Random thoughts from a random mind

LMAO: Tuesday 6 September 2011

2011-09-06T23:21:00.005-04:00

So I'm zipping through the light at the end of Belmont Ave right past Mount Auburn Cemetery, heading into class, when a Tim McGraw song on the radio has me doing a serious belly laugh. You can listen for yourself as long as the YouTube link works, but the short story is this guy who's actually dying is running through the things he's checked off his bucket list, and one of them is "I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu."

I'm pretty sure the belly laugh went the full eight seconds and it was loud enough that some folks in other cars were looking at me and smiling politely.

Dunno. It made me laugh. Of course, strangers look at me funny and smile politely, so your mileage may vary...

Makes me think of yesterday, when what made me laugh was the admonition on the Mike's Hard Lemonade: "Mike's is hard. So is prison. Don't drink and drive." So I think you're all stuck with a semi-regular column here, unless things that make me laugh stop showing up in my life.

The Mosquito Post

2011-07-13T22:09:00.002-04:00

Everyone experiences mosquitos in Italy. They’re actually worse than the tour groups. Resign yourself now to the fact that while you’ll eat very well, you’ll give back via those vile little bloodsuckers. If it is any consolation, your blood will spawn the next wave that will plague the tourists that follow you, and some Italians too.

Why are they suck a problem? Well, for one thing, window and door screens are a rarity. And it’s hot. So you have some choices to make. Open windows with the chance of some air and the certainty of mosquitos--or a bedroom sauna.

That said, there are some things you can do to help yourself. Italian supermarkets sell little devices you can plug into the wall. They take little tabs that are good for most of the night and seem to help a lot. Get one and a box of refills. I have not been able to find the new Off! Clip-On refills in Italy.

It seems the mosquitos know where all the best restauranti and gelaterie are, so you’re going to get bit. I’ve found that Off! AfterBite works well, as does their Italian product, Dopopuntura. The American product is basically ammonia, which also works well if you’re in a pinch. The Italian product is more of a gel that has other active ingredients. If you’re like me, with that sangue-dolce, then bring some of the American product and get some of the Italian while you’re here.

The Tomato Connection

2011-07-07T13:18:00.001-04:00

I love Tuscany by train. For one thing—and this makes no sense—I find myself listening to Little Feat when I’m on the train. Little Feat. The beautiful Italian countryside with vineyards and olive orchards and walled cities. Does it really surprise me that there’s a Ben & Jerry’s within the shadow of the Duomo in Florence?

Coca-Cola in Italy

2011-07-05T17:28:00.001-04:00

Coca-Cola is my guilty pleasure. But I’ve noticed several places charging upwards of €3 for a 500ml bottle, and as high as €3.80… Crazy. Wine is cheaper by far—it’s possible to get a decent bottle of Vin Santo at the Consorzio Agrario Siena for less than that. Of course, the Consorzio will sell you a bottle of coke for €0.85, so another lesson learned is: look for such things in the little supermarkets you’ll come across.

Another (less American) option is Lemon-soda. It’s like carbonated lemonade. Just as good but without the caffeine, I tend to drink a little more of this and a little less of coke as our vacations progress. But no one ever mistakes me for an Italian…

Traveling Notes

2011-06-11T14:41:00.005-04:00

Some random tips garnered from my travels:

If you have one of those hiker's headlamps, pack it in your carry-on! They are invaluable on overnight flights when they flight attendants turn down the lights and occasionally while poking through an unfamiliar room late at night.
Wash clothes are rare in some parts. (Italy in particular...) Pack your own in a ziplock bag.
Mini moleskin notebooks are great for scribbling notes, phone numbers, addresses and hours, recipes--just about anything. I find one 80 page note is good for a few weeks.
The Italian Mosquito, well that's an entire post unto itself.

As always, your mileage may vary...

Switching registrarsfor aleastory.com

2011-03-17T01:51:00.001-04:00

It's probably not going to be smooth, but I should be back up (and actually posting) on the 25th.

Interview Questions

2011-03-01T23:38:00.002-05:00

I personally have most of these questions at one time or another in my long and notorious career as a software engineer. Can't remember where we stole these from. Shame. I'd love to credit them.

Walk me through a time when you were working on a small team, and the team disagreed with your ideas
Tell me about a time when you had to give negative feedback to your direct superior
Tell me about a time the system crushed your spirit and turned you into a bitter misanthrope
Tell me about a time you overcame your bitter misanthropy and pretended to care about management's fad du jour
What is the most entertaining pointed question you ever asked management in a meeting?
Have you ever played buzzword bingo?
Brainstorm how your diversity will synergize customer-focused quality transactions with our core competencies
Tell me about a flawed evaluation metric* you have seen and what it actually rewarded
How do you prefer to procrastinate?
If you were to "sell out", how much would you want? No, really - how much?

[*] Works best in tag team interviews. The person not asking this question should be scribbling on a clipboard or playing with an iPad or laptop and yell out "Bingo!" at the word "metric".

Thank you dad, may I 'ave some more?

2011-02-01T09:36:00.003-05:00

So we have this thing called a "kibble nibble"--it's basically a plastic egg shaped thing with holes on either end. You can open it up and fill it with kibble, and then set it down and your dog can feed himself by rolling it around and gobbling up what falls out. It turns Furbo's 90 second hoover at the bowl into about 3-4 minutes banging around in the living room.

