GoldMein??

Last night, I went to a little party for former GoldMine employees. It was great. I got to see some folks I had not seen in a long time. Doug, Dexter, John, Angel, Mark, Greg, Wilson, Steven, Jose ..... and our gracious host (who made us fresh baked cookies) Natalie.
It was a lot of fun... I don't have any photos, but I hope Natalie will post some..
Cheers you guys.
Dan.

Taiwan trip - 2007 (part trois) - blooming flowers!

My mother in law told us several times to go see the flowers blooming in Hsin She. We ignored her for a few days, and I will review something we did instead in my next post. However, we eventually made the trip. Now, the basic setup is that Hsin She is a farming town. While the big seller there is mushrooms, they grow many things and have weekend markets which can get very busy. At this time of year, they grow flowers and make a big show of it to attract people from the city to come spend money. Exploitation of nature is nothing new to humans. And, sometimes, it's actually pretty cool.

The fields in Hsin She were laid out with different

flowers and sections

where roped off for people to walk

through exhibits with placards in both English and Chinese. It was actually pretty cool. And, of course, we left with passion fruit and other fresh fruits and veggies from the market.

Taiwan trip - 2007 (part deux) - the bike ride.

Bike Ride:

I found out that Zoe's cousin worked for a bike rental place along one of the many scenic bike paths near Feng Yuan.
(Hou Feng)

To the left is Zoe's friend Amanda (about to be married).


I did not know that their were so many well maintained paths, nor that biking was such a popular weekend recreation in that area. Wow. There were literally dozens of rental places along the 30K or so that we road. Weekends can get crowded. And since some places rent electric bikes and do not require the riders to know how to operate the dang things, it can be dangerous. I saw 3 accidents on our ride. If you see a woman in high heels with her feet up on a electric bike, watch out. Amazing.

Most of our route was along a closed railway route and passed byseveral decommissioned stations and stops. Most were well maintained and a couple even had old rail cars and rest area like amenities. We stopped at a few. We stopped to get fresh squeezed sugar cane juice at this one. 0 dan platform!! Yeah baby. Zoe took pics of the juice stand, but I have didn't get a copy yet.
.
We saw a petting zoo type of place with all kinds of birds including peacocks, turkeys and more. Cool.
On the downside, we also saw a gocart track just off the path.
.
We saw some family farms and a couple of old style homes ( 三合院 )
All along the route's we took there was a plethora of stands and cafe's selling all types of snacks and drinks.





Blue Ocean:
One of the more unique rest areas was a lot with some chairs and
table with a pristine classic VW bus refitted to be a coffee/tea stand.
I did not try the coffee, cause I was not in the mood, but it was spotlessly clean and under some shady trees. Looked worth a stop for tea coffee or little snacks.
Note the pooh bear in the passenger seat. I asked about it and the wife (husband wife team) told me he was the security guard.
.
.
.
Here is the back view of the bus. I thought they did a nice job on the coffee bar. The wood work and the storage area looks nice.
Very clean design.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Lunch in the Mountains:
OK. I am not putting this in the food section 'cause it was part of the ride, sort of. Just after the ride, Zoe's friend Amanda (who is getting married soon) wanted to take us for lunch in the mountains near the bike path.
I forgot the name of the place. It was her second choice, actually. The first choice was not open that day. Although Zoe is a strict vegetarian and I am like Samuel Jackson's character in pulp fiction (vegetarian by association), we had a good time at this beautiful yet not overtly vegetarian friendly restaurant. Their specialty is a stewed pork dish with lots of yummy fat on top. We loved the rice, which was packed with sweet potatoes. It was great getting together with Amanda. I am sorry I won't be there for the wedding. But, I am sure she will be happy even without my presence.
Well... That's it for this post. My next post will go over our day viewing the flowers blooming in Hsin She.
ADG

Taiwan trip - 2007

Well, as many of my friends know, I try to visit Taiwan at least once a year. Once again, I was able to make it.
I started out by going to what was possibly to worst organized martial arts competition ever. I will leave that for the end of this post. I will start with FOOD:
OK.. I have a soft spot for stinky tofu ( 臭豆腐 ). I got to sample a few places this time.
This place was in Da Ya area of Taichung. I thought it was really good and the cabbage was better than most places. Usually, I only like the shredded cucumber. I enjoyed this place but they informed me they were moving soon, so I can't give the address.

