Almost time to drink my eggnog!

I mentioned aged eggnog a while back, and have some made and aging in the fridge right now.

By the end of November it will have been 3 weeks, and time to sample it for the first time... I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I will let you know how it is :)

Winter Ales

Happy Thanksgiving!

When winter comes I am always happy to see the return of the seasonal winter ales and beers. This is a pretty unique thing that beer-drinkers get to enjoy - when last did you see a special winter wine or winter vodka? (Yes, of course there is mulled wine and alcoholic eggnog, but you get my point.)

I like to buy at least one pack of each of the winter ales, and maybe even try some new ones. Ones I've tried over the years are:

• 2 Degrees Below from New Belgium (Colorado)
• Winterhook from Red Hook (Seattle-based)
• Ebenezer from Bridgeport (Oregon)
• Celebration Ale from Sierra Nevada (California)
• Auld Acquaintance from Pike Brewing (Seattle-based)
• Bifrost from Elysian (Seattle-based)
• Delirium Christmas (Belgium)

Of these, I think my favorite has to be the Ebenezer - it's nice and dark without being too strong.

As you can see, we are spoiled for choice up here in the PNW! :)

What's your favorite winter ale?

Mint.com and Fidelity login errors

I recently signed up with Mint.com to aggregate all my different financial info. The experience for adding accounts is pretty simple and intuitive, until I tried adding my Fidelity accounts. Even after entering the correct username and password, I kept getting an error saying the info was incorrect.

After trying multiple times, and looking around for help online. One suggestion was to select Fidelity NetBenefits instead of the Fidelity Investments account when adding. (I have both a brokerage account and a 401(k) so both could have worked. However, using the Fidelity NetBenefits approach didn't work for me.

So, on to plan B... I found another suggestion that long passwords on Fidelity cause problems for Mint.com. (Lame, but not unheard of - why websites put an upper limit on password length is beyond me. What's really lame in this case is that Mint.com don't warn you that they have an upper limit on passwords they support!)

The remedy was to log in to Fidelity directly (and reset my password, since Mint.com had tried unsuccessfully enough times to lock me out - grr!). My new password is less than 13 characters long (and randomly generated using this webpage :) )

Once I had set the new, shorter, password I went back to Mint.com and added the Fidelity account. Hey presto, it works!

Now come on Mint.com and allow us to use longer passwords!

Sachertorte

I recently celebrated my birthday, and decided to splurge and order a cake from a local catering company. I had heard about one from the wife of the chef/owner, who works at the same company as I do and is a member of our "foodies" mailing list.

She mentioned that her husband made a good sachertorte (and had done extensive research in Vienna, so he knew what he was talking about...) Having some fond memories of sachertorte I had eaten as a child in South Africa (we had several German bakeries in Cape Town), I decided to order one from him.

I'm pleased to report that the cake was delicious - props to Matt at Starry Nights Catering! A little dry (as it should be), but very tasty and with an amazing chocolate "icing" (couverture). As is customary, I had my slice of cake with whipped cream and a good cup of coffee. The leftovers made an extra-decadent breakfast the next morning too! :)

Looking at the recipe for the cake here, I realized that the icing is incredibly tricky to make properly - not somethnig I'm likely to try at home any time soon :)

Photo credit: LuceCreativa.it

Some Garagiste and Jon Rimmerman info

Hi all! First of all, I'm back and hope to be blogging here more often - stay tuned!

I came across two items online recently, both related to the Seattle wine retailer Garagiste, which is run by Jon Rimmerman. I've been a mostly happy Garagiste customer for several years, and have discovered many good wines (and gotten some good deals) along the way.

Every now and then I get irked by his flowery prose and over-the-top description of wines or wineries, but hey, that is part of the fun. (Apparently many wine makers and wine distributors subscribe to his mailing list just to read his mini-essays, not to buy anything.)

