rantlust » eugenia

Coca-Cola was Originally Green

eugenia — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 15:30:22 +0000

Some completely useless but true facts. Good for trivia nuts.

A Day of Chocolate and Dessert Wine

eugenia — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 22:47:36 +0000

I love eating but I am not very fond of sweets. This is true for chocolates too as surprising as that may sound. Yesterday we attended a talk on chocolate at COPIA in Napa. The speaker was Robert Steinberg, co-founder of Berkeley-based fine chocolate maker, Scharffen Berger. The beginning part of the session was dry. Then, it got interesting when the sampling plate was brought to the table. This plate consisted of chocolates of varying cacao strength from Milk (41%) to Dark (82%). We also tasted chocolate nibs (the roasted cacao beans) and cacao powder. The nibs were very bitter but crunchy. I liked the crunchiness. As it turns out, Scharffen Berger does produce chocolates with nibs in it, called “Nibby Bar.” The milk chocolate, shunned by the purists (as is white chocolate), was the smoothest to eat.

From the talk, we learned some facts about chocolate. . .

Chocolate is only grown in the tropics
It originally came from Central and South America
The word “chocolate” comes from the Aztec word xocolatl meaning bitter water
White chocolate doesn’t contain any cocoa powder
1 pod of cacao bean produces about an ounce of chocolate
nibs + cocoa butter + sugar + (milk) = chocolate
Cacao plants can live 40-50 years
Cacao is the plant whereas cocoa is the powder

Besides chocolate, we also tasted some dessert wine at COPIA. These wines were from Quady Winery in Madera. I loved their Black Muscat. It washed down the chocolate well.

Though we didn’t meet any chocolate sommeliers, it was fun to be a chocolate connoisseur for a day.

Table for Six

eugenia — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 17:29:27 +0000

We have been inviting people over for dinner at our place in what we call Table for six, for a few years now. The idea is simple. Our dining table seats 6 and we call 4 others (mostly 2 men and 2 women) and give them dinner. My husband cooks and I help by cutting, cleaning and laying the table. He refers to himself as the Chef and me as the cook. I let him think so. Combining the food with some good wine, we always have fun in these gatherings where the conversation can go on till late night. Most of our friends have been part of these little get togethers from time to time. We like to mix the people up and sometimes we end up inviting people who don’t know each other well - just to make it more interesting.

On Tuesday, a colleague and friend of Anup’s from L.A. was visiting and we invited her over along with 2 other friends of ours from San Francisco. It wasn’t exactly table for six and it was held on a weekday which is unusual. We had a great night of conversation and excellent food. The menu consisted of a dry chicken dish, egg curry in coconut milk, a wonderful and simple zucchini dish, rice with vegetables (pulao, I think it is called) and the usual raita.

The raita we make is quite different from what you might get in an Indian restaurant. You put a few seeded cucumbers, tomatos, red onions along with enough yogurt to cover them without getting too full of liquid. Then you top it off with some cumin powder. It’s easy to make, healthy, and very tasty. The Zuchhini dish is also simple and Anup cooks it once in a while. Fry the few zucchinis (which are cut in rounds) with some peppercorns and when almost done, add lemon juice, salt and some garlic. It’s yummy. The egg curry and chicken were taken from some cookbook.

There was plenty of alcohol for the night though I did not drink much. The wine we had during dinner was some French wine that I don’t remember. The problem with Indian food is that very few wines can go with it. We almost always drink white wine when we eat Indian food because the red wines just overpower the food (or is it the other way around?). We are members of a wine club and we get most of our wines from that store.

Anup was trashed as usual and didn’t remember the converstions towards the end of the night. He even planned backpacking trips and such though I am sure he doesn’t remember what he promised our friends.

Asparagus: the vegetable of the royals

eugenia — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 05:00:09 +0000

One of our favorite vegetables is asparagus, a shoot covered with protective leaves. The way I cook it is by stir frying it with some garlic and ginger though the normal way to cook in western cultures is to boil it and serve it with a cube of butter on top. It’s one of the few vegetables you can actually eat with your hand in a fine dining establishment. The stir fry dish is also easy and more tasty, in my opinion.

Most asparagus is green in color and this is what I use in my cooking but some are white in color. The latter is called blanched asparagus and is grown under the soil away from sunlight and is mostly found in Europe. There are special asparagus cookers available though we just use a stir fry pan for our purposes. I also sometimes use a steamer to steam the vegetable.

Asparagus has been around for a very long time and the Romans are supposed to have used it and it was known for its medicinal properties. It was also common on the tables of the Kings and Queens of Europe. The only problem with eating asparagus is that for some people, their urine will smell extremely awful after eating it.

Got your FREE credit reports yet?

eugenia — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 23:37:48 +0000

Have you got your FREE credit reports (if you are a resident of the US) from the three major consumer reporting companies yet? I did. On my three reports, there was one minor error on my current address. It’s absolutely free, no catch, no surprise.

Be wary. Don’t just go to any website promoting free credit reports. Some of them are getting you to sign up as a member and pay the fee to get the free reports. Go to AnnualCreditReport.com directly, it’s mentioned on the ftc website.

If you live in the Eastern states, you will have to wait till September 1, 2005 to get your free reports.

Stocks for Cash, no tax

eugenia — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 20:45:41 +0000

Do you know someone who owns a lot of stocks in one company or several companies? They own the stocks but don’t want to sell them. Diversification, Diversification,Diversification. Don’t put all eggs in one basket. Logically, most of people understand these basic risk management concepts; but emotionally, they don’t do it.

There are many reasons people hold on the stocks and don’t want to sell it:

First, it can be that the stock price has gone up so much and they don’t want to pay tax if they sell it. At the same time, they are hoping the price will continue going up.
Second, the price has gone down so much, they don’t want to sell at a big loss.
Third, they don’t know what to do with the money after they sell the stocks.

What if? You are the person who owns tons of stocks in the company. You can get the cash without selling your shares. This Stock for Cash program might be a good alternative for you.