Sorry for the delay in food postings, but I get easily sidetracked. Last Friday’s dinner was fried chicken, mashed potatoes and milk gravy, and “grandma” corn.
We’ve been eating since then, I just forgot to document it! Saturday we had company so I made baked pork chops, macaroni and cheese, green beans, applesauce, and chocolate pie. Sunday we had bean soup and cornbread, and last night we had breakfast burritos and yogurt. Exciting, huh?!?
There were various blog and Facebook posts bouncing around over the past few weeks discussing the year that was 2010 and the potential for 2011. I decided to spend those first few days not really posting much, mostly out of laziness, but also out of reflection.
2010 is going to go down as a seminal year for me, personally, as well as our family as a whole. It was a year when I defended my dissertation, culminating in the completion of a Ph.D. and, therefore, the end of my tenure as a student (23 years in the making…). It was a year marked by leaving the bustling city of St. Louis for the more laid-back trappings of rural Iowa, coinciding with both Brooke and I leaving our previous jobs (if you count being a graduate student as a “job”…) and starting new positions in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, respectively. There was also a 10 year high school reunion in there.
The move to Iowa brought quite a few other changes. We now live in a house, not an apartment. I now have to (get to?) mow a lawn. Brooke gets the garden she’s always wanted. I have a longer commute, plus a bus ride, in getting to work. We had to find a new church and have become more involved that we planned to (but this is how it always goes…). We had to come to terms with the fact that it’s pretty hard to go out to eat once a week when you can’t just walk to Joanie’s for happy hour after work. And we live on a gravel road now. Oh, and it’s a lot colder in Iowa – nice in the summer, crazy in the winter.
Brooke and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary in 2010. In many ways, we interact just like we did back when we were first married, if not as we did before. Of course, the obvious big change in that area is the fact that we added a new member to the family, Meg, who was with us (outside of her mother, at least…) for nearly 10 months in 2010. It’s been a wild ride learning to be a parent (still learning…), but we’re both getting better at it and slowly figuring out how to handle the problems that go with it.
So, when I say that 2010 was a “seminal year,” it’s because of all these things. Lots of big change that will influence the course of our collective life that we’ll be able to look back on with fondness in a few short years.
What’s in store for 2011, you ask? Who knows. Seems hard to top the year that was 2010 when you look at that list. I’d be just fine scaling the big things down for a bit so we can coast and enjoy the changes we just went through for a bit longer. I don’t really see much coming over the horizon except for settling down a bit further, and that’s just fine with me. A few things off the top of my head would be that I’ll find out if my grant gets funded, which will determine how long we’re staying in Iowa; we’ll try a family vacation with a 1+ year old; Brooke will almost triple the size of her garden and get some chickens; and I will brew close to 60 gallons of beer.
Sounds like a good start. 🙂
I have been slowly catching up on podcasts from late last year now that I’m back at work. I was listening to one yesterday from NPR’s On Point discussing the Wikileaks scandal, but moreover, the world that we now inhabit with regards to leaks, the internet, and overall availability of information.
Toward the end of the segment, the host, Tom Ashbrook, was talking to the former Director of Intelligence, John Negroponte. He asked Negroponte how we, the United States, would/could deal with a leak like this. Negroponte answered that they would do their best to prevent it from happening in the first place, placing greater restrictions on the individuals that can access certain information, and then also help re-classify information that should be classified versus that which really doesn’t need to be. Ashbrook kept pressing him on the matter, asking: “What would you do in the event of a leak? How would you stop it?” Negroponte kept going back to “stop it at the source.” It was getting really annoying to keep hearing the same question over and over, when I kept repeating the answer in my head as often as Ashbrook could ask.
The correct answer?
You do nothing.
There is nothing you can do. Once the Internet has your information, you’re done. It’s out there and you can’t stop it. You can shut down a server or two, but the information propagates to such a degree that you can never fully eradicate any of it.
As happens frequently, this exchange got me thinking about generational differences and their views on the Internet as a whole, specifically to what degree each generation seems to embrace the sharing of information. [Note: I have talked about this before…] For those of us that grew up in parallel with the Internet (i.e. it was growing as we were growing), I think the transition was easy. We learned to live together, gradually sharing some bits of information and withholding others. We were using the Internet before Google even existed, when all you could do is use Yahoo! to find a website that you had to manually file within their database. There was no Facebook. There was no YouTube. Primarily we were takers of information rather than providers, at least until we became more comfortable contributing to this new ecosystem.
