Saturday, April 30, 2011

Ha...together at last...

It all comes together..... the shiny oven, the copper plate/s and the horribly expensive but  not exactly fresh store bought bread.... which reminds me the clerk was a snotty vegan asshole with out enough male hormones to develop facial hair... he was big, but soft..no defined features or muscle mass...he lacked a chin, an adams apple or any male attributes... I tried being polite...but it sorta went south... don't like your J-O-B? Q-U-I-T... faggot.

I was the first customer of the day so he had no stress issue other than being told to "get fucked asshole"..after he got snotty...which I provided as therapy and trust me he deserved it..  had I had a little more time....I'd have had a chat with his boss and fixed his issue.... but whatever.. he has enough problems being him.... its gotta sting to feel like your life should be better but  your stuck being an apron wearing douche....  sort of like Starbuck uber superior "barrista" or clerks/"intellectuals" in any mega chain book store.... hahahahah... so young, so bitter, so mediocre and less than average.... so not original...sooo...zero impact...

Twat.... other than that... I scanned the plaza after class, it was full...easyups were all over... vendors here an there..business was being done, money made..I need to come back soooooon
the town was a beauty... serious it was just what I needed.. cept for the over priced bread..


While the bread rises

The sourdough starter is active.. and the dough is rising..

I was in the mountians yesterday... so I stuck it in the fridge and now it has to wake up an puffify the pizza base....

While I was in la pueblo de tourista e yuppie tools... I went to the store and bought lunch.. flat bread, hummis, yogurt, fruit the usual..... I make some expensive food cheap... the bread was $4 and not 5 minutes ago fresh.....the hummis between $4 and $6 it was good, but..I know what it costs to make....I dont even want to talk about tapenade or any of that.. $10..

The thing is, it all costs less than $1 for me to make....an Im kinda thrifty/frugal ....I wont do that again..

OOOoohhhoooo

The famous copper plates.. they're 12" across and pretty heavy, Im sort of likeing them as plates or chargers...so I wanna keep a couple... not that I forget they have destiny..

Till then they need polishing...

Projects...cooking and doing hand-work are when everything comes together..  its my zen and when everything else goes away...

It was a long day I went from desert floor to over 6,000 feet...



Trees


Thursday, April 28, 2011

Long day...

I got those copper plates from Bill  finially, so the still project is about to start up again.... there were 7 pieces.. which means I get to try my hand at making a few copper pans as well... so Im excited..

I also got my deployment number and ID...

Long story.... but its a good thing involving multiple background checks which I passed, but I kinda knew I would.. I take pains to color inside the lines and know where I am legally no matter whats going on with my hooligan pals who are all locked up now except Bill...

Im to pretty for jail....

Class tomorrow, its over 3 hours away..but whatever its not like I don't do it on a regular basis..

I have sourdough starter.... and bread in the works.. so now I keep feeding the starter like a virtual pet that Im going to eat...

I think I need to do a market or two and generate some cash aside from everything else.. and the soap thing is looking good... its just about getting ingredients by the 55 gallon drums....

Ha.... plotting and scheming.. over and above what I tell....

Keep it simple....

I think its a desert thing....
 
"By bread and salt we are united".
Moroccan Proverb
 
Bread signifies all God given provisions,
the abundance in simplicity, the Giver and gift of life in its continuous flow,
first things in the day, essential priorities.

"A traveler on the mystic path
is content with a loaf of bread;
By its light he may be turned
towards the Light of God."
 
Rumi
 
Aish, "life," is an ancient Arabic term for bread;
Accordingly, it is treated with reverence throughout the Muslim world.
Before kneading dough, the baker blesses it with "Bismillah," and again before putting it in the oven. Mistreatment of bread is a sign of disrespect toward the Source of all sustenance.
If a piece of bread is found on the ground, little time will pass before someone picks it up, kisses it, says "Bismillah," and sets it in a safe, clean place.

In most homes bread is served at every meal, and is used to scoop up food; dunk into soup, stew or tea; or roll up with cheese, olives or herbs...

Theres a few reasons I make my own bread.....

Deja Vu all over Again...

Ahh dinner..tomato an eggplant pomodoro...mushrooms... chopped olives three different cheeses and a couple of anchovies which are the hairy eyebrow looking things.. rosemary and thyme were involved... along with crushed red pepper...and that seemed to do it...

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

It went like this.....

Glycerine soap base...check
Glycerine... check
Vitimin E oil....check
Myrrh essential oil.... check....
Bentonite clay... check

Sexy and expensive fossil soap thingie/jar which I have a fetish for... check

I like the ammonites and little shells of proto clams and a scallop or  two and what not


Phaze two... when you add bentonite the color of the soap isn't so pretty, its more..bleh

Up close its kinda... greyish, bluey and I dunno...... the fact I made it on the fly and slopped it around didnt help..but my intent wasn't presentation it was function..and as far as function went it was pretty cool

Seriously the lather was as thick as whipping cream... dead white and lasted forever... the glycerine was just the thing to smoothify my leathery exterior.. Im thinking aloe next, balsam and some other add on luxurys, not that myrrh wasn't a nice touch... I don't want to add colorants to the soap.. so next go its kaolin to see it that gives a better look... theres a red clay that looks nice but I need to find a primary source or I can make soap without clay.. its only in the mix to make it slippery...so a control sample without clay is prolly a good idea... how much slip does it give vs the fugly factor being the question.. I got a good shave out of it regardless..an now Im all soft an pretty...

