We live not that far away from Shoal Creek and it usually takes us walking about five to ten minutes to get there.  One day I brought my camera and took some pictures of Ron exploring the Shoal Creek. 

Normally we walk along Shoal Creek on the sidewalks or trials near the creek but this time Ron saw an opening just past the last house before the park area starts. 

He approached the opening and started to clime down.  It was a narrow path and at first it seemed difficult to get to the bottom but Ron went on.  Here’s some pictures:
1)   2)   3)   4)  
Ron starts  down on the path to Shoal Creek (1), he continues (2), almost there (3) and he’s a-okay (4).
5)  6)    7)
So, he decided to take a little break (5).  Funny he’s hutched over like the Batman in Batman Begins. Jejeje…

Now he is working his way down to the floor of the creek and stops at the foot of the path to figure out which way to go further down.  We zigged (6) zagged (7) here and there and finally we made it to creek floor (8) at which point I took this wonderful picture (9).  I like these photos very much because of it’s close ups and angles.
   9)

There was a bit of work to get there but once at the bottom we stood there listening to the birds singing, the water running and feeling the gentle breeze.  I say it was well worth the effort and it gave me yet another chance to take pictures. Enjoy Everyone. ~Evelyn

On a nice sunny weekend we decided to check out the Elisabet Ney Museum located in the Hyde Park area.  We walked over (it was about a thirty to forty minute walk) and we cut through a park to get to her studio.

Here’s a picture of the European sculptress’s Musuem and a close up of the front entrance ( I guess it’s a self portrait):
       

I so wanted to take a few picture inside and well, I found a site ( Texas Society of Architects/AIA ) that has a few photos of her sculptures.  I was fancinated by the beauty and detailed artwork in her studio.  The studio itself was also interesting.  It was originally a smaller building and later on she added an addition which included a living area on the same level as the studio.  We went up to the second level using the tower where she had her bedroom and I think the kitchen although I’m not sure. 

We went up to the tower and found the secret door.  It was cleverly hidden behind a bookcase which was flushed to the wall.  Ron pulled the bookcase towards him and load and behold there was the secret door.   The tower has windows on three side and we looked out from them.  It was a lovely sight. 

Prior to leaving, I just had to ask, if this building had the basement originally or was it added later. The musuem assistant told me the basement was original to the smaller studio and expanded with the addtion.  She said they had updated the basement to be the musuem’s office area.  She was kind enough to show me the basement and I was thrilled since out here there are hardly any buildings with basement.  The basement was quite modern and yet very cozy.

On our return home, we strolled through the park and I was able to get these pictures:
    
Ron walking through the park:

We also saw some petrified wood used as decor on building, signs, and gates.  The first picture is of a plaque on the side of a building and the other is a closeup of that side.
   
Oh, by the way the building was a Walgreens Drug store and notice the “Hyde Park” engraved on the bottom of the second photo. This reminded me of Hyde Park in Chicago.  Actually, this area felt a lot like the one in Chicago. 

Evelyn has been spending quite a bit of time working on her electronics stuff. The immediate need is for the LED sign she is developing for Chasen. The other is for our business idea of making really cool electronic clock kits–more to come on this one.

One of the issues we’ve encountered is finding a good “intro to electronics” site. The stuff out there is either way too much theory or doesn’t explain anything. One site that we have found very helpful is the Electronics Club. They have easy to understand diagrams, helpful real-world advice, and some interesting projects to try out. It’s a great example of a site that doesn’t have a lot of glitz, but does have a lot of excellent and solid information. If you are interesting in learning more about electronics, check it out.

It’s been interesting to see how the hobby arena has changed over the last 20 years. For a while kit building was a big deal (ex. Ham stuff, Heathkit, Popular Electronics, etc). Then the PC came into the picture and pretty much destroyed the hobby electronics arena. Then, for some reason (maybe because of programmable microprocessors–ex. the PIC or the BASIC Stamp or the Rabbit), electronics has come back into the picture. You now see magazines such as Make that are reintroducing people to the hobby. It’s really good to see, since there are tons of really cool things you can do with electronics, especially the embedded microcontroller stuff.

