Brush Valley Brewer

Breakfast was a bowl of cereal with a sliced banana. I weighed in at 161 pounds.



<ins datetime="2003-12-03T16:11:00-05:00">I had a granola bar and a four mile walk for lunch.</ins>



<ins datetime="2003-12-03T18:33:00-05:00">Dinner was left over butternut squash and vegetable gratin and roasted potato wedges with balsamic vinegar and a <a href="http://www.sierra-nevada.com/beers/celebrationale.html" title="Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale">Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale</a>.</ins>

<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16398-2003Nov26.html">Plant a Pot of Ginger (washingtonpost.com)</a>: Ginger should live in gravel for several months (and even longer in dirt). When it starts to wither, just buy a new piece and begin anew. 

1. Gather your supplies. Ginger can be found in most grocery stores for less than $2. The ideal piece will have smooth skin and several eyes, like those on a potato. Shape is also important: Buy a piece three to six inches high, with a nub on the bottom to help it stand upright in the pot. You’ll also need a small clear vase or bowl and two shades of gravel. (Pet shops usually have an array of the colored stones.)
2. Pick your base color of gravel and fill the bowl a third of the way, shaking the container slightly to get an even layer. Pour your second color of gravel on top, leaving enough space for the final layer.
3. Place the ginger in the bowl, steadying it with one hand as you pour your final layer of gravel around it with the other hand. Fill the bowl to the top, making sure that the ginger can stand on its own. Water sparingly once a week, and new growth should soon appear. When the culinary urge hits, hold the plant firm, cut off a piece of ginger with a sharp knife, and prepare for its pleasantly pungent flavor.

Breakfast this morning was a piece of apple pie made by my sister-in-law. I weighed in at 160 pounds. <img src="http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/m/h/mhl100/images/gasp.png" height="18" width="18" alt="=-O" /> I walked downtown over lunch to drop Gretchen&rsquo;s watch off at the jeweler&rsquo;s to get the band repaired &mdash; about three miles round trip. I discovered that I did not have my wallet with me &mdash; one sure way to keep you on a diet is not being able to buy food <img src="http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/m/h/mhl100/images/wink.png" height="18" width="18" alt=";-)" /> &mdash; so, lunch was my last bag of popcorn.



<ins datetime="2003-12-02T18:45:00-05:00">We had a <a href="http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1950,159184-233192,00.html" title="Cooks.com | Recipe | BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND VEGETABLE GRATIN">butternut squash and vegetable gratin</a>. It was quite good, with a very proven&ccedil;al flavor. We also had some more of the left over stuffing.</ins>

Tonight we moved our onions from drying in the attic to storage in the root cellar. We have been using some already but, after picking out the ones that had gone bad, we ended up with a bushel and a half in the root cellar.

<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3248822.stm">BBC NEWS | UK | Scientists create &lsquo;perfect&rsquo; toast</a>: &ldquo;Researchers&rsquo; found that people think the perfect piece of toast should have partly melted butter patches on it, improving its taste and texture.



&ldquo;For this to work, the butter should be applied at fridge temperature of five degrees Celsius, the equation shows&hellip;



&ldquo;The equation relates to the critical amount of butter, applied at fridge temperature (approximately five degrees Celsius or 41&deg;F), required to produce this effect.



&ldquo;H represents thickness, Cp the specific heat, P density, T the initial temperature of the toast, w the weight, and subscript a and b toast and butter respectively&hellip;



&ldquo;&lsquo;To produce the patches of butter most people said they preferred, the bread needs to be heated to at least 120&deg;C, and the butter should be used straight from the fridge, applied unevenly within two minutes of the bread coming out of the toaster.



&ldquo;&lsquo;The amount of butter should be about one-seventeenth the thickness of the bread,&rsquo; he said.&rdquo;

Breakfast was a piece of Gretchen&rsquo;s banana bread. Lunch was an <a href="http://www.orville.com/gateway?waf.action=P04ProductDetail&amp;productID=1002&amp;mnav=products" title="Orville Redenbacher — Gourmet Products">Orville Redenbacher&rsquo;s Gourmet&reg; Popping Corn Smart Pop Mini Bag</a> followed by a four mile walk.

Dinner was the <a href="http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/m/h/mhl100/2003_11_01_journal.html#id106994259932429342" title="Food Log">split pea soup</a> that Gretchen made the other day. We froze three bags of three cups each of what was left. That is enough for two generous servings per bag.

<a href="http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/tbcook.htm">FOOD SAFETY FACTS Turkey Basics: Safe Cooking </a>: Many factors can affect the roasting time of a whole turkey:

• A frozen or partially frozen turkey takes longer to cook than a completely thawed turkey.
• A turkey will cook faster in a dark roasting pan.
• The depth and size of the pan can affect heat circulation to all areas of the turkey.
• The use of a foil tent for the entire cooking time can slow cooking.
• Putting a lid on the roasting pan speeds up cooking.
• An oven cooking bag will shorten cooking time.
• A stuffed turkey will take longer to cook than an unstuffed turkey.
• Ovens may heat unevenly.
• The oven rack position can have an effect on even cooking and heat circulation.

<a href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/20/WIG1Q35G1R1.DTL">Pairing tips for Thanksgiving</a>: Here are a few other white varietals and appropriate food matches:

• Pinot Grigio is a good aperitif and goes well with roasted turkey.
• Gewurztraminer has a spicy character that sets it up for cranberry or fall fruit chutney and pumpkin or butternut-squash soup flavored with baking spices.
• Riesling, especially German Kabinetts and off-dry Spatleses, with their tropical fruit, citrus, green-apple, pear and mineral notes, work with almost any Thanksgiving dish except cranberry sauce and desserts.
• Chardonnay — the less oak the better — has similar versatility and its full body makes it appropriate for creamed dishes.

<a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/outdoors/20011122turkeys1122p2.asp">Wild turkeys sticking their necks out in more places and greater numbers </a>: &ldquo;Wild turkeys &mdash; known scientifically as <em>Meleagris gallopavo</em> &mdash; are now regularly seen in flocks of a dozen or more along Bigelow Boulevard, on Brucewood Drive in Mt. Lebanon and in the Allegheny Cemetery, from where they sometimes stray onto nearby Stanton Avenue, blocking traffic as they strut into Morningside&hellip;



Wild turkey populations have soared in Pennsylvania to an estimated 320,000 birds, up from 60,000 in 1968 and just a few thousand in 1900. During the fall turkey season that ended earlier this month, hunters around the state bagged somewhere between 45,000 and 50,000 birds, according the state Game Commission.&rdquo;

<a href="http://www.williamrubel.com/magicoffire/heritage.turkey.html">Slow Food Heritage Turkey - Turkeys for Traditional Cooking</a>: &ldquo;Historically, turkeys were eaten for much of the year. In the early summer the birds were small. In the fall and early winter the birds were large. Historically, farmers culled their animals in the late fall &mdash; including their poultry &mdash; because they couldn&rsquo;t afford to keep large stocks through the winter. Even today, in countries like Lithuania where country people still live off the land, poultry flocks are thinned in the fall. As it happens that Thanksgiving in America, and Christmas in Europe, takes place just when flocks are reduced, the tradition grew up of serving large prize birds at the feast. It is important in thinking about the role of turkey in our modern diet to recognize that historically there was &lsquo;turkey&rsquo; and then there was the &lsquo;holiday bird.&rsquo;&rdquo;