Saturday, April 16, 2011

Sunday Reflection


His Grace Still Amazes Me! 

Maybe If We Instituted Price Controls This Would Get Better

Instaglenn has an interesting post on drug shortages. Here's a tiny bit.
UPDATE: A reader who asks anonymity writes:
As a pharmacist of 25 years currently working in hospital pharmacy-I can tell you that the drug shortages are ongoing, dire, and in some cases life-threatening. Take a look at ashp.org/shortages to see the extent of the problem. Many items on the list are for crash carts and critical care.

We’ve had to resort to back-up products, alternatives and work-arounds. All of which compromise quality of care and safety.
I added the hyperlink in the text above.All of the non-restructuring plans to save Medicare and Medicaid institute price controls on the pharmaceutical industry. Dittos for Obamacare. If you've got shortages now, what will they be like once it pays even less to manufacture these things?

Suzani Heaven

Just what is a suzani, you may wonder.

 I know this is a cooking blog but we all fell in love with these and they are very much part of a trip to Uzbekistan.


a mind-boggling selection in a silk carpet and suzani shop in Bukhara

If you live in Istanbul, you will have seen suzanis in the Covered Bazaar as they are everywhere, just more expensive than there. They are beautiful silk-embroidered pieces of cloth which are used as wall hangings or indeed table runners, table cloths or bedspreads depending on shape and size. There are also  highly desirable cushion covers ranging in price from about 15- 25 USD. The vendors were more than happy to accept dollars which was fine but in the end we ran out and they didn't accept credit cards much to our sorrow! Even in the hotel shop in Tashkent, where supposedly they did, my credit card was 'invalid'. So if you go, take cash. Lots of it!




Price depended of course on quality. Our knowledge expanded in leaps and bounds as the trip progressed. Atlas? we enquired confidently, or Adras? Atlas is the premier quality as it is a mix of silk and cotton but a higher percentage of silk usually 70% to 30%. Adras is 50-50. This refers to the piece of material on which the embroidery is done. The work itself can be done either by machine or by hand. We also learnt to look carefully at the back: if there were knots it was handmade!

Another criterion was 'hook' or 'needle' with 'hook being more expensive. We were just getting our eye in as far as this was concerned.

Bukhara, Central Asia's holiest city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was the place although we saw them being sold everywhere we went. The choice was intoxicating and we all succumbed. First we went back to the chaihana where we had sampled the herbal teas:


oh was he waiting for us!
And then we visited the Summer Palace of Buhkara Khan:












A pleasant place, slightly crumbling, with the sound of peacocks in the background, we came upon the Harem building. Even though the Khan had four wives, he also had forty one concubines! There was a large swimming pool beside it and apparently he would survey his ladies from a tower and throw an apple down to the chosen one! But inside now it is a suzani museum with fabulous pieces hanging on the walls. The pictures here are of those. But what we didn't realise was that it was also a shop! Here the quality stood out and we were spellbound by the pieces that we were shown.


this must be 'hook'

Things That Make Me Smile

Harmony in our household.

Less Words, More Food 13

I haven't been writing to many recipes lately , so I hope you are all happy with a few food pix until I get writing again :))  I tend to not use a recipe , and just open my fridge and start grabbing food , until my arms are full.. then  its off to the chopping block to see whats for dinner :))  Here is a few of my dinners from the last week or so .

Making my 1st veggie stock :)  Tasted great :)  

Having a little fun with bread, this one is a spicy chili and Marmite batch :) Loved it ! 

Free Range Beef Burgers, with spinach , jalapeno, garlic, mushrooms, and red onion :)) 

This batch was a basil, garlic, and red onion whole wheat bread ( with added 12 whole grains ) 

Quick and Easy Lunch food, Chunk Tuna , with cucumbers, garlic , mushroom and red onion.

Was experimenting with different bread pans, tried using my muffin trays , worked out great . Especially if your like me and love the crispy edges.  

