Now, I’m clear this is my bad.  I SHOULD have read what I was initialing. I made an assumption that he was circling the standard places, and I shouldn’t have made that assumption.  However, if the agent had mentioned the fee to me, or asked me if I wanted to pay for a damage waiver, I would have declined.  In my opinion, any respectable business doesn’t try to trick it’s customers into paying more than they think they’re paying, especially if it wants to keep those customers.

When I called Scott at Enterprise Rent-a-car customer service, I told him I wanted to issue a customer service complaint, and see if there was anything that could be done.  I realize my fee might not be refundable, but frankly, I just want some acknowledgment that tricking me into paying that extra fee isn’t a standard practice.

Unfortunately, Scott basically blew me off.  He had the gall to say “Ma’am, that’s why I READ all the contracts I sign.”  Excuse me?  My point was that I’d expect a respectable business to not attempt to trick it’s customers into paying extra charges.  I received no acknowledgment from Scott that this is not a standard business practice, and the very most he could do was transfer me to the Orlando office, with the disclaimer that “not that I think they can do anything, because you DID sign the contract, ma’am.”  And if I was transferred to the local office because the national customer service agents are not empowered to handle customer complaints, that’s terrible customer service too.  If I felt a waiter had mischarged my meal and went to the restaurant manager, should I expect the manager to say, ‘Hmm, I doubt he can help you, but your waiter’s over there, you can walk over there and ask him about it if you want.’?  Of course not, the manager might ask the waiter about it in private, but the manager would never require the customer to confront the waiter directly.

Once Scott transferred my call, I hoped he’d put me through to the branch manager, but when I heard an automated voice tell me to press 5 to speak to an agent, I’d had more than I could take for the moment and hung up. I may call back later.

I’m lost as to where to rent a car now, as I’ve stuck with Enterprise because they’ve always been rated very well in particular for their customer service, and until now, my experience has always been good.  Any recommendations?

Can someone please explain to me why it’s a good idea to spend $700 billion dollars, an amount of money that I argue is not truly comprehensible to any human being, in a plan that probably we hope will improve the economy?  And right after we finished spending over $150 billion on the “economic stimulus” package that “oh well, oops, let’s try again”, didn’t work?!!!

I know a lot of very smart people who think this $700 billion “bailout” is not just a very good idea but crucial to our very survival, but I can’t help but think we’re all being a little bit influenced by reports from the media that use phrases like “accounts are hemorrhaging” and “clean up the wreckage on Wall Street” while we all just forget that those are just metaphors, and that Wall Street is not physically crumbling, and no one is physically losing blood.   (And before you think I’m a completely callous bitch, yes, I do have GREAT sympathy for honest people who were lied to about their mortage options, and are facing foreclosure and the emotional pain and difficulty of losing their homes.  THAT, is what is truly tragic.)

I just think we’ve all gone a little insane, that we accept that doing everything on credit is a sustainable and normal way to carry on our affairs.  We have higher personal debt than ever, our cities and states are in debt, our employers are often in debt, and our national government is in so much debt that were we to take up a collection, every single resident of our country would have to pony up $33,000 to just to cover it.  I mean, one way to look at it is when you owe a loan shark 10 grand, what’s another 700 bucks?  But if you look at the real numbers, we have a debt load of 10 TRILLION dollars, an unfathomable number in itself, but this bailout is not chump change, it’s 7% of the f-ing national debt.  Again, ARE WE CRAZY?

Look, I’m not stupid, I know a downturn in the economy could really hit home were I to own stock, or god forbid were my employer to close up shop for failure to secure credit.  I do know there are real consequences to the status of the economy.  I just think we’ve all forgotten that the whole thing was something we made up in the first place.  Improvement in the economy means that people continue to consume and consume more, and this is a little game we modern humans made up not all that long ago, and we’ve forgotten that economic growth is NOT one of the laws of nature.  In fact, nature overall calls for equilibrium, and we’ve been counting on constant growth for a long time.  It might and probably will be painful, but we’ve got to even out sometime.

LIFE

And now for my second rant.  I read someone’s blog tonight in which the writer said “…while I am not especially fond of war (remember I AM pro-life)…”

And I came to a screeching halt.

I’m sorry, what?

Did you think that because I don’t think that the government should regulate whether a woman can have an abortion, that I am an advocate of killing?

Oh, wait, that probably IS what she thinks.

Well, shit, there’s not really anything more I can say about that.  “Pro-lifers” can be really crazy.

People, can’t we just agree to disagree and err on the side of giving people more freedom rather than less?

Enjoy!  (and don’t forget to ask for tap!)

 Although I haven’t posted in a few months, I’ve kept up with my favorite blogs through Google Reader.  There’s a fun little meme going around food blogs for the past couple of days that I thought would be fun to post.

The Omnivore’s Hundred is one food blogger’s very subjective list of foods that all food-lovers should try in their lifetime.  Andrew Wheeler co-authors the British food blog Very Good Taste, and he says “Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.”

