Arthur C. Clarke, 1917-2008

Arthur C. Clarke, Premier Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 90


By GERALD JONAS
Published: March 19, 2008

Arthur C. Clarke, a writer whose seamless blend of scientific expertise and poetic imagination helped usher in the space age, died early Wednesday in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he had lived since 1956. He was 90.

Rohan de Silva, an aide, confirmed the death and said Mr. Clarke had been experiencing breathing problems, The Associated Press reported. He had suffered from post-polio syndrome for the last two decades.

The author of almost 100 books, Mr. Clarke was an ardent promoter of the idea that humanity’s destiny lay beyond the confines of Earth. It was a vision served most vividly by “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the classic 1968 science-fiction film he created with the director Stanley Kubrick and the novel of the same title that he wrote as part of the project.

His work was also prophetic: his detailed forecast of telecommunications satellites in 1945 came more than a decade before the first orbital rocket flight.

Other early advocates of a space program argued that it would pay for itself by jump-starting new technology. Mr. Clarke set his sights higher. Borrowing a phrase from William James, he suggested that exploring the solar system could serve as the “moral equivalent of war,” giving an outlet to energies that might otherwise lead to nuclear holocaust.

Mr. Clarke’s influence on public attitudes toward space was acknowledged by American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts, by scientists like the astronomer Carl Sagan and by movie and television producers. Gene Roddenberry credited Mr. Clarke’s writings with giving him courage to pursue his “Star Trek” project in the face of indifference, even ridicule, from television executives.

In his later years, after settling in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Mr. Clarke continued to bask in worldwide acclaim as both a scientific sage and the pre-eminent science fiction writer of the 20th century. In 1998, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Mr. Clarke played down his success in foretelling a globe-spanning network of communications satellites. “No one can predict the future,” he always maintained. But as a science fiction writer he couldn’t resist drawing up timelines for what he called “possible futures.” Far from displaying uncanny prescience, these conjectures mainly demonstrated his lifelong, and often disappointed, optimism about the peaceful uses of technology — from his calculation in 1945 that atomic-fueled rockets could be no more than 20 years away to his conviction in 1999 that “clean, safe power” from “cold fusion” would be commercially available in the first years of the new millennium.

Popularizer of Science
Mr. Clarke was well aware of the importance of his role as science spokesman to the general population: “Most technological achievements were preceded by people writing and imagining them,” he noted. “I’m sure we would not have had men on the Moon,” he added, if it had not been for H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. “I’m rather proud of the fact that I know several astronauts who became astronauts through reading my books.”

Arthur Charles Clarke was born on Dec. 16, 1917, in the seaside town of Minehead, Somerset, England. His father was a farmer; his mother a post office telegrapher. The eldest of four children, he was educated as a scholarship student at a secondary school in the nearby town of Taunton. He remembered a number of incidents in early childhood that awakened his scientific imagination: exploratory rambles along the Somerset shoreline, with its “wonderland of rock pools”; a card from a pack of cigarettes that his father showed him, with a picture of a dinosaur; the gift of a Meccano set, a British construction toy similar to American Erector Sets.

He also spent time, he said, “mapping the moon” through a telescope he constructed himself out of “a cardboard tube and a couple of lenses.” But the formative event of his childhood was his discovery, at age 13 — the year his father died — of a copy of Astounding Stories of Super-Science, then the leading American science fiction magazine. He found its mix of boyish adventure and far-out (sometimes bogus) science intoxicating.

While still in school, he joined the newly formed British Interplanetary Society, a small band of sci-fi enthusiasts who held the controversial view that space travel was not only possible but could be achieved in the not-so-distant future. In 1937, a year after he moved to London to take a civil service job, he began writing his first science fiction novel, a story of the far, far future that was later published as “Against the Fall of Night” (1953).

Mr. Clarke spent World War II as an officer in the Royal Air Force. In 1943 he was assigned to work with a team of American scientist-engineers who had developed the first radar-controlled system for landing airplanes in bad weather. That experience led to Mr. Clarke’s only non-science fiction novel, “Glide Path” (1963). More important, it led in 1945 to a technical paper, published in the British journal Wireless World, establishing the feasibility of artificial satellites as relay stations for Earth-based communications.

