Dec: Persimmon Cranberry Sauce

This is a great holiday recipe. I originally created this to go along with pumpkin pie. To use a word people use to refer to something tasting special, this sauce is quite "yummy". :)

This sauce works best made with Fuyu persimmons. I've tried making it with the slightly larger, oblong-conical variety (Hachiya), but those persimmons are way to pithy.

3 Fuyu persimmons (peeled)
5-6oz cranberries
1½ apple cider
1/3 can cranberry sauce
1 small cinnamon stick
1 pinch salt
½+ tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Peel the persimmons with a sharp knife and cut them into 8 wedges. Put them in a skillet with everything else except the vanilla. Cook until the persimmons are soften and easily pierced with a fork. Then add the vanilla and turn off heat. Remove the cinnamon stick and pour into a blender or the bowl of a hand blender (see the end of this post). If using the hand blender you will need to do two batches. Blend the sauce until it is smooth.

The sauce is ready to serve or it can be jarred and refrigerated for up to a couple weeks (maybe more).

Click here for a printer friendly version of this recipe

Seasons greetings from the Autumn fruits

What the fruit display in our kitchen looks like.

Thank you Howards for the pomegranates from your pomegranate tree
Thank you Werzinskis for the persimmons from your persimmon tree
Thank you Aunt Dorie for the lemons from your lemon tree
Thank you Raleys for the apples from the um...um...the aisle

Nov: Pita Bread

Here's the Pita recipe I promised you. It comes out of The Armenian Table. Pita is super with Hummus, either fresh or toasted. And I think the effort is worth it. Not every time you make Hummus, but sometimes.

Makes twelve 8 inch pita breads

2 cups warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp active dry yeast
3 more cups all-purpose flour

If you have a Bosch or other kitchen mixer, add the water, oil, sugar, and salt and spin. Add the first three cups of flour and mix to combine. Add the yeast and mix. With the motor running, add the last three cups of flour until the dough pulls from the side of the bowl. Knead for five minutes.

Dump it out and form into a nice tidy ball. Put it into an oiled bowl and oil the top of the ball. Cover and set aside in a warm place for an hour or so until it is doubled in bulk.

Punch it down and let it rest for a few minutes. Preheat oven to 500°F. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. On a floured surface roll out each portion to make an 8 inch circle about 1/8 inch thick (get your tape measures ready :). Let each pita rest for about 10 minutes before putting them in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes, until the pitas are beginning to turn golden but not at all crispy. Halfway through cooking check the pitas to make sure they’re cooking evenly…you might need to rotate baking sheets or something. Of course, you don’t have to bake them all at once. Bake them in batches Roll out the last ones while the first ones are baking.

The pitas may be served right away or toasted to get a nice crispy effect (which is quite good for Hummus). Or, cool completely and store in plastic bags at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Click here for a printer friendly version of this recipe.

Good Post on Fairy-Stories

Here's a really good post by Aaron (and Tolkien) on fairy-stories.

Through all the crannies of the world we filled
with Elves and Goblins, though we dared to build
Gods and their houses out of dark and light,
and sowed the seed of dragons - 'twas our right
(used or misused). That right has not decayed:
we make still by the law in which we're made."

This is not a whole thing

If you asked me if I had any favorite artists, one of the first I would mention is Bebo. I like Bebo Norman. I’ve collected all his CDs now...there’s not a bad one in the stack. Got to see him in concert the other day and stuff. Totally awesome.



I thought about writing this whole thing about how I like Bebo as an artist. But what can I say? If you like pop/rock type folk Christian contemporary music you’ll like the stuff. Great music and it even has a little depth.

Picture of me with bebo after the concert :)

A Useless Debate?

Well here’s my first post about a book I read. I hope you find it interesting. If you are familiar with the subject you probably know it can be a hot topic.

