"Fancy and Delicious" written by Tinypliny on estrip.org

05/17/10 10:03 - 58ºF - ID#51668

Fancy and Delicious

My Sunday was super fancy and delicious because I baked this:

Yes!! I can't believe it either. It is the MOST delicious and fancy looking thing I have ever baked. Thank you, Maura. m/ You rock! m/

PS: More about the bread workshop later... (and possibly more photos, depending on whether I get them.)

PPS: Maura posted about the workshop on the fancy and delicious bakery blog:

Permalink: Fancy_and_Delicious.html
Words: 78
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: eating out

05/13/10 10:11 - 59ºF - ID#51553

Monsoon Whatever Food: Hated it

The votes are in. (e:libertad) and I tried the monsoon food at the Roswell Cafeteria today and the unanimous vote is: Ehh! HATE IT.

Many reasons:

1. For something that is touted as "Indian", WHAT THE WHAT?! It's not vegetarian friendly! When I requested more samosas and bread instead of the chicken "curry" and rice, they said they would omit the rice and "curry" but could not give me more samosas and bread. The price for a reduced meal (sans rice and "curry") was the same as the price for the whole meal. They probably have some sort of instructions on how to sell the whole "monsoon entree" but not having any sort of alternative arrangements for people who don't eat meat (and having the audacity to call it "Indian") is inexcusable. And yes. I am authorized to criticize because I am Indian.

2. The shredded (cooked in some awful way) vegetables were an enormous disgrace to all self-respecting vegetables on the planet. I can finally see where all the hatred for veggies comes from. I really feel sorry for any kid that has to eat vegetables like that. It smelled like GRASS and was lukewarm. I think whatever they did to veggies today should be outlawed.

3. I didn't take the rice and "curry" but (e:libertad) wasn't too enthused about them either. He later got a heartburn because of the food. Indian spices promote digestion and don't give you heartburn. Another sign that calling something "Indian" and naming it after the monsoons doesn't make it even remotely "Indian".

I hope this ill-conceived fling with "Indian" food is short-lived. I will not be surprised if it gives real Indian food a bad reputation among people for whom this is an introduction to "Indian" cuisine.

Badly done indeed.

PS: That they called menu items "curry" should have tipped me about how un-Indian it would be, but I totally ignored my cranky assertive internal voice today. Shouldn't have...

PPS: Loved trashing the whole thing with beady eyes and whatnots with (e:libertad) ofcourse. :-)

PPPS: OMG, Fern is half my height, and she is hardly 3 (We ran into (e:enknot) and (e:megan) at lunch.)

Permalink: Monsoon_Whatever_Food_Hated_it.html
Words: 363
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: eating in

05/09/10 08:39 - 45ºF - ID#51533

What do you eat?

I know this is a very unscientific way of going about things, but I am just very curious about what all of you eat. Take this poll if you dare:

Dairy:

1. How many gallons of milk do you drink per week? What kind?

2. How frequently do you eat any kind of cheese in a week?

3. How much half/half or creamer do you drink in a week?

Staples:

4. How much rice do you consume in a week?

5. How many loaves of bread do you eat in a week?

6. How many times do you eat any pasta in a week?

Meat:

7. How many times a week do you eat meat of any kind (including fish)?

8. How many times a week do you eat eggs?

ladycroft writes at 09:31:32 05/13/10 - Comment #56208: Hmmm.
1. 1/2 - soy or regular
2. almost daily. i love cheese. goat, emmental, haloumi, cheddar, mozerella
3. none
4. sometimes none, sometimes 1 cup
5. maybe 4 slices of bread
6. usually twice
7. don't do the meat thing
8. maybe twice

jacob writes at 10:04:38 05/11/10 - Comment #56193: 1. I don't drink milk, I haven't in years. I usually drink rice milk, almond milk and occasionally soy milk.

