Random Rants and Raves

Christmas-Hanukkah-Happy Week Wishes 2013

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 01:11:00 +0000

My 11 year old's letter to Santa:

Dear Santa:

I wish you a Merry Christmas.

And I also wish you to use your magical powers to cure and make everybody a happy holiday / Merry Christmas / Happy Hanukkah / Happy Week.

Please !! :)Is that Too much to ask? PLEASE???!!!

p.s. Make this come true.

Love W.

The End of of the Summer - Little Free Library

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 05:18:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, a good friend of ours introduced us to the Little Free Library project. In today's Web jargon, it is a "crowd-sourced" library project, where private citizens create their own little personal libraries to be shared with their immediate community. Our house is over-stuffed with books of all sorts (kids, baby books, travel books, parenting books, engineering books, CS books, political books, fiction) and this was a perfect way to share our library with our neighbors (we left out the political books - we want to remain a good neighbor).

So W designed, drew and measured the "blue prints" for the little library. Armed with my trusty jigsaw, I cut out the pieces from an extra piece of plywood we had lying around (from our chicken coop project last year). In just a few hours, W and L screwed the pieces together and painted our little library (excess paint from our house remodel).

VOILA! Our finished little library!

Mounting the library was a breeze using a plastic mailbox stand purchased at Lowe's ($25).

The kid's father had an ingenious idea - we drilled a small hole in the roof of the library and directed a solar-powered walkway light's LED into the hole. Awesome.

And there it is our, Little Free Library project #8006 TOTAL COST ~ $40

My 10yo recount of the fireball that scorched her mother's hair...

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Patience is a virtue... And unfortunately, I am lacking in this virtue. My kids and I have been building an earth-oven which is a very long term project (4 weeks).

After three weeks of waiting for the earth oven to dry, my tank of patience was now surviving on fumes and I needed to give Mother Nature a little catalyst. So I built a fire inside the still-damp earth oven and thought that a squirt of lighter fluid into the weak embers would get things going. Mother Nature had enough of my foolishness and the moment I squirted the lighter fluid, a fire ball erupted from the earth oven...

My 10 year old will now take over and describe what she saw (as transcribed with permission from her diary)...

"Well, today the CRAZIEST thing happened! So, we were emptying out our earth oven that we made (by the way) My mom was drying the inside by making a fire. Let me make a picture for you. So, my mom and my little brother and I were standing around our oven with my mom poking around in there. We could do nothing but watch. After squirted some starter fluid in, she lit the wood inside and fanned it with a book. Suddenly, a HUGE, FLAMING FIRE erupted into my mom's face! I was about to scream, but I couldn't open my mouth. I saw my mom take off her blanket (which she had wrapped around her) and furiously pushed it onto her head. Right then, I knew all those assemblies on "Drop, Lay, and roll" just flew out the window. I also knew I would use my mom's method, as frantic as it was. Anyways, when the fire was put out by the blanket, my little brother and I were relieved to find my mom's face was still intact. Then we noticed the hair! The ends of it were signed almost clean off, like the little fried noodles you get at some Chinese restaurants. We hund around for a a little bit, joking around. My mom went to go look int hte mirror. She hurried out to tell us the "wonderful" news. Half her eyebrwos had been burned off. Now her eyebrows are half as long as before!."

Sundays are awesome!

I look like the crazy cat lady.

Earth Oven by Amateurs

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:36:00 +0000

Each year, my kids and I embark on an EPIC project - chicken coops, hanging tomato plants... This year after stumbling across some YouTube videos, we decided upon the earth oven - a project big enough to require planning and research, dirty enough to be fun, and dangerous enough (fire) to be exciting. I delegated the research to my 7yo son who searched and watched many a YouTube video on building earth ovens.

Under his direction, we purchased the following things (multiple trips):

80 bricks (Home Depot) @ 85cents each
8 bags of playground sand (Home Depot) @ $5/ 50lb bag
2 25lb bags of modeling clay (Amazon) $25/each
1 bag of straw (local pet store) $3

about $150+ dollars for this project

Unlike many of the websites/videos on earth ovens, we are not professional builders, contractors or anything... So we built it on intuition which is probably how most people will approach this project. This is how we did it (the elapsed time reflects the effort of an adult, 10 year old, and a 7 year old)

1) Create the foundation - we leveled packed down a corner of our raised vegetable bed and layed 2 layers of bricks in an alternating pattern to create a somewhat level base for our oven.
Elapsed Time: (1 hour)

2) Create the sand mold - This mound of sand represents the inside of the oven once it is completed. The earth oven instructions say that there needs to be of a certain dome-to-door ratio (door height ideally is 63% of dome height). We didn't measure this but rather eyed it as best as we could. We used about 4-5 bags of sand just to create this sand mold. Elapsed Time: (1 hour)

3) Lay down the newspaper - To delineate the mold from the oven, lay down wet strips of newspaper on the sand mold. Do this immediately after creating the sand mold - you don't want the sand and start to disintegrate. Like paper mache, we ripped up newspapers into 3-4 inch wide strips, soaked them in water and placed them on the sand mold, being particularly careful along the bottom edge. Elapsed Time: (30 minutes)

4) Create the first layer of the oven. This is where the fun began. Ideally, the mix is 2 to 3 parts sand to 1 part clay. Again, we eyeballed it and went with something that was probably more sand than clay, since the clay was super expensive, relatively speaking. We used modeling clay which is super clumpy and so we had to first mush it (break it down) with water. This was difficult, we started "kneading" it with our hands, but this proved to be tiring and so we resorted to stomping on it like grapes in wine-making. When it became somewhat a thick (still lumpy) paste, we added the sand until could hold a ball form. In other words it was not watery and not too clay-y either. We then placed this on the newspaper-mached sand mold. Start from the bottom first and work up as the heavy, wet sand will tend to fall with gravity.

You'll see that we created a brick frame for the opening and pasted our sand/clay mixture around it.

We required 2 days to do this as it was extremely time-consuming. Elapsed Time: (2 hours)

5) Create the cob layer. Using a similar formula as the previous layer, we mixed a cob layer which added straw to the mix. I suppose the fiber in the straw will add some strength to the earth oven. Some instructions suggest that you create the straw and like it cure (soak) overnight. We did tried it both ways (putt the cob layer immediately and waiting 24 hours) - we couldn't see any difference. It was a difficult layer and very ugly.

6) Pretty up the oven. The oven was quite unsightly with straw poking out of it and so the kids suggested adding a final finishing layer composed of the same sand/clay compound as step 4.

Now the oven construction is complete and next up was the drying process. It was Spring in the SF Bay Area and so it was cool and so air drying probably took longer than say in Phoenix or Los Angeles. Fortunately, we haven't had any rain and so we let the earth oven dry, albeit slowly, au naturel. We removed the bricks from the opening and as the oven dried, the sand inside would gradually fall out.

the inside of the earth oven. Notice the burned newspaper layer.

Hot as the Mines of Moria (we are reading Lord of the Rings to the kids)

This past weekend, we wanted to jump start things and so we started a fire in the oven to dry it from the inside out. Just a note of caution (obvious to most I am sure), but lighter fluid and fire are a dangerous combination - as demonstrated by my singed hair and eyebrows this weekend!!! Yeah, pretty darn scary. (This is my 10 year old's, hilarious eye witness account of the incident)

But I digress, the earth oven is beautiful, despite it's attempt to alight my head. It's cavernous and quite solid! Tomorrow, peasant bread and roasted pork shoulder!!

stoking the fire

Foraging Before Foraging Was Cool

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 01:06:00 +0000

Each Spring, my brother, my mom and I would fill our Oldsmobile with supermarket paper bags and drive down to the end of our suburban development where fields of weeds would grow to the end of the horizon. Sacramento, in California's Central Valley, is America's food kitchen - the hot sun, the cool evenings, the rich clay soy, make it the perfect climate to grow peaches, tomatoes, almonds, cucumbers, strawberries, and.... you cai. 油菜. For hours, we would hunch over and pick the most tender greens and, later at home, show our haul off to my Dad who loved the fruits of our labor but didn't have the patience to partake in our adventure.

