You'd Better Believe it, Pilgrim!

A Tip of the Toque Stetson to Vulture Six:

What Kind of a Western Bad-Ass are You? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as John Wayne You a classic all American cowboy who does the right thing. When you're sober. Which means occasionally. You like horses, the outdoors, whiskey, hot tempered women, whiskey, and bourbon. John Wayne 100% Charles Bronson 88% Clint Eastwood 75% Lee Marvin 75% Lee Van Cleef 50%

All Over But the Shouting

Sorry for the light blogging last week, Thursday was our Spring Classic Cuisine Dinner. It's the final big dinner event of the year, and for us Second Years, of our culinary school careers. It was a huge roller coaster for me. We were supposed to prep on Wednesday, and finish on Thursday. I was in on Monday prepping, to make sure my ice cream was done in time, and was there every day through event day -- on top of closing Sunday night at the bar and opening on Tuesday. I was on my feet almost the entire time, and by Thursday night, my entire lower body was in pain, and I was exhausted, both emotionally and physically, and feeling a mixture of elation and frustration.

I was elated because the dish was a success. I had several "Dumb luck" moments where I stumbled upon components of the dish that went over better than I expected. The Bend Distillery Hazelnut Espresso vodka that I used for the flambe' was delicious. In keeping with the 100-mile menu concept, I'd picked Bend mostly on what I knew of their other products. The same with the honey used in the honey caramel sauce -- Glory Bee Honey is HQ'ed in Eugene, but they get honey from all over the place. I asked for a local honey, and they sold me some made from the nectar of the meadow foam flower, gathered near Junction City. It was incredible -- it had this rich, full aroma that reminded me of good cavendish pipe tobacco. I got the toasting of the hazelnuts just right, and the overall presentation was spot on. Everyone loved the show when I flambe'ed it, and I also got good feedback about how it tasted.

I was frustrated because throughout the days leading up to the even, I was constantly unable to please one of my chef instructors. Some of the time it was little mistakes on my part that he had a valid reason to criticize, and those made me mad at myself. But there was also a lot of criticism of things that I felt I was doing right -- questioning my choice of recipes, when the recipes in question had gone over so well in our dry runs -- from the fact that my honey caramel sauce didn't have caramelized sugar added to the honey, to the temperature the recipe called for me to cook the honey to, to my choice f liquors for the flambe'. He even made a snarky comment about my ice cream melting (when it was not). To top in all off, some of my classmates decided to confront him, at our final debriefing, about a separate issue (one in which I was not involved), and what should have been the best night of my school career ended up being miserable and awkward.

But oh, well. Two more weeks of class and then finals, and I'm done.

Musical Geography Trivia Question of the Day

Two Parter, Vic has to give everyone else a one day head start:

Old times where ain't half as rotten as where?

UPDATE:
OK, Vic, go for it.

Quote of the Day

A tip of the toque to Ed Morrissey via the Llama Butchers:

"...if Obama considers discussion of foreign policy “divisive”, then he should hie himself right back to Academia. Guess what, Senator? Presidential elections focus on foreign-policy principles, and if you can’t defend yours, then you have no business running for office."

It's been my experience, in observing the political debate for the last 12 years or so, that when a liberal of Leftist calls you "divisive", what they really mean is "Why can't you just see things my way?".

Quote of the Day

Another Tip of the Toque to Rob at Say Anything Blog:


"We can't afford six more years of President Bush."

- Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), in support of Barack Obama

Six years.

Six.

How many years is a presidential term?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Bueller?

I Didn't Tell You So, But I Could Have

A Tip of the Toque to Rob at Say Anything Blog.

I really wish this suprised me, but it doesn't. While I've been prating for the people in Myanmar, and wishing I could do more to help, like I did after Katrina, I've also been wondering, silently to myself, "just how is the Left going to spin this to pin it on Bush?"

Well, Anne Applebaum of Slate Magazine has the answer:

Unfortunately, the phrase "coalition of the willing" is tainted forever—once again proving that the damage done by the Iraq war goes far beyond the Iraqi borders...

There you have it, folks. Because George W. Bush sent U.S. troops into Iraq, people are dying in Myanmar. Incredible. The logic is just... breathtaking.

Rob makes a good point in his entry over at Say Anything -- The parallels between the ruthlessness, megalomania, and brutality of the ruling Junta in Myanmar and the former regime of Saddam Hussein are so striking that it is tempting to question the intelectual integrity, if not the reasoning powers, of someone who advocates intervention in one situation while opposing intervention in the other. I would further argue that to not only take that position, but in fact to use ones support of the former as further excuse to criticize the latter, requires a level of chutzpah that would make P.T. Barnum kneel in awe.

But this is what BDS reduces people to. I have been hesitant, myself, to use that term, because I think that often on the Right we use it as a form of Argumentum Ad Hominem to dismiss criticism of the President. But every time I resolve not to take that view, along comes a case of true BDS that is so blatant that I find myself facing the old laugh-or-cry conundrum.

Musical Geography Trivia Question of the (Day? Week? Month?)

Strike two... this is the first time I've stumped my readers two songs in a row. Let's see if I can make it three.

No man for debt shall go to jail from where?

Musical Geography Trivia Question of theDay

Posted 4/23:

If my TV's broke, my life's a joke, and the sheriff moved next door, where do I live and what's the outlook?

No one got this one, so here's ne answer:

I live in a Lakeside Trailer PArk and everything's gonna be alright.

A Good Tired

Now that I'm home from my first night there, I can share without jinxing it:

I got a job. Cooking. I only worked an hour and a half tonight, but it was just orienting myself with the place.

It's not my dream job -- it's at a bar and grill, cooking burgers and other bar food. And the hours are going to be killer -- I'll be pulling down three or four closing shifts (6:30 PM to 2:30 AM).

But it's a job. And the people are nice. And it's a job. And the waitresses tip the kitchen. And it's a job. And I get a free meal every shift. And it's a job. And I get one free bar drink at the end of the shift. And.. here's the best part...

It's a job. Cooking.

I'm a cook.

Dry Run

Friday was the first dry run for our spring Classic Cuisine Dinner, and I had a blast. This will be the only dinner where I am in charge of the dish I am cooking, and am not answerable to a chef de parti -- I found and am developing the recipe and sub-recipes, and am working directly with our student Chef de Cuisine on adjustments to them.

The dinner is a 100-mile menu, which means we're highlighting local ingredients. The main purpose in the school's eyes is to focus on sustainability. For me, that's all well and good, what thrills me about it is the chance to highlight the glorious ingredients available in this region. So the dish I came up with was vanilla ice cream, made with local dairy milk and cream, topped with a hazelnut & honey caramel sauce. One of my classmates made a suggestion, and I thought it was a good one, so I've added a slice of pound cake to the recipe.

The dry run went well. I made the ice cream a couple days ahead of time, so ti would have time to set in the freezer, and it came out almost perfectly -- smooth, light, with a rich taste but not cloyingly sweet. On Friday, the sauce came out delicious, but a bit thin. Next time I'm cutting back on the cream. toasting the filberts, and especially the stage of skinning them, was the most tedious part. The last step was to add the nuts and the sauce to a saucepan, flambe them (We'll be using a locally-distilled vodka, Bend Distillery's Hazelnut Coffee Vodka). The dish was supposed to be a half-dessert, since we're doing a buffet and eople will have several desserts to choose from. But we determined that a half-serving of ice cream just can't take the heat from freshly flambeed sauce, so we're increasing the serving to a full 4 ounce scoop, and cutting the amount of sauce and nuts in half.

The final plating needs some tweaking, as you can see, but the flavors and textures are out of this world.

I Do Solemnly Swear (That if he Solemnly Swears)

A Tip of the Toque to J. Wesley at The Conservative Intelligencer.

I've been convinced for a long time that one of the main reasons so many liberals suffer from BDS has nothing to do with Bush himself, and everything to do with the fact that he was the first Republican president post-Clinton, and the Left wanted its pound of flesh. I've also had a niggling sense that, despite the fact that the Clinton presidency was rife with corruption and a disaster with regards to foreign policy, defense, the Second Amendment, and a myriad of other issues, we on the right made things a bit too personal, took a little too much delight in his downfall.With that in mind, I am joining the guys over at TCI in signing:

The Conservative Non-Derangement Pact

If Obama is elected:
1. We won’t convert the conservative blogosphere into a shrill, psychotic echo chamber consisting primarily of profanity-laced invective.
2. If anyone kills themselves in the White House, we will assume it isn’t murder until proven otherwise.
3. We won’t be so strident in our hatred of Obama that we push moderates into his corner.
4. We won’t start up another raft of conspiracy theories involving the Illuminati.
5. We WILL fight our political battles red of tooth and claw, but smile while doing it.

