Book Report - The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Walter Mood lands in Hokitika New Zealand on a dark and stormy night and happens upon a secret council of 11 men discussing a mystery (well a few intertwined mysteries). We discover pretty quickly that Francis Carver is a bad guy, but it takes 800 pages to piece together the extent of his perfidy. The first 350 pages of the book tells the story through the eyes of the the men in the council. The final 500 pages flesh out the story to make sense, piece-by-piece, of theft, swindles, murder(?) and love.

The novel is structured according to the astrological signs, where each of the 12 men (Moody plus the original council) represent one of the signs. At least I think that is the intent. Not knowing much about astrology, that aspect of the story was a closed book to me. I particularly like the subheadings of the chapters "In which..." that gives a brief, tantalizing summary of the events which will unfold. Unfortunately, the summaries grow to the length of the chapters themselves in the last section. It seemed that Catton was tiring of writing and "told" the story at the end rather than "showing".

If you plan to read this, I suggest picking a time where you can give some dedicated time to the first section of 350 pages; the story is very complex, made especially so by the telling of different aspects by the council

I picked this book up because it won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, which "is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Republic of Ireland, or Zimbabwe."(Wikipedia). I also have read Hillary Mantel's "Bring Up The Bodies" which won the prize in 2012. I haven't like the Booker winners nearly as much as the committee - I'm sure they see much more in it.

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Shredded Beef Short Rib Tacos

Regular readers of this blog know that Cook's Illustrated is a go-to for me recipe-wise. But I suppose not everything can be great. I think Vermonters don't know Mexican food. I had my doubts going into this venture as it called for short ribs rather than skirt steak. But I thought what the heck.
While this was fun to make but ultimately they don't taste like tacos to me.  Perhaps you will like it, if so, you can find the recipe here.

A note on the photography. Last week I attended the KelbyOne Shoot Like A Pro seminar. Scott Kelby touched on food photography at the very end. He recommends tilting the camera for food pics. I think I overdid it. I un twisted the pictures as much as I could.

Onion, spices, beer, vinegar, garlic, ancho chilis, tomato paste and short ribs

The shopping list (Selective sharpening of chilis and onion root in PS)

 Everything but the ribs and onions get mixed together in a Dutch oven. Thick slices of onion go in the liquid to hold the short ribs. This allows the ribs to rise above the braising liquid and get browned.

Mis en place (Selective sharpening on chilis)

Once the beef goes in the oven for 2 1/2 hours I concentrated on the vegetable toppings. The recipe calls for cole slaw with addition of onion and a jalapeño pepper. Purists would chop up cabbage but I was lazy so bought a package of slaw mix. I added a bit more carrot.

Cole slaw ingredients (we added some water as well)

Slaw goes into the refrigerator for 1 - 8 hours.

The beef comes out of the pot to be shredded. The liquid, garlic and ancho chilis go into the blender for a couple of minutes before tossing with the meat.

Shredded beef ready for the blended sauce.

 As I mentioned above, the queso fresco cheese was my takeaway of the day; a mild, lightly salty cheese that I'll be using as a Mexican food topping in the future.

Dinner is served

Trains in Washington - May 12, 2014

Last month when we went for a hike on the Rowena Crest Trail on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge, I looked longingly across at all the BNSF trains rolling by on the northern, or Washington, side. With the weather looking very nice I decided to do one of the things I had planned as a regular activity in my semi-retirement. I went out train spotting. After scoping the trip on Google maps to find spots where the sun would be right.

Leaving Vancouver I saw two eastbound freights but to my dismay I also saw a lot of maintenance-of-way gear which made me think the rails might be shut down for the day while they worked on the tracks. As I drove the 33 miles out to the St. Cloud trail I didn't see many trains. After a 20 minute wait at the trail, a westbound train came roaring by; trains move a lot faster out here than in Portland where I'm usually watching trains. As a result, my first picture was nothing but a big orange blur.

I waited another 15 minutes with not trains in site. Since this is usually a very active line I figured maintenance was the work of the day, so I stopped at Bonneville dam for a look see. The lighting was all wrong for this picture; I was looking almost directly into the sun at midday. But you can get a sense of the power in the river.

Bonneville dam looking south across the Columbia River

I pulled into another area marked on my map and my suspicions were confirmed; lots of MOW vehicles.