Update: If you are looking for a good electronics supplier, we recommend Allied Electronics. They used to be an old Chicago company, but are now based in Fort Worth. They ship super fast (all of our orders have arrived next-day) and have very competitve prices for most parts. The other cool thing is that they pick and pack stuff very carefully. All of the ICs (even cheapie 555s) are in ESD bags and storage tubes.

A number of recipes call for a bit of chipolte. Chipolte is a smoked pepper and is canned in adobe sauce. It imparts a very distinct smokey flavor to dishes–a little goes a long way. Even buying the small 7oz cans leave me with lots left over. So what I do is divide it up into individual servings. Just put a bit of a pepper and some of the sauce on some plastic wrap and roll it up (so it doesn’t leak). Throw the little packs in the freezer and you’ll always have some on hand and none wasted. I usually end up with at least 6 little packs from a 7oz can. Defrosting is unnecessary, since you can just chop up the little frozen cube of pepper/sauce.

Here’s a recipe that uses chipolte: Fry four slices of bacon. Drain fat, but reserve about 1 T. Pan fry two medium chicken breasts in fat for about 5 minutes. Turn. Add 1/2 C BBQ sauce and 2T chopped chipolte & adobe in pan, with a little water. Cover. Cook for about 8 minutes on medium. Remove chicken, slice/chop roughly. Divide chicken between 2 onion rolls with some sauce. Top with grated cheese (cheddar or pepper jack) and bacon. Put under broiler (or in hot over) for about 5 minutes (until cheese is melted). Serve with mashed potatoes and baked beans. Makes 2-4 sandwiches, depending on how much chicken you cook (1 large breast does two sandwiches).

I have always been leery of using ground turkey and chicken in place of beef. I think the colors are off (too light) and worry about the taste. Recently I tried ground turkey again and was surprised. I used turkey instead of beef for three of my ground-beef heavy recipes: tacos, sloppy joes, and chili. All three of them came out really good. (I think that part of it is because all three are pretty strongly spiced.) So from now on I’m making them with ground turkey. We can usually find the ground packs much cheaper than beef (and cheaper than ground chicken, too). Plus, it has a lot less fat, so you don’t have to feel as guilty.

I end up making a big batch of ground beef/turkey chili about twice a month. Besides just eating it “normally” (a bowl with grated cheese and oyster crackers), we quite like it as Chili 5 Way. You cook up some spaghetti, pour a little chili sauce on it (the sweet stuff-not the super hot stuff), then a couple big spoons of chili, then some cooked beans (if you didn’t add any to the chili itself), then chopped raw onions, then a big handful of grated cheddar.  Very tasty!

I use a lot of butter, and like to keep it fresh. So I keep all of my butter in the freezer. It’s a great way to take advantage of sales and doesn’t hurt the butter at all. I do the same to the big blocks of cheddar and mozarella that I buy. I cut up the big 3-4 lb blocks into 1/2 lb pieces (about how much I’d go through in a week), then carefully wrap with plastic wrap then foil. Make sure to label them! I don’t freeze good cheese, but the stuff I’m going to grate (ex. cheddar for tacos or chili).

Buttermilk is often called for in recipes, though in some places it can be hard to find. A make-do alternative is to use regular milk and add about a 1 T of lemon juice. After about 15 minutes it should be clumpy and soured–which is what you want in buttermilk. (In PR we could not find any buttermilk. In Austin our store has 4 different sizes, so I’m spoiled now. They have little pint containers for about 60 cents, so I don’t waste too much anymore.)

 

This guy had a pretty neat concept of reducing desk clutter. He attached a sheet of pegboard under the desk and then “hung” everything from it. Pretty interesting. Take a look here.

