LifeSaver Plant

On Linda's last trip south to purchase violets she spied this plant.

It is a succulent known as Lifesaver Plant or Lifesaver Cactus

(even though it is not a cactus).

The flowers last only a few days but they are very interesting.

The Holy Grail of Birds

The Florida bird guidebooks all show a multi-colored finch known as the painted bunting. This bird has a blue head, green wings and an orange-red breast. It looks as if nature used its purist spectral colors in designing this bird.

This bunting is not common. A neighbor had told me that 20 years ago there were some sightings in the neighborhood. We have been here for 12 years. I have never seen a male painted bunting (here or anywhere). A couple of years ago I did see a female …a grayish-green bird.

This morning I noticed a bird on the feeder that looked different. It was early light and the colors were muted. I picked up the binoculars. The colors were just identifiable: blue head, green wings, reddish breast. I started shaking.

He was gone before I could reach my camera but I had identified him. My first male painted bunting sighting here or anywhere.

He returned when the light was brighter and I captured the following. Sorry it is not a great photograph…remember the camera was shaking…

Kiss Your $700,000,000,000.00 Goodbye

This week the U. S. Congress passed and the President signed legislation that authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to buy up to $700 billion of securities from certain companies. This is a bailout of Wall Street firms or a rescue of the U. S. banking system depending upon your viewpoint or degree of skepticism or cynicism of government.

Many politicians of both flavors are predicting that the taxpayers--meaning the citizens of the United States whether they pay taxes or not--will receive part of these funds back, all of these funds back, or may even make money on the deal.

It is my opinion this money will not come back to the treasury in any noteworthy amount. Here’s why.

Certain banks and other financial institutions are holding assets in the form of CDO’s (Collateralized Debt Obligations) and derivatives of CDO’s know as Credit Default Swaps that are not liquid…meaning no one now wants to buy them at a price at which the owner is willing to sell.

Under an accounting rule known as “Mark-to-Market” the firms holding these assets are required to value them at the market price. This has resulted in the value of many of these obligations being valued as low as 22% of their “value”. Since these firms hold great quantities of these instruments (bad management decisions) this greatly reduces the asset side of their balance sheet and thus they have to hold onto more of their cash to meet reserve requirements. This greatly reduces availability of funds to loan. Also since they may not trust the financial condition of their brothers they may not want to loan to them since they fear they may not get their money back (freezing-up inter-bank borrowing). You can quantify this reluctance by checking the daily LIBOR rate.

The bailout/rescue legislation is designed to provide a buyer for these “toxic assets” and restore liquidity and trust to the financial system.

Easy enough, but why won’t these obligations be salable by the government at some later date when the system is again healthy?

The collective value of our homes (and mortgages on them) is a very large number— trillions of dollars. Wall Street makes its money, in part, by taking a small percentage of the money that passes through its hands. In theory this “bite” allows the firm to provide liquidity and trust to the economy. The home mortgage number was just too large for Wall Street to ignore.

In an effort to compete with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (implied government guarantee at the time) and Ginnie Mae (implicit government guarantee) Wall Street, led, I believe, by Goldman Sachs, bought these mortgages in competition with the above entities through companies such as Countrywide. They collected the mortgages and then repackaged into Mortgage Backed Securities to spread the risk. But many of their clients could not buy securities that did not have a high rating from the likes of Moody’s or Standard and Poor’s. So the clever Wall Street folks took packages of mortgages, often sub prime since they carried higher interest rates) and repackaged them into what are known as Tranches (French for slices). They divided them into 10 or 11 slices. The top (senior debt) CDO’s were to be redeemed with principal and interest from the first funds received from the mortgages. The bottom was to be redeemed with principal and interest from the last funds received from the mortgages.

The top level tranches received high ratings from the rating agencies. This allowed them to be sold to certain entities such as state government retirement funds that were prohibited from owning low or unrated securities. These carried the lowest interest rates. The bottom levels carried high interest rates (and book value) and were generally unrated by the agencies. Generally the banks/institutions were not able to sell these CDO’s based on the lowest level tranches.

