Don Newman, host of CBC's Politics, is set to retire.

Of course, you can relive the time-keeping magic with the DVD Box Set:

Last night, we whipped up a Mexican meal. We made a quick chili recipe from a supplement of Fine Cooking magazine called Make it Tonight (The Best of Fine Cooking). The chili is pictured on the cover.

The toping for the chili recipe includes avocados. Because the recipe only calls for one and I had bought five, we needed to put the others to use in another recipe. So we whipped up some guacamole from our increasingly indispensable Mexican Cookbook. I also quickly put together a double recipe of the Pico de Gallo Salsa from the same book, which I make often. I've included these two recipes under the cut.

We're having some people over for brunch on Sunday (two friends and their newborn daughter, all the way from Cold Lake, Alberta, and two other couples). We spent part of the last weekend putting together a menu but we weren't sure about the quiche recipes that we had selected.

The Missus mashed a few of those recipes together today to come up with an amazing breakfast quiche. In short, instead of making them in pie crusts, you line the pans with hash browns. To do this, we took the basic recipe for hash browns from The Professional Chef, and then the recipes for the fillings from The Professional Chef and The Canadian Living Cookbook. Tonight we tested the bacon and Swiss cheese filling. On Sunday, we'll also have two other quiches: smoked salmon and dill, and tomato and leek. Once we've put our notes in order, I'll post the completed recipe here.

We'll also be serving Bellinis, which we tried last May when my mother and grandmother were over for Mother's Day. Easy, delicious, bubbly, and acceptable to drink before noon:

Bellini
In a regular wine glass, pour a dash of grenadine, two measures of peach juice, then four measures of chilled champagne or sparkling wine (we use cheapish sparkling wine). Float one or two raspberries in each glass.

For a non-alcoholic version, substitute the champagne or sparkling wine with ginger ale.

Drove back to Ottawa yesterday.

Best (in fact only) personalized license plate spotted: "GOES A2B"
Best bumper sticker spotted: "At least the War on the Environment is going well."

Got home to find The Missus almost in tears after a bad day at work. Despite that, she had bought me some nachos, salsa, and guacamole. Inspired by that, I decided to save them and put together a Mexican meal for us tonight:

• Appetizer: Nachos
• Main Course: Spicy Broiled Salmon (marinated in adobo sauce)
• Side: Rice with lime
• Beverages: Corona (with lime wedges)

( Recipes )

I was sad to see a "goodbye" message posted on the Overheard at Western blog this past February. It kept me sane at some points last year.

However, while compiling a post for my other blog about Western's MLIS program, I visited the site again and saw that a new blog has taken OAW's place: Eavesdrop Western!

Howard Knopf, intellectual property lawyer, has an excellent post about Leonard Cohen and the Ticketmaster fiasco:

My entrepreneurship prof asked us a good question last week: "Why does Roll up the Rim begin around this time of year?" I honestly didn't know.

The answer: Lent. They don't want anyone giving up Tim Horton's for 40 days.

Tonight I made a new recipe that was a hit with The Missus and her mother. I got it from an issue of Fine Cooking magazine from last year.
Took a bit of time in the oven, but prep was easy as can be - very few ingredients and very little chopping.

Chicken with Lemon and Green Olives

Ingredients:

• 6 chicken legs (quarters, not just drumsticks)
• Olive oil
• Salt, Dried Thyme, Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/2 cup green olives, unpitted
• 1 lemon

1. Heat oven to 425 F (recipe calls for 450 F, but it doesn't call for a glass dish, which I used. I find glass dishes heat the food a bit more quickly, so I lowered the temperature slightly).
2. In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. This is the marinade.
3. Lightly coat a 9 x 13 inch glass dish with olive oil (only need a very little bit - the marinade will compensate).
4. Place 6 chicken legs in dish and rub marinade (Step 1) on the chicken legs with your hands.
5. Place chicken in oven for 20 minutes.
6. While chicken is in oven, put 1/2 cup of unpitted green olives in a small bowl.
7. Slice the ends off the lemon, cut in half, then slice half-moons of roughly 1/8 inch thick (I sliced mine a little thicker). Add to bowl with olives and mix with a touch of olive oil.
8. Once chicken has been in oven for 20 minutes (Step 5), spinkle olives and lemons into dish. Don't let them sit on top of the chicken; force them between the pieces. Try to keep the lemons away from the edges of the dish, as they may burn.
9. Put chicken back in oven for roughly 20 minutes or until chicken is done (ours took about 25 minutes post-olive+lemon addition).
10. Remove from oven, plate, and serve with a nice dry Riesling (and, in our case tonight, some lightly curried couscous with currants). Let guests know that the lemon rinds are edible and warn them that the olives are pitted.

Amazon's new Kindle 2 can read out loud. The Authors Guild isn't impressed, and claims that this violates copyright law. They say that this creates "an unlawful derivative work."

Time for some new lawyers, guys (hint: copyright only exists for expressions that are fixed in a physical medium; sound waves certainly don't count).

I had my cultural studies class yesterday morning and then drove back to Ottawa all afternoon.

Quote of the day: "I teach an undergraduate class of 300 seventeen-year olds. It provides a good cross-section of Western's blondest and wealthiest." (My cultural studies prof)

Only interesting license plate I saw on the road: "DON82CNIB" (When I passed that car, I gave it a wide berth, just in case).

Only interesting bumper sticker I saw on the road: "Jesus is coming. LOOK BUSY!"