today

Did you know...

On this day many a year ago Joan of a Ark or Arc or Arch or whoever was burned at the stake? Man, what a way to go. No, thank you.

One of the groovy things about living in the Seattle area is how far north we are. Though I grew up here, I didn't realize "the north effect" until after we moved here from NY/NJ. If the story is to be believed, we are the city farthest north of any Major League team. Think about that: Chicago, New York, Boston! Take that, Toronto!

What that means for our day to day lives... Its all about the light & the weather. In the winter it can get gray and oh so dreary. The days in winter are short, dark like a storm is coming, and cloudy. in short, they suck.

fun fact: it rains more in NYC than it does in Seattle, and has for years and years. people in NY always have something cute to say about the rain in seattle. it rains on more days of the year here, yes, but it still rains less here overall. it's all about how fast it comes down. in Seattle in May it rains an average of 2.1 inches. When we were in NJ a few weeks ago in rained more than two inches in one day. in NY in May it rains an average of 4.7 inches. it rains more there, bitches! end interlude.

Seattle days in summer... ah, the days in summer. we live for the days in summer. the days in summer are loooooong, often cloudy in the a.m. and sunny in the afternoon and early evening. if it's cold in the morning then it generally will be warm in the afternoon.

speaking of light: we will have 16 hours of daylight today, and we're not even to the solstice yet. 16 hours!

16 hour days mean more time for grilling. we got a new grill a week and a half ago and have already made burgers, sausage, steak, and fish tacos. thank goodness it's grilling season again!

happy friday, world!

another goodwill find

happy May Day, world! only four days to Cinco de Mayo, where we "honor our Mexican brothers" by drinking tequila and dos equis while learning or remembering nothing of Mexican culture or history. isn't it AWESOME how all holidays are really just fodder for the big corporations to sell us products? after all, we're not "customers" we're "consumers", right? consumers of, say... margarita mix and tortilla chips.

on the radio this morning they were discussing whether or not we're in a recession, which is just such a ridiculous premise. recent stats indicate that consumer spend increased last month by four-tenths of a percent (00.4%). all these jackasses are pointing to that to say "hey look everyone we're GROWing! yeah!" which is .... I mean, PR for a turd is just stupid. I don't care how much you tell me that a certain turd is awesome - my nose still works and it still smells like a turd, you know?

as it turns out, most of the increased spend last month ("growth") was due to inflation, which is caused by to the falling value of the dollar, which is hurt by the fed's continued cutting of interest rates. the actual true "growth" was only one-tenth of one percent (00.1%). the economy - I believe the technical term for it - is "in the shitter". I don't know if that translates to the dictionary definition of "recession" or not, and I don't care. it costs me "too much" for a tank of gas and it costs "more than it's supposed to" for food because it takes gas to transport food and if you need to fly somewhere then you're "screwed" because jet fuel costs have gone up faster than regular gas.

if you're responsible for the lousy state of our economy then I say "screw you".

anyhow, forget all that. this past weekend we visited the almighty Goodwill once again. it was a fairly routine visit, plenty of searching but not much buying. one thing we DID pick up, though, was this little guy:

it's as it appears, a sturdy & rustic little trunk. all the hardware on it works perfectly and it only cost us $12. it's probably due for a paint job, but will be great to store Fenix's books or toys or whatever, and since it's wood it's right up our alley for things we like.

sorry about all that rambling 'bout the economy. happy May Day!

Trader Joes

I wish there was a trader joe's within walking distance from my house. do you shop at trader joe's? if not - if it's not even something you've thought of before - then you should get with the program. they're an eclectic grocery store. they definitely don't have everything - I've never successfully purchased breadcrumbs from tj's - but the stuff they do have - my oh my.

they're generally on the smaller side - they are a "market" not a "supermarket". but there's still produce and meats and cheeses and vitamins and shampoo and beer and wine.

