Pastry / basting brushes

Le Creuset® Revolution Silicone Brush

Some manufacturers sell one kind while some sell two distinct items and only few are honest enough to name it pasty / basting brush. I can imagine you need longer handle for basting to stay away from hot oven while redistributing juices or applying flavoured oils or herbs. And shorter handle comes handy when applying glazing to the pastry. But at the end (pun intended) it's the same brush and you can use it for either task.


Cooks used brushes for centuries. Made of feathered bird wings (I wonder how those were prepared to avoid spoiling), bird feathers, natural bristles. Now there is nylon and silicone. For some reason I dislike nylon so no more will be said on nylon brushes.

You can't buy feather brushes other than in arts and crafts store (not to be used in the kitchen) and in speciality stores. Feathers are imported from overseas.

See natural boar bristle brush at Williams-Sonoma.

$13 @ Williams-Sonoma

And now there is silicone.  Featuring silicone brushes from Sur La Table.  Amazing art of describing a product - premium silicone is dishwasher safe, hand wash the wood handle. 


Silicone brushes come in any colour you may desire and are cute.
Silicone brushes don't hold liquid as well as natural ones but cleaning is easier and they won't shed bristles into your food - that's guaranteed.
Silicone brush is supposed to tolerate heat. It will also melt ungracefully if you put it in direct contact with hot metal surface. So don't. 

For some reason I dislike bristles in baked goods. A single bristle in my plate can turn my stomach upside down.
I don't know what's worse - nylon bristles or natural bristles.
The featured boar brush is advertised as the one that is holding it's bristles well. But who knows. Switched to silicone brushes because of bristle phobia.

Dieting

My goal is to lose 5% of my current weight which should bring me down to 124-125 lb.
Weight loss is not my only objective.
I keep reading about losing 10 pounds in a week, losing 10 pounds in 3 days, losing 10 pounds in 48 hours.
I am not sure rapid weight loss is sustainable. Or particularly good for your body.
My miracle diet should get me there in 6 weeks.
Every week I'll be describing what I've done to make it happen.

Where is the miracle, one would ask.
One pound a week and that's it?
Here is my modest miracle.
My weight won't go up in the next 6 weeks.
My weight won't go up in the next 12 weeks.

Healthy recipes? Daily exercise? Changing focus from filling yourself with food to filling your life with more life? I don't know. All I know I'll make it happen.
Stay tuned.

Search America's Best Food Database

Angry birds party

Mostly for kids.
But I don't see why adults fond of Angry Birds and with some money to spare (probably because they don't waste any on kids) can't have a themed party.

Real slingshots and real eggs... Awesome idea, isn't it? A bit messy. Don't try it at home.

Tablecloth, napkins, plates, cups.

Source: BirthdayDirect

And most important - 8'' angry birds to throw and hit each other!

Breivik in court

Declaring himself an "anti-Nazi", Breivik said Knights Templar had made a conscious decision to distance itself from national socialism "because it was quite blood-stained". He added: "We felt it completely essential to do so. For the extreme right to ever be able to prevail in Europe in the future, one had to distance oneself from the old-school ideology."

The difference between him and Hitler, he said, was that "the pillar of National Socialism is expansionism; I am an isolationist". He was also "more liberal on ethnicity" than the Nazis, he added, suggesting he could accept it if "around 2%" of Norway's population was "non-indigenous".

Source: The Guardian, Anders Breivik prefers execution over 'pathetic' jail term

And now take away the beets

#1. Arugula salad with beets

So I cooked my beets the following way: peeled raw beets, cubed them (that was tough and I don't want to do it again), tossed with olive oil, squeezed orange juice and salt and roasted in the oven for about 40 minutes. Let them cool down.
Then I made arugula salad with roasted beets and orange wedges, dressed with squeezed garlic, olive oil and - since obviously something was missing - lemon juice.

#2. Baby spinach and beets salad

Next time I roasted my beets cut in halves in the oven with small amount of oil. That was easier than cutting raw beets but still not enjoyable; I also took the "dirty" top off. The process takes a long time. Allowed them to cool down, peeled and sliced. Then I made baby spinach salad with beets, goat cheese, pine nuts and olive oil. Beets were sweet and tasty.

One can easily substitute the beets which dried cranberries.
Goat cheese goes well with something sweet but beets require extended prep time. I would say cooking beets in #2 is simple but if you want to cook your salad when you guests are already at the doorstep, forget the beets.

One should figure the least troublesome way to obtain cooked beets, given his lifestyle, habits, heritage and what not. 
Beets are good for you. Cooked unpeeled beets keep well in the fridge. I heard of people buying cooked packaged beets in the store. But if you are into home cooking - baking, roasting or boiling? I vote for boiling, definitely less effort and less fat.

Arugula salad for breakfast

Simple, elegant, tasty, healthy.
Rushing for work?
Relaxing at home?
Try it, try it, and you may.
You may like it.

Take a nice ceramic or glass bow to enjoy your meal.
Put a very generous heap of arugula,
Mix extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and squeezed garlic in Kuhn Rikon Vase Wisk. Or just pour some olive oil onto the leaves. Toss your arugula with dressing and top with pine nuts. Or you may add some goat cheese crumbs and dried cranberries. This salad - now we may call it salad - is delicious, surprisingly filling and absolutely great for your diet.
Conclude your breakfast with an apple and a glass of water.