Rice Paper, Mpls, MN in Linden Hills

It’s been quite a while since I’ve done a restaurant review. I guess I haven’t been eating out at too many new places of late. The Husbands work schedule probably is what’s dictating that, he has Wednesdays and Thursdays off, I have Saturday and Sundays off, plus he works till 8:00p two nights a week.

But as usual I digress! I was down in the Cities for an intensive yoga workshop two weekends ago and an acquaintance and I, plus a very lovely gal he knew from Madison, went out for dinner together. It was great being able to talk yoga and philosophy and explore how we all approach teaching in different ways.

Rice Paper, an Asian Fusian restaurant, was recommended to us by a local. I think we decided to go there because it was close to the studio and we wouldn’t have to drive so far to return to our respective abodes. This is a very small, intimate restaurant that does some hoppin’ business! It’s tucked into this quaint neighborhood called Linden Hills, not far from Lake Calhoun and Harriet. All the storefronts are from days gone by and it’s an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants. There was a tea house that I stole a peek into as we walked back to the car. Had I had two functioning brain cells I would have recommended tea after dinner, but I think we were all pooped from the workshop.

My acquaintance and I ordered the Pad Thai - he with chicken, I with the tofu puffs. Our dining companion ordered some spring rolls, served with a peanut sauce. I had to decline the peanut sauce as I just don’t do peanuts or peanut butter. Still, the rolls were fresh and bright tasting. I think she ordered the Lunar Clay Pot - steamed tofu with pea pods, black mushrooms and slivered carrots in a fresh ginger sauce served over jasmine rice.

The waitstaff was helpful and friendly, though our waitress neglected to bring the green tea for our third dining companion as ordered. The food arrived to order (mine without peanuts). I don’t eat enough Vietnamese or Asian food to really know what is what, so I was a bit surprised when I dug in and found my choice to be a cold dish. I was hoping for warm Pad Thai. Everything tasted very fresh, the flavors bright and crisp across the tounge and, well, I ate everything.

We all felt it was a good restaurant but I think our opinions were somewhat muted as what we all really wanted was Indian food. I would recommend Rice Paper to anyone who would like to step out at bit. Prices were very reasonable, I did not go away hungry, and I would go back again.

Recipe Review from 3/3/08

It was a busy weekend with a run to the Cities and I feel I've been trying to catch up ever since. Haven't had any free computer time this week so I'm a bit behind on my posts. Hmm, I thought I had pictures for some of these but I may have inadvertently deleted them again. I will add pictures later if they are still on my computer. (3/14/08 - Editing to add, found one picture!)

Roasted Root Vegetables with Maple Glaze (Ckng Lght March 08, pg 114) 3.5
This was good, but where the recipe lost points was it was pretty basic. I’ve done roasted squash and various root veggies, I’ve just never added maple syrup to the dish. The upside of this recipe is this very versatile dish - I think the recipe called for carrots, parsnips and turnips. I used sweet potato (had one in the drawer), parsnips and turnips. What I did do differently this time was I bought my parsnip and turnip (yes, one of each) from the co-op. What a difference! They weren’t covered in that nasty wax and were bright and crisp. I would recommend this recipe, because it’s one of those that you can do what you want with whatever you have on hand.

Oven Roasted Salmon (Cooks Illustrated, Mar/Apr 08, pg 11) 4
This is a "technique" recipe by Cooks Illustrated, not so much a flavor recipe. And I have to say this technique worked great. Preheat the oven to 500* and put a roasting pan (covered with aluminum foil to aid clean up) inside . Prep salmon by removing belly fat and slicing the skin, but not breaking the flesh. Season with oil, salt, and pepper and place on heated roasting pan. Turn temp down to 275* and cook 9-11 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish. Turned out moist, flaky and delicious.

Sourdough Oatmeal Bread (New Complete Book of Bread by Bernard Clayton, pg 248) 4
I like to have a couple loaves of bread in the freezer for those weekends (or week days in the Husbands case) for when we don’t have time to bake. Plus it is nice to have a couple varieties to choose from. This was the case with this recipe, plus it made two loaves. One for now and one to freeze. The Husband made the started the night before and the next morning I did assembly and baking. We both noted it was a simpler sourdough recipe than previous ones we’ve made. Add flour, sugar, honey, salt, oatmeal and yeast to the sponge and mix. Kneed. Rest. Shape and let rise right in the pan. Bake for 40 minutes. I cut back the baking time as I knew one hour was way too much.