2. I eat cheese all the time. I love it. I put it on things usually. I'd say about a half to a pound a week.

3. I don't drink coffee, so I never use half/half.

Staples:

4. I usually eat about 6 to 7 cups of brown rice a week. I alose eat about the same in steel cut oats.

5. I eat about 1 and half loaves of ezekiel bread. I make alot of sandwiches for work and to take with me.

6. I eat pasta once or twice a week, usually brown rice pasta or pho noodles.

Meat:

7. I usually eat meat everyday. I avoid red meat mostly. I eat mostly fish and eggs and some chicken.

8. I eat eggs 3 to 5 days a week. Luckily I have a friend who has her own chickens. She just lets them browse in her yard and then feeds them omega rich grains. I buy eggs from her.

I've got the same question as (e:paul), what's up with the couscous and no rice?

libertad writes at 09:34:05 05/11/10 - Comment #56192: 1) I hardly ever drink milk. I use it in some things but it always goes bad when I buy it and I only get 1/4 gallon. I do eat a lot of yogurt or keifer, probably 3-4 times a week. I like whole milk if I am drinking it but try to get it from cows that are not given hormones.

2) I love cheeses. I eat cheese in some form almost every day.

3) I drink my coffee black now. Sometimes, if I am somewhere that has creamer available I use a little to cool my coffee down.

4) I don't consume a ton of rice, maybe about a cup a week. Rice is awesome.

5) Bread is so delicious. I like it slathered with butter or olive oil or to make a sandwich with mayo or mustard. Probably a loaf a week, maybe more.

6) Pasta is another favorite, maybe 2-3 times a week?

7) I eat meat in some form almost every day of the week. I can cook a fair amount of stuff without meat in it. Today I had no meat but that is unusual.

8) Love to fry eggs. I usually do that once a week. I also like egg salad and deviled eggs. Eggs are in so many things so it is hard to track.

I just know that you are judging me with beady eyes of disapproval.

theecarey writes at 07:19:12 05/11/10 - Comment #56189: 1. Milk for me is usually in the form of unsweetened Almond milk (used to do soy, but switched for various reasons). So, not quite a half gallon per week. If I am broke, then maybe a pint of skim for cereal.

2. Cheese- almost daily whether cow cheese or vegan cheese. Just depends on what I am in the mood for.

3. Creamer- pretty much never. I almost always drink my coffee black and have no use for creamer otherwise. Though sometimes I go for a special flavored one.. but this would be a small bottle or two year.

4. Rice- again, almost never unless as part of a dish I order while out (or out at a friends house)..and I rarely eat out and even then it is rare to order it. I like rice enough and I own a few varieties, but I pretty much choose something else before I choose rice. Like quinoa, lentils, bulgar, beans etc. These aren't weekly consumptions either. I love quinoa though!

5. Bread- varies. I own a loaf or two of stone ground whole wheat, most of which is stored in the freezer. I vacillate between any of the Ezekiel products or Wegmans products such as whole wheat english muffins (I like to make mini "pizzas"), whole wheat wraps, whole wheat pitas and whole wheat bread depending on what I need it for. Most days I consume some form of those products, but not daily.

6. Pasta- rarely, so my answer for most weeks is zero. I have to be in the mood for it. I had it a couple of weeks back as I was in the mood for some elbows and sauce w/ cottage cheese.

7. Meat- I had some today, but not yesterday. Maybe 3 times a week? Often less, sometimes more.

8. Eggs- most days of the week. 1-2 whole egg and a couple of egg whites. I use them as a means for making some semblance of an omlette or accidental Frittata. Eggs are a good vehicle for lots of yummy veggies, herbs and other seasonings.

jenks writes at 05:09:41 05/11/10 - Comment #56183: Ugh, this makes me feel really unhealthy.

1- I usually can't finish 1/2 gallon before it goes bad. I have about 1/2c on cereal just about every morning.

2- 1? usually goat cheese on a salad

3- half and half in coffee maybe 4-5x /week

4- once, if that.

5- I always have stale bread in my fridge, because I never eat it.

6- maybe once

7- once or twice, maybe?

8- once, if that.

Really I just barely eat these days. :( I have a bowl of cheerios with skim milk and berries every morning before work. Maybe an egg white something on the weekend if I'm 'splurging'.

I never get to eat lunch at work.

I usually have some pretzels or triscuits when I get home. Maybe carrots and dip.

