The Payoffs

After bitching and moaning the past several weeks about the computers and the television, I feel compelled to come clean about the pleasures I've derived from the changes.

For one thing I've been transfixed, on more than one occasion, by the amazing clarity of some of the television images we've gotten with the digital signals, even on our old analog TV. Although I have no real interest in American football, the game where a foot rarely touches a ball, I watched a good part of a game on Sunday (I can't even remember who was playing–no, wait, was it Tennessee and Baltimore?) just because the picture was so incredibly clear and detailed.

But the real treat I'm getting with DTV is a new channel from our PBS station. It's almost ironic but last week I watched a couple of delightful Jacque Pépin programs that made me painfully nostalgic for the time when people valued simplicity.

As for the new computer, I found a little perk that's made the whole business a lot less frustrating. When I installed the new version of Firefox I took some time to look at the add-ons and discovered "Foxmarks" which I immediately downloaded. I was then able to do the same thing on the iMac and presto! all my bookmarks (I'm not admitting how many) are synchronized between the two computers and even with my account on The Mister's PowerBook.

The real benefit of all this however, has been the distraction it has provided me as I've been trying to avoid the news these past weeks. Between the destruction of Gaza and Obama filling his administration with Clinton right-of-center retreads, I might otherwise have thrown myself in front of a bus by now.

Keepin' Warm

On the outside, silk thermals. On the inside, the cognac.
Twelve hours @ 58º, twelve @ 64º. It's the best I can do.

The Tyranny of Technology

Beautiful, sunny but bitterly cold, 6º/-15º, not the best morning to be sitting here at the desk on the drafty porch, making my first blog entry on the new MacMini with the new display. I love the porch windows but right now I'd rather be looking at the wall and the heat register in front of my desk in the kitchen where I still have my iMac.

The past month has been dominated by the tyranny of technology. I love my 6-year-old iMac and it works just fine but it's no longer supported by Apple and the list of things I can't do with it keeps growing. As I was trying to decide about something new before the end of '08, Mozilla informed me that they were no longer supporting my version of Firefox so I took that as a sign.

I still can't believe Apple can't/won't rebuild my iMac and that they generate so much e-waste but at least I've been able to avoid another integrated machine this time with the MacMini. That still however has lead to more decisions about a display, keyboard & mouse, speakers and an inordinate amount of time on the phone upgrading & reorganizing the phone & DSL service.

Meanwhile there's been the digital television rigamaroll: the coupons, the converter boxes, the discovery that the antenna has to be on the other side of the living room in order to get the fragile, finicky signals and then there's no way to record anything on the VCR because all the channels are now three digit numbers! All this so we can get the same lousy programming plus three or four versions of weather radar.

A Slow Fade

It occurs to me that if I did as much injury to another person as I do to myself I'd be behind bars.

A Small Loss

She hit the window at the kitchen sink which I've never known a bird to do in the twenty years I've been here. I suspect she was fleeing one of the hawks. I wasn't home when it happened; I saw a trickle of blood on the window when I got back from the park yesterday.

I had a bit of a meltdown. I'm practically labile these days. On the surface life around me seems to continue unchanged and people seem blithely unconcerned about the things that leave me paralyzed for longer and longer chunks of time.

Climate Change On A Dime

So many things seem to conspire to keep me off balance these days, including the weather. In the past week we've gone from digging out on a daily basis, sometimes more than once a day, to freakishly warm weather and a complete melt-off of all but the piled snow. This morning we woke to heavy lake effect snow and so for now at least it's back to snowshoeing out to the compost bins and the bird feeders, the way it should be in central New York in winter.

It's All About the Sausage

Portuguese Kale Soup

1 lb Portuguese linguiça or the spicier chourico
2 cups chopped onion
4 cups stock
4 cups water
2 cups dry red wine
8-10 oz chopped kale
4 cups diced potatoes
3 cups cooked kidney beans

I usually start off by washing the kale.

I slice the sausage and render some of the fat before I add the onion and cook it until transparent. I add the stock, water and wine and let it simmer while I chop the kale which then cooks while I prep the potatoes. When the potatoes are almost tender I add the beans and cook the soup for about another 15 minutes.

If I'm using linguiça I add some cayenne but otherwise I don't add any seasoning because the salt and the seasoning from the sausage is sufficient.

North Country Smokehouse

Fire and Ice

I would be enjoying this frigid, sun-dazzled winter morning but for the more than a million people without power. Some of our family and friends have been affected but they all have some way to heat with wood so they're in better shape than a lot of people.

No Tree This Year

An overcast but beautiful snowy morning here in CNY. I've already done a bit of shoveling and put out seed. There's close to a foot so far but it's tapering off.

Less than two weeks to Christmas and I have almost no holiday spirit. Like someone with bipolar disorder I seem to vacillate wildly between questioning every dollar I spend and thinking I might as well buy all the oysters, caviar and Amarone I can because it could well be our last.

