We went into a local “ristorante” last summer and they had raspberry tiramisu on the daily specials. It was disappointing, to say the least. The ladyfingers weren’t soaked in anything, there couldn’t have been more that a few raspberries mixed into the mascarpone, and there was only a tablespoon of whipped cream on the side. The best thing about the dish was the chocolate sauce drizzled on the plate as part on the garnish. Dry, crunchy ladyfingers covered in room temperature mascarpone with the barest hint of raspberry flavor. Very disappointing, but the idea has possibilities.
It has to be the essence of tiramisu – chilled, refreshing, and tasty. What goes really well with raspberry? – Why chocolate of course. Have to figure away to get it into the mix without it becoming about the chocolate. The questions were pondered for the better part of a year before the first attempt (not really sure why, but there were lots of distractions).
Used Chambord to dip the ladyfingers, but Chambord by itself doesn’t have enough pure raspberry flavor and it has a slightly antiseptic after taste – so mixed in some raspberry puree. That took care of the flavor, but it didn’t soak in very well. You need to use the first quarter cup that is sieved out because it will have the least pulp and most liquid. That took care of the problem of the crunchy unappetizing lady fingers.
First shot at it: Line a loaf pan with wax paper – taking care to fold the corners neatly so that it fits very well. Take a bag of frozen raspberries and thaw them, mash them up and sieve out the seeds to get a puree (at least three quarters of a cup). Take the first quarter cup of the puree and mix it with a quarter cup of Chambord; and soak sixteen ladyfingers in the mixture (until all of the liquid is absorbed). Place eight of the lady fingers on the bottom of the loaf pan. Blend a half of a cup of the raspberry puree into sixteen ounces of mascarpone cheese and one egg yolk. Layer half of the mascarpone mixture over the lady fingers; add a layer of the next eight ladyfingers and then the last of the mascarpone mixture. Put that into the refrigerator over night to set up.
The next day, mix two tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar, a half of a pint of heavy cream and a teaspoon of vanilla extract and whip it until it forms stiff peaks. Unmold the mascarpone and ladyfingers onto a serving plate.
To provide chocolate flavor to accompany the raspberry, a quarter of a cup Ghirardelli semi-sweet and a quarter cup of Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips was chopped and placed in a layer atop the molded mixture. Cover with the whipped cream. Let it set up in the refrigerator for an hour and it’s ready to serve.
It tasted pretty good – good berries and chocolate and the Chantilly style whipped cream was wonderful. The biggest downside was the chopped chocolate bits went all over the place when you cut and served it.
The second attempt was somewhat better. A quarter inch layer of chocolate ganache was added to the bottom of the loaf pan to take care of the problem of the scattering chocolate. Let the ganache set up over night and layer the soaked lady fingers and mascarpone mixture over it. The raspberry puree in the mixture was doubled to try to get more berry flavor. For presentation, all of the whipped cream was piped onto the top, leaving the sides exposed.
The ganache had the desired effect, and the mascarpone mixture was very berry, but it didn’t set up – it slumped onto the serving plate. And finally, there wasn’t enough whipped cream without it covering the entire dish.
The final recipe: Raspberry Tiramisu
Ingredients:
2 ½ tbs. heavy cream 1 oz, of chopped semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 oz, of chopped dark chocolate chips 12 oz. bag of frozen red raspberries
16 ladyfingers ¼ c. of Chambord
16 oz. of mascarpone cheese 1 egg yolk
½ pint of heavy (whipping) cream 2 tbs. confectioner’s sugar
Tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Line a loaf pan with wax paper – taking care to fold the corners neatly so that it fits very well. Place the chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl; and heat the 3 tbs. of heavy cream over medium heat until it is boiling. Pour the cream into the bowl of chopped chocolate and let it sit for 8 – 10 minutes. Mix using a rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth; and then pour the ganache into the bottom of the loaf pan and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Take the bag of frozen raspberries and thaw them, mash them up and sieve out the seeds to get a puree (at least three quarters of a cup). Take the first quarter cup of the puree and mix it with a quarter cup of Chambord; and soak sixteen ladyfingers in the mixture (until all of the liquid is absorbed). Place eight of the lady fingers on the bottom of the loaf pan (over the chilled ganache). Blend a half of a cup of the raspberry puree into sixteen ounces of mascarpone cheese and one egg yolk. Layer half of the mascarpone mixture over the lady fingers; add a layer of the next eight ladyfingers and then the last of the mascarpone mixture. Put that into the refrigerator over night to set up.
The next day, mix two tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar, a half of a pint of heavy cream and a teaspoon of vanilla extract and whip it until it forms stiff peaks. Unmold the tiramisu onto a serving plate (carefully remove the waxed paper). Cover with the whipped cream. Let it set up in the refrigerator for an hour and it’s ready to serve.
Makes 8 servings – garnish with fresh raspberries and shaved bittersweet chocolate.
Ten weeks into my weight loss regime and down to 215 pounds. Try the recipe and let me know what you think
Monday, May 21, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Dietary Guidelines and Superfruits
Diet – the very word conjures up bad feelings. Is it eating too much or just the wrong thing? Can pomegranate and rice really change your life? Exactly what the hell is a superfruit? (I’m thinking Ru Paul) Maybe I should move to Scarsdale, or South Beach, or the Mediterranean. If the French can drink wine and eat fatty sauces and cheeses and lose weight, you can probably drink beer and eat chicken wings and lose weight. Otherwise it’s just not fair, and everyone knows the world has to be fair – it’s the reason that we have a Supreme Court and a Congress and a President. Guess that last part kind of blows the whole concept out of the water.
So, life isn’t fair and diet is nothing more that what you eat. Some guidelines to follow come from a nutritionist that discussed lowering blood sugar and maintaining a reasonable weight. First, if you’re used to eating from a ten inch plate, switch to an eight inch plate. Limit your protein (read meat, fish, or fowl) to a serving about the size of a normal deck of cards; keep your starches (read rice, pasta, and potatoes – although grains are greatly preferred) to about half to two thirds of a cup; and fill up the rest of your plate with vegetables. That is the crux of it – with other suggestions.
Green, leafy vegetables are preferred over starchy non-green ones. Legumes may be substituted for other proteins (and probably should be - at least twice a week). A quarter of a cup of gravy on that half to two thirds cup of rice, pasta or potatoes; and don’t eat dessert every night. Four small meals are better than two extra-large ones; and eat something when you get up.
If you are going to make rules, make them easy to quantify; and understand that it is not the end of the world (or even your diet) if you occasionally break them. The more days you stick to your rules, the quicker that you will lose weight, but as long as you are not gaining weight – don’t worry about it. Lose weight, but don’t obsess over it.
Almost to the end of my eighth week and 218 lbs.- and I had a check up with my doctor, blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol are all good. I’m still trying to get them under control with out the medication. I just wrote a Raspberry Tiramisu recipe, so I’ll post that later.
So, life isn’t fair and diet is nothing more that what you eat. Some guidelines to follow come from a nutritionist that discussed lowering blood sugar and maintaining a reasonable weight. First, if you’re used to eating from a ten inch plate, switch to an eight inch plate. Limit your protein (read meat, fish, or fowl) to a serving about the size of a normal deck of cards; keep your starches (read rice, pasta, and potatoes – although grains are greatly preferred) to about half to two thirds of a cup; and fill up the rest of your plate with vegetables. That is the crux of it – with other suggestions.
Green, leafy vegetables are preferred over starchy non-green ones. Legumes may be substituted for other proteins (and probably should be - at least twice a week). A quarter of a cup of gravy on that half to two thirds cup of rice, pasta or potatoes; and don’t eat dessert every night. Four small meals are better than two extra-large ones; and eat something when you get up.
If you are going to make rules, make them easy to quantify; and understand that it is not the end of the world (or even your diet) if you occasionally break them. The more days you stick to your rules, the quicker that you will lose weight, but as long as you are not gaining weight – don’t worry about it. Lose weight, but don’t obsess over it.
Almost to the end of my eighth week and 218 lbs.- and I had a check up with my doctor, blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol are all good. I’m still trying to get them under control with out the medication. I just wrote a Raspberry Tiramisu recipe, so I’ll post that later.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Champagne
"I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes, I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it if I am; otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty."
Madame Bollinger, one of the "grande dames" of French champagne (1884 - 1977).
There is a region in France called La Champagne. It is a region of timeless natural beauty. The name derives from the Latin ‘campus’, ‘campania’ or field. In Old French this became ‘Champaign’; today, Champagne. The French will tell you that it is where all champagne is from. The region and the wine have a storied history.
Pliny (the Elder) documented viticulture in the Marne as early as 79 A.D. As well as developing vineyards and wine making, the Romans also quarried the chalky hillsides to remove chalk blocks for building. The chalk pits have since become cellars for millions of bottles of Champagne. Then, in 92 A.D. the Roman Emperor Domitian decreed that most of the vineyards of France should be uprooted to eliminate competition with the wines of the Italian peninsula. For two centuries the vineyards were cultivated in secret, until the Emperor Probus rescinded the decree. From the very outset, the wines of Champagne were prized above all the vineyards of Europe.
As the influence of the church spread, considerable vineyards were given to monastic orders. When Crusaders who had entrusted their property to the church did not return, these holdings increased significantly. The most coveted vineyards had wines that were considered to be the only ones worthy of offering to God. For centuries they were the wines used for the sacrament, for coronations, for the royal table and for the consecration of treaties.
The still wines of Champagne were rivaled only by those of Burgundy, the other proponent of the Pinot Noir grape. When the Champenois perceived opportunities to widen their markets, no expense was spared to improve the quality of the wine. A paper-and-ink war, in Latin, ensued between Champagne and Burgundy. Then the Champenois discovered how to vinify light-colored wines from the Pinot Noir grape. By lightly crushing the red grape and minimizing the time that the skins were in contact with the juice, they made white wine from red grapes!
