Alfredo Sauce Made Easy

I'm going off the rails a bit with this post.  Not sports, not music, but........cooking.

Cooking is not rocket science. Or brain surgery. Or rocket surgery, for that matter. Good cooking does not necessitate a laundry list of exotic ingredients or the possession of intricate technique. In fact, the best alfredo sauce I've ever made (or eaten) consists of three very simple ingredients: butter, heavy whipping cream and Parmesan cheese.

Although I firmly believe recipes are guidelines (except when baking, when it's actually a formula), some ingredients cannot be substituted for optimal results. When I say butter, I mean real butter. Not margarine, not I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (I actually can believe it's not butter), not some other butter substitute. When I say heavy whipping cream, I don't mean Half & Half, or milk, or, heaven forbid, skim milk.

I would not recommend substituting anything for this recipe. If you're on a diet, then your best bet would be to find another recipe, because this is full fat, full flavor deliciousness.

You will need roughly equal parts butter and heavy whipping cream. The amount will depend on how much alfredo sauce you expect to use. I would not recommend making much more than you need since this does not keep and/or reheat well.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the whipping cream and heat almost to a boil. Boiling and dairy products can create an experience you would not wish to repeat. Slowly stir in parmesan cheese until a thin gravy consistency is reached. During this step, make sure to stir constantly so as not to burn the cheese and also to ensure the cheese is incorporated enough to create a creamy smoothness.

Now, ladle over your favorite pasta (fettuccine is my recommendation) and enjoy. That, by itself, is enough, but embellishments are definitely encouraged.

A grilled (or baked) chicken breast seasoned with basil, garlic and oregano can be sliced or diced and added to the plate.

My favorite embellishment involves a bit more technique, which can also be applied to the basic preparation.

Sautee a few sliced mushrooms in butter and a splash of white wine until softened. Then add some fully cooked diced ham and lemon pepper to taste. Then add heavy whipping cream (roughly the same amount as the butter) and heat through. Add fully cooked and cooled noodles (again fettuccine is preferred). Stir and heat through. Add parmesan cheese to desired consistency, stirring constantly. When your preferred consistency and creaminess is reached, transfer immediately to plate and enjoy.

Happy dining.

What Casual Baseball Fans Are Missing

We are here to help out the casual baseball fan whose head may be spinning a bit with all the non-baseball news surrounding baseball.  And we think you know what we're talking about.

With about six weeks left in the season, here's what we have going on:

-  The Pirates are in first place in the NL Central.  Not a typo.  Yes, those Pirates.  From Pittsburgh. The Pirates currently hold a three game advantage over the St. Louis Cardinals.  And a lot of you thought that franchise had folded years ago, right?

- The Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics are currently in a dogfight for supremacy of the AL West. Separated by a mere one half game in the standings, and dead even in the loss column, this race could come down to the last day of the season as it did last year.

- The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays are involved in quite the battle themselves in the AL East.  Just a game between them in the standings with Baltimore lurking around at 5 1/2 games out.

- The LA Dodgers are probably playing the best of anyone in baseball right now, taking a commanding lead in the NL West over Arizona.

- On a lesser note, the Kansas City Royals are above .500.  Might not sound like much, but ask a Royals fan.

It's time for A-Rod to fade away. Disappear forever. That won't happen, so it's time for us to just focus on what is happening between the lines. Some good baseball yet to be played. Let's enjoy the pennant races. That's what it should be all about this time of year.

Rangers Need to Take Advantage of Soft August

With about a month and a half left in the season, here is where our Texas Rangers stand.  In first place. But Oakland is not going away.

In the past month, the Rangers have gained a Matt Garza and an Alex Rios.  They have lost a Nelson Cruz, a Colby Lewis and now a Matt Harrison.  So where does that leave them?  Better than before.

"What?", you say.  Texas has not had Lewis or Harrison for practically the entire season.  Their losses don't mean that much.  Sure the Cruz loss hurts, but Rios can fill in adequately and provide production.  Not the same as Cruz, but he will contribute.  Now, take a look at the rotation.  Better to have Garza than a maybe Harrison or Lewis. Or maybe Neftali Feliz.

What the Rangers have right now is what they're going to have to go with down the stretch.  We like the chances.  However, looking at the schedules, the Rangers need to have at least a four game lead going into September.

Texas has an easy August schedule.  Oakland's is tougher.  The tables are turned in September.

And for the "Fire Wash" crowd, Ron Washington deserves no less than manager of the year if he guides this team to the playoffs.  We won't bore you with the details now, but it could be coming at a later date.

