mmm: 2010

Cherry Almond Kugel [12/25/2010]

Cherry Almond Kugel

12oz egg noodles
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp melted butter
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp almond paste
4 eggs
1.5 lb cottage cheese
1.5 cup fresh or dried/soaked cherries, chopped
1/2 cup evaporated milk

1. Cook and drain noodles

2. Beat sugar, mascarpone, almond paste/extract, salt, melted butter, vanilla, eggs. Incorporate other ingredients first, and then add eggs one at a time to mix well.

3. Mix with noodles, cottage cheese, and fruit

4. Put in a well-buttered casserole dish

5. Pour evaporated milk on top

6. Bake at 375 until golden brown and serve warm or cold

My Everyday Salad [10/19/2010]

My Everyday Salad

The measurements below are approximate.
2.5 oz or 5-6 handfuls baby salad greens
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 cup shredded red cabbage
1 lg sliced radish
1 tin of skinless/boneless sardines 3.75 oz
2 tablespoons cheesy Caesar dressing

Mix greens, carrot, cabbage, radish and dressing in large bowl. Divide into bowls and top with sardines. Makes 2 servings.

These are the sardines I usually buy:

This is the dressing I like to use:

Easy Brussels Sprouts [10/14/2010]

Easy Brussels Sprouts

2 lbs brussels sprouts
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut each brussels sprout in half. Rinse the sprouts. Dice shallot and garlic. Add sprouts, garlic, and shallot to a 9 x 13 baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over the sprouts and stir so they are coated. Add a bit of salt and pepper. Roast for 35 minutes.

The Secret Powers of Time [10/13/2010]

I found this RSA Animate video interesting.

Broccoli & Collards Casserole [10/05/2010]

Broccoli & Collards Casserole

1 large onion chopped
3 broccoli crowns
1 can of Campbells condensed cream of broccoli soup
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
1 pkg Uncle Ben's ready made rice (I used the whole grain medley with chicken flavor)
2 bunches collard greens chopped finely
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil

Saute the collard greens and onion in the olive oil until soft. Steam the broccoli crowns. Break broccoli into smaller pieces. Combine the collards, onion, broccoli, rice, cheese, and soup in a 3 quart casserole dish. Top with the bread crumbs. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

Montana Brewers Association Brewfest [9/23/2010]

With 21 participating breweries, and 73 different selections, we had a terrific time at the 2010 Montana Brewers Festival. It was an outstanding way to end our time in Montana and end our pretty much un-planned but totally awesome Montana brewery tour.

Needless to say, we were unable to try everything (not even half of the options). Our ratings below are based on a 1-10 scale. Personally, I may have become more forgiving towards the later part of the evening, so, the marks are probably a bit biased.

Brewery	Brew	Type	Rating
Bayern	St. Wilbur	Hefeweizen	7
Bayern	Dump Truck Summer Boch	Smooth Boch	9
Bayern	Bayern Octoberfest	Dark Marzen	8
Bayern	Bayern Pilsner	Pilsner	6
Beaver Creek	Cherry Wheat	Wheat	5
Beaver Creek	Beaver Creek Pale Ale	Pale Ale	5
Blackfoot River	Blackfoot Maibock	Maibock	6
Blacksmith	Imperial Red Ale	Imperial IPA	5
Blacksmith	Cutthroat IPA	IPA	6
Bozeman	Bozone Select	Amber Ale	6
Bozeman	Plum Street Porter	Porter	6
Carter's	Saison de Carter	Belgian-French Saison	6
Flathead Lake	Rising Sun Espresso Porter	Coffee Porter	5
Glacier	Golden Grizzly Ale	Kolsch Golden Ale	7
Glacier	Glacier Select Oktoberfest	Marzen	7
Great Northern	Highlander Premium Beer	Scottish Red Ale	7
Great Northern	Wild Huckleberry Wheat Lager	Filtered Wheat w/Fruit	6
Harvest Moon	Pigs Ass Porter	Porter	6
Harvest Moon	Beltian White	Belgian style vitbier	7
Harvest Moon	Nut Brown	Brown	6
Kettlehouse	Eddy Out	Pale Ale	5
Kettlehouse	Cold Smoke Scotch Ale	Scotch Ale	5
Lewis and Clark	Miner's Gold	Hefeweisen	6
Lewis and Clark	Portage Porter	Porter	8
Lone Peak	Hippy Highway Oatmeal Stout	Oatmeal Stout	7
Lone Peak	Hellroaring ESB	English Style Extra Special Bitter	5
Montana	Whitetail Wheat	American Hefeweisen	7.5
Neptune's	Wheat	American Wheat	6
Quarry	Open Pit Porter	Porter	8
Tamarack	Rye Sally Rye PA	Rye Pale Ale	5
Tamarack	Wakeboard Wheat	Belgium Style Wit	7

