Sunday, February 29, 2004
I bought a tin of McCann's Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal yesterday. I am cooking up a batch of it now.
For some reason I think that turnips are thought of as lower class soul food in the United States, and that shouldn't be. I did a Google search on "french cooking turnip" and got 10,300 results! The French know what's good to eat.
The Bow Mariner, a chemical tanker sinks after an explosion off the coast of Virginia, Saturday, Feb 28, 2004. The Coast Guard continued searching the frigid Atlantic Sunday for 18 crew members of the tanker which was carrying 3.5 million gallons of ethanol. Three crewmen were known dead and six others were rescued.(AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)
This is the soup that Sheri was craving.
HEARTY PUMPKIN SOUP
1/4 cup margarine
2 cup chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoon curry
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
Pinch of crushed red pepper
6-8 cup chicken broth
2 small cans chopped green chilies
3-4 chicken thighs or 2-3 ham hocks
29 ounce can solid pack pumpkin
2 cup half and half (I use fat free)
Salt and pepper to taste
In large saucepan, melt butter; sauté onion and garlic until soft. Add spices. Cook for one minute.
Add broth, chilies, and chicken thighs and/or ham hocks (note: you can use either thighs or hocks or both). Boil covered for about an hour or until meat falls off the bones. Remove thighs and/or shanks and remove meat from the bones and set aside.
Stir pumpkin into broth and let cook for about five minutes. Remove from heat and puree in a blender or food processor. Add the meat with the batches of broth and puree at the same time.
Return to stove and slowly add half and half. Season to taste.
HEARTY PUMPKIN SOUP
1/4 cup margarine
2 cup chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoon curry
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
Pinch of crushed red pepper
6-8 cup chicken broth
2 small cans chopped green chilies
3-4 chicken thighs or 2-3 ham hocks
29 ounce can solid pack pumpkin
2 cup half and half (I use fat free)
Salt and pepper to taste
In large saucepan, melt butter; sauté onion and garlic until soft. Add spices. Cook for one minute.
Add broth, chilies, and chicken thighs and/or ham hocks (note: you can use either thighs or hocks or both). Boil covered for about an hour or until meat falls off the bones. Remove thighs and/or shanks and remove meat from the bones and set aside.
Stir pumpkin into broth and let cook for about five minutes. Remove from heat and puree in a blender or food processor. Add the meat with the batches of broth and puree at the same time.
Return to stove and slowly add half and half. Season to taste.
Saturday, February 28, 2004
I think I am going to order this holster for my phone. The phone is very small and I have just been carrying it in my front pants pocket, but I am afraid to carry a knife in the same pocket for fear of damaging the phone, and I am really starting to miss carrying a knife. It looks like the prevailing price on the web is only about $10.
For some weird reason, the only thing that sounded good to Sheri, and that she thought she could keep down, was my Mom's pumpkin soup. So that's what I made her.
It came out great. I made a couple of small changes, though, that really worked well. I added one large diced turnip, and instead of chicken thighs, I grilled some pork loin that I cubed and marinated for about 45 minutes in some Indian spices. The grilled flavor added a nice complexity to the soup, and the cubes were easier for Sheri to pick out.
I used my stick blender in the soup after everything was cooked, so the turnip cubes, along with the onion and green chilies, turned into a nice smooth puree.
I wrote here a few months ago about how much I like the taste of turnips in cooking. In this soup it added a nice fresh, almost celery like, taste, but was not overbearing.
I froze half of what was left over, and put the other half in the fridge for tomorrow.
It came out great. I made a couple of small changes, though, that really worked well. I added one large diced turnip, and instead of chicken thighs, I grilled some pork loin that I cubed and marinated for about 45 minutes in some Indian spices. The grilled flavor added a nice complexity to the soup, and the cubes were easier for Sheri to pick out.
I used my stick blender in the soup after everything was cooked, so the turnip cubes, along with the onion and green chilies, turned into a nice smooth puree.
I wrote here a few months ago about how much I like the taste of turnips in cooking. In this soup it added a nice fresh, almost celery like, taste, but was not overbearing.
I froze half of what was left over, and put the other half in the fridge for tomorrow.
