Monday, December 19, 2011
Holiday Recipe: Prime Rib
It's not difficult to roast a perfect prime rib, so long as you have a good heavy cast iron skillet and digital meat thermometer handy.
First, preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Season the outside of meat with steak seasoning. Pat the seasoning into the sides of the meat.
Sear meat on top of stove in the cast iron skillet (you can use a heavy skillet, but the cast iron is the best choice as it gives it the best crust). You will have to sear each side separately, about three-to-five minutes per side at high heat. Keep turning until all the sides are seared. Sear does not mean burn, just brown it and turn, as cast iron can heat up to a very high heat. Beware that you cannot be distracted while you are doing this step - you must pay attention and keep turning it and searing.
Insert the digital meat thermometer probe into thickest part of the roast (don't hit the bone with the probe) and place it on a broiler pan, bone side down, and roast at 200 degrees until the temperature reaches 130 for bright pink (medium rare). If you like it a bit closer to medium, go to 135 but I wouldn't go beyond that as it will start to get well done. It will take about 45 minutes per pound up to a maximum of four to five hours. Be sure to go by the temperature, not the time.
Next is the most important step in roasting: Let it rest about 20 minutes before slicing. This assures you will have a very juicy roast. Use a large knife to slice off the bones, then slice into slices as thick as desired and serve with ground horseradish.
Long Island Serial Killer The Latest Notorious Murder Case In NY Suburb
OAK BEACH, N.Y. -- It's the largest murder investigation ever on New York's Long Island – 10 people slain and strewn along a remote beach highway over 15 years, possibly all victims of the same serial killer. But it's not the first time the New York suburbs have been in the national spotlight for its homicides.
Back in 1974, Ronald DeFeo killed his parents and four siblings in the "Amityville Horror" murders. Colin Ferguson opened fire on a commuter train in 1993, killing six and wounding 19. And this year on Father's Day, four people were executed in a pharmacy robbery in Medford.
Then there are serial killers Joel Rifkin and Robert Schulman. Most of their victims were prostitutes; 17 for Rifkin and five for Schulman, back in the 1990s.
The so-called Gilgo Beach murder mystery, however, is something altogether different.
"The biggest investigation I've ever been involved in," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer told The Associated Press. "It's garnered the most publicity of any case that I've handled over more than 30 years in the police business."
A website is dedicated to tracking "the Long Island serial killer," a two-hour documentary aired this month on A&E and the deaths have been covered on CBS' "48 Hours." Dormer has even received media attention for his role in the case in his native Ireland.
And it all happened nearly by accident.
On Dec. 11, 2010, a Suffolk police officer and his cadaver dog were in the dunes about 15 miles east of Jones Beach. They were looking for 24-year-old Shannan Gilbert, a missing Jersey City, N.J., prostitute who vanished seven months earlier after meeting a client for sex in Oak Beach, about three miles away.
They happened upon the remains of a woman. That discovery prompted a wider investigation. Two days later, three more sets of remains were found near the first. But none were Gilbert.
Police expanded their search more than 15 miles along the highway, bringing in more K-9 units and putting officers on horseback. Fire departments stretched aerial ladders over a thicket of underbrush and pine trees infested with poison ivy so officers could search from overhead. State police sent officers to assist and Suffolk police academy recruits were called in.
The FBI supplied aerial surveillance photos of the region and other technical assistance.
By April, the search had yielded the remains of 10 victims. Police believe nine were linked to the sex trade. The first four found were strangled elsewhere and dumped, Dormer said; he would not confirm reports they were wrapped in burlap.
In March, the head, hands and forearm of a woman who worked as a prostitute in Washington and New York City were found. The rest of her dismembered body had been located in 2003 in Manorville, about 45 miles to the east. She was identified as 20-year-old Jessica Taylor.
Like Taylor, the first four victims were all in their 20s. They were last seen leaving to meet clients for sex. They were: Melissa Barthelemy, 24, a Buffalo native who lived in the Bronx; Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine, last seen leaving a Long Island hotel; Amber Lynn Costello, 27, originally of Wilmington, N.C., but recently living in North Babylon, N.Y; and Maureen Brainerd-Barnes, 28, of Norwich, Conn. Five other victims have yet to be identified.
Then there is the mother and child.
Police say their remains were found seven miles apart along the parkway. Police released photos of matching jewelry each were wearing, but their IDs remain a mystery.
