The Best Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe

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So today I tried an experiment. I took two different recipes and adapted them together. The first was a brine, the second was for the roasting. Here’s what I did in case you want to try it…

Brine:

  • 2 gallons Water
  • 1 gallon Apple Juice
  • 1c Kosher Salt
  • 3/4c Packed Brown Sugar
  • 1 1/2c Maple Syrup

Combine in brining bag or unscented trash bag in 5 gallon bucket, cooler, etc. Use your imagination. Just keep the turkey refrigerated and totally covered in liquid during this process. Brine about 12 hours or overnight.

Once done brining, pat the turkey dry and continue with this roasting recipe:

  • 1c butter (room temp)
  • 2T Rosemary
  • 2T Thyme
  • 1 Onion (quartered)
  • 1 Granny Smith Apple (quartered)
  • 4 Garlic Cloves
  • 6 sprigs of Rosemary
  • 6 Sprigs of Thyme
  • 3c Apple Juice
  • 1c Water

Combine butter, rosemary and thyme together and rub under turkey skin. Rub any leftover butter mix all over turkey. Insert onion, apple, garlic, rosemary and thyme sprigs into turkey cavity and tie legs together. Place in roasting pan along with the apple juice and water. Roast per instructions for turkey size covering with foil once skin browns. Temperature should read 180°F in thickest part of the breast and leg. Remove from oven, cover with foil and let stand 30 minutes before carving. Enjoy!

Body Scans. Who’s The Real Terrorist?

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Months ago, Big Brother was touting their body scanners and showing us images like this:

Body Scan Image

And this:

Body Scanner Image

Now, after a PR nightmare, and public backlash over the devices (scanner or else… [pat down]) DHS releases this photo:

Body Scanner Image

DHS tells us its this blurry. They say the face is blanked out. They expect us to believe this picture is real.

On an image of that quality, would could you really find a weapon? I don’t think so. But they expect us to believe them.

TSA wants to force you through these scanners. If you refuse, you are subject to a public, humiliating full body pat down. Personally, I don’t want anybody (else) grabbing my balls. This “do what we say or else” mentality is getting out of control.

By definition, the word “terrorism” means:

the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion

By that definition, I believe the TSA and DHS just qualified themselves of terrorists. Who do we send in to round them up?

Melt in your mouth BBQ chicken (on a gas grill)

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Photo credit: VirtualErn

I had the opportunity yesterday to grill some chicken leg quarters on my gas grill and everybody raved about how moist they were and that the meat just fell off the bone. I figured I’d share a few tips so that you’ll never have to eat dry, overcooked chicken again.

The key to the whole process is temperature. Low and slow, like BBQ. Ok, not quite, but we’re not going to cook them on high either. Somewhere middle of the road, around medium temperature or about 350°F. Chicken skin tends to melt and flare up around 400° leading to black chicken that nobody wants to eat.

Once you get your grill warmed up, I like to wipe some olive oil on the grates to keep things from sticking. You can also use PAM, but only the kind made to be sprayed on a grill. Place your chicken leg quarters bone side down, with the skin up. Cook them for about 20 minutes, keeping an eye out w/ a squirt bottle of water for flare ups. If you keep your temperature around 350°F, flare ups should be rare. After the first 20 minutes, flip them over and coat the now cooked bottom with a BBQ sauce of your choice. I prefer Sweet Baby Ray’s.

After the second 20 min cooking period, flip them back over so that the skin side is up, coat that in BBQ sauce. Cook them this way for 10 minutes, then flip them over for a final 10 minutes. All this does is help cook the BBQ sauce on a bit and finish cooking the chicken. The temperature is low enough that your BBQ sauce will not burn so don’t worry. Pull the leg quarters off the grill and let them rest for a few minutes on a plate then enjoy!

Total cooking time for a 10-14oz chicken leg quarter should be about 60 minutes. You should also double check w/ an instant read thermometer before you pull them off the grill. The meat thermometer should read about 165°F.