So this morning I turn him loose with it, and hear him banging around in the dining room, getting close to the kitchen where I'm fixing my breakfast. He goes quiet for a bit, and then the kibble nibble rolls a little more, right into my heals. I turn around, and Furbo is sitting very nicely in the doorway to the dining room, looking up at me like the kid from the Dickens' novel.

"Nice job buddy. I'll put that away."

I pick it up and put it on top of the kibble container. Figuring that he's not getting more, he snorts, wanders over and gets a drink and then wanders off. I figure I'll see him on the couch as I head back up to the office with my coffee, but he's no where to be found.

Finally I see him. Snoring in his crate. Tali babbo, tali figlio...

Road Warrior

2011-01-13T00:26:00.004-05:00

Finally back home.

Enjoyed the way north today, mostly to myself, up through about exit 8 on the NJ turnpike. We should have snow emergencies every time I travel back and forth to VA. Dry roads all the way to just this side of the Tappan Zee, no snow on the road until CT.

Despite listening to "Sweet Baby James", the turnpike was not covered from 84 to Boston. In fact, the entire road surface was clear to pavement. Can't speak to how it's doing out towards Stockbridge.

It was, however, completely covered from Hartford all the way to the MA border. With 10 miles of that down, it did indeed seem like 10,000 to go. I won't say it was nightmarish. But it definitely wasn't dream-like. Lots of us bushwhacking our way to Boston at 30-45mph. And Reins Deli was closed. And that stupid Exxon next door doesn't have a bathroom. Ended up eating a leftover tuna fish sandwich with some chips and a coke from the floor board cooler while sitting at the rest stop just after.

11 hours total.

Big shout out to Lieutenant I-Forgot-Your-Name, who pulled me over just east of Danbury on the trip down. He read me the riot act for passing on the right and generally driving like a jerk, but very kindly didn't write me up. I got my mind right and spent (most of) the rest of the trip down and back in the right lane (getting passed while) sticking pretty close to the speed limit. He'd be happy, I think.

Hot Chocolate

2010-12-27T16:36:00.003-05:00

Without a doubt the best memory of my grandma is coming in late at night around the holidays after a long trip from somewhere. We always seemed to be coming from far away. Didn't matter how late, though. She'd put a pot of milk on the (cast iron coal burning) stove, pull down the sugar canister and the Hershey's cocoa and make the very best hot chocolate that I've ever had. I don't remember the exact details but I make a pretty good cup myself.

Of course, I have to use fancy chocolate and all that, because I don't have that grandma magic...

My recipe:

Coal burning cast iron stove (optional, but you'll need your own magic)
One cup whole milk. (c'mon, don't fool around here...)
2 tblsp sugar
4 tblsp Ghiardelli cocoa
1 tsp vanilla

Put the milk on the stove on medium heat, then add the sugar and the cocoa. Whisk vigorously to dissolve the cocoa and keep it from sticking to the sides. You can take a short break from this to fill your mug with hot tap water. Once the hot cocoa has reached the desired temperature, cut the heat, dump the tap water and then add the vanilla to the mug. Pour the hot cocoa into the mug, give it a quick whisk and enjoy.

If I have some in the fridge, I'll often pour a "shot" of half and half or heavy cream in with the milk. Another common variation is the addition of a 1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.

Give it a whirl and then you can play with substitutions, like all half and half instead of the milk, more or less cocoa, etc.

Santa's Checkride

2010-12-23T11:41:00.002-05:00

[This story has probably been around longer than I'm alive. I did do a little editing, but it's certainly not original. Wish I knew exactly who to credit.]

Pilots have to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, which initially involves a lot of school and practice and--finally--a ride with an examiner who distracts the potential pilot with a lot of questions while they're flying. The examiner also makes the pilot do things like induce a stall and then get out of it. Pretty much anything the examiner wants to test is fair game. He could, if he wanted, just reach over and turn off the engine. Once a pilot has his/her certificate, they get to be reexamined every so often.

Santa Claus, like all pilots, gets regular visits from the Federal Aviation Administration, and it was shortly before Christmas when the FAA examiner was scheduled to arrive. In preparation, Santa had the elves wash the sled and bathe all the reindeer. Santa got his logbook out and made sure all his paperwork was in order.

The examiner arrived. He walked around the sled slowly, paying attention to every detail. He carefully checked the reindeer harnesses, the landing gear, and Rudolf's nose. He painstakingly reviewed Santa's weight and balance calculations for sled's enormous payload.

Finally, they were ready for the checkride.

Santa got in and fastened his seatbelt and shoulder harness and checked the compass. Then the examiner hopped in carrying, to Santa's surprise, a shotgun. Santa's brow furrowed and he turned his head askew.

"What's that for?"

The examiner winked.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but you're gonna lose an engine on takeoff."

math-related

2010-12-09T11:24:00.002-05:00

So I recently came across a new comic strip online: Abstruse Goose. Today's strip was a riff on an old joke I first heard from Andy Engelward: Mathematicians are machines that turn coffee into theorems. Well, that bent a little gansta, so maybe folks are listening to the Klein Four Group. (I'm a big fan of their tune, "Mathematics Paradise"...)

Given the season, perhaps you could give their 12 Days of Christmas a listen...

btw, Abstruse Goose strip #323 should be read by all COBOL programmers who are fans ST-TNG.

