Crackberry withdrawal - day 4

On Tuesday my Blackberry died. It was on with a fully charge battery was fully when the device shut off and refused to turn back on. I'm currently waiting for a new battery from RIM, and hoping that a new battery is all I will need. In the meantime I have a loaner phone from my carrier.

I would have thought that lack of e-mail would be the biggest issue. For the first day or two, it was odd not to be able to check e-mail throughout the day. However, the biggest inconvenience so far has been the lack of a calendar. I would make plans to do something and think, "Oh, I'll put that in my calendar," before realizing that I couldn't. The loaner phone has no calendar.

I didn't realize just how dependent I'd become on having a smartphone until the Blackberry died. Now that I've become more forgetful, having a PDA that reminds when to do stuff and where to go has been extremely helpful. And now that I don't have one I feel a little lost. Sad, but true.

Drinks at the Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common

Twice in two weeks I've stopped in at the Ritz-Carlton on the Boston Common for drinks. As you might expect at a posh hotel, everyone was extremely nice, and the atmosphere was upscale but laid back.

On the first visit, which was last week, my friend and I went into the restaurant, JER-NE. We started with dessert wines. Sadly, I don't remember the names of them, but his was the better of the two and was from South Africa. I think it was second or third on the list. It was sweet, and had a nice body to it, but wasn't overpowering. For our second drink we each tried a port. Mine was the Dow 5 Year Reserve*. He had the Sandeman. We agreed that mine was better. Once again, it was sweeter, and fuller tasting than the Sandeman.

The second visit was tonight, with a different friend. We sat in the lobby where it was quieter. She got the blackberry mojito, which was sweet with a hint of the rum. I ordered the Rockwell Classic, made with Hendrick's gin, simple syrup, and lime (possibly lemon if my memory is faulty), and served in a salt rimmed glass. I liked the drink, but others may find it too sweet and lacking enough gin taste. The salt helped counteract the sweetness. The drink also had a light touch. The only problem I found with it is that some salt had sunk to the bottom of the glass, making the last sip salty. I liked the saltiness, but I'm not sure I wanted to finish the drink that way.

*I'm fairly certain it was a 5 year reserve, but it was a week ago so my memory might be off. There were two Dows, and I got the younger of them.

I guess it's better than raising the postage rate, maybe

Not only is print media getting hit by the rise of the internet, but so is the US Mail:

"WASHINGTON - Worsening economic conditions and the changing habits of Americans are threatening to do to the US Postal Service what neither snow, nor rain, nor gloom of night could: stop delivery of the mail, at least by one day each week."  (Full article here)

Personally, I hate "no mail" days. I like checking the mail box M-Sat, but with e-mail, online magazines, and online bill pay, I have decreased the amount of mail I send, so it seems reasonable to consider cutting back on delivery. It just seems a little sad that 6 day mail delivery might go away.

Out of Town News to stay... for now

The Boston Globe reported that Out of Town News in Harvard Square will NOT be going out of business. Some good news for those of us who wanted the landmark to stay. But, the bigger question is, for how long will Out of Town News remain in business given the declining sales in newspapers, etc.? Will this reprieve last? As much as I would like Out of Town to remain, I know they have an uphill battle. With the internet providing instant news from wherever how much demand is there for buying magazines and newspapers both local and from around the world?

Cambridge 1

I had dinner at Cambridge 1 on Church St in Harvard Square, a short walk from First Parish UU and the Church St exit of the T. It's one of my favorite places to get pizza. They serve flat bread pizza with toppings that range from regular (tomatoes, basil, cheese) to more interesting (lobster, corn, scallions). They also have microbrews if you want beer with your pizza.

Feeling budget conscious, I skipped the lobster pizza, a very delicious treat, and got the potato pizza - potatoes, fontina, parmesan, romano, rosemary, and garlic. No tomatoes or tomato sauce. A half pizza should feed one person, and the half portion of the potato pizza costs $8. The potatoes on the pizza are both thinly sliced and mashed. The cheese give it a nice salty taste, and there's a touch of butter in the pizza's flavor. I don't know if they actually use butter or another oil that mixes with everything else to give a buttery taste.

With my food I had a Bellini - Prosecco with peach puree. It was dry with a hint of peaches. Overall, it was pleasant, but I think I would have liked it a little sweeter and with a stronger peach taste.

Grenadine

Candy
Is dandy
But liquor
Is quicker

- Ogden Nash

With grenadine, you can have BOTH your candy and your liquor. Last night I made grenadine using 2 cups of pomegranate juice and 2 cups sugar. I mixed them over high heat until the sugar was completely dissolved. I then let it cool before putting in the refrigerator.

