Polar bears floating down the Thames

Wonder what would happen if they did the “message in a bottle” thing and send the sculpture out to see?

Article from Inhabitat http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/01/31/eco-art-eden-tv-polar-bears/
Eden TV, a new UK-based natural history TV channel has recently begun broadcasting. To celebrate their launch, the network built a 16-foot-high sculpture of a mother polar bear and her cub stranded on an iceberg. Also meant to increase awareness about the plight of the polar bear and their dwindling habitat as a result of climate change, the sculpture was sent to float down the Thames river. The event took place on January 26th and started at Greenwich, South East London traveling to the Tower Bridge and then to the House of Parliament.

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The 1.5-ton sculpture was created by a team of 15 artists, who worked for 2 months to create the 20-feet by 20-feet sculpture. The mamma bear and her cub started their journey at 6:30 am and traveled for 7.5 miles to reach their destination, where they had their photos taken by the press. Eden will highlight the sculpture and the melting of the ice caps this week along with their Fragile Earth series.

Sir David Attenborough, a well-known broadcaster and wildlife conservationist, says: “The melting of the polar bears’ sea ice habitat is one of the most pressing environmental concerns of our time. I commend Eden for highlighting the issue; we need to do what we can to protect the world’s largest land carnivores from extinction.”

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The few, the proud, the Marines having fun

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Milky Way Over Mauna Kea

From Astronomy Picture of the Day http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

 1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
       the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

 2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
       night after night they display knowledge.

 3 There is no speech or language
       where their voice is not heard.

 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth,
       their words to the ends of the world.
       In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

 5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
       like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

 6 It rises at one end of the heavens
       and makes its circuit to the other;
       nothing is hidden from its heat.

                                Psalm 19:1-6

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Video: The Longchang Apartments - Shanghaiist

Beautiful, haunting video by Dan Chung. Unfortunately, no subtitles for us wai guo ren (bu hui shuo pu tong hua).

Originally posted by Shanghaiist http://shanghaiist.com/2009/01/23/video_the_longchang_apartments.php

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Brodie the Yellow Lab Puppy, Part Deux

Awwww!

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Menchies' Dark Chocolate & Vanilla Swirl

So many possible combinations at the new yogurt shops in town, especially at the self-serve, soft-serve. Wonder if anyone’s tried to calculate. But simple can sometimes be absolutely, beautifully, simply…delicious!

Menchies
Honolulu - Ward Warehouse
1050 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814
(808) 592-9292
Sun - Thurs: 11am-10pm
Fri - Sat: 11am-11pm
http://menchies.com/

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Things you can do with a sparkler and a digital camera

New Year’s Eve. You got sparklers, night, and a digital camera with long shutter. Here’s what you do.

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Hinone Mizunone

On the last night before son Dylan returned to school in LA, we did the traditional “where do you want to eat” dinner. After first heading to Tekkaippin Ramen, one of our favorite ramen shops on Kapahulu Avenue, we made a quick change in plans when we spied cars backed up to get into the shared rear parking lot with Jamba Juice and Starbucks—and a line going out the door. A line at Tekkaippin is not unusual, but there was packing to be done and the wait didn’t coincide with our plans. That’s when Dylan remembered, Hinone Mizunone, a Japanese restaurant on South King Street that took over an old Taco Bell restaurant.

Not too many minutes later, we zipped into the parking lot, through the front door, and were promptly seated in Hinone Mizunone’s spacious and very casual dining room. My husband asked, “Is this the same size as Taco Bell?” Hmmm, how to answer that one…

The windows on the way into the restaurant boasted pans topped with large wooden covers, while framed posters next to the windows proclaimed “Ono!! Kamadaki Gohan.” Turns out kamadaki gohan is a special traditional method for cooking rice – no rice cooker involved! – and when we tasted it, served in individual covered containers complete with single serving rice paddles, all we could say was oishii!!!

Dylan said the restaurant reminded him of a restaurant he had been to in Japan the year he went to school in Nagoya. His better-tuned Japanese taste buds also proclaimed the food pretty authentic. He ate everything on his teishoku and finished off some of mine, too. He really wanted the Japanese hamburger steak, which he said is very different from any other hamburger steak (also pronounced “hom-buh-guh”), but sadly the restaurant had run out for the evening. Guess that means we’re going back. Maybe even before Dylan returns in May.

