Cory's Spot: Recipe: Crispy Potato Wedges

Editor's Note: There's really no graceful way to return from such a lengthy hiatus, so I'm simply going to continue on as if there were no break.

The other day I was craving French fries, but was too lazy to go out and get some, so I thought I'd try making my mom's cheesy potato logs. I couldn't find her recipe among those she's given me, though, and I couldn't get ahold of her, so I decided to turn to Google for help. Turns out there are lots of different recipes involving potato wedges and Parmesan cheese available online, so I printed a couple out and decided to improvise. When it came time to actually throw everything together, one recipe looked best, so I ended up following it almost exactly.

Here it is:

Crispy Potato Wedges

¼ c. olive oil
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. each dried basil, thyme, and oregano
¼ tsp. paprika

4-6 med. potatoes

¼-½ c. grated Parmesan cheese

• Combine olive oil and seasonings in a bowl. Scrub unpeeled potatoes well. Cut each potato in half lengthwise, then in thirds.
• Coat each slice in the seasoned oil. Spread in a single layer on a greased baking sheet.
• Bake at 450° for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake 15 minutes longer.

Since then, I haven't used the recipe at all and just throw in what looks to be a goodly amount of the same ingredients (with the occasional addition of garlic powder), but this is a good starting point. As always, I prefer to use fresh-ground pepper. Although I’ve found that it’s usually best to use actual grated Parmesan instead of the powdery stuff, the powdery stuff works best here. Go figure. I’ve also found it works best to make sure each piece of potato gets the seasonings on it and then to tap it on the edge of the mixing bowl to get rid of excess oil. There’s also no need to use a greased baking sheet – the oil provides plenty of grease! Finally, I like to blot the potatoes off on paper towels before serving with ketchup. Believe it or not, I’m also something of a ketchup snob – Hunt’s is the best, in case you were wondering.

Baby Speaks!

Here's an .mp3 of the baby's heartbeat. We took a digital voice recorder to the doctor's office and recorded the sounds of the heartbeat from the doppler. I have to say, it was really exciting to hear that! Angie's been feeling the effects of the baby for a couple of months now, but this was the first time I got some evidence of it (other than Angie's hormone swings)!

Angie wants everybody to know, she's now 16 weeks along!

The Cutest Couple. Ever.

Since we can't post pictures of our cute kids yet, we decided to post one of ourselves.

Cory's Spot: The Post This Should Have Been

Editor's Note: This post has become a little exercise in revisionist history - the way it originally appeared was just embarassing since it promised I'd soon return to blogging, which obviously didn't happen. What follows would have been a more accurate statement to make at that time. 4/6/05 8:44pm

I just finished my last final and school is out for the semester! Now if we could just accumulate a bit more snow, I'd love to make it out snowboarding over the break!

Not that I've been a terribly prolific blogger since the inception of Cory's Spot, but I feel a lengthier break coming on. Don't hold your collective breaths or anything, but I'll return sometime.

Cory's Spot: TiVo

If you haven't heard about TiVo specifically or DVR in general, I'm sorry to say, but you're dreadfully behind the times. TiVo is a specific brand of DVR, or digital video recorder, also known as PVR, or personal video recorder, which essentially take the place of a VCR for recording programming from your TV provider and is available for use with anthing from an off-air antenna to cable to satellite.

Since I sold my soul to Convergys some time in the past and work as a customer service representative for DirecTV in their customer installation support department, I've been selling their integrated DirecTV receiver/TiVo units to people for quite some time now, and I'd begun to drool quite heavily over the technology. Well, I finally got my satellite dish installed and activated my service and, liking that, decided to take the next step and purchase one of the basic 40GB models, which allows for up to 35 hours of recording and actually records the digital stream straight from the satellite.

I have to say, I'm in love. Working full time and taking full-time credits at the university (I won't say I'm going to school full-time, because that just wouldn't be true), I had a hard time finding something to watch when I had time, even with 200+ channels to choose from. With my TiVo, I set my favorite shows to record every time they're on and set movies and other shows to record if I think my wife or I will be interested in them, either individually or together. Not only am I catching up on past episodes of Angel, Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis, but my wife gets to watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and we've been watching some movies we'd missed in the past or that we simply hadn't seen in some time, and this without happening to catch the show at the right time and happening to have the time the watch the show all the way through.

