one guy in portland

It is not a job or is it a career?

It is a strange place where people despite all the good it is to work somewhere you are fulfilled at. For artists in some fashion from writers to youtubers. Youtube can be an art for the effort that goes in to it. People try to do things they love to make the world a better place and their is this one critique that makes me want to start headbutting people.

“That’s not a real job.”

People I know who have gotten to that point in their lives I have nothing but envy for. It would be great to work somewhere you want or do something you want and pay the bills. It  boggles the mind how people cannot be down for that. It isn’t everyone who can get themselves to that set up in their lives. Between working somewhere and hating it or taking the chance to get a shot at something much more fulfilling the second one would always be the choice for me.

When people seem to lob the excuse forward when something does not go as expected it makes me wonder why it was even voiced to begin with. According to good old Webster it states how it is a paid position of regular employment.Statements like that make little sense to me except showing the misunderstanding of some people.

It is one of my goals to be in a position where writing, drawing, doing the youtube thing, and overall just creating can get me a comfortable income. From there I want to change the world with business, but I still want to make it creating things that others can enjoy. It is going to be hard, and I know that. Not to play the sob story, but I know that there are a lot of odds counting against me. That is the case with anyone trying to get there no matter who it is. If you have the money to help with that. So maybe others will not think of it as a job, but if it can be done then it is a  better one then all the jobs that pepole hate to do.

If effort on what I want to do while getting paid is not a job then what is it. No, what I think people mean by it is reflected by the statement they should be saying instead.

“That’s not a real bad job.”

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Politics. In America.

Before we get in to the mudslinging let me just start by stating I would rather get smacked around by the angry spirit of Bruiser Brody before actually thinking what my vote will go to. It just doesn’t seem like there really is any use. It is clear that anyone that has been a politician before does not deserve it. Maybe some do, but it has just been my experience that really they get paid to much, have too many benefits when most people are scraping to get by. All of this is my opinion mind you, so with that if you feel I am wrong then please explain in the comments.

I mean in what other field can so many people argue over so much and get so little done. What is done sometimes is useful, but in many cases people are being politicians for decades with nothing to show for it. In any job you would be fired and pushed to the unemployment line.

People have asked me multiple times how I am going to vote, and where we normally go in to a fairly political conversation I have to answer truthfully.

“I would rather stick my head in an ice block then either one.”

Because as someone who has done a little bit of volunteer work and a lot of just doing stuff out in the cities. It does not take long to find out there are some serious problems that are not being touched because it isn’t sound with someone’s reelection strategy.

One of the other things that get me, and maybe someone can correct me on this is how can we keep making new laws every year without at least removing some. What if laws contradict each other. What if one law needs another to be there to work. Why does it take a sacrifice of your soul and at least four years to start understanding the laws that should be fairly easy because we all have to abide by them.

So who am I voting for?

Who really cares because after all I will be the one making the world a better place. Best option I would think, but if you want to talk politics you can leave your opinion in the comments. Back to work for me and hope you have a good day.

 

 

 

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Excerpt – Life, Love and Cooking

April 27th – Beef by numbers

Cooking cuts of beef to preferred doneness can seem rather scary to the uninitiated. Ending with an overcooked or vastly undercooked slab of meat can unnerve someone. When you ask how things should be cooked and get a half dozen different answers you need to learn the signs of difference which can come from one of two ways. First way it can be measured is by touch for as the protein cooks it gets tougher. Now there are some numbers you can check if you have a digital thermometer it will be the quickest way to get the temperature only do so when you feel you are just about done. Heat will continue to cook the meat so you want to aim just a few degrees lower then your target and let carryover heat finish the job. Take your reading from the top of the meat until you are comfortable with your skill. For the sear most look for on thicker steaks marks you will need to make them faster with a hotter grill. All numbers are in degrees of Fahrenheit

Blue – This is the rarest of all and you should remove it from the grill when it reaches 115 and the carry over should take it to 120.

