Chicken Sweaters?

Apparently everyone in the world is doing great.  How do I know this?  Because there's a group in England that's doing a very special kind of charity work this holiday season.  They're not volunteering at a local soup kitchen or ringing the Salvation Army bell in front of the mall.  They're not buying toys for orphans, giving blood, or even writing a check to the United Way. 

So how are these resourceful Brits helping the world become a better place?

Chicken Sweaters.

No, it's not the latest Lady Gaga fashion trend.  They're literally knitting sweaters... for chickens. Not coats for the homeless.  Not even blankets for the elderly.  Sweaters.  For chickens. 

Seriously, WTF?

Here's the full story.

Liquid Lunch Drink of the Day: Amaretto-Cranberry Kiss

Yield: Makes 8 cocktails

The tang of the cranberry juice is balanced by the smoothness of the amaretto and vodka.

Ingredients
2 cups cranberry juice cocktail
1 cup vodka
1/2 cup amaretto
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
Ice cubes
Clementines, peeled, separated into segments


Preparation
Mix cranberry juice, vodka, amaretto, and orange juice in pitcher. Cover and chill until ready to serve. DO AHEAD: Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.

To make 2 drinks, fill cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Pour in scant 1 cup vodka mixture. Cover and shake vigorously. Strain into 2 Martini glasses. Garnish each with clementine segment. Repeat 3 times with ice cubes, remaining vodka mixture, and clementine segments.

Bon Appétit, December 2007
Meredith Deeds and Carla Snyder
photo by: Kana Okada

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's Independence Day. It's not Mexico's Memorial Day, and it's not a holiday to celebrate beer (or tequila). To learn what the holiday is really all about, visit VivaCincoDeMayo.org.

To enhance your Americanized celebration of the holiday that few people in this country know anything about, here's a video of "The Mexican Hat Dance" performed by The Four Squeezins.

Chapter 61.25: A Pleasant Time Was Guaranteed for All

For the benefit of Mr. Kite, there was a wonderful weekend. And it's not yet complete. I spoke with each of my siblings -- met with my brothers and their respective spouses -- and had a thoroughly pleasant time. I rarely get a chance to have a two-day weekend, and I took full advantage of having three days.

We saw the third enstallment of the Pirates of the Caribbean on Sunday night. If you enjoy the franchise, do yourself a favor; see it in the theater. Some of its weirdness -- and there's a lot of strange scenes -- would be lost on the small screen. It's not a great film -- or trilogy for that matter -- but it's fun. And Keith Richards did a great job in his limited role.

Ok, I'm off to sleep soon, but I want to say thank you to those who played softball with me this weekend. It was a lot of fun and we're making things difficult for league management. Hey, wait a second; that's me!

Chapter 51.4: The Bird

Another turkey come and gone. It was a pleasant day, despite the weather. No turkey bowl, but lots of turkey and several bowls. Now people are leaving. And the holiday season has officially begun. Safe home.