Grill Extra Vegetables

With the warmer months upon us, it is time to light the grill.

For as much as I love grilling, it is a lot of work-lighting the charcoal, waiting for it to go to hot coals, pre-cleaning the grill, making sure the heat is even, constantly checking food, and after cooking waiting for the ashes to go cold, cleaning up the ashes, putting the cover back on the grill. All the while trying to look cool as you harken back to early man's cooking style and drink beer.

So, when spending all this time and energy, take time to grill some extra vegetables to be added to dishes later in the week.

As I mentioned before, grilled foods taste better after they sit for a few days because the smoky flavor more-deeply infuses into the foods. So, take advantage of this fact and grill extra onions, peppers, mushrooms, corn, squash and any other vegetable you can possibly imagine.

Later in the week these vegetables can be used on pizzas, pasta, omelets, sandwiches, salads, etc. A particular favorite of mine is roasted peppers with cheese and crackers. And a friend once made a salad with chilled roasted vegetables, diced and combine with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and goat cheese-a dish she said she came up with on her own.

Cook once, eat twice.

Support Your Local Library

To paraphrase "The Wire"-"You know what the most dangerous thing in America is, right? A 13-month-old with a library card".

I love my local library; so does my 13-month-old daughter who just got her library card. In addition to the books (which are a great thing) I regularly check out CDs and DVDs, of which there is a great selection at our local branch or available through inter-library loan. Even those of you who live in the suburbs, I know many places have inter-library loans within their counties, so do not assume that you will have a limited selection. Also amazing is that I can manage inter-library loans online, so I don't have to list my myriad of selections to the librarian. In addition to cost-savings by not buying books, CDs and DVDs, I am also not encumbered by keeping these items in my house.

As a music fan, I am able to check out a ton of CDs for free (and legally, as opposed to illegal downloads) especially from genres and artists that I would not normally have bought (e.g. jazz, classical, folk, foreign music, film scores, weird stuff, etc).

The iPod might be one of the coolest inventions ever, but combine it with the library's resources and it becomes absolutely amazing.

Despite being a music lover, my iPod has very little music on it and I do not add or delete music very often. Instead, I primarily use my iPod to catch up on my favorite NPR shows via podcasts and for audiobooks. The library is a great source for audiobooks. In addition to the audiobook CDs available at the library, many library websites have downloadable audiobooks which can be directly imported to your iPod. Although easy to download audiobooks, it might be tricky the first time and I'd be happy to help if you have questions.

With a long commute in the morning, I have been able to listen books by Malcolm Gladwell, Stephen Hawking, Michael Pollan and several other pop culture books that I did not get a chance to read. (Strangely, I find fiction difficult to listen to).

If importing from actual CDs, there will be dozens of tracks and they might disrupt your music playlist if using iTune's random function, but you can correct this and can find some other helpful hints here.

Lastly, if you set your iTunes import setting to "spoken word", audiobooks will take up almost no room on your computer or iPod.

Now go out and get a library card!

Why Upsidedownjenny

As a teenager I learned about the Inverted Jenny (seen above), a rare and expensive stamp.

The basic story is that the stamp is was a misprint with the airmail plane, A Jenny, printed upside down. A stamp collector went into a post office to buy stamps, found a misprinted sheet, hiding his excitement simply bought the entire sheet and left. Those began the story of the Inverted Jenny.

I wrote down the name as "Upside Down Jenny" in my commonplace book, but later learned it was more commonly known of as "Inverted Jenny". Such is life.

Upsidedownjenny became my name for any activities on the internet when I didn't want to use my real name and, for want of a better name, I am using it in my blog. Yawn.

What Would Jesus Buy?

As someone who resists consumerism, I was psyched to see What Would Jesus Buy? I've seen the Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping featured on television before, so I was excited to learn more. Unfortunately, this movie turns to be more like Borat or Brüno than a hard-hitting documentary. That is, Reverend Billy puts on a costume, puts on an accent and puts on a show that freaks out middle America. I wish the movie went a little deeper, but the film keeps it light.

What Would Jesus Buy follows Reverend Billy in the month before Christmas as leads impromptu mock-revival church services in the Disney Store, Starbucks, Walmart headquarters, the Mall of America and other locations with the intent of pointing out the rampant consumerism that has infected Christmas. There's also interviews with "Christmas experts" that talk about how much Christmas has changed and some consumer experts that add a little knowledge about consumer debt. But, the film avoids getting too informative.

The documentary primarily focuses on the Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping on a personal level, and not on their mission, their goals, their performance nor consumerism in general. Instead we learn about the members of the group, including Reverend Billy himself, and not their activism or the reason behind it. Most unfortunately though they tend to focus minimally on the performances themselves, which are rather entertaining.

Lastly, the film follows Reverend Billy during Christmastime, which is an easy target when it comes to critiquing consumerism, but, unfortunately, it is also a sacred cow. Therefore, it takes a special kind of balance to poke fun at Christmastime spending. Unfortunately, this film doesn't have that balance.

