March 2016

Wednesday 2016.3.30

Big Cheese

I read an interesting and amusing article about Kraft macaroni and cheese on Monday. Without telling anyone, at least not in a very public way, Kraft changed some of their ingredients about a year ago. They wanted a product that made more use of natural coloring and flavors rather than artificial ingredients. The Nutrition Facts panel listed the new ingredients, but Kraft didn't make any public announcements about the change.

They wanted to see how the change might affect sales without notifying shoppers, a step that might have resulted in some "psychological" detections of change. No one noticed. Sales proceeded as alway without any letters from consumers.

It made me wonder… When a manufacturer announces a change — New and Improved — do we really detect any change? Or do we only think we do?

I don't like Kraft macaroni and cheese, although I really liked it when I was in college. It was quick and easy, and cheap. Like many college students, I ate a lot of it. After not eating it for many years, I tried it again a few years ago and the flavor wasn't the same. There wasn't any announcement of a change. It just didn't taste the same. I thought maybe they were using less salt. And when I was a little kid, like five or six, I remember one neighbor, Mrs. Walsh, adding tuna fish. I loved that stuff!

Lee & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce is another disappointment. I remember reading the ingredients list on the label when I was a teenager. There was lots of stuff in it, like orange and lemon zest. Not anymore. In fact, the ingredient list is now quite small compared to what it used to be, and most of the flavor now might be artificial.

Driven by competition and profit margins, products change. Some change so much, they lose the public interest and disappear altogether. Whatever happened to original Coca-cola? I don't mean the kind that was laced with cocaine (where the "coca" came from in Coca-cola). I mean the soda that was not full of sugar. When Pepsi appeared, which was sweeter in flavor, Coke had to compete. They added more sugar. Doritos 3Ds is another product you don't see anymore. It was an attempt to make a product with almost no content but which took up a lot of room in the bag. Think of crisp bubbles full of air.

When I was a kid my twin brother liked Kellogg's OKs cereal. They tasted just like Cheerios, and there were similar Os in the cereal along with Ks. They're gone. I enjoyed sweeter cereals, like Kellogg's Sugar Corn Pops, which I think are still available. Now the only cereal I ever buy, and only occasionally, is rolled oats. Occasionally I enjoy a little bowl of oatmeal.

Every Thanksgiving/Christmas season Costco sells a triple box of Chex cereals — corn, rice, and wheat — for people who make Chex Mix for the holidays. I do, sometimes, but I don't like pretzels. I add Goldfish and Cheez-Its crackers instead. I thought about doing a video of it. How many people make Chex Mix anymore? You can buy it in a bag, but it isn't as good as homemade. Evidently enough people make it for Costco to stock the cereal.

So I'm wondering about the Kraft macaroni and cheese. Should I try it? Probably, and maybe one of these days I will, but I don't crave it anyone. It's odd, but the two foods I sometimes crave a lot are my Clam Chowder and my New England Clam Cakes. I have what I need to make both. The ingredients, with the exception of prosciutto (for the chowder), have been in my kitchen for a few weeks. As for the clam cakes, I'm waiting for someone's birthday in June. He loves my clam cakes and I plan to make them for him. He has Down syndrome and it is difficult to know what he might want for his birthday. Clam cakes are the best bet because they always make him happy.

Freezer Meals

Costco Connection magazine, in their April 2016 issue, did an article about Freezer Meals. The food is stored in ziplock bags and, from what I understand, complete meals — meat, vegetables, and sauces — are stored in one bag. The article includes three recipes. These are for people with crock pots or other slow cookers. The recipes say to thaw the frozen meal in the refrigerator overnight and then, depending on the recipe, cook 3 to 8 hours.

My Minute Meals are easier. They involve similar advance preparation and cooking, if necessary. Frozen vegetables don't need to be cooked in advanced. Just portion them. The same is true for pre-cooked meats, like Costco's rotisserie chicken. Debone and portion. And from freezer to plate takes a lot less time. I don't thaw anything. They go from freezer to microwave. I can have a plate of hot food ready to eat in under six minutes.

