One of many quirks of male thinking (with which I am all too familiar) is our ability to ignore stuff. History is full of famous men who ignored the facts right in front of them and continued to a certain doom. There are famous explorers, like Robert Falcon Scott; famous military figures such as the Japanese hierarchy in World War II; and famous writers like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Solzhenitsyn survived, but might easily have not, given the time he spent detained at the Soviet state's pleasure.
In a way, the history of civilization is defined by men who ignored the obvious to the possible detriment of their own life. From the first migration of our species from Africa to Asia 50,000 years ago to the folks who fly the deathtrap Space Shuttle, I suggest that this characteristic of facing the unknown, of taking on danger and embracing risk is embedded in our Brain Operating System, of which I wrote earlier.
The men (and, increasingly, women) who do so are working towards something more than survival and reproduction. Or is it that survival and reproduction actually require us to take risks, even those that might kill us?
We need not look to figures from the past for examples of this, because there's likely not a man you know who doesn't ignore some things. The guy who is a chronic drinker and driver ignores obvious dangers. The man who has indiscriminate unprotected anal sex with many men isn't being rational. The guy who borrows tens of multiples of his net worth to speculate has a relationship with risk (possibly) counter to his long-term liquidity. And yet these activities happen every day, in every way.
I explain the male ignoring mechanism in terms of my compartmentalization theory. Imagine the male mind as a big co-op building, full of floors of apartments of varying size. What we do unconsciously is to simply avoid certain floors. When we are driven to Antarctic exploration, or deadly military action, men prevent the lift stopping at the floors with the apartments containing the facts pointing to likely failure. We block the staircase, and lock the access doors.
Once the downside is quarantined we move to the floor with the apartment containing 'optimism' and 'success despite facts' and 'triumph over adversity'. That's where we can see the light and find positivity to reinforce our blinkered thinking. It will also be the scene of our greatest success overcoming the odds, or the place where failure will make us miserable.
In relationships this is deadly, as you might imagine.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
How to think
I don't know about you, but nobody ever taught me how to think. Inside all of our heads is a brain, a squishy weird thing that we only vaguely understand. Sure, it's an electro-chemical device, with different kinds of receptors and processing units. But how it makes decisions is a complete mystery.
I want to propose the concept of our brains having an operating system, similar to the way a computer works. Thousands of lines of code create the pathways for information processing and a method by which external inputs are filtered, distributed and manipulated.
This Brain Operating System came fully installed at birth, but not fully activated. It takes at least ten, and sometimes twenty years for all the modules to work as they should. Importantly, experiences in the world are critical to accessing the full power of the organ/operating system combination. Learning, in other words.
So while experiences, book learning and handed-down wisdom are all part of bringing the immature brain up to full steam, there is little thought as to how to use the operating system once it's up and working. Just like our computer's OS, our BOS can be used in many ways. Knowing how to find these capabilities should be on every school's curriculum, but apparently learning to use condoms and watching "An Inconvenient Truth" is deemed more important.
There are built-in flaws, bugs, idiosyncrasies and even vast unused capabilities in the BOS, and understanding their existence is equally important. I want to focus on these in future posts.
So the question remains, why is there no formal training for even the most basic functions for which we use our brains every day: what we eat, whether we smile or frown, how we choose friends, with whom we have sex.
For example, did anyone give you a good template for making decisions? Have you ever been taught to notice when your brain is ignoring things to which you should be paying attention? Do you know when your brain is using emotions to fool you into a course of action counter to your well-being? Can you recognize when your thinking is taking you in the wrong direction?
Perhaps I am the only one not completely in control of my brain. But I doubt it.
I want to propose the concept of our brains having an operating system, similar to the way a computer works. Thousands of lines of code create the pathways for information processing and a method by which external inputs are filtered, distributed and manipulated.
This Brain Operating System came fully installed at birth, but not fully activated. It takes at least ten, and sometimes twenty years for all the modules to work as they should. Importantly, experiences in the world are critical to accessing the full power of the organ/operating system combination. Learning, in other words.
So while experiences, book learning and handed-down wisdom are all part of bringing the immature brain up to full steam, there is little thought as to how to use the operating system once it's up and working. Just like our computer's OS, our BOS can be used in many ways. Knowing how to find these capabilities should be on every school's curriculum, but apparently learning to use condoms and watching "An Inconvenient Truth" is deemed more important.
There are built-in flaws, bugs, idiosyncrasies and even vast unused capabilities in the BOS, and understanding their existence is equally important. I want to focus on these in future posts.
