Terson

My Breads

2008-08-03T02:59:43Z

Work w/ Terson!

2008-04-24T16:55:50Z

Our recruiter is having a hard time filling a couple of open positions; so I thought I would give a shout out here and see if anyone knows of someone looking for work who might fill our needs. If you are interested or know of someone, send me an email with the same username as my livejournal account at gmail.com.

We're looking for a full-time systems integrator. This would be an engineering position and would involve integration of off-the-shelf components with other off-the-shelf components and home-grown technologies. The ideal candidate is someone with strong unix sysadmin skills and python/perl/bash scripting. Work with video files and/or streaming is a definite plus.

The second position is a compressionist. No, we don't need another person who can squeeze themselves into a 2 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot cube (you only need one of me at a workplace), but rather someone who is an expert at video (mpeg4 part 2; h.264; vc1) and audio (aac etc.) encodings. This is currently a contract position.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled entertainment.

Mushroom & Butternut Squash Enchiladas

2008-02-11T06:44:38Z

This is a (significant) modification of one of Jeanne Lemlin's mushroom enchiladas recipes. The changes were driven by the seasonal winter produce we have on hand.

Filling
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 stalk green garlic, minced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 butternut squash, diced
1 lb Mushrooms diced
1/2-1 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp salt
3 handfuls spinach, chopped
1 cup cottage cheese

Sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup milk

Other
8 whole wheat & corn flour tortillas
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

The enchiladas turned out fairly well. I was worried the non-fat milk would curdle, but it seemed to work fine. I was looking for a little bit of a crunch in the filling; the butternut squash was softer than I expected. We had poppy-seed & pinenut ciabatta bread and Kelsey Canyon Chardonnay. The Chard was slightly on the sweet side (unusual in a chard) but acceptable.

Carribean Bulghur Stew

2008-02-04T06:12:15Z

Has it really been a year since I posted anything to livejournal? Wow.

Olive Oil
2 Small Leeks, sliced
2 Small carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ginger, minced

1 Small Sweet Potato
2 Poblano Chilis, diced small
1/4 Red Bell Pepper, diced small
Handful Pistacios
2 small spoons orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup water
2 15 oz cans black beans
Salt to taste

3 mandarin oranges
1 cup Bulghur

I wanted to use Serrano peppers; but they were sold out; evidently popular with the superbowl crowd.

Ideas are easy

2007-01-29T05:50:48Z

Ideas are easy
cheap like a fortune teller
on a late-night call line
her static-choked voice
asked about your problems
her breathy voice conjures
deep caring blue eyes and
arms that hold you
through the night.

Ideas are easy
packed into crates in the garage
more important than the cold-steel
cars resting in the driveway
with a sheen of frost
providing a winter coat.

Ideas are easy
when they are as ethereal as ghosts
undernourished and floating on the wind
spewed from the author on every breath
they dissipate on the wind
leaving a damp moist taste;
Ideas are hard to feed.

-terson

Tofu and spinach soba noodles with an African peanut sauce

2007-01-29T05:39:32Z

That sure is a mouthful for a recipe title. Tonight's dinner was a wacky combination of Chinese and African cuisines. A couple years ago I made a Kwanzaa dinner. One of the entrées was a stuffed eggplant with peanut sauce. I was not that fond of the stuffed eggplant, but the peanut sauce was good. So today when I was trying to figure out what to cook for dinner, I ran across a tofu, spinach, and soba noodle salad. It was intriguing, but I didn't want a salad. For some reason, I thought the peanut sauce might work well with it. I think it turned out well. I should have halved the peanut sauce recipe. It also wouldn't hurt to put in a little more vegetables. Also, next time I'd like to try using only half a cup of peanut butter instead of the three quarter's cup.