Since this is mainly a math post, let's get a few other links out there:

If you use LaTeX a lot but can never remember the crazy LaTeX name for some random symbol, just draw it! That link was passed along to me by a friend in Florence.

TED always has something interesting about math education. I found Conrad Wolfram a little less compelling than Dan Meyer, but both are worthwhile.

A Great and Glorious Game

2010-11-04T12:13:00.003-04:00

101 days to Pitchers and Catchers! A prime day to be thinking about baseball.

With some encouragement from the Joy of Sox blog, I picked up Bart Giamatti's aforementioned title in order to read his essay The Green Fields of the Mind. Grab it. Read that essay and then poke around some of the others, like Tom Seaver's Farewell, or Baseball and the American Character.

whoa! I read a book!

2010-02-01T00:41:00.003-05:00

So Jen just plows through book after book after... And she hands me this Grisham book--Ford County. It's a collection of short stories set in the same town as A Time to Kill and she wants me to read this one particular story.

I, on the other hand, read like I'm walking up a 60% grade above 6000 feet. But I'm breaking in these new prescription reading glasses and... Zip. It was done. I remembered her laughing at a scene in another, so I figured I'd read that one too. Zip. Unfortunately, it had to go back to the library the next day.

Saturday afternoon, I managed to wheedle the librarian into letting me return it and check it out on my card. Even though I didn't have it with me. One of the advantages of being a frequent patron, I expect...

So it's done now. Kind of reads like a Stephen King, except that Grisham is really fond of adverbs. So if you're looking for a voyeuristic trip into the seedier side of the south, give it a read:

The deputy was seconds behind them, but out of sight. They turned sharply to the right, and the truck's lights swept across a small farmhouse tucked low under huge oak trees.

Some of you know why this turns up the corners of my mouth. If you'd rather take a voyeuristic trip into a similarly seedy side of New England, give Don White's CD, Live from the Somerville Theatre, a spin. But remember:

Words cannot hurt fictional people.

Add this to Stephen King's On Writing, and you have the books I've finished so far this year. Of course, there was an entire class in January. Cut me some slack.

Donuts and Pickled Beets

2009-12-21T10:56:00.005-05:00

Back in 1984, I worked with this Swedish expatriate who drove a shiny new Cadillac. If you asked him, Sven would tell you that one thing he loved about America was the big honkin' cars. Then he'd offer you a donut, because he always picked up a box for the group on his way in.

It was kind of funny preference for cars, because Sven was barely five foot, barrel shaped and balding with a pasty complexion. Being from Sweden, he'd only own something with rear wheel drive.

"Safer," he'd tell you. "If you break the wheels free that move the

car, you can still steer."

I took the bus to work on a wicked snow day. The place was quiet as a mouse, so I thought I was alone. But when I checked on some equipment in a back room that overlooked the parking lot, I had to smile.

There were only two tire tracks coming in the entrance, but it looked like 20 crazy teenagers had been out there doing donuts. Out of all that were two tire tracks that led right up to Sven's Caddy.

I wandered back to where Sven sat and waited until he looked up.

"Nice donuts," I said.

His whole head turned red as pickled beets.

The Problem with Gelato

2009-08-19T17:34:00.001-04:00

The problem with gelato: by the time you get your hands on it, it’s too late. Maybe American travelers’s love affair with gelato has more to do with the need for some icy refreshment in the Fiorentini heat than a pervasive standard of quality. We stopped at Caribe after 17,000 steps from the Duomo to the Boboli Gardens and back (with a doomed detour to Mizzica, which was closed for the holiday). I would have been happy if they had handed me a five pound block of ice and a pick. The gelato was certainly very good. I also had a wonderful strawberry granita on our way out the door, in bit of overkill. The service was perhaps the best since the girl behind the counter in Rome told the local boys who cut in front us to wait their turn. But the gelato wasn’t earth shattering. I dunno. Maybe I’ve become something of a gelato snob in the mere weeks that I’ve spent in Italy. Do I really expect the sky to open and a heavenly choir to sing every time I put a gelato spoon in my mouth?

That isn’t to say there aren’t quality stops on the Gelato Train. The aforementioned Mizzica*, also run by Sicilians, brings back wonderful memories of our 2008 trip to Florence. Lunch at Teatro del Sale had left me with only enough appetite for something. Unlike Jen, I’m not one to forego a meal, especially in Italy. But asking Lucia for “some pasta” would have created more food than was warranted. Since Luca is a genius at finding these great places for gelato in Florence, and we were going to be introduced to Mizzica, I figured that I could (or at least certainly should) get by with just the gelato. Well, what did they have behind the counter but arancini!? Maybe my first. The first I remember, in any case. The stars were torn asunder and the heavenly choir wandered down to see what I was singing about. Even the guy behind the counter noticed how happy I was. I stole my coffee granita between layers of whipped cream dessert from these guys. Luca had ordered that, and after I had a taste or three, and Jen and Lucia had their tastes, we had to order a second. Mine pales by comparison, so if you get the chance, Borgo Ognissanti 137, Firenze. You too can get an earful of the heavenly choir.

Already this year, there have been a couple of astounding places in Piacenza, Como and Verona. I think you need to have an Italian friend. Lacking that, look for lots of stylish people speaking Italian standing around. We used the other side of this idea in Verona, when we were looking for lunch. Riverside location. Nice menu, good prices. No one was eating there, so we kept walking. Follow the locals.

