Fantasy Baseball Week Four

It is raining here in Florida.  So, I will write about my fantasy team while we wait out the storm.  As you can see, I lost 6-5.  I am still in first place of my division, and third place overall.  Still had some dominating pitching, but my hitting needs to pick up. 

My best player was Mike Moustakas who hit .429/.500 with 3 Runs/1 HR/4 RBI/1 SB.  Kemp also had another great week, as did Aaron Hill.  He was a great pickup over Gordon Beckham.  Dee Gordon needs to start getting on base.  He had two stolen bases this week, but he hit .182 and his OBP was even lower!  If he would have a .300 OBP, he would probably steal ten bases each week.

Sabathia had a nice week as well.  He had two wins and sixteen strikeouts.  Gio Gonzalez continues to be very good this year.  I honestly did not expect him to be this good.

This week I take on Sean.  He better be ready for an ass-kicking...

Watch List:Scandal

It's official, I'm addicted to ABC's new show Scandal starring Kerry Washington and written by Shonda Rhimes who also wrote Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. Gorgeous and classy Kerry Washington plays Olivia Pope, head of a crisis management firm. She and her team of gladiators specialise in fixing every scandalous case that walks through their office doors. Olivia's a complicated, dynamic woman, having previously worked for the White House and had a passionate affair with the president of the United States and they're still in love with each other. The show moves at a ridiculously quick pace and the characters are complex and constantly evolving, nobody is exactly who you think they are which makes for juicy writing and great tv.

There are lots of pros with this show. A powerful black woman in a lead role penned by another black woman. Chocolate fine Columbus Short in a suit being totally badass (he's goddamn beautiful and needs more screen time please.) Kerry Washington's character having a passionate, tricky relationship with a hot president, the slightly unhinged Cyrus Beene as the President's right hand man, I'm loving his deceptively crazy character more and more, who knows how far he'll go to protect his interests. There's also good chemistry between the cast. I think this role was made for Kerry Washington, she'll finally get some of the profile she deserves. I hope it lasts for many seasons, it's already very good and has the potential to brilliant. I'm definitely along for the ride.

Weigh-In Wednesday XII

This morning I weighed in at 176.8.  Sorry folks, but you will not see much of me for the next bunch of days.  I am going on vacation soon.  Okay, we leave after work on Friday for Washington D.C., then we fly to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday.  This is where I will be:



Well somewhere in that area.  Anyways, like last year, I will take my laptop with me, but will probably not use it.  Have a good week or so!  I will share my adventures when I return...

Inked

Hat tip to Coloured Girls With Ink.

Slice

Tolula Adeyemi, model and muse of Vivienne Westwood as well as gal pal of Shingai Shoniwa.

Ill Still

City Of God.

Crushed:Ibrahim Baaith

Gorgeous artist and model Ibrahim Baaith. Stunning and talented, certified husband/baby daddy material. For more drool worthy pics of him and his art, check out my XY Chromosome Sundae post on him.

Fashion Spotlight:Gwen Stefani

I absolutely adore this Stella McCartney outfit Gwen wore to Paul McCartney's My Valentine video premiere. It's edgy and stylish. I know Gwen's prone to giving her children odd, random names but she knows how to make an entrance, 42 years old and making it rain. She trains very hard for that body and it's paid off. She has a great, fashion forward sense of style.

Album Cover's Corner:Santigold Master Of My Make-Believe

The awesome Santigold is back with a new album Master Of My Make-Believe. As ever, it's a genre hopping, atmospheric, kooky album. It's a little more stripped back than the first album but just as visceral and addictive. I have a copy and can't stop listening to it. Cool album cover too.

Ode To:Santigold

Santigold is one of my favourite artists around. She's innovative and unique. I love the way she blends musical genres and is almost chameleon like despite her distinctive vocals. I absolutely loved her first album but it was interesting watching her impact on the scene. Despite the album receiving critical acclaim, it was annoying to watch the media's reaction to her. They didn't know what box to put her in. It seems the media tend to struggle with quirky black female artists while embracing the likes of Gaga. Coincidence? I think not. I don't think Santigold gets enough recognition, she's also a brilliant writer and producer, having produced RES's first album How I Do. Im so glad she's back with a new album, she's a great artist.

Fantasy Baseball Week Three

Offord and I have similar teams.  We both have guys who can steal plenty of bases for us (although Matt Kemp is too busy hitting HRs instead of hitting singles) and a good bit of relief pitching.  Actually Offord's team has one starting pitcher.  I believe he is trying a different strategy this season.  He is devaluing the win category and trying to push the other five.  Would normally work, but I have more middle relievers than most people.


