How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics by Michael Pollan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
not a subject that’s in my wheelhouse but it’s really good- takes a bit to get to the neuro science which was why I wanted to read it, but I wound up finding the whole book and subject fascinating.
The Backup Men by Ross Thomas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I’m still enjoying the characters but I didn’t enjoy this one’s mystery as much. Maybe I should move to some other Ross Thomas’ books for a spell. This one did have some great passages that I enjoyed and highlighted.
I’m not giving anything away – but in the book the finale takes place in San Francisco. And it’s hard work for the characters to get there. One of the main characters was born in SF and mentions it in the book (In the series he’s ex-army and lives in Germany and DC, I don’t remember him talking about SF before). Anyway, here are the passages I thought were interesting:
I decided that over the years both the city and I have changed, perhaps neither of us for the better. San Francisco reminds me of nothing so much as a middle-aged hooker relying solely on technique now that her looks have gone. But I suspect that my real antagonism stems from being taken for a tourist in my own home town. There’s nothing much worse than that.
And
“I used to come up here from L.A. on weekends sometimes,” Padillo said. “I knew a girl who lived on Russian Hill. She got mad when I called it Frisco.” “The natives have a lot of civic pride,” I said. “She was from New Orleans.”
My brother gave us an Instantpot for a gift a few weeks ago and I’ve been cooking with it almost non-stop. Since I’d been talking about it in person I thought I’d gather some opinions and post them since you’ve asked me.
The first thing I need to write is that it is actually called Instant Pot. I’ve been saying INSTA Pot this whole time. It wasn’t until I was carrying the box home on the bus and had the logo in my face that I realized I was saying it wrong.
I wasn’t sure I’d like the Instantpot, but overall I’m pretty pleased with it. I wasn’t sure I’d like it because the owners seem to come off like they’re in a cult on Facebook and on YouTube. And to be honest, a lot of videos or posts online come off as if the writers or cooks don’t know the basics about cooking or recipes. I’m not a chef or anything, but I have a decent understanding of cooking basics. I’ve seen recipes where the protein isn’t sautéed or seared first, etc..
Another reason that I din’t think I’d like it because I don’t really use Slow Cookers ever. I’m not the type of person toleave tonight’s dinner in a slow cooker and then head out to work. When I have needed or used a slow cooker, I’ve been around the apartment. I’ve made queso or chili or beans or some dish here and there but it was ready within a few hours. And just like with beans, I’d just as easily use the dutch oven on or in the stove instead of using a slow cooker.
But I can see the versatility with the InstantPot. And that’s due to it’s pressure cooking features. I’m old enough to have tried the old pressure cookers and not liked them. With the IP- it’s much easier to pressurize.
Anyway, here are some unorganized thoughts:
1 LIQUIDS
When you first use an IP, follow recipes and write down what you did and what happened. The reason I mention this is due to LIQUIDS. You can’t run an IP “dry” so almost all recipes require some liquid.
“So what?” you say? Well, one of the first things you’ll try to make is something like chili, beans, a pot roast or a stew. If you’re used to making chili or beans on the stove, you know you can control the liquid content pretty easily.
Chili’s too thick? Add some liquid. Beans too liquidy? Take the lid off for a while.
When you use an IP and it’s pressurized, the lid’s on. You can’t tell what’s going on and adjust until the cooking program is done, the IP has de-pressurized, and you take the lid off. You have to wait to make adjustments.
The first few times I’ve used the IP I made the following mistakes. They were easily correctable and not technically mistakes but you get the idea:
So if you’ve read this far you’re saying so what, just adjust the recipes. You’re right- I did make adjustments and have gotten much better at using the IP. I wrote down what went wrong and made adjustments to the recipes.
This brings me to the other the main thing that I noticed when I first started using the IP: The recipes that I originally got ideas from all had TIMES in the titles.
2 TIME
If or when you get an IP you’ll be in a rush to cook dinner tonight. You’ll download a recipe called 20 Minute Chili! or 40 Minute Pot Roast! and you’ll be thinking, oh perfect, I’ll be ready to watch Netflix and eat dinner in 30 minutes.
This is BS for one reason: people use time in the titles which refer to the actual pressurized cooking time. This does not include the time to pressurize the IP (pre-pressure?).
So if you remember anything from this post just remember this part- it takes time for the IP to come up to pressure.
The great thing is my fancy LED IP actually tells me what’s going on and where it is in the process. Pay attention to yours if you can.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.
Let’s say the recipe is called 15 Minute Chili. It’s not 15 Minute of total time. You won’t be eating in 15 minutes.
