A great little boombox - the Eton Rukus

For a while now I have been wanting to start teaching ballroom at my condo building's health club and also start a ballroom evening on the Summerdance floor at Michigan and Harrison.  One of the major impediments has been finding a good boom box.

I wanted something that was light, had rechargeable batteries, would run at least 4 hours, and which I could drive from my phone or my windows compatible mp3 player device via a mini phone plug connection (device dates from around 2003).  It would also be nice if I could charge the mp3 player from the boom box via USB.  Lastly, it had to be reliable, lightweight, and inexpensive.

The Rukus, manufactured by Eton, was the perfect fit for me.  It is lightweight, has a Bluetooth, USB (for charging devices) and AUX input, a solar panel to keep the battery charged and fairly good sound quality.  Easy to use - the Bluetooth setup to my phone took less than a minute.  While a little pricy with the solar panel option (list for $149, but you can get it for $129 by shopping around), the ability to recharge my phone or mp3 player while out and about made the $50 dollar solar panel premium a good value.  It lacks a radio or CD option, but since I don't need those things, it didn't matter.

During my first test, I put Viva la Vida on my cell phone and then walked all over my condo and it never dropped the signal nor quality even through the walls at 40'.

From my experience so far, I have found only one shortcoming.  You have to be careful with and play with the AUX cable connection to get a good signal.  The problem appears to be with the quality of the jack used for this.

As to the sound quality - pretty good for a small lightweight boombox.  It has a bass boost button which is useful for outdoor areas, and the highs are not badly distorted even at max volume.  Not high fidelity, but good enough for some backyard or beach music.

Coq au Vin with Dilled Rice

Have been thinking about this dish for a while and when Mariano's had a sale on ready to cook skinned chicken breast, I thought that it was the perfect omen.

 Ingredients:

Carrots
Peas (optional - not many needed)
1 to 3 chicken breasts
White Onion
shallots (optional)
minced garlic
Olive oil
flour
minced parsley
marjoram
bay leaf
thyme
salt
pepper
Amontillado sherry
Pears (Dried or fresh)
mushrooms (many varieties will work)
Rice
Minced Dill

Coq au Vin

1. Take a large saucepan with a cover.
2. Place on burner and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
3. Turn heat on medium.
4. Add 2 cups of water
5. Chop up the onion and add- about 1/4 cup per chicken breast
6. Add 1/4 cup of carrots per breast (I used chopped frozen carrots)
7. Add 1/4 cup of peas per breast (I used frozen peas - you can also use a peas and carrots mixture)
8. Add the minced garlic.
9. Add the shallots.
10. If using dried parsley, marjoram, bay leaf or thyme, add this now.
11. If using dried pears, add these now.
12. If using portabella mushrooms add these now.
13. Add the chicken breasts - frozen is OK.
14. Cover.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Flip chicken breasts, repeat for 15 minutes.
15. If using fresh herbs, add these now. (parsley, marjoram, bay leaf or thyme). 
16. Add 1/8 teaspoon of salt and pepper per breast.
17. Add 2 teaspoons of flour per breast to the mix.
18. Add 1/2 cup of sherry per breast.
19. If using mushrooms other than portabella, add these now.
20. If using dried mushrooms, add 1/2 cup of water.
21. If using fresh pears, add 3 slices per breast now.
22. Add enough water to cover the breast half way.
23. Cover, cook (simmer), flip the breasts and fresh pears every 5-10 minutes.
24. Add water periodically so you maintain a nice gravy consistency.
25. When they are white all the way through the center you are done.
26. If using canned mushrooms add these now.
27. About 1 hour for up to 2, a bit more for 3.
28. Once the breast are white all the way through, uncover and simmer a bit more until the density of the gravy is where you want it.
29. Serve.

Dilled Rice

1. Make rice as you normally would.
2. Add a touch of butter or olive oil and minced dill.
3. Stir thoroughly.
4. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.  Serve.