5.18.2010

How to harden your Facebook Account

How to Harden your Facebook Account

Create a friend list that is contains only those "friends" your truly trust!

I call mine "The Select Few"
This list should be pretty small in comparison with your actual FB Friends list
mostly it will contain close friends and family.

Go to the upper right menu and select

Account
Privacy Settings

Here is where the real work comes in

go into each of your settings and choose who is able to view:

use your personal discretion, but really you should limit personal (information that can distinguish you) to your "select list"
we will use Religious and Political as an example: Click It

Select Customize
Select Make this visible to: These People: Specific People...
Type the name the name of your list and it will populate
Click Save Settings

Again, you will need to do this for each setting.

Personal Information and Posts

Lots of little things you can choose set to your select list
Photo Albums is probably the most critical to protect... lets revisit it later.

In your Contact Information, realistically, this should be set to "Only Me"

the people who need this information, should be able to contact you privately for it

Friends, Tags and Connections is where you really use this new Select list, especially:

Family
Relationships
Photos and Videos of Me
Current City
Hometown

Applications and Websites is another big one

What your friends can share about you allows you to

Control what your friends can share about you when using applications and websites
Just uncheck it all!

As for applications themselves, you should routinely check back here to see what you have blocked and what you might still need to block
The instant personalization pilot program is has to be the worst part:

OPT OUT
If you find a site you do not mind sharing information with, you can "Manually" opt in for that site in particular.

Search

This is tricky and will determine why you are on Facebook
Do you want to be found on Facebook?

if you are trying re-connect with people, then you might leave this to "Everyone"

Do you want your Facebook profile to come up in a search engine like

Google
Bing
Yahoo
etc...
I Unchecked this... no need for my FB profile to be seen anywhere else

Block List allows you to hide from people you really want to hide from

stalkers
old girlfriends/boyfriends
certain family members
etc...

So lets revisit the Photo Albums privacy

You can do 1 of 2 things here:
For each album go in only allow your Select list to be able to see each, or
create another list called "Photo Share" and allow only photo share to see
You may want to play with this for certain albums, especially those containing pictures of your children. Really, you only want select trusted people to see you children.

So what has all this accomplished?

You have created Friend lists (or Access Control Lists in security terms)
You can easily move people into this list and not have to worry about your content, because you know what list can see what

if you forget, you can always go through this exercise again

And now you realize just how much information Facebook really has the potential to share about you.
Finally, you now probably realize that the 2000 people who are connected to you are not really all your friends!

Stay Aware and keep you information private!!!

5.03.2010

Garlic Mushrooms (Tapas)

Garlic Mushrooms (Tapas)

Ingredients:

1 lb. Sliced Mushrooms
2 tbsp. Minced Garlic (or to taste)
1 tbsp. Olive oil
Pimentón (Spanish Paprika to taste)
Sea Salt (to taste)
1/4 Cup Dry Sherry or White Table Wine (I like Marqués de Cáceres)

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. You can check the heat with a wooden spoon: dip the end of the spoon in the oil and if bubbles form around the wood, then its hot enough. Add your garlic and brown (about 2 mins). Add your mushrooms and Sea Salt and sauté (remember Julia Childs' saying: "Don't crowd the mushrooms") for about 10-12 minutes. As the mushrooms get tender, add Pimentón and Dry Sherry. Try to maintain a "saucy" left over moisture. This will give you the delicious drippings you can dip your breads into.

5.19.2009

Hot Artichoke Dip

18-20 oz drained marinaded artichoke hearts - finely chopped
1 clove garlic - crushed
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 large pkg of pre-shredded cheese (Cheddar or Jack)
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 box Triscuits

Finely chop artichoke hearts. Mix with crushed garlic, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese and lemon juice. Bake in glass or corning ware bowl at 350
degrees for 40 minutes. Until Bubbly. Serve hot or warm with Triscuits.
This is not an advertisement for Triscuits, but they really work the best
for this recipe.

Quantity

Goat Cheese Potatoes Gratin

1½ cup	heavy cream
5 oz	soft goat cheese, crumbled
1	garlic clove, minced
1½ lbs	baking potatoes (about 3)
	coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square (2-quart) baking dish; set aside. In a large saucepan, combine cream, goat cheese, and garlic; season with salt and pepper.