With facial hair he looks a little bit less like a douchey frat boy...

In the beginning when I drafted my team, I had a very good feeling.  I mean, I was wary about Matt Kemp replicating his numbers from last year, but I figured Stanton/Hosmer/Moustakas would all improve so it would be a wash.  Well, Stanton and Hosmer have not started out so well, but luckily Kemp is still in "beast mode."

Although, Kemp was not my best player this week.  Instead that honor goes to Freddie Freeman, who got off to a slow start, but redeemed himself with a monster week:  7 Runs, 3 HRs, 14 RBIs, .478/.481.  Yeah, I will take that line every week.  Oh, that Kemp guy was still pretty good:  4 R/3 HR/6 RBI/.381/.458.

I need to see Gordon and Presley get on-base more often.  When they do get on, they usually steal, but a .286 (for both of them) OBP is absolutely unacceptable.  Also, Stanton needs to hit one out of the park.  Seriously dude, go back to Mike.  I dropped Gordon Beckham in favor of Aaron Hill.  I doubt that will last once Allen Craig returns from the DL.

Over on the pitchers side of things, I had a few notable performances from those Nationals starters:  Gio Gonzalez and Ross Detwiler.  I added Jake Westbrook to my rotation , which might be an okay thing.

I am back in the lead of my division with a 25-10-1 record.  I am only three games behind Dustin.  This week I take on Swing'TheBigStick, who is only three games behind me in the division.  I need to trounce him so that I continue to separate myself from the rest of the pack. 

Game of Thrones: Garden of Bones

There was a ton of great stuff in this episode.  I will just break it down by character.  The best part about the whole season so far has been the subtle differences between the book.  Makes me happy that I will not know exactly what will happen.

Joffrey


-The beating and humiliation of Sansa was pretty cruel, but I liked how Tyrion dealt with the situation.  Ordering Bronn to kill Ser Meryn if he speaks again ("now that is threat, see the difference?") was pretty hilarious. 
-Getting the king laid seemed like a good idea, or at least it would be a good idea if Joffrey was not a crazy psycho.  Instead of banging whores, he forces one to beat the other. 
-Everyone hates Joffrey, which is impressive that Jack Gleeson is a good enough actor to pull off such an annoying shit-head.



Robb Stark
He takes an interest in a certain nurse.  I have a feeling they are going a different route with this girl.  Honestly, I like where this could go.  Also, the dude that played Roose Bolton is creepy looking.  I look forward to meeting his bastard...

Tyrion
As I said, he was pretty awesome from the beginning.  He then continues being awesome by calling out his cousin for banging the queen.  He threatens to tell Joffrey, which just about causes Lancel to shit his pants.  That kid is such a pussy.  Oh, and we finally get to see the Grand Maester without his beard...

Arya
Seriously, her story just becomes more depressing each week.  I always feel like she is the character that gets shit on the most.  Hell, I mostly forgot about her stay at Harrenhal.  I was starting to squirm when they began to torture Gendry with the rat in a bucket.  If I remember correctly, being Tywin's cup bearer is not a great job either.

Daenaerys
They finally go somewhere.  Christ, I was starting to think they did not want to move her story along.  She brings her group to Qarth (which was nice hearing how to pronounce it).  Unfortunately, my DVR decided to glitch for a minute or two and I had no sound.  I have no clue what the one guy was saying.  I am looking forward to what will happen in Qarth.



Renly and Stannis
-Littlefinger brings back the bones of Ned, wants to trade Sansa/Arya for Jaime.
-Catelyn says that if the two kings were her sons she would smack their heads together until they remembered they were brothers.
-Stannis is pretty stupid.  He does not seem like the kind of guy who would want to be the king, instead he seems like he would want to be the man behind the king.  Why not just allow Renly to be king and control him?
-The birth of Melisandre's shadow baby was much cooler than it was in the book.  Seriously, I thought it was pretty amazing looking. 

Evan Feinberg is a Steelers Fan!

This is a video of the funny ad that Evan Feinberg has been playing on The Fan in Pittsburgh.  Pretty funny stuff.  Obviously these are the important issues...



Also, over at TIGO, Rich has an interview with Feinberg, you should check it out.

