I found this recipe a while back and I don't think I posted it. I THINK I posted pictures of the pretzels on Facebook after I made them, but it's been nearly a year and a half. SOMEONE has been asking me to make her some for a while now. Why she had a craving just as I'm putting a turkey into the oven late on a Sunday is beyond me...
Anyway, this is a recipe for some nice, sweet soft pretzels, courtesy of someone's blog that I can't remember.
Soft Pretzels
1 1/2 pkgs dry yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups ap flour
1. Sprinkle 1/1/2 pkgs of dry yeast onto 1 1/2 cup of warm water and stir to dissolve
2. Add 2 Tbs brown sugar and 1 tsp salt and stir to dissolve
3. Add in 1 cup of bread flour and 3 cups of all-purpose flour
4. Knead until smooth and elastic. Place in lightly oiled bowl and let rise for at least 1/2 hour in a warm place
5. While dough is rising, mix 2 c. of warm water with 2 Tbs of baking soda. Stir until completely dissolved
6. Pinch off a bit of dough and roll to about 12-14 inches long
7. Dip the bretzels into the baking soda/water mixture and shape into pretzels. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with course salt. Bake at 450 deg. for about 10-12 minutes.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Series Madness
Since tomorrow is officially the "Christmas Season", I thought I'd put my dubious expertise in TV addiction to good use. If you or someone you know likes great TV, I figured I'd recommend some of my favorites that have officially ended so you can purchase the whole damn thing if you want.
Band of Brothers: HBO's awesome 10-part miniseries following Easy Company from D-Day through the end of WWII. Absolutely amazing and addictive. It's also now available on Blu-Ray.
The Wire: For five seasons, HBO's Baltimore-centric series was top of my weekly watching. From the first season that was a cops vs. drug dealers through the last season that focused on the dying newspaper industry, the writing was the best on TV. I think I've done a previous blog on it last year. One of it's great qualities is that major characters in later seasons were present in prior seasons in bit or nearly cameo parts. Second viewings lead to many "Oh look, there's X. Cool." And many of the characters themselves are positively iconic. Omar Little is one of my favorites.
Farscape: Tragically canceled after only four seasons (despite having been renewed for five after season 3), John Crichton's exploits across the galaxy were science fiction at it's finest. Deep mythology, tragically flawed characters, and some of the freakiest Muppets you've seen combined with great writing and humor. It was just recently released in a complete series collection. I want it. Badly.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Yes, it's goofy and cheesy, but it thoroughly kicks the ass of all the recent vampire-related drivel. Season 6 kinda blew despite the brilliant musical episode "Once More, With Feeling". It's one of my few favorite series that actually reached a planned conclusion, so you get a feeling of closure.
Angel: A darker spin0ff of Buffy, it got better as it went along. It's last season was it's best and it's series finale absolutely kicked ass.
Lonesome Dove: I missed this when if first aired back in the late '80s, but when I finally saw it, I loved it. Recently remastered, it still holds up.
Fawlty Towers: The best British comedy series I've ever seen. John Cleese's post-Python hilarity. The Rat episode is a classic and always cracks my mother and myself up.
Black Adder: My second favorite British comedy series. I used to watch these all the time during college on whatever Comedy Central was back in those days. Rowan Atkinson is truly great in all four seasons. The first series isn't my favorite, but it's still quite funny. The subsequent series are much better. Available recently in a complete series set.
The Shield: F/X's rogue cop series was spellbinding from first episode to last. Vic Mackey and his Strike Team of crooked cops in a crime-ridden L.A. district was nigh on Greek tragedy over the course of seven seasons. Once the Armenian money train plot kicks in, all else is tainted by it. The guest roles by Glenn Close, Forest Whitaker, and especially Anthony Anderson made a great drama even more riveting.
Band of Brothers: HBO's awesome 10-part miniseries following Easy Company from D-Day through the end of WWII. Absolutely amazing and addictive. It's also now available on Blu-Ray.
The Wire: For five seasons, HBO's Baltimore-centric series was top of my weekly watching. From the first season that was a cops vs. drug dealers through the last season that focused on the dying newspaper industry, the writing was the best on TV. I think I've done a previous blog on it last year. One of it's great qualities is that major characters in later seasons were present in prior seasons in bit or nearly cameo parts. Second viewings lead to many "Oh look, there's X. Cool." And many of the characters themselves are positively iconic. Omar Little is one of my favorites.
