Bummer. Stark evidence of aging

so i went to the pistol range for a little R&R, to shake off the doldrums caused by the almost unceasing yammering of politics. just me and my firearms there, no 24/7 talking heads, no political ads, nothing but me, the targets, the lights, and the hum of ventilation overhead.
so here's a target shot at 15 yards offhand. all three guns are sighted in at 25. nice and tight groups, 10 rounds each. click for larger images

And then i ran a target out to 25 yards, and tried again. those nice tight groups no longer exist. my eyesite is the determining factor on group size. theoretically i should shoot groups a little less than twice as big, all other things being equal. the difference... eyesite and glasses that don't allow me to both focus on the sights and the target. click for larger images
of course, i am not bitching. nope. the fact that i still have the freedom to load a couple of guns into a hard case and go shooting vastly overrides the paltry inconvenience of the signs of incipient dodderism and advanced geezerhood...

Food Blog: Spicy Curry Noodle Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potato

My boss came in to work the other day, and proceeded to tell me all about this killer soup. his son had called to say that he'd made it, and that dad should go right out and get all the stuff needed, and MAKE IT, dammit. boss bubba did, and couldn't wait to tell me about it. he's a foodie to, so we spend time talking about great restaurants we've found in the area, and recipes. so if he tells me it's good, i have to believe that it is. so i asked him to bring the magazine in, which he did the next day.

The source recipe was from the January 08 Bon Appetit recipe spicy curry noodle soup with chicken and sweet potato. the recipe originates from a local restaurant called Lemon Grass Restaurant in Sacramento. everyone i've asked in the area tells me this is one of the best asian style restaurants in the area, and if this recipe is any indication, i believe them. it is now on our list of places to try when up from vacaville visiting my daughter.

so on the way home, i stopped by an asian market for ingredients. nice thing about working in Sacramento. lots of asian markets, good ones with great selection.
the following is verbatim transcribed from the bon appetit magazine article, with my observations in bold, and my pictures.


Ingredients: i know this is going to seem like a lot of ingredients, but it is really well worth the effort, and it's not all that hard to do the prep work

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons chopped shallots
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced lemongrass* (from bottom 4 inches of about 3 stalks, tough outer leaves discarded) i've been told that you can get and use frozen minced lemon grass, and the taste is actually better than the dried out sorry excuses you find in the markets. i've found the best way to prep is to remove the outer two leaves, and trim the bottom inch or so off because that's where the roots were, and it's a little bitter. trim up an inch to where the stem bulges, then cut off the bottom 4 inches to mince. this is going to give you more than the recipe calls for, but the rest you can ziploc and freeze
• 2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons Thai yellow curry paste* if you are a do it yourselfer, or you can't find it locally and don't want to mail order it (amazon.com has it in convenient packets) follow this link to a whole bunch of curry paste recipes. me, i bought a tub of thai curry paste already made at the market
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon hot chili paste (such as sambal oelek)* i used my favorite vietnamese garlic chili paste
• 2 13.5- to 14-ounce cans unsweetened coconut milk,* divided
• 5 cups low-salt chicken broth 3 cans of broth was just right
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)*
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3 cups snow peas, trimmed that's about 1/2 pound. don't forget to cut them into halves or thirds, because leaving them whole makes this a tough soup to eat without making a huge mess
• 2 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled red-skinned sweet potato (yam; from about 1 large)
• 1 pound dried rice vermicelli noodles or rice stick noodles* definitely go with the rice stick noodles if you can find them.
• 3/4 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 red Thai firebird chilies or 2 red jalapeño chilies, thinly sliced with seeds this is added at the end for a garnish, and not necessary if food induced pain is not your idea of a good time
• 1 lime, cut into 6 wedges

How:
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add next 4 ingredients; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. i used a 3 1/2 quart pan, and it was exactly the right size. a little bigger would have probably been better, but nothing smaller or else you'll have a big mess on your hands. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in curry paste, curry powder, and chili paste. Add 1/2 cup coconut milk (scooped from thick liquid at top of can). Stir until thick and fragrant, about 2 minutes. at this point you will be experiencing one of the most incredible smells you have ever generated on a stove. i can't tell you how absolutely amazing the steam rising up from that pan was. pure heaven Add remaining coconut milk, broth, fish sauce, and sugar; bring broth to boil. Keep warm. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Refrigerate until cold, then cover and keep chilled.