Back then, before Portland and Tama Matsuoka Wong made foraging cool and hip, picking vegetables from public land was viewed with disdain as something "farmers' or "country folk" did. It was dork-y for sure. But luckily, the fields from where we picked you cai were far from the suburban tract homes and rarely did a car of friends drive by.

Even now 25 years later, my brother and I look back at these outings with Mom with nostalgia and longing - Spring . Family . Food

-------------------------------
If you drive anywhere in Northern California in February and March, you will notice bright yellow flowers growing along the road - especially in places with good drainage, water and lots of sun. Forget the weatherman or the Farmer's Almanac, when I see the stirrings of these yellow flowers, I know Spring is right around the corner and I am packing my SUV with the bags and the kids!

A field of you cai in Palo Alto near Page Mill Road

To the untrained eye, 油菜 or you cai, looks like an ordinary weed with a yellow flower. But look a little more carefully and you will start to see resemblances to that of broccoli rabe or rapini. In fact it tastes very similar, if not slightly more bitter. But it is DELICIOUS when simply sauteed with garlic right after picking - talk about farm to table!

So how do you start urban foraging in Palo Alto? Find a field of yellow flowers, preferably in a safe location, not right on the road (perhaps a side road).

Examine the stem of the you cai. There are actually two types of you cai - one has a reddish stem, and one has a green stem. The reddish stem is bitter beyond words and that probably means it isn't made for human consumption. The other with a green stem is the one you want.

Once you have determined that this is the correct field (green stemmed), get down low, so that you can see below the yellow flowers and focus purely on the green unflowered stems below. As beautiful as the yellow flowers may be, once the you cai has flowered, it tends to be more bitter and less tender.

Choose the top 5 inches of the you cai plant - preferably one that has buds that have yet to open

Now simply, pick off the top 5-6 inches of the you cai plant - it should easily and crisply break off the main stem. Any more effort than a simple flick of the wrist and it's not worth keeping (potentially stringy and tough).

Last Sunday, my two kids and I foraged for maybe 20 minutes and hauled back more you cai than we could eat. Picking you cai on a beautiful weekend afternoon is very relaxing - it's peaceful, it's grounded, it puts you close to your food, and it is old skool (no batteries required). I had to pull my kids away - it's also very addicting as the supply of you cai is endless. Once you've trained your eyes to pick out the tender stems, you can't stop. "just one more... oh I see another one."

amazing haul of fresh you cai

Once we brought it home, a quick soak to clean off any dirt and into the wok it went with sliced garlic, chili flakes and plenty of olive oil. Delicious!

garlic slices, chili flakes and plenty of olive oil

I guess 25 years later, foraging for you cai is finally cool.

get down and low - easy to get distracted by the beautiful yellow flowers.

Happy New Year and a Quick List (Albeit Culinary) for 2012

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:15:00 +0000

Happy New Year.

I am so glad it's 2012 - 2011 was just feeling a little tired toward the end, a little used and abused. I am glad this 2012 is starting out crisp like a freshly-minted $20.

Because I have such a lovely track record of fulfilling all of my new year's resolutions, this year I decided to stick with what I know best, FOOD - much to the dismay of by my poor scale which winces with each new Yelp restaurant review I submit.

So instead of a resolution list of things I want to change with myself, this year, I have decided to create a Culinary Bucket List for 2012. So while I don't think (or rather hope) I will kick the "bucket" for many more years, I think a Culinary Bucket List is something that I should start this year. Finally a To-Do list that I actually look forward to completing!

So here is my Culinary Bucket List (for now, I anticipate it will change over time,.... in other words, get longer!).

Le Bernadin (New York) - Eric Ripert . French Accent . Unbelievably fresh fish 'nough said.
Per Se (New York) - A very tight-wad friend said that his $400 meal was totally worth it and that he would do it again.
Next (Chicago) - Never went to Alinea when Achatz was at the helm, but am fascinated by his new fluid menu/theme restaurant.
St. John (London) - Never had a good meal in England. period. but am intrigued by the nose-to-tail approach by Fergus Henderson - plus his cookbook is awesome
Any of the Japanese restaurants (kaiseki, izakaya, kushiage) in Kyoto - most Michelin 3-star restaurants in the world (rumor is that there are more than even in Paris or Tokyo)

So here's to an amazing 2012 journey! Bon Appeti!

Bake Sale Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:36:00 +0000

My two kids go to two different schools - I'm not going to get into that cuz that in itself warrants it's own blog. But needless to say, that means that I participate in two fundraising communities. As PTA VP for BOTH schools, I have my share of fundraising to do (in the interest of FULL-DISCLOSURE, I am the CEO of QlubbGive - a VERY unique and effective online fundraising service, if I do say so myself) but the one fundraising event I always enjoy participating in is the bake sale.

Yes, yes... I am all too familiar with it's downfalls (it's too time consuming, it encourages sugar consumption, etc..). But honestly, it brings out the 1950's Mrs. Cleaver in me. It's the rare occasion where I can just make and try random things in the kitchen - and all for a good cause!

So last year, I was wandering in Williams-Sonoma (some shop at Barney's for inspiration, I shop at Williams-Sonoma), and I stumbled across these Star Wars cookie cutters. They were an affordable $19.99 indulgence and soon found themselves in my kitchen.

In addition, I have run across the cakepops in my blog surfing and find them irresistibly adorable!

So my daughter's school is holding a bake sale tomorrow for Japan Tsunami victims - this was it! This was my time to try out all my new gadgets and recipes.

My kids helped me make the cakepops and Star Wars cookies and had a blast.

So making cakepops is simple.

STEP 1: Make a cake from a box according to directions; let it cool; the mush it up into crumbs; mix in 2/3 can of frosting so the cake mush is pretty moist.

STEP 2: Using your hands, roll them into walnut-sized balls; Dip a lollipop stick into melted candy coating and stick it into the cake pop.

This is the melted candy coating (you can buy it at any Michael's - you'll find it in the cake decorating section). Melt the candy pellets (they look like Necco wafers) in a double boiler.

STEP 3: Place the naked cake pops in the freezer to set. This is an IMPORTANT step; if they are not frozen enough, they will fall apart when coating them with the candy coating. Wait at least 30 minutes.

STEP 4: Dip the naked cake pops into the melted candy coating and then decorate!

Some of the finished cake pops - not quite as pretty as Bakerella's or Starbucks but at least they're original. (Many are supposed to be baby chicks - use your imagination!)

A close up a little chick created by my 8 yo!

These are our Star Wars cookies and my 5 yo making them!

Durian Adventure - It's like I vomitted in my mouth

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 05:33:00 +0000

We try to encourage our kids to try most foods, regardless of how unusual or off the beaten path. One that has intrigued me is the durian - often called the "King of Fruits". So this past weekend we went to a local Asian supermarket and picked one up for a gastronomical adventure.

We've heard of the fruit's reputation as stinky and Anthony Bourdain (one of my favorite cooks/food writers) describes the taste as "Your breath will smell as if you'd been French-kissing your dead grandmother." So things are looking up.

Sitting on our counter for a few days, the kitchen began to emanate a sweet, rancid smell. So this evening, the day before garbage pickup, we decided to give it a go.

