Amish Terrorist Bread

July 30, 2008 | 3 Comments

You are looking at a pair of freshly baked loaves of Amish ~~friendship~~ terrorist bread (ATB).

How dare I suggest that anything the Amish create be considered terrorism? Let me explain. Read more

Posted by seth | Filed Under Food, Blog

Fig Anyone? Fig-it About It? Fig-ive Me

July 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

This is just a small sample of the figs our trees have produced. They have been really, really good this year.

We’ve been eating them on salads, over toast with brie and basalmic, just munching them as snacks, or our new favorite method:

stuffed with a nugget of stinky-bleu cheese, wrapped in proscuitto, skewered and grilled.

If you can find some, give it a shot. You’re taste buds will thank you.

Figs are also great gag fruit. Read more

Posted by seth | Filed Under Food, Blog

Notes from Napa

July 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Back from Napa. . . .

I had planned to update this post sooner, but I’ve been stuck in “vacay” mode and have been trying to avoid lots of time planted in front of a screen.

Sarah and I had a blast running the Napa to Sonoma half marathon. The weather was perfect for running — cool and overcast — and we both performed well. Having spent the majority of the summer getting up at the crack o’ dawn to log miles running in blistering heat was beginning to really wear on me. My performance always suffers in the heat because my body expends more energy trying to stay cool, and I’m not nearly as efficient, which translates into a slower pace.

So I did not mind shivering at the start.

Posted by seth | Filed Under Travel, Blog

Decades of cheap gas has it’s price

July 17, 2008 | 1 Comment

Gas Prices From Around the World

For decades the US has paid far less for gasoline than the rest of the world. Now we’re playing catch-up. We’re all feeling the pain: higher grocery prices, jobs are being cut, and traveling is far from affordable.

Is the solution really drilling for oil — a finite resource — off of our shores and in Alaska? Or would we be better off investing in RENEWABLE energy like wind and solar and alternative fuel like sugarcane based ethanol (Brazil is having huge success with this)?

The Pickens Plan has real promise: T. Boone Pickens’ wind-based plan to reduce dependency on foreign oil. The plan is to dramatically increase windpower generation and natural gas in an effort ween America off of fossil fuels.

Pickens, himself, acknowledges that this is not a long-term solution, but would buy time to develop a larger strategy.

We can start drilling today, and have cheap energy for a short time, but in the long run, I think we’re better off getting off the black liquid crack. Let’s face it, it is making people crazy, and lessening our dependency does mirror drug addiction to an extent. It’s painful, lives are changing dramatically, and it’s an extremely tough process to go through.

The upside is that producing alternative energy would offer substantial growth in new industries — that means JOBS people.

One last thing worth reading: Energy Challenge Issued

Posted by seth | Filed Under rant, Blog

Busch Agrees to Sale

July 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I just got the news that Anheuser-Busch has agreed to a $52 billion buyout from Belgian beermaker InterBev (The deal amounts to $70 a share). Story here

Wall Street Journal has an even better story on the buyout, here.

Busch beers have been a part of my family for my entire life; I’m not exactly whether this is good or bad news. Doesn’t feel like a real positive development right now. I’ll need to read up on the story, and sort things out.

Posted by seth | Filed Under Food, Blog