* 137 Borgo Ognissanti, Firenze. From the Duomo, walk to the Ponte Vecchio, turn right and walk along the Arno. At the second bridge, turn right and then take an immediate left. You’ll pass a police station. Mizzica is just across from a garage…

Salmon ala Newman

2009-04-25T12:03:00.007-04:00

You need to put on a fancy-esque kind of dinner, you hate prep and cleaning up*. Whadya do?

Well, my go-to fancy dish is salmon. Get a big fillet.

Make a glaze of equal parts prepared mustard and olive oil. I like to combine a couple of different kinds of mustard. Colmans prepared mustard is smooth and spicy. A dijon mustard is a nice substitute for that. To the Colmans, I add something a little grainier; my current fave is a mass market plastic barrel with a Polish-esque name. If you're really thinking ahead, finding or making a tarragon mustard would be ideal.

I'm never that organized.

Pair the quarter cup of the mustard with a similar quantity of olive oil. The recipe that I work from says to add 6 cloves of chopped garlic, a quarter teaspoon of ground red pepper, the juice of one lemon and a teaspoon of capers, along with salt to taste.

I say "the recipe that I work from" because while I almost always use all of these ingredients, I would swear that I never use the same amounts twice.

Coat the fish with the mixture (I usually just do the flesh side of the fillet), let it sit for a bit and then bake it at 375 degrees F for about 45 minutes. It's also grillable.

* although she's invited, it's unfair to always rely on Tona to go play in the sink after dinner...

Basmati Rice

2009-04-23T21:57:00.003-04:00

Rice is pretty much the staple carbo here in our house, so I've gotten pretty used to whipping up a batch. I've been told my method is wrong, but it works for me.

Twice as much water, plus a little, as the rice. Salt to taste.

Bring to a boil, turn it back to low low low. When the water is absorbed, cut the heat. Let it rest a bit, fluff and serve.

So what do I mean by "plus a little"? It's hard to quantify. When I started cooking at Jen's, I discovered she had a handy little plastic measuring cup that has something of a flute the last quarter of an inch. I fill with rice to the bottom of the flute, then flush full with water twice.

Plus a little. Yeah. Then there's my electric stove trick. Bring it to a boil on a heavy duty burner while you have the smallest one on the lowest setting. Move the pot when it comes to a boil. Obviously, gas is easier.

Often I soak the rice. Basically, if I know I'm making rice that night, I'll measure out the ingredients in the early afternoon. Occasionally I'll rinse it, but I've been getting the Trader Joe's 2lb bag of basmati rice these days and it doesn't seem to be as bad as the rice you get in that 20lb burlap bag at your local Indian grocer. Of course, it's harder to get fresh kari leaves or papadam at TJ's, so it's a push.

Brake and Go

2009-04-20T16:16:00.005-04:00

You know those guys. They drive slow. Brake lights for the green light. It goes yellow, they slow some more. Then at the last minute they hit the gas and go, leaving you at the red light. Dante should have created special little arc of one circle just for them.

Paige Fox is bad at math...

2009-04-19T17:52:00.004-04:00

Just in case you were wondering about the Sunday edition of Foxtrot.

DOB, Gender, ZIP code...

2009-04-18T17:18:00.003-04:00

That's fairly innocuous information, right? According to Latanya Sweeney, that's enough information to uniquely identify 87.1% of persons living in the United States.

I recently ran across a website that wanted that information. It seemed innocuous, but it's clear what they want to do. The fact that they're willing to beat around the bush to figure out who I was made me even more resolved to diss them.

fwiw, February 29th, 1960 is a valid birthday. I suggest you find the leap day nearest your birthday and try to preserve a little anonymity yourself.

Lazy Dog Inn

2009-04-03T11:56:00.007-04:00

So we all wandered north last weekend stayed at the Lazy Dog Inn. It's just before the Dam Store just south of Chocura, just south of Conway. We had a great time--wonderful hosts and just enough snow left to enjoy. We also picked up some maple syrup from a local producer.

Since I haven't posted in April yet, or posted a photo of the puppy, I thought I'd give you this one...

Here's a photo from Diana's Bath's, up beyond North Conway from Chocura... We visited a couple of waterfalls over the weekend, including Sabbaday Falls out west of Conway on the Kangamangus Highway.

State of the Political Discussion Art

2009-03-26T12:21:00.002-04:00

In a class I'm taking, the professor laments the absence of a centrist blogging population. The point of this is that political blogs tend to the far right or left. Everyone is preaching to the choir as it were, and there's no room for political discourse. Worse, there's no oversight of these guys, and no recourse for inaccurate or blatantly wrong material.

Walking our beagle the other day, it dawned on me that political reporters in general and bloggers in particular are lot like beagles: generally their nose is to the ground or their leg is in the air, and every once in a while they take a dump on something.

Cauliflower

2009-03-25T12:29:00.003-04:00

This dish was part of the Grrls Night In dinner. I lived off of this dish one summer after finding this recipe in Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc, 1980) Page 301.

It's really yummy and reasonably easy to make. I begin the prep for this once the salmon goes into the oven. Prep is really important to the success of this dish. There's a lot going on at the beginning, and you need to have everything set out and ready to go.

