“The truth is more important than the facts.” – Frank Lloyd Wright
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Christmas Dinner was Great
I owe you closure on our Christmas dinner. It came out pretty good. I had not tried a meal this ambitious in a while and so a lot of my rhythm and process in the kitchen was not well tuned. But, the results were delicious.
I had to modify a couple of recipes that were still in metric measurements as you can see from the scribbles in the photo. There are now updated on the web site.
I had to make a number of sauces, so started with them. While they cooked I did the rest of the prep work. And, I had made a few things in advance such as the Onion Confit.
The starter was Foie Gras Chaud, a nice salad of sauteed apples, endives dressed in a light vinaigrette and some quick fried foie gras. I screwed up the vinaigrette some, but the result was still tasty and we have enough foie gras left over (vacuum-sealed and frozen) to try again soon.
The main course was pan seared duck breasts with a classic bitter orange sauce, a vegetable terrine, and caramelized mushroom tarts. The links will take you to the recipes.
For the duck, I did not use a whole duck as the recipe calls for. Instead, I used a duck breast where I scored the fat with a knife and then pan fried it fat side down for about 6 or 7 minutes, flipped it for about 2-3 minutes and then placed in a hot oven to finish cooking while I plated the rest of the meal.
I was not completely happy with the vegetable terrine. While the flavor was fantastic, the consistency was different from I remember making at Sylvie’s house in Provence. I’m pretty sure we pureed the vegetables instead of simply “grating” them. I think that would give it a lighter and smoother texture. Still, can’t argue with the flavors from the three vegetables.
Other than the great taste of the reliable duck and orange sauce recipe, the huge winner in this dinner was the mushroom tart! This is a Tom Colicchio recipe that is just phenomenal. I made 4 tarts. I plan to warm the remaining two in the microwave to get them pretty warm, then pop them in the oven (perhaps with a bit of foil covering the pastry) to get them bubbly hot again. I hope they are good reheated this way.
Paired with our Tignanello—which was definitely ready to drink if not just a bit beyond—we had a great dinner followed by the Buche Noel.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 12/30/2008 at 07:20 AM
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Friday, October 17, 2008
Virtues
Many months ago, (heck, it might have been a year or more) I read a news story about a summer “Sunday School” that was non-denominational. Instead of reinforcing the beliefs of a specific religion with children, this school taught the basic beliefs of multiple religions as well as what I think they called a “virtues-based” (maybe it was “character-based”) curriculum. In the article they listed the key virtues that were taught—virtues that exist in some form in almost all religions, and principles that, if lived by, would create the kind of human community that I’d like to live in. I wrote them down at the time and subsequently forgot about the article.
For some reason the current Presidential race in the US caused me to remember this news article and I thought I’d post the virtues from the article here. I’m not sure what the source for this is, so I’m plagiarizing someone—sorry. Image a world where we all lived by these virtues…
Respect: Showing high regard for an authority, other people, self and country; treating others as you would want to be treated; understanding that all people have value as human beings.
Responsibility: Being accountable in word and deed; having a sense of duty to fulfill tasks with reliability, dependability and commitment.
Honesty: Telling the truth, admiting wrongdoing; being trustworthy, and acting with integrity.
Tolerance: Enduring or putting up with practices or beliefs that are different from your own; keeping an open and understanding mind and accepting difference even if you don’t agree with it.
Perseverance: Continuing to do something in spite of difficulties; facing obstacles with determination and patience.
Empathy: Understanding and being sensitive to the feelings, thoughts and experiences of another.
Integrity: Standing up for your beliefs about right or wrong; being your best self; resisiting social pressure to do things that are wrong; showing commitment, courage and self discipline. “Walk your talk”.
Humility: Recognizing and accepting your own talents, abilities and imperfections.
Forgiveness: Letting go of angry feelings; excusing or pardoning an offense.
Compassion: Showing understanding of others by treating them with kindness, genorosity and a forgiving spirit.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 10/17/2008 at 07:21 AM
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Saturday, September 20, 2008
Slo Mo Kung Fu
Here is a “making of” video on YouTube that shows how one of our (Vision Research) cameras was used to make a commercial for the new HD Kung Fu channel.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 09/20/2008 at 06:11 AM
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Friday, September 05, 2008
Tropical Storm Watch
Hanna and I have the same birthday. The tropical storm / hurricane was born the same day as I was—31 August. Only, I beat her by 52 years. And, I was not born in the Atlantic Ocean. Still, I guess our paths will cross this weekend. They are calling for wind and rain with likely flooding, thunderstorms, the loss of electricity, etc.
We prepared for Ernesto a couple of years ago—water in jugs in the basement, flashlights with new batteries, butane fuel for the camp stove. All that is still sitting there, so I guess we are ready for Hanna. We’ll keep you informed.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 09/05/2008 at 06:38 PM
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Monday, June 23, 2008
Obsessions
When we are at the cabin, Lynne accuses me of having certain obsessions. To me, they are not obsessions as much as “practicalities” that need attention in cabin life.
The biggie is electricity. The cabin is powered by solar electricity. We have 8 solar panels on the roof that can generate about 28 Amps of current at 24 Volts for charging eight 6-Volt batteries wired into two banks of 24 Volts. The total capacity of the batteries is about 800 Amp-Hours of use, but to prevent complete discharge and a shortening of battery life, I like to make sure we don’t ever use more than about 400 Amp-Hours of that capacity without recharging. So, I closely monitor the battery Amp-Hour usage, current drains of various tasks, and the battery voltage. Now, that does not sound like obsession, does it?
After all, if we lose electricity, we lose lights (we could use lanterns and candles), we lose TV and Internet (we could read by lantern light), we lose water since the well pump is electric, and we lose the hair dryer (disaster.)
So, I am frequently opening the utility room door and peering at the system statistics. And, I run around the cabin turning off lights if they are not necessary. If we have some electricity intensive activities going on like vacuuming the floor or taking a shower, I will start up our back up generator, especially if the batteries are “running low.” Cloudy days are particularly frustrating for me and for Lynne since my attention to practicalities drives her crazy.
We have a wind generator, but it is not currently installed atop its 64-foot tower and wired into the system since we don’t want to leave it running when the cabin is infrequently used. But, when installed, it provides an extra boost to the electrical capacity of the house—especially since it can run day and night and because we get so much wind here. But, without it, my attention to the solar electric system is even more intense.
I’m accused of other obsessions, too. Things like “chores”—I try to do one or two chores each day, usually in the morning. Chores are things like cutting and splitting wood, painting something, repairing a fence, deep cleaning the cabin (which takes lots of electricity), etc. I think these are necessary practicalities since, left undone, the cabin will deteriorate and life here will be less comfortable. I think Lynne is a bit better with the chores than the electrical system obsession.
On this trip, I was also accused of having an obsession with getting the satellite Internet running. I may post more about that saga later, but I was very focused on getting it to work because I knew we’d actually have a less stressful time if we could check in on our house in NJ, if Lynne could blog, and we could stay in touch with the outside world. Obviously, that obsession eventually paid off, or you would not be reading this message which is being created on my Mac at the cabin. And, since this consumes a few watts of electricity, I will now sign off.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 06/23/2008 at 08:14 AM
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