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THE BIG QUESTION Can this team finally win under Alex Smith? An ideal system and offensive-minded coach give Smith his best chance at succeeding for a franchise that drafted him first overall in 2005. Coach Jim Harbaugh’s arrival – and experience as an NFL quarterback – was enough to convince Smith to return on a one-year, $5 million deal. Smith took this opportunity so seriously, he led offseason workouts both on the field and in the classroom during the labor lockout. What makes the West Coast system so ideal for the cerebral Smith is its detailed nature and reliance on shorter, quicker routes. The 49ers ran a similar look in Smith’s rookie season under coordinator Mike McCarthy, but now they have a bastion of proven weapons in Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Braylon Edwards and Michael Crabtree. Smith has gone through six coordinators and two significant shoulder injuries, and now he is on the clock more than ever to produce a winning campaign. If this season doesn’t end in the playoffs, then don’t expect the 49ers to award him a fourth contract 3 REASONS THEY MAKE THE PLAYOFFS 1. They win the mediocre NFC West, which last year sent a 7-9 Seattle Seahawks team into the NFC playoffs. 2. Coach Jim Harbaugh’s energy, enthusiasm and overhauled schemes spark a roster cloaked with seasoned starters. 3. They score. A lot. The 49ers have not ranked among the top-20 scoring teams since Jeff Garcia, Terrell Owens and six other offensive starters left after 2003. 3 REASONS THEY DON’T MAKE THE PLAYOFFS 1. They have five road games in the Eastern Time Zone, where they’ve gone 1-21 since 2003. They’ll try bucking that trend by staying in Youngstown, Ohio, between Weeks 3 and 4 road games at Cincinnati and Philadelphia. 2. The passing game falters behind, (a) inefficient quarterbacks, (b) relatively young linemen, (c) drop-laden wide receivers, (d) all of the above, plus other familiar excuses 3. A revamped secondary is feasted upon by quarterbacks Tony Romo, Michael Vick, Josh Freeman, Eli Manning, Joe Flacco and Ben Roethlisberger. SCOUTING THE DIVISION Arizona Cardinals (5-11, 4th place) Acquiring quarterback Kevin Kolb from the Philadelphia Eagles has helped the Cardinals forget about their 2010 starting trio of Derek Anderson, Max Hall and John Skelton. Tight end Todd Heap also joined coach Ken Whisenhunt’s offense, which still revolves around wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, the NFL’s highest-paid receiver with a recent deal guaranteeing him $50 million. The Cardinals gave up Pro Bowl cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to land Kolb, but they used the fifth-overall pick to draft promising playmaker Patrick Peterson out of LSU. A strong start could be parlayed into a surprising season, which ends with four of their last five games at home. St. Louis Rams (7-9, 1st-place tie) More positives are expected from quarterback Sam Bradford in his second season. His new offensive coordinator is Josh McDaniels, who parlayed that role with the New England Patriots into a dismal head-coaching start with the Denver Broncos. Aside from veteran running back Steven Jackson, the Rams don’t offer Bradford many weapons. Staring wide receivers are likely Mike Sims-Walker, Brandon Gibson and Danny Amendola. One-time 49ers guard Harvey Dahl joins an offensive line that returns the rest of its starters. Defensive end Chris Long, who had a sack in each game against the 49ers last season, is complemented on the pass rush by James Hall and first-round draft pick Robert Quinn. After a Week 5 bye, the Rams play four of their next five on the road, at Green Bay, Dallas, Arizona and Cleveland. Seattle Seahawks (7-9, 1st-place tie) Long-time quarterback Matt Hasselbeck left for the Tennsessee Titans, and his immediate replacement is Tarvaris Jackson, with Charlie Whitehurst the top backup. New receiving targets include Sidney Rice, Jackson’s former Minnesota Vikings teammate, and tight end Zach Miller, who was the Raiders’ most consistent weapon. Despite upsetting the New Orleans Saints to open the playoffs, the Seahawks dumped several veterans (see: linebacker Lofa Tatupu, safety Lawyer Milloy) in favor of deploying the league’s youngest group of starters. Second-year coach Pete Carroll’s former USC-Stanford showdowns with Jim Harbaugh help spice up this NFC West rivalry. Former Raiders coach Tom Cable was brought in to rebuild an offensive line that added ex-Raiders guard RobertGalleryand two rookies on the right side: tackle James Carpenter and guard John Moffit. DIFFERENCE MAKERS ILB Patrick Willis: A Pro Bowl choice and fierce tackler in each of his four seasons, he’ll be asked to pressure quarterbacks more often and crank up his career sack total of 15. LT Joe Staley: Injuries limited to nine games each of the past two seasons, including a season-ending broken leg last Nov. 14. TE Vernon Davis: If Braylon Edwards and Michael Crabtree can stretch the field, look forDavisto have an even bigger year in the West Coast offense’s tight end-friendly scheme. RB Frank Gore: A co-captain with Willis, Gore just got a three-year contract extension and is within 1,242 yards of 49ers all-time rushing leader Joe Perry. SS Donte Whitner: A 2006 first-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills, Whitner should become the secondary’s leader, especially if he adds to his paltry total of five career interceptions. DATE TO CIRCLE Nov. 24 at Baltimore. What’s Thanksgiving night without family? The NFL Network will play that up in this matchup between 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and his brother, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh. On the field, we’ll see two of this era’s best inside linebackers, Ray Lewis and Patrick Willis.