Jon Rimmerman spoke a while back at a local mini-conference on small business about the founding of Garagiste and how it has grown. It's worth a look, considering he started with $500 and no marketing budget, and now sells millions of dollars of wine a year.
Here's the link: http://www.wellesleywinepress.com/2010/07/recommended-viewing-jon-rimmerman-from.html

The second item is an article in the New York Times, looking at HR 5034 and how it would prevent people like Jon from shipping wine to their customers in other states. A nice quote from him is: "It's easier to deal in guns that in wine [in the US]"

The link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/dining/20pour.html

And finally, how about some feedback from readers...

If you're a wine drinker, where do you buy yours from? How do you discover new wines, or do you stick to the ones you know?

Food that should not have artificial sweeteners in it

Yesterday my wife and I went to Costco to get some supplies and noticed that they had a read product we've recently discovered and really like: Orowheat whole-wheat sandwich thins. (These are like burger buns but about he thickness of a thick pita bread).

The really sad thing is that they contain sucralose - artifical sweetener.

I should have checked the label before, but this time we did and we realized they contain sucralose and a few other odd ingredients (like cellulose - not something I would use in my kitchen, but probably not too bad since it is a plant-based fibre).

Trip to Maui

I recently visited Maui for the first time and had a wonderful time. I can certainly see why so many people rave about it, and why people tend to go back every year (or as often as possible)! The weather (even in winter), humpback whales, amazing beaches, beautiful landscape, laid-back atmosphere, friendly people - there is so much to like.

In the next few blog posts I will recap some of ther highlights and "pimp" some of the good places we went to (both to make sure I remember them and to help other people plan their trips...)

But before I get to that, I need to spend some time talking about a flat tire. Stay tuned...

Basler Läckerli

One of the special Christmas treats when I was growing up were cookies my gran used to make called Basler Läckerli (also spelled Leckerli). These are named after the Swiss town of Basel, and I guess my gran was exposed to them as she grew up in Alsace, France.

They are quite unusual , containing no eggs or butter. Instead, the dough is made from honey, sugar, candied citrus peel, almonds and spices. They last forever (in an airtight container), but if they do start to get a bit dry you can soften them by putting a few slices of apple in the container with them.

I had great success making some myself this past Christmas, and have shared out my gran's recipe on Google docs here: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgt27mxq_5fnz9rfxn

If you're not up to making them, and are feeling flush, you can also order some from a shop in Switzerland: Läckerli Huus

Congratulations Jamie Oliver!

I saw yesterday that Jamie Oliver won the 2010 TED Prize. W00t!

Aged Eggnog

I noticed an article in the current Seattle Magazine that mentioned ageing eggnog. I'd never heard of this before, being a somewhat recent transplant to the Northern reaches of the world. For some reason, in South Africa, we never really got into eggnog, what with the 36+ degree C summer weather over Christmas!

The basic idea presented in the article was to put the eggnog (with alcohol) in a cool location - the author used her unheated garage. Now, my garage seems to stay around 45 degrees F in winter (at the coolest), so this seems like a dangerous thing to do. Surely the eggs will grow some funky bacteria?

Not so, according to this article on Chow.com: Old but not lethal
They do recommend using the fridge, not the garage, though!

Doing what Heifer.org says they do...

(Originally posted 1/18/2007)
I spotted this story on Metafilter, the video here is worth checking out.

It turns out Heifer.org (recent darlings of the media for some reason) have fine print on this page on their website that says the money donated to them is "symbolic" and will not actually go to buying a water buffalo for a needy family. Some of it will, but the way the website is worded you'd think all (or amlost all) would go towards the buffalo, and that you might get some feedback (a picture or info of the recipient family):

Nothing's more satisfying than finding exactly the right solution to a problem. That's the good feeling you get when you give an Asian subsistence farmer a water buffalo.

It looks like the small print may have been changed since this post . It now reads:

The prices in this catalog represent the complete livestock gift of a quality animal, technical assistance and training. Each purchase is symbolic and represents a contribution to the entire mission of Heifer International. Donations will be used where needed most to help struggling people.