Sunday 2016.3.27 - Happy Easter

I Had a Dream

Do you remember the dream I had about roast duck that I mentioned in a past blog? I wrote about it last year in one of December's blogs. The recipe I created in my sleep is this week's feature recipe: Duck with Plum Wine Sauce. Today being Easter, I'm wondering how this recipe might taste with bunny — maybe rather than a plum wine sauce, something made with orange, maybe chicken stock, a little orange juice, and a splash of Cointreau. Something to think about…

As for last night, I dreamed I had bought a brand new Buick automobile and a friend had bought a fully restored classic Buick, like a 1940 model. We both were feeling buyer's remorse; so we agreed to trade.

What's the Price of Vanity?

$155.00

I've been thinking about doing TV shows again here on the local public access channel. On Wednesday evening there was an open house at the station. I enjoyed a tour of the station, which is very small, and there was plenty of food and drink — sandwiches, pizza, sodas, wine, chips & dips, cakes and cookies, etc. It was a satisfying free dinner. And while there I enquired about the membership and costs. To put a show on air would now cost me $155 per year. There is nothing to be gained — no paid advertising — except the vanity of having a TV show.

I spoke with one of the employees who was there when my shows were broadcast in 2013. He is their production manager and he remembers me well because I made his job easy. I did all the production work, delivering broadcast-ready shows that he only needed to copy from the disk to the server. He said my shows were popular when they were on the air. When the shows stopped they heard from about six people, asking if the show would be continued. Six people.

$155 to deliver shows to six fans.

There are a few positives. I wouldn't need to spend money on gas for my car to drive the disks to the station. Creators can now upload shows through the Internet. They are also building a catalog of shows-on-demand that viewers can watch with an Internet connection. And they now accept shows in 1920 x 1080 high definition format.

Will I do it? No. $155 is too much money to spend for a little vanity. There is no other benefit. Add to the fee the cost of the food and I'd need a sponsor for at least $500 to cover the expenses. Interested? I didn't think so.

And so, I will continue to make shows for YouTube. It costs me nothing to upload them. They pay enough to cover the cost of the food, and it is cumulative. By that I mean all my shows are still there, going back more than five years. My most popular video, French Bread, which I made several years ago, is still earning me pennies each time someone watches it. So far, it has been viewed more than 150,000 times.

I don't wish to appear too profit-minded, too covetous, but there are costs involved. I'm not trying to get rich. I'm not even trying to make a decent living. But even a charity needs a source of income.

Weight Loss

On Wednesday, as planned (mentioned in my previous blog post), I attended an Overeaters Anonymous (OA) meeting. When I was in grad school studying counseling psychology, one of the courses was about substance abuse/addiction. As a condition of the course, we had to attend one Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Their meetings are run a certain way and the OA meetings, also part of a twelve-step program, are similarly run.

The only topic I have difficulty with is the higher power thing. Thankfully, there were some in the group that have similar ideas; so I didn't feel alone. I think the meetings are worth attending. They're a little too structured — a lot of reading from the book and not much socializing. I understand that. They aren't supposed to be a social events.

I can't say for sure whether or not I'll become a member. I read one of their books, The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous. Probably not surprising, there are a few conflicts I'll need to resolve. I'm part of another support group and I am also a member of a World News Discussion Group, both of which occupy a lot of my time. It might be too much of a burden to attend all three meetings, and pursue all my other interests as well.

Wednesday 2016.3.23

More Bad News

Yesterday's terrorist attack in Brussels dominated the news. Donald Trump used it to say, if elected to be the U.S. President, he would increase the use of waterboarding, and do worse. Torture is a violation of international law. There are some in this country — I won't mention any names, but you likely know who they are — who should face an international court to answer for having committed war crimes. Trump's posturing isn't doing anyone any good — well, maybe the Democrats are benefitting.