I'll think about colorants a little, titanium dioxide is what gets used to make soap white its also an ingredient in sunscreen..soooo who knows..I reserve the right to a Darwinan evaluation


Sunday, April 24, 2011

Sharp and shiny...... its just like that...

The random collection.. guess who is going to barber school to learn how to give a razor shave, which is becoming a big deal again for manly men....

I haven't forgotten about rebuilding razors or pimping them out with ivory or pearl handles...


 This one needs some cosmetic love polishing and a honeing..its a Geneva Cutlery razor and a little collectable, which means zero to me cause I like to use them... but its a little different..and Im thinking it might be a nice graduation thing... polish it.. hone it, give it some strop time...

Im workin out some shave oil and soap formulas so she can be all exclusive and mysterious..

Some things evolve...

Ok, now its on a pan and the reason for that is its a soft yeast dough that cant support its-self and will ooze through the grate... and you'll notice its a yeast dough.. not the usual unleavened chappati....  it helps the cheese brown too...



And there it is..... the pizza is olive, mushroom and cheese...which works for me, the dough is whole wheat and leavened.. plus I went for low moisture mozzarella instead of really fresh made the same day stuff I like.....No sense being a snob.....I was thinking it would keep the crust nice.... which it did..

I'm thinking it (the Pizza) should cool on a rack like other breads, so the steam can migrate..



Its 4 mushrooms..I tablespoon, chopped olives and cheese to cover.. you can go wild if you want and add anything.....actually you should...

Thursday, April 21, 2011

As the bronco bucks and the clown dives into the barrel

So we switch projects back and forth...

Shes busy trying my recipes and fixing em for the kids.. which seems to be working out all around.. the food is good, not pricey and enough out of the ordinary its exciting.... but not in the Anderew Zimmer lets eat the monkey schlong kind of different..

Lets just do real food... not a plateful of BDSM animal wang freak show....

Bread, Pizza, Sourdough, Bruschetta, Spicy Yogurt/Tadziki, Hummis and stick food.... Civiche, Labani, and now Mozzarella to enhance pizza thats already way over the top.

Shes seen how much my favo stuff costs..its uber expensive to buy, but cheap it is to make... like my beloved olive, anchovy, garlic stuff..... that doesn't include recipes I snag from all over cyber space to show her how varied recipes for the same foods are...

And how its ok to tweak hell out of things......

That being said...... I'm on soap detail till she catches up...food recipes I exude like a honey bee exudes honey...

But soap.....ahhhh a challenge..  glycerine or coconut oil based what physical propertys do I want, what scents... which oils and clays... since it is for shaving soap... I have some distinct ideas about foam density.... how long it lasts and how much slip factor can I get for a straight razor... do we need aloe, almond oil, lavender, myrrh (which I actually like) lemon..... classic manly stuff that doesnt smell like a dead hooker in a vat of chemicals...

Olive oil soap is good..but the lather is lacking....

Anyway the division of labor has put that in my lap.... or on my throat rather.. since I use a razor..I need to be the judge....

Shes taking a class to learn how to do razor shaves.....so I need to see she has a custom and very exclusive shave soap...plus a sexy razor or two..

I've been shaving with straight glycerine...then I added some to my regular shave soap.. and it was pretty sexy...I found out how to cure drag with bentonite....so I have some things to find out..

Its science baby.... not metrosexual stuff, seriously I take better care of a saddle than I do my face...(let the metaphore go.. I mean it literally) .... most guys do...

So Im on it...

Monday, April 18, 2011

Sunday, April 17, 2011

I had a food boner....

Instructions are in the blog before this one........ the only thing I'd do different would be to leave off the salami and goat cheese... the rest of goat cheese has its destiny in a salad or spread on bread....

And it doesnt have to be round.. exact or any particular way.. you can even have it on a ugly plate you dougnt for 10 cents at a yard sale... which reminds me, I still need a pizza peel...or wooden serving boards...

Like this...

One... pre-measure your flour and water..

Two......add a tablespoon of honey or sugar to to the water....
Three... add the water to 1/4 cup of the flour and make a thin slurry thats baby bottle warm...

Four.....sprinkle yeast on top of the flour water honey stuff.........

Then you let the slurry sit till it bubbles and foams so you have proof the yeast is alive and doing its job....  i'll take 10- 30 minutes...

Five...Then you add the proofed yeast slurry to the flour.... along with a Tablespoon of olive oil and some salt.. and stir it all together till the bowl comes clean...


Then you turn it out on to your work surface..... knead it smooth.. form into a ball then put the ball in a bowl, cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it double..

Except in this case because the air is so dry here..... I oiled the ball and covered it with a clear bowl so I could keep an eye on it..the dough ball gets oiled in any case because it helps it not stick and raise freely....


The dough doubles... then you get busy, in this case I made four rounds... I didn't roll it out, I stretched it...because I like the little bubbles...which is what makes bread lite..


Then the next bit..the dough is shaped and docked to keep it from balloning up like a pita, I used my fingers mostly...I did poke around with wooden fork.... but fingers were better.. you also want the edges thicker than the center to hold stuff in place....


And the pizza building begins... I don't use red sauce a lot..there are to many other options like garum which is about 2000 years of old school
And now some more, I was experimenting today, Italian sausage, goat cheese, dry salami, green olives..roasted peppers..


And a little more... the salami was sweating which has gotten it eliminated from future pizzas for the same reason the pepperoni was...I don't like greasy pizza.. actually I do like greasy pizza, its just not the best choice one can make.. but I don't eat enough for it to make a big difference if I indulge every year or so... Italian sausage is fine if one wants a meat topping.. and it can be pre cooked then drained..