Maintenance of Way workers

I decided to go for a drive farther east, then cut over on a bridge over to Hood River and then come back home. I saw a train in a side waiting for work to clear ahead; I thought I could at least get a shot at long distance from a turnout. I snapped a couple of pictures, then loaded camera and tripod in the car and as I started to drive on, I noticed the driving lights come on and heard a couple of short horn blasts indicating the train was preparing to move. I jumped back up and quickly set up in time to catch it passing by. Lighting again went against me, I was hoping to be on the south side of the tracks so I could have the sun behind me, but at this point, I'd take what I could get.

West bound grain train

I then found a little turnout just next to a tunnel; light would be in my favor! Hoping that trains might be getting free I set up hoping for  another westbound coming through the tunnel. I was rewarded!

Westbound

It was gaining speed and I had my shutter speed set fast. 

Moving west.

I found some places to catch trains; if weather breaks, I'll head back to a few of the spots next week when I have a Thursday, my designated play day, off.

Book Report: The Last Kind Words Saloon by Larry McMurtry

The Last Kind Words Saloon by Larry McMurtry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A pleasant enough story but with very little plot. A short period in the lives of Wyatt Earp, his brothers, Doc Holliday, and Charles Goodnight is covered. They meander through the west. It culminates with the battle at the OK Corral but it's not like the rest of the book builds to it.

The book is replete with McMurtry's archetype strong women who can't quite communicate with men, and vice versa. There is some clever dialog; McMurtry's dialog is what brings be back again and again to his stories though I've grown ever more disappointed in his novels after Lonesome Dove.

It's obvious that McMurtry knows the west and he can make it come alive but in the end it doesn't seem to be for any purpose. Maybe there is something I'm not seeing in it.

I fell in love with the early McMurtry novels; if you are looking for something to read by him, skip this and go for Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment, or The Last Picture Show View all my reviews

Book Report - The Martian by Andy Weir

The Martian by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I admit it; I am a bit of a snob sometimes when it comes to reading. While earning my BA in English some 40 years ago, I learned the difference between "Literature" and fiction. My snobbishness means I bypass a lot of "fiction" but apparently at my loss. This book is definitely "fiction" and science fiction (which I especially avoid) at that. But my oldest son knows my tastes in life and recommended this to me; I'm glad he did it.

I can't tell much of the plot without revealing spoilers. Mark Watney is part of the third manned mission to Mars. A calamity occurs and he is left behind for dead (a very reasonable assumption under the circumstances). But, he's not dead. He needs to establish contact with earth but the antenna array is destroyed. Even if he can/could be rescued he'll need to survive for four or more years until the next mission is ready. he'll need oxygen, food, water, and shelter.

This is a great thrill ride that begs to be made into a movie. I blew through this book in four days; it was hard to put down. I haven't had a reading thrill like this for months if not years. It tends towards "Perils of Pauline" at times but that is a minor qualm.

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Mother's Day Dinner

Carla is a little under the weather but we were still able to have a very nice Mother's Day. She puttered in the front yard planting things. Our front yard always looks so nice thanks to her gardening. I have a theory that the entire world can be divided into two camps; those who call it gardening and those you call it yardwork. Carla is a gardener; opposites attract.

Andrew and Henriët FaceTimed with us this afternoon and shared their final pick of name for Baba; sorry, you'll have to wait until he's born late May / early June before we can share. Jeff and Sarah dropped by with a beautiful flower in a coffee mug; they came in time to FaceTime with Andrew and Henriët as well.

I have been totally caught up in "The Martian" by Andy Weir. On my own I would have skipped dinner in favor of finishing the book (book report coming soon). But I bought some beautiful salmon, baby potatoes and asparagus (yes, I actually cooked asparagus!).

I bought a plancha for my grill last month and have been waiting through the spring rain for a chance to use it. Plancha is a fancy word for cast iron griddle; I have an enameled one that fits in the grill by removing one of the grate sections. Cooking raw potatoes would take a lot longer than the 20 minutes for the salmon so I hunted for a recipe and found one on Cook's Illustrated.  I made my own garlic-rosemary olive oil by mixing 9 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of minced rosemary and some salt in 4 tablespoons of olive oil. I sautéd the mixture for a few minutes; don't let the heat get too hot or you'll burn the garlic (like I did). No problem it still tasted great.

Garlic-rosemary olive oil prep

The key is to partially pre-cook the potatoes. I scrubbed, let them dry, cut them in half and poked holes in the skin side. Then I brushed on a tablespoon of the oil and liberally sprinkled salt on them. While the salmon started I microwaved them for 8 minutes on high.

Potatoes after the microwave.