What does Chariy Navigator say about Heifer? They give them a 3-star rating, and only 75% of the funds they raise go towards the program costs. The president's salary of $183,000 doesn't help much...

Update: 04/24/2008:
This post still gets a lot of views... To clarify a bit - I have not volunteered with or donated to Heifer.org. (Some readers seem to think I have).

Checking the Charity Navigator page a little of a year after I originally posted this, it's interesting to see the increase in the president's salary. From $183,000 to $213,490. That's a 16% increase!


Update: 12/01/2009:
I am amazed to see that this post still gets a lot of hits and generates a lot of comments - I had no idea it would be such a lightning rod when I posted it! Kimberline recently commented and I think it's worth responding to some of the points raised.

Firstly, the title of the blog post is in reference to the short film by Robert Thompson titled "4 Generations" (linked to at the top of the blog post). This is the person that "is doing what Heifer.org says they do".

I should be clear that I don't hate Heifer.org. Originally I was motivated to post something because I enjoyed the short film, found it opened my eyes, and provided some food for thought. Before seeing the film and reading the story, the only information I had seen about Heifer.org was what they showed in their advertising - turns out that was a bit misleading. (Shocking!)

At the time I posted this blog, Heifer.org had what I think was misleading advertising, which they since corrected to make it clear the donations they receive may not result in actual animals being purchased for the poor. So, while the title of the blog post is a little outdated nowadays, I presume folks can read beyond the title of the blog post and form their own opinion of how applicable (or not) it is today.

Kimberline says that he/she doesn't see any mention of donations to charity on my blog, and therefore I am not qualified to criticize a charitable organization. I've never felt the need to blog about my donations to charity, but I will say that I do give each year and have volunteered my time as well.

Kimberline makes it sound like we should be happy with any charity that gives money to the needy, and not worry too much about the efficiency. I disagree - while 75% may seem like a good ratio, it is not that great. If you want to make a difference, you should want to make the biggest difference you can per dollar, so efficiency is vital.

If you are really interested in addressing world hunger as efficiently as possible, I would recommend looking at the Friends of the World Food Program. They spend 94.5% of their income on program expenses and have a four-star rating on Charity Navigator (see here). The CEO does earn a large salary ($300,000 in 2007), which some may take issue with, but given that so little money is "wasted" by this organisation, the CEO must be worth the money! :)

In closing, I don't expect people to read my blog post and make a decision based solely on the information here. Hopefully people take the time to do a bit more research and reading, go to Charity Navigator or even ask the charities they like for more information on their overhead.

I'm not going to pull this post down simple because some people think Heifer.org should not have a spotlight shone on them.

* Photo from CharlesFred (Flickr)

Can tap beer make you sick?

The Seattle Weekly had an interesting column a few weeks ago, talking about beer on tap, and how it's really important for the beer lines to be changed regularly.
See http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/voracious/2008/10/ask_the_bartender_can_tap_beer.php

This is not something I've thought about much before, but it makes perfect sense. Perhaps it's worth finding out how often your favourite pub or restaurant change their lines? Or if you get some "off" beer, this may be the reason why... (Previously I used to think it was all to do with the age of the keg...)

Syrah versus Shiraz

The Splendid Table (a food and wine show on NPR) had an interesting segment featuring Randall Graham (of Bonny Doon Vineyards). He talks about Syrah versus Shiraz, and the difference in style between French (or Old World) syrah and Australian (or New World) Shiraz.

He certainly has some valid points. I did find that I got bored with the very ripe, over-extract, Australian Shiraz that I was buying a few years ago, and tend to prefer the more complex stuff now. However, I think there is a place for both Old World and New World wine, and I have had some truly memorable Shiraz from Aussie (2002 Larrikin, 2004 Losy Highway Stella's Garden, 2005 Mitolo G.A.M. for example). South Africa also makes some great Shiraz wines, somewhat in-between old and new world in style...