We did not sample any of the Bitter Root beers because we had already had them all with a flight at their brewery. Unfortunately, we missed out on trying anything from Angry Hank's, Madison River, and Red Lodge Ales.

The musical headliner was a group called Keegan Smih & The Fam and they were a lot of fun. : )

If you are traveling to Montana and like micro-brews, you should definitely check out: www.montanabrewers.org

Jesse Schell's Visions of the Gamepocalypse [8/30/2010]

My Masoor Dal [8/16/2010]

My Masoor Dal

1 1/2 cups masoor dal (red lentils)
6 cups water
1 tomato
3 cloves garlic
1 onion
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin ground
3 1/2 teaspoons ras el hanout
1/2 teaspoon coriander ground
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ginger paste
dash of cayenne

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Rinse the red lentils. In a blender puree the onion, tomato, garlic and 1 cup of water. Add the lentils, oil, puree, and 5 cups of water to a pot. Bring to a boil and then add the spices. Simmer on medium heat until the dal is soft and mushy with no dryness or crunch. On my stove this took approximately 2 hours. Soaking the lentils overnight would reduce the cooking time significantly.

Lager Sampling No. 1 [7/17/2010]

Brewery	Name	Location	Short Description	Rating
Samuel Adams	Black Lager	Boston, MA	ok, decent	91
Gorden Biersch Brewing Company	Märzen	San Jose, CA	too bitter	88
Dundee Brewing Co	Pale Bock Lager	Rochester, NY	malty, sweet	92
Samuel Adams	Imperial Double Bock	Boston, MA	molasses, 9.5%	94
Spoetzl Brewery	Shiner Bohemian Black Lager	Shiner, TX	toasty, almost charred	90
Flying Dog Brewery	Collaborator Doppelbock	Denver, CO	8.3%, full bodied, super yummy	96
Spoetzl Brewery	Shiner Bock	Shiner, TX	clean, toasty	92
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co	30th Anniversary Imperial Helles Bock	Chico, CA	malty, toasty	94

Homebrewing: Rye [6/27/2010]

It's proved really difficult for me to find ryes in the store. If you've found a rye you like please let me know. For this batch we used the Brewers Connection recipe for O'Ryely's Rye. I can't wait to see how this turns out and how it ages.

Chestnut Soup [6/20/2010]

Chestnut Soup

3 tbs butter
1 chopped celery rib
2 chopped carrots and/or parsnips
2 chopped shallots or 1 onion
5-6 cups of low sodium chicken broth (or half broth / half water)
15 oz jar peeled and cooked whole chestnuts
1/4 cup dry Sherry, Sercial Madeira, or dry white wine
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 bouquet garni in cheesecloth: sprig of parsley, 1 bay leaf, (optional) sprig of thyme, (optional) whole cloves

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Sweat vegetables for 15 minutes to soften.

Add broth and bouquet garni and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

Add chestnuts and wine. Simmer, covered, 3 minutes.

Cool soup slightly. Puree soup in small batches in a blender, transferring to a heavy saucepan. Stir in cream, pepper, and salt to taste.

Reheat soup. Serve with crunchy garnish such as frizzled leeks or thin slices of raw green beans, celery, etc.

Porter Sampling No. 7 [5/26/2010]