Another Tuesday, More Primaries

Yesterday another three states voted for nominees — Arizona, Idaho (Democrats only), and Utah. At this point, even I am getting bored with the process. I can only imagine how bored you are getting reading these blogs. I watched the returns with a modicum of interest and I went to bed before learning who won in Idaho and Utah. There are really only two things I look forward to now. 1) Will Donald Trump acquire 1,237 delegates by July? and 2) the Republican Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. The month of July seems far away.

There was an interesting article in POLITICO this morning. "House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday warned against getting 'disheartened' about the current state of politics, saying that Americans can't lose faith in their government.… He also said that while leaders can acknowledge a loss of faith in government, they can't accept it. 'And we can't enable it either,' he added."

By 'enable,' does he include obstructing the President of the United States, and does he also include refusals to consider the President's nomination of a Superior Court replacement for Justice Scalia? If Ryan wants to be taken seriously, maybe a good start would be to dump Mitch McConnell. How does one start a national chant "Ditch Mitch!"

Cheating, Sort Of

Cheating doesn't seem like the right word, but it's all I can think of at the moment.

Some of you might remember that I was in a healthy lifestyle program last year. It was free, paid by my health insurance company. I enjoyed it. The best part was the weight scale they sent me, again free. It is digital and it reports my weight to the program via the cellular phone network. I liked that. It gave me some incentive.

Well that was last year. At some point the scale is supposed to stop sending my weight. It then becomes a normal digital scale. It is still sending. I wrote to the program to ask when it will stop. The answer was, "When you graduate." At that point I didn't want to ask, "When do I graduate?" Enough already. Just give me a date.

Personally, I'd like to start the program again. I enjoyed it and I found it very beneficial. However, like all people who join a weight loss program, I have since started to gain some of the weight I lost. Last week I received another invitation from my health insurance plan. I filled out the application again and submitted it, hoping I might qualify as a new member. As you probably suspect, I was denied. I am already a member, still not graduated.

In the meantime, a friend and I started a weight loss support group here. We meet again this evening. I'm not crazy about it — we meet only once every two weeks, which I find is not often enough — but it does provide a little incentive to get back on track.

However, I want to use that program scale because I like it better than my old one. It's easier to read. It lights up with LEDs. The other scale uses a liquid crystal display. And really, do I need two scales? Remove the batteries from one and store it out in the shed. So how do I stop it from transmitting my weight?

Yesterday I opened it up and there is a very clearly marked antenna wired soldered to the circuit board. Do you know what a solder sucker is? It has a heated tip, like a soldering pen, but there is a squeeze bulb attached to it, like on the end of a turkey baster. Squeeze the bulb and press the hot tip against the solder. When it melts, release the bulb and air sucks up the melted solder.

Disconnecting the antenna wire was easy. Now the scale tries to send, but gives up after about a minute. Maybe there is a better word than cheating. How about outsmarting?

I did make a dietary adjustment this week. In reviewing the lessons from that healthy living program, I saw that they recommended no starchy vegetables, such as potatoes and peas. I love both. The program recommended eating half portions if we still want to enjoy them. Yesterday I portioned mashed potatoes into 2-ounce packets (rather than 4 ounces each) for my Minute Meals. To compensate, I increased my portions of green beans from 4 ounces to 6 ounces. I'll know in a week or two how those meals might work for me. I'm being optimistic.

Meanwhile, hope has not escaped yet. I responded to that program email, saying I'd like my membership to be reset to "beginner" so that I can start the program again. If I might be allowed to digress for a moment…

The problem with every weight loss program is that participants nearly always gain the weight they lose. It's a common problem. And that is the reason we started a weight loss support group here. There is no graduation. Ask anyone who is a member of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Getting clean and sober is one goal. Another goal is staying that way. To help them with that second goal, they attend AA meetings regularly, some everyday, some for the remainder of their life. We need similar programs for people who are trying to lose weight and keep it off.

