Michelle's Fried Chicken

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Attorney General Eric Holder said the only person who could play him in a movie is Denzel Washington. Do you know who I think should play Holder? Oprah's boyfriend, Stedman. Politicians are really getting desperate. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent out a final fundraising email to Democrats with the subject line, “I'm begging.” Because what better way to show you're a strong leader than acting like you're drunk and dialing your ex? Today is the midterm elections. The Washington Post is predicting that there's a 98 percent chance of the Republicans taking the Senate and The New York Times says there's a 75 percent chance. And CNN said, “Wait, that’s today?” During a speech on Sunday, President Obama said to the crowd, “We've got to vote. Vote. Vote. Vote. Vote. Vote.” This went on for an hour until someone finally fixed his teleprompter. -- Jimmy Fallon

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PAELLA WITH PASTA (Fideuà)

FOOD

“ PAELLA WITH PASTA (Fideuà) What it took for 4: (I doubled this recipe) * 1 pound extra-large shrimp (21-25), peeled and deveined (save the shells!) * 2 3/4 cup water * 1 cup chicken broth or stock * 1 dried bay leaf * 3 Tbs. plus 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil * 3 cloves garlic, divided (two minced and one sliced) * 1 small pinch crushed red pepper * 1 pinch coarse salt and freshly ground pepper * 8 ounces thin spaghetti * 1 small white onion, finely diced * 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes * 1 tsp paprika * 1 tsp smoked paprika * 1 tsp anchovy paste * 1/4 cup dry white wine * fresh parsley, for garnish * lime wedges, for garnish Place the peeled shrimp in a medium bowl. Add 1 Tbs. oil, the minced garlic, crushed red pepper and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss shrimp to coat. Cover and set in fridge while you prepare the rest of the meal. Place the shrimp sells in another microwave-safe bowl. Add the water, stock and bay leaf. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 6 minutes. Pour the stock through a strainer into a bowl and discard the solids. You have shrimp stock! Wrap the spaghetti in a clean tea towel. Fold the towel to close, and break the spaghetti against the edge of a table into 2 to 3-inch pieces. Add 2 tsp oil to a large skillet and bring to a medium heat. Add the broken spaghetti and toast until it’s darker in color. Like peanut butter almost. I burned a few pieces of mine, so keep an eye on it! It will take 5 to 8 minutes in all. Just keep tossing in the pan so it evenly toasts. Remove the spaghetti from the pan and set it aside in a bowl. Wipe the skillet clean. Take the can of the tomatoes and drain the liquid through a mesh strainer. Really really drain it. Now finely dice the tomatoes on a cutting board. Add the remaining 2 Tbs. oil to the pan and bring to a medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté until they start to soften, 4 minutes. Add a pinch of salt. Add the tomatoes to the onions and sauté another 3 minutes. Add both paprikas, the anchovy paste and the remaining sliced garlic. Reduce the heat if needed. Add the toasted spaghetti to the pan and toss to coat. Pour the strained shrimp stock into the pan. Add the wine, and another pinch of salt and pepper. Simmer the mixture for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the spaghetti is mostly al dente. Grab your marinated shrimp and nestle them into the pan. In the meantime, preheat your oven to broil. Slide the broiler-safe pan into the oven and broil for about 5 minutes, or until the shrimp is cooked through and the spaghetti crisps and curls up on its ends. Allow to cool just a few minutes, for some last minute thickening. Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon wedges!* I made the Aioli, which took just 2 minutes and was well recieved by some [me, not so much] MoSup hosted a dinner for school friends who were in town for the Annapolis Bridge Run.  After running through several recipes, she chose from my collection of Test Kitchen videos the Spanish-Style Toasted Pasta with Shrimp (Fideuà).  The dish is paella with the pasta replacing rice.  I chose to toss in some mussels along with the shrimp; they were largely ignored.  Should have used clams or scallops. I also added a pound of chorizo, sliced to 1" pieces, and fried just to being underdone, and added before going to the broiler.  Perfecto, that. To solve the problem of finishing the dish under a broiler, I bought for $5 a large aluminum pasta pan from the supermarket, and served from it.  If I make it again, I will likely skip the toasted pasta, which is time consuming, and go with fettuccine.  But, since MoSup can't eat shell fish anyway, this was probably a one off.  PS- America Test Kitchen charges to watch it's YouTube recipes, but this (Season 13: A Taste of Spain) and others are on NetFlix. ”