In the early 1660’s, A M. de Saint-Evremond, a courtier that had fallen from the king’s favor, fled to London and established himself as an arbiter of fashion. He introduced the wines of Champagne, which became instantly popular. It is from this period that the first accounts of sparkling Champagne wines are found. These early sparkling wines were the result of an accident. When shipped abroad in cask, the warm spring weather frequently set off a secondary fermentation, still underway when the wines arrived. These delicate new wines were bottled with a cork stopper immediately upon their arrival. They retained, in more or less haphazard fashion, a lively sparkle.
Successful, deliberate methods of capturing the bubbles in the bottle were due to the combined efforts of the monastic orders of Pierry and Epernay. Under the inspired direction of Frère Jean Oudart and Dom Pierre Pérignon , the abbeys of Saint-Pierre aux Monts de Châlons and Saint-Pierre d’Hautvillers became the birthplace of naturally sparkling wine. The two abbeys were barely two miles apart and it is likely that these two consulted. The technique of blending from various vineyards to obtain a finished wine superior to any of its parts, the process of clarifying sediment from the wine, and the introduction of the cork to replace hemp-wrapped wooden stoppers are principles that remain important in the production of Champagne.
For nearly a century and a half after the presence or absence of bubbles in wine was erratic. There was a problem of exploding bottles. A loss of fifteen or twenty per cent was normal, and forty per cent not unusual. Due to the Northerly position of Champagne the vines often lacked enough sunshine. It was the practice to add sugar to the finished wine to smooth the edge, as well as to suit the public taste for sweet wines. Jean-Antoine Chaptal added sugar at fermentation, rather than to the finished wine, to increase alcohol content. Then Parmentier had vastly superior results by adding sugar made from concentrated grape juice to the must. These developments only worsened the problem of exploding bottles. Uncontrolled quantities of fermenting sugar raised the ratio of bursting bottles to as high as eighty percent! Then a pharmacist described a method for measuring the residual sugar in wine. It was already known that riper, sweeter grapes produced higher levels of alcohol and carbon dioxide in wine; but the new method made it possible to determine exactly how much additional sugar was needed to produce a specific volume of carbon dioxide in the wine.. For the first time, making Champagne could be accomplished with a degree of reliability.
That’s a lot of history for you to mix it with orange juice for that Sunday morning mimosa!
Madame Bollinger, one of the "grande dames" of French champagne (1884 - 1977).
There is a region in France called La Champagne. It is a region of timeless natural beauty. The name derives from the Latin ‘campus’, ‘campania’ or field. In Old French this became ‘Champaign’; today, Champagne. The French will tell you that it is where all champagne is from. The region and the wine have a storied history.
Pliny (the Elder) documented viticulture in the Marne as early as 79 A.D. As well as developing vineyards and wine making, the Romans also quarried the chalky hillsides to remove chalk blocks for building. The chalk pits have since become cellars for millions of bottles of Champagne. Then, in 92 A.D. the Roman Emperor Domitian decreed that most of the vineyards of France should be uprooted to eliminate competition with the wines of the Italian peninsula. For two centuries the vineyards were cultivated in secret, until the Emperor Probus rescinded the decree. From the very outset, the wines of Champagne were prized above all the vineyards of Europe.
As the influence of the church spread, considerable vineyards were given to monastic orders. When Crusaders who had entrusted their property to the church did not return, these holdings increased significantly. The most coveted vineyards had wines that were considered to be the only ones worthy of offering to God. For centuries they were the wines used for the sacrament, for coronations, for the royal table and for the consecration of treaties.
The still wines of Champagne were rivaled only by those of Burgundy, the other proponent of the Pinot Noir grape. When the Champenois perceived opportunities to widen their markets, no expense was spared to improve the quality of the wine. A paper-and-ink war, in Latin, ensued between Champagne and Burgundy. Then the Champenois discovered how to vinify light-colored wines from the Pinot Noir grape. By lightly crushing the red grape and minimizing the time that the skins were in contact with the juice, they made white wine from red grapes!
In the early 1660’s, A M. de Saint-Evremond, a courtier that had fallen from the king’s favor, fled to London and established himself as an arbiter of fashion. He introduced the wines of Champagne, which became instantly popular. It is from this period that the first accounts of sparkling Champagne wines are found. These early sparkling wines were the result of an accident. When shipped abroad in cask, the warm spring weather frequently set off a secondary fermentation, still underway when the wines arrived. These delicate new wines were bottled with a cork stopper immediately upon their arrival. They retained, in more or less haphazard fashion, a lively sparkle.
Successful, deliberate methods of capturing the bubbles in the bottle were due to the combined efforts of the monastic orders of Pierry and Epernay. Under the inspired direction of Frère Jean Oudart and Dom Pierre Pérignon , the abbeys of Saint-Pierre aux Monts de Châlons and Saint-Pierre d’Hautvillers became the birthplace of naturally sparkling wine. The two abbeys were barely two miles apart and it is likely that these two consulted. The technique of blending from various vineyards to obtain a finished wine superior to any of its parts, the process of clarifying sediment from the wine, and the introduction of the cork to replace hemp-wrapped wooden stoppers are principles that remain important in the production of Champagne.
For nearly a century and a half after the presence or absence of bubbles in wine was erratic. There was a problem of exploding bottles. A loss of fifteen or twenty per cent was normal, and forty per cent not unusual. Due to the Northerly position of Champagne the vines often lacked enough sunshine. It was the practice to add sugar to the finished wine to smooth the edge, as well as to suit the public taste for sweet wines. Jean-Antoine Chaptal added sugar at fermentation, rather than to the finished wine, to increase alcohol content. Then Parmentier had vastly superior results by adding sugar made from concentrated grape juice to the must. These developments only worsened the problem of exploding bottles. Uncontrolled quantities of fermenting sugar raised the ratio of bursting bottles to as high as eighty percent! Then a pharmacist described a method for measuring the residual sugar in wine. It was already known that riper, sweeter grapes produced higher levels of alcohol and carbon dioxide in wine; but the new method made it possible to determine exactly how much additional sugar was needed to produce a specific volume of carbon dioxide in the wine.. For the first time, making Champagne could be accomplished with a degree of reliability.
That’s a lot of history for you to mix it with orange juice for that Sunday morning mimosa!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
The Fuzzy Math of Personal Health
Something that certainly helps, but hasn't yet been discussed, is trying to walk for thirty minutes a day around lunch time. The the distance doesn't matter, but push to increase the heart rate. This is supposed to be the thing about cardio exercise – the amount that you can increase your heart rate is very important. Subtract your age from 220 (220 – 59 = 161 for me) and then subtract your resting heart rate from that (161 – 64 = 97 called the reserve heart rate). Now, for the heart rate you want to shoot for if you are trying to lose weight, multiply the reserve heart rate by 65% (97 X 0.65 = 63); and add your resting heart rate back to that number (64 + 63 = 127). So, to burn calories, a target heart rate of greater than 127 beats per minute is recommended. There is an upper limit of heart rate for cardio benefits. It is calculated by multiplying the reserve heart rate by 80% and adding the resting heart rate back in to achieve a maximum target heart rate ([97 X .8] + 64 = 140). To find your target heart rate for maximum combined cardio and weight loss benefit, you simply average the upper and lower number ([127 + 140]/2 = 134). That tells you that a heart rate of 134 bpm will give more cardio benefit, while not necessarily being any better for weight loss. The heart rates are not true limits in that you can increase your heart rate to 200 bpm or greater during some work outs (such as strength training).
While I have the calculations going let's talk about the one that is most dubious' Body Mass Index, or BMI.
BMI = weight in pounds x 703/(height in inches) x (height in inches)
It doesn’t take into consideration: changes in the bone mass, percent body fat, or percent muscle mass. All of these are make us individuals.
According to the BMI calculation, when I was the most fit in my life, I was 72 “(6’) and 225 pounds – the BMI was 30, or obese. I had a 31 inch waist and rode a bicycle for hours at a time over the hills in the San Francisco area. BMI is again 30, and while a lot closer to being obese than at 19, a 37” waist is less that the 40” waist that the National Institute of Health says causes the risk factor to increase.
Of course the BMI at a target weight of 190 is 26 (still overweight), not that that tells anything worth knowing. It’s sort of like credit score – it doesn’t tell you anything that you should care about. If you have good credit, you'll be able to get a loan when you need one. If you have bad credit, you won’t be able to get that loan. Some made-up calculation for determining credit rating is inane at best. The fact that there are at least three of them and that they are all different tells you that they are a distraction – Too Much Information. You should expect that the financial institute that you go to for a loan to use what ever they want to determine if you get the loan. That should be your bottom line - do you get the loan or not.
The risk factors in personal fitness are: high blood pressure (currently controlled to a more normal level by medication), high cholesterol (currently controlled to a much lower level by medication) and borderline high blood sugar (not yet in the diabetic range, but not becoming diabetic is my major reason for getting more fit and healthy).
Weigh-in today is 222 lbs. We'll look at diet next - maybe some changes can be made to kick this project in the pants. Not too much, as 1-2 lbs. a week is pretty good if you want to be able to keep it off, maybe we can get it closer to 2lbs. than 1. At the end of this sojourn, maybe the blog will be about keeping it off.
While I have the calculations going let's talk about the one that is most dubious' Body Mass Index, or BMI.
BMI = weight in pounds x 703/(height in inches) x (height in inches)
It doesn’t take into consideration: changes in the bone mass, percent body fat, or percent muscle mass. All of these are make us individuals.
According to the BMI calculation, when I was the most fit in my life, I was 72 “(6’) and 225 pounds – the BMI was 30, or obese. I had a 31 inch waist and rode a bicycle for hours at a time over the hills in the San Francisco area. BMI is again 30, and while a lot closer to being obese than at 19, a 37” waist is less that the 40” waist that the National Institute of Health says causes the risk factor to increase.