Mo Rocca is a Tool

I just got done watching some footage on Fox of some sort of black tie dinner/event in D.C., where Mo Rocca was "speaking", or as it appeared to me, "Spewing bitter bile disguised as a lame-ass attempt at humor". The event was supposed to be one of those "come together" events, apparently, and Rocca even pointed that fact out, even as he continued to crank out lame joke after lame joke, all aimed at conservatives. The thing was, not even the liberals in the crowd were really laughing. A few "Amen Guffaws" and embarassed tittering along the lines of "He didn't just say that, did he?" People seemed split between being insulted by and genuinely embarassed for him, and I would have felt sorry for him too, if he wasn't making such an ass of himself. I mean, from a comedy standpoint, he really really bombed -- rushed his timing, appeared nervous, and none of it was original or surprising... every single joke was telegraphed a mile out. He was like Margaret Cho on Prozac.

Musical Geography Trivia Question of the Day

Where are there seventy-five women with whom I wish I did dwell, and if I did, what could do what, where?

¿Como Se Dice, 'Hypocrisy' en Español?

A tip of the Toque toDrew M at Ace of Spades HQ. Mexican President Felipe Calderon's message: Do as I say, not as I do.

Not So Fast....

I lost the job. Before I was even going to start. Must be a new land speed record.

Here's what happened:

Monday, I went in to talk to the chef about my schedule. He had scheduled me to work the hours I'm actually in class, and off when I was available. I explained to him, and he acknowledged that he'd made poor notes regarding my availability. We confirmed my actual availability, and he said he'd get back with me.

He did. This morning. He explained that after several attempts to accommodate my schedule, he was unable to do so without breaking other commitments. He is sorry, and hopes I'll come back when my schedule opens up, but for now, he doesn't have a place for me.

I'm terribly disappointed, and it's a real blow for us financially, but I'm encouraged by the fact he found me hireable to begin with. Now I just need to get back out there. I just worry that my school schedule is going to be a problem anywhere I go.

3,365

Trivia Question:

What is the significance of the above number as it relates to the United states and specifically my home state of Oregon?

NO GOOGLING!

UPDATE - Bumped to 4/8:

Nice try, all my readers. You got close. The answer:

3,365 is the number of miles in U.S. Highway 20, the longest road on America. It starts in Boston, Massachussetts, and ends at its intersection with U.S. 101 in... yup -- Newport, Oregon.

Crossed Fingers and Bended Knees Would Be Appreciated

I haven't said anything until now, because I didn't want to get my readers' (and especially my own) hopes up, but last Tuesday I had a job interview. The interview went well, and the place seems like a good match -- Northwest cuisine, they're looking for part-time cooks for now, they especially need AM positions filled, and the chef is passionate about, among other things, charcuterie. Until I graduate, it'd only be a few hours a week, but it's a foot in the door, and it's located close to Hayward Field, where the Olympic Trials will be held later this spring, so I'm sure after graduation there'll be plenty of time available for more work.

Please see the title of the post for my reason fortelling you all this.

UPDATE 04/07/08:

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!

The chef called just before 9 PM tonight, and offered me the job. I go in tomorrow to talk about my schedule.

Thanks to everyone who put in good thoughts and prayers.

Quote of the Day

"Sometimes, thinking of my own objectivity, I wonder whether my perception
of the left as mentally challenged is simply a product of my own,
generally-conservative point-of-view. Then there are times like these when I
realize that the true lefties really are seriously messed up in the head."

- Ragnar Danneskjold, posting over at Blogfather Rusty's.

The post is on the vitriol spewed over at DU regarding the death of Charleston Heston. He was a better man than any of his detractors. Rest in Peace, Taylor.

Random Geneaology Stuff

I got a call from dear old Mom this week, who has been doing some research on the family tree. She specifically focused on her father's ancestry, and she came up with some interesting facts:

At least part of the German side of her father's family came from Schleswig-Holstein, though we also suspect Bavarian ancestry. On the Irish side, the first Barron in America was born in Ireiland in 1751, location unknown at this point. I can also trace my lineage to the Scottish Clan Campbell now, as well as to victims of the Cherry Valley Massacre. In addition, I now know I had an ancestor serving in an Ohio regiment in the Civil War, and can trace the path of my family across the U.S. -- from New York, to Pennsylvania, then Ohio, to Kansas, New Mexico, California, and finally through me and my son to Oregon.

What's particularly interesting is the coincidence of that family history with that of my FATHER'S family, which traces a similar path -- Off the boat from Germany at Baltimore in 1750, then on to Pennsylvania, where rather than being massacred, an ancestor participated IN a massacre, then to Ohion, Arizona, and California. And yet despite similar places, the two families have no known connection until my parents met.

Thoughts of a Typical Right Person

So Barack Obama has added more fuel to the Race-and-Politics fire that is the Democratic primaries with his comment calling his grandmother a "typical white person". I have noticed a couple of my fellow conservative Bloggers comment on this, but I also noticed that the Clinton campaign jumped on it right away. And it brought up an interesting point in my mind. Throughout this political season, whenever either Obama or Clinton have made a blunder, any response by conservatives has been labelled a right-wing smear tactic, motivated supposedly by racism or sexism.

Yet the two camps of liberals -- both the official campaigns and the rank-and-file supporters -- have been just as quick to jump on those same incidents. Nothing I've heard any conservative say in response to these well-known incidents has been any harsher than what the liberals have said about ueach other. Why do you think that is?

I'll tell you why *I* think it is. I think it's because that's all the two have on each other. The rhetoric in this country for some time is that our political campaigns should be about issues and not be personal attacks, but personal attacks are all Clinton and Obama have of substance on each other ARE personal attacks. On the issues, each is hard-pressed to prove significanlty different from the other. They both espouse domestic policies that are blatantly socialist, foreign policies that place being liked over being secure and hold American sovereignty hostage to international politics, and social values that devalue unborn life and place identity politics ahead of common sense and true equality. They both pander to the same special interest grouups on the Left, so they really can't outdo each other regarding their Liberal Bona Fides, so the only thing they have left is to try to tarnish each other.

The beauty of this from a conservative perspective is two-fold.

First of all, I've stayed away from much political blogging this election cycle, simply because I've been disappointed in my own party -- both in the actions of elected Republicans, and in the choices made in our own primaries. But when push comes to shove, I'd still prefer unenthusiastically supporting McCain to seeing either Clinton OR Obama elected. And despite some failings, he certainly does offer positions on several important policies that are in contrast with the Democratic candidate, whomever that may be. He's holding the line on a lot of foreign policy and security issues, although he still disappoints me regarding the border. He's taking a tough stance regarding mortgage bailouts, and I think he's smart enough to recognize that the economy is not his strong suite, and will recruit good policy folks to inform him.

Secondly, and this may be a bit mercenary of me, but he can focus on those issues, and rise above personal politics, while still reaping the benefits of the nasty personal politics being practiced by the Dem candidates on each other (see my "Qoute of the Day" a while back). They're doing such a good job of pointing out to voters why the other is unqualified, all McCain need to is point out his own qualifications, and harp on the issues.

Absolut-ly Not

A tip of the toque to Michelle Malkin via Gully at Resistance is Futile!

Absolut Vodka has an ongoing ad campaign called "In an Absolut World", wherein they portray images of the way things would be if the ultra-cool, with-it people who drink their vodka had their way.

Apparently, that includes the "Reconquista" of the American West by Mexico. One of the ads shows a redrawn map of North America, with Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, California, and Colorado, as well as parts of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Oklahoma, ALL as part of Mexico.

The ad was only run in Latin America, but the agency was stupid not to think it would be spread all over the internet lickety damned split. Even (or should I say especially) Mexican-Americans find it offensive.

And if the ad itself wasn't bad enough, check out their half-assed attempts at explaining and apologizing -- apparently in response to the huge backlash.

Sorry, Absolut, too little, too late. As one commenter pointed out, perhaps Swedish-based Absolute should run an add where Scandinavia is part of the Soviet Union, or where Sweden's neighbor, Norway, is still occupied by Nazi Germany. Wouldn't those be a hoot? The money quote is in the comments of an unrelated post in the Absolut World Blog:

OK, Sweden may have sold out a few countries in World War II, but it was not
meant to offend or disparage, or advocate an altering of borders, lend support
to any anti-Allied sentiment, or to reflect immigration issues. They were truly
sorry and understand that the action has offended several nations. This was not
their intention.To ensure that Sweden will avoid future similar mistakes, they
are adjusting their internal foreign army approval process for invasions that
are developed in local markets. This is a genuine and sincere apology, and
super-serious.