The King James Only Controversy by James White was a book assigned to me to read, that I ended up finding quite interesting and informative. It is truly too bad that such a thing as bible translations can separate the church. Whether you use this version or that should be everyone’s personal choice and your faith and devotion to the Lord should not be questioned based on that issue. Whether or not it should be an issue, it’s still an issue; one we find ourselves in the middle of sometimes. And so, in such situations, it helps to be informed on the facts if we desire to be peacemakers (Mat 5:9). And that is one of the things this book is useful for.

There are those people, who are “missionaries” for the KJV only cause, trying to convince Christians that the new versions are heretical and satanic by presenting them with unproven “facts” and misrepresentation. They say that if you’re not reading the KJV, you’re not reading the word of God, and so we find this group of people appropriately called “King James Only Advocates”. White does an astounding job in dealing with the claims these people make that cause people to wonder as to whether or not what they hold in their hands is the Bible. So what causes KJV only advocates to be so strong and adamant in their position?

I think what it comes down to is tradition. If someone grows up with the KJV, then something new comes out that is different, and may I say improved, they’ll raise a suspicious eyebrow and then compare these new translations with their KJV. And here, my friend, lies the problem. True, the NIV or NASB differs from the KJV in many areas, but the translations differ because the texts they are based on differ. One cannot simply take the KJV, the Bible they’re used to and the assumed standard, and compare it with another and say, “see this deletion?” or “see this change?”. If we look past the surface we’ll find how the various Hebrew and Greek texts vary.

There are no two texts that are word for word. Scribal error, harmonization, and/or expansion of piety (for example, extending Jesus to Jesus Christ or Lord Jesus Christ) make up a lot of the differences between the translations. And so, Textual Criticism is used to determine which of the variant readings the manuscripts give is the original one. When God preserved his word, he did so in such a way that it could not be altered in any fundamental way. But he did so in a way that allowed for Textual Variation. I might add that reading this book also convinced me that none of the differences in translations or texts are doctrinally significant.

To illustrate how people’s traditions influence their view of new translations, let’s look at some history. I quote James White from page 17 with reference to the opposition and resistance certain scholars received when translating their works.

"Jerome takes the heat for translating the Vulgate, which eventually becomes the standard. Erasmus then takes the heat for challenging Jerome and for publishing the Greek New Testament. Then, four hundred years later, it is Erasmus’ work itself, in the form of the Textus Receptus, which has become enshrined as “tradition” by advocates of the AV! He who once resisted tradition has become the tradition itself. The cycle continues. Will there someday be an “NIV Only” movement? We can only hope not."

It's amusing and sad at the same time. What I say is take whatever translation you happen to have on your shelf, pray for understanding, and God will reveal his heart to you through it. If what thou findest thyself reading is an old English KJV, then mayest thy God bless thee. If you find the Lord in the NIV, then cool! If you’re Hispanic and all you can read is the Santa Biblia, then muy bueno. If it’s Da Jesus Book, well, den all you guys betta watch out cuz dem fellas who thinks yous gotta have dat King what’s-his-name bible and none oda are gonna come afta ya and kick a you offa yo heals.

James White is an apologist and the president of Alpha Omega Ministries.

This book is separated into two parts. I didn’t read Part two (The Textual Data), which goes deeper into the subject and makes up the last 30 pages of the book.

P52
(the oldest known manuscript fragment of the new testament)

Deep Enough To Dream

Lazy summer afternoon

Screened-in porch and nothin’ to do
I just kicked off my tennis shoes
Slouchin’ in a plastic chair
Rakin’ my fingers through my hair
I close my eyes and I leave ‘em there
And I yawn, and sigh, and slowly fade away

Deep enough to dream in brilliant colors I have never seen
Deep enough to join a billion people for a wedding feast
Deep enough to reach out and touch the face of the One who made me
And oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up

Awakened by a familiar sound
A clumsy fly is buzzin’ around
He bumps the screen and he tumbles down
He gathers about his wits and pride
And tries again for the hundredth time
‘Cause freedom calls from the other side
And I smile and nod, and slowly drift away

Deep enough to dream in brilliant colors I have never seen
Deep enough to join a billion people for a wedding feast
Deep enough to reach out and touch the face of the One who made me
And oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up