Despite the super spike-y exterior, we easily cut it from the bottom (the softest part of the fruit). Once open, the smell just hit us in the face like ... frankly.... a huge fart. It was noxious. Now I know why some Asian cities and apartments outlaw the fruit.

The durian has several cells - each with a large seed surrounded by a fleshy-creamy pulp. It looks like an alien intestine (or how I would imagine it to be). The flesh is surrounded by a skin of sorts which I just could not get past and eat.

So how does it taste? My husband sums it up best "it tastes like I vomitted in my mouth". My take? It tastes like sea urchin (uni) mixed with heavy cream and sugar... basically like vomit.

The kids were troopers and pinched their nose while they tasted a few spoon fulls.

After a few mouthfuls, we surrendered. The husk went into the garbage while I put the fleshy pulp into our worm compost bin. I am a bit afraid that tomorrow morning I am going to find a mass worm suicide or find that our chickens have suffocated from the smell.

Durian KO'ed us from the moment we opened it. We didn't even stand a chance.

CR-48 Review Part 3: What Rocks

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 19:22:00 +0000

I will be taking this lovely CR-48 on a Caribbean cruise in a few days and will be testing it out in airports, hotels, ports, cruise ships....

But until then, this is my list of what rocks about the CR-48:

super fast sleep and awake - almost instantaneous. As someone who is very partial to the Mac, the Cr-48 seems ever so slightly faster than my Macbook.
Super simple setup - I like the controlled, wizard-like setup process. No technical mumbo-jumbo, no funny configurations, just really simple. And given the target market in the future, this is really key.
Super straightforward WiFi and Verizon Wireless setup - again, simple. step-by-step process
Packaging - again simple and cheeky (LOVE IT)
Super long battery life - its been 2 days and I haven't charged it up yet. I like my Mac's 4-hr battery life (even after 3 years), but I love CR-48 8+ hour battery life (then again, I didn't play a lot of flash apps)
New York Times reader - man... this is reason enough to cancel my NY Times subscription.
Single user interface - the browser. This is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that for the majority of Internet users who use email and Facebook, this is makes the experience simple and contained. For people who are slightly more adventurous, the single user interface becomes a bit frustrating as I feel that my hands are tied and I have to find unnatural ways to go around the limitations.

CR-48 review Part 2: Chrome Store-Open But Not Equal

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 18:59:00 +0000

I've been curious what the Chrome Store means in a cloudy world. I've spent a little time in the web store and I'm afraid it looks pretty boring - games don't necessarily work, and without GPS and offline gaming, the apps are not that engaging. I mean, most of the stuff I purchased off itunes and Android market were either 1) mobile GPS-based apps (Geocaching, 4square, SkyMap) or 2) offline games (Angry Birds, Plants/Zombies).

when you start a new window, this is your default page with your "downloaded" apps

I was also puzzled as to where apps go when they are "downloaded". So I downloaded NYTimes reader, Chess, Plants Vs. zombies, QuickNote and Pandora. I wasn't sure where to find it until I opened up a new browser window and there it was on the "start" page with the other default Google apps. Well, when you open up a new tab, you go to a start page with all the basic Google apps and any that you have "downloaded" or installed. (btw, Plants vs Zombies didn't work for me. The NYTimes reader is pretty darn sweet..).

Plants vs Zombies didn't work.

New York Times reader works BEAUTIFULLY - LOVE IT.

On an aside, many of the downloaded utilities and apps don't work quite yet. Some of the utilities require a plug-in, which obviously in Chrome OS, this is not possible... so the utility is rendered useless.

Next I download some Google developed utilities and apps. First was Google Mail Checker Plus. Once I downloaded, it immediately appeared in the upper right hand corner, next to the other built-in Google utilities (bug tracking, and help/the wrench). Basically, Google Mail Checker Plus allows you to check mail without having to create a separate window.

Then I downloaded Google's Web Clipboard which allows you to cut/paste HTML and text - not that interesting until you can do images and stuff... but I gave it a go... And lo and behold, where does it go... into the permanent area in the upper right hand corner.

THen I downloaded Google Translate... and where did it go? in the permanent area in the upper right hand corner. This was the case with their Blogger utility, Google Voice and even the Shopping Buddy.

Google-developed plug-ins (Blogger, Translate, Voice, Clipboard, Shopping Buddy) get priority positioning

It appears that the Chrome OS environment is open, but not exactly an even playing field. Basically, there are many apps and utilities that do similar things; however, if they are made by Google, they get premium positioning in a permanent, quick access location in the upper right hand corner. While they might not hold a tight rein on the environment like Apple, Google does give privileged positioning to its own. I went into the Settings (the wrench) area to see if I can change what appears in that privileged area but it doesn't look like that is possible (and honestly, most CR-48 users in the future will not do this).

---------------------------
On a separate note:

Verizon WIFI

So today is the first day on the road with the CR-48 (aka Chrome laptop). I specifically wanted to try out the Verizon100MB/month broadband. It's a straightforward process; Once I disconnected from my home wifi network, the Verizon Wireless option popped up.

Again the registration was seamless. I had to enter in my credit card information but nothing was charged. Upon completion, I received the following confirmation page which stated "Please save this information for your records." hmmm... this was rather odd. If this were my Mac, I would simply take a screen shot of the page (alas, not possible here). Or I could print out the page (again, not possible). Or I could save the page (again not possible). So what does "save this information" mean in the Chrome OS world? Oddly enough, I think it means to take out a piece of paper and a pencil and write the information down!

So now I am actually on I-280 (which cuts across hills and valleys through Silicon Valley) and the Verizon Wireless seems to be pretty reliable - at least I can do some work which is more than I can say for AT&T cell service.

Christmas came early - Chrome laptop (aka CR-48) on my doorstep

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:51:00 +0000

Christmas came early this year. This afternoon, I noticed a big heavy, non-descript brown box on our doorstep. No name, no description. The return address was from a guy named Bryan Jeffries in Louisville, KY. hmmm.. a Google search of the name resulted in some Microsoft employee - nah... couldn't be.

Curiosity got the better of me and so I ripped it open. And this is the crazy box I see.

the cool crazy mad-scientist box

Having purchased my share of electronic equipment, I new immediately it was going to be something good (meaning something with bells and whistles and cool buttons)... but where was the brand, the logo, the packing slip... nada.

Inside the box was a flat, matte black case - super light (without the battery installed), battery, power cord and two inserts (super simple - kudos to Google for having a great copy editor who is both cheeky and brief.).

simple and cheeky - just the way I like my instructions

INTIAL EXPERIENCE
I hate reading instructions, and so I put plugged everything in and hoped for the best...
It worked as promised. First I logged into my home network, took a profile photo (did, I mention the built-in camera? but where did my photo get posted?) and then entered in my google userid. There was an OS update but the whole update and install was completely automatic. Verdict? TWO THUMBS UP - SOOO simple. Next was a detailed tutorial - I stepped quickly through it.. I figured "how hard could a browser-based OS" be?

TOUCHPAD DOESN"T LIKE ME
One thing that I immediately noticed was that the touchpad was a bit off for me - it wasn't very responsive. When I surf around, there is a delay and then it jumps to the position - making it very difficult to move around, even to the address bar (or as they call it the Omnibar). Often when I attempt to click, it doesn't click and jumps to a different place - errrrrrr... My husband tried and didn't have any problems... So maybe my fingertips have been filed down from too much surfing and aren't delicate enough for the Chrome laptop. I ended up relying on the arrow keys whenever possible, because the touchpad got a bit aggravating.

oh, Google touchpad, why do you hate me so?

Another funny observation is that the CR-48 keyboard displays the keys in all lowercase. On most other computers (laptops, desktops..) the keyboard is in uppercase.

