Rediscovering Oz ...

There are many times when I feel like I either didn't have many interests as a child, or my terrible memory/short attention span has caused me to lose touch with those many interests (unlike many of my "nerdier" friends who have retained loves like legos, pokemon, collecting hobbies, reading, writing, video games, movies, etc.), so whenever I come back into contact with one of my old loves, I think it's only fair (and probably wise) to catalogue it for myself to remember later in life.

As the title of this blog may give it away, today's thoughts might be on or related to L. Frank Baum's books on the Land of Oz. While I don't remember all the characters, this is a throwback to my days loving fantasy novels and Dorothy and the other character's adventures in Oz reminded me a great deal of the Narnia books (another childhood love) because their fantasy worlds became more of the focus than the characters who came and went. Just like Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie did not appear in all the Narnia stories, neither did our beloved Dorothy. The biggest difference between the two, I find, is that the idea of escaping to another world was much more metaphysical concept in the Narnia books than in the Oz books. Dorothy physically moves her aunt and uncle to Oz at one point in the stories, something that would not have been possible within the Narnian tales because it was truly an imaginary world (filled with Christian allusions).

Yes, the Oz stories held a special place in my heart - spending a great deal of time reading them in our newly constructed elementary school library. Fortunately they had all of Baum's book in stock, but when I wanted more, I was able to utilize the public library to read the slightly less canonical stories written by Baum's son and other writers. The stories themselves, were often quite simplistic, but some of the ideas used were and are quite fascinating and I still reference them from time to time. The most significant of these was Glinda's "Great Book of Records" which records every event in history exactly when it happens.

Glinda's "Great Book of Records" was a source of much internal struggle in my younger days because it was apparently quite a complex and paradoxical concept to process. My first issue was that there is a fine line between recording history as it happens and taking away autonomy, as the book could be consulted, directly tying events and acts to their supposed consequences. Then there was this eerie Big Brother-ish feeling that it gave off since the "good" witch Glinda was always watching. It's like CCTV in Britain ... it's everywhere and no one knows whether anyone will care to notice what they did. It was the ultimate breach of privacy, not that I was so offended by sacrificing liberties for safety, but that there was no control over it and if my memory serves correctly, it was a plot device on at least one occasion where it was used for less-than-noble purposes. Beyond the moral questions, there were also the temporal questions such as how does it record acts in progress and how does it decide the order of the infinite number of events taking place simultaneously? There were also basic logic questions like - how does one find anything when there are an infinite number of a events taking place at any instant and an infinite number of instances over the course of history (naturally, a magical search function might have come in handy ...)? Then there were the pesky paradoxical questions, such as whether the Great Book of Records recorded itself recording history, which was itself an event occurring! There were hundreds of questions that developed from this supposedly simple and usually insignificant plot device that led me to believe (possibly my own delusion of grandeur) that Baum's books were more intelligent and philosophical than they let on. While I wouldn't call all of his characters deep or his world perfect in any way, he did bring up a lot of interesting questions by the way he introduced unusual concepts.

I cannot, however, talk about Baum's books without touching on the one vision he is most praised for: the character Tik-Tok. Tik-Tok is widely considered to be the first literary example of a robot (though the term "robot" was non-existent in 1907 when he was conjured by Mr. Baum)! Like his contemporaries Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, he was intentionally or unintentionally introducing concepts that would later become extremely relevant and influence how the general populous envisioned robots, space ships, submarines and other staples of fantasy and science fiction to this day. It's interesting because in Baum's fantastical world where men made of straw and tin protected wayward Kansas girls and animals spoke and were educated, the concept of a talking machine (who looks like a combination of a boiler, a clock and a wind-up toy) seemed to fit right in.