Capital “P”s, Communities, and Conspiracy Theories

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I’m sure you’ve heard about the debate with WordPress vs WordPress. There was a patch committed to WordPress 3.0 that automatically converts it to include an uppercase P and follow the WordPress branding. This was added as as an easter egg of sorts to help the WordPress brand, and while I don’t have an issue with it, I do have an issue with the way some in the community reacted to it.

The problem with easter eggs is they’re supposed to be found by those in the community and they’re supposed to be fun. Of course, there was no hiding this one. The revision was committed in the public eye, but without a ticket. I don’t think there was much need for a ticket and public discussion because this has been in play on WordPress.com for a few years now. Of course, some argue that there was no community input because there was no trac ticket.

The one legitimate issue I could find with this patch was the fact that because the way it corrects text, it can possibly break image links and directories. I’m sure this is only in a minor percentage of cases, because as most have learned, their hosting environment is case sensitive and they use all lowercase directory and file names. This has since been fixed for trunk and 3.0.1 in revisions 15377 and 15378.

This begs the question, if this patch worked properly and didn’t break links, would we even be in this situation? Would the few squeaky wheels be complaining about Matt and Automattic doing their will and not respecting the community? Would this issue have been blown out of proportion? Would anything have even been said about it?

As usual, some in the community to complained. I’ve heard all sorts of excuses from editing user’s content (albeit just a spelling correction), to the capital P caused the BP oil spill. Yes, I’m not joking. Conspiracy theories breed conspiracy theories. There have even been parody sites made– capitalp.org and lowercasep.org

This brings about another point– I recently had a discussion with Aaron Brazell regarding the WordPress community and complaining. The point he made was that if it doesn’t affect your bottom line (income) stop complaining about it. All you do is waste your breath, waste your time, and don’t make as much money as you could. By directing your resources to other places, such as your business or contributing patches to WordPress, you can further better yourself and the WordPress community.

As usual though, there’s always a few that want to complain, and while I won’t mention them by name (they know who they are), I hope they take one thing away from this post– focus your time on making WordPress and the WordPress community better instead of complaining about this or that. Please  stop coming up with conspiracy theories about Matt, WordPress and Automattic; they’re rarely true. Its not an issue of principal, Matt, or Automattic; its an issue of making things better. Focus your time on creating a patch to fix the filter and fix the bug. That helps improve the community.

Is this Spam?

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I just received this email with an image attachment. Should I open it?

From: Harold Wagner <aughton@wtpsmercer.k12.nj.us>
Subject: Hello

Hello my the surprised Friend!

I understand, that you are surprised now, when this letter has arrived
to you. BUT I ASK YOU TO SPEND 5 MINUTES, your time and have read it
up to the end then probably it will change your and my life. At first
I wish to tell a little about myself. My name is Mariya. To me of 37
years. I live in a city under name Kirov, it is a small city in
northern part of Russia. I not married and never was. I also do not
have children. I have left school then has finished institute on a
trade of "economist". If it is interesting to you I will necessarily
tell about it, but now not in it the purpose dear friend.
Recently, I watched TV and saw, that in Russia there are 35000000
women who live without men, and there are such agencies of marriage
which have many electronic addresses, and such agency can help to find
for women the suitable man. I have gone to one of such agencies, and
have addressed to them with inquiry that they have found for me the
good man. They have informed at once me, that in Russia I should
search for the good and decent man very long time. Then they have
offered me acquaintance to the man from other country, on what I have
looked from a positive side. As I know, that at us in the country of
the man, do not appreciate women, is possible because women several
times more.
In general, I have agreed to strike up acquaintance to the man from
other country, and they have given me your electronic address. Having
told that you the lonely fair and decent man who searches for the
woman for creation of relations. Then I took your electronic address
and have gone to the cafe Internet to write you the letter. Here now
you can my letter see. I have written you it with hope, that you will
answer to me. I have inserted one my photo that you could see, my
appearance and to solve for you directly completely, you will like to
begin dialogue and relations with me or not. Only I ask, concern my
letter seriously, look my photo, the letter, think and solve,
precisely you would like to have the correspondence with me? I do not
wish to be the friend, it is not necessary, I am ready to serious
relations. It is very necessary to love, give my love to the MAN and
family creation. If you really wish to have serious relations with me
write to me. If you do not want to have a relationship with me, just
do not respond to my letter, I can understand everything myself. And
nevertheless, I wish to tell to you, that my photo is made not
professionally, but you see me, such what I in a life. And you can
precisely define such woman as I am necessary for you or not. Very big
inquiry as wanted if you however interested in me write to me about
your e-mail where we can speak with you and small good photos you.
Like everything, that I wished to tell you, and now I only need to
wait from you for the answer, and I hope you write to me. If I was not
pleasant to you, or serious relations are not necessary for you then
do not write me anything, I will understand!