Of course the BMI at a target weight of 190 is 26 (still overweight), not that that tells anything worth knowing. It’s sort of like credit score – it doesn’t tell you anything that you should care about. If you have good credit, you'll be able to get a loan when you need one. If you have bad credit, you won’t be able to get that loan. Some made-up calculation for determining credit rating is inane at best. The fact that there are at least three of them and that they are all different tells you that they are a distraction – Too Much Information. You should expect that the financial institute that you go to for a loan to use what ever they want to determine if you get the loan. That should be your bottom line - do you get the loan or not.
The risk factors in personal fitness are: high blood pressure (currently controlled to a more normal level by medication), high cholesterol (currently controlled to a much lower level by medication) and borderline high blood sugar (not yet in the diabetic range, but not becoming diabetic is my major reason for getting more fit and healthy).
Weigh-in today is 222 lbs. We'll look at diet next - maybe some changes can be made to kick this project in the pants. Not too much, as 1-2 lbs. a week is pretty good if you want to be able to keep it off, maybe we can get it closer to 2lbs. than 1. At the end of this sojourn, maybe the blog will be about keeping it off.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Second Week Update
Workouts currently consist of forty five minutes (up from forty) of cardio (read elliptical) one day and twenty minutes of cardio followed by an upper body workout; then a day with forty five minutes of cardio followed by a day with twenty minutes of cardio followed by a mid-section workout; then a day with forty five minutes of cardio followed by a day with twenty minutes of cardio followed by a lower body workout; and repeat. That is not to say that I go to the gym every day – on any given day it’s alright to skip a day, as long as there aren’t two skipped days in a row. And a skipped day means that you just delay the next workout in order by a day, so you’re not actually skipping a workout.
An upper body workout consists of three or four sets of eight to twelve reps on a pull-down machine; the same (three or four sets of eight to twelve reps) on a shoulder press, the chest press, the triceps press, the curling machine, and the butterfly machine.
A mid-section workout consists of three or four sets of eight to twelve reps from the left side (and then the right side) on a torso twist machine; the same on the abdominal press and back press.
A lower body workout consists of three or four sets of eight to twelve reps on hip adduction and abduction machines; the same on the leg extension and leg press machines and the thrust machine.
I plan on increasing the time from forty-five to fifty minutes; and then fifty five, until every other workout is an hour of cardio. Along with this, I’ll increase the shorter days incrementally to thirty minutes and increase the weight for strength training.
My target weight is 190 lbs. along with low enough blood pressure and cholesterol to at least cut back on the dosage of (if not forgo) the blood pressure and cholesterol medicines. Then I’ll work on the maintenance plan to keep from getting this bad again.
As the weather warms up, the cardio may be switched from elliptical to cycling outdoors or swimming – just to change it up. I better watch out for the seagulls!
Weigh in today was 223 lbs. More like what I expected when it is put in perspective - six pounds on two weeks.
An upper body workout consists of three or four sets of eight to twelve reps on a pull-down machine; the same (three or four sets of eight to twelve reps) on a shoulder press, the chest press, the triceps press, the curling machine, and the butterfly machine.
A mid-section workout consists of three or four sets of eight to twelve reps from the left side (and then the right side) on a torso twist machine; the same on the abdominal press and back press.
A lower body workout consists of three or four sets of eight to twelve reps on hip adduction and abduction machines; the same on the leg extension and leg press machines and the thrust machine.
I plan on increasing the time from forty-five to fifty minutes; and then fifty five, until every other workout is an hour of cardio. Along with this, I’ll increase the shorter days incrementally to thirty minutes and increase the weight for strength training.
My target weight is 190 lbs. along with low enough blood pressure and cholesterol to at least cut back on the dosage of (if not forgo) the blood pressure and cholesterol medicines. Then I’ll work on the maintenance plan to keep from getting this bad again.
As the weather warms up, the cardio may be switched from elliptical to cycling outdoors or swimming – just to change it up. I better watch out for the seagulls!
Weigh in today was 223 lbs. More like what I expected when it is put in perspective - six pounds on two weeks.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
What To Make of Piping Plovers
On Cape Cod, we have several at risk (or threatened) species. The sand-plain gerardia, the roseate tern, and the northern red bellied cooter are on the endangered species list. Nobody gives these a second thought. Probably because there are so few that they are very seldom seen.
When was the last time you went out on the sand-plain looking for gerardia? And when was the last time you saw a cooter? Northern, southern, red or yellow bellied? What the hell is a cooter? Would I know one if I saw it?
The only one you hear about is the piping plover. It is threatened, not endangered, and anyone finding their way around the beaches in late April through June have come across the roped off areas that are posted “No Entry – Piping Plover breeding habitat”. Wouldn’t want to invade their little love nests. Heaven forbid!
A favorite walk is from the house to Kalmus Beach, down along the inland side beach, across the seawall and around the peninsula, traversing the Nantucket Sound beach and going back home again.
Around the whole sand spit that is Kalmus Beach, there will be a rope to ensure the piping plovers have enough privacy to breed (no peeking!). The rope will stay there until the chicks have hatched, grown up and fledged. There used to be some coyotes that lived in the woods around Snowy Creek, not far from Kalmus. There hasn’t been any sign of them lately – I think that someone saw them going after the plovers’ eggs and chicks and trapped them. Anything to save a plover! Not that anyone is necessarily sorry to see the coyotes go – that’s a whole other set of problems.
Plovers are not very big – they're slightly smaller than the common sparrow. The worst thing about plovers from my perspective is their disposition after the eggs hatch. At thirty yards away from the closest nest (which you can’t see because it is on top of a ten to twelve foot high sand dune), the adults will still dive bomb your head to try and back you off more. They never really hit, but they try their best to make you think that they will.
When they’re attacking it makes you think: “No wonder no one likes you guys.” They are nasty little birds that get people around here mad because, in the push to protect the plovers, they stop “over the sand” vehicles until late June (or even early July). You can pick out these guys – four wheel drive vehicles with huge sand tires and bumpers stickers that read “Piping Plovers – tastes like chicken”.
When was the last time you went out on the sand-plain looking for gerardia? And when was the last time you saw a cooter? Northern, southern, red or yellow bellied? What the hell is a cooter? Would I know one if I saw it?
The only one you hear about is the piping plover. It is threatened, not endangered, and anyone finding their way around the beaches in late April through June have come across the roped off areas that are posted “No Entry – Piping Plover breeding habitat”. Wouldn’t want to invade their little love nests. Heaven forbid!
A favorite walk is from the house to Kalmus Beach, down along the inland side beach, across the seawall and around the peninsula, traversing the Nantucket Sound beach and going back home again.
Around the whole sand spit that is Kalmus Beach, there will be a rope to ensure the piping plovers have enough privacy to breed (no peeking!). The rope will stay there until the chicks have hatched, grown up and fledged. There used to be some coyotes that lived in the woods around Snowy Creek, not far from Kalmus. There hasn’t been any sign of them lately – I think that someone saw them going after the plovers’ eggs and chicks and trapped them. Anything to save a plover! Not that anyone is necessarily sorry to see the coyotes go – that’s a whole other set of problems.
Plovers are not very big – they're slightly smaller than the common sparrow. The worst thing about plovers from my perspective is their disposition after the eggs hatch. At thirty yards away from the closest nest (which you can’t see because it is on top of a ten to twelve foot high sand dune), the adults will still dive bomb your head to try and back you off more. They never really hit, but they try their best to make you think that they will.
When they’re attacking it makes you think: “No wonder no one likes you guys.” They are nasty little birds that get people around here mad because, in the push to protect the plovers, they stop “over the sand” vehicles until late June (or even early July). You can pick out these guys – four wheel drive vehicles with huge sand tires and bumpers stickers that read “Piping Plovers – tastes like chicken”.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
After One Week
Well, I’ve been working out and eating better for a week now. The hardest part is to get through the cardio. Spinning, or jogging on a treadmill, or even aerobics are just plain boring. And my knees can’t take the abuse, so I’m pretty much limited to the elliptical machine. (Talk about boring! See the picture for the type of machine I'm using.)
Really though, the elliptical machines are the reason that I joined the gym that I currently belong to. I was at a “health club” in a hotel around the block from me and it has several things going for it: a swimming pool, a sauna, a nice staff, membership rates for greens fees at the golf course, and lots of members that I know. (Our neighbors down the street are members, but I only used to see them Saturday mornings because they’re retired and go during the day when I’m at work.) To be honest, I thought that I would use the pool more than I did and I never have played the golf course.
It’s also more expensive than the new place, but the biggest reason that I switched was because I spent a lot of time standing around waiting for people to get through with a machine that I wanted to use. For a gym that had seventy-five or eighty members (out of two hundred) that routinely used the facilities, they only had three elliptical machines. No one intent on a cardio workout would use the elliptical for less that 20 minutes, and an hour or ninety minutes is not out of line. While the machines were in use, I tried to make up the difference with a treadmill or a stair-climber or a stationary bike. This is how I found out how much they caused my knees to hurt. I tried to find out when the gym was used least, but because it was in a hotel and the guests had full use also, it depended on what was happening in town and who was using the hotels convention facilities. When cheerleading competitions were held there, you couldn’t even get into the gym or pool.
So, I now work out at a larger gym with a cardio area that is just about the size of the entire facility at the hotel. I have never had to wait for a elliptical machine. (Although I once saw all of them in use at the same time- this was for about five minutes when I was also using them.)