Next, I tried a soup I have not tried before. It was called Hong Shao Chou Dou Fu Tang ( 紅燒臭豆腐湯 ). You can get it with noodles, but I was not that hungry at the time. It was similar to beef noodle soup, but vegetarian.

I thought it would be like the Chou Chou Guo ( 臭臭鍋 ) that you see at many stands. But, it was a bit different. Anyway, it was good. Had some veggie chicken and veggie fish ball type thingies. A very nice snack. The owner says he gets his stinky tofu from a famous factory in Taipei.


This shop was in Taichung city near the science museum. It is located on Jian Hsing Lu ( 慈心園健康素食 - 台中市健行路 928-2 號 )


There is a vegetarian alley in Feng Yuan that Zoe's family goes to. It's the road along the railroad tracks a few blocks from the "SOGO" in Feng Yuan. There is a really good veggie restaurant there. I recommend the Hong Shao Mian (Veggie Beef Noodle Soup) or the Ma Jiang Mian. Both are really damn good. Ang their side dishes are really good too. Not photos from my camera, but I will try to get some from Zoe. She might be able to get the address as well.

There is a Chou Do Fu place right next to it which is pretty good too.
Also, when the season is right, there is a bbq corn stand on the corner which is very good and does NOT use pig oil on the corn! It's vegetarian. Many people may not realize that some corn stands use lard (pig oil) on the corn. Now, I am not a strict vegetarian like my wife, but I don't like to eat pork products or shell fish if I can avoid it.
Next on the food tour: Easy House Vegetarian Restaurant.
While a bit on the pricey side, this vegetarian eatery is impeccably clean. Even the bathroom is spotless. The food is not only veggie but healthy as well.



A set meal will cost you around NT$ 400, yet worth it for the occasional "nice meal" we all deserve. I had a Sesame Tofu Hot Pot. Pictured are the smoothie, salad and sides that come with the set meal.

And finally, for the food part of this posting session at least:
Japanese Food at my Aunt Winnie's favorite Japanese restaurant (forgot the name).




We had a very nice selection of grilled fish, steamed egg, bonito flake covered tofu, fried cabbage, Sushi hand rolls and more. It was a nice farewell lunch for me. Thanks to the family for this one.

I will add more about this trip soon. Visit again in a couple days for more.
Dan.

Halloween - revisited.

OK... I know Halloween is over, but I had to post these pictures of my Dad.
He is 88 years old now and was never very big on holiday festivities other than eating and watching sports.

Anyway, my sister got him a pirate outfit cause he was joking that he would dress up.
Here he is in his costume. Funny as ..... You know.

Melting away

We recently had a heatwave here in Los Angeles. It made me feel a bit like this statue I saw in Budapest, Hungary.

Bald Dragon, AKA James Lew. On location in Hawaii

I just got an email from James Lew who is on location in Hawaii working on a top secret movie. What is not top secret is the fact that he had to shave his head for this role. Personally, I like the look. And that's not just 'cause I have no hair.
Anyway, I wanted to share a few pictures he sent me.
I have met James on several occasions and he has always been great. One of the most energetic and upbeat people I have met.
I always enjoy hearing from him.
**For those of you who do not know James, he is an actor, stunt man, fight choreographer and more. He has worked on many films including the great cult classic Big Trouble in Little China. More info on James Lew here.**
Dan.

On location: Kauai.

"It is absolutely stunningly beautiful here in Kauai. We are shooting
in the mountain jungles of Kauai just miles away from "the wettest place
on earth" (this area has more rainfall than anywhere else in the world).

