SB Nation User Blog: dmlichte

OT: Annual Thanksgiving Thread

dmlichte — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:48:27 -0000

Its become a yearly tradition that some of us here discuss Thanksgiving food and preparation. So for those of you who want to share ideas, tips, recipes, this is a great place. Also, for those of you who have questions, fear not... don't be afraid to ask questions. This is a good place to come and ask questions to help make a great Thanksgiving meal.

My first bit of input as I have always started... your turkey does not need to be dry and flavorless. While it requires some added time and preparation, there are a few ways to make a great turkey.

Tip #1... brine the turkey. Simply put, this means soaking your turkey in some salt/sugar/spice bath for up to 48 hours. The solution can be as simple as water, Kosher salt and sugar. I've used a few recipes that call for a variety of spices, juices (cider), veggies, etc. Google search "Brine Recipe" and find something that you're comfortable with. You can brine the turkey in a clean, 5 gallon bucket. I actually put the turkey in a heavy duty ziploc bag, then store it in a large bucket and put it in the fridge. If you lack the fridge space, you can do this in a cooler, too... just make sure you're adding ice occasionally.

I've been brining for a few years now and won't go back.

Tip #2... A few simple ways to add flavor... place butter between the skin and the meat of the turkey. Carefully slide your hands between the skin layer and the meat as you want to be able to replace the skin and not burn/dry out the mean.You're really just seperating the skin without removing it. You can place pats of butter between the skin and meat in a few spots. ... Add aromatic fruits and veggies. You can do this between the skin and meat or just in the roasting pan. Onions, apples, oranges, lemons, etc, all add flavor to the turkey. If you don't stuff the turkey with stuffing instead add the aromatic fruits and veggies there, otherwise just throw them in the roasting pan.

Tip #3... if you're really adventurous, inject the turkey. They make syringes with heavy gauge needles that you literally can inject various flavor/liquid combos. Again, lots of recipes are out there and its not that difficult.

Finally, especially if you are limited with oven space, I recommend using a grill. You can either use a gas or charcoal grill. Use indirect heating and, again, if you don't know where to start, either ask here or google search. But we usually grill one bird and do a second one on the grill.

Also, if you have a frozen bird, better figure out when you need to start defrosting it, which can take a few days and you want to do in the fridge.

Anyhow, its always fun to see what people here have to add and with it being the Sunday before the holiday, I thought I'd get the ball rolling.

Riggleman to Return as Nats Manager

dmlichte — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:37:48 -0000

Riggleman to Return as Nats Manager

It looks like former Cubs manager will have the interim tag removed and remain at the helm of the Washington Nationals. Congrats to Riggs who, IMO, did a solid job as Cubs manager.

Cubs aiming to host the 2014 All-Star Game

dmlichte — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:08:44 -0000

Cubs aiming to host the 2014 All-Star Game

Details in the article. Cubs want the 2014 All-Star game at Wrigley. Interesting point was that the article mentioned that by 2014 the team expects to have spent $200-300M on Wrigley renovations.

Indians Dismiss Wedge and Coaching Staff

dmlichte — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:23:47 -0000

Indians Dismiss Wedge and Coaching Staff

An official press conference is expected later today. Wedge and his coaches will guide the team for the remainder of the season.

It seems odd to me to fire a manager yet have him stick around and manage for a few more games. Either let someone else manage for the remainder of the season or wait on the announcement for a week. With firings already in Houston and Cleveland, along with Jim Riggleman managing on an interim basis in Washington D.C., this could be a heavy off season for managerial moves.

Milton Bradley Suspended

dmlichte — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:00:56 -0000

Milton has been suspended for the remainder of the season, this according to The Chicago Tribune online. I know some may feel that this would be best as a fanshot but this is a pretty big deal. According to Jim Hendry

"The last few days became too much for me to tolerate," Hendry said. I'm certainly not going to let our great fans become excuses. I'm not going to tolerate [Bradley] not being able to answer questions from the media respectably."

So we finally have some action on the part of Jim Hendry. It will be interesting to see the response of Bradley, who likely will now disappear and frankly, we may not see him until spring training. The question now is whether or not that will be with Bradley as a Cub.

Cubs expected to broadcast games in Spanish

dmlichte — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:17:47 -0000

Cubs expected to broadcast games in Spanish

The Cubs are expected to announce that they will broadcast 20 games in Spanish. The games will be on WRTO-AM 1200.

Sox postpone opener due to snow

dmlichte — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:14:57 -0000

Sox postpone opener due to snow

And the Twins are building an open air stadium why?

WSCR Tournament of Bad

dmlichte — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:08:26 -0000

WSCR Tournament of Bad

As we brought up a week or so ago, Boers and Bernstein on WSCR do a Tournament of Bad during March Madness and this year is no different. They're actually down to the Sweet 16 and will crown the champ today. Here are the updated brackest.

If you're interested, they vote during the show today from the WSCR website between 2-6pm CST. Of most interest for Cub fans would be the Dan Bernstein Region where Ronny Woo Woo goes up against Jim Belushi for one of the spots in the Final Four. Once Sarah Palin went down to Ronnie Woo Woo my tourney favorite has shifted to People who use bluetooth when not driving.

Court Strikes Chicago's Landmark Law

dmlichte — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:21:10 -0000

Court Strikes Chicago's Landmark Law

According to Crain's Chicago Business, a court has decided that Chicago's Landmark Ordinance is unconstitutional. Obviously, as things to in court, this is a long way from resolving itself... however I know of one Chicago ballpark that is impacted by this allegedly unconstitutional law.

Hollandsworth Replaces Plesac

dmlichte — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:12:44 -0000

Hollandsworth Replaces Plesac

As we know Dan Plesac has departed the Comcast studios for greener pastures and the MLB Network. Many, including myself were touting Todd Hollandsworth to replace Plesac and that has happened. In a brief snippet in an article focusing on the Heilman trade, Dave Van Dyck reveals that Hollandsworth will take over on Comcast Cubs pre and post game.