The struggle is real, Wanda.
– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.
My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.
Uncle Sam isn’t best pleased. There are pandemics, partisan politics running rampant, and war clouds brewing abroad. However, these are things far beyond the power of John and Jane Citizen to affect. But there are still things we can do, just by ourselves, to better everybody else’s life.
Uncle Sam’s visiting us to tell us the number-one thing we can do to brighten the world of our fellow citizens.
– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.
My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.
INGREDIENTS
2 garlic cloves
1 green onion
¼ cup minced yellow onion
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¾ pound ground beef
⅓ pound ground pork
½ cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
½ teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon salt
6½ cups beef broth
¼ cup fresh cilantro.
Serves 4. Takes 45 minutes.
PREPARATION
Mince garlic cloves, green onion, and yellow onion. Add yellow onion and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil to pan. Sauté at medium heat for 5 minutes or until yellow onion softens. Add sautéed yellow onion and all other ingredients except beef broth and cilantro to mixing bowl. Use hands to make 16 meatballs. Add beef broth and meatballs to large pot. Bring to boil at medium-high heat. Stir occasionally. Lower heat to medium. Simmer for 20 minutes or until meatballs float and are no longer pink inside. Dice cilantro. Garnish soup with cilantro. Goes well with rice.
TIDBITS
1) The four meatballs in the above photo are actual planets and asteroids. The planets are Neptune and Pluto, and X3B-17A way beyond the Solar System. Wasn’t Neptune rather big to fit into a soup bowl? Yes, it was. However, it was gaseous giant, that was condensed into a bowl-sized solid planet. Aren’t these celestial orbs rather heavy? Yes, they are. However, hunger and this soup’s wonderful aroma makes us strong. Life’s been rather unkind to Pluto, hasn’t it? Yes, it has. But it’s been rather sad since it lost its full planetary status and has done nothing but orbit morosely around the Sun ever since. We’re really doing it a kindness by eating it.
2) Won’t people miss seeing all heavenly bodies? No for the asteroids, there are too many to notice. X3B-17A is too far away to see. Certainly, people will notice the disappearance of Neptune, but it takes 4 hours for us light to reach us. That’s plenty of time to make this soup and dispose of the evidence, by eating it, before anyone notices. These meatballs are made mostly out of beef and pork. Does this give credence that the universe is made primarily of beef and pork? Yes, it does.
– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.
My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.
INGREDIENTS
1¼ pounds elbow macaroni
½ habanero pepper
1 mild chile pepper*
1 small onion
2 eggs
¾ pound grated cheddar cheese (about 3 cups, ¼ pound more later)
2¼ cups (20 ounces) evaporated milk
2 teaspoons ketchup
¼ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon parsley
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, softened
¼ pound grated cheddar cheese (about ¼ cup)
* = Such as, in ordered of increasing spiciness: Italian sweet pepper, pasilla bajio pepper, cherry pepper, banana pepper, Trinidad perfume pepper, pepperoncini, or cubanelle,
SPECIAL UTENSIL
9″ * 13″ casserole dish
Serves 8. Takes 1 hour 10 minutes.
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook elbow macaroni in large pot according to instructions on package. Drain. While macaroni cooks, mince habanero. (Do not touch minced habañero with hands. If you do so, please wash your hands thoroughly right away. ) Mince mild chile pepper and onion. Add eggs to small bowl. Beat eggs with whisk.
Add habanero, mild chile, onion, eggs, ¾ pound cheddar cheese, evaporated milk, ketchup, paprika, parsley, pepper, and salt to mixing bowl. Stir with fork until well blended. Pour contents of mixing bowl into pot with macaroni. Mix with long spoon until well blended. Grease casserole dish with butter. Ladle contents from mixing bowl into casserole dish. Sprinkle ¼ pound grated cheddar cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until cheese turns golden brown.
TIDBITS
1) Nothing happened on this day in history. Everybody behaves themselves and stays at home on this date. It’s amazing.
– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.
My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.
See the serene and blissful dog and baby. They are completely relaxed. They ask to you to join them in their pleasant dreams in which everything goes right.
Good night.
Come join them in slumber
– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.
My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.
Life is stressful. Sometimes the stress can overwhelm us. We need to plant a happy, peaceful image in our mind. Something that reminds us that blissful serenity still exists in our hectic world. Look at the picture below. Picture yourself in your own little hut, cut off from the hustle and bustle of city. Gaze on the clear, blue water. Picture your cares being washed away as you wade into the lagoon. The mostly clear, blue sky reminds us that for the moment, our cares are in the distance. And even those small clouds shall soon blow away.
Relax. Enjoy. Refresh.
– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.