These bottom-level tranche-based CDO’s comprise what has become known as Toxic Assets.

Since home values will have to retrench, i.e. drop, to bring the housing market back into balance and have a reasonably active housing market the underlying value of the low-level tranches must also decline as the first-to-default/short-sell will result in a truncated income stream that will NEVER reach these lower level CDO’s whose value is based on these bottom-tier tranches.

Guess which securities the Secretary of the Treasury will buy?

Why was the only solution to bank/institution liquidity offered by the Secretary of the Treasury the purchase of these unwanted securities?

Guess where the Secretary of the Treasury was previously employed…yep…Paulson was a former CEO of none other than Goldman Sachs (GS). He must own hundreds of millions of dollars of GS stock.

I would like to short these securities that the government will buy…any takers?

This is somewhat simplified for ease of understanding--mine. For example, the fact that CDO’s are based on an income stream coming from certain tranches and not tranches themselves does not change the underlying risk to you the holder of the national debt. I have not discussed derivatives used, in theory, to reduce risk. The real damage to the institutions was to over leverage. They did this since it allowed them to make a bite of a much larger stream of funds. Leverage of 25 times was not uncommon. That is why such a small number of foreclosures-- to date 4% of sub prime mortgages-- has created such a large ripple.

Red-Shouldered Hawk Preening

Recipe: Szechwan Cashew Chicken

This dish was my first venture into Chinese cooking 20 years ago. I used a Betty Crocker recipe then and it is the basis for this recipe. This version takes some non-Chinese directions and finishes with a Thai concept. It is not what you would call authentic but I believe you will like it.

There are some ingredients that can be substituted and others you must have.


Chinese use cornstarch to thicken their sauces. If you add the cornstarch directly it will clump and make a mess. We need to make a cornstarch/cold-water slurry: The cornstarch in the slurry will settle so just before use re-suspend the cornstarch with your thumb. You may you use a lot, a little, or none. Do not add until the end, adding a little at a time until you get the desired consistency. The cornstarch will cook in seconds in a hot wok. Many recipes will call for adding a set amount earlier in the cooking process. If you do this you loose control of the thickness. This can lead to failure. Experience talking.


We will be browning the chicken. This is counter to a true Chinese version of this dish.


1 Lb Chicken, white meat, cut into bite size chunks or strips

4 Oz Cashews, raw, If not available use unsalted roasted

1 Can (small) Water chestnuts, sliced drained

2 Carrots peeled, sliced 2mm thick on the diagonal

1 Bell Pepper, green, small cut into chunks, approx 1 “

1 Onion, small yellow cut into 8 pieces and divide the leaves

2 T Sesame oil toasted

2 T Soy sauce

1 T Sherry dry is preferred

½ Cup Chicken stock low sodium or homemade

1 t Ginger approx. 1 inch piece, grated, peel first if you like

2 T Cornstarch (divided)

1 T Flour, AP

1 T Hoisin Sauce

1 to 2 scallions chopped fine

10 or so leaves Mint, fresh only I use spearmint, chocolate, and orange mint, in a chiffonade

1 to 2 t Chili paste the oriental store stuff, not chili sauce from Publix

1 Pinch Salt For cashews only

¼ t Pepper white or black, white is traditional

Peanut oil

Substitutions:

For the Chicken you could use pork tenderloin. Or dark meat chicken, or tender veal;

For vegetables: Broccoli, asparagus, beans, snow or sugar peas, red bell pepper, bamboo shoots. Pay attention to the colors carrots and green peppers with the white chicken looks nice, red bell peppers with asparagus ditto, etc.

For chili paste: any source of heat, habanero or other chilies, Tabasco sauce

For Cashews: blanched almonds work pretty well, peanuts OK, walnuts OK, pecans no,

Peanut oil - substitute vegetable oil, do not use olive oil or butter

For the sesame oil, Hoisin sauce, ginger, onion, scallions, and soy sauce there are no real substitutes.