Cook snow peas in large pot of boiling salted water until bright green, about 20 seconds. Using strainer, remove peas from pot; rinse under cold water to cool. Place peas in medium bowl. Bring water in same pot back to boil. Add sweet potato and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Using strainer, remove sweet potato from pot and rinse under cold water to cool. Place in small bowl. Bring water in same pot back to boil and cook noodles until just tender but still firm to bite, about 6 minutes. fresh rice stick noodles only took 10 seconds, so i waited until the soup was cooked before making them. once the soup was ready, i dropped the noodles into the boiling water the yams and peas were cooked in, and then almost immediately pulled them out with a spider. i skipped the drain and rinse step, because the next thing i did was fix a bowl and EAT! Drain; rinse under cold water to cool. Transfer to microwave-safe bowl. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 hour ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Bring broth to simmer. Add chicken; simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add sweet potato; stir to heat through, about 1 minute. Heat noodles in microwave in 30-second intervals to rewarm. Cut noodles with scissors if too long. Divide noodles among bowls. Divide snow peas and hot soup among bowls. Scatter red onion, green onions, cilantro, and chilies over soup. Garnish with lime wedges and serve.
if you watch the time, you can have everything come together at the same time, saving the reheat steps. i really hope someone out there tries this soup based on my recommendation, if for no other reason than knowing the heavenly smells rising out of the pot when the coconut milk will make someone's day.

*Available at some supermarkets, at specialty foods stores and Asian markets, and online from adrianascaravan.com.


here's what the finished product looked like. i'm really amazed i was able to wait long enough to take a picture before digging in.

Enjoy

as always, if you try this recipe, or it inspires you to try something different, please let me know how it turned out. i'm always looking for fresh and clever ideas to improve my own cooking skills and recipes.

for a complete list of my online recipes, follow the link here

Chris Botti at Yoshi's San Francisco

yoshi's
Originally uploaded by bothenook

if you like modern jazz, and have even the slightest chance to go see this guy play, do so. his drummer was one of the highlights of the evening, but everyone on stage was incredible.
as a side note, Yoshi's in San Francisco is the second Yoshi's. it is a new theater, and there are no bad seats in the house. seriously. but i still like Yoshi's Oakland in Jack London Square better, because the club is smaller, and much more intimate. but either way, both clubs are well worth the trip.

Definition: Electile Dysfunction

Electile Dysfunction: the inability to become aroused over any of the choices for president put forth by either party in the 2008 election year.

looks like Fred pulled the plug. i really wish there was at least one candidate on either side of the party divide that appealed to my sensibilities. no, and i mean no fiscal responsibility in any camp that is coupled with anything like common sense on the domestic AND international fronts.

i am not looking for a wingnut wackjob, and i'm certainly not happy with the isolationist mentality i'm hearing espoused from several of the candidates. all i'm hearing is "I WILL GIVE YOU FREEBIES. VOTE FOR ME!!!"
who the ***k is going to be paying for the freebies they are so blithely promising? where is the commitment to build a stronger society when freebies are so readily available? short term promises become long term entitlement programs that eventually have to be paid for.... screw them all, i say. vote for Pat Paulson. oh wait, he's dead. never mind

bubbleblogger roundup 1-18-08

yup, it's time for another spin around the world of submariner bloggers. these links do NOT point to all the interesting content my amigos have posted, just a taste to whet your appetite and send you off on an interesting journey.

