A Couple of Weeks Off
3 days ago
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
It's Okay - The People Who Make And Sell It Say So!
Lately I've been pretty tweaked at some of the anti-intellectual advertising and marketing that we are inundated with. The ones I notice the most come from two fast food mega-corporations trying to convince you that because you enjoy coffee ordered by an Italian name at a place where you can sit down and enjoy a book or surf the internet you must be some kind of elitist snob. Actually, it means I'd rather give my money to a local business than them. But yes, I do frown on stupid people.
Still, that's not my true beef here.
What really grinds my gears is this new "Jedi Mind Trick" by the Corn Refiners Association to convince us that HFCS is not the droid we're looking for. And they are going about their business.
Actually, to invoke another Hollywood metaphor, they're pulling the "Roy Munson cigarette mind-trick" from Kingpin. Listen here and see if you can spot similarities.
Okay, that may be a little harsh. Fine, the stuff is made from corn. Feed corn to be exact. Fine, there are no artificial ingredients. But producing the stuff is hardly a study in the ways of nature. I'll buy that HFCS is nutritionally similar to sucrose, and doesn't contribute to obesity any more than sucrose. But here's the problem...
Nutritionally, sucrose is teh suxx0rz. Hollow calories that easily enable fat storage in excess.
In other words, there's no reason to worry about HFCS - it's just as shitty for you as sugar.
Which is where we get to the last point: it's fine in moderation. But what is moderation for HFCS? The modern, industrial food chain makes it extremely difficult to moderate HFCS intake. In fact, I loves me some of the yummy stuff it goes into, and I have been consuming too much of it lately. But truly "moderating" your intake of HFCS to the point that a regularly active, healthy person should would definitely hit the Corn Refiners Association where it hurts. Their profits. Which is what they are trying to protect with this (and other) ads. Do you really think they want America's 40lbs per capita annual HFCS consumption to go down? Oh, and remember to add about another 15 lbs per annum of straight corn syrup.
I could go on further about why you should moderate it, like how every calorie of HFCS you take in accounts for an additional 10 calories of petroleum energy expended to create it and get it to your mouth, as well as other "hidden costs" of industrial farming in resources and the environment. But you can't pin those costs solely on HFCS.
So no, I won't single HFCS out. I'll say it deserves equal treatment with all caloric sweeteners - STRICT MODERATION. Again, which is not what they really want.
Corn Refiners' Association, I fart in your general direction, and call your high fructose corn syrup advertisement buying request a silly thing!!! You don't frighten me you empty-headed, animal food trough wiper!
Still, that's not my true beef here.
What really grinds my gears is this new "Jedi Mind Trick" by the Corn Refiners Association to convince us that HFCS is not the droid we're looking for. And they are going about their business.
Actually, to invoke another Hollywood metaphor, they're pulling the "Roy Munson cigarette mind-trick" from Kingpin. Listen here and see if you can spot similarities.
Okay, that may be a little harsh. Fine, the stuff is made from corn. Feed corn to be exact. Fine, there are no artificial ingredients. But producing the stuff is hardly a study in the ways of nature. I'll buy that HFCS is nutritionally similar to sucrose, and doesn't contribute to obesity any more than sucrose. But here's the problem...
Nutritionally, sucrose is teh suxx0rz. Hollow calories that easily enable fat storage in excess.
In other words, there's no reason to worry about HFCS - it's just as shitty for you as sugar.
Which is where we get to the last point: it's fine in moderation. But what is moderation for HFCS? The modern, industrial food chain makes it extremely difficult to moderate HFCS intake. In fact, I loves me some of the yummy stuff it goes into, and I have been consuming too much of it lately. But truly "moderating" your intake of HFCS to the point that a regularly active, healthy person should would definitely hit the Corn Refiners Association where it hurts. Their profits. Which is what they are trying to protect with this (and other) ads. Do you really think they want America's 40lbs per capita annual HFCS consumption to go down? Oh, and remember to add about another 15 lbs per annum of straight corn syrup.