The movie takes place in the deep jungles of Vietnam and we are running a
heroin farming operation. We get dirty and stinky looking everyday and film in
a whole lot of mud, humidity, sun and rain...yes, the glamorous life of the movie
business. "

Looking through my past.

I was going through some old disks from when I was in college and found some things I wrote back then.
I am going to share some of them and include the dates when possible.
I hope you enjoy.


A Crack In The Pavement

Yesterday I tripped on a crack in the pavement .
It was a small crack and I didn't think much of it.
Today I fell in a hole in the ground that sprang from that crack.
Why didn't someone fix the crack before it became a hole?
Now, from this deep hole, I look up at a spruce whose branches wave sporadically in the wind, with no direction, they're waving at me. In some vain attempt to help, the tree sends down a rain of dried out thistles and barren seeds. They only annoy me as they bounce off my forehead as I plead for help!
There is nothing with me in this hole except some decayed branches and some bills I got in the mail yesterday.
I suppose, if someone would have shown me how, I could build a ladder from these materials, but I've not the education.
There are people walking above, but they do not understand my cries for help.
They just take pictures, then leave.
The only thing I can do is kick the walls with all my might and scream in violent rage!
And I am forced to think if death would be kinder than life in this hole?
Will God welcome me, when my own people will not?
Why did no one fix that crack in the pavement?
Why did I not fix that crack in the pavement?
Before it was a hole.
America
goodbye!

Written by Daniel Hoffman
6/02/92
(in 1992 I left for my 2nd trip to Taiwan)
Daniel Hoffman ©2007

Hidden Treasure

Los Angeles can feel like it's a million miles from anything having to do with nature. It's rather frustrating at times. But there are little hidden treasures around. Bits of nature that are not over packed with people to the point there is no more room for animals to just be animals.
One such place is tucked away in the hills on the south side of Mullhulland Dr.. Franklin Cyn drive goes along two small lakes with micro-nature reserves along the way.
There are enough shady spots to keep you cool and more water than I would expect in this area. Also, you can find some interesting local inhabitants. Here are some of the locals we met last week on our micro-road trip to the upper lake (large pond) which is pretty close to my home.

The Tuttle family was very nice. They enjoyed sun bathing and eating veggies and insects. They weren't big talkers, though.

The Mallards were a busy lot. They liked to walk and swim and were constantly quacking at each other. Nice bunch, over all.

It was a very relaxing time. I enjoy watching these folks be themselves. Almost like watching the real thing on TV.

Antacid? Think again.

Copied from Science Daily.
Source: Indiana University
Date: August 3, 2007
More on:
Heartburn, Gastrointestinal Problems, Intelligence, Multiple Sclerosis Research, Dementia, Pharmacology
Cognitive Impairment Link Found In Older Adults Taking Popular Stomach Acid Medications

Science Daily — Long-term use of histamine2 receptor antagonists (H2A), one class of drugs that blocks stomach acid, may be associated with cognitive impairment in older African-American adults. According to an Indiana University School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute study published in the August issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the risk for showing signs of cognitive impairment is 2.5 times greater for patients using these medications long-term.

These acid blockers, including ranitidine and famotidine, are among the most popular medications prescribed in the United States. More than 16 million prescriptions were dispensed in 2005 and several of these medications are also available over-the-counter. The drugs are sold under brand names such as Axid, Pepcid, Tagamet and Zantac, and are used to treat ulcers, acid reflux and other gastrointestinal disorders.

The five-year observational study included 1,558 cognitively normal African-Americans aged 65 and older. After controlling for other possible factors, nearly 18 percent of H2A users studied exhibited signs of cognitive impairment.

"Taking these medications continuously appears to put older African-Americans at greater risk for the development of cognitive impairment," said Malaz Boustani, M.D., MPH, assistant professor of medicine at the IU School of Medicine and a Regenstrief research scientist. Dr. Boustani is lead author of the study. "We need to study this further to determine how acid blockers might be causing or creating this effect and if it occurs only in African-Americans."