first up, i'd like to introduce a couple of blogs i've stumbled across since my last update.
howdy to exurban league, who doesn't post much about submarining other than the occasional slip about old days of yore. politics seems to be the main topic, and there are quite a few interesting entries. spend some time poking around. well thought out, and well presented.
and what can i say about somebody who's blog focuses on food, especially baking? howdy to Table Bread. i want this guy to come to my house and make baked goods until i explode..
and here's a link to USS Razorback Museum blog. they have more than just Razorback stuff on the blog. it's interesting to see a historical submarine museum in Little Rock, Arkansas. this blog has some great pictures and interesting entries well worth visiting.
another new one for me is Blunoz Random Ramblings, and from his profile, it looks like he's an active duty submarine officer. Thanks for your service dude. i grew up (well, spent a large chunk of my youth) living in Oregon, both in Burns and Roseburg. good to see a fellow oregonian serving the country.
well, with that taken care of, let's go visit some of our buds...

In Through The Out Door points us to an interesting article about some proposed changes our govmint wants to impose to "make us safer". those words always make me nervous.

and Wheels within wheels posts a quickie visual that will have you cleaning the coffee of your screen. especially if you read the title of the post: "Some days, you just can't win"

and Chucklehead has a buddy that likes messing with the Nigerian scammers. funny stuff.

It is this last part that has the press giving itself wedgies in a panic that they may have been out of the loop on a huge international incident. I could not stop laughing when I first heard this story. These tick toads have very short memories and certainly do not understand military tactics.

Doc MacDonald reviews the "news" about the Kitty Hawk going to battlestations over a couple of chinese vessels. Doc, i remember stationing fire control tracking parties whenever we found a rooskie sub or skimmer. it was good practice, up to but not including (obviously) pushing the FIRE button.

the USS Augusta SSN-710 Alumni News blog reports the Augusta's decom date has been set.

the Midwatch Cowboy links up to an article about the Kitty Hawk's "confrontation", and the chinese press grilling ADM Keating.

The Right Mind links up to When Indiana Jones meets the Da Vinci Code. seriously interesting. the fact that "holy texts" are transformed and rewritten by those in charge is NOT news.
this reminds me of a book written by Gore Vidal called Messiah, where we can follow the evolution of a modern religion. the book was written the year i was born, and i read it somewhere around 1970-71 time frame. it solidified for me ideas regarding organized religion.

DaleJarret4ever, i'd like to forward our condolences. Grandma's are special, and their loss is never easy.

Blowing San#1 posts a worthy piece of advice. or is it a cautionary tale? anyway, check out his last several posts, some good rants in there.

hmmm, sounds like Megamunch has some nefarious plans afoot. read the comments for a chuckle or two.

Ex Nuke Bubblehead posts a youtube video of his old boat the Boston SSN-703. if you have a little time, look over some of the other posts/videos he has. you will enjoy, and it will not be a waste of time. well, maybe a waste of time, but you will enjoy.

Red Dog gives his take on the Prez's visit to the middle east. sorry dog, don't agree, but that's ok.

The Old Coot gets all all literary on us.

ok, i'm an ex-navy submariner, and so is Mike. but his post about the U.S. Marines commercial is more than worth a visit. and i recommend you follow his provided link to the website discussing the making of the commercial. kind of hits home for me. my nephew is currently serving in the Marines. and yes, he is one of the few, the proud, the Marines..., and i'm damned proud of him. even if he decided not to go submarines.

and since it's political time 24/7 until elections, i'd be remiss not sharing SonarMan's take on the Hillbeast's latest endeavors.

go over to Myron's place and tell him how much you admire really old guys. seriously, Myron has been inducted into the Holland Club which means he qualified submarines 50 years ago. That is a milestone worthy of congratulations and celebration.

the Knavish one posts a poignant photo. be brave little man.

and really, nobody should need a reason to go visit Cookie. his posts usually have me laughing for a while afterwards. so go visit, and read the jokes and watch the videos. everyone needs a humor break, and cookie whips up a damned good one.

"t's a win-win situation, folks. We get your vital statistics, and you get to show us your boobs."Reality Frame strikes again.

