I got so excited earlier talking about corned beef and cabbage that I went to the store to buy some. Got there, and the corned beef was ridiculously expensive (I remember when it was $7 for a cut, the cheapest today was $20, so I went with a ham hock). Some carrots, some potatoes, a cabbage, the ham, and some parsley, and dinner is cooking as I write this. It smells so good. I love this meal, and it is soooo cheap, too.
At any rate, some pet pics, since it has been a while, some kitties:
And so I am not accused of anti-dog prejudice, this filthy and happy hound:
For a second, I was horrified when I thought that fellow was sitting on carpet, but it looks like he is actually on concrete. At any rate, claim your pets, folks.
boonagain
John,
If you ever get to Indianapolis, you HAVE to stop at Shapiro’s Deli and get their Corned Beef and cabbage. It is spectacular and they also have a great cabbage roll.
Their desserts are out of this world.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
That tuxedo cat in the middle needs a Roomba so s/he can take their little friend on a fun date.
Big! Fluffy! Tummy! kitty up top counterbalances Grinning! Muddy! Chillin’! dog at the bottom.
Joshua Norton
While you’re at it, buy a little Budweiser and Clamato to wash it all down. Mmmmm. The great taste of Budweiser with a hint of clams.
Actually, it’s pretty good. Kind of like a fizzy bloody mary.
demkat620
Now you have me hungry for porkchops, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and applesauce. Hmmm-mmmm.
Punchy
I realize those cats can’t be Johns, being that they’re not fat.
Laura W
Do you like pot pies? I generally don’t, but mine has just finished cooking. James Foods Chicken Pot Pie. It’s huge, 2.5 lbs. The total secret is to cover the thing with foil about half way in. Is there anything more disgusting in life than burned pot pie crust? I think not.
I’ve been enjoying my $5.00 (on sale with 10% Ingels 6-bottle discount) Yellow Tail 2008 Pinot Noir (don’t touch the 2007!) and the Dietz & Watson aged NY cheddar with horseradish while the pot pie baked. And reading the last couple highly entertaining threads.
Dexter rocked on Sunday. That Jimmy Smits is just the bomb.
I’ll take the cat in photo #1, please.
chopper
dogg throw in some cannellini beans and you’re set as hell.
Laura W
@Punchy: Dang. You’ve reminded me that I never compiled my "Top Ten Funniest Fat Cat Jokes at Tunch’s Expense" on election day. I got distracted, shall we say.
I have four of my faves stored in my head. Just need to find them (and 6 more) and search out the threads for proper citation.
FUCK. Mika on MSNBC again, in for Gregory.
Too cute by 1/2.
If I watch Stewart and Colbert from last night now, I’ll be forced into Dobbs at 7:00.
I AM NOT HAPPY!!
The Grand Panjandrum
John do yourself a favor and separate out the cabbage and potatoes. Cook up some bacon and reserve some of the bacon dripping. Make some mashed potatoes and stir in the chopped cabbage, cooked bacon and drippings. Fucking awesome isn’t really enough to describe it.
EDIT: Are we ever going to get your review of the Bacevich book? I am interested in what you have to say. I just read it and it really was fascinating, but I will wait to read your analysis.
bago
Long cat is long.
Kim
John, Can we get a picture of the finished meal?
The Grand Panjandrum
@Laura W:
At least I can mute the TV and enjoy the view. Can’t do that with Howdy Doodie’s Lost Sibling. Of course, I can also see Mark Halperin’s lips moving so I know he’s getting something wrong.
Bitty
The black and white looks just like my late Molly.
So much that it is eerie.
Alas, it is not she.
Brick Oven Bill
I am descended from a train attendant on the original Burlington Zephyrs. Our family has passed down an old Burlington recipe from the days when the food in railroad diners was excellent.
Today, you get some disinterested guy who looks at you funny when you tell him that the pizza he microwaved is cold. They used to have hot females pettling cigarettes on those trains. Now they say you can’t smoke because it will blow up old people’s Oxygen tanks. How we have fallen.