It takes only about eight minutes for the Space Shuttle to accelerate to a speed of more than 17,000 miles per hour.
The Space Shuttle main engine weighs 1/7th as much as a train engine but delivers as much horsepower as 39 locomotives.
The turbo-pump on the Space Shuttle main engine is so powerful it could drain an average family-sized swimming pool in 25 seconds.
The Space Shuttle's three main engines and two solid rocket boosters generate 7.3 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. Compare that with America's first two manned launch vehicles, the Redstone which produced 78,000 pounds of thrust, and the Atlas, which produced 360,000 pounds.
The liquid hydrogen in the Space Shuttle main engine is -423º Fahrenheit, the second coldest liquid on Earth, and when burned with liquid oxygen, the temperature in the engine's combustion chamber reaches 6,000º Fahrenheit.
The energy released by the three Space Shuttle main engines is equivalent to the output of 23 Hoover Dams.
Each of the Shuttle's solid rocket motors burns 5 tons of propellant per second, a total of 1.1 million pounds in 120 seconds. The speed of the gases exiting the nozzle is more than 6,000 miles per hour, about five times the speed of sound or three times the speed of a high-powered rifle bullet. The plume of flame ranges up to 500 feet long.
The combustion gases in a solid rocket motor are at a temperature of 6,100º Fahrenheit , 2/3 the temperature of the surface of the sun. While that temperature is hot enough to boil steel, special insulation inside the motor protects the steel case so well that the outside of the case reaches only about 130º Fahrenheit.
A stacked booster is the same height as the Statue of Liberty (not including pedestal) — 151 feet — but weighs almost three times as much.
The four engines of a Boeing 747 jet produce 188,000 pounds of thrust, while just one SRM produces more than 17 times as much thrust — 3.3 million pounds . A pair of SRM's are more powerful than 35 jumbo jets at takeoff.
If their heat energy could be converted to electric power, two SRM's firing for two minutes would produce 2.2 million kilowatt hours of power, enough to supply the entire power demand of 87,000 homes for a full day.
The Shuttle's Remote Manipulator System (RMS), or robot arm, provided by the Canadian Space Agency, weighs about 905 pounds on Earth but can move cargo in space weighing 66,000 pounds, objects about the size of a Greyhound bus.
The Space Shuttle main engine weighs 1/7th as much as a train engine but delivers as much horsepower as 39 locomotives.
The turbo-pump on the Space Shuttle main engine is so powerful it could drain an average family-sized swimming pool in 25 seconds.
The Space Shuttle's three main engines and two solid rocket boosters generate 7.3 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. Compare that with America's first two manned launch vehicles, the Redstone which produced 78,000 pounds of thrust, and the Atlas, which produced 360,000 pounds.
The liquid hydrogen in the Space Shuttle main engine is -423º Fahrenheit, the second coldest liquid on Earth, and when burned with liquid oxygen, the temperature in the engine's combustion chamber reaches 6,000º Fahrenheit.
The energy released by the three Space Shuttle main engines is equivalent to the output of 23 Hoover Dams.
Each of the Shuttle's solid rocket motors burns 5 tons of propellant per second, a total of 1.1 million pounds in 120 seconds. The speed of the gases exiting the nozzle is more than 6,000 miles per hour, about five times the speed of sound or three times the speed of a high-powered rifle bullet. The plume of flame ranges up to 500 feet long.
The combustion gases in a solid rocket motor are at a temperature of 6,100º Fahrenheit , 2/3 the temperature of the surface of the sun. While that temperature is hot enough to boil steel, special insulation inside the motor protects the steel case so well that the outside of the case reaches only about 130º Fahrenheit.
A stacked booster is the same height as the Statue of Liberty (not including pedestal) — 151 feet — but weighs almost three times as much.
The four engines of a Boeing 747 jet produce 188,000 pounds of thrust, while just one SRM produces more than 17 times as much thrust — 3.3 million pounds . A pair of SRM's are more powerful than 35 jumbo jets at takeoff.
If their heat energy could be converted to electric power, two SRM's firing for two minutes would produce 2.2 million kilowatt hours of power, enough to supply the entire power demand of 87,000 homes for a full day.
