Technology, oh how I love thee

Anyone who knows me well knows of my deep abiding love for toast. One of life's greatest troubles with the creation of great toast is the seemingly-insurmountable problem of COLD butter. Cold butter is impossible to spread on toast evenly - it ends up globbing in big chunks, and may even tear holes in your toast if you try to spread it too aggressively.

Enter some genius Brits who created the ButterWizard:



"Butter Wizard is a portable, temperature-controlled butter dish, which keeps butter at what it says is the optimal spreadable temperature of 18.5 C."

"It has a built-in fan and a chip which together control the temperature, adjustable for different textures, be it super-soft bread, crusty toast or delicate biscuits."

God bless the British.

put movies on your new iPod

Since I'm an iPod whore, I had to get my hands on a new video iPod (black, 60gb, of course). I love it, and I immediately wanted to get movies onto it - perfect for a long flight. After a bit of experimentation, I came up with this recipe for turning a DVD movie into a file viewable on the new iPod:

1. Get a copy of the program Mac the Ripper. This program takes the DVD content and rips it to a series of files saved to your computer's hard drive. Note that this program isn't required and that the program I use for the next step will perform the functions of Mac the Ripper, but I find MtR to be a great little program and since I often rip the same movies to DVD later on, I'm using it anyway (see my earlier post about ripping DVDs).

2. Get a copy of the program Handbrake. This program takes the files created by Mac the Ripper and turns it into a file viewable on your iPod. Handbrake requires a handful of settings changes to get the best possible video - after a bit of experimentation, these are the Handbrake settings I find to work best:

2a. In the "Source" pane, make sure that Handbrake has chosen the correct track in the "Title" option. If the DVD is a feature film, it should have picked the right track by default. If the DVD is a television series, you will likely have to choose each episode individually.

2b. In the "Destination" pane, look for the "Codecs" popup menu and choose "AVC/H.264 Video / AAC Audio". Then pick where you would like to have Handbrake save the file by clicking on "Browse" and picking the destination. Leave the "File format" selection as is.

2c. In the "Video" pane, look for the "Encoder" popup menu and choose "x264 (Baseline profile)". Next, in the "Quality" subsection, choose "Average bitrate (kbps)" and enter "400" in the box. Finally, select the checkbox for "2-pass encoding". (Note that this option will make for much longer processing times, but a noticeable difference in quality.)

2d. Lastly, click on the "Picture settings..." button. In the "Size" box, drop the width to 320, but let the height fall where it may by leaving the "Keep aspect ratio" box checked. If your source is a television series, you may want to check the box for "Deinterlace picture" if you notice horizontal "tear" lines in the sample image.

2e. Click "Rip". When the file is done, import it into iTunes and then drag it over to your iPod from the iTunes library window.

I've found that the rest of the default settings are fine, but you may want to experiment with different audio settings.

As I write this, Handbrake is at version 0.7.0. I'll likely update these directions in the future if Handbrake changes or if I find a better program for iPod video.

making the most of netflix

I've been a Netflix subscriber for a few years, but recently started duplicating the DVD movies I receive for later viewing. Here's the best way I've found to do it:

1. Get a copy of the program Mac the Ripper. This program takes the DVD content and rips it to a series of files saved to your computer's hard drive. MtR is one of those incredibly handy programs that works just as you'd hope with the default settings. Just pop in a DVD and click "GO".

2. Get a copy of the program Popcorn. This program takes the files saved by Mac the Ripper, recompresses them to fit onto a smaller DVD (if necessary), and burns them to disk. Again, this program works just as you'd expect with no settings tweaks necessary. Just point it at the directory of content that Mac the Ripper created, insert a blank disk, and click the big red button.

These two programs make for a pretty easy two-step process that only involves a couple of mouse clicks and no knowledge of esoteric ripping or burning settings. On a dual 2.3ghz G5, I can duplicate an average DVD in about 25 minutes.

One word of caution. Some experimentation may be necessary with the choice of blank DVD media. I have found that some older DVD players do not do a very good job of reading burned DVDs, but that for most players, there is a magic brand that works well. Be prepared to burn a few drink coasters to find the right media.

love the blender drinks

early on in my very limited drink mixing career, someone taught me how to blend up daiquiri-style beverages at parties. now there isn't much to these drinks, but judging by the reaction of the people I party with, you'd think these drinks were the end-all, be-all of alcoholic beverages. here's how you do 'em:

You will need:

A bag of GOOD ice. That cube tray in your freezer, forget it. That old bag of snow that was cubed ice six months ago? Toss it. Go out and get yourself a good bag of nice, clear cubes.

A blender. And not just any $12 WalMart special blender - you need a blender with some balls that'll break ice without sending up smoke signals.

Frozen concentrated juice. I prefer the Welch's brand six packs of variety juices that I buy at Costco. You can go crazy and even buy the ridiculously expensive Bacardi brand juices, but I find the regular 'ol juices of various flavors (grape, apple/grape, strawberry, etc.) work even better.

Booze. Don't be afraid to introduce some variety here - I'll mix with vodka, rum, tequila, gin, and combinations of all 4. I prefer light rum, or for even more fun I'll use the citrus or berry flavored rums and vodkas to match my frozen juice selection.

You're ready to rock. Fill your blender pitcher about 3/4 full of ice, dump in your full can of frozen juice concentrate, and then use your empty juice can as a measuring cup for the booze. If you like your blender beverages with a kick (like I do), fill the can with booze. 1/2 to 3/4 of a can for lightweights.

