junior year in college my advisor pointed out that as a history major i need only take one biology course in order to graduate. "taking ornithology courses semester after semester just does not make sense" i did not agree. as a east coast transplant i was mesmerized by oregon's flora and fauna and...woman.

ok i'm finally onto it. for years i've been trying to copy a oaxacan street food vendors hot chili basting sauce. it appeared simple enough. baskets of fresh peppers. a crude but effective 'mortar and pestle.' (big aluminium bowl-perhaps a truck hubcap- and a curved chunk of wood). limes. plump purple heads of garlic. and three identical looking sacks of white granular powders....

experience has shown that the noodle bowl can accommodate certain amounts of fish sauce, lime juice, ginger, scallions, hot pepper, meat (in this case hoisin glazed pork shoulder*). it's possible to max out on these ingredients and fuck up your precious bowl. interesting though that to this date i've never...

what to do with today's pickings? roast tomatillo until blackened all over, cool, discard black skin, puree with lots of garlic and salt to taste. that'd be basic salsa verde and it's the shit with avocado and pork...

this is a great cook book. and there's a cool story of how i stumbled across it...

awesome crackers  in a can. from malaysia. note the fine print...'Biskut Cap Ping Pong.' huh? well i don't know what the fuck's up with that but whateva. does sound catch-ey...

i like to put junk food in my face. the mcdonalds double cheese works well for me with two modifications: special order with mayo and discard the bun that has no condiments.  a third mod that i abandoned fairly recently is the time consuming addition of pepper. ronald's pepper is more of a nuisance than spice. more akin to sprinkling tasteless sawdust on your burger to add subtle texture. don't go there any more

mickey d's in the am? sausage mcmuffin w/out egg, discard the 'buttered' side bun. i have not dared the special order addition of mayo with this product because ronald's pig is sick with fat and salt. makes the beef seem 'lite'.

long as i'm ranting @ bad food...

a decade worth of cheese making in the Samish Bay Cheese walk-in...