This Sunday morning I brought along a small bag of my homemade biscotti on my walk to Starbucks. A friend of my challenged me to bring some since I was raving about the recipe that I made with pistachios and Sumbuco. I dropped a half a dozen of these gems in a zip lock and headed on my walk.
When I arrived, the people who challenged me were not there. I knew there was a chance that this was going to happen.
But. an elementary school counselor was there with his boarder.. a PHd student from China. They both had one along with their coffee. The counselor wondered why he had never had one made of pistachos.
He had some interesting comments about the part time counseling business that he has in Merced after his school hours. The Chinese student had some interesting comments over the solar business comments by Zaharias in the most current Time magazine. They left soon after as they had their little pooch outside on a string this morning.
My friends who are a kindergarten teacher and a GATE 4th grade teacher took their places in the only two soft chocolate colored upholstered chairs at Starbucks. They both thought that they would like to try my biscotti. One of them suggested that I might like to try dry cranberries in them. We had some interesting conversation about backing up her laptop to a hard drive. I suggested two hard drives. She said her life was contained on the laptop and didn't see how she could recover if she lost the information on them. There was also some comment over the turnerover we see in our student population in the schools here. She had 14 different student in her Kdg class than when she started. Half of the 14 had not been enrolled in any school prior to attending her class.
My friend the former bookstore tech manager came in. He is now working transportation and parking up at the UC Merced. He enjoys his new job. The GATE teacher asked about how it was to come from the person everyone love to the one that they all hated... parking citations and logististics. He said that his greatest challenge was to get the higher ups to do what needed to be done as far as making changes in parking to accommodate the construction industry without totally selling out the mission of the University due to the growth of the school. He is enjoying the challenge of the of the job and its pieces. I told him I was interested in how universities had accommodated parking. SF State and UCLA are interesting examples. I recommended one of the books that I bought for Linzi when I was down at UCLA called Free Parking about planning for parking and urban sprawl. He thought that he would like to look that book up. He is always in our Starbucks getting a cup of Joe for himself as well as getting a cup for his wife to go for home. I am sorry for his wife because I am sure that she has to drink a lot of cold coffee.. because he likes to talk like I do. It doesn't make for good take out.
My barista and shift manager took one when I offered her one. She guaranteed the best dupio machiato espressio I had ever had. I did not quite meet that kind of hype, but I appreciated the gesture.
I had to eat one of the biscotti so that my friends would know that they had met my approval.. so there went the 6 biscotti. It was well worth packaging them up for the morning walk.
I am blessed with so many conversational partners. I know they are essential to my retirement.
: ) Pat
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Biscotti---Andrew Carmellini's Mother's
I bought this new book after Linzi recommended me try the recipe in his American taste book on biscuits. She was amazed at the life he was able to get with regular ingredients. She thought that the recipe that she got on Andrew Carmellini book was a significant improvement over the recipe that she has been using and the techniques that came with the instruction at the knight's flour company lessons she had in Vermont.
I bought the books and while looking for a interesting recipe.. I was looking for a recipe to replace the biscotti I bought at Costco.
This recipe used shelled pistachios. I have a nice bag of them left over from the Christmas party. So it was a win win.
This recipe calls for some interesting ingredients and then he portions some of them out (I made the first with 3 eggs instead of 2. One needed to be reserved for the egg wash before the first bake. ) some of the ingredients he lists in the ingredients pile but really doesn't utilize them in the narrative. I can understand that.. but really in such a nice graphic cookbook this shouldn't happen.
Mom's Biscotti
Preheat oven to 350
Ingredients:
3 eggs... (use 2 for the batter and one for egg wash later on)
1 cup of sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
4 Tablespoons of melted butter
2 Cups of Flour
1 Tablespoon of baking powder
1 Tablespoon of Anise seed
2 Tablespoons of Sambuco (an Italian liquor) that took me an hour and a half to locate in Merced
3/4 cup of shelled pistashios
Use a Kitchen Aid mixer. Whip the eggs and the sugar for 15 minutes on medium with the whipping attachment to the mixer. The color should change to I lighter yellow and the liquid should double.Add the zest of two lemons, and the melted butter in the last two minutes of the beating.
Switch to the paddle on the mixer.
Add the baking powder, flour, anise seed, and the Sambuco.
Mix on slow until all is incorporated.
Add the pictachios and mix for 30 seconds on slow.
Refrigerate for 20 minutes with a piece of plastic wrap over the bowl.