When creating a message movie like this there are two routes-keep it light and potentially attract a wider audience or make it hard-hitting and preach to the converted. This film keeps it light and didn't give me much to sink my teeth into. However, I look forward to checking out another movie about Reverend Billy, simply titled Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping.

Cool Car, Cooler Man

Like most men who think about classic style, I am obsessed with Cary Grant. And like a few men, including Steve Urkel, I am obsessed with the BMW Isetta. So, for me, finding this picture this picture is like finding the Rosetta Stone.

I first noticed the Isetta in the Peter Sellers film "The Naked Truth" and was immediately in love.

With the success of the new MINI, there are rumors BMW is creating a new Isetta. But, looking at the concept cars online, the new versions aren't the same. Most obviously, they are much larger and the door is not on the front side of the car.


I regularly check Ebay Motors and other sites and old Isetta are just too expensive, so I guess I will never be an Isetta owner. But, then again, I'll never be Cary Grant. And as Cary Grant said, "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant."

A Good Pair of Shoes Should Last A Man His Entire Life

Years ago I heard someone say that a good pair of shoes should last a man his entire life.

I recently saw a picture of Prince Charles with a patch on his shoe. And in a documentary on PBS about the queen, one of her footmen said he would wear an older pair of shoes on special occasions because those were the better shoes as it take years for a pair of shoes to acquire the desired high-gloss sheen. (Possibly there is an obsession in the British royalty with holding on to one’s shoes).

Shoes lasting an entire lifetime is an exaggeration, but with proper care shoes should last one a good long time.

Here are a couple of simple tips to make your shoes last-

• Do not wear shoes on back-to-back days. Repeated wearing does not allow for the proper drying out that is required to make a shoe last.
  
  
• Use shoes trees. This will prevent the shoe from curling. Cedar ones are recommended as them help to absorb moisture. I bought a pair for $15 at Men’s Warehouse. I see them in consignment shops all the time, albeit rarely cedar. And I saw plastic shoe trees at Ikea for $1. (Aren't your shoes worth the extra dollar?)
  
  
• Keep your shoes polished. There’s debate over whether one should polish their own shoes or not (DIYers say it's an easy chore. While those in favor of contracting it out say it’s a dirty job best left to the professionals who only charge a few bucks anyhow), but regularly polishing shoes help to keep them in good condition, prevents cracking and all those layer of polish add to the sheen.
  
  
• In the winter, wipe the salt off of your shoes with a mixture of water and a little white vinegar.
  
  
• But, most importantly, whether the soles are leather or rubber, make sure your shoes can be resoled. With proper care, your leather upper will last a long time, but eventually your sole will wear out. If your sole is glued on (as are many cheap shoes today) it cannot be resoled. Florsheim has a nice chart on dissecting shoe construction. Soles that are sewn or Goodyear welted can be resoled. With the sad state of affairs that is the modern-day shopping experience, I doubt if the salesman helping you will know if your shoes are resoleable, but if you see stitches and leather on the top of the sole, that it a good sign.

Roast a Whole Bird

A classic weekend meal for us is to roast a whole chicken. Cooking a whole chicken has a few advantages-a whole bird is cheaper pound per pound, easy to cook, almost impossible to overcook, generally more delicious than individual pieces and there are always leftovers meat for other meals.

There is a lot of fear about cooking whole birds stemming from overcooked Thanksgiving turkeys. This is generally caused by huge birds which will have overcooked breasts by the time the dark meat has reached temperature. The solution is to cook a smaller bird; cooking two turkeys for Thanksgiving if needed. (And why not deep-fry or barbecue that second bird? But that's a topic for another day).

The chicken should be at room temperature, which will help cook the bird faster and more evenly. You can achieve this more quickly by giving the bird a bath in room temperature water, refreshing the water regularly.

The Joy of Cooking says to preheat the oven to 450, place the bird in the oven, immediately reduce heat to 350 degrees, cook for 20 minutes per pound cooking until the bird is 185 degrees. The more intense initial heat will give the bird a crispy skin-as will seasoning the bird with salt and pepper inside and out. A properly cooked bird will also be incredibly easy to carve. The wings and legs will loosen, making it easy to find the joints allowing you to cut through them. The breast meat is best cut away from the ribs in two large chunks (one from each side) and then sliced.

Once the meal is over, the real fun begins-leftovers. Preparing for future meals is one of the keys to timesaving. One whole bird will allow you to make several other meals over the next few days-sandwiches, chicken salad, chicken pot pies, enchiladas, tacos, the carcass for soup and the list goes on.

The same applies to leftovers from barbecued chicken with the addition that barbecued food generally tastes better on later days because the flavor of the smoke will continue to infuse deeper into the bird.

One minor word of caution-if planning to use meat for additional meals, it might be best to not give the bird too strong a flavor. I've tried Moroccan, jerk and other uniquely flavored chickens in leftovers and often those flavor don't lend themselves to many of the dishes mentioned above. Or, simply gives the impression you are eating the same meal again and again which defeats the idea repurposing the chicken in other dishes.