‘Cause peace is pouring over my soul
See the lambs and the lions playin’
I join in and I drink the music
Holiness is the air I’m breathin’
My faithful heroes break the bread and answer all of my questions
Not to mention what the streets are made of
My heart’s held hostage by this love

...Do I ever have to wake up
Do I ever have to wake up
Do I really have to wake up now

- Chris Rice

Happy First Day of November

Thank you all for voting. We're going to keep the new look! I was going to anyway. :)

Ahh, Much Better

Wow, I was pretty tired of that gray stuff. It's about time I personalized my blog a little a made it more interesting. Not only for you but for me too. :) I still plan on making some minor changes and adding a few things (as well as posts).

I also added a really cool poll, which you see on the top of my sidebar. Right over there in case you still don't see it ----->

Go ahead and vote just for fun. If you choose the fourth option from the top, I won't take you seriously. The poll will be active until the end of the month. I already put my vote in.

Thanks for coming to my blog and have a great day!

Farewell old gray man, farewell old gray blog.

BY THE WAY

U'mm, just in case you think something looks a little off or a little funny over the next little while...well...it is and I know. My blog is going through some changes. I guess it's going to look worse before it looks better!

Please bear with me...

Hummus di Tahini

Lets go for another recipe! Over the past few months I’ve been enjoying experimenting with making Hummus. Hummus is a Middle Eastern condiment or dip and is made up primarily of chickpeas, Tahini (sesame paste…see below), lemon juice, and olive oil.

With our Middle Eastern roots (Armenia) I have enjoyed exploring its cuisine. Hummus is a staple in Armenia. Hummus and pita (or other crispy type stuff made with grain) not only makes for a great addition to your Mediterranean meal but also works with many other menus or just as a snack. I’ve made it a number of times and we all enjoy it...practically all of us anyway. Aaron’s like, “who wants to eat puréed beans?”.

I must confess I do use the canned, already cooked chickpeas when I make Hummus. Not only are they much more readily available than dried ones, but they are a whole lot more convenient. Whenever you feel like Hummus, just pop open a can and blend it up...you can skip the whole bean cooking process. Although I’m sure cooking them yourself will be more authentic tasting. So, I recommend doing that…even though I don’t myself! :) Where on earth do you buy dried chickpeas anyway? If you have a good resource then let me know.

So what does it take to make good Hummus? Well, you need a blender. You also need practice. Make a few batches and get the amounts dialed in to you liking. How much and how little of the different ingredients to use is really a subjective thing. You might like the consistency more thin than thick, you might like it extra lemony, or you might like only a hint of the Tahini. After you’ve made a few batches you’ll get a feel for the amounts, but here’s something to go off of to get you started.

Basic Hummus Recipe
I think maybe this probably might make about 3 cups. Perhaps. Maybe more? Maybe less?

2 cans of cooked chickpeas (reserve the juice from one of the cans)
3+ garlic cloves
¾ cup olive oil, extra virgin is cool if you have it (you could skimp on this if you don’t want to put that much in, once I totally forgot it!)
-½ cup fresh lemon juice
½ cup Tahini paste (see below)
1+ teaspoon kosher salt
Reserved chickpea liquid as needed
Cumin

Put all the ingredients in a blender and let it rip. Yahoo! I like it smooth, so I run that baby for a little while. If the blender is having trouble, there’s no problem in thinning it out with a little of the reserved liquid from the chickpeas. I like to add some fresh ground cumin to taste and drizzle olive oil on top. You could also sprinkle some chopped parsley on top.

So there you have it! That’s the trick. It’ll keep in the fridge for at least a week. That is if everybody doesn’t scarf it up right out of the blender! And if it does make it to the fridge, no guarantees it will be there in a week…it might be just what that hungry refrigerator prowler was looking for. :)

Click here for a printer friendly version of this recipe.

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Now I want to share with you some ways to spice it up a bit.