Here are the likely steps (note, this isn’t something I tried, just an illustration):
1. use the saute feature and saute the meat, and then onions. Likely time 20 minutes (and the IP has an awesome sauté feature)
2. drain the fat, add whatever it is to the pot you want: seasonings, beans, crushed tomatoes, some beer* and it takes you 3 minutes to do this
*don’t forget what I wrote above about liquids above
3. close the lid and hit 15 minutes – because it’s 15 minute Chili right?
–=the timer doesn’t start here yet=–
4. the IP starts warming up and pressurizing – let’s say 5-10 minutes. [we’re at 20+3+5 if I’m being generous]
5. The IP is pressurized, the timer starts and says 15 on it.
NOW the 15 minutes starts counting down.
6. The timer finishes (20+3+5+15=43 so far) and if you leave the IP alone it will slowly start to depressurize. But you’re in a hurry because you’ve been here for almost 45 minutes and thought you’d be eating 30 minutes ago so you hit the release valve
7. The depressurizing starts. This can take more than 5 minutes depending on how much you have in the IP – again, we’re at 50+ minutes here
You may be thinking “so what, I’ve made chili in almost an hour and that’s still less than if I used the dutch oven on the stove. In fact I walked off at step 3 and watched TV for a while. I don’t really do that when I’m using the stove.”
Well, I agree with you- my point is be wary of the time in the titles and in the recipes. It’s not as Instant as people make it sound.
Have questions or comments? Leave them below and I’ll answer them.
The Food of a Younger Land: The WPA’s Portrait of Food in Pre-World War II America by Mark Kurlansky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
People should read the intro to learn about the WPA Writer’s Program and how ambitious this project was and what the author did to get the most of the original writing organized and published. It’s also important to learn how regional our cooking used to be. I’ve been skipping around with the chapters and have been pretty engaged.
I’ve been playing around with the new Jump bikes on my commutes recently and some folks had asked what I thought of them so far. Here are my impressions, but also some thoughts on comparing them to the Ford Go Bikes (and program).
Just for background’s sake- I’m a member of the Ford Go Bike Program. I have a yearly subscription and I signed up when they first launched. I signed up for Jump recently because I had been seeing them around in the neighborhood more and also know one of their Ops Managers and got interested after talking to him more about what they were doing with the program.
Jump is a bike-share service. You sign up, give them your credit card info for billing and download their app* (there’s a way to use the service w/o a smartphone too).
To get a bike, you look in the app to see if there’s one near you and if there is, you can reserve it through the app and go get it. When you get to the bike, there’s a keypad on the back and you type in your pin.
This is much different from the Ford Bikes because Ford’s bikes are all in docking stations. Although you can check online to see if the station is full or empty, you have to go to the docking station. Jump bikes are station-less. They do need to be locked up to a legitimate bike rack (ie not a parking meter) but there’s no station.
What about the bikes?
Jump uses e-assist bikes. Ford uses their traditional bikes. Both kinds are great- fenders, lights, baskets (well, Ford’s aren’t full baskets). Both are heavy. E-assist means they have a motor in them, but you need to pedal for it to kick on. If you want to get sweaty and ride hard you can, but you can also use the motor to help you get up hills (and I’ve been testing this a lot). They cap out at just under 20mph too. They’re pretty neat. You still need to be careful with when braking- the bikes are heavier than you realize. note: Ford will have e-assist bikes available in March/April.
So for me- and this may differ for you depending on where you live and how you ride-
Jump advantages:
-bikes near where I live (usually) – (there’s no Ford Go Bike station near me)
-electric assist
-I can reserve the bike
-big basket on front that can hold a box of baked pork buns (pic)
-$2/30 mins (compared to $3 for Ford)
-just partnered with Uber in test areas so you can use the Uber app to reserve/retrieve bikes
Jump disadvantages:
-Not as many around (for now)- but I’ve been able to get one whenever I’ve wanted one
-Potential for not being able to rely on one being in my area consistently
Ford “normal” bike advantages:
-monthly/yearly program
-can use your clipper card to rent
-a lot of stations in the flatter parts of the city and they’re expanding
Ford disadvantages:
-need to be near a station to get and leave a bike
-no ebikes (for two more months)
-basket thing on front isn’t as good as Jump’s
So overall I’m impressed with the Jump bikes and I’ll continue to use them if I’m not on my own bike. I’m tempted to leave the Ford program unless they get some stations closer to where I live.
But, if I were a commuter who comes from another city to SF on the daily commute I’d probably stick with Ford. If you get to the city via Caltrain- there’s a Ford station right there. If you use casual carpool from the East Bay and get dropped off in the FiDi, there are stations nearby. The same goes for users of Transbay.
Have questions? Leave them for me in the comments