Anyway.. it gets a little fancier..

Then you cover the whole thing up with mozzarella to hide the salami evidence... I like fresh rather than pre-shredded.. but its pretty much personal preference.. the cheese is like a lid and keeps everything succulent as its cooked..

And we're so near the end..I'm doing the rest on the oven rack... green olives with pimento, dried basil, rosemary, thyme

I gave it 5 minutes then took it out because I was food horny..
Then it gets whacked up into 8 pieces

Do yours how you like it.....an let the haters, hate....
They don't have pizza..and you can't make it out of tofu









Thursday, April 14, 2011

Ok then....

Dough..

Two cups  whole wheat.. or white.. flour.... you can use half white/half wheat...you can grind your own flour with a quern stone.. which I'd actually do because Ima freak about medieval cooking and baking.. but I digress....

Two cups flour....


One cup water...

One Tbsp olive oil... I just use the cap from the bottle... so who knows..

About a half teaspoon of salt... and thats it..

Its a dryish dough.. if you want it more elastic use more NEXT time....

Mix wet and dry ingredients in a bowl till it all pulls together... then knead the resulting mass on a work surface to develop the gluten and it all smooths out..

Let it rest, covered with a damp towel....or in a plastic bag... so the dough relaxes a bit..

Sneak up on the dough.... divide it into golf ball size wads, shape into balls... then roll out into thin 7" circles.. the thinner the better I think.... but you do it like you want it.... you don't have to make them perfectly round.. everything is "Ish" they can be ovals.. starfish.. rectangles.. your going to eat them...not make engine gaskets

Its like a chapati...or thinnish pita.. I mostly pre bake them...  in a HOT oven, under the broiler, or in a skillet (NO oil....NONE)..... even directly on a gas burner... hot is what you want so it puffs from steam inside and doesnt become card board.. I've used a BBQ grate.. done it over live coals.. short of the bread catching fire.... anything works.. and even if it catches fire.... its still good...

I don't use red sauce on pizza much....  mostly I like chopped olive, garlic and anchovie spread..

On top of that goes whatever sliced mushrooms you have.. cooked and drained sausage (if you like it)... whatever melty cheese you like..or combination there of....I/E pepper jack/mozzarella/parmasean ...Feta doesn't melt.... goat cheese is sexy, but Im obsessing about goat cheese this week...

On top of the cheese....pepperoni if you like it.... and not the lard stick type... the good stuff..

I like green olives on top... marinated red peppers for color....and hot red pepper flakes...for heat..

After that.... under the broiler it goes.. cheese gets melted, maybe sort of browned a little....

Pizza gets eaten and the cycle is repeated till someone passes out... the dried rosemary, red pepper flakes and basil gets put on after the cheese is melted.... so they dont burn or burst into flame..

I make a yeast and a sour dough too... but Im really liking this type... the Fluffy one grated parmasean into her dough..which works too.. its your world..your dinner..there are no rules..

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

And the side effect...

I dont buy pizza.....reason being..... I notice the boxes tend to be soaked with grease on the bottom.. and its seepage from the pizza, not something the box sat on.... and I can't think of an acceptable reason for it to be like that... other than cheap ingredients and bad practices..

I never cared much for commercial pizza dough either. it was always a lot like calling wonder bread, "bread" and Im not goin for it..

So.. I make my own breads and pizza doughs..... sour dough, whole wheat...herbs in the dough.. cheese an whatever.... its all about using the real stuff... not "tastes like" not "cheaper" not "easier" or "we save .35 cents per unit for 500,000 units a week and corporate gets a cashgasam"....

So.... its about whole wheat...which actually has a flavor... real cheese.. non greasy sausage and pepperoni..  I like dried herbs... cause the flavors are more concentrated..... but a nice fresh basil is kinda sexy... so is fresh mozzarella... kalmata olives, goat cheese and morrel mushrooms once in a while...

Why pay for something that you can make better that you buy?

The bottom of my pizzas didn't have one spot..no supporating grease anywhere.. even cold.. it was still clean.. none of that crisco pie thing when it sat for a while......

Point of the diatribe being.... its worth the trouble to do... on every level.. and pizza doesnt have to be a heart attack in a box..

I like it for kids.. they engage with the whole pizza thing... and like setting up their own toppings, doing designs and and experimenting.. its time together and pretty much fun... a non-fucked up interaction with an adult or two...by which I mean the kids...not me...

Kinda fun with a girlfriend too, its all impressive cooking together and you can ply her with red wine....till she thinks your cute..and maybe do-able at some point...

Feel the peel....

This is what Im ranting about, turns out they have just what I want at Target with a short handle....
Make that Bed Bath and Beyond cause their photography is better, their peels are cheaper
not to mention having a subtil get your pizza freak on vibe

Oh so you wanna be bad and eat pizza?   It looks like what one needs to binge purge and smack that ass all in one stop...

I think I need a leather apron, shoulder length black rubber exam gloves and steam punk goggles to go with this.. You gotta beg for that extra cheese.. and you know you want it..

So I cleaned the pizza oven...

I decided I wanted to try a different method... the broiler uses my gas.. and sometimes I get electric when Im in a park or camp ground....

So.. whatever... besides I need to be ready for the random college campus and side hustles..

It took 5 minutes start to finish... rolling the dough while the oven pre-heated which was 1 of the 5 minutes....  I bagged the pepperoni an left it off..same with the sausage... it was olive love, mushrooms and cheese... rosemary, basil and red pepper flakes...