There is a genetic connection to alcoholism. There is a similar connection for obesity. Dieters are fighting their genetics.

The genetic explanation is simple. In centuries past, droughts and famines were not uncommon. Today, in this part of the world, food is as close as the nearest grocery store. There are three of them within walking distance of my home, four if you count 7‑Eleven. In those past centuries, the people who were most likely to survive a famine were those with the most body fat. As a result, they passed their fat genes onto their children. And down through the ages we are the offspring that still "benefit" from those survival genes. Should there be a famine, the fattest among us might survive.

And so, weight loss is more than one goal — thank you very much, you've graduated, have a nice day. We need a program like AA. Thankfully, there are Overeaters Anonymous groups that meet locally. I'm going to attend my first one tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sunday 2016.3.20

Happy Spring

Today is the Spring Equinox, or first day of spring. Mathematically speaking, if I understand sine waves well enough, today the day will become longer by the most number of seconds. The longest day of the year is still several months away, June 20th.

And that was all I could think to write about today. I haven't been cooking. The planned homemade Italian sausages are still planned. I've been eating mostly Minute Meals.

So, politics is always a good choice of topic, when nothing else comes to mind.

Yesterday we had our World News Discussion Group meeting. The entire two hours were taken up with Donald Trump and the Republican party. Some of us believe Trump will get his 1,237 delegates before the Cleveland convention in July. Others are not so sure, convinced instead of the probability of a contested convention.

What if Trump does not lock up the required 1,237 delegates for a clear nomination at the convention? More importantly, what if the Republican National Committee (RNC) doesn't want him to be the nominee, even if he has 9,000 delegates? Okay, 9,000 is an exaggeration, but maybe not, considering we're talking about Trump here.

We tried to sort out what a "brokered" or "contested" convention means and how the balloting process works. None of us were correct. Yesterday evening I did some research on the Internet and the best explanation I found is from Josh Voorhees at Slate.

The article was written before the Florida and Ohio primaries; so the landscape has changed a little since it was published, but the information is useful and, I think, accurate, given the fact that the rules committee can change the rules at the convention. Voorhees also has a much-appreciated sense of humor. Let's be honest. Politics is usually a dry and boring subject best considered when struggling with insomnia.

The larger question at yesterday's news discussion was what kinds of riots would the RNC incite if they denied a qualified Donald Trump the nomination by a rule change? One guy said bloodshed. I suggested trips to the dentist to fix broken teeth. At the very least, one person guessed some spilled blood. Another debate was whether the riots would be inside or outside the convention. We settled on outside.

Whatever the outcome, we're anticipating the circus of a lifetime at the convention. If we could unanimously agree on anything yesterday, it was that this election cycle is the strangest one we've ever seen.

Wednesday 2016.3.16

News Junkie

For news junkies like me, yesterday was delightful. For those not watching our complicated, and sometimes arcane, voting process — yesterday five more states held their primaries to select candidates to run for president.

Donald Trump won four states. Kasich won his home state of Ohio. The day was bad news for Marco Rubio. He failed to win his home state of Florida, and he announced his withdrawal from the race. By the time I went to bed, I still didn't know who won in Missouri. I checked the results this morning and Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were still designated "Apparent Winner" with 99.9% of the precincts reported. Yesterday was also not a good day for Bernie fans. He was predicted to win Missouri, but was behind by about 1,500 votes.

The prediction sites (fivethirtyseven.com and predictwise.com) got it right by about 80% this time. Prediction is a statistical science, and they can't always predict what the voters will do. A friend of mine follows the predictions religiously and 1) he gets upset when any prediction turns out to have been inaccurate and 2) he gets even more upset when Bernie Sanders wins a state — any state. He would like nothing better than for Hillary Clinton to sweep them all. I don't know why he thinks Sanders is a threat to her campaign. She appears well on her way to receiving the Democratic nomination at the convention, especially after having swept all five states yesterday.