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

One head cauliflower

2 bunches of scallions

tsp black mustard seeds

2 tsp white split gram beans.

1/2 tsp tumeric

1-2 green chilis or 1/4 tsp cayenne

6-8 kari leaves

salt to taste

You will also need a splatter screen.

Separate the cauliflower into small florets. Rinse in cold water. Then trim the scallions. You'll use the entire scallion. I usually cut the white portion into 1/8" rounds and the green into half inch strips. Measure out the other ingredients into individual containers.

Heat the oil in a heavy bottom skillet or pot, large enough to hold all the ingredients. Add the mustard seeds. This is where you need the splatter screen, or a maid service. Once the popping begin to subside, add the split peas. When they start to brown, add the tumeric, chilis and salt. Saute very briefly and then add a little water to make a paste.

Add the cauliflower and stir to coat. It will turn yellow with the tumeric. Cover and reduce the heat until it starts to get tender. Then add the scallion and kari leaves. Turn the heat up to evaporate extra moisture from the pan. Cook until the scallions brighten.

My understanding is that kari leaves and cilantro are the same thing.

Battlestar Galactica

2009-03-23T10:59:00.001-04:00

So hey. The new Battlestar Galactica has passed into canon.

A while back, when Babylon 5 was about to pass, many of us were wondering how JMS was going to get away with his plan to have a five year story arch, and not end up with an ongoing series where the story telling disintegrated into some Space Soap Opera. Many of us thought the fan base wouldn't accept that, so we started thinking he was going to just kill it in the end in some brutal way that turned off all the fans.

My favorite scenario was Lorne Greene coming in at the last minute on the Battlestar Galactica and saving the day. Of course, we saw what happened to the Galactica last Friday. So I guess that's off the table...

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T11:08:00.003-04:00

This can be read:

Integral zee-squared dee-zee
from one to the cube root of three
times the cosine
of three pie over nine
equals log of the cube root of ‘e’.

Credit for this has to go to Betsy Devine and Joel E. Cohen’s book “Absolute Zero Gravity”. (Simon and Schuster, 1992) page 37. But I found it, along with some other really bad math limericks, at http://www.trottermath.net/humor/limricks.html.

Number 20 is good if you like riddles...

Pi Day, 2009

2009-03-14T22:31:00.003-04:00

So today is Pi Day. The real Pi, not some silly government mandated thing. Sheesh. January 23? 1.23? Please. 3.141592653, according to the Klein Four Group's rendition of "Mathematics Paradise".

For the love of Pi, I made a crostata. See my other post, "Life is Uncertain," for details on how to make yours.

Dickens & Ingalls

2009-02-07T10:21:00.001-05:00

Between their two birthdays today, I think we have both Jen and Danila covered...

More Ice Cream!

2009-02-02T01:05:00.004-05:00

I've twisted Alton Brown's recipe for a richer ice cream from the Food Network's web site and come up with the following:

2 cups heavy cream, 1 cup milk

6 egg yolks

6+ ounces of vanilla sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

Bring the milk and cream to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Then, cut the heat. While the cream is warming, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until it loses some of that yellow color.

Whisk a little of the warm cream mixture into the egg mixture thoroughly. Repeat the process until half of the cream has been added. Whisk in the remainder and then return to the sauce pan. (this is known in the trade as "tempering"...)

Put medium heat to the mixture and cook, constantly stirring, until it reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit. (It will thicken and cover the back of a spoon such that you can swipe your finger across it and it will leave a track)

Pour into a your mixing bowl and let stand uncovered for 30 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract and refrigerate uncovering until it is cool enough not form condensation on the lid. Then cover and chill until it reaches 40 degrees.

Then into the ice cream maker, etc, etc, yum yum blah blah blah.

If you do this the night before, and make the ice cream the morning of, it will set up nicely by dinner.

Ice Cream! Ice Cream!

2009-01-30T00:26:00.003-05:00

Vanilla goes best, we think. This is too simple to post, but in the interests of completeness:

1 cup whole milk, 2 cups heavy cream.

3/4 cup sugar

tsp double strength vanilla

Combine, pour into ice cream freezer. Dump into plastic bowl, cover, place in freezer.

We have one of those small Cuisinart ice cream freezers. It works great! Get the one with the extra freezer bowl so you can make ice cream every day. I usually make this earlier in the day, because straight out of the ice cream freezer it's more like soft-serve. Nothing wrong with that, but for the crostata...

Also, I save the vanilla beans from the Penzeys bottles, along with any others I might use, dry them and dump them in a special jar. I have quite the collection of dry vanilla beans going now, and I keep them with sugar. After several weeks, I sieve that jar into another, and then refill the special jar with plain sugar and the dry vanilla beans in the sieve. Presto! Vanilla sugar. Great for ice cream. (or cookies, or...)

When summer gets closer, I'll tell you more about the ice cream that I cook first, and how to make chocolate or strawberry ice cream...

hot fresh bread?

2009-01-28T15:25:00.005-05:00

All right. I'm not sure why everyone raves about my bread. It's really nothing all that special, and I don't even work hard to make it. But it was part of that dinner that Jen's friends all wanted to know what the recipes were, so...

It's a simple set of ingredients, but again, you'll want a scale that can measure in grams. 183g of water, heaping tsp of kosher salt, tablespoon of olive oil, tablespoon of honey, 265g bread flour, heaping teaspoon of active dry yeast.