And dinner... also often gets skipped. Or I make some soup or veggie dish and eat leftovers all week. If I go out I pretty much only eat salad, or some lean meat and veggies. But then of course on my birthday I had salad and swordfish and veggies and potatoes and wine and cake and then more cake at work...

I'm trying to eat 'healthy', but really it's just become a starvation diet. :(

(I know I know, that's 'bad'. BUT, it's working. (weight-loss wise).

As my sister says 'I like results that are fast and dangerous. It's the Max Power way.)

Oh, and I've made exercise a non-negotiable part of life. I started out saying I am going to ride my bike ten miles every day. But that become unreasonable. So now it's 50 miles a week.

metalpeter writes at 03:32:41 05/11/10 - Comment #56178

I never drink Milk. The way I get milk is through like other things made of it like chesse on a burger or something like that.

Eating Cheese is maybe once or twice a week I'm guessing it all depends.

Never use creamer in anything

Don't eat rice or Bread, I love bread but I never eat it, well it might be like a roll with a burger but I don't buy it.

I like Rice but never eat it

6 I love Pasta. How many times I eat it though is tough some times it has been 7 or more times a week. Pasta has so many great forms yum pasta.

7. Meat makes Pasta even better . I would guess any where from 5 to 12 times a week but not sure I don't really count.

Eggs I don't eat. That being said many things like cookies and all kinds of things are made with them so it is hard to say.

What I eat is:
Eating out at Taco, and Burger and Pizza Places

All different Frozen foods

Canned Pasta (some of them are pretty good)

Snack Food, A bag of Tostitos or Doritos and drinks are great for sports.

Then there is also event food like at a concert or what ever.......

jbeatty writes at 10:45:56 05/11/10 - Comment #56170: 1. I don't drink milk ever. I only use it to cook so < 1/2 gallon/week. Usually I will buy whole milk to cook with.

2. Cheese is liberally eaten here. We probably go through 1 lb/week for both of us.

3. We only use half and half in our coffee. But we tend to go through 2 pints/week

4. Rice is eaten less than pasta here. Some weeks we eat none. I would say 2lbs/month

5. 1 - 2 loaves of bread/week. I love five points bakery and all but sometimes I need a plain old loaf of sourdough.

6. Pasta is a once or twice a week thing for us. Its our quick meal here. If neither of us feel like cooking its easy to whip out a pasta dish with some vegetables or a quick tomato sauce.

7. I personally eat meat 4-5 times a week. I know that is probably a lot. But I don't really care. I love the taste flesh.

8. We go through a lot of eggs here. We make lots of dishes with eggs. I would say we go though 1 dozen to 1.5 dozen per week.

tinypliny writes at 10:45:11 05/10/10 - Comment #56161: Wow - this is turning out to be a fascinating survey!
Everyone's habits are so subtly different. The influences on each choice of dairy/staples/meat are very interesting.

janelle writes at 09:30:58 05/10/10 - Comment #56160: 1. 2-3 C. of Milk with cereal. I get the Byrne Dairy milk, mostly because it's at Price Rite now.

2. I probably eat a little cheese every day with either dinner or lunch. We really like cheese.

3. A lot of the fake creamer with my coffee every day. I like it really strong with lots of creamer.

4. 1-2 cups of rice.

5. 1/2 to 1 loaf depending on whether I'm eating sandwiches for lunch at work.

6. Once a week and usually whole wheat pasta. Sometimes egg noodles.

7. These days 4-5 times a week because of the kids. Prior to the kids, 2-3 times a week.

8. These days, almost no eggs because FS is allergic to eggs. Prior to the FC, probably a couple of eggs a week. And sometimes I would eat a hardboiled egg a day.

In addition, tofu, tempeh, tvp used to be a regular part of my diet and I'm going to slowly introduce it to the kids, so it can be a regular part of my diet again.

Lots of frozen veggies and fresh/canned fruits. Salad almost every night.