I could go on further about why you should moderate it, like how every calorie of HFCS you take in accounts for an additional 10 calories of petroleum energy expended to create it and get it to your mouth, as well as other "hidden costs" of industrial farming in resources and the environment. But you can't pin those costs solely on HFCS.
So no, I won't single HFCS out. I'll say it deserves equal treatment with all caloric sweeteners - STRICT MODERATION. Again, which is not what they really want.
Corn Refiners' Association, I fart in your general direction, and call your high fructose corn syrup advertisement buying request a silly thing!!! You don't frighten me you empty-headed, animal food trough wiper!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Bob Woodward, Horatio Nelson, 9-11 and Scary People
I was in Washington DC on business for a couple of days this week, as I am a few times a year. A pretty productive trip, with some interesting high (and one low) lights this time.
The first came in the form of a book. I always take one with me on the plane; I get little enough time to read for pleasure, so when I fly I want to take advantage of the time. I'm in the middle of Halsey's Typhoon and had planned on taking it, but in my rush to get out the door I left it on the table. So I picked up The War Within by Bob Woodward. I'm damn glad I did. It's been a fast, well-researched read and I'll be sure to post a review somewhere once I'm done...my first book report in years.
The next evening I attended a reception at the under-construction Cold War Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Navy in the Washington Navy Yard. While the Cold War Gallery won't be open for a while, the museum itself is a real treasure. If you're ever in DC, go. Period. It's on a base, but you can still arrange to get there. However, the highlight was not the reception itself. Talking to a member of the Naval Historical Foundation, I learned that they had found two original letters - one from 1789 and one from 1804 - written (more than likely dictated) by Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson. I asked if I could see them, and I was taken to the office where they were, and shown them. I can't begin to describe how I felt as I started picking through the handwriting. To look upon a piece of original history like this is a once in a lifetime experience. Following the reception, I met up with a childhood and lifetime friend of mine, Mike, now a Navy Doc at Bethesda, and we went and had some seafood on the waterfront and talked about old times. That was the end of the highlights.
The next day, bright and early, I headed to the Pentagon for a quick meeting before having to get on a plane back to Boston. It was 9-11, and the place was gearing up for the opening of the Pentagon 9-11 Memorial shortly after my arrival. My sked didn't allow me to attend the dedication. It was sure to be a slow morning INSIDE the building, but what I saw outside is what made me shake my head in disbelief. While heading in, I noticed a small group of protesters holding signs and talking in loud voices. That's always been fine by me, and I take comfort in the fact that the military makes an effort to set space aside for such activity, if someone chooses to do it. Those feelings left me when I got closer and realized that these people were affiliated with (or had at least bought their signs from) the Westboro Baptist Church. They displayed the telltale colors and slogans, like "Thank God for 9-11" and "God Hates the USA", "9-11 was God" and all the usual crap. If you want to get really angry, watch this 2006 piece from Hannity and Colmes...or as much of it as you can stomach. These idiots are almost enough to make me hate the First Amendment.
Fortunately, they were gone when I came out of my meeting - probably because I got lost finding my way back, it's an easy thing to do - and I was on my way to the airport, anxious to get through my post-9/11 TSA screening so I could curl back up with my book for the flight back.
The first came in the form of a book. I always take one with me on the plane; I get little enough time to read for pleasure, so when I fly I want to take advantage of the time. I'm in the middle of Halsey's Typhoon and had planned on taking it, but in my rush to get out the door I left it on the table. So I picked up The War Within by Bob Woodward. I'm damn glad I did. It's been a fast, well-researched read and I'll be sure to post a review somewhere once I'm done...my first book report in years.
The next evening I attended a reception at the under-construction Cold War Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Navy in the Washington Navy Yard. While the Cold War Gallery won't be open for a while, the museum itself is a real treasure. If you're ever in DC, go. Period. It's on a base, but you can still arrange to get there. However, the highlight was not the reception itself. Talking to a member of the Naval Historical Foundation, I learned that they had found two original letters - one from 1789 and one from 1804 - written (more than likely dictated) by Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson. I asked if I could see them, and I was taken to the office where they were, and shown them. I can't begin to describe how I felt as I started picking through the handwriting. To look upon a piece of original history like this is a once in a lifetime experience. Following the reception, I met up with a childhood and lifetime friend of mine, Mike, now a Navy Doc at Bethesda, and we went and had some seafood on the waterfront and talked about old times. That was the end of the highlights.