No smoke was involved.... my oven ran sweet...it was so perfect... I cooked on the grate its-self rather than a pan... which worked out fine an kept it all crispy an good...


I normally make a 6" pizza or breads like this one.. but the oven will cook a 10-12" pizza or a reasonable size foccacia....  which makes life easier on the girl friend front.... I think I may get a peel to work on and serve with..rather than my old heart shaped cutting board...



Now I'll obsess over pizza and those recipes for a few months.. its funny since I got the oven for making pita bread.. not pizza.... I needed fast high heat cause thats what makes the pita blow up.... and I wanted an electric option cause Im sort of cheap and lazy..

well.....

I got a call this morning about my up-coming grand tour/class extravaganza... which was scheduled to begin thursday....

Day one.... the classes are full I didn't get in and no speakers are scheduled..... sooooooo..

Day one I don't need to go ....which saves a ton of money I don't have.... the good news is... I've already had the classes..   I don't "need" them... its just about staying on top of things and observing the instructors...

But everything else is on and I only have to spend one night in town.. to bad its Friday cause party traffic and fuckwads are kind of the rule.... and Im more of a book store and bistro guy..only not gay..

We won't talk about shopping for shoes, hats and dinnerwear... art supplys and the various random quirks I have.. I know I'm not gay.. Im not in that good a shape physically... even if I do know how to cook, dress and dance..

All that aside.... I want to find a coffee shop with table cloths for a change.... Normally its all about grab and go at a fuel stop, which is "ok" its not like the old days when coffee sat on a burner for three days... its actually good coffee now... thanks to the free market system and competition for the consumer dollar... its just not a latte or espresso...and there are no tables or lite conversation... its urban rather than urbane...

Or as an option...theres the ever popular quest for a Sonoran hole in the wall cafe, which has to do with meneudo and goat stew or tacos....and I note any of the afore mentioned items scares Canadians who are trying to pass as white people.. so.... I look for dark faces..lots of red and green paint and no English signage...

Which gives me pause.....ever see a "Canadian" resturant? Nope....its because there is no market for cream of hotdog soup with maple suryp... white bread and hot dog gravy or hot dog pot pie..

Twats...... they're always the ones that bitch about Mexican food being Mexican....then snivel about paying cause the food "including the milk" was to  "spicy" as they steal the tableware for "souviners"..... and the Mexicans think Canuks are white...which creates a lot of racial problems and confusion....

Mufukkas.....La Migra, needs to jamb up the cannuks way more than the Mexicans... the US has enough whiney bitches... we really don't need the spawn of draft dodgers and traitors wandering around.... Eh?

An I need some new music....

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Stills an what not...

Well....maybe its not a still in the Ozark sense....its an Alembic and is used for harvesting essential oils..Juniper, sage, pine, medicinals and what not.. some times they get used for brandy... I have heard rumors of them being used for whiskey as well.... but Jamisons is cheap enough that I wouldn't bother....

The pots cost a  pretty penny which I dont have......but I do have some skills at banging out metal.. and theres no shape on the unit I havent made out of sheet iron when I was building caulderons and tankards..

The chargers Bill has to sell me are 3/16-1/4" thick and about 12" across...which is perfect for my purposes...I have heavy tube and copper sheet hidden..... so this project can happen pretty easily...

And I need to work with my hands a little..... worst case senario I have a sexed up copper cauldron and a sauce pan or two....


Im still trying to get my mind around the day... I made more pizza but left out the pepperoni..
I have 3 or 4 days of.... "hey howdy" coming up..classes and God knows what... I got the official line on what I study... the decision is... anything I want..as much as I want.. and Im pretty much a valuable commodity..I bitched about the exams.. the system, lack of certificates..and all the insider beefs on can imagine... turns out the supervisor has the same issues... so Im gold other than that.... I want to go get the copper...

Bill is in a tourist town...and all is well ..he has a girlfriend in Las Vagueness.. theres some hints that theres a spot for me....and I need the money... but its a been there done that gig ya know?

I would set up and run my own thing.. so who knows.. he still has his glass blowing equipment.. and I havent forgotten the notion of lamp working beads, perfume bottles, pipes and sex toys...
 Yeah I know... but now weed is legal so making pipes is not a paraphernalia beef....

Its medical supplies..... I'd do it for the irony.....

Bread porn...

The famous flat bread.... I should have followed through the full process... from dough to cooked on the grill.... to topped... then shoved under the broiler so the cheese melts....

I pre-cooked and drained some loose sausage... doing that mize-en-platz thing.... which  I don't think I spelled right... but its a French term.... therefore beneath my dignity to spell check.....

Aside from the sausage.... there were sliced mushrooms... basil, oregeno, thyme, multi shredded Italiano cheese....a scanty spray of emergency and not real good pepperoni.... tomato and eggplant sauce I customised into pizza sauce with garlic and sundry herbs... 

The traditional, olive oil, olive, garlic, parmasean and anchovie stuff I put on everything...

I don't use a lot of sausage or pepperoni..... I use them mostly as a seasoning rather than an ingredient... I have no idea when my thinking changed in that regard... It still tastes good to me..and I use 3/4 less than I did.... so bonus...

Ha..  Im pretty happy with "just" olives, mushrooms an cheese..and its not a fat-bomb..

I mopped out the pepperoni grease and ate what looked disturbingly like a one eyed smiley face that was in the middle of a stroke... But I wasnt being all that attentive to symmetry.... it was a tough day.. and I was kinda hungry..