Two entrée teishoku $14.95 proportioned right, but limited in selection. A la carte menu is more extensive.

Hinone Mizunone
1345 S. King St.
Honolulu, HI

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The Omnivore's Hundred

A little gastronomic diversion (not to be confused with gastric diversion) lifted from justhungry.com http://justhungry.com/omnivores-hundred-just-hungry-version I scored 55 out of 100 and am not sure how much further that number will climb. Maybe I’ll work on 100 foods I like to eat. That would be an interesting exercise!

The Omnivore’s Hundred
Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
Optional extra: Post a comment at Very Good Taste linking to your results.

So, here I present…
The Just Hungry Omnivore’s Hundred

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (Unopened can sits in my pantry…waiting for it to claw its way out)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue (But so much bread and cheese—which would make it fondue)
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari (My absolute fave is the deep fried calamari made by Longhi’s http://longhis.com/ in Hawaii)
12. Pho (Makes you feel like you’ve eaten healthy)
13. PB&J sandwich (the best requires fresh, soft bread, but my 13 year old prefers it on toast,, which I totally don’t understand)
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (NY experience required)
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns (grew up on char siu bao)
20. Pistachio ice cream (grocery store ones don’t give this it’s due)
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras (Husband is boycotting because of cruel treatment of ducks)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese (I kind of like the gelatinousness)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters (raw oysters are fine, but have you ever had a deep fried oyster?)
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (Does it have to be with a fat cigar?)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (oooohh!)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail (Just made some last week)
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (not to my knowledge)
43. Phaal (had to look this one up!)
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel (Tastes better if you call it by its Japanese name, unagi)
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin (to be polite only for sure)
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (will remain unbolded for my lifetime)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores (could use s’more right now!)
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (can’t even find what this is)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs (help me, no!)
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis (enjoyed the dish served at Edinburgh Castle)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (cruise ship)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost (this often appeared at breakfast in Norwegian hotels…it is pretty bad)
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu (did the Communist officials on our visit to China make us drink this?)
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini (plan to mark this off asap since discovering just now it’s sparking wine with peach puree,)
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky (I’m not a big fan of Pocky and don’t see why people make a big deal out of it…)
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (if only there were a 3-star Michelin in my neighborhood!)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers (Look pretty but don’t add to the tasting experience in my opinion)
89. Horse (shall boycott)
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam (Hawaiian staple found even in the best kitchens)
92. Soft shell crab (mmmm – sushi!)
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta (there’s polenta and then there’s polenta!)
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee (doesn’t beat Sumatra IMHO)
100. Snake (ehhhh!)

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Take a Bite of Bitten's Cabbage Salad

http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/recipe-of-the-day-cabbage-salad/

If Bitten’s cabbage tastes as good as it looks pretty, we’re in the game. Reminds me I want to try Margaret Fox’s red cabbage salad recipe using balsamic vinegar. My friend Sue Yates of Silverpine Lodge in New Zealnd  [http://www.silverpine.co.nz/] cooks up an awesome wilted red cabbage that keeps improving with age!

Ingredients
   * 1 small head white cabbage, about 1 pound, cored and shredded
    * 1/2 small head red cabbage, about
    * 1/2 pound cored and shredded
    * 1 or 2 carrots, peeled, trimmed and shredded
    * Salt as needed
    * Extra virgin olive oil to tast
    * Vinegar or lemon juice to taste
    * Black pepper to taste
    * Chopped fresh parsley leaves, optional

Method:
In a colander, combine cabbages and carrots. Toss with at least 1 tablespoon salt, enough so that leaves exude moisture within 10 or 15 minutes. If they do not, add a little more salt. Let sit an hour or two, pressing out moisture out with your hands once or twice. Taste, and if mixture is too salty, rinse and dry. Toss with oil, vinegar or lemon juice, and pepper; you may even need a little salt. Serve, garnished with parsley if you like.

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