It is not unheard of for a woman to bring along a child for an online sex encounter, Dormer said.
Another unidentified victim was a man dressed in women's clothing.
The whereabouts of Gilbert, the woman who sparked the investigation, remained a mystery, until a few days ago.
She was last seen running hysterically from a client's home in Oak Beach, a gated community along Ocean Parkway several miles from where the other victims were found. This week, police found her personal effects in marshland near Oak Beach. They continue to look for her remains.
Dormer said officers suspect she drowned in the marshland, and her death is not believed to be connected to the serial killer case. Still, Dormer said, "if it wasn't for Shannan Gilbert's disappearance, we may never have found the remains of the other victims."
Authorities initially suspected that because of the number of victims, the fact that some were dismembered and some not, and the nearly 15 years between the first and last killings, that multiple culprits must be responsible.
But Dormer said authorities now believe one person killed them all. He argued it is not unusual for serial killers to evolve and adjust their methods. He conceded, however, that others disagree, including some in his own department.
But among those who agree is Louis B. Schlesinger, a professor of forensic psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and an expert on serial killers.
"The likelihood that more than one person is a serial sexual murderer on Long Island is close to zero," he said. "This is not like in the movies. This type of different methods of operations occurs quite frequently."
Schlesinger explained why victims of one killer – serial killers are nearly always men_ could be left in different conditions. "It could be as simple as he realized it was too much of a hassle," Schlesinger said. "The women killed years ago were dismembered, the recent women were not. He might have figured it was too much trouble."
He also explained the passage of time between killings.
"They guys have a compulsion to kill, but they also can control it," he said. Or "maybe he was in prison for a time."
No suspects have been identified despite a $25,000 reward and more than 1,200 tips, but a man believed to be the killer has made contact with one family.
In the days after Melissa Barthelemy was reported missing in 2009, someone used her cell phone to call her teenage sister in Buffalo at least a half-dozen times. The caller eventually admitted to the girl he was the killer.
New York City police tracked the call to midtown Manhattan and searched near Pennsylvania Station and the Port Authority bus terminal, but the signal went dead. Cellphone records showed a call from Massapequa, on Long Island. Police canvassed the area, asking around at local hotels, but turned up nothing, the official said. There have been no calls in several years.
Melissa Cann of New London, Conn., wants people to remember the victims as more than anonymous prostitutes. Her sister, Maureen Brainerd-Barnes, was found along Ocean Parkway last December. She said her sister was trying to get out of the escort business but had received an eviction notice when she went to meet what turned out to be her last client.
"Everyone knows that these women went down a wrong path in life," Cann said. "But they were still normal human beings with families that loved them."
Cann has formed a bond with the mothers and other relatives of the other women, speaking almost daily and sharing thoughts via Facebook. Several of them are planning a vigil at Oak Beach on Tuesday.
"She was always there for me with emotional support, so I am going to be there and fight for her and for justice for the rest of my life," Cann said of her sister.
But, she added, "It's not all about Maureen. There's a killer out there. He didn't just destroy the lives of 10 people. He destroyed the lives of 10 families."
Many on Long Island have treated the events of the past year with mostly a shrug. Hundreds of thousands trekked to state and town beaches last summer, setting up umbrellas and frolicking in the surf where murder victims had been strewn nearby.
"I feel awful for the victims, of course," said Diane Gentile a legal secretary from Westbury. "But I'm not really worried about a serial killer. There's a better chance of getting killed on a Long Island Rail Road train or walking into a pharmacy. I'm more worried about someone trying to break into my house."
Rivers stresses positive on Jeff Green
While acknowledging the loss of swingman Jeff Green for the season is a big blow to the Boston Celtics, coach Doc Rivers on Sunday stressed the silver lining of Green's aortic aneurysm: while it will sideline him for an extended period, it does not seem to be a life-threatening situation.
"That's the way I looked at it and that's basically what I conveyed to him," Rivers told reporters in Toronto before the Celtics took on the Raptors in their preseason opener. "'Don't look at this as a negative. This is an extreme positive. You're gonna be OK, and that's good.'" A routine physical administered after the 25-year-old Green agreed to a one-year, $9 million contract with the Celtics last week detected the aortic aneurysm, a diagnosis the Celtics confirmed with follow-up examinations and testing.