Farscape: Tragically canceled after only four seasons (despite having been renewed for five after season 3), John Crichton's exploits across the galaxy were science fiction at it's finest. Deep mythology, tragically flawed characters, and some of the freakiest Muppets you've seen combined with great writing and humor. It was just recently released in a complete series collection. I want it. Badly.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Yes, it's goofy and cheesy, but it thoroughly kicks the ass of all the recent vampire-related drivel. Season 6 kinda blew despite the brilliant musical episode "Once More, With Feeling". It's one of my few favorite series that actually reached a planned conclusion, so you get a feeling of closure.
Angel: A darker spin0ff of Buffy, it got better as it went along. It's last season was it's best and it's series finale absolutely kicked ass.
Lonesome Dove: I missed this when if first aired back in the late '80s, but when I finally saw it, I loved it. Recently remastered, it still holds up.
Fawlty Towers: The best British comedy series I've ever seen. John Cleese's post-Python hilarity. The Rat episode is a classic and always cracks my mother and myself up.
Black Adder: My second favorite British comedy series. I used to watch these all the time during college on whatever Comedy Central was back in those days. Rowan Atkinson is truly great in all four seasons. The first series isn't my favorite, but it's still quite funny. The subsequent series are much better. Available recently in a complete series set.
The Shield: F/X's rogue cop series was spellbinding from first episode to last. Vic Mackey and his Strike Team of crooked cops in a crime-ridden L.A. district was nigh on Greek tragedy over the course of seven seasons. Once the Armenian money train plot kicks in, all else is tainted by it. The guest roles by Glenn Close, Forest Whitaker, and especially Anthony Anderson made a great drama even more riveting.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
In Maine
I'm on a not-quite-a-vacation trip to Maine this week. I flew up for a Halloween party at a friend's place near Portland and I'm staying the week at my parents' house before flying back on Saturday. Since they FINALLY got high-speed Internet earlier this year, I can work from their house. The weather (except for the rain storm when I flew in) was gorgeous on Sunday and Monday. Sunny, cloudless skies and temps near 60. It's overcast today and 36 deg at this moment.
Unfortunately Tara had to stay back in Phoenix. She has her college courses, work, and is dealing with pneumonia or worse. Hopefully her doctor will be able to give her some antibiotics that work today. She was taking a Z-pak but they didn't help at all.
I played some disc golf in Sabattus yesterday. Given that I was using all disc that I literally found along courses in Dallas over 5 years ago and hadn't played in heavily forested areas in 2 years, I did pretty good. I only played 9 holes since I was running late and had to be home for our 6pm dinner reservations at Solo Bistro in Bath.
Solo Bistro was excellent. I'd read about it a couple years ago but hadn't been back to try it. In the meantime, my sister started working there and has raved about it. I was going to go with her and her husband, but child care proved elusive, so I went with Mom and Dad. We had a great time. Everything we ordered was outstanding.
Beet and cabbage soup
Organic greens salad with balsamic vinegarette
Tomato and cheese tart
Grilled crevaille, ocotupus, and shrimp with carrots and sweet potato/yukon gold potato puree
Grilled flat iron steak with homemade steak sauce, steak fries, and salad
Corn-crusted halibut, cabbage slaw, carrots, and the same potato puree
Warm Maine apple dumpling
Molten mocha cake with candied pecans and caramel
Unfortunately Tara had to stay back in Phoenix. She has her college courses, work, and is dealing with pneumonia or worse. Hopefully her doctor will be able to give her some antibiotics that work today. She was taking a Z-pak but they didn't help at all.
I played some disc golf in Sabattus yesterday. Given that I was using all disc that I literally found along courses in Dallas over 5 years ago and hadn't played in heavily forested areas in 2 years, I did pretty good. I only played 9 holes since I was running late and had to be home for our 6pm dinner reservations at Solo Bistro in Bath.
Solo Bistro was excellent. I'd read about it a couple years ago but hadn't been back to try it. In the meantime, my sister started working there and has raved about it. I was going to go with her and her husband, but child care proved elusive, so I went with Mom and Dad. We had a great time. Everything we ordered was outstanding.
Beet and cabbage soup
Organic greens salad with balsamic vinegarette
Tomato and cheese tart
Grilled crevaille, ocotupus, and shrimp with carrots and sweet potato/yukon gold potato puree
Grilled flat iron steak with homemade steak sauce, steak fries, and salad
Corn-crusted halibut, cabbage slaw, carrots, and the same potato puree
Warm Maine apple dumpling
Molten mocha cake with candied pecans and caramel
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Rustic Cafe - North Phoenix
Tara didn't finish her bacon.
