While listening to wbhm 90.3 this morning, I heard a brief Frank Deford talking about Role Models and how athletes are always called role models. He goes on for about 3.5 minutes with his “rant” , but the one paragraph that caught me attention was this
“Why, pray, of all people, are athletes, pretty much alone in our society, expected to be sweeter than the average angel? It is politicians and clergy and those maestros of finance on Wall Street who ought to be held to a higher standard. Why aren’t they ever called “role models?” Why can’t some tearful little impressionable tyke sob, “Say it ain’t so, Goldman Sachs, say it ain’t so” — and thus change the pecking order in our cultural mythology? ”
And that got to me thinking, why do we allow athletes and celebrities be the only “role models” for our children. Rarely do you ever hear how an accountant, veterinarian, or even a local farmer is a role model…unless it is context of sports or by their own kids. But the minute somebody is a celebrity or an athlete, we push us and our children to “watch” and “copy” them because they are automatically gods and goddess and can do wrong. Why? Why is that we automatically think that when people reach a certain level of fame that they turn into this perfect beings that we should strive to become like? And then watch out if one of them falls from their pedestals that we have place them on. We, the low undeserving people who place them up so high, bare our shiny claws and rip them to shred for not living up to OUR expectations, much less their own.
It seems that we have done a great in justice to the generations behind us. Instead of becoming role models ourselves for our children, we have stepped aside and let fame and fortune decide who will be their role models, for good or for bad. Daniel J. Boorstin said it well:
“Celebrity-worship and hero-worship should not be confused. Yet we confuse them every day, and by doing so we come dangerously close to depriving ourselves of all real models. We lose sight of the men and women who do not simply seem great because they are famous but are famous because they are great. We come closer and closer to degrading all fame into notoriety.”
Some great quotes to think about:
Whether or not you have children yourself, you are a parent
to the next generation. If we can only stop thinking of children
as individual property and think of them as the next generation,
then we can realize we all have a role to play.
-Charlotte Davis-Kasl
Role modeling is the most basic responsibility of parents.
Parents are handing life’s scripts to their children,
scripts that in all likelihood will be acted out
for the rest of the children’s lives.
-Stephen R. Covey
(Quotes found onLiving Life Fully)
Archive for » April, 2010 «
Yesterday, a couple of co workers and Hall started talking about frying chicken, and Hall, of course, brings up brines. So I thought I would post our recipe brine today. You might see it again come Thanksgiving time, since it is a must for turkey. Anyways, this recipe is basically taken from Alton Brown’s, though we have added a few of our spices, plus if you like heat, you must check out the spicy version.
Turkey Brine
1 cup kosher salt
½ cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tbsp black peppercorns
½ tbsp allspice berries
½ tbsp candied ginger
1 gallon iced water
10-14 lb Turkey, washed
In a large pot, heat up everything but the iced water. Once the sugar and salt have dissolved, then take it off the heat, and let it cool down some. Add the iced water to bring the temperature down closer to room temp if not a little bit colder.
Once it is cool, pour it into a large bucket or cooler, and add the turkey or chicken (that has been washed and giblets taken out). Make sure the cavity gets the brine down in it. Put a lid on it, and place is somewhere cool spare bathroom tub, etc…just not a
place where it will freeze. Brine for at least 4 hours, if possible up to 12.
Rinse and cook. (*note: depending on how far up the brine goes on the turkey or chicken – you might need to rotate just so that it gets even coverage).
Chicken Brine
Reduce the ingredients by half. If you need more liquid, add a bit more water or vegetable stock. If you add a lot, make sure you add more of the salt to it as well, as to help keep the ratio balanced.
Spicy Brine
Reduce the kosher salt amount, and add Morton’s Hot Salt to make up the remaining portion. Also add Tabasco, cayenne, old bay spice, etc., other ingredients that you would like to taste, in small amounts, into the brine while it is heating.
Citrus
Reduce the vegetable stock by a small amount and add orange juice to replace what you left out.
Cooking
Don’t forget that how you cook it will also affect the taste. With turkey and chicken, you can add herbs and spices under the skin and in the cavity before cooking, which will help further enhance the flavor. For citrus, add thinly sliced rounds of lemon or orange under the skin, or lemon and orange halves in the cavity. For savory, add rosemary, sage and apple.
Wow…Thanks to everybody who made name suggestions and voted for our really rich chocolate ice cream. We had a tie for 2nd place: Asphalt Road and Chocolatti Dream. The winner by just a few votes was the Dark Side of Cookie Dough. So thanks everybody who participated and we will be sending out the prize soon.
And Stay tuned, our next batch of ice cream is Guinness! And knowing Hall, I am sure there it isn’t going to be just an ordinary batch either! 
I just finished P.G. Wodehouse’s A Prefect’s Uncle, my second book of his. Overall, it was very enjoyable, but I did learn that with his books (just because they are so heavy in sporting terms and very “English”) that I must read the full book continuously…or at least with no more than a day or two between readings. I learned that the hard way because I had started the book back on March, but due to being busy, hadn’t picked it up in a couple of weeks. Usually, I can pick up a book reread the past page or so, and continue on…but not with this book. I had to go back to the beginning and reread the whole thing (well, skimmed the first part, until I caught up, but still had to go over it).