Peel potatoes and slice crosswise 1/8 inch thick; add to cream mixture as you work. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cook until potatoes are crisp-tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish; using a spatula, press potatoes into cream to cover. Place dish on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until golden and potatoes are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

4.28.2009

chicken in sparkling wine

chicken in sparkling wine

Serves 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 12 - 15 minutes

2 deboned chicken legs and thighs or 2 large chicken breasts
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup olive oil
About 1 1/2 cups very fruity sparkling wine (Spanish cava, asti, blanquette de Limoux, or any other sparkling wine from southern France)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Hot pimentón (smoked Spanish paprika)

Cut chicken into 1/2-inch slices and then into pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Place flour in a sturdy plastic zip-top bag, add chicken, close the bag, and shake well. Remove chicken pieces from bag and shake free from excess flour.

Immediately heat olive oil in a large sauté pan and brown chicken on all sides. Add sparkling wine, then lemon juice; reduce heat and stir gently.

Season with a little salt, pepper and pimentón. Cover and simmer for 12 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the sauce evaporates or becomes too thick, add a little wine. Adjust seasonings to taste. Make sure chicken is cooked through.

Serve as part of a meal of tapas, accompanied by steamed potatoes if desired.

4.26.2009

allioli potatoes

allioli potatoes

Serves 4
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

1/3 pound red potatoes
1 cup mayonnaise
(homemade is preferable)
4 cloves garlic, pealed (3 of them well crushed)
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
1-2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Rinse potatoes and boil with peels on in salted water along with the whole garlic clove. When potatoes are don (after 20-25 minutes, test with tip of a knife), drain, peel, and cut in 3/4-inch cubes. Discard the whole cooked garlic.

In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, crushed garlic, and chopped parsley. Mix with a little lemon juice or vinegar. Season to taste, add cubed potatoes, stir carefully, and let stand for 30 minutes before serving at room temperature.

9.28.2008

How to Make Chico's Tacos

Chico’s Style Tacos

Chico's Red Sauce

Ingredients:

10 pods dried chile de arbol (seeds & stem removed)

1 can of whole tomatoes

1/2 raw white onion

2 garlic cloves

salt (to taste)

1 tsp oil

water

Directions:

In a blender combine chile pods, tomato, onion and garlic

Use the same tomato can to add water

Liquefy for 2-4 minutes (or until all large chunks are gone)

Pour into a large saucepan add oil. Boil and reduce to simmer, adding water until you achieve the consistency that you desire (Chico’s can be watery). Simmer for 10 minutes and add salt to taste.

Chico’s Rolled Tacos

Note: You will need a deep fryer for this portion

Ingredients:

Corn tortillas

½ pound ground beef

2 large potatoes

garlic powder

onion powder

oil

salt

pepper

toothpicks

Directions:

Boil potatoes for 30-35 minutes, remove from water, peel and cube. Set aside

In a skillet with oil, brown ground beef and add spices. Add cubed potatoes slowly while mashing to maintain a smooth consistency. Optimally, you will want to end up with more beef than potatoes in your mixture, so you may need to hold back some of the potato cubes.

Corn tortillas must be at room temperature or they will break when you roll them. Place beef & potato mixture on the tortilla and roll using the toothpicks to hold in place.

Deep fry for about 5 minutes or until crispy. Set aside to drain off excess oil.

An order of Chico’s Style Tacos

Ingredients:

Chico’s Red Sauce

Chico’s Rolled Tacos

1 block of Colby cheese, finely grated

(contrary to popular belief, Chico’s does not use government cheese)

Directions:

In a serving boat, put 3 tacos, and sprinkle generously with cheese. Pour on a healthy serving of red sauce. Add any other condiments you like (salt, pepper, green chile) and Enjoy!

Serving boats can be purchased in bulk at Sam’s or Costco.

*DISCLAIMER: This recipe is not in anyway affiliated or authorized by Chico's Tacos.

7.04.2008

Joaquin is 1 & 1/2 Years Old

Time sure flies... Joaquin turned 18 months already and he is getting so big! We went to have sushi for his birthday, and he loves chopsticks and will eat a few things but really has not acquired the taste. That could be a good thing though.

Enjoy the pictures.

2008-06-20 Joaquin is 1.5

5 photos

El Paso Trip

The family went to El Paso to celebrate with Angie and Renett in their "Mini-Wedding". It was lots of fun for them -- I was stuck in the kennel and got sick -- but I am better now, so no worries. Enjoy the pictures! Click on each thumbnail to see a slide show.