That should be a clue about how much we enjoyed our first visit to Rustic Cafe, a new restaurant just north of the 101 on Cave Creek Road. A friend let us know about a 90% off sale at Restaurant.Com and I noticed that Rustic Cafe was on there, so I grabbed one so we could give them a try.
Mistake. Big mistake.
It's actually a cute little spot, with around 20 tables or so. Service was very friendly and helpful. The menu is quite extensive. In addition to typical breakfast and lunch items, they also have Lebanese, Italian, and Mexican sections on the menu.
Since we had to order at least $20 to get $10 off, we ordered quite a bit. Tara got biscuits and gravy and a double order of bacon. I ordered corned beef hash, sausage, and a cinnamon roll for us to split. We each got a Coke. Shortly after ordering, our waitress came back and said someone had ordered five cinnamon rolls earlier and they were out. We ended up getting a chocolate muffin instead.
The chocolate muffin seemed pre-fab, like they'd run across the street to the nearby Costco's pastry section. It was exceedingly generic.
Tara's biscuits and gravy was a large serving that looked like it had waited a few minutes before it was brought out. The gravy had already cooled enough to have a skin over it. It had large chunks of sausage in the gravy which Tara liked. The gravy lacked any real flavor, however. Even after liberal seasoning with salt and pepper, it was still very bland. Her double side of bacon was a generous amount, but again, it was flavorless. She didn't finish it and this is a person who plots to steal any leftover bacon she sees restaurants, regardless of whose table it is on.
My "hash" wasn't. I've had corned beef hash all over the country. Generally it's actual hash: corned beef and vegetables that have been run through a meat grinder or chopped up finely and mixed together. Rustic Cafe's "hash" was slices of thin, fatty, and rubbery corned beef, slices of pepper, and slices of onion on top of horrendous home fried potatoes. I even asked the waitress to verify that this was the corned beef hash that I'd ordered. She said it was. It was awful. The potatoes ranged from over-cooked potato chip-like slices to pieces I couldn't get my fork through but still tasted slightly raw. There was no consistency. The corned beef was chewy to the point if being inedible. I eventually just gave up. The two eggs I'd asked for over-medium were just not good. And nothing had any flavor. I'd smelled a t0-go order of the hash as it went by me and it smelled great. The dish I got? It completely lacked any seasoning. The toasted english muffin on the side wasn't bad. The sausage? It had the uniform size and unnaturally smooth edges like it came directly out of a Jimmy Dean package. It also has no flavor and a slightly odd texture.
So yeah, we were thoroughly unimpressed with the food. Which is a shame, as we love Mom and Pop local joints, especially ones this close to home. Tara said that the sandwiches we saw other diners eating all looked really good, and said maybe she'd try those sometime.
That is, until both our stomachs started to feel queasy within 10 minutes of us leaving the restaurant. Mine was unsettled for the rest of the afternoon and Tara's is still not quite kosher. She said she felt like she was going to throw up all afternoon. I wasn't that bad, but I definitely was under the weather.
We still have another $10 gift coupon, due to a snafu when I was ordering them. Luckily it was only $.40.
That should be a clue about how much we enjoyed our first visit to Rustic Cafe, a new restaurant just north of the 101 on Cave Creek Road. A friend let us know about a 90% off sale at Restaurant.Com and I noticed that Rustic Cafe was on there, so I grabbed one so we could give them a try.
Mistake. Big mistake.
It's actually a cute little spot, with around 20 tables or so. Service was very friendly and helpful. The menu is quite extensive. In addition to typical breakfast and lunch items, they also have Lebanese, Italian, and Mexican sections on the menu.
Since we had to order at least $20 to get $10 off, we ordered quite a bit. Tara got biscuits and gravy and a double order of bacon. I ordered corned beef hash, sausage, and a cinnamon roll for us to split. We each got a Coke. Shortly after ordering, our waitress came back and said someone had ordered five cinnamon rolls earlier and they were out. We ended up getting a chocolate muffin instead.
The chocolate muffin seemed pre-fab, like they'd run across the street to the nearby Costco's pastry section. It was exceedingly generic.
Tara's biscuits and gravy was a large serving that looked like it had waited a few minutes before it was brought out. The gravy had already cooled enough to have a skin over it. It had large chunks of sausage in the gravy which Tara liked. The gravy lacked any real flavor, however. Even after liberal seasoning with salt and pepper, it was still very bland. Her double side of bacon was a generous amount, but again, it was flavorless. She didn't finish it and this is a person who plots to steal any leftover bacon she sees restaurants, regardless of whose table it is on.