The kids changed our diet and we changed the kids diet. They used to eat nothing but Mac and Cheese and hot dogs and we used to eat a big plate of veggies cooked up in some sauce. We're meeting in the middle of our different eating habits.

joshua writes at 03:52:53 05/10/10 - Comment #56154: 1. Half a gallon per week, I buy the NY organic milk at the co-op
2. 3-4 times per week
3. Hmm... I dunno... maybe half a cup a week with my coffee. I am a light cream kind of guy and use it sparingly
4. Once per week, I should probably increase this
5. How many loaves? Do individuals eat more than one loaf in a week? I'd say maybe half a loaf per week
6. Almost none, rarely eat pasta.
7. 4-5 times per week, maybe more... pretty close to a daily basis most weeks
8. 5 times per week, we like eggs.

james writes at 09:57:03 05/10/10 - Comment #56146: 1) the better part of a gallon of skim
2) a few ounces a week
3) none
4) none
5) none
6) none
7) 5-8
8) 5-8

jason writes at 09:39:40 05/10/10 - Comment #56145: 1. 0.25 gal maybe? The Organic 2% NYMilk.
2. A few times a week.
3. Very little. Couple of spoonfuls perhaps.
4. Basically none. Would like to eat more rice.
5. One loaf a week, at best.
6. Very little. Like to make bolognese sometimes.
7. Plenty, probably 5 or 6.
8. Plenty, probably 5 or 6. Love eggs!!!

heidi writes at 11:55:23 05/09/10 - Comment #56144: 1. I buy .5 gal about every two weeks, whole milk because if I'm cooking with it, that's what recipes are built on. I also go to Taza for hot chocolate a couple times a week, so there's more milk that I drink than I buy.

2. Every day. Probably several times. I currently have queso fresco, pepper jack, romano, goat cheese and mozzarella.

3. none.

4. dunno 1 c.?

5. I keep a loaf of bread in the freezer for when I really want fried eggs. I think I've bought two in the past year. However, I do keep pitas and tortillas around and I eat bread as part of sandwiches (eating out) and pizza.

6. 2-3 times/week. Sometimes more. Pierogi, ravioli. Usually with pesto or red sauce, or just olive oil & romano.

7. none.

8. 1-2x/mo. I'm more likely to use eggs in baking.

Generally I have no idea what I eat and cooking & eating are a pain in the butt. I like organic freezer food a lot (Kashi, Amy's, those amazing samosas). I make a lot of soup, which may contain rice and always contains beans. I eat lots of nuts. I eat salad; I add nuts, cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, dressing. I make quesadillas frequently. I usually have salsa & chips and hummus & pitas around. I drink juice, water, milk, and hot chocolate regularly, with beer and/or wine about once a week (unless it's during a party season).

himay writes at 11:47:46 05/09/10 - Comment #56143: 1.) ~1/2 gallon whole milk
2.) I'll snack on a 1/2lb block of cheese until it's gone (typically 3-4 days, hence I never buy more than that for a week's worth of food...I'd never stop eating it).
3.) None.

4.) 1-2 cups (uncooked) worth, averaging half white and half brown
5.) 3/4 of a loaf (depends on the number of slices...Wegmans' potato bread loaf will last me just over a week, but PriceRite's generic wheat bread will go nearly two weeks).
6.) Pasta and rice usually sub each other out in my diet...if I have the pasta, I'll eat about 1.5x as much of it in lieu of what I would have normally eaten for rice.

7.) 2-3 times a week (usually averaging less than a pound of meat a week, except for weeks like this coming one).
8.) Nearly every day (easily 5-6 days a week)! I love eggs!

paul writes at 10:25:24 05/09/10 - Comment #56142: I answered my answers on (e:paul,51534)

What!? you dropped rice from your diet? What is wrong with you. Rice is so superior to couscous. Think about how much more processed couscous is than rice. Plus rice comes in so many yummy varieties.

vincent writes at 10:23:48 05/09/10 - Comment #56141: 1 Quart skim and that is for cereal.

2. Pretty much every day, as I may grab a cheest sick or include it in a meal.

3. None, I use skim or soy milk for the 3-4 times I have a coffee during the week.

4. Only one serving a week. It is usually with my weekly Chipotle Run

5. 1/2 at most

6. Once maybe twice a week.

7. about 5 times a week.