The Shuttle's Remote Manipulator System (RMS), or robot arm, provided by the Canadian Space Agency, weighs about 905 pounds on Earth but can move cargo in space weighing 66,000 pounds, objects about the size of a Greyhound bus.
Friday, February 27, 2004
Thursday, February 26, 2004
You might want to think about topping off your gas tanks today in case we run out of gas over the next week or so.
I don't know if they have it at all Subway Restaurants, or just the ones in Chicago, but their new Baja Pork subs are really good!
I asked them to go light on the Baja sauce so it wouldn't overpower the pork. I also had tomato and provolone cheese. I would order it that way again too. The meat is flavorful and moist with a nice cumin taste. It would actually be a good sandwich with just the meat.
I asked them to go light on the Baja sauce so it wouldn't overpower the pork. I also had tomato and provolone cheese. I would order it that way again too. The meat is flavorful and moist with a nice cumin taste. It would actually be a good sandwich with just the meat.
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan urged Congress on Wednesday to deal with the country's escalating budget deficit by cutting benefits for future Social Security retirees. Without action, he warned, long-term interest rates would rise, seriously harming the economy.
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
By now you have probably seen those weird Quizno's TV ads with the singing rodents. Here is some background on them.
Monday, February 23, 2004
I used Windows Movie Maker 2 [free download] to edit my mini-documentary the other day.
From the few comments I read on the web, WMM1 sucked, but WMM2 is comparable, and maybe better, than Apple's iMovie. I have never used iMovie so I can not say.
The movie I posted was in .wmv format, and apparently Mac users can not view that proprietary format. I just read that WMM2 can also export to the .avi format, so when I get home tonight I will re-export my movie to that and see if it works better for my Mac fans!
From the few comments I read on the web, WMM1 sucked, but WMM2 is comparable, and maybe better, than Apple's iMovie. I have never used iMovie so I can not say.
The movie I posted was in .wmv format, and apparently Mac users can not view that proprietary format. I just read that WMM2 can also export to the .avi format, so when I get home tonight I will re-export my movie to that and see if it works better for my Mac fans!
Sunday, February 22, 2004
We signed up to walk a couple of dogs in the St. Patrick's Day parade for the Humane Society, and Sheri just had a good idea: I will take along the camcorder, and then edit together a little two or three minute short of the day.
I need to stop by Radio Shack soon and pick up a microphone. With the video editing software I use I can lay down a track of narration instead of using the raw audio from the video tape. I think that might give things a more polished sound. Maybe have the raw sound in the background, but I will narrate on top of that. I just have to remember when I am shooting that I do not have to provide play-by-play commentary.
I need to stop by Radio Shack soon and pick up a microphone. With the video editing software I use I can lay down a track of narration instead of using the raw audio from the video tape. I think that might give things a more polished sound. Maybe have the raw sound in the background, but I will narrate on top of that. I just have to remember when I am shooting that I do not have to provide play-by-play commentary.
I had my coat on and was ready to go to the hardware store to get some PVC cement, or something, to fix the sump pump drain hose that you saw in the video I posted earlier this afternoon, when an idea popped into my head.
I pressed the hose onto the pipe as firmly as I could. Then I took my cordless drill and my 5/64" bit and drilled a small pin hole through the PVC collar on the hose and into the pipe coming out of the house. Then I just took a small finishing nail and slid it right into the hole. Voila! It will stay on until the nail rusts. The nail is coated in a black finish which should retard rust for a little while, but it will last long enough until it warms up and I can make a permanent fix.
I like the idea of using a set pin so much that I might even look for a brass set pin, and then rather than use PVC cement, look for some marine silicone caulk. I would just push the brass pin in and then squirt caulk over the pin and where the two pipe edges meet. It should be just as water-tight as a PVC cement connection, but easier to take apart if I have to replace anything in the future.
I pressed the hose onto the pipe as firmly as I could. Then I took my cordless drill and my 5/64" bit and drilled a small pin hole through the PVC collar on the hose and into the pipe coming out of the house. Then I just took a small finishing nail and slid it right into the hole. Voila! It will stay on until the nail rusts. The nail is coated in a black finish which should retard rust for a little while, but it will last long enough until it warms up and I can make a permanent fix.
