Year:

These tequila shrimp are nothing short of awesome and if you like shrimp, then you need to try this.  All you need are some simple ingredients and about 15 minutes including prep and cooking time. Ingredients: 1/2 to 1 pound of raw or cooked shrimp that have been peeled, de-veined, thawed and gently rinsed. I prefer raw shrimp as it gives me more control over the ‘done-ness’ of the shrimp and helps avoid over-cooking them The shrimp should be completely thawed. I like to thaw my shrimp on a metal cookie sheet as the metal appears to help them thaw faster by dissipating the cold temperature. Don’t force thaw shrimp under running water as the water will damage the flesh Cilantro: 1/2 cup of washed, chopped, fresh cilantro Cream or half-and-half: 1/2 pint Butter: about 1/2 stick Salt: 1/4 tablespoon Pepper: 1/8 tablespoon of pepper Garlic: about 1/8 tablespoon of garlic powder or 1 freshly minced clove Tequila: 1 tablespoon of medium to high quality golden or white tequila. Cook ’em up… Mix all the ingredients, except for the shrimp, in a deep sided frying pan.  Bring the sauce to a gentle boil while stirring often.  You don’t want to scorch the butter or cream, so be careful.  You will want to let the sauce gently boil/steam for a while to thicken it up a bit.  If you like really thick sauce you can add rice flour as a thickener.  Rice flour is a perfect thickener because it does not impart flavor like flour or cornstarch. Once the sauce is at the desired consistency, and while it is still ‘cooking’, you can add the shrimp.  If you used raw shrimp, be sure to cook the shrimp in the sauce until they are completely pink.  If you used pre-cooked shrimp, you goal here is not to cook them, but to heat them up. Serve ’em up… You can serve the shrimp as an appetizer or a main course.  The sauce can be used as either a dipping sauce for the shrimp, or as a fantastic complement to thin, angel hair style noodles.

The Syndicate Press RSS/Atom/RDF syndication plugin for WordPress got one step closer to it’s initial release today with the cleanup of code, testing of features and optimization of the formatted output cache.  See http://OFFLINEZIP.wpsho/software/syndicate-press/ for more information. If you would like to be a beta tester, please request the beta release access information by leaving a comment on the Syndicate Press page.

The Syndicate Press plugin for wordpress took a major step forward this week with the release of Version 0.6 for beta testers.  This release uses a completely redesigned feed parser implemented from the ground up. See http://OFFLINEZIP.wpsho/software/syndicate-press/ for more information

We have all browsed the internet over an unsecured wi-fi network at some point in time. Obviously, this presents numerous security and privacy implications. Fortunately, there is a relatively simple solution that will allow you to securely “tunnel” back to your home broadband network and browse as though you were at your house. The key peice of equipment is the Lynksys NSLU2 device. Read on for more details…

If you have been around the PHP scene for a while now, you are probably aware of the file_get_contents() function. This function has been used in many web applications for years, but has been under increasing attack from nefarious evil doers. Due to the security issues when using this function to download URL content, many web hosts have disabled the URL functionality. Take a look at the PHP HTTP socket Client article for the TinyHttpClient, a simple yet very functional alternative which supports HTTP 1.0 GET, POST and Basic Authentication…

Ever wondered how to transport a chicken in your car when you don’t have a cage or a box? While traveling in East Africa several years ago, my wife and I faced just such a quandary. We had traveled about 4 hours by very rough roads to a small town where we were the lunch guests at the home of the local public school headmaster. After lunch was over, the headmaster presented my wife with two chickens to take home with us. This was an honor that the headmaster was showing us and we could not refuse them without causing offense due to local customs. Not knowing what to do, my father in law came up with a great idea for safely transporting the chickens home. He went around to the back of the truck and rummaged through the “junk” that all work trucks have. Out came two blue, plastic “shopping bags”, like the ones you get at the grocery store. He then proceeded to poke a hole in the bottom corner of each bag and placed the bag over the chicken and poked the chickens head out the little hole. We gently put the legs and tail of the bird into the bag and then tied it up using the bag handles. The bird was content and rode all the way back home over very rough roads at my feet. It never squirmed or even appeared agitated. We drove along the dirt roads for about 4 more hours and when we arrived at our destination, the chicken was relaxed and unharmed.  Best of all, there was no mess.

Posted a new review of various Yerba Mate brands and blends.  Check it out here.

Welcome to henryranch.net, where we bring you a holistic mix of articles, tutorials and reviews covering topics such as software and technology, sustainablity and rural living. The citumpe.com site content has been folded into the new and improved henryranch.net site. Please take a moment and check out the new articles, tutorials and reviews here at henryranch.net.  To get started, use the menu links at the top of the site, or the direct page links in the sidebar.

Two acres.  Before moving out of the city, we thought that two acres was a lot of land.  From the perspective of a suburban dweller, two acres is a lot of space.  After living here for the last five years, our perspective has changed.  Two acres is just about enough for a large garden, a pond and a couple of cows.  It is enough land to eat up your time and but not enough to qualify for agricultural property tax status. The move from a suburban neighborhood to a rural piece of land was a good one.  While we are not ranchers, nor farmers, we do live a more rural lifestyle.  We feel more connected to the land and our food.  Our commute has increased by about 5 miles each way, but we now get to watch the corn, wheat and alfalfa fields mature throughout the season.  Occasionally, we see a calf born on the way to the office. It’s a good life and two acres is about right for now.  There is a richness and a depth in rural life that soothes the soul and calms the mind.  Watching the cows is often more enjoyable than prime time  television… The weird part is that you just don’t get it until you take the plunge and move out of the subdivision.