WiebeRobertsbackinthePeg: January 2010

Friday, January 22, 2010

One more kick at the ... PM

I can't resist... the esteemed Bob Rae responding to our PM's need to prorogue whenever it isn't going his way, and to our PM's singing with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra a few months back.

Climate Chaos

In this article from the July 14th Winnipeg Free Press, author Bartley Kives discusses how the low tech ideas or solutions might work best when it comes to dealing with the potentially disastrous effects of climate change. They do not have to be multi-million $$ projects. I have heard in the last few days that our HOT 34 or so degree weather isn't a record for this time of year -- in the 30s, temperatures reached into the 40s (Celsius). The dirty, dry 30s. Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan is a place that experiences drought/wet cycles, and Kives makes an excellent comparison/discussion about how climate change can enhance those cycles. How are people coping in Niger... how did we cope last year when we busted open man-made canals designed to take water away from one place and wreak havoc in another? And we got rid of all the little wetlands scattered over the southern prairies. Now we're paying.

Three "must read" books -- Yes, I squeezed in some non-course related reading

Started Early, Took my Dog, by Kate Atkinson. Have you ever wondered what would happen if you did something radically different than what you thought you could do?

Follows When Will There Ever be Good News, a compulsive page turner and glorious read. You DO want to know if Jackson will ever find his way from his lonely existance. This is another book you won't be able to put down.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell.
Go back to 1799, to Dejima, Japan's only opening to the rest of the world. Mitchell's comment about writing his book:

"I felt I was barking at red herrings and wild sheep up wrong trees"

Read more: http://live.nationalpost.com/Event/Live_Chat_David_Mitchell_author#ixzz17OFfv0YT

Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna. Lev Trotsky, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo meet up with a young man who documents his life and theirs. A creative dance between historical fact and the life of a young man intersecting the social changes happening in Mexico and the U.S. during and after WW II.

Susanna's Amazing Pineapple Squares

Base:
20 soda crackers
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter (!!)
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup coconut

Crush crackers to fine crumbs -- add flour, baking powder, sugar, coconut. Mix in butter by hand until a light crumbly mixture is achieved. Press into a greased pan, leaving out about 1/2 cup of the mixture.

Filling:
Large can pineapple, crushed or tidbits, as preferred (do not drain)
1/4 cup sugar AND 1 heaping tbsp sugar
1/2 cup water or pineapple juice
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 eggs

Separate eggs, beat whites till stiff, beat in 1 tbsp sugar to make meringue.

In a bowl, mix together water/juice, egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch to a smooth paste. Bring pineapple to a boil. Stir in a small amount of the hot pineapple into liquid mixture, stirring hard to avoid lumping. Add warm paste to pineapple and bring just to bubbling point, stirring constantly. Do not scorch.

Pour pineapple mixture over crumb base.
Spread meringue over pineapple mixture.
Sprinkle with leftover crumb mixture.

20 min at 325 - 350 F