So the question remains, why is there no formal training for even the most basic functions for which we use our brains every day: what we eat, whether we smile or frown, how we choose friends, with whom we have sex.
For example, did anyone give you a good template for making decisions? Have you ever been taught to notice when your brain is ignoring things to which you should be paying attention? Do you know when your brain is using emotions to fool you into a course of action counter to your well-being? Can you recognize when your thinking is taking you in the wrong direction?
Perhaps I am the only one not completely in control of my brain. But I doubt it.
Stone Fruit Explosion
Well, I think summer finally made it to Boston, and my apartment is trying to sweat me out ;) I'm a little ashamed to say that I've made quite a few things lately that I haven't posted about, sometimes didn't even photograph... but I've got a few so I'll mention those that I really enjoyed.
Summer Fruit Gratin
If you find yourself with some (ok way too many for one person ;)) stone fruit, you might wind up trying all of these recipes for a Summer Fruit Gratin, Vanilla Honey-Poached Apriums, or a Plum Fool! No? You'd just do one? I like to give myself variety... and way too much work it seems! Lorna Sass also has a recipe for an upside-down peach berry cobbler in one of her books.
Upside-down peach berry cobbler
My fruit was all very ripe and deliciously sweet on its own, so I cut back on the sugar in all of the recipes. These recipes also take well to using your desired sweetener (turbinado instead of granulated sugar, agave for honey, you get the idea). The only other thing I changed was for the plum fool-- I folded the stewed fruit into greek yogurt (a mix of plain and vanilla), and it was delicious.
On a savory note, I have to mention Kerstin's Avocado Chicken Cakes. I'm sorry to say I prepared these for lunch and completely forgot to take a picture. But they were downright amazing--go check out her blog, and I'll see you back here for Melon Mondays ;)
Summer Fruit GratinIf you find yourself with some (ok way too many for one person ;)) stone fruit, you might wind up trying all of these recipes for a Summer Fruit Gratin, Vanilla Honey-Poached Apriums, or a Plum Fool! No? You'd just do one? I like to give myself variety... and way too much work it seems! Lorna Sass also has a recipe for an upside-down peach berry cobbler in one of her books.
Upside-down peach berry cobblerMy fruit was all very ripe and deliciously sweet on its own, so I cut back on the sugar in all of the recipes. These recipes also take well to using your desired sweetener (turbinado instead of granulated sugar, agave for honey, you get the idea). The only other thing I changed was for the plum fool-- I folded the stewed fruit into greek yogurt (a mix of plain and vanilla), and it was delicious.
On a savory note, I have to mention Kerstin's Avocado Chicken Cakes. I'm sorry to say I prepared these for lunch and completely forgot to take a picture. But they were downright amazing--go check out her blog, and I'll see you back here for Melon Mondays ;)
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Summer Salads
Work sure does cut down on blogging time! ~sigh~ After four looonng days, I'm SO looking forward to the weekend :) Thought it might be appropriate to share some quick salads I've made starring summer fruit (can't get enough!).
The first made the unusual pairing of plums and roasted beets. At least it sounded unusual to me :) Also starring goat cheese, this was one salad that definitely did not disappoint! You can find the recipe for this Beet & Goat Cheese salad here. I used the packaged roasted beets for convenience, but you could certainly roast them yourself. My proportions may have been different as well, as I didn't measure.
Roasted Beet & Plum Salad
The second salad comes from a recipe I had seen over at Cooking Light. Looking at it now, however, I realize I did quite a few things differently :)
Grilled Peaches & Proscuitto Salad
adapted from Cooking Light
scale up/down to desired amount
peaches, cut into 6 sections
s/p
salad greens (I used a mix of baby spinach and spring mix)
proscuitto
balsamic vinegar (could reduce down and combine with honey if desired)
goat cheese
Spray peaches lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill ~1min on each side (I did this in a grill pan on pretty high heat) to see grill marks.
Lay proscuitto on small baking sheet and cook in toaster oven (or larger) until crispy. I think I did this at 350, but you could certainly do it higher, just keep an eye on it.
To assemble the salad, place peaches on a bed of greens, sprinkle on goat cheese (oops, I forgot). Crumble prosciutto over salad, then drizzle with balsamic vinegar (or syrup) and serve.
Grilled Peach & Proscuitto Salad
Relatively simple and delicious, these salads served as a reminder to play with my flavor combinations! Have you tried any interesting pairings lately??
