The Riceland extra-long-grain enriched white rice didn't turn out too bad last time, in that I didn't have to scrub the pot with steel wool to clean it after. I think the trick is mostly giving it a generous cool time, so that evaporation doesn't cause the rice in contact with the pot to stick while transferring to storage. However, heating is still tricky because the damn hot plate heats beyond boiling and then doesn't cool quickly to simmering temperature, so removing the pot from heat until it stops boi... (...more)

Rather than just picking blindly, I actually paid attention to Pubilx's wine-shelf labeling to get 2 economical ($5/bottle), non-sweet red wine picks: both Little Penguin (a southeast Australian winery), 2011 cabernet sauvignon and 2010 merlot. Pubilx had no malbecs under $10/bottle and I frankly just don't get $10 worth of enjoyment from 750ml of wine by the glass, much less as a bean stew flavoring. First, the cab sauv: Wine-Searcher.com gives it 10/10 and Vinopedia's 6 ratings for all vintage years a... (...more)

1.5 cups lentils, a cup each of frozen chopped spinach and broccoli crowns, 2 tbsp olive oil, 4 shakes of lite salt, 2 cups water and a cup of Turning Leaf 2010 chardonnay. Bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer 25 minutes. Perfecto :Q

I do a lot of re-provisioning of computers for a client when they have staff turnover. In a creeping fashion, Chrome pushed ahead of Firefox as my alternate browser of choice, as its performance on older Windowses blows away all other browsers. I'm still not keen on its stubborn denial of a native windowed browsing option, but with the "new tab new window" extension it's moot in any single-desktop configuration. Because this preference developed slowly, I found myself reinstalling Chrome for each new u... (...more)

For a long time I was sourcing yerba mate from Nakava here in town. Instant coffee was ultimately cheaper, much easier and didn't involve a trip to the Nak'. But I do love yerba mate, so it was a very happy accident that I stumbled across several brands at Western Beef. Pennyroyal as an ingredient turned me off, so first we're trying the Sabor Suave Rosamonte. It's comparable to Nakava's, possibly even a bit stronger. I'll have to double-check the price next time because I think they overpriced me a buck a... (...more)