Above, you see a picture of the signature dish made by the Balaguer family, at their small, but popular and busy restaurant in the Bay Area. The dish, called “One Pan Grilled Seafood & Vegetable Paella”,  is made according to the traditional family recipe, just as served in the family’s restaurants in Spain, where the dish was originally perfected, passed down to each succeeding generation .

I found the picture and recipe in an article in the food section at SFGATE on the web, so you can too, by searching at the site under the name of the dish… I love paella, and this version looks amazingly delicious, by visual evidence, (obviously…. ya gotta love that food photography….), and by my scan of the ingredients and procedure…. (I’ll bet y’all sometimes forget I’m a chef…. one look tells me all I need to know about what it will taste like….) It will be expensive, but, about a dozen people will be incredibly happy with their tummies when I try it out….

Paella has always been a favorite of mine, since first being exposed to it at a night out while in college. Then, later in life, I attended culinary school, in 1986-87; naturally, when it was my turn to cook lunch for the entire school (as the production chef for the daily employee and student lunch, one of our assigned tasks), I chose to make paella according to the traditional Spanish recipe common to all the regions, with shrimp, chicken, and Andouille sausage, along with the saffron rice that characterizes the dish…..

The hard part of that deal was the fact that I was making the dish for about 300-400 culinary students, including housekeeping, and office staff, as well as generally having about 30 or so restaurant & hotel business teachers/instructors, including the Wine Editor for the Wine Spectator, an industry magazine, who was teaching a class in wines that week. (Cooking as chef for a meal for the chefs who instructed us each day, at lunch and dinner, was another assignment, for last semester students….) By the time it was done (it’s a long process, and labor intensive for that many people), I was sick of tasting it, so couldn’t really tell if it was as good as I wanted…. but, nobody got sick, and I got a lot of kudos for a good meal from a lot of people I respected, so, I was happy with it….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Some things don’t need the thought people give them.” — Calvin

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I’m up late, after a long, HOT day yesterday, during which I did very little beyond pant in front of the fan, sleep, and complain about the heat…. Well, not the last part; I just wanted to…. I didn’t have the energy to go look for rantable material, so, y’all will have to make to with the following, which is more of a short discussion than a rant…. though it does have some rant-like qualities, as it takes some mild shots at our old friends, the talking heads of Washington, D.C…..

From 1/15/2013:

“Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.”  — Udana Varga, c. 500 B. C.

This particular rephrasing of the Golden Rule from ancient India shows how long the concept has been around; in fact, it is a rephrasing of writings that are even older. This rule of behavior in society has been commonly held knowledge since the beginning of civilization, whenever one chooses to mark that date. Given that presence in the basket of things that are known by all, it brings to mind the question, “Why the fuck doesn’t anyone do this?”….. Well, that’s what came into MY mind, so deal with it…..

The Golden Rule is accepted by all societies on Earth as being the key to a peaceful existence, yet those who consistently ignore it, and break it with regularity, seem to always end up as the ones who are in charge of that self-same society. Everyone alive knows the rule, but many choose to not follow its advice and direction, instead making it their purpose in life to acquire power over others, giving them both the ability, and the right, to harm others at their whim. I say right, because we have only those rights we can defend, and we, the common folk, do not defend ourselves against the BRC…. most of the time, whatever the BRC says is passively accepted by society, sometimes with regret and resignation, but mostly with reluctant acquiescence.

Me, I’ve never really been able to grasp what it is in those people, that allows them to hurt others without suffering pangs of guilt. I know it is possible to suffer feelings such as that, and still ignore them, but it seems to me like those in power have learned to not even feel the guilt, having somehow come to be able to justify their desire for power as rational and right, rather than evil and cruel. It’s as if they come to decide they are destined to lord it over others, and thus feel only satisfaction at the suffering of others. It doesn’t make any sense to my world view, but, I understand that is how it works for them. Sick bastards….

Yes sick…. in my mind, any person who wants a public office in this country, one requiring election, is a sick person, riddled with all sorts of delusions and aggrandizement, and should be isolated from the rest of us, as it (greedy ambition, and the desire for power) can be a contagious condition. I don’t care how many logical sounding arguments or positions the person is able to spew out, they are mentally ill, and should be forced into treatment, for the safety of all society.

In fact, I think it would be a good thing if we started talking about some political control, rather than gun control. I think the political world needs regulation much more than do guns…. Guns are going to be used against people, it is what they were designed for, and people aren’t going to give them up, or stop doing crazy stuff with them, just because of a few regulations…. But, the politicians NEED to be regulated, much more than they are, and it really can’t wait…..

“Under every stone lurks a politician.” — Aristophanes

This particular subject is an easy rant for me, with all the major characteristics of a good subject right out there to see and write about. As such, I could probably go on all day without running out of stuff to poke at in this area of human nature. But, I’ve made my point, I think, so we’ll save some of the energy for later. Let it suffice to say, how someone feels about the Golden Rule is usually a good indicator of how they feel about politicians, et al.

A real politician will look you in the eye, tell you they support the Golden Rule wholeheartedly, then will turn right around and say the exact opposite to your enemy. to gain their support. And, they’ll never feel a moment’s guilt over doing so…. If they did, how could they ever consider trying to be elected in the first place? Just wanting that kind of power is a clear sign of mental illness, guaranteed….

“My CODE of ETHICS is vacationing at famed SCHROON LAKE in upstate New York!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“If any man can convince me and bring home to me that I do not think or act aright, gladly will I change; for I search after truth, by which man never yet was harmed. But he is harmed who abideth on still in his deception and ignorance.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, vi, 21

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I realize that I am an odd duck; the large, red, noisy nose is a dead giveaway…. Like most of us who fit into this particular category, I don’t much care, nor do I spend any time worrying about trying to change that. Another of the probable methods to be able to successfully identify those such as myself is our eclectic taste in poetry…. and who, may I ask, is more eclectic than Emily?….. Nobody…. To my way of thinking, there’s nobody better, either…..

“All my life I have had an awareness of other times and places.” — The Star Rover, by Jack London, 1914

All that tread
The globe are but a handful to the tribes
That slumber in its bosom.

— William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) — Thanatopsis

“Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“Consider the little mouse, how sagacious an animal it is which never entrusts its life to one hole only.” — Plautus (254-184 BC) – Truculentus, Act iv, Sc. 4, 15, (868.)

Power, like a desolating pestilence,
Pollutes whate’er it touches…

— Percy Bysshe Shelley

“If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster.” — Clint Eastwood

“Although our information is incorrect, we do not vouch for it.” — Satie

I was right, again….. and, no, it doesn’t get old….

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Well, this has been an interesting morning, to say the least (something I have a hard time with, obviously….). Even the ending came up on me quickly, so I am unsure of just what to put here today…. I guess I’ll just say, I hope you enjoyed today’s effort, and I’ll see you tomorrow…. Anything else would be anticlimactic….. Y’all be cool, now, hear?…..