Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Southern China Day1.

It's currently the fifth of March 2014 and I am in a suburb of Guangzhou, China,and it's late in the day.  Today actually stated at 5 AM on the west coast of California, Monday March 3, when I woke up.  I went to work finalize some things and got on a plane at 11:10 that night, there was a one hour delay taking off from SFO, which caused a lot of sweat 16 time zones away, when we had to run through the Honng Kong terminal to make our connecting flight to Guangzhou. 

Right now it is 5 AM Wednesday, on the West coast, so I have been awake for 48 hours. 

Included in today was an awesome lunch of mostly noodles and some pork, winter melon, along other awesome flavors, a trip to a farm which raised a variety of pets, including mice, guinea pigs and goldfish.  There were Chinese cymbidiums and an award winning flock of homing pigeons.  After that there was a birthday party for my girlfriend's 92 year old mother, which was a lot of fun. 

For now, I am off to bed.  Apparently, I am not going to be able to upload pictures taken in China on my Iphone to blogger. 


 

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The Mysteries of Asia Unlocked -- Gloria's Hot and Sour Soup

Tonight Smiley made hot and sour soup, which I was told, contains hundreds of ingredients and takes hours to make.

Not true, apparently.   

You will need:

1/4 c. dried black fungus
1/4 c. dried daylilies
100g package of preserved vegetables 
4 T. cornstarch 
4 T. water
3 cups water 
1 12 oz can of chicken stock 
1 lb of lean pork
1 ordinary package of supreme soft tofu
1 egg
4 tablespoons Chili sauce
60 ml of vinegar.
Salt to taste
Fine black pepper to taste


Soak a handful of Black Fungus and a handful (about1/4 cup) of dried Daylilies (many restaurants would use bamboo shoots)  in water for a while to soften and start a large pot containing 2-3 cups of water and a can of chicken stock to boiling.   Take about 1 lb of Pork and cut into strip about 1/2" by 2" Add a slurry of 2 T. cornstarch and 2 T. water and set aside.  Mix 2 T. of cornstarch with 2 T. of water and set aside.  

Cut the tofu into strips about 1/4-1/2 by the length of the cube.  Scramble the egg.   Strain the fungus and day lilies and add to the boiling liquid.  Add the pork, the preserved vegetables and the tofu. Add Some of the cornstarch mixture to thicken. judge the thickness based on your history of eating hot and sour soup.  Add the vinegar and the chili sauce. Salt and pepper to rase. Add the egg by stirring and drizzling it around in the soup 

 Serves 6-8.   Enjoy












Saturday, February 22, 2014

Packing for China

So -- I am packing for China and at the suggestion of  my friend The Grillmaster, I am bringing my 4x5 with me to China.  I will shoot only roll film and it seems like a win.  All parts packed, it looks like 25 pounds, plus film.

What I am taking:

Wista 4x5 Field Camera
Schneider 90 mm lens
Schneider 210 mm lens
Shneider 135 mm lens
Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Tripod
Slik Tripod Head
Shen Hao 6x17cm 120 Roll Film back
Wista 6x9 Roll Film Back
Shutter Release (2)
Shower Cap
Filters (about 12) and Adapters
Magnifier (2)
Headlamp
Light meter and Spare 9V Battery
Kitchen Timer
Magnifier for Ground Glass (2)
Lens Cloths
Dusting Bulb for Lens
FlareBuster
Hacky Sack

What I am not taking:

Rodenstock 55 mm lens.  Although it covers 8x10, I can't get it to focus in my camera, becase it runs into the camera body before it get short enough to focus.  It's possible that I could fix that ... 

Polaroid holder.
4x5 film holders.
4x5 film.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

China!

I booked my flight to China:

03 Mar to Guangzhou
08 Mar to Kunming for a tour of Yunnan province.
15 Mar to Hongkong
26 Mar home.

The travel med docs think I need typhoid plus antibiotics, but no malaria prophylaxis.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas is over, and all through the house ...

not a creature is stirring not even a mouse.

I had a wonderful Christmas.  Family, friends and an abundance of love.

My family, and my friends are amazing.  It started with a party night with friends on Friday.  Then a short vacation to Mendocino with Smiley.  3 days in a northern California paradise with the girl I love so much.   I am blessed.

Then family and friends at Christmas eve.  Gifting and the white elephant thing. So fun,

Today was a loved filled calendar,  Merry Christmas everyone.  

