Archive for October, 2009
October 19th, 2009
My new 13" MacBook Pro
Apple understands consumers better than any other tech company. While other companies change, tweak, adjust, and re-design on the outside, Apple redesigns on the inside. With a Mac, you get a nicer paint job, stylish new grillework, and something that will impress your friends when you drive up in front of their house. But, when you turn it on, everything is familiar. You’re driving the moment you put the keys in the ignition. But it’s faster and better on the inside.
Last week, I got a shiny new MacBook Pro. Because it’s so familiar, I was using it right away. Apple’s innovative approach to set up using Time Machine backups mean that your new computer has everything your old one did before you even log in! Essentially, there is hardly any setup or configuration or hardly any thinking to do. Yet, every day I discover things. Better battery life, faster processing, better bluetooth behavior. I didn’t have to learn about them, read the manual, or even delay my work. So, instead of mastering a new machine, I have a sexy new MacBook and keep smiling as I discover new things about it.
Our house is filled with computers we’ve owned in the past. I did a little walkaround today and looked at my old Compaq laptop, Grace’s old HP, my old Toshiba. They all look so foreign in their design, and all look so different. Plugs, sockets, connectors… they are all in different places with different symbols. It really makes me appreciate our switch to Apple four years ago.
October 17th, 2009
When we moved here to Australia from the USA, we had no particular obsession with mayonnaise. However, what Australians call mayonnaise is indeed strange stuff to American tastes. It is sweetened and uses food thickeners (similar to cornstarch), and rarely contains eggs. We discovered that “Best Foods” mayonnaise was the closest we found to Hellmans.
While I realize many swear that the hand-whipped variety of mayonnaise is the best, we grew up on Hellmans and this recipe was inspired by our desire to for the fluffy, delicious mayo we grew up with. Recently, when we tried Hellmans, we were surprised how salty it was, and realized that now, we can’t do without our own home made product.
Combine in your blender:
2 medium eggs
1/8 cup olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 drops tabasco sauce
Then a moment before blending add:
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Start the blender at medium speed, wait about 15 seconds, then quickly but steadily pour in:
1 1/2 cups canola oil
Blend at medium speed for about 2-3 minutes, constantly using your spatula to keep the mayonaisse moving through the blades.
If you have a good, powerful blender that has large blades, it should keep the mayo steadily fluffing up until it has a firm and fluffy consistency. Spoon into a jar and slap your private label on it.
A double portion of this will keep for a couple weeks in the refrigerator. Make sure you keep the jar tightly sealed. Because of the eggs, mayonaisse cannot be canned or kept for long periods, but who would want to anyway!
October 17th, 2009
If you’re visiting my blog right now, I am in the middle of merging a bunch of content from the ancient Trial By Fire blog into this one and getting ready to shut that one down.
Having my blog on TypePad was becoming painful. There is so much I want to do, and have a lot of computing resources at my disposal. Using a hosted platform like TypePad was very limiting. I have to also say that WordPress is one amazing little blogging platform. Already I am enjoying using it, and that’s a big motivator for me.
A lot of the old posts here are from my “grumpy era”, so be patient with me. New stuff will be on the way, and I’ll try to recategorize to keep the grumpy posts out of the way unless you’re feeling grumpy yourself and need some fuel for your fires.
