What would you do if you bought $27k worth of fence for a planned dog park whose plans were nixed?
Well, the local paper reports that the [redacted] has plans to expand the existing dog park at [redacted] Park. Not bad news . . .
They also said a plan for a second dog park is still in the works but it will be moved to the yet-to-be-built [redacted] Park, which will be located east of [redacted] Road and south of [redacted] Road.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Curdled Milk in Potato Soup
Our potato soup has little white specks in it, and after doing a little bit of searching online, it was because the milk has curdled.
According to Google, milk curdles when it is heated. Curdled milk is not bad milk. If it were bad, it would taste and smell sour. The process of curdling binds the proteins together to form clumps. The same process occurs when yogurt is made. In yogurt production, milk is heated in order for the proteins to bind.
To avoid this process and the associated lack of visual appeal, we have a couple of options:
(1) Don't add the milk until we're ready to eat the soup. If we do this, the milk has to be heated slowly before it is added to the soup. Cold milk added to hot soup will curdle the milk on contact. (2) Add a pinch of baking soda. This base neutralizes the lactic acid in the milk. It also negates the acidic effect that any salt required by the recipe would cause. One side effect is that it may change the taste of the soup. (Does baking soda taste?)
(3) Don't leave the soup unattended. Keep the temperature on low and stir the soup to avoid heat build-up.
Now the question is, how does a person reheat the soup without causing it to curdle? We'll soon find out . . .
According to Google, milk curdles when it is heated. Curdled milk is not bad milk. If it were bad, it would taste and smell sour. The process of curdling binds the proteins together to form clumps. The same process occurs when yogurt is made. In yogurt production, milk is heated in order for the proteins to bind.
To avoid this process and the associated lack of visual appeal, we have a couple of options:
(1) Don't add the milk until we're ready to eat the soup. If we do this, the milk has to be heated slowly before it is added to the soup. Cold milk added to hot soup will curdle the milk on contact. (2) Add a pinch of baking soda. This base neutralizes the lactic acid in the milk. It also negates the acidic effect that any salt required by the recipe would cause. One side effect is that it may change the taste of the soup. (Does baking soda taste?)
(3) Don't leave the soup unattended. Keep the temperature on low and stir the soup to avoid heat build-up.
Now the question is, how does a person reheat the soup without causing it to curdle? We'll soon find out . . .
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Good deals on running gear
If you're a runner, when it comes to running shoes, you're either one of two types. You either buy the same shoe over and over again and hope and pray that the manufacturer doesn't discontinue your shoe or (2) you generally don't care, but try to get a good shoe at a decent price.
I fall into the latter category. Over the years, I've learned that I tend to get less injuries if I replace my shoes every 300 miles or so. How do you count that out? Well, about a year and a half ago I bought a Garmin Forerunner 305 from TigerDirect.com. It's done a good job of helping me log miles for my shoes and, as a fringe benefit, for my dog. She's run over 300 miles to date!
When I first started logging my runs, I tried using Garmin's GPS software. It really isn't that good. If you're looking for something better and free, I'd encourage you to try SportTracks software.
OK, back to running shoes. My feet tend to do better with Nike Structure Triax and New Balance 718/719/720 shoes. There might be other brands that work for me, but these 2 have done the trick so far. New Balance has a website they sell close-outs on, New Balance Web Express, and Altrec.com usually has pretty good prices on Nike Close-outs.
I've tried phoning some of the Nike Factory Stores with limited success. If they have the shoe you want in stock, they'll ship them to you. It turns out to be a pretty fair deal.
I had a bad bout with some Nike Air Max Triax about 5 years ago and ended up with plantar fasciitis. My left shoe would make this woosh sound because of what turned out to be a hole in the air pocket. (The shoes were purchased at the outlet store.) I didn't know they were defective until a hundred or so miles afterwards, and a month or so after I replaced the shoes the injury fully appeared.
That's a problem that I wouldn't wish on anyone . . .no fun. Basically, the ligaments that run underneath your foot become torn. Your body tries to heal itself, but because you're constantly on your feet, it never has a chance to catch up. At night, it will begin to heal, but starting with your first step out of bed in the morning, you re-tear those ligaments that have healed overnight. Ouch!
So the moral of the story is, "Kids, listen to your shoes -- and to your body!"
I fall into the latter category. Over the years, I've learned that I tend to get less injuries if I replace my shoes every 300 miles or so. How do you count that out? Well, about a year and a half ago I bought a Garmin Forerunner 305 from TigerDirect.com. It's done a good job of helping me log miles for my shoes and, as a fringe benefit, for my dog. She's run over 300 miles to date!
When I first started logging my runs, I tried using Garmin's GPS software. It really isn't that good. If you're looking for something better and free, I'd encourage you to try SportTracks software.
OK, back to running shoes. My feet tend to do better with Nike Structure Triax and New Balance 718/719/720 shoes. There might be other brands that work for me, but these 2 have done the trick so far. New Balance has a website they sell close-outs on, New Balance Web Express, and Altrec.com usually has pretty good prices on Nike Close-outs.
I've tried phoning some of the Nike Factory Stores with limited success. If they have the shoe you want in stock, they'll ship them to you. It turns out to be a pretty fair deal.
I had a bad bout with some Nike Air Max Triax about 5 years ago and ended up with plantar fasciitis. My left shoe would make this woosh sound because of what turned out to be a hole in the air pocket. (The shoes were purchased at the outlet store.) I didn't know they were defective until a hundred or so miles afterwards, and a month or so after I replaced the shoes the injury fully appeared.
That's a problem that I wouldn't wish on anyone . . .no fun. Basically, the ligaments that run underneath your foot become torn. Your body tries to heal itself, but because you're constantly on your feet, it never has a chance to catch up. At night, it will begin to heal, but starting with your first step out of bed in the morning, you re-tear those ligaments that have healed overnight. Ouch!
So the moral of the story is, "Kids, listen to your shoes -- and to your body!"
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