Transcriptomic imprints of adaptation to fresh water: parallel evolution of osmoregulatory gene expression in the Alewife Comparative approaches in physiological genomics offer an opportunity to understand the functional importance of genes involved in niche exploitation. We used populations of Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) to explore the transcriptional mechanisms that underlie adaptation to fresh water. Ancestrally anadromous Alewives have recently formed multiple, independently derived, landlocked populations, which exhibit reduced tolerance of saltwater and enhanced tolerance of fresh water. Using RNA‐seq, we compared transcriptional responses of an anadromous Alewife population to two landlocked populations after acclimation to fresh (0 ppt) and saltwater (35 ppt). Our results suggest that the gill transcriptome has evolved in primarily discordant ways between independent landlocked populations and their anadromous ancestor. By contrast, evolved shifts in the transcription of a small suite of well‐characterized osmoregulatory genes exhibited a strong degree of parallelism. In particular, transcription of genes that regulate gill ion exchange has diverged in accordance with functional predictions: freshwater ion‐uptake genes (most notably, the ‘freshwater paralog’ of Na+/K+‐ATPase α‐subunit) were more highly expressed in landlocked forms, whereas genes that regulate saltwater ion secretion (e.g. the ‘saltwater paralog’ of NKAα) exhibited a blunted response to saltwater. Parallel divergence of ion transport gene expression is associated with shifts in salinity tolerance limits among landlocked forms, suggesting that changes to the gill's transcriptional response to salinity facilitate freshwater adaptation.

The use of artificial intelligence and deep learning methods in subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator screening to optimise selection in special patient populations Type of funding sources: Private company. Main funding source(s): Dr.Mohamed ElRefai is receiving an unrestricted grant from Boston Scientific. Adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients who require defibrillator therapy are often relatively young and may require several generator replacements in their lifetime. The increased risk of complications associated with transvenous ICDs make the subcutaneous (S-ICD) a valuable alternative. However, higher S-ICD ineligibility rates (20-40% in ACHD and 7-38% in HCM) and higher inappropriate shock rates (10.5% in ACHD and 12.5% in HCM) are observed in these populations. Unfavourable T:R ratios and dynamic changes in the R and T wave amplitudes are the primarily factors behind ineligibility and inappropriate shocks, which are most commonly caused by T wave over-sensing. We report a novel application of deep learning methods used to autonomously screen patients for S-ICD eligibility over a longer period than conventional screening. We hypothesise that this screening approach might achieve better patient selection and optimise S-ICD vector selection in challenging patient cohorts. Adult patients with ACHD or HCM and a control group of normal subjects were fitted with a 24-hour ambulatory ECG with the leads placed to record their S-ICD vectors. T: R ratio throughout the recordings was analysed utilising phase space reconstruction matrices to convert the ECG signal into compressed pixel images. Whilst a convolutional neural network model was trained to provide an in-depth description of the T: R variation plot for each vector T: R variation was compared statistically using a one-way ANOVA test. 20 patients (age 44.1 ±11.68, 60% male, 7 HCM, 6 ACHD and 7 control subjects) were enrolled. A significant difference was observed in the mean and median T: R values between the three groups (p<0.001). There was no difference observed in the standard deviation of T: R between the control subjects and HCM group. However, there was a statistically significant difference in the standard deviation of T: R between the control subjects and the ACHD group (p= 0.01). . T:R ratio, a main determinant for S-ICD eligibility, is significantly higher in ACHD and HCM when compared to normal hearts and it also has more tendency to fluctuate in ACHD patients when compared to HCM and normal hearts populations. We hypothesise that our novel model could be used to select S-ICD eligible patients by better characterisation of T:R ratio reducing the risk of T wave oversensing and inappropriate shocks particularly in the ACHD patients’ cohort.

Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) and the Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) are now inviting individual artists, neighborhood arts councils and local community-based groups to apply for a new round of Arts in Parks (AIP) grants. These grants, funded by the Seattle Park District, are for individuals and community based groups, especially those from underserved, immigrant, refugee communities and communities of color, to produce temporary art installations and artistic performances, festivals and other events in Seattle parks. Groups applying need not be 501(c)(3) nonprofits, nor are they required to use a fiscal agent. Funded organizations will receive one year of funding support ranging from $1,200 to $7,200 to support direct expenses. Find the guidelines and application for AIP grants here, temporary art call here, and Neighborhood & Community Arts grant here. Guidelines for AIP applications are available in Mandarin, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese. The deadline for AIP grant programs is 11 p.m., on Wednesday, October 19. Applicants who want to learn what makes a strong application and get information about other funding programs can attend one of the free workshops listed here. These interactive question-and-answer sessions will cover specifics on eligibility and how to apply. SPR encourages first time applicants to attend. The closest workshop to our neighborhood is at Green Lake Library (7364 East Green Lake Drive N) on Saturday, September 10, from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Interested applicants can RSVP to the event online.