PIN TAB
The laptop introduces the concept of a PIN TAB. So for frequently visited sites (such as Gawker, HuffPo, NYT), I can just put two fingers on the touchpad and push down - thereby saving it for later. The pin tabs then move to the left hand side of the screen and get minimized into smaller tabs. Creating a pin tab is not easy. Pushing my two fingers down on the trackpad at the same time took some practice (if you don't do it correctly, the tab window closes). But then again, my difficulty in creating a pin tab could be due to my filed down finger tips.

At the same time, there is also a bookmark manager when you click on the help wrench, so it's a bit unclear why there are two things that essentially do the same thing.

LOCALFILES - DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD
Ahhh.. This is where it gets a bit hairy. Through the tutorial it mentions that there is the ability to download files into a sandbox(they call it a tray). When you download a file, a pop-up window asks you to confirm and the document appears in a new tab window. PDFs are rendered very nicely.

download support currently seems like an after thought...

As I mentioned, there is an embedded camera in the CR-48, so I figured I would be able to take photos/videos of stuff around me to post on a blog for example... However I couldn't figure out how to invoke the built-in camera. I thought it may be website specific and so  I went to the Picasa site in hopes that it would allow me to take a photo that I could then upload. Not a chance.  Couldn't figure out a way to take a photo. Within the YouTube site, you can use the webcame to record/post a video. Strange how Picasa wasn't able to do something similar.

While photo uploads are a nice-to-have, on a daily basis having files locally is necessary in my job where I am constantly taking screen shots of our product or grabbing images. My suggestion would be to remove the local "download tray" and simply create a new cloud-service called Google Sandbox/Clipboard, which would directly place all "downloaded" files into the cloud that then can be accessed by all other Google apps. So in my case, if I buy an image from iStockphoto, I can "download" it to my Google Sandbox to be used later in my Google docs. Or I could do a screen capture from my browser and have the screencapture saved to my Google Sandbox to be used in another Google service. Similarly, if I take a photo from the Chrome laptop, it would be saved up in the cloud Google Sandbox.  In fact, why not simply integrate the Chrome OS with Google Documents?

PRINTING VIA WINDOWS ... ugh.
So finally, I am getting to the end of the tutorial when I get kicked in the gut. You can print from the Chrome OS via something called Google Cloud Print... If you don't have a Google Cloud Print ready printer, you can print to existing printers so long as they are plugged into a computer running Windows connected to the Internet! This is a non-starter as our printer is it's own device on the network and we don't have a Windows machine connected directly to the printer.  Having experienced enough difficulty setting up my printer on my network and across my many machines at home, the LAST thing I need is another Printer driver, standard. Why can't printers and networks just get along?

COOL STUFF
On the insert, it says that "we've thrown in 100MB of data each month for two years..." awesome. really? 3G for free? I AM SOLD. I will have to go out with this laptop and see if it really works.

FACEBOOK TEST - SPECIFICALLY FRONTIERVILLE
So enough about the dowloads and pin tabs... Now for the true test... How does it play Facebook games, specifically Frontierville. Unlike the iPad which does not support Flash and as a result doesn't support Zynga games, the Chrome laptop produces Frontierville in all its glory - music, sounds and all! (Hey, don't judge me!) Flash is still a memory/battery hog on CR-48, but at least I can tend to my plants and animals on the frontier.

yee haw! I can now harvest my flax on the Google CR-48

MY VERDICT
A good attempt at a first version of Chrome OS. Like most Google products, the features and functionality are nothing new.. the cleverness of Google products is how it changes the way we do things (not so much in the bells and whistles of the technology). The Chrome CR-48 forces the user to do everything in the cloud - there are no external connections. If you want to post a photo/video, use the embedded camera. If you want to talk to someone (typically through Skype), you'll have to use Google Chat/Talk. It's an interesting idea and one that, if done right, will force users to rely more and more on purely cloud-based (read: Google) apps. In other words, if done right, it will render TweetDeck, Skype, iTunes, my digital SLR, my phone... all obsolete.

It's a neat product with a cool strategy, but it's a big idea with a lot of loose ends to tie up, especially as they relate to how the CR-48 interfaces with external products/files - again the downloadable files, camera, the printer, the USB (there is a USB plug), the phone.

so what is the point of this USB port?

The CR-48 is definitely onto something significant in the way folks are increasingly relying on the Internet for all their technology needs. Having been annointed my family's geek squad, I already see far too many folks using their spiffy $1,000 Macbooks to simply surf, send email and Skype/chat.

There are definite areas of improvement, including upping the sexiness of the product, especially to appeal to the casual Internet-only user. The current bland CR-48 looks like a Taiwanese laptop case/power cord circa 1998.

Aside from the rubbery finish, the case looks like excess inventory from a Taiwanese ODM circa late 90's

But these are my first 3 hour impressions. There is still much more to test out - specifically the Chrome Web Store and how those apps will render in the CR-48 environment. Stay tuned!

Beef Tongue (Lengua) .... hmmm

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:11:00 +0000

It all started innocently enough with a typical trip to Costco. This weekend, next to the oxtail, was a stack of prepackaged cow tongue in all its huge, bumpy glory. We try to encourage our kids to approach foods with an open mind and without judgement, so it was no surprise when my 7yo exclaimed "let's eat it!"

Now, I've had my share of tongue in many a East Coast deli. But honestly, the grisly, borderline mushy texture is not something I actively seek. So with much reticence, I put the 3 lb package of tongue into my Costco cart.

With our trusty Epicurious recipe in hand, my daughter started making a mustard-horseradish beef tongue.

Of course, the first step is to wash/rinse the tongue. Honestly this just looks gross - good thing the kids are doing it.

This is the brining solution - bay leaves, peppercorns, salt, anise, and garlic. After 6 hours of brining, in went the cow tongue into a pot of seasoned water for a slow 3 hour simmer.

This is the cooked tongue. Not appetizing at all. During cooking, the tongue membrane turns into a thick, disgusting white skin that needs to be peeled off.

This is the peeled tongue - notice the taste buds are still prominent even with the thick white skin removed. Does this look appetizing to you? ugh.

This is the sliced tongue - if you cab get past the little, bumpy taste buds, the tongue taste like a very soft roast beef. The meat near the tip of the tongue is "leaner" while the meat near the back of the tongue is more marbled with gristly fat.

This the removed skin.

So the verdict? At first the 7yo exclaimed that is was "delicious". But after a few more slices, she said she had enough of the gristly meat. The 5yo took two bites and that was it. Which means, Dad aka human garbage disposal will be eating the remaining 3lbs of tongue. Lucky guy... NOT.

My take? Unlike most other foods, tongue is even less appetizing when I have to prepare/cook it.

Welcome Commander Cody, Hermione and Ginny!

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:26:00 +0000

We are proud to welcome three new members of our household. It is with great happiness that we introduce to the world Commander Cody, Hermione and Ginny - three Ameracauna hens.

It all started with Summer camp at Slide Ranch where are our kids were exposed to the joys of chickens. While most kids beg for a black Lab, rabbit, hermit crabs or a cat, our kids were soon hounding us for chickens.

So a week ago, we started to build a coop - one that we designed ourselves since the plans we bought online were too complex and the prebuilt ones were too expensive.

Step 1: The blue print.

Step 2: The screwing in of 400 1/2" screws (7yo learning the joys of power tools!)

Step 3: Framing it with the bullnose

Step 4: Painting the Sides

5yo chose Disney's Cinderella Ball Gown Blue

7yo chose Disney's royal blue

Step 5: Repurposing a towel rod for a chicken roost. I replaced the round bar with a square dowel (apparently chickens prefer a square bar). I used the towel ends to secure the roost to the second level of the coop.