This recipe can be done in four steps. You may pause after step 1, 2 or 3. When you begin step 4 it is show time and you need to complete and serve. Step 4 will take less than 10 minutes.

Step One: Prepare the Chicken.

We will marinate the cut-up chicken in the sherry, soy sauce and pepper for 30 minutes (Up to 2 hours). Usually between 30 and 60 minutes is fine. This is for flavor not to tenderize.

This is a good time to prepare the batter of 1 T cornstarch and 2 T sesame oil, whisk well to combine and set aside. We will use this batter in step three.

Step Two: Prepare the Raw Cashews

Heat a wok with a little peanut oil to medium and brown the raw cashews. Don’t burn them. When brown all over remove to paper towel and use the pinch of salt to season. If you are using already roasted cashews this step is already done. Don’t use any cashews with flavor coatings and try to use unsalted.

Step Three: Cook the chicken

Heat 1 to 2 T of oil in the wok. It’s ready when you see slight wisp of smoke.

Move the chicken from the marinate to the batter. This is a thin batter. Coat well and add the chicken in one layer with little touching. It may take two or more rounds, add oil as necessary but you are not frying you are sautéing. Leave the chicken in its original position (side) until nicely browned then turn once and brown the other side. When done remove to a plate. DON’T OVERCOOK. Judge by feel or cut a piece in half if necessary.

Step Four: Show time

Have your mise-en-place ready:

Heat wok with 2 T oil. When you see the first faint wisp of smoke wok is ready, add carrots followed in a minute or so with the onion and ginger. Cook for a couple of minutes then add bell pepper, water chestnuts, Hoisin and chili paste. Stir to bring everything together-- add the chicken stock. Return the chicken and any juices to the wok. When hot add a little of the slurry of cornstarch/water. If necessary. Finish with the scallions and mint, stir to combine and serve.


Notes:

Chiffonade: This is a cutting into thin strips. For leaves, stack, roll, and cut cross-wise.

Mise-en-place: This is having all the stuff you need prepped and ready to go.

T = Tablespoon
t = teaspoon

"Sleeping" Icons

This one of the most creative efforts I ever seen. I note it is copyrighted in 2002. Maybe everyone but me had seen it before. If you haven't you will play it over and over.

To see what your icons on your desktop are up to at night look here
.

Book Review: "Service Included"

"Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter" by Phoebe Damrosch (William Morrow, $25)

The sub-title refers to the four stars that the New York Times awarded the New York restaurant, Per Se. Per Se is the East Coast effort of Thomas Keller. He is famous in culinary circles for his Northern California restaurant, The French Laundry.

After reading this book I had a few questions. Why was it written? Why would a serious publisher accept it? Why did I read it? Let’s look for the answers.

The book provides a waitress’s view into Per Se and, by inference, The French Laundry and their competitors in the fine dining market. You will not feel the color and emotion of the restaurant business that permeates the writings of Bill Buford or Antonio Bourdain. There is enough interesting material here for an article in Reader’s Digest but it is puffed up by the inclusion of a memoir of the author’s 20-something life.

The sad point is that the book could have been a valuable addition to a culinary library. Thomas Keller’s success with The French Laundry and Per Se make him a "Person of Interest". His history, ideas, and philosophy could be interesting. We never even learn why he really opened Per Se. It can’t be the money. Ferrying staff back and forth across the coast and all the incidental cost has to be tremendously expensive. Also he closed The French Laundry for a while to do it. Why? We can suspect it’s personal with Keller but we never learn.

The book describes the front operations at Per Se during its first year. There are no "secrets" revealed and there appears to be no "eavesdropping" by this young waitress, the author. These operations are incompletely covered. Restaurateurs will not learn enough to copy the success of Per Se. They may learn enough to be discouraged from trying. The author appears to make no effort to learn anything that did not fall within her purview directly or indirectly.

