and salty. Unfortunately, the kitchen was out of whole wheat bread and alfalfa sprouts, so he just grabbed whatever was closest and threw it together.

I digress.

Happy King-Obama Day!

The Smoky Mountain

Another successful samoke! No ribs this time... those can add up pretty quickly. Instead, I smoked five pounds of pork tenderloin, three large stuffed fatties, and 28 mice. Everything was perfect! I shredded the tenderloin and added the liquid it had braised in for its last hour of tempering. Talk about melt-in-your-mouth goodness!

I found a great finger food: the stuffed fatty. It's pretty simple really. I flatten out a roll of Jimmy Dean Hot sausage (this will go a whole lot easier if done on a sheet of waxed paper), add a bead of cream cheese the length of the fatty, then top it with various things, like mozzarella, cheddar, peppers, onions, sauces, bacon, pepperoni... just whatever sounds good together. My boss had given me a large jar of home pickled peppers! (Best I've ever had) So I laid those out over the cream cheese, added some large sauteed onions, cheddar and mozzarella. Then I rolled those up, sealed the outer sausage up real good, and set them in the smoker until they reached 170 (approx 3-4 hours, if you can keep the cooking temp around 225-260). Then let them set for a little while, and slice them up. Aaaahhhhhhh.... droooooooool. The only problem with them is that they go almost as fast as the smoked mice.

Put all these together with a side of baked mac and cheese, corn, a salad, and some bread, and you've got yourself a pretty good meal.

Now, what to do with those leftovers...

(Special thanks in advance to Paula Deen for the inpiration)
In a sauce pan, heat a can of drained black beans, a can of drained red beans, a small (or large, or medium) can of green chilies, a half a can of stewed tomatoes, kosher salt and pepper (not kosher). Simmer until all the fluid is gone, then smash them all together into a paste. (If I had a food processor, I would see if I could do it in that.)

On a tostada shell (which I made using my brand new... and now often used... deep fryer), spread a scoop of beans, then pulled pork, tomatoes, sour cream, and maybe cheese. We didn't have any lettuce or guaco, or we would have added those, as well. (I'll bet those pickled peppers would have been good. Too bad I used the last of them on my stuffed fatty.)

Flavorful pile of smoked goodness, I dub thee:
"The Smoky Mountain".

Enjoy! And remember: if you still smell clean by dinner time... you probably bought it at a rib joint!

Let It Be

The Practicalist has been on extended hiatus from political commentary. However, I am compelled to add my couple of pennies worth, as war has progressed in the Gaza strip, and the world has decided to add Israel to the list of countries that have no right to defend themselves. Currently, that list, in its entirety, is, as follows, to wit:

1. The United States of America
2. Israel

Welcome, Israel.

Now, the Uniched Nations is getting involved. The human rights (and unearned privileges) council, comprised of Arab and African nations, whose human rights records give them a mandate like no other council before them, are calling for investigations of Israel's wartime activities. Other human rights (and unearned privileges) groups, are also condemning Israel for standing up for its citizens. Of course, wink wink, "without diminishing the responsibility of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups for indiscriminate and deliberate attacks on Israeli civilians."

Well, let's see, doing the research, I have found calls by the UN human rights (and unearned privileges) council for investigation into Hamas and Palestine's actions a total of... let's see... carry the 1... um... aha... zero times.

So, just to be sure I understand the logic here:

Israel conquered the Gaza strip during a war in which it was attacked by multiple neighbors. After being sold out by its staunchest weak-kneed allies, it agreed to provide the strip to Palestinians, should they be capable of governing themselves. As soon as they were given land, those Palestinians turned right around and started bombing and killing Israeli towns, villages, and civilians. Israel sent messages to citizens of certain towns in Gaza telling them that they would soon be bombed, and to please try to not be there when the missiles arrive. Meanwhile, Hamas continues to indiscriminately bomb Israeli civilian locations. Israel puts up with it for a while, knowing that any response would draw severe criticism from "civilized" nations. After so long, and so many deaths of its own civilians, it responds with very targeted, and telegraphed, attacks. And for its decision to lop off the head of the dragon attacking it, rather than merely chinking it with rocks, it is severely condemned by "civilized" nations who can't even avoid terrorizing their own civilians.

Well, I say, go Israel. Do what you've got to do. The rest of the pansies be damned. I don't recall seeing daily tracking numbers of Israelis killed during the last several months of random killings by Hamas. If folks didn't like you before, there's really nothing you can do that would change that. Look out for your own people.