Johnny Manziel

The saga of Johnny Manziel, Johnny Football if you will, has been well chronicled. From almost being suspended before the 2012 season to winning the Heisman Trophy, from the insipid tweets to "oversleeping" at the Manning's quarterback academy, the Texas A&M quarterback has gone on quite the ride.

Johnny Football's latest transgression to come to light may land him in hot water with the NCAA.  It has been reported that Manziel received -gasp- monetary compensation for signing memorabilia.  Not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.

Except.

As opposed to stupid tweeting and "oversleeping", generating income from your own fame is against NCAA rules.  After the weasels at the NCAA get finished probing this situation, it could be bad news for Texas A&M and Johnny Football.  We'll have to wait and see how that all plays out.

We want Manziel to play.  He's fun to watch.  But apparently he's not very bright.  Either that or he has an extreme sense of entitlement.  You can only play the "he's just 20 years old" card so many times before it becomes a problematic behavioral flaw.

Given the NCAA's own investigative incompetence in the past, we wouldn't be surprised if they turn up insufficient evidence to suspend Manziel.  Until Johnny Football pulls another bone-headed stunt.

Riley Cooper

So much happening in the world of sports lately.  And nothing that has to do with on-field performance.

We have Riley Cooper, Johnny (Johnny Football) Manziel, BioGenesis, Alex Rodriguez and Nelson Cruz.

Knee jerk reactions are for twitter and facebook.  Here in the Cheap Seats we like to let things marinate before jumping off the deep end.

Therefore, we will tackle each issue separately and with pertinent distance.

First, Riley Cooper:

What he said was indefensible.  We aren't going there.

It seems as though Riley is a bad drunk.  According to him, he was as surprised as anyone else when the video came out because.............HE DOESN'T REMEMBER SAYING IT!!!

Dude, if you're going get that hammered at a Kenny Chesney show, we would lay low.  We have seen Kenny Chesney.  It's not worth going stupid.  Sure, Chesney is popular.  But not that great.

Ultimately, it's about what Cooper's teammates think.  Idiots like us, and idiots writing for the major sports sites can espouse whatever opinion we/they feel, it doesn't matter.

It really doesn't matter what "we" think.

Let it play out as it will.

The Texas Rangers are 3-11 Since........

The debut of SharkNado on the SyFy channel.

Sure, you can use the All-Star  break as the line of demarcation, and the Rangers haven't been good since then (2-7).  But we believe it has something to do with SharkNado.

What other logical explanation can there be?

Texas Rangers at the All Star Break

As the Texas Rangers gear up for the remainder of the season, let us take a look back at how things fared before the All Star break.

There were 394 pitchers who went on the disabled list before the break, 96.7% of those pitchers were Rangers' starters.  Seriously, the pitching staff was hammered and hampered by injuries.  When the rotation consists of Yu Darvish, Derek Holland, and, take your pick of Grimm, Lindblom, Tepesch, Wolf, or the neighbor kid down the street, that the Rangers are where they are is commendable.

And where are they?  Thirteen games above .500 and two games back of Oakland in the AL West.  Plenty of time and games still left.

The offense on the other hand, meh.  Sure Ian Kinsler and Mitch Moreland both joined the pitching staff on the DL, but the offense has wasted many good pitching performances.  Nobody ever won a game scoring zero runs.

The bullpen, while overworked and overexposed at times, has really held it together.  Kudos to Joe Nathan, Robbie Ross, Tanner Scheppers, et al.

Going forward, Lance Berkman can't be counted on to stay healthy and even if he is, can he even hit?

Elvis Andrus and David Murphy need to figure it out at the plate.  And quickly.

Alexi Ogando seems ready to return, but will the Rangers ever see Matt Harrison, Colby Lewis or Neftali Feliz on the field this season?  We would proceed thinking not.

The trade deadline looms.  The Rangers need another starting pitcher and a right-handed bat.

This is still a very good team.  And instead of all those clamoring for manager Ron Washington to be fired, here in the Cheap Seats, we think he has done a tremendous job of getting the Rangers where they are right now.  Give us a better available option.  Or would you rather have Bobby Valentine? Puh-leeeeze!

The second half starts tonight.  Sit back and enjoy, it's going to be a fun ride no matter how it turns out.

Cover Songs

I had a brief facebook conversation the other day with somone about cover songs.  Or more precisely, one song that was recently covered.

