How to lose a customer...

My wife bought me a wine refrigerator for my birthday. It's silent, and sits in the dining room and I like it quite a bit. I couldn't find the handle screws that came with it, so I wrote an e-mail to the company asking them to send me screws. Their reply?

From: Customer Support - WEC
"We will send you the screws as a one time courtesy."

So my question is: Is that kind of reply really necessary? Emphasizing the one time. It isn't as if I'm going to hoard screws for the handle of my fridge, and even if I ordered a second set down the road at some point, who cares? Why couldn't they say "Certainly Mr. Pinkus, we'd be happy to send you a set of screws and we apologize for this inconvenience." If they had done that, I'd be super-happy with them, and likely to order additional things from them in the future, but NOW, there is no way I'll order anything from them ever. I'm insulted by their pettiness, which is sad, because we're actually planning on putting another wine-fridge in the bar area, not to mention I liked and was considering some of the other wine-related products they have. Alas....

So Wine Enthusiast, you just lost a customer.

White Chocolate ice-cream #2, and an egg-white omelette

Things of note:

I was making ice-cream this morning, using 4 egg-yolks, so instead of throwing away the egg-whites, or using them to help roll chicken cutlets in bread crumbs, for example, I decided to make an omelette. Conclusion? Stick with real eggs. The taste was OK, but the texture wasn't so great. One good thing though, is my daughter really liked it; I'm assuming it was the taste, since I used some dill and mozzarella cheese (and garlic and salt/pepper). The dill taste actually was quite nice, but as an omelette it was still missing something... Egg yolks. :)

So I took the cinammon ice-cream recipe that I've been using with some success, and combined it with a recipe from "the ice cream book" by Joanna Farrow and Sara Lewis. A few key differences between the different styles of making ice-cream, that I'll explain after the recipe:

4 egg yolks
6T caster sugar
1t cornflour
1 1/4C semi-skimmed milk
7oz dark chocolate (I used E. Guittard White Chocolate, 31% cacao)
1 1/4C whipping cream

This recipe called for whisking the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour (same thing as corn starch) until thick and foamy. Bringing the milk to a boil, then gradually whisking into the egg mixture.

First key difference is what you mix the sugar with. Some recipes have the sugar mixed with the milk, then the eggs slowly whisked in. This one obviously has the sugar mixed with the eggs, while adding the milk. I'd like to try it both ways, under a very controlled experiment, to see which way is better.

Then this recipe called for re-heating the eggs/milk/sugar/corn starch mixture until it thickens, and then adding the chocolate until it melts. The last thing you do, right before chilling in the ice-cream maker, is to add the cream.

Other recipes add the cream and then re-heat the entire mixture until it thickens, then cool the whole thing down before the "chilling" step. Again, another variable.

So things I'd test in a complete experiment:
eggs vs. egg yolks (2 options)
sugar with eggs or sugar with milk or split half/half (3 options)
with and without corn starch (2 options)
half-and-half or full-cream or milk to start (3 options)
adding cream after mixing milk/eggs then reheating vs adding cream just before chilling. (2 options)
how much reheating to actually do. (3? options)

2 * 3 * 2 * 3 * 2 * 3 = 6 * 6 * 6 = 216 different permutations of ice-cream.

Well, that ain't going to happen any time soon.

The big thing I'm curious about is "How easy can I make this", which you can also translate as "Can I make the whole thing in my vitamix?". I've heard the reason to mix the eggs in with hot milk is to be sure you aren't eating raw eggs (which doesn't particularly scare me).

So next time I think I'll try not using the stove at all, and see where it takes me.

For now, the white chocolate ice-cream is chilling; I'll pour it in ice-cream maker later around noon and see what happens.

Happy 7th Birthday Ilan!

This turned out to be a pretty good party; all the kids had a great time. Here's the recipe:

• Create a fun invite (see below).
• Order chairs from http://www.inflatablechairs.com/68539.html they were only $4.95 each.
• Go to Smart & Final and get some popcorn cups and water bottles (no juice boxes on the carpet).
• Buy a great movie (we watched Underdog), and borrow a projector and optionally a screen.
• Borrow an air compressor to inflate the chairs, or just use your lung power and go for it.

That was it. The chairs became the give-away gift also (for the record, I think the idea of giving somebody a gift for coming to your party (aka a goody bag) is insane. We had cake afterwards, and watched a couple of trailers off of iTunes as parents were showing up to pick up their kids.

Here's the invite:

La Fiesta de los Vaqueros - Tucson Rodeo!

Cool shot, huh? Awesome time at the Tucson Rodeo on Sunday! It can be a long day in the Arizona sun, so here's what I learned and what I need to do for next year.