Remember that better Scotland we all prattled on about during the referendum campaign? Where we tackled poverty, inequality and injustice head on and built a fairer, more equal society? The Yes movement massively re-energised progressive, radical forces in Scotland but the huge ground we won could be snatched away if we’re not careful. Since the vote, we’ve had a plethora of terrible, if predictable happenings – to add to those documented here, I’d add the fact we’re going to be fracked to fuck and have our human rights completely removed (although apparently not in Scotland #unionism). We are now being encouraged to sign petitions calling for people to not have already lied to us, by a man who has already lied to us. It all seems a bit hopeless for “the45” (possibly the least well thought out name in history) as the baddies at Westminster, who we’ve always insisted run everything, are now having their way with us. Where next? What now? Who can we blame and say has always been a secret unionist? The navel gazing, retrospection, planning and pointless paranoia continues (and yes, we’ve done lots of staring into the political near distance too). With the immediate teary dust now settling, I’m more focused than ever on helping to build the Scotland we had a rare opportunity to discuss as a result of this campaign A Yes vote was one way to make the battles we are about to take on that bit easier, not the end game. We had fuck all before the vote and we have fuck all now but we can, Yes we (still) can, create the kind of country we want to live in. While a group of loyal nationalists declare themselves “the 45%”, let’s not forget that our noble Yes movement is far greater than 45% in one pretty important area – the democratically elected Parliament of Scotland, where “we” (the SNP, Greens and independent MSPs Jean Urqhuart, John Finnie and John Wilson) make up 53.5% of the floor of the chamber. We’ll call it the 54%, in the new spirit of optimism. Holyrood already has a vast array of powers over many areas – not enough, and for me, enough will only ever be all of them. So what could “we” do while we impatiently wait for Westminster? Well, quite a lot actually…. 1. Land Reform The issue of land ownership wasn’t a massive part of the referendum debate, not least because Holyrood already has the power to deal with our feudal hangover. Less than 500 people own over half of Scotland’s land, land that regularly generates vast subsidies for its usually selfish, private use. The recent land reform review group offered a whole number of proposals including limiting the amount of land any single owner can have, a statutory right of certain tenants to be able to buy their land or improve their chances of doing so and setting up a permanent Commission to ensure the public interest and the principles of the common good actually mean something when decisions are made about who owns what and for what purpose. This is good news for those living in rural communities owned and operated by feudal lairds and provisions in the forthcoming Community Empowerment Bill will mean community organisations may be able to force sales from landlords intent on negligent hoarding. Meaningful legislation on protecting public space could also impact on our favourite urban tyranny, Glasgow City Council, who love threatening us with draconian punishment for daring to go to the park and flogging off things when they think we’re not watching. 2. Land Tax It’s not like they were nice to us! Let’s finally introduce a progressive land value tax, to ensure that land which is of no use to fucking toffs and lairds at least makes some doh for our new Revenue Scotland. Large supermarkets and retailers regularly buy up land merely to stop their competitors building on it, leaving it privately disused where it could be put to better use. We need to tax large landowners who keep land for no reason to the point where it doesn’t make economic sense to do so. That way, we can slowly transform ownership and control of one of our most basic resources, and make loads of money to spend on people who’re not Dukes. 3. Scrap the Council Tax It’s such a shame the SNP didn’t get that majority Government in 2007 and so they were never able to finally reform the hated Council Tax. But then they did get a majority and then…a freeze. The Council Tax was a Thatcherite policy, written on the back of a fag packet to stop the country degenerating into full on class war as the Poll Tax crumbled. While it’s dubbed a property tax, it’s nothing of the sort, it’s a tax on existing. Those renting are also forced to stump up, based on the value of an asset that isn’t even theirs which has no relationship with their ability to pay. Those staying in a Castle pay around twice what someone in yer bog standard Band D does, despite what would be vast disparities in income, so the Council Tax is just a half poll tax. Local services need to be paid for but surely a local income tax is better than a regressive one based on what the place you stay in cost in 1991. The council tax freeze means a real terms cut in public spending and public services which are delivered by councils. They may be hailed as “Tory cuts” because they can be connected to a reduction in the block grant (and the Scottish Government’s decision to freeze rather than fix the system) but we could change the way councils are funded, lift thousands out of an unfair tax and be able to increase public spending at local level. 4. The Childcare plan from the White Paper Much as I detest children on both a theoretical and practical level, I can’t help noticing that one of the big promises in the White Paper is something we already have the power to do. The White Paper promised, by 2024, that every child from age one to school age will be entitled to 1,140 hours of childcare per year, the equivalent of the amount of time kids spend at school. As well as the 35,000 more jobs this would create, it would massively benefit families who’re struggling to afford childcare in the crucial first years of their children’s lives and allow parents options to work or not to work which they simply don’t have. Given that women are disproportionately responsible for care provision, decent childcare could be one critical tool in beginning to bridge the gender pay gap. 5. A wage for more than staying alive Speaking of pay, the Scottish Parliament has legislative competence over public sector pay. The gold standard appears to be the “living wage”, currently £7.65. Call me a dreamer if you will but I’d say we can do a tad better than merely allowing public servants to live. You don’t have to be alive to work here – but it helps. An amendment in Parliament to ensure it was paid to all those who worked on public contracts, not just those employed by the state directly, was voted down in Holyrood, incase Brussells didn’t like it. If those bidding for public sector contracts prefer their workers dead, they shouldn’t be running public sector contracts. We should fight for a decent wage, not a living wage for the public sector and those doing jobs that should still be in the public sector – a tenner, at least. We can’t legislate for private sector pay, yet, but we can ensure those who do things for the mutual benefit of our society are paid a wage which maybe lets them go on a holiday, as opposed to just not ending up in the morgue. Continued public sector wage deflation, as confirmed in the recent Holyrood budget, suggests the Scottish Government will continue to actively engage in attempting to force wages down rather than using public sector pay and the pay of public sector contractors as an economic lever, to force wages in the private sector in the right direction. 6. Abolish Help to Buy and invest in public housing Having finally abolished the “right” of local authorities to make a quick buck flogging housing stock, it’s time the Scottish Government got the fuck away from the Tory policy of subsidising middle class home ownership and encouraging another generation into debt, based on the inflated value of housing. Under the current scheme, your poor wee buyers get much needed help to buy the £400,000 home of their dreams, paid for by the rest of us. All this really means is that developers chuck a bit more on the top of their prices and inflate the rest of the market and we end up subsidising those least in need of help – developers and the banks, who we’ve given quite enough public assistance. If it costs anyone not far off half a million for a house, I’d suggest they were doing it wrong, if that someone includes the taxpayer, we’re doing it very wrong. We could instead be providing much needed aid and employment by investing in locally driven, publicly owned house building and repair projects to make house prices go DOWN instead of up all the time – if people GOT a fucking house for a small rent, like they used to, getting yourself into a lifetime of debt for one is less eye catching. Instead we’re creating an inflationary false market which freezes out the exact people (poor folk with no savings) it alleges it intends to help. Hundreds of thousands of Scots will never, ever live in a house that is fit for their needs and that’s an utter disgrace. We can and should fix that if we are ever to make the bold claim, as the Scottish Government do, that housing is a right. ————————————————————- While 2 of these ideas cost money (childcare and better pay), the economic benefits in the long-term are immense – and they could be paid for in the short term by land tax and/or a progressive local income tax. Land reform could transform ownership and scrapping right to buy subsidies for the rich would free up revenue to invest in social housing, lifting people out of privately rented slum housing. But this is not a question of money, it’s a question of political will and political choices; of whether our Scottish political class are actually brave enough to say Yes to a better kind of country when they have the chance. It’s entirely correct to focus on the baddies at Westminster but we must also ensure Holyrood live up to the hype and uses every available power to build a society capable of offering real alternatives to Westminster’s misery. We must demand radical steps to transform Scotland right now, while continuing to fight for powers to be devolved, to as local a level as possible, with a view to building a truly independent nation. That’s a nation where being independent and developing alternatives means changing things, not a hopeless society where things aren’t challenged in case that gets in the way of independence. Don’t ever give up on that sweet dream but let’s also make sure our Scottish political class eat their vegetables. ——————————————————————————————— Further Reading: ——————————————————————————————— Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AThousandFlowers Follow us on Twitter @unsavourycabal ———————————————————————————————