Brewery	Name	Location	Short Description	Rating
Samuel Adams	Holiday Porter	Boston, MA	ok, decent	89
Lagunitas Brewing Co	Cappucinno Stout	Petaluma, CA	ok, but not exciting	90
Moylan's Brewing Co	Dragoons Dry Irish Stout	Novato, CA	thin, dry, a bit hoppy	88
Brew Dog	Rip Tide twisted merciless stout	England	hoppy	88
Green Flash Brewing Co	Double Stout	San Diego, CA	unmemorable	88
Anderson Valley Brewing Co	Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout	Boonville, CA	decent	89
Bell's Brewery	Kalamazoo Stout	Comstock, MI	bitter	87
Boulder Beer Company	Obovoid Oak-Aged Oatmeal Stout	Boulder, CO	I didn't like the aged in oak flavor	87
Jedrzejow Brewery	Strzelec Porter	Jedrzejow, Poland	thick, molasses like	94
Samuel Adams	Cream Stout	Boston, MA	toasty	93
Deschutes Brewery	Obsidian Stout	Bend, OR	nice body, toasty	92
Odell Brewing Co	Cutthroat Porter	Fort Collins, CO	malty, dry, clean	94
Prescott Brewing Co	Achocolypse Porter	Prescott, AZ	rich, very chocolatey	92

Finished Here Comes Everybody [5/18/2010]

The first part of the book is mostly anecdotes that are individually pretty interesting. But, I was left wondering about their relevance and whether or not anything could be extrapolated from them. In the last few chapters Shirky really puts it all together and makes several large scale conclusions about the role of the internet and social networking in our society and our future.

Finished Patternmaster [5/08/2010]

I have mixed feelings on this conclusion to Butler's Patternist series. I found it to be a fun read, but, it was also kind of difficult for me to care one way or another about Teray's fate. As a whole, the series is worthwhile. But, I don't think Patternmaster could stand up well on it's own. At least the characters weren't annoying like those in Mind of My Mind were.

Finished Clay's Ark [5/05/2010]

This is another book in Butler's four part Patternist series. I found this one much more to my liking than Mind of My Mind. It's got a lot of action and the characters are interesting. It's gritty but still accessible. I would have liked the story to be even longer and cover more of what happened after the clayark disease spread.

2nd Annual PBS Craft Brewing Festival [5/01/2010]

Unfortunately, Oran was sick for the 2nd PBS craft brew fest. So, we didn't get to stay very long or try everything. This time they had more food options and the venue was pretty nice. I was somewhat disappointed because most of the local AZ breweries brought only their usual stuff. I had already tried almost of all of the beers. I was hoping to see their seasonals and special small batch brews. Oh well. A shout out to Prescott Brewing Company for bringing a seasonal their Achocolypse Porter - it was thick, rich and delicious. Now I am wanting to visit Prescott again.

Finished Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medecine [4/30/2010]

This book is really interesting. Topics covered include infection, aging, allergies, and cancer. I found it an easy and enjoyable read compared to a lot of non-fiction out there. The only flaw is that it is a bit out-dated having been written in 1994. I'd love a follow up sequel.

Ale Sampling No. 1 [4/26/2010]

Brewery	Name	Location	Short Description	Rating
Fischer Biere d' Alsace	Fischer Tradition Amber	Schiltigheim, France	fruity	94
Anderson Valley Brewing Co	Boont Amber Ale	Boonville, CA	good	92
Samuel Adams	Cranberry Lambic	Boston, MA	doesn't taste like a lambic	89
Four Peaks	Kiltlifter	Tempe, AZ	like spice cake	94
St Peters	Organic English Ale	Bungay, England	light, refreshing (seriously)	94
Spoetzl Brewery	Shiner Bock	Shiner, TX	dry, good taste	90
Oak Creek Brewing Co	Nut Brown Ale	Sedona, AZ	malty, creamy, sweet, nutty	95
Big Sky Brewing Co	Moose Drool Brown Ale	Missoula, Montana	toasty, nutty	94
Full Sail Brewing Co	Keelhauler Scottish Ale	Hood River, OR	hoppy	89
Batemans Brewery	Combined Harvest	Wainfleet, England	toasty, delicious	96
Dundee Brewing Co	Honey Brown	Rochester, NY	sweet	92

Wheat Sampling No. 2 [4/26/2010]