He instructs participants to bold items you’ve tried, and lineout items you would never try.  Instead I’ll just add a yes or a no after each item.  I couldn’t resist adding some commentary as well.   So here’s mine, what are yours?
1. Venison – yes (Venison summer sausage was one of my Grandma’s favorites.)
2. Nettle tea - yes 
3. Huevos rancheros – yes
4. Steak tartare – no (but I would love to try it.)
5. Crocodile – no
6. Black pudding – yes (sorry, but ick.)
7. Cheese fondue – yes
8. Carp – yes
9. Borscht – no
10. Baba ghanoush – yes
11. Calamari – yes 
12. Pho – yes
13. PB&J sandwich – yes (I hear this isn’t so common in Europe.)
14. Aloo gobi – yes
15. Hot dog from a street cart – yes
16. Epoisses – no (not many cheeses I haven’t tried, but here’s one.)
17. Black truffle – yes
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes – yes
19. Steamed pork buns – yes
20. Pistachio ice cream – yes (one of my favorite foods!)
21. Heirloom tomatoes – yes
22. Fresh wild berries – yes
23. Foie gras – yes
24. Rice and beans – yes (who hasn’t had rice & beans?)
25. Brawn, or head cheese – no (not sure I want to, but I would if someone served it to me)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper – no (ummm, why?)
27. Dulce de leche – yes
28. Oysters – yes (one of the few foods I just don’t care for.)
29. Baklava – yes
30. Bagna cauda – no (never heard of this until this list, but sounds lovely.)
31. Wasabi peas – yes
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl – yes (we are just 45 minutes from San Francisco.)
33. Salted lassi – no
34. Sauerkraut – yes (I even posted a recipe for making it at home.)
35. Root beer float – yes
36. Cognac with a fat cigar – no
37. Clotted cream tea – yes
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O – yes
39. Gumbo – yes
40. Oxtail – yes
41. Curried goat – no
42. Whole insects – no (unless you count eating bugs while running or riding my bike)
43. Phaal – no (kind of like the scotch bonnets, not really interested.)
44. Goat’s milk – yes
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more – no (but I’d love to sometime!)
46. Fugu – no (not sure it’s worth the risk)
47. Chicken tikka masala – yes
48. Eel – yes
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut – yes
50. Sea urchin – yes
51. Prickly pear – yes
52. Umeboshi – yes
53. Abalone – no
54. Paneer – yes
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal – yes
56. Spaetzle – no (there are a few of these that I’d think I’d have tried at some point in my life, but can’t quite remember.)
57. Dirty gin martini – no (dirty vodka martini, yes.)
58. Beer above 8% ABV – yes
59. Poutine -no (French fries with fresh cheese curds and gravy… where can I find this delicious concoction!)
60. Carob chips – yes (but why would this be on the list?  carob is one of the most uninteresting foods)
61. S’mores – yes
62. Sweetbreads – no (I’d definitely try it, but I can’t say thymus gland sounds very appetizing)
63. Kaolin – no (umm, maybe it was in my toothpast and I ingested some?)
64. Currywurst – no
65. Durian – no (and I haven’t heard anything convincing me I should try it.)
66. Frogs’ legs – no
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake – yes  (that’s quite a few items in that category!)
68. Haggis – no
69. Fried plantain – yes
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette – no
71. Gazpacho – yes
72. Caviar and blini – no
73. Louche absinthe – yes
74. Gjetost, or brunost – yes (delicious)
75. Roadkill – no (suppose I try a clean, well-cooked piece of roadkill on principle.)
76. Baijiu – no
77. Hostess Fruit Pie – yes
78. Snail – yes
79. Lapsang souchong – yes
80. Bellini – yes (love champagne cocktails!)
81. Tom yum – yes (love it!)
82. Eggs Benedict – yes
83. Pocky – yes
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant – no (the French Laundry is on my life list)
85. Kobe beef – no (I don’t think so anyways)
86. Hare – yes
87. Goulash – no (technically, I don’t think I’ve had this, although I’ve made many dishes at home that I’ve given that name)
88. Flowers – yes
89. Horse – no (why is that so unnappealing?)
90. Criollo chocolate – no
91. Spam – yes (Spam musubi anyone?)
92. Soft shell crab – yes
93. Rose harissa - no
94. Catfish – yes
95. Mole poblano – yes
96. Bagel and lox - yes
97. Lobster Thermidor – no (mmm, sounds lovely)
98. Polenta – yes (there are some items in this list that seem very ordinary to me)
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee – no
100. Snake – no (strangely, snake meat sounds much more appealing than horse meat)

I’m surprised that I’ve only tried 63 of these items, but a person has to have something to live for right?  That’s 37 unusual and questionably delicious food items for me still to try.  :)

I’ve got a few good recipes waiting in the wings, and lots more ideas floating around in my head, so I’ll be back.

See you soon.

Seriously worth the few minutes. In fact, I’m going to watch it again. As my husband just said, “Oh, that’s why you don’t want to use tables.” Plus a whole bunch of other insights.

Thanks Neatorama!

…and without a KitchenAid mixer, electric beater, or even a mechanical eggbeater. Yep, it is possible to whip up egg whites by hand, just be prepared to put in a little elbow grease.