The next day, bright and early, I headed to the Pentagon for a quick meeting before having to get on a plane back to Boston. It was 9-11, and the place was gearing up for the opening of the Pentagon 9-11 Memorial shortly after my arrival. My sked didn't allow me to attend the dedication. It was sure to be a slow morning INSIDE the building, but what I saw outside is what made me shake my head in disbelief. While heading in, I noticed a small group of protesters holding signs and talking in loud voices. That's always been fine by me, and I take comfort in the fact that the military makes an effort to set space aside for such activity, if someone chooses to do it. Those feelings left me when I got closer and realized that these people were affiliated with (or had at least bought their signs from) the Westboro Baptist Church. They displayed the telltale colors and slogans, like "Thank God for 9-11" and "God Hates the USA", "9-11 was God" and all the usual crap. If you want to get really angry, watch this 2006 piece from Hannity and Colmes...or as much of it as you can stomach. These idiots are almost enough to make me hate the First Amendment.
Fortunately, they were gone when I came out of my meeting - probably because I got lost finding my way back, it's an easy thing to do - and I was on my way to the airport, anxious to get through my post-9/11 TSA screening so I could curl back up with my book for the flight back.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Haggis in A Waffle Cone?
Think I'm kidding? Just head to Harrod's in London and go to the ice cream stand.
Posh Shop Sells Sausage Ices
I can just imagine what the menu board reads like. "Sweet cream ice cream with tender chunks of haggis and a caramel ribbon".
Sorry. I don't think Cthulhu would sell haggis ice cream in his restaurant. Shoggoth Cookie Dough is much more popular.
I think I'd rather have the Lancashire Hot Pot ice cream. Especially is they use this recipe.
Posh Shop Sells Sausage Ices
I can just imagine what the menu board reads like. "Sweet cream ice cream with tender chunks of haggis and a caramel ribbon".
Sorry. I don't think Cthulhu would sell haggis ice cream in his restaurant. Shoggoth Cookie Dough is much more popular.
I think I'd rather have the Lancashire Hot Pot ice cream. Especially is they use this recipe.
It's Time To Get A Smoker
Okay, I'm done trying to defeat the challenge of smoking on a gas grill. Cooked another piece of meat today, this time a 5+ lb beef brisket. I Did pretty much the same thing, with the exception of using apple wood sawdust instead of hickory chips for smoking.
It didn't matter a whole lot - I just couldn't get the grill to sustain the smoke level I want. Even when finding an odd steel grate (for some reason inadvertently delivered by our last moving company) allowed me to lower the plate of sawdust directly over the flames, it still took forever to get smoke. It still tasted awesome, BTW.
The rub was good.
Both the mop and sauce used beer for the majority or part of the liquid. I put more thought into what beer to use than I thought I would. I settled on a Belhaven Scottish Ale that my dad had left with me some weeks ago. It's fairly heavy and malty, and I figured in a recipe looking for smokey, somewhat sweet and caramelly flavors, I figured it was "the go". I had just enough in a 15.9 oz draft can to make the mop, the sauce, and give the cook a mouth full before tossing the can in the recycle bin. It's not as good as a McEwan's, but what is? The sauce was very vinegary (sp?), too much so for my taste. Two tablespoons of light brown sugar made it a much better sauce.
Summer's almost over and I, as a true consumer, will probably find a good smoker on clearance at Home Depot or someplace.
It didn't matter a whole lot - I just couldn't get the grill to sustain the smoke level I want. Even when finding an odd steel grate (for some reason inadvertently delivered by our last moving company) allowed me to lower the plate of sawdust directly over the flames, it still took forever to get smoke. It still tasted awesome, BTW.
The rub was good.
