Saturday, March 11, 2023

Broccoli Chicken Alfredo

10 oz fettucine
 2 cups of broccoli florets
 2 cups of diced rotisserie chicken
1/4 cup butter
1/2 diced onion
 3 cloves of minced garlic
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 of shredded parmesan
 1 cup of half and half

Bring large pot of water to a boil over high heat, add 1/2 tsp of salt for flavor. Cook pasta one minute less than manufacturer's instruction, adding broccoli florets during the final 4 minutes of cooking, drain all in colander. Set aside.

Add butter to 3.5 quart skillet over medium to medium high heat (preferably with a lid), add onion, cook until transparent, add garlic, stir for approximately 30 seconds, add half and half, salt, pepper, nutmeg, red pepper flakes. Stir often and cook until sauce starts to bubble slightly.

Once the sauce is bubbling and begins to cook down, add in parmesan cheese and stir until sauce thickens.

Add in the chicken, pasta and broccoli and stir until fully combined.
Enjoy.

Sunday, January 29, 2023

"Badger", a poem by Ted Smith

 Badger


Deep in the shadows he snuffles and pushes,

his nose riffling down through decaying leaf mushes.

Sniffing out worms, slugs, and beetles,

soft, chewy, crunchy things that he munches and eatles.


Dig, dig, digging with his powerful front claws,

he seeks out such yuck to get in his jaws!

A snail for breakfast, a frog for dinner,

grub and scoff that would make you shiver!


And spotting a Badger is never easy,

especially if it might make you queasy!

You see, with his body grey and his face black and white,

he’s perfectly camouflaged in the depths of the night.


But if you’re prepared to crouch down and don’t mind getting mucky,

happy to wait in the hope to strike lucky,

then you might see him crashing through brambles

'cos he’s tough as old boots as he bashes and scrambles.


Mind, despite all his racket, he’s really quite shy.

I’ve heard he wouldn’t say boo to a goose, or a fly.

So, if you’re quiet as a mouse, you might just get a glimpse.

No, watching for badgers ain’t for wimps!


Then, as the sun comes up and begins to shine brightly,

with his belly quite full and not feeling so sprightly,

he returns underground to his home called a sett,

which, surprise, surprise, is dry, not wet.


And there, all day, he sleeps, snoring soundly,

snuggled up warm with the rest of his family,

until, once again, as it begins to get dark,

he noses the air and ventures out for the lark. 

~Ted Smith

(I my opinion, this would make a lovely children's book.)

Ted Smith short bio: "I’m an optimist, an aspiring writer, a painter of all sorts (figurative abstract and decorator and restorer of ancient ol' buildings)


I’m a political animal too, pro EU, anti Brexit, and someone that enjoys reasoned and respectful debate. 
Labour Party member but forced to vote LibDems because of the iniquity of the UK’s ridiculous FPTP Voting System. 


Also, I'm a dad a second time around (must be mad, but I love it) and a granddad.


'Life in the ol' dog yet, eh?'"

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Streaming Update for My Own Sake

Road to the Lemon Grove

King Richard

The Changling

Molly's Game

Set it Up

Arrival

Come Rain, Come Shine

The Big Sick

Maria Full of Grace

Night Manager (series)

Kennedy's (uk series)

Paterson

Dunkirk

Persuasion (NF 2022)

I Want You Back 

Operation Mincemeat (NF 2022)

Love and Marriage

Barry (HBO series)

Packed to the Rafters (Aussie TV series, 6 seasons)

Emergency

13 Lives

Virgin River (new season)

Friends with Money

The World According to Garp

Licorice Pizza

Nice Guys

Departed

League of Their Own (new series)

The Town

I Am Legend

House of Gucci

Lost City

Guilt

Wolf of Wall Street

Afternoon Delight

River Runs Through It

Catastrophe

Catch Me if You Can

Lean On Pete

Middle of Nowhere

Sex Education

Father Stu

Howl's Moving Castle

I Used to Be Famous

Great British Baking (new season)

Mad to Be Normal

Lou

Earthsea

Hope Gap

(A Silly Cowboy Movie?)

Van Ver Valk

Catherine Called Birdie

Colette

All the Old Knives

Spirited Away

Seaside Hotel

The Chair

Hello, My Name is Doris

The Inside Man

Mo

Dr. Thorne

Captain Phillips

A Man Called Ove

The Crown

Elsa and Fred

Pieces of a Woman

Young Adult

Age of Adaline

Midnight Sky

Three Pines (series)

His Dark Materials (new season)

Tucker the Man and His Dream

Amsterdam

Pinocchio (new)

Vera (series)

Murders Only in the Building (new season)

The Old Man (Hulu series)

Glass Onion

People Will Talk

Good Luck to You Leo Grande

She's Funny that Way

Dog

A Tall Dark Stranger

Back to the Rafters (Aussie series)


Friday, December 23, 2022

Henry Faulk's Christmas Story



December 9, 2005
The gifted storyteller and former radio broadcaster John Henry Faulk recorded his Christmas story in 1974 for the programVoices in the Wind.

Faulk was born to Methodist parents on August 21, 1913. The fourth of five children, he attended the University of Texas. For his master's thesis, he researched ten sermons in African-American churches and gained insight into the inequity of civil rights for people of color. He later taught English at the University and served as a medic in the Marines during World War II.

Before the John Henry Faulk Show debuted in 1951 on WCBS Radio, Faulk hosted numerous radio programs in New York and New Jersey.

He was blacklisted in 1957, but with (click here to read the rest on NPR) . . .