What is it?  If you said this was a DUCK PRESS, you were correct:

A duck press is an innocuous-enough sounding name for a kitchen tool that actually has a rather macabre use.

Pressed duck is a famous dish in French cuisine and it uses, what else — a duck press for its creation. The dish begins innocently enough, with a roasted duck, with the legs removed and grilled. Thin slices are cut from the duck breast and those slices and the legs are returned to a reduction of red wine on a hot plate or in a chafing dish. The entire remaining carcass is then placed into the duck press.

A duck press, incidentally, is usually made of brass or another heavy-weight metal. It stands about 20 inches (51 centimeters) tall and weighs somewhere around 25 pounds (11.3 kilograms). The press has a heavy disc attached to a turning screw, which ratchets the disc down into a container. The truly macabre ones stand on brass webbed duck feet.

After the duck carcass is placed inside the duck press, the waiter screws the metal disc down, down, down, pressing the carcass flat, in order to extract all the remaining juices and marrow. When this gruesome task has been accomplished, the waiter adds those juices to the wine reduction, along with a little brandy or cognac, and some butter. The resulting sauce and duck breast slices are then presented to the diner, along with the duck legs, with perhaps a shaving or two of truffle.

Protect Wild Lands

Act Now to Protect Wild Lands

Under President Bush, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had ceased inventory and protection work for wilderness quality lands. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has acted to resume that work by establishing a new "BLM Wild Lands Policy". The BLM manages the largest tracts of unprotected wilderness quality lands in the lower 48 states so this is an important policy for land conservation and habitat resiliency. Unfortunately, anti-conservation forces in Congress have gained ground by successfully attaching a rider to the recent federal budget Continuing Resolution which "defunds" the Wild Lands Policy. We need to make sure that provision does not carryover into the 2012 budget bill to be voted on in the coming months. The opponents of the BLM Wild Lands Policy are promoting oil and gas wells for America’s dwindling wild lands. Currently, much more BLM land is allocated to oil and gas development than to wilderness protection. And, the amount of public land that is pristine enough to qualify as having wilderness characteristics is ever shrinking. Please tell your elected officials to protect America's wild lands by making sure the BLM Wild Lands Policy de-funding rider is NOT carried over into the 2012 budget bill. CLICK HERE TO HELP! Please act to support the Bureau of Land Management "Wild Lands" Policy by opposing the carryover of the "de-funding rider" included in the recently passed Continuing Resolution. Forty-four members of the House recently wrote President Obama asking him to keep such a rider out of the 2012 federal budget and to retain the provisions of the BLM Wild Lands Policy. Much of America's natural heritage remains unprotected and most of that is on lands managed by the BLM. These are remarkably special places. From Utah's red rock canyonlands, to New Mexico's Otero Mesa grasslands, and Oregon's Owyhee desert these lands are vital to the natural world and provide an enduring wilderness resource for the nation  enduring only if protected. Please support revocation of the Simpson-Bishop de-funding the BLM Wild Lands Policy, encourage the Interior Department to reinstate Secretarial Order 3310, and work to keep any de-funding riders out of the 2012 budget.

New Hampshire Elected Officials

Below are links to New Hampshire’s elected officials websites that constituents may find helpful. If you do not find the resources you are looking for please contact Senator Shaheen’s office for additional information.

United States Senate

Senator Jeanne Shaheen
http://shaheen.senate.gov

Washington
520 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2841

Manchester
1589 Elm Street
Suite 3
Manchester, NH 03101
(603) 647-7500

Senator Kelly Ayotte
http://ayotte.senate.gov/

Washington
188 Russell Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3324 

Manchester
41 Hooksett Road
Unit 2
Manchester, NH 03104
(603) 622-7979 

United States House of Representatives

Congressman Charles Bass
http://bass.house.gov/

Washington
2350 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5206

Concord
114 North Main Street, Suite 200
Concord, NH 03301
Phone: (603) 226-0064 

Congressman Frank Guinta
http://www.guinta.house.gov/

Washington
1223 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
p. (202) 225-5456

Manchester
33 Lowell Street
Manchester, NH 03101
p. (603) 641-9536

New Hampshire State Officials

Governor John Lynch
http://www.governor.nh.gov/

State House
25 Capitol Street
Concord, NH 03301
(603) 271-2121

Tell Congress to End Tax Breaks for Big Oil!

There are many difficult decisions to be made by Congress as they work to reduce the budget deficit. But cutting $40 billion in subsidies and tax breaks for the oil and gas industry should not be difficult. Believe it or not, every year American taxpayers gives four billion dollars in outdated tax breaks and subsidies to one of the most profitable industries on the planet. These loopholes, some of which have been in place for nearly a century, are no longer necessary; in fact, high prices at the pump are reflected in the industry’s record profits in 2010 and 2011. These subsidies and tax breaks for big oil waste taxpayer money, contribute to the federal deficit and lock the United States into a dirty energy future. It is time to eliminate these handouts to a mature and profitable industry. Urge your Congressperson to end tax breaks for Big Oil. CLICK HERE TO HELP! Form letter content from the link above: For nearly a century, oil companies have enjoyed generous subsidies from the federal government at the expense of American taxpayers. Originally intended to support a nascent, homegrown industry, these tax breaks have outlived their purpose, persisting in an age when multi-national oil companies comprise the world's largest and most profitable corporations. The past several years have seen oil companies post record profits to the backdrop of skyrocketing crude oil prices. Despite facing a looming federal deficit the federal government continues to subsidize these companies by more than $4 billion each year. Unnecessary tax breaks contribute to the federal debt and waste taxpayer dollars. I urge you to support efforts to eliminate gas subsidies, and to cut these handouts to the oil industry.  The Joint Economic Committee concluded in a recent report that ending tax breaks for the oil industry will have a negligible impact on both consumer prices and domestic production. Oil subsidies have failed to protect consumers from spikes in gasoline prices. By eliminating these loopholes, we stand only to save American taxpayers billions of dollars a year and encourage investment in alternative energy technologies.  Please follow President Obama's recommendations to repeal oil and gas industry tax breaks.

Gingrich under fire as GOP rivals try to stall his momentum