This is where it gets fun. What I gave you was a basic foundation, and don’t get me wrong, that’s good just by itself like that. But how about adding another element? Another flavor? Yeah, that sounds good! What would be good to add? Well here are some suggestions. Most of these I have done.

Kalamata olive: Hand chop some Kalamata olives (like a ½ cup of whole, pitted olives) and stir them in at the end. See the end of this post to learn about Kalamatas. This Hummus is one of my favorites. You can top it with some parsley.

Roasted Garlic: Roast a head of garlic and lightly blend it in at the very end. You might even just chop it by hand and stir it in.

Roasted pepper: Either use a red bell pepper or somethin’ with some spice like an Anaheim or a couple Jalapeños. Burn the skin of the peppers underneath your broiler, over your gas stove, or on the grill. Then peal the burnt skin off and remove the seeds if you haven’t already. Lightly blend them into the Hummus.

Lime Sub-lime: It’s not Jamba Juice, but it’s good! Substitute lime for lemon in the basic recipe. You might use a little less lime. Top the Hummus with cilantro.

Sun-dried Tomato: Lightly blend in some sun-dried tomatoes at the end!

Spicy: Spice it up! Add a ¼ teaspoon or so of cayenne.

Have fun experimenting and enjoy.


Tahini (Sesame Paste)

All Tahini is, is hulled sesame seeds that have been ground up. It’s kind of like peanut butter only sesame. Tahini is really not very good eaten by itself (it’s a little bitter) but you gotta have it in your Hummus. If you can find it, get it unsalted.

Which brings us to our next topic: where do you get it? We actually have gotten ours from the Azure Standard food co-op. I really like and recommend the MaraNatha brand Tahini that they sell. So buy that kind. Then you can say, “I have the kind that Peter recommended.” And that would just be really cool. If you don’t do Azure, you can pick it up here. Whole Foods also sells Tahini under their 365 brand.

What else is Tahini good for? If you interested here’s Wikipedia on Tahini…see “Uses”. The MaraNatha jar says, “Dress up your dressings by adding a bit of Tahini…”. Personally, I don’t think that would be very good if they mean salad dressings. But there you have it. :)

There is such thing as Asian Tahini, and that is made with unhulled seeds.

Congratulations for reading this far!
Go to the comments for a couple tips and tricks!

My Armenian Grandpa enjoying a Sundried tomato Hummus that I made. He remembers eating Hummus growing up.

Accident in the mountains

Continuing the case on the Woolly Mammoth Crisis...

For one thing, you should stay as far away from these creatures as you can, especially the high elevation ones. For another thing, if you've ever tried to ride one you know how hard it is to stay on...the wooliness of it and the wide back make it a very slippery and precarious ride indeed (not to mention, you never know what a wild Woolly Mammoth would do if it finds it has a human on its back!). It's a very dangerous endeavor to ride a Woolly Mammoth, trust me. But hey, the experience is priceless. Only, we can do without the falling part.

I was attempting a maneuver that wasn't the smartest and slipped and fell like you see in this picture. I finally skidded to a stop somewhere off the picture.

Docter vs. Patient (click picture to enlarge)

Wilderness first aid

Admiring each others patches

The mummy

Whose idea was this? Gross!

Interview at camp (video)

For a whole bunch of pictures from our trip go here.

My bandage is loosing it's stickiness.

Alex dies.

This bird was used to do a lot of research on the intelligence of the species. He demonstrated the potential a bird can have intellectually in regard to comprehension if worked with and trained. People get weird about the intelligence of animals...I just think it's cool to have a pet you can have a conversion with!

Alex was a Congo African Grey, probably my favorite breed of parrot. Anyway, Alex recently died. :(

New Picture

So I want to refresh the look of my blog soon, but for now we have a new picture. That's me a couple weeks ago on a camping trip.

Lunar Eclipse (08-28-07)

Let's get at least one August post in here...

These pics I took last night and with my new Nikon D40 through Jesse's binoculars (which I kind of had to beg him to use). So, thanks to Jesse's kindness and my persistence I managed to get these shots...better than I thought I'd get through the simple small pair of binochs. The pictures are somewhat edited in Picasa. I mainly just clarified them a bit and did some cropping. That's not a crime, is it? Thanks for having a look!