This is a slightly dense, white loaf. The oatmeal disappears completely, which was neat and odd at the same time. It had a nice thick flavor to it, but not like an artisian bread. I would make this again because I like the simplicity of the recipe.

Sweet and Sour Tofu (Ckng Lght Annual 08, pg 168) 3.5
It’s been a while since I made anything with tofu and when I made the roasted Red Pepper Hummus I found this one. Tofu is cubed , lightly fried and set aside. Thinly sliced red peppers and ginger are sauteed, a slurry of cornstarch and pineapple juice added and then the rest of the pineapple juice is added and everything cooked till thickened. When I added the tofu back I also added some pineapple tidbits. This was served over brown rice.

I liked this dish for its ease - came together in moments - and for its serving size (2 dinners and one lunch). But I felt it was lacking something in the ingredient department. Perhaps some green peppers or other veggie.

Bloodhype by Alan Dean Foster

Book 4 in the Pip and Flinx series.

While this is next in the series, the author has broke from his two main characters - Pip and Flinx - and the world of Moth. Instead we find ourselves on Replar, where the dreaded and feared AAnn have been granted an island embassy. Some of their warships have brought back to a hastily constructed stronghold herein a very strange organism. It’s a very large black amoeba that has the ability to destroy planets...but the AAnn don’t know that. Yet.

Mal is a trader captain and two of his employees have brought back a box that was found floating in space in the middle of what can only be described as a very large holiday ornament. But they can’t figure out how to open it.

Meanwhile, Mal has bigger problems. He found a stash of the dreaded drug Bloodhype in one of his shipments and he is not a happy camper. Mal deduces who the shipment was headed for and goes to confront the trader, Rose. Mals negotiations with Rose go awry and he ends up saving the vivacious Kitten and her Tolian freind - a large racoon-coyote creature - from imminent torture with the help of an apprentice sanitation engineer in Rose’s employ named Philip. Mal brings everyone back to his island stronghold and shows them his mystery black box.

Surprise! The box opens and we are confronted with an alien who claims to be the Guardian, the last of the Tyr-An Krang, and he’s there to save the galaxy, nay the very universe from the amoeba thing the AAnn have sequestered away. Kitten decides she simply must see this creature for herself and convinces Mal and her Tolian friend to accompany her.

This was a fun book on several levels. Foster has expanded on the galaxy he has created for Pip and Flinx, the reader gets to see a bit more of the dreaded AAnn, and it’s not about Pip and Flinx. This isn’t to say the story was without it’s faults: Mal is your typical space hero, strong, brave, and a bit stupid. The sexy Kitten drags everyone into places they just shouldn’t be going (doh). Kitten’s Tolian sidekick contributes the comic relief. And there were a lot of loose ends left dangling. A lot.

Still, this won’t keep me from reading #5. Stay tuned for further adventures from Pip and Flinx!

Recipe Review from 2/25/08

Fettuccini Alfredo with Seafood (Everyday Italian Giada DeLaurenttiss, pg 114) 4

I used her sauce recipe as the base for this dish because my notes from the recipe I found from 2002 CL were not exactly glowing. Giada recommends using fresh pasta due to the richness of the sauce, but I did a few modifications to account for using dried.

Alfredo sauce is pretty simple, warm heavy cream (I used half heavy cream and half half-n-half) and lemon juice in a large skillet. Add fresh ground nutmeg (this really makes the dish pop) and butter (I reduced the butter from 6 tbsp to 5). Keep warm. When the pasta is done, add pasta, 1 cup parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to sauce and toss till thick. Here some patience is necessary, because the sauce will thicken when removed from heat.

The seafood wasn't part of the recipe, but I had a hankering for it: warmed 1tbsp butter in a small skillet and added 2 cloves of grated garlic, stirring till nicely browned. Then I added one baby bottle of white wine and tossed in some littleneck clams. These I simmered until they just started to pop open, and I added some shrimp and little scallops and simmered till the clams finished popping and the shrimp was done. I added the seafood combination to the top of the fettuccini alfredo and drizzled with extra sauce.

