Sous Washer

Just this past weekend, I had a very interesting revelation while cooking a big (too big in the end) dinner for some close friends. The dinner itself was hosted at one of my friend's house while I terrorized the kitchen with my great mess-making skills. My friend declined the position of sous chef and offered to be the dishwasher in exchange. Sure! =D I can always crack the whip and promote him when the clock is ticking down, right? Well, there was no need for such extremes. I couldn't have asked for anything better! Due to the extensive menu, I had to reuse the measuring and cooking implements repeatedly, and as soon I set something down, he whipped it up and cleaned it! This allowed me to cook without stopping to clean anything! Mind you, I brought extra equipment and still, I needed to reuse items. My sous washer (master washer really) not only washed equipment but washed and peeled vegetables too which also allowed me to start a recipe right away without having to prep the ingredients beyond chopping them up. Wonderful! Wonderful I tell you! A true luxury to experience and quite honestly, a stress relief since it were as if the kitchen were constantly in pristine condition. It were...it were as if the kitchen were self cleaning thus allowing me to roll dough on the counters with abandon. Or place pots, pans, baking sheets...you name it...on the counters without second thoughts that it were still dirty from the rolling of dough. And after dinner? He went back to work on the dirty dishes. Of course, I helped clean up the table and dry the dishes. How could I not? Until I experienced all this though, I would have never fathomed such a concept. I felt like a pampered cook. =P Heck, if it were always like that, I'd rather cook at his place than at my place!! ;) Why, I'd even take him home each time I cooked if he were willing to offer his services again. Yes, it's that great. Luxury I tell you. I'm spoiled now. =P

Brrr!!! It's hot?

In washing and waxing my baby the other day, I noticed a bit of electrical wiring (capped with a strange looking cone on a clip) dangling by the front lower grille. All the lights worked so either it had no relation to that or it was not damaged. A friend mentioned it's most likely the temperature sensor. Ahhh!!! I always pondered where such an item would be placed yet still accurately reflect the ambient temperature. So, I decided to test it out today and used a blow dryer to heat it up. Alas, the temperature gauge remained a steady 54F. Oh...what could it be then? My dad happened to pass by and after a bit of discussion, he mentioned the car must be on for it to work. Oh really? So I tried that and voila! A bit of blow drying and it went up to 56F before I decided the experiment was a success. I'm particularly glad I went through this exercise because I discovered why the sensor dislodged in the first place. Upon closer inspection of the clip (while blow drying), I discovered that it was broken, and that my attempt to reposition it was mere jury rigging that would surely undue itself in short order given the swiss cheese roads around here.

Obesity's Walk

Side note first: I learned one of the waiters at the Chinese restaurant we frequent enjoys playing the guitar and singing. Before he moved to the US, he sang and played for 3 years in China...or something like that. I didn't quite understand what he said. =P

Waiting for my meal to be served, I overheard a family at the restaurant as they prepared to leave. Present were who appeared to be parents, grandparents, son and daughter. The daughter must have been around the height and build of a 6 or 7 year. Some mention of ice cream was made with which the mother suggested walking there. I was rather shocked to hear the daughter pose the question: Walk? The tone was as if the concept of walking to a destination were completely foreign. Why would one walk? Is it not normal to drive everywhere? Walking is for only inside buildings, right?

Hmm, is that what today's youth believe? I suppose it's not surprising considering the obesity rate as well as what I witness on a daily basis. That is, right around the time school lets out, blocks upon blocks surrounding the school are congested with the cars of parents waiting for the children to drive home or to some after-school activity. I suspect the majority is to take them home. What happened to walking home or even biking home from school? Around here, the only time you could take the bus was if you were beyond the walking/biking distance to school. So, kids get fat and unhealthy, air pollution goes up in the area (great for kids too), quality of life goes down for the surrounding homes... I suppose it's the fear of molesters, abductors and other such street terrors of modern life? Or merely more students thus merely creating the illusion of fewer children hoofing it home?

Regardless, from what I heard at the restaurant, they need to get out more and enjoy the journey rather than just the destination. Even if it's just diagonally across the street to the ice cream parlor. Yes, that's right. That's where the family walked to for some calorie-laden indulgence.

Burial Vaults

I thought I knew the basics of a burial. Embalm the body, put the body in the casket which then goes 6 feet under. Ah, so that *is* the basics. Personally, I'd do away with the whole process and just be asked to be placed under a tree to rot. I'm not the only one to think this. Such 'natural' cemeteries are gaining in popularity! Woo hoo!! And people say I'm weird...