Getting back to the subject at hand – working out is boring. Knowing the benefits of exercise and weight loss are enough to get me motivated to go to the gym, but maintaining that motivation is sometimes a problem. One of the ways that I compensate is to make sure I get a machine that has a working closed caption feature on the TV. I can keep my music on the MP3 player for rhythm and keep my mind occupied with mindless drivel on CNN or Fox News or ESPN or the Golf channel. I also sometimes put a towel on the bottom of the screen over the section that has the accumulative time and relative distance. That leaves me the clock on the wall (that I try not to look at) or the TV shows or counting the songs on the MP3 player.
In the first week, I’ve lost five pounds – excellent toward the goal, but this rate will be impossible to sustain. My weight is 224 lbs.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Something to Blog About, Making It Better
I like the feeling that I get after finishing a post. It's a small accomplishment, but it is a discernible accomplishment - something to feel proud about. The writing may not be the best, but putting the thoughts into a communication helps to keep the thoughts left in there straight.
So what to blog about? I've been thinking about this every week or so since HSC was first written. It should be something that adds to the discourse without being as trite as Facebook statuses can be. Self improvement might be just the thing, but I'm inviting any followers to join me. (There may be three right now.)
Baby steps first - exercising will help lose weight, lower blood pressure and counteract diabetic symptoms. Visiting the gym helps one exercise, as does walking, running, cycling, or swimming. A goal of exercising five to six times a week for thirty to 90 minutes is what I need to get started.
So, there's the goal. Blogging about it should give an impetus to stay on track. If this works, I'll switch the focus to diet, sleep, and other subjects to try and remain healthy. I'm starting out at 229 lbs.
So what to blog about? I've been thinking about this every week or so since HSC was first written. It should be something that adds to the discourse without being as trite as Facebook statuses can be. Self improvement might be just the thing, but I'm inviting any followers to join me. (There may be three right now.)
Baby steps first - exercising will help lose weight, lower blood pressure and counteract diabetic symptoms. Visiting the gym helps one exercise, as does walking, running, cycling, or swimming. A goal of exercising five to six times a week for thirty to 90 minutes is what I need to get started.
So, there's the goal. Blogging about it should give an impetus to stay on track. If this works, I'll switch the focus to diet, sleep, and other subjects to try and remain healthy. I'm starting out at 229 lbs.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sea Gulls
Living on Cape Cod, you get used to sea gulls. They are everywhere, chasing fast food bags down the street; dive bombing your wind shield; and stealing french fries from your plate at the seafood hut on the waterfront. I worked at a place where they dropped mollusks and crustaceans onto the pavement to break them open so that they can eat them. Walking into work at dawn, it seemed as though it was raining clams, crab claws, and even conches. Thank god we were given hardhats before we started work. And you wanted to make sure that you parked on the gravel, off the blacktop, or else your car was substituted for the hard surface to drop the critters on. What a mess!
Just like anything else though, not all sea gulls are bad. National Geographic channel had an episode where they talked about a symbiotic relationship that has been built up between a certain kind of gull and a particular pod of dolphins. This happened in the Bahamas. There is a certain pod of dolphins that live much longer than the fifteen or sixteen years that is the lifespan of a normal dolphin. The University of Miami (Florida) researchers followed one bottle-nosed dolphin for 61 years and it is still going strong. It not understood how it works, but the presence of this certain variety of gull, called a Napoleon gull, in large numbers seem to help the pod find food and the gulls will “sanitize” the area after the pod completes eating by feeding on the scraps of fish and shrimp.
Now a Napoleon gull is smaller than normal varieties of sea gull, but has a pure white body with jet black wings. They strut around as if to say, “Hey, I may be small but I am so much better looking than you, Mr. Common Sea Gull.”
Some feral cats found their way on to the island where the Napoleon gulls breed and were wreaking havoc on the population. The Bahamian authorities trapped the cats, but the gull colony had been decimated – there were only 10 to 15 percent of the gulls left. The health of the pod of cetaceans started to decline and there were now several that began to show their age.
The researchers started looking for another colony of Napoleon gulls, so that they could replenish the Bahamian colony. The only colony that they could find was in Newport, Michigan, on the grounds of the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Plant. I used to work at that site and there are still to this day, nesting Napoleon gulls.
There is a spit of land that juts out into the confluence of Swan Creek and the Detroit River current in Lake Erie. There 180 to 200 nesting pairs of Napoleon gulls (but no dolphins) that live on that stretch of beach.
After DNA testing proved that the birds were, in fact, Napoleon gulls and not just look-alikes, researchers started raiding the nests for viable eggs. They hatched the eggs at an elementary school in Monroe, about fifteen miles away.
The birds were raised in an aviary until they fledged at about 16 weeks. Then all 50 survivors were crated up and put into a van for the trip to the airport in Toledo, Ohio. As the research team was placing the crates onto an airplane, the FBI arrested them all and took them into custody.
The charge?
Transporting gulls across state lines for immortal porpoises!
As I think about it, I’m not even sure that “transporting girls across state lines for immoral purposes” is proper charge anymore. Maybe it’s transporting minors across state lines for lewd and lascivious acts, or something like that.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Shivers Up My Spine
When I hear the words, “radiation leak” or “radiation in the water supply”, it sends shivers up my spine. Misspeaking like this causes me to question everything I read in that paper or hear on that newscast. Radiation is an effect, not a substance. The substance that emits radiation is a radioactive material and that can be contained in emissions (or leaks) from a nuclear facility.
Why does no one ever correct this misnomer? I expect that newspapers or newscasts rely heavily on words, so I would think that they would try to use them correctly. I guess I would be wrong.
I have spent 38 years working in the nuclear industry and have tried to explain to my family and friends and neighbors what I do and how the plant works and what the many myths surrounding this industry are. Most people’s eyes glaze over when I start telling them why the plant can’t blow up like an atomic bomb, or what the effects of radiation on the human body are. That is one of the biggest myths; we don’t know what radiation does to the human body. If you believe the myth, we can still have giant ants in the desert and fire-breathing dinosaurs under the ocean.
The truth is not as compelling as the myth. Radiation causes damage on the atomic and molecular level. Radiation causes ionization of the material that it interacts with. This ionization can directly break apart molecular bonds and cause direct damage to molecules within the cells (e.g., DNA or RNA or other biological protein strands). It can also ionize individual atoms or break molecular bonds to create free radicals. These can chemically interact with in the cell structure to damage or kill the cell.
When the individual damage is combined with other damage in very high doses, it can cause biological systems to break down. This only happens in very high doses. This is called radiation syndrome or radiation sickness. It starts if you were to receive twenty times the annual limit for radiation workers in a short time.
What we can measure in lower doses is an increased risk of cancer. This is problematic because there is already such a high risk of cancer; roughly one in four people will get cancer if they received no extra dose of radiation. So, of a group of ten thousand people, twenty five hundred could reasonably be expected to contract cancer (plus or minus the statistical variance). If each person in that ten thousand person group were to receive one fifth of the annual limit for radiation workers, we could expect to see six extra occurrences of cancer (unfortunately within the statistical variance of ten thousand subjects – so it can’t be identified as being caused by the radiation dose).
This is part of what I do. I’ve worked as a Radiation Protection Technician, a Radiation Protection Instructor, a Radiological Engineer and several other jobs that I did to pay the bills. I never forget that what I do is outside the norm, but it is interesting work. I don’t like it when people that don’t understand it try to tell others what’s going on. As I said – it sends shivers up my spine.
Why does no one ever correct this misnomer? I expect that newspapers or newscasts rely heavily on words, so I would think that they would try to use them correctly. I guess I would be wrong.
I have spent 38 years working in the nuclear industry and have tried to explain to my family and friends and neighbors what I do and how the plant works and what the many myths surrounding this industry are. Most people’s eyes glaze over when I start telling them why the plant can’t blow up like an atomic bomb, or what the effects of radiation on the human body are. That is one of the biggest myths; we don’t know what radiation does to the human body. If you believe the myth, we can still have giant ants in the desert and fire-breathing dinosaurs under the ocean.
The truth is not as compelling as the myth. Radiation causes damage on the atomic and molecular level. Radiation causes ionization of the material that it interacts with. This ionization can directly break apart molecular bonds and cause direct damage to molecules within the cells (e.g., DNA or RNA or other biological protein strands). It can also ionize individual atoms or break molecular bonds to create free radicals. These can chemically interact with in the cell structure to damage or kill the cell.
When the individual damage is combined with other damage in very high doses, it can cause biological systems to break down. This only happens in very high doses. This is called radiation syndrome or radiation sickness. It starts if you were to receive twenty times the annual limit for radiation workers in a short time.
What we can measure in lower doses is an increased risk of cancer. This is problematic because there is already such a high risk of cancer; roughly one in four people will get cancer if they received no extra dose of radiation. So, of a group of ten thousand people, twenty five hundred could reasonably be expected to contract cancer (plus or minus the statistical variance). If each person in that ten thousand person group were to receive one fifth of the annual limit for radiation workers, we could expect to see six extra occurrences of cancer (unfortunately within the statistical variance of ten thousand subjects – so it can’t be identified as being caused by the radiation dose).
This is part of what I do. I’ve worked as a Radiation Protection Technician, a Radiation Protection Instructor, a Radiological Engineer and several other jobs that I did to pay the bills. I never forget that what I do is outside the norm, but it is interesting work. I don’t like it when people that don’t understand it try to tell others what’s going on. As I said – it sends shivers up my spine.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Chile and Chili
One of the "masters" of Tex-Mex style chili is a guy named Wick Fowler. He is an enigma. He told his friends that chili shouldn't contain tomatoes, or masa harina (finely ground corn flour used in making tortillas also just called masa). He then put out a chili kit (Wick Fowler's Two Alarm Chili) under his name with instructions to add tomatoes and it includes masa as an ingredient.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The Roy Rogers Show
I think that it would be great to be a kid today. Playstation, Nintendo Wii, and Xbox are head and shoulders above any toy that I had. My brother and I watched “The Man in the Iron Mask” on a daily movie show that was on at 4:00 o’clock and ran until 5:30. It was called the “Big Show”. When it was over, we went out and broke switches off of a tree in the back yard to use as swords to reenact scenes from the movie. Today you can put a fencing game into the Wii and watch your avatars sword fight up and down stairs and all across castle rooms - just like in the movie.