With so many portable devices these days (with all their power packs), we came up with a space & clutter reducing solution: We put everything in a desk/table drawer. Basically, I emptied out a nightstand drawer (which would be filled with junk anyway), ran a power strip up into it, and then plugged everything in. Now I have one place where all my gadgets sleep and get charged. You don’t see all the cables and nothing really gets hot enough to worry about heat. Most furniture has plenty of room to run cables into.

After living out of boxes for so long, I got pretty good at knowing what cooking tools I really needed versus all the other fluff. I figured I’d share some of my newfound knowledge, so I’ll be writing a series of posts that covers the core stuff you should have in your kitchen. This stuff will make cooking a lot more fun.

Let’s start out with the small stuff (a la, the hand tools):

• Swing-A-Way Heavy Duty Can Opener. Talk about a boring tool! I don’t own electric openers, since they take up space and really aren’t needed. Get yourself a big heavy duty Swing-A-Way manual opener. It works like a dream–it is not anything like those dollar store cheapie things. It’s easy to use because it has magical gears, which take all the strees out of opening a can. You can find these at Target and Walmart for about $9. I also own a really cool looking Rosle manual opener–it doesn’t pierce the can, but removes the entire lid top. I like it, but it does not work on small cans (ex. paste) and on some other cans. The Swing-A-Way will open anything, and can probably be run over by a truck in the process. (Note: They make two models, one larger than the other–get the larger one.) This is a simple little tool that will last forever–and it’s made in the USA.
  
• Microplane graters. This company originally made hand tools for woodworking and they make excellent graters. Get a ribbon/bigger one and one of the long skinny ones. They cost between $10 and $16 each. I use mine all the time and they are still razor sharp. They have nice big handles, too. Another excellent US product.
  
• Zyliss Susi Garlic Press. They make a jumbo model these days that will fit even the biggest cloves. I have a older model that I’ve been pressing garlic through for nearly 20 years. Sometimes a pain to clean, but always used. Solid aluminium and made in Switzerland. I also like some of their other tools, but the garlic press is the only must-have.
  
• Kuhn Rikon peelers. They make a line called the piranna–white with a red handle inserts–that are great. Razor sharp, they make peeling potatoes and carrots super easy. I’ve heard that OXO also makes a good peeler, but I prefer to give my money to the Swiss (sensing a theme here?). Kuhn Rikon makes a variety of kitchen tools and is an excellent brand. They make some kick-ass top-of-the-line pressure cookers.
  
• Stuff for moving food around: You need at least a decent ladle, wide spatula, and narrow spatula. I got a decent heavy plastic set from Target a while back. I also have metal, but rarely use them, since I cook most of my skillet stuff in non-stick. The key is a heavy tool that won’t bend under pressure. You also must have at least two solid wooden spoons.
• Waiter’s wine opener. I have a couple of fancy wine openers, which work fine, but I always forget how to use them, and they take up too much space. Instead I used the old fashioned waiter’s wine opener. I picked up an Italian one from the local grocery store for about $10. It opens every bottle every time without any tugging. Throw out those damn things with the crazy arms that go up and down. Get yourself a waiter’s opener and you are set for life. As a bonus, it opens bottles, too. A screw and a lever–basic mechanical concepts that work wonders.
  
• OXO Metal Tongs. I have two long ones and a short one. Get them. Use them. Love them. They also make one with a plastic tip, so you won’t scratch your non-stick pans. I just have the metal ones and try to be careful. They lock shut via a nice hanging hook, which is great, since a busy cook can lock them closed with his teeth.
  
