Qsilv

In the vein of Gashlycrumb, a poem arrived in my email this morning from a friend who doesn't normally send such things--



George

[Who played with a Dangerous Toy, and suffered a Catastrophe of considerable Dimensions]

When George's Grandmamma was told
That George had been as good as gold,
She promised in the afternoon
To buy him an Immense BALLOON.
And so she did; but when it came,
It got into the candle flame,
And being of a dangerous sort
Exploded with a loud report!
The lights went out! The windows broke!
The room was filled with reeking smoke.
And in the darkness shrieks and yells
Were mingled with electric bells,
And falling masonry and groans,
And crunching, as of broken bones,
And dreadful shrieks, when, worst of all,
The house itself began to fall!
It tottered, shuddering to and fro,
Then crashed into the street below-
Which happened to be Savile Row.

When help arrived, among the dead
Were Cousin Mary, Little Fred,
The Footmen (both of them), the Groom,
The man that cleaned the Billiard-Room,
The Chaplain, and the Still-Room Maid.
And I am dreadfully afraid
That Monsieur Champignon, the Chef,
Will now be permanently deaf-
And both his aides are much the same;
While George, who was in part to blame,
Received, you will regret to hear,
A nasty lump behind the ear.

Moral:
The moral is that little boys
Should not be given dangerous toys.

----Hilaire Belloc

marius

Qsilv, that was wonderful fun! Thanks for sharing it!!!

marius

Yesterday when we were out of town, part of what we did was attend a 4.5 hour cooking class and meal with Jeff the Chef. We made four soups, one stew and bread pudding. My favorites were the potato leek and the Quick Caldo Verde (Portuguese Sausage and Greens). Spouse's favorites were the potato leek and the Beef Daube with Prunes and Dark Beer.

Here's one of my favorites ... however, it was incredibly rich so when we make it, we'll probably leave out the heavy cream. (Tee hee - maybe we are too used to the taste of skim milk? LOL!)

Potato/Leek Soup and Clam Chowder Variation

1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 Leeks, white part only, cleaned and sliced
3-4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
3 c. low sodium chicken broth
1 c. whole milk
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 large celery stalk, diced
1 c. heavy cream

Directions:
1. sweat the leeks and russet potatoes in the butter for about ten minutes.
2. Add the broth and milk, cover, and cook until very tender, about 30 min.
3. Puree, then add remaining ingredients (including the two other potatoes) and cook until veggies are tender. Adjust seasoning and add more milk if too thick.

Clam Chowder Variation
1. replace 1 c chicken broth with one 8 oz. bottle of clam juice.
2. add 2-3 cans of clams [or several pounds of live clams that have been scrubbed, remember to discard any unopened clams]

Notes:
-when using canned clams, do not cook very long/hot or they turn into rubber. : )
-to "sweat" means to cook vegetables in fat without them turning brown
-to use the "white part" of leeks, just cut them about in half. You'll still have some green, but not a lot
-neat way to clean leeks: after removing green part, slice leeks length-wise in halves so you have four halves. Hold "bulb" or root end of each half and make several length-wise slices to the end, but don't cut through the root end. You'll end up with a kind of "leek broom or brush." Then still holding root end, hold the "leek brush" under water with the loose ends pointed down. This will get out the sand. Cut off the bulb end and toss. Then cut up the remaining "broom part."

Dragon

Robin added this link on her Favorite Recipes thread. It's tips on cleaning leeks. I found it very helpful.
http://www.cookthink.com/blog/?p=171

Dragon

This is a Potato/Leek soup I made the other night, it turned out fabulous and was really easy.

Potato and leek soup

Ingredients
1 cup butter
2 leeks, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 quart chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 cups Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups heavy cream

Directions
1.In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Cook leeks in butter with salt and pepper until tender, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes.
2.Stir cornstarch into broth and pour broth into pot. Add the potatoes and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in the cream, reduce heat and simmer at least 30 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Season with salt and pepper before serving.


