It is Fall! Summer is Here!

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

Every time I see or hear this phrase, I see gray sky, chilly wind, cold damp air, buildings and hilltops and bridges hiding in thick fog.

Who made that famous quote anyway?  Nope.  Not Mark Twain.  As a matter of fact, this quote wasn’t even directed at San Francisco originally.

According to Quote Investigator, James Quin, an actor in London, made this remark when he was asked whether he ever had a bad winter in the 1700s.  Mark Twain used the Quin quote in an 1880 letter while complaining about the weather in Paris.*

 

The modern phrasing of this saying was initially directed at Duluth, MN in the early 1900s.  Over a span of 100+ years, many cities were attached to this quote. This includes Milwaukee, Two Harbors, Grand Marais, Puget Sound, Buffalo, Minneapolis and, of course, SAN FRANCISCO!*

So what does this all mean?  It means that we get to enjoy two summers in a year.  One cold.  One hot.  And that is beautiful.

Happy Fall Equinox!

* Source from: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/11/30/coldest-winter/

Northern Lights, Fairbanks, Alaska

Northern lights (aurora borealis) is a natural light display in the Earth's sky, predominantly seen in the high latitude regions (around the Arctic).

According to Wikipedia, "auroras are produced when the magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in both solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost."

In plain English: the light that's visible to our eyes is a result of electrically charged particles colliding in the atmosphere.

For this reason, there is no guarantee that you will get to see auroras. And even if you see it, there is no guarantee that it will always be as dramatic and brilliant as seen on postcards.

On the night that we went on the tour (12/28/17), it was forecasted to be a level 2, which meant low activity. Nevertheless, the sight of beautiful emerald lights appearing in the night sky, was breathtaking no matter how faint.

I'm so happy that I was able to capture it with my camera.

How about those colors?  Green is the most common color of auroras. When particles collide with oxygen, yellow and green are produced. Interactions with nitrogen produce red, violet, and occasionally blue colors.

Was it worth staying out in minus 17 degrees Farenheit to view the auroras?  You bet!  And I would definitely do it again.

Thank you Mother Nature!

On the Road Again

  

(The view from my office window)

After eight and a half years with my current employer, I've decided to move on.  My last day with Paul Capital will be tomorrow, April 30, 2015.

It has been a fun ride with PCA.  I started at the time of its boom.  I had a chance to learn about hiring in this mega $$$$$ earning field.  The compensation package design was an eye-opening experience for me.  But hey, I got used to it.  After all, we are in the investment services business where transactions are valued in hundreds of millions and/or billions of dollars.  I got a chance to dive into international HR.  That was such a valuable experience and the best knowledge I picked up from this gig.  I trained myself not to impose US labor standards onto other country's labor practices.  Some country's labor laws are actually more stringent than the US.  I had a kick learning to appreciate Brazil's pro-labor compensation to employees (yes, love those vacation allowances) and HK's 20 some-odd public holidays per year.  UK is stingy but sure loves their regulated paid leaves.  And if you work in France, considered yourself one of the luckiest workers in the world!

After eight and a half years, I got restless and felt plateaued out.  Although I'm over the hill (age wise), I still feel like an Energizer Bunny.  There is still so much to learn and absorb.  I wanted a change.  JOB GOD must have heard me and dropped an opportunity on my lap -- literally.  A recruiter, whom I met last year, called me out of the blue regarding a Director level HR opportunity.  I met with seven folks and they offered me the position within two weeks.  It happened quite suddenly.  I had to make a decision very quickly whether I was really ready to leave this comfy zone and venture into the land of unknowns in the name of promotion.  Decisions.  Decisions.  Decisions.  At the end, I decided that going out there is the right direction for me.

What's ahead of me?  Who knows!  That's the challenging part that keeps me going.  What's at the next turn?  What's up ahead?  We will find out when I'm on the road again.

Wish my luck peeps!