Results? Magnifico! This turned out super good. It was creamy with out being heavy-rich. I think it's the acidity in the lemon juice that makes everything so bright and cuts down on the richness. The garlic-wine flavor was subtle in the seafood and complemented the alfredo very nicely. I made enough to serve 2 for dinner with enough leftover pasta for the Husband to take to work for lunch one day. I would make this again.

Skillet Tuna Noodle (Eating Well, Mar/Apr 08, pg 28) 3.5
When I received my newest issue of Eating Well last week and I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it. This isn’t your mother’s hotdish. Made completely on the stove with only a quick toasting under the broiler, this is mostly creamy, flavorful, good-for-you and makes a bunch. This recipe could easily be halved for a smaller household.

Egg noodles are cooked and drained. Meanwhile, onions and sliced mushrooms are sauteed in olive oil. To this is added the flour and cooked till warm. The milk is poured over and everything stirred till slightly thick. Then add the tuna (I used the kind in the vacuum pack because I don’t like draining it). Add the noodles and stir. Add the peas and Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle bread crumbs and Parmesan over the top and broil till nicely brown.

This didn’t turn out as creamy as I thought it would. I don’t know if I didn’t cook the noodles long enough and they soaked up quite a bit of the liquid, or perhaps I cooked the sauce to long and it was too thick when I added the noodles. Still, I really liked the freshness of this dish and I would make it again - but cut the recipe in half.

Red Pepper Hummus (Ckng Lght Annual 08, June, pg 173) 5
A local indee cafe/coffee shop makes it’s own bread, spreads and desserts and I’ve popped down on my lunch break a couple times to partake in fantastic soup and sandwiches. This was a result of wanting to make my own version of their hummus sandwich at home. The hummus was super simple to make: roast a red pepper under a broiler to remove the skin. Combine red pepper, 1 can drained garbanzo beans (chick peas), cumin, garlic, salt, pepper in a food processor till nice and smooth.

For the sandwich, find a nice soft bread of choice (I found a whole grain that I prefer). Spread a nice layer on the bottom, then layer with thinly sliced Provolone cheese, tomatoes and alfalfa sprouts. YUM! I’ve been having this for lunch with some sea-salt and vinegar chips, green beans and cherry tomatoes. It is nicely filling without being heavy. You can vary your toppings to your tastes. Try it!

Chocolate Mint Bars (Ckng Lght, Mar 08, pg 180) 4
When I saw these on the cover of this months issue, I knew I was going to make these bars. What was additionally neat was the recipe is from a gal just north of Duluth. I had my monthly book group meeting on Monday and found myself with time and an opportunity to make these. The bars came together very quickly and are chocolate-y and minty - think Andes mints. A rich chocolate cake brownie topped with a thin layer of mint frosting and a coating of melted chocolate on the top. Best served a bit on the cool side. I highly recommend these for any gathering because they are best served in smaller portions so the 9x13 pan goes a long way. I am thinking of making these for the office for St. Patrick’s day.

Homemade Dog Biscuits (New Complete Book of Bread by Bernard Clayton, pg 659) 4

The Husband decided that the puppies needed something after all the baking we've been doing and he's had his eye on this recipe for a while now. And it may seem a bit odd that I would rank doggie biscuits, but trust me, these were good! The doggies are lucky they got any! They are basically an unleavened bread made with whole wheat flour, cracked wheat, corn meal, regular flour, honey and a dash of salt. And yes, the Husband carefully rolled out the dough and cut them into little bone shapes with a bone shaped cookie cutter. He did get tired of the putzy work after a while and the last few turned into rectangles. The biscuits are slowly baked and then the oven turned off and the cookies are left to continue drying. I sampled one before it was crunchy dry and still a bit warm - Yum! This recipe would make a great holiday gift for any hounds you might know.

Knitting Project #11 - The Husbands Beanie Hat

The Husband's first hat ended up with the Dad. I was under the impression the Husband wasn't wild about the hat (he wrinkled his nose when he tried it on) so I passed it along to the Dad, who was very enthusiastic about said hat. It was sometime later while I was working on either dishcloths or the Sister's scarf when he asked when he was going to get his. I guess he liked it after all!