My "hash" wasn't. I've had corned beef hash all over the country. Generally it's actual hash: corned beef and vegetables that have been run through a meat grinder or chopped up finely and mixed together. Rustic Cafe's "hash" was slices of thin, fatty, and rubbery corned beef, slices of pepper, and slices of onion on top of horrendous home fried potatoes. I even asked the waitress to verify that this was the corned beef hash that I'd ordered. She said it was. It was awful. The potatoes ranged from over-cooked potato chip-like slices to pieces I couldn't get my fork through but still tasted slightly raw. There was no consistency. The corned beef was chewy to the point if being inedible. I eventually just gave up. The two eggs I'd asked for over-medium were just not good. And nothing had any flavor. I'd smelled a t0-go order of the hash as it went by me and it smelled great. The dish I got? It completely lacked any seasoning. The toasted english muffin on the side wasn't bad. The sausage? It had the uniform size and unnaturally smooth edges like it came directly out of a Jimmy Dean package. It also has no flavor and a slightly odd texture.
So yeah, we were thoroughly unimpressed with the food. Which is a shame, as we love Mom and Pop local joints, especially ones this close to home. Tara said that the sandwiches we saw other diners eating all looked really good, and said maybe she'd try those sometime.
That is, until both our stomachs started to feel queasy within 10 minutes of us leaving the restaurant. Mine was unsettled for the rest of the afternoon and Tara's is still not quite kosher. She said she felt like she was going to throw up all afternoon. I wasn't that bad, but I definitely was under the weather.
We still have another $10 gift coupon, due to a snafu when I was ordering them. Luckily it was only $.40.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Expanding the Collection
I've since added to my Goodwill collection after this past weekend. I had some pretty good luck for the most part. I found a battery for my laptop that gives me more disconnected time than either of my current batteries. I got an Dish network DVR-equipped receiver that I scavenged the 160GB hard drive out of. I did get a very recent DirecTV DVR, but unfortunately it's 320GB drive was DOA, so I returned it. I also grabbed another AS-IS original Xbox for cheap. It's DVD drive didn't work, but swapped it out with the drive from my flaky Xbox and it works great. Very quiet as well. Since I was still within the 14-day return period for the second Xbox I got (after the flaky one died), I returned that for a nice store credit for future visits.
The major bummer of the weekend was when I bought was was supposed to be a wireless network card for a PC, but inside the box was just a crappy modem. That was returned as well. I was very unhappy about that pig-in-a-poke.
As Tara says, I probably have a Goodwill addiction. I'm not sure I can really argue. It's like a Valley-wide treasure hunt. :)
The major bummer of the weekend was when I bought was was supposed to be a wireless network card for a PC, but inside the box was just a crappy modem. That was returned as well. I was very unhappy about that pig-in-a-poke.
As Tara says, I probably have a Goodwill addiction. I'm not sure I can really argue. It's like a Valley-wide treasure hunt. :)
Sunday, August 9, 2009
The Goodwill Collection
I have sort of become a Goodwill addict. Tara I think just humors me on the 1/2 off weekends that the Phoenix stores have. I figured I'd try to go from memory (failing though it be as I approach my fourth decade in a few months) and compile a greatest hits of what we've found there.
Summer of 2000 Indigo iMac (works great)
Memory chips for said iMac
(2) Original Xboxes (I got the second one on Thursday after my other one crapped out. I couldn't leave my Halo game in the middle.)