Both the mop and sauce used beer for the majority or part of the liquid. I put more thought into what beer to use than I thought I would. I settled on a Belhaven Scottish Ale that my dad had left with me some weeks ago. It's fairly heavy and malty, and I figured in a recipe looking for smokey, somewhat sweet and caramelly flavors, I figured it was "the go". I had just enough in a 15.9 oz draft can to make the mop, the sauce, and give the cook a mouth full before tossing the can in the recycle bin. It's not as good as a McEwan's, but what is? The sauce was very vinegary (sp?), too much so for my taste. Two tablespoons of light brown sugar made it a much better sauce.
Summer's almost over and I, as a true consumer, will probably find a good smoker on clearance at Home Depot or someplace.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Birthday Weekend Food Adventure, Part Three - The Best Barbecue Evar!
With the kids finally in bed Saturday night, it was time to start prepping to make pulled pork on Sunday. I had been dying to make the stuff for like, a whole week. Srsly.
I'd spent some time online at home and at work looking for recipes, and finally settled on this one. Actually, there was no settling. I read the post, read the recipe, looked at the results and said "Yeah, I'm doing that".
I pretty much followed the recipe as written, except I used pork loin instead of bone-in butt. We had it in the freezer and I couldn't justify buying another big hunk of meat above thawing this one out and using it. Saturday night I made (and applied) the rub, and then made and stored the mop sauce. The pork looked pretty good the next morning.
I found out that my gas grill holds temperature pretty darned well, but I also found out that it's really difficult to get wood chips to smoke on it, even beyond the trouble the author mentioned using hardwood sawdust. The chips mostly just dried out and took forever to start generating smoke, which led me to continually screw with the process. Screwing with the process led to two fires in my wood chip pan. In retrospect, it makes sense - it takes a lot more heat to get smoke out of a relatively thick piece of wood than a flake of sawdust. So much so, that you risk open flame. In the 6.5 hours I probably got 30 minutes to an hour of good "smoke".
Other than that, the whole thing ran rather smoothly, if busy. When I wasn't mopping the pork, putting out fires or checking the temperature, I was making the barbecue sauce, and making homemade coleslaw. As a variation on finishing the recipe, when the loin was done, I cut the twine holding the two halves together, opened it up, and mopped it with barbecue sauce. I let it smoke for another few minutes, then set about cutting and shredding it.
I cut both halves into thick slices before shredding. As I was cutting it up, I tried a bite. WOW. This was going to be amazing. Shredding the pork was hard work. I believe this was because I was using boneless loin with little intramuscular fat, instead of a bone-in piece of meat with a fair amount. So I shredded enough to make everyone a couple of sandwiches and mixed in some barbecue sauce, and left the rest sliced. I had two sandwiches. One shredded, with barbecue and coleslaw, and one sliced, drizzled with extra mop sauce and barbecue, and then topped with coleslaw.
Best. Pork. Evar.
I have another piece of meat, some brisket, in the freezer. I plan to take it out and smoke it this weekend for my son's first birthday party. To solve the wood issue, I had thought about either dropping the $50 on a smoker, or ordering some hardwood sawdust. The smoker would be the easiest way; wood chips are easily bought, and the thing is made for cooking this way. However, though the pork was awesome, I am not satisfied with how I tackled this attempt at smoking on a gas grill. So I went ahead and bought the sawdust. It shipped today. Can't wait.
I'd spent some time online at home and at work looking for recipes, and finally settled on this one. Actually, there was no settling. I read the post, read the recipe, looked at the results and said "Yeah, I'm doing that".
I pretty much followed the recipe as written, except I used pork loin instead of bone-in butt. We had it in the freezer and I couldn't justify buying another big hunk of meat above thawing this one out and using it. Saturday night I made (and applied) the rub, and then made and stored the mop sauce. The pork looked pretty good the next morning.
I found out that my gas grill holds temperature pretty darned well, but I also found out that it's really difficult to get wood chips to smoke on it, even beyond the trouble the author mentioned using hardwood sawdust. The chips mostly just dried out and took forever to start generating smoke, which led me to continually screw with the process. Screwing with the process led to two fires in my wood chip pan. In retrospect, it makes sense - it takes a lot more heat to get smoke out of a relatively thick piece of wood than a flake of sawdust. So much so, that you risk open flame. In the 6.5 hours I probably got 30 minutes to an hour of good "smoke".