My first reaction was that not only will I boycott Absolut personally, but I will see to it that when I own my own restaurant some day, neither it nor any product owned by its parent company is carried in my bar, and I was pleased to read a comment on Absolut's website from at least one other restauranteur who feels the same way. Thanks to loyal reader and fellow blogger Patrick at Born Again Redneck, I have a handy list:

Spirits
Absolut
Seagram’s gin
100 Pipers
Amaro Ramazzoti
Clan Campbell
Imperial
Pastis 51
Ararat
Wild Turkey
Royal Salute
Tia Maria
Suze
Royal Stag
Ruavieja
Wyndham Estate
Powers
Campo Viejo
Hiram Walker
Passport
Café de Paris
Becherovka
Don Pedro
Olmeca
Aberlour
Wisers
Montilla
Presidente
Soho/Dita
Pernod
Wyborowa
Something Special

Wine-based aperitifs and fortified wines
Ambassadeur
Bartissol
Dubonnet
Sandeman Port
Byrrh
La Ina

Australian wines
Jacob’s Creek
Wyndham Estate

Argentinean wines
Graffigna
Etchart
Colón
Santa Silvia
Balbi
Mumm Espumante

Other wines
Almaden (Brazil)
Domecq (Mexico)
Tamada (Georgia)
Old Tbilisi (Georgia)
Long Mountain (South Africa)

Champagnes
Mumm
Perrier-Jouët

Sparkling wines
Jacob’s Creek (Sparkling)
Café de Paris
Lindauer
Mumm Napa
Mumm Espumante
Carrington

New Zealand wines
Montana
Stoneleigh
Lindauer
Church Road

Spanish wines
Campo Viejo
Marques de Arienzo
Siglo
Azpilicueta
Ysios
Viña Alcorta
Palacio de la Vega

Chez Chay

Last term was my last term working in the Renaissance Room, our student-run restaurant. The class that covered this was Restaurant Supervision, and it was pretty much self-explanatory -- we were the supervisors, the first years were our workers. Aside from the seasonal dinner events, it was our main contact with the first years, and overall, they were a great bunch to work with. Even though I'm nowhere near as close to them as to my classmates, I enjoyed getting to know them.

Which all leads me to a really cool thing that happened today. Last term, I was bragging to them about The Lad's enthusiasm for cooking. Today, I bumped into two of them in the library at school, and one of them said, "Oh, I have something for you". She left, and returned a few mihutes later with The Lad's first cookbook.

It's awesome, since he loves Disney almost as much as cooking. Remy from Ratatouille is the guide, and the recipes are all themed after various characterts, TV Shows and movies. It's not Haute Cuisine, to be sure, but it's easy, and fun, and they DO teach things like nutrition, safety, and even Mise en Place. He insisted on it being his bedtime story tonight, and he's already eying a couple of recipes he wants to try.

Me? Proud? What makes you say that?

Spud Stud

As I mentioned, during the height of the lunacy I refer to as "Winter Term", I was tagged with a food meme. The basic requirements were that the food be "peasant" food (or the American equivalent), that it be delicious, simple, cheap to make, and not too healthy.

I think the ideal dish would be my mother's fried potatoes. I was blessed with a heritage of poor working class folks on both sides of my family -- my maternal grandmother was a Dustbowl Arkie, her husband a working rancher, sailor, and plant supervisor. My father was a pastor, a sailor, a firefighter, a ranch hand, and grew up the poor son of an alcoholic carpenter/singer/migrant farmer. So I grew up with cooks who new how to really stretch a food dollar, and make very little go very far and taste very good. The following recipe is a reflection of my mother's southern roots and my northwest childhood:

Pan Fried Potato Rounds
2 lb. russet potatoes (here in Ore-Ida country, that can be as 2 or 3 potatoes)
Salt TT (To Taste)
Pepper TT
Onion Powder TT
Garlic Powder TT

Scrub and rinse the potatoes, but do not peel. Slice crossways into 1/4" thick rounds, rinse again.

Fill a 10" cast iron skillet to 1/4" deep with oil, this recipe tastes best if at least some of the oil is replaced with bacon fat. Heat over high heat. Once the oil is hot, lay the potatoes in the oil and cook on high heat, turning occasionally so that all sides get browned and crispy. If you turn them too often, they'll turn mushy. Too seldom and they'll burn. Once the potatoes are golden brown and crispy, reduce the heat to low and cover, cooking 10-15 minutes or until the centers are fork tender. Season to taste with the salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder, serve hot.

To this day my mouth waters just THINKING about these potatoes.

In the spirit of this being a meme, I'm tagging Ken at It Comes in Pints, Maximum Leader at Naked Villainy, and Ted at Rocket Jones.

That Figures

I managed to clear the financial hold and register for classes today, and one of the general requirement classes needed to graduate, First Aid (covers our PE/Health requirement as well as being specifically required for the program) is full. In addition, the Math class I need won't let me register because it says I don't meet the prereq's (I DO TOO!), and I'll bet you anything by the time I clear that up tomorrow, it will be full. I also got a Prereq block on Culinary Leadership (our capstone class), so tomorrow will be spent, like today, at the college -- while on Spring Break.

Oh, and even if I DO get into those classes, my schedule (not 21 credits but only by 3 -- yup, 18 credits) once again precludes any work this term.

Whee.

UPDATE 03/25/08:

Yup, spent all morning and part of the early afternoon on campus getting as much of this mess straightened out as possible. Things went from bad to worse to better....

I managed to get the holds lifted from my Culinary Leadership class and Math class -- they were related, and had to do with the math. I took the placement tests more than a year ago, and usually in that case the school requires a retesting. I git that waived, and added the classes -- though I still have to crash First Aid. At that point I was barely keeping my promise to myself -- I was up to 20 credits. Hey, 20 isn't 21, to be fair. In addition, that meant I had to drop a culinary class to squeeze the general classes in under the maximum, then get clearance next week to re-add the culinary class. Like I said, bad to worse.

Then I went to talk to my academic counselor to double-check on my academic progress, I'd hate to finish this term and find out that I had missed a requirement. Unfortunately, she didn't have my records with her, so I'm going to have to go back to see her. But she did clear me to take 20 credits. Woot, I think, is the term. In the meantime, I also brought up the fact that I attended school at a community college in San Diego in the 1990's, but was under the impression that it was too long ago for the credits to transfer. Not so, said my counselor -- they should indeed. And since I took Geometry, Trig, and Statistics in San Diego, as opposed to the remedial math rewuired for the program, all I had to do was traipse over to testing to take an extra level of the math placement tests, and I was able to drop the Math class I'd just registered for. Furthermore, the 155 and 200 level English classes, as well as that astronomy class, all can be used in lieu of the scinece class I was registered for. DRopping those two classes were a relief on several levels: they accounted for 7 of those 20 credits, which translates into roughly 7 hours less busy stress, $511 of tuition, and Lord only knows how much in books. Overall, things are looking up. I've got my application for graduation filled out and turned in, and am sending off a transcript request to San Diego Community College District tomorrow. Now all I have to do is get the cooperative education paperwork from my boss from last summer, contact the farmers I plan to use for our spring dinner, clean the house, crash First Aid, and I'll be all set next week.

Such a relaxing Spring Break....

So Far, So Good

Today's the day by which the professors are supposed to post our grades. I've checked online, and so far, 5 of my 7 classes have been posted, and they're all A's.

Update 03/24/08:

Final tally: 6 A's, and a B+. Missed it by that much.

Five Down, One to Go

Note to self: NO MORE TWENTY-ONE CREDIT TERMS!!!!!

Today I finished off the last of two major projects and five, count them five, final exams. Spring Break officially starts this weekend, but for me, it begins tonight -- such as it is. I'll be spending the week looking for a job for next term, trying to wrangle up the $400 I need to pay off this term before I register for next, and make sure I register for the right classes to graduate in June.

I know I've been really neglectful of my blog this term, and I feel badly -- my readers and the fellow bloggers who link to me have become something like family to me -- it's amazing how close one can feel to people one's never met in person. But between a winter dinner that had me pulling my hair out (the terrine kicked ASS, thank you), a business plan for a fictional restaurant, a menu and prep list and firing schedule for a fake catering event, and countless quizzes, tests, and a field trip all term, I was a bit... swamped.

I'm also aware that I've neglected at least one tag, and at some point I plan to do something about that, though I'd rather take a few days off before doing anything food-related that's also an assignment.

Next term will be interesting. So far I only have 9 credits of required culinary classes, but the general ed requirements I have brings me up to 15, so we'll see. I definitely won't be attending 21 hours -- I may have that many credits, though, but about 6 of those will be Co-op credits for work done in industry.

I hope to blog a bit this break, but next term, no promises.

Something About Oxen and Goring

A tip of theToque to Tree Hugging Sister at Coalition of the Swilling.

Nancy Pelosi takes her job as Speaker of the House so seriously, she's taken to speaking out of both sides of her mouth.

The controversy over the Pentagon decision to award a $35bn refuelling tanker
contract to EADS spilled into the presidential race yesterday, when a senior
Democrat suggested that John McCain, the Republican nominee, was responsible for
the deal being "outsourced" to a European company.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker, said Boeing had been on course to supply the US Air Force with tankers until Mr McCain "intervened".
"My understanding is that it was on course for Boeing before. I mean, the thought was that it would be a domestic supplier for it," Ms Pelosi told reporters.

"Senator McCain intervened, and now we have a situation where the contract may be - this work may be outsourced."

Well, yes, Ms. Pelosi, Senator McCain WAS instrumental in stopping the Boeing deal. but what you seem to be... forgetting(?)... is that the reason he opposedthe deal was because it was dirty:

The air force originally chose Boeing to supply it with 100 tankers. But
Congress cancelled the deal after it emerged that Darleen Druyun, a former top
air force acquisitions official, had held illegal job discussions with Boeing
while still negotiating the deal. Ms Druyun admitted boosting the value of the
deal to help Boeing.