Goodwill Hunting - IV

Once again, another great find at Goodwill.  This time, I found a gorgeous casserole among a pile of pots and pans.  I wasn't curious at first.  I just wanted to pull it from underneath so it wouldn't get crushed.  I had a big surprise when I retrieved it.  It was a well made ceramic casserole with a pretty matching lid.  It was in mint condition and had a company mark on the bottom.

I was very happy to get it for $3.99 to add to my kitchen collection and I made a note to check out the mark.

The story a mark can tell!!  It turned out that this casserole was made by John B. Taylor Company, a well known ceramic maker in Louisville, Kentucky.  The company has been around since 1815 and was sold to Louisville Stoneware in 1970.  The company is still in operation, and most of the vintage designs are still in production today.

The mark on the casserole indicated that this was a piece that was made sometime between 1960 and 1970.  Here are some clues (learned from Googling):

• The John B. Taylor mark indicated that this casserole was produced before the company was sold to Louisville Stoneware, so it predated 1970.
• "Made in the U.S.A." was added after 1954.  If you see a JB Taylor ceramic without it, then you know it is an old piece.
• The pattern "Harvest" was introduced in 1954 -  mine said "Harvest".
• The pattern title was added to the mark in the 1960s, so mine was produced during the 60s.  Geez, it's as old as me!!

Isn't this cool?  This is why I love rummaging in thrift stores.   I never know what history lessons I will learn from the things I pick up.

Intrigued?  Visit your local thrift stores and check out the stuff.  Some of them may have a story to tell you.

Happy thrifting!!

Hello 韭菜盒子 (Chive Pockets), We Meet Again!

The first attempt I tried making  韭菜盒子 (Chive Pockets) was back in 2008.  It was a noble try but nothing to get excited about.

Checkout how I did the first time: Chive Pockets

Now that I have a better handle on FLOUR, I thought I would give it another try.  Can you believe that I am now experimenting northern Chinese food (steamed buns, pork buns, etc...)??  I'm not even from the North!!  OK, that's a story for another time.

Lessons Learned from my second attempt last night:

#1 - Follow the recipe.  Yes, flour is not your friend if you don't follow its rules!!  I learned that I need to use the right water temperature.  Cold, lukewarm or hot.  It depends on what you want to make.  For chive pockets, you need a temperature of between 65°C - 70°C (or 149°F - 158°F.  Yap.  Good luck with that).

#2 - Knead the dough.  I know! I know! And I'm pretty good at kneading dough now.  I know I need to knead that baby until smooth and elastic - just like breads!

#3 - More chive please.

#4 - Cook the ground pork first.  This was a big discovery for me.  I used uncooked pork filling the first time and it took forever to cook through.  I ended up cooking the chive pockets as if they were pot stickers.  And the result was GIANT pot stickers with dried hard skin.  The correct way is to gently brown all sides of the chive pockets and cover the pot for couple of minutes to heat through.  That's it.  So point #5 from my first try is a bad one.  Chive pockets are not pot stickers!!

So, here's the result of my second attempt.   Much better yes?  I now need to work on shaping the pockets so they stand up like little purses.

First Time for Many Things

Colon screening is like a ritual for those who turn 50.   Yap.  Doctor recommends that one should do a colon screening when reaching age 50.  When I had my annual checkup this year, my doc smiled and said, "it's time."

So I had my FIRST colonoscopy yesterday.  Along with the procedure, I also encountered my many firsts:

• First time without solid food for 36 hours - just water and water and water...
• First time having a IV injection - like blood donation except fluid going in not coming out
• First time taking in pure oxygen
• First time being wheeled in a hospital bed - what a weird feeling looking at the ceiling flying by
• First time dozed off under anesthesia - knocked out in less than a minute

What an experience!  Welcome to to middle age, Suts!  The actual screening was the easiest part.  The worst part was preparing for it.  Not being able to eat was hard; drinking that nasty solution and 32 oz of water in one hour time was the hardest - and I had to do it twice!!