Blend like a mofo. Be sure to break up all the ice, which may require a couple of minutes of constant blending.

Variations: I also like to toss in frozen fruit, like frozen strawberries to go with a berry juice or frozen kiwi to go with a citrus juice. Again, be sure to blend it smooth so your guests don't choke on chunklets of frozen stuff.

Enjoy.

ride: decker canyon road

went on a spectacular little ride yesterday. started out on topanga canyon, which meets up with mulholland highway, and made a short stop at the rock store.



continuing west, mulholland highway gives you the option of turning off onto a smaller road called decker canyon road. decker canyon road is only about 7 miles long, from where it splits off mulholland highway and winds its way to the pacific coast highway. before we got to decker canyon, the group I was with stopped at a small overlook and took a few pictures:



on to decker canyon. this is a challenging little road - mixing smooth high speed sweepers, nicely banked S curves, and gentle open turns with near-blind turns, pucker-inducing decreasing radius hairpins, and off-camber swerves that seem to want to pitch you into the weeds in anything faster than first gear.

I stopped just before the end and took a quick snap with my cell phone:



after decker, we headed north to a cool little seafood spot called neptune's nest. this crow had been perched on my bike, and i'd assumed it would drop a package on my bike for me, but it didn't.



had a good lunch of fried shrimp before heading back south on the PCH to meet up with encinal canyon road to take us back east again. my riding group lives in the valley, so once we got back to mulholland highway, we split off and I again made a run back west toward decker canyon. riding alone, I was able to really make a great run - and had so much fun that my hands were sore from braking and clutching.

since i've been doing a lot of riding on these kinds of roads, i've really been grinding my footboards down:



I need a sportier bike.

love the spanish coffee

Another drink I love to make is the Spanish Coffee. Not to be confused with an Irish Coffee. This baby packs a decent punch for it's size, yet is quite tasty. Here's my recipe:

You will need...

An Irish Coffee glass
Bacardi 151 rum
Kahlua
Triple Sec
A decent sized orange
Powdered cinnamon
Powdered nutmeg
Reg'lar 'ol sugar (granulated)
Whipped cream (preferably whipped by you from cream - not the canned sludge)
Coffee (I prefer a fairly mellow dark roast for the purposes of this beverage, but most any decent coffee will do)
Some sort of flame producing device (matches, lighter, two dry sticks, whatever)

Brew up a small pot of your fav-o-rite coffee, and leave it be for now. Grab your orange, and slice it in half. With half the orange in one hand and your Irish Coffee glass in the other, grind the rim of the glass into the orange, making sure the rim of the glass gets well coated.

Next, spread 1/4 cup or so of your sugar onto a small plate, and dip the orange-d rim of the glass into the sugar, making sure to coat the rim of the glass evenly with the sugar.

Now you're ready to pour some booze. Add one shot of 151, one shot of Kahlua, and about a half shot of Triple Sec to the glass. Then get ready for the real show....

Light it.

It will burn blue, and as it burns you want to tilt the glass at an angle such that the flame caramelizes the sugar on the rim of the glass, but not enough to pour any flaming liquid out. Hold the glass by the base to keep your little digits from getting too toasty. Don't let it burn for more than a minute or so, as the glass may crack if it gets too hot.

Once the sugar is caramelized, set the glass down (still aflame, with any luck), take your cinnamon and nutmeg containers and tap them together over the flame. This will add a little bit of flavor to the drink, but more importantly, it makes neat sparks in the flame. It's all about the show, you know.

Now grab your coffee and put the flames out by filling the glass almost to the rim. Top it off with your hand-whipped cream (did I mention that the canned stuff sucks?) and another little tap of cinnamon on top of the cream for good looks.

If you're good, you can do this in a darkened room for a bit of a show at a party. Fine-tune the ingredient mix to fit your tastes, and once you get good flame control, these are quite tasty little beverages. Great for a winter evening in front of a fire.

Maaad propz to my good friend Susan for introducing me to the toasty goodness of Spanish Coffees, and showing me how they're made.

love the mojito

saturday night, I performed bartender duties at a friend's annual halloween party. i've done this the last few years, and starting last year I decided that instead of trying to stock a ton of different liquor and mixers, i'd come up with a drink of the evening. last year it was spanish coffees, this year, mojitos.

now I know that mojitos are usually reserved for hot days in the summer, but since this is LA and it was 82 degrees on saturday, I bent the rules. i'd gotten the idea for mojitos from a restaurant in hollywood called xiomara that specializes in them. they even have a sugar cane press behind the bar where they squeeze the cane right into your glass, along with fresh mint, lime, and rum.

I wasn't quite willing to pony up the cash for raw sugar cane and a press, but I did manage to find a big bag of "sugar in the raw", some very fragrant fresh mint, and a whole lotta fresh limes. here's my recipe:

grab a drink shaker, and add about a tablespoon of sugar in the raw. next, add 3 or 4 fresh mint leaves. now, slice a lime in half and ream both halves into your shaker. make sure you squeeze all the juice you can get out of that lime. now get yourself a handy wooden or granite pestle and grind the lime, sugar, and mint together in the bottom of the shaker.

once you've mashed everything together, add about 6 shots of light rum. I was using bacardi limon, but normal light rum will work too. now toss in a handful of ice, and shake shake shake.

what you have in the shaker now is enough to make two drinks, so pour half of the contents into a highball glass and then top it off with club soda. enjoy.