Korean Short Ribs (crockpot)

These Korean ribs are rich and tender. The ribs are served over steamed Jasmine rice with hoisin sauce on the side, as an Asian-style BBQ sauce. Cooking the sauce down after the dish is done cooking makes an incredible gravy packed full of flavor. Leftovers were just as delicious the next several days as the first night.

The recipe calls for regular beef short ribs. No thin cuts of beef because the ribs cook 7 to 8 hours on low heat. You do not want mush for meat =).




Using the crockpot makes this dinner a snap and who doesn't love coming home to the aroma of dinner almost done? A little pre-planning the night before is all that is required. I had fun serving this dish. The Korean short rib dinner would work great for entertaining as well.




Korean Short Ribs in the Crockpot

Ingredients:
4 to 5 pounds bone-in beef short ribs
2 T. sugar
1 T. sesame oil
1 T. hot chile oil
1 T. sambal oelek, Sriracha or Asian hot sauce
1 1/2 T. freshly grated ginger
canola oil
2 T. rice wine (Saki), or white wine vinegar
1 small onion, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch scallions, chopped
2 firm pears, diced
8 ounces sliced shiitake mushrooms or white mushrooms, sliced
1 c. soy sauce
1 pound baby carrots
2 cups cooked Jasmine or white rice
1 t. sesame seeds
1/4 t. freshly ground pepper
1 t. sesame oil
hoisin sauce, optional




Directions:
In a bowl, combine ribs, sugar, sesame oil, chile oil, sambal oelek and ginger, and mix well. Let stand for 10 minutes.




In a large frying pan over high heat, warm canola oil. In batches, brown the short ribs on all sides. When browned, add to crock-pot along with onion, garlic, scallions, pear, mushrooms, soy sauce and enough water to cover ribs.




Set the crock-pot to cook for 4 to 5 hours on high, or 7 to 8 hours on low, until ribs are very tender. Add carrots, and continue cooking for 1 additional hour.


Using a large spoon, remove rib bones, and skim grease off the top of the liquid. Transfer ribs and rib bones to a plate. Use scissors to cut and remove any tough connective tissue. Transfer liquid to a medium-size pot over high heat, and simmer liquid until reduced by half.


To serve, arrange ribs on plate over rice, and ladle the reduced sauce on top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and pepper, and drizzle with sesame oil. Serve with hoisin sauce on the side.

Sneak Peek into The Amourous Weekend by Kathryn Gerbert

The Amorous Weekend

by

Kathryn Gerbert (with Wild Horse Press)

Synopsis:

Tony and Lori Johnson are newlyweds, still adjusting to their married state.  They truly care for each other but both find trust difficult.  A dedicated teacher, Lori is in love with Tony but feels conflicted.  She’s too independent to be an obedient wife but too insecure to be an equal partner.   Tony’s in middle management and couldn’t despise his job more.  He loves his wife but has her on this pedestal preventing him from seeing the woman she is.

Excerpt:

They stopped at the library first, Tony followed Lori around.  Finally, when Tony went his own way, Lori went into the section and started to look at some of the books.  She flipped through a few and actually started to read a passage when Tony popped up again.  She was so tempted to put the book back on the shelf and pretend she was looking for something else.  She knew he would tease her.  If she picked out a book, wouldn’t he see it at home?  Yes, eventually.  There were absolutely no secrets.  She continued to read the book.

“Are there pictures?”

“Shh!”

Tony picked up a book Lori had perused.  She hoped he wasn’t looking at the one page that had caused Lori to put the book back.

“Hey, there’s two girls . . .”  His smile was devilish.

“Tony, hush.”

Tony picked up another book and sat next to Lori.  The book was titillating.  Once he got beyond the shock of this, in the library, sitting next to his wife, he looked for the information that he could put to use.  There was a lot of information.  They sat there side by side for quite a while, both turned on, elbows touching, both searching for whatever would help them.  Lori settled on one book, Tony had three.  He also had a thriller.  He indicated the suspense novel, “Should I put this one on top when we check out?  Try to cover the naughty ones?”

Lori was embarrassed, worse with Tony’s teasing, “Please don’t humiliate me in front of the librarian.”

As luck would have it, they got the gum chewing teenager, she paid scant attention to the titles and had them checked out in less than a minute.  Lori was so grateful, she promised herself and the book gods that she would not send the books down the book return chute in two weeks.  She would march in and put them on the counter where they belonged.

http://www.the-wild-horse-press.com/contemporarybooks.htm

http://kathryngerbert.webs.com/

Playboy Sues Drake for Copyright Infringement

Hip hop artist Aubrey Drake Graham, aka “Drake” had a hit last year with the song “Best I Ever Had.” But, like many other commercially-successful songs these days, “Best I Ever Had” sampled a previous song. The original song, called “Fallin in Love,” is by 1970’s soft rockers Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds. And interestingly, it’s Playboy Enterprises, Inc. that owns the copyright to “Fallin In Love.” Apparently Drake didn’t get permission to use the song, which for samplers isn’t always necessary. But Playboy just filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Drake.