On a baking pan with a piece of parchment or a silicon mat, form 2 logs.
Coat with the egg reserved in a wash on each of the logs.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Reposition pan and bake until overall lightly tan another 10-15 minutes.
Reduce oven temp to 325.
Pull each log off and cut into 3/4 diagonal slices. Put on another backing pan with a piece of parchment or silicon mat. These cross sections will then enter the oven for an additional 15 minutes..as they crisp up.
It really is a lot easier than this description suggests.
These cookies are great for dipping in espresso or hot chocolate.. for vin santo like the real Italians
Give them a try!
: ) Pat
I bought the books and while looking for a interesting recipe.. I was looking for a recipe to replace the biscotti I bought at Costco.
This recipe used shelled pistachios. I have a nice bag of them left over from the Christmas party. So it was a win win.
This recipe calls for some interesting ingredients and then he portions some of them out (I made the first with 3 eggs instead of 2. One needed to be reserved for the egg wash before the first bake. ) some of the ingredients he lists in the ingredients pile but really doesn't utilize them in the narrative. I can understand that.. but really in such a nice graphic cookbook this shouldn't happen.
Mom's Biscotti
Preheat oven to 350
Ingredients:
3 eggs... (use 2 for the batter and one for egg wash later on)
1 cup of sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
4 Tablespoons of melted butter
2 Cups of Flour
1 Tablespoon of baking powder
1 Tablespoon of Anise seed
2 Tablespoons of Sambuco (an Italian liquor) that took me an hour and a half to locate in Merced
3/4 cup of shelled pistashios
Use a Kitchen Aid mixer. Whip the eggs and the sugar for 15 minutes on medium with the whipping attachment to the mixer. The color should change to I lighter yellow and the liquid should double.Add the zest of two lemons, and the melted butter in the last two minutes of the beating.
Switch to the paddle on the mixer.
Add the baking powder, flour, anise seed, and the Sambuco.
Mix on slow until all is incorporated.
Add the pictachios and mix for 30 seconds on slow.
Refrigerate for 20 minutes with a piece of plastic wrap over the bowl.
On a baking pan with a piece of parchment or a silicon mat, form 2 logs.
Coat with the egg reserved in a wash on each of the logs.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Reposition pan and bake until overall lightly tan another 10-15 minutes.
Reduce oven temp to 325.
Pull each log off and cut into 3/4 diagonal slices. Put on another backing pan with a piece of parchment or silicon mat. These cross sections will then enter the oven for an additional 15 minutes..as they crisp up.
It really is a lot easier than this description suggests.
These cookies are great for dipping in espresso or hot chocolate.. for vin santo like the real Italians
Give them a try!
: ) Pat
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Chicken Fricassie
It was 8:30 last night and Sue (my wife) decided that she was still hungry. I had a couple of high quality free range, boneless skinless chicken breast pieces in the the fridge. I had watched the Cook Illustrated version of Chicken Fricassie on the http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/detail.php?docid=26295web site and through that the basic principles and concepts would work out for a half portion too. It looked pretty fast.. Sue said her hunger tolerance was a half an hour.. so away I went. It really worked and was really juicy.
Chicken Fricassie Cooks Illustrated ala Pat
2 chicken breasts pieces
1 sprinkle of salt
2 Tbs of olive oil
1 Tbs of butter
1 box of mushrooms.. could cut yourself if you wanted to or use different for the different flavor
1/2 chopped onion (better diced)
1 C of chicken Stock
1/2 C of white wine (I used a whole tiny bottle of chardonay)
1/2 lemon's juice from a fresh lemon
1Tbs of flour
2TBs of sour cream (mine also had chives in it)
1 Tbs of Thyme (whoops I forgot this)
I used my fake french enameled dutch oven for this...
Olive Oil in first.. medium high heat.. ad the butter.. swirl around and coat the bottom of the pan.
brown the chicken breast on each side (4 min each side)
Pull off the heat and tent the chicken
Add the onion and the mushrooms. When completely soft add the chicken stock and the wine
Put the chicken back in and cook for about ten min. coverd
Pull half the mushroom stock out and add the sour cream and the beaten egg to a seperate container.
Re incorporate this in off of heat along with the nutmeg and the Thyme.
You should have a velvety sauce an a couple of chicken breasts that have reached 165 degrees
I added some fresh noodles and some Brussels sprouts to complete a rather quick meal with elegant proportions.
This looks pretty complicated.. but really it wasn't.