EDIT 11/5/2012: We are no longer selling custom crayon pieces in our Etsy shop. We are now focusing on a new jewelry project, so please check that out and we hope you enjoy the tutorial below! Edit: We are now selling custom crayon pieces in our Etsy shop! If you have questions about commissioning your own artwork, please see the shop or email us at lightandspoon@gmail.com. Here’s our contribution to the melted crayon craze on Pinterest. My original inspiration was this one, though original source is apparently unknown, because I found it on Pinterest. Grumble. *Edit! Thank you to commenter SoKnitpicky, I have now seen the original “crayons through a glue gun” pin. Not much more to it than the picture, but she answers a lot of questions in the comments about how to make the crayons work in the gun. Anyway! We wanted to put a little more of ourselves into it, literally. We started by taking a silhouette photo of ourselves, which Jeff traced on the lightbox and transferred to the canvas with pencil and tracing paper. (We were both smiling in the picture, which means we sort of don’t have lips in the silhouette. But I like it that way.) He filled in in with marker, and then we taped some saran wrap around a piece of cardstock to make a run-off barrier for the top of the umbrella. Some more painter’s tape went over the silhouettes. We pulled out all the blues and greys from three boxes we got on sale for $2.50 each at A.C. Moore. We only ended up using 19 crayons on this canvas, but used about 20 for practicing before the real thing. The canvas is a 18×24 “Econo” canvas that came in a 2-pack for $10, making this about a $7 project. Then it was just a matter of putting the crayons through the gun–the pretty-but-stupid impulse-buy glue gun that barely works, so I didn’t ruin my good one. The wax got really drippy at times and splattered more than expected. Not sure if this is a high- or low-temp gun. Not sure if it matters. The hardest part was removing the guard and fixing the wax around it. It involved some flame and an Xacto knife, plus a little fill-in with the marker. Yay! We love how it turned out. This will probably go in the upstairs bathroom. Advertisements

Carcinoembryonic antigen: immunohistologic identification in invasive and intraepithelial carcinomas of the lung. A total of 58 pulmonary lesions from 48 patients were examined for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). The three-layer immunoperoxidase procedure for antigen detection was used with a monospecific anti-CEA antiserum. The control serum was the same antiserum with its specificity removed by affinity chromatography. Normal goat serum was also used as a control. Carcinoembryonic antigen was present in the majority of pulmonary adenocarcinomas and generally absent in the squamous cancers. The major exception was in the well-differentiated squamous lesions where CEA was occasionally found in the keratinizing areas. Of special interest was the finding of CEA in all areas of intraepithelial squamous neoplasia studied.