The pepperoni goes on top so the grease doesnt soak the base an I can sorta dial it back a bit... maybe I'll just not use it anymore.... or hold out for the high end stuff..this was sort of a dire straights situation....

I made Rayta for dinner yesterday.....

I'd forgotten how much I liked spicy yogurt and cumber .... now the fluffy one wants to make chutneys... which is another big favorite for me... when the temp hits 125+... trust me you need all the appetite stimulants you can get..

Other than that...today suckkkkkked...

I got a call from Bill.... he has some copper chargers I wanted to buy..which make dandy rounds to beat into sauce pans.... or a still...

Its an Irish thing....

Friday, April 8, 2011

Speaking of O my Gawd..

While writing about pizza and real life..

I get a call regarding next week, I have stuff to do next week, which is the famous :forward momentum type activity"......school, networking, being seen etc..... they want to know what I want for my meals for the three or four days..

Ha... most of what they offered I wouldn't eat...I usually fill an ice chest with what I normally have and call it good, no sense arguing or explaining..  besides it looks so good discussion is redundant..

I did manage to find a greek salad and fruit.. everything else, aint gonna be happening.. they did have a foccacia bread... but unless I can read the label.. Im not too interested..

So I'll do my usual stop and shop.... just in case..

O my...gawd...

I have stuff to do next week, which is forward momentum type activity..... which is unrelated to my real life.... its just work, school, being seen...and "Networking".....

Real life is the GF and the fact I do a lot of different kitchen stuff.....like read cook books, write recipes an take photos cause I want to make a cook book.... then theres the recipes themselves... which is sometimes about competitions and cook offs... gaining or losing weight.. fat vs muscle...  handling blood sugar..lowering blood pressure... avoiding bad juju... Chinese medicine.. keeping the ya in my yang....

I have my regular diet/regimen...which involves baking my daily bread..  the fluffy GF likes it.. she discovered bruschetta.. and likes that.. olive spread is good.. tapenades, artichoke spreads.. pomodoro... a big list of stuff... we haven't discussed nut spreads.. but shes a smart lady.. and walnut butter is sorta good... same with hazelnut an almond... changing up the rummaging food is fun... so.. we evolve..

Same  with the bread... I make a basic flat bread which is more Indian than anything else.. but it can be adjusted and made all sexy pretty fast.. I just happen to like plain..

She has kids.... kids need food that is/are sexy.. which means pizza.. but screw pizza hut grease bombs... kids need good stuff.. so ok...  pizza hut can't compete with real olive oil.. hand kneaded dough.. slow raised, wild yeast sour doughs.. cracker crusts.. real sauces or lack of sauces.. uber custom tops....  or my demented ideas of what goes on pizza...

No cheap ass "pepperoini" thats just.... red grease.. they get the good stuff, aged, fermented and so good.... nothing else will do.... same with sausage... cheeses... olives.. mushrooms..

Trust me.... ...  just cause I like flat bread, olive oil, basil and salt doesn't mean Im not schooled in the fine art of OMG pizza... replete with crusts that often get eaten by themselves.. cause they're that good...

Each ingredient stands by its self.... the crust.. the sauce, the pepperoni, the cheese etc..all need to pass the test.... and I like fresh Mozzarella... not the nothing taste bricks or pre shredded packing material....  I mean soft, lush and pretty..  sort of like the GF..

I like canned olives.. but klamata are sexier... so thats that...  goat cheese is sexy too... but not everyone likes it.. the mushrooms... ever try morrels on a pizza?

Long story short..... Im working out the pizza doughs, sauces and tech for her...  she can work the rest out with the kids..so they get it just how they want it...

They'll be so spoiled they won't even look at a  box pizza.. just like I am.... hahaha

You do it your way..

I do most things my way.. some chick told me once "your used to having everything your way" like it was a bad thing.... I just said "yes I am" and let it go.. because part of the deal about having everything my way.....is recognizing a fake and not caring what they think about who I am..

Besides... I really am used to having my own way...

The fluffy one thinks my habit of doing things my way is a good thing.... especially cooking .. since I share my recipes and we work out things together... She collects my rantings and cooks them... takes photos and puts them in a little book...with the recipes..

Its way to have dinner together.....regardless of logistics... she adjusts it all to suit her tastes.. an everyone lives happily ever after...

Which isn't a bad thing... she gets to have things her way.... it makes for a happy GF.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Plan B

I got tired of using the comal to make my bread, so I thought it was time to show the grill trick... you can use expanded metal, ungalvanized hardware cloth, the grill out of a BBQ, even make the bread in the BBQ..  I like a little dark on the bread... it comes from cooking over a thousand or so campfires... and likeing brick oven pizza.. its the nature of the beast...

Bread from the grill.... all bubbly and good... hahahah



I slathered it with black olive spread and cut it into sections.... At least its mostly black olives.... Olive oil, anchovies, garlic, green olives, pimento and mushrooms were involved.... I recall basil, red wine vinegar and thyme.... being part of the process.. 


Which is the result of talking to the G/F about sexing up the basics.. via tapenades, bruschetta toppings, olive spread.. hummis with red peppers.. melted cheese, which I do a lot.. I really needed a tomato to chop up.. maybe some shrimp to add a little extra.. a boiled egg.. the idea is to build on the basic bread and add according to whats available.. sometimes its oil, garlic and salt.. others its anything from artichoke paste to fish roe..mozzarella and shrimp..mozzarella and mushrooms... the big trick is to like whatever you have on hand.


The same bread made on a comal a few days ago...parmesean salt an cumin..

Sunday, April 3, 2011

I forget the best part..

She gets it.... we have similar interests..and my knowledge base is so broad its hard to find anyone that can follow along as I bounce around..

Its not that I'm exceptionally smart or educated... I've just been around a long time, so I know stuff by default..and the whys..

The best part  of it all is she doesn't roll her eyes up in slack jawed stupefaction while I rant..

Well then..

So I showed her what my day entails... or at least a personal study type day entails..

Which has nothing to do with professional life... its just random information I stash away, like Genitically modified food crops.. and who the actors are.... The Ukraine famine which everyone has forgotten as well as the Katyn Forest massacare and who was invloved in that..

Forgotten facts... hidden historys and things that make ones skin crawl... stastics relating to genetic diseases and insanty.. which I read all day then confirm, cross index, evaluate and then get new info.. Slavery, the potato famine and who was behind both... who sold the food exported to whom and why... Who bought, transported and sold slaves..who owned the ships and plantations.. where the real epicenter of slavery was.. turns out it wasnt north america..

Hours of it.. slow steady and focused... 10 hours at a whack isn't out of line for me and being distracted isn't happening...

Sometimes its fun... soap stone cookware, copper.. rennstuff... events, gem an mineral shows..  fossil collecting areas... arts and crafts..  recipes for soap... prices on straight razors.. were to get this an that..

I know a lot of stuff because I work at knowing stuff.... 

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Just as safe as agent orange.....and Aspertame

Monsanto is a US based agricultural company. Its key business areas are agrochemicals, seeds and traits (including GM crops) and GM bovine growth hormones. Until the late 1990s Monsanto was a much larger ‘lifesciences’ company whose business covered chemicals, polymers, food additives and pharmaceuticals as well as agricultural products. All of these other business areas have now been demerged or sold off. Historically Monsanto has been involved with the production of PCBs1, dioxins and the defoliant/chemical weapon ‘Agent Orange’.2 

Who now assure us GMOs are safe regardless of proven science to the contrary...

http://www.walletpop.com/2010/02/04/monsanto-the-evil-corporation-in-your-refrigerator/

http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=2921

http://www.zcommunications.org/nutrapoison-by-alex-constantine

The FDA is ever mindful to refer to aspartame, widely known as NutraSweet, as a "food additive"-never a "drug." A "drug" on the label of a Diet Coke might discourage the consumer. And because aspartame is classified a food additive, adverse reactions are not reported to a federal agency, nor is continued safety monitoring required by law.1 NutraSweet is a non-nutritive sweetener. The brand name is misnomer. Try Non-NutraSweet.

Food additives seldom cause brain lesions, headaches, mood alterations, skin polyps, blindness, brain tumors, insomnia and depression, or erode intelligence and short-term memory. Aspartame, according to some of the most capable scientists in the country, does. In 1991 the National Institutes of Health, a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services, published a bibliography, *Adverse Effects of Aspartame*, listing not less than 167 reasons to avoid it.2

good reason to worry

Lots of talk these days about the bullying of young boys and girls in school by more aggressive students. This brings to my mind the biggest bully of all: the biotech company, Monsanto Corporation.
Taken in context, Monsanto’s list of corporate crimes should have been enough to pull their corporate charter years ago. And yet we allow them to continue to destroy our food supply, our health and the planet. Monsanto or Monsatan?
Take a look at the company’s track record and decide for yourself.


Agent Orange: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange
Monsanto was the major financial beneficiary of this herbicide used to defoliate the jungles of Vietnam and destroy the health of American troops and their offspring. It also allowed Monsanto and other chemical companies to appeal for and receive protection from veterans seeking damages for their exposure to Agent Orange and any future biotech creations.


Aspartame: As far back as 1994, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report listing 94 health issues caused by aspartame. It has been shown to cause slow but serious damage to the human body and yet it is used extensively in many commercial products.


Saccharin: Studies have shown that saccharin caused cancer in test rats and mice; and in six human studies, including one done by the National Cancer Institute, that consuming artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin and cyclamate, resulted in bladder cancer.

Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH): A genetically modified hormone injected into dairy cows to produce more milk, despite the fact that more milk was needed. The cows suffer excruciating pain due to swollen udders and mastitis. The pus from the infection enters the milk supply requiring more antibiotics to be given to the cows. BST milk may also cause breast cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer in humans.


RoundUp: The world's most commonly used herbicide and weed killer has been linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in a study by eminent oncologists Dr. Lennart Hardell and Dr. Mikael Eriksson of Sweden. Used on genetically modified crops resistant to RoundUp's active ingredient glyphosate, environmentalists and health professionals are concerned that far from reducing herbicide use, glyphosate-resistant crops may result in increased residues in food to which consumers will be exposed.

Genetically Modified Crops (GMO): Monsanto created Frankenfoods by gene-splicing corn, cotton, soy, and canola with DNA from a foreign source. Consequently these crops are resistant to massive doses of the herbicide, RoundUp, but in turn herbicide-resistant superweeds are taking over. After running into resistance in the west, Monsanto is pushing GMO crops in third-world countries.
According to physicist, ecologist, and activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, “Syugenta and Monsanto are rushing ahead with the mapping and patenting of the rice genome. If they could, they would own rice and its genes, even though the 200,000 rice varieties that give us diverse traits have been bred and evolved by rice farmers of Asia collectively over millennia. Their claim to inventing rice is a violence against the integrity of biodiversity and life forms; it is a violence against the knowledge of third-world farmers.”

Terminator Seeds: A technology that produces sterile grains unable to germinate, forcing farmers to buy seeds from Monsanto rather than save and reuse the seeds from their harvest. Terminators can cross-pollinate and contaminate local non-sterile crops putting in danger the future seed supply and eventually giving control of the world’s food supply to Monsanto and the GM industry.

Standard American Diet: According to the Organic Consumers Association, “There is a direct correlation between our genetically engineered food supply and the $2 trillion the U.S. spends annually on medical care, namely an epidemic of diet-related chronic diseases.
Instead of healthy fruits, vegetables, grains, and grass-fed animal products, U.S. factory farms and food processors produce a glut of genetically engineered junk foods that generate heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. Low fruit and vegetable consumption is directly costing the United States $56 billion a year in diet-related chronic diseases.”
 
Like thats an accident and not covert Genocide?

The original letter

I like how he gets painted as a nut job or unqualified by industry whores and useful idiots in the disinformation frenzy.... it reminds me soooo much of tobacco "scientists" attacking real science..that proves theyre murdreing bastards..

The letter was intended as to alert the government about preliminary research results that indicate serious problems.  As Dr. Huber himself clearly states, more research is needed. 
January 16, 2011

Dear Secretary Vilsack:
A team of senior plant and animal scientists have recently brought to my attention the discovery of an electron microscopic pathogen that appears to significantly impact the health of plants, animals, and probably human beings. Based on a review of the data, it is widespread, very serious, and is in much higher concentrations in Roundup Ready (RR) soybeans and corn—suggesting a link with the RR gene or more likely the presence of Roundup.  This organism appears NEW to science!
This is highly sensitive information that could result in a collapse of US soy and corn export markets and significant disruption of domestic food and feed supplies. On the other hand, this new organism may already be responsible for significant harm (see below). My colleagues and I are therefore moving our investigation forward with speed and discretion, and seek assistance from the USDA and other entities to identify the pathogen’s source, prevalence, implications, and remedies.
We are informing the USDA of our findings at this early stage, specifically due to your pending decision regarding approval of RR alfalfa. Naturally, if either the RR gene or Roundup itself is a promoter or co-factor of this pathogen, then such approval could be a calamity. Based on the current evidence, the only reasonable action at this time would be to delay deregulation at least until sufficient data has exonerated the RR system, if it does.
For the past 40 years, I have been a scientist in the professional and military agencies that evaluate and prepare for natural and manmade biological threats, including germ warfare and disease outbreaks. Based on this experience, I believe the threat we are facing from this pathogen is unique and of a high risk status. In layman’s terms, it should be treated as an emergency.
A diverse set of researchers working on this problem have contributed various pieces of the puzzle, which together presents the following disturbing scenario:
Unique Physical Properties
This previously unknown organism is only visible under an electron microscope (36,000X), with an approximate size range equal to a medium size virus. It is able to reproduce and appears to be a micro-fungal-like organism. If so, it would be the first such micro-fungus ever identified. There is strong evidence that this infectious agent promotes diseases of both plants and mammals, which is very rare.
Pathogen Location and Concentration
It is found in high concentrations in Roundup Ready soybean meal and corn, distillers meal, fermentation feed products, pig stomach contents, and pig and cattle placentas.
Linked with Outbreaks of Plant Disease
The organism is prolific in plants infected with two pervasive diseases that are driving down yields and farmer income—sudden death syndrome (SDS) in soy, and Goss’ wilt in corn. The pathogen is also found in the fungal causative agent of SDS (Fusarium solani fsp glycines).
Implicated in Animal Reproductive Failure
Laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of this organism in a wide variety of livestock that have experienced spontaneous abortions and infertility. Preliminary results from ongoing research have also been able to reproduce abortions in a clinical setting.
The pathogen may explain the escalating frequency of infertility and spontaneous abortions over the past few years in US cattle, dairy, swine, and horse operations. These include recent reports of infertility rates in dairy heifers of over 20%, and spontaneous abortions in cattle as high as 45%.
For example, 450 of 1,000 pregnant heifers fed wheatlege experienced spontaneous abortions. Over the same period, another 1,000 heifers from the same herd that were raised on hay had no abortions. High concentrations of the pathogen were confirmed on the wheatlege, which likely had been under weed management using glyphosate.
Recommendations
In summary, because of the high titer of this new animal pathogen in Roundup Ready crops, and its association with plant and animal diseases that are reaching epidemic proportions, we request USDA’s participation in a multi-agency investigation, and an immediate moratorium on the deregulation of RR crops until the causal/predisposing relationship with glyphosate and/or RR plants can be ruled out as a threat to crop and animal production and human health.
It is urgent to examine whether the side-effects of glyphosate use may have facilitated the growth of this pathogen, or allowed it to cause greater harm to weakened plant and animal hosts. It is well-documented that glyphosate promotes soil pathogens and is already implicated with the increase of more than 40 plant diseases; it dismantles plant defenses by chelating vital nutrients; and it reduces the bioavailability of nutrients in feed, which in turn can cause animal disorders. To properly evaluate these factors, we request access to the relevant USDA data.
I have studied plant pathogens for more than 50 years. We are now seeing an unprecedented trend of increasing plant and animal diseases and disorders. This pathogen may be instrumental to understanding and solving this problem. It deserves immediate attention with significant resources to avoid a general collapse of our critical agricultural infrastructure.
Sincerely,
COL (Ret.) Don M. Huber
Emeritus Professor, Purdue University
APS Coordinator, USDA National Plant Disease Recovery System (NPDRS)

Hot off the www

The letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has been posted on dozens of websites ranging from the Huffington Post to obscure gardening and food blogs, generating discussion on message boards about the controversial topic of genetically modified crops and their potential effect on animals and humans.
But other scientists (funded by the bio tech industry) say they have no way to verify professor emeritus Don Huber's claims because he won't provide evidence to back them up.

"People in the scientific community have at times made outlandish claims (Like the tobacco industy scientists claims of product safety for instance?) but it's been based on research that was flawed in some way, but at least the data was provided to be analyzed and critiqued," said Bob Hartzler, an Iowa State University agronomy professor who called the letter "extremely unusual, especially coming from the scientific community."

Huber, 76, wrote the letter to Vilsack in January, warning of a new organism he claims has been found in corn and soybeans modified to resist the weed killer Roundup.

Huber wrote that the organism could lead to a "general collapse of our critical agriculture infrastructure" and further approval of Roundup Ready crops "could be a calamity."

(Im not even thinking GMO's are a set up for an engineered famine in the US....Just like the one in the Ukraine that killed between 7 and 10,000,000 goyim... its just real convienient...and total serendipity a bonus)

Monsantos creation and use of agent Orange in Viet Nan was a proving ground for the idea that destruction of crops and covert genocide would be accepted by the world just like it was in the Ukraine..... Which the US and other nations are now being set up for.. 

Huber told The Associated Press the organism that concerned him was found in much higher concentrations in corn and soybeans grown from so-called Roundup Ready seeds than in grains grown from conventional seed, although the samples of conventional crops tested were too small to get a reliable result.

Huber believes the pathogen has made genetically modified soybeans more susceptible to sudden death syndrome and corn to Goss' wilt. He also claims it's linked to spontaneous abortions and infertility in livestock that eat feed generated from those crops.

Huber said he wrote the letter to Vilsack because he thought the U.S. Department of Agriculture needed to take immediate action and provide resources to further research his claims. He said he doesn't know how it reached the Internet.

Huber said he sent the letter through a third party so it could be hand-delivered to Vilsack.

The USDA acknowledged it had received the letter, but it doesn't appear USDA is investigating the matter.

"It has been confirmed that no letter addressed to Secretary Vilsack from Dr. Huber has been received "directly" by USDA," the agency said in a statement to the AP. "The only copy we received was forwarded by a third party, and we do not respond to third-party letters." The USDA declined to comment beyond that statement.

Monsanto,(Web search for legal actions against this fine company and their products) the St. Louis-based company that developed Roundup resistant seeds, said in a statement it was "not aware of any "reliable" studies that demonstrate Roundup Ready crops are more susceptible to certain diseases. (Not aware= ignores/denies )
GM crops have undergone a rigorous safety assessment following internationally accepted guidelines,(set by international industry) and no verifiable cases of harm to human or animal health have occurred." thus sayeth Monsanto...who can always be trusted to put the public safety over profit.. just like the makers of agent orange, tobacco, trans-fats, fake sugars, food dyes, asbestos, xrays and other radiation caused no "verifiable harm"

Huber's letter identifies himself as a retired Purdue professor, and it has left the Indiana university known for its agriculture programs in the uncomfortable position of being linked to research it can't verify.

"This is not Purdue research being carried on by people at Purdue University," said Peter Goldsbrough, director of the university's plant pathology department.

Goldsbrough said Huber declined to provide evidence supporting his claims or the names of his research partners.

"If someone is making a new discovery, they normally want someone to know about it and if this was an important environmental or agricultural problem, you would want to engage other people in finding what the causes of the problems are," he said. "I don't know what would be gained by not sharing."
Goldsbrough said nothing is being done to strip Huber of his association with Purdue.

Huber, who now lives in Melba, Idaho, said he started his research at Purdue and continued it in collaboration with other scientists in the Midwest, Florida, Brazil and Canada after retiring in 2006. He declined to name the other scientists, saying they asked to remain anonymous because the attention would distract from the research. (they would lose funding from agribusiness or be fired)

Huber acknowledged he was taking an unusual approach by not submitting his finding for other scientists to review. "The information on the new organism was new enough that there wasn't time for peer-reviewed papers and that it was serious enough I felt it was very important the secretary know what the situation was and that they exercise some caution before moving forward," Huber said.
The USDA, meanwhile, has moved ahead with an expansion of biotech crops.
In January, the USDA deregulated alfalfa and in February it partially deregulated sugar beets that have been genetically modified to withstand Roundup, which contains a chemical called glyphosate.
Paul Vincelli, a plant pathology professor at the University of Kentucky, said he talked with Huber last fall after he was asked to review a Kentucky researcher's work on the same topic. Vincelli declined to identify the Kentucky researcher, (which is now OK because he isn't Huber or rocking the boat) saying his review was a private consultation, but he said he has seen no evidence to support Huber's claims linking a new pathogen to crop diseases or animal fertility. (then he contradicts himself in  the next sentence)

Vincelli said while research has shown the use of glyphosate may make some plants more susceptible to disease, (which does support Hubers claim) he is not aware of evidence of a new pathogen that increases that risk as Huber claims.

Vincelli said Huber is highly distinguished and well respected in the scientific community but said his recent work was "highly speculative."

( Meaning it contradicts agribusiness and monsanto claims of safety... like hand washing contradicted the once common pratice of surgons and doctors not washing their hands or instruments because they didn't accept contagion thoery....and that wasn't so long ago was it?)
 
"I'm not saying the claims are true or false. What we need is really good science on this issue," Vincelli said. "We're talking about extraordinary claims, and we need at least ordinary evidence in support of these claims."

(and we hear from the other side of his mouth.........Again)