Sue and I ended up splitting one breast.. so we have another left over for today.
: ) Pat
Chicken Fricassie Cooks Illustrated ala Pat
2 chicken breasts pieces
1 sprinkle of salt
2 Tbs of olive oil
1 Tbs of butter
1 box of mushrooms.. could cut yourself if you wanted to or use different for the different flavor
1/2 chopped onion (better diced)
1 C of chicken Stock
1/2 C of white wine (I used a whole tiny bottle of chardonay)
1/2 lemon's juice from a fresh lemon
1Tbs of flour
2TBs of sour cream (mine also had chives in it)
1 Tbs of Thyme (whoops I forgot this)
I used my fake french enameled dutch oven for this...
Olive Oil in first.. medium high heat.. ad the butter.. swirl around and coat the bottom of the pan.
brown the chicken breast on each side (4 min each side)
Pull off the heat and tent the chicken
Add the onion and the mushrooms. When completely soft add the chicken stock and the wine
Put the chicken back in and cook for about ten min. coverd
Pull half the mushroom stock out and add the sour cream and the beaten egg to a seperate container.
Re incorporate this in off of heat along with the nutmeg and the Thyme.
You should have a velvety sauce an a couple of chicken breasts that have reached 165 degrees
I added some fresh noodles and some Brussels sprouts to complete a rather quick meal with elegant proportions.
This looks pretty complicated.. but really it wasn't.
Sue and I ended up splitting one breast.. so we have another left over for today.
: ) Pat
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Its over! We Send you Back to your Sundays
The 49ers lost their last game at the National Football League Championship.
It was a great game. It went to 10 minutes in overtime. A single kick between the goal posts sent the New York Giants to the superbowl and the 49ers home for the rest of the year.
It was a cold and rainy afternoon in San Francisco. I thought that I was pretty happy that I wasn't covering the game for the San Joaquin Sporting News. We used to cover games like this. It was nice to sit at home and go the bathroom without waiting in line. It was also great to see closeups of the play and rewinds of the questionable calls.
The 49ers were better this year than anyone had the right to expect. The 5 superbowl victories in the past were from a different era. They were from an era where "parity" was not considered. In this season any NFL team could beat any other team because of this parity. Players had a salary cap. There are "Franchise" players but most can move within 3 years to another team that will use their cap money to get players they need in the positions that they feel they are weak.
It will be interesting to see what will be the result of the latest negotiations of the contract.
So those 49ers fans will not see their team in the superbowl. Next year they all say. I hope so. Its been a good season. Our quarterback and the coaching staff seem pretty darn good.
It was a great game. It went to 10 minutes in overtime. A single kick between the goal posts sent the New York Giants to the superbowl and the 49ers home for the rest of the year.
It was a cold and rainy afternoon in San Francisco. I thought that I was pretty happy that I wasn't covering the game for the San Joaquin Sporting News. We used to cover games like this. It was nice to sit at home and go the bathroom without waiting in line. It was also great to see closeups of the play and rewinds of the questionable calls.
The 49ers were better this year than anyone had the right to expect. The 5 superbowl victories in the past were from a different era. They were from an era where "parity" was not considered. In this season any NFL team could beat any other team because of this parity. Players had a salary cap. There are "Franchise" players but most can move within 3 years to another team that will use their cap money to get players they need in the positions that they feel they are weak.
It will be interesting to see what will be the result of the latest negotiations of the contract.
So those 49ers fans will not see their team in the superbowl. Next year they all say. I hope so. Its been a good season. Our quarterback and the coaching staff seem pretty darn good.
The Steve Jobs Book
I bought the book in Hilo, Hawaii, on October 31, 2011.
It was a monster of a book to carry around, Roughly 534 pages, hardbound and bulky.
I just finished reading it. It was worth my time since I grew up in all the phases of Apple. It is pretty interesting to hear the "behind the scenes" battle that raged over the introduction of new products. It was great in documenting how some things progressed and the rationale for the various products and when they were introduced.
The author is a superb biographer. He has published biographies on Albert Einstein and Ben Franklin. They are detailed and interesting from a sociological and historical viewpoint. This book has a different flavor since the people that are described and interviewed are contemporary with the exception of Steve Jobs. It seems that there was nothing held back int his book.