A couple of other features that are extremely cool are the ability to pause live TV (for up to 30 minutes) and to rewind back through the past 30 minutes of the show you're watching live, as well as the ability to start watching a show you're recording from the beginning while it continues recording through to the end, even if you start watching after it's already started (as opposed to having to wait until it's over to watch it like you do with a VCR, or even the DVR software I have on my computer). I can also record up to two shows at once, and can even watch a previously recorded show while I'm doing that. I'm telling you, the flexibility is great!

The one thing I wish I'd done differently is spend a bit more and get a unit with a larger hard drive. 35 hours is fine for a couple of first-run shows and a movie or two, but following three different series, one of which is entirely in syndication right now and the other two I've missed a lot of earlier episodes, I find that I sometimes have to watch more than I'd like to in order to not fall behind or run out of space. It's created a sick sort of addiction to TV that's at an entirely different level than I've experienced before. A larger hard drive would simply allow me to build up more of a backlog and then watch when I really have time.

Personally, I think the DirecTV DVR with TiVo is a great unit, especially if you subscribe to DirecTV (and if you're willing to pay for television, DirecTV seems to be pretty much the best option, corporate loyalty aside). Even without DirecTV service though, TiVo sells standalone units that work with pretty much any provider, or other cable and satellite providers have their own units available for sale or rental. One thing the standalone TiVo units support that I wish were available on the DirecTV models is in-home networking to share recordings between a couple of different units (so you can record a show on a TiVo unit in one room and watch in on a TiVo in another room, as opposed to having to record it on each with the DirecTV models if you want to be able to watch it in either location. I believe it's also possible to upload recordings from the standalone units to a PC to watch there or to burn to DVD, but I'm not sure. Of course that kind of functionality can be hacked into the DirecTV units (using the native Lynix OS), but I'm not quite ready to void my warranty.

In any case, I'd best be getting back to that annoying school thing. Oh, and then to watching more TiVo.

Cory's Spot: Tires: Les Schwab

My lovely 17-year-old pickup had tires that were probably half to lots-more-than-half as old as the pickup itself. I kept getting flats, which were luckily manifest in the form of slow leaks, which allowed me to keep pumping more air in at random gas stations until I could get them fixed. In getting these various flats fixed, I always went to Les Schwab and sat around cursing their slowness whilst eating free popcorn and waiting for them to finish. I then went back to driving my pickup with my newly freely repaired tire (because I told them I'd be back to buy tires from them when I finally gave in to the inevitable) until the next incident. OK, so I exaggerate on the frequency of these events (it happened twice – both times to the front right tire) and I left out the fact that second time I actually let the tire go completely flat. I then had to prop it up – on a jack that didn't actually fit under the frame without lifting the pickup up to slide it under – for several days until I decided to take the time to have my spare tire fixed (which also happened to be flat) so that I could put in on and drive my pickup in for new tires. Of course, in order to get them to fix the spare without charging me, I had to tell them I'd be back within a matter of hours to buy all new tires, which I actually did. Turns out my old tires were also really squishy, even when fully inflated, and it's much nicer driving around now – I don't have to fight against the lack of power steering quite so much to turn.

I've also left out the fact that I have a 90-days-same-as-cash account at Les Schwab that I've had to use far too often. First for a new battery for my car, then for four new tires for my car, then for a new battery for my car (less the warranty trade-in value on the old battery), then for two new tires for my car (less the warranty trade-in value on the tire that went flat on the interstate), and lastly for four new tires for my pickup. You'd think I'd be bitter about the battery and the tires that went out before their times, which I am. On the up side, the friendly tire guys at Les Schwab now jump nicely any time I pull in to have a flat fixed for my tires rotated, and I don't have to tell them I'll be sure to buy from them next time just to get the work done for free, because they can see I already bought the current tires from them.

The point to this rambling monologue is that for a non-mechanic with a dinky hand-cranked emergency jack and no jack stands, air compressor, or other handy tools, Les Schwab is a good place for tires.

And yes, I did write this post immediately after the "Mosh" post. Go figure….