PS2 video console
Older, but unused, barebones mini-tower with a 2.0 GHz Celeron and 128MB RAM
(2) roller computer bags
HP 6840 Wireless printer
HP 2500 Color Laserjet printer (status unknown, but it was only $5. need a yellow toner cartridge)
4-cup KitchenAid coffee maker
KitchenAid Coffee Grinder
Brother Intellifax 770 fax machine
PS2 controller
Xbox controller
New-in-box waffle iron
Tons of beading supplies for Tara
Lots of clothes (shorts, shirts, jeans, skirts, blouses)
External FireWire drive case
External USB/FireWire DVD burner
Large black Epicurean composite wood cutting board
Hand mixer
Purse for Tara (her old purse actually broke just outside a Goodwill as we were entering)
60 GB laptop hard drive ($5. Awesome deal. I just wish the other two I got with it hadn't been DOA)
Delonghi hot water pot
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty
Several loaf pans, both non-stick metal and glass
I'm sure I'm missing some stuff. None if it is really cutting edge, but most is quite useful. For instance, the external DVD burner can be used with my ThinkPad to burn DVD images. The standard optical drive only burns CDs. Previously, I had to use one of my desktops (the last of which died months ago due to a bad BIOS upgrade) or Tara's laptop. Now that I found the old/new barebones, I once again have a desktop. I've upgraded the processor to a slightly newer Celeron D CPU (courtesy of Bookman's, my second favorite used computer parts source) and installed more memory (some also from Bookman's. Turns out I had compatible memory but didn't know it.) I just now was able to install Mac OS X 10.5.2 on it, so I've got a working Hackintosh as well. That leaves the status of the iMac in limbo, as the Hackintosh is MUCH faster. It's not as pretty, though. :)
The kitchen stuff has been very helpful. The cutting board is great. The coffee maker doesn't give the coffee a strange taste like our other one . Tara drinks coffee, so I took her word on it. The Delonghi hot pot is awesome. Boils water in 2 minutes. It looked nearly new when I got it. The coffee grinder is perfect for grinding spices.
I've had a few misses, as well. The two SATA laptop drives were toast, which sucked. They were a huge steal at $10. Some clothes didn't fit right. Luckily Goodwill has a great return policy. You get your refund on a Goodwill gift card (at least that's how it is done for the Central AZ Goodwill stores) that is good at any of the Central AZ stores.
I've also seen some deals that I had to pass on for one reason or another. I saw a great little Dell laser printer, but since we already had four printers in the house, not much need for it. I saw three TiVos this weekend that would have fed my TiVo addiction nicely, but I've got nowhere to put them. And I'd be single again if I'd bought them.
Hell, I was already on THIN ice for the Xbox on Thursday...
Summer of 2000 Indigo iMac (works great)
Memory chips for said iMac
(2) Original Xboxes (I got the second one on Thursday after my other one crapped out. I couldn't leave my Halo game in the middle.)
PS2 video console
Older, but unused, barebones mini-tower with a 2.0 GHz Celeron and 128MB RAM
(2) roller computer bags
HP 6840 Wireless printer
HP 2500 Color Laserjet printer (status unknown, but it was only $5. need a yellow toner cartridge)
4-cup KitchenAid coffee maker
KitchenAid Coffee Grinder
Brother Intellifax 770 fax machine
PS2 controller
Xbox controller
New-in-box waffle iron
Tons of beading supplies for Tara
Lots of clothes (shorts, shirts, jeans, skirts, blouses)
External FireWire drive case
External USB/FireWire DVD burner
Large black Epicurean composite wood cutting board
Hand mixer
Purse for Tara (her old purse actually broke just outside a Goodwill as we were entering)
60 GB laptop hard drive ($5. Awesome deal. I just wish the other two I got with it hadn't been DOA)
Delonghi hot water pot
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty
Several loaf pans, both non-stick metal and glass
I'm sure I'm missing some stuff. None if it is really cutting edge, but most is quite useful. For instance, the external DVD burner can be used with my ThinkPad to burn DVD images. The standard optical drive only burns CDs. Previously, I had to use one of my desktops (the last of which died months ago due to a bad BIOS upgrade) or Tara's laptop. Now that I found the old/new barebones, I once again have a desktop. I've upgraded the processor to a slightly newer Celeron D CPU (courtesy of Bookman's, my second favorite used computer parts source) and installed more memory (some also from Bookman's. Turns out I had compatible memory but didn't know it.) I just now was able to install Mac OS X 10.5.2 on it, so I've got a working Hackintosh as well. That leaves the status of the iMac in limbo, as the Hackintosh is MUCH faster. It's not as pretty, though. :)
The kitchen stuff has been very helpful. The cutting board is great. The coffee maker doesn't give the coffee a strange taste like our other one . Tara drinks coffee, so I took her word on it. The Delonghi hot pot is awesome. Boils water in 2 minutes. It looked nearly new when I got it. The coffee grinder is perfect for grinding spices.
I've had a few misses, as well. The two SATA laptop drives were toast, which sucked. They were a huge steal at $10. Some clothes didn't fit right. Luckily Goodwill has a great return policy. You get your refund on a Goodwill gift card (at least that's how it is done for the Central AZ Goodwill stores) that is good at any of the Central AZ stores.
I've also seen some deals that I had to pass on for one reason or another. I saw a great little Dell laser printer, but since we already had four printers in the house, not much need for it. I saw three TiVos this weekend that would have fed my TiVo addiction nicely, but I've got nowhere to put them. And I'd be single again if I'd bought them.
