Cold winter Sundays watching playoff football scream for a large pot of chowder. A thick hearty soup warms the body and soul. My mom used to cook this in my youth, but I perfected the recipe about 5 years ago by doubling the bacon and adding lump crab meat.

Any recipe that starts with 2lbs of bacon has to be good! This is the ulitmate comfort food, best served in a sourdough bread bowl. It takes about an hour to cook, but is worth every second.

• 2 lbs bacon
• 28 oz canned clams
• 6 – 8oz lump meat crab
• 5 – 7 large russet potatos
• 1 large white onion
• 1 stalk celery
• salt and pepper
• 1 pint half and half
• 1 pint non-fat milk
• small sourdough loaves for serving (read more…)

To paraphrase Marx, Liberalism is the religion of the asses. Liberalism in the United States has become virtually indistinguishable from socialism and/or statism. Webster’s dictionary defines socialism as “any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.” Since Obama has taken over the White House, we’ve seen the government take over General Motors, Citibank, and dozens of other companies. The #1 push of the administration now is to nationalize health care. Can the “public option” be described as anything other than government ownership of the production and distribution of health services?

The modern Liberal believes fervently in the rightness of his cause, regardless of the objective evidence that they are wrong. Facts rarely enter the equation. Liberals are more concerned with feelings. Liberals *feel* that the world is unfair, and they intend to use the power of government to right wrongs. To justify these feelings, the Liberal has built an array of myths that constitute their belief system.  These myths have become a surrogate religion for the Liberals. Below are the top 5 Liberal Myths, and the reasons why they are wrong. (read more…)

Nothing better on a nice autumn day than a little football, a little World Series baseball, and a whole lot of comfort food. I created this jabalaya recipe several years ago. It is a Creole or red style jambalaya, with equal parts sausage, chicken and shrimp. Other meats can be substituted, such as taso, duck or lump crab meat. The important part is the ratios. You can make this recipe as spicy or as mild as you want, by varying the amount of cayenne and Tabasco. It is important to chop the onion, jalapeño, bell pepper, and 1/3rd of the sausage as finely as possible. As the mixture cooks down, these ingredients will somewhat disappear, acting more like seasonings than major elements. As you are cooking, scrap the bottom of the pan frequently. This recipe takes about 90 minutes to cook, but trust me, it is well worth the time. This is the perfect dish for Christmas Eve, a football party, or any family get-together.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs Andouille sausage
• 1 1/2 lbs Boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 1/2 lbs 21-30 Count shrimp (frozen)
• 3 – 4 Yellow onions
• 3 – 4 Green bell peppers
• 2 jalapeño peppers
• 5 – 6 Roma tomatoes
• 2 Bunches green onions
• 4 Cups rice
• 8 Cups hot water
• 1/4 cup grape seed oil (or canola oil)
• 20 Cloves garlic
• Spices: salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, Italian seasoning, Emeril’s essence, and Tabasco to taste (read more…)

While creating my recipe for El Fuego Del Diablo, I started toying with ideas for fruit salsas. I wanted something that could be eaten with chips like a regular salsa, used as a garnish for fish or other meats, or served as part of a dessert.

I love mangos and I love habaneros, so that seemed like a good place to start. This recipe is a little sweet, has a little heat, and goes great with any Mexican food.

Ingredients

• 1 cup diced mango
• 3/4 cup diced pineapple
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 2 finely diced habaneros
• 1 lime

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Man cannot live on technology and politics alone. Occasonally, you gotta eat. You might as well eat well. Real men do cook, but they don’t cook like wussies. Thus begins my series of posts on my favorite recipes. Most of these I made up myself, or bastardized from the work of others, with my own special twists.

First up: SALSA!!!! Specifically, my own 4 pepper, fire roasted, burn your face off, devil’s fire salsa. This stuff is HOT but it has a great flavor to match the heat. It is addictive too. If you are a chili-head, you must try this. The key to this salsa is the BBQ. I fire roast everything. This gives it a great smoky flavor, caramelizes some of the sugars in the peppers to add sweetness, and really intensifies the flavors of all the ingredients.