I like the idea of using a set pin so much that I might even look for a brass set pin, and then rather than use PVC cement, look for some marine silicone caulk. I would just push the brass pin in and then squirt caulk over the pin and where the two pipe edges meet. It should be just as water-tight as a PVC cement connection, but easier to take apart if I have to replace anything in the future.
Today is the dawn of a new day on my blog. Video updates!
Let me know if you have any problems.
Enjoy.
Let me know if you have any problems.
Enjoy.
Saturday, February 21, 2004
Monday, February 16, 2004
I am considering this as my birthday present this year. (The i500 is pictured. I actually want the i2600.)
My current scale has a capacity of about 2 pounds and a resolution of 2.8 grams (0.1 ounces).
The i2600 has a capacity of about 5.75 pounds and a resolution of 0.1 grams (0.004 ounces), which means it has over 28 times the resolution of my current scale!
There is another scale I am looking at that has a greater capacity (11 pounds) but the resolution is only 1.0 grams (0.035 ounces). This is still an improvement in resolution over my current scale of almost three times, but I think I am still leaning towards the first more accurate one.
What do I use a scale for? Mostly cooking and recipe conversions. For instance, Sheri's protein powder has directions of 34 grams of mix to eight ounces of water. She can only drink three ounces of liquid at a time right now, so we need to be able to measure 0.449 ounces of mix. With my current scale only measuring to the nearest 0.1 ounce you can see the problem.
I also depend on my scale a lot for soap making. Especially when measuring lye. The measurements for lye are given in grams. I can currently only measure to the nearest 2.8 grams! Yikes. Working with lye is scary stuff. I wear long sleeves, leather welder's gloves with gauntlets, and a full plastic face shield when I add the lye to the water. The temperature of the water immediately gets over 200º when I mix the two together.
Occasionally measuring postage.
These scales have a count feature. You weigh a sample of parts. Tell it how many are in the sample, and then add all of the parts you want to count and it tells you how many you have. Not something I have a pressing need for, but very cool. How many pennies do I have in my change bucket?
Saturday, February 14, 2004
Sheri got me a small package of Lindt chocolates for Valentines Day. I discovered Lindt when I was in Switzerland. It is the every-day chocolate that most of the Swiss eat.
If you want a big expensive image but don't care about taste, get Godiva chocolate. But if you want very good chocolate at a reasonable price, Lindt is the way to go. Godiva doesn't melt in your mouth. They seem "plasticky". I think they add something (a lot of paraffin wax?) to keep them from melting so they are easier to handle, form, decorate, etc.
The BEST chocolates I have ever had are Belgium chocolates, but they are very expensive. They are a little bit better than Lindt, but a lot more expensive. I wouldn't spend money on giving someone Belgium chocolates unless I knew they were going to savor the taste, texture, etc. as intensely as I would.
I have to have Sheri hide my chocolates from me and space them out, otherwise I would eat them all in a day or two. I am the same way in the grocery store: I can walk past all of the chips, candy, cookies, etc. and be strong, but if it gets in the house, my willpower disappears. So with the chocolates I just tell her to hide them and give me one periodically, or if I get a craving I will ask her for one. Sounds weird, but I know myself and the horrors I am capable of.
If you want a big expensive image but don't care about taste, get Godiva chocolate. But if you want very good chocolate at a reasonable price, Lindt is the way to go. Godiva doesn't melt in your mouth. They seem "plasticky". I think they add something (a lot of paraffin wax?) to keep them from melting so they are easier to handle, form, decorate, etc.
The BEST chocolates I have ever had are Belgium chocolates, but they are very expensive. They are a little bit better than Lindt, but a lot more expensive. I wouldn't spend money on giving someone Belgium chocolates unless I knew they were going to savor the taste, texture, etc. as intensely as I would.
I have to have Sheri hide my chocolates from me and space them out, otherwise I would eat them all in a day or two. I am the same way in the grocery store: I can walk past all of the chips, candy, cookies, etc. and be strong, but if it gets in the house, my willpower disappears. So with the chocolates I just tell her to hide them and give me one periodically, or if I get a craving I will ask her for one. Sounds weird, but I know myself and the horrors I am capable of.