It was probably just an artifact of a creative mind and one could leave it like that, except that Baum, for one reason or another, made Tik-Tok quite different than the other magically anthropomorphic, intelligent and conversational beings and creatures. Tik-Tok is repeatedly introduced as a non-living, emotionless machine who considers himself subservient to Dorothy. Part of this could be contributed to an industrial age attitude towards machines, but from my perspective as a child, and even to this day, it made Tik-Tok the most pitiable character in all the books. Having done nothing wrong except to be a machine instead of an animal, he was never truly able to develop, making him stagnant and timeless - a common theme in the world of Oz. In a world where lost girls could become heroes, monkeys could fly and magic was quite real, Tik-Tok was juxtaposed as a neglected, unchanging character.

This brings me back to the Great Book of Records because one of the questions I did not posit before was what qualified as an event that could go on the "record?" Were thoughts events? If one was to try and answer these questions, you could look at the most likely answers to figure out what was really at work. Given the somewhat paradoxical nature of the Book, maybe it only recorded the actions of sentient beings (since trees blowing in the wind might take too much space and time in a record aimed at helping the country's leadership to solve problems). However, one could argue that parameter was related to every character in the books, except Tik-Tok since he neither felt emotions, nor fear and he was "programmed" to follow certain cues.

Disregarding my liberal interpretation of the Book's capabilities, Mr. Baum seems to be introducing the robot as an outsider, a tool and puts on display man's mastery of machines (in the form of Tik-Tok's subservience). While this entry has gotten a little carried away, I did want to express the keen appreciation I had and still have for Mr. Baum's books. His creation of Tik-Tok and the Great Book of Records gave me a great deal to question and spurred my interest in his books and the fantastical as a kid.

'A Little in the Middle' and advice on layered drinks

The layered drink seen here is the eponymous 'A Little in the Middle' which is layered from top to bottom:

- Smirnoff Green Apple Vodka

- Chambord (a dark raspberry liqueur)

- Amaretto (an almond liqueur)

(Drink recipe was invented by one Ariel Ranieri)

By heating up the Green Apple Vodka, we were able to successfully light this drink on fire!

In general, we had great success experimenting with layered drinks (making sure to check the densities of the alcohols involved to ensure that there was enough of a difference to maintain separate layers.

(Photo courtesy of Matthew Bloom, left to right: Amar Kelkar & Ariel Ranieri)

Given the lovely ring formation and color scheme, this next drink was named "Drops of Jupiter." It may be my favorite one of the whole lot that we mixed (top to bottom):

Grand Marnier (orange liqueur)

Pimms (...)

Orange Juice

Kahlua (Coffee)

Amaretto

General advice for inventing/mixing layered drinks and shooters:

1) Make them in a shot glass, or maybe an Old Fashioned Glass. I've seen some great ones in Sundae dishes, but keep in mind that you're hopefully trying to give them a taste of something delicious and mixing in smaller quantities allows your guests to taste something unusual, which also happens to be an attractive drink that you've concocted, so embrace minimalism. If they want more, you can show off your bartending skills by mixing them more of the same or something new!

2) Pour your shooter slowly, adding additional layers by pouring onto the back-side of a spoon that has its tip touching the wall of your serving apparatus (glass). If you pour too quickly, the layers could mix, ruining your layered design. It'll probably be pretty, but the symmetry of layers in a drink is quite lovely and unusual and you can always introduce some circular motion to your glass later on to watch the layers collapse if you so desire.

3) Utilize a list of liquor densities to determine how to organize the layers. In general, a heavy base, such as Amaretto is a personal favorite, but more generally, try to keep the liquors selected at distinct densities. I'm being intentionally vague because I haven't had any problems yet, but I've kept the densities around .01 g/ml apart. This site was recommended to me and has served me well thus far: http://www.goodcocktails.com/bartending/specific_gravity.php

4) Get creative. Seriously! If you have something cool in mind, try it out. If you want to make a layered drink with Mango Lassi, Crème de Menthe, Parrot Bay Mango Rum and Lime Juice (or Lime Vodka), you should do it! (Incidentally, I'm still waiting for my chance to try making the aforementioned layered drink. Let me know how it is if you try it!