The GOP is a different story. Cruz is despised in the Senate. Trump is despised by nearly all the party. Personally, if he wins the nomination in Cleveland, I can see some new GOP rules coming out of this. It wouldn't surprise me if the RNC (Republican National Committee) announced that any future candidate who wishes to run for the office of President must have prior approval from the Committee before being allowed to run as a Republican. It might be the only way to prevent another Donald from happening to them again.

From a different perspective, there was discussion on TV last night about the future of Kasich. One possibility is that the GOP goes into the Cleveland convention without a clear candidate. The conversation went this way: After two or three ballots, and a lot of horse trading, the convention might give the nomination to Kasich. Paul Ryan was even discussed as a possibility. He was questioned about it and he clearly stated he was not interested. However, some reporters read between the lines to say he left the door open to the possibility.

If denied the nomination at a contested convention, what would Trump do? One person who was interviewed on TV last night said Donald would likely run as a third-party candidate. That wouldn't do the Republican race any good. In fact, he could stir up enough animosity in the voters to cost the Republicans some congressional seats. The GOP's "Stop Trump" efforts might continue all the way to November.

This morning's Washington Post said the last hope of stopping Trump is a contested convention in July. As of this morning, Trump has more than half of the 1,237 delegates he needs for a clear victory of the nomination race. He currently stands at 666 delegates. (Some might give meaning to that number.) We have a week's break before the next primaries, three next Tuesday — Arizona, Idaho, and Utah — none of them winner-takes-all states.

Personally, I think Kasich would be a good choice. He might not be the strongest candidate, but he carries far less hatred with him. The point of having a strong nominee is to win the race, and therefore the GOP might reluctantly give the nomination to Kasich. As weak as he might be, he is certainly more liked by party members than Trump or Cruz. I've liked him all along. Would he win against Hillary Clinton? I seriously doubt it, but I think he has a better chance than either Trump or Cruz. If anything, he would return some dignity to the party.

Foodwise

Foodwise, I did nothing during the first half of this week. I have two recipes to write — the Onion Rings and the White Bolognese Pasta. The videos are edited. Italian sausages are still planned, and I will probably make them next — maybe Friday. Little errands are taking up my time this week.

Sunday 2016.03.13

Happy Daylight Saving Time

I have always loved this time of year, when we get to turn our clocks ahead an hour to enjoy more sunlight in the evening. And now that I am retired, there is no alarm clock to wake me up in the morning. I wake up naturally. So the loss of one hour last night doesn't affect my sleep.

I grew up in Connecticut. Latitudinally speaking, Connecticut is further north than Southern California, and therefore it gets dark sooner during the winter months. During the shortest days of the year — the latter half of December and early January — it would be fully dark outside when we sat down to dinner. And, during the longest days of the year, daylight would last well into the evening, longer than in SoCal. I liked the longer daylight because we could stay out longer to play before coming inside.

Now I enjoy the extra daylight for a different reason. When doing cooking videos during the winter months I need to start early — when preparing recipes with a long cooking time — to finish in time to have natural light for the final photography of the prepared food. I learned about using natural lighting from a book I'd read, Plate to Pixel: Digital Food Photograpy & Styling by Hélène Dujardin.

Now, with longer days, I can work less rushed when shooting videos.

Kasha Varnishkes

Uh-oh. My popularity is about to plummet.

I have a Facebook fan page for this web site. Click on the "Facebook fan page" words to find it. There is also a link on the home page (toward the bottom of the left panel). I often post notes about my latest cooking adventures, such as the onion rings, and include photographs. It's a good testing ground to learn how popular a food recipe might be. When I added the onion rings photo, it reached 400 people in the first 24 hours. A day later it was nearing 500. The Kasha Varnishkes photo has been on the fan site for three months and has, so far, reached 169 people. Nothing I do ever goes viral, but that one went oblivious.