I hope your new friend, I hope that I can become for you friend
Mariya!

You can send your letter and photo to this email address:  mashaneebet@BonBon.net

The lonely woman from Russia Mariya.

BBQ Tweetup

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Overview

As some may have heard, we’ll be hosting a BBQ Tweetup at our house this summer. It will be held on Saturday, July 31st at 2PM. Food will be served around 4PM. There will be a $5 cover for adults, because (good) meat is, well, expensive. The party will be held at my house in Goldsboro, PA

Update

50% of all proceeds will be donated to the American Bird Conservancy to assist in oil cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Menu (What I’ll Be Providing)

  • Pulled Pork
  • Baby Back Ribs
  • BBQ Chicken
  • Corn on the Cob
  • Rolls
  • Cornbread Muffins
  • Soda (limited quantities, extra requested[Coke, Sprite, Gingerale])
  • Water
  • Plates, Napkins, Plasticware

Update: My neighbor will be donating a 30 pack of Coors Light, a 24 pack of Yuengling, and a (2)24 packs of Corona.

If you’d like to add to the menu, you can bring a covered dish, desert, chips, soda, etc. Alcohol is more than welcome, but it is BYO.

The Afterparty

As the sun goes down, we’ll get a bonfire started and you’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like. We’ll have stuff to make s’mores if you’d like. If you’re coming from further away and wish to stay overnight, there will be an area where you can set up your tent and camp out as well as a few hotels 10-15 min away.

To RSVP

If you plan on attending, please email me at ryanduff [at] gmail [dot] com to let me know how many will be attending. Upon RSVP, I’ll send you the exact street address.

Other Misc Notes

  • Seating will be limited, but I’ll try and get as many tables and chairs as I can. If you have folding chairs, please bring them. We’ll need some for the bonfire as well, if you plan on staying.
  • I think I have a set of horseshoes, but if you have any other picnic games, feel free to bring them and we’ll find a place to set them up.
  • Since BBQ is cooked low and slow, I’ll only be able to make so much of each meat within the time frame. If it looks like we’re not going to have enough, I’ll also plan on cooking some hamburgers and hot dogs. As it stands, I’ll be starting the pulled pork at 7:30PM Friday night so that I have time to cook the ribs and chicken and be done at 4PM Saturday…
  • I could use a hand with prep and set up Saturday morning. If anybody would like to volunteer to help out in the kitchen, etc please let me know. As an incentive, there will be no cover charge if you volunteer and help out.
  • There will be no rain date. I will have covered areas so hopefully the weather cooperates.

Guest List (local tweeps)

  • @dziner
  • @imthegirl
  • @williamsba / @amber331 – Veggie tray, dip
  • @onefinejay – watermelon, salad, dressing
  • @hodgepodgery / @mdguzy – Spinach, strawberry, and pecan salad; baked beans
  • @mpthomas1
  • @privatestorm
  • @jgillette
  • @tyrannytierny
  • @edgrohl
  • @alobodig
  • @phillip_copley – (2) 12 packs of soda
  • @deuscain
  • @sandrasarcasm – veggie burgers, cookies
  • @rhoadesrage – chips, cheese dip
  • @sarah_sherrif / @asg_warlord – chips, guacamole
  • @bpolensky / @ljoreo
  • @dahcheet – chips
  • @mattheyfrey
  • @technog33k
  • @christinerobyn
  • @rycoco
  • @kulabk – pasta salad
  • @dani_pa – pasta salad
  • @kimparsell
  • [neighbors / family] – brownies (2x), watermelon, pasta salad, fruit salad, potato salad, baked beans

If Healthcare Sounds Too Good To Be True, It Probably Is

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Saw this in Linda Rhodes’ Our Parents, Ourselves column in today’s Patriot News.