TODAY is World Human Rights Day and the perfect time to focus on why Tasmania needs a Human Rights Act. On this day in Paris in 1948 the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After experiencing the horror of World War II the international community wanted to guarantee basic human rights and promote peace and prosperity. Human rights are just as important today because the world still grapples with violent extremists preaching hatred and division. Thinking locally on this global issue, Tasmania does not have a Human Rights Act, but we need one. Victoria and the ACT have had them for 10 years. There are young Tasmanian children who do not enjoy the right to adequate food when they are not given breakfast and turn up to school hungry. There are elderly denied the right to housing when they sleep rough at night. There are people with disabilities denied the right to self determination when they are excluded from decisions that affect their lives. These vulnerable groups have their rights denied on a daily basis and there are more examples if you look for them. Human rights violations are found in the most vulnerable and marginalised groups. In 2007 the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute released a report recommending the state enact human rights legislation to remedy three fundamental flaws in how we currently protect rights. Firstly, the institute found, current rights protection in Tasmania is partial because our laws do not protect all rights. For example, the right to education was much discussed here this year and is agreed as a human right under international law, yet it is not guaranteed in Tasmania. Secondly, our rights protection is fragmented. The few rights clearly protected in law are scattered across hundreds of regulations, thousands of court decisions and an array of government policy statements. Thirdly, rights protection is inaccessible because, unless you are a lawyer, you cannot find what rights you have or how to protect them. Combined, these three flaws mean those who most urgently need to assert their basic human rights are least likely to be able to do so. A Tasmanian Human Rights Act that condenses all existing rights into one simple, easy to read document so everyone knows where they stand would solve this. The document would fill the gaps in protection and provide a formal way people could stand up for their rights. By the next state election it will have been 10 years since the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute report. The time for a human rights law has arrived. Today a petition is launched asking all political candidates for the 2018 election to commit to implement a Human Rights Act in the next term of Parliament 2018-2022. You can sign the petition online: www.tashumanrightsact.org. How would a Human Rights Act protect the vulnerable? The government would appoint a human rights commissioner to help and represent people and who would be able to examine long-term systemic issues and help individuals. People would be able to challenge government decisions that remove their rights. The commissioner would first try to resolve people’s concerns through mediation. Where mediation fails, a complaint could be taken to a court and a judge asked to make binding orders. The proposed Act would not allow courts to strike down laws as invalid. MPs would hold the ultimate decision about what the law should be. If well written and properly implemented, a Human Rights Act would help vulnerable and marginalised people in direct and practical ways. Ultimately, the laws would help build a more egalitarian Tasmanian and guarantee a fair go for all. Please consider signing the petition and I look forward to reporting back on Human Rights Day 2017 on the progress we have made. Richard Griggs is state director of Civil Liberties Australia.

