I’ve been busy too, back to things that I have laid down for too long, like kenjutsu and Japanese. Today, in that spirit, I added Ibus-Anthy to both of my Linux Mint boxes so that I can start to actually communicate in Japanese, hopefully planning for a trip in the near future to train.

In the past, when studying Japanese, I spent a lot of time on www.smart.fm, which is excellent for vocabulary (listening and writing), but doesn’t cover grammar very well. My short-term goals are to try to get a better grasp on the grammar and some of the nuances. Today, I learned that “mo” (も) is used as a “joining” particle, kind of like “also” in English.

For folks that have found this by looking for Linux Mint and Japanese, here’s how to make it work:

In the terminal: sudo apt-get install ibus-anthy ibus-gtk ibus-qt4

もAfter all of the packages install, type: ibus-setup

Then just a few clicks in the settings (adding anthy) and you are good to go!

それが安いでした!! (I still have a bit of trouble with “ha” vs “ga” in a sentence like this. “ha” is for the subject, “ga” indicates the topic?? Here, “Sore” (that) is kind of both…  Hmmm, more studying…

Now, for those that think Japanese is “too hard”, even a (not quite) two-year old can learn it.

Digging out felt pretty normal for us, since we lived in Buffalo, NY for some time, but we are always amazed at how ill-prepared people here are for recovering from such a large amount of snow. I hardly remember  having snow days, certainly not when the sun was shining. (Uphill, both ways.) The buses would never make it here, so it’s probably best that the schools are closed. Anyway, short post today, but it could get interesting over the next couple of days.

For now, here’s a picture to remind us that snow really is pretty, when you’re not shoveling.

Now, most people think about the driveway and sidewalks after a big snowfall, but, in our case, the dogs had more pressing issues to attend to. Our dogs refuse to go into that much snow, since one was born in Florida and the other is short-haired and, well, a wuss.

Now that the dogs are done, it’s a quick breakfast and a very little TV.  The HD sattelite is out. Channels are hit or miss. Maybe I need to add that to my list of projects? De-snow sattelite dishes…Check. Now off to shovel. After that, I suppose there will be more of this:

Firstly, I’d like to state that this is not a traditional shortbread recipe, but it works for me and is really easy to prepare. I’ve done recipes where you need to grind white sugar in the food processor, and they were OK, but there’s none of that here. I do have a little optional twist that would require a food processor, but this is entirely optional.

A word about butter. For shortbread, the butter is everything. If you have a favorite, use that, but consider getting some good quality whipping cream and making your own. Most people would laugh here, but I promise it is really easy, quick, and makes a big difference in the final product. If you’re interested, continue to step one, if not, skip to step two. Fair enough? Good. Let’s get going.

1. Pour 1 pint of heavy whipping cream in a food processor and let-er rip. Run it at a good clip and you will see it turn into whipped cream. While this is delicious, this is not what we’re after, so be patient. After some time, you will see the whipped cream start to climb, then fall apart and separate into buttermilk (yay) and butter (double yay). Let this run a bit more and stop the processor. Pour off the buttermilk and keep this for fried chicken or cornbread and you’ll want to make it all the time. It is completely different than store bought.  Take the butter that remains and ball it together (it’s OK to use your hands. You washed them right?) Place this in a bowl, march over to the sink, and rinse the butter with cold water, kneading it in. Continue this until the water runs clean. (If you skip this step, your butter will go bad fairly quickly). You can add salt to the butter at this point, but I don’t. This should yield about 14 ounces of creamy goodness. You will need to add two tablespoons of butter to bring this to 1 pound for step two. Congratulations, you just made butter without breaking a sweat.
2. It’s all greased from here. Turn your oven on to 300 degrees.
3. Cream together 1 pound of butter, 1 cup of brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt (I like kosher). If you are feeling particularly saucy, you can add a 1/2 teaspoon of your favorite extract (almond, mint, vaniller, whatever floats your boat) but they don’t need it.
4. Mix in 4 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time until it’s all in there. That’s it. That’s the recipe. You can use a cookie press (way, way not traditional), or press it into a pan (preferably round) to a thickness of about 1/4 inch.
5. Bake in the oven (duh).

Now. Raise your right hand. Place your left hand on your favorite cookbook and repeat after me.

I, <state your name>, do solemnly swear, to check the cookies after ten minutes, but not before. I promise that I will remove the cookies when they are just slightly brown at the edges, lest they become overdone.

OK, seriously, you have to watch these guys. I refuse to give a definite time to cook them, because it will be different for different thicknesses, altitudes, attitudes, latitudes, and butterflies flapping their wings in China. You need to be the judge. Scary. They cookies will get a flat finish on the top, and the edges at the very base of the cookie will be a very slight brown. If the brown gets too far up, they won’t be as good. (Don’t stress too much, they will still be good.)

Have a cookie on me and let me know what you think. Now, a little traditional music from Julie Fowlis to make up for my shortbread heathenry.

Next few posts will be food free, I promise. I have other things on my mind.

