Some cookbooks and magazines will try to convince you that a particular recipe is perfect or ideal. I’m dubious of such claims. The old adage, to each their own, applies to cooking and baking. A few examples:
Tastes change. For years my mother and I would make a particular zucchini bread recipe every summer, which called for one cup of oil per loaf. I’ll admit that the resulting loaf was quite moist. It was also quite greasy. I haven’t made any zucchini bread in years because Julian’s averse to the vegetable; even so, I’d still be reluctant to make that recipe.
Cooking methods evolve – or not. Let’s say you developed a perfect stir-fry that required you to crank up the gas burner to 12 to get sufficient heat to the wok. A couple of years later you find yourself living in a home with an anemic electric range and no possibility of a gas hookup. (Been there, done that.) You either adapt the perfect recipe to your current situation or put it in the “someday” file. This is why it can be difficult for friends or relatives to duplicate your perfection.
Availability of ingredients. This is a big one for those of us who’ve moved cross-country more than once. Even though we have a little Mexican bodega around the corner from us, I’ve never tried to find some of the ingredients I cooked with in Dallas. And finding good salt-water fish in, say, Nebraska? Forget about it. Luckily, Seattle has plenty of Asian grocery stores where I can find the required ingredients for most of my recipes.
The next time you see a recipe being touted as perfect, ask yourself: For whom? How? With what ingredients? As a former colleague used to tell her students: strive for excellence, not perfection.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2022/07/04/a-perfect-recipe-nah/
I offered to make pizza tonight. I didn’t feel like kneading dough. In addition, the amount of dough I needed for the two of us wasn’t enough to use the stand mixer. So I let the yeast do the work.
I used a crust recipe out of the King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook, which appears to be out of print. I mixed together the ingredients with my trusty dough whisk until it formed a rough ball, then covered the bowl and let it rise. Once an hour for four hours, I punched down the dough and turned it over. When I was ready, I pressed the dough into a half sheet pan and let it rise for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, I preheated the oven to 500° with a baking stone on a lower shelf. Then I loaded the crust with sauce, accessories, and cheese. It took about 15 minutes to bake. The crust was sufficiently puffy without being too bready. I’ll do this again.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2022/06/17/lazy-persons-pizza-crust/
Sometimes even a small watermelon can last well over a week in our house. I had about half an icebox melon that need to be used. The answer was to make agua fresca. The recipe can’t be easier: chop up a watermelon, purée in a blender with mint, and serve over ice with a little sparkling water. You can do this with other fruit, but watermelon has one of the highest percentages of water of any fruit. If you want to add some alcohol, vodka or rum would work well. Bottoms up!
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2022/06/13/agua-fresca/
Now that some of us are venturing back to the office (or at least getting out of the house more) and needing to update our wardrobes, I have a suggestion for women’s clothing designers: put pockets on your offerings. None of these wimpy little pouches that won’t fit a credit card, or decorative flaps that hint at pockets but are a cruel hoax. I mean real pockets that can hold a cell phone or a typical set of house and car keys.
There are times when I don’t want to carry my purse, but still need to stash my keys and maybe a few bucks somewhere. For example, when I go out for a walk or get some milk at the fruit stand around the corner from home. Pockets in my jeans or jackets are essential so I’m not juggling half a dozen things in two hands or leave the keys on a shelf somewhere. When I’m out on a bike ride, I need to bring my phone in case of emergency. Some bike jerseys accommodate cell phones better than others. Most bike leggings have no pockets whatsoever. If I’m running errands on the bike, I’ll wear a backpack that contains my wallet and a lock; however, I prefer to travel lighter when I’m riding for workout purposes.
Some athletic wear manufacturers have gotten the hint. I have a couple pairs of bike shorts and leggings that have pockets large enough for my phone. Now if other clothing designers catch on, we’ll have some progress.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2022/06/09/praise-for-pockets/
Two weeks ago it was a mass shooting by an 18-year-old male at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo, killing 10 adults. Last Tuesday it was a mass shooting by an 18-year-old male at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and 2 adults. While the settings and states were different, the common thread in both these tragedies was legal access to a weapon of mass destruction, an AR-15.
As I’ve posted before, I don’t have any trouble with responsible gun ownership. What does this mean to me? I believe that folks have the right to own pistols, shotguns, or rifles for hunting and shooting range purposes. I also believe that responsible gun owners should be trained to handle, shoot, and store their guns and ammunition safely. Children should not be able to grab a gun to play with, nor should a depressed teenager use a parent’s gun to commit suicide. There is no need for semi-automatic weapons or high-capacity magazines in a home. The only purpose for for these is mass murder with minimal skill required.
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is bandied about a lot on this issue. Muskets were the predominant firearm of the day. One shot and you’d have to spend a minute or two reloading the weapon to get a second chance at a deer or a marauder. If one takes the Constitutional Originalist view, muskets should be the only firearm allowed in a home. Just a thought.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2022/05/28/not-again/
We haven’t seen many ducklings and goslings this year. Some of that is due to our vacation last month. Late April is prime gosling hatch time. Most of the goslings we’ve seen lately are in the awkward teenage stage. The ducklings are staying well concealed. I’ve seen a couple of clutches of them, but not as many as in years past.
