This weekend’s challenge is Fricassée De Poulet à L’Ancienne – chicken fricassee. And just one question – is anyone out there cooking along with me? Lurkers, whomever – anyone taking a crack at these recipes? You can buy Mastering the Art of French Cooking here.

Yield: For 4 to 6 people (I’m cutting the recipe in half)

Ingredients

• 2½ to 3 lbs. of cut-up frying chicken
• 1 thinly sliced onion, carrot, and celery stalk
• 4 Tb butter
• ½ tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp white pepper
• 3 Tb flour
• 3 cups boiling white chicken stock, white stock, or canned chicken bouillon
• 1 cup dry white wine or 2/3 cup dry white vermouth
• A small herb bouquet: 2 parsley sprigs, 1/3 bay leaf and 1/8 tsp thyme tied in washed cheesecloth

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As if you didn’t have enough to worry about:

CarShark’s a computer program that’ll let someone hack into a car’s onboard computer system to kill the brakes, disable the engine, blast music and otherwise wreak electronic havoc. It’s both clever and absolutely frightening. Here’s how it works.

A team of researchers led by professors at the University of Washington and USCD hacked the Controller Area Network (CAN) system installed on all new cars built in the United States to show how potentially vulnerable the system is. The CAN is supposed to allow onboard vehicle systems to communicate so problems are easier to diagnose, but the hands of these hackers it’s the open door to disabling a vehicle.

Suddenly that ’91 Civic DX doesn’t look so bad, eh?

CarShark Software Lets You Hack Into, Control, and Kill Any Car [Jalopnik]

I was exposed to this video during the Great Video War of 2007.  If you can find something worse (and it’s probably Japanese) post a link in the comments.  But be forewarned – I have other weapons in my cache. Don’t make me hurt you.

Damn I love this guy:

[ Comedy Central Flash video not available. ]

E. Power Biggs plays Harvard University’s Flentrop organ (made in Zaandam, Holland): hey – google this guy.  Nobody plays Bach better.  Trust me – I’ve been trying to find something better for 30 years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH10P42aaGY

Oil spills. Republican idiots screaming about derailing Kagan, preachers pestorking rentboys … we need kittens on a sliding board:

The Fiat Ritmo was sold here in the US of A as the Fiat Strada. It was supposed to be the Italian Rabbit killer.  The only car that drew more derision from the automotive press was the Renault Le Car (the Renault 5 in France), and rightly so.

[via]