Tofu and spinach soba noodles with an African peanut sauce

Sauce
one medium onion, minced
1 tbsp. canola oil
2 tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
one quarter teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 c. tomato sauce
three quarter cup natural-style peanut butter
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
2 tbsp. dark molasses

10 oz. package soba noodles
1 tsp. sesame oil

Stirfry
16 oz. tofu, cut into small triangles
half tablespoon canola oil
half pound mushrooms, quartered
one zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced thinly on a bias cut
one Green garlic, sliced thinly
four handfuls baby spinach, chopped

Pepitas and Dried Cranberry Whole-wheat Sourdough

2007-01-22T05:20:55Z

The yeast in my sourdough starter is weak. Instead of the customary two to three hours that commercial yeast needs to rise in order to double in size, my yeast needs about 12 hours. I don't know if I will be able to sell any sourdough loaves to my coworkers, since I like to bake the bread in the morning before I leave to work. The second rise doesn't take as long; but it takes long enough I don't want to wake up that early.

This is probably easier than most of my bread recipes. These are actually accurate measurements. Of course, they are all in grams. I have started to make less stiff doughs, and that requires me to do more measurement than mixing by feel. I also get to exercise my seventh grade math. I have been doing long division and multiplication in the kitchen with pen and paper.

Pepitas and dried cranberry whole-wheat sourdough

328 g stiff sourdough starter
200 g whole wheat flour
238 g bread flour
336 g water
2 tsp. salt
50 g Pepitas
40 g dried cranberries

It seems kind of wrong to have one measurement in teaspoons while the rest of the measurements are in grams. However, it is hard to measure 12 g and get it accurate. It's easier just to use teaspoons for the salt.

Sole food

2007-01-18T06:45:35Z

I have already gotten behind on my recipes. Last weekend I decided to cook a seafood chowder. The starts with a trip to J.P. Morgan's seafood shop at the marketplace in Alameda. The sole looked good and I also bought a quarter pound of medium peeled shrimp. When I got home, I discovered that they had given me three fillets of sole instead of the two I had ordered. So conveniently, that will lead to the second recipe below. It is no longer summer, so we do not have fresh corn. I tried using creamed corn as an alternative; but, the soup turned out a little too sweet. In the future, I would not bias cut the carrots, but cook them perpendicularly. The carrots for a little larger than necessary.

Seafood chowder

One leek, white and pale green leaves thinly sliced
two cloves garlic
1 tbsp. olive oil

2 c. water
two small pink potatoes, half-inch dice
three to four Yukon golden potatoes, half-inch dice
Orange bell pepper, 1 in. dice
one carrot, sliced thinly on bias cut

One pinch of oregano
ground pepper to taste
salt to taste
two fillets of sole
one quarter pound medium shrimp, cut into thirds
1 c. skim milk
half cup heavy cream

I decided to make as salad with the leftover sole. I had fun breading the sole, which I had never done before. I created an egg wash, and used a combination of Japanese panko and leftover bread crumbs from a sourdough loaf of bread that I had baked. The salad was okay, I don't think the sole had enough taste to stand up to the salad greens and the light salad dressing. Probably, a heftier fish would work better. I had planned on using a carrot, we of hundreds of carrots, but I forgot. Those lucky carrots, will never get rid of them.

Sole salad

One fillet sole
egg wash
panko bread crumbs
sourdough bread crumbs
pinch paprika
pinch oregano
pinch black pepper
pinch salt

Mixed baby salad greens
yellow bell pepper, three quarter inch dice

juice from one half Meyer lemon
good splash of olive oil
splash of rice vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Meyer lemon and dried blueberry scones

2007-01-16T06:15:38Z

We received a couple of Meyer lemons in our produce box this last week. Meyer lemons have become popular recently and I looked forward to experimenting with our Meyer lemons. I mixed together a recipe from bon appétit together with recipes from several books. I ended up with a lighter, moister scone. I don't know that scones are supposed to be moister; but still tastes good.

Scone
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. Meyer lemon zest
1 tbsp. baking powder
three quarter teaspoon salt
half cup sugar
half cup butter
three quarters cup heavy whipping cream, whipped
1 c. dried blueberries

icing
juice from one half Meyer lemon
powdered sugar

The one unusual step in making scones was to shape the scones and then stick them in to the freezer for 15 minutes. These cooked at roughly 400° for 15 minutes.