The first made the unusual pairing of plums and roasted beets. At least it sounded unusual to me :) Also starring goat cheese, this was one salad that definitely did not disappoint! You can find the recipe for this Beet & Goat Cheese salad here. I used the packaged roasted beets for convenience, but you could certainly roast them yourself. My proportions may have been different as well, as I didn't measure.
Roasted Beet & Plum SaladThe second salad comes from a recipe I had seen over at Cooking Light. Looking at it now, however, I realize I did quite a few things differently :)
Grilled Peaches & Proscuitto Salad
adapted from Cooking Light
scale up/down to desired amount
peaches, cut into 6 sections
s/p
salad greens (I used a mix of baby spinach and spring mix)
proscuitto
balsamic vinegar (could reduce down and combine with honey if desired)
goat cheese
Spray peaches lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill ~1min on each side (I did this in a grill pan on pretty high heat) to see grill marks.
Lay proscuitto on small baking sheet and cook in toaster oven (or larger) until crispy. I think I did this at 350, but you could certainly do it higher, just keep an eye on it.
To assemble the salad, place peaches on a bed of greens, sprinkle on goat cheese (oops, I forgot). Crumble prosciutto over salad, then drizzle with balsamic vinegar (or syrup) and serve.
Grilled Peach & Proscuitto SaladRelatively simple and delicious, these salads served as a reminder to play with my flavor combinations! Have you tried any interesting pairings lately??
Man versus Machine
Where to start, where to start....okay, let's try this.
When a man starts going steady with a woman, he often dumps his buddies. It's a given that he'll go away for a while to concentrate on her, leaving the guys to note something like :
"Haven't seen Brad for a while."
"Yeah, he's found a new squeeze."
These revelations are met with general assent in the form of knowing nods and grunted agreement. It's an understood flow in the tides of male life.
As a sidebar, this is more evidence that men are single processors. 'Early relationship' requires concentration and singular purpose, and being with guys chews up valuable time and energy. Plus it's distracting. End sidebar.
Why is this the case? Even if the guy is seeing the chick only once or twice a week, he checks out of his male relationships, despite oodles of time to maintain them. And doesn't he want to boast about the new piece of tail in his life?
My amateur/observer response is that we should look at Brad as a reproductive machine, not as the good-guy friend. Because we don't divide to reproduce (a very good thing, given that one Paris, and one Perez Hilton is quite enough, thank-you) we have to find a partner with whom to have sex. If our hero has latched onto the potential bearer of mini-Brads, it makes pure biological sense that he'll want to spend time cultivating (and harvesting) those randy oats.
A more subtle reason might be that Brad is keeping the other males away from a reproductively-minded female. Why give other ball-sporters the chance of gaining vital intelligence about someone who might be interested in someone's progeny other than Brad's? I think that question answers itself.
Priorities, that's what that's all about. First reproduce, then drink beer.
If you haven't read Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, I recommend you do so to understand just how innate this drive to fuck and spawn is. It exists at the protein level.
When a man starts going steady with a woman, he often dumps his buddies. It's a given that he'll go away for a while to concentrate on her, leaving the guys to note something like :
"Haven't seen Brad for a while."
"Yeah, he's found a new squeeze."
These revelations are met with general assent in the form of knowing nods and grunted agreement. It's an understood flow in the tides of male life.
As a sidebar, this is more evidence that men are single processors. 'Early relationship' requires concentration and singular purpose, and being with guys chews up valuable time and energy. Plus it's distracting. End sidebar.
Why is this the case? Even if the guy is seeing the chick only once or twice a week, he checks out of his male relationships, despite oodles of time to maintain them. And doesn't he want to boast about the new piece of tail in his life?
My amateur/observer response is that we should look at Brad as a reproductive machine, not as the good-guy friend. Because we don't divide to reproduce (a very good thing, given that one Paris, and one Perez Hilton is quite enough, thank-you) we have to find a partner with whom to have sex. If our hero has latched onto the potential bearer of mini-Brads, it makes pure biological sense that he'll want to spend time cultivating (and harvesting) those randy oats.
A more subtle reason might be that Brad is keeping the other males away from a reproductively-minded female. Why give other ball-sporters the chance of gaining vital intelligence about someone who might be interested in someone's progeny other than Brad's? I think that question answers itself.
Priorities, that's what that's all about. First reproduce, then drink beer.