1. You don't need to be there when it starts at 12:30. Get there for the ProRodeo Competition which starts at 2:00 and lasts about two-and-a-half hours, which is plenty of time in the sun :) Also obviously be mindful of the age of your children and their attention span :)

2. Bring sunblock. You can also buy a cowboy hat there or across the streeet. Prices start at $10 and go up to $200.

3. There is a lot of great junk food there including funnel cakes and ice cream and kettle corn. OR, you can bring food in, but not in a hard cooler. We had a soft cooler with food/drinks and it was no problem to bring in.

4. Give yourself time to walk around the rodeo also; lots of cool booths with lots of cool cowboy stuff. They stay open after the rodeo, so you have time afterwards also.

5. If driving down from Phoenix, stop off at the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch. You can spend 20-45 minutes there easily. Ostriches bite and are nasty. Don't hold your hands up high to feed them. Hold them low and bring them up slowly until the Ostrich can reach your hand. Better yet, feed the deer.

6. Get tickets online or over the phone, far ahead of time. They sell out. Try to sit in a row as close to the field as possible, and definitely sit in section B or A. Not that our tickets in section C were bad (as you can see by my photo above), but the roping activities happen from the chutes between sections A and F (see the graphic on the left). Also, the sun will be at your back if you are in sections C, B, A, and in your face in Sections E and F. I'd recommend the lowest row you can get in Sections B or A, and lower numbers are more south, so a high seat number in section A or low seat number in section B is ideal.

7. It's definitely a kid friendly event and a lot of fun. Kids under 3 were free, but next year I'd either still buy a seat to have the extra room, AND/OR bring seat cushions because they are metal bleachers.

Last thing: When the bareback riding started, Aaron asked "Why are they doing bull riding on horses?!?!" That was a particularly cool event, as was the Saddle Bronc riding (picture above of the winner, Billy Etbauer). The Tie-Down and Team roping was also really great fun to watch...

You can see more of my photos from the event here: http://picasaweb.google.com/david.pinkus/TucsonRodeo2008

Pareve Chocolate Ice Cream Experiment

It's in the ice-cream maker now...taking longer than usual to firm up...

Here's what I did:

Non-Dairy Vegan Chocolate Ice-Cream
1 lb. soft tofu, drained (what I bought was 14 oz.)
1 C sugar (oh sweet yummy sugar, twice as expensive domestically because of trade tariffs).
1 C plain soy milk (we'll add vanilla in a second)
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's, because Scharffen Berger I reserve for gelato)
1 T Vanilla extract
Pinch of Salt
Optional: Some Godiva liquor. It's pareve, but I don't know if it is vegan. Probably.

Why the liquour? Because alcohol has a much lower freezing temperature than water, so if you want to be able to scoop this ice-cream after you throw it in the freezer, you need to ensure it has some fat and sugar and alcohol in it. Otherwise it will be rock-hard in the freezer. Tofu and soy milk are mostly water, so anything you can do to help the scoopability will be good.

1. In my kick-butt Vitamix, blend them all together. Let it go for a while until they blend nicely. But not too long, or it will start to warm up (which just means it will take more time to cool).
2. Pour into ice-cream maker. Relax and wait. Grab a spoon. Periodically scoop some up the side and say "Yummmm"... When it's almost done, throw some chocolate chips in there if you're feeling saucy.

My favorite food....

I don't think that I've mentioned it before, but for the record, ice cream is my favorite food. I 'll even go as far as to say that I believe one of the secrets to a happy life is to eat ice cream every day. You can substitute other frozen treats for the once-a-day thing, but whenever possible, go for the real stuff.

And I learned something very important tonight, from this blog, which is that the reason some ice-creams freeze rock-hard in your freezer and others do not, is that fats and sugar don't freeze. So the cinnamon ice-cream I made last night, which turned out to be incredibly scoopable, was because the recipe had an abundance of cream and sugar in it. Not to mention some eggs as well. The strawberry ice-cream I made last week, which was great while it was in the machine, is now un-scoopable because the fruit (high water content) freezes solid. The way to manage that (as the above blog points out) is to add some liquor to your ice-cream; not enough to affect the taste, but enough to keep it slightly softer. I'll try it next time I make a batch (no doubt this week).

I also made chocolate gelato using Scharffen Berger Cocoa Powder ($8.25 a can at Safeway) and it was outstanding. Like wow! It was still somewhat scoopable while frozen, but it didnt' last long; it was too good.

Simple Strawberry Ice Cream
4 cups hulled strawberries
1/2 C confectioners' sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 1/4 C whipping cream

Puree strawberries in a blender or food processor until smooth, then add sugar and lemon juice and process again. Press puree through a sieve into a bowl. Chill until very cold. Add to ice-cream maker and churn until think, then add the cream and churn until thick enough to scoop. Next time I would add some liquor at this point to make sure it doesn't freeze too hard (unless we're going to eat the whole thing at this point).


