What i liked about Carlin was that he used words as humor. The infamous “7 dirty words” bit was only the tip of the iceberg. his intelligence carried through to his comedy, and he wasn’t afraid to use and exploit big words. this is why i admired George Carlin. I’d say I hope he rests in peace, but he wasn’t very religious, so i will just say thank you and I hope he passed painlessly.
poT fehC
i am not really one for reality shows. Or at least that’s what i used to think in the genre’s infancy. I still don’t watch American Idol, So you think you can [insert verb here], or, for chrissake, Shear Genius, the show about… haircutters?! But I find myself intrigued by men fishing for crab in Alaska.
However, cooking “reality” is my weakness. I faithfully watched Next Food Network Star (how’s that working out for you, gay winners from season 1?), Hell’s Kitchen (with less fervor this year than in seasons past), and the granddaddy, Top Chef. HK this season really suffers, and I’m not sure if it’s because the “chefs” are just the suck this year (holy crap, that Matt guy looked like he was going to cry in every episode), or if they changed the show enough to just focus on Gordon Ramsay yelling about stupid shit. Top Chef is my favorite, probably because the “cheftestants” can actually cook. I was completely sucked in this year. It didn’t help that the eventual winner, Stephanie, is a little freakin’ hottie. Unfortunately, she’s not yet approved my Facebook friend request.
Quick review of the new Coldplay Album
Meh.
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Now playing: John Mayer – Message in a Bottle
via FoxyTunes
IPA Update
Yesterday, Sunday, I transferred my latest India Pale Ale (IPA) from primary fermenter to secondary. While secondary is technically a misnomer (no further fermentation takes place), it clarifies the beer and lets the last bunch of dead yeast cells and hop detritus fall to the bottom of the carboy.
One of the joys of homebrewing is taking a gravity reading, which tells you the density of your beer, where 1.00 is plain water, and everything above it is, in this context, beer. Homebrewers check the starting gravity, then the gravity when transferring to either a secondary fermenter, bottles/kegs, and/or both. A hydrometer checks the gravity by taking a sample of the beer and placing it in a beaker. You then read the hydrometer as it floats in your oh-so-precious liquid. My final gravity (FG) was only two points off what the recipe said it should be (the recipe noted FG at 1.014; mine was 1.016). This just results in a bit less alcohol in the beer, but I’m not sure how accurate everything is, anyway.
To avoid contamination, the sample is never returned to the rest of the beer. However, it is completely drinkable, and I always drink it to see how my beer’s coming out.
And holy cow, was that sample good. It was almost exactly the taste I want from an IPA. It was bitter, without being too much so for a hop-head like me. I do think it’s a bit thin in the malt department; next time (and there will be a next time) I’ll be sure to add another pound of malt extract to counteract the bitterness.
I also added a half-ounce of Amarillo and half-ounce of Simcoe, the two hops used in the beer, to the secondary fermenter. This is known as dry-hopping. It doesn’t contribute to the bitterness of the beer, but adds to the delicious aroma.
A few weeks in the fermenter, then bottle day, then I can drink a few weeks later!
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Now playing: The Doors – Twentienth Century Fox
via FoxyTunes
Quick Cooking Tip #1 – Slaw
Never make slaw with mayonnaise. Always use caraway seeds.