If you haven't read Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, I recommend you do so to understand just how innate this drive to fuck and spawn is. It exists at the protein level.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Risotto with Farmers' Market Fresh Squash Blossoms and Baby Zucchini
Risotto scared me at first. My son Franklin brought a box home from a trip to Italy and it sat
in the pantry for years. I had the same fear of risotto I had about cooking a duck. Both seemed to require a skill set that was beyond me.
After much hesitation, I finally took the plunge and you know what I discovered, making risotto is easy, requiring only a little more skill than making pasta.
In fact, think of risotto and pasta as two sisters. The key to both is what goes on top.
Just about everything you like with pasta will work with risotto. Most vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, and fresh herbs if sauteed first can be added to risotto just the way you'd add them to cooked pasta. And both like a bit of freshly grated cheese on top.
This past Sunday at the Pacific Palisades Farmers' Market, I could have chosen any number
of fresh vegetables to use for the risotto: corn, tomatoes, asparagus, peppers--red, yellow, orange, or green--carrots, onions, Italian parsley, kale, or spinach. I settled on squash blossoms with baby zucchini because one of my favorite farmers, John Sweredoski insisted that I had to get them, they were that fresh, that good.
He was right.
Risotto with Farmers' Market Fresh Squash Blossoms and Baby Zucchini
Yield 4 servings
Time 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Arborio, Carnaroli, or Vialone Nano rice
10 squash blossoms
6 baby zucchinis, washed, ends trimmed, cut into thin rounds
4 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped
6 shiitake or brown mushrooms, washed, thinly sliced and roughly chopped
1/2 yellow onion, peeled, finely chopped
4 cups broth, vegetable, chicken, or beef, preferably home made
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sweet butter
Sea salt and pepper
Method
Slice open each squash blossom. Cut off the stem and pistil and discard. Flatten the blossoms on a cutting board and cut length-wise into thin strips. In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and saute all the vegetables until lightly browned. Remove and set asid
e.
In the same pan add the other tablespoon of olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper. Add the risotto and saute on a medium flame, turning frequently, until the grains start to be translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup of broth, deglazing the pan and stirring the grains with the liquid until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding the broth, 1/2 cup at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid. Keep stirring.
After 10 minutes, add back the sauteed vegetables and mix together with the rice.
After another 5 minutes, add the butter and stir well, continuing to add 1/2 cup of broth at a time. Season with sea salt and pepper. From this point on, start tasting the rice.
When the risotto is done to your taste, Make sure you have enough liquid because a good risotto has a nice amount of gravy.
Serve immediately because the rice will continue to absorb the liquid even after you've taken the pan off the burner. Sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese on top.
Variations
Add a roasted tomato, skin removed, roughly torn apart, with its juice
Saute the kernels from one ear of corn with the other vegetables
Saute 1/2 cup finely chopped Italian parsley with the other vegetables
Add 1/2 cup sauteed diced sausage pieces
Add 2 pounds fresh butter clams, cooked in 1/4 cup water for 5 minutes covered over high heat, add the opened clams and broth at the same time you return the sauteed vegetables to the pan
in the pantry for years. I had the same fear of risotto I had about cooking a duck. Both seemed to require a skill set that was beyond me.After much hesitation, I finally took the plunge and you know what I discovered, making risotto is easy, requiring only a little more skill than making pasta.
In fact, think of risotto and pasta as two sisters. The key to both is what goes on top.
Just about everything you like with pasta will work with risotto. Most vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, and fresh herbs if sauteed first can be added to risotto just the way you'd add them to cooked pasta. And both like a bit of freshly grated cheese on top.
This past Sunday at the Pacific Palisades Farmers' Market, I could have chosen any number
of fresh vegetables to use for the risotto: corn, tomatoes, asparagus, peppers--red, yellow, orange, or green--carrots, onions, Italian parsley, kale, or spinach. I settled on squash blossoms with baby zucchini because one of my favorite farmers, John Sweredoski insisted that I had to get them, they were that fresh, that good.He was right.
Risotto with Farmers' Market Fresh Squash Blossoms and Baby Zucchini
Yield 4 servings
Time 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Arborio, Carnaroli, or Vialone Nano rice
10 squash blossoms
6 baby zucchinis, washed, ends trimmed, cut into thin rounds
4 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped
6 shiitake or brown mushrooms, washed, thinly sliced and roughly chopped
1/2 yellow onion, peeled, finely chopped
4 cups broth, vegetable, chicken, or beef, preferably home made
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sweet butter
Sea salt and pepper
Method
Slice open each squash blossom. Cut off the stem and pistil and discard. Flatten the blossoms on a cutting board and cut length-wise into thin strips. In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and saute all the vegetables until lightly browned. Remove and set asid
e.In the same pan add the other tablespoon of olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper. Add the risotto and saute on a medium flame, turning frequently, until the grains start to be translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup of broth, deglazing the pan and stirring the grains with the liquid until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding the broth, 1/2 cup at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid. Keep stirring.