When I first heard the name, the first thing I thought of was the movie Toy Story. (I recognize that the movie pizza joint is actually “Pizza Planet”, but my brain is always going to obscure pop-culture references.) When I entered, the first thing I thought of was a brighter, roomier, C&S Saloon, in Brockport, NY. That will likely only mean something to a few of you, but I was taken back because of the 3/4 inch plywood picnic tables (and floor). What was different, was the selection of about 15 different microbrews (brewed by Pizza Port), along with about 15 more brewed by other notable micro-breweries. An additional large menu of unique pizzas and salads made this one of the most original pizza places I have ever been to.

Here’s what I had:

1. “Anti-wimpy” BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza – Thick, yeasty, delicious crust, topped by a sweet BBQ sauce, onions, meatballs, bacon, and cheese. Several of my co-workers also tried this (from my plate) and agreed that it was a great pizza.
2. Pizza Carlsbad – I “bartered” for a slice of this, it looked so good. This pie had pesto, mesquite grilled chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, & feta cheese. To me, this slice was a bit salty and just a tad dry. Don’t get me wrong, I ate the whole thing, but it could have been better.
3. Carlsbad Cream Ale – This is the signature ale for this location and it was very refreshing. Still, it is a lighter beer than I like and had a very forgettable flavor profile. Typical of a cream ale, in my experience.
4. Carlsbad Chronic – This was an amber ale, more to my palate’s liking, and was actually a special ($2.00 pint!) the night we were there. I actually got this because they were donating proceeds to Haiti relief. This was a good ale, but I’ve had better. Again, the profile was pretty forgettable.

Overall, Pizza Port deserves a visit. I suspect that if my beer selections were a little more gutsy, I would have been rewarded. Looking back I would have chosen different styles. Still, the pizza was outstanding. Make no mistake, Pizza Port is where Atkins dieters come to cheat.

Now, when I say “Best.Sweet.Tea.Evar”, those of you that know my wife and I know how big of a compliment that is. We are very serious about our tea. In a restaurant setting, when I order hot tea, (or wine or beer), the first thing I do is sniff it deeply. I expect a complex aroma. (The tongue can only discern 5 taste sensations, the complexity comes from your nose.) When I order iced tea, I expect some aroma, but mostly “tea”. With my first sip of the sweet tea at The Hominy Grill, my nose picked up delicate floral scents I would normally associate with hot tea, and wine (or home-brew). The tea comes from Southern Harmony Tea (yes, I asked), for which I am now seeking a local source.

To answer your questions, YES, I did just write 166 words on the tea at Hominy Grill, and YES, I’d go back just for the tea. Now that we have that established, I’d like to expound more on the other reasons you should visit. (Why aren’t you going there RIGHT NOW?)

Hominy Grill is a quaint little (tiny actually, smaller than Java Junction…hey, maybe they’ll get…OK, letting it go) restaurant, entirely white on the inside, in downtown Charleston. I heard rumors that it was getting “touristy”, but now, I don’t care.

The menu, added to the specials was extensive, and my waiter suggested a few items to try. No matter. I had already decided, long in advance, that the dish for me was, in fact, their signature dish, the “Shrimp and Grits!”. The “!” is actually on the menu. Also recommended was a piece of corn bread. After a small discussion with the waiter, debating between the Buttermilk Pie and the Pecan Pie, a challenge was issued. “This is the best Pecan Pie you will ever eat.” Challenge accepted. Here’s how it turned out.

• Sweet Tea- I’ll let it go, I swear…
• Shrimp and Grits!- If ever a dish name deserved, nay required, an exclamation point, this is one of them. The grits were creamy, cheesy, flavorful, perfectly cooked, and deserving of a restaurant named “Hominy”. Added to this a good amount of large shrimp, seasoned with just the right amount of heat (for me anyway), mushrooms, and crispy, thick bacon, every piece of this dish played off the others and the mix of flavors and textures just popped.
• Corn Bread- The way like it,cooked in a round tin. This wasn’t the sweet bread that I expect and like, but something unique. I’m not sure how to describe it, except that it tasted buttery, creamy, a hint of buttermilk perhaps? It didn’t need butter at all. I expect that some people won’t like it, but I did. If you go to Hominy (and you should) you need to eat this, at least once.
• Pecan Pie- Is melting on my tongue as we speak. I was so stuffed full of corn bread and shrimp and grits that I had to take it with me. Now, I am a big fan of Pecan Pie. I won’t go so far as saying that this is the best I’ve had, but it’s in the top three. The crust itself was spectacular. I would love to know how they keep the crust crunchy under all of that gooey-pecan-goodness. The goo, was, for me at least, a bit on the gooey side, making the crust-magic all that more interesting. On top was a layer of pecans almost as thick as the gooey center, and that alone propels it forward on my list of all-time best pecan pies. 