Bobolink Dairy

Seasonal Chef

I'm adding the last few things to the larder including cheese from Bobolink Dairy. I buy cheeses made closer to home but none of them compare to Bobolink raw milk cave-ripened cheddar or their Foret-washed farmstead cheese so twice a year I go a little further afield, just over the state line to New Jersey. Some cheese lovers might protest but I find the cheese keeps beautifully when I vacuum seal it and then let it breathe or bloom after I open it.

"Batter My Heart"

We ended a strange week on a strange note by going to see the HD theater broadcast of the Met's new production of "Dr. Atomic". I thought it was way too long and the new staging seemed to have everything thrown in except the kitchen sink.

I have no idea why there was woman walking back and forth across the stage with a dustpan but it was, like many of the other details, an annoying distraction.

Regardless, it was well worth sitting through just to see and hear Gerald Finley sing the "Batter My Heart" aria, John Donne's Holy Sonnet XIV.

A glorious baritone voice singing beautiful poetry set to a heartbreaking melody.

Cooking Quince

I finally got some quince on Saturday, a half bushel. Yesterday as the first snow fell I cooked up the first batch and canned it. The world may going to hell in a hand basket but I've got me some lovely quince.

My 'Heirloom' Food Chopper

  
It was my mother's food chopper and it's the only one I've ever seen that's made of two hinged pieces that open to make it super easy to clean.

60 @ 60

I didn't think I was going to do it this riding season but the weather was perfect yesterday and The Mister was willing to ride with me. It took 7 1/2 hours but I ended up doing 62.2 miles.

The Pub

The black canopy covers the stairs that go down to The Empire Brewing Company. The second floor windows directly above the canopy are those of The Mister's new office. He can actually take an elevator from his floor and walk out into the middle of the pub.

And so we have come to appreciate the concept of 'the growler'.

from The New York Daily News:

HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR GROWLER

Once you are the proud owner of your own jug of beer, American Beer's Jay Steinhauer - who hopes to add even more taps for growlers at American in the fall - offers a few tips on taking care of it.

1. KEEP IT FRESH: Freshly poured beer won't stay fresh for long, says Steinhauer, so “keep it in the fridge,” he says. Unopened, it'll last for a week or two at most, but “once you open it pour it off in a couple of days,” he says, if not that night.

2. TREAT IT GENTLY: “Don't let it jostle around,” recommends Steinhauer of growlers, as that will kill the carbonation in the beer, especially if it has already been opened.

3. CHECK YOUR SUDS: If your growler has been sitting for a few days, says Steinhauer, gently rotate it, as the first beer poured is a little thinner and less flavorful. Or do as Steinhauer does, and serve yourself last.

4. TIDY UP: Most places don't clean the growlers before they refill them for you, so be sure to clean them yourself with lots of hot water. But don’t use soap, says Steinhauer, as it is hard to rinse away and the residue will interfere with the flavor of your beer.

The Pot

This poor pot has had something cooking in it everyday for a couple of weeks. I think it needs a few days off.

Newman's Own

Getty Images

It hit me again this morning when I pulled out my bag of coffee and saw his picture on it: he's gone.

The Goose

Total weight: over 30 pounds.

Elderberry Pond Farm

Elderberry Pond Farm

A friend and I went to the Organic Abundance Event at Elderberry Pond Farm yesterday, a fund raiser for the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York. Despite the lack of sun and cool temps it was a great success.

There was however, one aspect of the event that I wasn't able to keep from putting a damper on the day. One of the local chefs happened to be particularly extroverted so while we were eating at his station we learned a bit – probably more than we needed to know – about him.

This very young looking man and his wife, who have in the past few years bought and rebuilt an old farmstead as an inn and restaurant, were graciously contributing to this fund raiser for organic farming but the details of their life seemed to me completely at odds with organic and sustainable farming.

The chef explained to everyone that his wife wasn't at the event because she was home taking care of their little boys, ages 4 years, 22 months and 6 months. When a guest mentioned that the chef couldn't complain about having only boys for obvious reasons, the chef said he and his wife weren't done and they were going to keep going as long as they could.

He was also promoting his inn by listing the amenities including jacuzzi baths and flat screen plasma TV's in each room. And what was he driving? A freakin' Escalade!!

Also this past week The Mister noticed a man buying organic milk and then carrying it out to his Lincoln Navigator.

I know I'm not always consistent myself but these folks just can't be spending much time thinking about what they're doing.

The Season of Bounty

I'm trying to be mindful of my great and good fortune in having such abundance but I'm just so weary after all the time I've been spending in the kitchen dealing with it while at the same time suffering from the worst seasonal allergies I've ever had. This week I've been turning mountains of cime de rapa into rapini and just when I thought I was making progress I received a gift of I-don't-even-know-how-many pounds of fresh wild goose last night.

But goose is a wonderful substitute for wild duck in the ragu, the sugo d'antra, I learned to make in Tocchi so I am right and truly grateful.