So, for me, it's less about the country the wine comes from, or whether it says Syrah or Shiraz on the label - it's about what is inside the bottle.

You can listen to the audio segment here and find more info on the show's webpage here.
You can also read an excerpt from Randall Graham's book.

A fix for the Win7 / ReadyNAS Duo problem

A while back I posted about an error I was hitting when copying files from Windows 7 to my new ReadyNAS Duo (see here).

Thanks to commenter Bill Kirchhoff I found a way to get things working:

Under the settings for Streaming Services/ReadyDLNA, uncheck the "Automatically Update" option:


The downside to this is you need to manually rescan your media files.

Invictus

In September I blogged the 1995 Rugby World Cup match and the book "Playing The Enemy" (see here). I missed that they are making a film based on the book - "Invictus" directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar.

It looks like it will released in the USA around December 11. Looking forward to it!

Warm chairs are dangerous

I have proof!

R.E.M. Live at the Olympic

R.E.M. are one of my all-time favourite bands, and their concert in Seattle a few years ago was one of the best concerts I've ever seen.

So, I'm really happy to see they have a new live album coming out. You can read about it and listen to the whole 2-disc album on NPR's website here!

Great spam subject lines

"Stimulate her grotto better".

I guess I will need to go spelunking!

Netgear ReadyNAS Duo + Win7 = Fail

I recently bought a ReadyNAS Duo for use at home, and am also running Windows 7.

Unfortunately, the two don't seem to be very happy with each other. Copying files from my Windows 7 machine, over the wireless LAN, to the ReadyNAS Duo throws up this error:


These errors happen randomly, often after a few files have been copied. Looking at a network capture, it looked like the ReadyNAS was sending an error in response to one of the SMB commands that Windows 7 sent...

SMB SMB:C; Transact2, Query FS Info, Query FS Size Info (NT)
SMB SMB:R; Transact2, Query FS Info, Query FS Size Info (NT)
SMB SMB:C; Transact2, Query File Info, Query File Standard Info, FID = 0x2B31
SMB SMB:R; Transact2, Query File Info, FID = 0x2B31 - NT Status: System - Error, Code = (8) STATUS_INVALID_HANDLE

I tried switching to Robocopy, but the same thing happens (at least Robocopy can be made to automatically retry...) One problem with using Robocopy is that the timestamps on the ReadyNAS seem to be FAT-based, so Robocopy will always think the files on the Windows 7 machine are newer than those on the ReadyNAS.


To get the timestamps to work as ecpected (and have Robocopy skip files that already exist on the ReadyNAS), you need to use the /FFT option. This is odd, since the ReadyNAS seems to be reporting it supports the NTFS filesysten, looking at the SMB responses it sends to Windows:

SMB SMB:C; Transact2, Query FS Info, Query FS Attribute Info (NT)
SMB SMB:R; Transact2, Query FS Info, Query FS Attribute Info (NT), FS = NTFS

I hope there is an update to support Windows 7 properly... Time to try Netgear's tech support (steeling myself...)

Fair treatment under the law

NPR recently aired a story on Hispanic farmers' fight against the USDA, and it really made an impact on me. I was shocked and dismayed to hear that they are being denied the same treatment that African American farmers received:

Soon after President Reagan took office in the early 1980s, the USDA's civil rights division was quietly dismantled. Nevertheless, the agency continued to
tell farmers that if they felt they weren't getting loans because of their color
or gender, they should file a complaint.

But for the next 14 years, those complaints were put into an empty government office and never investigated. By the 1990s, black farmers filed a lawsuit — Pigford v. Glickman. Because the USDA failed to investigate years of discrimination complaints, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman certified the black farmers' case as a class action. And with that ruling, rather than risk a trial, the federal government Settled with 15,000 black farmers for $1 billion.

It looks to me as if Hispanics are still being treated as second-class citizens, despite this being 2009 and the civil rights movement having triumphed to a large extent in the area of discrimiation against non-whites in the USA.

You can read more and listen to the story here.