Pic Today 2/21/11

CHEFS HAVING FUN

There's a simple recipe

for chefs having fun . . .

Plan a gourmet menu

for people who really love food.

(Not too many people. 20 is nice.)

Get really fresh ingredients,

all those little extras;

let them do what they love to do

in a really nice kitchen.

Last night's event was just such an experience,

with fresh Oregon white truffles,

American paddlefish caviar,

giant bay scallops and bay shrimp . . .

cooked in candied basil syrup,

with brussel sprout and fennel slaw,

in a red pepper vinaigrette.

Chopped tarragon mini-ice cubes to refresh.

And lots of chef silliness.

(And it helps to have lots of helpers

to serve and clean up.)

Are you hungry yet?

Pic Today 2/20/11

FACES FROM THE OZARKS

Some memorable people and personalities

from my recent trip to the Missouri Ozarks include:

o Alice at Mountain Grove Antiques,

86 years young and full of spunk.

o Amos the donkey, who tried to eat my shirt.

o The sweet Amish ladies who run the

Heirloom Seed Co. in Mansfield, Mo.

o A friendly black swan at a farm in Cabool,

who was definitely in charge of his roost.

o The Wednesday morning 'town talk' meeting

at Alice's antique shop.

o And the best dern' skillet corn bread

at the Hay Loft restaurant in Mountain Grove, Mo.

Lots of new friends and stories,

with lasting memories from the Ozark Mountains.

Pic Today 2/19/11

RURAL OZARK BEAUTY

Scenes from my recent trip

to southern Missouri

and the rugged Ozark Mountains.

One of the oldest mountain ranges on earth,

the Ozarks don't reach high altitudes,

but they're rich in natural diversity and history.

Rich farmland, hundreds of rivers and springs, and

caves that supported early man, Indians and settlers alike.

There are still families that choose a simpler life today,

living in 100-year-old cabins,

raising crops, cattle and children.

Pick-up trucks do better than cars

on most Ozark dirt roads, and

satellite dishes are behind the wood pile,

but you'll still find "out houses" with an incredible view.

Pic Today 2/18/11

FERNANDO BOTERO'S

"CHUBBY VIEW" OF LIFE

Colombian artist, Fernando Botero,

is often criticized for his controversial subject matter

(drug lord Pablo Escobar's rooftop killing,

the Abu Ghraib atrocities at Guantánamo Bay, etc.),

but revered and respected for his "chubby view"

on life and classical art.

At the Botero Museum in Bogotá,

his giant canvasses feature whimsical 'fattened' subjects,

including his own self-portrait,

peering around a chubby nude female.

He's even re-done the Mona Lisa

(although she's put on a few pounds.)

Pic Today 2/17/11

50 MICROGRAMS OF PLATINUM

HAVE DISAPPEARED

Just outside Paris,

the International Bureau of Weights & Measures

carefully guards the exact weight of one kilogram.

Manufactured to precise specifications

and weighed to the "20 decimal points",

a hunk of platinum (with traces of iridium) was prepared

in the late 19th century,

to weigh exactly one kilogram.

No more, no less.

It has resided in a special safe, in controlled conditions,

in 3 separate vacuum jars, in an underground vault

that can be opened only with 3 different keys

possessed by 3 different people.

(You get the idea.)

The sample was recently compared to its "official copies",

as standards to this internationally important

prototype of weight measurement.

And voila . . .

To the shock of this revered standards institution,

this protected sacred sample

was "50 micrograms" short!

To quote the Director of the

International Bureau of Weights and Measures,

when asked for an explanation of the missing platinum,

"your guess is as good as mine."

He suggested the possibility that the official kilogram

"may not have gotten lighter, but perhaps

the other comparable kilograms have gotten heavier."

Right!

(So much for officially protected standards of measurement.)