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Indiana University.

"American Sam", old Taiwan hand and Frog patron saves man's life

Those of you who lived in Taichung between 1992 and 1994 may remember Sam. He was a fixture at many of the mellower pubs and eateries.

Remsen Man Rescued From Fiery Car Crash
Boucher spoke with NEWSChannel 2. He said he was driving to work when he spotted the wreck. Boucher had forgotten his golf clubs for his league after work and went back home to get them.

He says that is what allowed him to see the wreck. "I pulled right here in the drive way," he said. "It was laying on its passenger side on fire."

Boucher said his instincts then took over. "I saw that there was rocks there, so I grabbed it, smashed the back window out, climed in, and luckily the way it was positioned, I got on the passenger side rear door.

"I was able to push him up reach in and grab the seat belt, I grabbed around him and just wrenched him out of the car."

Boucher says he later found out Robison is his neighbor, and the two had never met before Tuesday.

Full Story and Video

Stacking!!!

This id really amazing. I have never seen anything like this before.

Name your emotions to let them go. Meditation?

My friend Steven sent this to me. I thought it was worth posting prior to posting an article I wrote.

------------

Brain Scans Reveal Why Meditation Works
Melinda Wenner
Special to LiveScience
LiveScience.comSat Jun 30, 1:35 PM ET
If you name your emotions, you can tame them, according to new research that suggests why meditation works.

Brain scans show that putting negative emotions into words calms the brain's emotion center. That could explain meditation’s purported emotional benefits, because people who meditate often label their negative emotions in an effort to “let them go.”

Psychologists have long believed that people who talk about their feelings have more control over them, but they don't know why it works.

UCLA psychologist Matthew Lieberman and his colleagues hooked 30 people up to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machines, which scan the brain to reveal which parts are active and inactive at any given moment.

They asked the subjects to look at pictures of male or female faces making emotional expressions. Below some of the photos was a choice of words describing the emotion—such as “angry” or “fearful”—or two possible names for the people in the pictures, one male name and one female name.

When presented with these choices, the subjects were asked to pick the most appropriate emotion or gender-appropriate name to fit the face they saw.

When the participants chose labels for the negative emotions, activity in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex region—an area associated with thinking in words about emotional experiences—became more active, whereas activity in the amygdala, a brain region involved in emotional processing, was calmed.

By contrast, when the subjects picked appropriate names for the faces, the brain scans revealed none of these changes—indicating that only emotional labeling makes a difference.

“In the same way you hit the brake when you’re driving when you see a yellow light, when you put feelings into words, you seem to be hitting the brakes on your emotional responses,” Lieberman said of his study, which is detailed in the current issue of Psychological Science.

In a second experiment, 27 of the same subjects completed questionnaires to determine how “mindful” they are.

Meditation and other “mindfulness” techniques are designed to help people pay more attention to their present emotions, thoughts and sensations without reacting strongly to them. Meditators often acknowledge and name their negative emotions in order to “let them go.”

When the team compared brain scans from subjects who had more mindful dispositions to those from subjects who were less mindful, they found a stark difference—the mindful subjects experienced greater activation in the right ventrolateral prefrontral cortex and a greater calming effect in the amygdala after labeling their emotions.

“These findings may help explain the beneficial health effects of mindfulness meditation, and suggest, for the first time, an underlying reason why mindfulness meditation programs improve mood and health,” said David Creswell, a UCLA psychologist who led the second part of the study, which will be detailed in Psychosomatic Medicine.