I head off to sleep in a strange bed, belly full, and mind wondering what that Buttermilk Pie would have been like. I hope I don’t eat my pillow…

So, last night, after visiting my favorite sister, (at whose house I was not hungry) I got a craving for a burger. I think it was after a brief discussion of the goodness of an In-N-Out burger. Animal Style. Give me a minute…Ok, there are no In-N-Out Burgers here, so I had to settle for the next best thing, a burger from 5-Guys, which is just as good here as at home.

To make up for the chain-burger, I convinced my colleagues to venture out to a place that I had heard mentioned a few times in my food research, Aunt Bea’s. This place has received great reviews, but it is a bit out-of-the-way. The first impression of the restaurant was positive. Cozy, quiet, clean, and full of different types of antiques. The menu screams “comfort-food”, although the method is a little odd. Each day of the week, patrons have a selection of three different “meats”, coupled with three (of about “8” )  sides, one of which is a soup. 

My selection of the day was sweet tea,  fried chicken, cabbage, mashed potatoes, and chicken and rice soup. Each plate had a piece of corn bread. I was, to say the least, underwhelmed. Here’s my take on the dishes.

• Sweet tea- Actually, quite nice. Refreshing and not too sweet, it could have used a little more actual tea, as it was a little light.
• Fried Chicken- I like dark meat for my fried chicken, as it tends to be a little more moist and flavorful. Notice I said “tends to be”. This was not the case here today. The fried chicken was an embarrassment to the south, and comfort food in general.
• Cabbage- The flavors here were actually quite nice, a little sweet, a little savory. If it wasn’t overcooked, this would have been a great dish.
• Mashed Potatoes- These were probably the best thing on the plate. Covered in a dark gravy, these were perfectly seasoned, creamy, and the first thing gone from my plate.
• Chicken and Rice Soup – Really underseasoned. I stopped eating after my main dish came. It was really forgettable.
• Corn Bread- Corn bread is one of my favorite foods, and this was just…meh. It was light and fluffy, but, in the words of my southern colleague, it was not “Mississippi Sweet”, (I like the phrase, I’m keeping it) which I come to expect from southern corn bread. I’ll go out on a limb and say that the corn bread at Famous Daves in Frederick, is a far better corn bread than Aunt Bea’s had to offer today.

In all, it’s a sad state of affairs when the best thing I had at the restaurant was the not-too-sweet tea. Maybe it was just the day. Everything was perfectly edible, but in a town like Charleston, you can, and should do better.

I’m hoping to find redemption tonight at the Hominy Grill. I’m a bit torn on this one, as I’ve heard it’s become touristy, but my sis recommends it, and I’ve seen it on “The Food Channel” several times, so I can’t resist.

I’ve been interested in intuitive cooking for some time, and today I coupled this with the idea of ingredients as seasoning. Here’s what my gut was telling me, and how it came out.

1. Ground sausage, cooked up in a pan.
2. Noodles, cooked with some sea salt.
3. Cooked sausage in the bottom of a casserole dish.
4. Noodles in the old sausage pan., frying in the sausagey goodness  (Ya heard me, I did it)
5. Noodles on top of the sausage in the casserole dish
6. Butter in the pan to make a roux. (1:1 butter and flour)
7. Added 2:1 milk and rue, some american cheese and some cheddar cheese.
8. Cheese sauce added on top of the casserole, with additional cheddar on top for good measure.

I baked all this at 375 F until it started bubbling at the sides, then finished it by broiling on high to get a good crust on the top cheese. Served by scooping straight down.

I suppose that this is basically a deconstructed mac and cheese with sausage, but it needs a better name than that.

I will add some clarification on the sauce. Basically, for this recipe, I made 1/2 cup of rue and added 1 cup of milk. This supported about 3 slices of american cheese and about a half-cup of cheddar. Just melt in a bit at a time until it is like a thick gravy.

The kids destroyed this at dinner (OK, so did I).

In the quest for solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, several items have come up that are worth mentioning. SUV driving, for example. This is an easy one to buy, they guzzle lots of gas, it’s hard to argue against that, but with two dogs, three kids, and family all over, it’s hard to consider not having a large vehicle. Still, we use sparingly.

Next, we move on to the sacred cow. I have an altar to half of one in my freezer. Cows, apparently, are gassy and account for a good deal of greenhouse gas emissions, though the bulk of that is likely from transporting the moo. I get my moo locally, so I think I’m good there. Rest assured, my family does its part to try to reduce the cow population, but we’re just one family…

After the cow, the envirovangelists, in classic male fashion, lay the blame for noxious gasses in a familiar place. The dog did it. Now you can tax my gas to reduce my driving, and you can even genetically alter cows to produce less methane, but you’ll have to pry my leash from my cold, dead hands, and my dogs off my cold feet. My dogs MAY be contributing to climate change, but they ARE contributing to warming the foot of my bed.

The facts are that scientists are split about the climate-change thing. There appears to have been malfeasance among some of the scientists, and even those scientists that agree that warming is happening, can’t agree on whether it’s all bad news. You can’t grow crops in the snow, people.  I’ve tried.

I mean, aren’t things getting out of hand? The EPA recently declared a gas that I would die without, a hazardous substance. Hey, if we all stop breathing…