The comments from Bill Gates, founder and CEO of Microsoft are not totally complimentary. The family life and his beginnings are interesting and provide an interesting annotation to his life. I could remember many of the moves that Apple made in the 80's and 90's. This book is pretty square regarding Steve Job's involvement in each of these phases. I thought much of the rivalry that came out of competitors philosophies were hyped at the time. It appears that they weren't. Apple thought that containing the closed system allowed for a better product. The others thought that an open product would lead to more acceptance. In a way both ideas were right. At the end of the book, Steve Jobs admitted as much to Bill Gates.
The personality of Steve Jobs is laid out for all to see. The take over by the board and the leadership under Scully were interesting chapters. I was supporting many Apple computers as a mentor teacher at the time. There seemed to be a myriad of macs that were coming out of Apple at the time. Some models came out with keyboards that completely messed up the memory. So we were all the time rebuilding the desktop so that the computer would not completely self destruct.
There was interesting mention of the "cube" macintosh that I once had. It was interesting how they got to the classic Moons over Miami mac that I bought one of my daughters.
Overall I found that this was a good read. I am willing to give it up to anyone in the family that would like to take it on.
: ) Pat
It was a monster of a book to carry around, Roughly 534 pages, hardbound and bulky.
I just finished reading it. It was worth my time since I grew up in all the phases of Apple. It is pretty interesting to hear the "behind the scenes" battle that raged over the introduction of new products. It was great in documenting how some things progressed and the rationale for the various products and when they were introduced.
The author is a superb biographer. He has published biographies on Albert Einstein and Ben Franklin. They are detailed and interesting from a sociological and historical viewpoint. This book has a different flavor since the people that are described and interviewed are contemporary with the exception of Steve Jobs. It seems that there was nothing held back int his book.
The comments from Bill Gates, founder and CEO of Microsoft are not totally complimentary. The family life and his beginnings are interesting and provide an interesting annotation to his life. I could remember many of the moves that Apple made in the 80's and 90's. This book is pretty square regarding Steve Job's involvement in each of these phases. I thought much of the rivalry that came out of competitors philosophies were hyped at the time. It appears that they weren't. Apple thought that containing the closed system allowed for a better product. The others thought that an open product would lead to more acceptance. In a way both ideas were right. At the end of the book, Steve Jobs admitted as much to Bill Gates.
The personality of Steve Jobs is laid out for all to see. The take over by the board and the leadership under Scully were interesting chapters. I was supporting many Apple computers as a mentor teacher at the time. There seemed to be a myriad of macs that were coming out of Apple at the time. Some models came out with keyboards that completely messed up the memory. So we were all the time rebuilding the desktop so that the computer would not completely self destruct.
There was interesting mention of the "cube" macintosh that I once had. It was interesting how they got to the classic Moons over Miami mac that I bought one of my daughters.
Overall I found that this was a good read. I am willing to give it up to anyone in the family that would like to take it on.
: ) Pat
Monday, January 16, 2012
Starting Out, Four people Under the Tree
Like my father, I am fascinated by the gigantic banyan tree in Lahaina, Maui Hawaii.
This Banyan Tree was first planted in April, 1873, and marked the 50th Anniversary of Christian missionary work in Lahaina. The tree was imported from India was only 8 feet tall. It now stands over 60 feet high, has 12 major trunks in addition to a huge core. It stretches over a 200-foot area and shades 2/3 of an acre.
In painting this scene,I have poured over the books. I have sketched and resketched. My moleskine is full of variations of the scene. The four people sitting on a park bench provides plenty of study as to painting in negative, some of the clothing on the people were white. Painting in shadow is an interesting challenge since they are every thing in the painting is in shadow. Reduction or simplification of the image is always an issue when working with real people and real settings.
My inital response was to crop in really close to get a since of how people sit on a park bench. The photo has two women sitting next to each other on one side of the tree. The other side of the tree has two men setting on a similar park bench. A banyan tree does not have particularly dark bark. It is rather smooth bark with nicks and bruises on it. Overall the banyan bark is dark silvery grey. As a banyan tree gows out but also sends down runners from its branches that when intersecting with the ground form roots and support the side to sid movement of the tree. The part that I am painting is not the core trunk of the tree put rather a piece of it that started as s "downrigger" that formed from the branches. It is now the size of a medium trunk of a tree. Its one of the 12 major trunks of the tree. What is interesting to me is that sprouts heading off the limbs produce trunks that are out of proportion to the size of the tree. So at first when painting this tree you think that the size of the branches are wrong. Then you have to figure in the fact that this is not the central trunk.
