Shawn's Scraps

They are a long way away in the subways of your mind

I intended to send this a few months ago, but never set it live.

Tom Magliozzi, of CarTalk fame, died today.

I have never been a huge NPR fan, but between David Sedaris and Click ‘n’ Clack, I always found my way over there at certain times. I’m listening to their old archives on TuneIn. I forgot just how little of the show involved cars near the end. The two just made one heck of an enjoyable hour of entertainment.

Tom, you will be missed. Hope your Fiat won’t cause you too many problems.

Since I’m no longer spending time on social networks, and I am done working for the moment, I thought I’d share a few of my not-the-most-healthy, but-not-the-worst recipes. As it’s Taco Tuesday, I figured I’d start off with a Latin styled dish:

Quick Chicken Fajitas

  • 2lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced.
  • 15oz can black beans, or dried-and-cooked equivalent
  • 15oz can corn, or freshly cooked corn, cut from the cob.
  • 1-2 medium sized onion(s) (to taste)
  • 2 medium sized green bell peppers
  • 2 medium sized red bell peppers
  • Flour, or corn tortillas

Drain black bean juice in skillet, or use a couple tablespoons of oil, on low heat. Fold chicken. Cover skillet and let cook, occasionally stirring until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees.

While waiting for chicken to cook, slice onions and peppers into strips, and sautee onions until nicely caramelized. (I don’t like the peppers mushy, so I only throw them on and stir for the last few seconds. Sometimes I don’t even add them.)

Drain corn, and add corn and beans to chicken. Allow to heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Prepare tortilla as you enjoy them. Fill with both chicken and toppings, add any cheese/salsa/whatever you may like. I added some Chinese cabbage that I had left over and it went together wonderfully. The above easily serves six (or a few fatties like me), and it takes almost no effort, whatsoever!

When I grew up, there were generally three available sizes at stores: a 6 to 10oz bottle, which were rare, 12 ounce cans, and 2 liter bottles. This was good.

Then sometime during the late 80s/early 90s I recall the first time I saw a 16oz version in a plastic bottle. 4 more ounces, in a pretty plastic container.

From there, they decided we needed 20oz plastic bottles, 8oz cans, which I suppose would have a purpose on an airplane for a smaller size drink – and then – I have recently spotted 14 oz bottles being sold a few cents cheaper than their 20oz companions. 1 liter bottles have cropped up more, and more recently, too (here’s an idea, guys, that’s about 1/5th gallon).

How many different sizes do you need, and really, how damn thirsty can you be? Shouldn’t the idea of fountain drinks be able to quench the thirst enough?

Evidently not. I just found a 1.5 liter bottle introduced by Pepsi.

From WikiPedia:

While CEO of PepsiCo in 2008, Indra Nooyi earned a total compensation of $14,917,701, which included a base salary of $1,300,000, a cash bonus of $2,600,000, stocks granted of $6,428,538, and options granted of $4,382,569.

Where can I sign up to get a cool 15 mil (or heck, I’d settle for 20% as a conceptual person) for promoting the concept of “My own cola’, where you use a vending device to choose just how much you want, and a nice little option to personalize your overpriced sugar water’s label on an option from 4oz to a full gallon of sugar?