Rec: Chicken Naranja

Naranja is Spanish for orange, so this is simply Chicken with Oranges. But Chicken Naranja sounds better because the recipe calls for orange juice, and somehow Chicken with Orange Juice just doesn't sound as tasty. This is quick to prepare and is tasty. I found it in a magazine twenty years ago, credited to Laura Alvarez of San Francisco. This recipe serves two, but can easily be doubled. Any sort of rice makes a nice side dish for this, and looks especially good placed on a bed of white rice. Add a green salad for a complete dinner.

Any preferred pieces of chicken may be used to make this. I prefer the lower calorie option of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Any type of orange juice may be used, but I like it best with freshly squeezed orange juice. Some ingredients can be substituted if you don't have the called for ones on hand, such as crystallized ginger for fresh ginger, frozen orange juice instead of fresh, celery seed instead of fresh celery, and of course the garnish can be dropped. Also, you can add
a couple of drops each of red and yellow food coloring to get a more orangey color.

Chicken Naranja

Two chicken breasts

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/6 cup packed brown sugar

10 slices fresh ginger root

1 cup sliced celery

1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water

Orange slices and fresh parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the chicken in a baking dish, skin side up if using chicken with skin. Mix the orange juice, soy sauce and brown sugar and pour over the chicken. Sprinkle the ginger root and celery on and around the chicken. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove the chicken from the baking dish and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Replace the chicken breasts and bake about 10 minutes longer until the chicken is tender and the sauce has thickened. Garnish with the orange slices and parsley to serve.

The Bendito Machine

Here is an odd little site, not exactly a video but clearly entertainment.

The Oddities and Wonders of Strange Maps

Since CNN and MSNBC (and maybe even FOX) give you all the news you want to know it's up to me to give you the news you don't want to know, but would want to know if only you knew it was out there. Case in point, a map of the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, final resting place of The Doors' Jim Morrison, in the wonderful little blog Strange Maps. If you would like to examine the cemetery map more easily just click on it to enlarge. With lots of other goodies on the site, more than 4 million hits and frequent updates, this is a blog worth bookmarking.

The Ten Most Beautiful Bridges in the World

I don't know who this Neatorama blog belongs to but he/she/it has posted some great photos of impressive and mostly attractive bridges. (I'm not sure about Bridge No. 1 myself -- maybe it's better in person.) I would have thrown in the perfectly arched Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia, as well, perhaps in preference to one of the covered bridges. What's the point of a covered bridge, anyway? Anybody know?

The Ten Scariest Short Films Ever Created

ENJOY!

Poppet Planet

Okay, so you don't need more Stuff To Buy. Nevertheless, Poppet Planet is just too brilliant to pass up, and this is Halloween month, after all. These are a bit like the little harlequin dolls that are sold all around New Orleans during Mardi Gras, except that these apparently live on the Dark Side. Artist Lisa Snellings Clark is also selling some glow in the dark poppets on eBay. Ah, Halloween ... it's going to be a good month!

Pulps from the Crypt

Pulps from the Crypt is a nifty virtual store for collectors of old pulp magazines. They have it all, from science fiction and fantasy to adventure and detective stories. Check it out.

Big Wheels

No, they're not tricycles, they're Syrian waterwheels built in the Byzantine era. Granted they don't function anymore -- technology has improved everywhere -- but they're still pretty amazing, and there are some nice photos of them in this link.

Bowling with a Pug

Hmmm. I don't think I would let these morons dogsit for me. I have to admit this MySpaceTV video is funny, though, and the music is great! Hooray to Samson! Nor were any guitarists harmed.

Mother Goose Goes Hollywood

This is a sweet, funny cartoon that uses Golden Era Hollywood stars as Mother Goose characters. Great stuff! And with German subtitles, no less.

Ah, We Don't Have to Be Eaten After All

Because Galactus will destroy the Earth first. Or perhaps some will be eaten first, then Galactus will destroy what's left. I confess I'm not entirely clear on this point.