Oops I did it again

2007-01-08T02:01:01Z

I am not very good at cooking or baking something and later being able to re-create almost exactly what I cooked or baked the last time. I usually think this is good; not following a recipe, or rather not following a recipe well, guarantees that I try new things. However, I think I am beginning to enter a new stage. I want to keep track of what I have done so that over time I can compare notes. You all, will just have to suffer through my explorations of cooking and baking.

Yesterday, I baked spinach, eggplant, and carrot lasagna for Aneska's birthday. The beet noodles did not come out quite as colorful as I had hoped. The noodles on the bottom seemed to bleach out their colors. The ones on the top were a pale pink. I used the new mandoline that I received for Christmas to create paper-thin carrots and slightly thicker slices of eggplant. I didn't cook the eggplant before layering it into the lasagna. I think it would have been better to have cooked the eggplant. The sauce was good, however, I was worried about it being too runny, so only added a half cup of wine. I think it would have been better with a whole cup of wine.

Terson Lasagna

Noodles
three quarters cup semolina flour
three quarters cup all-purpose flour
dash of salt
three eggs
half of one small beet, minced

Sauce
one onion, sliced very thinly using a mandoline
four cloves garlic, minced
tablespoon of olive oil
one 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
dash of dried basil, oregano, and thyme
7 oz. baby spinach, chopped
half cup red wine

Cheese filling
15 oz. ricotta cheese
one egg
dash of nutmeg

Veggie layers
one eggplant, sliced thinly using a mandoline
one large carrot, sliced paper-then using a mandoline

half pound mozzarella cheese
grated asiago cheese

Feed me...

2006-04-09T20:44:33Z

Sometime between Friday evening and Sunday morning, Audrey was born, or more properly one might say that Audrey had come to life. Audrey is currently bubbling away on my kitchen table. Hopefully, I won't kill Audrey like its earlier siblings. Audrey is more like the Borg than a single individual.

Wow

2006-03-09T17:36:33Z

If you get the chance to go see Gráda (http://www.gradamusic.com/), go see them. (hint... hint... They're playing in Antioch on Friday). More soon...

Ride from Dicken's Faire to Gaskell's Society Ball

2004-12-17T06:25:33Z

I'm looking for options. I'm going to be working Gaskell's on Saturday (last show is over by 4:30) but won't have driven there. Aneska will be meeting me at Gaskell's. Is anyone planning on being at Dicken's Faire and then heading over to Gaskell's? Could I get a ride?

Dentist Recommendations

2004-12-08T04:41:49Z

I'm pretty sure that part of one of my fillings fell out during lunch today. I haven't yet found a dentist out here in the bay area. Any recommendations? I'm somewhat picky on Dentist's because I've had too many bad experiences; and am hoping y'all can help me avoid another bad experience.

Halloween Costume

2004-10-29T16:19:04Z

I hadn't planned on wearing a costume to gaskell's. However, I realized that I have a sequined vest that was originally part of a belly-dance costume, as well as a rather appropriate baggy black pants. If anyone would be willing, I'm looking for a scarf that I could borrow to tie around my waist... and possibly a shirt although I may be able to turn up something appropriate.

Couldn't resist...

2004-09-22T16:03:53Z

I Am A: Chaotic Good Elf Bard Ranger

Alignment:
Chaotic Good characters are independent types with a strong belief in the value of goodness. They have little use for governments and other forces of order, and will generally do their own things, without heed to such groups.

Race:
Elves are the eldest of all races, although they are generally a bit smaller than humans. They are generally well-cultured, artistic, easy-going, and because of their long lives, unconcerned with day-to-day activities that other races frequently concern themselves with. Elves are, effectively, immortal, although they can be killed. After a thousand years or so, they simply pass on to the next plane of existance.

Primary Class:
Bards are the entertainers. They sing, dance, and play instruments to make other people happy, and, frequently, make money. They also tend to dabble in magic a bit.