Now I used half and half instead of heavy cream and I added about 3 cloves of minced garlic to the leeks while sauteeing them.

sheftali52

Yum--leeks! Loved marius' method for cleaning leeks. Should've done that the other night, when I prepared a broccoli bisque soup that contained leeks. There was still some sand in the leeks--made for a crunchy soup every few sips--not what I wanted to achieve! Great sounding recipe, Dragon.

belladonnis

I left this on Goldies Channel but wanted to leave it here as well. This kid is amazing!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1203226/Pictured-Incredible-watercolour-paintings-boy- aged-just-SIX.html

matthew

Yes Bell, I saw that on the Goldie Channel where he was 1st discovered... Baldur Radio gets 2nd pickings...

Still the kid is a freak of nature... Never has a 6 year old had that kind of natural talent.

Can you imagine that kids art teacher who is used to teaching scribblers. She is suddenly confronted with teaching a 1st grader with skills like this...

Baldur

What if it's not really a 6 year old? He could be Computer generated imagery (CGI).
Very impressive work nonetheless, how do we get him here on ThinkDraw.

I'm loving all these contributions we've been seeing on RadioBaldur lately, Thank you everyone.
Here's something I found off on a tangent to the ubertalented kid's paintings:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/7072989/Realistic-models-by-Matthew -Albanese.html

Baldur

Today at Chez Baldur it is sunny and in the 50s (F).
I was able to take the evergreen garlands down from the front entrance and the lamp-post. Until today they had been crusted in ice.
Then finding the soil somewhat soft Baldur went out to the vegetable garden and pulled up 4 smallish turnips for this evening's supper.
Frost only improves their flavor, they are still firm and beautiful.

Baldur

We also went to le Spoon Greasee for breakfast.
Surviving that Robert and I did some marketing.
The larder is slightly replenished now with eggs, potatoes and onions.

Tonight is my scheduled online qualifying test for the game show 'Jeopardy'.
Is television ready for Baldur?
Is Baldur knowledgable in the right topics for television
Contemporary popular culture questions are my downfall. I wouldn't recognize Brangelina or Bennifer if they knocked on my front door bearing autographed photos of themselves. Baldur doesn't watch nearly enough television or listen to current top 40 music.
This could be a problem.

Dragon

Good luck on your Jeopardy test Baldur! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Hopefully they won't ask too many pop culture questions. (Personally, if Brangelina showed up at my door with autographed photos I would know them, but I don't think I would care all that much. Though the photos might fetch a couple dollars on e-bay).

marius

Good luck, Baldur! Crossing fingers AND toes for you!

Dragon, LOL at selling the photos on Ebay. You crack me up!

Robindcr8l

For Baldur:

http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=80204

indigo

GOOD LUCK BALDUR! Toes, fingers, arms, legs, eyes (lol)
all crossed....sending positive waves your way.......

Baldur

Qsilv, I loved the 'George' poem.
Thank you everyone for your encouragement. The test takes place at 8PM, (EST). How can one study for this?

I did learn a new word today.
'Sastrugi'; which are hard waves of drifting snow, a condition encountered by Antartic explorers

Baldur

That definition didn't come out right, my apologies.
The hard waves of snow are not drifting.
The drifting snow compacts and is eaten away through wind erosion until it resembles waves.
The terrain is sculpted and beautiful, but very difficult to traverse.

Baldur

Baldur baked pot pies for dinner this evening.
Robert is having one filled with leftover beef stew. Mine is prepared with braised vegetables, mostly turnips and potatoes (with a few peas for color) in a vegetable broth gravy.

belladonnis

Good luck Baldur!
Ya know I was thinking.......the kid may not be real.......its really matthew!!!
The pot pies sound delicious!! I had Taco Bell:( Ash won that one!

Baldur

Thank you belladonnis.
Alright everyone, here goes Baldur into the dark unknown.
Hopefully Brangelina won't pull me down prematurely.....