For Earth Week: Reduced-Fat Planet Earth Sandwich Cookies with Blueberry Cream Filling

Want a cookbook-style copy of this recipe? No problem…just click HERE.


Saving the earth is usually considered a good thing. But when the earth in question is a delicious Reduced-Fat Planet Earth Sandwich Cookie with Blueberry Cream Filling, it’s best eaten, not saved.






These novel cookies not only taste great, they’re surprisingly easy to make. Kids will love them because they look fun and, well, because they’re cookies! Adults will love them because of the grown-up blueberry cream filling. (And because they look fun and are cookies, too! If they say it’s just the filling they’re drawn to, just nod your head politely to make it look as if you believe them.)


Some Cook’s Notes before we begin:
• The cookie portion is made from a sugar-cookie dough. This article includes the sugar-cookie recipe I like to use, but if you already have your own favorite sugar-cookie recipe, feel free to substitute it.
• If you prefer a cream filling other than blueberry, it’s no problem! Just substitute the fruit preserves of your choice for the blueberry preserves in the recipe.


This recipe makes about 18 large (3”) sandwich cookies, or 36 single-layer sugar cookies


First, let’s make our sugar cookie dough:


Sift together 5 cups of all-purpose flour, 1-1/2 tsp baking powder, and ¾ tsp salt.








In a separate bowl, beat 1-3/4 cups of sugar and 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp butter substitute till smooth and light in color. (Butter substitutes tend to be either firm textured or soft; choose a soft one for this, and don't leave it out to get to room temperature  as you would with full-fat butter.)




Mix 2 egg substitute and 1 tsp vanilla extract into the butter substitute mixture.






Separate the butter substitute mixture into 2/3 and 1/3 portions.






Mix 2/3 of the flour mixture and some blue food coloring into the 2/3 portion, and 1/3 of the flour mixture and some green food coloring into the 1/3 portion. (Because the dough is naturally yellow, for the blue dough it will be necessary to use a substantial amount of blue food coloring to overcome the green color that comes from mixing blue and yellow.)


Wrap the two batches of dough in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1 hour. (For working with butter substitute, I've found chilling dough in the freezer works better than chilling it in the refrigerator as you would with regular full-fat butter.)
 
While the dough is chilling, make the cream filling as follows:


Melt 1 cup of blueberry preserves and 2 Tbsp butter substitute in a medium saucepan over low heat.







Mix in ½ cup of fat-free half-and-half, little by little, waiting till each addition is incorporated before adding more. (Adding it too quickly may cause it to separate.)




Simmer until the mixture is reduced by half, stirring very often avoid burning. Once the mixture is reduced, pour into a separate bowl and set aside until ready to use.


Prepare the “earth dough” as follows:


Cut the two chilled doughs in half, and keep each portion in the freezer until you’re ready to use it.


Break the green dough into small pieces and spread them out on a surface dusted with confectioner’s sugar.






Break the blue dough into pieces that are somewhat larger than the pieces of green dough. Place them in between the green pieces and use your hands to press them down so that they start to join together and start to resemble a flat earth-map.


Roll the dough out to about ¼” thick. (Covering it with wax paper while you roll the dough makes the clean-up easier later.) Using a 2-1/2” round cookie cutter, cut out rounds that look like earth globes. (After you’ve cut as many as you can, gently press the pieces together and roll it a second time to ¼” thick. You'll find the dough can be rolled a second time without over-developing the gluten and making the dough tough. Cut out more 2-1/2” rounds that resemble earth globes.)


Lay the cookies out on baking sheets lined with parchment or silicon sheets as shown in the photo above. Allow enough space in between for the cookies to expand to about 3”.


Bake at 375 degrees till firm, about 10 minutes, turning half-way. (As always when using two baking sheets, stagger them in the oven to allow the heat to circulate for more even baking.)


Let the finished cookies rest on the baking sheet for a minute or two, then remove to a cooling rack.




If you want to serve these as single layer sugar cookies, you’re done! To serve as sandwich cookies:


After the cookies and cream filling have cooled, place half of the cookies on the counter, flat side up.








Spread some filling on each of the cookies.













Place an unfrosted cookie on top of each, flat side down, to form sandwich cookies.














And there you have it. The world may not be your oyster, but – for Earth Week, at least – it’s your cookie, and I’d choose cookies over oysters any day!


Like what you see? For a notebook-ready, cookbook-style copy of this recipe, just click HERE.




Have a great Earth Week, and I look forward to seeing you again next week for another fun recipe! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)