Jul 17

The Last Road Trip

Last weekend’s road trip to British Columbia was the last for Frau Blücher (neigh…), my 2010 Volkswagen Jetta not-so-clean diesel. She went out in a blaze of glory. We took her up twisty mountain roads and through traffic jams in Vancouver and on Interstate 5. She performed like a champ, as always.

Today I turned Die Frau in for a 2019 Jetta. It has the safety features that I wanted without having to pay $10K more for a GTI. It also has mood lighting, which I can live without. The external color is blue. It has yet to be named, although I’m leaning toward Marlene (as in Marlene Dietrich, star of The Blue Angel).

Die Frau conveniently was moved out of the dealership lot immediately after the VW rep took pictures of it before we signed her away. Maybe they were worried I’d have second thoughts. Given the low mileage, VW can probably do the fix and resell her. We saw a refurbished diesel at another dealership.

Auf wiedersehen, Frau. Und danke schön.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/07/17/the-last-road-trip/

Jul 17

Weekend in British Columbia

We usually visit Vancouver once a year. The city has many interesting attractions, not to mention great restaurants. This year we started our British Columbia trip in Pemberton, a village north of Whistler. Our neighbors suggested visiting Pemberton, as they’d been there the month before.

We visited Whistler for a day our first year living in Seattle. It was just after the 2010 Winter Olympics had been awarded to Vancouver/Whistler. It was just too touristy for our taste. Whistler’s business switches in the summer  from skiing to supporting hikers, mountain bikers, and general tourism. We stopped at Whistler en route to Pemberton and found that our assessment  hadn’t changed much in 15 years. A map of the mountain bike trails around town is good for a laugh, though. Here are a few snarky names of the black diamond (most challenging) trails:

  • Comfortably Numb (Does this refer to one’s butt after a ride on this trail?);
  • No Girly Man (As the longtime Ms. magazine section said, no comment);
  • Cheap Thrills (Cognitive dissonance alert: On a $1500 mountain bike?);
  • Industrial Disease (This is the first time I’ve seen something named after my favorite Dire Straits song).

Our temporary home in Pemberton was the Pemberton Valley Lodge. We had a suite with a separate bedroom and a kitchen. Downtown Pemberton is Whistler for the rest of us. There are a few restaurants, two grocery stores, and a few other shops. Tourist attractions other than riding down the road to Whistler include a horse tour and two golf courses. We had dinner at one of the clubhouses on our first night. We also walked around the farmers’ market on Friday.

The “death march” of the trip was a hike to the Joffre Lakes on Friday. This trail has burgeoned in popularity over the last ten years. In 2008 8000 people took the trail. One year later, thanks to social media, the trail hosted 108,000 hikers. The park is a 20-mile drive north of Pemberton, up some hair-raising hills. The hike was pretty hair-raising as well. The trail went up 1000 feet between the first and second lake. The trail between lakes two and three was extremely rocky. My knees and ankles felt every last rock on the way down. By the time we got back to the trailhead, our legs were not happy at all. A hot shower and a walk around the flat downtown improved matters.

Saturday we drove down to Vancouver. Doing Pemberton first made a lot of sense, especially when we saw the northbound traffic on the Sea to Sky Highway. Our pied-à-terre in Vancouver was the Times Square Suites. It’s a block west of our former regular hotel, which is being converted back to apartments. Saturday afternoon we walked over to Gastown and had dinner at a Belgian restaurant called Chambar. Fortunately, the staff was in a good mood after Belgium’s third-place showing in the World Cup. Julian had the duck, while I had the lamb shank tagine. We accompanied our meals with La Chouffe, a Belgian beer we discovered in Paris. We then walked back to the hotel.

Sunday morning we started off watching the World Cup championship match between France and Croatia. (Félicitations, les Bleus!) I admit that I was rooting for Croatia, but both teams overcame stiff odds to play in the final. After the match, we walked to our traditional breakfast joint in Vancouver, De Dutch. Granville Island was the next stop. Julian bought two sauce dishes and a jar of fireweed honey. On the way back we stopped at the Transylvanian Traditions bakery to pick up desserts for later. Dinner was at a Korean restaurant two blocks away from the hotel, Ma Dang Goun. My chicken bi bim bap bowl was okay, but our friends at Korea House in Bothell do it better.