Homemade grenadine makes a really nice, light syrup. I imagine it would go well on ice cream and waffles. I already know it goes well on French toast since I tried that at friend's a few months ago.

Keeping lettuce fresh

A few posts ago I wrote about Boston lettuce being packaged with its roots as a way to keep it fresh longer. It's working. But, you can't always get a head of lettuce attached to its roots. And Boston lettuce can be pricey. What if I just want some romaine or red leaf? Luckily, Jeremy at Generation X Finance posted his method for keeping lettuce fresh for a week. I was very excited to see this since I don't eat salad precisely because the lettuce usually goes bad before I've finished it. The secret is keeping moisture away from the leaves.

Working storage outside COBOL

As I was reviewing a Unix Korn shell script I wrote a few years ago I noticed I'd commented the variable declarations as "Working Storage." This is what that section would be called in COBOL, a language I suspect fewer and fewer people use nowadays. Odds are a younger programmer who's never worked on a mainframe would see that comment and think, "Huh?"

In the future I should probably use a more universal term, like "Variables," otherwise I'm just making myself look old and uncool. Then again, maybe not. There might be some cool points to be gained in knowing a legacy technology. After all, it's still impressive and increasingly rare to come across someone who can read a hex dump with his or her own eyes.

Free soup at Falafel King

Falafel King now gives free soup with meals. I ordered a hummus sandwich and was initially miffed I didn't get my free falafel. But, my displeasure at missing out on a tasty falafel disappeared when I was asked which soup I wanted. Not only was I getting free soup, but I had a choice of four kinds! I went with the lentil soup, which has some spiciness to it.

Not bad for $5.

Grape Nehi

1 part gin (original calls for vodka, but I used gin instead)
1 part Chambord
1 part lemon juice

Shake with crushed ice. Strain into glass.

This is not Radar O'Reilly's Grape Nehi. This is more like Hawkeye Pierce's Nehi. Although Hawkeye would have used more gin, or vodka, or whatever lighter fluid they distilled in The Swamp.

Overall, it's a pleasant drink, but a touch too sweet. And it felt like it was missing something, maybe some fizz. Or maybe it would be better if I swapped out the Chambord for real grape juice.

As an aside, I have had Grape Nehi soda. When I was a young teen one summer I worked at a place that solde grape nehi in the vending machine, alongside Coca Cola in the old style bottles. I really enjoyed it. That summer was the only time I ever saw Grape Nehi.

Swing-A-Way Ice Crusher

This past weekend I ventured once again to Grand to purchase items from The Boston Shaker. This will be the last time I buy items from there for a bit. I need to cut back, but they have such cool stuff I couldn't resist!

One of my purchases was the Swing-A-Way Ice Crusher. It has a crank on the bottom that vacuum seals the crusher to the counter, making it easier to grind away at the ice. I've used it twice and it works well. The only improvement I'd suggest is adding a way to fasten down the top part, where the blades are, or at least make the lid harder to pop open. The top compartment has a tendency to open, so you have to hold it down tight with your hand while you crank. I'd expect to hold down the top, but it seems to want to open too easily.

French Gimlet revisited

This evening a friend and I taste tested French Gimlets made with three different bases: soju, Plymouth gin, and Bombay Sapphire. She agreed with me that the soju version was definitely sweeter than the Plymouth version. We also noticed that the Bombay Sapphire had less of a gin taste, making it sweeter by letting the St. Germain show through more.

I prefer the French Gimlet made with the Plymouth. I think the stronger gin taste in the Plymouth gave the drink an extra zing. The other versions were fine, but a little bland compared to the Plymouth version.

I think the milder taste of the Bombay may work in a martini or similar cocktail where it's gin with little else. A softer touch would make it easier to drink nearly straight gin.

One peeve: I did not like the bottle for the Bombay Sapphire. The blue color is very pretty, but it was a sloppy pour. In order to pour the Bombay into the shot glass without the gin running down the side of the bottle or the glass I had to pour quickly, which means I'm more likely to pour too much. I think the mouth of the bottle is too wide. I found it irritating.

The White Lady

2 oz Gin
1 oz Cointreau
0.5 oz lemon juice

I actually used closer to 0.75 lemon juice, and a smidge more gin. Overall, not bad, but I think I prefer the French Gimlet. Probably because I have a sweet tooth.