Q: My parents saw an ad for a new health insurance plan as a result of the Health Care Reform law, but it sounded too good to be true. How can they tell?

A: The first red flag is that it’s “too good to be true.” Scam artists are savvy at telling consumers what they want to hear. Insurance fraud experts caution that if the deal seems too good — like you’ll get full coverage, no pre-existing conditions, cheap premiums, no medical exam or detailed questions to answer — then you are likely being scammed.

Now, I’m not sure if it was inadvertant, but it sounds a heck of a lot like what the democrats promised. In short, yes, the American people got fleeced.

I wonder why the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud has not gone after Lord Obama, Commander Pelosi, Count Reid, et al. for this travesty they call “reform.”

Why the Government Takeover of Healthcare is Wrong

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So, you want a few reasons why the healthcare takeover is wrong? Here’s some for starters:

  • The 10th Amendment Prohibits It
  • One-Size-Fits-All Will Never Work
  • No Federal Government Program Has Been Successful

The 10th Amendment prohibits Federal Takeover

The 10th Amendment says that all powers not explicitly granted in the Constitution or Bill of Rights is reserved to the states.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Nowhere in the US Constitution nor the Bill of Rights states that the Federal Government must provide healthcare to all citizens. Therefore it is a job to be taken care of at the state level.

Why One-Size-Fits-All Will Never Work

To further add to the argument that states should take care of these issues, is that “We the People” are a diverse people. Compare one region to another and they’re guaranteed to have different ideals or ways to do things. The Founding Fathers reserved powers to the states for just that reason. They knew that if they tried to make everybody fit the same mold, it would not work. At some point in time, we decided to allow the Federal Government to take over things and look where we are now… they want to take over everything.

No Federal Government Program Has Been Successful

Face it, can you name a federal program that works as promised? Social Security, Medicare, Department of Education, Department of Energy… they’ve all failed, yet we keep throwing more money at them to try and sustain them. They’re products of failed promises and failed budget estimates, usually because of government bloat and self-interest. Each and every program costs the taxpayer more and more money to run, yet we see no progress. At conception of the Department of Energy, we relied 35% on foreign energy, now its 70%. The goal of DoE never worked out, yet we keep funding it.

Education is another great example. We try and fit kids into a mold, yet at the same time we preach that each person is their own individual. Do you learn the same way I do? Not everybody does, yet we try and force all kids in public schools to learn the same way. In the end, we handicap the smart kids just to try and make children with disabilities meet the same bar. What sense does that make? If local governments could manage education, and the taxes to support the local schools, they could vote, and determine what gets taught. In the end, everybody would get a better education.

Conclusion

As you can see, the Founding Fathers prohibited the Federal Government from taking over things for a smart reason, one size does not fit all. Every case where the Federal government has taken power over an area, it hasn’t worked and its for that one reason alone. Let the state and local governments take care of your issues, and we’ll all be better off.

2010 Resolutions – 1 Month In

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Today is February 1st. Where are you as far as your New Years resolutions?

I’m not one to make a whole list of resolutions, but I have one major thing I wanted to accomplish this year. Form my consultancy and make it profitable by the end of the year. I’m still working on the website, but I have gotten my business cards done and handed some out. In return, I do have some clients and potential clients. I hoped to have my website done weeks ago, but due to other circumstances, that has been delayed. So, I am making progress, just not at the rate I would like.

With a baby on the way… April 1st if she decides to stay in until full term, I do need to get working on getting things done now. I also need to finish the nursery– sooner rather than later.

How have you been doing with your New Years resolutions? Are you on schedule, ahead of schedule, or behind schedule one month into 2010?