Seriously.

I just de-friended two family members on facebook for spamming me incessantly with their political views. An invitation to "Repeal OBAMACARE" was the straw that broke the camel's back. It's fine for people to have an opinion, on one side or the other. It's great that they want to express it. They however, should do so in an arena that matters, and to people who care/have the ability to make things happen.

Here's a hint: your lawmakers aren't on facebook looking up all of you memberships to such groups as "Repeal OBAMACARE".
Here's another hint: healthcare reform is going to affect me personally more than most. I am aware of the issues and I have an opinion. I don't need yours. Let's talk about other things.

end of rant.

I've just made a huge mistake.

Two actually, and they're almost as bad as burning yourself on the cornballer. I actually made them yesterday. Fish would call them both "rookie mistakes", and appropriately so.
I've been cooking long enough to know that there are a few important rules to observe. On that list are the following:

- If it ain't broke don't fix it.
- Don't try new ingredients in a recipe that you are taking for other people to eat.
- Stick to your gut, especially if you've got padding a plenty.
- Yeast dies 140 degrees Fahrenheit. If the internal temperature of your baked good exceeds that, your yeast is dead.

I violated each one of those rules on Sunday. We had a bread & jam linger too long (if you're on the activities committee) and I signed up to bring some bread. I've probably made 40+ of those artisan loaves now, and it's pretty much idiot proof. In the words of AK, "I pinch a pretty good loaf."

It started on Saturday with the soaker. Chels brought home a 50 lb. sack of flour from the local Buy 'N Large. I noticed that it said "bread flour, bleached & enriched." I vaguely recalled that Peter Reinhart, the bread equivalent of Alton Brown, shunned bread flour like the plague. I asked Chels if she remembered reading about it in the book, and she didn't. I should have gone with my gut. I knew it was off.

We made the soaker with the bread flour and the consistency of the dough was not quite there. The next day, I fired up the oven to 450F and let it rise. I noticed that the crust was getting pretty brown pretty early. I left it in a little longer than the crust suggested I should because I didn't think it was done. I was right. The crust browned too quickly and the innards were not done. Not a goopy mess, but not all the way cooked. Furthermore the texture did not have the right mouth feel or any tooth to it. The crust was not crunchy. Disaster, and I had to be at the church in 30 minutes; no where near enough time to whip up a new batch, allow it to ferment, rest, rise and bake.

I knew we had an extra bag of Rhodes rolls and some coconut cream kicking around so I decided to make some pani popo, a delectable Samoan sweet roll dripping with coconut goodness. I opted for the fast rise method, and when that wasn't moving fast enough, I turned the oven up from 200 to 375F. In my defense, I know a Samoan lady who does these with the dough still frozen and they turn out fine. I remembered Paia's recipe and tried it out. I must have not remembered correctly. While they tasted great (really how can you screw up coconut cream?) they were not fluffy. In fact, they were about the same size as they were when they came out (frozen) of the package. I didn't respect the fact that 'ol saccharomyces cerevisiae likes to live and breed like bunnies over a range of temperatures from about 70-140F.

Chels mocked me pretty good for the pani popo. It was deserved.

"Over the line..."

This isn't 'Nam donny, there are rules. The first of which is the following: don't close my favorite burger joint.

I've been going to Eat-A-Burger since I was a little kid. Quite frankly, I can't say I've ever eaten a better burger, or better fries and that's not just nostalgia. You know that Molcasalsa on 33rd South? That used to be an Eat-A-Burger. I remember eating burgers and spicy fries on the patio in the summer with my mom. It's been a staple in our family my whole life. It's closing on Saturday, and if you haven't eaten there yet, you should. We went on Saturday and we'll be going again before it closes. Get the spicy fries. They'll change your life.

Eat-A-Burger
(801) 272-5249
4735 Highland Dr
Holladay, UT 84117

Finals are finally over.

I finished on Friday and I am under the impression that things went swimmingly. We'll see when my grades come out on Christmas eve. As a reward for studying my brains nearly out, Chels bought me a gift certificate and sent me to lunch today with Fish.

It is uncanny how much our thoughts/tastes/opinions overlap. For Christmas, we exchanged food related gifts, no surprise there. He got us the book which he has previously touted as the "culinary bible". It is as a matter of fact, exactly what he described. The approach to getting the "best" recipe is, by itself, enough to hook me. It appeals to me like Alton Brown, the right proportion of good taste, geek factoids, practicality, and presented by one with an opinionated/uncompromising palate.

I've retreated to my man lair/office for the last three hours due to the extraordinarily high estrogen levels that result from a sorority party. During that time, I have gleefully perused 239 pages, stopping to examine ingredients and read tips for producing perfect cuisine. It's caused me to laugh out loud already, which is a feat to be accomplished.

Referring to the pentultimate pasta aglio e olio, "Resist, by all means, an urge to pour the contents of a little green cylinder on this dish--it will be forever ruined."

Now you know why I like it.

What ever happened to his restaurant?

Don't know. But in the words of the man, "you've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em."

Studying is like gambling. You never know whether what you're putting effort towards is going to work. So, after many nights of 2am, I'm folding at 1:23am in favor of not having eyes/mental status of a pothead.

Finals will be over on Friday at noon. Hallelujah.

I'm ready for C and Mr. Brown to come home. Being home alone for more than a few hours sucks.

thanksgiving weekend...and a momentous occasion

I needed a break. It was nice.

Me & C after the turkey day 5k. My whole family did it.

C's new beanie.

The momentous occasion...C's first Hot wheel.