Oxo Cocktail Shaker

Today I received my Oxo cocktail shaker that I had ordered from Amazon. It holds 16 ounces and has double-walled construction, so it's insulated from the ice. The top serves as a jigger, and has marked measurements.

I used the shaker to make two cocktails. I was very pleased that it doesn't leak while shaking, but the top can pop off. I was rather dismayed at the last bit - a few ounces of whiskey and Cointreau down the drain! However, I was able to use it without freezing my hands thanks to the double wall, and that's a very good thing.

Next up on my list of things to get: The Oxo Steel 7-Piece Barware Set.

Mystery whiskey cocktail #1

2 oz whiskey (Jameson)
0.5 Cointreau
a few dashes of orange bitters (Regan's)

Stir with ice, serve on the rocks.

This is a variation on a whiskey bitter, which is 2 jiggers whiskey and two dashes orange bitters (The Joy of Cooking - so maybe I need more cocktail books).

It has a pleasant taste. I think the ice and the Cointreau help mellow the whiskey. I haven't tried this without the bitters, but I'm guessing the bitters gives the drink depth. At least that's what bitters is supposed to do from what I've read.

While I can be creative and innovative, I doubt very much I have created a brand new cocktail. I did a quick Google search and found a recipe for the Bairn, which uses Scotch instead of any old whiskey. So perhaps this is an Irish Bairn? Honestly, though, I haven't found a cocktail recipe with these exact ingredients - using whiskey as opposed to the more specific Scotch. So, who knows? Maybe I have created something new.

Chosun French Gimlet

2 oz soju
1.5 oz St. Germain
0.75 oz lime juice

Basically, this is a French Gimlet using soju instead of gin or vodka. I gave this a try tonight before dinner. Overall, it was good, and a little sweeter than the French Gimlet. Since I actually used 0.75 ounces of lime juice, and the drink was still sweeter than the gin version, I think I can conclude the soju really is on the sweet side.

Also, because soju is only 40 proof versus the gin which is 80 proof, the soju version doesn't pack as much of a punch. So, if you want a slightly sweeter taste and a lighter drink, substitute soju for the gin.

A quick note on adding wine to a cream sauce

A few years ago I learned the hard way that you should add wine to a cream sauce at the end, not the beginning.

I was making macaroni and cheese. For extra flavoring I like to add a splash of white wine to the cheese sauce. Normally I did this at the end. However, this particular time I decided to add the wine at the beginning instead. I don't remember why. I had made the roux, and before it thickened I added the wine. Well, the sauce never thickened. I kept stirring and stirring and stirring and the flour never did its magic and thickened the sauce. I couldn't figure out what was going on.

Finally, I decided to throw in the cheese, thinking maybe that would thicken the sauce. Well, the cheese melted, but it stuck together like a gloppy clump in the sauce. It never blended with the rest of the sauce.

It turns out that wine is an anti-thickening agent. And, in a cream sauce, it can actually cause the cream/milk to curdle, keeping the constituent parts of the sauce separate. This is why the sauce never thickened, and why the cheese never blended in to the sauce.

The way to add wine to a cream sauce is to make the sauce as usual, but cook it to a point where it is a little too thick. Then, add the wine. The wine will thin the sauce back to the thickness it should be at, and then you're done.

French Gimlet

2 oz gin (Plymouth)
1.5 oz St. Germain
0.5 oz lime juice

Not wishing to improvise another soju cocktail, I went with the French Gimlet as it was suggested in the little pamphlet that came with the St. Germain. I was very pleased with it. It had a very pleasant tart but sweet taste, and unlike the soju cocktail, it never seemed artificial or too sweet. I attribute that to the wonderful qualities of St. Germain and Plymouth gin.

The New Doctor

After David Tennant exits, Matt Smith will take the lead role in "Doctor Who."

I've never heard of him, either.

You can read more about it here.

Soju cocktail #1

Tonight I improvised a cocktail using soju, a Korean liquor made mainly from rice. It's similar to vodka, but has a slightly sweet taste, or so the internet says. It's been a while since I've tasted straight vodka. I did think the soju had a nice, light taste, but I keep it in the refrigerator. In the past I've noticed that warm soju isn't very pleasant. It tastes much better cold. Also, I find that soju is similar to tequila in its effect -- it sneaks up on you and then BAM. I have not, however, had enough soju to know which brand is better.