That being said, there is a lot to be said for growing up as part of the “baby-boom”. I don’t think kids today ever had a straight forward World War 2 series like “Combat”, or a goofy puppet show like “Kookla, Fran and Ollie”. And we had Roy Rogers.
The Roy Rogers Show was one of my favorites. Roy, and his wife, Dale Evans, were joined by Pat Brady, a hired ranch hand.
Pat Brady was different than any other ranch hand on TV. He hardly ever rode a horse. Instead he drove a jeep that was likely to break down at any minute. He called his jeep “Nellie Belle”.
Pat provided comic relief for Roy and Dale. Together, they were a family that included their horses, “Trigger” and “Buttermilk”; and their dog, “Bullet”. They all lived in the wide open spaces on the Double-D-Bar Ranch.
I later read that one episode was based on a true incident. It seems that Roy went to Texas and had a pair of Tony Lama cowboy boots made specifically for the show. They were extra fancy, and fit him like a glove. He was very fond of those boots (as only a cowboy can be).
On the first episode of 1956, Roy was out with Pat, rounding up some bad guys that had rustled a prize bull from the ranch next door. It got late, so they made camp and bedded down under the stars.
In the middle of the night, there was a noise. Roy jumped up to investigate and he could see the bull on the ridge silhouetted against the sky. He was so excited, jumped on Trigger in his stocking feet and left his boots next to his bedroll.
By the time he got the bull roped and wrestled into submission, it was near dawn. Pat and Roy went back to break camp and found a mess they couldn't believe.
It seems thay after they left, an animal (probably smelling food and seeing no one around) tore up everthing in the camp looking for food. It had torn apart Roy's Tony Lamas and chewed every bit of the leather!
The King of the Cowboys was so mad that he was barely able to discern the mountain lion tracks all over the camp. He vowed that the cougar's hide would get hung on the wall of the bunkhouse.
They got the bull back to it's rightful owner and stopped by the ranch to provision for the hunt. After explaining what happened to Dale, Pat put food and extra camping gear in Nellie Belle, along with plenty of extra gasoline. Roy put on an old pair of boots, grabbed extra ammo from the ranch house, kissed Dale, hopped on Trigger, and they were off in a cloud of dust and jeep exhaust.
They started tracking and in a short while, they heard the animal's high pitched scowling roar. It ran up a ridge and was gone over the top before either could get a shot off. The animal must have known that he was their quarry, for he remained hidden in front of them the rest of the day.
Over the next three days, the cougar remained elusive and started running for its life. The only time they saw or heard it, it was out of range of their guns. They were losing it.
On the fourth night they heard it roar off in the distance. Roy could have sworn that it was laughing at him.
Days turned into weeks and after two of them , with no longer any tracks to go by, they had to admit that this laughing mountain lion had eluded them. They headed back to the ranch. The four day ride was silent except for Nellie Belle's backfires (which happened just rythmically enough that it sounded like laughter; which didn't lighten Roy's mood).
When Roy and Pat returned to the ranch, Dale cooked them a wonderful meal and consoled them as best she could. Roy was still beside himself, but he had a grudging admiration for the mountain lion that had out smarted him over the couple of weeks.
They were sitting on the porch watching the sunset over the mountain, There was a movement on the hill to the south of the house. It looked like a mountain lion!
Dale, her eye on the hill, tapped Roy on the shoulder and sang, ♪ ♫"Pardon me Roy, ♪ is that the cat that chewed your new shoes?"♫ ♪
That being said, there is a lot to be said for growing up as part of the “baby-boom”. I don’t think kids today ever had a straight forward World War 2 series like “Combat”, or a goofy puppet show like “Kookla, Fran and Ollie”. And we had Roy Rogers.
The Roy Rogers Show was one of my favorites. Roy, and his wife, Dale Evans, were joined by Pat Brady, a hired ranch hand.
Pat Brady was different than any other ranch hand on TV. He hardly ever rode a horse. Instead he drove a jeep that was likely to break down at any minute. He called his jeep “Nellie Belle”.
Pat provided comic relief for Roy and Dale. Together, they were a family that included their horses, “Trigger” and “Buttermilk”; and their dog, “Bullet”. They all lived in the wide open spaces on the Double-D-Bar Ranch.
I later read that one episode was based on a true incident. It seems that Roy went to Texas and had a pair of Tony Lama cowboy boots made specifically for the show. They were extra fancy, and fit him like a glove. He was very fond of those boots (as only a cowboy can be).
On the first episode of 1956, Roy was out with Pat, rounding up some bad guys that had rustled a prize bull from the ranch next door. It got late, so they made camp and bedded down under the stars.
In the middle of the night, there was a noise. Roy jumped up to investigate and he could see the bull on the ridge silhouetted against the sky. He was so excited, jumped on Trigger in his stocking feet and left his boots next to his bedroll.
By the time he got the bull roped and wrestled into submission, it was near dawn. Pat and Roy went back to break camp and found a mess they couldn't believe.
It seems thay after they left, an animal (probably smelling food and seeing no one around) tore up everthing in the camp looking for food. It had torn apart Roy's Tony Lamas and chewed every bit of the leather!
The King of the Cowboys was so mad that he was barely able to discern the mountain lion tracks all over the camp. He vowed that the cougar's hide would get hung on the wall of the bunkhouse.
They got the bull back to it's rightful owner and stopped by the ranch to provision for the hunt. After explaining what happened to Dale, Pat put food and extra camping gear in Nellie Belle, along with plenty of extra gasoline. Roy put on an old pair of boots, grabbed extra ammo from the ranch house, kissed Dale, hopped on Trigger, and they were off in a cloud of dust and jeep exhaust.
They started tracking and in a short while, they heard the animal's high pitched scowling roar. It ran up a ridge and was gone over the top before either could get a shot off. The animal must have known that he was their quarry, for he remained hidden in front of them the rest of the day.
Over the next three days, the cougar remained elusive and started running for its life. The only time they saw or heard it, it was out of range of their guns. They were losing it.
On the fourth night they heard it roar off in the distance. Roy could have sworn that it was laughing at him.
Days turned into weeks and after two of them , with no longer any tracks to go by, they had to admit that this laughing mountain lion had eluded them. They headed back to the ranch. The four day ride was silent except for Nellie Belle's backfires (which happened just rythmically enough that it sounded like laughter; which didn't lighten Roy's mood).
When Roy and Pat returned to the ranch, Dale cooked them a wonderful meal and consoled them as best she could. Roy was still beside himself, but he had a grudging admiration for the mountain lion that had out smarted him over the couple of weeks.
They were sitting on the porch watching the sunset over the mountain, There was a movement on the hill to the south of the house. It looked like a mountain lion!
Dale, her eye on the hill, tapped Roy on the shoulder and sang, ♪ ♫"Pardon me Roy, ♪ is that the cat that chewed your new shoes?"♫ ♪
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
A Rant That's Been Building
To start this off, let me say that I have health insurance through the company that I work for. I don’t have to worry about being fined or imprisoned for violating the Massachusetts Mandatory Healthcare law. I pay much more for it than I did a few years ago, and the level of coverage has been reduced, but it is still workable for my circumstances. On to the rant:
After years of “mandated” health care insurance, I still don’t understand how the state can tell me that I have to spend my money on health insurance.
The legal basis for auto insurance is the state can revoke my privilege to register and drive my car if I don’t buy auto insurance. This is because driving a car is a privilege, not a right.
To make that work for health insurance there would have to be a corresponding privilege to revoke if I refuse to buy health insurance. What is that privilege?
Under this system, if there is not a privilege to be exercised, healthcare becomes a de facto right. If healthcare is a right, then it is the government’s responsibility to provide it. They may assess taxes to fund this responsibility, but that is not the same as requiring people to spend their own money in the market place.
The government of the Commonwealth needs to decide if healthcare is a privilege or a right. If they decide that it is a privilege, they must stop mandating that people buy insurance. If it is a right, they need to get ready for the opposition; create the bureaucracy to administer healthcare; and assess taxes to pay for it. It may get them voted out of office if their constituency disagrees with it, but that is in the calculus of being an elected representative of the people.
I will be a member of the opposition to this, but if they feel it is the right thing to do, they should stand up for their beliefs.
How I spend my money, or not, is a right that must not be curtailed by the government.
After years of “mandated” health care insurance, I still don’t understand how the state can tell me that I have to spend my money on health insurance.
The legal basis for auto insurance is the state can revoke my privilege to register and drive my car if I don’t buy auto insurance. This is because driving a car is a privilege, not a right.
To make that work for health insurance there would have to be a corresponding privilege to revoke if I refuse to buy health insurance. What is that privilege?
Under this system, if there is not a privilege to be exercised, healthcare becomes a de facto right. If healthcare is a right, then it is the government’s responsibility to provide it. They may assess taxes to fund this responsibility, but that is not the same as requiring people to spend their own money in the market place.
The government of the Commonwealth needs to decide if healthcare is a privilege or a right. If they decide that it is a privilege, they must stop mandating that people buy insurance. If it is a right, they need to get ready for the opposition; create the bureaucracy to administer healthcare; and assess taxes to pay for it. It may get them voted out of office if their constituency disagrees with it, but that is in the calculus of being an elected representative of the people.
I will be a member of the opposition to this, but if they feel it is the right thing to do, they should stand up for their beliefs.