The book runs 226 pages; it would be a better book at 75. Be prepared to skip, skip, and skip. Her boring reflections and descriptions of her private life are of no interest and, at the same time, not interesting. She puts her boyfriend, a wine steward at Per Se, on a pedestal: Why? We never know and after a while we don’t care. She appears to want to model her private life after a character in Sex and the City. In the end her personal life is interesting only to her family and friends. One observation: Her overly-long description of a six-hour meal she and her boyfriend have at Per Se (after she has quit) makes me not want to eat there. Who could be worthy? Keller’s signature dish (mentioned several times in the book), Oysters and Pearls is one course. This dish is a sabayon of pearl tapioca with Malpeque oysters and Osetra caviar. You can read the recipe here and draw you own conclusions.

You can calculate the amount of time you will waste reading this book by the speed at which you read and your ability to skip long passages and return to the meat or should I say foie gras of the story.

Anyway, this is a minor book which will be read by the employees of Per Se including Keller, the competitors of Per Se and The French Laundry and maybe culinary school students.

Her writing style is simple and clear: I wish she had written my VCR manual.

As it is we are left with an incomplete story of the front operations of a fine restaurant and fodder for a Cosmo article.

Returning to our questions; we know why she wrote it. She tells us: She wants to be an author. William Morrow’s interest: Only conjecture, maybe they are fans of the restaurant. The third: Why did I read it? It was free and I am interested in food and restaurants. Mostly, it was free.

P. S.: No Stars.


If you wish to read Frank Bruni's New York Times' review of Per Se go here

Blinking Hawk

Caught this fellow blinking yesterday.

What we see in the second photo is actually the third eyelid, which, I believe, comes from the right side of the eye (maybe from the back of the head). The first two eyelids are rarely used during the day. Read more here.

A Death in the Vineyard

Robert Gerald Mondavi (1913-2008)

died on the 16th of this month. He was the patriarch of the modern Napa Valley wine industry; Doing more than anyone to change the perception of California wine from jug wine to fine wine. He traveled to fine restaurants all over the country promoting his wine at a time when fine restaurants only had French wines on the menu. He was first to promote fine food as a way of selling fine wine--First to have winery tours and wine tastings-- First to reach out to other vintners and to form partnerships. The most famous paring was Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild’s Opus One wine.

He was a helpful friend to many, especially competitors. Like his father’s Bob Mondavi’s word was bankable.

Bob’s parents were immigrants from Italy. They succeeded with hard work and risk taking. His father Cesare insisted on pronouncing their name in an Americanized fashion—Mon-davey and it was not until Bob founded the Robert Mondavi Winery and his father was dead that he changed the pronouncing back to the correct Italian, three syllables: Mon-da-vi. His brother, Peter, continued with Mon-davey until just a few years ago. It was a challenge for the business community to remember how to pronounce the name. It depended upon which branch of the family to whom you were speaking. They would correct you.

His parents' treatment of him vis-à-vis his younger brother, Peter, led to the estrangement of Bob and his brother. That led, in turn, to a ten-year, messy lawsuit that split the family forever. Ironically Bob made similar mistakes with his two sons and today they do not get along well.

This failure eventually led to the Robert Mondavi Winery’s being sold. Now none of the Mondavi family is involved in the company that was so much a part of their life. Peter Mondavi, with his children, continues to own Charles Krug Winery. This story is told in Bob’s autobiography, Harvests of Joy. For a more interesting, less self-serving telling read House of Mondavi, an excellent book by J. F. Siler. I recommend both. Anyone with a family business and children would be wise to study the Mondavi family history

Robert Mondavi was almost insolvent near the end of his life. He had pledged great sums of money to charities. When the Mondavi stock price fell his holdings were valued at less than his pledges. He did not renege though. He gave up control of his namesake winery to keep his word.

Bob Mondavi…rest in peace.

What is it?

Quiz for Monday morning. Can you identify the following item?
.

Hints: In was photographed this morning three steps from our front door.



Here is another photo of the item--showing a larger view...Got it yet?

.

Well here is the answer.

And a photograph of the artist.

I hope that is a mosquito.

My first thought was that the spider web formed a diffraction grating. That doesn't make sense since the fibers are too far apart. I believe it is due to dew on the web.