WTFO resurfaces following an extended deployment building igloos....

here's Rob "Doing his Best to Piss of the Religious Right". go for it.

and one of my very favorite bloggers Vigilis over at Molten Eagle has a whole series of great posts since the last roundup. the latest post includes oolies about rooskie submarines and a really cool youtube video with Italian submarines. that video is well worth the visit alone, but don't forget to wandering about and leaving pithy comments.

does posting a link to to a blogosphere roundup within a blogosphere roundup cause a discontinuity in the space time continuum? i guess the only way to find out is to hit "publish post". as always, Gus kicks serious ass. i really wish i was as smart and capable of stringing thoughts together like him. his latest post regarding the twisting science for political gain (my 5 word synopsis, not his) is required reading.

hey Chap The first liar almost always wins.

Willyshakes takes a look at the recent natterings from the NYT regarding how horrible and dangerous returning vets are to society at large. kind of pisses you off, doesn't it? a statistics professor of mine was always telling us that he could make any cause or idea credible with numbers. goes back to the old saw about "liars lie with words, statisticians lie with numbers".

Joel looks into stealth tech for submarines. i remember pulling into drydock, getting the whole boat enclosed in a humidity and temperature controlled structure, and then having the shipyard glue crap all over the boat. said it was supposed to make us stealthier. the only way you could NOT pick us up on sonar way out in the middle of the pacific was if we were tied along side the pier with the reactor shutdown and the crew on stand down.

and last but by no means least, go visit eric's Sub Report for the latest in the world of submarine news, views, and opinions.

until next time....

update oh yeah, forgot to mention my own blog. Click here to visit the the main page. lots of good stuff out there. food, submarines, guns, you name it. the only thing i don't have is noodie goils.

this stuff is making my head hurt

no links, because there is just too much crap that i could link to.
the pseudolalia filling the airwaves that passes for political discourse is really getting me down. i think i'll have to go to the range and shoot a bunch of guns for a while to clear my head.
like i need an excuse....

for space geeks and others of that ilk

if you are like me, there are few things in the world that hold the imagination like space flight. if the great cosmic joker is on my side, i'll eventually get to see the curvature of the earth from the other side of the atmosphere before i die.
here's an animation for those, like me, that would like to get the opportunity to go into space and put something together.
Space Station Assembly Animation

bet they're hoping for global warming

The temperature has been down as low as -24 degrees Celsius, and for the first time in living memory there has been snow in the country's southern deserts.

i suppose if it's snowing in the deserts of Iran, since they're the bad guys, it doesn't count. right Al?

this is promising. is this a twofer?

while zipping around the web gathering news and info for the day, i stumbled across an article on fox that looks so damned promising i that i can only hope it's the real deal.
researchers have found a drug used to treat arthritis, when injected into the spine, can maybe, just maybe, help reverse some of the affects from Alzheimer's. now that might not sound like a big deal if you haven't paid attention to the statistics lately. the longer you live, the better your chance, like up to 50% or better of coming down with the soul robbing disease.
so, if what THIS ARTICLE says is true, there is hope for us old pharts after all.

if it works, the researchers should be heroes worldwide. we'll see

BBQ Pork Tenderloin

yup, we did the Christmas bbq out back. it wasn't shorts weather, but i didn't need a coat, either. nice day for a bbq. hell, anytime is a nice day for a bbq, even if it's snowing outside. so we did a couple of pork tenderloins. almost 19 pounds worth. most of the meat ended up being "seal-a-mealed" and either given to the dinner guests as a take home treat, or tossed in the freezer for later consumption. i've eaten a couple of meals from the freezer packs, and it's still damned good.

i started talking about this in this post, where i mentioned that vegetarians tremble at the mention of my name. that post has a picture of the tenderloins right after being placed on the grill.

i've blogged about bbq'ing pork tenderloin before here, but i used a different rub and sauce this time. both are good. damn good. but i'm not a slave to any one recipe.