Step 6: Frame the doors (front, back)

Back panel with two doors.

front door with chicken wire

Step 7: Staple gunning chicken wire to openings.

Step 8: make nesting box

Step 9: Moving the chicken coop into place

Step 10: Make feeder out of recycling

Step 11: Find chickens on Craigslist and bring them home

All three birds fit in a copier paper box. They survived the almost 50 minute drive home with nary a peep.

7yo with Cmdr Cody or is it Hermione or is it Ginny?

Escaped chicken - both parents were petrified and weren't sure of how to catch this chicken! Fortunately it found its own way back outside after slipping on the wood floor.

The newest members of our family finally in their new home.

Locking up and saying good night to their new pets.

Chicken Coop - Part I

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 03:59:00 +0000

We've killed our poor fish. I am deathly allergic to cats. Our backyard is too small for a dog. Hamsters are too noisy......

And that's how we decided upon chickens. We have friends who have raised chickens successfully in Mountain View of all places and she assures me that they are easy to take care of and yield beautiful, yummy eggs.

So I looked into chicken coops - Google-searched and Craiglisted. But for the most part the chicken coops where 1) too expensive (at least $500 for the Omlet Eglu) and 2) too country-ish/rustic for our suburban/mid-century ranch. I purchased a cool, modern looking coop plan from Green Roof Chicken coop - it looked simple enough online (how hard can a square box really be). I was excited to get started with building the coop until I actually downloaded and opened the plan...... 54 FREAKING PAGES - for a da*n square box.

At this point, the blueprints went straight into the recycling bin and I was back at square one with no coop prospects.

Over the course of the past 2 weeks I noticed these triangularly-pitched "portable" coops that seem minimal in design and seemingly easy enough to just build. Based upon British hen-keepers' design, these coops could house the 3-4 chickens we planned on having and seemed easy to maintain. These coops sell for about $500 on Amazon or about $400 locally, but I was feeling a little "cocky" and calculated that I could build it myself for a lot less - plus it would be a lot of fun for the kids and I to design our own version. So it was set, we were going to design and build our own coop.

So with the kids help, we designed our own Triangular Coop. It's 96 inches long, 60 inches wide. Just having to sketch the design forced me to search deep into the recesses of my brain for junior high school geometry. hypoteneuse^2= a^2 + b^2.

The length of coop will have alternating wood and chicken wire openings (my daughter's idea) and will be painted two shades of blue (my son's idea).

With these "detailed" plans in hand, we went to Home Depot to buy the materials AND the power tools. The kids and I had a blast talking to the super helpful Home Depot folks who helped us figure out what material to use (4'x8' 1/2" plywood), how to connect the plywood (bullnose) and what kind of saw (Black and Decker jigsaw). The total cost for all the material and power tools $190.

NOTE: because the plywood was already pre-cut to 4' wide, we had to adjust our original design from 5' to 4' wide.

So with materials in hand, we drew out our design on the plywood pieces in pencil and took out the jigsaw.. I was a little leery inserting the blade into the saw body and was a bit surprised by the amount of cutting force in such a little tool. But it's TOTALLY cool. The line produced was beautifully straight and clean and the ease in which the cutting occurred was addictive. Now... I get it. Now I know understand the special relationship men have their power tools.

It's getting late and I had to stop short my power tool session as our neighbors may not share my same fascination with power tools at night.

Tomorrow, we continue to jigsaw.

Quick post on the best da*n coffee ice cream period

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:32:00 +0000

We recently acquired a White Mountain Manual Crank Ice cream maker from Amazon - it was a nostalgic, impulsive buy - something to keep the kiddos entertained this Summer and to teach them a thing or two about melting points.

So we have been experimenting with a variety of different flavors: lemon, vanilla, salted caramel (recipe here) and last night coffee ice cream.

In search of the perfect coffee ice cream recipe, I discovered that most required a concentrated shot of espresso/brewing of a strong cup of coffee, or heaven forbid, the use of instant coffee crystals. But none of these really appealed to me as they seemed to dilute the ice cream with water.

So this is my delicious (no-water added) coffee ice cream recipe:

3/4 c sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
2 eggs
1/2 c coffee grounds (I used decaf french roast as my kids will be eating this ice cream)

Warm whole milk in microwave for about 1-2 minutes. Place coffee grounds in coffee filter in the coffee ground holder of a drip coffee maker. Place coffee ground holder over a large bowl/measuring cup. Slowly pour warmed milk into the coffee grounds. Milk will slowly drip (about 30 minutes or so) into the measuring cup below. This will result in a very strong-coffee flavored milk without additional water.
Place sugar, salt, cream and coffee-flavored milk in a heavy saucy pan and heat until it just boils. Let cool down just a bit - about 15 minutes.
In a stainless steel bowl, vigorously whisk the eggs until foamy. Then slowly and carefully mix in the warm milk/cream mixture - you don't want to cause the eggs to curdle which will happen when the milk is too hot.
Return the milk/cream/egg mixture back into the sauce pan and heat to 170F degrees.
Pour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve.
Cool the mixture. This can be doen in an ice bath, in the fridge, or in the freezer (my method of choice). If cooled in freezer, check/stir every few minutes for about 30-45 minutes.
Freeze and churn in an ice cream maker - about 25-30 minutes
The ice cream will be semi soft and delicious. Or you can transfer to a container to fully harden in the freezer.
For extra decadence, add a little sea salt on top.

YUM.

When I was 5...

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:25:00 +0000

One of the most lasting, indelible memories of my childhood was when I turned 5. My mom worked full-time and so I spent most of my toddler/pre-K years in a childcare facility. This one was in Sacramento, called, if I recall correctly, TotTown.

Anyways, I remember little from back then except for a few fleeting memories: I remember my parents picking me up form TotTown each evening and giving me a different flavored small stick of CrackerBarrel cheese (I remember the sharp cheddar was not my favorite).

But, I do recall very clearly the day I turned 5 years old and my working Mom, brought into this huge childcare facility a three-tier birthday cake and several half-gallon boxes of orange checkerboard ice cream. I remember all the kids ooh-ing and aah-ing as my mom brought the "wedding cake"-sized birthday cake into the center of the multipurpose room. I still remember my swelling pride for my mother; that she had baked this cake just for me - a wedding cake no less. I remember my Mom smiling at me as all the kids sang "Happy Birthday".

There was such great excitement as the cake was being cut and the ice cream was being scooped.

Despite all the children's excitement, I didn't even taste the cake or ice cream. I just remember going outside to the playground, hanging off the turning bar and feeling so happy and content. A few "popular" kids even came over and talked to me that day and I remember saying to myself "Today, I am happy. I have a lot of friends. People like me. Life is wonderful."

As I think back, the cake wasn't perfect. The weight of the top two layers had squashed the bottom layer and the cake was precariously tilted - back then there were no cake supports for home bakers. And the decorations were just my Mom's hand-drawn CakeMate flowers. But it was wonderful... the perfect cake.

35+ years later this birthday remains one of my most cherished memories of my childhood and my Mom. My Mom no longer bakes me birthday cakes, but today in celebration of my son's 5 birthday and in memory of my 5th birthday, I am baking a three-tiered birthday cake for him just as my Mom did for me.

Happy 5th Birthday Lleyton, my beautiful boy.

Traveling abroad - bring the Kindle...... and the iPad

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:13:00 +0000

Having just returned for an extended trip to China, I am here to report that the most important device in our bag was not our laptop, not the iPad, not the iPod,... but rather the Kindle. Yes, the Kindle.