Brewery	Name	Location	Short Description	Rating
Moab Brewery	Rocket Bike Wit Ale	Moab, UT	orange, coriander	92
Papago Brewing Co	Orange Blossom Mandarin Wheat Ale	Scottsdale, AZ	like an orange creamsicle	89
Pyramid Breweries	Haywire Hefeweizen	Seattle, WA	nice orange flavor	94
Avery Brewing Co	White Rascal Belgian-Style Wheat Ale	Boulder, CO	hoppy, bitter	86
Ballast Point Brewing Co	Wahoo Wheat	San Diego, CA	interesting	92
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company	Sunset Wheat	Chippewa Falls, WI	I like the lemon a lot	94
Paulaner Brewery	Hefe-Weizen	Munich, Germany	too much banana	88
Left Hand Brewing Co.	Haystack Wheat	Longmont, CO	too much banana	89
Gordon Biersch Brewing Company	Hefeweizen	San Jose, CA	banana, bitter, but ok	89
Widmer Brothers Brewing Co	Hefeweizen	Portland, OR	bitter, mild yeast flavor	89
New Belgium Brewing Company	Sunshine Wheat	Fort Collins, CO	too much banana	88
Franziskaner	Weissbier	Munich, Germany	ok, not my favorite	89
New Belgium Brewing Company	Mothership Wit	Fort Collins, CO	too much banana	88

Finished Iorich [4/24/2010]

The latest installment in Steven Brust's Vlad series was one of my favorites of all of them. I really liked the character of Perisil. I hope he returns again. I was also happy to have Kragar play a part in this one. Unfortunately, I'll probably have to wait a year or more for another Vlad story.

Finished The Crying of Lot 49 [4/21/2010]

This book is very strange in that I liked it as a whole even though I didn't like any of the characters in any way, or the action, or the descriptions. It was annoying that I still wanted to keep reading despite everything being so un-likeable. The best way I can explain it is that there is a sort of messiness to the mystery that is appealing. It's like a dream in that it doesn't make sense and there are no answers.

more on commercials: a freaky one angers me, and a cool one inspires me [4/21/2010]

I don't like it when commercials are scary or disturbing. It doesn't make me want to buy anything. Instead I get an aversion to the product that I may have been ambivalent towards prior to the ad. This is like anti-marketing, and it upsets me. Why would you pay money to make me scared, when your product isn't supposed to be scary?

I get that it's trendy to break rules and all, but, this MFS commercial goes too far for me: http://annex.mfs.com/subs/video/commercial_internal/popup2.html Who decided it was acceptable to mess with people's eyes and make them look like aliens? Am I the only one who thinks this is very creepy?

I've always liked the Absolut magazine ads. This new commercial of theirs continues the tradition of promoting art and creativity.

Check out this kinetic sculpture by Arthur Ganson [4/06/2010]

Finished Burning Chrome [4/06/2010]

Gibson's writing is no less impressive in short form. I enjoyed all of the stories in this collection. Here is a line I especially liked from Johnny Mnemonic: "The sound it made was like a world ending, like the wires that hold heaven snapping and coiling across the sky." Here is another from Fragments of a Hologram Rose: "The explosion had been visible two miles away, a white sheet of heat lightening that had turned the pale branches of a bare tree against the night sky into a photographic negative of themselves: carbon branches against magnesium sky."

Finished Mind of My Mind [3/17/2010]

This book is another one in Butler's Patternist series. I didn't like it nearly as much as Wild Seed. I found the characters all to be very frustrating. Doro and Emma didn't seem the same. I was curious what Butler knew about string theory when she was writing describing the pattern. I hated the ending. Now, I will take a break before I decide to read any more of this series.

Finished Wild Seed [3/17/2010]

I found it pretty impressive that an antagonist, such as the character of Doro, could be so interesting and compelling. This book was admittedly over-the-top and indulgent, but, I still enjoyed it.

Tables in the Cafe at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History [3/03/2010]

What's in your Salad Bowl?

What's in your Stir Fry?

Model of La Minerve [3/03/2010]

on display in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC

drawing of La Minerve:
http://www.luckypalm.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/balloon_minerve.jpg

more about La Minerve:
http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2009/05/escape-pods-for-women-balloonists-1820-the-fabulous-minerve-balloon.html

Finished What's Next: Dispatches on the Future of Science [3/03/2010]

These essays collected by Max Brockman primarily deal with neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and biology. My favorites were "The Aliens Among Us" by Nathan Wolfe and "What Makes Big Ideas Sticky" by Matthew D. Lieberman. Wolfe describes how little we know about viruses and how important and valuable they can be. Lieberman suggests connections between genes and philosophical ideas.

Finished Bloodchild [2/25/2010]

This book is comprised of Butler's collected short stories. I really liked Speech Sounds. The Evening and the Morning and the Night was interesting as well. Most of these stories are quite dark and dire. There is much less compromise, symbiosis, and hope here than in Xenogenesis/Lilith's Brood or Fledgling.