here's the recipe:

rub:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 2 tbs salt free seasoning mix
• 2 tbs Old Bay seasoning
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

bbq sauce/gravy:

• 1 pint orange juice (fresh squeezed if possible)
• 2 tbs coarse dijon mustard
• 2 tbs honey
• 3 tbs apricot jam or preserves
• big pinch of salt
• pepper to taste.. that means about 15 twists on my pepper mill. your milage may vary
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme ... my herb garden is still producing. nice thing about living in a temperate climate
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• enough port wine to turn the sauce red. in this case, about 4 glugs. sorry, no precise measurements around here, but i'm guessing at about 1/3 to 1/2 cup. i used tawny port, but i'm betting a nice ruby would work just fine

pork tenderloin. i used two whole tenderloins. in reality, for a holiday meal with all the fixings, that would have been enough for about 32 people. or 15 teenagers.

how: the night before, mix all the rub ingredients together. place the pork on a big sheet of aluminum foil. pack the rub all over the meat, top and bottom. rub it in. you don't need to have a 1/2 inch layer of rub. just enough to lightly coat the meat. wrap tightly in foil and refrigerate overnight.

the next day, take out the meat and let come to room temperature. i usually do this before i fire up the grill, that way it's warmed by the time the fire is ready.

while the briquettes are firing up, start the glaze/sauce/gravy, call it what you will.

in a saucepan over high heat, add all the ingredients, whisk to thoroughly mix, and bring to a boil. reduce the heat to medium and reduce the sauce to about 1/2. mix frequently, since there are a lot of things here that will scorch. when done, pull from the heat and run through a fine mesh kitchen sieve to remove what's left of the herbs. you should have a nice thick sauce.
save about 1/2 of the sauce for use while serving. since this is so good, you may actually want to double the recipe, just to make sure there's enough left after saucing the meat to put on the table. i didn't. i wish i had.
using a brush, slather the sauce over the meat.
separate the coals for an indirect fire, and toss on a couple of big hunks of mesquite charcoal. not enough to cook with, enough to flavor the meat. too much mesquite will add too much smoke flavor the meat. i know Texans that would grumble, but it's about the meat and sauce, not the smoke in this case. i just wanted a hint, not get hit over the head with the mesquite.

turn the meat over and rotate so the sides get even heating. i'd say every 15 to 20 minutes will do it. rotating isn't important if you are only cooking one, but two tenderloins tend to kind of hang over the coals a bit. if you don't turn and rotate, one side will be overcooked.
sauce every time you turn the meat, until you run out of sauce. when the meat hits about 160-165 with a thermometer, pull it from the grill. let it rest at least 10 minutes before slicing thinly. pour the reserved sauce over the sliced meat, and serve.


here's what it looks like just before taking off the grill.
click to select other sizes. look at picture in original size only after eating a full meal.

as always, if you try this recipe, or it inspires you to try something different, please let me know how it turned out. i'm always looking for fresh and clever ideas to improve my own cooking skills and recipes.

for a complete list of my online recipes, follow the link here

update the 176th Carnival of Recipes is up. some damned good looking ones this week.

"It's rodiating"

so here i was, installing an experiment at work. after getting it in place, we fired up the computer to initiate rotation. once it was rotating, i yelled towards the squawk box connected to the control room "It's ratating and rodiating".
out of nowhere.
then i remembered the many many midshifts while a sailor, sitting along the pier or in dry dock, with the incessant 1MC announcements. one sailor stood out, and still resonates in my head occasionally, such as today:
click "THEY'S MENS WURKIN' IN THU SAYUL. DO NO RAYZ, LOWUR, RATATE, OR RODIATE FROM ENNY MAYST OR INTENNA. THEY'S MEN WURKIN' IN THU SAYUL." click.
how many nights, how many times a night, did i hear Michael J.B. make that announcement from the topside shack? how many times did i laugh? i don't know the numbers, but i know that i laughed EVERY time. that deep southern drawl, the mangled English, the totally unselfconscious bellow. he went on to be a damned good torpedoman, but his near legendary pig call that he used to get us all out of the racks in the torpedo room during "up all bunks" evolutions probably stands out as the single funniest thing i've ever been awakened with.