Video: Here's to Your Brain Top 10 Mysteries of the Mind Using the Mind to Cure the Body
Original Story: Brain Scans Reveal Why Meditation Works
Visit LiveScience.com for more daily news, views and scientific inquiry with an original, provocative point of view. LiveScience reports amazing, real world breakthroughs, made simple and stimulating for people on the go. Check out our collection of Science, Animal and Dinosaur Pictures, Science Videos, Hot Topics, Trivia, Top 10s, Voting, Amazing Images, Reader Favorites, and more. Get cool gadgets at the new LiveScience Store, sign up for our free daily email newsletter and check out our RSS feeds today!

COSTCO - putting it's money where it's mouth is.

I am impressed. I was reading the Costco monthly magazine and stumbled upon an interesting story.
Apparently, Costco supports US military and guard personnel in a more meaningful way than putting a yellow ribbon on their door and adverts. According to the article I read, they guarantee reservist's jobs when they return no matter how long they're deployed. On top of that, they continue medical benefits for said employees and family members while they are deployed. Wow... And if that was not enough, they also cover any difference between reservist's pay and their normal Costco salary. Holy mackerel.
If this is really true, then Costco deserves a big salute from all of us. Whether you are for the wars or not, you have to appreciate the dedication to employees that are willing to serve the public.
Costco, you have my thanks.
I will continue to be a Costco member with pride after learning this.
Cheers,
Dan.

Qi Gong article in LA Yoga Magazine

Great news. My friend and teacher master Tang Wei Zhong was featured in an article in LA Yoga Magazine this month.
The photos are not bad. I got calls regarding this article already.
For my friends in Taiwan, he is coming with me in November.

Cool computing!!!

OK.. Just when you thought you had a cool and convenient to use computer, something comes along to let you know you don't.
Thanks David. You have let me know.
But, this also opens up a wealth of hope for new and amazing technology coming around the corner. This could possibly spawn a lot of tools to help those with health challenges.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid932579976?bclid=932553050&bctid=933742930
Cheers,
Dan.

Visit planned....

Well, my friends. Looks like I will be making a trip to Taiwan in November. I am still not 100% sure, but that's the way it looks now.
I will be in the middle (Taichung) most of the time. However, I am planning to visit Taipei and Kaohsiung as well.
My last trip was devoted, mostly, to dental procedures and I was not able to really enjoy time with friends. This time should be different. I am planning to travel with my friend and martial arts instructor, master Tang Wei Zhong. This will be his first trip to Taiwan. I can't wait to show him around. My wife has told him about Taiwan's fruit and he is looking forward to eating as much as he can. Also, we plan to visit some nice temples while there. So, if you have any good suggestions for out of the way, older or somehow more interesting temples, please let me know.
ADG

Drink Pink!!!

According to Discovery News - May 29, 2007:
"Pink grapefruit juice provides more nutrients per calorie than any other 100 percent fruit juice, according to a new study that analyzed several juices commonly found in major U.S. markets.

The pucker-inducing pink drink just edged out orange juice, which also ranked high, but soundly beat white grapefruit, pineapple, prune, grape and apple juices, which rated in that order, with non-citrus juices like apple falling behind high vitamin C content varieties."

Well, I have always loved this fruit and the juice from it. My wife used to think me a loon, but recently took on my affection for the ruby red and pink.
Now, we have good reason to keep up the habit of eating this wonderful fruit.
Have one today.. You will feel better.

What's wrong with Japanese society?

Women's rights are a big issue in many third world countries. This is something we often forget in the west. Most industrialized countries have legal and societal protections in place to ensure the basic safety of women during routine activities like, say... riding on a crowded train.
Knowing the Japanese male pension for strange sexual fetishes and rape fantasy videos, many may be surprised that I am surprised at the news of a rape in Japan.
This rape is more disturbing than most and carries larger issues. It warrants condemnation of Japanese society in general.
Why?
A man assaulted a woman, forced her into the bathroom and raped her. Now, this is already a sad story. What makes it deplorable is the fact that it happened on a crowded train in front of an estimated 40 witnesses. Now, that's even more horrible. What's worse, not one person tried to stop the man or call the conductor or police to intervene. Not one. It's as if rape is OK as long as people agree to look the other way. This is another blot on the already well known sickness that developed in modern Japanese culture. Sorry to levy such a heavy criticism on a society rather than just an individual. But, in this case, it needs to be done. They need to know people pay attention to this type of thing and hold them accountable as a society for looking the other way. This is tantamount to condoning this type of behavior.
I remember studying about medieval Japanese culture in college. While there was a cultural agreement to not notice certain things and just pretend they never happened, I don't remember rape being one of them. Am I wrong here? What is the group psychology that allows this type of thing to happen? Any thoughts??
ADG
Sources:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070423a7.html
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/404618
http://w109.news.tpc.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/070423/4/dbuf.html (mandarin)
http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-News/2007Cti-News-Content/0,4521,110501+112007042400024,00.html (mandarin)