Hell, I was already on THIN ice for the Xbox on Thursday...
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Highly-recommended Sci-Fi: Torchwood: Children of Earth
I'm a huge fan of science fiction and growing up in rural coastal Maine in the 70s/80s, it was scarce on TV. The various New England PBS stations did air Doctor Who, and I got hooked on it's cheezy effects and charms.
Fast-forward to 2005 and the BBC re-launches Doctor Who with vastly improved, but still somewhat hokey, effects and some stellar writing and acting. After his great guest shot starting in "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances", Capt. Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) was given his own more adult spin-off, Torchwood (an anagram of Doctor Who). With far less happy endings and much more moral ambiguity, it had a distinctly different vibe and tone than the generally more fun-loving Doctor Who.
After two seasons, Torchwood was moved to BBC1 ( I guess the more prestigious BBC channel) and given a short, five episode third season. It was aired as a "Five Night Event!" miniseries last week here in the States. And it was amazing. If you are new to Doctor Who and Torchwood, I'd recommend watching at least the DW eps involving Capt. Jack and Torchwood itself prior to watching. Otherwise, given the dense mythology of essentially TWO series, you'll be lost. Once you are up to speed and dive in, you'll be hooked. It's better than the previous two Torchwood series and even most Doctor Who episodes. It grabs you and just doesn't let up. And unlike me, you can watch it all at once on the just-released DVD sets: http://www.amazon.com/Torchwood-Children-Earth-John-Barrowman/dp/B002BVYBJW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1248801656&sr=8-1
You'll be better off not reading any reviews or recaps of Children of Earth. It's best to see it unspoiled. Suffice it to say, it's probably something that could never have been made for American TV. And that's a very good thing.
Here is the minimum you need to watch for Capt. Jack background. Series 2 of Doctor Who features tons of Torchwood bits, including how it's founded, it's FAR future, and other background that is more or less covered in early Torchwood episodes. I'd recommend watching all the Doctor Who just because it's excellent, although it does have some dud episodes like all shows do.
Doctor Who Series 1 (w/Christopher Ecclestone): "The Empty Child" through "The Parting of the Ways"
Torchwood Season 1
Doctor Who Series 3 (w/David Tennant): "Utopia"/"The Sound of Drums"/"Last of the Time Lords"
Torchwood Season 2
Doctor Who Series 4 (w/David Tennant): "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End"
Fast-forward to 2005 and the BBC re-launches Doctor Who with vastly improved, but still somewhat hokey, effects and some stellar writing and acting. After his great guest shot starting in "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances", Capt. Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) was given his own more adult spin-off, Torchwood (an anagram of Doctor Who). With far less happy endings and much more moral ambiguity, it had a distinctly different vibe and tone than the generally more fun-loving Doctor Who.
After two seasons, Torchwood was moved to BBC1 ( I guess the more prestigious BBC channel) and given a short, five episode third season. It was aired as a "Five Night Event!" miniseries last week here in the States. And it was amazing. If you are new to Doctor Who and Torchwood, I'd recommend watching at least the DW eps involving Capt. Jack and Torchwood itself prior to watching. Otherwise, given the dense mythology of essentially TWO series, you'll be lost. Once you are up to speed and dive in, you'll be hooked. It's better than the previous two Torchwood series and even most Doctor Who episodes. It grabs you and just doesn't let up. And unlike me, you can watch it all at once on the just-released DVD sets: http://www.amazon.com/Torchwood-Children-Earth-John-Barrowman/dp/B002BVYBJW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1248801656&sr=8-1
You'll be better off not reading any reviews or recaps of Children of Earth. It's best to see it unspoiled. Suffice it to say, it's probably something that could never have been made for American TV. And that's a very good thing.
Here is the minimum you need to watch for Capt. Jack background. Series 2 of Doctor Who features tons of Torchwood bits, including how it's founded, it's FAR future, and other background that is more or less covered in early Torchwood episodes. I'd recommend watching all the Doctor Who just because it's excellent, although it does have some dud episodes like all shows do.
Doctor Who Series 1 (w/Christopher Ecclestone): "The Empty Child" through "The Parting of the Ways"
Torchwood Season 1
Doctor Who Series 3 (w/David Tennant): "Utopia"/"The Sound of Drums"/"Last of the Time Lords"
Torchwood Season 2
Doctor Who Series 4 (w/David Tennant): "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End"
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