There the eclipse is happening.

This is called "moon writing". It's an art that is harder than it may seem.

Bagpipes at the top of Half Dome

Whens the next performance!

Homemade Mint Chip Ice Cream

We made this Ice Cream for the fourth and it turned out (or churned out) exceptionally well. This recipe makes a large, family sized batch, so, unless you have a big enough ice cream maker, you might cut it down a bit. Or, if you’re having a party, make a couple batches!

We have had problems, and maybe you have too, with the ice cream freezing too hard. This recipe with this preparation froze to a really nice consistency. There is some left over in the freezer right now and it’s still quite soft.

I used almost a half pound of Trader Joe’s 72% dark chocolate. It was awesome, especially if you like chocolate. Some thought it wasn’t sweet enough and that there was too much. And then some, myself included, thought it was just right. If you're using a chunk of chocolate like I did, slice / shave it, then chop it up a bit. You should know when it is chopped to the right size...just feel it. (: After you have shaved and chopped the chocolate, you'll notice that there is a powder that as accumulated. I think it is best to sift that out...you just want chunks in the ice cream; you don't want that powder to turn it in any way brown. It was super easy to sift it out just using an ordinary plastic strainer (a sieve would probably work too).

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Makes 6 quarts

4 cups (2 pints) whipping cream
1 qt half and half
6 cups whole milk

17 egg yolks
28 oz sugar

3 tsp peppermint extract (flavorganics is what we used)
6 to 8 oz chopped dark chocolate
12 drops of green

Heat the milk ingredients to a low simmer. Meanwhile, separate the egg yolks into a medium to large sized bowl. Wisk the yokes until they have lightened in color and about doubled in volume. Add the sugar slowly to the yolks.

Scoop out some of the milk (a quarter to a third) and slowly pour it into the yolks to temper them. Be sure to be whisking the yolks while pouring the hot milk into them, it works best with two people. Now stir the tempered mixture into the rest of the hot milk. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 170° to 175°. Turn of heat and pour into a refrigerator proof bowl with a lid. Chill the mixture for 4 hours or preferably overnight.

Churn the ice cream in your maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions and blah blah blah. Now you can either add the extract, chocolate and green in a little before the ice cream is done churning and let the ice cream maker do the work or you can stir it in yourself. We had to stir it in because we didn’t get it in the maker soon enough. And when our ice cream maker stops, it stops.

Transfer the ice cream to a container and freeze it for at least 4 hours before serving.

Life’s short. Enjoy eating ice cream. And by the way, happy Independence Day!!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

And Happy Father's Day!

Well I haven't posted since Mother's Day and it's already Father's Day! We'll be spending the day with my Grandpa (my dad's dad). I am truly blessed to have him as my Grandpa and he (and his dad) have given me a rich, rich heritage. Though he has gone through a lot, including losing his wife when my dad was young, he has never forsaken his family or the Lord, on whom he continues to lay his faith and trust to this day. My Grandpa is a very generous man and he has a big heart for missions. He is a great example and I think he has passed on some of his vision to me. God bless you Grandpa!

I believe when they put her in the ground
I think they buried part of me
Because I've been searching, I've been looking all around
But I cannot find the heart of me, the heart of me

So I'll put my fingers in this soil upon her grave
And I will plant for her a garden
And every flower, a reminder of her face
Will grow up graceful as a pardon

And all that grows is her story told
As life unfolds here before us
The peace I've found in this broken ground
I can see her in the harvest...of all that I have sown

Long before I was covered up in gray
Before the old had bent my bones
We grew our children in the red Georgia clay
They were our garden and our home

And all that grows is our story told
As life unfolds here before us
The peace we found in that broken ground
I can see them in the harvest...of all that I have sown

And when my life is done
I pray the kingdom come
And take me to Glory
It's living inside me
It was planted like a seed
All to tell a story

I believe when they put me in the ground
There will remain a part of me
Because I've been searching, and the joy that I have found
Is living in my family...it's all that I have sown

All That I Have Sown - Bebo

Happy Mothers Day!

