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September 22, 2006

It's OneWebDay; Energy-saving tips from Consumer Reports; Bronco Cobb: Patriots all about fear; Immersion blender makes soup easy

OneWebDay: Doc Searls: The Web in the life of a Day

Today is OneWebDay — Susan Crawford,'s great idea to create, maintain, advance, and promote a global day to celebrate online life.

Autumn begins at 12:04 a.m. Saturday: 20 free ways to save energy : An exclusive excerpt from Consumer Reports' "Complete Guide to Reducing Energy Costs". Among them: Wash clothes in cold water (better for clothes, too) and Dust off the CrockPot -- uses less energy than simmering on the stove.

Them's fightin' words: Broncos' Cobb says Patriots are all about fear(?)

The San Jose Mercury News headline above is taunting, and I thought the war drum was beating a taunt about last season's playoff loss to Denver. But the story originated at a fellow McClatchy paper, the Colorado Springs Gazette, which billed it more clearly: Former Patriot Cobbs has little love for Belichick.

Denver Broncos running back Cedric Cobbs, cut after one season in New England, says the players are scared of coach Belichick and the Pats' "cutthoat" ways.

In Sunday’s game, Cobbs muffed the first kickoff of overtime. He scrambled and recovered the ball before the Chiefs got it. Cobbs cringed when he thought about what would have happened had he muffed a kickoff in New England.

“Muffing the ball . . . ooh,” said Cobbs, who sprained his ankle on that play and might miss this week’s game. “I’m sure I would have been even more afraid if I would have done that playing in New England.”

Broncos coach Mike Shanahan doesn’t have much patience for mistakes, especially turnovers. Cobbs said Belichick has less.

“I don’t think New England knows a player may need another chance, another opportunity,” Cobbs said. “It’s pretty cutthroat. Out here I think there’s a little more leeway. They understand players make mistakes. You just can’t make many out here.”

Well, yeah, we all groan at mistakes. But I don't want to see robots play machine football.

History is largely the tale of human error and grace flowing through time.

Amazing soup: I bought an immersion blender with a metal shaft so I could puree hot soup. (I confess it's so big and intimidating it took me months to pull it out of the box. It looks like a baby pile driver.)

My husband is in the middle of dental work, and needs soft food right now. Last night I made broccoli cheddar chicken soup, blending it in the pot.

We had nibbled a large rotisserie chicken, then used it for sandwiches, then for chicken salad with what I could pick off. The carcass went into a 2-qt. saucepan and simmered away for several hours. I drained it, refrigerated the broth, and let the bones and chicken bits cool.

Later, I picked through it, tossing skin and bones.

Chicken Broccoli Cheddar Chicken soup

1 head of broccoli, florets only (about 2 cups)
2 cups chicken stock
Chicken bits (minus bones) strained from stock
1/3 Vidalia onion, sliced thin or diced small.
1 tbsp butter
2-3 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
1 tsp dried oregano or 1 tbsp fresh, crumbled
nutmeg
salt
pepper

Heat the chicken stock in a 2-quart saucepan, add broccoli and simmer until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, saute the onions in butter over medium-low heat till soft but not browned.

Immerse the stick blender carefully in the soup and puree the broccoli, using the pulse button. Add the onions, let them cook for 30 seconds, then immerse the stick blender and puree them for a few seconds. Add the chicken bits (comb through them for small bones on the way into the pot) and puree them in the soup. Add the cheese and puree it. Add salt and pepper and a few grinds of nutmeg (about 1/8 teaspoon to start).

Taste the soup. Add more cheese if you want it to taste very cheesy -- I liked a balance. It will be pale green with specks in it, and slightly thickened by the cheese and vegetables, as though you had added cream. But you haven't, so you haven't diluted the flavors.

I was amazed at how the blender pureed everything -- including the chicken -- effortlessly. I'm wondering if it would puree a steak.

So I went on a hunt for more ways to use it, and the first thing that grabbed me was Spinach-Peanut Soup. Please, sirs, may we have our spinach back now?

One of Too Many Chefs' chefs, Meg in Paris, loves her immersion blender, and I've bookmarked many of her recipes.

Posted by Sheila Lennon  at 11:45 AM | Permalink