the things that sets them apart are
... lots of food that's heat and eat that's not terrible for you OR disgusting. you're still supposed to cook all your meals and not eat from a box, but on the night when you're just not going to cook no matter what, this is better than the fast food option by miles and miles.
... 2 gallon apple juice jugs for five bucks - good apple juice, too, the cloudy stuff
... many organic choices for meats and cheeses and dairy and all kinds of stuff like that. why in the world do products have to be labeled if they're organic? it should be the other way around. "made with poison!" or "toxins added - no extra charge!". so messed up.
... beer and wine - many a yummy wine can be found at tj's in the $5 range. plus lots of beers
... there's many more, but I have to end the post at some point so I'll go with tj's brands - they don't make their own (whatever), but they partner up with some sweet companies for some awesome products. you kind of have to comparison shop and shop at other places and overspend to truly appreciate what they bring to the table in this regard, but trust me.

anyhoo, shop at trader joe's & live better. be good!

Whisky!

today we bring you a family favorite and big hit at parties - our house whiskey. you don't actually make the whiskey... this is really one of those "take some whiskey and make it better" type of things. enjoy!


McG family recipe – Sweet & Spicy Whisky

Ingredients
· cheap whisky (after trying several I've settled on Black Velvet as my default )
· 1 cinnamon stick
· 2 vanilla beans
· regular honey

Other stuff you’ll need
· a funnel
· 2 quart size mason jars
· a glass measuring cup
· a coffee filter (a strainer can do in a pinch)

Process
first, taste the whisky – it’s important that you have a feel for what your base is. a tablespoon is probably enough.
· drop the cinnamon stick into the bottle of whisky
· wait 2 days, shake it up, then taste the whisky. the cinnamon will need to be in there for 2-6 days depending on how fresh/potent your cinnamon is & your personal taste. you’ll know that “it’s done” when you can clearly taste the cinnamon – it should add depth and spice.
· don’t rush! the process is half the fun.
· when the cinnamon essence is properly represented in the whisky, pour the entire bottle equally into your 2 mason jars. remove the cinnamon & discard.

now it’s time to add vanilla!

· Here’s a quick primer on how to prepare vanilla (from Official McG Family Vanilla Bean Supplier - they have a store on eBay)
· split the bean as described, scrape out the caviar, then dump the caviar and the bean pod into your mason jar, one bean per jar. don’t chop up the bean pod as described in the tutorial - you want the bean pod in large pieces for easy removal later.
· shake the jars. shake ‘em! every day until you pull the vanilla, shake the jars.
· just like the cinnamon, now it’s time to wait & taste. it will probably be 2-7 days depending on the freshness of your vanilla beans.
· make sure to shake the jars before tasting - a teaspoon is probably enough to taste.
· you’ll know it’s done when you can clearly taste the vanilla – it should add flavor and your whisky should taste smoother.

you’ll need to filter the debris at this point.
· shake your jars up - then pour the whisky from your mason jars back into the bottle it came in. after you spill all over the counter you’ll remember that a funnel is listed above.
· even if you don't drink coffee, having a reusable filter in your house can come in quite handy at times like these. there's also an advantage to not chopping up the vanilla bean pod - it should be easy to pull that out.
· note that the more you filter the more clear your fluid will be. if you don't mind little vanilla bean flecks in the whisky then minimal filtering is required – just yank out the chunks.
· note, however, that flecks mean that you have to shake it up before you pour since the flecks will settle to the bottom.
· if you filter through a re-usable coffee filter there will probably be some flecks. if you use a paper filter there will probably be very few flecks. your call.

all right, home stretch! next we gotta incorporate the honey
· pour three or four ounces of whisky into your measuring cup. add *only a little bit* of honey, say 1/2 shot glass per 1 liter of whisky.