Why? the black/white screen, reader?... Here are the VERY compelling reasons:

Battery life - with Whispernet off, the Kindle lasts for over a week without a charge.
WhisperNet rocks - Even in second tier Chinese cities, WhisperNet was available without nary a second thought (try saying that about the iPad). With the Kindle, I never had to worry about what 3G networks were available, where the Wi-Fi signals were, etc... WhisperNet just worked - no setup, no hassle, no worries. And super speedy too.
Easy access to non-censored periodicals - If you have every been in China, you know how hard it is to buy American/UK periodicals (WSJ, NY Times, Newsweek, Times, Economist, Atlantic Monthly, New Yorker).. But with the Kindle/Whispernet, getting the latest is simply a few seconds away - circumventing the "Chinese Wall"
Finger-tip access to English books. Our kids loved the Kindle and loved being able to buy Magic Tree House, ABC Mysteries series even in the middle of the Middle Kingdom. Additionally, on the spur of the moment, we decided to go to Lijiang, Yunnan. Once we decided, we jumped onto our Kindle and purchased the Lonely Planet Yunnan and was able to further investigate our last-minute jaunt. Awesome. It saved us from having to run around Chengdu (a second tier Chinese city) trying to find a, likely nonexistent, English book store!

Having lived/visited Greater China, I only know too well how hard it is to find English-language books/magazine and how expensive they can be. With the Kindle, it was too easy and very affordable (regular US prices).

The iPad is great, IF you have Wi-fi. But the iPad 3G service is a bit difficult to navigate and setup. The iPad device itself is great for movies and games with the kids, but networked device of choice was at the end of the day.... the Kindle.

Camping - Nothing a Little Bleach Can't Wash Off

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:18:00 +0000

We are dirty. filthy. stinky. untethered. The first three adjectives are not causes for concern, but "untethered" - are you crazy? That was my first thought when my husband suggested we go camping this past weekend.

I have been camping many times before, but usually I am within a short walk to the ranger's station/cafe/store where I can log in to fulfill my addiction to the grid. However, unlike full-service/luxury campsites like Costonoa, Henry Cowell Campsites in Felton (just over the mountain from Silicon Valley) was without wifi AND Verizon 3G! (ack)

A mere hour's drive from our home, this campground was just far enough to make a decent weekend escape without having to suffer through hours upon hours of boring drives (aka road to Yosemite).

Aside from the hiking and the physical activity, camping is socially revealing, due in great part to the lack of electronic distractions and the need to interact at long periods of time with other people - EGADS! So instead of movie night, Wii, surfing the Internet, it was a weekend of charades, conversations/jokes/stories, making rope traps, braiding ropes for swings and testing flammability of forest objects. And that's just the adults.

Things I learned this weekend:

1) For starters, I realize that my son is a pyro. (I say this with much pride as I am too a HUGE pyro).

By the end of the weekend, this harmless-looking 4yo was able to start any fire with the slightest of remaining hot ash, a fistful of dried pine needles and his huge lung capacity.

2) Tofu hotdogs don't taste good even when grilled over an open fire, slathered with condiments. These things should just be banned.

3) Baked beans are even more delicious having simmered over an open fire.

4) The camping universe converges on Korean BBQ meat. Though both families had originally planned to bring different dinner foods, at the last minute, both families brought Korean marinated meat for dinner (Kalbi and Bulgogi). YUM.

5) Reese's Smores are evil-y genius. One of our fellow campers invented this WONDERFUL camping dessert. Instead of a piece of chocolate, substitute a Reese's peanut butter cup. The result, a new salty, sweet, fat, crunchy tradition (followed by a 3mile run around the campground the following morning).

6) Alcohol is not allowed in state parks. bummer. would've been great to have had a few cold beers.

And finally,

7) Getting off the grid can be very rewarding and an "old-fashioned" way to reconnect. While the "100 Things You Dont Know About Me" memes are fun to read, there is nothing better than learning about someone in long, meandering conversations without distractions of Blackberries, iPhones, Internet access. Yes, it takes longer, but the path is so much more rewarding and memorable.

So after showering twice with industrial strength soap, I am back. Clean. Well-Rested. Connected to the Grid, and still dreaming about Reese's Smores.

The Homemade Topsy Turvy Tomato

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:13:00 +0000

Last night's dinner conversation was all over the place: Makers Faire, farmers markets, vegetable gardens, topsy-turvy, tomato plants, project-based learning...

That's the great thing about interesting dinner companions, it inspires things that I would not normally think of actually doing. This time the inspiration was to make our own Topsy-Turvy Tomato plant and to hang it on a home-made pulley contraption - it was Rube Goldberg for amateurs (my feable attempt at a Maker Faire project).

This morning the kids got up at the crack of dawn (which happens when you "camp out" in the living room), went straight to our town's farmer's market and purchased 4 tomato plants and of course luscious, organic cherries.

First we rummaged through our closet and found a bunch of left over Whole Foods reusable bags (This is also a good use for those ubiqutious, ugly tech conference bags that you would never dare to step outside with).

We cut a smallish/medium sized "X" in the bottom.

Placed the bag over the tomato plant, as if dressing a baby, gently pulling the branches out of the X.

The "X" was a little big and so we quickly stitched up the opening to make it tighter around the center tomato stalk.

Next we flipped the bag over and removed the planting pot.

We then added some shredded newspaper - I think it is to help keep the dirt warm and to hold water.

Then added compost and potting soil.

Voila - our homemade topsy turvy!

We then hung rope over the rafters, above our vegetable garden, and created a basic pulley system for our three upside down tomato plants.

In order to water the plants, the kids quickly learned about basic pulley mechanics and about basic knots. Thus, project-based learning :)

As a side note, the kids enjoying their delicious bing cherries.

Zongzi Revisited 粽子

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Sat, 22 May 2010 04:42:00 +0000

It seems that every year around now, I find myself in the kitchen elbows deep in soaked sweet rice making zongzi 粽子 - a Chinese tamale. Growing up, zongzi was something my parents' friends or relatives gave us, not something we would ever attempt to do ourselves. And so the zongzi became this elusive almost mystical dish that was not to be made by us mere kitchen mortals.

But things changed last year when my then 3yo's preschool teacher decided to teach the kids how to make zongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival (I learned that zongzi is typically associated with this festival to honor QuYuan a Chinese poet known for his patriotism). If 3 year olds can make it, well gosh darn it, so can I.

So last year, I made pork belly with mushroom zongzi - actually I made 150 of them for my daughter's annual Spring fair. Didn't turn out half bad, but my fingers were raw for two weeks. This year I am only making 75 and I am cheating by using Chinese sausage which requires no prep time unlike that of the traditionally time-consuming pork belly filling.

As with most Chinese recipes, the quantities are all "cha bu duo"差不多 (meaning: meh, whatever looks good/enough).

Rinse, soak sweet rice (2.5lb bag is sufficient for 30-40) for at least 3 hours
Clean , soak bamboo leaves (some of them are really dirty) for at least an hour in warm water, or 2+ hours in cold water
Mince 3 heads of garlic
Mince 3 inch piece of ginger
Mince 3 bunches of scallions
Mince a big handful of shallots

Chop into small pieces 2 packages of the reddish Chinese sausage 臘腸
In a wok, pour cooking oil (be generous, say 4 tablespoons), and stir fry 1/2 of garlic, 1/2 of ginger, 1/2 of scallions, and 1/2 of shallots. Add a generous dash of five-spice powder, a generous dash of white ground pepper, a generous dash of salt, a splash of soy sauce and a pinch of sugar. Stir fry until fragrant.

Add 1/2 of the chopped Chinese sausage and stir fry a bit - say 3 minutes or so
Drain 1/2 of the soaked rice in a colander and pour into the scallion/shallot/ginger/garlic mixture and (get your 4yo to)stir fry it together.