Dedication:
To my Mom, who never forsook me and was always there for me.

Although I had already been alive for almost nine months, I didn’t know there was more to life than doing what I was doing, or wasn’t doing. I was perfectly content there, getting fed somehow, and not having to worry about when or what to eat. I also didn’t have to worry about clothes; their look, their size, or even the absence of them! I was stress-free, although I did notice things were getting increasingly crowded day by day…nothing to worry about now though. I was warm and relaxed, and undisturbed most of the time.
But sometimes I had suspicions. I had suspicions that everything does not and can not revolve around me. This would not have occurred to me, if it weren’t for the faint voices pulsating around me. I realized that there was a bigger picture, and if I wanted to see it, I would somehow need to “burst the bubble”, as it were, that I was in. I was comfortable, but I was restless and bored. I was warm, but I was helpless and lonely. I was in bondage and would somehow need to be set free. But before long, one, nonnegotiable truth became sure to me; that I had no strength on my own to accomplish this task, none at all.

Then one day, as I was swimming in my uncertainties, I felt a squeeze. It hurt, but I shrugged it off. Until another one came, and another, greater every time. Now they were coming at increasingly smaller intervals, pressing me, each time, against the walls of my preset standards. They forced me to submit to a larger veracity. I was then pressed into and immensely tight situation. Which hurt greatly, and I thank God I don’t remember it.

Then suddenly, as I was about to give up, something seemed to snap. I was liberated. I saw. I opened my mouth in astonished wonder, when unexpectedly, a gust of unrestrained nitrogen and oxygen poured into my tiny lungs. I felt like choking on this foreign substance, but when I tried to, another blast came gushing in. It seemed to permeate me, circulating deeper into me. I was enthralled by this and almost didn’t realize the reality of what now had to happen.

Before I could protest I was brought underneath a flowing mass of transparent matter. This was similar to what I had been used to, except that it refreshed itself constantly, it was alive. It felt so good to be underneath this flood when suddenly I was disturbed once again. I was flipped, squeezed, jolted, and jostled until every bit of me was as pure and clean as the water that washed me.

Then I heard. I heard a voice I recognized. It was clearer now than ever before. I wept as I fell into her arms. I cried because I couldn’t survive by myself.

The Peterbilt (Part 2)

In Part 2 here, I'll share with you the process of getting this from packaged parts to a working, usable machine. I see that not all of you are interested in this sort of thing and that's okay. But for those of you who are, I hope you enjoy it. I may even post a Part 3 to this, telling you about my first project and how it actually performed.

Putting our DIY system together was actually pretty foolproof. We mostly followed the instructions and manuals that came with the various hardware, especially the motherboard. I also printed a small article I found online about putting a system together. Here's a summary of how it went.

The case we got was somewhat toolless but not totally. We first screwed down the Mobo (standard ATX). Then we tackled the processor. Of course, being our first time ever installing a processor, it kind of felt like we were going to break it. It's such a small piece, yet it's likely the most expensive...so you know if you break it, that would be like really bad. The heatsink that came with the Core 2 already had a thermal compound applied to it, but I was advised not to use that and get a better product. So we scraped it off and cleaned it with rubbing alcohol. Then applied a bit of the Arctic Silver compound that I picked up at Fry's directly to the top of the processor. Putting the heatsink on the processor was another challenge, but we got it on there (they say if you didn't set the heatsink on properly, your processor could fry within ten seconds...so far, were okay).

The Ram was easy and so was the Video card. We only plugged in one of the Hard drives (the boot one) because the power supply didn't come with enough SATA power connectors. The Sony DVD drive went in smoothly.

As you can see, our case has some front ports, so we had to hook those up to the onboard connections. Everything found a place except a cable labeled "speaker", which is probably for the little beeps and warning messages (I think I hear those out the speakers in the monitor anyway). With the monitor hooked up, what's left to do but push the button. Woohu! Actually, I think we pushed the button even before we had monitor on just to make sure that.....well.....just to make sure.