Other than that, the whole thing ran rather smoothly, if busy. When I wasn't mopping the pork, putting out fires or checking the temperature, I was making the barbecue sauce, and making homemade coleslaw. As a variation on finishing the recipe, when the loin was done, I cut the twine holding the two halves together, opened it up, and mopped it with barbecue sauce. I let it smoke for another few minutes, then set about cutting and shredding it.
I cut both halves into thick slices before shredding. As I was cutting it up, I tried a bite. WOW. This was going to be amazing. Shredding the pork was hard work. I believe this was because I was using boneless loin with little intramuscular fat, instead of a bone-in piece of meat with a fair amount. So I shredded enough to make everyone a couple of sandwiches and mixed in some barbecue sauce, and left the rest sliced. I had two sandwiches. One shredded, with barbecue and coleslaw, and one sliced, drizzled with extra mop sauce and barbecue, and then topped with coleslaw.
Best. Pork. Evar.
I have another piece of meat, some brisket, in the freezer. I plan to take it out and smoke it this weekend for my son's first birthday party. To solve the wood issue, I had thought about either dropping the $50 on a smoker, or ordering some hardwood sawdust. The smoker would be the easiest way; wood chips are easily bought, and the thing is made for cooking this way. However, though the pork was awesome, I am not satisfied with how I tackled this attempt at smoking on a gas grill. So I went ahead and bought the sawdust. It shipped today. Can't wait.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Birthday Weekend Food Adventure, Part Two - The Long-Ass Road to Lobstah!
So with the cake done, "Happy Birthday" sung, breakfast eaten and gifts given, we decided to embark upon our road trip. Ogunquit is a beautiful little vacation town in southern Maine, close to York. In other words, almost in New Hampshire. Sar and I hadn't been since summer, 2001. The key being, then we only had one child, and we left him with his grandparents. This time we had four, and they were coming with us.
Ha. They weren't exactly thrilled about "an hour or so" drive up the coast to Maine just for lunch, but we told them we'd pack their swimsuits in case we got a chance to hit the beach. This seemed to placate them (at least until 20 minutes into the drive!) so after an hour of packing snacks, changes of clothes, baby support items and getting everyone to go pee, we piled into the car and away we went.
First mistake - believing it would only be "an hour or so" drive to a small resort town in southern Maine on a gorgeous (probably the MOST gorgeous) Saturday in summer. Maybe we were on crack. It was well after noon when we got to York, and pulled out the Garmin and asked it to find us a restaurant.
We chose Barnacle Billy's which, we found out, had a wonderful view of Perkins' Cove. Oh, and there's a lobstah on the sign, we were pretty sure that there'd be lobstah on the inside. Which was good, because I really wanted a lobstah roll. So I ordered one, and a cup of lobstah stew.
The stew was basic - and excellent. Lobstah in a cream base, and the cup was chock-full. You literally tasted the lobstah, the base, and that was it.
I was surprised and happy at how much lobstah was in the cup. When I was done with the lobstah, I had very little broth left. I left it. I was ready for the lobstah roll, which came a few minutes later.
I remember sitting in the lobby at the dental clinic at Naval Air Station Brunswick, waiting for the "Tooth Fairy" (Navy slang for a Dental Technician) to give me my annual checkup, and picking up a magazine about life on the south coast of Maine. There was an article in it about lobstah rolls. I think it was entitled "Lobster Rolls - It's All About the Lobster!". It's main thesis was that there are several ways to make a lobstah roll, but the centerpiece should be the lobstah, not the mayo, or the butter, or whatever.
Duh. Most. Dumbest. Lobstah. Remark. Evar. But it is true, and this lobstah roll held to that standard. It was lightly dressed and seasoned, not buried in mayo. And the lobstah was amazingly sweet. I don't care what anyone says, the sweetest lobstah I have ever had comes from Maine in the summer. Particularly the young, molting ones whose shells are still soft.
I washed it down with two Shipyard Export Ales. I drank a lot of Shipyard when I lived in Maine. Sar washed hers down with rum punch. It was awesome - strong and fruity, and I shoulda' got one of those, too.