0.67 - 0.75 oz lime juice
0.5 oz Cointreau
1.5 oz soju (Jinro Chamisul)
a few dashes Regan's orange bitters

At first, the cocktail tasted fine - like an alcoholic lemonade, but a little on the sweet side. However, as I kept drinking it, the sweetness became slightly sickening, and seemed a little artificial even thought I didn't use any sweetener, artifical or natural. I wonder if omitting the Cointreau, or reducing it to 0.25 oz would help. I also wonder if replacing the Cointreau with orange juice would improve the drink.

Falafel King hummus sandwich

For lunch I had the hummus sandwich from Falafel King. Normally I get the falafel sandwich but I find it too filling.

The hummus sandwich was lighter, but was still filling. It took me a while to eat it, although that was due in part to working while eating.

As a note, I also learned that a wintergreen Breathsaver does not taste good after a hummus sandwich. Just so you know.

Boston Lettuce - new packaging

Actually, maybe this is an old way of packaging and I just haven't noticed it before since it's rare I buy lettuce.

I decided to start making sandwiches for lunch again. And I decided I need to eat healthier, so slapping ham and mayonnaise on two slices of bread wasn't going to be enough. So I bought a head of Boston lettuce.

My grandmother was a big fan of Boston lettuce - she would rave about how it was nice and tender. A few years ago I bought some and it was bitter, so I didn't buy it again. However, I decided to give it another try. This was in part due to the packaging.

Stop & Shop had some Boston lettuce that was packaged in round plastic containers. Not a big deal, but the difference is these heads of lettuce still had their roots. That caught my attention. I reasoned if the head still had its roots, then it might stay fresh longer. That is my big problem with buying the enormous heads of romaine lettuce - I simply don't eat it soon enough and it spoils. I hate throwing out spoiled food. Thus, while the Boston lettuce was more expensive, I might get more out of it.

Last night I made myself a sandwich for today. Naturally, since the roots were still attached to the lettuce, there was quite a bit of dirt on the outer leaves. I just took extra care in washing. Another bonus to using Boston lettuce was that the leaves were just the right size for the bread. I did not need to break the leaves apart.

And, the lettuce wasn't bitter. It had a delicate taste. Weirdly, at least for me, it was reminiscent of raw pie dough. I like raw pie dough, so it didn't bother me, but it is a little odd. But maybe it tasted that way as part of some sort of flavor interaction with the bread (I didn't taste the lettuce by itself - just in the sandwich).

BoA's new ATM desposit process

Bank of America has done away with deposit envelopes for its ATMs. Instead, you just feed your bills and checks into a feeder. It will read in the bills and tally up the cash. As for checks, the ATM attempts to read the amount the check is for, and if it cannot read it, the ATM will prompt you for the check amount.

I discovered this when I went to deposit a check. I think the innovation will save time and money for Bank of America, but not necessarily its customers. I waited longer than usual for two people to make deposits. Some of this may have been due to their unfamiliarity with the process, or it may have been due to them feeding in more than one check as opposed to a single envelope.

Fortunately, BoA limits the number of dollar bills you can deposit to 40. Still, I wouldn't want to be stuck behind the guy depositing 40 bills.... or checks. Or worse, both!

There is one customer benefit to all this. The transaction receipt for a check deposit will have an image of the check on it. I find that to be helpful as sometimes I will deposit a check but forget who it was from. This way I can look at the receipt at home and immediately know who wrote the check and why. Additionally, I wonder if now you will see an image of the deposited check when you view the transaction online or your monthly statement.

Update: You now see the check image when you view your transaction online! Very useful when updating and balancing your check book at home.

This weekend's purchases

This weekend I purchased some cocktail glasses and other cocktail bits. The first set, sold by The Boston Shaker, I bought at Grand:
(From left to right: Regan's Orange Bitters No, 6 (5 oz.), 5 oz. cocktail glass, footed rocks glass, 16 oz. mixing glass. Not pictured is LUPEC's Little Black Book of Cocktails.)

Surprisingly, Crate & Barrel had some nice glasses:
(Dizzy cocktail 8 oz, Dart shot 2 oz and on clearance for 50 cents, Lars highball 15 oz.)

I haven't used the bitters yet, but it smells nice. Perhaps later in the week I'll make a cocktail using the Regan's.

Oh, and in addition to cocktail glasses and bitters, Boston Shaker is also selling cocktail books, but not really contemporary ones. Instead, you pick up a copy of an old time cocktail book such as Harry Johnson's Bartenders' Manual from 1934.

A sign of the times

I went to the Burlington Mall today to buy some sweaters. As I entered I noticed new mall hours posted on their doors. Instead of being open most nights until 10 the mall will now close at 9. And, on Sundays it will close at 6 instead of 7.