I picked up a beautiful piece of salmon at the market. In October 2011 I made this cedar planked salmon with dijon mustard and brown sugar; Carla requested a redo for her special dinner. I originally got the  Bobby Flay recipe from Food Network; my version can be found here. The recipe calls for taking the skin off the bottom; I totally butchered the job. I've plank-smoked salmon before without removing the skin; next time the skin stays on. Rinse with cold water, dry off, place on a cedar plank that has soaked in water a few hours, sprinkle with salt and pepper, smear with dijon mustard and sprinkle brown sugar on top of it all. Then into the grill until it reaches about 135°F.  I've taken salmon off at 120°, but you are on your own. 

Salmon prepped for salt, pepper, mustard, and brown sugar.

Believe it or not I actually cooked asparagus!. Toss in a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper and onto the grill. 

Asparagus believe it or not

I started the salmon, then immediately put the spuds in the microwave; when they came out 8 minutes later, I tossed with a bit more oil and threw on the plancha, then added the asparagus

 I don't normally need all the space on my humongus grill. But it really comes in handy on a day like this.

Everything on the grill

 The asparagus was a bit large so took a bit more time cooking than the other items.

Ready to serve

Dinner is served.

A nice dinner.

I bought a tripod and ball-head for my camera Friday and used it for these pictures. My angle was way too high, but I was able to shoot at slow shutter speeds without blurring the pictures. I'll work on my camera angles as I continue to use it.

Book Report: Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves

Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another classic Jeeves and Wooster story. Bertie once again travels to Totleigh Towers to try to repair the rift in Gussie Finknottle and Madeline Basset's engagement. Pop Basset and Roderick Spode (Lord Sidcup) think he is there to steal a black amber statuette for Bertie's Uncle Tom. How could things get complicated?

As he reflects on his predicament he says "But I must admit that as I crouched in my haven of refuge I found myself chafing not a little. Life at Totleigh Towers, as I mentioned earlier, had got me down. There seemed no way of staying pu tin the darned house. One was either soaring like an eagle on top of chests [to escape the dog Bartholomew] or whizzing down behind sofas like a diving duck, and apart from the hustle and bustle of it all that sort of thing wounds the spirit and does no good to the trouser crease. And so, as I say, I chafed."(p176)

As Coleridge said, comedy requires the willing suspension of disbelief. While the plots are hilariously complicated, we don't come for the plot; we come for the writing which is some of the best in the English language. That writing always causes me to laugh out loud; I did so at least 3 times on the bus!

One of my life's missions is to get people to read P.G. Wodehouse's stories about Jeeves and Wooster. If you only read 1 Jeeves and Wooster story, read The Code of the Woosters, which features the silver cow creamer. But this is excellent;.

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Fanno Creek Trail

Fanno Creek flows through Washington, Clackamas, and Washington counties. There is a trail alongside most of the creek; it comes within a mile of our house and Carla and I have walked on a few stretches of it. We've never walked north of Hall Blvd because of all the traffic. A few months ago the Tualatin Parks and Recreation District along with the City of Beaverton put a pedestrian crossing across Hall. I thought it was high time to get out along that stretch of the creek. I wasn't gone long because it started raining buckets.

Reflections in the creek.

Denny Rd entrance looking south.

Chili Colorado and Pinto Beans

I've written before about eating burritos at Bob Newlon's house when I was in junior high school. Bob was my best friend in junior high and going into high school. Before we had our licenses, we drove his dad's truck around the undeveloped streets near his house; when we took a turn too hard and the battery fell into the radiator fan. Uh oh. Later when we had motorcycles we drove around everywhere together.

At any rate, his mom made the best pork chili that she made burritos with. I've been trying to recreate that meal for the past five or so years. I haven't been as successful as I'd like; then falling asleep a couple of weeks ago I had an inspiration to use my El Cid chili recipe as a basis. I switched beef to pork, adjusted the liquids, and reduced the spices. You can find my recipe here. The associated pinto bean recipe is here.

If you looked at the El Cid link above you'll notice this is definitely similar. Here is a summary of the changes.

• Substituted pork shoulder for sirloin
• Substituted ground pork for ground beef
• Substituted chicken stock for beef stock (use home made)
• Substituted enchilada sauce and Rotel diced tomatoes with chilies for diced tomatoes.

The line up

 I recommend Las Palmas enchilada sauce over Hatch brand; Las Palmas uses chilies where Hatch has more tomatoes.

Everything prepped; two spice packets in the small bowls.