My Generation? Well, my Dad's.....

This is one of the cutest and funniest vids I have seen on youtube in a long time.
I am very close to my folks (87 and 79 years old) They can be very funny at times.
This vid is great. I am going to show it to my Dad right away.

Thanks to Witty for sending this along.

上海生與死

Well, many years ago, I read the book "Life and Death in Shang Hai". I read it first in English and then read it in Chinese for practice. It was a good practice and a pretty interesting book. I had made notations in the margins for many of the words I did not know.. Well, I found my Chinese copy in the garage last week and finally set forth to read it again.. Boy, did I forget a lot of my Chinese. I found that I need to lookup words I used to know and add more notes to the margins. I am vowing to do it though. I need it. So, wish me luck.
Here is another person's take on the book in Mandarin 鄭念著的 《上海生與死》
I thought it was an intriguing story and I found myself reading the English version at least 3 or 4 chapters at night and falling to sleep, dreaming of the characters. It was very interesting. The Chinese version was also very good for Chinese study as it drew me in and I wanted to get the flavor of the author's emotions in the original language. Upon finishing the Chinese version, I was disappointed to learn that she wrote it in English first and had help translating into Chinese! OMG. Well, it was still a great read and great study material. So, hopefully this will help me get my Chinese back on track.
And this time it takes on new meaning. My friend and Kung Fu teacher Tang Wei Zhong grew up in Shang Hai during the cultural revolution. He introduced me to a friend of his name Wen Mei Yu, who is now 70 and went through a lot during the era. I now get to hear their stories to go along with the book.

Public Bathroom Tip #1

Carry some Post-It Notes with you when using public bathrooms here in the states.
If you have ever had one of those automatic flushing toilettes incessantly flush on you while you try to sit down and ever time you flinch, these will come in handy.
Here's what you do... Before preparing the toilette with the paper ring of safety, cover the light sensor with a post-it note. This will save you a lot of frustration. No more watching 3 paper covers flush away before you can sit. No more worry about flushing before you get up.
Next time: Alcohol wipes or tissue and hand sanitizer. Keeping it clean.
Cheers.

You got a credit card? Live in the states?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9156929
Listen to this report.
I knew some of the issues. But, other things were new. It's an important issue to be familiar with. Please give it a listen.

USC Conference on Chinese Visual Culture.

April 6-7

I would suggest all my LA bound friends who are interested in China or Chinese culture give this a look see.





Chinese Visual Culture

An international conference on a range of visual forms and experiences in the modern and contemporary periods, "Scenes and Visions" brings together scholars from multiple disciplines to examine how the notion of a dynamic and interrelated "visual culture" will introduce new insights and perspectives in our study of Chinese societies and cultures throughout the twentieth century. The event is free and open to the public.

powered by performancing firefox

English to Pig Latin Translator

http://www.snowcrest.net/donnelly/piglatin.html
I have found many translation engines on the internet. This is one of the most fun. I have to tell you about this pig latin translation engine. Try it out, it is fun.
-->
Iway avehay oundfay anymay anslationtray enginesway onway ethay
internetway. Isthay isway oneway ofway ethay
Publishay ostmay unfay.
Iway avehay otay elltay ouyay aboutway isthay igpay atinlay
anslationtray engineway. Ytray itway outway, itway isway unfay.