Other ideas?

Thanks for looking.

Easter Bunny

When we moved here 12 years ago we saw rabbits everywhere. Since we had no garden they posed no problem for us. The fat hawks and owls seemed to enjoy them too.

The previous owner had taken a liking to rabbits and had purchased a dozen. After a while he had a lot more rabbits and decided to give them their freedom. My next door neighbor had a horse and barn at the time. The rabbits moved into the barn and started making burrows everywhere and sharing the horse's food. This upset the neighbor and the horse.

They decided to get rid of the rabbits and so they sold off what they could catch. The neighbor claims some got free and mated with the wild rabbits. Maybe.

Over time with a local community of feral cats and dogs and the skill of the owls, hawks and foxes the population dwindled. We hadn't seen a rabbit in years.

Yesterday we saw our first one in a long time. This one was was really small so I assume it was a baby. The identification is tenuous so if someone knows for sure please correct me.



Young

Restaurant Review: P. F. Chang’s China Bistro

St. Johns Town Center, Jacksonville, Florida

Why have we eaten at this Chinese restaurant six times within a year? Is it the quality? Yes, but relative quality not absolute quality.

Let’s take a ride on this rickshaw!

Hot and Sour Soup. Prepared by an accomplished Chinese chef this dish is an easy-to-understand example of the balance in Chinese cuisine. Think yin vs. yang. P. F. Chang’s’ version does not attain balance. They take out the Hot and they take out the Sour and we are left to savor “their version” of hot and sour soup. It is not bad soup but it is not what we expect in an authentic Chinese version. Mine arrived lukewarm in temperature…just hot enough to discourage my returning it. But it was bland. I tried to give it some “Hot” via the chili oil on the table. I kept adding oil and tasting and by the time the waitress had returned my soup was three-quarters gone. She suggested the chili sauce, also on the table. It did work. A spoonful into my quarter cup of soup drove the soup right through hot to HOT, completely over shadowing the Sour. So I just gave up and left the balance in the cup…finally some balance. The waitress returned; removed the unfinished cup and said nary a word about it.

The wait was a little long for the entrees and when we were feeling the necessity to mention it…they came—together and hot.

Salt and Pepper Prawns. To a Florida boy these are shrimp, size approx 21-25…not prawns. But the dish is very well done and attractively presented with ornamental bright-red bird’s-eye chilies. This dish alone is worth a visit. The shrimp were fresh and not overcooked, a well-executed entrée.

The other entrée was Coconut Curry Vegetables. The combinations of vegetables and the degree of cooking was encouraging. Portion size was generous… Great to look at… but the flavor. This restaurant should either leave curry to the Thais, Indians and Indonesians or just steal their recipes. This dish could have been great but the sauce was too flat and unidimensional. It was very disappointing. The high quality vegetables were cooked just right but the sauce was a failure. A whole mushroom in the mix was obviously a dried shitake that had not been given time to hydrate and was inedible. They did remove the stem. Fresh shitake would have been the way to go.

On previous occasions we have had:

Almond and Cashew Chicken. Boring.

Chicken w/Black Bean Sauce. Expectations ran high. One of my favorite cook-at-home dishes is a Chinese black bean sauce shrimp dish: Unfortunately this dish fails. Dull and flavorless. Just don’t order it.

Mu Shu Pork. This dish is classic and prepared without error. Safe to order. But when served the waitress asked “Do you wish me to assembly the pancakes?” The tone said, “You don’t want me to assemble the pancakes do you, I really have more important things to do? Of course, sensing the tone, I accepted her assembling the dish. This is the same waitress that later tried to combine two different dishes into a single take home container—one on top of the other. You know the little paper cartons with the wire handles.

Orange Peel Chicken. This dish sounds so good. P. F. Chang’s must be proud of it. They have variations in Beef and Shrimp. It was a disappointment. Not bad... just not what it could be.

Sichuan Style Asparagus. A winner. Perfection. I was so impressed with this dish I tried to make it at home. I got close but theirs is definitely better.