Sauté the pork in rendered bacon fat.

When done with the pork shoulder, brown the onions with the chorizo and ground pork.

Chorizo, ground pork, and onions

This is why I recommend using a stainless steel skillet to sauté then put the batches into the Dutch oven as they finish. Look at that beautiful faund that we deglaze with the beer. If you only have a non-stick skillet, that's fine. Or if you want to save on dishwashing, do it all in the Dutch oven.

Add the liquids and the first spice set to the meat and onion; simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Make a paste of corn meal and water and add to the mix with a more cumin and other spices. Simmer for another 30 minutes and watch it thicken up real nice.

While the chili is simmering start some beans. If you don't have a pressure cooker start the beans before the chili. Of course you planned a day ahead and brined the beans last night; right?

Pinto bean ingredients - very simple.

Now, I'm still perfecting this recipe for the pressure cooker. The recipe I published is adjusted down to use only 4 cups of liquid instead of 5 that I used for this cook. I had to simmer the beans down for a while to get the consistency I wanted.

Beans after mashing about 1/2 a cup of them and simmering down.

 Dinner is served

Dinner is served

Wood Ducks - New Tenants

Warning! This story ends well, but there is a picture of a duckling that didn't make it. There is other interesting content in the picture so I'll leave that picture small; you can click on it to see an enlarged version if you wish.

Back in March we had at least two wood duck pairs vying for the wood box that our neighbor Jonathan Schlueter installed for us.  As late as April we had a pair trying to get in to the box where presumably their eggs were. But they were rebuffed by the resident hen.

This pair was rebuffed in early April when trying to access the nest.

Mama ducks and ducklings evacuated their nests in the neighborhood boxes this past week. We have been worried that a crow got in there in late April to wreak havoc on the nest; but thanks to Jon's maintenance this past weekend we discovered some ducklings survived. I saw Jon out in the hood on Sunday and he offered to come by to check the box and get it ready for

Jon Schlueter climbing up about 20 feet to work on the duck box

Jon found evidence that about 10 ducks hatched and made it out of the box with the hen. One duckling hatched but didn't get out of the box; one duckling didn't quite hatch all the way; there were about a dozen unhatched eggs. The high count indicates that a couple of hens were laying eggs.

Warning: the next picture shows a duckling that didn't survive.

Jon displaying the contents of the box with a dead duckling and many unhatched eggs.

Jay Watson and Jon talk ducks.

 Sunday morning we had a pair hanging out on our deck checking out the remodelled apartment.

Rowena Crest Trail

April 13, 2014

The past couple of Aprils we've headed out the Columbia Gorge to Mosier to have lunch at the Mosier Community Dinner which supports the local volunteer fire department. Mosier is a small town and this dinner at the local Grange hall has a small town feel. The locals make various salads and sides and they have a big smoker full of salmon out front. Seating is community style so you get to meet people who have been coming to this shindig for over 40 years.

Before dinner we went with the Watsons and Lees a bit past Mosier to the Rowena Crest Trail overlooking the majestic Columbia River. It's about 90 miles from our home on the west side of Portland.

We started in Beaverton, way on the left, and headed east 90 miles to get to Rowena Crest

 The only way to get an idea of this expansive view is to try a picture in panorama mode.

Looking north across the Columbia River into Washington.

One of the extra benefits for me is the view of the BNSF rail line running east and west on the Washington side of the river.

Train rolling west toward Vancouver, WA

Overlooking a little canyon with homes just south of the Columbia River

Mt Hood (I think) peeking over the ridge.

John borrowed a camera from me and Jay, a retired biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service, brought his classification books to identify some of the flora.

John and Jay pursuing their crafts.

Dr. Jay classifying a plant

Karen, Carla, and Mary Ann

The girls hiked around and enjoyed the views. John, Jay, and I wouldn't know if we had a good time until we got home and reviewed our pictures and documents.

Jay didn't need a classification guide to identify this poison oak along the trail. I'm glad he pointed it out; I'm never sure if a tri-leaf plant is dangerous or not.

Poison oak along the trail 

April 2013

I wasn't happy with the pictures I took of Mosier this day, so I'm going to reach back to last year's pictures when we went with the Lees.

Smoker full of salmon in front of the Mosier Grange Hall

Buffet line

Family-style seating.

Carla, Karen, and John enjoying dinner.

After dinner last year we headed up the hill south of Hood River to get a glimpse of the apple trees and Mt. Hood.

A row of apple trees

Mt Hood rises up to the clouds.