There are few ways to do colon screening.  Colonoscopy is the most invasive one yet the most thorough. Don't shy away because the procedure is inconvenient or unpleasant.  Take charge of your health.  Do your screening when the time comes.  This is the best 50th birthday present that you can give yourself.

To read more: Colon Screening

Go Hog (Wild) Island Oyster Co. Clam Chowder!!

I was strolling down Market Street couple of weeks ago and a photo caught my eyes.  It was on the front cover of this free magazine displayed in a curbside magazine rack.

It was a picture of a pretty bowl of clams.  Very yummy looking, so I grabbed a copy of the magazine to check it out.

It turned out be a bowl of clam chowder - original recipe created by the owners - from the Hog Island Oyster Company.  It didn't look like the usual creamy gooey New England style clam chowder.  But where was the recipe? 

People!  People!!  Don't tease me with a delicious food photo and not tell me how to make it.  That's just wrong!!

I first went to the Hog Island Oyster Company website to check out the menu.  Yap.  Right there.  $14.  I then google Hog Island Oyster Company Clam Chowder and ta-da, I found the recipe!!

My God, how did we ever live without the search engines (especially Google)???

Monkey see.  Monkey do.  I tried the recipe promptly and it was scrumptious!!  I don't know if my version tasted like the real thing though.  I guess I should go spend the $14 to find out and to thank the Hog Island Oyster people for this wonderful dish.

Never know what you will discover even during a lunch time stroll.  So, once again, I learn to keep my eyes open and be ready to try something new.

Here's the recipe: Hog Island Oyster Co. Manila Clam Chowder

Me and Homemade Bread

The one food that I rarely attempt to make is bread.  Why should I when I can find freshly baked bread all over town??

Besides, my first bread baking experience destroyed my confidence in bread making.  I remembered my first attempt was after watching this bread baking show.  The baker made it looked so easy.  He demonstrated how: add this and that, knead, roll, make little round balls, connect them, let them rise, bake and voila, you have a teddy bear shape bread.  Tie a bow around the bread-bear neck and you can parade it around.  Easy, I thought.  So I followed all the steps - even connected the balls - and I ended up with a bear-shape rock!!!  Ugh!  NEVER AGAIN.  I was 18 or so years old then.  Many many moons ago...

Fast forward to few years later...department stores started selling bread machines in the late 90s.  I got one from Macy's.  I told my family that we were going to have homemade bread from now on. They laughed their heads off, but we were very curious how that little bread machine worked.

I followed the instruction precisely.  The machine was amazing. I just had to measure and add the ingredients in order and hit the start button.  The first bread that I ever made - with the machine - was a basic white bread.  And the first loaf was a success!  Oh My God!  I thought I did it!  Then, the second loaf was a flap.  It didn't even rise.  What a let down.

It's hit-or-miss.  To make life easy, I switched to bread mix for a while.  Yes, it was big time cheating but it guaranteed perfect bread every time.  Just pour the content from the box into the bread machine and add water.  I couldn't go wrong.  The bread would come out great but I get no satisfaction. Too boring. I then put away the bread machine.  I use it few times a year and that is it.

A Break through.  Couple of years ago, I saw this WORLD'S BEST cinnamon roll recipe that was designed for bread machine and I just had to give it a try.  The machine made the dough and I did the rolling and the baking.  The cinnamon roll was a big success.  The second one was still a success and the third too.  Wow!  I rebuilt my confidence and reconnected with my bread machine.  It was put back to work doing all the kneading and I have been baking different breads but with an asterisk: *Machine kneads dough. 

But wait!  I had another break through last week.  I actually made bread (OK, buns)  from scratch!  Look mom, no bread machine!!   I actually handled the yeast!!  I haven't done that since I made that bear-shape hard as rock bread so long ago.  I was worry that I would kill the yeast but my first old-fashion pull apart buns looked very lovely.  Wow... Is this for real now?  Am I finally on the road to true homemade breads?  Well, there is only one way to find out.

So, I think the bread machine is going back to storage again.