I'm sure the cutbacks are in response to the economy. The stores must realize that the overhead in staying open an hour later isn't worth it.

As worrisome as it must be to see yet another signal that the economy is tanking, I wonder if this will cause Americans to pause and slow down. It used to be that malls closed at 9 or 9:30. And perhaps I am a bad American for saying so, but cutting back on spending isn't such a bad thing. We seem to have lost sight of the virtue of saving, and of patience. We want it NOW, and are willing to use money we haven't got. Maybe in the long term this will be a good thing. Meanwhile, in the short term, I'm guessing we'll continue the downward spiral.

The Joy of Drinking

If you are a cocktail novice like me, then you could use a short primer on such things as the difference between bourbon and Scotch. Today I discovered I had such information in one of my cookbooks, The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker. Originally published in 1931, the book has been updated several times, with a final version in 1975, and includes a short chapter titled "Drinks," which covers cocktails. The authors open the chapter with

Now and then we look into the work of our fellow cookbook authors and are usually surprised to discover how little attention they pay to liquor. In the past editions we, too, have approached this subject rather apologetically -- after all, there was a time when selling or serving alcoholic refreshment was considered disreputable in America. But here and how we drop all subterfuge, frankly concede that "something to drink" is becoming with us an almost invariable concomitant of at least the company dinner, and have boldly enlarged this section of the book. Always in the back of our minds... is the memory of a cartoon which depicted a group of guests sitting around a living room, strickenly regarding their cocktail glasses, while the hostess, one of those inimitable Hokinson tpyes, all embonpoint, cheer, and fluttering organdy, announces, "A very dear friend gave me some wonderful old Scotch and I just happened to find a bottle of papaya juice in the refrigerator!"

Not only do they include various cocktail and punch recipes, but they provide descriptions of different spirits and instructions on how to server wine and beer. Additionally, they provide details on different cocktail and wine glasses a good host or hostess should have for serving drinks. And, since the book was written in 1931, the sizes they indicate would be what I consider the "correct" size, as opposed to today's much larger glasses. Generally speaking, cocktails glasses are 3-4 ounces, old-fashioneds are 6 ounces, and highballs and Collins glasses are 8-16 ounces. FWIW, I think buying cocktail glasses that are slightly larger than the sizes indicated is a good idea. It gives you some wiggle room if you mix a cocktail that has more liquid than expected due to melted ice, fudging the measurements, etc.

The authors also explain drink measurements:

1 dash = 6 drops
3 teaspoons = 1/2 ounce
1 pony = 1 ounce
1 jigger = 1 1/2 ounces
1 large jigger = 2 ounces
1 standard whisky glass = 2 ounces
1 pint = 16 ounces
1 fifth = 25.6 ounces
1 quart = 32 ounces

So if you are in need of a primer, and it's too cold to go outside to buy one, check if you have The Joy of Cooking.

This goes on my "to check out" list

This morning I stumbled upon the website for an interesting store in Union Sq: Grand. They carry some really cool accessories and housewares. Sadly, they are not close to a T stop, but are instead on a bus line. Maybe later today I will drive there and check out the store. (If it weren't winter I might be willing to deal with bus.)

You can browse some of their products online. A few of my favorites are the wooden postcard, a colorful doorstop that would look great in my family room, and the Umbra artala can, but I can't decide between red or ocean.

Cabbage & Noodles: It tastes better than it sounds

One of my favorite, simple meals is cabbage and noodles. I discovered it in a cookbook. It's very simple to make, and it's also healthy, as long as you don't drown everything in butter.

I use egg noodles and savoy cabbage. Regular cabbage is fine as well, but I read somewhere that savoy cabbage has a slight buttery taste. And butter is always a tasty thing :)

The ingredients are cabbage (chopped), egg noodles, butter, salt, and pepper. That's it.

To make, chop the cabbage - an amount that you will reasonably eat, keeping in mind that it will cook down a little. Wash the cabbage, of course, but note the volume. The uncooked cabbage should be the same volume as the uncooked noodles.

Melt the butter in a frying pan. When the butter starts bubbling slightly, add the cabbage and saute. Salt and pepper to your taste. Cook the cabbage until it becomes tender and the edges start to brown.

In the meantime, cook the noodles. When they are cooked, and the cabbage has started to brown, add the noodles to the frying pan. You may need to add more butter, salt, and pepper. Stir the noodles and cabbage together until well mixed and the cabbage is to your preferred doneness. (I like my cabbage somewhat brown and carmelized.)

That's it - you're done and ready to eat.