Bizarre Bradyisms

Where Is The Clean Air?

If you are at all familiar with how the valleys in Utah cause a weather inversion, you also know that the air quality can get drastically bad if there is not some type of storm every couple of days to clear out the pollution.  Well, it has been almost two weeks since any type of storm has come through here and the air is just horrible.  I usually like to take walks outside during my lunch break to actually try and see the sun, but I’ve refrained from doing so lately because air is so nasty you can actually taste it in even just the few minutes is takes to walk out of the house or office and into your car.  Listening to radio this morning I learned that the national average for “good” air is around 33 µg/m³ (micrograms per meter cubed) and we have been hovering around 90 µg/m³ (around 3 times as bad).  I just hope it gets better before it gets worse, but the forecast for the next couple of days don’t look very promising either.

At It Again

Like I said previously, I’ve decided that on Saturdays I’m going to try and cook a new style of bread.  That is precisely what I did again this past weekend.  This time it was Focaccia and it was just as marvelous (if not more-so) as my bread from before.  Again, it took all day long but it was so much fun and rewarding at the end to taste the result of my work.  Sometimes I wonder if I’ve chosen the right profession since I enjoy cooking so much but then I realize if I had to do this for a living, it would ruin it completely for me. 

Cooking is just so relaxing for me that every night when I come home from work I look forward to coming up with something fantastic for dinner.  The only  part of it all that is not so great is when I sit down to eat, I am by myself.  Having the single place setting on the table in the very empty house makes me a little sad and wish it wasn’t so.  But, that feeling only lasts long enough until I get up to do the dishes and get on with the night.

A New Day

Today, as everyone hopefully knows, was the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America. I am an NPR (National Public Radio) junkie who likes to listen to the news on the radio as I drive to work each morning.  The coverage that NPR gave as well as what I have observed through other news mediums made it very apparent to me that a lot of people were really excited about today for a number of reasons.  The most common reason was because an African-American had become President and really only a short time has past since racism was still very prevalent in our country.  Another reason was because Bush was no longer in power and could no longer cause so much “havoc” to our country’s standing among the other nations of the world.  Still another reason some were excited was because the Republicans  no longer had control of the major government bodies of the country and that the Democrats were finally going to be able to fix things. 

I’m not quite sure what my thoughts on the subject are.  I will admit right here and right now and I did not vote in this past election.  I didn’t care for either individual running for president and I didn’t feel that one person earned by vote because he was simply the “better” choice of the two.  Isn’t the lesser of two evils still evil?  Now don’t get mad at and try to convince me of the error of my ways.  I didn’t really believe either person was “evil,” but at the same time didn’t believe either person was truly capable.  Additionally, I believe that the election process is severely broken in our country and as ineffective my actions may have been, I did not want to support a broken system.

The fact is that we now have a new President.  I will offer my support as much as I feel is warranted and is correct and hope he is able to at least begin to solve some of the problems that are so prevalent in the minds of every American.  My primary fear right now is how much support he has from so many people simply because is an African-American, or because he isn’t Bush, or because he is Democrat.  People seem to think that he is somehow going to be able to solve our problems just because of who he is or isn’t.  Instead, I’d like to support him because of what he accomplishes.  He may be a great public speaker and is very skilled in attempting to motivate people to act.  His inauguration speech today shows that that is the case, however, I believe now more than ever before that our country is heading down slippery slope. 

I will be the first to say that I am not very skilled in the way of politics.  I’ve never liked them nor cared enough to understand them because of the dishonesty and inefficiencies that I see taking place all the time.  True democracy seems to have been thrown out the window and our country is heading towards becoming a socialist nation before ultimately arriving at an untimely and not-so-pretty demise.   I only hope and really do pray that I am wrong.

Times are changing and we can only hope for the best.  I will not live in a constant state of fear nor will I change who I am and what I believe to be good and true because of what is taking place around me.  Keeping an eternal perspective in mind for everything I do, say, or think will be what allows me to rise above what might happen.  I know I’ll be crossing my fingers for what the next four, eight, or maybe even twenty+ years will bring.

Baker’s Delight

 One of the things on my “to do” lists from this past summer was to take an artisian bread class.  However, due to me moving (again) to a different state, the timing prevented me from making that happen.  Nonetheless, a Christmas gift I received from my brother was a book entitled The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.  I have been reading the first 50 or so pages which explains in fairly good detail the science behind bread baking (different wheat grain compositions, protein, gluten, etc).  I was actually surprised how complicated it can be.  I even took the book’s recommendation and purchased a very precise kitchen scale (baking by weight is much more precise than by volume).  Then, on Saturday, I attempted my first loaf: Ciabatta. 

It was an all day event and was a lot of work.  There were various (I think somewhere around five) different fermentation / rising / kneading stages followed by a complicated oven steaming process.   At the end of the day after tasting the results of my work I was quite happy.  I used no sugar in the recipe, however, the yeast was able to extract a lovely flavor from the wheat and gave both the crust and crumb a delightful taste to it.  The gratification for having my bread turn out so well was a high that lasted all evening.  Even though I do make a mess of the kitchen when I am baking, I think I will try a new recipe each and every Saturday. 

 

A New Year Is Upon Us

On New Year’s Eve was a really slow day and most everyone just worked from home for a couple of hours since it was a half-day anyway. I didn’t know that was very common so I actually went into the office and read a couple chapters of a technical book I’ve been working on. Then at noon I went home not real excited about the holiday because I knew I would be spending it alone (again). On my way back I stopped at the store to pick up some things to try and make the evening as exciting as I could. During the course of my shopping I began to think of all of the fun things I could cook since I would have all night and not a thing to bother me. I decided to make several pies, a cheesecake, some chille rellenos, a portobello pasta dish I’d been wanting to try, an artichoke, and a couple other small things.  It was so much fun to do and I’m quite proud with how they turned out.  Everyone I shared them with commented on how great they were (especially my crusts) and I was reminded once again how much fun I have in the kitchen.

  

  

The guy who owns that house I’m living in, Jake, and his girlfriend set off some fireworks with her little kid in front of the house around seven or so. Nothing real crazy, but entertaining nonetheless.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIHx5Upb7G4[/youtube]
Then, sometime around nine or so that night, my roommate Bryant invited me over to his Aunt’s house to have some fun with that part of his family. We took along guitar hero and my pies to share with them. Instead, we ended up playing some card games and playing foosball instead. It was great and much better than staying at home by myself. Overall, it was a good evening.