How I spend my money, or not, is a right that must not be curtailed by the government.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Tiramisu
In Italian, it means: pick me up; or pull me up. Originally a semifreddo dessert made from ladyfinger biscuits, cocoa, mascarpone cheese, Marsala wine, eggs, sugar and espresso coffee. (Semifreddo is Italian for "half cold" and in culinary terms it refers to any of various chilled or partially frozen desserts.) Within the last few years, I’ve seen tiramisu recipes that don’t completely fit this definition (i.e., they are made with other than espresso and chocolate).
Pat and I were on a business trip in the spring of 2007 in New York. Pat had a touch of the flu, but we were exploring the town of Fishkill as best we could. At a little Italian restaurant called Locanda, they were serving Lemoncello Tiramisu. We had to leave quickly so we didn’t get to try any, but it intrigued me to the point that I decided to develop our own recipe.
Some of the ground rules were: 1) It had to be refreshing. 2) It needed to be identifiable as a tiramisu (i.e., semifreddo using mascarpone and ladyfingers). 3) Non alcolholic so that the grandkids could try it too.
First problem: what can give a rich lemon flavor with out the alcohol in lemoncello? The juice from four fresh lemons, the zest of a half of a lemon, and 1/3 of a cup of granulated sugar were mixed with an 8 ounce container of the mascarpone. While researching tiramisu, I saw that an egg yoke was often added to the cheese mixtures to help it set better, so one was added to the mixture.
The result was promising, but there was too much juice, so it was cut back to two lemons. Also , using frozen lemonade mix would also remove the work of dissolving the sugar. Batches were made using varying amounts of lemonade concentrate. When added to the mascarpone with the lemon zest and an egg yolk, it was virtually indistinguishable from the fresh lemon juice and sugar version. (Purists can still use the fresh lemon juice and sugar!)
Similar experimentation was done to find a good mixture to soak the ladyfingers. (Again, purists can still use the fresh lemon juice - 2 lemons, sugar - 1/3 cup, and 1/3 cup of water.) The result is below
LEMON TIRAMISU
INGREDIENTS: 8 oz of mascarpone cheese; 8 – 10 lady fingers; 6 oz can of frozen lemonade concentrate; 1 egg yolk; ½ pint of whipping cream; 1 tsp. vanilla extract; ¼ C. of confectioner’s sugar; zest of 1 lemon.
FILLING: Allow the lemonade concentrate to thaw out; then mix the mascarpone with ½ of the can of lemonade concentrate, ½ of the lemon zest and the egg yolk until it is smooth and consistent.
RECIPE: Line a plastic container (a 3 - 4” square that’s 1 ½ - 2” deep works the best) with wax paper. Neatly fold the wax paper at the corners. Mix the left over lemonade concentrate with ½ can of water. Dip the lady fingers in the lemonade mixture and line the bottom of the container (should be 4 or 5). Add ½ of the filling and dip the rest of the lady fingers and layer them. Add the rest of the filling and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (overnight is better).
Mix the whipping cream, vanilla and confectioner’s sugar together and whip until the mixture holds a peak. Carefully invert the container on to a serving plate and remove the wax paper. Evenly cover with the whipped cream, and garnish with the rest of the lemon zest. Slice and serve.
VARIATIONS: Double the ingredients and make in a loaf pan (the picture is a double batch); or, for a further touch of Italy, dip the lady fingers in a mixture of 1 teaspoon of the lemonade concentrate, 4 teaspoons of water, and 4 tablespoons of Lemoncello Liqueur.
NUMBER OF SERVINGS: 6 to 8
PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes plus setting.
This is a refreshing summer dessert that lives up to its name.
Pat and I were on a business trip in the spring of 2007 in New York. Pat had a touch of the flu, but we were exploring the town of Fishkill as best we could. At a little Italian restaurant called Locanda, they were serving Lemoncello Tiramisu. We had to leave quickly so we didn’t get to try any, but it intrigued me to the point that I decided to develop our own recipe.
Some of the ground rules were: 1) It had to be refreshing. 2) It needed to be identifiable as a tiramisu (i.e., semifreddo using mascarpone and ladyfingers). 3) Non alcolholic so that the grandkids could try it too.
First problem: what can give a rich lemon flavor with out the alcohol in lemoncello? The juice from four fresh lemons, the zest of a half of a lemon, and 1/3 of a cup of granulated sugar were mixed with an 8 ounce container of the mascarpone. While researching tiramisu, I saw that an egg yoke was often added to the cheese mixtures to help it set better, so one was added to the mixture.
The result was promising, but there was too much juice, so it was cut back to two lemons. Also , using frozen lemonade mix would also remove the work of dissolving the sugar. Batches were made using varying amounts of lemonade concentrate. When added to the mascarpone with the lemon zest and an egg yolk, it was virtually indistinguishable from the fresh lemon juice and sugar version. (Purists can still use the fresh lemon juice and sugar!)
Similar experimentation was done to find a good mixture to soak the ladyfingers. (Again, purists can still use the fresh lemon juice - 2 lemons, sugar - 1/3 cup, and 1/3 cup of water.) The result is below
LEMON TIRAMISUINGREDIENTS: 8 oz of mascarpone cheese; 8 – 10 lady fingers; 6 oz can of frozen lemonade concentrate; 1 egg yolk; ½ pint of whipping cream; 1 tsp. vanilla extract; ¼ C. of confectioner’s sugar; zest of 1 lemon.
FILLING: Allow the lemonade concentrate to thaw out; then mix the mascarpone with ½ of the can of lemonade concentrate, ½ of the lemon zest and the egg yolk until it is smooth and consistent.
RECIPE: Line a plastic container (a 3 - 4” square that’s 1 ½ - 2” deep works the best) with wax paper. Neatly fold the wax paper at the corners. Mix the left over lemonade concentrate with ½ can of water. Dip the lady fingers in the lemonade mixture and line the bottom of the container (should be 4 or 5). Add ½ of the filling and dip the rest of the lady fingers and layer them. Add the rest of the filling and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (overnight is better).
Mix the whipping cream, vanilla and confectioner’s sugar together and whip until the mixture holds a peak. Carefully invert the container on to a serving plate and remove the wax paper. Evenly cover with the whipped cream, and garnish with the rest of the lemon zest. Slice and serve.
VARIATIONS: Double the ingredients and make in a loaf pan (the picture is a double batch); or, for a further touch of Italy, dip the lady fingers in a mixture of 1 teaspoon of the lemonade concentrate, 4 teaspoons of water, and 4 tablespoons of Lemoncello Liqueur.
NUMBER OF SERVINGS: 6 to 8
PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes plus setting.
This is a refreshing summer dessert that lives up to its name.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Isn't it odd what you remember
"I started out as a child" (to steal a line from Bill Cosby) and then rapidly progressed to a major pain in the butt. Seriously, my first recollection is of being stood up on the counter of the store in Rollersville, Ohio. The store was one of those old-fashioned general stores with the gas pump out in front and a huge National cash register on an old wooden counter.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell if it’s really a memory. Maybe thinking about it over the years has enhanced a feeling into a fully developed memory. I don't remember the house in Rollersville that we lived in. My older brother and sisters went to school in the schoolhouse and used to point it out when we drove by it in later years. It’s frustrating that so many memories that helped shape me seem to have faded into the background.
Early memories are of rented farm houses and plowed fields. Polegard's house, outside of Bradner, Ohio was the first (the spelling may be wrong, but phonetically it was "POLE GUARD" or "POLE GART"). My older brother and sisters taught my younger brother and me checkers and rummy in this house. Our parents liked the farm and, for a while, they had horses.
Somewhere, there is a picture of my sisters, Chris and Doe, and my little brother, Mike, on the front porch, with me looking out of the screen door, just being barely visible due to the glare of the screen. We also sat for pictures in the front yard. Dressed in striped shirt and a stupid looking Tyrolean hat with the feather in the band, I was holding on to Mike. Not much more than three and Mike was still an infant
My older brother Tom, and my cousins, Donnie and Larry climbed ten to fifteen feet up into some poplar trees (actually big shrubs) that my dad was cutting down. Their weight was perfect to bring the trees down slowly (and in the right direction) and it looked like they were having a ball.
Watching Dad repair the Studebaker Eagle. For some reason, he took the hood off. It really looked cool as he drove it down to the gas station without the hood. He traded it for a forty-nine Ford that was in much better condition and I remember going for the first family drive in that car. We lived at the Polegard’s place for about a year.
Next was the Steinhardt's farm, with the individual hog houses (no hogs, just the houses). The houses were cool because they were just about the right size for three and four year old kids. The older kids were allowed to go in the barn, but we only had the hog houses. It all stopped after some one (I think it was Mike) was climbing on the hog house roof and was injured – stitches were needed. We had to stay in the house yard and weren’t allowed in the barnyard.
The memories are more developed and feel more real: My older brother and sisters catching the school bus in front of the house (to go to the Rollersville school).
Watching TV - especially Combat!, Andy Griffith, I Love Lucy, and The Virginian.
Mike and I played trucks in the backyard . For some reason that I can’t recall, we called ourselves "Ed and Mack".
Dad burned a huge pile of brush on the edge of the field next to the house. There were a lot of bushes and a fair amount of poison ivy. Doris reacted to it after walking through the smoke.
Tom had a bow and arrow and was always looking to shoot birds or rodents. It was after dinner and just about dusk, my dad came in the house and told my mom to follow him out to the garage, I wondered what was up and followed them. In the half-light of dusk, there was Tom (in full stalking stance with his arrow drawn back), Chris peered round Tom, and Doris peered around Chris and Mike brought up the rear. They were after some thing that had just run into the garage. Dad stopped them before they followed the skunk. Dad always delighted in telling that story - he always said that maybe he should have let Tom find out the hard way that you don't mess around with skunks.
My mom had a quarter acre vegetable garden at Steinhardt’s. We didn’t have much money, but we had radishes, carrots, leaf lettuce, fresh tomatoes, sweet corn, fresh cucumbers, fried green tomatoes and bread and butter pickles.