Friday, February 13, 2004
This is so cool. Bison are my favorite animal. I have to have a pet bison now!
Jim Sautner and his pet 'Bailey D. Buffalo' spend some time in the kitchen of the Sautner home near Spuce Grove, Alberta, February 11, 2004. Bailey has been raised from infancy by Sautner and his wife Linda and is unusually tame. The 1,650 lb animal enjoys daily visits to the inside of their home. Photo by Dan Riedlhuber
Jim Sautner and his pet 'Bailey D. Buffalo' spend some time in the kitchen of the Sautner home near Spuce Grove, Alberta, February 11, 2004. Bailey has been raised from infancy by Sautner and his wife Linda and is unusually tame. The 1,650 lb animal enjoys daily visits to the inside of their home. Photo by Dan Riedlhuber
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Monday, February 09, 2004
Al-Qaida said to possess nuclear arms!
The al-Qaida terror network bought tactical nuclear weapons from Ukraine in 1998 and is storing them for possible use, the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat reported yesterday.
The al-Qaida terror network bought tactical nuclear weapons from Ukraine in 1998 and is storing them for possible use, the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat reported yesterday.
Saturday, February 07, 2004
We went to Trader Joe's last night and stocked up on a bunch of things. Mostly things for meals for me. I tried a one-pound package of frozen salmon burgers. Delicious. I tried one for lunch this afternoon on our George Foreman grill. I put it on a bun with a little horseradish sauce and a fat-free American cheese slice.
I got a frozen chicken vindaloo (Indian food) frozen dinner to take to work for lunch.
They had goat's milk cheddar cheese advertised in their monthly flyer, and that is one of the things I intentionally went there to get. I was disappointed. I expected something sharper, like a cross between feta and sharp cheddar. It is closer to Colby cheese, which I detest. (I would rather have Velveeta than Colby, but I digress.)
We got three boxes of various high fiber cereals. I also got a one-pound bag of flaxseed to sprinkle on cereal and other foods. Flax seed has an enormous amount of omega-3 oils, the same stuff that you eat fish for.
I got a one-pound package of frozen Australian beef patties. A container of dolmas (stuffed grape leaves). Some lavender liquid hand soap. Two pounds of frozen mango. The mango was another advertised item that was specifically on my list. We tried some frozen last night. Sheri really liked it. Like little juicy Popsicle bits. A can of their store brand tongol tuna. Some delicious fried wasabi peas. A loaf of sprouted whole grain bread.
I got a frozen chicken vindaloo (Indian food) frozen dinner to take to work for lunch.
They had goat's milk cheddar cheese advertised in their monthly flyer, and that is one of the things I intentionally went there to get. I was disappointed. I expected something sharper, like a cross between feta and sharp cheddar. It is closer to Colby cheese, which I detest. (I would rather have Velveeta than Colby, but I digress.)
We got three boxes of various high fiber cereals. I also got a one-pound bag of flaxseed to sprinkle on cereal and other foods. Flax seed has an enormous amount of omega-3 oils, the same stuff that you eat fish for.
I got a one-pound package of frozen Australian beef patties. A container of dolmas (stuffed grape leaves). Some lavender liquid hand soap. Two pounds of frozen mango. The mango was another advertised item that was specifically on my list. We tried some frozen last night. Sheri really liked it. Like little juicy Popsicle bits. A can of their store brand tongol tuna. Some delicious fried wasabi peas. A loaf of sprouted whole grain bread.
Thursday, February 05, 2004
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
For lunch I packed a fat free bologna sandwich with a slice of fat free American cheese, mustard, on two pieces of heavy high fiber bread; a baggie of carrots; a baggie of dried apricots; and container of no-fat reduced sugar yogurt.
For breakfast I mixed up 8 ounces of protein powder drink, and this morning before lunch I was snacking on some really good beef jerky that we got at Meijer last night.
I have lost about six or seven pounds since starting back to work, and over the weekend began going in one hole on my belt.
For breakfast I mixed up 8 ounces of protein powder drink, and this morning before lunch I was snacking on some really good beef jerky that we got at Meijer last night.
