"Peachy Cool Arrow" Hickey's Chicken Thigh Tortilla Soup!

Hickey

 I am a chicken thigh guy.  Now, I like my legs and  breasteses as much as any

Irlandesa Gringo, but for full flavor, nothing cooks up like chicken thighs.

Hence, I break with Yankee Food Channel and eschew the breasts - I eschew with my teeth.

So, for real tasty Tortilla Soup I go with the thighs


 Hickey Chicken Thigh Tortilla Soup

Ingredients
2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 large red onion, diced
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 jalapeno, finely diced
Liberal use of Goya Adobo Powder*
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth or 2 Boxes of College Inn
One 14.5-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
One 14.5-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
6-8 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
2 limes, juiced, plus wedges for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

In a large skillet brown the hell out of the chicken thighs - use a few dashes of Adobo powder when turning thighs. Cook all the way through 5-6 minutes a side, or 180 degrees on a good meat thermometer.  Cut up the thighs once they cool.


In a large saucepan heat the vegetable oil. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Once the onions have softened add the garlic and jalepenos and cook for another minute. Pour the chicken broth, tomatoes and beans into the pot and bring to a boil. Once at a boil lower heat to simmer and add your chicken thighs. Cook the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes; then remove and cool.  When cool enough to handle shred it and set it aside - dash with Adobo. Add lime juice and fresh cilantro to the pot. In a serving bowl add a mound of shredded chicken. Ladle soup over chicken and top with a lime wedge, grilled tortilla strips, avocado slices and Good Mexican cheese - not of that Kraft Mixes.

Serve with Sparkling water and good Mexican Beer - Pacifico, Victoria, Dos Equis, Tecate, Model - Hell, they are all good - like Czech beers.

Mexicans, Culchies, Homies and Euro-rash Rednecks work like badgers and eat like kings.

*Adobo Powder is one-stop shopping for great Mexican flavors (salt, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, oregano, cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder.)

KingZorProphets? Pick One.

I am preparing lessons for my second semester classes at Brother High School.  I am teaching two Theology Courses to four sections of 36 Juniors and one section of 34 Freshmen.  The Juniors get Social Justice this semester after last semester's Morality units. The Freshmen are taking a full year of Old Testament.

The text books* are very orthodox presentations of Catholic teachings and you can't miss with the Bible.  Not only that, Catholic Social Teaching is rich with primary sources.  Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum is an essential read that most later-day Social Justice Warriors (SJWs) have never encountered.

Instead, neo-Maoist activism of SJW proclaims - Every Voice a Prophet. . . .And every man a king!

It don't work that way.  Kings and prophets are in opposite camps and what about every man?

We are called by God to bear witness to the faith.

Some might argue that bearing witness is not enough.  Okay.

• Calling 911 when that clown broke out my back door window last Wednesday, in order to take what I do not have, was an act of bearing witness by a neighbor which I greatly appreciated, because the thief was interrupted and bolted, when blue lights from the heroes of District 22 appeared in the early morning skies.

• Chatham Glass ( two brothers) replaced my busted window for much less than two more franchised companies, because of the Sacred Season and the circumstance - they bore witness without a press conference, a march, or CNN
• I used the savings to donate to a charity.

Kings and prophets are too busy for such stuff.

I am going to try and concentrate upon words of the prophets and actions of the kings in the Old Testament and try and present their impact upon the people who will be dragged off to Babylon, conquered by the Persians,  Greeks and Romans and await the arrival of the 'annointed one' of the  Root of Jesse.

                                        CYO - Bishop Sheil is the template for Catholic Action

We have far too many SJWs taking it to the streets and far too few people willing to clean up their mess after wards,

The old Catholic Action was practical, effective and compelling. It was launched by Bishop Shiel.  Bishop Shiel?  Yeah, this Archdiocese has pretty much burried Bishop Sheil in favor of press happy prophets with hard collars and Macy's gold cards, 

Bishop Sheil inspired Catholics to act, not pose, shout, march or preen.

That was long before we were all called to be kings and prophets.

Some one needs to set up chairs.

No chairs, no Justice. 

*Written on Our Hearts (2009): The Old Testament Story of God's Love, Third Edition 3rd Edition

Living Justice and Peace (2008): Catholic Social Teaching in Practice, Second Edition 2nd Edition

2018 - Already? Always on the Eights?

2018, already???????

Silly question.

Time does not fly; it bolts by.

•  In, 1958 I was in 1st Grade at Little Flower Grammar school
• In 1968, I was a junior in high school, dropped out of baby-priest school ( St. Augustine Minor Seminary), working at Chicken Unlimited and dating gorgeous young ladies
• In 1978, I was in my third year of teaching at Bishop McNamara and dating the woman who would actually marry me and carry all three of our children - Mary Elizabeth Cleary
• In 1988, married for four years with a three year old, I resigned from Bishop Mac and took a job at La Lumiere School in LaPorte, Indiana
• In 1998. I lost my lovely pal, partner and guiding light to a lousy brain tumor
• In 2008, I was working at Leo High School as Director of Development and struggling with my demons thanks to a loving family
• In 2018, I am back in the classroom at Brother Rice and still chasing away the demons - with three grown and successful children, a gorgeous granddaughter and a patient, lovely woman

That's a lot of blood under the bridge.

