Povinovinonon
Point of view, opinion, and unsolicited advice from a Californian living in South Carolina.
Archives
08/01/2003 - 08/31/2003 09/01/2003 - 09/30/2003 12/01/2003 - 12/31/2003 01/01/2004 - 01/31/2004 03/01/2004 - 03/31/2004 04/01/2004 - 04/30/2004 05/01/2004 - 05/31/2004 06/01/2004 - 06/30/2004 07/01/2004 - 07/31/2004 08/01/2004 - 08/31/2004 09/01/2004 - 09/30/2004 10/01/2004 - 10/31/2004 11/01/2004 - 11/30/2004 12/01/2004 - 12/31/2004 01/01/2005 - 01/31/2005 02/01/2005 - 02/28/2005 03/01/2005 - 03/31/2005 05/01/2005 - 05/31/2005 06/01/2005 - 06/30/2005 07/01/2005 - 07/31/2005 08/01/2005 - 08/31/2005 09/01/2005 - 09/30/2005 11/01/2005 - 11/30/2005 12/01/2005 - 12/31/2005 01/01/2006 - 01/31/2006 05/01/2006 - 05/31/2006 06/01/2006 - 06/30/2006 07/01/2006 - 07/31/2006
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Green Tea Deluxe
I love green tea ice cream. I usually make it by adding macha (powdered Japanese green tea) to vanilla ice cream. However, tonight I didn't have any ice cream in the house to satisfy my dessert cravings. So I decided to make a facsimile:
- Heated one cup of milk in the microwave
- Stirred in a scant teaspoon of macha
- Added 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- and one packet of Splenda
Friday, September 05, 2003
The Broth Thickens
George has expressed a reluctance to post in this blog himself, so I am writing down his advice for him. This particular bit of advice concerns making a beef broth for soup - in our case, okra soup. The recipe calls for a chuck roast to be simmered in water and cooled overnight. However, George has watched Good Eats' broth episode and knows that it's connective tissue that gives beef broth substance. After all, it's where gelatin comes from. A piece of chuck doesn't have much connective tissue, so he tossed a piece of beef ribs in with the chuck, and the result is a much thicker, smoother broth than the chuck alone would've given him.
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
Putting One Foot in Front of the Other
The discovery that very few children walk to school anymore was front page news today: The State | 09/02/2003 | Few children are arriving at school on foot.
I can't say that this report surprises me. Whenever the school year rolls around I see articles in the paper about "car lines" and proper parking lot etiquette for parents picking up and dropping off children at school. Driving your kids to school has become the norm. The above article says that our local school districts don't provide bus service to areas less than 1 1/2 miles away from the school. Theoretically, kids should be able to walk or bike that distance. However, with so few safe places to walk and bike in Columbia, I'm not surprised that parents are unwilling to let their kids traipse through 45mph traffic to get to school.
This is really part of a larger problem: the problem of Americans forgetting that their legs can be used as a means of transportation. A few days ago, the Philadelphia Inquirer printed this article about how American suburbs are making us fat because they are designed for cars, not people. People can't walk to the store, to school, to lunch, to anywhere, so they drive and lose out on valuable exercise. Walking has become a form of recreation instead of a means of transportation.
When looking for a house a year ago, I insisted on a neighborhood with sidewalks. I wanted to be able to get places on my own power without having to depend on a car to get me across the street. Unfortunately, only the pricey neighborhoods had sidewalks, so I settled for an in-town neighborhood with a lot of stuff within walking distance. I am disappointed that our street has no sidewalks, but am encouraged by the pedestrians I see every day braving the traffic whizzing by their shoulders to get to the grocery store, bus stop, mall, or restaurant. With walking being front page news, perhaps city planners will listen to those of us who want improvements to the pedestrian transportation structure.
I can't say that this report surprises me. Whenever the school year rolls around I see articles in the paper about "car lines" and proper parking lot etiquette for parents picking up and dropping off children at school. Driving your kids to school has become the norm. The above article says that our local school districts don't provide bus service to areas less than 1 1/2 miles away from the school. Theoretically, kids should be able to walk or bike that distance. However, with so few safe places to walk and bike in Columbia, I'm not surprised that parents are unwilling to let their kids traipse through 45mph traffic to get to school.
This is really part of a larger problem: the problem of Americans forgetting that their legs can be used as a means of transportation. A few days ago, the Philadelphia Inquirer printed this article about how American suburbs are making us fat because they are designed for cars, not people. People can't walk to the store, to school, to lunch, to anywhere, so they drive and lose out on valuable exercise. Walking has become a form of recreation instead of a means of transportation.
When looking for a house a year ago, I insisted on a neighborhood with sidewalks. I wanted to be able to get places on my own power without having to depend on a car to get me across the street. Unfortunately, only the pricey neighborhoods had sidewalks, so I settled for an in-town neighborhood with a lot of stuff within walking distance. I am disappointed that our street has no sidewalks, but am encouraged by the pedestrians I see every day braving the traffic whizzing by their shoulders to get to the grocery store, bus stop, mall, or restaurant. With walking being front page news, perhaps city planners will listen to those of us who want improvements to the pedestrian transportation structure.