Mr McCain has pointed to his aggressive investigation into the Boeing
deal as evidence that he is willing to stand up to powerful corporate
interests.

The tanker scandal claimed the career of former Boeing chief executive
Phil Condit. Ms Druyun and Mike Sears, Boeing's former chief financial officer,
were sent to jail.

Sounds like just the kind of Washington Insider dirt Pelosi wants to reform:

Break the link between legislation and lobbyists by passing lobby reform.

But why is she attacking McCain for doing just what she advocates on her own website? It couldn't be because he's running for president on the ticket of the party she opposes, could it? It couldn't be, as one commenter at the coalition points out, that Boeing's plant is in a region represented by members of her own party, could it?

What a hypocrite.

Quote of the Day

A Tip of the Toque to Salena Zito.

"We have already seen the first campaign ad that John McCain is going to run this year. It just so happens that Hillary Clinton is the one that ran it."

- Dan Schnur, Professor, Political Science, UC Berkeley

Smug Alert

After my last post on the passing of a humble servant of God like Larry Norman, I feel bad bragging, so I'll preface it:

The Pate is still kicking my butt. I'm thoroughly exhausted. I'm having to create an appetizer with over 300 servings, and I'm doing it from the ground up, with very little assistance. I startedf at 11:30 AM, and by 6:30 still had only managged to cook down the apples and puree them and the meat (albeit, around 20 lbs total of the stuff) -- no slicing of the backfat, lining of the molds, no baking runs. Argh. I love charcuterie, but after this I'm sticking to sausage and cured meats. I'm sick of Pate.

And to top it off, that 6:30 finish (including dishes) put me 30 minutes late for my marine biology class, where we had our second of two tests, this one over cnidarians, the various phyla of worms, and mollusks. Here comes the moment of self-congratulation: I still finished faster than half the class.

Roll Away His Stone

A tip of the toque to my Good Friend the Reverend Doctor:

Larry Norman, 'The Father Of Christian Rock' Passes Away

Monday, February 25, 2008
Source: CMSpin

Larry Norman 4/8/47 - 2/24/08

Larry's amazing amount of dedication and work throughout his life is a
testiment to his love for his Maker. He will be missed but a celebration
of his life can live on through the vast collection of his music. For
those new to Christian music, you owe it to yourself to discover what is the
Larry Norman legacy.Here is a letter posted on http://www.larrynorman.com/ by his brother
Charles detailing the events:

Our friend and my wonderful brother Larry passed away at 2:45 Sunday
morning. Kristin and I were with him, holding his hands and sitting in bed with
him when his heart finally slowed to a stop. We spent this past week laughing,
singing, and praying with him, and all the while he had us taking notes on new
song ideas and instructions on how to continue his ministry and art. Several of
his friends got to come and visit with him in the last couple of weeks and were
a great source of help and friendship to Larry. Ray Sievers, Derek Robertson,
Mike Makinster, Tim and Christine Gilman, Matt and Becky Simmons, Kerry Hopkins,
Allen Fleming and a few more. Thank you guys. Larry appreciated your visits very
much. And he greatly appreciated the thoughts, wishes, support and prayers that
came from all of you Solid Rock friends on a daily basis. Thank you for being
part of his small circle of friends over the years. Yesterday afternoon he knew
he was going to go home to God very soon and he dictated the following message
to you while his friend Allen Fleming typed these words into Larry's
computer:

I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God's hand reaching
down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are
getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home.My brother
Charles is right, I won't be here much longer. I can't do anything about it. My
heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone. In the past you have
generously supported me with prayer and finance and we will probably still need
financial help.My plan is to be buried in a simple pine box with some flowers
inside. But still it will be costly because of funeral arrangement,
transportation to the gravesite, entombment, coordination, legal papers etc.
However money is not really what I need, I want to say I love you. I'd like to
push back the darkness with my bravest effort. There will be a funeral posted
here on the website, in case some of you want to attend. We are not sure of the
date when I will die. Goodbye, farewell, we will meet again.

Goodbye, farewell, we'll meet again
Somewhere beyond the sky.
I pray that you will stay with God
Goodbye, my friends, goodbye.

Larry

Thank you to all of you who were so nice to my brother over the years.
Kristin and I will post funeral information in the next day or two. Right now
we're not able to function very well, but the whole family is here... our mother
Margaret, our sisters Nancy and Kristy, Mike Norman and his new wife Tiffany,
and Silver.We miss him beyond words. Thank you for everything.

Peace to you all in Christ,

Charles Norman

Resquiat Im Pacem, brother. Thanks to you, the Devil DIDN'T have all the good music.

UPDATE:

Friend (at least that's what I consider him), reader, and commenter Joel eulogizes him better than I could, and there's a great observation by WordGirl in his comments.

The thing about Larry was that he didn't start out to be a "Christian Rocker" -- he was a rock star who found Jesus. His music wasn't "CCM", it was Jesus Rock -- a guy who had found the Lord using the medium he knew best to express his newfound faith. There were a lot of musicians like that in the early days, it wasn't until my generation (the kids wedged between the Boomers and the X'ers) -- raised in the church but still wanting our rock and pop -- came along that we started seeing it go the other way and see church kids make modern music. Unfortunately, something got lost along the way. But if you want to hear some music -- albeit dated, but still good -- that really changed the modern Church, I'd recommend listening to some of the artists from that earlier wave. And the four I would most recommend, with our now passed brother leading the list, would be Larry Norman, Keith Green, Randy Stonehill, and Phil Keaggy.

If You Pray...

We got an email from one of TFR's oldest and best friends. I can't go into details, but her husband took a big career-related blow this week. It's a shame, because they're both really good people -- she's definitely a better friend to TFR than I am a husband, and they deserve better news than this.

I know she reads my blog, so to her I say, we're thinking of you, hon, and you're in our prayers.

I'd appreciate prayers and good thoughts for them from the rest of my readers.

Up For Air

Sorry for the even-worse-than-normal lack of posts lately -- I've wanted to, but we're in the run up to our winter fundraiser (The Classic Cuisine Dinner), and I've been working on developing and fine tuning the dish assigned to me. I'm on the appetizer team, and our dinner is highlighting regions of France. My dish represents Normandy -- it's a Terrine Pate de Canard aux Pommes et Champignons. It's been a frustrating experience -- all three of my dry runs have produced less than satisfactory results. The recipe we started with was for a cold mousseline, not a terrine, and I've had to adapt it -- because my Chef de Parti (and classmate) decided that the actual terrine recipe we had was too complicated and expensive. So we've taken a chicken liver recipe, switched it to a duck liver recipe, converted it to a different cooking style, and added new ingredients, including Calvados and chanterelles -- so much cheaper and simpler than just following a purpose-specific recipe in the first place. Grrrr....

Admittedly, I have made mistakes in the execution of the recipe and its permutations since then, but that just adds to my frustration. The dinner is Thursday, and I start prep work on the final run on Monday. I'll let you know how it goes.

Pun Fun

Recently in our Restaurant Supervision class, we studied the topic of sexual harassment, and the two main forms of harassment were covered: Quid Pro Quo harassment, which is the offering of employment or advancement in exchange for sexual favors, and Hostile Workplace harassment. But in the professional kitchen, there is a THIRD kind: offering food in exchange for sexual favors. In seafood restaurants, this is known as Squid Pro Quo.

New Quote of a Lifetime

"I be chef like da-da."

- The Lad

(after three years to the day, at that. No, dammit, I just got some onion in my eyes from cooking. Shut up.)

Quote of the Day

A Tip of the Toque to Princess Haiku.

"Everyone is a visionary if you scratch him deep enough. But a Celt is a visionary without scratching."

W.B. Yeats

Sous What?

Once again, blogging buddy Professor Chaos writes:

doubt I can word this in such a way that you can respond directly in a post (like the last one), but my new cast-iron fetish has led me to a new appreciation of marinades and how they flavor meat/fish/fowl.

So could you do a post about water, oil, vinegar, tomato, etc. based marinades and how they flavor what you cook?

I ask because for beef and pork I usually use (with great results) a half and half mix of A1 and worcestershire, and with chicken I mostly use water-based hot sauce. But tonight I used balsamic dressing on chicken and it worked amazingly well, and the other day I soaked a beef filet in ranch dressing and it came out quite tasty too.

Now I'm marinading an ahi steak in balsamic dressing and a salmon steak in A1 (because it's tomato based -- usually I poach them in a tomato-based soup). My options are many, and these are just guesses at this point as to how they'll ultimately taste.

I guess what I'm asking you to do is give us a metric about the various cuts of beef, pork, chicken, and fish and advice as to which base and herbs/spices/etc. marinades will flavor each variety and cut and how. As with my original challenge in this regard, the more simple the better.

A tall order for sure, but isn't this what you're an expert in? Not an easy post to write, so take your time, and keep it to what a normal person has in the fridge.

Actually, I think YOU worded it fairly well, and I'd be happy to tackle this one.