• Measuring stuff. Get some decent metal measuring cups for dry stuff, a set of nice measuring spoons, and a pyrex 2 cup for liquids (this is getting very hard to find, so some reason). If you want to splurge get a WonderCup for sticky stuff (if you do a lot of baking). I’m having a heck of a time finding the pyrex measuring cups (mine are in storage somewhere), so I often make do with a little OXO 1/4 cup. It’s much easier to use for small amounts of liquids and has pretty much replaced my metal spoons (I only use the spoons for dry)
• Small metal wisk. Nothing fancy, but always useful for baking, eggs, and whatnot.
• Metal bowls. I got a couple of small (6 inch) stainless steel metal bowels from Meier a while back. I can’t believe I got along without them. They are super handy for combining ingredients, defrosting chicken (in water–I never microwave to defrost), and so on. My set was made in India and have taken a beating. Who thought that you could love a bowl? Well, maybe not love, but at least admiration and respect. Make sure to have at least 3 on hand.
• Speaking of my love for bowls, get yourself a set of Ziploc containers. I think they are called Twist and Lock and come in sets of 3. The 2 cup round ones that have the screw top. Make sure to get the screw top ones! They are harder to find, but are well worth it. Great for leftovers, plus they double as a 1 and 2 cup liquid measure. (Picture is of larger size. I use the Small more often.)
  

I’ve got a ton of other small hand tools in the kitchen, but the above are those that I use every day. I would be remiss however if I didn’t mention another sleek simple piece of engineering: The Zeroll Ice Cream spade. It’s shiny aluminium and filled with a “defrosting” liquid. I had their scoop in the past, but much prefer the spade design. Its thin wide tip is perfect for carving through the hardest ice cream. It’s one of those simple hand tools that feels good in your hand and works even better.

Update: When you start these kinds of lists you always forget something, and I forgot one of my favorite tools: The Design House Pickup Tongs. These are tongs that look just like chopsticks, held together with a spring loaded loop at the top. Hard to describe, but very useful. At first I was very skeptical about these, since they looked like they would fall apart. But they have held up very well and are extremely useful for turning small items and tossing stuff around. They are made of heat resistant plastic, so they are safe on non-stick pans.

This was originally found on one of the Cook’s Country “30 minute supper” recipe cards. I’ve made it quite a bit and have made some adjustments. It is a pretty easy weeknight meal and is surprisingly tasty. Note: It’s very heavy on the garlic, so make sure you like garlic before making this one.

• 2 slices of white sandwich bread (if you have good bread, use that)
• 4 T olive oil (the better stuff)
• 6 cloves of garlic minced/pressed
• 3/4 t red pepper flakes
• salt
• 1 pound of spaghetti (you can reduce if making for 2)
• About 1/2 cup grated parmesan (if you have the good stuff, use it)
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley (not critical; you could use a tablespoon of dried)

1. Bring salted water to a boil in large pot (for spaghetti). Meanwhile…
2. Rip the bread apart and put it in a food processor. Process with a steel blade until ground. This usually takes me a couple of 5 second pulses. Note: If you don’t have a food processor, you can use pre-made breadcrumbs, but they won’t be quite so good.
3. Put 2 T of olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat until oil is shimmering.
4. Add bread crumbs to hot oil and stir around. Some of the crumbs will glob up with the oil. Just use your wooden spoon to break everything apart. Stir occasionally, breaking up bigger chunks, until the crumbs start getting a nice golden color. This will take about 5 minutes. Don’t burn them! Make sure then are crispy.
5. Once the crumbs are golden brown and have a nice toasted smell, add half of your minced garlic (3 cloves) and 1/4 t of red pepper flakes to the pan. Cook over med-low heat for about a minute, or until you can smell the garlic. You’ll probably need to break up the garlic a bit with your wooden spoon. Take off heat immediately, transfer to bowl, and add a dash of salt. Be careful not to overcook the garlic at this stage or it might get brown and bitter.
6. Wipe out the skillet and add 4 T olive oil, the rest of the garlic (3 cloves) and remaining 1/2 t red pepper flakes. Cook over med-low heat until garlic is golden. This will take between 2-4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
7. Add spaghetti to boiling water and cook until al dente (around 8 minutes). When done, reserve about 1/4 cup of the hot pasta water, then drain pasta and return it to the pot.
8. At this point the drained pasta should be back in the pot. Add the reserved water and stir in the oil mixture and the parsley. The original recipe says add the Parmesan too, but I find it clumps up too much at this stage. Give it a try if you like. Season with a little salt. Stir around until everything is combined.
9. Serve pasta with bread crumbs and Parmesan sprinkled on top.  