"We were hoping we were wrong obviously," Rivers said. "It's a tough one, obviously. Not more for the team, I think that's an easy way to look at it. I look at it more in a couple of ways, No. 1 how lucky Jeff is because the fact that we found it and the fact that he can actually come back and play to me is the minor part. I could care less about that."
Green, who averaged 9.8 points and 3.3 rebounds last season after joining the Celtics in a trade that sent Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder, will undergo surgery Jan. 9 at the Cleveland Clinic.
"Thank u everyone for ur thoughts and prayers," a post on Green's Twitter account read. "...much appreciated love u all..and I'll be back soon stronger and better than ever I promise."
Green's absence leaves the Celtics thin at small forward. Paul Pierce, the team's starting small forward, is currently nursing a right heel injury, while backup Marquis Daniels is coming off spine surgery this summer (his 2010-11 season ended with a freak on-court injury last February) and Sasha Pavlovic is nursing an injured left hand. Neither Pierce nor Pavlovic is expected to be sidelined for an extended stretch.
The loss of Green also takes away maybe the team's top bench option, putting additional pressure on newcomers like Brandon Bass, Chris Wilcox, and Keyon Dooling to fill the scoring void Green leaves behind.
"Team wise it's obviously a blow to us," Rivers said. "It just tells you all those plans in the summer, I could have played four or five more rounds of golf because we put a lot of time into, we really were going to commit to in some point in every game going to a small group to try to pace of the game with Kevin (Garnett) and Jeff. We wanted to be an effective small team. That's basically going to get tossed."
Green's contract has been voided because of the failed physical, but the Celtics retain their rights to him when he returns. Even without Green's contract on the books, the Celtics will not receive any salary cap relief. The Celtics were on the books for roughly $85.6 million for 14 contracts. Shedding $9 million from that not only leaves Boston still well over the salary cap ($58 million), but also the luxury tax threshold (approximately $70 million).
The Celtics could apply for an injury exception for Green, but that would require them to not only pay Green his $9 million this season, but also up to 50 percent of his salary ($4.5 million) for a replacement. So that would cost the team upwards of $27 million giving that tax-paying teams pay dollar for dollar over the threshold. Boston would be pushing a $90 million payroll and $40 million luxury tax bill by applying for an exception.
Boston, instead, likely will have to settle for examining a thin market for free-agent swingmen willing to join the team on a veteran minimum contract.
Duggar Family: Jubilee Shalom Pregnancy and Miscarriage a Fake?
The Duggar family has been in the news a lot over the past week and, in an age of fake marriages à la Kim Kardashian, some are questioning whether Michelle was ever pregnant with a 20th child in the first place. Comments in blog posts and even on People Magazine's latest article are claiming that Michelle and Jim Bob lied about the pregnancy or intentionally got pregnant for sweeps week. The comments are even vicious enough to say the couple intentionally got pregnant and purposefully induced a miscarriage.
Jim Bob & Michelle DuggarHow anyone could make comments like this when the family is obviously grieving is insane. There were pictures of the baby broadcast across the internet and people outside the family obviously saw little Jubilee including the photographer from Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. The comments being broadcast across the web are from the mouths and minds of very shallow, small-minded people. If this was any other television star the world would be rallying around her. Instead it is Michelle Duggar. Wait, she has a name, she is a person, she has a family....maybe it is time for the world to extend her the same courtesy they would any other television personality.
The Duggar family hate that has been brought to the surface by Michelle's 20th pregnancy and ultimately the miscarriage of little Jubilee is despicable. The world we live in could use more caring and kind people like the Duggars. It is time for others to remember what Thumper's mother told him. Time to keep your mouth shut if you have nothing nice to say.
Timberwolves see a quicker, more agile Kevin Love
MINNEAPOLIS - Ricky Rubio sliced through the defense, looked to his right and zipped a pass to his left. Fellow newcomer J.J. Barea caught it and buried a three-pointer, and another unfamiliar guy, this one walking to the scorer’s table, held three fingers in the air. Strange, but the mystery player looked almost like Kevin Love, only without the down vest Love used to wear under his jersey. The crowd got what it wanted from the new Wolves on Saturday night at Target Center in their exhibition opener: Smooth passes from Rubio, scoring from Barea, three-pointers from Derrick Williams and a real coach on the sideline in Rick Adelman.
