Paella and Payola

This weekend represented some of the best cooking I have done this year (in so short a period of time). Friday, my wife and I enjoyed the Barbeque Shrimp with Boudin Bakery sourdough bread. I know, I made it for my birthday, but when you are cooking all day, it is very difficult to actually sit down and enjoy the food. I did that on Friday. Saturday, I cooked a chicken on my Faberware rotisserie. This is a great product. I have owned my for over twenty five years and it performs marvelously. The chicken was brined and then seasoned with herb de province, sage, marjoram, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. It was my best effort in recent memory. I made my mother's version of macaroni and cheese as a side dish, slightly updated. It did bring back memories. However, the recipe of the week is Seafood Paella. I promised one of Broadvox's channel managers that I would create a paella recipe. I put it off for a few months because paella has more steps than most people realize. It is also very risky to cook on top of the stove. Therefore, I use a combination of stovetop and oven to product a very safe and tasty product. There are many versions of paella. I chose not to use chicken in this one as we had chicken the day before. Moreover, the selection of vegetables is very much up to the cook. I used white asparagus because it was fresh and would go great with seafood. Also, scallops can replace lobster or more shrimp can be added. The options are nearly endless. Make this recipe and be certain to let your family and friends see it before you take that first serving out. Seafood Paella is both a beautiful and tasty dish. Enjoy!

Payola and Telecom Stimulus Spending

"Payola" is a contraction of the words "pay" and "Victrola" (LP record player), and entered the English language via the record business. However, there are some today that believe the Telecom Stimulus spending is going to go to carriers that do not need the money and to regions that are not underserved. As I read some comments regarding the selection process and some of the potential winners, I did wonder why I had not considered the money might be wasted. Perhaps, I focused too hard on whether America needed the spending to produce necessary jobs without considering the potential for unmerited awards. Yet, I also think we should withhold judgment until we see how the money is awarded, which brings me to the payola.

In doing just a little research on the author of the piece that started me thinking, I discovered he always opposes anything promoted by the Democrats and supports anything promoted by the Republicans. I considered it a form of payola when you are selling papers, books and your time (speeches) and getting paid by one specific group to criticize another.

Later this week we will see how several billion dollars are to be awarded and can then determine if the process was both fair and worthwhile. The recession may be over according to the National Bureau of Economic Research but the need for jobs remains. If we are to allocate tax dollars to job creation efforts, I prefer they be applied to infrastructure rather than new entitlements. Spending on infrastructure that will support wireless, video, messaging and multimedia services as well as a multitude of various networks, is strategic. IP Communications and broadband access are a growing necessity for businesses to be competitive in both the US and globally.