Toss those things, in that order, into your bread maker. That's right. Bread maker. And here's a trick: Take a shot glass, pour in that roughly tablespoon of oil. Then pour the honey in on top of that. Then pour the contents of the shot glass into the bread maker. Set it for a 1lb french loaf and let it fly. Come back right before it starts to bake, and dump it onto a floured surface.

Pop the bubbles, flatten it out, fold it over onto itself by thirds, then again the other way. Roll it until you get a foot long tube-ish thing about three inches thick. Set that on a baking sheet and let is rise another 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Make an egg wash and baste it onto the loaf, sprinkle with the sesame seeds, make three cuts across the top, on the bias, and pop it into the oven for 22 minutes. Check doneness by inserting a thermometer. You're looking for 210 degrees.

Life is Uncertain...

2009-01-02T11:32:00.012-05:00

Make dessert first. First off, credit for this recipe goes to Danila. Wander back to wine picks and you can see Danila... You'll need a scale that can measure accurately to a gram for this recipe. A food processor helps tremendously.

400g AP flour

150g sugar

1/2 tsp "lievito per torte"*

The zest of one lemon.

200g unsalted butter.

1 egg + 1 yolk

13oz jar of your favorite preserves.

Measure out the flour and sugar and "lievito" directly into the food processor. Zest the lemon directly into the food processor. Give them a spin to combine.

Cube the butter and add it in, then use the food processor to cut it into mix. Here's a hint. 200g is roughly two sticks. I often reserve a tablespoon from one stick to lube the tart pan, and just cube the rest unmeasured.

Add the eggs and process them in as well. Sometimes it looks a little dry, but keep going. It will come together, usually caking up along the wall of the processor. Sometimes I knock the side of the FP with my hand to help it churn. If after a minute or so it still seems dry, toss in another yolk.

Once it comes together somewhat, dump it back into the bowl you used to measure the flour, form a dough ball and cover with a wet paper towel and set it in the fridge for 30+ minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius, approximately 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lube the tart pan liberally. Take the dough out of the fridge and reserve a baseball sized chunk. Press the remaining dough into your tart pan by hand. No rolling required. You want a nice rim around the outside and a nice "bowl" to pour the preserves into. Speaking of which, pour them in.

Press or roll the remaining dough out on a sheet of parchment paper. Cut cookie shapes out and place them on top of the crostata. You can also roll little dough balls in your hand and press them into coin sized shapes to fill in some gaps. Heat a little water and honey in the micrwave and brush onto the cookie shapes and pie crust. Sprinkle with some coarse sugar. You can also just roll out strips and create a lattice.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.

* About that "lievito". It's an optional ingredient. I think it's basically baking soda and some vanilla flavoring, so you could just go with a 1/2 tsp of baking soda and 1/2 tsp of vanilla in the mix. Haven't tried that, but we have omitted the ingredient without trouble. I've included a picture of a small packet. I get two sometimes three crostate out of that. Check out your local Italian grocer. They'll probably have that or something similar.

Make sure you don't get the pizza yeast. This leavening is not yeast!

I've done this without a food porocessor. Proceed like cookie dough: Whisk the dry ingredients to combine, cream the sugar and butter, add eggs and zest, combine, then mix in the dry. In fact, I've probably botched every step of this process at one time or another. It doesn't seem to matter. Just keep churning with that food processor and it will all work out in the end.

Thanks for sharing, Danila!

Girls Night In

2008-10-03T21:48:00.004-04:00

Got to cook for Jen and the girls last year... Folks have been clamoring for some of the recipes, so it's time to blog again:

The menu was Salmon ala Newman & Merchant, the cauliflower and scallion dish that I stole from Julie Sahni and saffroned basmati rice. For dessert, a raspberry crostata with homemade vanilla ice cream. There was some homemade bread--sort of, I cheat and let the breadmaker do the heavy lifting of kneading and rising. Then I step in at the last minute and steal the show, forming the loaf and baking it off.

How were things made? Stay tuned. I'll let you in on all my secrets. I may even give credit to the people I stole them from...

Pepperoncini Beef

2008-02-21T22:38:00.003-05:00

This is a great recipe, drop dead simple. But you have to plan, and I'm not very good with exact measurements on this one.

So. Twenty four hours before you want to eat, you need: A paring knife, a cutting board, a crock pot, a splash of olive oil, some salt and pepper, a 2lb slab-o-beef, and about a third of a 24oz jar of pepperoncini. What you're looking for in that slab-o-beef is nice marbling. I've used chuck with great success. What you're looking for is something that can cover the bottom of your crock, about an inch or so thick.

Crock pot on low, splash the oil. Rinse the slab and pat dry with paper towels. Salt it generously on both sides and into the crock pot. Grind some pepper on top. You want maybe 8 ounces of pepperoncini juice in the crock pot. Now, stem and seed all the pepperoncini that are above the juice line. I stem, slice the remainder in half and use my thumb. Toss the halves into the crock pot.

Wash your hands! Particularly before you touch your eyes or visit the bathroom for purposes other than washing your hands. Don't say I didn't warn you... Put the jar of pepperoncini in the fridge, cover the crock pot and walk away.

The next day, get a nice loaf of ciabatta bread or some crusty french loaf and make some sandwiches. A little sharp cheddar is nice. Some Parmigiano Reggiano is nicer still.