another of the memorable, and not infrequent 1MC announcements was by another Mike, this one an A-ganger.
"There are men working in the sail. Do not cycle any sea valves, rudders, planes, or screws. There are men working in the sail." the first time i heard that, i wasn't sure if i was just really really tired. but after 4 hours of 1/2 hour announcements, i was pretty sure it wasn't me. bulldog went on to some pretty interesting assignments during his time in the navy. i'm not sure, but i seem to remember someone telling me he ended up as a COB. THAT cracks me up.

of course, the craziest topside watch had to be booger. late evening, along side the pier at berth 19, Mare Island (575's home port). casual shoot the sh*t going on in crews mess. spang, spang, spang, spang. VERY loud noises that sounded like someone hitting the hull with a hammer repeatedly. the next thing i heard was "Repel Boarders!" over the 1MC. the belowdecks watch heard the topside watch firing the 45, and assumed the worst, so he called away the Repel Boarders.
we boiled up out of crews mess, grabbing the first thing that came to hand that could be used as a weapon.
"Stand down from Repel Boarders". WTF?
booger was getting pretty paranoid about the wharf rats that lived and swam under the pier. when one of them climbed up on the camel and tried climbing the pressure hull, booger lost it. a full magazine, none of them hitting the rat, but all left interesting marks on the hull. the shipyard tried to take our weapons away after that... i would have liked to be the fly on the wall during the ensuing discussion between booger, his chief, his division officer, the engineer, the XO, and the skipper. oh, and the skipper and the shipyard CO. THAT one would have been hilarious. poor booger. NOT the topside watch of the year, that's for sure.

so, any memorable craziness on your boats? stupid question, i know. hey, we're talking about submarine sailors here. but does that craziness you experienced still pop into your brain at random times, like it did with me today?

need help selecting a candidate?

check out this short quiz.

as far as i can tell, it's a non-partisan 11 question quiz, and the results will show who's closest to your views on the selected issues.

i'm not really surprised that John McCain was the leader with a score of 46. our stands differ on abortion and social security, but by and large, our views are similar. Fred came in second.

and no surprises here, Dennis Kuchinich came in dead last with a score of 4. surprisingly, the two things we agreed on were the same two i disagreed with McCain about.

ain't politics fun?

an empty gun vs a loaded one.

seems some bozo tried holding up a store with an unloaded gun. problem? one of the customers had a loaded, legal permitted gun. guess who's going to jail? score one for the good guys!
here'a a link to the AP article. i'm surprised AP posted a story that didn't have some middle easterner decrying the violent american proclivity for carrying loaded weapons.

i was gone for a while, but i'm back`

di and i decided to move the beautiful Scandinavian Designs computer desk and office from one room to another, to make use of its utility. during the move, something mysterious and painful happened. when i plugged in the computer in its new home, nada. nothing. zip doodle squat.
hmmmm. everything else fires up. the UPS is working properly. the computer was working just moments ago.
let's see. no fan, and a blinking little green light on the back.
carp. so i tore the thing apart, noodled around, pulled and reseated boards, checked fans spun freely, dissected the power supply looking for a fuse or some other replaceable/resettable gizmo to no avail.
off to the local computer geek shack, forked over $60 for a 300 watt power supply, and back home. surgery ensued, apparently successful. no smoke, and a comforting whir of fans firing up when the guzon/guzoff button was pushed to guzon.
did you miss me? hope your new year celebrations went well, and no jail time or court dates resulted from your ringing out the old tired 2007.

vegetarians tremble at the mention of my name

"Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, and an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. It's healthier, they insist, though every vegetarian waiter I've worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold. Oh, I'll accommodate them, I'll rummage around for something to feed them, for a 'vegetarian plate', if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine."

Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential

Christmas Dinner, 2007
Recipe to follow when i get the timeclick for choice of image sizes