· you can always add more later, but if you add too much then it will be way too sweet.
· put your measuring cup into the microwave and heat the bejeesus out of the whisky/honey.
· after a minute, take it out every 30 seconds or so and stir it up.
· you want it to get hot enough that *every bit* of that honey incorporates into the whisky. this might take a couple minutes - don't rush it.
· if you don't get the honey hot enough at this point then it won't fully be incorporated into your beverage & it will settle at the bottom of the bottle - so you'll have to shake before pouring - then it will settle at the bottom of the glass. you don't want whisky with a honey caboose - you want equal parts honey throughout the whole thing. so, like I said, heat the bejeesus out of it.
· pour your honey-ized whiskey back into your bottle, shake it, and taste.
· depending on how heavy handed you were with the honey, you may need to add more.
· if you think that you didn't add enough honey, PLEASE wait a day or two and taste it again before adding more. the longer the flavors chill out together the more they work together, and you might taste more honey on Friday than you did on Tuesday.
· if you accidentally go overboard with the honey, go out and buy another bottle of cheap whisky, then mix up the two bottles. you will probably be good at that point.

when complete there should be a lot happening in your mouth when you taste … it should be equal parts warm, spicy, sweet, and mellow. it should taste really yummy and should barely resemble the cheap garbage you started out with.
· I drink this straight but it’s also an excellent mixer. and it’s great in tea. or over ice cream! on toast! with oatmeal! you get the picture.
· you can keep this in the container it came from the store in and/or bottle it up and give it away.

for your bottle needs check out the McG Endorsed Bottle Vendor

enjoy!

V is for Vanilla!

howdy kids!

its time for an official McG Endorsed Recipe - homemade vanilla. awesome as always, Wife forwarded this to me last year. I loved the idea so much that I made a big batch and now we don't ever need to buy vanilla extract again. Click the link to check it out!

If you're interested but don't want to overpay for vanilla, check out the Official McG Family Vanilla Bean Supplier - they have a store on eBay.

enjoy!

M is for Movies

For, oh I don't know, a year or so now, Wife and I have not been watching too many movies. Just one of those things that got lost in the shuffle of work and taking care of Son and chores and scoring blow. Last weekend Wife went out with her girlfriends and I stayed home with the Fenix. I was looking forward to a quiet night at home, just me and the birdman, so I stopped by the movie rental place before Wife left for the evening. It was a lonely stroll for me along the new release wall, only seeing garbage that I had no interest in watching. girls gone wild has it's place and everything, but I saw as much Ashely Dupre as I could stand from the news.

Eventually, I ran across Stephen King's The Mist, which was a story I had quite a bit of affection for since listening to it as an audio book back in the day. It was one of those stories that I thought would translate really well to the big screen.

With a spring in my step, I picked it up and headed for the checkout counter for the obligatory 15 minutes of incompetence. On the way I picked up another movie that I knew Wife would like as well, No Country For Old Men.

For me, I waited until dark and watched my little suspense movie and really, really enjoyed it. Liked it so much I convinced Wife to watch it the next morning while I made breakfast and did things around the house. I had forgotten that I'd rigged up the sound system to play movies through the receiver, not through the TV, and was excited when I realized that I was going to watch a movie in wide screen format and with the full sound experience.

It seemed like years since I'd sat in the dark and just *watched a movie*, not multi tasked goofing around on the computer or doing some other thing at the same time. It was nice and simple and ... just nice. Very comforting.

The next night Wife and I watched the second movie, appropriately first waiting for after dusk - scary movies really are better in the dark.

M is for movies! Watch one yourself soon. . . and don't do anything else - just enjoy the movie.

P is for Polident

there's no equation where I thought I'd be purchasing denture cleaner at my age. I mean, seriously, I still have over HALF my teeth! but this stuff rocks, if you know what to use it for.

awhile ago Wife and I were in the thrift store and found some wicked cool old booze bottles, so we picked them up (naturally). unfortunately, they were funky. super funky. nope, the dishwasher didn't help (I know! very disappointing).

so there they sat, atop our kitchen cabinets.

for a year.

when it was time for us to move they got packed, then unpacked at the new place... which is super annoying. I can't fucking stand storing shit that I don't use. it takes up valuable storage space and it's always in the way when I'm trying to find whatever it is that I'm actually trying to find. it seriously pisses me off. I was vaguely determined to do something about it. which meant that I assigned some future date that if on that date we still had the bottles and they still were not being used then I'd donate them back to goodwill. ashes to ashes, dust to dust, thrift store to thrift store.

time passed and I was reading Ready Made, which used to be a fantastic publication, and there was a tip in there about rescuing old bottles. maybe it was Real Simple. I don't know. I don't know! sigh. bottles! bottles and how to clean them.