Now turning the computer on with the monitor we were having some trouble getting into the bios. Oh, plug in the keyboard. Minor technicality. Having the keyboard plugged in helped and we entered the bios with the delete key. We did some minor changes and exited. If I remember correctly, we weren't able to get to the Windows installation screen because the drive configuration in the bios was set to "RAID" mode. Then switching to "IDE" mode seemed to get us going in the right direction. At the first screen it was telling us if we were going to install third party Raid drivers to press the F6 key. We knew we wanted to do Raid but didn't have power to the other drives yet, so we skipped that step, thinking there would be some way to get the Raid going later (there was an "Intel Matrix Storage Manager" Raid Driver floppy disc that came with our Mobo). Although I think installing the driver then to just have it ready wouldn't have hurt. Later we had to do a repair install of XP in order to install the Raid Driver floppy and get the Raid going (that seemed to be our only choice because we still weren't able to boot in "RAID" mode).

Anyway, we got the OS installed and were able to start using the computer. After the newegg order came, we got power to the drives. Things started to get a bit cramped in our mid tower when I was installing and plugging in the other items that came...but it works.

Setting up the Raid in the "Matrix Storage Manager" bios was supper easy after the driver was installed and the drives were formatted. I now have over 100GB of avi video on drive "R" (a 745GB Raid 0 drive labeled "VideoRaid"). Sweet.

Apr: French Baguettes

Really I'm not much of a baker, but I can make a thing or two, including these wonderful loaves. I hope you enjoy them. I think it is very important to do the glaze. It not only adds visual appeal, but also gives it a nice salty bite on the crust.

Makes 2 loafs

for the bread:
5-51/2 cups unbleached white flour
2 tsp salt
21/4 tsp yeast
2 cups warm water

for the glaze:
1 egg white, beaten
11/2 tsp sea salt

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or Bosch, combine the water and salt. Then add 3 cups of flour and mix to combine. Now add the yeast and mix. With the mixer running, add the remaining flour. If the dough hasn't pulled away from the sides of the bowl after 2 minutes of kneading, add a little bit of flour until it does. Knead for another 6 minutes until the dough is elastic.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and form into a nice ball. Oil the inside of a glass bowl, put the dough in it, and cover it with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place and let rise until doubled, 45-60 minutes.

Turn the risen dough onto a floured surface and knead for a few seconds. Pull dough apart into two equal sized pieces. Begin to roll each piece out using a back and forth motion, with your hands parallel to each other, starting in the middle and working your way to the edges (come close to the edge but don't roll your hands over them).

Spay a baguette pan or sheet pan with a little oil and sprinkle some cornmeal on them. Place loaves on the pan. Cover with a towel and let rise for 20-30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450ºF.

Beat the egg white with a fork until it smoothly and evenly slips through the tongs of the fork when lifted up. Mix in the salt.

With a sharp, non-serrated knife make three shallow diagonal cuts on each loaf. Brush the loaves with the glaze once and put in the oven. Bake 20-25 minutes until brown. Halfway through the baking, brush again with the glaze.

When loaves are done, transfer them to a wire rack, and let them cool off for a little while (at least five minutes). Cut diagonally and serve warm or at room temperature.

Click here for a printer friendly version of this recipe

Ravi Shankar: India's master musicain

This is truly a whole other world of music. It may be a little strange to our ears, but it is wonderful. And don't you just love the guy's expressions with the Tabla. Me thinks he's having fun.

GANDHI: The Man & The Movie

With my Dad’s recent trip to India, he has become more interested in its history and especially about this particular individual. This film on Gandhi’s life had been recommended to him by a couple people, so he picked it up. And after watching it, I would like to pass on the recommendation* (see below) to you.

This was a character that I really knew nothing about prior to watching the movie, which is rather a shame. I found the movie, which is three hours long, not only a Magnificent production, but also quite educational. A couple things that may strike you from watching it is the incredible performance of Ben Kingsley (who played Gandhi), and the enormous crowds. Another aspect that may not be quite so evident is the extraordinary script written by John Briley.