My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.
The Ultimate Simple Meal
Dear Mr. Chef,
Cooking is too hard. Too many ingredients. Too Many Steps. What should I do?
– Phil A. Americaine in Poway, Calfornia
Dear Mr. Americaine,
May I suggest “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity?” In times like these I often make a sandwich. They’re easy.
1. But there are so many choices to put in between the bread slices. What should I do?
A. Buy cheese. Just use cheese for the sandwich filling.
2. But what cheese should I get?
A. Buy only Swiss cheese.
3. But I don’t really care for Swiss cheese. How about another type? But they’re so many types of cheese. What do I do?
A. Buy only Swiss cheese. Do you want to risk a nervous breakdown?
4. But what about bread. They’re so many types of bread. I can never decide. What to do?
A. Forget the bread. Put your slab of Swiss cheese between two other slices of cheese
5. Are those two new slices Swiss cheese as well?
A. Yes, we are protecting your mental health.
6. What if I have only one slice of Swiss cheese? What do I do now?
A. Make your single slice of Swiss into a sandwich extraordinaire. After all what is a single piece of cheese the same thing as three pieces, but with two fewer slices?
7. Thank you, Mr. Chef.
A. You’re welcome. Bon appétit.
– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.
My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.
Honduran Appetizer
INGREDIENTS
½ red onion
½ teaspoon chicken broth
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup refried beans or red refried beans
½ teaspoon pepper
½ pound quesillo or Oaxacan cheese
3 tablespoons crema Hondureño, crema Mexicana, or sour cream
tortilla chips, unsalted if possible, for dipping
Serves 8. Takes 30 minutes.
PREPARATION
Dice red onion. Add red onion, chicken broth, and vegetable oil to large pan. Sauté at medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until onion softens. Stir frequently. Add refried beans and pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes and until well blended. Stir frequently
Add quesillo and crema Hondureño. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until cheese melts completely. Stir occasionally. Serve with tortilla chips.
TIDBITS
1) Ana Fre was a good Swede who spent some time in Honduras. My grandmother’s first name was pronounced somewhere between Ana and Annie. She went with Anna when she moved to America. You’ll notice that her first name has two ns in it, while Ana Fre’s had just one. That’s because my grandma didn’t fear an extra n. Ana Fre did fear an n. So for her, the previous sentence for her became, “Ana fear a n.”
2) Ana fear a n is, of course, an anagram for Anafre. So in a way, the name Anafre, expresses the Honduran people’s love for Ana, who came up with this dish.
3) Ana was not the first nor to fear extra ns. The Romans phrase for “fear a n” or “fear for the letter n” was “timere litteras n.” The great Julius Caesar suffered from this affliction.
4) Dr. Sigmund Freud, the great Viennese pyschoanalyst, referred to this anxiety as Buchstabe n Phobie.
5) So if you fear the letter n, or just an excessive amount of them, fret not, you are not alone. You can even be a fully functioning member of society.
– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.
My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.
Dear Reader,
Life is hard. It’s filled with goals that seem impossible to achieve. How do we meet our goals? Oh geezo flip, by picking attainable goals. Do you want to repaint your house when you’re due at the altar in two hours or for an interview for that dream job of yours? Sure, the painting of your house starts with a single brushstroke. But you’re never going to marry your soulmate in time. You’re never going to get that job that’ll make your raring to get to work in the morning. No, you’ll become lonely and unfilled.
Set achievable goals.
– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.
My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.
Look at the following map of the world. Notice anything spooky?
Iran is Niger upside down. Look, look! Someone copied Niger (ctrl-c), flipped it vertically, and plopped it down (ctrl-v) between Turkey and Pakistan.
Niger and Iran even have the same color.
Wow.
Proof you cannot deny.
It’s so clear! It’s so clear.
Okay, maybe you’re not convinced.
Let’s compare the map of an upside down Niger with that of a right-side up Iran.
Identical. The maps don’t lie
So, the boundaries of Iran and flipped Niger are the same. But for my hypothesis to hold, Iranians must be flipped Nigeriens. Is this true? Yes. How do we know. People that are upside down will have a flag that’s turned upside down as well. Is this true? Let’s see.
Upside down Nigerien Flag Rightside up Iranian flag
But for the fact that the orange print cartridge on the upside down Nigerien flag deteriorated into red on the Iranian flag and the ink started to run out in spots on the right, the flags are identical. Proof you cannot deny.
There you have it. The land and people of Iran are identical to those of Niger, only upside down. So you only need to visit one of the countries. Remember to stand on your head and walk upside down if you travel to Iran. It is for this reason people usually choose to vacation in Niger.
– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.
My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.
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