I’m not going to be writing about the reward challenge today. Or the immunity challenge, for that matter. There won’t be a lot of strategy analysis. Or humor. No mentions of Survivor Sally (unless you count that one) or Milwaukee’s Best or some random Yahoo Serious movie that came out in the 1980s. If that’s what you came for this week and now want to bail, that’s totally cool. I get it. It’ll all be back next time. I’m only going to be writing about one thing today, and that is what happened at Tribal Council when Jeff Varner outed Zeke Smith as transgender on national television. That’s pretty much it. Because I think that really is the only thing to write or talk about in terms of this episode. But even though it is just one thing, there are many angles to explore in what transpired here. There are a bunch of places I could start, but let me begin right here. That was disgusting. I was mortified by what I saw happen on my TV screen. I was embarrassed for Jeff Varner and what he did by sharing a secret that was not his to share. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this may have been the singular lowest point for any contestant in the history of the show (although Colton had some terrible moments, and some of the racist-sounding stuff that came out of Ben Browning’s mouth in Samoa was pretty awful). I could go on and on about why what Jeff Varner did was so invasive and cruel and hateful and hurtful and unconscionable, but do I really need to? I mean, is that actually necessary? And if I’m saying that, then that really demonstrates how out of bounds it was for Jeff to do what he did. Allow me to explain. I am the ultimate separation-between-game-and-real-life guy you will meet. Not only did I have no problem with Jonny Fairplay lying about his dead grandma back in Pearl Islands, I thought it was genius! Likewise, I had zero problems with Dawn voting out Brenda in Caramoan after Brenda found her teeth and brought her on the loved ones reward, which were two deeply personal moments. I had no problem with it because the game is still the game. (I believe what Dawn did was wrong for strategic reasons, not personal ones.) And I’ve always believed that pretty much anything that happens in said game is fair game. When people get mad at someone (like at Dawn) for claiming to be holier than thou, or religious, or a good person out of the game and then lying and deceiving in it, I cant help but roll my eyes. How you act outside of the game and inside of it can be — and probably should be — mutually exclusive. This is my way of saying that I will excuse pretty much anything boundary-crossing that happens in Survivor as long as it is done with some strategic endgame in mind. But allow me to quote the wise philosopher Meat Loaf when I say, “But I won’t do that.” Varner took one of the deepest, most personal and private things imaginable and aired it in front of the entire country. And for what? After being verbally attacked by his tribe for his actions, Jeff said he did it “to show the deception… It reveals the ability to deceive.” That is probably the worst answer imaginable he could have given. To insinuate that someone is a deceitful person because he did not tell people he had only known for two weeks that he is transgender is downright offensive. I actually think that is the most repulsive thing Varner said all night. It calls to mind the worst kind of hateful negativity directed at LGBT people — that they can’t be trusted around other people, or children, or whatever other insidious example you want to make to excuse away ignorance or fear of anything that does not conform to a standard heterosexual script. I am not going to even get into the question of whether Jeff Varner’s own sexuality makes this attack any better or worse. The statement stands as atrocious on its own, no matter whom it comes from. Varner tried to walk it back soon after. “I’m not saying, Jeff, that transgender people are deceptive,” he told Probst, to which the host deftly replied: “You’re saying that by not revealing it, he’s capable of deception. That’s a giant leap of logic. Do you honestly not see that?” Watch PEN Fan Forum: Survivor, on the new PEOPLE/Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN) here, or download the free app on your Smart TV, mobile and web devices. What was also disturbing was how Varner’s immediate reaction appeared to be almost as much about protecting himself and his own image as making up for what he had done to Zeke. “I don’t want the perception to be that I’m this evil, hateful person,” he said at one point. Later, he kept interrupting Sarah, who has not having any sort of happy Kumbaya resolution to the situation, and when she asked him to stop interrupting, his response was, “I don’t want you to paint me as something I’m not.” That was another bad look for Jeff. Yes, he was apologizing. Yes, he said he was devastated. But there were several small qualifiers he kept bringing up along the way. “I assume everyone in his world knew,” he said at another point. “So that’s my ignorance. I thought he was just deceiving these people. It never dawned on me that no one knew.” This is not the type of thing you make assumptions about. And even equating coming out with deception is wildly irresponsible and an affront to anyone who has ever struggled with that decision. Here’s the bottom line as far as I’m concerned. Not only was this taking something that was completely out of bounds and putting it into the field of play, but what was the point? Varner said his back was up against the wall and he was grasping at anything he could use to stay in the game. But did he really think so low of his tribemates that they would stoop to being offended by that? Unless they were bigots and completely intolerant, this revelation served zero strategic value. Next ( 1 of 4 )

Wow, what can I say. My gifter combed through my history (I'm a little scared at some of the stuff they may have found, lol) They got me many things that I will definitely enjoy. -A Travelocity Travel Gnome. Going on my desk at work beside my Dwight Schrute bobblehead! -An Ohio State lunch box filled with Kinder treats, dog treats, and chocolates from a local candy store in Daytona Beach. -The Louis Sachar Wayside School collection, a favorite from my childhood! -A copy of my giftees favorite childrens' book, There's a boy in the Girls' Bathroom -An Ohio State LED reading light, I can now read with school spirit! LOL -A $10 gift card to Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Yumm! -And my favorite gift, a donation of $25 to the local food bank. This one means a great deal to me personally. All in all my gifter hit the nail on the head, many times. I could not be happier!!

Shia LaBeouf Cover Up (Photos) and a friend decided to stroll the streets of Glendale, California on Thursday. In an attempt to fool the paparazzi, they fashioned brown paper bags to cover their heads. LaBeouf, in a cagey move, even wrapped a plastic bag around his hand cast. The photographers were sharp enough to notice the wrist tattoo on one of the masked dudes. Shown in photos below, the tattoo depicts the years 1986-2004. LaBeouf once showed the tattoo to Diane Sawyer and told her it signified the date span of his childhood. He told the morning show host that he and his father were street performers who dressed up as clowns and sold hot dogs out of a cart. He got the tattoo because he wanted to be reminded of how he got his start in the performance arena. Be sure to check out a video of Sawyer on GMA earlier this week - drunk. Photos below. Photos: WENN

Comparative Analysis of Think-Aloud Methods for Everyday Activities in the Context of Cognitive Robotics We describe our efforts to compare data collection methods using two think-aloud protocols in preparation to be used as a basis for automatic structuring and labeling of a large database of high-dimensional human activities data into a valuable resource for research in cognitive robotics. The envisioned dataset, currently in development, will contain synchronously recorded multimodal data, including audio, video, and biosignals (eye-tracking, motion-tracking, muscle and brain activity) from about 100 participants performing everyday activities while describing their task through use of think-aloud protocols. This paper provides details of our pilot recordings in the well-established and scalable “table setting scenario,” describes the concurrent and retrospective think-aloud protocols used, the methods used to analyze them, and compares their potential impact on the data collected as well as the automatic data segmentation and structuring process.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) said it would replace copies of digital books that it purposefully deleted from its customers’ electronic readers this summer, as the online retailer sought to make amends for the controversial incident. In an email to the affected customers on Thursday, Amazon said it would provide owners of its Kindle electronic book reader with new copies of the George Orwell novels 1984 and Animal Farm for no charge. Amazon said customers could also choose to receive a $30 gift certificate or check instead. The email also contained a copy of the apology that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos made in July, in which he called the company’s deletion of the books “stupid, thoughtless and painfully out of line with our principles.” In July, Amazon acknowledged that it had deleted the Orwell e-books from the Kindles of an undisclosed number of owners. Amazon said it deleted the books because it learned an outside company had added the books to Amazon’s catalog but the outside company did not have the rights to sell them. The move triggered a wave of criticism on the Internet, and Amazon was sued by a high-school student who said Amazon deleted his copy of 1984 and the “copious notes” he had taken on the book. Amazon’s email on Thursday said that the company would replace the deleted books along with any annotations made by customers. Amazon spokesman Andrew Herdener said the move was unrelated to the lawsuit, and said the company does not comment on active litigation. (Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; editing by Carol Bishopric )