But first, let me address your gracious but misguided sentiment at the end. I am by no stretch of the imagination an expert. I'm a trained novice, an initiate, if you well, and while brines and cures and marinades are an integral part of two of my passions -- charcuterie and barbecue -- I still have much to learn.

Having said that, I think I can address a few of the good professor's questions:

So could you do a post about water, oil, vinegar, tomato, etc. based marinades and how they flavor what you cook?

I've partially addressed this before, and really dropped the ball on it. So let's ignore that first attempt of mine at explaining brines and marinades. Let's start with a quick course on what is a cure, what is a brine, and what is a marinade?

A cure is a form of dry rub, usually made up mostly of salt and some source of sweeness -- sugar, etc. -- that is applied directly to the meat. Originally, cures, like brines, were intended to help preserve the meat. They're still used for thast purpose in specialty applications, but nowadays their main purpose is to impart flavor.

Now, if instead of rubbing the cure onto the meat being prepared, you mix it with water, you have a brine -- a highly salty liquid in which the meat is submerged for a period of time in order to accomplish the same goals as a cure -- preservation and/or flavoring.

A marinade is closely related to a brine. The main difference is that brines rely mostly on salt and sweet to impart flavor, and marinades rely on acids. The most common acids used are citric acid (from citrus fruit, duh), acetic acid (from vinegars), and wine (the acids present in wine are varied, two of the most common being tannic and tartaric). As the professor mentions, tomato-based liquids can also be used, they have quite a bit of ascorbic acid (vitamin c).

Acids can o a lot of things to the meat when marinating. They impart... wait for it... acidity, which translates to the taste sour. They can also be useful for unlocking flavors in the other ingredients in the marinade. They do NOT, despite popular belief, do much in the way of tenderizing the meat. Maybe a little, because they will denature some of the proteins, but not enough to make tough meat tender -- slow cooking is key for that to happen. But the denaturing will alter the taste and flavor of the meat and how it reacts to cooking.

In fact, the acid can actually cook the meat -- that's what ceviche is -- and can easily overpower it. That's why it's important to regulate how acidic your marinade is. The best way to do this is to dilute it with another, preferrably neutral, liquid -- water and oil being the most common choices.

So which to use?

Well, a general rule of thumb is to use oil-based marinades with lean, easily dried-out cuts of meat, such as white fishes and lean beef like filet mignon. Be careful using them on already fatty meats such as cap-on brisket, salmon, etc., which are best with water-based marinades. Pork and chicken tend to be versatile, and can take either.

As for what flavors to use, the same rules apply to marinades as do to any other methods of flavoring, like sauces and even rubs -- it all depends on how flavorful the meat is to begin with. If it has a delicate flavor, like most fish, go with subtle flavorings. More flavorful, stronger-tasting meat like game or lanb or mutton, go with stronger, bolder-flavored herbs and spices. With beef, it depends on the cut and what your goal is. Remember that the more tender the meat, the less flavorful, and the tougher the meat, the more flavorful. If you have a filet mignon, for instance, you're not going to want to overpower it -- rub it with olive oil, salt and pepper, and grill it -- let Mallard do his stuff. Brisket? Go to town -- it's very flavorful, and it lends itself well to lots of spices. Once again, pork and chicken are your workhorses -- they lend themselves well to either approach, depending on what you want to showcase. This is especially true of chicken, which has little flavor on its own, and makes a great "blank canvas". If you want to get fancier, go find some good ethnic cookbooks, and experiment with some spices. The other day I made a great Spanish dish called Pinchitos Morunos, cubed meat marinated in paprika, cumin, coriander, lemon juice and olive oil -- simple, delicious.

I hope that was simple enough without being too vague.

Storytellers

My recent post linking to a Townes Van Zandt video got me thinking. I've always been a big fan of not just singer-songwriters, but what I call Storyteller-Songwriters -- people whose songs tell stories -- be they epic or small, they're always human stories.

So who are my favorites? I thought I'd take a shot at listing the ones I've grown to appreciate the most, based on how many of their songs I know, how many of those songs tell stories, and how much ompact those stories have on me. I've come up with a top 7:

7. Townes Van Zandt -- He's new to me, sbut I'm already taking an interest in him, and his song Pancho and Lefty alone puts him on my list. I look forward to getting to know him better.

6. Loretta Lynn -- It's the autobiographical nature of her work that impresses me. Coal Miner's Daughter, by itself, gets her on this list, but it's by no means her only success in this regard.

5. Willie Nelson -- More a Singer-storyteller-songwriter, since as many times as he's written a good story, and as many times as he's composed for others, he's also taken many another musician's work and made it his own.

4. Kris Kristofferson -- another songwriter who can thank others for helping establish his creds, this time in that those others have taken HIS songs and made them famous -- Sunday Morning Coming Down and Me and Bobby McGee come to mind.

3. Johnny Cash -- He'd be higher on the list, but a lot of his best songs were written by others. However, he still has enough of an impact to merit 3rd place.

2 Gordon Lightfoot -- If each person on this list was allowed only one song to be presented for their resume for membership in this list, Lightfoot's The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald would be enough to ensconce him in first place. But that honor, based on the weight of his body of work as well as the quality of each song in question, goes inarguably in my mind to...

1. John Denver -- Country Roads; Grandma's Feather Bed; Rocky Mountain High; Two Ducks... the list goes on and on. Hands down my favorite storyteller-songwriter.

So who are yours?

...And Your Breath's as Hard as Kerosene

Bob over at Eugene Rant has a link to a You Tube video of Townes Van Zandt singing Pancho and Lefty. If it doesn't give you chills, you don't know good storytelling music.

Quote of the Day

"Food tastes better when you're not wearing shoes."

- Anthony Bourdain

Mmmmm.... Bacon

A tip of the toque to Rocket Jones.

It's funny because it's true.

Since You Asked

Blogging Buddy... well, we've never met, so I'll say Highly Regarded Fellow Blogger Leopold Stotch writes with a culinary-type question. Following is his query and my response in italics:

A question that you might post on if you think it's relevant:

What the hell, I need some material, and this comes in handy.

I retired my George Foreman in favor of a pre-seasoned cast iron grill pan (which I seasoned several additional times just to be sure), and I'm loving it. The Foreman dries out the meat and usually burns one or both sides, but the cast iron with a grill press has completely changed the flavor and texture of everything I've cooked.

Good man. Cast iron is untouchable for meat cookery dry cooking methods. Its density gives it great heat retention, that and its heat conductivity means even heat with relatively little "spot heat", where some parts of the surface are significantly higher than others.

When I've been to places with open kitchens, they rub down their grills with a towel and I'd like to clean mine with one instead of paper towels or a brush (the former tears up while the latter scrapes off the seasoning).

Actually, when they rub down a big commercial grill like that, they're not cleaning it, theyre re-seasoning it. They've already cleaned it with a brush. I'll make some cleaning and care recommendations in a minute, but since you asked:

What kind of towel is appropriate for this? Does it matter? At the places I've been it's looked like a chamois, but maybe it's just a normal cotton towel worn with usage.

Bingo. It's a cheap terry side towel that's been rolled up in a... well, roll, and soaked in vegetable oil. Reoeated use wears off the piling.

Here's how I would recommend caring for your new grill pan: After you're done using it, while it's very hot, run it under HOT water. You're essentially deglazing the pan, but not to make a sauce -- you're just lifting off the residue. Use a long-handled brush or handled scrubbing pad to clean it off, then immediately wipe it drywith a clean, dry dish towel. If it looks like you've lost any of the cure, heat it back up, rub it with a bit of oil and re-cure. A thorough and indepth cure shouldn't be necessary -- get it hot, rub in the oil, and wipe off the excess. For curing, a paper towel should be ok for this, but if you insist, see my earlier comments about the type of towel they use. From your comments on curing, I'm going to assume you're aware of the evils of strong chemical detergents on cast iron.

Suffering for my Art

I gotta tell you, folks, it ain't easy.

On Tuesdays, I have Advanced Cooking Theories 2, which covers International Cuisine (Cooking Theories 1 was Garde Manger, Cooking Theories 3 will be American Regional Cuisine. The format is this: Class meets at 2:30. From 2:30 until 3:00 we have homework review and lecture. From 3:00 until 5:00, we are assigned recipes from one of the two countries coveredthat night and must cook them. From 5:00 until class lets out at 5:50, we eat the dishes cooked and review, then clean up. This week we covered Spain and Portugal. Dishes included Gazpacho, Lobster Paella, Scallops in Black Truffle Butter, and Empanadas.

I then had to rush up to my 6:30 elective vlass, Culinary Adventuring: Oregon Wine Country, where I was asked to sample two Pinot Noirs, a Pinot Noir Rose, and a Pinot Gris from Van Duzer Vineyards (who, by the way, have not only some of the best wine in Oregon, but the most gorgeous of labels on their bottles), along with the obligatory foods that they suggested paired well with them: Manchego Cheese and Blanched and Roasted Almonds with the Rose; Prosciutto-Wrapped Honeydew with the Pinot Gris; Stuffed Crimini Mushroom Caps with the Estate Pinot Noir; and Pannarello Cheese and Shortbread dipped in Deep Chocolate Creme with Raspberry Coulis to go with the Westside Pinot Noir.

