He had a great run from the mid-60s through the early 70s. The Fugitive Pigeon, God Save the Mark, and The Hot Rock are right up there at the top of the genre. I also really like the later one set in Belize, High Adventure. The thing about Westlake is even if the book is not great it still has entertainment value. …
I have 58 books by Donald Westlake. Just counted them. Although a few are multiples. I have four copies of Kahawa alone. A paperback, two nice Mysterious Press hardcovers (one with a remainder mark), and a Viking first edition that sadly doesn't have a dust jacket because it is signed. I have fifteen of the…
Granny's Cornbread
It is a fantastic book. Just stunning. One of my all-time favorites. I found a paperback copy at a book sale without knowing anything about it and read it straight through in one afternoon. It wasn't until several years later that I finally saw the movie and it managed to capture that bleakness very well. Great…
It's like the diving Olympics out there now.
I am a big Archer fan and in the episode when they are in Morocco he mentioned Kefta. (It gave the dog gas.) I had never heard of it so I looked it up and it is a common street food all over the Middle East and Northern Africa, ground beef and/or lamb, with various spices, often cooked as a kebab.
I do grilled potato chips all the time for football games and people love them. I have to do twice as many as I think because they get picked quickly. One drawback was losing the chips through the grill but I fixed that by getting one of those rectangular baskets that hold your food together.
Try pineapple. It's fantastic. Cut it into chunks just like you do the meat and alternate on the skewer.
Poor Evan. He's fucked. Don't overseason.
Some of them were hanging up out in the garage and hadn't been used since football season. Had a few flecks of rust and you don't want that to set in. The 8-inch is the one I use a lot and after I wash it I will stick it back on the burner for a couple of minutes or wipe it lightly with oil and stick it in the…
My 8-inch Lodge cast iron skillet started flaking and pissed me off. Little bubbles formed in the seasoning layer and then when I cooked with it they would flake off. No idea why it happened. I have a couple of my grandmother's pieces and they are slick bottomed but Lodge bottoms are textured. Using this week's…
I love doing whole chickens on the smoker using my trusty Chicken Rocket.
Just a squirt. I am one of those people that need a little heat. I usually do that more when I am eating it on crackers.
Beat me to it. Dill relish is key. I like a little purple onion and a little celery for crunch. Sriracha and lemon juice for punch. And creole mustard.
Charles Willeford reference!
Have you guys noticed that every Gawker Media story ends up on Yahoo a day later?
I have one of these things and they work well for keeping small things from falling through the grill.
I cut the onions in thick rings and use a skewer to hold them together. Brush with a little olive oil.
One day while fishing I heard a horrendous crash a few hundred yards away on a rural highway. Drove out to see what happened and a dump truck hauling a load of dirt had had a blowout and hit a Taurus head on. Driver of the Taurus was conscious but in shock and pinned in by the dash that was in his lap. Compound…
