Listen, it ain't easy ...

Tossing bits of crispy cod leftovers to a dog while filming.

Thoughts of Pie

As one of Walt Kelly's characters asks, "Why is you so obsessed with thoughts of pie?"

We find that pies, from the Achatz Pie Company, are a crucial part of our lives, and we went looking for something to showcase their fruity goodness. As is so often the case, the Ann Arbor Potter's Guild sale had just the thing: these vaguely Mayan-looking triangular plates from Sue Woestehoff.

As an aside, some other potters we like and whose goods are in daily use on our table:
Beverly Allport
Gail Dapogny
Dorie Mickelson
Inge Merlin
Cher Rusling
Sue Steel

This is as creative as I get, these days

Anglo-Franco-Italian Fettucine in Cheddar Sauce with Peas and Escargot
Date 2008 05 11

Copyright 2008 Culinary Intelligence, Inc.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 recipe fresh pasta, cut to fettuccine
  
• 1/2 cup fresh English peas
  
• 1/2 pint heavy cream
  
• 1/4 cup whole milk
  
• 1/4 cup English-style cheddar, grated
  
• 1/8 cup reggiano, grated
  
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and halved
  
• 1/2 TSP beef stock concentrate
  
• 12 large escargot
  
• salt and pepper, butter and olive oil
  

Preparation
Shell the peas. Make, rest, roll, and cut the pasta.

Firing
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, for the pasta.

Add milk, cream, garlic, and beef stock to a large sauce pan, over low heat. Cook for 20 minutes, making sure it doesn’t boil.

In another sauce pan, boil the peas in well-salted water for 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside.

In a small sauté pan, heat olive oil and butter; sauté the escargot (I assume you’re using canned, cooked snails) until warmed through.

A few minutes before serving, add the pasta to its stock pot. Add the grated cheese to the sauce, stir and allow to melt; adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Discard the garlic, drain the pasta, and combine with sauce and peas. Garnish with the escargot.

Notes
Omit the snails if you prefer – small clams or shrimp would be an acceptable substitute.

Dodge Magnum?

Sounds like instructions from a Dirty Harry script, right? Audi A8? Whatever. One of the nice things about living here at the tag end of the internal combustion era is that you can own just about any damn thing you like. Although I'm sticking with my own little mid-life crisismobile, it's certainly comforting (to me, anyway) that simply by writing a check you can go whizzing down the boulevard in something you fantasized about in your adolescence. Consider:

Porsche Speedster	Talbot Lago
1995 Saturn SW2 (seriously, if you don't know what this kit is copying, you need remedial 1960s training.)	Sort of a Morgan
1936 Auburn Boattail	Lotus Eleven

All of these are replicas, powered and underpinned by modern engines and frames. All are more reliable, better handling, and more powerful than the cars they simulate (notice I didn't say anything about "safer.") And these are just the standouts -- Lotus 7 replicas abound, street rods are everywhere, and if you've got a spare pickup truck lying around, you can make a Humvee out of it. What's my point? None, I'm just pleased that this stuff is out there. For a nice illustrated list of kit cars, see this site. And don't blame me if you show up for work next week driving a $75,000 kit car Willys coupe, based on a 1972 Piaggio Ape donor. No warrantee is expressed or implied.

Another waste of bandwidth

Yet another bad pun, with music and everything.

Sorry for the silence

Been out of town all week. I'll post something witty and to the point later on this weekend, lord willin' and the creek don't rise. Meanwhile, look at this for more government of the dogs, by the dogs, and for the dogs.

Coincidence Engine Working Well

10:00 this morning, I'm eating a croissant at the breakfast table and reading a book about canids of the world. I look up, and a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is running through the neighbors' back yard. It wasn't literally the animal I was reading about at the moment (the bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis)), but still ...

Why dogs don't talk to us

Blame the poor quality of the video on the fact that I was just playing around with my Palm Treo and its notoriously poor camera capability, and the poor quality of the voiceover on the notoriously poor quality of my voice. Instead of wasting time with Google's flaky video capability, I'm just going to link to YouTube. Sorry, I didn't want to have to do that, but life is too short.

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I do actually own a camcorder, plus a small digital camera with a video capture option, and maybe one of these days I'll post something made with one of them.

Casualty Stats Question Effectiveness of Future Surge

See the revealing stats here. Bring the boys home!

Odd product of the month

We get all kinds of catalogs. This is from the one that starts every product name with "The," as in "The Completely Useless Backyard Flotation Toy," or "The One Hundred and Fourteenth Atomic Watch We've Listed So Far." Anyway, here's the hands-down strangest thing they offer for sale this time around:

Imagine being the dog on this side of the fence. Or if both pet owners installed these things, each intruding into the other's airspace.