As if that wasn't bad enough, today was the first dry run for the Ren Room -- this term, we second years are being traned to supervise, the first years do the cooking. After the dry run we cooked off all the remaininf food and ate it family style -- Risotto, Filet Mignon with White Beans, Mussels in White Wine and Creme Fraisch, Schnitzel with Applesauce, Potato Rosti, Bread Pudding and Chocolate Creme Brulee, etc....

These are the times that try mens souls waistlines.

(D)amned if You Do, (D)amned if You Don't

A tip of the Toque or two (or three) to the Llamabutchers.

You know, I almost pity Democratic voters this primary season. If they don't vote for Hillary, they're sexists. If they don't vote for Obama, they're racists. And ultimately, it doesn't matter WHICH way they vote, because Sith Lord Rove has it all rigged anyway.

It's a common thread among pundits and talking heads on both sides of the political divide, but it's definitely more prevalent on the left (for the most part, because they're the ones who have commandeered the rhetorical means to do so, namely, the language of victimhood): any failure, any political or social outcome that doesn't go your way is the result not of a failure in your policy or your strategy or your position, but rather is caused by some combination of dark motives and darker forces oppposing you.

That's really too bad. It's too bad in general, because it silences any discussion of the issues and reduces our political debate to a name-calling session. And it's especially too bad for the Democrats this primary season, because it reduces the race not to a question of who's the better candidate, but rather to one of who's the biggest victim.

I daresay the Democrat voter is.

Muy Bueno

Tonight's dinner was a couple of Spanish-style tapas: Tortilla Espanola, Pinchitos Morunos, good rustic bread, and a Nice Spanish red wine: Jumilla, from Bodegas Luzon.

Not expensive, yet delicious.

Joy and Sadness

First, the good news.

Lurch, my best friend of 20 years, one of three musketeers from my college days, is finally getting married to a sweet and lovely young woman. They've been courting for a couple years now, and have worked through good and bad times together. If anyone deserves love and happiness, it's Brian.

Now the bad news.

Due to financial difficulties and the demands of my school schedule, I won't be attending. I was to be a groomsman, I won't be able to even be a guest.

This really breaks my heart.

Before I met TFR, Brian and I would commiserate over our loneliness and lack of female companionship. For years I've wanted him to find someone as badly as I ever wanted to myself. And now that he has, I won't be there to celebrate with him.

So on February 29th, I'll sit back, crack open a Vernor's, and raise a glass to the world's most deserving groom.

To Valhalla!

Vindication and VIN-dication

Two of my classes today were International Cuisine and Culinary Adventuring: Oregon Wine Country.

In the International Cuisine class, we were assigned one of two tasks: Cooking a dish fro tonights covered region, or test-cooking one of the dishes for the Ren Room menu for the term. I was assigned a Ren Room dish -- a dessert, specifically a Pear Tart Tatin from a Jamie Oliver Recipe. As most of you who read me may know, I'm not a baker -- in fact, pastries and baking are my Achilles' Heel.

I nailed it. It came out looking gorgeous, and tasting heavenly. When I brought over the presentation plate for the menu photo shoot, I almost cried, I was so thrilled.

Then in the Culnary Adventuring class (an electve pass/no pass class class where passing requires that you show up), the instructor let me share something I saw on the news recently:

Riedel Crystal has developed a new varietal stemware specifically for Oregon Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir is the grape found in Burgundy wine, so for a long time that's been the kind of glass recommended for Oregon Pinot, but our terroir is entirely different from Burgudy's. Now, the validity/necessity of a new glass is already being debated, with some thinking it's just a marketing gimmick, and others arguing that there really is a difference in the experience of the drinker depending on the glass. Personally, I'm still not enough of a wine expert (which is why I'm taking this class as a start -- a chef should know wine) to contribute to that debate, but I do know one thing -- either way, Riedel woudn't bother unless Oregon Pinot had become a significant part of the market -- something also backed up by the fact that Benton Lane, a winery about half an hour from here, was named to Wine Spectator's top 100 Pinot Noirs of the World list.

We really are blessed here in Oregon with an abundance of wonderful, fresh foods -- seafood, fruit and nuts and berries, free-range livestock, artisan cheeses, and some of the best wines and beers in America, and now, the World. As an aspiring culinarian, one of the things I desire to do is develop a cooking style that highlights the food and drink of my birthplace, a place I consider as close to heaven as I'll get this side of the Veil.

Swamped

This term, I'm taking 21 credit hours. That classload includes a Restaurant Kitchen Supervison lab, working in the Renaissance Room (our student-run restaurant), that counts for exactly zero credit hours, but meets for nine hours a week. On Thursday afternoon, I have a job interview. Saturdays will still be spent with The Lad while TFR is at work.

You'll understand if my posting levels sink back to their previous sporadic near-nonexistent levels.

Link Worthy

Go watch, over at the LlamaButchers. Trust me.

Seattle, Washington

Final:
Seattle Seahawks 35
Washington Redskins 14

All week long I've been growing more and more weary of hearing how red hot the 'Skins were, how emotionally driven by the "Win One for the Gipper" factor they were, how they had the best record in the NFC over the last four weeks of the season. It seemed that everyone, apparently including the Redskins, forgot that there was another team scheduled to show up in Seattle today.

The 'Hawks reminded them of that fact, in no uncertain terms. The defense especially was dominant, rushing and sacking Collins all game long. They even had something resembling a running game, and they overcame a late surge by Washington, who came back to lead 14-13 before they missed a field goal and let Seattle back in it.

Well played, 'Skins,way to go 'Hawks!

It's Snowing

Right now, right out my window. Big, thick, heavy, wet snowflakes. It just shifted from rain to snow, so nothing's sticking yet, but it's snowing. It's gorgeous. I've been hoping for a little snow since mid-December, since I love white Christmases. Each morning I would wake up and listen, hoping to hear... nothing. Under normal weather conditions, I can hear plenty of traffic in the distance. If the roads are wet, I'll hear the splash of cars driving through the rain, or I might hear the raindrops themselves. But when it snows, the cars slow down, and the snow absorbs the sound coming off of tires. Silence in the morning means snow. The only days I was thrown off by this significantly were Christmas itself and New Year's Day, for obvious reasons.

But as I sat here blogging on other matters, the pitter-patter of the rain outside decreased and eventually silenced, and my head was immediately drawn to the window... sure enough, there it was.

I'm gonna bundle up and go out in it with The Lad, I'll talk to you folks later.

UPDATE:

It's sticking. Like little frozen paratroopers, the first waves of flakes lowered the temperature, and thus the defenses, of the ground, and the follow-on flakes have established a foothold. It's still nowhere deep enough to play in, but The Lad enjoyed watching it fall and lay on the ground as we walked to the store. I killed two birds with one stone, because we were out of... wait for it... ice.

Since You Asked

In response to an earlier post today, a generous but anonymous commenter suggested that I compose an Amazon wish list and put a button linking to it on my blog.

Well, the truth of the matter is, I DO have an Amazon wish list, and the button has been on my blog for some time. I only recently added a significant number of items to it, but it's there.

Most of the items on it, truth be told, are far more than I think anyone should ever spend on me. But it's a nice way to keep track of "someday" goals, and if someone does feel like buying mer a little something, that would be nice -- but I don't want people thinking I expect it, or feel entitled. The fact that someone would even suggest wanting to see that list is flattering.

In fact that's why I don't usually mention it, despite having it there. If someone notices it, and feels generous, that's wonderful. But this blog isabout expressing myself, and the feedback I get when people get something from it -- not about any material gain.

But before you do, go here and help someone who actually NEEDS it.

Pressing Matters

This is the last weekend before school starts up again (ironic that the blogging bug should wait until now to re-infect me, eh?), and I'm rather excited. I gave one of my chef instructors, Chef Clive, a call the other day and told him I got the charcuterie book for Christmas, and his immediate response was, "So what recipe do you want to try first?" I told him I needed to think about it, but I have, and the winner is... Soppresatta, an italian sausage similar to salami -- the word is derived from the Italian for "pressed".

Despite my obvious pride in the pancetta last term, our efforts were met with mixed success. My classmate's duck breast prosciutto also turned out well, but several other projects went bad. The main culprit, as always, was contamination, with high humidity being a big co-conspirator. The weather here is dry in summer, but it gets damp when it cools off. What we really need is a dedicated refrigerator with a dehumidifyer. Chef Clive says that he talked to the folks at Le Cordon Bleu in Portland, and their charcuterie club (!) uses a EuroCave, originally designed for wine storage. We can't afford anything like that for our program, but Chef Clive has a couple of ideas. We'll see how it goes.

I'll post more on this later in the term after I've had a crack at the soppressata.

Full Kit?