Duck Confit Anyone?

I love food but not all food.  Duck for one not my favorite.  Actually, I don't think I like chicken, ducks, geese, quails (animals with feathers and two skinny legs I guess) as much as I like animals with thick muscles and walk on fours.  But food is food.  They all taste good if you cook them right.

Oh sorry, I digress...

What's duck confit?  Confit is an ancient cooking method by which meat is marinated and cooked in low temperature.   It's then preserve in fat.  Fat will keep the bacteria out and the meat can be kept - without refrigeration - for a long period of time and still maintain its moisture.  NOT like jerky.

Duck is a perfect confit ingredient because it is meaty, tender and it can be perfectly preserved in its own fat.

The French got it right and they made duck confit the signature French dish.    

But duck fat?  Hmmmm...

I saw this duck leg confit recipe in SF Chronicle few weekends ago.  In the true California way, of course the duck confit got a twist.  Instead of being cooked in duck or other animal fat, the recipe called for extra-virgin olive oil.  Now we are talking!

It takes a week from start to finish to make duck confit but that is the intriguing part.  More intriguing is that the confit can be stored up to 6 months. Wow!

Boy, I'm so glad I tried!!  The preparation part was not hard at all.  The frying part required some patience - at least 90 minutes to two hours in 200 degrees (F) oil.  When done, store the confit in the same oil.  That's it.

Judging Time: I pan-fried the confit until the skin was brown and crispy.  I thought the meat was going to be tough and dry since it was fried for 2 hours!  What a pleasant surprise to discover that I actually made really good duck confit!  Dad asked why I only made two.  I told him that it was my first try and I didn't want to waste food if I goofed.  Well, I'm now ready to make duck confit in batches!!

What I've learned:  Always give food a try.  Learn to appreciate and enjoy the making part along with the eating part.  We human has a nice big mouth with multi-functional teeth, a complex sensory tongue and acute olfactory perception.  Use it!

Bon Appetit!

A Mug Shot

I love searching for nice mugs at the thrift shops.  Finding one that I really love is like winning the lotto.

Somehow, using a mug I like makes the drink tastes better.  Really.

There are tons of mugs at the thrift shops.  Big, small, tall, short, ugly ones, cute ones... For some reasons, people love to get rid of mugs.  OK, I can understand the ones with logos or writings, but I can't figure out why nice ones too.

Maybe nice is subjective.  What's nice to me may not be nice to other people.  But fine quality should be universal.  Why would people throw away fine quality mugs?  Some of them are so new and no chips nor scratches too.

No complaints though.  My gain.  Over the years, I have found mugs that makes me happy.  Best of all, these mugs cost less than a cup of coffee each.  See the blue heart mug on the right?  It's a Japanese fine bone porcelain and I got it for 49 cents.  The tall tumbler in the back was either 99 cents or $1.99.  It gets me 10 cents off per cup of coffee for using my own mug.  I got my money back already.  It used to be purple.  The purple layer of film peeled off over time.  I ended up stripping it off and it's now a silver tumbler.  The Starbucks mugs cost a bundle at the stores.  Not at the thrift stores though.  They are all priced the same and wait for people to rediscover them again.

Go mug hunting next time, peeps.  You never know what you will find.

If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them.

I broke down and bought a kitchen scale today.  Yes, I accepted my defeat and gave up manual conversion from metric to the US measurement when it comes to cooking and baking.

All these years my little 5-cup-and-spoon measuring set serves me just fine.  As a matter of fact, I still have the yellow plastic measuring set that mom bought me for my home-economic in junior high back in the 70s.  I never would have thought measuring ingredients is such a complicated task until I start playing with recipes that call for metric measurement.

At first, I thought I can just use the conversion chart and save money not getting a scale, but I see things are not so easy.  The US system measures volume while the metric measures weight.  So, bad news: 1 cup of water does not equal to 1 cup of milk and not 1 cup of oil.  Worse: 1 cup of white flour does not equal to 1 cup of wheat flour and not 1 cup of sugar.  Worst yet: 1 egg is not always 1 egg.  See what I mean???