The generation(s) older than me have taken to the Internet at a slower pace (at least in terms of creating new information…), largely because they’re more cautious. Quite a few folks from those generations are now using e-mail and Facebook, and consequently are now starting to rely on it to a greater degree than ever before. You can still see the delay in overall adoption in things like smart phones though, where these people are just now starting to get into the mode where they think complete and total connectivity is a necessity. This is likely because their children and grandchildren are also more accessible, so if they want to contact them, this is how they have to do it.
It’s the younger generation(s) that I’m more curious about. These people are growing up in a world where the Internet “just exists,” much like air and gravity. It’s a reality. It’s something you live with and use. I guess the difference goes back to information sharing, the older generation never really shared things and stayed more private, my generation gradually let certain things slip and get onto the Internet, and the younger generation never really learned the restraint that should be applied to certain things rather than others. However, I imagine that these kids are much more attuned into “what should go on the Internet” and “what should not go on the Internet” than I give them credit for. They’ve seen things happen to their friends when something gets posted that shouldn’t, likely causing them to think twice about their choices.
Personally, I’ve always held the view that whatever I post on the Internet is viewable by The World At Large. Anything I post on Facebook (and there are quite a few politics-based links I post up there…my views are pretty clear…) can be seen by practically anyone. Anything on this blog can be seen by absolutely anyone. Any future job prospects that I have will likely go a quick Google search on my name and this blog will be the first thing that comes up. They can go back almost 6 years and read all about me, my family and what I’ve been up to. Am I proud of all of it? Not necessarily, but I also don’t hide from it. That information is representative of who I was and who I am today. If you want a snapshot of Andy Linsenbardt and all he’s about, this is where to find it. Freely available and open for all to see.
This is also how I view information in general. Sure, we have an inclination to hide things, but more often than not, we’re trying to hide things that we’re embarrassed about. I plan on teaching Meg and her siblings someday that the Internet is a very useful tool, but anything you post on it can be viewed at any time. If you don’t want anyone to see a certain picture of you drinking while you’re underage, don’t put it online. Someone will find it. Even if you delete it, it’s saved on a server somewhere that someone can get. Anything that could potentially embarrass you should stay far away from the Internet. Really, though, you just shouldn’t actually do things that could potentially embarrass you someday, but that’s another matter…
No matter what generation you come from, “honesty is the best policy” still applies to you. Everyone is entitled to secrets, but there are some things that may as well be out in the open, freely accessible, so that others know more about how and how to deal with you. It ends up saving time in the “getting to know you” stage. You think about better strategies when dealing with others when you know more about them. Sure, you learn how to take advantage of them as well, but hopefully this kind of openness spreads the naivety pretty thin.
Which brings us back to the Wikileaks deal from last year. A lot of people were concerned that this information could hurt America’s standing in the world, and hurt our relationships with other nations. Information that the United States was hiding was perceived as something to be embarrassed about, even if, at first glance, that information was innocuous. In the end, the complaint that this leak somehow disrupted the fabric of space-time and all is lost is moot: if you really didn’t want that information out, then you should have classified it differently.
However, the larger point is this: perhaps most of that information should have been out in the open anyway. Much as reading this blog gives the reader some extra insight into me, perhaps a lot of that information provides extra insight into the world we inhabit and the cultures we interact with.
And I don’t see a problem with that.
A fussy baby, coming home late from work, and a headache meant “dirty” eggs (scrambled eggs with whatever I can find in the fridge to throw in them), toast, and mandarin oranges for dinner tonight.
In other news, Meg and I started Water Babies last night, so Tuesday and Thursday dinners will more than likely be leftovers for the next six weeks. For tomorrow night, you can just go back to the Shepherd’s Pie meal we had on Sunday if you want to see what we’re having!!
Turkey and cheddar sandwiches, steamed fresh broccoli, and homemade chips for which I tried out my new mandolin and it worked wonderfully!
I happened to check the Apple Quick Time movie trailers page, as I sometimes do when I want to kill time at work (amongst other things…), and I found this little movie coming out February 11th that I had never heard of. Cedar Rapids stars Ed Helms (The Daily Show, The Office) as a small town insurance agent that has never been “to the big city” until he’s sent as his company’s representative to an insurance convention in the bustling metropolis of Cedar Rapids, IA. The movie also stars Sigourney Weaver, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, and other notables.
To be quite honest, the movie itself doesn’t even look all that funny and may even be a bit cliche, but I’m quite curious as to whether any of it was actually filmed on location in Cedar Rapids, which is a whopping 10 minutes from our house.
Anyway, I just didn’t know this movie existed. We may need one of Meg’s Grandmas to come up and babysit for a nice in mid-February. 🙂
Shepherd’s Pie, thanks to Brian B. for the only version of this dish I’ve ever liked. With a replacement of peas for his corn and the use of our honey brown homebrew.