A sprinkle of rosmarino (or a sprig) wouldn't be the end of the world. Neither would increasing the amount of pepperoncini or being less aggressive about seeding them. Sorry, no pitcure. It hardly ever lasts long enough...

Credit has to go to Michele Martin of PA for this one. Michele, let me say, "Thank you!" for everyone...

Risotto!

2008-01-31T11:56:00.000-05:00

This was dinner last night, a little Risotto with Sausage and Zucchini. It's in its final stages on the stove here. Not the first time I've done this, but the chunk size on the zucchini is a bit larger than what I've done in the past.

I was going for more of a sweat on the zucchini, but I think browning and then adding them back in with a two or three ladles of stock to go will give me more flavor.

The size let them still have some crunch, but the edges disintegrated like potatoes in beef stew. So I think I can have my caramelization and still get zucchini liquid into the rice...

Wine Picks

2008-01-29T11:01:00.000-05:00

We had this really nice wine with some wonderful friends on our last trip to Italy... I recently came across a note with some details, so if you run across a bottle of this on your next trip to the packy, buy it! Buy two, and if you don't like it, pass one on to me.

The gory details that I scrawled are Castelli del Duca colli Piacentini Gutturnio Superiore. There's a lot of Barbera grape in the wine and for some reason my note says "~$10". It didn't drink like a $10 bottle of wine, though.

I think we ate for over three hours that day. I'm looking forward to our return trip.

Time teaches you what is important

2007-12-21T00:17:00.000-05:00

On the latest holiday installment of Top Chef, Marcel comments (as nearly as I can recall) that "if you aren't in the weeds then your dish is too simple", where "in the weeds" can be translated from chef-speak into "so buried by the details that you can't see the big picture". I prefer the chef term "mise-un-place". The real point here is that almost no one's dish--whether it be something created in the kitchen, code on a computer, or an engine block in Detroit--is too simple. We're all buried in the details most of the time.

Which gets us to David Allen's "Three Cheers For Sloth, Indolence, And Procrastination!", where he wants us to slow down to go faster. This came up recently on a crossover episode of "Without a Trace" and "CSI". Grissom must be in cahoots with Allen, but Jack would rather go faster by going faster.

There's a balance in there somewhere and we each have to work this out for ourselves. So sit down and have a conversation with Time. Maybe you can figure out what's really important and what can be safely ignored. You can't get it all done. Like Allen says in his post, "if you actually did get it all done, Time would be out of a job". Time's not going to be collecting unemployment checks any time soon...

George Lucas in Love

2007-12-11T00:16:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that this has been out there on the web for over two years, but it does explain the dearth of copies of the DVD. One more thing I can check off my to-do list.

If you've never seen it, or want a copy for your iPod, it can be found at google.video.com. They really will take over the world...

Funny?

2007-11-13T23:53:00.001-05:00

A convenience store? OK. Not really. But point made. Wouldn't mind getting one of these for Christmas. I wonder how far through Harvard Yard I would get before being stopped...

Four More Years!

2007-10-30T12:53:00.000-04:00

C'mon, Theo. Give Lowell that fourth year. What could possibly go wrong. If you really need an argument, how's this:

You're willing to go three. The fourth year is a risk. OK. Spin the risk and look at it this way, you took a chance on Gagne. How'd that work for you? You took a... OK. We don't need to go down the laundry list. And yes, I know that a lot of really remarkable chances have worked out for you.

But Lowell is a gold glove World Series MVP player. So sign him. Your risk is on the back end, not the front.

If you don't sign him, he should run for president.

Thank you Red Sox!

2007-10-29T00:13:00.000-04:00

Wow. I really didn't believe a sweep was possible, but there you go. A great story tonight with Lester getting the win. Hopefully Papelbon gets the MVP.

15 hours of my life...

2007-10-28T21:10:00.000-04:00

...are on the line in this now 1-0 in our favor game.

C'mon Sox. Give 'em back to me. I've got papers to write this week.

[ed. note: replies will be my observations, complaints and rants during the game]

All over but the statistics now...

2007-10-28T01:03:00.000-04:00

No small limb any more. I'm beginning to wonder if the Sox will even bring this back home. I thought for sure that we'd go six rounds with these guys, but... Lester or Beckett will likely do it there.

So my mind begins to wander. What was the deal with the Rox fans? The Jolly Green Giant? A Star Wars storm trooper with "CR" across his forehead? Why would you even want to associate yourself or your team with the bad guys? There were some other odditied from the stands, but those were the two stand outs. Can someone from Denver explain this to us? Was it Halloween night on Blake Street?

DiceK with a hit? Cool. Cooler would be Lester coming back from cancer to win the last game. But could they get past Beckett to send it east?

Out of Hawpe

2007-10-26T00:17:00.000-04:00

I feel comfortable going out on that small limb and saying the Red Sox are going to win it.

Welcome back to Fenway, boys!

2007-10-24T20:52:00.000-04:00

It's probably a little arrogant to be posting when we're not even out of the first, but I can always delete it later.

[apparently I'm not being punished for my arrogance. The comments to this one are mine from during the game...]

