Like white on rice

Honky . . . a favorite word used by George Jefferson in the70’s sitcom.  Mr. Jefferson was moving onup to the east side; to a de-luxe apartment in the sky who finally got a pieceof the pie.

Honky . . . a word used by blacks to refer to whites.  It’s not particularly harsh sounding consideringit’s a racial slur . . . it’s actually a funny word. 

The origin of this word could be a twist on words from thenative language of two distinct groups . . . one from immigrants, the other fromslaves.

Honky may be a variation of hunky, which was a variant ofBohunk, This was a derogatory term for Bohemian, Hungarian, and Polishimmigrants that in the early 1900’s.  According to a couple of sources, black factoryworkers picked up the term from white workers and began applying itindiscriminately to all white folks and it caught on.

Honky may also have derived from the African term "xonqnopp" (the ‘x’ is pronounced as an ‘h’) which literally means "whiteperson". The term may have originated with Wolof-speaking slaves broughtto the US.

Maybe because it’s more colorful, I’m going with that theword honky dates back to the 1920’s.  Supposedly,the word came about because of the practice of white men who would venture intothe red light districts seeking to pick of African-American prostitutes.  Those parts of town weren’t necessarily thebest of areas. So the theory is that the curb-crawlers were afraid to stoptheir cars and would honk their car horns to draw the hookers to them.  Eventually, black people started to call thejohns “honkies” and it became a part of the common vernacular.

Mellow Greetings, Yukey Dukey

Mellow Greetings, Yukey Dukey . . . what's that got to do with anything?  Absolutely nothing.  I just love the way it sounds.  



I'm a fan of old movies, especially Cary Grant movies.  He's funny, handsome and has that cute little dimple in his chin.  One of my favorite Cary Grant flicks is ‘The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer’.  It’s an adorable movie.  It goes something like this . . . 

A teenybopper (Shirley Temple) has a head-over-heels crush on a playboy bachelor (Cary Grant).  She sneaks into his apartment but is found there by her older sister (Myrna Loy) who just so happens to be a judge.  Threatened with jail, the unjustly accused but trapped man agrees to date the teenager until the puppy-love dwindles. He counters the girl’s comic false sophistication by even more comic put-on teenage mannerisms, with a slapstick climax. 


It’s a hoot!


One of my favorite scenes in the movie is where he's really playing up the teenage boy act.  


You remind me of the man . . . what man? . . .

Like I said, this has nothing to do with anything . . . but it's funny stuff.

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 I love rice  . . . it's cheap, it's filling and it goes great with almost anything.  Nom!

Cooking rice is also easy . . . all you need is rice, water, heat and a vessel to cook it in.  However, even the best of us have had problems with cooking rice, sometimes it comes out a little too "al dente" . . . okay, okay . . . sometimes it's underdone and crunchy.  So what's to be done about it?  

First of all, you can usually avoid this problem altogether by not breaking the cardinal rule of rice cooking ("never lift the lid") and actually looking to see how it's doing. If you MUST look, a quick peek will tell you if most of the water has been absorbed.  The point is to keep the lid off for just a flash.


So, let's say that you peeked too long or too often . . . or maybe just started off with too little water in the beginning.  You could add a bit more water, say a 1/4 cup and let it steam for another 10 minutes.  Or, you could drain the rice and put it in the refrigerator to get cold.  Once it's cold then you can microwave it with a little water and recook that way.  These methods aren't foolproof so you may be better off just starting a new batch.

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Risotto al Vino Rosso (Red Wine Risotto)

This dish is rich and creamy.  It pairs wonderfully with a grilled steak.  Drooooool!

• 1/4 Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Medium Onion, Cut Into 1/4-Inch Dice
• 2 Cloves Garlic, Diced
• 2 Cups Arborio Rice
• 1/2 Cup Red Wine
• 3 1/2 Cups Chicken Stock, Hot
• 1 Cup Peas
• 1 Cup Blue or Gorgonzola Cheese

In a 12 to 14-inch skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  You can use regular olive oil but I used oil from tomatoes I dried and stored in olive oil. 

Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened and translucent but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes.

Once the onions are translucent add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon until toasted and opaque, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the wine to the toasting rice, and then add a 4 to 6-ounce ladle of stock and cook, stirring, until it is absorbed.

Continue adding the stock a ladle at a time, waiting until the liquid is absorbed before adding more.

Cook until the rice is tender and creamy and yet still a little al dente, about 15 minutes.  Stir in the peas and cheese until well mixed.