So this week's Feature Recipe won't be a hot item in the archive. I can expect very few YouTube views. But that's okay. I didn't create this web site to win any popularity contests. It will never get as many visitors as the big food sites on the web. I created this site to give me something to do, and enjoy, in my retirement, and who doesn't enjoy eating good food? The fact that I can share recipes and videos, and blog about them too, just adds to the pleasure.

Besides, I like experimenting with odd sorts of food occasionally. Kasha Varnishkes is certainly one of them. So were Arancini, Cat's Tongues (cookies), and Genovese Savory Pastries, to name a few. I even invented a few of my own. You likely wont see Duck Isabel anywhere but here. That's an original. When you have a lot of free time on your hands (or you're looking to kill the last half hour at work), click on the Recipe Archive button (upper left) and then go to the Recipe Index (or click the links from here). Starting with Agnolotti, you'll likely encounter some items you've never seen before. I like that. Anyone can do Spaghetti and Meatballs or Macaroni and Cheese, but how many can do Dr. Frankenstein's Chicken?

White Bolognese

This might do well on YouTube either. I made White Bolognese Pasta from a restaurant recipe. The flavor was delicious. It reminded me of my Clam Chowder recipe. The flavor lingers in the mind and makes me want more of it, again, soon.

Wednesday 2016.03.09

Onion Rings

Yesterday was fun, and delicious. I found a restaurant recipe for Onions Rings. I really like onion rings, but I rarely eat them. The ones I'm used to in restaurants have a thick coating. This recipe idea intrigued me because the coating is not a batter — it's a dip in egg wash and then a dredge in a flour mixture. Interesting. I had to try it.

The recipe had a few things working in its favor. The egg wash is made with egg and buttermilk. Who would have thought? I didn't. I usually make an egg wash with egg and a little water. The idea of buttermilk, which seems like a stroke of genius, is brilliant. It gave the coating more flavor than the rings I enjoyed in the past.

Second, the cooking time in hot oil is longer — to brown the coating — and this caramelizes the onion. The restaurant variety I'd eaten in the past had onions that were cooked until translucent and tender. By caramelizing the onion, there is a tiny bit of sweetness in the flavor.

Third, the flour mixture includes corn meal. It gives the coating a little more crunch in the mouth. I'd like to prepare more of this dredge mixture and store it in a jar. I'm wondering how it might work on a piece of fish, or maybe some fried chicken.

And, finally, the thin coating doesn't detract from the flavor of the onion. See that plate above? I sat at my computer and nibbled at it until all the rings were gone. I usually give my video food away. Not this time.

The recipe and video will be uploaded to this web site and to YouTube in coming weeks.

As for future projects, I am still planning on making Italian sausages. And I have a white Bolognese pasta on my list. Maybe tomorrow, because I can stop at a store on the way home and buy the chicken livers. The local grocery store rarely stocks it anymore.

Politics

Several times I've said this is the strangest campaign cycle I've ever seen. I am beginning to tire of it though. The outcome seems a foregone conclusion. Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic candidate and Donald Trump will be the Republican. The GOP is doing everything they can to undermine him, and their convention might have some surprises in it. Ultimately, though, Clinton will be our next president.

My next Wednesday blog will be a lot more interesting because that will be the day after the March 15 primaries. Two are very important — Ohio and Florida. Kasich said he will drop out of the race if he can't win his home state of Ohio. Rubio hasn't said what he will do if he can't win his state, Florida, but it's expected he'll withdraw. The latest polls, which are not always right, give Florida to Trump and he also appears poised to win Ohio by a narrow margin.

Personally, I'd like Kasich to stay in the race. For the sake of the GOP's dignity (Trump isn't doing them any good at all), I'd prefer to see a brokered convention in Cincinatti and, after several rounds of balloting, I'd hope to see Kasich emerge as the candidate. He isn't a strong candidate, but not even an unstoppable candidate like Trump could defeat Clinton. So, for the sake of some sanity, give the nomination to Kasich and let's enjoy a civilized campaign competition leading us into the November elections.

