Friday, September 18, 2009

Fire Butt Soup!


You read that right. Fire Butt Soup.

About two weeks ago, as I sat in the Dr's office pretending to be patient and failing miserably, I picked up a Rachel Ray Magazine thinking I'd find some interesting recipe ideas. Boy was I right. But one recipe out shone all the others, "Mexican Chicken Lime Soup." Here is the Recipe:

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 Onion finely chopped
6 Cloves garlic thinly sliced
5 Skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 Canned Chipotle Chiles in adobo sauce, finely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons adobo sauce.
6 Cups Chicken broth
1/2 Cup chopped fresh Cilantro
Juice of 2 limes
salt and pepper

1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir in the Onion and the Garlic, lower heat to medium and cook until the onion begins to brown, about 7 minutes. Increase the heat to high, push the veggies to the side of the pan, add the chicken and cook, stirring until golden, about 5 mins. Stir in the Chipotles and adobo sauce, then stir in the chicken broth. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes skimming any foam. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice; season with salt and pepper.

2. Place 2 avacado slices in a bowl, pout in the soup and top with tortilla chips.

(if you aren't salivating at the idea of this recipe, you and I can't be friends.)

Because of my preferences and a few key mis-understandings I made some changes to the recipe. Here is what I did:

I replaced the chicken thighs with canned chicken (patted dry) so that as it cooked it burned / caramelized the edges to give it extra texture.

I didn't have 6 cups chicken broth (and didn't think to use builla base to make it) so I only used 4

I added a can of black beans (drained), and a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles. (i figured the juice from the tomatoes would compensate...

All of these actions were intentional changes to the recipe

This was my accidental change and ironically enough the reason for the soups alias.

Instead of two canned chipotle chiles, I thought I read 2 cans of chipotle chiles... Turns out there are about 15 chiles in a can. Luckily I mis-read the recipe before shopping and only purchased one can of chiles.

(At this point the recipe is FUBAR)

Anyways, I also failed to chop the chiles and just threw them in whole.

By the time the soup was done simmering, the spicy-ness of it permeated the air. My mother-in-law was ready to have an apopeptic fit at the idea of me eating the soup,

I was commited!

My first bowl (served for lunch) was delicious and spicy. Probably the spiciest thing I've ever eaten. As proof of that, by the time I was done, my face was flushed, sweat glistened off my forehead, and I felt like I'd been through a rigorous workout at the gym...

Again, at this point pride rose up within me and I put the soup in the fridge to be finished at a later date. The rest of the day passed pleasantly and without incident.

The following evening (last night) I reached for the soup for dinner, having spurned the brocolli laden dish prepared for, and generally disliked by all. Apparently that 24 hour period gave the soup time to ferment...

Again I went through the process of cleaning every pore on my face by exuding copius amounts of sweat. Again my body felt slightly betrayed at my prideful behavior, and as I lay down to sleep I began to have second thoughts about storing the soup for future consumption.

Eight hours later I knew the course I must take... After my second trip to the bathroom I was left with a bitter reminder of my pride as my sphinctor burned with a fire I have never known before.

Nor do I wish to know it again.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Securities and Exchange Commission - Regulator or Enabelor?

So today, I read an article about a federal judge overturning the SEC's settlement of the whole Merrill Lynch / Bank of America executive bonus scandal. (Article)The article also brings up a past SEC failing during the worldcom accounting fraud business. So that got me to thinking. What the hell is the SEC actually doing? Apparently not trying to protect the investors from unscrupulous businesses. They're definately not acting on any of the complaints over the last umpteen years of Bernie Maddoff and his now spectacular ponzie scheme. So what are they doing? I looked them up on Wikipedia and it appears as though they spend their time enforcing seven primary laws. Five of which were passed before the 1940's were finished. I say they spend their time enforcing the seven laws, but i would question their efficacy, and even their ambition in doing so. Part of me wonders how closely tied the SEC is to the major players, and whether or not they can be trusted. When President Obama promises to change things, I say go get 'em tiger. Institutions like the SEC, and others that are closely linked to big business must be shaken up periodically to ensure the honesty of those participating.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Babies, the Final Frontier.

So here's the story: Two weeks ago, the Dr. had us go through another ultrasound to check on the amniotic fluid levels. We were at the very bottom end of safe, and the Dr. had amber commit to periodic bed rest throughout the day, and plenty of fluids. For two weeks, we tried this and had to go through ultrasounds twice a week. This last Tuesday we went in for another test and we were even lower on fluids. The Dr. said come back on Thursday and if things aren't better we'll talk about inducing you. Things were not better.

So at 12:00 PM Thursday September 10, Amber was admitted and began taking a drug called Cervadil. The purpose of the drug was to "ripen" Amber's Cervix in anticipation of the delivery. 12 hours later, they started us on Pitocen (the labor inducing drug). Amber and I slept through most of the night. Around 7:00 AM they checked her dilation, and she was only at a 2. So they bumped up the Pitocen a little bit, and we had to start the waiting game.

Around 11:00 AM the Dr. broke Amber's water, and she received her epidural shortly thereafter. Within the hour, Amber's contractions started getting really strong, and Baby Ru started reacting poorly to them. Her heart rate would plummet from 130 bpm, to 60 bpm during each contraction. That required some quick action on the part of the nurses but they got everything stabilized and we had to slow down the dilation so that it wouldn't stress Ruby out too much.

By 4:00 PM she was dilated to a 10, but the Dr. wanted her to "rest and descend." That's a fancy way of saying let nature take its course and get as far as possible without actively pushing. By 5:10, they wanted to start pushing. Amber was a real champ and never once cried or stopped pushing before they told her to. She pushed and pushed for all she was worth. The tip of Ruby's head was visible almost from the beginning of the pushing but we couldn't get her any farther, so after an hour and change the Dr. came in and proposed using forceps. I have to confess he didn't seem to be very gentle, and watching him pull her out was bizarre. After 4 contractions Ruby's head was out, and the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice! When he turned her over, her poor little face was so blue it looked purple. I freaked out at that. The Dr. slipped the cord off and started pumping and in less than 20 seconds she was breathing and crying. Shortly thereafter, the Dr. handed me a pair of scissors. (I had no idea what he was getting at until he explained it to me) So in the end I cut the umbilical cord, it felt like I was cutting through a mushy ruber hose. (not romantic but that was what I thought. Sue me) The pictures show you what happened after that.

As I write these words, Amber is cuddling and cooing baby Ru.



















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She's here to stay.