Vegan Plate - again.

My family loves this place. Zoe, being a veghehad, is in heaven and even my Dad, who likes meat, loves the food here.

They have a good variety of food there. Not just great Thai food. They have burgers and wraps that are way better than I thought they could be. The fries are crispy and tasty.
Not pictured here are the Kamut pancakes which are surprisingly good.
Tonight, I had a big bowl of Tom Kha Gai soup with a little brown rice and papaya salad to share. Yum

More bread by Zoe

More bread from Zoe. She is getting really good at this and it's causing problems at home.







The problem is we can't stop eating her bread. My parents and I are paying a HEAVY price for her success. hehehe.

Dan Dan Cookies. aka 醜餅乾

OK.. The time came again to try and make up my own cookie recipe. This one was pretty good.
I felt a bit playful when dropping the dough and laying the toppings. I made one that I like to call Mr. Bill. See him in the middle???

Anyway, I laid the dough with a dimple in the middle so I could add some filling or toppings. For some, I used an almond butter and brown sugar filling then added a couple nuts or chocolate chips. On others I used apricot jam, nuts and dried cranberry.
The dough went like this:
3/4 of one stick of unsalted butter.
1/2 cup of pure maple syrup.
1 tsp vanilla.
1/2 tsp baking soda.
1 cup whole wheat flour.
1/2 cup all purpose flour.
1/4 each of corn meal and almond meal.
1/8 cup oat bran.

First soften the butter and whisk until fluffy. Then add the syrup, vanilla and baking soda and whisk well.
Put all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and mix well, then add to wet ingredients and mix well.
There you have the dough.. Simple, eh?
Now put table spoon sized scoops on a greased cooking sheet and use the round side of the spoon to make a dimple or well in the dough. Lay your filling of choice in there.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake in center or upper rack for 10 to 15 minutes (when edges turn a nice golden brown).

These little darlings are not totally unhealthy either. As long as you are not allergic to almonds, that is.
If you like it, let me know. Also, if you change something or use a different filling and it works nicely, let me know... Please.
Ahdoga.

First attempt at Pretzels...

Well, this was my first attempt at making pretzels. After the great pretzels we had in Poland, I wanted to try.. I am sorry to report that they were nothing like the ones I had in Poland. I tried to do them multigrain and used too much whole wheat flour and corn meal. They were OK, but not great. I count this as an edible failure. Luckily Zoe made a strawberry tart that was great. So, we did ok as a team. (hehehe).

I did some with black sesame and some with cheddar cheese. The dough was a little different than I thought it would be and we tried to make pretzel shapes with little success.

The final product had a nice color and the texture was fairly chewy. Something just wasn't right about them. They weren't bad heated with butter, though.

Baking Wars- DMZ (Danny meets Zoe)

Well, here is my little ode to baked goods.
It was Z's birthday this month so I surprised her with a strawberry short cake from Whole Foods. They use better, more natural ingredients than most places, so we don't feel as guilty about eating their stuff. And we ate way too much... OK, I ate way too much.


For our next selection; Zoe's little bread.

I later called this little bread "piggy-tail bread". See the photo for explanation. She made this egg bread dough very light. Not too eggy. It was really good. The texture was just a tiny bit chewy, while still soft. I think I now know what Taiwanese people mean when they say something is "Q". The crust was crispy and light. A very nice product. She made a 3 day supply. It lasted the night. Ummm... I am starting to resemble the cutting board.


Not to be outdone, I decided to make cookies tonight. I did not want to make my usual cookies.. Although my cookies are really damn good (shameless plug), I felt like trying something different.. Something Zoe would not have tried before.
I made Hamantaschen.


