Day 67 of 365 – A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

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‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.


Day 64 of 365 – CLOUDS

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cloud
kloud/

noun
plural noun: clouds
  1. a visible mass of condensed water vapor floating in the atmosphere, typically high above the ground.
    “the sun had disappeared behind a cloud”
  2.  a state or cause of gloom, suspicion, trouble, or worry.
    “the only cloud to appear on the horizon was Leopold’s unexpected illness”
verb
3rd person present: clouds
  1. (of the sky) become overcast with clouds.
    “the blue skies clouded over abruptly”

    synonyms:  become cloudy, cloud over, become overcast, lower, blacken, darken

    “the sky clouded”
  2. make or become less clear or transparent.
    “blood pumped out, clouding the water”

    synonyms: make cloudy, make murky, dirty, darken, blacken

    “the sand is churned up, clouding the water”

Day 61 of 365 – Super Nachos

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Ingredients
2 bags corn tortilla chips in 2 colors or different flavors, such as blue corn, red corn, yellow corn, lime flavored, chili flavored or black bean chips — pick 2 favorites

Pico de Gallo Salsa:
4 vine ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped, for medium to hot heat level
1 small white onion, chopped
1/4 cup, 2 handfuls, cilantro leaves, finely chopped — substitute parsley if cilantro is not to your liking
Salt

Beef and Beans Topping:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound ground sirloin
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons dark chili powder
1 1/2 ground cumin, half a palmful
2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper sauce, giving you medium to hot heat level
1 can black beans, 15 ounces, drained

Cheese Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
3/4 pound pepper jack cheese, shredded, about 2 1/2 cups

Directions

Arrange a mixture of 2 varieties of corn chips on a very large platter or use your broiler pan as a platter.

Combine salsa ingredients in a bowl and set aside for flavors to marry.

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add oil, garlic, onion and peppers to the pan and saute 2 minutes, then add meat and crumble with wooden spoon. Season meat with salt, chili powder, cumin and cayenne pepper sauce. Cook meat 5 minutes, then stir in beans and reduce heat to low.

In a medium sauce pot, melt butter and add flour to it. Cook flour and butter 1 to 2 minutes over moderate heat, then whisk in milk. When milk comes to a bubble, stir in cheese with a wooden spoon. Remove cheese sauce from the heat.

Pour cheese sauce evenly over the massive spread of chips and top evenly with beef and beans and the pico de gallo. UBER NACHOS! Serve immediately as is or, garnish with your choice of extra toppings from the toppings list.

Additional toppings to choose from, optional:
Sour cream
Chopped scallions
Chopped black olives
Diced pimento
Sliced avocado, dressed with lemon juice
Hot pepper sauces


Day 60 of 365 – Crab Boil

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INGREDIENTS

  • 24 live blue crabs
  • two 3-ounce packets Zatarain’s crab boil or 5 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon cayenne
  • 1/2 cup table salt
  • 3 lemons, quartered
  • 2 onions, halved
  • 1 1/2 pounds small potatoes (about 2 inches in diameter)
  • 2 heads of garlic (not separated into cloves)
  • 6 ears of corn, shucked
  • 2 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning*, or to taste, for sprinkling over  boiled seafood
  • 2 pounds large shrimp (about 30, preferably with heads)
  • Accompaniments: Horseradish Cocktail Sauce and French bread

PREPARATION

  1. In a 7- to 8-gallon kettle bring 5 gallons water to a boil.
  2. While water is coming to a boil, in a deep sink rinse crabs in 2 or 3 changes of water. (Do not fill sink too full or crabs may crawl out.)
  3. Add Zatarain’s crab boil or 5 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning, cayenne, salt, lemons, and onions to boiling water and boil 5 minutes. Add potatoes and garlic and boil until tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer potatoes and garlic with a large sieve to a large platter and keep warm, covered with foil. Add corn to boiling water and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer corn with tongs to platter and keep warm, covered with foil.
  4. Return water to a boil. Transfer about 6 crabs carefully with long tongs to sieve, holding them down in sieve with tongs, and turn crabs out into boiling water. Add remaining crabs in same manner. Return water to a boil and cook crabs until just cooked through, about 10 minutes. (To determine doneness, remove a claw and crack it with the handle of a dinner knife. Use Knife to extract meat from claw.) Transfer crabs with sieve to another large platter and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning.
  5. Return water to boil and cook shrimp until just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer shrimp with sieve to large platter with crabs and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon Old Bay seasoning.
  6. Serve crabs, shrimp, and vegetables with horseradish cocktail sauce and French bread.

Day 54 of 365 – Sambuca for two

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How I get ready for Thanksgiving!!

Sambuca (Italian pronunciation: [samˈbuːka]) is an Italian anise-flavoured, usually colourless, liqueur. Its most common variety is often referred to as white sambuca to differentiate it from other varieties that are deep blue in colour (black sambuca) or bright red (red sambuca).[1] Like other anise-flavoured liqueurs, the ouzo effect is sometimes observed when combined with water.


Day 53 of 365 – Ode To A Cheeseburger

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Cheeseburger, my cheeseburger,
O’ how I love thee.
Thy juicy, meaty flavor tells me:
“Take another bite.”

At first I think ‘no’;
But then I shout ‘YES!’
And I sniff your deliciousness,
Relishing your pickle relishy smell.

I listen to your warmth,
I hear you scream
“EAT ME!”
You look at me; I look at you.

I then chomp down into you,
With your outer bun,
And your inner mustard and meat.
O’ and how could I forget the cheese?

O’ thou delicious cheese,
Eternal companion of the burger.
How thy cheesiness melts in my mouth.
Thy cheesiness and tastiness are too much!
I must take a sip of my Dr. Pepper!

I take my sip and see;
‘OH NO!’ there is only one bite left.
I stare at it relishing this moment,
I eat the last bite.

O’ cheeseburger you are now in my stomach;
I wish I still had you with me;
O’ my love, I will never forget your mouthwatering taste;
It was fun while it lasted…

Now where did I put those fries?]

– zachary.eller13


Day 52 of 365 – CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER

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This is the CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER . . . it is my responsibility to enforce all the laws that haven’t been passed yet. It is also my responsibility to alert each and every one of you to the potential consequences of various ordinary everyday activities you might be performing which could eventually lead to The Death Penalty (or affect your parent’s credit rating). Our criminal institutions are full of little creeps like you who do wrong things . . . and many of them were driven to these crimes by a horrible force called MUSIC!

– Frank Zappa