Rare – Remove as it reaches 120 and let the residual heat push it to 125

Medium Rare- Remove at 125 and let residual heat push it to 130

Medium- Remove meat at 135 and let the residual finish it at 140

Medium Well- Remove at 145 and let residual heat bring it to 150

Well done – Remove at 155 and let residual heat finish it at 160

Brick – Cook to 165 and the finishing heat will bring it up to 170

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Excerpt – Life, Love and Cooking

Here is something from one of the book projects I currently have in the starting round of editing. Something for every day of the year going over kitchen wisdom, recipes, tips, tricks and my own experiences working in various kitchens.

January 5th– Ratios vs. recipes (quick pie crust)

Things do not need to be difficult to be good. Some times I will crack a cook book to find a recipe with too many ingredients, and many of which serving no purpose to the final dish. Pie crust is an ingredient that is a great example of this. Dozens of possible combinations between fats, flours, and flavorings may make things confusing. You will need a pastry cutter for this. Otherwise a pie crust is always within a three step countdown. Ratios you will find to be much more useful then complicated recipes. I will try to give ratios whenever possible in the future.

So three parts all purpose flour with two parts fat either shortening or butter and one part ice cold water. Pinch some salt in with the flour and give it a light stir with the hand. So which fat do you use? Shortening would be useful if you’re new to the crust game for the simple fact that it will not melt as easily so you have more time. Butter will bring better flavor and richer texture just realize that you will need to chill the butter even freezing it may be suggested. If you want to go halvsies on the fats I have found that will give you the best of both worlds.

Put your fat in the flour and using your pastry knife cut the fat in to the flour. This will take some time if you’re not used to it that’s ok. Now how much you cut it to depends on what you are using it for if you need a flaky crust such as the top cover to a double crust pie then you want to cut the fat to the size of frozen peas. Cutting to rice size fat granules will create a mealy crust. Reason for this is that when you roll the dough the fat flattens and the larger size lends itself to creating layers while the mealy crust will be structurally sound. Next add the water do so slowly stopping at the last tenth before kneading together if it seems a little dry then continue with the last tenth until amalgamated. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap before putting it in the fridge to chill before rolling out to whatever you need.

3 parts all purpose flour 2 parts cold fat 1 part ice cold water 1/8 tsp salt for 8 oz of dough.

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When is too much?

So with the past week this was on my plate. Three pieces of writing for the new grounds writing guild for their horror collection. Another book soon coming out nothing awe inspiring just a collection of stupid quotes for stupid conversations.  I had to work out how to get the labels for the bath salts. To work on a website for my father. A full time week at the mail center and some cleaning up in my humble apartment has made me go from one thing to another at a rate where I have felt less then my best. My writing did not have the horrifying snap that I would think that it does and nothing I really have been writing has not been feeling like my best.

It was one of those weeks that made you feel like something less then your normal clip which I kinda felt blue over. Time is important so I took a little time to kinda recharge my batteries a bit because with work need growin’ I need to handle it or things will soon fall. So after tonight I am going to turn my dials up to full. Sometimes I just have to refocus my energies before making more progress.

I think some of the things that I may try is to get more grassroots advertising. Try to get people interested in to looking to my stuff and then things can get moving.

Time is sacred and no one knows how much time is left on their lifespan so using it to do the most you can makes the most sense in my world. I just need to make sure I keep myself in the sweet spot between doing just enough and burning out. So now we can bring you to your regular scheduled progress.

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Three Ages Of Cuisine

In cooking one can boil the where of their culinary homeland pretty easily. When it comes to recipes the case is a little harder, but still manageable. Many times though when people ask someone who cooks what kind of food they like to cook this little detail goes out the window. In any case here are the three general time frames of cuisine.

Classical
This would be the recipes that are often heralded by many critics. These are the ones that have passed from generation to generation. Things that have been around for many years in some cases hundreds or even thousands. From here you will see less technical ways with common ingredients of the era. This food often while have a higher bar of detail in flavoring using a strict set of ingredients while still trying to create new recipes within it. Le Tour D’argent’s more popular recipes could be seen as classical french food. Often times also the French, Japanese, Chinese, and Italian cuisines will go more back in to their culinary history as they have many centuries of recipes to go through in a style of food that has been found pleasing on the world stage.