The main reason, at least from my vantage point, is the plethora of predators in the neighborhood. Our backyard leading to the river is in the direct sightline of a bald eagle nest. We often see one or the other eagle (Eddie and Emily) on a branch above the nest scouring the neighborhood for a meal. Then there are the coyotes. This is the time of year when pups are born and need to be weaned. Yesterday morning I saw a clutch of mallard adults and ducklings rush into the river. A coyote was sauntering up the riverbank, obviously in search of breakfast. It’s no wonder that our local waterfowl prefer more sheltered locations to raise their young.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2022/05/28/ducklings-and-goslings/
Julian got some shrimp out of the freezer for dinner last night, but opted to get pizza. So I needed to come up with something to use said shrimp. I also had some asparagus that needed to be used. Eureka! Shrimp and asparagus stir-fry. Unfortunately, the recipes I found in Chinese cookbooks required deep-frying the shrimp. As longtime readers of this humble little blog know, deep-frying is not done at Casa Sammamish. So I improvised.
I drained the shrimp in a colander, salted them a little, then fried them in a little oil on medium heat until they were nearly done. This was done in shifts. The shrimp were set aside on a plate. I sautéed some minced garlic and ginger until fragrant, then tossed in some asparagus cut on the diagonal into ~ 3/4 inch pieces. I also added a little water to deglaze the pan, then stirred in a mixture of regular soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, and sherry. When the asparagus pieces were barely crisp-tender, I put the shrimp back in the pan to finish cooking them. Just as everything was done, I stirred in a spoonful of Mama Lil’s sliced peppers and two sliced scallions. The stir-fry was served with rice. Julian pronounced it a “good gemisch”.
[A short digression on stir-frying: This is not easily done on an induction range. Convex woks are very tippy, and flat-bottom woks are still quite unstable. This dish wasn’t stir-fried in the traditional sense. I let the shrimp sit still in the pan, then turned them. The asparagus wasn’t stir-fried, either. I stirred it on occasion. The final product still worked.]
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2022/05/20/shrimp-and-asparagus/
Since Vietnam is a former French colony, it makes sense that one can find Vietnamese food in Paris and other large cities. We didn’t expect to find a Vietnamese restaurant in Domme. Our host at the hotel highly recommended the restaurant, Comptoir d’Annam. The restaurant opened the year after our first trip to the Dordogne. We had dinner there our last night in Domme. This was a good thing, since my blood fish sauce level was getting perilously low after over two weeks of French and Spanish food. (We did have Thai takeout one night in San Sebastian.)
Comptoir d’Annam is run by a husband and wife who live above the store with their three children. Periodically the kids come down the stairs to investigate and ask questions of their parents. We were the first customers, but more tables got filled as the evening progressed. We started off with fried pork spring rolls. I ordered the five-aroma duck, while Julian had the prawns. Everything was excellent. We’d definitely go back when/if we’re in Domme again.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2022/05/12/fish-sauce-in-rural-france/
On the last leg of our journey, we had two side trips – one intentional, one accidental. Julian noted that our route from San Sebastian to Domme passed near Lourdes. We were game to see it, so off we went. For those unfamiliar with the story, this article can bring you up to speed. Miracle cures have been purported to occur after drinking or bathing in the spring water in the grotto where Bernadette saw the Virgin Mary. A basilica was built adjacent to the grotto.
The grounds and basilica are impressive. Most of the art in the basilica is devoted to Mary. The front lawn allows for social distancing, a good thing with hundreds of pilgrims descending on the site on any given day. I opted not to visit the grotto, although Julian and our traveling companion Bruce did. Instead, I watched as an energetic young monk trained a group of docents on what they can see during their shifts. At one point, he belly-flopped onto the grass to demonstrate that pilgrims may prostrate themselves before the altar.
After a late lunch, we resumed our travel. Shortly after we got on the main motorway, our rental car started acting up and the check engine light came on. (Maybe we should have topped off the radiator with water from Lourdes?) We pulled onto a shoulder marked for disabled vehicles. Within five minutes, a service vehicle stopped to offer assistance. He helped us call a tow truck and the rental car company, as our automotive French skills are sadly lacking. We were towed to a Peugeot dealership in nearby Tarbès. The rental car company showed up soon thereafter with a new rental vehicle. As a result, we didn’t get to Domme until well after 10:30. At least we got there.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2022/05/11/two-side-trips/
The framers of the United States Constitution were leery of the tyranny of the majority. I believe we’re in the opposite situation these days: The tyranny of the minority. Here are a few examples:
• The filibuster “rules” in the US Senate mean that 60 votes are required to take up most bills. The filibuster does not exist in the Constitution. In addition, one Senator can block consideration of nominees to executive or judicial branch positions. Although the Senate’s six-year terms of office are meant to have a “cooling” effect on actions of the rowdier House of Representatives, the cooling effect can freeze legislation from being discussed.
• And then we have the Electoral College. A handful of states hold outsized power to control Presidential elections, regardless of the popular vote.
• Although most of the US population favors the right of women to make their own reproductive choices, state legislatures are gunning to have Roe vs. Wade overturned by the US Supreme Court. The recent leak of the draft opinion that would do just that is the most egregious example of minority rule. Five justices were appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote. An earlier iteration of the Court decided a presidential election in favor of one president who lost the popular vote.
How to combat this tyranny? The majority needs to show up to vote in numbers not seen in decades. Encourage friends to register and vote in primaries and general elections. When the minority puts up obstacles to voting (looking at you, Georgia, Florida, and Texas), work around those barriers. In states that have all-mail elections such as Washington, make sure your ballot gets submitted in advance of the deadline. Verify that your vote was counted (possible in many states). Only with a solid majority can the tyranny of the minority be squelched.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2022/05/04/tyranny-of-the-minority/
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