Bières de garde are the underappreciated French relatives of the more famous Belgian saisons. They were traditionally brewed in the winter and spring, and made strong enough to cellar and keep fresh for drinking during the summer. That's where the name bière de garde comes from—beer to keep. A bière de garde might be richer, sweeter, and more malty than a saison, with less spiciness, bitterness, and tartness. Bières de garde often have what is referred to as a 'cellar' character—an earthy mustiness that comes from indigenous yeasts in storage barrels. The maltiness of these beers pairs well with light foods like salads, poultry, and seafood. For best results, let the bottle warm up a bit out of the fridge—45-50°F is the best serving temperature—and pour into a tulip glass or an oversized wine glass. We tasted 15 different bières de garde from the US and France and judged them based on aroma, flavor, and overall drinkability. Here they are, in order of preference. Serious Beer Ratings 5/5 Mindblowing; a new favorite 4/5 Awesome, stock up on this 3/5 Around average for the style 2/5 There are probably better options 1/5 No, thanks, I'll have water. Brasserie de St. Sylvestre 3 Monts France, 8.5% ABV 3 Monts is golden yellow and crystal clear, with tiny champagne-like bubbles and a towering white head. Its aromas are delicate, with light grassy and floral hops, but there is no hint of the cloves, vanilla and white pepper that surprised us in its flavor. It's easy to drink this crisp beer more quickly than it deserves, or perhaps more quickly than is recommended for an 8.5% ABV beer. 3 Monts hides its weight well, and is very refreshing. It's the beer I'll be drinking with sushi this spring and summer. 4.5/5 Brasserie Theillier La Bavaisienne France, 7.0% ABV This is a beautiful, copper-colored beer with a sumptuous tan head. Its aroma is sweet and floral, reminding us of honeysuckles. La Bavaisienne tastes like caramel and bread up-front, with a mild, earthy hop finish. What really brought this beer together for us was its mouthfeel—it was effervescent, sticky, and rich. I wouldn't hesitate to serve this as an after-dinner sipper. 4.5/5 Choc Brewing Co. Bière de Garde Oklahoma, 7.0% ABV Choc's Bière de Garde was more similar to a saison than other versions we tried. There's a huge yeasty smell, with light clove and banana notes and a lemony sourness. The flavor is big and bold—tart and sweet up front, fading to an earthy, musty caramel and pepper. 4/5 Jolly Pumpkin Bière de Mars 2011 Michigan, 7.0% ABV The nose of this beer has a sourness that reminded us of red wine. Tart cherries and wine-grape flavors come first, with a bready malt and a pleasant cellar funk lingering on the finish. The sourness, while nice, conceals the base beer a bit; we wanted a little more balance. This is definitely a sipping beer to share, maybe paired with sharp or pungent cheeses that won't be overpowered by its tartness. 4/5 Schlafly Bière de Garde Missouri, 7.5% ABV We smelled melons, apples, and minerals in Schlafly's Bière de Garde. Sweet caramel and bread flavors are swept away by a well-balanced sour and bitter aftertaste. There's plenty of farmyard taste here: hay, leather, and minerals. We liked the carbonation and slight warmth of alcohol in this beer. Pair with trout sautéed in butter. 4/5 Page 24 Bière de Printemps France, 6.0% ABV Bière de Printemps pours the color of honey and tangerines. Its nose is fruity and sweet- all pears and honey without a hint of hops. The taste is first passionfruit and pineapple, fading to a lingering malty sourness. Heavy carbonation rounds an otherwise thin body into an effervescent silkiness. Drink this with grilled chicken and feta. 4/5 Pelican Pub and Brewery Bridal Ale 2010 Oregon, 7.5% ABV This earthy beer is more robust than some in the style, laced with caramel flavor and bready yeast. There are some fruity notes at the core: apricots and dates, and a hint of pineapple-orange, but this rich beer tastes mostly of malt, and is a little boozy. Pair it with aged gouda and crisp-skinned roast poultry. 3.75/5 Brasserie La Choulette Les Sans Coulottes France, 7.0% ABV The beer without pants: a quality name. Its pear and floral aromas made us think of champagne. One of our tasters said, "I can imagine myself sitting on a haystack in France drinking this." The bready malts and grassy hops are toned down and subtle, and it finishes cleanly and quickly. Pair with brie and a baguette, though you can probably get away with dining at a table instead of on a haystack. 3.5/5 Brasserie de Saint-Sylvestre Gavroche France, 8.5% ABV Malts are front and center in Gavroche. The nose is caramel and honey, and the flavors are sweet bread and caramel. The finish is mildly bitter, with notes of dried cherries, grapes, and nuts. 3.25 Two Brothers Domaine Du Page Illinois, 5.9% ABV This beer has a sweet, fruity nose with hints of plums and fig. Its toasted white bread flavors fade to spicy pepper and cherries in a mildly bitter finish. Domaine Du Page is served in 12 oz. bottles, and I can definitely see myself opening more than one in an evening. 3/5 Brasserie Castelain Blond Bière de Garde France, 6.4% ABV The grassy hop and bready malt aromas in this beer reminded us of German lagers. Slightly sweet malt flavors are swept clean away by a long, slightly bitter, mineral finish. Castelain's Blond has a mild aroma and flavor, and makes for easy drinking. 3/5 Brasserie Castelain St. Amand France, 5.9% ABV Maltier than its blond counterpart from Castelain, St. Amand has aromas of plum, caramel, and citrus. Toffee flavors from the malt fade slowly to a burnt caramel aftertaste. 3/5 Brasserie Bailleux Cuvée des Jonquilles France, 7.0% ABV There are herbal tea, pears, and grassy hops in this beer's aroma. Its flavor is sour citrus and musty cellar, with a residual sweetness and tartness. It's hoppier and closer to a saison than some of the others we tried. 2.75/5 Southampton Publick House Bière de Mars New York, 6.5% ABV Phil Markowski, the brewmaster at Southampton, literally wrote the book on bière de garde. His beer has caramel, malty aromas and flavors with grassy hops that are par for the course, but it's too unbalanced and sweet for our taste. 2.5/5 Flying Dog Garde Dog Maryland, 5.5% ABV Garde Dog reminded us of a very mellow Belgian pale ale. It has all of the same peppery and spicy aromas and flavors of that style, just dialed down. It seems like more of a summer beer to us, but is optimistically released in January. 2.5/5 We tried 15 examples of bières de garde, but there are many more out there.What is your favorite? Disclosure: All beers except for Page 24 and Southampton were provided as samples for review. About the Author: Nick Leiby is a Boston-based scientist and homebrewer. When he's not drinking yeast, he's probably studying it in lab. This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Serious Eats. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.