Was too cold, dark and wet to BBQ , so a cast iron skillet has to do sometimes. 

A quick batch of midnight tacos :))  Was not happy with that Mozzarella, and wont be buying that brand again .. it didn't really melt very well  :(

Work lunch :)   Tomato/cucumber salad, with a spicy tuna spread, half a burger, and some of my homemade butter and bread ! 

There you have it :) I do hope you have enjoyed the food pictures.   Does anyone have a recipe request ?  I've been kinda stumped lately on writing them, maybe a request will jolt me into action lol .
Have a great day , Happy Cooking !!

Mississippi River Sunset

I took this photo on my trip to New Orleans earlier this week. After our meetings, we drove down to Port Sulphur and back right around sunset. At one point, we drove up to the top of the levee to take some photos. I thought this was going to be artistic, but to me it came out too cute by half.

very simple MUET tips!

hye assalamualaikum, selamat malam dear diary! :)

hidung kembang kempis, mata tersipu sipu nak buka, tanda mengantuk gilersss. where on earth have i been these past few days. let me think... erm. terlupa dah pun. okay hari ni dah tamat MUET 2011~ alhamdulilah. erm, serius utk siapa-siapa yg belum ambil, ia tak susah. i mean like, maybe lah permakahan dia strict or whatever, and my english pun, just okay-okay, which is not great, tp muet is most likely, erm... boleh lah. tak de lah cam 'omegod susah gileee' --- TIDAK.

few simple tips -
SPEAKING = dont freak out! and jgn nervous *tu jeee sempoi gileee*
LISTENING = 1st, read all those quest as much as u can, ada masa 1minit je. then, catch up betul2 part yg melibatkan soalan tuh.
WRITING = nothing much, essay english mmg sempoi, faberet sejak zaman spm, sbb blh karang macam-macam dan tajuk menarik. just task A, based on graph/chart. task B - normal essay.
READING = bace, faham, jawab soklan. jwpn die mmg lebih kurang, and masa die terhaddd! so, spend ur time wisely and choose the best perfect answer!

cakap bnyk pun tak gune. tunggu result keluar nanti baru aku taw langit tinggi rendah kan. T__T i was hoping for at least band 4. tapi kalau dpt band 3 pun dah lega. band 5 itu bonus, alhamdulilah. band 6? kenduri nasi ayam :D

essay td ckp 'at least 350 words'. aku bantai lebih 600 words. tak sedar pun menulis. sebab tajuk dia best. --- the most valuable thing in life is friendship. Discuss. :)))

by the way esok kena bangun pagi lagi sebab temam abah pergi tgk golf tournament - Malaysia Maybank Open 2011. dkt mont kiara. ada world no 1 golf player woo. till then, good nite!


North African Mussels and Clams

This dish, which can be found in Nick Stellino's Mediterranean Flavors, is my wife's favorite. It's easy to make, provided you set aside about an hour for the clams to soak in brine so they disgorge their sand.

Tour of a Chuck Box

Here is a introduction to the chuck box and a little cowboy history. This presentation was given during filming for the show "Common Ground" on PBS. Chuckwagon cooks were able to produce quite a bit of food under some pretty adverse conditions. It's no wonder they had the reputation of being a little out of sorts most of the time.

Kitchen Gizmo of the Month.

Mrs. Kinney's Steam Cooker

Here is a very scarce Mrs. Kinney's Steam Cooker. The patent number for this specimen is 533,818 with the patent belonging to S.W. & C.A. Kinney of St. Louis, Missouri. This steamer stands 16 1/4" high and has a diameter of 9 1/2". It is constructed like a tall cylinder with bracket and hook assemblies to hold two shelves. Water would be boiled in the bottom of the steamer and circulated throughout to cook the food. Due to the nature of the cooking process it is difficult to find these in a condition this good. The only rusted area is at the top of the cooker near the hinge - the rest of the cooker is very clean. This would make a great addition to any vintage kitchen collection and is quite a conversation piece.