Here you go in any case:
2 lbs beef roast
¼ cup flour
cooking oil
½ cup catsup
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire
1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped onion
Cut beef into small squares, dredge in flour, then brown. Add everything else, bring to a boil and simmer for two hours. Serve over wide noodles. It is very good, enjoy.
Brick Oven Bill
And take down the dog pictures.
jeffreyw
Mmmm…pot pie!
Laura W
@The Grand Panjandrum: I went back because my Imaginary Boyfriend (Lawrence O’D) was moving his mouth with interesting things coming out.
Lookin’ all tie-free and casual.
Has Howard Dean had some work, hair plugs, Grecian Formula?
Maybe he just had a few good night’s rest in a row.
He looked way younger.
Sadly, now we get to watch Obama age, more than he already has in just the last 2 years.
Laura W
@jeffreyw: ummm…that looks NOTHING LIKE what I just consumed.
Damn.
jeffreyw
Mmmm…pizza!
Tlazolteotl
I make awesome cabbage rolls.
They are really, really good.
fledermaus
(I remember when it was $7 for a cut, the cheapest today was $20, so I went with a ham hock).
Where the hell are you buying your corned beef, I’ve never seen it for more than $3/lb.
JL
Wow! A comfort food blog. Since I spent my day painting my family room, all I had time for is Mac N Cheese, green peas and ham washed down with a warsteiner. I’ve decided that beer goes with just about everything.
ninerdave
Lawlz
The Grand Panjandrum
@Laura W:
HA! I am an L.O. fan but I like him for his brains … (I will admit that if gay marriage is ever legalized and it ruins my marriage then Lawrence would be on my "to do" list.)
mmmmmm … Beer. It’s whats for dinner.
John Cole
@JL: I can’t eat mac’n’cheese unless I have stewed tomatoes with it.
And if you have never tried it, you should.
demkat620
Uh-uh, Richard Wolffe. Yummy!
Shorter Righty Blogosphere
@Laura W: Lawrence O’Donnell just happens to my imaginary drinking buddy and – you’ll like this – last time we were getting snookered, he expressed some interest in you.
Laura W
@demkat620: Him too. The accent and smirk alone….mmmmmmmmmm.
And Richard Engel is nothing to sneeze at, but he does have a major war zone fetish. Not conducive to spontaneous cuddling.
Laura W
@Shorter Righty Blogosphere:
Smart and interesting things come out of his mouth.
SadieSue
@Laura W:
Ah yes – Richard Engle. Intelligent, brave (I still remember when he was a free-lancer & one of the few reporters left in Baghdad), determined, interesting, and to top it off, he’s really, really nice to look at; pretty much a complete package (& he has the most gorgeous hair).
Edited to add: The top photo looks just like my cat Nigel – except Nigel is even longer (38" from his nose to the top of his tail).
South of I-10
Mmmm pot pie! I can make a killer chicken pot pie.
passerby
Here’s list of people I’ve seen the last couple of months who I am convinced are botoxing:
Kerry
Dean
Biden
Lieberman
Gary Shandling
Martin Short
Bill Maher
Robert Redford
I think when they gave Michelle Obama a makeover, they used botox to take out that furrow in her brow to soften her look.
At Monday’s press conference, Barack looked exhausted. God give him strength.
aarrgghh
i apologize for ruining everyone’s virtual dinners, but this question from yesterday’s white house press briefing is just too damn irresistible:
Q: The CEO of WorldNetDaily has called on the President-elect to release a birth certificate listing the hospital and names of parents. The White House believes that this would fully satisfy the constitutional requirement, don’t you?
MR. FRATTO: I don’t think I have anything to say on that, Lester, and I think we’re going to end it right there. Thank you. END
Cain
Yeah, jeezus.. he’s just finished a exhausting primary, and a general campaign and now a jump into a crises. This has got to be the shittiest two years of his life.
cain
Shorter Righty Blogosphere
@Cain: Hopefully they got some not fat interns lined up for him.