Once you get the hang of it, it’s a really quick recipe that will have dinner on the table in about a half hour. You can even make a bigger batch of garlic breadcrumbs before hand and store them in a sealed container. Just make sure to heat them up (maybe in a toaster oven) beforehand–you don’t want then soggy.

One thing I found was that my garlic often turns a weird green/blue color when added to the olive oil coated breadcrumbs. Garlic sometimes does this when cooked with an acid. A compound in the garlic breaks down, reacts with amino acids, and produces the color. The good news is that it does not affect the flavor, so you are safe to proceed.

It’s been pretty cold and gloomy down here recently. Not as bad as those people in Chicago, who are digging out of a blizzard, but crappy nonetheless. It’s been bouncing between 40’s to 50’s for the most part, with some nicer days here and there. Still, it’s been about 40 degress warmer here than in Chicago, so I can’t complain too much.

Nothing too exciting to report. Just staying inside a lot and working. Evelyn finished her prototype sign and is now starting work on the larger LED version. It should be pretty cool, with about 200 LEDs which “chase” each other in a pattern.

Well, I’ve been busy constructing a prototype sign for Chasen. 
Recall previous write up: Up and Coming Talent  
I built a small sign using fiber optics, LEDs, and other items.  It took a while since I was working with delicate fibers and this required a lot of patience.  I finally finished and this is what it looks like:

See it is a small sign designed to be on a table as a display.  ( Click on picture for Larger image )

 
Here’s a close up of the sign lite up.  When the switch is powered on the Yellow and Blue LEDs will start to flash alternating between the two colors.

On February 16th through the 19th, Chasen Grieshop will be in Orlando at the MegaCon Event promoting his 2007 exclusive book: Ecru: Visions Megacon Edition.  Limited run of 100 signed books.

By constructing this prototype I learned the best components for the next larger sign is NOT fiber optics instead LEDs. I will also be learning how to program integrated circuit/microcontroller and this will allow me to add special LED effects to the next sign.  Hopefully, I will have that one ready for the Chicago’s Wizard World Convention later this year.  So, if you find yourself during the 16th through the 18th of February near or in Orlando, Florida swing by the MegaCon and say Hi to Chasen.

The February 2007 issue of Cuisine At Home magazine has an interesting article on how to make pizza using phyllo dough. Phyllo is made with flour, water, and a little fat. It’s made into very thin sheets–which can be very difficult to handle. Working with it is not for the faint of heart, but after making this dish a couple of times I’ve found some tricks.

First, when working with phyllo make sure that it is completely defrosted. If the box you have is frozen, defrost overnight in the fridge. Then, take it out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for several more hours (anywhere from 2 to 4, depending on how hot it is). It is critical that it is completely defrosted. It looks like some people microwave to defrost, but I haven’t tried that.

If you have worked with the dough in the past and it has torn, that is a good sign that it’s not defrosted enough. Don’t worry about it “going bad” on the counter. It’s just flour and water, *anything* kept at room temp for up to 4 hours is safe to eat, and it’s safely sealed in its plastic bag. Do not take it out of it’s plastic home until everything is ready.

Second, when you unroll the phyllo, cover it with wax paper and then cover that with a damp towel. Because phyllo is so thin, it dries out super-quick. As it dries, it gets harder to work with (it breaks up). Make sure not to have the damp towel touch the dough itself as it will cause it to stick together. (I often go without the damp towel, but you have to work fast–make sure everything is ready to go and assemble quickly.)