OK, I know that the US is the odd ball in the world of measurement.  While other countries have adopted the metric system, the US, Liberia and Burma have not (knowledge perused from Googling).  Recipes and chefs say the metric measurement is more precise than the US measurements but it's working fine until I have to use metric recipes!

How I wish that there is an automatic conversion app that would just show everything in cups/ounces and table/teaspoons depending on the ingredients at a click of button.  Of course life won't be so simple.  Even if I convert recipes with minimal effort, I will still have to deal with measurement such as 1.27 cup or 4.5768272 tsp.  Now, how the heck will I ever be able to measure that?

So I conceded.  I bought a kitchen scale and will get to know my grams and milliliters (or cc).  I just have to accept the fact that a 45g egg is not just any one egg.  I will have to weigh it and find this precised measured out egg all in the name of metric.

Creative Solutions

Most of the elevated dog feeders sold are still too low for the big boys.  Robert and I have looked into buying the ones for big dogs but the feeders are big and bulky and expensive.  It's like highway robbery.  *sigh*

So Robert and I have been looking at alternatives.  He was even going to build something himself but we actually found something better and inexpensive!!

Solution #1:  Can you tell what is this?  It's actually a table without the glass top.  Robert got it at a thrift store for just few bucks.  Being a designer he just knew what to do with it.  Flip it over and use the legs to hold the bowls.  Easy!  Simple!  Isn't he just clever??

Solution #2: While browsing in Goodwill today, I found two tall cast iron plant stands.  I thought heck, if the bowls can't fit, then I can still use them as plant stands like they were originally for.  So we bought them, took them home, and tried the bowls.  It was a perfect fit!!

This is why we love checking out thrift stores.  You never what you can find and you can always come up with good uses with the finds.  

Let's give ourselves a pat on the back!!

Bottle-Cork-Open-Drink

I'm glad that I got this LivingSocial deal for a visit to La Nebbia Winery!  It offered a chance to bottle and cork your own wine plus a tasting of its wines.  Heck, all these for $25?  I especially like that I will get to see how wine is bottled.  It's like "you drink milk but do you know how it's milked?"

La Nebbia Winery.  A winery in our backyard.  Actually, it's about 25 minutes away in Half Moon Bay on Highway 92 but close enough to call it my backyard.   I have driven by it quite a few times, but I finally had a chance to visit last Sunday.

It's little family-style winery.   It has a little wine tasting room, a wine bottling warehouse for the general public and a beautiful garden for picnics.  Note to self: make this a point of interests when I have visitors.

OK, the wine bottling part isn't quite that romantic.  A big warehouse with giant industrial tanks and a metallic equipment to fill and cork the bottles with one push of a button.  That's it?  We did get to attach the wine labels by hand though.

Since Jean and I were the first to arrive and there were only two of us, we got to spend some quality time with Kendyl, the winery owner.  She poured us each a glass of wine to start off (very nice), and gave us a a more detailed look of the bottling process including how she sourced her wine.  She let us visited her office which had boxes of wine samples from all over California. Her job is to sample them all and decide what to buy.  These wholesale wines are for the "Bottle and Cork Your Wine" days.  Those are the days where people can bring their own wine bottles to fill the wines with at $5/750ml bottle.  Note to self again: start saving wine bottles.

After Jean and I each bottled and corked our own wine, we headed to the tasting room.  La Nebbia actually produces their own wine with sourced grapes.  We got to try 12 wines from white to sparkling to red to dessert wines.  Hiccups!

Jean and I left the winery all happy.  What a nice little outing for a different experience so close to home.  Try a little, live a little.  Appreciate the small things that make up each of our days.  Cheers!

The Gopher Day

Some gopher decided to make my front yard his home.  He's been digging holes here and there.  My lawn, already not so good looking, is looking even uglier.  Well, at least he was eating up the weeds and dandelions, but boy, is he messy!!