The duck we had before now appears gone from the menu. It was good

Generally the quality of the ingredients and the cooking is very good. The failure is trying to please the mass market and resorting to a dummying down of flavors. Taking too much of the edge off. I don’t expect to find chicken feet on the menu but they could do so much better. Committees don’t belong in the kitchen.

The wine list deserves mention. In pairing wine to Chinese food some sommeliers would recommend… beer.

Wine paring with Chinese foods is not intuitive or easy. The two wines I would think were the hardest to pair with Chinese dishes are, ironically, the two that dominate the wine list: Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The wine list, rather embarrassingly, separates white wines into categories of Fruity, Floral, Tangy, and Creamy and reds into categories of Lush, Soft & Tangy, Rich & Spicy, and Powerful. I find this overly simplified, arbitrary, useless and misleading.

There is only one Gewurztraminer: Covey Run a very inexpensive wine from Columbia Valley in Washington State. There were only three Sauvignon Blanc’s —all California. None from New Zealand, South Africa, Chile or France. They have seven Chardonnays on the menu…

Why? I believe they picked the wines without consideration of the food menu. Most likely from the distributor that showed them the most popular wines sold in restaurants. I bet they buy all wines from one distributor to get a lower price. What other explanation? Anyway, I passed on the wine.

It could have been different. After we had ordered our entrees a talented waitress could have said. “We have an excellent blank that will pair beautifully with the blank in the blank. It will balance the spiciness of the blank and I think you will enjoy it and we have it by the glass…SOLD!

On pricing. The food prices at P. F. Chang’s appear on the high side of fair. The place is well appointed and comfortable. Someone has to pay for that. But the wine and especially the bar prices reflect an obscene markup. Beringer’s white zinfandel (why they have this on the menu says a lot about P. F. Chang’s) for $6.00 a glass. You can buy this “wine” for $4.00 or so a bottle. It appears the mark up on wine by the glass is 5 times and by the bottle it is 2.5 to 3 times. They have an exotic sounding concoction of cocktails priced up to $8.50.

On Service. Really no better than a barbecue joint. Little evidence of training. Plates were served and removed from random sides showing no knowledge of convention. We noticed a fellow come in with a child. The mother was not there. A staff member brought a bolster seat, handed it to him and walked away. He stood there with the chair pushed in, child in one arm and the bolster in the other. He fumbled with the task at hand and in time another waitress approached and helped him. Bad show!

Will we return? Yes, but we will order very carefully and stay away from the Cantonese inspired dishes and more to the Sichuan. Maybe we just order the Salt and Pepper Shrimp and Sichuan Asparagus with white rice and a bottle of beer.

P. F. CHANG’S CHINA BISTRO
˜

Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus)

We have had a family of these guys visiting for the past three springs. An attractive bird and rather large, 9 inches long, they are insect feeders (95% and 5% fruit/berries) usually catching their food on the wing.



They are very accommodating at being photographed. It's as if they are posing. The following photo was taken yesterday.






This bird was previously known as "Southern Crested Flycatcher" and it's common name is "Freight bird".

FlexFuel Vehicles

There is a lot being said about energy dependency. There are few real solutions being offered.

Robert Zubrin, whom you might dismiss offhand since he is best known as an advocate for colonizing Mars, has been propagating ideals to effectively reduce our dependency on foreign oil. Although his area of expertise is engineering his economics are sound from my perspective.

Worth a read.


Summary and recommendations: Achieving Energy Victory


His views on why hydrogen is doomed as a solution: The Hydrogen Hoax

Methanol vs. Ethanol vs. ?: The Methanol Alternative

The video is over an hour so be warned: Cspan Video Link

I'm always searching for writers who have no agenda. I should say hidden agenda since all authors want to sell books. He appears to fall into this category. I would love to read of counters to his arguments. All I have found so far just attack him and give spurious complaints to his logic. The reviews of his book on Amazon are very positive.

The word from Dr. Zubrin that bothers many is "mandated". There is probably a path that does not involve mandates...look at the number of households that voluntarily recycle their household refuse.