EGG ON FACE

IE: getting old:

Well I've been bitching that I don't have a working pen on my office desk only to find out in the middle of grabbing different ones i got my Microsoft pen to work,  was fine for the moment i needed. i tested it quickly and did the usual circles on plain paper and it worked in red ink, not what i needed for the official document but good in a pinch for the note i needed for certain data retainment. I wrote what i needed on junk paper and dropped the pen on the desk only to hear it click closed but I didn't care. I picked it back up after finding the official paper i needed to write the data on only to click it open and NOTHING!! yes friends in less than 5 seconds the pen had quit putting out red ink. upon closer inspection i noticed the pen head looked a bit odd and sure enough it was A STYLUS. I was a bit sleepy still and not fully aware thinking i had somehow picked up the wrong pen i closed it again and dropped it on the desk looking for the one that just wrote in red. I didn't find one. I picked up the only Microsoft labeled pen i could find and clicked it hoping it was the red one again, only to find this was a pencil, I had other pencils so this was not a good find when what i needed was a blue or black ink tool. It was at that moment i suspected something was odd as it was the ONLY MS logo pen i had found once again so I closed it and clicked and voila, once again a pencil. i closed it again, click click and once again it was a pencil. I repeated this too many times to tell without seeming more stupid than i am all ready showing.  I finally set it down, picked it up and clicked it again 2 times, SLOWLY, and i got. A PEN HEAD that printed in RED... now, i'm easily confused sometimes but this had bewildered me to the point of aggravation. yet all along i was impervious to the fact that there were four little words printed on the end of the pen at the click button. although round it had four precisely marked words on even spacing as follows: 0.5 / Red / Stylus / Black. In my haste when i picked up the pen over the years I've never noticed this before as my hand was always in the way while holding it.  so yeah, DUH, which ever word is facing up when you click it comes out the other end. I'd seen and owned pens like this before with multiple clickers but never in a single clicker case. In fact in my youth many times i was the cool guy at the sportsman inn pizza restaurant table writing on the back of the place mat (yeah remember those) with a tri color pen or pencil with a tri clicker. So now i feel the geezer this morning (like how i see my father at times lately) here a simple tool with something I've seen before but just not in that simple a configuration (rotate pen and click, how simple) and it got the best of me. Not unlike your parent or grand parent when you showed them a computer or a multifunction remote.
 

VALUE?

VALUE: worth and item costs vs quality and what you get for your money.

 I'm starting to think there is no such idea as something labeled as “good”. Everything is a CRAYON and there's just a whole bunch of crayons out there. A $50 blue is awesome when you need a blue sky, but crappy when you want to draw the sun. It seems that a $2,000 yellow sure makes you say, “Yes! It does look (feel) expensive!” when you are drawing the sun, but then you try to use it to color a Coca-cola logo and you say, “This thing looks like crap.” This seems to apply to everything.

It's always ends up really “expensive” when an items stupid character mates perfectly with a wildly varying source and then people buy into it. It's like if Michael J. Fox with an M-16 happened to sync his shaking up with a moving target and was able to hit it dead on. That doesn't make it a better more accurate gun worth tons of money. Why would you ever want a shaky shooter? Of course the same  is true with a $1 four sided Crayon, sure its able to do more things for a lot less but it breaks easy and doesn't last nearly as long as a standard Crayon no matter what you're drawing. Constant replacement issues are a terrible way to work. You also wouldn't use a Focal SM11 S subwoofer no matter how great it is to be your speaker for a guitar amp and its $8000, its just the wrong item for the job.

 Value and taste is very personal. You may think that the yellow is perfect while I may think is horrible. So what made it worth $2,000? Just because Picasso used it? It's up to you and I to decide what value an item has not just because someone who is deemed (PROFESSIONAL) says its good or got good results with it. (maybe they didn't) This is EXTREMELY true in the music and audio industries. Speakers, Mics, Amps, Mixers, Compressors, Headphones etc. All kinds of hype in there. I've heard amazing things come from a home recording with minimal equipment. I've heard HORRIBLE things come from TOP notch expensive studios using crazy expensive hardware. It's all in how you used it and the situation you are trying to remedy or extract from.