Overall, there are plenty of benches around this tree. It takes up a whole block and it provides at least a 15 degree drop in temperature for all of those that are under its wings. That is pretty welcome in the Tropical weather that is Hawaii.
This Banyan Tree was first planted in April, 1873, and marked the 50th Anniversary of Christian missionary work in Lahaina. The tree was imported from India was only 8 feet tall. It now stands over 60 feet high, has 12 major trunks in addition to a huge core. It stretches over a 200-foot area and shades 2/3 of an acre.
In painting this scene,I have poured over the books. I have sketched and resketched. My moleskine is full of variations of the scene. The four people sitting on a park bench provides plenty of study as to painting in negative, some of the clothing on the people were white. Painting in shadow is an interesting challenge since they are every thing in the painting is in shadow. Reduction or simplification of the image is always an issue when working with real people and real settings.
My inital response was to crop in really close to get a since of how people sit on a park bench. The photo has two women sitting next to each other on one side of the tree. The other side of the tree has two men setting on a similar park bench. A banyan tree does not have particularly dark bark. It is rather smooth bark with nicks and bruises on it. Overall the banyan bark is dark silvery grey. As a banyan tree gows out but also sends down runners from its branches that when intersecting with the ground form roots and support the side to sid movement of the tree. The part that I am painting is not the core trunk of the tree put rather a piece of it that started as s "downrigger" that formed from the branches. It is now the size of a medium trunk of a tree. Its one of the 12 major trunks of the tree. What is interesting to me is that sprouts heading off the limbs produce trunks that are out of proportion to the size of the tree. So at first when painting this tree you think that the size of the branches are wrong. Then you have to figure in the fact that this is not the central trunk.
Overall, there are plenty of benches around this tree. It takes up a whole block and it provides at least a 15 degree drop in temperature for all of those that are under its wings. That is pretty welcome in the Tropical weather that is Hawaii.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Snookered by Technology
Yes I am one of those viewers that they never count in the numbers. Why? Because most of my TV watching is done off of the DVDR HD.
A good one on me happened yesterday.
Sad as it is I missed the most important plays of the game between the 49er and the Saints in their playoff game January.
As I usually do, I set the game to record and ignored watching it until 45 minutes from the start. I turned the TV to the recorded part and watched the game.. zooming past the commercials, and the half time nonsense. In setting up the recording, I always agree to add 30 minutes to the game length so that if the game goes overtime (over 3 hours) which they now do when ever their is a passing team, I would be covered. This time, 30 minutes was not enough.
As I was watching my delay, the thirty minutes had expired at 2 minutes of playing time left on the game clock.
Those of you who watched the game, know that I missed the 2 most important minutes. My time machine had expired and there was no way to watch the last 2 minutes because when I went back to regular on air watching.. it was the post game show.. rats!
I had left the game when Alex Smith had moved the 49ers across the field and scored. What I missed was the Saints came roaring back and took the lead. I also missed the tension piece where a decision had to be made to go for the win or kick for a tie to send it all into overtime,
Where were the Buffulo Wings guys to turn on the sprinklers so that could still see the end? I wasn't at the right place at the right time... So I have to take your word for it... It was another memorable catch in the end zone for the 49ers that snatched the game from the jaws of defeat.
Oh well.
: )Pat
A good one on me happened yesterday.
Sad as it is I missed the most important plays of the game between the 49er and the Saints in their playoff game January.
As I usually do, I set the game to record and ignored watching it until 45 minutes from the start. I turned the TV to the recorded part and watched the game.. zooming past the commercials, and the half time nonsense. In setting up the recording, I always agree to add 30 minutes to the game length so that if the game goes overtime (over 3 hours) which they now do when ever their is a passing team, I would be covered. This time, 30 minutes was not enough.
As I was watching my delay, the thirty minutes had expired at 2 minutes of playing time left on the game clock.
Those of you who watched the game, know that I missed the 2 most important minutes. My time machine had expired and there was no way to watch the last 2 minutes because when I went back to regular on air watching.. it was the post game show.. rats!
I had left the game when Alex Smith had moved the 49ers across the field and scored. What I missed was the Saints came roaring back and took the lead. I also missed the tension piece where a decision had to be made to go for the win or kick for a tie to send it all into overtime,
Where were the Buffulo Wings guys to turn on the sprinklers so that could still see the end? I wasn't at the right place at the right time... So I have to take your word for it... It was another memorable catch in the end zone for the 49ers that snatched the game from the jaws of defeat.
Oh well.
: )Pat
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