Magical Marmite Tells Your Mood

What is mood Marmite? It's Marmite that you wack with a spoon until it changes into some strange color it's not supposed to be. Perhaps we should be running this post on Tuesdays, with the recipes, since I expect you could still eat the Marmite, if you really wanted to. Let me know how your experiments turn out. (In the unlikely event you don't know what Marmite is, you can check out this link.)

Holy Funny Bone, Batman!

Herewith, the top 15 unintentionally funny comic book panels ... at least according to blogger Evil Richard. He has some pretty good picks here, although his blog doesn't completely display some of the panels on my browser. Maybe he could adjust them for all browsers?

Lord of the Rings Movie 1940

Hark, is that Bumpy Gocart I see on The Quest? Don't click off right at The End because a little surprise awaits. (Boy, some people sure have a lot of time on their hands...)

Complaints Choir of Birmingham

I think this is in imitation of the Helsinki Choir, if I understand the credits correctly. I don't like it quite as much as the Helsinki one, but it's still worth a view. This is from Birmingham, England, not Alabama, just in case you were wondering.

Helsinki Complaints Choir

This is a very funny but also sweet YouTube video that I found. I used to live near one of the biggest Finnish communities in the United States and yes, they were a lot like this.

How to Scare Away a Telemarketer

I've heard of many ways to deal with telemarketers. Me, I just say, "No, thank you," and hang up immediately before than can get a word in edgewise. But some of you rapscallions out there are more creative, like Tom Mabe.

Rec: Packet Cooking

Packet cooking is easy, which I think is the best sort of cooking. This is tastiest cooked over a grill, but it works beautifully in the oven as well. It's simple, low calorie and fast. This recipe serves four, but it can be halved for two, or quartered for one. I don't recommend making this for one, because it could just as easily be made for two or four, with the remaining servings frozen as is in the packet, then popped into the microwave for dinner on busy days. The best accompaniment to this is rice. A box rice is easiest, however, I'm posting a Spanish Rice recipe separately for those who are more ambitious. I've filched this recipe from The Change One Diet by the Reader's Digest people.

Snapper and Sugar Snap Peas in a Packet

3 cups sugar snap peas (fresh or frozen)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
4 red snapper filets, 6 ounces each (or other delicate fish, such as flounder or sole)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, or prepare the grill.

Toss the sugar snap peas, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper together in a bowl.

Coat four 15-inch lengths of cooking parchment paper or aluminum foil with cooking spray. Place one filet on one-half of each paper then top with about 3/4 of the sugar snap peas. Fold the paper over the fish and peas and fold the edges all around to seal.

Put the packets on a baking sheet to go into the oven, or directly on the grill and cook for 10 to 12 minutes.

Tired of Your Name? Try This Name Generator

Now that you have your Elf name, your Hobbit name, your Orc name, your stripper name and a host of other names, how about variations on your own name. This random name generator at the BabyNames site is a handy tool to find out who you might have been. After all, your name is quite a random and capricious event, as is occasionally made evident by parents who actually name their kids things like Ima Hogg. Well, if you're female you have an easy way out of that one in many cultures. It would be bad luck, though, if Ima ended up married to say a Mann or a Butler -- or worse. If I were Ima I probably would go by my middle name, even if it were, say, Gertrude. (In real life I don't have that option, since my parents didn't give me a middle name.) This is Blair Dakota signing off...

Meg Cabot's Blog -- Simply the Best

There are only a few blogs I follow (who has time?!), but one of my favorites of the few is that of YA writer Meg Cabot, she of The Princess Diaries. I know, you're saying, Princess Diaries? You gotta be kidding. No, I'm not, although Meg kids around a lot herself, which is what makes the blog so great. She spends more blog time entertaining than complaining. While you're there, be sure to check out her VidLit, which is also funny.