8. 1 or 2 That is usually one day during the week when I am up early enough or once during the weekend.

tinypliny writes at 08:45:44 05/09/10 - Comment #56139: Let's see. My answers.
1. 2. Mostly skim, sometimes 1 gallon of 1% and sometimes 1 gallon of soymilk.
2. Rarely. When I buy cheese I eat it all the time till it is finished. But I buy cheese like once in a couple months or so.
3. None.
4. None. I dropped rice from my diet early this year.
5. Around 1/3rd to a 1/2
6. Maybe once a week - couscous mainly
7. None.
8. None. I am still kind of unclear about how to bake/cook with eggs.

Permalink: What_do_you_eat_.html
Words: 123
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: eating in

05/09/10 01:25 - 39ºF - ID#51529

The best cup of coffee ever.

The best cup of coffee:

- Brew Trader Joe's house blend in any coffee machine
- Add fat-free/1% milk in blender
- Add a heaped tablespoon of mascarpone to blender
- Blend and blend till foamy
- Heat 1/2 mug blended milk in microwave for a minute
- Fill rest of the mug with brewed coffee
- Stir vigorously
- Enjoy with homemade speculoos!

Permalink: The_best_cup_of_coffee_ever_.html
Words: 70
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: science

05/09/10 09:27 - 35ºF - ID#51527

Acai Berry and the logic of creationism.

Ever wondered about the nutrient profile of the berry that promises to be the "one weird trick" and the "one ancient rule" to recurrent $80 dollar losses?

From: Schauss GA et al. Phytochemical and Nutrient Composition of the Freeze-Dried Amazonian Palm Berry, Euterpe oleraceae Mart. (Acai). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2006 54 (22), 8598-8603

None of the claims about Acai Berry have been scientifically proved. The berry doesn't taste exceptionally awesome either. It's a berry, just like any of the zillion other berries. The people in the Amazon eat it for subsistence just like the Irish eat potatoes. A look at the nutritional profile tells you why. Eating 100 g of this berry gives you nearly 534 calories - the amount you get from 5 100g small potatoes.

The people of Amazon live in tropical forestlands and don't drive cars all the time. They probably don't have 24 hour access to pizza delivery, fast-food, potato chips and all kinds of high-sugar snacks that were heaped in the cart during a recent grocery visit. They are not being force-fed high-fructose corn syrup through EVERY conceivable product on grocery shelves. They probably eat a lot of vegetables because they don't have as many staple-cereal farmlands.

But all that doesn't really matter, correct? We could totally have a million cakes in our pantry, eat a billion more, drink a zillion bottles of this "magic berry" and voila! - we will be magically moulded in the form of the lean and fit Amazonians. Sure, and we were all created from scratch in 7 days flat. It just wasn't enough time to give us a functional brain.

tinypliny writes at 05:28:29 05/09/10 - Comment #56122: LOL @(e:metalpeter). If you put the evil genius of the fast food companies and diet companies together, I am sure you could sell those 3 ideas to people. hahaha

@(e:james) Sounds like a good strategy. You could get your carbs *and* proteins from legumes/lentils and get a bonus of fibre. Why were you avoiding fava beans? They seem comparable with other legumes (slighly less fibre, though...).

Rice is plainly evil with respect to the type and density of carbohydrates you get. So are other refined grains. Potatoes are another big carbohydrate cesspit. Bananas might be good for potassium but in terms of carbohydrates, they give you too much.

james writes at 03:17:29 05/09/10 - Comment #56120: Yeah, I am a type one diabetic, so this diet makes even more sense.

My old macronutrient break down was roughly 10/60/30 fat/carbs/protein. I now try to keep it 30/30/40. I do that by getting almost all my carbs from fruit. Most of my fat comes from nuts and avocado, as my protein is lean meat, soy, or dairy.

But, I also love to cheat. I am cooking up some fava beans because I have been fiending for them for weeks!

metalpeter writes at 02:19:27 05/09/10 - Comment #56119: Berries are healthy but stuff made from them wouldn't mean that it is healthy but most people don't think of that.

For some people there are things that can help them lose weight. If that don't ever have caffeine it will help speed up their metabolism hence why it is in diet pills. Also ephedrine worked great but it also caused Heart Attacks so that is illegal now.

There are 3 things that other then changing your diet will cause weight lose.