My grandma (my dad's mom) came to stay with us. It was very interesting when the hearing aid salesman came and made a putty cast of her ear so that they could make an ear piece that fit tightly into her ear. It was fascinating for a four year old. She seemed much nicer after she got her hearing aid and could talk to everyone without them shouting at her.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell if it’s really a memory. Maybe thinking about it over the years has enhanced a feeling into a fully developed memory. I don't remember the house in Rollersville that we lived in. My older brother and sisters went to school in the schoolhouse and used to point it out when we drove by it in later years. It’s frustrating that so many memories that helped shape me seem to have faded into the background.
Early memories are of rented farm houses and plowed fields. Polegard's house, outside of Bradner, Ohio was the first (the spelling may be wrong, but phonetically it was "POLE GUARD" or "POLE GART"). My older brother and sisters taught my younger brother and me checkers and rummy in this house. Our parents liked the farm and, for a while, they had horses.
Somewhere, there is a picture of my sisters, Chris and Doe, and my little brother, Mike, on the front porch, with me looking out of the screen door, just being barely visible due to the glare of the screen. We also sat for pictures in the front yard. Dressed in striped shirt and a stupid looking Tyrolean hat with the feather in the band, I was holding on to Mike. Not much more than three and Mike was still an infant
My older brother Tom, and my cousins, Donnie and Larry climbed ten to fifteen feet up into some poplar trees (actually big shrubs) that my dad was cutting down. Their weight was perfect to bring the trees down slowly (and in the right direction) and it looked like they were having a ball.
Watching Dad repair the Studebaker Eagle. For some reason, he took the hood off. It really looked cool as he drove it down to the gas station without the hood. He traded it for a forty-nine Ford that was in much better condition and I remember going for the first family drive in that car. We lived at the Polegard’s place for about a year.
Next was the Steinhardt's farm, with the individual hog houses (no hogs, just the houses). The houses were cool because they were just about the right size for three and four year old kids. The older kids were allowed to go in the barn, but we only had the hog houses. It all stopped after some one (I think it was Mike) was climbing on the hog house roof and was injured – stitches were needed. We had to stay in the house yard and weren’t allowed in the barnyard.
The memories are more developed and feel more real: My older brother and sisters catching the school bus in front of the house (to go to the Rollersville school).
Watching TV - especially Combat!, Andy Griffith, I Love Lucy, and The Virginian.
Mike and I played trucks in the backyard . For some reason that I can’t recall, we called ourselves "Ed and Mack".
Dad burned a huge pile of brush on the edge of the field next to the house. There were a lot of bushes and a fair amount of poison ivy. Doris reacted to it after walking through the smoke.
Tom had a bow and arrow and was always looking to shoot birds or rodents. It was after dinner and just about dusk, my dad came in the house and told my mom to follow him out to the garage, I wondered what was up and followed them. In the half-light of dusk, there was Tom (in full stalking stance with his arrow drawn back), Chris peered round Tom, and Doris peered around Chris and Mike brought up the rear. They were after some thing that had just run into the garage. Dad stopped them before they followed the skunk. Dad always delighted in telling that story - he always said that maybe he should have let Tom find out the hard way that you don't mess around with skunks.
My mom had a quarter acre vegetable garden at Steinhardt’s. We didn’t have much money, but we had radishes, carrots, leaf lettuce, fresh tomatoes, sweet corn, fresh cucumbers, fried green tomatoes and bread and butter pickles.
My grandma (my dad's mom) came to stay with us. It was very interesting when the hearing aid salesman came and made a putty cast of her ear so that they could make an ear piece that fit tightly into her ear. It was fascinating for a four year old. She seemed much nicer after she got her hearing aid and could talk to everyone without them shouting at her.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Exotic Animals
A collector was going through an exotic animal show. There were dwarf emus that were only 14” high, giant Madagascar hissing cock roaches at four to six inches, llamas, pigmy wallabies, duckbilled platypi and all sorts of strange species.
The collector had come to this particular show because it was rumored that a dealer there was selling an animal that was the most exotic in the world, a rarie. He found the dealer and was able to secure a juvenile member of the species.
The animal looked like a yellow, fuzzy, round ball, with feet on the bottom. It stood 18’ from the top of its head to the tips of its feet; and his impossibly black eyes shone from underneath a thick down-like covering. The animal immediately took a liking to its new owner and cuddled against him whenever it could.
The collector took his new pet home to Boise, Idaho. Not much was known about this creature, so the collector started keeping a journal of the vital statistics of the rarie, whom he now called Leon.
Leon went everywhere with the man. He liked to play fetch with oyster and conch shells. Leon’s favorite food was smoked escargot, stewed in butter and garlic. He could eat thirty or forty pounds in a sitting.
Leon’s owner started trying to shop the book about raries around to various publishing houses, hoping to bring in some money to subsidize Leon’s ever growing palate and size. Leon ate all of the caviar in the local gourmet shop, eschewing the local roe for the imported fare from the Caspian Sea.
And Leon grew; and as it grew, it ate more and more. And it grew at an alarming rate. The size of the creature was such that Leon could no longer cuddle against the collector – the collector had to cuddle with the rarie.
The amount of food consumed was straining the collector's budget and no one wanted a book about a creature that would literally eat them out of house and home.
Finally, in a state of desperation, he took the animal in a dump truck to the edge of a gigantic cliff in the Snake River Canyon with the idea that he would drop it over the edge. Leon was just too big to be put down at the Humane Society; and drastic action had to be taken. Just as the collector was getting set to roll it out of the truck, Leon popped open an eye and looked at him and asked, "Whatcha gonna do now?" The collector explained how he could no longer afford the upkeep, and that dropping it over the cliff would be the most humane way to get rid of such an expensive liability. The animal looked over the edge and with a tear in its eye, it said, .... "It's a long way to tip a rarie."
From time to time I hope to add several more "groaners" that I have heard over the years to the blog. Phyllis Finecy put this on the Dorsett Meeting place in MYFAMILY.com. I added some obfuscation and changed it slightly, but thanks Phyllis. And I thought I'd lost my sense of humor....
The collector had come to this particular show because it was rumored that a dealer there was selling an animal that was the most exotic in the world, a rarie. He found the dealer and was able to secure a juvenile member of the species.
The animal looked like a yellow, fuzzy, round ball, with feet on the bottom. It stood 18’ from the top of its head to the tips of its feet; and his impossibly black eyes shone from underneath a thick down-like covering. The animal immediately took a liking to its new owner and cuddled against him whenever it could.
The collector took his new pet home to Boise, Idaho. Not much was known about this creature, so the collector started keeping a journal of the vital statistics of the rarie, whom he now called Leon.
Leon went everywhere with the man. He liked to play fetch with oyster and conch shells. Leon’s favorite food was smoked escargot, stewed in butter and garlic. He could eat thirty or forty pounds in a sitting.
Leon’s owner started trying to shop the book about raries around to various publishing houses, hoping to bring in some money to subsidize Leon’s ever growing palate and size. Leon ate all of the caviar in the local gourmet shop, eschewing the local roe for the imported fare from the Caspian Sea.
And Leon grew; and as it grew, it ate more and more. And it grew at an alarming rate. The size of the creature was such that Leon could no longer cuddle against the collector – the collector had to cuddle with the rarie.
The amount of food consumed was straining the collector's budget and no one wanted a book about a creature that would literally eat them out of house and home.
Finally, in a state of desperation, he took the animal in a dump truck to the edge of a gigantic cliff in the Snake River Canyon with the idea that he would drop it over the edge. Leon was just too big to be put down at the Humane Society; and drastic action had to be taken. Just as the collector was getting set to roll it out of the truck, Leon popped open an eye and looked at him and asked, "Whatcha gonna do now?" The collector explained how he could no longer afford the upkeep, and that dropping it over the cliff would be the most humane way to get rid of such an expensive liability. The animal looked over the edge and with a tear in its eye, it said, .... "It's a long way to tip a rarie."
From time to time I hope to add several more "groaners" that I have heard over the years to the blog. Phyllis Finecy put this on the Dorsett Meeting place in MYFAMILY.com. I added some obfuscation and changed it slightly, but thanks Phyllis. And I thought I'd lost my sense of humor....
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Grilled Pizza
I like pizza. All kinds – Margherita with fresh tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and fresh basil; rustic crusts with caramelized onions and roasted garlic with toasted pignoli (kind of a Pissaladiere with a little extra umph); thinly sliced fresh plum tomatoes layered over olive oil and garlic and covered with chopped fresh oregano and shredded mozzarella and finally ¼” slices of homemade Italian sausage; and tomato sauce with oregano and red wine over olive oil and garlic and covered with just about anything. Before my hypertension, I used to order pepperoni and mushroom with extra cheese every chance I got.
Pizza Dough
Makes 2 small or 1 large pizza
2 cups bread flour (11 ounces), plus extra for dusting work surface; 1 teaspoon instant yeast (quick rise, or rapid rise); ¼ teaspoon table salt; 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus additional oil for brushing dough and greasing hands; and 1 cup water (8 ounces), warm (about 110 degrees).
In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, yeast, and salt to combine (about five quick pulses). With machine running, add oil, then water, through the feed tube; and continue to process until dough forms ball, about 15 seconds. Generously dust work surface with flour; using floured hands, transfer dough to work surface and knead until the dough is silky. Lightly oil a small bowl, place dough in the bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside in draft-free spot until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
When dough has doubled, punch the dough down, remove and divide into 2 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, form each piece into rough ball by gently pulling edges of dough together and pinching to seal. With floured hands, turn dough ball seam-side down. Cupping dough with both hands, gently push dough in circular motion to form taut ball. Repeat with second piece. Brush each lightly with oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest 10 minutes.
