New York Times, Feb. 24 2011:
Currently, there are six lawsuits winding their way through the courts where the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act is at issue, Mr. Davidson said.
No, not ‘wind,’ but ‘wend’. To wend one’s way means to steer or direct oneself. From the same old English word stem that gives us the verb ‘wander’.
Sour Cereal Recipe
1/2 cup millet
8-9 cups water
Wash the millet, add to a 4-qt pot with the water. Turn on the heat.
Ginger – about 1-inch piece, chopped finely (cuisinart works).
½ medium-sized onion – chopped fine (cuisineart)
Add ginger and onion to the pot.
3 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
1 pinch ground fenugreek
Add cumin, salt and fenugreek to the pot. Stir the pot to prevent its foaming over the side.
2 ½ tsp chopped green chillis, canned
Add chillis and coconut to the pot. Stir, scrape off the foam.
1 ancho chilli pepper
Break ends off the chilli, dump out the seeds, cut into small pieces with scissors.
6 pitted dates (will be too sweet if you use too many), chopped fine.
½ tsp Vietnamese Chili Garlic Sauce
2 Tbsp medium-heat bottled Salsa
1Tbsp Butter
Add chilli, dates, sauce, and salsa to the pot.
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut — add
The Sour Cereal is cooked when the millet seeds are split open.
1 bunch chopped Cilantro
Turn off the heat, add chopped cilantro.
Serve when hungry.
Many people (okay, a few) have asked me how I make my wine blend, Castello d’Avis. Since reading the column in The Atlantic about the quality of box wines (reviewer liked the Franzia cabernet sauvignon), I thought I should post my own blend.
The idea behind this blend came from our liking of a Californa blend, Menage a Trois; a tasty wine, but getting more and more expensive: last I looked, it was $11 at CostCo. That’s getting a bit rich for my blood. It’s a blend of cabernet, merlot and zinfandel. I haven’t found a cheap zinfandel in a box, so I am using the shiraz.
7 Parts (350 ml) Almaden Cabernet Sauvignon
5 Parts (250 ml) Carlo Rossi Merlot
3 Parts (150 ml) Black Box Shiraz
Almaden Cabernet Sauvignon: it has a fresh, hearty flavor, with a pleasant bouquet (some overtones of chocolate): unusual in a box wine. I’ve tried all (that are carried by Total Wine), and this is the best. $11 for 5 liters.
Carlo Rossi Merlot: Gives a fruity body to the blend. Best of the big boxes: $15 for 5 liters.
Black Box Shiraz: The spiciest of the boxes. $15 for 3 liters.
That comes to $41 for a total of 13 liters, which is 17.33 bottles at 750 ml each, or $2.37 per bottle. Pretty good price, and a pretty good wine.
New Yorker, Jan. 17, 2011:
“This is my copy of the Constitution,” John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, said at a Tea Party rally in Ohio last year, holding up a pocket-size pamphlet. “And I’m going to stand here with the Founding Fathers, who wrote in the preamble, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ ” Not to nitpick, but this is not the preamble to the Constitution. It is the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence.
Simon Johnson in the New York Times today:
Our leading bankers looted the state, plunged the world into deep recession and cost the United States eight million jobs. Now many of them stand by with sharpened knives and enhanced bonuses – willing to suggest how the salaries and jobs of others can be further cut. Consider the morality of that.
I hate that question. What it’s meant to mean is, “What is your Social Security Number?” That is. that number which was supposed to be a secret; that number that is now univerally used as an national identification number; that number which is now so easily used to steal your identity. That number.
So please, don’t call it “your social”. My “social” is an ice-cream social at the 2nd Methodist Church.
This article is terrific outline of what needs to be done, and how.
If you are not familiar with Simon and Kwak, you should subscribe to The Baseline Scenario.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/picture-galleries/7924099/Creepy-crawlies-Amazing-Scanning-Electron-Microscope-pictures-of-insects-and-spiders.html?image=20
Who in the world decided it was a good idea for mattresses to be one-sided? [a mattress manufacuter, I suspect]. There used to be a good living to be made (maybe still is in some areas) by young men in turning mattresses–that is, flipping the mattess so as to re-distribute wear, somehting beyond the ability of many elderly widows. Now, mattresses are sold for the quality of the padding on top, with no regard at all to the bottom of the mattress, which could as well be a top, if only it were padded, too.
At first the telephone had no bell. “The only way to know if someone was trying to get through to you was to pick up the telephone from time to time and see if anyone was there”. (bryson, “At Home”, p. 228
This is much like Skype today; you have to make an appointment to talk with someone, or else check every once in a while to see if anyone you know is on-line.