After 10 minutes, add back the sauteed vegetables and mix together with the rice.
After another 5 minutes, add the butter and stir well, continuing to add 1/2 cup of broth at a time. Season with sea salt and pepper. From this point on, start tasting the rice.
When the risotto is done to your taste, Make sure you have enough liquid because a good risotto has a nice amount of gravy.
Serve immediately because the rice will continue to absorb the liquid even after you've taken the pan off the burner. Sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese on top.
Variations
Add a roasted tomato, skin removed, roughly torn apart, with its juice
Saute the kernels from one ear of corn with the other vegetables
Saute 1/2 cup finely chopped Italian parsley with the other vegetables
Add 1/2 cup sauteed diced sausage pieces
Add 2 pounds fresh butter clams, cooked in 1/4 cup water for 5 minutes covered over high heat, add the opened clams and broth at the same time you return the sauteed vegetables to the pan
Monday, July 13, 2009
Melon Mondays
I had some friends over for dinner last night, where the not-so-secret ingredient was melon! Over the next 5 Monday's, I'll share one of the recipes from the night--so you're not as overwhelmed as my guests may have been :)
We'll start with the appetizer--Melon Prosciutto Bruschetta. While I'm not a huge fan of proscuitto-wrapped melon, this was an attempt to recreate an amazing app I had at a wedding that I recently attended. I think it actually came pretty close, although I was the only one who had something to compare it to! I think it was a hit, hopefully they'll chime in ;)
Melon Proscuitto Bruschetta
Recipe by Shannon
1c finely diced honeydew
1c finely diced cantaloupe
1 finely dieced serrano, jalapeno, or the like
juice of 1 lime
1-2T chopped mint
1-2T chopped basil
squirt of siracha (more or less to taste)
desired baguette (I used a peasant bread from Trader Joe's)
EVOO
fresh chopped parsley (or some of the fresh frozen variety)
prosciutto
The night or morning before serving, prepare the melon bruschetta. Combine the first 7 ingredients and let the flavors combine for a few hours. Adjust seasoning to taste, I was hoping to give it a little kick.
Before serving, remove the bruschetta from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. Slice baguette into thin rounds (mine was more like a loaf, so I cut the larger center pieces in half). Lay rounds in a single layer on cookie sheet. Drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle lightly with parsley. Toast either under the broiler or at a high temp (400 or higher) in your oven until nicely browned.
Slice prosciutto into approximate size of toasts (for my pieces, I got 4 rounds from each slice of prosciutto). Place prosciutto on warm toasts after they come out of the oven. Top with a spoonful of bruschetta (drained of any juice) and serve!
We'll start with the appetizer--Melon Prosciutto Bruschetta. While I'm not a huge fan of proscuitto-wrapped melon, this was an attempt to recreate an amazing app I had at a wedding that I recently attended. I think it actually came pretty close, although I was the only one who had something to compare it to! I think it was a hit, hopefully they'll chime in ;)
Melon Proscuitto Bruschetta
Recipe by Shannon
1c finely diced honeydew
1c finely diced cantaloupe
1 finely dieced serrano, jalapeno, or the like
juice of 1 lime
1-2T chopped mint
1-2T chopped basil
squirt of siracha (more or less to taste)
desired baguette (I used a peasant bread from Trader Joe's)
EVOO
fresh chopped parsley (or some of the fresh frozen variety)
prosciutto
The night or morning before serving, prepare the melon bruschetta. Combine the first 7 ingredients and let the flavors combine for a few hours. Adjust seasoning to taste, I was hoping to give it a little kick.
Before serving, remove the bruschetta from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. Slice baguette into thin rounds (mine was more like a loaf, so I cut the larger center pieces in half). Lay rounds in a single layer on cookie sheet. Drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle lightly with parsley. Toast either under the broiler or at a high temp (400 or higher) in your oven until nicely browned.
Slice prosciutto into approximate size of toasts (for my pieces, I got 4 rounds from each slice of prosciutto). Place prosciutto on warm toasts after they come out of the oven. Top with a spoonful of bruschetta (drained of any juice) and serve!
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