So in reality what is VALUE? It's not really something you can put a finger on and it's not so much a matter of costs directly either. If you are happy with a $5 Crayon then good for you, same could be said for the $2000 one if you really like it. So where's the Value? Could it be something more along the lines of paying for something and getting more than what you expected. Sounds like the definition. But what does that mean, MORE THAN WHAT YOU EXPECTED? Did your car do more after you paid X thousands of dollars? Did it drive on water, did it drive you to your vacation while you were asleep at the wheel, did it walk the dog and do the dishes and take the trash to the curb? If not then maybe you didn't get the value you thought you got. How much better was the $2000 crayon over the $5 one? 5% ? Not really a good value if there isn't much difference but if you THINK that the 5% is worth it then by all means. Perspective makes everyone and everything its bitch.

(thanks to Brandon Drury for some excerpts)

yes the keifer does it again...

pmG Dare To Share $10 CG Software Challenge

pmG Dare To Share $10 CG Software Challenge

It's an amazing deal for one of Hollywoods award winning animation and rendering software

For as little as $10 for the standard and $40 for the Pro (64bit multiprocessor) versions.

Follow the link, share using the share links, facebook etc. and purchase a license, I went with the pro version for windows 7 64-bit.

The pro version is normally $1195 so get in on the DEAL.

Dessert time! A twist on pumpkin pie

Today I have a bit of a twist if you will, not really but hey its 2010 and people are throwing out phrases all over right? Anyway, today I am presently awaiting my last 30 minutes of baking while I start to write this bit about a lovely pie:

BUTTERSCOTCH PUMPKIN PIE!

It's really not hard to do, the magic is making sure when you melt the butterscotch you don't burn or over cook them prematurely during that melt.

The ingredients:

1 - pie crust, frozen, refrigerated or home made, doesn't matter.

1- can 15 oz of pumpkin pie filler (i use organic)

1 - can 12 oz of evaporated milk (not sweetened)

1 - cup butterscotch flavored chips (like the chocolate chips)

2 - eggs, slightly beaten, do not whip them

1/2 - cup sugar

3 - teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (i use McCormick)

1 - teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 - teaspoon of salt

Preparing:

1: Preheat oven to 425 degrees, prepare pie crust as needed if packaged, place in 9 inch pie plate, deep style preferred

2: Put butterscotch chips in microwave and set for 1 minute on high in a bowl (microwave glass preferred), start, pause and stir every 15 seconds until completely melted.

3: Mix beaten eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and salt in a large bowl and wire whisk until well blended. Stir in the pumpkin filler, evap milk and the now melted chips until well blended and smooth smooth smooth!!!

4: Pour mix into pie crust covered pan

5: Bake in oven at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce temp down to 350F for another 40-45 minutes. (the check: knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean)

6: Cool on wire rack

7: ENJOY

Brown Banana Foster semi instant ice cream, or , cooking Ice Cream with liquid nitrogen

What I have for you this time is a wonderful hot weather friend of ice cream but using a group of flavors that most people are not used to. This recipe utilizes a cream base which also happens to be VEGAN, but there's a twist, the old time CHURN or home made ice cream maker will NOT be used, (i have a solution using such at the end of this article in case you don't or can't follow these steps), we will be using LIQUID NITROGEN to make the CREAMIEST of ice cream. It is the lack of LARGE crystals when freezing that makes Ice cream even creamier, AND since we are FLASH freezing with nitrogen the crystals will be BY FAR much smaller than using a standard churn idea, pretty much instant to boot.