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Turkey Soup


When I was a kid I used to work at a kennel (my first job, at a surprising $1.10 an hour)  for the Barton's and Mrs. Barton used to make this marvelous, rich and savory turkey soup every year after Thanksgiving.  I am going to recreate that soup today if I can.


For the turkey stock.  

3 stalks of celery and celery tops 
2 cloves of garlic mashed. 
1 t. peppercorns 
5-6 sprigs of parsley 
A few sprigs of marjoram 
a few sprigs of thyme 
2  bay leafs 
A turkey carcass the turkey neck (and giblets other than the liver)  
Salt and Pepper

Break up the turkey carcass and put in a large stock pot.  Add cold water to cover the bird. You can add water if it cooks down Add the neck and the giblets if you use them.   I don't mind the giblets, but the rest of my family doesn't want to eat them so I leave them out.   


Rinse and clean the herbs and add to the pot.  Thyme and Marjoram are my favorite combination of herbs, In Germany, where my mother's family finds it's roots, marjoram is referred to as the "goose herb", probably because it's such a natural in seasoning poultry.  Mash the garlic with the side of a knife and add, loosely chop the carrots, onion, and celery and add to the stock.   



Cook the stock for three to four hours, then strain the stock to another vessel and reserve. Skim off the fat if you like.  I don't do that, because I want to emulsify it into the soup, to enrich the flavor.

The soup

Pick a solid selection of root veggies.  I've chosen parsnip, carrots, onion and rutabaga.   Turnips would also be a good choice and add a sharper flavor than a rutabaga.    Since a rutabaga is a cross between a turnip and a cabbage, it naturally has a milder flavor.  I probably wouldn't choose a beet in this soup, because of the red color it would add.




2 cups or more leftover turkey 
4 carrots cubed
2 ribs of celery chopped 
1 large parsnip cubed 
1 rutabaga or turnip cubed 
2 cloves garlic
1 t. each sage, marjoram and thyme
1/4 c. olive oil
1 cup uncooked orzo.
1 t red wine vinegar, cooking sherry, or white wine



In the stock pot add the olive oil and some heat.  Toss in the pepper first and sautĆ© for a minute or so to infuse the oil. Add the celery and onions and sautĆ© for about 3 minutes until the onions are translucent.  Add the herbs and garlic and continue for about 2 minutes.  The celery should look like it's starting to cook.

Add the other root veggies and sautĆ© until it seems critical to add some liquid to avoid scorching.  Add the reserved stock, the turkey meat. and the white wine or sherry.  Cook 40-45 minutes then add the orzo and salt and pepper to taste.  By now the soup will have married together and be rich in root flavors.  Once the orzo is tender about 10 minutes later, it's ready.  Enjoy!


Sunday, November 10, 2013

Turkey Brine Recipe for 24 hours




4 Gallons Water
2c. salt
Garlic
2 T Rosemary
2T Peppercorns

I am pretty sure you would cook it then let is cool, put the turkey in for 24 hours prior to cooking.

Monday, November 4, 2013

How diminished our world is without Lou Reed

One of the largest influences in my life reached out and touched me the other day, after a 5 or 6 year haitus.  One of the things I always wanted to ask you L.T, now that I am in Alviso every workday, is what happened to the boat that was in Alviso harbor?

There's a little tribute here to Lou Reed.  http://www.wayofthedodo.org/2013/11/in-scarlet-town.html.  Thanks L.T

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Dear Marmot ...

... Hello, 

Last weekend I was camping and fishing in the Sierra Nevada, not some thing new, or something I was unprepared for.  This is something I have been doing all my life.   I was a good trip generally.  It rained though.  On Monday Morning about 1:00 AM it started and rained hard until about 11:00. 

At about 7:30 I got up and started to pack to leave and put on my Marmot rain gear.  One, the pants, I have had for several years, and two, the new jacket I bought in Alaska over the solstice.  




 The pants are the ones with the zipper up each side so you can take them off without removing shoes, and the have velcro attachments on the sides to adjust the waist and hold them together. 

There wewe some problems.  I find the real test of gear is when you have to use it to do real work.  Not casual walks in the park, or a gentle spring shower.  Monday morning's camp take down was hard work, hauling all the makings of a camp up a hill to load in to the truck, amidst a serious summer downpour.  