Monday we had breakfast again at De Dutch, then wandered over to the Kitsilano neighborhood to shop. We went to a clothing store where Julian found his favorite socks and I got two skorts and two shirts. Lunch was at a little pan-Asian place called Noodle Box. There’s a restaurant that may be a branch of it near where I work. After we stocked up on Montreal-style bagels at Siegel’s, we were on our way home. A fun trip.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/07/17/weekend-in-british-columbia/

Jul 13

Mastering Metric

One problem that many folks have when they visit Canada or Europe is the metric system. My former students had difficulty as well. Back in the 1970’s, America was on track to convert to metric measurements; however, the proposal died an ignominious death under the Reagan administration. (See this Wikipedia article for details.) I worked in labs for many years, so converting between English and metric measurements is second nature for me. So for my friends who still struggle, here are a few hints:

Distance or length. 1 kilometer(km) is 0.62 miles, so a speed limit of 100 km/hour is 62 mph. This is bound to disappoint the speed demons in your family when they visit Canada. One meter is 39.36 inches. A 165 centimeter (cm) person would be 5’5″ in the English system. One of the doctors I work with entered data into a risk calculation that a patient was 270 cm. That would make the patient well over 8 feet tall. The hospital would have to put two beds end-to-end to accommodate him. The punch line: The doctor is Canadian. He just miskeyed the height.

Volume. The standard 12-ounce can of beer or soda equals about 360 milliliters (mL). Most liquid measuring cups sold in the US today have English and metric measurements on them.

Weight. One kilogram (kg) is about 2.2 pounds  so a 100-kg person would weigh 220 pounds or so. Fruit, vegetables, and meats are sold in Europe by the kg. So if you just want a pound or so of meat in Canada or Europe, ask for about 400-500 grams.

How do you practice your conversions here? The easiest way to do it is in the kitchen. Find a recipe that lists both English and metric units. Liquids are easy. Items like flour and sugar are a bit more frustrating, because the metric method or recipe-writing lists grams of dry ingredients rather than cups or tablespoons. The average American kitchen does not have a scale; however, you can pick up a decent electronic one for a reasonable price. With time and practice, you’ll be able to go between English and metric measurements easily.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/07/13/mastering-metric/

Jul 08

This is a Store?

Julian and I went shopping at University Village yesterday. Our first stop was the new Apple store. There was a perfectly serviceable store immediately to the east of the new structure, but Apple decided to up the ante by building even closer to the Microsoft store.

At first glance, the new store looks more like a giant Starbucks. (There’s a Starbucks directly behind the store.) The porches are covered by deep eaves and have lots of chairs for loitering on a Saturday afternoon. The inside looks like the old store, but more stark. The Genius Bar is less conspicuous than it was in the old store. Julian doesn’t remember seeing one on our walk-through.

An ideal place to slurp your cappuccino – and maybe buy some hardware.

A more familiar interior, but with lots more light.

One wonders what the Redmond Empire will do in response to its new, shinier next-door neighbor. There’s not much more real estate for building at the shopping center.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/07/08/this-is-a-store/

Jul 06

Can We Bake a Cherry Pie

Pies are not my forte. When I was a teaching assistant for a food science lab in grad school, we had one lab that I nicknamed the Salute to Crisco. Students made crusts with different fats (oil, butter, lard, and shortening), and then judged them on flakiness. The shortening crusts won hands down, courtesy of the hydrogenated vegetable oil and the now-vilified trans unsaturated fats. There was a stacking of the deck, however. The lard the students used was hydrogenated almost to the point of being entirely saturated. (Fun fact: Lard as it comes off the pig is relatively unsaturated. If we’d used non-hydrogenated lard, it would have won the contest.) I didn’t make pie crust at home until I discovered recipes using the food processor and all butter as the fat. Even then, pies are a once or twice a year production.

It’s high cherry season here in the Pacific Northwest. Julian had a hankering for cherry pie. He discovered an all-butter flaky pie crust and cherry pie recipes on seriouseats.com. He had me watch the pie crust video. The technique looked straightforward, but I was a bit put off by the blue nail polish on the demonstrator’s hands. (It’s the recovering Registered Dietitian in me.) The crust was as promised, easy to come together and roll. The crust went into the fridge to rest overnight, and the cherry filling making began. Since Julian is even less of a pastry-maker than I am, it fell to him to pit the cherries. I loaned him my old lab coat so the cherry juice wouldn’t splatter on his clothes. (Luckily, the pigment in cherries is water-soluble.) We used a mix of Bings and Rainiers. The thickener in the filling was tapioca starch. The pie took over an hour to bake. I was worried that it would be incinerated, but it came out golden brown.

The additional feature of the pie was cherry whipped cream. You marinate the cherry pits in heavy cream for a couple hours, then whip the cream. We used our nitrous oxide cream dispenser, otherwise known as the Whippy Thang. This was a mistake – the cream pretty much solidified within the container. Next time we’ll know to whip the cream the old-fashioned way.

The pie’s destination was the annual July 4th feed and fireworks-watching extravaganza at our friend BG’s house. It was very well received. Only a small piece returned home with us, and that didn’t last the night. We’d make this recipe again.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/07/06/can-we-bake-a-cherry-pie/

Jun 30

Pure Smut

Every month the pornography hits our mailbox. In these libertine times, the publishers don’t bother with plain brown wrappers. They taunt us with saucy covers of voluptuous breasts, meaty legs, and strategically-placed coverage. Inside there’s even more to pique our desires: Cheeky peaches, plump balls, and tanned skin. It’s my monthly haul of food magazines. Add to this the cooking and food/nutrition-related books, and you have our home as a temple of food porn.