THE FLAVOR: Brown Sugar Banana Foster with Coconut Milk (COCONUT MILK??? I see you raising your nose but stick with me)
Ripe bananas are quite sweet on their own but when mixed with a rich dark molasses based sugar instead of standard white granular sugar you will wonder why you never did this before. But, its what we do with it next is what puts in a WOW factor, we CARMAELIZE the mix. Betcha I have your attention now. Now if that didn't set your mouth watering the next bit will probably twist your head. Instead of the very fattening cows milk for the cream, which also isn't Vegan, we will be adding in another flavor that goes very well with bananas, COCONUT MILK. Coconut milk tones back on the bananas sweetness but the caramelizing sets it all together in a nice yummy stew. You can pick coconut milk up at most grocers today in a bottle etc.

The hard part may be to get the type of sugar used in this which is dark and unrefined, its called JAGGERY! It comes in blocks at my store but may be bagged and ground down as Ive seen over the internet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaggery
What is Jaggery? Jaggery or Gur is a specific type of unrefined sugar popular in India. It is normally manufactured from either sugar cane or date palms, but recent trends in its manufacture have resulted in jaggery made from the sap of coconut and sago palms. While jaggery is useful in cooking, it is also an ancient part of Ayurvedic medicine and has spiritual significance in India too. The thicker dark molasses in the sugar adds a flavor you are probably not used to but trust me you will love it.
IF YOU CANNOT FIND JAGGERY, you can surely sub in some UNREFINED BROWN SUGAR.

As for the bananas, the ripeness needs to to be pretty high so look for the black specks on the outside before you prepare this.

So, what does this all mean? What I've done is take an old recipe and updated it using new techniques you most likely are not use to doing. Don't let it scare you. Its really fun and you can get everyone to watch it happen right before their eyes, and yours. (well the final phase anyway)

LIQUID NITROGEN COOKING
Yes its actually cooking as LN2 (liquid nitrogen) boils at under 300 below ZERO so in fact you are cooking but with COLD instead of heat. Boiling is just the transfer from liquid to gas state and does not mean HOT as we mostly associate with water boiling.

This is kind of a new fangled thing for many people and I must tell you that it can be dangerous when working with LN2 aka Liquid nitrogen. You're probably asking yourself, you're crazy to play with stuff that can freeze your finger(s) and cause it to shatter. While this is true it doesn't take much to be careful or really much in the way of hardware for handling it. Simple things like a basic small and cheap foam style coolers like what you can get in the quickstop or your local food store, even target and the ever evil walmart carry these for a few dollars in the fishing/camping equipment area.
LN2 (LIQUID NITROGEN SAFETY)
http://cookingissues.wordpress.com/primers/liquid-nitrogen-primer/

WHERE CAN I GET LN2?
you can obtain liquid nitrogen from compressed gas/welding suppliers.
HOW MUCH DO I NEED?
10 liters is enough to transport home with inherent losses and still have 3 or more liters left to cook with within a 24 hour period. LN2 evaporates in any open container, the better more efficient the container the less loss you will have.
REMEMBER, NEVER KEEP IN A SEALED CONTAINER. LN2 is always heating up thus expanding into gas and will cause a sealed container to EXPLODE.

A few other required items are:
A standard counter mixer (like a kitchen-aid etc) with a nice steel bowl and steel paddle mixing blade, do not use one with a plastic mix blade as the liquid nitrogen will destroy it as it freezes. DO NOT USE THE WHISK ATTACHMENT

The plain Styrofoam cooler (medium sized to make pouring easier from the corner)
A pair of Metal mixing bowls (medium to large to hold mix and possibly some LN2)
A metal hand held screen type strainer (to scoop stuff out of the nitrogen)
A metal flat spatula with holes in the blade (as above)
A few medium to large metal spoons (again one with holes like when spooning peas etc)
An oven mitt, not really needed unless the cold from the metal bowls bothers your hands as the metal bowls will get REALLY cold.