I have lost about six or seven pounds since starting back to work, and over the weekend began going in one hole on my belt.
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
Sheri and I had a fun night. As soon as I got home we went to dinner at Taco Bell. Sheri took along a bottle of drinkable yogurt. She also had half-of-a-pencil-eraser sized bite of taco meat and some refried beans.
After that we went to Meijer with the main purpose of getting her out of the house and exercising her legs. She has not been out of the house since Friday afternoon when I brought her home from the hospital.
We took our time and wandered. I got a bunch of stuff for packing my lunch. Laundry detergent. Tissues. Toothpaste. Light cranberry juice.
By the time we were done Sheri felt tired in a good way.
She was also able to log eight hours of work time today too! That is making it easier for her to stay in the loop at work, as well as conserving her vacation and sick days.
I am looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow. (I have classes on Tuesdays.) We covered something in class today that I think I will be able to use in a project at work. I need to find a new optimized location for a salt depot. The short explanation is that I am going to assign a value for every point along all 308 miles of county road that represents how well served it is by the existing four salt depots. I will then feed this into a utility that will turn the scores into a three dimensional surface. It will look just like a topographical relief map, but instead of the peaks and valleys representing elevation, they will represent the nearness of salt. I am also going to weight each score by how many lanes each point has. A six lane road that is five miles from a salt depot road will have a higher score than a two lane section of road that is also five miles from a salt depot. If is was just between these two road segments then, I would locate the new depot closer to the six lane road.
After that we went to Meijer with the main purpose of getting her out of the house and exercising her legs. She has not been out of the house since Friday afternoon when I brought her home from the hospital.
We took our time and wandered. I got a bunch of stuff for packing my lunch. Laundry detergent. Tissues. Toothpaste. Light cranberry juice.
By the time we were done Sheri felt tired in a good way.
She was also able to log eight hours of work time today too! That is making it easier for her to stay in the loop at work, as well as conserving her vacation and sick days.
I am looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow. (I have classes on Tuesdays.) We covered something in class today that I think I will be able to use in a project at work. I need to find a new optimized location for a salt depot. The short explanation is that I am going to assign a value for every point along all 308 miles of county road that represents how well served it is by the existing four salt depots. I will then feed this into a utility that will turn the scores into a three dimensional surface. It will look just like a topographical relief map, but instead of the peaks and valleys representing elevation, they will represent the nearness of salt. I am also going to weight each score by how many lanes each point has. A six lane road that is five miles from a salt depot road will have a higher score than a two lane section of road that is also five miles from a salt depot. If is was just between these two road segments then, I would locate the new depot closer to the six lane road.
As of February 1, the federal gubmint’s new official type face is Times New Roman 14.
The old official typeface was Courier New 12.
The old official typeface was Courier New 12.
Sunday, February 01, 2004
What were they thinking?
Top CBS executives approved a musical skit where Janet Jackson would expose her breast during the MTV-produced Super Bowl half-time concert.
"The decision to go forward went to the very top of the network," a well-placed source explained from New York.
The groundbreaking scene came during the most-watched television broadcast of the year -- and during the dinner hour for the nation's west coast viewers.
In a press release before Sunday's game, CBS's sister outlet. [VIACOM's] MTV promised "Janet's Shocking Moments."
"I'll get you naked by the end of this song," sang performer Justin Timberlake, moments before he ripped off Jackson's top, exposing a bare breast -- the nipple covered by a tassel.
CBS's main New York switchboard was immediately bombarded with complaints about the stunt, network sources said late Sunday.
"The decision to go forward went to the very top of the network," a well-placed source explained from New York.
The groundbreaking scene came during the most-watched television broadcast of the year -- and during the dinner hour for the nation's west coast viewers.
In a press release before Sunday's game, CBS's sister outlet. [VIACOM's] MTV promised "Janet's Shocking Moments."
"I'll get you naked by the end of this song," sang performer Justin Timberlake, moments before he ripped off Jackson's top, exposing a bare breast -- the nipple covered by a tassel.
CBS's main New York switchboard was immediately bombarded with complaints about the stunt, network sources said late Sunday.