My Kershaw fillet knife finally arrived. It turns out that while Kershaw's headquartered here in Oregon, the knife's made in Japan. Oh, well. It's as nice a knife as I hoped for -- good comfortable grip, incredibly flexible blade (inportant in a fillet knife), solid feel. The scabbard that came with it is obviously for use by sportsmen and fishermen -- it's plastic with a drainhole. It's a bit bulky for my knife bag, but not impossibly so.

But that brings me to the bleg/query portion of this post, and it's directed at any fellow culinarians/cooks/chefs who might read this blog.

It's going to be a while before I am in the market to buy another knife, but when I am, what should I set my sights on next? Bear in mind that I'm still in school, and I don't expect to be put in a position to specialize any time soon, and while my passions lie in the area of meat cookery and charcuterie, I am trying to develop as a good all-around culinarian. Here's what I have in my kit so far:

Messermeister bird's beak paring knife
AvantGarde Pro 3" paring knife*
Wusthof 4" chef's knife
AvantGarde Pro 6" boning knife
ChefWorks 8" chef's knife*
ChefWorks 9" serrated bread knife
Kershaw 9" fillet knife
Forschner honing steel

*The "AvantGarde Pro and ChefWorks brands were the knives that were issued in our kits when we started school. They're not the big prestigious brands, but they're quality knives -- forged in Germany and assembled in China. They're all full tang, X50 Cr Mo V 15 stainless.

I was thinking that eventually I'd like a big gun -- a 10" chef's, but a cleaver or scimitar both seem like good choices too, especially considering my interest in charcuterie and meat cookery.

Thoughts?

Musical Geography Trivia Question

If your travelling companions are ghosts and empty sockets, to what city are you going?

Catty Remarks

A tip of the Toque to buddy Lurch.

The truth of this sentiment is why I'm a "Dog Person":

Quote of the Week Month Year Lifetime

II don't want to be healthy, I want to be big like Dada."

-- The Lad

*sigh* Time to diet.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Took The Lad sledding this weekend up at Santiam Pass. It was the first time I'd driven the Subaru in snow, and I loved it. The AWD is considered a traction device, so we didn't have to mount our cables, and the car grabbed the road very nicely. Only twice did we swerve at all, and that was while making U-turns. While driving the road normally, I felt no drift or slippage at all. I got a little cocky, though, and parked us in snow a TAD too deep -- but with myself and another person pushing, we got out with very little effort.

The Lad loved the snow, as did Little Big Dog -- lhasa apsos are from tibet, and despite the 20 degree weather, she never even shifered.

As for sledding, that was another story. This fat man almost killed himself carrying The Lad and a sled up the hill, and when we finally took off, The LAd seated in front of me, the hill was super fast, and displaying a bit of over-protectiveness, I kept braking with my boots -- throwing copious amounts of snow into my face and The Lads. One run was enough, and he was ready to go. But all in all it was a fun day, and we hope to get up there at least once more this winter.

Better than what I Wanted

TFR got me the skillet I asked for for Christmas, along with the Bird's Beak Paring Knife, and a few non-culinary items. My mother decided to send gift money and let me pick for myself. These days, it's much easier for her, and quite frankly, I am not put out by it -- never mind curmudgeonly grumbling about it not being as "personal" as an actual gift. The fact is my mother has gone far above and beyond in showing me her love my entire life -- no gift is going to add anything more, no lack of one can diminish that.

So anyway, I decided that thanks to my mom, I'd get the book I asked for. I was also going to buy the fillet knife, but when I went to order the book, I ran into a dillemma. The book was $23 and some change, and fell just short of qualifying for free shipping. So I looked around Amazon a bit longer, and found this. A better fillet knife than the forschner, and for a similar price. Now, if I'd bought the Forschner I could have received a 10% discount from the cutlery store. But when you consider the $2.86 shipping I avoided paying on the book by buying the knife too, it equals a 10.8% savings -- and I end up paying about the same and getting a better knife -- and one made here in Oregon, to boot!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town Going to Drown

This is the kind of crap you miss the chance to mock when you're busy with school.

My friend Brian (aka Lurch) told me about this first -- a speech by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels in which he warns kids at a tree-lighting ceremony that if they don't help fight global warming, Santa and his reindeer (and presumably the elves too) would drown.

No, really. You can read the mayor's entire letter to Santa over at Michelle Malkin's Blog.

Wow. Where to begin.

I could go off on a rant about fear-mongering, about traumatizing little kids in order to indoctrinate them to your politics, about commandeering a public festivity for your own ends... but that's been done, in spades, by everyone who's commented on this at Michelle's, and by other bloggers.

That WAS, in fact, my first inclination when I heard about this story. While I haven't been able to find a transcript of the speech itself, Lurch heard it and says that Nickels included a dig at Bush in the speech, inplying that global warming was somehow worse because of the President. If that's true, that's the point where the reprehensible aspects of Nickels screed and the laughable parts overlap. It's bad enough to use a tree-lighting ceremony as a bully pulpit for advancing your own agenda regarding global warming, but when your fanatical adherence to the Party Line regarding Global Warming collides with BDS, you start to become self-lampooning.

Not that there isn't plenty to mock even without any reference to the President. First of all there's the irony in the fact that the mayor was offering flourescent bulbs to replace older incandescent bulbs -- missing the memo about the dangers of the mercury present in the ballast of flourescent bulbs. LED bulbs are even more efficient AND safer for the environment.

Or there's Nickels' comment in the letter, "Reindeer fly, but can they swim, too? I for one would rather not find out."

Ummmm... Your honor... Reindeer swim across rivers and bays every year during their annual migrations... I know your comment was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, but given the earnestness with which you present your little screed as scientific truth, your lack of knowledge of such a well-known fact really does make you look a bit silly.

Oh, screw it. There's just so much here, and I'm still burned out. I don't have it in me to go off like I'd want to. Instead of cursing the dark, I think I'll just light a light in it.

Unless doing so puts the Easter Bunny at risk, too....

Dear Santa

With money tight in our family this year, for the sake of TFR I've limited mysef to relatively inexpensive items on my wish list, though I suspect there's a pattern to them:

Forschner 8" fillet knife
a new 8" nonstick skillet
Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn
a bird's beak paring knife (There's a Messermeister for sale for $5 at Hartwick's, and I wouldn't use it enough to warrant a pricier one -- great stockijng stuffer, hint hint...)
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
an immersion blender
The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating by Fergus Henderson

That Which Does Not Kill Me Will Only Serve to Make Me Wish it Had

For all my loyal readers and fellow bloggers, many of whom I consider friends I've not yet met, I appreciate the fact that you've stuck with me through a very tough, very busy term. Things aren't over just yet -- I have a final later today and one tomorrow -- but I can see light at the end of the tunnel, and have some reason to believe it's not an oncoming train, though heaven knows I feel like I've been hit by one. Getting a bad chest and head cold the week of finals sucks.

At this point I don't have any work lined up for the break, so I may be able to blog a bit more often than normal. I kinda look forward to that.

But there's been some ups lately too. In my Menu Management class, I got an A on the rough draft of my project, up from a C on the proposal stage. It consisted of a menu for a fictional restaurant, including 5 appetizers, 6 entrees, 3 desserts, and 5 beverages, plus recipes, costing, and prices for all items.

I also did well on the final combined project for my Garde Manger class and Buffet & Banquet class. Early on in the term, we were split into teams of two and given an hor d'oeuvre to test. Then we were informed that at the end of the term (last week), we'd be making 200 portions of our hors d'oeuvre for an open house at the school. My partner and I got off to a rocky start. We were assigned smoked trout mousse, and had to decide for ourselves what sort of hors d'oeuvre to make out of it. The test run used trout that had been smoked in an earlier lab by the whole class, and the mouse recipe right out of the book. It sucked. It was way too salty and smoky and runny. But hey, we had half a term to fix it, right?

Chef Clive, my instructor, hit one one part of the solution to our problem -- the trout itself wasn't that good to begin with. I also decided that the other part of the solution was to increase the aspic gelee (gelatin flavored with stock consommee, in this case fish stock) and whipped cream in the recipe, for more body and firmness.

Then my partner dropped out of the program, so it was all on me. The only major help I got was when some classmates threw together the dough for my bread.

So last week, while also dealing with my regular class load, I came in between classes and smoked the trout and baked off my bread. The trout was a smashing success -- part of the solution was a sweeter brine, the other part was to use a milder smoke -- the original had been smoked in hickory, which while fine for barbecue, is too strong for something as delicate as trout. Instead, I used a combination of alder and apple. The bread also cooked off perfectly.

The day of the event, I was at school at 9:30, worked through until plating at 3:00, and produced a hit: smoked trout mousse canapes on toasted brioche, garnished with a dill sprig and a slice of radish soaked in white wine. They were divine. The wine was the first thing to hit your mouth. The acid in the wine softened the bite of the radish, but also cut some of the richness of the mousse, which was perfectly smooth and firm, with a salty sweet smokiness. The brioche was slightly crips, and its butteriness added to the mouth feel from the mousse.

One of my chef instructors took a picture, as soon as she emails it to me, I'll post it to the blog.