Third, if you are making phyllo pizza, look for the thicker phyllo dough. Most grocery stores only carry one size (often called #4). The number referers to the thickness of the individual sheets–the larger the number, the thicker the sheets. I found that using #7 is easier, since they are less likely to break apart. I’m going to try #12 next and see how that works. Also, most phyllo packages have a “number of sheets in box” note. The fewer the sheets in a box, the thicker the sheets. Most #4 boxes contain about 20 sheets.

Here’s a high-level view of the actual recipe. If you want the details, please take a look at the magazine, it has lots of hints and pictures. (Unfortunately, they do not have an on-line site.)

• Roll of phyllo dough (#4 or thicker–#7 works well)
• Melted butter combined with Olive Oil (about 6 tablespoons total)
• Mozzarella, Feta, and Parmesan grated/shredded and combined with a teaspoon of dried oregano (about 2 cups total)
• Thinly sliced scallions (green onions) and 2 cups of cherry/grape tomatoes (halved)

1. Preheat oven to 400 with rack at highest level.
2. Brush a large jellyroll pan (like a cookie sheet–with a lip) with a little of the oil/butter mixture.
3. Lay a sheet of phyllo in the pan, brush with a small amount of the oil/butter, and lay another sheet of phyllo on top.
4. Once you have three layers, sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of the cheese mix on the top.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you run out of sheets. You should have a three buttered layers of phyllo, a little cheese mixture, three more layers of phyllo, and so on. Note: If you are using #7 phyllo you may want to have cheese at ever two layers of phyllo. Play it by ear.
6. Once you have run out of phyllo, brush the top with remaining oil/butter mix. Spread half of the remaining cheese mix on top.
7. Spread the scallions and tomatoes on the top, sprinkle a little salt, and then top with the remaining cheese.
8. Bake until cheese is melted and the edges of phyllo are brown and very crisp. Should be about 20-25 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and let stand for a couple of minutes. Cut with a pizza cutter or scissors. It will be very flakey and may break apart a bit.

Notes:

• You may need to cut down the phyllo sheets a bit to fit them in your pan. Just use some scissors to cut through the entire stack of dough. Even a full stack of phyllo is very easy to cut through–fit the stack to you pan and cut all at once. I use the remainder pieces to make little “banana cigars” (below).
• Try to work quickly with the dough. It dries out, and becomes a pain to work with, very quickly. You can NOT be interrupted during the construction process (steps 3-5). Once you have the stack of phyllo and cheese made, you are home-free.
• Don’t panic is the sheets split/break a bit. Just layer it on and try to piece together. I nearly always have sheets ripping. It’s okay, since the cheese mix layers will bind everything together.
• Make sure to use the feta. It’s very salty, but gives it a really good flavor.
• The cherry/grape tomatoes are a must. I don’t like tomatoes much, but they are really really good in this recipe. They have a sweetness that contrasts nicely with the saltiness of the cheese. I typically use about 1/2 of the little plastic box they come in (half a pint).
• Leftover feta is great on salads. Keep it in its little water bath so it stays moist.
• If you have a Greek/Mediterranean store nearby, check them out for feta and phyllo. They usually have much better deals and variety than larger grocery stores.
• You may get some of the bottom sheets of phyllo stuck to the pan a bit. Not a big deal, just lift up pieces with a spatula. It will still taste good.

The end result of all this hard work is an extremely light pizza, full of great flavors. It’s too stressful to be called a weeknight dish, but it makes a great Saturday night dinner treat.

Leftover dough: Because my phyllo sheets are larger than my jellyroll pan (even full-sized pans), I always have a stack of dough about 6 inches wide left over. I make banana cigars with these. Simply slice up some very ripe bananas into a small pan, put in a little sugar, some butter, and cook on low heat until broken down a bit. Spoon a little of the mixture in a thin strip along the narrow edge of the dough and roll it up like a cigar. Bake the rolls in a 400 degree oven until browned. (I put my over-ripe bananas in the freezer for just this recipe. Just take the frozen banana out and cut it up. [Cut right through, skin and all--you can then peel the skin off the banana rings.] No defrosting necessary; plus the mushy texture is good for this recipe.)