Banana Gelato (pareve, but check the soy milk).
1/2 C sugar
2/3 C water
1 lemon
3 ripe bananas
1 1/4 C vanilla-flavored soy milk

Put sugar and water into a saucepan and bring to a boil; stirring until sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool. Put the bananas in a bowl and mash with a fork (next time I'll Vitamix it). Slowly add lemon juice (again, next time in the Vitamix). Stir the sugar syrup and banana mixture into ice-cream machine and start mixing with soy milk (next time I'll add it all into the Vitamix, along perhaps with a banana liquor because this recipe also froze like a rock). Also, you can use 1/2 lemon instead of a full one. If using unflavored soy milk, don't forget to add 1 t of vanilla extract.

I'm going to run for office within the next two years.

A politician (Nancy Barto) came to my front door last week asking for my signature on a petition and for my vote for the state legislature. My vote is important to me, so I took it as an opportunity to ask some questions about her positions on global warming/climate issues, education, economic incentives, etc.

She doesn't believe that humans are contributing to climate change. I was *astonished* and at the same time terrified. I also asked about education and she said that she endorsed vouchers, and wanted to do nothing for the public education system as it is today. I was aghast. Does she realize that Arizona ranks near the bottom of all 50 states in education? You aren't going to fix that by privatizing all primary and secondary education. I told her that our economy could be invigorated by a commitment to alternative fuel instead of diverting all of our resources to supporting the oil economy. She thought only the private sector should be focused on this. I pointed out that we don't pay the true price for oil because we also pay (through separate budgets) for the defense of our oil supplies, as well as through farming subsidies which buy fertilizer that also consumes large amounts of petroleum. She didn't seem to care. I think we should subsidize alternative fuel programs so that we are energy independent and are not destroying our planet, not to mention not creating the "brown cloud of muck" over downtown Phoenix.

So I'm going to run for office. I have to figure out exactly how to do this, but I will do it. Somebody sensible needs to be representing the intelligent citizens out there who actually care about the planet and America's role in the world.

This couple is breaking up next to me on the plane.

And it's really uncomfortable and awkward. Can't wait to put my iPod on.

I feel full...

Day #2 on the Shangri-La diet. I'll later talk about my motivation, etc., but I had the most unusual feeling today of being "full" and a little "too full" on far less food than normally would create such a feeling. I biked in this morning, then had some cottage cheese, then some water, a break, and a tablespoon of sugar (with water), then more time, then eventually lunch. Lunch consisted of a small cup of soup and salad that looked kind of big, but honestly wasn't really. It's size was a function of the leaves and peppers and other weirdly shaped vegetables creating a structure that was taller than normal.

Afterwards I felt full. Didn't think about food until my meeting (and did the 1-hour no food, then sugar water, then 1-hour no food again) and just recently had a cup of fruit. I feel full. I don't want a big dinner.

Why am I doing this? I feel fat. I look fat. I was on a trip last week and watching the videos I was *unhappy* with how fat my belly looked. I recently hit 200 lbs, which on a 6-foot frame isn't necessarily flattering (even if I have a larger frame than others). I still have too big a belly.

10 years ago, which is not too long ago, I was 165. I've been up to 205. Ugh. Oh, this morning, in my early-morning-weigh-in, I did see the "other" side of the 190 line for the first time in probably years. That would be the 189 side for those keeping track.

So, I'll try to blog more, and read the book tonight. For now I want to catch up on some work stuff...

Mold in my washing machine

I have so many other more interesting and more important things to write about (not the least of which is why I haven't just converted to Dvorak once and for all), but now I must lament about mold in my washing machine.

Maybe in and of itself the mold isn't an issue. What I really take issue with is the fact that the instruction/care model doesn't even mention it. That's *absurd*. I different word came to mind (one that I use at work all the time), but I don't want to offend anybody who might be reading this.

Mold is a fact of life on front-loading washing machines, because if you close the door when not in use, and there is any water left over, you've created a perfect environment for mold. Why then, does the instruction manual not mention this? Why does it not mention how to clean the washing machine?

So I Googled it, specifically "Kenmore washer mold" and WHAM! So many hits you wouldn't even believe it. To make a long story shorter, I ran to Walmart and bought some bleach and Tilex for mold and gave the washer a good scrubbing. Per some other articles on the web, I also poured bleach with Cascade into the machine let it run for a while. I'm in the midst of the first cycle, then will run another cycle. It already smells better.

Oh, I didn't even mention how disgusting the hose was. I need to check it again later, and probably clean it again AND perhaps tilt the machine so I can get to the other hose that is inside and connects directly the drum. we'll see...

That's it for now, I have to get back to work.