Coat fingers and palms of hands generously with oil, hold dough aloft and gently stretch to 10-inch length. Set the dough on to a floured counter and gently dimple surface of dough with fingertips. Using oiled palms, push and flatten dough into the shape of your pizza pan. Powder a pizza pan with corn meal and place the flattened dough on to it. Roll edge to create a lip to hold the toppings on.
Add what ever toppings you want and cook on a baking stone in a 500 degree oven until the crust is starting to brown; slide the crust off of the pan so it’s sitting directly on the stone; and bake until it’s golden brown on the edges and bottom.
This method may be used for most pizzas. It is a crispy, fairly thin crust.
It is an excellent pizza dough recipe. Now that grilling season is upon us, we can get back to grilled pizza. You can make it fairly easily. Make the dough and bake the crust until it starts to hold together on its own (five to ten minutes). Slather some vegetable or peanut oil on a hot side of a grill that has another side that doesn’t have any heat under it. Throw the crust, top side done on the hot part for five or ten (or so) seconds and let it get toasted and then move it over to the cool side to cool off; and turn it 45 to 90 degrees and put it on the hot side to toast some more. When you have good grill marks on the top, take it off of the grill and sauce it and put the toppings on it. Put it back on the cool side of the grill and place the cover on the grill. Cook until the toppings are done (cheese melted, sausage or other toppings completely cooked) and toast the crust again on the hot side – moving it on and off as needed so it doesn’t burn. It’s good eating!
Pizza Dough
Makes 2 small or 1 large pizza
2 cups bread flour (11 ounces), plus extra for dusting work surface; 1 teaspoon instant yeast (quick rise, or rapid rise); ¼ teaspoon table salt; 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus additional oil for brushing dough and greasing hands; and 1 cup water (8 ounces), warm (about 110 degrees).
In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, yeast, and salt to combine (about five quick pulses). With machine running, add oil, then water, through the feed tube; and continue to process until dough forms ball, about 15 seconds. Generously dust work surface with flour; using floured hands, transfer dough to work surface and knead until the dough is silky. Lightly oil a small bowl, place dough in the bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside in draft-free spot until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
When dough has doubled, punch the dough down, remove and divide into 2 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, form each piece into rough ball by gently pulling edges of dough together and pinching to seal. With floured hands, turn dough ball seam-side down. Cupping dough with both hands, gently push dough in circular motion to form taut ball. Repeat with second piece. Brush each lightly with oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest 10 minutes.
Coat fingers and palms of hands generously with oil, hold dough aloft and gently stretch to 10-inch length. Set the dough on to a floured counter and gently dimple surface of dough with fingertips. Using oiled palms, push and flatten dough into the shape of your pizza pan. Powder a pizza pan with corn meal and place the flattened dough on to it. Roll edge to create a lip to hold the toppings on.
Add what ever toppings you want and cook on a baking stone in a 500 degree oven until the crust is starting to brown; slide the crust off of the pan so it’s sitting directly on the stone; and bake until it’s golden brown on the edges and bottom.
This method may be used for most pizzas. It is a crispy, fairly thin crust.
It is an excellent pizza dough recipe. Now that grilling season is upon us, we can get back to grilled pizza. You can make it fairly easily. Make the dough and bake the crust until it starts to hold together on its own (five to ten minutes). Slather some vegetable or peanut oil on a hot side of a grill that has another side that doesn’t have any heat under it. Throw the crust, top side done on the hot part for five or ten (or so) seconds and let it get toasted and then move it over to the cool side to cool off; and turn it 45 to 90 degrees and put it on the hot side to toast some more. When you have good grill marks on the top, take it off of the grill and sauce it and put the toppings on it. Put it back on the cool side of the grill and place the cover on the grill. Cook until the toppings are done (cheese melted, sausage or other toppings completely cooked) and toast the crust again on the hot side – moving it on and off as needed so it doesn’t burn. It’s good eating!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
A Sense of Humor
She was only a moonshiner's daughter, but, oh he loved her still.
No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
I know - they are all as old as the hills and bad puns - but they all tickled me when I read them again this week.
It got me to thinking, what's happened to my sense of humor? I used to seek out jokes and actively memorize them. The last time that happened escapes me. It seems that as we age, our sense of humor doesn't so much change as we tend to stop memorizing jokes (that description fits me at least).
It seem that lately, I watch Comedy Central and laugh at many different kinds of jokes - the wild antics of "South Park", the low humor of the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour", and the political commentary of John Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
I haven't found any situation comedies that I find all that funny. Certainly none that re-create the mix of drama and comedy of a "M*A*S*H" or "Barney Miller". The comedies that are out there now just seem dumb. I know that there are successful programs, but I just can't find any that consistently have a mix of pathos and comedy that I like.
Cest la vie.
No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
I know - they are all as old as the hills and bad puns - but they all tickled me when I read them again this week.
It got me to thinking, what's happened to my sense of humor? I used to seek out jokes and actively memorize them. The last time that happened escapes me. It seems that as we age, our sense of humor doesn't so much change as we tend to stop memorizing jokes (that description fits me at least).
It seem that lately, I watch Comedy Central and laugh at many different kinds of jokes - the wild antics of "South Park", the low humor of the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour", and the political commentary of John Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
I haven't found any situation comedies that I find all that funny. Certainly none that re-create the mix of drama and comedy of a "M*A*S*H" or "Barney Miller". The comedies that are out there now just seem dumb. I know that there are successful programs, but I just can't find any that consistently have a mix of pathos and comedy that I like.
Cest la vie.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
How to Build a Recipe
I haven't written very many original recipes. Actually only two or three that I can think of. I actually like writing recipes though, so I going to do more of them.
The first thing you need is a premise. The first recipe that I wrote was for Barbequing spareribs. I wanted to enter the ribs into a "burn-off" like the one they have annually in Cleveland OH.
So I started researching the dish. I looked in several cook books and watched some PBS cooking shows. When the process was understood, I started looking for ways it could be customized to make my process original or at least identifiably my own, the way that would make the ribs mine.
I read about the "secret ingredients" - swamp water, rendered pork fat, combinations of spices and herbs, etc. I decided against using any of these in favor of straight forward flavors - clean and simple.
Finally, I wrote up the recipe and made my first batch. It was very well received, but I immediately started tweaking the ingredients.
I heard about other methods to achieve even better flavor, or optimum tenderness, so I went into the experimentation phase. I finally hit upon the combination that made my ribs good, and distinctively mine.
I have given out my rib recipe to quite a few people, and they say that they've done pretty well with it. Most people just say that it looks like a lot of work. Maybe it is, but I think the results are worth it.
I'm sorry that I haven't entered it into any contest, but that seems to be the really hard part. Where are the qualifiying contests and how does one enter them? This is what I need to find out.
I'm working on a new rib recipe to lower the sodium level in the ribs - Hypertension isn't any fun at all. Back to the experiments - I'll let you know when its' done.
The first thing you need is a premise. The first recipe that I wrote was for Barbequing spareribs. I wanted to enter the ribs into a "burn-off" like the one they have annually in Cleveland OH.
So I started researching the dish. I looked in several cook books and watched some PBS cooking shows. When the process was understood, I started looking for ways it could be customized to make my process original or at least identifiably my own, the way that would make the ribs mine.
I read about the "secret ingredients" - swamp water, rendered pork fat, combinations of spices and herbs, etc. I decided against using any of these in favor of straight forward flavors - clean and simple.
Finally, I wrote up the recipe and made my first batch. It was very well received, but I immediately started tweaking the ingredients.
I heard about other methods to achieve even better flavor, or optimum tenderness, so I went into the experimentation phase. I finally hit upon the combination that made my ribs good, and distinctively mine.
I have given out my rib recipe to quite a few people, and they say that they've done pretty well with it. Most people just say that it looks like a lot of work. Maybe it is, but I think the results are worth it.
I'm sorry that I haven't entered it into any contest, but that seems to be the really hard part. Where are the qualifiying contests and how does one enter them? This is what I need to find out.
I'm working on a new rib recipe to lower the sodium level in the ribs - Hypertension isn't any fun at all. Back to the experiments - I'll let you know when its' done.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Militant Vegans
In a disturbing trend, militant vegetarianism has become mainstream.
There was a story about a firehouse in Austin Texas that has become "vegan". The premise was that the shift lieutenant's father, a doctor, had written a book about how he feels that meat is bad for humans to consume. He had convinced his family of this and his son had convinced his com padres in the firehouse.
This doctor was convinced that he should attempt to get meat outlawed in the same manner as cigarettes and smoking. Not illegal, but ostracised. The doctor figured that this was possible with in three or four years. I think that that premise is fatally flawed - but that's his opinion.
What bothers me is that this is not the first militant vegan story that I've heard; and it hinges on so-called "Animal Rights". Animals don't have rights. Animals have protections that are afforded them by legislatures that have seen fit to criminalize animal cruelty.
If you don't think that animals should be harvested (I know that means killed, skinned, and dismembered) for leather or fur or meat, so be it. I don't agree with you, but you have a right to your opinion - as long as you allow me mine.
There was a story about a firehouse in Austin Texas that has become "vegan". The premise was that the shift lieutenant's father, a doctor, had written a book about how he feels that meat is bad for humans to consume. He had convinced his family of this and his son had convinced his com padres in the firehouse.
This doctor was convinced that he should attempt to get meat outlawed in the same manner as cigarettes and smoking. Not illegal, but ostracised. The doctor figured that this was possible with in three or four years. I think that that premise is fatally flawed - but that's his opinion.
What bothers me is that this is not the first militant vegan story that I've heard; and it hinges on so-called "Animal Rights". Animals don't have rights. Animals have protections that are afforded them by legislatures that have seen fit to criminalize animal cruelty.
If you don't think that animals should be harvested (I know that means killed, skinned, and dismembered) for leather or fur or meat, so be it. I don't agree with you, but you have a right to your opinion - as long as you allow me mine.
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