My friend's post had a link to the cover version of the song along with a comment that said "better than the original".

Was it better than the original?  Well, no, not really.  But it was fresh and new and on his mind.

We eventually agreed that the cover was not better than the original.  Covers rarely are.  Especially if the original recording was written by the original artist.

Are there exceptions?  Sure.  At least as far as we are concerned.  However, a certain twitter conversation enlightened me to the fact that some regard any covers as inferior.  The conclusion of that conversation ended in "to each his own."

The writer of the song usually has a personal investment in the song and/or a story interwoven into the song and can sing it like they mean it.

A lot of it has to do with perspective.  Was the first time you heard a song the original, or was it a cover?

Growing up, the only version of "Blinded by the Light" I ever heard was Manfred Mann's.  Little did I know that the song is a Bruce Springsteen original.

Listening to the local classic rock station, my daughter would start singing along to a song.
Me: "How do you know that song."
Her:  "It's in (some animated movie). They do it better in the movie."

All perspective.  But for the most part, give me the original.

Thoughts on Wimbledon

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer out by the second round.  Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka also.  Serena Williams ousted before the quarterfinals.  The last four days of Wimbledon must have been horrible.

Or maybe not.

Congratulations to Andy Murray especially.  Finally a Brit winning Wimbledon.

Congratulations to Marion Bartoli.  Wins the championship without dropping a set.

The championship matches did not live up to what took place two days prior, respectively.  Murray and Bartoli dispensed of Novak Djokovic and Sabine Lisicki in straight sets.  Props to Murray and Bartoli.  They both played very, very well.

On the women's side, Lisiscki was gassed, both mentally and physically.  A three set win over Serena in the round of sixteen in which she was down 3-0 in the third set only to come back. Then in the semis, she pulled the same trick on Agnieska Radwanska.  Finally winning 9-7 in the third.

One of the most entertaining matches on the WTA we have seen in recent years.

But that was only a prelude to the Djokovic match against Juan Martin del Potro.  A five set insta-classic.

Both gentlemen battled, gutted, dug deep.  The fourth set tie-break, won by Del Potro, should be played on a loop on the Tennis Channel when they are lacking for programming.  We would watch.  It was that good.

Djoker will get another Wimbledon at some point.  Maybe Lisicki will get her first.

The finals were a celebration of Murray and Bartoli, not a referendum on Djoker and Lisicki.

Things just got interesting going into the hard court season.  US Open, we can't wait.

NBC Should Take a Cue From Their Friends at the Tennis Channel

While not being able to watch the first week of Wimbledon matches live, we took to Wimbledon Primetime on the Tennis Channel. As we were watching, the Olympic Games and NBC kept creeping into our mind.

The Tennis Channel does a fantastic job at broadcasting matches from the majors that we tennis fans already know the outcome.  They begin the broadcast recapping the big stories of the day. Then, the best parts of the best matches are shown. Interviews are interspersed throughout the tennis action.  It makes for quite enjoyable viewing.

While this is definitely not an apples to apples comparison, NBC could learn a lot from the Tennis Channel leading up to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

NBC has exclusive broadcast rights in the United States for the Olympics.  The Tennis Channel does not for Wimbledon.  ESPN has the live rights.  Therefore NBC can control what and when events are broadcast for U.S. consumption.

This is not a bash NBC post.  On the contrary.  For the most part NBC does an outstanding job covering the Gamesl with its many broadcast platforms (NBC, NBCSports, MSNBC, CNBC, USA).  Many more different events are given more extensive coverage than in the days of one broadcast outlet. We love that one of the stations becomes the de facto Curling Channel during the Winter Games.

But the rub comes with the primetime telecast on the mother station. The show itself is fine. Show the most anticipated races, competitions, etc.  Sprinkle in some human interest and interviews. It is good viewing.

The problem is with the intelligence-insulting way that things are presented - as if nobody knows the results. Anyone with a smartphone, internet access, a television or radio can get the results if they desire.  There is no reason for NBC to pretend otherwise.

Also with live streaming available, there is not reason for NBC not to broadcast the top events live either.

A large portion of the United States population is unable to view the events live anyway.  The primetime telecast should not suffer.  And don't deprive those that work during primetime the chance to see the events live.  And stop pretending we don't know.

Maybe it will ruin everything for the one guy living in a trailer in the foothills of a mountain range with no telephone, no internet and through an elaborate and complex configuration of aluminum foil and wire coat hangers is able to get a lone NBC station on his 19 inch black and white television.  But he will persevere.