Another fancy dinner ...

So I've actually had the opportunity of preparing two large, multi-course dinners in the last month, but I've posted neither menu, so I'd like to offer a half-fix - the menu for a dinner that I prepared with my dear friend and chef-collaborator Ariel. The credit for the menu is about 50-50 since we each came up with a few dishes and modified each others recipes.

PS The secret ingredients are swing dancing, good company, good music and a lightning storm.

Serrano Hoppers:

Cooked Shrimp

Serrano Peppers

Sharp White Cheddar

Pre-made Wonton Wraps

Instructions

Take the cooked shrimp, remove the tails and chop them up into thin circular slices. Then take the serrano peppers, remove the stems and chop them into thin circular slices. Then take a block of sharp white cheddar and chop it into thin rectangular slices (approximately 1x1.5cm). Using prepared wonton wraps (due to preparation time, we decided to use pre-made wonton wraps, but they're fairly easy to make.

Dip (for Serrano Hoppers):

Tomato

Cilantro

Lemon

Thyme

Cumin

Instructions:

Put the whole tomatoes in boiling water and cook them until the skin begins to separate from the fruit and then remove and hand-peel the tomatoes once they've cooled. Chop cilantro and add freshly squeezed lemon juice, thyme and cumin to taste.

Sweet Potato Dumplings:

Sweet Potato

Olive oil

Butter

Nutmeg

All-purpose flour

Eggs

Spearmint

Instructions:

Preset the oven to 350 degrees and then rub the sweet potatoes with olive oil and bake them for an hour. While the potatoes are baking, make a simple dough mixing all-purpose flour and water, starting with as little water as possible and adding more as needed until the dough sticks together and can be kneaded but not too wet and sticky. Pull off small pieces of the dough and form balls of about 1-inch in diameter. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough as thin as possible into sheets and then set them to dry a little. Remove the potatoes, peel and mash them. If the potatoes aren't mashing well, add some butter and put the mashed potatoes in the oven for 15 minutes to soften them further. Once the potatoes are properly mashed, add enough sweet potato to fill each piece of dough (make sure not to over fill) and then wrap the dumplings. Using some water, seal the dumpling shut and then glaze them with a mixture of beaten eggs and spearmint. Put them on a tray and bake them for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees. Try to pull out the dumplings before the dough has hardened too much so they become like a sweet and savory bite-sized appetizer.

Salad:

Spinach Leaves

Dried Cranberries

Dried Apricot

Unseasoned Goat Cheese

Leek

Salted Almonds

Instructions:

Mix Spinach leaves, goat cheese (unseasoned), dried cranberries, dried apricot , leek and chopped almonds so that the cheese gets well mixed. Then toss the salad with the honey mustard dressing.

Honey Mustard Salad Dressing:

Honey

Dijon Mustard

Rice Wine Vinegar

Instructions:

Mix a ratio of 5:3:2 of Honey to Dijon Mustard to Rice Wine Vinegar for as much dressing as you need. I'd recommend mixing the honey and rice wine vinegar using a fork and then slowly add in the mustard and keep mixing. Thanks to Alton Brown and the Food Network website for this recipe and ratio.

Baked Chicken with a Poblano Pesto:

4 breasts of chicken

2-3 poblano peppers

Dried or Fresh Basil

Pine Nuts

Olive Oil

Cilantro

Instructions:

Take the breasts of chicken and rub them lightly with olive oil and put them on a sheet to bake for about 15 minutes on each side at 350 degrees (or until the outside has turned white but doesn't start browning). Meanwhile, using a food processor or blender, chop and add in basil, pine nuts, cilantro and olive oil to taste for a pesto to your liking. Then add chopped poblano peppers to your liking (based on the level of spiciness you'd like). I prefer 1 pepper for about 1 cup of pesto. During all this mixing, don't forget to add olive oil as needed to avoid clumping and per your preference. Using some of the pesto, rub each breast with the pesto and then bake each side for 5 to 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Slice the chicken and serve it on a platter or in a bowl with the remaining pesto poured over the chicken.