I love the Regia London Beanie pattern - so super easy to make. If can easily make one in about two -three days in the evening while watching M*A*S*H re-runs.

So he got his beanie hat just after our incredibly frigid cold snap back in January.

Pattern: Regia London Beanie

Yarn: Regia 6ply self striping
Needles: #6 circular and dps

Currently on the needles: One dishcloth (#2 out of 6 for Sister1, by request) and one mitten -part of a scarf, hat and mitten combo for Sister2, also by request. I have the hat, scarf and one mitten nearly finished, and I have the cuff of the second mitten cast on. It is my goal to have all of these done by Easter so I may distribute them to their recipents and start learning how to make socks!

Recipe Review from 2/18/08

With help from the Husband, I have four recipes to review this week:

Quick Chicken Chili (Fine Cooking, Feb/Mar 08, pg 86) 3.5
This would indeed be quick if one followed the recipe as written. I...deviated, again...I used my own beans (which are almost gone!) and some of the leftover Crispy Roasted Chicken that the Husband made a couple weeks ago. No worries! It was frozen! Recipe also called for 1 cup of frozen corn, but I had a can of corn niblets from a different recipe that never was made so I happily moved that can off the counter.

A bit of onion is sauteed, spices are added and warmed, chicken and broth to that. Beans, a can of diced tomatoes, and the corn at the end just enough to warm without making mushy. I initially thought this was going to be a soupy dish, but after is sat overnight, it was perfectly creamy and chunky. We did have this for one dinner and lunches the remainder of the week. This would also freeze nicely.


Simple Italian Style Meat Sauce (Cooks Illustrated, Mar/Apr 08, pg 8) 4
Oh, this was so very good and easy to make. Once again, start out by sauteing onions (I eat a lot of onions this way) and mushrooms and then add six cloves of minced, crushed or grated garlic. It seems like a lot, but believe me, I could have easily added more. Add a tablespoon of tomato paste and the seasonings and saute till nicely brown. Add the ground meat (buffalo in this instance) and once slightly browned, add the diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes and cook until thick and bubbly.

This cooked up thick, creamy, and so very well seasoned. I served it over rigatoni with some grated Parmesan. This makes about six cups, and I froze about two. One cup is about one serving worth because it is so thick.


Cracked Wheat Bread (Duluth News Tribune, 2007) 4
(I'm bummed. I deleted the picture for this before I loaded it! Arrgh!) Anyway, the Husband was at it again and this time he converted this recipe to accommodate Harold, the sourdough starter. While I was away at work for most of the production, I do know that this conversion took a very long time. The sponge was started the night before, and flour added the next morning. Sometime between 7:00a and 7:00p there were risings and shapings. I did the final baking that evening. Recipe called for 35 minutes, but reality took a hour.

This baked up as a very hearty loaf, with whole wheat and cracked wheat giving it a dense but open crumb. I don’t know that he would do the conversion again, but I sure would like to try the bread as written and compare the two.


Stuffed Trout en Croute (Irish Pub Ckbk, pg 162) 4
In print, this wasn’t that difficult of a recipe. In reality, when under the clock, it becomes a challenge. The Husband has wanted to make this dish for a while now, and he finally had the opportunity this past Thursday. He hit a few...hiccups. He started assembling the dish a half hour later than intended, he inadvertently ate the bread for his crumb mixture during the day, and we found out that what I thought was two sheets of phyllo was indeed, only one. Oops.

Still, after getting a bit flustered and not only yelling at the dog for being underfoot (she gets underfoot) but myself (he thought I was going to take over but I was reading my mail! Really!) The dish was quickly halved and only two en Croute’s were made. The remaining two fillets were baked with the stuffing sprinkled over the top.

I don’t usually care for lake trout, but tonight, this dish was very good. The "packets" baked up golden brown and the fish and stuffing so nicely steamed on the inside. A liberal dose of lemon juice with the stuffing aided in cutting the potential richness of the trout and phyllo. I would make these again.