One of Dad's friends, Mr. Huang, suggested that I sprinkle some pepper in the hole.  He said it works like a charm.  I  didn't really believe him and I wasn't ready to grind fresh pepper in the hole.  What would the neighbors say?!

But I decided to give it a try yesterday because this gopher is now bold enough to poke his head out from the ground to say hello.  Cute little thing but he is supposed to stay underground.

So, I cranked the pepper mill over the hole and hope the gopher didn't sneeze too loud and the neighbors didn't see me.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  When I checked the hole 30 minutes later, guess what?  It's been covered up!!!

Did the gopher do it? What did it mean?  Is he ready to pack up, lock up the door and go?

Strange but true.   I just have to share.

Yap, Excise Here

I had my first surgery - ever - in my life today.   Luckily, it was just a minor procedure.  The doc said it couldn't be better than this for my first under-the-knife experience.

My procedure was to have a lipoma on my left elbow "excised" (I guess that's the medical term.  I would have just say cut off, removed, carved out....)  The lipoma has been there for a few years.  It was a little lump at first and the doc said not to worry.  It was just fatty tissues and as long as it didn't bother me or affect my movement then let it be.  Well, I think it has grown a little and finally the doc said OK, you can have it "excised."

Lipoma is benign cyst of fatty cells - some people call it a "big pimple."  It can grow anywhere on the body - just glad that I didn't have this big pimple on my nose.  Mine was a little soft lump.  It didn't hurt or itch.  It was just there.   Well, bye-bye now.

Funny that the procedure was performed by a plastic surgeon.  WOW!  Can I now claim I had cosmetic surgery done?  I thought that the surgeon could just have it removed - I mean excised- during my office visit.  Nope!  "I'll schedule you for an out-patient surgery," he said.

So today was my first visit to the hospital as a patient.  I had to arrive at 6:30am to get ready for the 7:30am procedure.  The nurses took care of me like I was there for a major operation.

I had to answer bunch of questions on paper.  I was then taken to the prep station.  A nurse took my blood pressure, heart rate, temperature and asked me the same questions again.  This time, she entered in the computer.  I suggested that they should just have the patient enter this info on an iPad to save them time.  I was then visited by my surgical nurse and was asked the same questions again.  Then, my surgeon showed up and asked the questions yet again.  I appreciate their thoroughness but total of 4 times??

It was very quiet in the out-patient surgery center this morning.  There were only this other lady and myself.  My surgeon showed up nicely dressed like he was going to a meeting.  That lady's surgeon showed up in shorts and tennis shoes.  I guess there is no dress code for surgeons.

I walked to my surgery room. A room with a white surgical bed with an arm extension.  A big operation light hung above, machines humming, surgical instruments nicely laid out...oh-oh, this now started to feel intimidating.

I was told to lie down and to extend my left arm.  An electro-pad was placed on my leg.  "This is for grounding just in case," my surgical nurse said.  Huh???  A safety belt was placed around my hip.  "This is to prevent you from jumping up just in case," my surgical nurse said.  What??

Finally, the surgeon came in, examined the lump, put a "X" on the spot with a surgical marker then draped towels around the area.  He put on his surgical garb, turned on the shiny white light and pulled out a big needle.  This was it.  No turning back.

I had local anesthesia.  The needle hurt like heck but thank God for invention of anesthesia!!!  I could still move my arm and fingers but felt no pain during the procedure.  THANK YOU MODERN MEDICINES!!

The procedure and the suturing took less than 30 minutes.  I kind of felt guilty that they had to go through this big production to prep me for such a non-exciting excision.  But, my lipoma is gone and it's not coming back!!!

It's a Wrap.  My arm didn't even have to be bandaged up like a mummy.  I could even drive myself home.  So, I got home around 8:40am to start my day.

