Hoppin' 'Round the World

Farmers' Market Goodness

2012-02-14T15:53:00.000-08:00

Awesomely fractal romanesco I always tell people to hit the farmers' market in the last half hour; they always look at me like I'm crazy. "Won't all of the good stuff be gone?" Well, I suppose it's possible you'll miss a gem or two, something someone just managed to harvest a few of. But you get some great deals when you show up at the end--some of these folks won't have another market this

A Scientific Argument Against GM Foods

2012-02-07T12:45:00.000-08:00

xkcd.com Sustainability. Quite the buzz word these days. We want sustainable energy, sustainable agriculture, sustainable everything. So is the world's largest agribusiness working toward sustainability? Monsanto certainly likes to say so; a Google search of their site brings up 1,260 instances of the word "sustainability" on their site. The Union of Concerned Scientists takes a different

Southern BBQ in North County

2012-01-31T12:29:00.000-08:00

After spending college in the South, I love me some Southern BBQ. Slow smoked, tender, juicy, meaty goodness. But where to find non-barbacoa BBQ in San Diego? Some will no doubt say Phil's, but once you've had real Southern barbecue, Phil's not-so-tender pulled pork and ketchupy sauce does not cut it. Well last year Randy and Charli Brown filled the void, opening ApeHangers Grill in Oceanside

Friday Link Roundup

2012-01-27T11:30:00.000-08:00

It's been an extremely busy couple of weeks, and I hope to get some posts done this weekend about Vincent's in Escondido, Ape Hanger Grill, and Sunshine Mountain Winery. Until then, here's a few good links for a Friday: @Chemjobber has an amusing list of questions you don't want to hear on a job interview Via @LouDPhillips the Prosthetic Medic just had an above knee amputation The #SheriSangji

Vegas, Baby!

2012-01-12T12:52:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Mrs. Pegleg's after-Christmas birthday a tad late, we flew to Vegas last weekend. Up at three thirty, in Vegas before eight. Since hotel check-in isn't until noon, what's there to do? That's right--breakfast, bloody Mary, and mimosa! We headed to one of the three (!) Vegas locations of Hash House a go go, having loved the original back in SD. The SD location is tiny; this one

Prosthetic "Parity" in California Has a Long Way to Go

2011-12-31T16:56:00.000-08:00

In the fall of 2010, I was starting to have a lot of problems with my stump, skin irritation leading to scarring and an eventual minor surgery to remove scar tissue. During this time, my employer changed insurance providers, and I was introduced to the OG of managed health care: Kaiser Permanente. My new docs referred me to the Kaiser prosthetic clinic, and I thought all was well. Then, I got

Felony Charges in UCLA Lab Accident

2011-12-28T12:36:00.000-08:00

The chemistry blogs today are abuzz with the news that University of California regents and a professor at UCLA are facing felony charges after the death of a lab assistant in a lab fire back in 2008. The UC system and Professor Patrick Harran face three counts each of willfully violating occupational health and safety standards. In the years I've spent in labs, both as an undergraduate and as

Temecula Saturday

2011-12-18T20:11:00.000-08:00

To mark our three-month anniversary, Mrs. Pegleg and I went out to Temecula, a local wine region, and one of the first places we went when dating. We made a lunch reservation at Pinnacle Restaurant at Falkner Winery, and headed out to check out Chapin Family Winery beforehand. We drove past the place at first, then realized it was the neighbor of another small winery we'd visited. It's a tiny

Fermented Foods

2011-12-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

This piece about fermented foods and their recently renewed popularity appeared in my RSS feed last week. As a disclaimer, it’s not much of a column, really more of an ad for some dude named Andy’s slaw. Also, it’s written by a chiropractor; you know, the semi-crazy sort who gives nutritional advice. In this case, though, she’s probably right; I believe that cutting down on probiotics, as well

Does this beer make my ass look fat?

2011-11-28T22:00:00.001-08:00

Interesting chart I found at realbeer.com. Damn, it seems I intake a hell of a lot of calories via beer. My favorite seasonal, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale comes in at 214. I guess thank FSM for my metabolism!

San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival

2011-11-27T18:10:00.000-08:00

So last Saturday, November 19th, Mrs. Pegleg and I woke up quite early and headed to SD for our volunteer shift at the San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival Grand Tasting at Embarcadero Park. We talked the in-laws into dropping us off, decided to take the train home so we could both enjoy all of the fine wine and spirits available. Arriving at six-thirty in the AM, we were there to work exhibitor

Master Chef Casting Call 2011

2011-11-27T17:29:00.000-08:00

After a couple of weeks of recipe development, Saturday the 29th of October was go time. Headed to Hollywood for the Master Chef casting call at Le Cordon Bleu on Sunset. I'd auditioned last year and done well, getting a call back for an on-camera interview. A couple of days before the call, I got an email that I was a VIP--scheduled time to show up, no waiting in line. Sweet! Last year, I had to