The mantle of Elijah



President Gordon B. Hinckley has died.

When President Hunter died, I was serving a mission in Ogden, Utah. That day my companion and I were doing service working on the grounds of the Ogden temple. One of the grounds crew came over and informed us, and we went over and lowered the flag to half mast.

I wish I had something like that I could do today.

--THE HOUSE

Culinary altruism

And now, because my heart is full of love, here is a recipe for preparing pork chops that I created ex nihilo and completely by accident the other night. Bachelor cooking is full of surprises, and some of them are really, really tasty. Enjoy!

The Pork Chop Express

ingredients:
4 small boneless pork chops
one nice big apple
one sweet onion
one clove garlic
half a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes with peppers
one cap of cider vinegar
salt, pepper, cumin, parsley, cilantro

I got a big, big skillet and coated the bottom with olive oil. When the oil was nice and hot I put the pork chops and browned them on one side. Then I turned them over and gave them plenty of salt and pepper. After they cooked a bit, I pushed them to the edge of the pan and emptied half a can of Ro-Tel in the middle. I let that cook while I chopped up the onion and the apple. Then I crushed the garlic and put it in the oil around the edges. The onion went in the middle with the tomatoes, and then I gave it all a bit of salt and a pinch of cumin. After it had a chance to cook a bit more, I threw in the apple and the vinegar and then mixed everything up in the middle. I turned the chops to make sure they got cooked on both sides, tossed a bit of parsley and cilantro on top, and just waited for the chops.

I served it with coleslaw (courtesy of Rachel Lucas) and sourdough bread. Super yummy! And really pretty easy. If anyone else tries it, give me a holler and let me know how it turns out.

--CHEF GILBERTO BENITEZ

Fame and glory watch

Triumph! My email got quoted on The Corner. My domination of all media continues!

--SAN GIOVANNI UMILIATO

A writer writes, always

So, I am thinking about doing something foolish. My friend Mitch was in town and he let me know that Brandon Sanderson is teaching a writing class this semester. Sanderson, as it turns out, is a fantasy and science fiction author who was recently picked to finish the Wheel of Time series. I haven't read any of his other stuff, but I did get one of his books for Christmas and I am thinking about picking up a couple of the others.

It would be a little weird for me to be in class as a student again, especially at an institution where I am currently teaching. And since going to grad school I think I have only written one story. But maybe it's time for me to get started again.

I went to the first class, and from what I can tell, the time commitment will be smallish. The class is in the evening, so that's nice. And all I have to do is write 8-10 pages of fiction every week and read what the other three or four people in my group write. I can do the writing on Saturday or Sunday, whenever I have a couple of hours. And the reading I should be able to do in less than an hour on Thursday afternoon. So I got an add card signed, and I got clearance to enroll. I haven't turned in the add card yet, but I have until Friday to think about it.

It could be fun. I might even let you, my imaginary readers, see what I write for class. Neato!

--CHISAIBU

Amen, brother

I don't know who this guy is, but he appears to be some kind of genius. Also, he has an even better blog alias than any of mine.

--EL DOLOR

PS - Dave Barry is very funny.

PPS - Thanks to Times & Seasons for both links.