Well, the decision’s been made: we will brew not one, but two beers for our next batch. The first one will be a Bavarian Hefeweizen, thanks to my parents that got the kit for me for Christmas. This particular beer is a “wheat beer,” so if you’ve ever had a Boulevard Wheat or a Blue Moon, you generally know what it will be like. The flavor will probably be more like a traditional German wheat beer however, so it likely won’t have the “fruity” nature of the aforementioned beer examples, but the texture, consistency, etc. will be very similar.
Secondly, I just ordered an India Pale Ale (IPA) kit. This one will be quite a bit “hoppier,” which is the bitter flavor you get. If you’ve ever had a Pale Ale, this one will be even more bitter. Over the years, mostly due to the influence of Schlafly’s Pale Ale, I’ve grown to enjoy hoppy beers more than others, so I’m rather excited to try my hand at an IPA. It gets the name because hops helped prevent the beer from spoiling they were shipped from England to India back in the 18th century (although that claim is disputed), so they would add a ridiculous amount of hops to them to preserve the beer for the long trip. Apparently, that style of beer was also well-regarded amongst the people of India, increasing its popularity abroad.
We’ll brew both of these over the long MLK weekend. Thanks to my Dad, I’ve got a few glass carboys I can use for extra brewing volume, allowing me to ferment multiple beers at a time. The Hefeweizen should take 6 weeks, but if it goes anything like the Honey Brown Ale we brewed earlier, it’ll probably be ready before then. The IPA, on the other hand, could take 2 months. It’s a beer that needs a Secondary Fermentation, meaning that we will transfer from the Primary Fermenter into a Secondary vessel to allow the beer to age for upwards of a month before we bottle it. This is where it’s nice having multiple fermentation vessels available, so that while one beer is “coming off the line” into bottling, the other one can continue aging and be ready for bottling by the time I’ve got more bottles available to put it in!
The timing will be interesting, as the IPA can handle 62 F temperatures, while the Hefeweizen prefers slightly warmer temperatures in the mid- to high-60s F. The basement of our house is running in the mid- to upper-50s F, so once fermentation begins (i.e. bubbles start appearing in the air lock, due to yeast generating carbon dioxide), I’ll move the vessels downstairs where they can continue on their merry way. However, as the temperature is cooler downstairs, the yeast will probably act a touch slower than we would otherwise prefer. Therefore, it could take longer to complete…but, the Honey Brown was done ahead of time, so the temperature downstairs didn’t seem to matter all that much. We’ll just have to see!
Regardless, I’m excited to try a few more beer varieties. Assuming we get it all done between January 14 – 17, we should expect that the Hefeweizen will be done and drinkable toward the end of February and the IPA will be ready by mid-March.
This is the general plan for brewing, methinks. We’ll generally try to have one “long-term” beer fermenting, and then supplement with a “short-term” beer in between. Kinda depends on how many bottles we’ve got lying around for them. The Honey Brown aged very well over time and has definitely improved since bottling, so we’ll do our best to leave some bottles downstairs aging at all times, including some of the Honey Brown to see how it does months after completion.
Hooray, beer!
Andy gave me a directive that I couldn’t produce lots of dishes while making dinner for yesterday’s dinner. So, I made breakfast dishes instead! We had chocolate chip pancakes (mine were a la Papa…with molasses and maple syrup), bacon, and pineapple. The pancakes were half whole wheat and had ground flax, so sort of healthy. The dishes were done before lunchtime, so no complaints from Andy!
Then, dinner was leftover chicken noodle soup. It was once made from homemade broth and homemade whole wheat noodles, so I did do work a couple of months ago for it!
In case you didn’t know, I like to cook. I’ve tossed around the idea of adding a separate section of this site just for our nightly meals to be recorded, but never got around to it, especially since my job has had me out at night more frequently, leaving Andy to eat leftovers or things he can make for himself (mostly frozen pizza). However, I have a couple of people under me now who get to work the odd hours and I thought last night’s New Year’s Eve fancy dinner is just as good a time to start sharing as any! If I keep up with this, which is honestly doubtful, then Andy will make a separate section, but for now, here’s the first night!!
We started with roasted garlic shrimp and crusty French bread while Meg ate her dinner:
Then, after the baby was in bed, we had fillet mignon, stuffed clams (from Aldi), fresh steamed broccoli, and roasted garlic cous cous.
Dessert was this recipe, which was really easy and REALLY good, especially with homemade, sweetened whipped cream on top. We just finished mine from last night tonight for dessert and it was still wonderful!