I do have to rest my arm and prop it up for the next couple of days though.  This is actually the hardest part for me.  I can't sit still and I'm not used to doing nothing.  So, here I am blogging about my experience with one hand.  Interesting but I do not wish anyone to go through.

Lucky Me. I appreciate that the medical personnel took great care of me like it was some major surgery.  I am thankful that I have insurance to pay for all of these.  There are many people who cannot afford any medical care at all, so I am extremely blessed for what is available to me.

An experience to be added to my life stories.

Don't Call Me Rusty!

Niece Crystal asked if I had any tricks for removing rust from cast iron pans.  Not really I said but Google would know.

So a quick google search shows plenty of tips and tricks.  Some pretty interesting like:

1) rubbing with 1/2 potato and baking soda
2) scrubbing with salt and oil

Hmmm... do they really work? I must know!!

I remember Robert has a cast iron grill pan somewhere in the backyard.  He found it at a dump few years ago and brought it back to me like a trophy.  Look what I found, honey!!  It was a pretty ugly pan - rusted, dull and beat up - but I kept it thinking I'll deal with it one day.  I left it outside and forgot all about it.

My perfect experiment!!  I found the pan over the weekend.  It was stashed with bunch of tiles looking pretty pathetic sitting on top of the pool pump.  It was dusty with cobweb and with a thin layer of orange rust.  Sorry, it has been left outside for a few years.  However, it looked like it could still have some life given a chance.

So I followed the potato and baking soda cleaning tip.  I wouldn't 't say that it worked 100% but most of the gritty stuff came off.  After a thorough scrubbing, the grill was squeaky clean and ready for seasoning.

I warmed up the pan on the stove over medium low heat then I oiled it.  The pan sucked up the oil thirstily and it slowly began to shine.  I think it likes it!!!  Hey, I like it too!!

It's exciting to bring a cast iron pan back to life.  Really.  To test, I grilled a steak on it.  Wow! the steak grilled beautifully and it didn't even stick to the pan.  The pan made happy sizzling sounds.  Oh it must be happy being useful again.  Afterward, I washed and oiled it again.  It looked like it could be salvaged.  YES!

There are still some weathered marks on the rim and on the backside but I don't think it's rust anymore.  I'll try the salt and oil cleaning method this weekend to see if I can take them off. If not, I'll just live with it.  It actually adds some characters and a mark of life to the pan.

Love your cast iron pan people.  It did not give up on itself so you shouldn't too.  Cheers!

Goodwill Hunting - III

Ta-Da!  See what else I have found in a Goodwill store! I found this little gadget at the Pinole Goodwill couple years ago and it was one of my best best find!!

What is it?  I was rummaging in a little corner and spotted this little odd shape box.  It was a six-sided box that contained a odd looking gadget.  It had 4 arms and a little window on the body to let you see the mechanism inside.

It had a long screw hidden in the bottom half, so I figured it must be a wine bottle opener. But, why so elaborate?  How does it work?  What the heck!  Since it was only $1.99, I figured I could buy it without feeling like a fool.

It was solidly built and made in Finland.  No instructions.  Are we supposed to just know how to use this thing?  I know, I know... don't bother to drink, if you can't figure out how to use this thing.  Well, it took me about 3 bottles to figure out.  Basically, you have to know the sequence of moving the arms.  Once you get the hang of it, it is too easy to use.  All bottles can be opened in less than 5 seconds even the most stubborn ones.  And, it spits out the cork effortlessly too!!  Wow!!

This is how it works:

1. Make sure all the arms are in upright position.
2. Secure the bottom half to the bottle by pushing it down.   You will hear a click.

3. Push the two short arms down together.

4. Then, push the two long arms down.  When the long arms are pushed down, the short ones go back up by itself.

5. Now, push the long arms back up.  And as you do that, the cork pops out!!

Voila!

Isn't it cool?  I love to show off this toy.  A great conversation piece and makes people work for their drink.  Yap, there is no such thing as an easy drink!!


This time: Suts scores one!