Al Rodgers
Joshua Norton
That depends on the type of pot you use.
Krista
I’d seen photos of Nicole Kidman and knew she was starting to look really plastic-y, but it didn’t really strike me until I saw her in a media interview. Creepy as fuck — only her lips and her eyeballs are capable of moving.
Litlebritdifrnt
OT but I think worth looking at this is from my local paper. The desperation in the air is so thick you could cut it with a knife. Thankfully the comments show that this breed of people are quickly becoming extinct. Jacksonville was once named one of the most diverse communities in the US, guess these dimwits didn’t get the memo.
http://www.jdnews.com/news/flier_60706___article.html/fliers_klan.html
Comrade Stuck
@Joshua Norton:
Or, How many pies can a Killer Chicken pot?
DK
John,
To make this meal really special, treat it like an upper midwest meal – add some thick, homemade, noodles! Or, buy the Reames frozen ones. Oh, so good!
passerby
I think Kidman’s been using botox for quite a while. Just today I read a review of her new movie "Australia" and her performance was panned by the critic: (paraphrase) "she moved thru her scenes like a porceline (sp) doll."
I think she overdoes it with the botox. It looks good when it’s done well.
Laura W
@Krista: I flipped thru some channel recently and just briefly saw her face and thought: "EWWW, SHINY!"
Apparently, she descends from bats.
Ed Marshall
You know that your recipe is exactly Steak ‘n Shake Chili Mac -beans and substituting roast for hamburger?
Ed Marshall
– cheese to come to think of it.
Litlebritdifrnt
Speaking of beef, my mother swears by "shin beef" (I am not sure what they call it over here, beef shank perhaps?") Cooked in a casserole or a slow cooker with onions and some veggies the flavor is wonderful (so she says from memory she is now a vegetarian :))
Krista
Exactly. Her face just looks really stretched and shiny and poreless. It looks like vinyl. It’s a shame, because she’s a lovely woman, but she’s starting to not even look like a human being anymore.
Brian J
I think a pot pie that is somehow burnt on the outside but still somewhat frozen on the inside is more disgusting.
JasonF
As with so many other topics, our president elect has gotten it exactly right. There is no better corned beef than the corend beef you get at Manny’s.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
Is this going to turn into a "who’s had good work/bad work done?" thread. Sounds good to me.
Helen Mirren has probably had some soft, subtle work done. She knows she’s 62 and isn’t trying to look 20, 30 or even 40. She’s not Botoxed, she flaunts her crowsfeet and wrinkles, but she’s kept the jowls of age at bay with a mini-facelift, I think.
South of I-10
@Comrade Stuck and Joshua Norton: Y’all are funny. I don’t know offhand what the best pot for the pot pie would be, but I am open to suggestion. The killer chickens are a bitch too.
DRD 1812
But lately he has been criticized for going to the gym on Sundays instead of church. Does God offer personal training?
shortstop
As with so many other topics, our president elect has gotten it exactly right. There is no better corned beef than the corend beef you get at Manny’s.
God, so true. I just drooled on my Obama shirt. The little rising sun is getting rained on.
shortstop
And whose filthy dog is that? I love him.
Cain
@DRD 1812:
Last I checked, God was everywhere and can listen to your prayer at any time, hell you can work out and pray at the same time! Criticizing someone for picking the Gym over Church seems kind of stupid. Prayer can be done anywhere.
In India, my uncle wouldn’t even stop while passing a temple and he’ll mouth off a couple of slokas and y’know.. he’s done. Duty finished..but then we’re supposed to pray in the morning and in the evening. (for Brahmins) But Brahminic rituals do not take into account wild frat parties so I find praying in the morning, and evening somewhat difficult.
cain
Joshua Norton
And Now For Something Completely Different:
The Larch.
The…..Larch.
