pie

i like pie.... I'm guessing that's a pretty standard
answer to the question - pie or cake...

wait i like cake too

wait - i can like both -
i make cakes more so than pies.... I used to be a pastry assistant
here back in he late 90's - so i had me share of cake baking brulee'ing
cookie making and pies - it was the first time i made them in abundance - meaning more than one and we used pre made pie dough ( gasp !) mainly because of consistency
because pie dough can be a bitch to make - its very temperamental -

but i also learned the trick of using two pre made pie shells for the top and bottom of pies... and frozen apples - but i digress - -


so i like pie -
apple yes - blueberry not so much
key lime and pecan - yes - coconut creme nope
pumpkin sort of but i prefer sweet potato pie - and on that subject
i prefer my corn bread sweet

i have several recipes for pie dough - floating around somewhere
but i still to this day remember the recipe from culinary school for basic french pie/tart dough
called pate brisee

8oz flour
4oz butter
salt and ice water -

i don't recall any measurements for the salt and water
im sure a 1/2 teaspoon of salt will do
and water to make it form a ball but not too wet

oh and it should be made in a food processor -

and one more tip/trick - I learned this from one of the former
pastry assistants at the White House
when making pecan pie - as soon as you take it out of the oven
pour about 1/4 cup of myers dark rum on top of the still hot pie
it will soak in and its pretty damn good..
enjoy

exhaustion and decompression

so for pretty much the last month - ok the last three weeks - i've been working
6 days a week - or so - but mainly just working and sleeping - and that one or two days off a week i do get i just collapse into nothingness - but soon - probably next monday
or so i will get some sort of relief - and i may actually get out of the house
- to tell you just how exhausted i am - i almost fell asleep on the way home from work -
and that is a 5 mile drive

tuesday - this one coming up is our first " decompression " dinner - really good food - good wine and some well needed down time - me and two others from work are going -

its like a brain storming and talking shit evening - and hopefully after that i will get some sort of motivation back and start working out again etc.....

i have not been this tired in years

wiki how to hold hands

i didn't know that people actually
didn't know how to hold hands

so this is for you

1. Visualize how it will feel. If you are nervous, think of how good it will feel if the other person holds back.
2. Take a hold of the other person's hand. While sitting, standing or walking next to that person, grasp his or her hand and lightly squeeze.
3. Wait for a return squeeze. If they squeeze back, most times, they enjoy your company and don't mind you holding their hand.
4. Use a hand-holding method. There are two approaches to hold another person's hand.
* You can either just grasp their hand and hold it (easy to achieve, but harder to stay held on longer); or
* Interlock fingers, which sometimes takes some work, but because the other person is holding on too, you can stay holding hands longer. Most times, it's better if you just start off with doing the first example until you are sure that the other person is okay with holding hands and will hold on.
5. If you're absolutely sure that the person you held hands with is enjoying your company, look at him or her straight in the eyes and smile subtly.

my previous life - will become my future

I always wanted to be a professional photographer
and be able to take pictures like these.....

but since i don't have unlimited time - i'll stick to cooking, painting
and writing blogs.

more food

this is by special request.......
my friend Kelly wanted to see more food
on here - so here goes.....

Just in time for the autumn season

Ginger Bread Pancakes

mix dry ingredients:

1 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon

mix wet ingredients:
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup molasses
3 tablespoons canola oil


mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients

i am assuming that you actually know how to make pancakes - if not i can't help you

Eat Less Meat

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. These are generated during the production of animal feeds, for example, while ruminants, particularly cows, emit methane, which is 23 times more effective as a global warming agent than carbon dioxide. The agency has also warned that meat consumption is set to double by the middle of the century.

'In terms of immediacy of action and the feasibility of bringing about reductions in a short period of time, it clearly is the most attractive opportunity,' said Pachauri. 'Give up meat for one day [a week] initially, and decrease it from there,' said the Indian economist, who is a vegetarian.

suprise, suprise....

If you're doing a large, complicated character with radio controls, it might take a number of people several months to make it and if you're talking about a quick little hand puppet, it could be made in 2 days, so there's enormous range there, and no real easy generalities.

Jim Henson

or.....

You know who the fuck I am, so get off that old bullshit.

Reggie Noble, aka Redman


both are fitting captions for this picture

post secret

not my secret but it may as well be.....

civil liberties

idiazabal - is one of my civil liberties
putting money under my mattress
drinking wine in prescott - with people i just met
in a wine room at 61 degrees -

i know - freedom of speech, freedom of religion are true liberties -
but others like - tripping the light fantastic -
eating smores next to a roaring ember filled fire - sending lights up
into a pitch black sky - are civil liberties or should be

i think i (we) need to rethink what we should be doing and what our government
allows us to do - nothing anarchist in thought - but simply finding happiness again -

because our world is getting a bit tighter - a bit more askew -
our tomorrows are all of a sudden on the top of all of our priority lists

i know now that working for the next 30 years may end up being - the next 35-38 years - and i intend to be happy - -

so my civil liberties have changed a bit -
for the better...........

i feel i should be ....

i sometimes feel that I should be saying
something here - like everyday - but i can not force the issue
which is exactly what im doing right now -
a very random thought - maybe i should go into antiques......

THE cookie

i have been making this certain cookie for three years or so -
( They are Francine's favorite )
and not very often - I call it an adult cookie
because its sort of sophisticated on the palate

i think of all the times i've made it - only once was the original
recipe - it is a interesting cookie
it is a spicy chocolate coffee cookie

it has cinnamon, cayenne and black pepper - bitter sweet chocolate chips and roughly chopped coffee beans - that is the original recipe

the last time i made them i substituted chipotle chili powder and semi sweet chocolate chips -


the next time which may be friday i want to switch out the chipotle powder
with aleppo pepper - my new favorite ingredient - its a crushed pepper from Syria

so not that the recipe is guarded but it is -
its my only truly " signature " recipe
that i make once a year .