My predilection for food smut has parallels with other genres of pornography. It can be aspirational. Your average schlep has no hope of bedding a centerfold model, and I’m no more likely to make some of the recipes in my magazines. If I do make a recipe, the results aren’t as pretty or posed as the picture in the periodical. There’s an obsessional component to acquire a complete set of magazines in a particular genre. Both make good bedtime reading. And there are food magazines for every desire, from vegan to Paleo, pastry to cheese.

Food porn is different from sex porn. I can read my magazines on the bus without askance glances from fellow passengers. I often see others reading food porn, so I’m not alone in my predilection. I’m not ashamed to loan my porn to friends. I don’t have to hide them when my friends’ kids come to visit. As many magazines and cookbooks as I have, hiding them isn’t an option anyway. Other than potential weight gain, the aftereffects of reading food porn are relatively safe.

Julian keeps threatening to find me a twelve-step program to deal with my addiction. However, he benefits just as much as I do from reading the food porn. In the last two weeks alone, he’s made three recipes from recent issues. I think I’m safe.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/06/30/pure-smut/

Jun 30

Greek Poutine

Poutine is the provincial dish of Quebec. It consists of french fries doused with brown gravy and sprinkled with cheese curds (not grated cheese). It’s junk food kicked up a notch or two. Today we have invented a variation: Greek poutine.

We were at the Greenwood Car Show today and got hungry. We dove into Yanni’s, a Greek restaurant on Greenwood Avenue near the southern end of the car show. We ordered sandwiches (pork gyro, lamb burger) that came with Greek fries. These were fries festooned with feta and an herb mix of fresh parsley, thyme, and oregano. Julian said, “These look like the Greek version of poutine.” My reply was that it required tzatziki as the sauce. Opa! A dish is born. Note to Yanni’s: We will waive royalties should you choose to put this item on your menu. You’re welcome.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/06/30/greek-poutine/

Jun 25

Confused Plants

Our garden is going gangbusters. Even the ferns, sedums, and ajugas in the shade are running wild. One of the fuchsias may be an exception. I rotated the pot to give the other side some more light. One side looked a little peaked. Julian claimed that the plant was “confused”. He claimed that rotating the pot confused the plant and forced it to grow in the opposite direction. “This happened last year with one of the hanging plants”. News to me, I thought all of last year’s hanging plants were quite happy.

Our friend LG came over last night for a consult. She thought the fuchsias looked good, but were a bit dry. She also suggested feeding them on a more frequent basis. We’ll see if these steps unconfuse them.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/06/25/confused-plants/

Jun 20

The Damage is Done

The current administration has apparently reversed its stance on family separation at the Mexican border. While the news sounds good,  the damage has already been done.

  • Over 2000 children have already been separated from their parents.
  • There is no plan to reunite these families in the near future. Tracking these children, especially the babies and toddlers, is iffy at best.
  • Some boys are being held in an impromptu tent detention facility outside El Paso.
  • Immigrant girls have been moved out of Texas as far away as New York City.
  • The administration wants to reverse the order that detained children be housed in licensed facilities. This increases the probability of abuse and neglect.
  • Military lawyers are being solicited to prosecute immigrants in deportation hearings.

Don’t be fooled. Very little will change. There will still be traumatized children and a take all prisoners policy at the border. We can’t let this tragedy continue.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/06/20/the-damage-is-done/

Jun 17

Common Threads

Q: What do the following eras have in common?

  • Nazi Germany
  • Argentina under the military dictatorship of the 1970’s
  • The current administration

A: Forced separation of parents and children.

Throughout history, despots knew that breaking up families was a key strategy to vanquish dissidents or undesirables. The Nazis separated children and parents to send them to their deaths in the concentration camps, either upon arrival or after torture, forced labor, or “experimentation”. The Argentine military junta  had children of the desaparecidos adopted by couples sympathetic to the regime. The current administration’s strategy of separating families as a deterrent to further immigration just follows the well-worn path.

It should be no surprise that the children suffer most from this separation. Psychological trauma in early childhood is linked to serious physical and mental conditions later in life. The jailers (I refuse to call them caretakers) have been instructed not to pick up or console children in their custody. What sort of person can be so heartless as to not attempt to comfort a crying child? Young children don’t have resilience and coping skills, so the scars will be deep and long-lasting.

Fortunately, citizens are beginning to wake up to forced separations. Major religious denominations are denouncing the practice. We need to keep the pressure on politicians and the administration to reunite families and assure that immigrants are treated humanely.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/06/17/common-threads/

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