The tragedy of the evening was that we discovered there is less Love in the world. He looks like someone pasted Justin Timberlake’s head onto a Gronkowski’s body.
Love looks fantastic. Coming off one of the most impressive statistical seasons in Wolves’ history, he lost about 20 pounds and 6 inches off his waist, forcing him to have the good people at Neiman Marcus take in all of his pants. He’s bringing new meaning to the basketball phrase "going small."
The changes in his body might not be superficial. During the Wolves’ 117-96 victory against Milwaukee, he achieved a double-double in the first half and finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes.
He looked quicker and more agile. He shot with tremendous range, making four of his seven three-pointers.
The two most noticeable differences in his game on Saturday night were two changes that bode well for the Wolves. Love paid homage to all of the slick-passing forwards Adelman has coached by seeing the floor and finding open teammates. And he played a much firmer form of defense than we saw for most of last season, when Love’s thirst for rebounds sometimes caused him to slack off his man.
"I feel good out there," Love said. "My body feels live and energetic."
Asked what aspect of his game will benefit the most, Love said: "Defense. Definitely. Having better legs in the fourth quarter."
What we’re seeing with the Wolves is the basketball equivalent of a brain transplant. This was poorly run on the court and from the sideline.
The effect of Adelman and his staff on this team was immediate. On offense, the Wolves spaced the floor, moved the ball and isolated weak defenders. The players looked more comfortable by the second quarter of their first preseason game than they did in game 82 last spring. And the guard play was better simply because Rubio and Barea can run an offense and get into the paint.
Love should benefit from all of the changes. With a new emphasis on passing, he could pile up assists and discourage double teams. With an offense that encourages ball movement, he should find himself open more often, and Saturday he took advantage, scoring on everything from baby hooks to long jumpers.
And if a combination of his improved conditioning and better coaching turns him into a solid defender, his stock around the league will rise. Last year Love was a statistical anomaly, but he didn’t often make those around him better.
"He and I have talked about that," Adelman said. "He’s always going to be a rebounder. Every one of these guys, you’d like to see them get better at other areas. He can shoot the ball, he can pass the ball. Both him and Michael (Beasley), not only can they do things for themselves, they have to do things for their teammates."
Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey vs. Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers on ‘SNL’ (Video)
When Jimmy Fallon hosted this week’s “Saturday Night Live,” he brought a lot of his friends and former castmates along for the ride.
Rachel Dratch and Fallon teamed up in the cold open to reprise their roles as Boston couple extraordinaire Sully and Denise.Chris Kattan, a slimmed-down Horatio Sanz and Tracy Morgan also joined with Fallon to perform a holiday tune they once trotted out on a previous pre-Christmas episode of “SNL.”
But perhaps most delightfully, Tina Fey, Fallon’s former Weekend Update partner, and Amy Poehler, who once “really??ed” on a weekly basis with Seth Meyers, engaged in a Weekend Update joke-off. The objective: determine which fake news anchor pairing was more adept at riffing on a ridiculous news item about a strip joint hosting a holiday toy drive.
JR Martinez Will Be A Father
J.R. MartÃnez and his girlfriend Diana González-Jones are expecting their first child next spring the Dancing with the Stars champion tells People Magazine.
The 28-year-old Iraq war vet met González-Jones when he was casted for a role in the soap opera All My Children.
"We found out just last week it's a girl and we are over the moon," MartÃnez tells People Magazine. "Diana has a little baby bump now and it's the cutest thing ever. With the holidays coming up, this is the biggest and best gift we could get."
Starting the season as the least known member of the "Dancing With the Stars" cast, MartÃnez endeared himself to America as the show progressed and the turned-soap opera star took home the top prize.
"Dancing" drew 18 million viewers a week who got a firsthand look at the Iraq war veteran with the infectious positive attitude.
MartÃnez was severely burned over more than 40 percent of his body when the Humvee he was driving for the U.S. Army struck a land mine. He underwent numerous surgeries over years of recovery but that didn't stop him from taking home the trophy. MartÃnez danced like that had happened to somebody else.
MartÃnez has been chosen as grand marshal of the 123rd annual Tournament of Roses parade. He was on the cover of People magazine and named one of its "sexiest men" a few weeks later. And on Tuesday, he became the new "Dancing With the Stars" champion.
The actor and motivational speaker is known for radiating joy and next spring he'll have another member of the MartÃnez family to share that with.