Canvas in the Sky

There were lots of clouds but it wasn't a cloudy day. I walked out of the door this morning and was greeted by this beautiful scene right before my eyes. I was mesmerized.

These were not the usual thick clouds that covered the entire sky and they weren't those puffy cotton candy clouds either. Each one seemed to glow and trimmed with gold. The entire sky - as far as I could see - was decorated by these glowing clouds. It was such a rare sight.

What kind of cloud formation is this? After googling, I want to say this is the "Alto cumulus" cloud formation. Correct me if I am wrong please. Inquiring mind wants to know!!!

I learned that different cloud formation forms under different weather conditions. "alto" clouds are mid level clouds that may bring some precipitation but they are not rain clouds. Hmmm, maybe that was why it was kind of humid today.

The clouds spread out for everyone to see. A magnificent display only Nature knew how to do. Lucky people like those of us who left the house early got a very special treat.

Of course all things come to an end. These altos were gone by midday. We were back to the plain old blue sky.

Extremely Beautiful!

I visited the Extreme Mammals exhibit this morning at the California Academy of Science. This was my second attempt to see the exhibit. The first time was back in April but I didn't really have a good look that time because I had Carli in tote. That little monkey could not keep still and I was so afraid that she was going to destroy the exhibit. I love my dear niece but she is not coming with me to exhibits any time soon. Talking about extreme mammals, she is one alright.

But, peace and quiet at last. I had a chance to check out the exhibit in detail. Amazing. Just amazing! The way that life forms evolve and adapt is just so incredible and beautiful. There is a reason for why we are the way we are today.

Do You Know?

There are no flying marsupials because marsupial babies need to climb into the pouch right after birth so they need to have strong fore limbs for grabbing and climbing. Therefore their front limbs are too heavy to develop into wings or membranes for flight.

Kangaroos can carry 3 different babies developing at different stages at one time (one not being born yet. It's waiting for it's turn). Therefore, mama kangaroo produces 2 different kinds of milk at the same time - one from each nipple - to feed the older two that need different nutritional levels. Wow! Can you do that, cows?

Hold on to Your Headgears. Headgears come in different shapes and forms: horns, antlers, tusks... Besides using them to defend against predators, mammals see them as "team uniforms". Yes, like ones stick together like sport teams. Teammates dress alike. I guess humans did not invent uniforms after all.

My Take Away: Life is art and it improves with time. gotta love it!

Goodwill Hunting - II

AWESOME FINDS EVERYWHERE! The strange thing is I always find exactly what I'm looking for.

Perk Perk Away. I love coffee percolators. The sound of coffee perking along with coffee aroma building up are what we wake up to in the mornings. Do you know that coffee percolators are very sturdy appliances? Our house has probably only gone through two since my teenage years. The one we have now is almost 10 years old. Although it still perks away, I have been thinking of buying another one as a backup - JUST IN CASE. I figure I'll wait for the 20% off Bed and Beyond coupon. But, HA! Guess what I found last weekend? Yes, a almost brand new shiny percolator for $12.99 and it was still in its original box. Best of all: made in the USA! A hand written date on the warranty card showed that this baby was originally purchased in 1996. Wow, history too!

Look at Me!! As I happily toted the percolator around the store, I spotted another neato thing that RK has been looking for. A compact meat slicer in a box that looked like from the late 80s or early 90s. RK and I gave it a good look over: hmmm... dirty for sure, but all parts there... the blade still sharp... made in Germany, and most importantly, YES, it still works!! For $5.99, what's there to lose?

So both of us got our toys for the week. I cleaned up my percolator and it was beautiful. RK's meat slicer looked perfectly brand new after a good wash and it worked flawlessly.

Yes, Goodwill is a good place for treasure hunting. You find all sorts of stuff. How about a brand new Le Creuset Square Grill Pan for $9.99??? I just saw one in the store the other day for $90.00. I'm still scratching my head why a brand new top of the line cookware would be tucked away in bunch of old pots and pans. But, who is complaining?

Happy hunting, people!