c u l t i t u d e

the periodic table of typefaces (full size)

the collapse of the banking system, as explained by alex blumberg & adam davidson on this american life.  if you want even more, check out this interview on fresh air with simon johnson, a former IMF official.

tent city, sacramento, california, 2009

transforming our food system ideals from "organic" to sustainable

Real sustainability, [Fred Kirschenmann, former director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture] argues, is defined not by a food system’s capacity to ensure happy workers or organic lima beans, but by whether the food system can sustain itself—that is, keep going, indefinitely, in a world of finite resources. A truly sustainable food system is inherently resilient—more capable of self-correction and self-revitalization than its industrial rival. Unfortunately, in the real world of farming, ideas like “resilience” must compete with realities like “costs” and “profits,” and producers and consumers alike gravitate toward simpler standards—even if those standards don’t represent truly sustainable practices.
+ mother jones +

but can you hear this?

a list of test tones to determine where your high frequency hearing cuts off.  warning: you may find the results a little depressing.  (the last one i can hear is 14 kHz)

good on driving

a fugue state

After her rescue [after three weeks], while she was recovering from hypothermia and dehydration at Richmond University Medical Center in Staten Island, she was told that she was suffering from dissociative fugue, a rare form of amnesia that causes people to forget their identity, suddenly and without warning, and can last from a few hours to years.
+ nytimes +

the human cost of tomatoes

[W]hen asked if it is reasonable to assume that an American who has eaten a fresh tomato from a grocery store or food-service company during the winter has eaten fruit picked by the hand of a slave, [ chief assistant U.S. attorney] Molloy said, “It is not an assumption. It is a fact.”

advice: buy season, local, and small-scale fruit.  whole foods is the only grocery chain that has signed on to the coalition of immokalee workers (ciw) campaign for fair food. 
+ gourmet magazine +

i love you forever and always

+ via kottke +

nuke the fridge? not for me.

As drastic as the move might seem, a small segment of the green movement has come to regard the refrigerator as an unacceptable drain on energy, and is choosing to live without it. In spite of its ubiquity — 99.5 percent of American homes have one — these advocates say the refrigerator is unnecessary, as long as one is careful about shopping choices and food storage.
+ new york times +

the ethicurean proposes 10 specific actions the USDA could take in the first 6 months of the new administration in order to make some real change in our food system.

1. Make the USDA once again the “people’s department” with staff that answer to citizens before corporations.
2. Start supporting diversified, decentralized food systems right now, and stop risking American lives by encouraging all our eggs to be put in one basket (or hamburger in one plant, peanuts in one processor…).
3. Stop using the nation’s kids as a garbage disposal.
4. Give us clear information about where our food comes from and how it was produced.
5. Start protecting us from food gone wrong, and GE crops gone wild.
6. Usher in a new era of conservation.
7. Make a firm investment in non-biotech agricultural research – and make sure it stays in the public domain.
8. Help more people become farmers, and help the ones who’ve made that difficult choice succeed.
9. Level the pasture for small farmers and ranchers.
10. Realize where the market has failed and help us weather it.

view this list in its expanded form as a pdf, or with comments in parts one and two.

i vowed that this year would be the year i learned how to really cook eggs — from the plain to the fancy.  i’ve never been particularly good, bad, or adventurous with eggs in the past & have been hampered by my stainless steel pan, which i otherwise love.  but my cooking class combined with the audio book of julie & julia made me think that eggs at least are an area that is well within my ability to master.

so to that end, i went out & bought a nonstick pan (the scanpan from sur la table, theoretically slightly less carcinogenic than the usual nonstick), made a list of recipes/preparations, & am pleased to announce my first success — the spanish tortilla.

spanish tortilla

ingredients

• 10 ounces red-skinned potatoes, cut into 1/3-inch pieces

• 8 large eggs
• 4 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano (do not use dried oregano like i did the first time, because this will give the entire dish a greyish coloring that is not especially appetizing)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped

preparation

position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. cook potatoes in large saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, about 6 minutes. drain and cool.

whisk eggs and next 5 ingredients in large bowl until well blended. mix in potatoes. heat oil in large ovenproof nonstick skillet over high heat. add onion; sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. reduce heat to medium. add egg mixture; cook 3 minutes, occasionally stirring egg from sides of skillet. place skillet in oven and bake eggs until set in center and no longer wet on top, about 20 minutes.

remove tortilla from oven. immediately place skillet on cold wet kitchen towel to prevent further cooking. let stand 2 minutes. run spatula around edge of skillet and under tortilla. lift skillet and tilt, sliding tortilla onto platter. serve warm or at room temperature. cut into wedges.

i liked it plain but zach preferred adding some hot sauce.  romesco sauce would probably be a good addition. served with salad & soup.