Finished Tea Time for the Traditionally Built [2/21/2010]

This is the 10th book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. I like these books because they are easy and generally entertaining. However, this one was frustrating because I found it had too much of Grace Makutsi's drama and too little of Mma Ramotswe. I liked having Puso get more attention. I wish one of these would be longer with a bit more meat to it.

Valentine's Day Brownies [2/14/2010]

Valentine's Day Brownies

1 cup butter
5 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose white flour
2 Tablespoons and 2 Teaspoons of brown rice flour
2 Tablespoons and 2 Teaspoons of almond flour
2 Tablespoons and 2 Teaspoons of potato starch
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2-1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 pan. Melt the butter. Beat the eggs, mix in the vanilla and sugar. Next stir in the melted butter, cocoa powder, and salt. Slowly add in the flours and starch. Continue stirring until batter is thoroughly mixed. Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips. Pour into pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Homebrewing: Hayfever Hefeweizen [2/14/2010]

We made an American style wheat. We added a jar of local honey purchased at the farmer's market from Kenny the Fishhugger. We also added lemon peel at the end of the brew, and lemon extract into the secondary and at racking. A few pictures from the brewing are in the slide show below.

Finished The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature [2/11/2010]

Steven Pinker is entertaining and easy to read. The section on Radical Pragmatics seemed a bit sloppy, and I wasn't too happy with the Linguistic Determinism part either. However, most of the rest was compelling and powerful. I really like the way Pinker isn't afraid to take a multi-disciplinary approach to examining human nature. And he isn't afraid to say things that might offend others. I hope he will continue to use bits of anthropology in the future.

Homebrewing: Chocolate Orange Porter [1/31/2010]

We used the Brewers Connection recipe for The Butlers Porter. We added about a cup of cocoa powder to the wort. We also added homemade orange extract into the carboy.

Here is a photo of the grains steeping:

Here is a photo of the chocolately wort at the end of the boil:

Wheat Sampling No. 1 [1/26/2010]

Lately, I've branched out from my Porters/Stouts and have been exploring Hefeweizens/Wheats. Here is the first set:

Brewery	Name	Location	Short Description	Rating
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company	Honey Weiss	Chippewa Falls, WI	sweet, enjoyable	92
Sea Dog Brewing Co	Wild Blueberry Wheat Ale	Bangor, ME	blueberry is a bit overpowering	90
Moab Brewery	Elephant Hill Hefeweizen	Moab, UT	nice citrus taste and smell	92
Flying Dog	In Heat Wheat	Frederick, MD	ok, not my favorite	88
Samuel Adams	Cherry Wheat	Boston, MA	yummy	92
Eddie McStiff's	Blueberry Wheat	Moab, UT	decent	89
Eddie McStiff's	Raspberry Wheat	Moab, UT	light	90
Breckenridge	Agave Wheat	Denver, CO	average	89
Samuel Adams	Coastal Wheat	Boston, MA	I love the lemon and coriander	94
Brewery Ommegang	Witte	Cooperstown, NY	great citrus/coriander flavor	94

Homebrewing: English Brown Ale [1/16/2010]

While brewing our brown ale we "shocked" our first packet of yeast. The wort was cooled down too much and the yeast couldn't adjust quickly enough. Luckily, we were able to re-pitch with a new packet, and the second batch worked fine. Pictures from the brewing are in the slide show below.

Porter Sampling No. 6 [1/14/2010]

Brewery	Name	Location	Short Description	Rating
St. Peter's Brewery Co	Cream Stout	Bungay, England	smooth and yummy	94
St. Peter's Brewery Co	Old-Style Porter	Bungay, England	interesting	92
Goose Island Beer Co	Bourbon County Brand Stout	Chicago, IL	strongly bourbon tasting	88
Left Hand Brewing Co	Black Jack Porter	Longmont, CO	average	89
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery	World Wide Porter	Milton, DE	bitter, hoppy	88
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery	Chicory Stout	Milton, DE	not complex enough	89
Great Divide Brewing Co	Saint Bridget's Porter	Denver, CO	very nice	94
Zywiec Breweries	Porter	Zywiec, Poland	thick, rich, delicious	96
Papago Brewing Co	Elsie's Irish Coffee Milk Stout	Scottsdale, AZ	just like irish cream liqueur	89
Samuel Adams	Imperial Stout	Boston, MA	enjoyable	94