The Flipside with Michael Loftus

“ What if the Daily Show had an enema... ? Those weary of annoying liberal chatter and America bashing in the comedy realm have a new alternative. That would be “The Flipside”, a weekly half-hour broadcast dicing through politics and culture, but produced by a group of stalwart creatives who have some serious conservative underpinnings, with a few dashes of libertarianism. Only six (now seven) episodes into its fall run, and the new show has been picked up by three major cable broadcasters and 200 independent stations. “The reaction has been very positive. A lot of people have been waiting for a show that doesn’t slam America at every turn, or push a socialist agenda,” executive producer Kfir Alfia said in an interview. “Even if we were completely neutral, the audience would see it as a breath of fresh air. They’ve been waiting for a show like this.” He speaks from personal experience. “I was looking around at the cultural landscape, so dominated by left-leaning ideology in movies, TV, news. That was a compelling reason to start thinking ‘what can I do?’ ” Mr. Alfia observed. Indeed, the success of Roger Ailes, the man who developed the concept for Fox News, is not lost on the team, which methodically explored independent ways to market and distribute their broadcast with some healthy success. “I believe it was Charles Krauthammer who said the genius of Roger Ailes is that he discovered the other half of the American people and made them his audience. That’s what we hope to do,” said producer Matt Sheffield, a longtime conservative blogger and a editor for the Media Research Center. The on-camera muscle for the promising venture is Michael Loftus, a writer and veteran stand-up comedian who has been on, yes, the Comedy Channel, TruTV and the History Channel, among other broadcast venues. He also serves as producer and writer for “Anger Management” - a daring and noisy video project from actor Charlie Sheen. Read more: Tommy Lee Smith sent a link to The Flipside with Michael Loftus.  Ever hear of it?  Me neither.  There have been numerous attempts made to air a conservative "Daily Show" that was actually funny; none were, or are.  This is different.  I actually laughed several times while watching  episode one; I think you will too.  If so, this is a major breakthrough; a way to reach today's yoot in a truly entertaining way.  Thank you Tommy Lee Smith! Here are links to episodes 2,3,4,5,6, and 7  on You Tube.  I intend to post one a day for a week. PS- Tell me what you think in comments, please.  Did you find it as funny as I did?  ”

Democrat's Civil War

The Democratic Party’s Civil War is Here

“ There are really two Democratic parties. One is the old corrupt party of thieves and crooks. Its politicians, black and white, are the products of political machines. They believe in absolutely nothing. They can go from being Dixiecrats to crying racism, from running on family values to pushing gay marriage and the War on Women. "Not only did Hillary Clinton do more damage to her brand by failing to deliver white and women voters, but the Democratic Party is stunned, confused and divided. And the damage is self-inflicted" They will say absolutely anything to get elected. Cunning, but not bright, they are able campaigners. Reformers underestimate them at their own peril because they are determined to win at all costs. The other Democratic Party is progressive. Its members are radical leftists working within the system. They are natural technocrats and their agendas are full of big projects. They function as community organizers, radicalizing and transforming neighborhoods, cities, states and even the country. The old Dems have no ideas and no agenda. The progressives want to get as much of their agenda done even if it’s by executive order and even if it makes them even more unpopular than they are now. The old Dems have realized that they are the ones who will pay a political price for progressive radicalism. They want to win, but it’s a subset of their bigger agenda. Their goal is to transform the country. If they can do that by winning elections, they’ll win them. But if they can’t, they’ll still follow their agenda. Sometimes the two Democratic parties blend together really well. Bill Clinton combined the good ol' boy corruption and radical leftist politics of both parties into one package. The secret to his success was that he understood that most Democrats, voters or politicians, didn’t care about his politics, they wanted more practical things. He made sure that his leftist radicalism played second fiddle to their corruption. the Sultan Knish; full This is one of the best insta-analases of the Democrat Party I've seen. To expand, Willy Brown, a prince of the  San Francisco wing, exemplifies "stunned and confused" in  HILLARY CLINTON 'IS GOING TO LOSE.' "Everybody keeps asking me, 'Why did this happen?’" Brown wrote. "Beats me. When it came to the elections, I was a dreamer who thought the Democrats were going to retain the Senate. Instead, we got walloped." Brown suggested that Democrats erred by running away from President Barack Obama, "which simply played into the Republicans’ strategy of portraying him as a failure." The party also failed to turn out young voters, he said. Democrats erred by running away from President Barack Obama.  Beauty ”