Ingredients

• 5 – Green jalepeno peppers
• 5 – Red jalepeno peppers
• 5 – Serano peppers
• 5 – Habanero peppers
• 6 – Large Roma tomatoes
• 2 – Bunches of green onions
• 2 – Limes
• 1 – Garlic clove
• 1 – Bunch cilantro
• Salt and coarse black pepper to taste

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With the announced retirement of Justice David Souter, President Obama gets his first chance to impact the court. The good news is that Justice Souter was a terrible judge, so I’m glad to see him go. The bad news is that Obama has repeatedly shown disdain for the Constitution, Federalism, Original Intent, and the general qualifications that most Conservatives require of prospective judges.

In discussing Souter’s departure, Obama stated “I will seek someone who understands that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a casebook… I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people’s hopes and struggles, as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes.” Actually, the role of the court is to apply the law dispassionately and uniformly. Feelings don’t matter. The Constitution and the framer’s intent matters. Abstract legal theory matters. Empathy is not a qualification for a Justice.

Mark Levin’s new book “Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto” does a brilliant job of defining the original intent of the Constitution and why it matters. If you have not read this book, buy it immediately. It should be required reading in every high school civics class. In his book, Levin states “the Constitution sets forth certain terms and conditions for governing that hold the same meaning today as they did yesterday and should tomorrow… There really is no other standard by which the Constitution can be interpreted without abandoning its underlying principles altogether. If the Constitution’s meaning can be erased or rewritten, and the Framer’s intentions ignored, it ceases to be a constitution but is instead a concoction of political expedients that serve the contemporary policy agendas of the few who are entrusted with public authority to preserve it…”

“To say that the Constitution is a ‘living and breathing document’ is to give license to arbitrary and lawless activism… where the Constitution is silent, states and individuals need not be. The Constitution and, more particularly, the framework of the government it establishes are not intended to address every issue or answer every perceived grievance.” (read more…)

Change is a-coming! Barry is in charge now. God help us all. Today was a stunning tribute to the triumph of mediocrity. We have elected an empty suit with a terrible agenda. If history is any guide, he is precisely the wrong man at the wrong time. This country faces a string of challenges on par with the 1930s. If Barry is true to his word, he plans to follow the FDR model to recovery. Unfortunately for us, FDR’s policies were a miserable failure, causing the Great Depression to last almost a decade longer than necessary. Our only hope is that Barry fails.

I should give credit to Rush Limbaugh here, for 1st voicing this sentiment last week. I normally don’t get to listen to him, but I turned him on last week and he was ranting on how he hoped Barry would fail. All I could think of was: Amen! Ditto! You Go Girl!!!

I hope Barry fails because he is evil. Not evil in the kook-fringe Obama is a Muslim/Obama is the Anti-Christ/Obama rapes kittens meaning, but evil because his ideas are evil. I firmly hold to the Ayn Rand thesis that in any compromise between Good and Evil, Evil wins. Barry seeks to deny me my basic, inalienable rights, at the point of a gun. He seeks to deny me my property, deny me my liberty, and deny me my right to voice opposition to him and his policies.
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John McCain is a good and decent man. He has served his country with honor for his entire professional life. McCain’s concession speech struck a conciliatory tone that was fitting for the moment. John McCain is a graceful loser. Conservatives must learn from this if we want to regain power in two years. Next time, we must pick winners.

Politics is a blood sport. As this election proved, there are no rules, save one: Win. Win on the power of your positions. Win on the superiority of your principles. Win by pointing out the flaws in your opponent. Win by motivating your base. Win by raising more money. Win in the marketplace of ideas and in the message in the media. Above all else, win damn it! (read more…)

Freedom, Liberty, Personal Responsibility, and general Conservative principles suffered a crushing defeat tonight. The concept of limited government seems dead. In an election I will remember as the choice of the lesser of two evils, evil won.