Farthing by Jo Walton

This was a March book group selection. Again, it's one of those that succeeded in surviving our convoluted voting process. This is also an alternate history, set in England in 1949. What this isn't is science fiction.

The Farthing refers to a local in England and in particular are a group of English elite who helped persuade Hitler to come to some kind of peace agreement. Hitler rules the "Continent" and the English are still intact. The story is told from the point of view of two people: Mrs. Lucy Kahn, an Eversely heiress disowned because she married a Jew, and Peter Carmichael, the Scotland Yard investigator.

In the tradition of Agatha Christie, a murder has occured. Lady Eversley has thrown a grand party for the Farthing politicians. In the morning a high ranking politician and lord has been found murdered in his bed, his breast painted red and a Jewish star pinned to his chest with a dagger. Carmichael is called in to solve the murder and all the evidence points to Lady Lucy's husband, a Jew.

Jo Walton weaves an interesting tale, Jews are still being persecuted on the Continent while England says they are more open minded - but in reality they are only steps away from segregation themselves. Her writing drew me in and I honestly read this in a day. The subject was disquieting. I thought the alternate history part interesting, but she had a subtle underplot that discussed homosexuality. It was as if every other character had an alternate lover that was the same sex. It was a strange combination.

The strongest part of the book was the ending. It left the reader wondering and it wasn't, shall we say, a "stock" conclusion. I'm torn - I liked the authors style enough that I would read her again, but I'm not sure that I want to. It will be interesting to see what we have to say about it at book group.

Recipe Review from 2/11/08

Another quiet week in the recipe department - only three. I think the recipes we've been chosing have been making a fair amount of leftovers - which is fantastic - but it definitely cuts down on how many new dishes get made. And I realized, I completely forgot to snap a shot of any of them, so you will have to use your foodie imaginations to envision what they looked like!

Hearty Tuscan Bean Stew (Cooks Illustrated, Mar/April 08, pg 14) 3.5

This looked good from the moment I opened the magazine: beans, tomatoes, kale, pancetta, what could be better? The interesting thing about this recipe was the method to prepare the beans: brining. Now everything I've read about preping beans says NO SALT! and now I'm being told to use salt. The beans are soaked in a salt solution for 8-24 hours, then drained and added to the cooking pot. Everything is brought to a simmer and then popped into the oven to bake. This is supposed to produce tender beans that don't split. I had tender beans -that split. I place the blame on myself - my beans are very fresh (from last years garden) and I soakd them for nearly 18 hours. Too long! I could have skipped the oven bit completely.

This soup was flavorful and colorful. The recipe suggested to mash a few beans along side the pot for a heartier stew but some of mine had alread done that. The kale was a nice counter point to the pancetta and sweet beans. This made plenty for not only dinner, but lunches for the week as well. I would make this again with modifications.

Buffalo Stew with veggies (Husband's version)

We have made a slight shift in some of our eating habits, which include now buying buffalo instead of beef. Just down the road from us is Shady Lane Bison and because we were local, they were willing to sell us some small quantities of pre-packaged meat. The Husband picked up a couple roasts and 2 lbs of ground.

He had slow cooked stew on his mind and this was his own creation using what I had on hand in the fridge: buffalo roast, carrots, turnips and onion all simmered slowly in beer and it's own juice. The result was good. He felt it needed more seasoning; I liked it for it's simplicity. Made 3 meals. I should add - he made this for us for Valentines Day! Lucky me!

Fettuccine with Clams (RR Every Day, Mar, pg 100) 4

I've had the inclination for a while now to try something using real live clams or mussels. There are several problems to this: I live no where near fresh clams or mussels and it is in the depths of winter in my corner of the world so getting the little buggers home alive is a bonefide challange.

I've been carefully watching the seafood shelves at my local Cub each Saturday, assessing and contemplating, while paruesing my cooking magazines for just the right recipe. The stars and moon and planets must have come into some kind of alignment because I found just the right recipe and the weather cooperated so I could get them home.

This was a pretty simple recipe: saute kielbasa (subbed for chorizo) in some olive oil (what is with all the "EVOO"? Regular olive oil is so much better for cooking!) then added sliced garlic and cook till golden. Add white wine, toss in those littleneck clams, cover and cook till shells open. Add can of diced tomato. Contine to simmer. Add cooked fettuccine and serve.

