Friday is upon us. It looks like I have beat the wolves from the door yet again.
I fried up some chicken last night. I served the old yard birds with some mashed spuds, biscuits and green beans. I made my usual batch of fine gravy. I am a decent cook, but my gravy is top notch. White and silky and rich and so good on the potatoes and torn up biscuits. Why yes, Dr. Peters, in the unlikely event you have stumbled upon this post, I far exceeded my carb intake for the meal (potatoes, biscuits gravy are all carbs, and carbs are sugars, and sugars are highly regulated for us diabetics). But damn, the meal was good.
I half-watched The Obama last night while cleaning up the supper mess. There was a little less blaming going on than I expected. I am not sure, but I think the Defaulter-in-Chief wants Congress to pass his legislation. Since he did not give specifics, I guess we will have to wait and see the details at some point in the future. For the record, ideas are not a plan, speeches are not legislation. You see, Mr. President, in real life, plans include details. In Community Organizer World it may work to say "Hey lets go down to city hall and protest". In business and life one needs a plan with details.
Could someone tell me what construction jobs we missed with the $800 billion stimulus passed a couple of years ago? And why The Obama thinks massive Government spending will work this time? Also, the top 53% of wage earners pay 100% of the Federal Income Tax. Just what is their fair share? Should these mysterious "rich" give up everything? Does The Obama understand the very "wealthiest Americans" he wants to soak ARE the small business owners? You know, the guys he claims are the ones who will create jobs.
Sorry, but a $4,000 tax credit will not encourage any business to hire anyone. The cost of adding a bloke to the payroll likely eats up that tax break. If there is no work, then how do you expect the employer to pay the new employee -- from the owner's checkbook? Oh wait, that extra cash just got confiscated by the IRS in Obama's new higher taxes! In addition, the employer will be forced to offer healthcare benefits under ObamaCare, so you have to add in that added cost of hiring a new employee. $4,000 sure does not go far, does it? Chock this nutty idea as further evidence of The Presidents total lack of understanding regarding business and economics. Life as a student and Community Organizer does not prepare one to run a Taco Bell, forget running a Nation. The intern at our corporate office will have more real life business experience than The Obama at the end of this semester. Chew on that. Maybe a little homemade gravy will help?
BTW, if all of these "savings" are out there to help pay for theis version of Porkulus II, why didn't The Obama trot them out in the budget negotiations a few months ago and put those pesky, rascist, hate-filled, terrorist Tea Party folks in their place?
There was a good football game on last night. I did not really care who won, other than I have a historic loathing of the Packers dating from my youth. I have a hard time rooting for the Saints after they beat the Colts in Superbowl XLIV. Plus, every time the Saints play we are subject to more Katrina stories. Blah, Blah poor New Orleans. I am sick of it.
Disasters strike all of the time. Mother Nature is a vengeful bitch. It sucks. Ask the people of Florida about Hurricanes. Ask coastal North Carlina about double hurricanes just weeks apart in the mid 1990's. Talk to the flood victims of the Dakotas and Iowa. Ponder the ice storm in Kentucky and Illinois a few years ago, the floods in Vermont last week. How about Joplin and the massive tornado that destroyed so many lives earlier this year? People's lives are screwed by weather. Everywhere but New Orleans cleans up, pulls up their big boy pants and moves forward. New Orleans just stands there and cries a plaintive "help me", like some mutant fly in a evil spider web.
Now look, you have gone and made me rant on a cloudy Friday. I hope you are all happy. Go eat some cake. Me, I have a conference call to attend.
Since you're bragging, what's the secret to your gravy? My mother-in-law makes some good chicken gravy, but I rarely fry chicken (since she provides it quite often) and I've tried making the gravy from what I have left over, but there is never anything to rave about.
ReplyDeleteAccording to my Grandma it is 2-2-1:
ReplyDelete2T drippings, 2T flour - 1C milk. Multiply to your hearts content.
Cook the flour and drippings together in a hot skillet -- preferably cast iron, but even a $20 WalMart sheet metal one will work. Add your milk slowly to this rue. Season with salt and more black pepper than you think is right (I also add a bit of red pepper).
Cook over medium high heat 'till it is thick, stirring constantly.
Works every time.
But I think the real secret is what exactly is in the drippings. My grandfather, mom and dad could fry the best chicken and make the gravy, my mother-in-law's chicken is equally wonderful but is completely different, probably because she uses olive oil and tons of paprika. I've tried it every way possible and my fried chicken and gravy are decent, but nothing memorable.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I'm hungry this morning.