2018!  Let's see what you got, Big Boy!

• I need to pray all day. 
• Watch my temper.  
• Put disappointments in proper perspective.  
• Remember it is not all about me 
• Try and help others.  
• Avoid "Irish Alzheimer's”  the disease where an individual forgets everything except the grudges. 
• Get my hair cut
• Vote in the GOP Primary on March 20, 2018 and louse up Bruce Rauner's comfortable life
• Watch more high school sports
• Save money
• Eat more greens
• Listen to more great music

The eights were always pretty heavy.

Heavy lifting in life, requires bending the knees.

Let's see how it goes.  

Sun Times: Man Stabbed in Kennedy Park - Stop Gun Violence!

A 41-year-old man was stabbed Monday evening in the Kennedy Park neighborhood on the Far Southwest Side.
He was walking down the street about 5:50 p.m. in the 11100 block of South Washtenaw when an unknown person stabbed him, according to Chicago Police.  The man suffered a puncture wound to the abdomen and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in good condition, police said.Stop Gun Violence

Was the man Stabbed with a Gun?

The Sun Times casts great light on gun violence, but keeps the savagery of the individuals perpetrating the perpetual attacks on innocent people like toddlers, children, tourists and people walking near a Chicago park at 5:30 P.M. in any neighborhood.

This is because the Sun Times is all about making it possible for individuals to bring lawsuit against the society that protects their actions and give the lie to the pre-caste political narratives of the Chicago oligarchs. The Chicago Reader, owned by the Sun Times, calls the 19th Ward( especially Mount Greenwood)  the Upside Down.  

In short, dead fish would jump from the pages of the Sun Times, rather than be shrouded in lies.

Kennedy Park is in the Morgan Park neighborhood.  I live here.  The news media goes to great pains to portray this neighborhood as some kind of Celtic Copland-  Leave it To Beaver Oasis for White Flight Racists, where Rahm Emanuel counts upon and gets high voter turn-outs and matching Rahm Votes each election cycle.  In return, Rahm flips pancakes at Original House of Pancakes on Western, blesses a Blackhawks endowed Hockey Rink at Kennedy Park.  Rahm also solemnly nods with the news media about the people who live here, pay taxes, obey the law and call 911  more than they should.

People, white black, brown and yellow in this neighborhood as well as  Beverly and Mount Greenwood are robbed, burglarized, threatened, assaulted and mugged by thugs - frequently. With the great number of CPD, County, State and Federal law enforcement professionals residing here, one might think - The Bad Guys Know Us, But They Leave Us Alone.  No.  They get around.

Last week,  and off-duty cop was attacked by young thugs with pistols, a number of thugs came into The Upside Down to rob UPS, FEDEX and USPS deliveries.


Chicago is a Thug Comfort Zone.

A comfort zone denotes that limited set of behaviors that a person will engage without becoming anxious. Alternatively denoted as a "plateau" it describes that set of behaviors that have become comfortable, without creating a sense of risk. A person's personality can be described by his or her comfort zones. Highly successful persons may routinely step outside their comfort zones, to accomplish what they wish. A comfort zone is a type of mental conditioning that causes a person to create and operate mental boundaries that are not real. Such boundaries create an unfounded sense of security. Like inertia, a person who has established a comfort zone in a particular axis of his or her life, will tend to stay within that zone without stepping outside of it. To step outside a person's comfort zone, he must experiment with new and different behaviors, and then experience the new and different responses that then occur within his environment.

Following the thug murder of Leo High School Valedictorian, Golden Gloves Champion and college student Jason Riley in 2007, I wrote the following:

I accuse the news media of creating a Thug Comfort Zone here in Chicago. Only cases where Police can and will be accused of abuse based upon race receive any attention - the more ludicrous and outrageous accusations get tried in the public glare with the full support of cynical creeps who sit their milky fat asses on Editorial Boards.

I use cynical creeps because 1. - they are cynical - 'Let's get into it!' and sell some papers - easier than being good at your work and 2. creeps because only a creep would actively engage in 'criminal' enterprise to enrich lawyers and thugs, while bankrupting public monies and public confidence.

It is now 2017 and milky rumps remain on editorial boards and chirp about - gun violence.

Thugs feel very free to rob, steal, assault and use guns to kill people, because There's a 73% chance that Foxxx (Cook County States Attorney)won't charge you

• and another 78% chance you'll make bail, even on murder and hate crime charges
• and another 82% chance you beat the charge at court.  ( emphases and parenthetical my own) 

Thugs Kill People

Thugs Rob People

Thugs Terrorize People, because they can. 

Guns kill people, like pencils flunk tests.