The case is 2:2010-cv-04750

A major question is going to be whether the song is a copy for commercial gain, or an artistic interpretation with a different and new meaning.

WRITER'S WRITE...WRITING PARTNERS FEUD

EXCERPT ~ CHASING YESTERDAY
By
Angelica Hart and Zi

With CHASING YESTERDAY being released this month, we've put away our normal banter, and instead offer you an excerpt.

THE STORY

In the mist, haze, and shadows of the seashore, Elizabeth seeks out the man who has haunted her dreams forever. Around her love vibrates within others, couples from the youngest to the oldest, each providing a nugget of love’s truth that aids her in her chase of Nathan Sterling.

Yet, each time she catches Nathan, he seems to slip away, making her wonder if her timing is off, if she was perhaps rushing what destiny had promised. What she doesn’t realize is that her pursuit threatens to reveal a dire truth… one that will change her forever after.

EXCERPT

Planning an early repast she sat at a table that opened
onto the vista with its majestic sunrise.

At that very moment she hadn’t expected him to
appear, a moment when a new day’s morning mist flattened
her chestnut brown locks and dampened the crisp folds of
her outfit, he was there, standing at the exact opposite end
of the hotel’s veranda.

Why?

Was he there seeking her?

Hope rushed pulse. The urge to run up to him as if
they had parted weeks before and this was an expected
reunion gripped her, though reality and properness
encouraged restraint.

Quickly, she anticipated his compunction was similar
to hers but the possibility of another truth halted further
giddiness. She understood he may not have been so privy to
her emotional certainty, he had probably not dreamt of her
night after endless night, he knew nothing of this cosmic
arrangement that had pronounced itself with such
fortification upon her psyche.

Her chest fluttered unhappy sensations spirited by
those points she had just reasoned.

What he did know was that a young woman he had
never met stared at him in recognition. He smiled. She
returned it and then quickly shied away, a flirtatious teasing
that came naturally, amazingly instinctual. She offered that
lash flutter, the slow peel from the ground upward, sliding
over his attractive form, and then catching his gaze, just for
a timid instant, then that quick spurn. Mother had taught her
that, not a nasty spurn but one that issued a challenge, her
yearning to be pursued obvious. At least she had thought it
was, but when she looked back, expecting to find him
walking toward her, he was gone.
***
We'd love to hear from anyone interested in what we do. Anyone who writes us at angelicahartandzi@yahoo.com and leaves an s-mail address, we will send you a gift and add you to any future mailings.

Angelica Hart and Zi
KILLER DOLLS
SNAKE DANCE
CHASING YESTERDAY
angelicahartandzi@yahoo.com
angelicahartandzi.com

Tony Basillio, A Knoxville Radio Host, Takes Out Billboard Aimed At Kiffin

According to a report by The Orange County Register, Tony Basillio—a Knoxville radio personality—has started a billboard campaign aimed at Lane Kiffin. The Billboards would be placed in Trojan Country and would read: "got sanctions? Enjoy Your Dream Job, Lane". 

Basillio has started a paypal fund and he's taking donations from any fan or follower of Tennessee football to aid in this project. It's obvious to me that some Vol fans would still like to stick it to Mr. Kiffin.

My take, the best revenge is doing well. Kiffin's slimy ways have trailed him everywhere he's been and there is little doubt that he will step in a big pile of manure at USC at some point as well. I give him 4-years—max—before he's fired or slithers away for something that elevates him even higher than he already feels himself to be.

Either way, he's not long for the college football world.

Man, he's just so darned unlikeable, I can't do anything but root against him—sorry, Trojan fans.



I love how he kept wringing his hands—a sure sign that he knew he was dead wrong. What a guy.

Author Ed Williams talks The Haint Classification System

The Haint Classification System

I know this is less than delicate, but have y’all ever come across someone who’s just so ugly that you think to yourself, “Damn, that man/woman is just down to the bone ugly!” I guess whether we will all admit it out loud that we all have at one point or the other, and we should also admit that we typically grade in our minds just how ugly the person actually is. Once we have categorized them as to degree of appearance impairment, then we can go on about our business, another section of life neatly organized and resolved in our minds.
That’s all well and good, but it does point out an important societal need – the need to have an easily understandable system to grade out truly ugly folks so that a mildly ugly type like Mick Jagger doesn’t get lumped together with someone like say, the Elephant Man. Everything is a matter of degree, and this holds true even in matters regarding those less than pleasing to the eyeballs.