how to clean a bottle that is funky: fill it full of hot water, drop in a denture tablet, wait overnight, rinse. that is all. your bottle is as good as new. this also works well for nalgene-type water bottles and coffee pots and thermoses and the like.

the best part is that I purchased my first box of denture tabs over six months ago and I'm still not done with that little box. and it was like three bux at the drug store! fantastic value.

the weirdest part - and I don't think this is bad, per se, just ... you know... not what I was expecting - is that the denture tabs smell like toothpaste. I guess that makes sense, considering their intended use and everything, but I was really surprised at the smell. I'm a tom's of maine fan, so I don't exactly consider the smell of crest to be an overwhelmingly positive thing... but whatever, it cleans my bottles and I likes it!

any dish that comes home from the thrift store gets "polidented", believe it. and yes, we occasionally buy dish ware from the thrift store. I'd recommend you do it too - I mean, you'd be a fool not to - but frankly, I don't want the competition. continue shopping at pottery barn, suckers.

and two thumbs up for denture tabs!

D is for Drano

Remember the third grade? that first "volcano" that you ever made? come on, you remember... there was a lumpy papier mache mound, i mean mountain, that had some paper cup of baking soda inside... then you poured in some vinegar with red food coloring to watch it "erupt"? remember that?

it's funny how adults look at kids in that situation. seems like they can never help themselves from sharing some jackass comment, like "remember that these are the best days of your life" and all that. shut up, old man, I don't even have a Sega. life sucks. leave me alone.

ok, I'm off topic already. that didn't take long. where was I? that's right, DRANO (TM). and my bathroom sink.

my bathroom sink sucks. sorry sink, but you SUCK! actually, the sink is cool or whatever, but the drain... she sucks. or that she DOESN'T suck is the problem, really. anyhoo, every few months I have to take all the crap out from under the sink, put a bucket down there, unscrew the doohicky that holds the drain plug in, pull out the drain plug, bend up a wire coat hanger and fish around for the rat king of hair and phlegm and whatever other disgusting awfulness is down there, then put everything back together again which of course doesn't go as planned so the other doohickey that connects with the first doohickey keeps falling off and then I bust my knuckles trying to fix it and I'm not sure if I mentioned this but it's not easy access down there, just a little tiny door, only room for one hand if you can see what you're doing, both hands if you're going on feel but then your face is smushed up against the vanity and what fun is that? sigh. anyway, then I pour rubbing alcohol on my hands and eyes and go play in traffic to distract myself from the rat king. [shudder]

our most recent episode of this was just this weekend. except... when I jiggered around with the coat hook to wake the rat king... nothing. bupkis.

Wife is around, offering encouragement, so I sez to her "you know, we really need to have a thing of drano around for times like these." because that's how we used to live. don't even get me started on the sink at our last place! we bought that stuff by the gallon. so anyway I sez Wife, go check under the kitchen sink for the drano and she goes and checks and we don't have it. but Wife is good, Wife is smart. she sez hey, lets not use that drano shit anymore. it's poison. lets try this other thing instead.

insert the 3rd grade "science project" mentioned above. so, skeptically, I dumped some baking soda down the drain hole, then poured in the vinegar while Wife boiled some water. let me tell you, what happened next was fucking disgusting. with the bubbling and the debris that rose to the surface? YUK! anyway, in goes the boiling water. but draining didn't happen. WTF? sigh.

ok, repeat. more baking soda, more vinegar, more disgustingness. no draining, though. you SUCK, sink!

I'm done, ready to throw in the towel. lets go get the drano I sez. you're so impatient, Wife sez. try it again. ok. so we try it again. third time's the charm or three strikes and you're out?

third time's the charm! third time's the charm! we successfully unclogged the sink without buying poison. now THAT is cool. that's some green living that I can get behind.

when doing a few seconds of research for this post, I also found this, which is hilarious but Definitely Not Endorsed, and this page which has even more tips about how to use that volcano properly. apparently we should have used salt - will try that next time.

sigh. you still suck, sink. you SUCK!