Wild Rice with Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato, Leeks, Squash and Cilantro:

Wild rice

Butternut Squash

Olive Oil

Leeks

Cilantro

Chives

Sweet Potato

Instructions:

Using a rice cooker, book about 2 cups of rice wild rice. This can take about 45 minutes, but make sure not to overcook the rice (allow it to be slightly chewy). While that's cooking, chop the butternut squash into cubes and rub those cubes with light olive oil and sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Set them to bake on a sheet at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. Using some olive oil, sauté some chopped leeks, chives and cilantro. If you have any leftover sweet potato from the dumplings (above) you can use it here too. Taking all the prepared parts, mix and toss the rice, squash, sweet potato and cilantro, leek and chive mixture. Recipe modified from Nancy Oakes, Pamela Mazzolo and Bon Appétit (and Epicurious.com)

Coconut Couscous:

Israeli Couscous

Coconut milk

Instructions:

Following the directions of the specific couscous you purchase, add the suggested amount of water and then add half to a full can of coconut milk (depending on how much coconut flavor and smell you'd like). Stir and cook until the mixture absorbs the water.

Crepes with Raspberry Sorbet and Dark Chocolate:

Flour

Salt

Sugar

Grated Ginger

Raspberry Sorbet

50% Dark Chocolate

Instructions:

Mix a cup of flour and 2 eggs in a bowl and slowly add in 1/2 a cup of milk and 1/2 a cup of water. Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of butter and 3-4 tablespoons of grated fresh ginger into the mixture and stir. In a frying pan, melt some butter and make crepes using 1/4 cup of batter per crepe (this should yield about 8 crepes per batch). After make the crepes, serve them with raspberry sorbet and grated dark chocolate. Recipe modified from JENNYC819 at AllRecipes.com.

After-Dinner Shooter (Dark Chocolate Surprise!):

Amoretto

Grand Marnier

50% Dark Chocolate

Instructions:

Put a small chunk of dark chocolate at the bottom of a shot glass. Fill the shot glass half way with Amoretto. Using a spoon, hold the concave side over the shot glass and touch it to the side of the shot glass such that the spoon covers the mouth of the glass. Slowly pour Grand Marnier onto the spoon such that it drizzles slowly on top of the Amoretto, forming a layered drink.

Anthology of Interest I: Geordie History and the faux-faux-Football

In the inaugural edition of Anthology of Interest, my two fantasy football (nerd alert) teams are called the "Geordie Billycocks" and the "Pons Aelius Sharkpies" ...

Incidentally, those are both references to Newcastle, UK as the people of Newcastle are known as Geordies (and the 'dialect' of English that they speak is also called Geordie) apparently because during an attempted takeover by the Scots, the people held off an attack and legend has it that some bloke chose to make their warcry "We're Geordies!" or something to that effect as a means of swearing fealty to King George, the Protestant King. Pons Aelius is actually the name of the Roman settlement that was the precursor to Newcastle, the capital of the Kingdom of Northumbria. The team mascots "Billycocks" and "Sharkpies" also reference elements of the Newcastle culture. "Billycock" hats (also known as Bowler hats) were and still are popular in the region. The Newcastle football team, Newcastle United is often referred to as the "Magpies" in reference to their jersey colors, and since my second football league is called "Geordie Football Hell" I thought it appropriate to look for an image that would be something to the effect of a zombie magpie. The closest image I found via Google Search was a shark-pidgeon, which I dubbed a Sharkpie for my devious purposes ...

In the interest of wrapping things up, this was a thoroughly useless post, but I hope that some Geordie history has been roughly maintained.