Maybe Time for a Little Celebration?

Friday is sort of an anniversary. On March 11, 2014 the construction work on my replacement garden shed was completed. I blogged about it several times while it was being built and afterward when I was installing shelves.

How to celebrate.… Maybe one of my homemade pizzas. The weather forecast is predicting 100% probability of rain on Friday, so it will be a good day to heat up the oven.

Time is Running Out

And speaking of rain… The Los Angeles Times reported this week that California's rainy season ends in about six weeks. Two storms passed through the region during the early part of the week. The second one was supposed to be the big one, delivering two inches or more of rain. We recieved about half an inch. In our local region every reporting station — there are 14 of them — recorded less than an inch. Cachuma dam, which is where our reservoir is, reported 0.9 inches. Needless to say, the capacity of the lake remains unchanged at 14.8%.

There is good news. This time, the desalination plant is justified. When it was first built 20 years ago to help solve a drought crisis, the region was suddenly surprised with "March miracle" rains that filled the reservior beyond capacity, ending the drought. In a complete lapse of forward thinking, some of the equipment was sold and some was mothballed. Many believe the plant should have been brought on line and kept running, at least marginally. We have aquifers here and in periods of abundant rain, water is pumped down into the aquifers to recharge them. That could have been done with excess water from the desal plant.

Now they know better. Droughts are cyclicle in California. Our rain seasons pendulate between wet El Niño events and dry La Niña years. And with climage change, perhaps we are entering into a long period of less-than-average rain each season. Desalination water, though expensive, is becoming a necessity. I'd rather pay a little more for water than have none.

Sunday 2016.03.06

Another Day of Primaries

If you like following politics, especially elections, yesterday was not a disappointment. Four states held Republican primaries. Three ran Democratic contests. Among the Democrats, Sanders won two states and Clinton one. For the Republicans, Trump added two states and Cruz two. The Democrats are holding their caucus in Maine today.

MSNBC tried to sensationalize the day a little, calling it "Super Saturday," evidently an attempt at improving their ratings. There was nothing super about yesterday. If my schedule is correct, there are four days on which five states hold primaries and one day, in June, when six states vote. If anything, that last big day is a super one because California votes, with 546 Democratic delegates and 172 Republican. California has the greatest number of delegates to be won and therefore it is sometimes the state that guarantees a candidate his or her nomination.

I would consider March 15 more of a super day because that is when we get into the winner-takes-all states. So far, the delegates have been awarded proportionally, depending on how the state votes. However, on that Tuesday, which includes Florida (Rubio's home state and therefore important to him) and Ohio (Kasich's home state). There are other winner-takes-all states to follow later in the campaign cycle. California (if my notes are correct) is one of them.

And this is where the Republicans have suffered because they've had too many candidates competing. In some states, if one candidate wins more than 50% of the votes, that candidate is awarded all the delegates; otherwise, they're awarded proportionally. With so many candidates competing, they've gained only a handful of candidates in each primary.

Even more important, for me, are the news articles and opinion pieces being written about this election cycle. A Republican rule that has been enforced for nearly a decade is that the party sticks together. I don't know who started it — maybe Dick Chaney, or Newt Gingrich — but it has been a powerful tool to keep the party united. That unity was shattered by Trump. If anything, the party has been uniting around one cause: Stop Trump. It's easy to see why.

If he wins enough delegates to be granted the presidential nomination, he won't succeed against Clinton (despite what many believe). Many Republican voters have said to the press that they would either vote Democratic, or not at all, rather than vote for Trump. Not only would the Republicans fail to win the presidency, they would likely lose their majority in the Senate. The outcome of that is easy to predict. The party's efforts to stonewall Obama's efforts to replace the late Antonin Scalia with a justice of his choice would be for naught. Clinton would recommend a justice of her choosing and a Democratic majority in the Senate would easily approve. The Supreme Court would have a liberal majority, which the Republicans cannot tolerate. And there are more justices who will retire soon.