Anyhow, you can go for more than just the basic burial, and I don't mean those big vaults that can hold an entire family and their successive generations either. Apparently, you can get a concrete burial vault in which your casket goes which is all then buried underground. The vault seals you from the outside elements, namely water. The ground above won't collapse over time as with just the casket since the concrete will not decompose thus creating a pit. I didn't realize at the time of learning about this that these burial vaults are the same sorts often found in the big 'house' versions that hold a family of individual vaults with coffins except all fancily decorated and made of something better than concrete. =P My imagination quickly conjures vampire movies as Van Helsing has his team push the vault's lid aside to stab the sleeping vampire inside. ;)

Pomelos of the World

After having only eaten Pomelos from the US (and hence, not a "real" pomelo but rather an adulterated grapefruit), I have finally discovered just why pomelos are so wonderful. I found some authentic pomelos from China being sold in Chinatown for a piddly $2 a pop! Wow! I'd always heard how the pomelos here not only didn't look quite right (both shape and flesh color), the taste wasn't great. I found it slightly different tasting from a grapefruit, but otherwise, tasted like a glorified grapefruit. The Chinese ones are a different beast! Not only are they not necessarily perfectly round (often somewhat pointy tipped where the stem was), the flesh is a different color as well. However, the flesh can vary from a pinkish to a greenish tone. The ones I bought were a translucent light greenish white. The flavor, though...mmmm....it's a wonderful citrusy aroma in the mouth reminiscent of a sweet lime! The CA pomelos totally lacked that citrus scent. They're downright boring in comparison. Actually, I've found that a lot of oranges lack a citrus flavor and are really more sweet juice than anything else. Is that farming science gone wrong? Trying to market something sweet rather than complex in flavor? Indeed, I'm finding a lot of US fruit to be rather one dimensioned in flavor. If you can find real Chinese pomelos, by all means, buy them and savor the wonderful flavor! And just like other citrus fruits, the best are heavy for their size.

Treasures of Spain

I went looking for an ingredient in yet another Guinness dish I wished to try to add (or not add) to the menu. I thought it would be fairly easy to find, but it wasn't! All I wanted was some sherry vinegar which is supposedly stocked at your local grocery store. Nope. Well, Trader Joe's must have it! Nope. Williams-Sonoma? Didn't see it. Eventually, I found it at Whole Foods! Hooray for them! In trying to understand better what I was buying, I did a quickie google on sherry vinegar. The obvious I realized already which is that it is made from sherry wine. What I learned is that it's similar to balsamic in flavor and that it comes from the Jerez, Spain region where it can only be produced. And like a very good aged balsamic, the cost of a few ounces could be in the thousands. To make the stuff, it's the typical wine barrel thing with the different woods used at different stages, etc...

In Jerez, though, they use the Solera and Criadera method wherein the barrels are stacked up in a pyramid. The bottom row is the solera where the oldest vinegar resides and thus where the bottled stuff comes from. When a portion of the vinegar is removed, the next oldest vinegar from the row above the solera is put in. So on and so forth up the pyramid to the topmost which is the youngest vinegar. That top barrel is then filled up with new vinegar. Basically, all the other rows are criadera and each row is a different age of vinegar.

I took a small lick of the sherry vinegar I bought (50 years old) and it's not as pungent as some of the balsamics I've had. However, I've never had as old a vinegar. I see how it's balsamic-like, but it definitely has a slightly different taste. I can't describe it much better than that as I have not really explored its flavor makeup.

Speaking of alcohol in cooking, I've discovered that cooking with Guinness is really tasty and smells great. Beer just doesn't have the complexity of Guinness. It's just smelly. =P Now...if only I could just enjoy Guinness as a drink...

Purge

I don't remember the last time I vomitted. It must have been when I was ill when I was a kid. I don't remember much about it except the bitter and acid taste leftover and how unpleasant it felt. I also recall that if it's best to avoid dairy since when it comes back up, it's particularly unpleasant. Well, after getting food poisoned recently, I discovered how great barfing can actually feel! I suppose when there's nothing wrong with you physically but you drop something in that isn't good, your body goes all out to get it out. Hence, when I barfed it all up, I felt great. The human body's defense mechanisms are truly amazing. It's unfortunate I went through this as I felt queasy right after eating my tainted meal. I thought maybe the hot spice was not sitting well with my stomach thought I've had way spicier. I really should have listened better to my stomach since I could have definitely barfed right then and there. Instead, I let it fester in my stomach overnight...a very unrestful and unpleasant night...whereupon I couldn't take it anymore and let loose first thing in the morning. Who needs coffee in the morning to wake you up? ;)