Mohandas K. Gandhi was born in 1869 and was assassinated by radical Hindus on January 30, 1948 at age 78. The fact that approximately 300,000 extras showed up for the film’s reenactment of his funeral procession 33 years later shows the extraordinary position this man held in his country. Also, an interesting note on the production of this funeral sequence, is, being as it would be very difficult to shoot these massive scenes twice, they would have to capture the whole procession the first time. There were 11 crews who shot 20,000 feet of film, which was then edited down to only 125 seconds for the final release. That’s impressive.

I believe one of Gandhi’s main messages was nonviolence in order to achieve political and social progress. He was very strong on the fact that the British rule of India was evil, that he wanted no part of it, and that it must stop. But not by violence! By non-cooperation with injustice. His own words in the movie— “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” And, “Whenever I despair, I remember that the way of truth and love has always won. There may be tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they may seem invincible, but in the end, they always fail. Think of it: always.” With many circumstances leading up to it India eventually became a free nation.

He also spoke out for unity; “I am a Muslim and a Hindu and a Christian and a Jew and so are all of you.” Here is Gandhi’s view of religion and here is Gandhi’s religion. Also if your interested…his philosophy. As far as I can tell from the movie and his own writings, Gandhi unfortunately never became a born-again Christian. From what I gather, he believed that doing good and being good alone would secure your salvation in the age to come. It would seem sad to me that a man like this would stand up for such laws and Christ-like principles and yet deny the law-giver as the one and only savior for man. Without the redeeming work of the Lord in our hearts and His forgiveness, we can never be good enough for God. Gandhi knew he was sinful and that sin was wrong, but it was a life-long struggle for him to try and find it within himself to overcome it. A Christian in Gandhi’s shoes could have been such a testimony! Or maybe a Christian would not have fit in Gandhi’s shoes. God knows.

One of my favorite parts in the movie is near the end where Gandhi is fasting because he was not pleased with how the Hindus and Muslims where treating each other (there were killings, riots, and hatred). Although Gandhi had achieved many of his aims, the India he imagined was still not quite present. A couple days into his fast, his body was rapidly shutting down (he was already quite old), but he was still wanting to see proof that the violence was over before he would eat. There were measures taken for peace when word got out that Gandhi was fasting until death unless the rioting was resolved, but Gandhi, being a stubborn man, wouldn’t settle for just signs that it was stopping or actions taken here and there hinting at peace, he wanted it to be definite. Everywhere.

Not wanting to see Gandhi die because of their madness, the violent people approached him themselves, laying down there swords before him, and trying to convince him that the fighting was truly over. It would have been a rather uncomfortable and eerie sequence but it is balanced marvelously with Gandhi’s gentleness. A Hindu man comes to him with a piece of food and tells him to eat. He says to Gandhi, “I am going to Hell, but not with your death on my soul.” He said he killed a Muslim child because they (the Muslims) killed his child. Then Gandhi responds to him in these words:

“I know a way out of Hell. Find a child, a child whose mother and father have been killed…..a little boy about this high [indicates height], and raise him as your own. Only be sure that he is a Muslim…..and that you raise him as one.”

I’m not sure how accurate that plan of salvation is, but they’re riveting words nonetheless. They’re words that pretty much wrap up the message of his later life, and they are a good picture of what he lived and died for.

1936

Gandhi and Nehru (who was the first prime minister of India)

Spinning in Delhi

The funeral procession, New Delhi, Jan. 31, 1948

"If I am to die by the bullet of a mad man, I must do so smiling.
There must be no anger within me.
God must be in my heart and on my lips.."

—Mohandas K. Gandhi, on January 28, 1948, two days prior to his assassination.

For more information on Gandhi, check out this site.

*Please use caution showing this film to children because there is a fair amount of violence in the film, hence the PG rating. A number of sequences were not suitable for most in my family to view.