Before our daughter Kristin redeployed to Iraq, Kristin and I started the process of making a wine that would be ready to consume on her return… and there it sat until now. I had promised to open a bottle to ensure that it was developing along acceptable lines and waited until she had returned … it is a bit dry but nice.
So, I offer a toast to all my family members present and past who have carried arms in service to our country… and especially a thank you to my daughter Kristin (Iraq) and her Uncle Jim (Afghanistan)… and to all the men and women in in our armed services… thank you.
"when you look in the mirror, it's nice to like what you see"
In a local web siteand in Cal Poly’s student newspaper , eachreported that the proposed joint venture between Cal Poly and Saudi Arabia failed – in as much as a contract was never signed. This was a project that was doomed as soon as it went public and the real question is why it took so long to die?
The Cal Poly student newspaper gave no apology or admission of wrong doing by the administration … the only thing really reported was of the project contract’s failure to be signed. Admitting one’s mistake is the first step to ensuring it won’t happen again…. or is it they just regret being caught?
“Noori’s assistant, Jo Ernest, stated that “the agreement was not signed by all the parties,” and consequently did not come to fruition.
Dean Noori was unavailable comment on the apparent end to the collaborative effort.”
I am not convinced that the project is dead, I think it has merely gone underground and time will tell if it resurrects itself in some form or fashion. I do not feel like gloating as far too many whistle blowers risked their careers to bring this information to the public eye and for that many of us thank them sincerely.
Hopefully, Cal Poly will begin the process of looking in the mirror and making the necessary changes until they like what the rest of us want to see…. and this — IMHO — starts at the top.
Roger Freberg
Here’s one of my last posts on the subject with links for those who missed all the fun
I love reading cookbooks because they don’t always tell the truth. Often they will omit key steps or ingredients and the picture of the culinary marvel in the book may not always match up with the disaster you prepared. For those of you who have blamed yourself, it may have not really been your fault.
There are some genuine reasons for the discrepancies. First, the pictured food product may not even be what it is purported to be! For example, an old photographer’s trick was to use flat Coca Cola to substitute for coffee in a layout. Why? Because, real coffee looks muddy with a matte finish in a photography while Coca Cola has the right glossy shine and deep black color.
However, another reason is that it might not even be the same product. This became apparent when I was asked recentl about WHY my ‘Meringue’ turned out so well. At first, I was going to tell the usual lies about how their Meringue didn’t work out because of the weather, phases of the moon or their marital happiness… but I opted for the ‘truth.’ Not everyone can handle the truth and the revelation that their cookbook had ‘lied’ to them came as a bit of a shock. There was a bit of reaction as they referred to my cornstarch addition as ‘goop’… but jealousy is an awful thing! 😉
So how do we avoid being ‘lied to’ in our cookbooks? Well, there are a couple of easy rules to follow:
1) Add some very old cookbooks to your collection that contain more steps and more ingredients… the pointers will be invaluable. Chef Escoffier , at the turn of the 1900’s, was saddened by the trend towards recipe simplification and ease of preparation which has continued to this day. 30 meals in 30 minutes has it’s place, but not when you want to make something special.
-- the I Ching or "Yì Jīng" of American Cooking --
2) Buy ‘nitch’ cookbooks. These are cookbooks that teach you everything about something specific. I just bought a cookbook produced by a Baking Powder company in 1908… invaluable!
-- no secrets are held back here! --
3) If a recipe doesn’t work out in your cookbook, set the book aside because the other recipes are probably going to be just as flawed. Albert Einstein once said,”Insanity (is) doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Cookbooks are like people, they have personalities and you have to find those you like.
Abebooks.com is one of my favorite on-line sites for… yes… books! Recently I found two books that were amusing. The first book is a look into how and why alcoholic beverages developed around the world and the importance of various berries and grains as well as honey. The author, Patrick McGovern travels the world to see exactly how various civilizations produced beers and wines… “Uncorking the Past” is an excellent buy for those interested in how things all began.
My second book is a simple cookbook from 1908 the Rumford Complete Cookbook by Lily Maxworth Wallace who went on to write through the 1940’s on cookery and etiquette. Rumford — as many know — makes baking powder including the ‘Clabber Girl” brand familiar to those here in California. One can already see the trend towards recipe simplification, cost reduction and minimization of preparation time. However, the book is fun in that it covers a wide variety of subjects not addressed in many cookbooks today… for example, how to properly bone a fowl.
My family does surprise me and I learn about it in interesting ways. For example, they love Lemon Meringue Pies. I should have known that it was the lemons they love because of all the things they like that have lemons in them… lemon drops, lemon squares… but frankly, I thought it was a phase that would pass.
Obviously, lemon has wonderful uses in cooking, however, for me, a little lemon goes a long way.
Here is the basic ingredient list for the FILLING:
1 3/4 cups lemon juice
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons lemon rind
Basic steps to making a lemon pie filling
Here’s how to make the MERINGUE:
a) In a small pan, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/3 cup water and 1 tablespoon sugar. The mixture will thicken after several minutes on the stove stirring constantly. Once thick, emove and allow to cool slightly.
b) Beat your 4 egg whites until frothy, add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1/2 cup of sugar… beat until puffy. Add the cornstarch mixture with a blender at high speed until you can make peaks with the meringue.
Bake: 350 degrees for around 20 minutes… check often