They are a triangle shaped cookies filled with a variety of fillings. I made the dough and let it chill. I had to improvise on the filling as I did not have what I originally wanted. I settled on honey-almond-cranberry for the filling.I was worried about the dough while I was shaping them, but all came out well. The texture was really great and I thought the only thing I could/should have done differently was add a dash of cinnamon to the filling. Zoe agreed with me on that, saying so while I was chomping on a HMT. I like the layers of pastry/filling/pastry. Over all, I was happy with the product. But, next time I am going to add cinnamon!

When even your dog needs a diet pill.... It's gone too far!!!

OK folks, this is something I just have to comment on. It was bad enough when we found out that Americans spend more each year trying to loose weight than most countries do on eating. OK, that may not be totally accurate. But, I bet it's not far off.

Well, all bets are off now. When even your dogs need personal trainers and even diet pills, it is just too much. Do we really not understand that we eat too much and exercise way too little??? Talk about waste! If you and your dog are eating so much that you can not burn off the calories, the answer should be simple. Eat less!!! Eat more natural foods!! And get some exercise!!!

Your dog knows it needs to exercise. Just let it! If you can not let your dog exercise because of your lifestyle, maybe you should consider changing your lifestyle or not get a dog. It's just wrong. Now, I am not trying to belittle any individual people or individual dogs. But we should learn from the mistakes of the past. We should learn that not ever habit we have developed in our glorious modern era is good for us. It's OK to walk a couple blocks. We don't need to drive 3 blocks to Starbucks with the dog in the back seat. WALK!!!!

These doggy diet pills should not exist. It is just not in harmony with nature.

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Something for the Dog That Eats Everything: A Diet Pill - washingtonpost.com



The obesity epidemic has spread to man's best friend, and so many dogs are getting fat that the government stepped in yesterday by approving the first doggie diet pill.

US obese dogs to get diet pills - BBC

A weight-loss drug for dogs has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).



About 5% of America's 65 million dogs are thought to be obese

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日出大地-乳酪蛋糕.牛軋糖(台中)

I just cracked into a box of candy my wife brought me from Taiwan. It's from a pretty cool and very popular bakery/candy store in the Taichung area called Dawn Cakes (日出大地)

The candy is calle niu2ga2tang2 牛軋糖 in Mandarin and is pretty much what it translates to... Nougat... But, it's good nougat. The box has two flavors, original and coffee. Both have nuts and are quite tasty. The really cool thing is the packaging.
Each nougat is individually wrapped and has a Chinese or Taiwanese saying on it.
Also, the box is made to look like a book. Here:






Examples of some of the sayings are:
一食二穿，三才作人情 （你送禮如此用心，提醒了朋友〔禮輕人意重〕的古訓）
Cool stuff. Learn while you snack. And the sugar high will help you with retention. Right?

Mr. Noodle - New York Times

I read that the gentleman who invented Top Ramen died recently. There are several interesting reports on this event and stories of him seem truly inspired. Take this NY Times piece by Lawrence Downes:
Mr. Noodle - New York Times: "Ramen noodles have earned Mr. Ando an eternal place in the pantheon of human progress. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Give him ramen noodles, and you don’t have to teach him anything."
I loved this paragraph in particular:
"Ramen noodles, by contrast, are a dish of effortless purity. Like the egg, or tea, they attain a state of grace through a marriage with nothing but hot water. After three minutes in a yellow bath, the noodles soften. The pebbly peas and carrot chips turn practically lifelike. A near-weightless assemblage of plastic and foam is transformed into something any college student will recognize as food, for as little as 20 cents a serving".
That was almost poetic. I mean, I forget they were talking about instant ramen until the part about the college student's ability to recognize it as food.
Cleverly written Mr. Downes. Clever indeed.

Congrats to mahster on blue belt.

Congrats to Eric on his blue in BJJ. Outstanding job.
Mahster.com - I'm so Blue!: "I'm so Blue!
Monday, 01 January 2007

"Finally blue!I'm so blue, blue, blue . . . Not as in being depressed, but as in finally getting a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu!" -- mahster