Sound the drums
1. Get a crack Problem
2. do lots of Heroin and coke
3. Go around people who have the flu until you catch it and are sick for a week in bed not moving that always seems to take some weight off

tinypliny writes at 12:04:26 05/09/10 - Comment #56117: heheh - ask anyone to increase their water intake and decrease their cookies etc and I bet 40% would complain that they don't like that they have to pee all the time. There is always some crazy excuse.

tinypliny writes at 11:59:52 05/09/10 - Comment #56116: Also, eating out is a major problem that no one seems to care about. You just can't control what you eat if you eat out more than even 40% of the time. You will have to compensate for eating out the rest of the 60% of the time with drastic measures - that are just not practical.

tinypliny writes at 11:57:05 05/09/10 - Comment #56115: @(e:james): Missed your comment. :-) So what is your diet like? I am interested, because you have Type I DM, correct? What were you eating before? What are you eating now?

tinypliny writes at 11:53:08 05/09/10 - Comment #56114: I think the volume of 100g dried Acai berries is roughly 1/4th of a pint box of blueberries. So non-dried volume will be about 1/2 of that box. The fibre value is pretty surprising. Interestingly, it is used as an antidiarrhoeal agent in parts of rural South America. I guess that makes sense then. :)

I don't think antioxidants can do anything to increase anyone's BMR. BMR is determined by the size of the major metabolic organs (liver mainly) and of course, the metabolic status of the body.

I agree with the "eat less than you can burn" strategy. It is true that the net harvest of calories is much higher from fat but carbohydrates and fats affect the satiety centres of the body a bit differently.

It is usually tough for people to eat several large portions of fat all the time. Lesser quantities of fat are required to reach satiety. (Recall how famous French foods that consist of maybe 90% butter are served - in tiny portions. And people don't really ask for more, because they can't generally eat more. That, and the frogs are boorish snobs. hehehe)

Carbohydrates are a bit tricky. Their metabolism is through the insulin pathways and pretty quick. These pathways control the glucose levels in blood - a the major driver of hunger. Even if there is a minor insulin resistance (common in nearly everyone nowadays, because they are fat to begin with) you continue to feel hungry. The result is that you can continue to eat nearly 5-10 times as much carbohydrate based foods as fat based foods. You can end up with 2-5 times more calories than eating a fat-based (but very much smaller) diet.

It's so typical however, that fast-food joints distort this whole idea. They might as well serve Acai berry shakes with the avocado-cheese "healthy" burgers.

james writes at 11:36:14 05/09/10 - Comment #56113: Meh, I do think carbs are evil. I am on a diet now that is low carb and high fat, it makes controlling how hungry I am real easy because carbs get turned into blood sugar real fast. Fat and protein has to take up space for a while before that happens.

But, this berry - like the goji berry, the blue berry, the mangostein - isn't going to do anything magical. Less calories in than out.

And metabolism.. you want to increase metabolism? Fucking jog. GHA!

People are stupid.

jenks writes at 10:08:02 05/09/10 - Comment #56111: 32g of fat per 100g?? These magic berries are 32% fat?? Wow.
I thought most fruits and vegetables, while loaded with sugars, were low in fat... except maybe avocados... Yikes. And 44g fiber?? How much is 100g?! I thought that was like a big handful.

But yes, we are always suckers for any sort of "get (rich/thin/famous/etc) quick" scam. I don't know why people haven't figured it out yet... if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. there is no magic pill.

When I was in med school, our dean lost about 100lb. Everyone kept asking him his secret. He would stop what he was doing and say "want to know my secret? are you ready? I burned more calories than I ate."

I thought the claim with all these new magic super foods was that they have 'antioxidants' etc and are supposed to increase your basal metabolic rate.

I dunno. Perhaps I'm just too simple minded, but that's how see it. You need to consume less calories than you burn. I see fat as the biggest culprit, simply since it has more calories per gram than carbs. I don't understand why carbs are seen as so 'evil' and this low-carb craze. Are the calories in carbs somehow 'worse' than the calories in fat? I'd think the opposite- because of cholesterol etc.

Like when restaurants offer their 'healthy' burgers. Load it up with avocado and cheese- but take away the bun, and now it's good for you?! Huh?