Update
Feast your eyes:

Amendment XXI

Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

Ratified December 5, 1933

Thus ended one of the (if not THE) biggest, costliest, and most tragic experiments in Nanny State governing in the history of this country. So this evening, pourt yourself a stiff drink, and raise a glass to freedom.

Quote of the Week

"I don't like repeat offenders; I like DEAD offenders."

- Ted Nugent



- A Tip[ of the Toque to Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs.

Stacked...

(A follow-up to Well Hung)

The pancetta came out nicely, and this is the first thing I made with it:



It's a Cobb NApoleon. The bottom layer is tomato, then chicken, then green onions, then hard boiled egg, then the pancetta, then mixed baby greens that have been chiffonaded and bound with an agave-dijon dressing. The salad is garnished with blue cheese and the plate with more of the dressing and blue cheese.

A Veteran's Day Message

THANK YOU


Anything else I say would be superfluous.

32 Years Ago Today

The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times.

Resquiat im Pacem:

Michael E. Armagost
37
Third Mate
Iron River, Wisconsin

Fred J. Beetcher
56
Porter
Superior, Wisconsin

Thomas D. Bentsen
23
Oiler
St. Joseph, Michigan

Edward F. Bindon
47
First Asst. Engineer
Fairport Harbor, Ohio

Thomas D. Borgeson
41
Maintenance Man
Duluth, Minnesota

Oliver J. Champeau
41
Third Asst. Engineer
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

Nolan S. Church
55
Porter
Silver Bay, Minnesota

Ransom E. Cundy
53
Watchman
Superior, Wisconsin

Thomas E. Edwards
50
Second Asst. Engineer
Oregon, Ohio

Russell G. Haskell
40
Second Asst. Engineer
Millbury, Ohio

George J. Holl
60
Chief Engineer
Cabot, Pennsylvania

Bruce L. Hudson
22
Deck Hand
North Olmsted, Ohio

Allen G. Kalmon
43
Second Cook
Washburn, Wisconsin

Gordon F. MacLellan
30
Wiper
Clearwater, Florida

Joseph W. Mazes
59
Special Maintenance Man
Ashland, Wisconsin

John H. McCarthy
62
First Mate
Bay Village, Ohio

Ernest M. McSorley
63
Captain
Toledo, Ohio

Eugene W. O'Brien
50
Wheelsman
Toledo, Ohio

Karl A. Peckol
20
Watchman
Ashtabula, Ohio

John J. Poviach
59
Wheelsman
Bradenton, Florida

James A. Pratt
44
Second Mate
Lakewood, Ohio

Robert C. Rafferty
62
Steward
Toledo, Ohio

Paul M. Riippa
22
Deck Hand
Ashtabula, Ohio

John D. Simmons
63
Wheelsman
Ashland, Wisconsin

William J. Spengler
59
Watchman
Toledo, Ohio

Mark A. Thomas
21
Deck Hand
Richmond Heights, Ohio

Ralph G. Walton
58
Oiler
Fremont, Ohio

David E. Weiss
22
Cadet
Agoura, California

Blaine H. Wilhelm
52
Oiler
Moquah, Wisconsin

Go watch this version of the song.

A tip of the Toque to Ken at It Comes in Pints?

Musical Geography Trivia of the Day (Week? Month? Eon?)

If you've been stranded in the combat zone, where have you walked?

Well Hung

My latest special project at school, posted especially for the Baconphiles among us:


Handmade pancetta

Sucks to be U, Dub.

Oregon 55
Washington 34

The Dawgs made it close in the third quarter, but once the Ducks got their offense back on track, they rolled. Except for a couple drives in the third quarter where their own miscues stopped them, the pretty much scored at will in the second half. 465 yards rushing (a school record), 661 yards overall. Here's a telling stat: 3 Ducks ran for over 100 yards, and one of them was the Quarterback. Oregon has defeated UDub and Wazzoo, now all that's left is to beat the Beavs and we own the Northwest. But in the meantime, we have three big games coming up with implications for our postseason - USC next week, ASU the week after that, and UCLA in four weeks -- the three teams tied with us or with better records in the PAC-10. Win all of those and we could be looking at a Rose Bowl berth, if not a shot at the BCS.

Things Unsaid

I did something tonight I haven't done in... well, since The Lad was born. I shed tears of joy.

It happened as I was recounting something that happened at school today. This week in our Garde Manger class, we've been covering charcuterie, smoking and curing meats, confits and rillettes. This has carried over into our restaurant lab (we operate a restaurant on campus) where we have been featuring a lot of the products we made in Garde Manger on our menu. I mentioned to Chef Clive that I had a recipe for smoked fish that I inherited from my great-grandfather, and he had me go ahead and try it on some salmon we had on hand. I brined and smoked it today, and wrapped it up to refrigerate until next Wednesday, when I plan to serve it as the lunch special -- I'm going to make smoked salmon reubens, an idea I got from work this summer. But before I put it away, I set some aside for the rest of my classmates to sample.

Only a few of them had a chance to do so before our other instructor, Chef Chris, stopped by. I decided to offer him a sample, and handed him the ingredient bowl with the salmon and a tasting spoon. He proceeded to eat the entire thing. He then handed the bowl back to me to take to the dish pit, and said, "That's pretty good."

That's all he said. No raving about it, no details about what was good about it, just "That's pretty good".

But the thing is, that'sthe first time he's commented on anything I've cooked without offering suggestions for improvement. I know why he does it -- he wants us to continue to imporve, he wants us to learn and grow and do our best and build on what we've learned. But after a while the constant critique weighs on you, it gets painful to offer something that you've put your efforts and soul into, only to be told what you've done wrong.

But not this time. It was pretty good. Not great, not amazing, not awesome or "Oh my LORD!", but pretty good -- good enough to not mention how it fell short. And that was huge. I've heard of being damned with faint praise, but this time, I was elevated with it.

It felt good to be good. Even just pretty good.

Since You Asked

Over the past few monhs, my posting has become sparser and sparser, and when I DO post, I get fewer responses to the contents of my psot than the, "Oh, THERE you are!" comments.

Most people have assumed that I've stopped posting because I'm busier than before. Nothing could be further from the truth -- even with work, my summer schedule has been easier than my school schedule.

The truth is I've been too damned depressed to post much. My life sucks, and a lot of what I've had to say in the past rings hollow to me. My marriage is a wreck, for reasons that I prefer not to discuss -- suffice it to say neither of us is innocent. I'm not sure I want to stay, but I have nowhere else to go.

I totalled our only car on Wednesday, and the insurance payoff will mostly go to the bank who holds our lien. Our credit is a shambles -- my own damned fault, so financing another is a joke. To top it off, I was 45 minutes from home and an hour or so from Portland when it happened, and was on my way up to PDX to pick TFR and my son from the airport.

Because of the new job, I had to stay here while my wife and son spent 2 weeks in Florida on her parents' dime, going to Walt Disney World, the Everglades, the beach, drinks by the pool.... I stayed here, worked, and ate frozen pizza. I don't cook goutmet for just myself.

And oh, yeah, that job? I lost it yesterday. The fall school schedule came out, I start Monday, and the schedule straddles the day, precluding me from working a morning OR evening shift. They told me to come back when I graduate, but until then, they can't use me.

So I'm sorry if my mind hasn't been as much on politics or musical geography or anything else. Right now I'm just trying to keep myself from dwelling on the fact that thanks to an insurance policy, I'm worth more dead than alive.

Musical Geography Trivia Question of the Day

What is quiet, and where is cold?

Big OUR House

Well, the Ducks MAY score again, but I'm guessing they'll mercifully just run the last 2 minutes off the clock and the final will be Oregon 39, Michigan 7. Two missed field goals kept U of O out of the 40's.

twice withing the last few years, the Ducks have HOSTED storied football programs (Michigan in 2003, Oklahoma) for the first time in the history of Autzen stadium, and twice Oregon won close shockers. This year was the first scheduled payback game -- Oregon went to Ann Arbor, and would have to face the Wolverines on their home turf. No squeakers, no lucky first half followed by hanging on for dear life, no winning on a bad call by the officials.

It didn't matter. The outcome was the same, and in fact, was even less in question. Michigan led once, in the first quarter, when they went up 7-3, but after that the Oregon defense started forcing turnovers and the Offense, led by a finally-matured Dennis Dixon, exploited them. This game was over at halftime.

Which is unfortunate, because there's an interesting side-rivalry that has been created in the Oregon-Michigan matchups: The battle of the crowd noise. Michigan's home stadium, nicknamed the "Big House", seats over 100,000, while Autzen Stadium, home of the Ducks, seats a little over half that. Yet even Michigan players and coaches were stunned four years ago at the crowd noise at Autzen, purported to be the loudest by decibel level of any college football stadium in America. But the Big house has a rep for noise too, and it was going to be interesting to see the contrast. The problem is, the Ducks took the Michigan crowd out of this one early, and the Big House sounded like the Public Library.

The Ducks are 2-0 now, and they're looking a lot better than people here were hoping for. Last week's win against Houston was sloppy, but today they looked sharp, and executed the Spread Offense perfectly, thinning Michigan out and then running Dixon on them. It could be a good year.

Mighty Oregon!