Liz
Oh damn you! Now I’m jonesing for ham and cabbage (in my family, we always used ham instead of corned beef…Mom called it a "New England Boiled Dinner.") I’ve done a one-person rendition of it using brussels sprouts and ham steak before…also tasty.
Also, if you haven’t seen it, check out Keith Olbermann’s take on the Palin turkey video… it’s hilarious. Apparently, he missed it the first time around, and wanted to share his first viewing with his audience.
Thursday
The Significant Other just made us some colcannon. My Irish heart sings!
Indylib
@passerby:
You must not have seen him on Rachel Maddow Monday.
He’s still gorgeous, hell, he’s Robert Redford. But no botox, he actually looks within a decade of his real age.
DRD 1812
True, but his hair color looks about as real as Nicole Kidman’s face.
ninerdave
Chris Matthews = Major Botox.
Just sayin’
…and with this we know why John is a cat fan. John is anal. Dogs are messy, cats not so much unless it includes litter and/or rodent guts.
ninerdave
Oh and that picture of the dog just sums up dog ecstasy.
Look I’m dirty, muddy and tired. It’s been a good day.
Dogs = two year old boys
Cats = two year old girls
Both are wonderful in their own unique ways. I can’t imagine a life without them (‘course me and the wife favor fur babies to the real ones that spit up and poop in diapers, oh yeah and there’s that whole saving for college thing. We have plenty of nieces and nephews to spoil and send home. Best of both worlds).
Indylib
@ninerdave:
I have both and you’ve got a point there. Applies in a general way as they get older, too.
Comrade Kevin
Corned beef and cabbage? yuck. Go try Colcannon, or Beef and Guinness pie/stew, instead.
Edit: that first cat is a monster!
DecidedFenceSitter
@Cain:
I don’t think its the shittiest time possible for him. Assuming that it isn’t a front, he’s a man who wants to change things. And while exhausting what he’s facing may be exhilarating for him.
There’s a certain class of people, nominally called stressaholics by my loving wife, who are only happy when its all going pear shaped, when everything chaotic and in motion. Sure they may be exhausted at the end of a day, but it is good exhaustion. And yes, it does burn you out after a while. For me, in my stress-providing in abundance job, I lasted three years.
I hope he does wind down at some point. But yeah, this is why presidents age, and age badly while in office.
Jackie
The dog is a she. Chamois is her name. She is the best damn gopher hunter in 15 counties, and also rents out as a rototiller.
Krista
Us too! I wondered where the heck that came from, as we had Boiled Dinner a lot as a kid, but when I grew up, all I ever heard about was corned beef and cabbage. So I thought maybe it was some weird Acadian thing.
Svensker
Mmmmm, stuffed cabbage. MMmmm, chicken pot pie. Mmmmmm, beef stew.
Stewed tomatoes?! Haven’t had them in 20 years — didn’t know anyone besides me liked them. Do you have them IN the mac’n’cheese or alongside? Betty Crocker 1950 has a recipe with the tomatoes IN, but I never tried it.
God, my mouth is watering and it’s just after breakfast.
The kitty with the toy kitty is cuteness overload.
Dennis - SGMM
Ham hocks and black-eyed peas with a bit of okra. Artery clogging goodness.
Aramink
Jackie:
Chamois is wonderful! How much do her rototiller services go for? In the spring I plan to create a garden in particularly rocky soil. How does she handle shale and quartz?
And please, tell us she’s not on carpet. Is she?
Jackie
Aramink . . .what a curious name! No, she’s on our front step, not the carpet. As for her rototilling, she has a tendency to aim for the roots of perennials, so she comes cheap.
bozell
The animals in those pictures, you gonna cook them up and eat’em too?
SouthMinneapolis
Why didn’t you publish a picture of the ham hock and veggies?
eyeball
Gotta say, i dig that filthy happy mutt.
Birdzilla
we used have a cat and dog the dog often like to sit in the cat funny and we once had a cat climb our christmas tree