Y’all will be pleased to know that such a system has actually been successfully employed for years, and that it was invented way back in the 1930s. Y’all might also be surprised to learn that its creator was my granddad, Ed Sr. He created, in his infinite wisdom and compassion, what is now known as “The Haint Classification System.”
As he explained it to me years ago, “haint” is a contraction for, “He/she is ugly as hell and it ain’t ever gonna get any better!” Then he went on to explain that there are three levels or classifications of haints. So now, for the betterment of society and humankind in general, here’s are the classifications and the corresponding definitions of “The Haint Classification System”:
“1 Bag Haint” (slang equivalent – A “One Bagger”):

A “1 Bag Haint” is someone that really shouldn’t get out in public much during daylight hours. Examples of well known “1 Bag Haints” include people like Kelly Osbourne, Lyle Lovett, or Clint Howard. They might not drive you to drink, but at the very least you’d be scoping out the location of the closest available liquor store if you even had to spend a lot of time around one of them.
“2 Bag Haint” (slang equivalent – A “Two Bagger”):

A “2 Bag Haint” is someone who’s so ugly that they can fill occupations like “human scarecrow,” “horror movie stunt double,” or “cadaver look-alike.” Examples of well known “2 Bag Haints” would include folks like Rosie O’Donnell, Flavor Flav, and Prince Charles. Even if you were broke and single and they possessed lots of money it’d be easier to learn to love baloney or potted meat as opposed to having to spend the right of your life looking at them first thing in the morning.
“3 Bag Haint” (slang equivalent – “You poor, ugly bastard”):

A “3 Bag Haint” is someone who’s like the Elvis of Ugly. In popular culture a “3 Bag Haint” would be someone like Jason Voorhees, the Frankenstein Monster, or Freddy Krueger. Don’t kid yourselves, though, there are real life “3 Bag Haints” out there, examples abound and include folks like Eleanor Roosevelt, Amy Carter, and Don Imus. These people might as well throw on some flip flops and Hawaiian flowery shirts and just not worry about it. They do have some things going for them – what hairstyles they wear don’t matter, they’ll never have to consider a career in Hollywood as an option, and if someone dates them they don’t have to worry about someone else stealing them away. Other than that, though, there’s not much upside for them, and that’s me being kind about it.

So there y’all have it – “The Haint Classification” system laid out and explained. And don’t get on me about it or say I’m crazy because my money says that just about all of y’all out there who are read this were categorizing ugly people y’all know as one, two, or three baggers as you were reading along. Let’s face it, we all evaluate ugly folks just like we do air biscuits when we happen to sniff out one, there’s no reason to act like we don’t.
Now, y’all all go off and have a great Fourth of July weekend, and may the only haints y’all run into be those that you find on your TV screens……

"ChristmaSin'", my new Christmas novel, is now available for sale! Click this link below to order!

www.christmasinthebook.com

www.elwiii.gather.com
www.ed-williams.com
www.twitter.com/ELW3

It Must Be "Let The Village Idiot Loose" Week in SEC Land

I saw this little bit of foolery from Paul Finebaum:

5. Mark Richt (Georgia): Everyone loves Mark Richt (blah, blah, blah), but can the guy coach? That's a strong question to ask for someone with two SEC titles and a glittering résumé. However, Georgia fans have stuck their heads in the sand recently, giving Richt a blank check while blaming everyone else.

Okay, I get it, Paul Finebaum has set a goal this off-season and it involves setting a huge flame to anything Georgia Bulldog related. Well, to each his own.

After all, I've said it once and I'll say it again, no self-respecting Georgia fan should allow anything Paul Finebaum has to say, ruin his/her happy place.

This man makes his living as a pot-stirrer and whenever he needs to find a way to draw more listeners and readers into his tawdry web, he says the most outrageously stupid thing he can imagine. That's his thing.

That said, I still find that lists (particularly those with rankings) irk me. My philosophy where those types of lists are concerned is if you're going to put yourself out there, do so with intelligence.

Don't be a moron.

Here is an example of me taking a moronic list to task. 

So, while I have no problem with Finebaum's decision to release another list ranking SEC coaches, I do take issue with his decision to place Richt at No. 5—particularly when neither of the two guys he ranks before him have 1) won an SEC Championship this decade, 2) have a winning record against Richt, or 3) have played in a bowl game of any significance—specifically a BCS bowl.

Bobby Petrino is 13-12 in two season's at Arkansas. That's it. His team went 8-5 last year and, barely—and I do mean barely—beat East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl.

As for Steve Spurrier, he might have been the "Ol' Ball Coach" at Florida but he's just an OLD ball coach at South Carolina where Richt has gotten the better of him eight times in nine years.

So, I  am willing to go out on a limb and say that Mark Richt is a better coach than both Bobby Petrino (whose done nothing yet) and Steve Spurrier (whose done nothing yet at South Carolina).

Try again Paul Finebaum.

You know, he''d be funny if he weren't such a prick...just saying. 

My advice to Georgia Bulldog fans where Paul Finebaum is concerned: change the station, there's nothing to see here, folks.