After making lemon-lime curd with 5 egg yolks, I couldn’t let those egg whites go to waste, and meringues sounded lovely. So I pulled out the whisk, and started to work. Let me tell you, it is quite a bit of work to beat egg whites by hand, but I think it was worth it. The meringues turned out light and airy and a mere five egg whites turned into two full cookie sheets of meringues. My oven temperature needs a little perfecting, as they browned just a little more than I would have liked (se picture below), but they got eaten up quickly anyway. My husband was a big fan, especially since gluten-free cookies like meringues are the only cookies can eat.

As usual, I pulled together a recipe from various sources around food blogs. Instead of the usual vanilla, I opted for a little almond extract, which turned out to be a good choice. And you know, there’s all sorts of fancy techniques out there, like straining the egg whites, aging the egg whites in a bowl in the fridge, rubbing the bowl with a lemon, squirting the meringues out of a pastry bag, and I skipped all of them, and these turned out just fine. (And to tell you the truth, I even just eyeballed the sugar, so I’m estimating the measurement here. I really recommend just using your judgment, especially when it’s not crucial to the chemistry of the recipe, as there’s no better way to hone your skills in the kitchen, or at least to end up with food YOU want to eat.)

Meringues

• 6 Egg Whites
• 1/2 C. Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Almond or Vanilla extract

Start by whipping the egg whites. If you do this by hand, be prepared to whisk for about 20-30 minutes. I’m not sure how long it will take in a mixer, but whip until they are stiff. I found that if I stopped whisking, the egg whites began to separate out again, so I really had to keep going. Add the sugar and flavoring and keep beating or whisking until the sugar is dissolved. Spoon (or pipe) onto a cookie sheet lined with a silpat (or parchment paper), and bake in a low oven (220 degrees) for an hour and a half or more, until the meringues have dried out.

For more traditional, pure white meringues, this recipe looks good. Let me know if you try it!

The basic ingredients, eggs, butter, sugar, lemon, will spoil without the preservatives added to supermarket-bound varieties.

When choosing a recipe, I came across several that asked for whole eggs, and several just egg yolks. All used plenty of butter and sugar, and both juice and zest of lemons. As I had lemons, limes, AND and orange on my counter, I went with the zest from all three, and juice from the first two only. The orange juice didn’t seem tart enough. Also, as lemon curd is a British phenomenon, most of the recipes out there are in metric measurements. Mostly out of the sheer laziness of not wanting to convert from metric, I went with Alton Brown’s recipe, with some variations from various other sources.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with it!

Lemon-Lime (and Orange) Curd

• 5 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 1/3 C. sour citrus juice, plus zest
• 1 stick butter, cut into pats and chilled

Mix egg yolks, sugar, and citrus juice and zest in a blender. When combined, pour mixture into a small pan and heat over low heat, whisking constantly, until it turns light yellow and coats the back of the spoon. Remove from heat and whisk in the pats of butter one at a time. Throw it in a clean jar and cover the top with a layer of plastic wrap directly touching the curd.

Voila! Delicious stuff that I don’t know what to do with!

Coming soon are recipes for lemon-lime curd, almond meringues, and best of all, homemade mozzarella!

In the meantime, be entertained with a funny food fight. (It goes on a little long, but it’s worth a few moments for a chuckle at least.)

I haven’t posted a new recipe in a couple weeks, but it’s not for lack of cooking. Jeremy and I have been resetting our metabolisms (I don’t think that’s a word that’s usually plural) by doing Phase 1 of the South Beach diet, and while we’ve eaten well, I haven’t really cooked anything new. I’ve repeated some favorite recipes, and generally made very simple food, like last night’s sauteed Brussels Sprouts, with a little butter, a little garlic, and not much else. (They’re delicious like that, by the way.)

I’ve called off the diet a few days early, it was impacting my training for The Relay. The thing about a diet of vegetables, lean meats, and low fat cheeses, is that while my energy level over the course of the day was quite good, my energy for running was not so hot. When on Day 9 I still hadn’t kicked the feeling that my muscles had been soaking in lead after the first, oh, 60 seconds or so of running, I decided it was time for some more carbs. Oh yeah, baby, gimme some sugar. So we’ll see how that first run goes tomorrow with the store of glycogen in my muscles somewhat replenished.

The other thing that’s happened recently is that I’ve just gotten lazy with the camera. And it’s so unrewarding to post a recipe without a picture. It makes me feel like a total half-ass. I know I don’t read blogs without pictures, so why should I expect you to? And, I already have it on my to-do list (my mental to-do list, at least) to go back and make the recipes I posted before we got the camera, and add an image or two to those posts, so the last thing I want to do is to post yet another recipe of something I haven’t taken a picture of.

So you see? Many reasons for the lack of recipe posting. But I promise that will all end this weekend. I have big plans. I may not get to them all, but I promise to make something delicious, and show it to you for your reading (and viewing) pleasure.

In the meantime, here’s one of my favorite photos. (I still haven’t eaten much refined sugar lately, so I’m drooling a bit over chocolate.)