Kuhn Rikon Vase Wisk @ Amazon

Picardie Glass @ Crate & Barrel

"PEACE, LOVE, AND ANGRY BIRDS! "

Wired, April 7, 2012 In depth: How Rovio made Angry Birds a winner (and what's next)

Angry Birds is the first waste of 75 millions people's time that can be accurately quantified. Every day, users spend 200 million minutes -- 16 years every hour -- playing the mobile game. Three trillion pigs have been popped. It has filled billions of those interstitial moments spent riding the bus, on a plane or in important work meetings, and it is or has been the number-one paid app on iTunes in 68 countries, as well as the best-selling paid app of all time. It went straight to the top of the new Mac App Store in January, selling 150,000 copies in its first week. Sixty thousand Angry Birds soft toys have been sold...On an island in the Pacific, the goal is to fling a squadron of kamikaze birds at gormless green pigs. The birds have just cause: the pigs stole their eggs. The swine took refuge in, and on, easily collapsible structures. The game is physics-based -- you adjust the trajectory and power of the slingshot with your finger -- and very, very addictive. Rovio, the Finnish developer behind the title, certainly got lucky.

Beets boiled, roasted, pickled, raw...

Roasting beets is a marvelous way to cook them! Peel them while raw, cut them up into cubes (I like them small, about 1/2"), toss them with olive oil, salt & pepper, then roast at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. They caramelize beautifully.
***
Per boil the beet whole, unpeeled. Chill, peel and cube into bite size pieces. Add some freshly squeezed orange juice and some orange zest. Keep it in the fridge until ready to serve. Before serving add thinly sliced shallots and pinch of white pepper powder.
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I cut raw beets into bite-size pieces (really, a wide range of sizes) and drop the pieces into a boiling mixture of half white vinegar and half water, plus a good shot of sugar and a pinch of salt. Take off the heat immediately, and serve chilled. These keep for weeks, they are ready almost immediately, they "crunch" real good, and they are seriously yummy pickles.
***

Roast covered at 350 for about an hour or until cooked through depending on the size. Let them cool enough to handle and the peel should come off easily. You can easily do this a day or two head of time.
***
They are great in salads with spinach, goat cheese, apples and balsamic. 
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Sauté in brown butter with chard and roasted hazelnuts.

***
Beets  are lovely roasted and then marinated in a citrusy (esp. orange) vinaigrette. I like to add orange slices and red onion slivers, but you can obviously leave out the onion. I also like to sprinkle a generous amount of coarse salt, black pepper, and chopped parsley or chives over them. And I love beets w/toasted pistachios.
***
They're also great w/slices of apple or pear, in a composed salad, with walnuts or pecans.
***
Beets tossed w/apple and a bit of horseradish cream--also delicious if you can get past the cream. 
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Boiled a couple of beets, let them cool, peeled and shredded them (with a mandoline but a cheese grater would work) added mayonnaise, a little minced garlic, black pepper and a little kosher salt.
***
Classic combo of goat cheese, beets, and nuts.
***
After you roast and peel them, make a salad with orange slices (Or clementines), fennel, onions, salt and pepper and a light oil/lemon juice dressing.  
***
A salad of shredded raw beets is my favorite way of eating them- you can even treat it as a 'slaw' and use it as a sandwich topping. Just add sliced onion, chiles and plenty of chopped cilantro, dressed with lemon juice and salt. That's about all you need to do, if you add other ingredients the beets will tend to dominate them anyway, although a topping of goat cheese or feta can stand up to it pretty well if you prefer that component.

Source: Chowhound  & many more recipes if you follow "beet" links.
 
Side note: for mixed veggie salad, If you like to preserve each vegetable's natural color, cut beet root first, and pour 1-2 tbsp olive oil on it. Turn to coat. Then add other veggies. Oil will prevent beets from coloring other veggies.

Choppers and potato fries

Paid $20 for vegetable chopper @ Costco.
Similar to this one (Williams -Sonoma).

or rather this one (Progressive International GPC-4000 Fruit and Vegetable Chopper, Amazon)

The one I longed for was potato cutter for making fries.
This one is fine for chopping boiled vegetables. Indeed you chop faster and get to eat potato salad more often but that was not the point. I managed to cut raw potatoes but it was not a pleasurable experience. I read reviews about another chopper customers raved about. But they sounded like "it's great but you need to attach it to kitchen wall for better performance".  I have to admit I don't have  understanding of potato choppers, cutters and slicer. I can imagine that all-metal mandoline or a good sharp knife will do a better job. The issue is with supplying a pair of hands and a fair amount of patience. The latter is not my virtue. So one day I'll find my dream chopper.

And till then - as sad as it is - I will stay away from fries.

If health reform bill goes thru...

The new increases in Medicare taxes will apply to individuals making more than $200,000 a year, or $250,000 for married couples.
The measure, set to go into effect next year, is estimated to raise more than $200 billion over 10 years.
Roughly 4 million households -- or 2.4% -- will be affected by the increase initially, according to new estimates from the Tax Policy Center. By 2022 that number will grow to 8.3 million, or 4.6%.

Source: Health reform's tax bite By Jeanne Sahadi @CNNMoney March 30, 2012