Good? Oh yes! I'm glad I halved the recipe. I would make this again with the following modifiations - slice kielbasa smaller, add wine then tomato and bring to a simmer, then add clams and cook till done. This made two hearty helpings and one serving for leftovers.

Those Wiley Mice

I admit I don't use my grill a tremendous amount during the winter. I much prefer to use my oven and warm up the house with a bit of residual heat and great smells. So my grill sits outside, tucked under its protective cover waiting patiently, if not a bit frozen, for those lazy spring and summer evenings.

However, one evening recently as I was getting the hounds some much needed exercize, I noticed a plethora of many little footprints running between my beloved grill and the porch. Suspicious, I wrangled the stiff and cold cover off, took apart the grill rack, pulled out the flavor bars and confirmed my niggling doubts.

MOUSE CONDO!

This is the guts of my grill. It's a Weber Genisis B. The nest was the size of a deflated volleyball.

COMPLETE WITH MICE!

This is the second time this has happened. I'm not surprised really, our grill resides in an ideal spot: just off a couple of flower gardens and a hop, skip and scamper from the supermarket of the bird feeders.

I apologized as I evicted the poor mices (3 of them). They were just too close to the house and may get ideas. Grill will get moved to our new garage and when I get a warm day, I will scrub and sanitize the heck out of it.

Recipe Review from 2/4/08

Happy Valentines Day!

Just three recipes last week. We had quite a bit of leftovers and were out of town over the weekend. I have a three day weekend coming up so I plan on doing a bit of baking to warm up the house a bit. Plus I decided to make our Valentine's Dinner on Saturday. I don't know exactly what I'll be concocting, but it will have fresh mussles in it.



Banana Cake with Browned Butter Pecan Frosting (Culinary i/t Country Blog) 4As Rachel Ray would say, Yum-O! What elevated this from a standard banana cake to delicious was the frosting. Melt a partial stick of butter while stirring constantly (very important!) until it starts to turn brown and smells nice and nutty. It looks like it is burning, but that’s where that stirring comes in. And I didn’t screw it up! Mmm! What could be a basic cream cheese frosting is elevated to new levels of flavor. Usually I don’t like nuts on my baked goods, but there was something about the toasted pecans that really brought the fluffy cake and creamy frosting all together into one very harmonious dessert. I would definitely make this again.

Southwest Tomato and Pepper Soup (Fine Cooking, Feb/Mar 08, pg 57) 3.5I confess, I am used to canned tomato soup, even though I have been buying the Muir Glen or Amy’s varieties, so this was a bit of a departure for me to make my own. It turned out good enough that I would make another. A red pepper is toasted under the broiler until the skin is nice and black, then popped into a zippy to steam and cool for a while. A large onion is softened and combined with cumin, chili powder and corriander. To this is added large can of diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and the now peeled and diced red pepper and brought to a simmer. Near the end toss in one diced zucchini and simmer till softened. Serve with sour cream mixed with lime juice and zest and fresh cilantro. Very refreshing. I served with some of Duane’s sourdough bread and cheese slices.


Crisp Roast Chicken (Cooks Illustrated Mar/Apr 08, pg 7) 3.0This...was a good recipe but not one that we would necessarily bother to make again. A roasting chicken is cleaned and patted dry, then patted with a baking powder mixture and allowed to sit in the fridge overnight. The idea behind this is the baking powder will help make the skin nice and crispy. This is then baked, doing the breast-side down bit, until internal temp hits 175*. While the skin was indeed nice and crispy, it lacked flavor. We can get crispy skin with much better flavor using our grill, salt, pepper and olive oil. The bird itself was nice and moist. No complaints there.

Where the recipe lost points was in the baking - when I arrived home the house had a layer of smoke floating by the ceiling, the upstairs fire alarm was going off and the dogs refused to come inside. The grease from the bird was hitting the pan and smoking, causing all sorts of commotion. And to top it off, the Husband cut his finger trying to rip the battery out of the smoke alarm. No, he was not a happy camper.


So we might employ parts of this recipe in the future and cook the bird outside. My house might be aired out by that time too...