I still think that if you take a vitamin and drink lots of water you could starve the weight off without .

Anyway, this comment is way too long. But, I'm with you tiny.

Permalink: Acai_Berry_and_the_logic_of_creationism_.html
Words: 274
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: opinion

05/09/10 08:19 - 35ºF - ID#51526

UB 2020 Plan?

I just read about someone called Silver blocking the Bill that would make the UB 2020 plan a "success".

An editorial and opinion column in today's Buffalo News supports Assemblyman Mark Schroeder's criticism of Speaker Sheldon Silver for blocking a bill that would free up restrictions and allow UB and other SUNY campuses to become stronger economic engines in their regions. The editorial notes Silver "seems devoted to nothing greater than maintaining the disastrous status quo" and calls the bill "good for upstate." A related column in The Buffalo News and a story on WNED-AM also look at the issue.

I didn't quite get what exactly these restrictions were. So I read the three PDFs linked out from that page.

The only sentence about the content of the bill was:

Reports are that downstate members oppose letting campuses set their own tuition rates, a key part of the bill, because it could jeopardize the ability of poor New Yorkers to go to college.

Was the bill all about tuition? Does anyone know? Why can't these news items be clear instead of a mass of run-around-in-accusatory-sentence-cycles paragraphs? If writing about politics is this confusing, it's no wonder that people don't get whatever politicians are doing in their offices or if they are doing anything at all..

Permalink: UB_2020_Plan_.html
Words: 248
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: art

05/02/10 03:21 - 64ºF - ID#51489

Until...

Sting sings.

The film is so comforting - like a perfect bowl of warm soup with pretty colours and crusty music to dip in. :-)

Permalink: Until_.html
Words: 29
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: eating in

05/01/10 10:12 - 72ºF - ID#51483

Granny Smith Slices and homemade Nutella

Breakfast is a triumph today. I think I have finally perfected the art of making delicious Nutella the way I like it - without the ridiculous amounts of canola from Canada, semi-hydrogenated creepoid compounds or truckloads of sugar. As a bonus, it is mind-blowingly tasty! In four short steps, you can brute force your mornings from the nadir of suckiness to a zenith of awesome!

1. Toast a handful of hazelnuts till they are a toasty earthy brown. I guess you could roast them in the oven if you don't want to stand around stirring them. But I do like to stand around in my kitchen a LOT. I think it's the chessboard floor. There is something hypnotic about chessboards. It's like I am being checkmated by the stove but I make counter-moves and show it some aggression. Anyway, I prefer hands-on active approaches that make some noise early on weekend mornings (the better to annoy that perennially whiny hag next door who seems to think I am responsible for ALL the noise everyone else in the building makes and additionally, complains about it when I am not even in town).

Maybe it's time to get some speakers (that Chuck Norris would be proud of) and give her a flavour of what it might be like if I were in the serious business of making some REAL noise. So, how many hazelnuts, you ask? The average Nutella box proclaims that it has 50 hazelnuts to a jar. Yeah, if you didn't know any better 50 is a big number. But without the canola, sugar and dodgy hydrogenates, it makes up a paltry amount, so be generous. You could toast 50 hazelnuts and it will make nutella that lasts half a week.

2. Add the toasted hazelnuts to the blender, start blending till everything is a fine powder and sticks to the blades. That's hazelnut butter coming out.

3. Add chocolate soymilk (I used Sunrich, because I am in love with the brand) - just enough to cover the hazelnuts in the blender. Blend some more.

4. Add toasted thick and hearty steelcut oatmeal. Add a good sprinkle of flax seeds. Blend. Blend. Blend. Till it gets really creamy. Add chocolate milk at intervals till you reach the consistency of that artificial sham of a Nutella they sell here. My Oster blender does this job in around 10-15 minutes. Other blenders could be more efficient or could just break-down and die. You never know till you push their limits. So I suggest you give your blender its Nutella ultimatum today. Everyone knows that you should never wait till the kitchen apocalypse hits this planet. Every small appliance will grow extra appendages to hit you with.