Now the fun begins, the wrapping/folding. The objective is to fold the rice into the bamboo leaf and form a tetrahedron.

Take two well-soaked bamboo leaves and overlap them so the one on top lays about 3/4 inch higher than the bottom one.

Fold the 3/4 inch up, fold the bamboo leaves laterally in half and into a cone.

Fill the cone up with the rice mixture

Pinch the sides of the top of the upside down tetrahedron and fold the top over the pinched opening.

Fold over the top and wrap around the zongzi.

Then with your kitchen twine, tie up the zong zi, tightly.

Repeat the same process with the remaining rice, shallots, garlic, ginger (I separated it into two batches as it stir fries better).

These zongzi are finished and ready to be boiled

Boil a big pot (pasta pot) of water. Place the zongzi in the boiling pot and bring to a boil. Then turn down to low heat and cook covered for 1 1/2 hours or so. Make sure the zongzi are submerged well.

A secret.. I always make a few plain rice zongzi for my kids who love to dip them into sugar for an easy dessert/breakfast.

So the legend/story about this QuYuan poet goes like this... After unsuccessfully trying to prevent his kingdom where he lived from being conquered, QuYuan took his own life by drowning himself. In order to prevent the fish from eating QuYuan's body, the villagers threw zongzi into the river. (hey I didn't make this up...)

So the next time you take a bite of your zongzi, remember it's fish food :)

Spaghetti Tacos a la iCarly

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:12:00 +0000

Happy New Year!

One of the unexpected joys of having kids is taking interesting culinary adventures with them.

Several weeks ago, my kids were watching a Nickelodeon's iCarly episode when Spencer (Carly's brother) makes his special "spaghetti tacos" for his date. My kids have no recollection of the plot but "spaghetti tacos" has been stuck in their minds.

So yesterday, we went out and bought crispy taco shells, and today the results of our latest culinary adventure.

The ingredients....

The result....

my daughter's comment was "It's really good, but it would have been better with the white taco shells like they had on iCarly."

My 4yo took one bite and was like "I like plain spaghetti better."

my opinion - spaghetti tacos are harmless, it's akin to putting a potato chip in a sandwich, adds a bit of texture.

Where will our next culinary adventures take us? perhaps, pickle pizzas? hot dog waffles? I can't wait...

Soul Food Farms - Organic Neighbor!

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:56:00 +0000

For years, we have been driving down Pleasants Valley Road in Vacaville with nary a second thought to the various inhabitants on this country road. The homes and farms swimming in fields of wild flowers and orchards are too often just a blur as we rush to see the grandparents who have a home on this road.

However, there was one sign that captured a little more than the usual cursory glance and that was "Soul Food Farm". But not knowing the farm's mission (was it a family farm, was it a commercial farm?) We were hesitant to interrupt or trespass.

But it was not until I ran across this New York Times article a month ago about Soul Food Farms that my curiosity was truly peaked and I realized that this farm might just be open to us stopping by. Last weekend we did just that. We once again passed by Soul Food Farms, saw a "eggs for sale" sign and an open gate, and turn into the dirt road that led to a small farm house, busy with activity.

We were quickly met by Alexis Koefoed, the farm's proprietor, whom I recognized immediately from the New York Times article. Though extremely busy, she spent some time taking us around the farm and basically putting up with hundreds of questions from our entourage (me, my husband, my aunt, and my two kids).

It is a very modest operation that belies the fact that it supplies to some of the region's top, top, top restaurants (Chez Panisse, Boulette's Larder... need I say more?). Once on this farm, one quickly realizes how free and natural these birds really are - acres and acres of open farm land to move about. There is a gate to the large chicken pens, but it seems only to serve a symbolic nature as evidenced by the chickens and dogs shuttling inside and outside the fenced area.

On the north side of the farm house reside the egg-breeding hens. Alexis buys 1,000 hatchlings new hatchling each year to lay eggs (by the way a pretty good deal at $5 a dozen vs. $4 at Whole Foods). None of these eggs are fertilized as there are only 2 roosters on the farm and they mostly serve as pets (my husband thinks that 2 roosters are going crazy just observing and not being able to mate with the 1,000+ hens... men, and the way their minds work).

My aunt says that these chickens are the "yellow feather" chickens that she ate back in China and Taiwan and that they are tastier than the usual supermarket chickens.

These egg-laying hens apparently like to lay their eggs in dark, hidden areas. Alexis and her team usually gather the eggs in the home made shelters found in the photos to the right. But because of the chicken's affinity for these dark, hidden spaces, the team also have to search around the farm, in tractor sheds, under tarps, where the wandering chickens will also hide away their eggs.

On the south side of the farm reside the meat chickens. To my untrained eyes, the meat chickens looks similar to the egg-laying chickens. Unlike the egg chickens, these chickens were completely unfenced and lived in homemade-looking shelters in between the farm's olive trees (which this year for the first time produced 50 gallons of olive oil, also available for sale!).

The aluminum-ish canisters in the photo are the feeding dispensers for the meat chickens. Corn or whatever they eat, get filled from the top, and through gravity, slide down into the food trays at the bottom where the chickens are converging.

I've been around chickens that seemed jumpy and a little crazy. But these chickens seemed peaceful and serene... as though they were just at a chicken spa, so to speak. Additionally, before coming to Soul Food Farms, I had associated chicken farms with a certain chicken manure smell. But this was not all evident here, despite the mounds and mounds of manure - also available for sale! (in the photo on the right, the manure pile, is the dark tarp covered mount to the right, behind the chicken shelter).

Each Monday, Soul Food Farms "dresses" the meat chickens that are to be delivered to the area's markets and restaurants. So long as you put in your order to her by Sunday (email preferable), she can fulfill most requests by that Wednesday for pick up at the farm. For my aunt, that meant a few pounds of chicken feet for soup (apparently it is good for the joints... who knows, ancient Chinese secret?)

And each Spring, she "dresses" another 500 egg hens for meat as well. I think she mentioned that these Spring chickens are older and are considered "stewing chickens" versus the regular meat hens which are for roasting.

We purchased three dozen Soul Food Farm eggs which we promptly brought home to perform a taste test. We boiled conventional eggs and the Soul Food farms eggs in the same hot water bath. The conventional eggs were white-shelled, whereas the Soul Food Farm's were brown.

The first thing you notice is that the conventional egg white is much more rubber-y in appearance and in mouth texture. The conventional egg had a very bland taste - more akin to how conventional tomatoes taste these days (neither bad nor good, just no taste). Soul Food Farm's egg yolk was distinctly of a deeper yellow color while it's taste was different - more eggy, more chicken-y. (the conventional egg is to the right)

At $6.50 a pound, Soul Food Farm chickens may appear on my dinner table only for special occasions, but these eggs are an affordable weekly indulgence.

Graham Cracker Houses, Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:55:00 +0000

Part of the joy of this holiday season is the excuse to have fun; and when you can add all sorts of candy to that mix, the fun elevates to an even higher, more spastic level.

Each year during the winter holiday season, I offer to lead a graham cracker house project for my daughter's class - I have done this two years straight and it has been a hit for children and parents alike. Because it is under the guise of "creative building", this project is both parent and teacher approved. (let's just keep the real reason behind this sugar fest a secret).

This year I was even more ambitious, I decided to volunteer to lead the graham cracker house project for both second grade classes AND my son's preschool class. All in all, I have to prepare for 65 young architects and designers. That translates into...