I am tired. I am tired of choosing between bad and worse. I am tired of supporting a party that has lost its way. I am tired of Republicans whose motto is “we aren’t quite as bad as the alternative.” I am tired of liberals of both parties expanding entitlements, taking away liberties, raising my taxes, bankrupting the country, and calling me selfish for not wanting to bend over and take it. To paraphrase our new 1st Lady-elect, For the first time in my adult life I am ashamed of my country.

I am ashamed of my country because it has elected an unqualified clown. I am ashamed because 52% of the electorate has chosen an empty suit. I am ashamed of my party too. I am ashamed that starting in 2001, George Bush and the “Compassionate Conservatives” abandoned all Conservative principles in the name of political expediency. I am ashamed of new entitlements and rising deficits. I am ashamed of temporary tax cuts and class warfare.

John McCain is a good and honorable man, and he would have been far better than Obama, but he is no conservative. Neither is George W. Bush. McCain should never have been the standard bearer of the GOP. Republicans used to stand for small government, less interference, lower taxes. In a year when 75% of the country was dissatisfied with George Bush, McCain ran a completely ineffectual campaign, and yet still managed to gain approximately 46% of the vote. 46% of us including myself bit our tongues, swallowed our convictions, and supported McCain not because he supported our principles but because on balance he was better than the alternative. I am tired of carrying the water for Republicrats. (read more…)

Whomever wins tomorrow, the fact that Obama has gotten as far as he has as fast as he has represents a troubling trend in our country. Never before has someone so completely unqualified or unprepared to be President gotten so close to the Oval Office. As we count down to election day, we can only hope and pray that the electorate has paid enough attention in the last 48 hours to send this clown back to Illinois. If not, this country in headed for an ugly 4 years.

Barrack Hussein Obama II is not qualified to be president. The Presidency is the toughest, most challenging, most important CEO position in the world. It is not the place for on-the-job training. We should not experiment with affirmative action. We should require more from our President than a flashy smile, a nice suit, and a large bankroll. We should treat the election like a job interview, and require our candidates to have actual skills, executive experience, and a proven track record.

Before I go into Obama’s qualifications, or lack thereof, let me define what I believe are the minimum qualifications for being President:

1. Citizenship – The Constitution requires Presidents to be a natural born citizen at least 35 years old.
2. Public Executive Experience – Running the Executive Branch requires executive experience. It requires the ability to massively multi-task and compartmentalize. It requires the ability to surround yourself with competent lieutenants, and to delegate to your subordinates. These are the skills one gains as an executive in a large organization. There are differences between government executive skills and private executive skills, so it is important that the president has spent time in either the Federal or a state executive branch. Governors, Lt. Governors, Vice Presidents and Cabinet Leaders are all good examples.
3. Private Executive Experience – The Government places an incredible burden on its citizens and businesses. If you have never run a business, made a payroll, sat through an audit, negotiated a benefits contract, it is hard to truly understand the impact of the laws and regulations passed by the Government. To be an effective President, it is best that you have spent time in the private sector running a business.
4. Military Experience – The President is the Commander in Chief of the military. To gain a full grasp of military issues and structure, it is desirable that the President has served in some capacity, be it active duty, reserve, or national guard.
5. Public Policy Experience – The President must also deal with a wide range of issues including the economy, the budget and taxation, social security and other entitlements, foreign relations, and nominating judges. Candidates should have extensive experience either at the Federal or State level on matters of Public Policy.
6. Character – Above all else, character counts. A man of character can surround himself with subordinates to fill in the gaps in his experience. As Peggy Noonan once wrote: “In a president, character is everything. A president doesn’t have to be brilliant… He doesn’t have to be clever; you can hire clever… You can hire pragmatic, and you can buy and bring in policy wonks. But you can’t buy courage and decency, you can’t rent a strong moral sense. A president must bring those things with him…” I agree. (read more…)