First pitcher candidates

2007-10-23T21:44:00.000-04:00

So who could we get? I think we can give up on Jaun Damòn and Minky. Steinbrenner would never give us permission to talk with them. Likewise Roger, but wouldn't it be nice to give the blade a twist? Hmmm. Maybe Steinbrenner might give us permission to talk to Roger...

And it'd still be a twist'o the knife, but there's a part of me that would just love to see Nomar toss out a pitch at Fenway 'cause we all like him so.

First pitches?

2007-10-23T12:47:00.000-04:00

So apparently Trotty wasn't thrilled with Millar throwing out the first pitch in Game 7. Darn. I was hoping to get Trot to throw out a pitch in the World Series. Oh well.

Indian Summer is Over!

2007-10-22T00:44:00.000-04:00

Yes!! That was a really fun game to watch--lots of tension early, but an explosive finish. Now, if the weather will just turn so I can enjoy my fall classic, I'll be happy!

Garko: it's champagne, not spumante, so... sweeter home or away? Take a wine tasting course in the off season. Or if you must persist in referring to champagne as "sweet", call Beckett, Schilling or Varitek and ask them if ALCS champagne tastes as sweet home or away. They can give you empirical results now.

Do you believe?

2007-10-19T23:17:00.000-04:00

I guess I have to stop complaining about the inherently non-home field advantage of MLB's seven game series 2-3-2 format. But think about it... If the Indians had managed to unsettle Beckett the other night by having his ex-girlfriend sing the national anthem, then the Indians would have won the series while playing more games at home. Even though the Red Sox had home field advantage.

But that's moot now.

I won't repeat stats here. But for all the wonder on the Red Sox side of things, I have to note two things from the game 6:

1. Indians first baseman Ryan Garko handed a ball to a kid in the stands (who was wearing a Red Sox shirt). This after getting very upset that another kid took the ball away from him (in the stands) in Game 2. So his karma has found some balance with me, for all he wouldn't care. Still, it was good to see...

Some day, I really do want to be the fan in the first row shaking his head no at the other team's player who wants to come into the stands a little to get that foul out...

2. Maybe I should see about doing some post season exercises with Indians catcher Victor Martinez. He was slower than Manny around the bases after his HR tonight, and that's saying something. Maybe all that jawing about Manny's pimping the HRs has left him winded.

egads

2007-10-15T23:40:00.001-04:00

So... We're behind now. Can we be the underdogs and start winning again?

A long cold night...

2007-10-14T11:29:00.000-04:00

...but I was there. And I can say, with pride, that not once did I see the Fenway faithful attempt to start the wave. But that's about all I can say.

Rockies still?

2007-10-11T22:36:00.001-04:00

Do I want to send the Red Sox to Denver?

Much of the news isn't...

2007-10-11T09:12:00.001-04:00

Did you ever notice that much of the news isn't really new news.

We don't hear about ebola outbreaks for weeks after the fact. Trust me. Go and find the the latest outbreak reports in your local news media. Then go to the World Health Organization and find out when they were first posting reports. But hey, we know the moment the judge rules on Britney Spears' kids.

This was brought to my attention most recently in class. Everyone is claiming this study linking heart health to marriage health is new. I heard about it weeks ago from our pastor in a sermon.

Sigh. Do we really trust these guys to report?

Cowboys and Indians both win!?

2007-10-09T11:28:00.000-04:00

Peter, I'd attribute the quote to you on that one but I wanted to preserve your anonymity...

Torre is a class act. The Yankees will miss him if Steinbrenner sticks to his guns. Of course, they may be missing a lot of folks by the time they get back to the plate. We'll see.

So Game 1 is on: Beckett and Sabathia should make a good match up.

As for the the Football Team That Shall Not Be Named (again), I found myself in the odd position of being an old time Red Skins fan rooting for the Cowboys. Dick Jauron's timeout call at the last second was poor sportsmanship despite being technically within the rules. Maybe Torre should have a little talk with him. It's clear there are New Yorkers who can do better.

The Angels are...

2007-10-07T22:25:00.001-04:00

I waited the entire game to see Weaver hit Papi, or even Manny, after their post-HR showboating. I even fantasized about whichever one got popped tipping their cap to Weaver as they wandered down to first. But it never happened. So I'm left with a virtual tip o' the cap to Weaver and the Angels.

Now don't get me wrong. I got nothin' against Papi or Manny enjoying those HRs. You just gotta expect to get hit. Part of the game.

And I got nine of the thirty innings I want from the other ALDS series. Keep it up guys.

The Boys of October

2007-10-03T23:15:00.000-04:00

Way to go Beckett. I'm still not sure why Francona left you in for so long. Looks like we're going to have to deal with the slow hook through the post-season again this year. Ah well.

Alan, I've gotten behind your Phillies, some minor wild card rooting notwithstanding. You're not going to let me down are you?

Go Rockies!

2007-10-02T11:29:00.001-04:00

OK. So that's the last of rooting for the Rockies. I'm just happy to see the Padres lose after cutting David Wells. Let's face it. I have to root for the over 40 fat guy.

For the record, I don't think that Holladay tagged, by the way.
I'm pretty sure the umpire was thinking, "I don't know, was he blocked off the plate by the catcher's leg? Is there a camera angle that's going to offer irrefutable proof that he was? Aw, the heck with it... SAFE! SAFE! SAFE! let's go home..."

And he's off...

2007-08-21T21:50:00.000-04:00

...but everyone knew that already.