65 foil-covered cardboard "foundations"
24 boxes of graham cracker
16 cans of frosting
2 large bags of skittles
2 bags of mini marshmallows
1 bag of stick pretzels
and all the junky Halloween, mish-mash candy I can find

I spent 5 hours this early morning preparing for my son's graham cracker project (for 25 kids). This is a picture of the materials that I will need to bring today. The graham crackers in the foil pan are double-thickness (to prevent breakage), "glued" together with frosting with cream of tartar (to make it harden).

On Friday, I will repeat this whole process for my daughter's school's second grade class of 40 kids.

Here are some pictures of the model homes that I will be showing the kids.

new composting, hopefully no more grubs...

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:45:00 +0000

My poor compost bin was feeling a bit neglected these past three weeks. It's not that I lost the green bug, but that I was growing nasty, gnarly others (white, grey-ish maggot-y grubs!). A few maggots here and there can be easily overlooked, but when they began outnumbering the red worms, I grossed out.

The maggots were invading my poor compost bin. I tried a variety of things, adding more shredded newspaper on top, reducing the amount of food, mixing up the compost... But the number of maggots only seemed to explode exponentially. As an added bonus, I noticed that sweet smell of compost had turned into the foul smell of manure.

Plus, my inset-phobic husband mentioned the increase frequency of flies in the home and backyard. I denied this at first, but I started noticing tiny flies in the strangest places as well - from the bathroom to the bedrooms. I was now accepting the fact that perhaps my compost bin was not doing so well.

Luckily, at the beginning of September, I spoke with a Master Gardener at CA State Fair who quickly deduced that my compost bin had reach an anaerobic, state which is attracts fly larvae. My compost was far too wet.

I was hoping that maybe if I starved the compost bin, the larvae/grubs/maggots would die. But after 3 weeks, they still wiggled around. The breaking point for me was the night I spent 3 hours picking out (with bare hands no less) the maggots from the compost bin because I was presenting composting 101 to my son's preschool class the next day (you see, I didn't want the teachers and other parents to think that I was raising maggots and gross everyone out).

After reading various articles about composting, I realized that my compost bin needed a couple of improvements:

holes at the bottom of the bin to allow worm tea (aka worm pee) to drain out.
stackable bins with holes drilled in the bottom to allow worms to move up into new bins after they've finished eating one bin's food (easier to harvest finished compost)

So I went to IKEA and bought 4 stackable, SLUGIS white bins and one lid. The bottom bin, I left intact and used it as the base into which worm tea is collected. I put in 2 bricks at the bottom of the bottom bin to keep the worm tea separate from the stacked compost bins to be placed above.

Into the 3 bins to be stacked on top, I drilled holes.

These are my worms in my new compost bin.

This compost looks almost complete and so on top, I placed another bin with fresh food. Notice the holes at the bottom - my hope is that the worms will migrate up into this new compost bin and leave me with rich compost to grow my winter veggies.

I ordered some more worms from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm last week and hopefully these new worms will enjoy our new compost bin.

Here's to maggot-free composting!

Sophia and Tony: My Hour of Cooking Quickly

noreply@blogger.com (2nd Generation Rice-Eater) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:40:00 +0000

Over the past several weeks, I think I have heard a dozen interviews with Nora Ephron and Meryl Streep about the Julie and Julia movie (which is about a NY woman who attempts to cook every recipe in Julia Child's famous Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook).

Between my full-time job and my child's dairy allergy, it is unlikely that I will be making any of Julia's butter-rich dishes. However, our family does love French food and we frequently rely on Anthony (aka Tony) Bourdain's Les Halles cookbook.

So with just an hour to prep and cook, this post chronicles my attempt at putting Classic French food on the table for dinner this evening. This is Bourdain's recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon (or Beef Stew).

Above, this is my mise en place (or rather stuff in place).

2 lbs of chicken steak or shoulder or neck cut into 1 1/2in pieces (Author note: I just got a 1.6lb box of pre-cut stew meat from Trader Joe's)
1/4c olive oil, EVOO :)
4 onions (Author note: I used two gigantic yellow onions)
2 tbs all purpose flour (Author note: I used high-gluten pizza dough flour)
6 carrots (Author note: I only had 5)
1 c. red Burgundy (Author note: I used a similar Merlot)
1 garlic clove
1 bouquet garni which is 1 bay leaf, 1 sprig of flat parsley, 2 sprigs of thyme tied together with kitchen twine
flat parsley

I am planning to additionally add:

1 lb of crimini mushrooms at the very end (as my daughter loves mushrooms and I have seen them in other versions of bourguignon)
boiled potatoes on the side (which is recommended by Bourdain in the cookbook)

Many other Bourguignon recipes include bacon, which sounded great (I mean what DOESN'T taste better with bacon). However, this recipe did not include it.

Step 1: Season the meat with salt and pepper.

I used kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Being a salt fiend, I am quite generous with my salt, as you can see.

Step 2: Brown the meat.

I didn't have a dutch oven as specified in the recipe, I just simply used a large All-Clad sauce pan. I browned the meat in small batches but the oil was so hot and the meat was filled with water that my recently cleaned stove was quickly covered with spattered oil. In the end, I covered the browning meat with a lid to keep the oil contained.

After about 15 minutes, this is my beautifully browned beef! Doesn't this look delicious just as is?

Step 3: Brown Onions
Once the beef has been browned, there will still be quite a bit of oil left in the pan as well as the yummy brown meat bits stuck to the bottom of the pan (aka fond).

The 2 large onions were sliced very thinly and placed over high heat in the pan with the fond and remaining oil. This cooked pretty quickly, far faster than the 10 minutes suggested by the recipe.

Step 4: Add Flour

After about 10 minutes, I sprinkled 2 tablespoons of high-gluten pizza flour onto the onion (I think it is too eventually thicken up the bourguignon).

Step 5: Putting It All Together
Now with all the individually sauteeing and browning completed, the next step was to put the bouquet garni, garlic, carrots and meat back into the pot.

This is my attempt at a bouquet garni - it doesn't look too secure, we'll see.

Once the pieces were placed in the pan, I then added the wine (Whole Foods branded 2007 Merlot-I guess one step up from 2-buck Chuck) and added about another 1 2/3c of water, enough to cover the meat by 1/3. There are many, Bourdain included, who claim that you should use good wine for cooking - wine that you'd actually choose to drink. But honestly, for a mid-week meal, who has the time and funs to open a $75 bottle of wine? The fact that today's dinner is not a microwaved melange of left-overs is success in itself!

So below is the final composition (bouquet garni, garlic, carrots, meat) of the stew as it enters its 2 hour of simmering. The kitchen smells wonderful and it wasn't all too long - about 40 minutes of elapsed time.

Step 6: Sauteeing Mushrooms
I am adding sauteed mushroom to this Bourguignon. Though it is not in Bourdain's recipe, I 've seen it in many other versions - Gourmet magazine, Ruth Reichl's cookbook, etc. I am improvising this section based upon these versions. After quartering these mushrooms, I sauteed them for about 5 minutes in olive oil.

Once they were sauteed, I folded them back into the bourguignon and removed the bouquet garni. As expected the bouquet garni did not survive the simmer and I ended up picking out the individual pieces in the stew.

Voila: Piece de Resistance!
And so here it is... Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook Boeuf Bourguignon (with mushrooms). In the picture you can see what it looks like in the book vs what it looks like in my kitchen.

So dinner tonight comprised a baguette, boiled potatoes with parsley, sauteed greens, beef bourguignon and red wine.

The irony of this post is that though I enjoyed making this delicious bourguignon and spent the afternoon inhaling its perfume, I am unable to substantially eat this dish as I just started my Nutrisystem diet. So as my family enjoys this lovely stew, a plastic tray of Nutrisystem beef and mashed potatoes stares at me with sadness.