That's it. Slice granny smiths (yes, other apples are just inferior. Admit it.) Spread the awesomeness of delicious Nutella on the slices and breakfast like a German!

tinypliny writes at 06:37:49 05/13/10 - Comment #56214: heh - so I don't think the real nutella from Italy has hydrogenated oils. The German version is probably the best. If you ever get the German version of nutella, I would be interested in what you think of it. :-)

The hydrogenated oil is a purely Canadian idea distributed by someone in NJ - who has a franchise on the Italian Nutella brand. The nutella that is sold in the US is the real fake. ;-)

mike writes at 05:29:23 05/13/10 - Comment #56213: i'm gonna have to agree with IMK on this one

imk2 writes at 05:00:12 05/13/10 - Comment #56212: i'm sorry but i love my hydrogenated oil based, store bought, nutella. i love, love, love it! i will never cheat on it with soy milk substitute fake nutella stuff. sorry tiny, but as much as i love you, i can't let you in between me and my love affair with nutella.

tinypliny writes at 08:23:08 05/03/10 - Comment #56025: Hehe, that's the best part. :-) I scraped enough of it off and then added freshly brewed coffee, vanilla soymilk (also from sunrich), pure vanilla essence - blended again! Voila - awesome coffee-vanilla smoothie. It get all the butter off the blades. :-)

himay writes at 11:17:46 05/02/10 - Comment #56021: So once you get this lovely concoction to a consistency similar to that of the store-bought stuff, how do you get it back out of the blender?

I can see the spatula working for ~80-95% of the goodies, but I potentially see myself gravely harming my tongue trying to clean off the blender teeth assembly...

tinypliny writes at 09:48:29 05/02/10 - Comment #56018: Yes. It's a miracle sort of like miracle-whip and that other one in your holy book.

theecarey writes at 09:36:39 05/02/10 - Comment #56017: sounded awesome until.. until that picture! Is the end result a sticky, dirty baby? eek!

himay writes at 01:13:38 05/02/10 - Comment #56013: DON'T EVER DELETE THIS!!! (I just saved it on Delicious!)

Now that I have your attention, I'm soooooooo trying this when I get the time to give it a shot! I'm thinking it might be fitting next weekend (after I try to kill myself with a 5k run), but I'll have to figure out how to squeeze that in amongst the Scotch eggs I'll be making.

Permalink: Granny_Smith_Slices_and_homemade_Nutella.html
Words: 476
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: buffalo

04/30/10 06:10 - 74ºF - ID#51481

Aggressive sisterhood.

A couple days back, my friend and I were getting in his car and driving away, when two rather cute women approached us on Linwood. They asked us if we would like to exchange cards. Turned out they were not really hookers but were out proselytizing.

I thought it was a very interesting strategy. Pick fairly attractive young people to spread your virulent message and target a younger population - not with the traditional "could you spare a minute for us" but rather "hey there! would you like to exchange cards/numbers with us (broad suggestive smile)?!"

You have to wonder at what drives these nutters to pound the pavement and attempt to convince random strangers that the strangers' families are in mortal danger if they don't belong to such and such a religion/cult-group. Maybe we should take their cue and roam the streets yelling at random people about how smoking will kill them and their friends and why they should eat more fruits and vegetables.

What really worries me is do we already sound like this? Do people listen to us politely and then go home and shake their heads about how unlikely they ever are to change their lifestyles? What does it take for people to stop, think and change? I wonder if the tipping point towards religious commitment or adopting scientific lifestyles are similar. Do personal inexplicable losses lead to a more religious outcome while scientifically explained losses lead to conscious changes in lifestyle - for the better?

Permalink: Aggressive_sisterhood_.html
Words: 252
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: goals

04/28/10 10:01 - 51ºF - ID#51469

Less things. More space!

I gave away my corner table and two chairs today. I am 3 steps closer to my absolute-minimal clutter-free goal.

My next elimination target is the pile of books, magazines and notes - about 3/4th of which I have digitized. I don't think I have ever re-read any of my class notes from mandatory coursework. I wonder why I have kept them so long. All my really useful notes and ideas are online or on the pages of books and pdfs I scribble on.

I love the wonderful feeling of living and breathing floors without those annoying chairs or that table that I didn't need anyway.