Secondary Class:
Rangers are the defenders of nature and the elements. They are in tune with the Earth, and work to keep it safe and healthy.

Deity:
Hanali Cenanil is the Chaotic Good elven goddess of love, beauty, and art. She is also known as the Heart of Gold and Lady Goldheart. Her followers delight in creation and youth, and work to spread happiness, love, and beauty. Their preferred weapon is the dagger.

Find out What D&D Character Are You?, courtesy ofNeppyMan (e-mail)

I'm really not the material guy

2004-07-18T05:07:08Z

I've built up a rather large list of things that I want to buy. I recently bought another techno-gadget toy in the hopes that it might reduce the repetitive strain that I place on my wrists. This gadget is one of those funky contour keyboards. It was recommended by a friend and although expensive, comes with a sixty day return policy.

I'm also looking at buying several pairs of new shoes (faire boots, dance sneakers, dress dance shoes), new hose and trousers for faire (my current pair is sad.) I'm also looking at buying a new instrument. I'm looking at getting a hammer dulcimer soon. I borrowed a friends to try it out and see whether it agreed with my wrists. Playing the hammer dulcimer wasn't painless, but I think/hope that it would work as a second instrument. Albeit, an instrument that requires up to ninety minutes of tuning before playing.

I'm really not a material guy. I usually don't want that much. But everytime I seem to turn around, there seems to be something else I want.

BTW, this is my first post on my new keyboard. Interesting. We'll see how it goes.

Not so evil doctors

2004-06-23T16:57:40Z

I went to see a gastro-intestinal specialist to try and determine what is wrong with me. I don't like doctors. I don't really like hospitals but got over some of my dislike when I worked at a university campus and the shortest route from my office to classrooms was through the hospital. They don't know exactly what is wrong with me. If that was all I could say, I would be disappointed. However, they have a leading candidate and a couple of other tests to try and rule things out. The leading candidate is stress. Ouch. I've already known that I stress too much. And when I look back, the timing for this occurs about when I found out that our group at work was undergoing a reorganization.

I also got a handout of various magic pills and am supposed to get a test done in the near future. I've been feeling slightly better since the weekend (cross fingers) and hopefully this will continue. I'm maintaining weight, which is very good.

The Anti-Hobbit

2004-06-14T04:03:55Z

I've been sick for about week. I don't like not knowing what is wrong with me. It's probably the "scientist" in me that is having this problem. When I went and saw the doctor on Friday, they couldn't tell me what is wrong. I suppose I'm not surprised since the Doctors have an almost impossible job. They have to deal with reports from people on how they feel and people will observe their situation differently. Second, there is so many different possibilities that could be causing my symptoms.

So I'm waiting for the blood tests to come back and trying to figure out how to deal with the abdominal pain. They wanted me to eat a bland diet. That didn't seem to make a difference. But, if I don't eat at all, my stomach seems to be happy. I've gone from being a hobbit eating many smallish meals to the anti-hobbit. I try to eat a single meal to minimize the pain. I hope they figure this out soon.

Lark Camp

2004-05-24T03:39:37Z

I finally registered for Lark Camp. As long as I didn't wait too long to register and there are still spots I should be at Lark Camp. I hope to see some of you there.

Satyrlovesong was right...

2004-04-29T20:22:00Z

My only previous post commented that I wouldn't post here, but that you could find my real blog on g-blog. As happens, I've decided to have two blogs. My g-blog blog has a specific purpose; I publish my poetry and recipes there. I enjoy it for it's community.

Yet, I found myself wanting to post occasionally more personal posts that I only want people I know reading. Livejournal has a nice feature that allows you to keep posts private to a subset of users. Therefore, I'm now keeping a blog here. Most entries will be protected. If you feel that I accidentally overlooked including you on my livejournal list of friends, let me know and I'll add you to the list.

My Usual Blog

2003-11-03T03:06:34Z

I will not be regularly posting to this blog. Rather, this gives me the opportunity to view people's blogs on LiveJournal and reply to blog posts. You can find my blog at: G-blog.