Tomhouse Cookies

My variation on the standard 'tollhouse':

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 c granulated [white] sugar
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp warm water (or milk)
2 tsp vanilla extract (must be real vanilla!)
2 eggs
2 c (12-ounce package) chocolate chips (I like the 'chunks')

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. I the mixer's bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla.  Add eggs and water to the mixer and beat well.  Add in the flour mixture gradually.  Stir in chocolate (this is best by hand).  Place 1.5" balls of dough on ungreased cookie sheet (cooling the dough down first helps here).

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Watch them carefully, because we are browning the outside of each cookie, while leaving the center a bit gooey.  Let them sit on the cookie sheet a minute or two to firm up, then move to wire rack to cool.

A change in the weather

Well, I have been sick for a week and a half now, and maybe that is what is making me pessimistic.  Or maybe because the weather has gotten very cold, windy, and rainy.  I am still unhappy with my job, and the interview I did has not called me back, nor have I heard anything from the other place I sent a resume.

I am not happy with humanity right now.  I think that the greater majority are not very bright.  And it is a situation that is unlikely to change, because it appears that most people either do not know how to think critically, or simply choose not to do it.  Most people see learning as a burden, rather than a useful and possibly recreational pursuit.  The world seems full of superstition, misinformation, mental laziness, and (in America at least) outright anti-intellectualism.

Or maybe I am just cranky.  Most likely the latter.  It could also be the elections coming up.  I was very active and up-to-date for the 2008 elections, this year I am just so tired of it.  I am going to vote, of course - I actually like exercising my rights in that regard - but it just seems really depressing this time around.  Maybe it is seeing all those candidates that deny evolution and climate change doing so well.  Ick.

Interview, &c

I actually went in for an interview yesterday, and it seemed to go pretty well.  I didn't get thrown out early, at least, which I take to be a positive sign.  The interviews themselves were 'large': in the first, it was with most of the team (five people), and the second was with four people.  I feels to me, at this time, that I could possibly get an offer, but again I don't think that they were put up anything near my current salary, which is at a pretty ludicrous level for what I am doing.

I have almost broken even on the Barnes & Noble 'membership' card that I got.  It was $25, but I have saved around $24 so far.  The question is, would I have bought the books if not for 'saving' money on them?  Perhaps not.  But I am enjoying everything so far, and one item purchased was a nifty little co-op board game, Castle Panic, which my five-year-old daughter can also play (with some help).  So, comme ci, comme ca.  But, the latest book I bought is pretty interesting: Physics for Future Presidents.  So far, I am only a couple of chapters into it, but I am learning a lot.  For example: the three major types of nuclear weapons are the uranium, the plutonium, and the hydrogen bombs.  The uranium bomb is easy to build, but the uranium fuel for it (U235) is very difficult to obtain, because most natural uranium is 99% U238.  It takes a lot of science, sophistication, and cash to separate the two.  Plutonium, on the other hand, is easy to obtain (spent fuel from nuclear reactors contain it) and easy to separate, but building a plutonium bomb is very difficult (it needs a very precise implosion as a trigger).  Hydrogen bombs require one of the other types of bomb as the trigger, so if you can't make those, you can't make this.  The bombs dropped in WWII were the first two.  The uranium version had never been tested, as the US had only manufactured enough U235 for one shot.  The plutonium had been tested at Alamogordo.

I really enjoy stuff like this.  I knew there were different types of nuclear weapons, but could not have told you the differences.  And I figured that the weapons used in WWII would both have been uranium, I guess because 'plutonium' just sounds more exotic? advanced? something.  So, now I know.  Other sections of the book include global warming, space exploration, and the like.  I am looking forward to finishing it.

Status

I interviewed for another company today.  The position sounds superb, but for two problems: I don't think they would pay anywhere near what I need, and I think I came across a bit 'hardcore' during the phone interview.  I usually get the interviewer laughing a bit more; this time, I felt a bit that she wouldn't mind the interview being over.  Ah well, I will find out in a day or two if they are going to bring me in for an interview.  In the meantime, I need to pick up the pace at my current job: all these daydreams of other employment have slowed me down.  It doesn't help anything that I have had a splitting headache all day.

The Rule of Uno Mas

Being prone to pattern recognition by the fundamental nature of my personality, I will posit this:

The Rule of Uno Mas

"If, at any time, you find yourself thinking or saying 'Just one more....', then quit immediately."

Examples:
"Just one more ski run before we quit."
"I'll have just one more beer..."
"Just one more pull on the wrench and that bolt will be tight."

Nearly every time I fall for Uno Mas, that is where the trouble begins.  I crash into the tree, I wind up too drunk, I pop the head off the bolt.  Watch it yourself - it happens more often than you would guess.

Corollary: "Perfect is the enemy of Good."  I didn't come up with that one, but it is along the same lines.

Mojito

 The Mojito and the Daiquiri share many elements in common: white rum, lime, and sugar.  But while the Daiquiri has a fairly well-known history, including the origin of its name, the Mojito may date back to a 16th century drink called 'El Draque,' in honor of Sir Francis Drake.  The name 'mojito' could come from an African word, from the mojo seasoning used in Cuba, or even from the Spanish word 'mojadito', meaning 'a little wet'.

In any event, the Mojito takes the basic Daiquiri and adds two important ingredients: mint and sparkling water.  In the U.S., the mint used is usually Mentha spicata, or spearmint.  In Cuba, where the Mojito originated, it is often 'yerba buena', an all-purpose word for various mint species, including the indiginous Mentha nemorosa or 'Cuban mint', or the fore-mentioned spearmint.  This was Hemingway's other drink, and they are still proudly served at La Bodeguita in Havana, where Hemingway wrote on the wall: "My mojito in La Bodeguita, My daiquiri in El Floridita".

My recipe makes a small pitcher, but I have found that one is never enough:

Juice of three limes (5-6 oz.)
1/2c superfine sugar (Baker’s sugar, NOT Confectioners)
8 or so 'sprigs' of mint
10 oz. of white rum (this is one drink where Bacardi white is just fine)
500 ml sparkling water (unflavored)

Mix the sugar into the lime juice.  Add the mint and 'muddle': that is, using a 'muddler' or a wooden spoon, crush the mint leaves.  Do not pound or shred them - you are simply opening them up to release the oils inside, so 'bruising' is fine.  Add the rum and mix well.  Add the sparkling water, mix, and fill with ice.  Serve immediately, in a Collins-style tall glass, with small sprig of mint as a garnish.

This is truly the most refreshing drink after a hot day.  The unexpected pairing of mint and lime is cool and savory.  I'll admit that before trying it, I never would have thought it would work.  Apparently, some bars in Cuba add Angostura bitters to cut down the sweetness, but I have never tried this and don't see it as necessary.

To many occasions, I have brought a cooler full of these, usually six or so batches made at once, and they always are gone before the beer.  I now get asked to bring them to events.  It's a great recipe, and has become my 'signature' drink.

INTP Humor

I was at Costco, looking at a stack of large coolers. I turned to the lady next to me and said, “Do you think you could fit a human body into one of these? I mean, if you cut it up first?”

I am sure that Costco wouldn’t mind if I never came back.