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Monday, January 26, 2004

Blair-O-Meter  Blair makes last-minute plea to avoid universities defeat By Andrew Grice and Richard Garner 27 January 2004 Tony Blair made a last-minute appeal to Labour MPs last night not to inflict a humiliating defeat on him over his plans to allow universities to charge up to £3,000 in top-up fees in tonight's knife-edge Commons vote. Talks between the rebel leaders and the Prime Minister broke up in acrimony as Mr Blair refused to make further concessions. A Downing Street spokesman said there would be no more meetings with them, adding: "It's now make-your-mind-up time."   11:49:37 PM    comment []

So, you’re probably wondering how Twyla is handling this day of inclement weather and unexpected human companionship. As you can clearly see, she’s anxious, agitated, concerned, distressed, nervous, uneasy, and unsettled.     3:01:55 PM    comment []

US Congressmen Return Gaddafi’s Binky 1:05:06 PM    comment []

Koshering Meat or Poultry   These directions are on every box of Morton’s Kosher Salt. Always have been, at least as long as I can remember. Some go so far as to assert this simple process can prevent transmission of BSE. Don’t know if I’d trust it that much. The point of it is to draw out interstitial liquids, the reddish liquid some call “blood” when meat is thawed. It is conceptually opposed to the recent fad (a good one, but still a fad) of brining, which uses osmotic pressure to moisten, both between cells (that’s interstitial) and through the cell walls themselves. Koshering reverses the flow; it is a cleansing process. It tried it for the first time ever on the roaster that I’m using for the broth. 12:51:59 PM    comment []

At some point, a simmering broth is no longer attractive. All the flavors and colors have been leeched and the shapes have devolved into amorphous blobs. That’s when it’s done. This batch hasn’t gotten there; it still looks pretty. It needs about two more hours. Smells great – I just threw in a handful of bay leaves. 12:08:39 PM    comment []

Debriefing: President Bush and David Kay I have climbed highest mountain I have run through the fields Only to be with you Only to be with you I have run I have crawled I have scaled these city walls These city walls Only to be with you But I still haven't found what I'm looking for But I still haven't found what I'm looking for 10:39:40 AM    comment []

Snow Day. At least I think so. The local TV station says we’re closed, but our special secret phone number for support is brain dead. I’ve tried calling co-workers and none of them are there. A quick test of the roads close by convinced me that we’re probably closed, but also that my driving skills, developed in the north, could get me in if necessary. So that absolutely free feeling of a certified snow day remains elusive.   Since I’m home anyway, I’ll make some chicken broth. The pressure cooker beef broth was outstanding (killer in the Texas chili and the French Freedom onion soup), but the wafting smells of conventionally made chicken broth are an appealing thought on a cold day, so it will be made in a simmering pot. I got a turnip and a rutabaga on Saturday and a bag of parsnips on my test drive out this morning. Back to the roots!   Every time I buy a rutabaga, I think of the monstrous one, the size of a pumpkin, that Sister Ruth brought back from a trip to Long Island in 1970. She still had it in the trunk of the car when we went with some friends to what was my first Frank Zappa concert. The first half of the concert, I was terribly embarrassed as Flo & Eddie belted out the lyrics to Bwana Dik and Latex Solar Beef, this is my sister here, but soon the unrelenting stream of absurdity and profanity wore me down and I was laughing hysterically. At intermission, Sister Ruth and I went to the stage door behind Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium in Columbus, and she presented the stage manager with the rutabaga to give to Frank. Second half of the concert, it was featured prominently on stage, right beside Frank’s wah-wah pedal. They ended the set with Call Any Vegetable, which has these yodeled lyrics:   Rutabaga, Rutabaga, Rutabaga, Rutabaga, Rutabay-y-y-y...   The associations I make with a rutabaga were permanently altered that evening.   I have rinds from the gruyere and grana padana cheeses from recent recipes and they’ll cook into the broth too, along with the standard onions, celery, and carrots. 8:54:59 AM    comment []