That damned Firefox cursor

Have you ever noticed that in Firefox, on some sites the cursor will look weird, like it has a couple of extra pixels jutting out to the right? I think I have finally figured out why. Here's an example, if you've never noticed. I can't believe that this has been bothering me for so long. Years, I mean.

Vermicomposting

This isn't a post about food, but rather about a potential project that I'm considering after I do some more research. A project that could, in theory, lead to delicious food! Vermicomposting is a method of composting kitchen scraps (vegetable trimmings, potato peels, coffee grounds, etc.) indoors, with the aid of our friend the humble worm.

You take a smallish bin (think Tupperware storage, the opaque kind), and after drilling small holes in it, fill it with 'bedding' such as cut up newspaper and corrugated cardboard, the aforementioned kitchen scraps, and worms. Cover with more food and more bedding, add some water, and cover it with a tight-fitting lid.

The worms eat the vegetable material as well as the bedding, and you just keep adding both and occasionally stirring the whole thing around to fluff it up. You have to make sure the worms get enough food, and that there isn't too much or too little water in it, but after a few months, you get a ton of insanely high-quality compost/fertilizer. You separate the worms from the compost, and start all over again.

I grew up in a family who grew a ton of vegetables every spring and summer and composted religiously, but for all of my adult life I have lived in apartments in the city and have felt vaguely guilty every time I throw a piece of celery trimming or potato peel in the garbage. I do have a small area I can grow tomatoes and herbs in, so why not try this to feed my beloved vegetables? I will be looking into it further, and will certainly post about the experience, accompanied by photos if it turns out to be something I can actually do in a bin under my kitchen sink.

Here's what the EPA has to say about it, and here's somebody who is selling a pre-made 'Worm Inn' to do it with.

Quick, spicy, BBQ flavored chicken

One of my favorite quick meals (with a little bit of prep beforehand for marinading) is a dish of roasted chicken thighs and drumsticks, with carrots and onion. I do this differently every time, it seems. Here's what I did tonight. I used four thighs and four drumsticks.

For the marinade:

• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tablespoon salt
• Lots of pepper
• A couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil
• A couple of tablespoons of ketchup
• A teaspoon of prepared mustard
• A half teaspoon of dry English mustard
• A few drops of one of the really hot novelty hot-sauces (anything that says something like "XXX" or "Do Not Want" or "This will make you Butt Hurt" on it)
• About 10 oz of Coca-Cola (no kidding, Coca-Cola).

Whisk that all together and put it over the chicken parts, in a big bowl. Cover and stick in the fridge for at least three hours.

Once that three hours is about up, preheat your oven to about 400, and cut up a big onion into thick slices, and place that at the bottom of a largish roasting pan. Peel and thickly slice three medium carrots on the bias and add them as well. Drizzle with olive oil and kosher salt.

Heat up your biggest cast iron pan, and add olive oil once hot. Brown both sides of all of the chicken parts (you'll have to do it in shifts), and as they finish, put them on top of the vegetables, skin side up. Once they're all added, throw it in the oven uncovered for about 40 minutes.

After the 40 minutes are up, take out the pan and turn the oven to 'broil'. While it's heating up, drizzle a tablespoon or so of the reserved marinade over each chicken part (which should at this point have nice and crispy looking skin) and then stick back under the broiler for about 5-10 minutes.

Remove. Eat. Enjoy.

Happy Independence Day

Watched the fireworks from 902 Hart last night with Hemen, Anna, Sylvia and Tim. Hemen took some fantastic photos.

Quasi-Mediterranean Pasta

Defrosting my fridge tonight (every 3 or 4 months, it starts sounding like there's an idling moped in my kitchen) so wanted to use up some of the spoilables inside -- namely a tub of ricotta that I ordered from Peapod this weekend.

I wasn't in the mood for anything super fancy, so while I was boiling water for pasta, I threw into a small bowl:

• A small handful of Kalamata olives (pitted)
• A clove of garlic
• A tablespoon of olive oil
• A few shakes of lemon pepper
• About a quarter cup plus of the ricotta

I turned it all into a paste with a hand-held stick blender, and tossed it with some linguini, and topped it with some of the cherry tomatoes from my front yard. All in all, it took about 5 minutes of effort (not including the time to make the pasta). I'm pretty sure I'll be trying this again -- nice, simple and tasty.

Tim Russert

I was on a certain website this afternoon and noticed that someone had posted a link titled [RIP] Tim Russert.jpg and thought to myself "nah, it's gotta be a hoax". What a shock to discover that it was true. As long as I can remember following politics as an adult, he has been a constant presence -- especially this primary season, when most people I know and I have been glued to the television every election or caucus night. The randomness to the points of our own mortalities can sometimes feel very cruel, and this is one of them -- that he would not live to see the outcome of this election that he was so obviously very, very excited about.

While I often wished he would press the people in the current administration more closely, the fact remains that he did ask the questions, and that their answers or non-answers to those questions are now a matter of public record.

A great anchor, a great interviewer, and an affable and warm human being. I can't begin to imagine who will be able to replace him on our Sunday mornings. RIP.

Alton Brown's Macaroni and Cheese

Made this macaroni and cheese dish the other night. It turned out fantastically, even though I completely spaced and forgot to add the egg that the recipe asks for. I did, however add some sliced up turkey sausage that I first thoroughly browned in a skillet and then folded in before the casserole went in the oven. A+++ would eat again!