Anyways, the book was very entertaining and I did find myself wondering how the events and subplots would unfold. I did have one issue with a major plot in the fact that it really never was concluded. A lot of the other plots/sub plots came to great conclusions (some of the twist and turns to get to them were great!), but unless I over read it, the one bit of information that I really wanted to learn, never was told. However, it might be in the next story, so I will hold off my full judgment till I finish that book.
As for the characters, LOVED them. If you ever watched Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster, then you have already “meet” the characters to a degree. Most of Wooster’s friends could be straight from this book, and therefore they almost came to life in my mind. The uncle was a shock, and was a great twist to the book. And the quiet Wilson really did surprise me at the end.
Overall, I give the book 7 out of 10. If you like very British books and terms (and this one is FILLED with very British terms and sports), then you will love it. If not…don’t even pick it up, since this book is almost dedicated to cricket.
This is a old one, but a very scrumptious one that Hall does.
Boursin Stuffed Chicken
4 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
1 pkg Boursin Cheese
2 Eggs
½ cup Milk
½ Grated Parmesan Cheese
½ cup Italian Breadcrumbs
Salt
Pepper
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place a chicken breast in between 2 layers of saran wrap and pound the chicken until it is about ¼ inch thick. Repeat with the other 3 breasts.
Sprinkle each breast with salt and pepper to taste. Spread a layer of Boursin Cheese on each flattened breast. Roll up each breast and secure with a toothpick.
In a bowl, mix the eggs and milk together. In another bowl, combine the Parmesan Cheese and breadcrumbs. Dip each breast in the egg mixture and then roll each one into the breadcrumbs till they are covered.
Sprinkle a layer of breadcrumbs on a cookie sheet. Place each of the breast, seam down, on the cookie sheet. Bake the chicken 30-40 minutes until cooked, and golden brown.
Serves 4.
Spent last night at the 19th Annual Spring Celebration Banquet for King’s Ranch and Hannah Home. It was a great night and lots of money was raised for their homes. King’s Ranch and Hannah Home are safe heavens for youth, women and children seeking shelter from abuse, neglect, and other difficult circumstances. Their President, Lew Burdette, is a sweet guy and has done so much for those kids, women and homes.
Last night was one of their main fund raising events, and was held at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center. Their main guest speaker was Randy Howell, a Champion angler and Bassmaster tour, and his story was incredible. He spoke of his past and how he always wanted to fish, and how that dream almost came to an end due to an illness. But with help from his family and wife, and God, he overcame that illness and was able to pursue his dream. Today he is a Bassmaster tour professional and often talks with different groups about his experiences and past with God.
To learn more about and to donate to King’s Ranch and Hannah Home, visit www.kingsranch.org. And to learn more about Randy Howell, visit RandyHowell.com.
Wow! Hall said that we had over 2500 submissions that he had to painstaking go through to narrow it down to 12…math was never really his strong suit…maybe I should have done the taxes this year. 
Anyways, we did get over 25 fantastic submissions – so a huge THANK YOU to everybody who sent in names. It was really hard to narrow it down, but after a long day (and lots of ice cream) we did narrow it down to the top 12. So look them over and vote for your favorite. Poll closes Sunday, April 25 at 11:59pm. The winner will be announced the next day, Monday April 26.
Ice Cream description: Ice cream itself contains 4 chocolates: Unsweet, milk, and dark chocolate bars and dark chocolate cocoa. There is cookie dough with semi sweet mini chocolate chips. It is very rich…1 scoop will do you!
(A list of the submissions is below the poll if you have a hard time reading them.)
Get your own Poll!
The Dark Side of Cookie Dough
The Devil made me do it
Chocolate Storm
Asphalt Road
Chocolatti Dream
Life by Chocolate
Cocoa Conundrum
Toll House Supreme Ice Cream
PentaChocalicious
Professor Hall’s dark diorama of wanton decadence
Diet Killer
Chocolate Coma
How to make a mask with Photoshop.
via: http://bitsandpieces.us/
Colin finally gets a good kiss!
Looking for something that is lite, refreshing and yummy to go with this beautiful spring weather? Then try our:
Citrus Honey Chicken
½ cup Green Bell Pepper
½ Orange Bell Pepper
2 small Yellow Onions
10 springs of Cilantro Leaves
1 tbsp minced Garlic
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 small can of Pineapple Juice
2-3 cups of Orange Juice
2 tbsp Clover Honey
2 Boneless Chicken Breast
Chutney: Slice the bell peppers and onions, and then toss the bell peppers, onions, Cilantro, Garlic and lemon juice in a food processor. Pulse until mixture is chunky.
Sauce: Over medium heat, add the Pineapple Juice, Orange Juice and Honey in a sauce pan. Reduce the mixture until about 1/3 of the original amounts remains.
Chicken: Preheat oven to 350°F. Rub each breast with kosher salt and pepper. Sear on each side, and then place in the oven for 15 minutes to finish cooking.
To Finish: Place the chicken on a plate, and place a small amount of the chutney on the chicken. Spoon the sauce over it and serve!
Serves 2