Cory's Spot: Music Video: Eminem – "Mosh"

It seems that at one time I had something important to say about Eminem's "Mosh" video. Naja…it may not have been important, but at least it wasn't any less important than anything else I've chosen to post on. I guess the long and the short of it is that that video is an anti-Bush statement with as strong an emotional impact as anything else I've seen. The Gorillaz-esque video certainly provides an eye-catching visual to go along with Eminem's lyrics, which, by the way, are as eloquent and on-topic a rant as I've ever heard from Eminem. I'm particularly impressed with the reveal of the twist – that Eminem's army isn't marching to violently express its opinion, but to exercise the right to vote. While I don't agree with the vote Eminem was encouraging (and I'm satisfied with the outcome of the presidential race), I have to give him credit for powerfully stated argument.

P.S. Sorry about the delay on this one, Tara.

P.P.S. Go figure – the one time I write two posts, one after the other, and the server goes down in between so I can't post this one until much later.

Cory's Spot: CD: Anastacia – Anastacia

Of course, there are exceptions, but for the most part, any given artist only releases one eponymous album. That being the case, it would certainly stand to reason that said album would be the most indicative of that artist's sound; the most personal; the best release to date. In the case of Anastacia's latest, I'm afraid that simply isn't the case. Anastacia reminded me of everything from Linkin Park to Ace of Bass, but "her" sound seemed to be missing. After a bit of research, I discovered that Glenn Ballard co-penned several songs; combined with the numerous unnamed guest voices, it's no wonder Anastacia doesn't seem to really own this album. That’s too bad – I've enjoyed her previous releases, but this one, while not a terrible listen, just didn’t work as well for me.

Cory's Spot: Broadband

I guess it’s not really a review, but more a celebration. I have broadband!

I got it through Teton Wireless, and I have to say, I’m quite impressed so far. I had some pretty specific installation requirements, and the tech worked hard to make me happy. He even redid the ends on some of the cables a friend and I ran for my DirecTV installation and made sure I could use both my DirecTV and their basic cable on my living room TV. I was hoping to keep both at my computer, but the technology won’t allow for that, or so I’m told.

In any case, after part of one day, my conclusion is: Teton Wireless: good; broadband: great! Hopefully that opinion holds!

Cory's Spot: Weekly Columns: Reviews, Politics, and LDS Culture

It’s been quite the long time since I last posted here. Considering that it’s my blog, that’s probably not such a good thing.

For the moment, I’d simply like to direct my readers’ (or is that reader’s?) attention to a few columns I make point to check out every week. All are accessible from www.hatrack.com, which is author Orson Scott Card’s website. The first two are by him and the latest of each is accessible from the left sidebar, and the third is simply linked to from his site, at the bottom of the "other sites published by Orson Scott Card" section.

"Uncle Orson Reviews Everything" is as close as anything to the direct inspiration for my own blog. Every week, Card writes on a variety of different topics, giving his own opinion on each. The most common topics are movies and books, though restaurants, socks (yes, the kind one wears on one’s feet), and all kinds of other things have come up.

"World Watch" is akin to the blogs from my friends Nick Speth and Tara Rowe. Card discusses political happenings of the week and lends his two cents. A self-proclaimed moderate Democrat who strongly supports Bush as opposed to Kerry, most due to their stances on the war on terrorism and on the way each is likely to follow through on our current involvement, Card often hits the nail squarely on the head, IMHO.

Finally, "The Back Bench" is written by Aaron Johnston. Johnston is LDS and his column is written from that perspective for an LDS audience. As a member of the target audience, I often find myself amused by his approach to various topics – he’s not so overly pious that he can’t joke around a bit, yet he never lets it get out of hand.

I can’t promise that I’ll suddenly reform myself and write as regularly as I’d like to, but I’ll definitely be making the effort to keep the time between posts significantly shorter than it has been this time. Should another unannounced and unearned sabbatical come upon me, check out Card and Johnston’s columns and rest easy, knowing that there’s better stuff out there anyway.


By the way, I was informed this morning that my fellow blogger, Tara Rowe has decided to mention me in her latest blog. Sorry, Tara, that this isn’t about Morgan Freeman, but that one may still come.