So the Republicans need to do better. They're trying, but Trump is not helping the party.

Meanwhile, the news is covering the passing of Nancy Regan. Although it is a very sad event, some will find it a welcome respite from the onslaught of Trump coverage in the media. Rest in peace, Nancy. And I can't help wondering how her death might sober Republican voters and make them think more seriously about which candidate they want to be their president.

Rain

In my last blog entry I mentioned we were expecting a little rain. We got it. The prediction for the area in which I live was 0.7 to 1 inch. We did a little better, 1½ inches. It did little to help our reservoir. We're still in the negative numbers, having used, or lost, more water than gained for the season. The capacity, currently at 14.8%, remained unchanged with this storm. Another one is on its way and that storm is expected to dump more rain.

And, Finally, a Little Something About Cooking

I have three recipes that are waiting for me to video. I am delayed by something. If you've been following my blog for a long time, you know that I tore out all my lawn last year and replaced it with sandstone and Dymondia ground cover. Besides conserving water (no grass to keep green), it is much easier to maintain — no lawn to mow.

The Dymondia has been thriving, such that it is now growing over the stones, in some places completely hiding them. I decided it needed trimming.

It looks great when trimmed. However, my hands look awful. Even Boraxo hand soap and a fingernail brush didn't remove all the dirt from under my fingernails. The skin on my hands is discolored, although it is starting to return to normal. There is still about a third of the yard to trim. I'll look for good garden gloves before I continue.

Wednesday 2016.03.02

The Day After

Yesterday was Super Tuesday here in the USA. For those in other countries who don't follow our news, yesterday there were primaries (and caucuses) in 12 states to select a candidate to be their party's nominee for the Presidential race in November. It is the greatest number of primaries in any one day, and therefore it earned the title of Super Tuesday.

It's a complicated process. In each state the voters are given an opportunity to select the candidate they most like in each party — and in some states Democrats and the Republicans vote on different days. The winners gain delegates from that state. After all the primaries, the delegates attend the party's national convention and cast their ballots for the nominee. In the first round of balloting each delegate is expected to vote according to the wishes of their home state. If no nominee wins enough delegate votes, balloting begins again, but the delegates can vote differently. This process continues until a clear winner emerges.

In most conventions the nominee is named after the first ballot. This year the Democratic nominee is expected to be Hillary Clinton. On the Republican side, the outcome is still not clear. Many expect Donald Trump to be the nominee. However, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio (and some of the GOP party elite) are doing all they can — no matter how dirty — to prevent that from happening. It was said on the news yesterday evening, the Republican party has a reputation for voting shenanigans.

This is an unusual (understatement) campaign cycle. Before Super Tuesday the country almost always knows who the top two candidates will be. This year the Democratic front runner is Hillary Clinton. Although Bernie Sanders is doing well in a few states, Clinton has a clear majority of delegates. South Carolina last weekend (February 27) was a good example. She won nearly 75% of the votes. Yesterday she won 7 of the 11 states holding Democratic primaries; Sanders took four.

Many states have not yet held their primaries. Starting on March 15 some state delegates are "winner take all." In the earlier primaries the delegates were awarded proportionately. If two candidates each win about half the votes, they were each awarded half the delegtes. In some states — Florida and Ohio, as examples — when a candidate wins the majority of the votes, all the state's delegates are awarded to that candidate.

So now what? During last night's television coverage the commentators repeatedly said the Republicans are doing all they can behind the scenes to find a way to stop Trump. I am not going to attempt any predictions. It can only get more entertaining.

A Little Light Rain

If the forecast models are correct, we'll get some rain later this week. "Little" is probably correct. Some parts of California are projected to get more rain, but here in the Southland the forecast is currently predicting one inch or less. However, we'll take it.

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