Modern
This would be the most popular time frame of cooking simply with what you have using the basic techniques that the common person has access to. Most places nowadays will go through this era of food as it is often the easiest to create often by here say or just by the equipment and time available to cook. Here is where will we say newer countries really begin to make their stand as well as some who maybe have not been given the same opportunities due to simple lack of knowledge about it. This would include a fair mix of countries including the America’s, Spain, Indian, Korean, and most of the Arabic states.

Neo or New Age cuisine
This is where fusion would be situated, and the realm of neo cuisine is the unexplored the new and brash scientific edge meeting a different set of flavor combinations that neither era of cuisine before it could have dealt with. David Chang has a great penchant for making good food no matter the ingredients. Another style of food that would be here is molecular gastronomy. Where more of the new ground is still being made. Every national cuisine can be done in to a new style making it an interesting exchange between the new style and the older version. A restaurant idea could be even made on highlighting the difference between the old and the new while having the tasters enjoy them both in their own special ways.

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Why So Mad, Trolls?

So I read my news and people are angry. I watch my videos and people are angry in the comments. I exchange some tips on forums I am a regular on and others are mad because the correct use of the oxford comma. Which got me to thinking.

If so many people are angry then why is there very little being done about it?

People feel safe to say things behind the keyboard then they would face to face with someone. Although I never really understood that.

I will never say I am a tough guy, but at least I understand how the joints work normally and how they work when someone is trying to pull them in a way they are not meant to ever bend. Does that make me tough? No, that makes me sore with knees made of candy corn depending on the day. I have given some punches and taken a few or more so what is the point of everyone thinking they need to be so angry while on the internet. Does trying to play the tough guy get you some kind of discount at the local supermarket? Do barbed insults lower the utility bills? Is there some kind of magical machine that turns randomly spouted hate in to some viable energy ready to lower your electric bill?

No?

Then what is the point?

We have ourselves an information superhighway capable of talking to people on the other side of the world with a couple of finger twitches and can find groups of people with our same likes to talk with and still grow our social abilities. Why don’t we just enjoy what we have and if you have to say something to someone clearly wanting attention ask yourself this.

“If I say this now will I be happy I said it tomorrow and ok to show it to people I care for and respect?” If the answer is no then it is not the best idea to say it. I am not perfect on this either, but a moment may happen many just shows the trash in the spirit of whomever you are dealing with.Just my thoughts, it was on my mind for a while.

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100 posts !

So when I started this project I was a soda drinking, overly serious human being with a propensity for projects. I still am in every sense, but I know how sometimes I can be just a little too serious. When in culinary school some people thought I actually was either a vampire or a cyborg. I kid you not when girls were scared of me because I reminded them of something out of Bram Stoker. I don’t tan much and the whole being up night and day and seemingly everywhere at once made fore some parts scary and quite exhausting. In any case thanks for being by and watching this little project grow.

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Thanks everyone for reading. More will be coming. I also will be doing more writing soon. From here we will be going to a schedule I will most likely stick with for the remainder of the year. Three posts weekly. Just doing progress updates and recipes often can be two posts a week and I think a third will just be at my limit now that I am getting some steam doing these posts and interacting. So starting from the beginning of March we are going for it all and I hope everyone enjoys what they do on their own special projects. Although I am not perfect with my interactions I hope we all can grow with this.

Have a good one folks.

Also, I just had to be as big a dork with the picture as possible :p

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Roasted Corn and Bean Salad

For this meal you will need the following for this:

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1/2 a bunch of washed Spinach stems
1/2 bunch washed Cilantro stems
1 can or 1 1/2 C Golden Corn cut from the cob
1 can Pinto Beans or 1 1/2 C Cooked Pinto Beans
1 can Black Beans or 1 1/2 C Cooked Black Beans
1/2 Bunch Green Onion, Chopped
1/2 Medium Diced White Onion
Chili powder, Salt and Pepper to season
Vegetable Oil to saute

Now this can give 2-3 servings or with a good guacamole make a great layer in a dip which was the fate of mine tossed on some tortilla chips with a small grinding of cheese. Happy days are here again because I mad a nacho plate I can eat without wondering how thick my blood will be due to all the cholesterol. Sarcasm is showing, sorry.

