I Hate My NuWave Again

Posted on 27/03/2016 by Grumpa Joe

My family began arriving at twelve thirty today for our Easter celebration. My job was to make a ham and theirs was to bring side dishes. What a great chance to retry my Nu-Wave cooker to make a spiral ham. The last time I did this I set the ham so the bone was horizontal and the cuts were vertical. The ham fanned out like a deck of cards, and the individual slices were roasted to ham chips. The thing was crunchy to eat, flavorful, but crunchy. This time I decided to set the ham vertically so the slices were horizontal and they wouldn’t fan. I will be vindicated I told myself, I will show this group of skeptical children that I am the Master of the Nu-Wave. Wrong! The ham didn’t fan, but the edges got crispy. It was also over done. Once again the cooker I love so much became the cooker I hate with a vengeance. The tip of the meat nearest the heat element was charcoal broiled and so tough my electric knife wouldn’t cut through it.

In order to save my self esteem after Grace I announced that three years ago I retired from hosting the big holiday dinners. I told my kids it was time for me to pass the baton to them, and to remind them of why I retired, “I present you with a burnt offering.”

IMG_2016.jpg

IMG_2017.jpg

 

Filed under: Aging, Biography, family, Food | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

General and Admiral Relieved of Duty Post Libya

Posted on 16/11/2012 by Grumpa Joe

I received this article from a good friend who is retired military. I checked by searching on Google and it has been posted many times on many websites. I have said repeatedly that the Benghazi-gate is a cover up of enormous magnitude and will result in the President being IMPEACHED.

General and Admiral relieved of duty post Libya

Brigadier General Carter F. Ham, US Army

Brigadier General Carter F. Ham, US Army (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I do not know if you have noticed, but two senior military commanders involved in the Benghazi debacle have been removed from command.  The removal of any flag grade officer is a drastic measure rarely performed except for extreme cause.    According to what I have read and been told by others, General Carter Ham, AFRICOM commander, received the same e-mails that were going to the White House notifying them of the attack on the Benghazi embassy.  From his headquarters at Patch Barracks in Stuttgart, FRG, immediately ordered a Special Forces Quick Reaction Force (QRF) to stand-to for deployment, and then notified the White House of his actions.  It is alleged that upon receiving an order from the White House to stand-down, General Ham chose to ignore the order and continued preparations to deploy.  Supposedly, General Ham was then confronted by his 2IC, “apprehended” and informed that he was “relieved of command.”  General David Rodriguez has subsequently been named as the AFRICOM commander.

Within days of this incident with General Ham, Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaouette, commander of the USS Stennis aircraft carrier strike group – MidEast, was relieved of his command citing, “inappropriate leadership judgment.” Admiral Gaouette’s naval strike group stood off in the Mediterranean Sea, prepared to provide support to the beleaguered Benghazi embassy.  Both his command and the forces at NAS Sigonella were ordered to stand-down.  Rear Admiral Gaouette has subsequently been ordered to return to his home port while the US Navy cites that his recall is “a temporary assignment.”    While I see the necessity of civilian control over the military, I do see the actions against these two commanders as extremely detrimental to national defense and the military’s true function.  I can almost assure you that the replacement commanders will not be quick to move towards crisis, to march to the sound of the guns, or to prepare to fight on a moment’s notice.  Rather, it seems as though hesitancy and an overwhelming willingness to “wait for further” orders; i.e, it is beyond my paygrade…,  is being rewarded.    These reliefs require a closer examination.  Perhaps both of the relieved commanders would have the balls to demand a court-martial, or resign in the manner that General Jack Singlaub did upon his relief in Korea in 1976.

“Where will I be found?  March to the sound of the guns.  That is where you will find me.” – Napoleon

Filed under: Conservative, Government, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

I Hate My Nu-Wave

Posted on 11/05/2011 by Grumpa Joe

It wasn’t long ago when I posted a short piece titled “I Love My Nu-Wave” about how great my Nu-Wave infrared cooker is. Oh how I gave it lauds. It is a great cooker, but on Easter Sunday, I learned its limit. We invited the family for dinner. Grandma Peggy and I decided to put a ham on the table. I decided to use the Nu-Wave. I have never cooked a ham this way before, but the cooker works so good on everything else I’ve tried why not use it on the ham?

The cooking chart instructed to give it fifteen minutes per pound. The ham we bought was ten pounds. That translates into one hundred and fifty minutes, or two and a half hours. Not bad for a chunk of meat that large. We asked our guests to arrive in time for a four o’clock dinner. I made a note to start the ham at one o’clock.

Everything was going on schedule and as planned. Then it happened. What? I’ve left out the part about this being a spiral  cut ham.  I placed the ham into the cooker with the bone horizontal. The traditional way. I placed the cooking dome over the ham and set the timer.

An hour later the aroma of fresh-baked ham filled the house. I love the smell of freshly baked ham. Something told me to check things out. I stopped the machine and lifted the dome. There was the ham with the spiral slices fanned out like a blooming onion. The outer one inch of the edges were dark red, no, they were black. When the ham fanned, the individual slices exposed themselves to the heater and cooked rapidly. Thank God, a section in the center was still pink, and edible.

I checked the internal temperature.  It was ready after one hour, and the guests don’t arrive for another hour and a half. I tore off a piece of the dark red outer edge and popped it into my mouth. Yep, it was crunchy, but still tasty. Grandma Peggy got on the phone and called our guests and explained. She asked them to come earlier if they could. Since the guests were all of our children, they did us the favor.

Instead of serving at four, we served at three. I explained my error in cooking and presented the ham on a platter. I suggested that they eat the pink parts only. To my surprise several of the kids loved the crunchy outer pork chips. The company politely said nothing and ate the burnt offering. Actually, many feasted on the sides.

After the party ended, it occurred to me that I should have stood the ham on end.  Oh well, next time.

Related articles

Filed under: Cooking, family, Food | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »