"A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes" by David Tanis Artisan $35 294 pages
The cover illustration is a pair of figs, probably what caught my eye. I'm at a loss to describe why I'm so enamored of figs, Perhaps they mean "autumn" - my favorite season? Their elegant simplicity - wrapped in pancetta and gently baked, split open with a dash of balsamic vinegar? I truly don't know. But, dammit, I am!
Tanis is a Chez Pannisse chef veteran (10 years) and the forward was written by Alice Waters, praising him to the skies.
What he's done is to present a year's worth of seasonal menus, with recipes and some chef's tips. This on peeling garlic - hold the clove between your thumb and forefinger and squeeze until the skin pops off. (I smack the clove with the flat side of my chef's knife and that works just as well.)
Making garlic paste? "The French grandmother method: hold a fork, tines down on the cutting board and run the clove back and forth across the tines. Or thin slice the garlic, sprinkle it with a little salt and scrape the knife back and forth across it.
His writing style is casual, but clearly he is a sensualist who enjoys food and all the ceremonies that surround it -- choosing it, preparing it, serving it and dining on it with friends.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
In the News/On My Mind/Off My Chest
This morning's Daily Breeze (dailybreeze.com) has a front page article "Obama tax cuts may hit $300B" by Steven R Hurst, AP. The second paragraph reads:
"If the two-year plan is enacted, workers would see larger paychecks almost immediately because taxes withheld by the government would drop. The break would be retroactive to Jan. 1, and couples receiving a $1,000 tax cut would begin receiving an extra $40 in twice-monthly paychecks AS THE GOVERNMENT TRIES TO SPARK MORE CONSUMER SPENDING."
Hello? More consumer spending is exactly what we DON'T need. What we do need is for people to pay off their debts. We have a new generation that was never taught and never learned something called "financial responsibility." If you can't afford to buy it, smile at the shop owner, put it back on the counter and WALK OUT THE DOOR. How hard is that?
Instead many of these people are only satisfied with instant gratification ("I must have it") and a totally unfounded sense of entitlement ("I'm worth it.") The part they're missing is the day that the credit car bill or the mortgage or car payment notification arrives at their domicile and they don't have the money to pay it. An older generation might well call this "the day of reckoning."
You can't, in fairness, expect people to do what they've never been taught. So I propose re-establishing wage garnishment and that credit issuers get a whole helluva lot tougher about repayment. You miss a month? That card is dead plastic in your pocket. You want it back? Pay your bill.
Oh, and on a larger scale, all major CEOs now work for $1 a year for fiscal 2009. Bill Gates included.
Somehow, somewhere the message has got to be gotten across: It's cash and carry, not charge and run.
"If the two-year plan is enacted, workers would see larger paychecks almost immediately because taxes withheld by the government would drop. The break would be retroactive to Jan. 1, and couples receiving a $1,000 tax cut would begin receiving an extra $40 in twice-monthly paychecks AS THE GOVERNMENT TRIES TO SPARK MORE CONSUMER SPENDING."
Hello? More consumer spending is exactly what we DON'T need. What we do need is for people to pay off their debts. We have a new generation that was never taught and never learned something called "financial responsibility." If you can't afford to buy it, smile at the shop owner, put it back on the counter and WALK OUT THE DOOR. How hard is that?
Instead many of these people are only satisfied with instant gratification ("I must have it") and a totally unfounded sense of entitlement ("I'm worth it.") The part they're missing is the day that the credit car bill or the mortgage or car payment notification arrives at their domicile and they don't have the money to pay it. An older generation might well call this "the day of reckoning."
You can't, in fairness, expect people to do what they've never been taught. So I propose re-establishing wage garnishment and that credit issuers get a whole helluva lot tougher about repayment. You miss a month? That card is dead plastic in your pocket. You want it back? Pay your bill.
Oh, and on a larger scale, all major CEOs now work for $1 a year for fiscal 2009. Bill Gates included.
Somehow, somewhere the message has got to be gotten across: It's cash and carry, not charge and run.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Medical Narrative II
"Trauma Junkie - Memoirs of an Emergency Flight Nurse" by Janice Hudson. A Firefly Book $15.95 250 pages
Working in the San Francisco Bay area, Hudson left a full-time job in ER to work for California Shock/Trauma Air Rescue (CALSTAR) and part-time in the ER. It was the helicopter angle that interested me.
When the emergency helicopter is needed, the pilot tells the dispatcher their estimated air time to the event and they go. On arrival, they have a ground contact (fireman, cop) who tells them where they can land safely (away from wires and other obstructions.) Once they do, they go to the patient. If it's a "hot" pick up, they leave the rotor blades turning and the pilot stays with the helicopter. The nurse then gets on the radio to the hospital to which they are transporting the patient and advises them of the patient's condition, what they're doing to treat him/her and when they'll land.
It was an interesting read and the material was well-presented with explanations of "why" as well as "what" they do.
"Bedside Manners - One Doctor's Reflections on the Oddly Intimate Encounters Between Patient and Healer" by David Watts, MD Three Rivers Press $14.00 281 (largely worthless) pages
Watt is a physician, NPR commentator and a poet. If that isn't enough to scare you away, he writes conversations with no quotation marks at all. As a literary "style" it totally sucks and is major laziness or a literary conceit at its worst. I'm surprised his editors (if, in fact, any) let the book go through like that.
Watts is quite full of himself and prides himself on his "thoughtful" examinations (navel-gazing expeditions) of patients -- not only their illness, but motivations, personalities. Which incidentally provides nothing of medical help. Blathering about a woman's fear of exams (while she's resisting one) is a real time killer.
I could never recommend this book; the best I can do is advise you, 'Save yourself $14 and don't buy it.' The title alone should have sent me scampering away "Oddly Intimate Encounters"? Mea culpa -- don't let it be yours.
Working in the San Francisco Bay area, Hudson left a full-time job in ER to work for California Shock/Trauma Air Rescue (CALSTAR) and part-time in the ER. It was the helicopter angle that interested me.
When the emergency helicopter is needed, the pilot tells the dispatcher their estimated air time to the event and they go. On arrival, they have a ground contact (fireman, cop) who tells them where they can land safely (away from wires and other obstructions.) Once they do, they go to the patient. If it's a "hot" pick up, they leave the rotor blades turning and the pilot stays with the helicopter. The nurse then gets on the radio to the hospital to which they are transporting the patient and advises them of the patient's condition, what they're doing to treat him/her and when they'll land.
It was an interesting read and the material was well-presented with explanations of "why" as well as "what" they do.
"Bedside Manners - One Doctor's Reflections on the Oddly Intimate Encounters Between Patient and Healer" by David Watts, MD Three Rivers Press $14.00 281 (largely worthless) pages
Watt is a physician, NPR commentator and a poet. If that isn't enough to scare you away, he writes conversations with no quotation marks at all. As a literary "style" it totally sucks and is major laziness or a literary conceit at its worst. I'm surprised his editors (if, in fact, any) let the book go through like that.
Watts is quite full of himself and prides himself on his "thoughtful" examinations (navel-gazing expeditions) of patients -- not only their illness, but motivations, personalities. Which incidentally provides nothing of medical help. Blathering about a woman's fear of exams (while she's resisting one) is a real time killer.
I could never recommend this book; the best I can do is advise you, 'Save yourself $14 and don't buy it.' The title alone should have sent me scampering away "Oddly Intimate Encounters"? Mea culpa -- don't let it be yours.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
A New Literary Genre?
I love anecdotal books on "how I became a doctor," "The House of God" being a particular favorite (lots of dark humor.) When Richie kept hammering me to "Make a Christmas list!" I finally cracked and screamed, "Books! I want books!"
At Borders, I asked the Information Lady where they might be located and I was fumbling to describe them. She smiled, nodded and said, "Medical narrative - follow me." In no particular order ...
"Kill as Few Patients as Possible" by Oscar London, MD, WBD Ten Speed Press 414.95 110 pages
"Oscar London" is not his real name; he's a retired internist in the Berkley area. Some of his witticisms, gleaned from these 57 essays:
* "Hug a patient? Hire a lawyer!"
* "If you don't believe in prescribing Xanax for your anxious patients, be sure to take one yourself."
* "A good nurse, like a good loaf of bread, is the staff of life and the crustier the better."
"On Call: a Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency" by Emily Transue, MD St. Martin's Griffin $14.95 242 pages
Transue, currently based in Seattle, is thoughtful about the responsibilities of medicine, has a good sense of humor and seems to be a practical person. There are 45 chapters of anecdotes about patients and staff as well as her thoughts on both. She opens the book by stating that students wear short jackets; interns and residents wear long coats. A quick glance reveals that person's status in the hierarchy. Getting her long white coat, she writes, made her feel (finally) that she was, in fact, a doctor.
At Borders, I asked the Information Lady where they might be located and I was fumbling to describe them. She smiled, nodded and said, "Medical narrative - follow me." In no particular order ...
"Kill as Few Patients as Possible" by Oscar London, MD, WBD Ten Speed Press 414.95 110 pages
"Oscar London" is not his real name; he's a retired internist in the Berkley area. Some of his witticisms, gleaned from these 57 essays:
* "Hug a patient? Hire a lawyer!"
* "If you don't believe in prescribing Xanax for your anxious patients, be sure to take one yourself."
* "A good nurse, like a good loaf of bread, is the staff of life and the crustier the better."
"On Call: a Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency" by Emily Transue, MD St. Martin's Griffin $14.95 242 pages
Transue, currently based in Seattle, is thoughtful about the responsibilities of medicine, has a good sense of humor and seems to be a practical person. There are 45 chapters of anecdotes about patients and staff as well as her thoughts on both. She opens the book by stating that students wear short jackets; interns and residents wear long coats. A quick glance reveals that person's status in the hierarchy. Getting her long white coat, she writes, made her feel (finally) that she was, in fact, a doctor.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
The Meatloaf Wars
When Richie and I were first married, from time to time he would crave comfort food and make his mother's recipe meatloaf. In the first blush of newlywed happiness, I ate it. But as the years passed, I began to loathe it more and more. It was: hamburger, egg, bread crumbs and topped with tomato sauce, straight out of the can. It was salty and bitter which is hard to achieve.
I began to rebel and Richie, to his credit, tried to improve the recipe (and shut me up.) He added chopped onion and garlic; he topped it off with Tiger sauce or salsa -- anything but tomato sauce.
I still didn't like it. I don't know if he overworked the meat (it was tough) or didn't add enough liquid; all I knew was that I hated it. And I didn't suffer in silence either, you may be very sure of that.
Yesterday, he brandished the January '09 issue of Bon Appetite and said, "I'm making meatloaf tonight."
It turned out better than any previous attempt. Because I'd never heard of mixing chopped bacon and bread crumbs with the hamburger, here's the recipe:
BEEF AND BACON MEATLOAF
1 large onion, coarsely diced
3 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/4 lbs. ground beef 10% fat (we eat 20% because 10% is tougher than a banker's heart)
1/2 cup ketchup, divided (he used salsa; we don't have ketchup, neither of us eats it)
2 large eggs
1 teas. black pepper
3 slices thick-cut (raw) bacon; 2 cups coarsely chopped,1 slice halved lengthwise for garnish
4 slices white sandwich bread, torn into pieces (he used two)
3 T chopped parsley (omitted)
Oven 400 - check.
Blend the onion and garlic in a food processor (save energy, use a chef's knife instead) transfer to a big bowl and add the beef, 1/4 cup ketchup, eggs and pepper.
Put the bacon and bread in the food processor and pulse until the bread is chopped (get some exercise, use your chef's knife.) Add this to the beef, add the parsley and stir well.
Put all of the above in a meatloaf pan, arrange the bacon slices down the top of the meatloaf, spoon the rest of the ketchup between the bacon slices and bake for one hour. Let it rest 10 to 15 minutes and serve.
I began to rebel and Richie, to his credit, tried to improve the recipe (and shut me up.) He added chopped onion and garlic; he topped it off with Tiger sauce or salsa -- anything but tomato sauce.
I still didn't like it. I don't know if he overworked the meat (it was tough) or didn't add enough liquid; all I knew was that I hated it. And I didn't suffer in silence either, you may be very sure of that.
Yesterday, he brandished the January '09 issue of Bon Appetite and said, "I'm making meatloaf tonight."
It turned out better than any previous attempt. Because I'd never heard of mixing chopped bacon and bread crumbs with the hamburger, here's the recipe:
BEEF AND BACON MEATLOAF
1 large onion, coarsely diced
3 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/4 lbs. ground beef 10% fat (we eat 20% because 10% is tougher than a banker's heart)
1/2 cup ketchup, divided (he used salsa; we don't have ketchup, neither of us eats it)
2 large eggs
1 teas. black pepper
3 slices thick-cut (raw) bacon; 2 cups coarsely chopped,1 slice halved lengthwise for garnish
4 slices white sandwich bread, torn into pieces (he used two)
3 T chopped parsley (omitted)
Oven 400 - check.
Blend the onion and garlic in a food processor (save energy, use a chef's knife instead) transfer to a big bowl and add the beef, 1/4 cup ketchup, eggs and pepper.
Put the bacon and bread in the food processor and pulse until the bread is chopped (get some exercise, use your chef's knife.) Add this to the beef, add the parsley and stir well.
Put all of the above in a meatloaf pan, arrange the bacon slices down the top of the meatloaf, spoon the rest of the ketchup between the bacon slices and bake for one hour. Let it rest 10 to 15 minutes and serve.
Friday, January 2, 2009
January 2, 2009
This is such a cliche that I'm almost ashamed of myself for reporting it, but on the other hand, while I'd heard of this phenomenom, I'd never seen it before.
Our gym was packed! The first clue was the underground parking lot. The entrance booth guard arm was up. No one had to take a parking ticket (validated in the gym.) Cars were knotted around one another trying to get out of or into a parking space. This is a six-level underground garage, people ...
It should be said that on any normal day, trying to park there between 8:45 and 9 a.m. is murder. Young women (never good drivers to begin with) are feverishly trying to park while yelling into a cell phone or at their rug rat kids making it hazardous for everyone else. They are determined -- "I will get the front row!" at yoga or spinning class.
There was a momentary lull in people coming in when we arrived at the desk. The little receptionist said, perkily, 'How're you today?" and I replied, "I'm laughing -- these are all Resolution! people" and she grinned in acknowledgement. We both knew that by next week, the traffic flow will have ebbed.
Upstairs the gym floor was equally crowded. My heart sank -- today it would take me 25 minutes to do my 15 minute workout. All of the treadmills were making a rhythmic, thumping sound. (So lovely to hear when it isn't One making that sound.) Oddly enough the annex with all-abs machines had only one person in it. It might have been kinder of me to tell this guy that the abs machine is not going to do much, if anything at all, for his massive beer gut instead of just grinning to myself.
The crowd was mainly mid-30s to late 50s in a variety of clothing. I saw a faded t-shirt (band logo no longer readable) with plaid shorts, black mid-calf hose and running shoes to give you an idea... One could say that many of them looked like they'd been rode hard and put away wet.
But by as soon as next Monday, most of them will be gone, victims of muscle pulls, fatigue, inertia and discouragement. "But! But I went to the gym all weekend! Why am I still fat?"
Our gym was packed! The first clue was the underground parking lot. The entrance booth guard arm was up. No one had to take a parking ticket (validated in the gym.) Cars were knotted around one another trying to get out of or into a parking space. This is a six-level underground garage, people ...
It should be said that on any normal day, trying to park there between 8:45 and 9 a.m. is murder. Young women (never good drivers to begin with) are feverishly trying to park while yelling into a cell phone or at their rug rat kids making it hazardous for everyone else. They are determined -- "I will get the front row!" at yoga or spinning class.
There was a momentary lull in people coming in when we arrived at the desk. The little receptionist said, perkily, 'How're you today?" and I replied, "I'm laughing -- these are all Resolution! people" and she grinned in acknowledgement. We both knew that by next week, the traffic flow will have ebbed.
Upstairs the gym floor was equally crowded. My heart sank -- today it would take me 25 minutes to do my 15 minute workout. All of the treadmills were making a rhythmic, thumping sound. (So lovely to hear when it isn't One making that sound.) Oddly enough the annex with all-abs machines had only one person in it. It might have been kinder of me to tell this guy that the abs machine is not going to do much, if anything at all, for his massive beer gut instead of just grinning to myself.
The crowd was mainly mid-30s to late 50s in a variety of clothing. I saw a faded t-shirt (band logo no longer readable) with plaid shorts, black mid-calf hose and running shoes to give you an idea... One could say that many of them looked like they'd been rode hard and put away wet.
But by as soon as next Monday, most of them will be gone, victims of muscle pulls, fatigue, inertia and discouragement. "But! But I went to the gym all weekend! Why am I still fat?"
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Then and Now
2008
Adieu to two fine writers - Edith Battles, 87, and Jean Desmond, 88.
Highlights (in order of appearance)
* All new windows and a new balcony door! Not nearly as hot as it used to be during the summer; not nearly as cold as it was in winter. Yesssss! Bliss!
* My 50th high school reunion in Kansas City, MO. It's always good to see the old home town, but my goodness, who were all those old people?
* Michelle flew in from France; first time in 14 years!
Business As Usual: Attending the K9 trials, the St. Patrick's Day parade, Memorial and Labor Day Fiestas in Hermosa Beach; CERT drills and their annual picnic; Beach Cities Health District's annual picnic and Christmas dinner for volunteers; the monthly jazz concerts, Richie's annual train trip to San Diego with D and Mouton to see a Padre's game and the family charity golf tournament (and unofficial reunion) in South Texas. Lots of fun times with our friends - a good year.
2009
No resolutions, just the fervent hope that God will give me the ability to deal ably with any circumstances lobbed my way this year.
Adieu to two fine writers - Edith Battles, 87, and Jean Desmond, 88.
Highlights (in order of appearance)
* All new windows and a new balcony door! Not nearly as hot as it used to be during the summer; not nearly as cold as it was in winter. Yesssss! Bliss!
* My 50th high school reunion in Kansas City, MO. It's always good to see the old home town, but my goodness, who were all those old people?
* Michelle flew in from France; first time in 14 years!
Business As Usual: Attending the K9 trials, the St. Patrick's Day parade, Memorial and Labor Day Fiestas in Hermosa Beach; CERT drills and their annual picnic; Beach Cities Health District's annual picnic and Christmas dinner for volunteers; the monthly jazz concerts, Richie's annual train trip to San Diego with D and Mouton to see a Padre's game and the family charity golf tournament (and unofficial reunion) in South Texas. Lots of fun times with our friends - a good year.
2009
No resolutions, just the fervent hope that God will give me the ability to deal ably with any circumstances lobbed my way this year.
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