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First get your Corn in to a pan and with just a couple drops of oil on medium heat and leave it alone except to shake it as it begins to color and develop those tasty sugars and flavors so essential later. If you like it a little spicy you can add some chili powder to the corn to give it a lovely little zing adding to the Jalapeno at the end.

While this is cooking organize all of your stems and the Green Onions on to the nearest cutting board of choice and go to town on them like its the last day of the guillotine’s career and your trying for his job. Both Spinach and Cilantro stems should be chopped finely before using and made sure to remove any brown parts before ginsu-ing it up. Doing so will give you a nice little flavor as well a notice able crunch that will hold up to the remaining cook time rather well giving everything more aroma and a larger cast of flavors you will be able to notice in the end product. Once again, perfection is only for those who do not understand the word. We are working to build flavors so if you feel that you will enjoy a bit of fresh Cilantro to be chopped then go for it. In the picture you can see a few leaves. I added mine to give a little more aroma barely a teaspoon in the grand scheme though.

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Next turn the heat up a little higher and (medium high now) toss your crunchy bits in to the pan. If the corn is stuck then you can add a couple small drops of liquid it does happen in some pans, DO NOT WORRY! A teaspoon of liquid can be used to help maneuver everything in to form again if you absolutely have to when you see it, and if you do not mind waiting a minute the liquid given off from the stem choppings can save you here as well. Next are beans, drain and add to the pan as after a couple minutes for the stems and the corn to exchange greetings. (3 tops)

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After warming everything up take it all out and let it cool for a moment. You may notice that we have some brown colored bits in pan from the cooking of natural sugars well we will be dragging those out of the pan with a simple Onion. Medium Dice works well, think about the size of the face of a penny for general-ish dimensions. Low heat here for a few minutes (4-8 depending on the variables).

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We want to caramelize the sugars in the onion instead of browning them that we do on medium heat with the corn. Caramelizing at medium heat will give you a different flavor profile and texture then at low and if you do not believe me then try it yourself. Once they have been softened and given a sweeter aroma you con toss the whole salad in to warm up and taste test before plating. If you want to season do it now or hold your peace.

Here is the finished product around a center of refried beans topped with green chilies chopped in to rings. It was delicious.

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Chili Mac – Home Cooking

So after thinking about some thing I decided to get back in the kitchen to make some meals so I don’t eat the same thing 18 times in a row when writing, drawing or learning some stuff on Alison (free education website). A nice little stretch of macaroni and actually a nice dish overall. If you like cheese on top of your chili this will actually turn a couple meals in to about a week’s worth. Here is what you will need for a large pot of Chili Mac.

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Ingredients

6 C Dry Macaroni
3 Cans of Chili
1/2 Lb Cheddar, Shredded
1/3 C Grated Parmesan Romano
1 pt or 2 C Heavy Cream
1/2 stick Butter
Chopped Green Onions to Garnish.

Makes 6-8 servings

Just to let you know my cream is frozen. So first we start with the macaroni. Boil that up.

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After its cooked you can drain the noodles to begin working on the cheese sauce make sure the cheddar is shredded. If you have the boxed mac and cheese just make it as you see fit. On low heat you want your butter, cream, and cheeses until everything becomes one. Push the heat higher and the sauce may curdle.

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After everything has been melted and the sauce been tasted and seasoned here is where you have the option to add some green onion. I add some to mine to give a little bit more color to the whole affair. It is not needed however.

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After your sauce is simmering heat your chili up in another sauce pan or in the microwave whichever is easier just until it all becomes more fluid. Put your noodles back in the sauce, add your chili making sure the chili and noodles have a nice meet and greet of flavors in the pot.

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After all that is done. finish with your garnishes and serve or in my case freeze and eat as you see fit. Add some hot sauce if you like to give it a little more heat.

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I had a little cheddar left over so that was used as a garnish as well. In any case its a mild dish without being boring and it holds long enough that I will have been eating it while working on my other projects.

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