The kids ate great, too. Our son enjoyed his cheeseburger, and our daughters split an order of fish and chips. The thing that turns me off about a lot of fish and chips is that it tastes like you're eating a breaded sponge saturated with vegetable oil. This was nothing like that. The fish was firm, tasted clean, and the breading was crisp.
Following our meal, we set out walking around Ogunquit, to find the shops and the beach. We remember the beach was close by.
Second mistake - we, uhhh, mis-remembered. We were miles from the beach. Warm weather, uphill walks, groaning kids and the advancing hour put an end to the foray after about an hour, and we returned to our car and drove home. I was fading pretty hard from being up late making the cake, and a big-ass Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee got me through.
Rough road trip, interesting time with the kids, and awesome lobstah from Maine. One out of three is a rough record, and not perfect for a birthday, but we had better things to return to. Namely, cake and barbecue.
Next Part: The best barbecue EVAR!
Ha. They weren't exactly thrilled about "an hour or so" drive up the coast to Maine just for lunch, but we told them we'd pack their swimsuits in case we got a chance to hit the beach. This seemed to placate them (at least until 20 minutes into the drive!) so after an hour of packing snacks, changes of clothes, baby support items and getting everyone to go pee, we piled into the car and away we went.
First mistake - believing it would only be "an hour or so" drive to a small resort town in southern Maine on a gorgeous (probably the MOST gorgeous) Saturday in summer. Maybe we were on crack. It was well after noon when we got to York, and pulled out the Garmin and asked it to find us a restaurant.
We chose Barnacle Billy's which, we found out, had a wonderful view of Perkins' Cove. Oh, and there's a lobstah on the sign, we were pretty sure that there'd be lobstah on the inside. Which was good, because I really wanted a lobstah roll. So I ordered one, and a cup of lobstah stew.
The stew was basic - and excellent. Lobstah in a cream base, and the cup was chock-full. You literally tasted the lobstah, the base, and that was it.
I was surprised and happy at how much lobstah was in the cup. When I was done with the lobstah, I had very little broth left. I left it. I was ready for the lobstah roll, which came a few minutes later.
I remember sitting in the lobby at the dental clinic at Naval Air Station Brunswick, waiting for the "Tooth Fairy" (Navy slang for a Dental Technician) to give me my annual checkup, and picking up a magazine about life on the south coast of Maine. There was an article in it about lobstah rolls. I think it was entitled "Lobster Rolls - It's All About the Lobster!". It's main thesis was that there are several ways to make a lobstah roll, but the centerpiece should be the lobstah, not the mayo, or the butter, or whatever.
Duh. Most. Dumbest. Lobstah. Remark. Evar. But it is true, and this lobstah roll held to that standard. It was lightly dressed and seasoned, not buried in mayo. And the lobstah was amazingly sweet. I don't care what anyone says, the sweetest lobstah I have ever had comes from Maine in the summer. Particularly the young, molting ones whose shells are still soft.
I washed it down with two Shipyard Export Ales. I drank a lot of Shipyard when I lived in Maine. Sar washed hers down with rum punch. It was awesome - strong and fruity, and I shoulda' got one of those, too.
The kids ate great, too. Our son enjoyed his cheeseburger, and our daughters split an order of fish and chips. The thing that turns me off about a lot of fish and chips is that it tastes like you're eating a breaded sponge saturated with vegetable oil. This was nothing like that. The fish was firm, tasted clean, and the breading was crisp.
Following our meal, we set out walking around Ogunquit, to find the shops and the beach. We remember the beach was close by.
Second mistake - we, uhhh, mis-remembered. We were miles from the beach. Warm weather, uphill walks, groaning kids and the advancing hour put an end to the foray after about an hour, and we returned to our car and drove home. I was fading pretty hard from being up late making the cake, and a big-ass Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee got me through.
Rough road trip, interesting time with the kids, and awesome lobstah from Maine. One out of three is a rough record, and not perfect for a birthday, but we had better things to return to. Namely, cake and barbecue.
Next Part: The best barbecue EVAR!
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