Well, Marmot, your $200 rain suit failed miserably on multiple accounts.  One the hood on the jacket wouldn't stay adjusted and the visor, really wasn't stiff enough to protect my glasses from the rain or stay out of my line of sight.  The velcro on the pants wouldn't stay attached, so the pants were falling down for most of the morning.  The pockets of the jacket are very small and really weren't helpful.  

Here's the kicker though.  After about 3 hours of slog,. we were packed and I went to take them off.  I was soaked through and through, and then the zipper on the pants wouldn't operate, so I had to take off my shoes to get them off.   

Complete fail. 

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Japanese Inspred Woodworkers Toolbox


 My day really got going with lunch at Su's Mongolian BBQ..   

Lately I have been going through my tools, my studio, my gear, with an eye toward organizing it and reducing it. 

I have a fairly good toolbox, it's one of the 5 foot high multi-drawed thing from Lowes or where ever.  It's stuffed to the gills.  I have a lot of tools.  Auto tool, sculpture tools, woodworking tools.  The list goes on.  I have a lot of interests and I am exceptional;l fond of tools. 

It's all a burden really. 

My wood working lately has moved away from machines, primarily because I dislike the noise they make.  So many years in shops has damaged my hearing.  I have more time now.  I prefer to work by hand.  Saws, planes.  Labor.  Slow, methodical effort. It takes skill and patience to do these things well
by hand. 

Inspired by a book on Japanese Woodworking Tools by Toshio Odate, I set out to extract my wood working tools from the the big tool box and build them a nice Japanese styled home.    


 

 Gloria with the plane cleaning up the uneven spots.


 The completed box
 The box full of tools.
 And with the Planing Bench.

So it was a good day.


Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Friday, June 21, 2013

Ketchikan, Alaska

I'm in Alaska!  First time.  It's my 45th state.  Current travel count: 3 continents, 14 countries (including North Korea), 45 states. I am in Ketchikan for the Summer solstice.  Ketchikan is interesting and the food is good when it's fish.  More about that in a minute.

My travelling companion, and I disembark, proceed down the jet way, and go the the baggage carousel, to get my baggage.  Achut, has no baggage to speak of.   He is an accomplished world traveller, recently returned from an adventure to Antarctica.  Me, I travel like Redmond O'Hanlon, I need porters and bearers.  And a boatman.  Achut travels with just a bit of stuff and sandals.  My bags contain about 35 lbs of camera gear.  Surprisingly, Aschut taps me on the shoulder and points at the cart half full of luggage and runs off.

He's forgotten his laptop on the plane. 

The cheery girl behind the counter at the car rental place asks if we need tickets for the ferry.   I ask, "What happens if we miss the ferry? Will it wait for us?"  "It drops you off then comes back for the employees. so you'll get another chance."  The  ferry is $5 each plus 6 for the car.  We drive the rental car out of the parking lot to a sign that says "U-turn for Ferry."   Although there are only about 1000 yards of road on this entire island.  It appears we are lost already.   The ferry handles about 15 cars and comes out to meet every flight.  It takes maybe 10 minutes for the whole crossing. 

We have rented a house for our stay it's a three bedroom job, called plainly enough, "The Thomas Street Vacation Rental."  It's very nice and has a kitchen, "So we can cook the fish if we catch any, " so says Achut. Thomas street is a Boardwalk out over the Harbor.  The boundary between water and land here in Ketchikan is a board walk with a building on it and two wooden rails facing the water. 

It's easily nine o'clock P.M. by the time we get situated, and Ketchikan is already slipping into the doldrums of night.

Finally we find the spot we need <> and have a halibut fetticini.  We wander  empty piers designed for cruise ships, and then pass by the rowdy bar, with what sounds like a fight coming from inside.

We are seriously undecided about this bar, because it's rough.  We stop to discuss it.  We're are in Alaska, after all, so lets give it a go. we head back. 

A moment later the doors fly open and several people get shoved out, and turn toward us.  High fives, all around as we walk through them.  I have this feeling that I need to be really careful as they ask if we missed our ship.  We get to the door of the noisy pub and it's locked.  The bartender runs up to let us in. Sorry, "I had a problem."

"I think I just met your problem walking down the street."

It's the Arctic Bar, home of the Happy Bear, a beer, whose tap handle looks remarkably like two bears fucking.  Like almost everything in Ketchikan, this place is built on a board walk out over the water. Josie, the bartender, pours us a beer. 


 

Friday, March 22, 2013

Edges

I am working on my photo process and the workflow from camera to print. Here are some recent shots.
 






Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Antique Store Plane



I found a few things, among them, this Stanley transitional plane.  It is 17 inches long and has an iron 2 1/8", but possibly originally had an iron 2 1/4" wide.  So it could have been several 3 32 like jointer planes.  It appears to have been cut down from it's original length by using a handsaw.  Aside from the iron having been ground square, it looked like it good still function as a plane.   






 We looked at a few other plane irons and ground it to a suitable angle. 

And it cuts pretty well.  
 A little sharpening and tuning, and voila!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

The Pearly Gates

Reposted from Saturday, February 25, 2006.  IK like this post.  I have my moments. 
 
"It's all in the journey," the mystery biker states as he rides away from our conversation climbing up the "backside" of Usery Pass. I had remarked that at 7 miles an hour, it was going to some time to get up that 4 mile incline. He had a cool seat mounted holder for two water bottles. I'll need one of those in a month or so. Notice the temperature of today's ride is over 80 degrees. Today's ride was quite thought provoking. I guess there's some advantage to spending 3 hours in the saddle. Gilby will be happy to note that my love affair with my Brooks™ saddle has started. Maybe I won't be so lonely from now on.

Date: February 25, 2006
Today's Mileage: 34.12
Temperature at Departure: 83 F.
Average Speed: 11.7
Total for February: 192.8

One thing that it wasn't today is lonely out on the road. I had conversations with several people today, including one interesting group of hikers over at the drinking fountain at the base of the Wind Cave trail. I don't know if this is just because I spent more time out, or as a result of the rather outstanding weather. The hikers were talking about a 50 mile ride tomorrow. So I asked them what the thing I just climbed was called -- "The backside of Usery Pass" was the definitive answer. It seems this is one of the more notorious climbs in the area. Another -- namely "King Kong," or just "Kong," was responsible for last weeks cramping incident. During this conversation -- I learned of a third, The Pearly Gates. "That will break your hump," says the elder hiker.

The Pearly Gates was a nice ride. I don't know how far it was, but it actually required me to use all my gears. The ride requires that you one, trespass, and two, avoid the copious amounts of coyote crap on the road, and three, work. I can just hear her saying it now, "Coyotes do not prefer to crap in the road. I know you say you've seen them, but it just isn't true." Coyotes and foxes, both share this desire (perhaps wolves too). They would really rather do thier business in the middle of the road. I have seen them more than once, me slamming on the brakes to avoid killing them, trying to take their picture, them, hobbling off so as not to soil themselves, and me again -- failing to get the picture. I want to show it to my friends, and say "See, if you spent any time outta the house you would know this. I secretly suspect they like to do this because it is warmer in the road (you know how you like it warmer in the john than anywhere else). The other possibility is that they know that this is one part of the world that is pretty much screwed, so no one (none of the other critters - except maybe the crows who eat off the road) will mind if they take a squat there.

Anyway, the road to the Pearly Gates is closed (go figure, eh?), which means all those instances of Coyote squat, aren't getting run over, so there are many there to prove my theory, which finally may become a law. It is interesting to note that coyotes seem to urinate and deficate in the same place, leaving two kinds of evidence to both prove my theory, and prove that they are not dogs. The ride, as a result of the road being closed (not the coyotesquatsi) was very nice. With the exception of the automatic machine gun fire from the neighboring shooting range, the ride was oh so quiet and worry free.

Out on the road I was reflecting on this article I read last night, and thinking yet again that I have too much stuff (she -- the woman from above -- said that too), and wondering if I could change my life just by cutting down on the stuff I have (not that I want to suffer a fire), when I remembered the end of that article, which reminds me of what inevitably happens as we force ourselves to dig deeper:
I've learned to recognize a particular moment on a backcountry trip. It's the moment when I can't remember what I'm doing there. It usually comes after some grueling slog, after the pack mysteriously gains weight against all rules of fairness and physics. Everything rubs against me-the shoulder harness, the salt of my sweat, the relentless weather, the earth against my feet.
It's like pushing through a membrane, that instant when misery transforms into surrender. Nothing becomes lighter, faster, easier. Now I can keep on, just for the power, the quiet ecstasy, of keeping on, discarding burdens as I go, growing lighter and lighter with every step, because this-this freedom, this moment, this willingness to trust myself in an untrustworthy world-this is the one thing I cannot do without.
Meanwhile, Pearl the Cat is out the window trying to catch a cottontail. It's hysterical. It's all in the journey, kitty. Look for that quiet ecstasy. Discard your burdens.