(MAKE YOUR OWN DOTS)
Just a simple note, you can make your own dipping dots type ice cream using ANY standard ice cream base, pour into a poultry baster, have a large steel bowl of LN2 ready and drip drops of the base into the LN2 and scoop out. DO NOT EAT THEM YET!!!
YOU MUST PUT THEM IN THE FREEZER TO WARM UP!!!
Yes i know that sounds odd but that's what you need to do or you can really be harmed with severe cold burns in your mouth.
Use a small cup to hold in the freezer over night.

OK enough science and on with the show!

This makes about 3/4 of a liter of ice cream
Since its not a standard cream base it will be a bit HARDER if left in the fridge, so you may want to pull it out a little before you want to eat some after putting in the freezer.

THE PARTS:
6-7 medium ripe bananas (1 1/4 cups of peeled and cut up)1/2 inch cuts
3/4 cup of Jaggery (or brown sugar)
2 cups of Coconut Milk
1/8 tsp of sea salt
1 tsp of dark rum
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
(optional lemon juice or lemon zest) season to taste after cooking down the mix if you find the mix too sweet

In a broad skillet (wide sauce pan ok) heat the sugar with 1/4 of the coconut milk stirring it until it gets bubbly and smooth.

Add the bananas and the salt stirring occasionally until the bananas cook completely, they should be nice and soft and should take about 5 mins or so.

remove from heat and stir in the rest of the coconut milk, rum and vanilla. This is were you should taste it and see if its TOO sweet for your taste and add the lemon juice if you want. (a few drops is all) I don't add it but not everyone likes the same thing.

At this point you should have a steel bowl ready to receive the mix to cool it down just a bit more. Once its not steaming hot anymore pour into blender and liquefy the mixture, the smoother the better.

Ok, CAREFULLY pour your nitrogen into the cooler from whatever container it came in
Figure in that a chilled cream base of a liter in volume will use a liter of nitrogen to freeze, so since our base is actually kinda warm you will most likely use 2-3 liters of liquid nitrogen.
Take the mix from the blender and put into the table mixers bowl
turn mixer on to medium.
Slowly (and carefully) add in the liquid nitrogen, don't dump in too much as you will harden the mix too much too fast, the airation of the boiling nitrogen will add the air to the ice cream mix so it needs a little time to do its job or else it just freezes the top layer of mix, it WILL FOG UP. So pour a bit and then wait for the fox to lift and check it. Keep an eye on it as you keep adding more nitrogen!
You may want to use a standard stiff metal spatula at this point to scrape the sides of the bowl back into the middle.
Once smooth and creamy (unless you really like HARD ice cream)you can stop adding the nitrogen.
If you find you put too much nitrogen in and its lumpy or hard, stop adding the LN2 and turn up the speed of the mixer for a bit to blend and smooth back the texture a bit.

by the time you put down the cooler, stop the mixer and remove the bowl the nitrogen
will have evaporated and its safe to eat


ENJOY!!

Two notes/additions

1) Some people think it looks kinda UGLY, well, i will say its not a PRETTY color by any means, but most don't seem to care

2) A COOL addition to the mix is to use the nitrogen to flash freeze RASPBERRIES, grab a handful of them and place in a steel bowl of nitrogen for a few seconds. They will freeze harden. lift them out with the screen strainer or a flat metal spatula with the holes in the blade. place them in a paper towel or cheese cloth, cover with same. Then here's the fun part. WHACK THEM WITH A SMALL HAMMER!! or like object (rolling pin) but don't TOUCH them with any skin, it will burn(aka freeze burn). They will split into individual bits of the berries structure. You MUST now wait for them to thaw a bit, you don't want to eat them in this SOLID STATE, wait a few minutes and they will thaw a bit but you don't have to wait until they are completely melted again. put on top or mix in the last seconds of the ice cream chilling

Now one can surely do this with a standard ice cream churn, however changes must be made.
After using the blender to smooth out the base after cooking, place in a steel bowl to fully chill over night, THEN follow your directions for your churn. If you find it too thick when pulling from the fridge then whisk it briskly to loosen a bit before pouring into your ice cream maker.