msrpk.com blog

Catchup

Since we did not venture that far from our cave (erp...office) in the past month, we got a chance to ruminate on the racing developments--a short take is included in the Race-Talk program for this week...along with the last question in our Twitter contest.

You can hear any of our programs(present and a few past programs) at this link: http://msrpk.com/archive.html .

Our season is ramping up--fast for our broadcasts and for the coverage I produce for CBS News, radio--Next week I'll originate the programs from Daytona.

You may have seen some tweets from our CBS News colleague Peter King--the situation is as bad there as anyone can imagine--perhaps worse. Catholic Relief Services is co-ordinating the response from the Roman Catholic bishops here in the US. The Haitians can use a bunch of help, which CRS wants so desperately to provide--one may text the word "relief" to 30644 ; call them toll free at 877-CRS-HELP or go on line at http://crs.org/ to send a donation.

Now for some more crockpot fun from the old bachelor man--this time beef barley soup.

1 small to medium onion chopped

1 15 oz can mixed vegetables

2 packs low sodium Herb-Ox bouillion powder

1/2 to 3/4 lb lean (90 per cent) ground beef, browned

two or three shakes of worcestershire sauce on ground beef while it's browning

1 187 ml bottle of red wine (hint here--use the small version of what you'd usually drink--adds extra flavor

1/2 of the 15 oz mixed vegetable can of water

2 to 4 ounces of pearl barley

Brown the ground beef, as though you were going to make a rare hamburger. One may add a few of the chopped onions to brown up with the beef if desired. Drain excess fat, chop or crumble the beef and place it into the crockpot. Pour in the small bottle of red wine and the bouillion. Stir to mix it up.. Turn the crockpot on high for a few minutes till it gets warm. Now add the mixed vegetables, half can of water, pearl barley, and the rest of the onoins, stir, and turn on low for about five hours.

Enjoy.

You can use this for a starter for your own recipe, adding or subtracting ingredients...it worked very well for football watching. One could use this for a tailgating recipe made in advance if going to a spring race or fall football game where the weather gets a bit chilly--and it does not cost that much to make!

See you on Twitter, and "Race-Talk". We'll use this blog for catching up, and takes that won't fit into 35 seconds or 140 characters..