Application of fuzzy set theory for spatial prediction of landslide hazard This work presents a fuzzy logic scheme to integrate multi-source spatial data for landslide hazard mapping. Main focus of This work is on fuzzy information representation based on frequency ratio and non-parametric density estimation. Of particular interest is the representation of continuous data for preventing loss of information. The non-parametric density estimation method applied here is a Parzen window estimation that can directly use continuous data without any categorization procedure. A case study at Jangheung, Korea is presented to illustrate the proposed scheme.

Efficient factor VIII affinity purification using a small synthetic ligand Summary.  Background: Hemophilia A is currently treated by infusions of the coagulation factor (F) VIII, of which production and purification remain a challenging task. Current purification procedures using immunoaffinity chromatography are cumbersome, expensive, and suffer from the instability of the applied antibody ligands, which elute along with the product and contaminate it. Recently, FVIII was purified using octapeptide ligands, but their use is limited due to the low resistance to proteases. Objective: Our goal was to develop and evaluate a novel ligand for FVIII purification, overcoming the drawbacks of current procedures. Methods: Peptide ligands were screened for binding of 125I‐plasma‐derived‐FVIII (pdFVIII) in a microbead assay. A selected ligand‐coated Toyopearl resin was then used for pdFVIII purification from cell‐conditioned Delbucco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM) containing fetal bovine serum. The proteolytic stability of ligand was measured by incubating with human serum and proteinase K, and its cytotoxicity towards human OV‐MZ‐6 cells was assayed. Results: A high‐affinity octapeptidic FVIII ligand was modified into the small, highly stable and non‐toxic peptidomimetic ligand L4 by rational and combinatorial design without affecting its affinity for FVIII. Using ligand L4‐coated Toyopearl resin, pdFVIII was isolated from cell‐conditioned medium with high purity and 89% column retention after elution with a mild buffer containing 0.6 m NaCl at pH 6.8. Conclusions: Ligand L4 offers a valuable alternative to antibody‐based procedures for laboratory and industrial production. Its synthesis by established solid‐phase procedures is straightforward and considerably cheaper than the biotechnological production of antibodies, and safety concerns associated with the use of biological material are overcome.

Introducing a novel defected ground structure for microstrip applications A novel compact and simple shape of defected ground structure (DGS) is introduced for microstrip applications. The DGS cell is etched on the ground plane between the array elements or in filter applications. Three shapes of DGSs, namely narrow strip, symmetric comb and asymmetric comb, are proposed, analyzed and compared. Parametric studies of DGS parameters for a transmission line loaded with unit cell DGS are presented. The results indicate that the asymmetric comb shaped DGS is better at suppressing propagation of surface waves in microstrip substrate.

About Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series that initially aired from 1963 to 1989, before being revived for its current run beginning in 2005. The show chronicles the adventures of a nameless time-travelling humanoid alien simply referred to as “The Doctor” , thought to be the only remaining survivor of a species known as "The Time Lords." The Doctor, along with different human companions, travels through time and space in a ship called the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space), which appears to people as a vintage blue police box. Because of the decades-long history of the show, Doctor Who has gathered a cult following, both online and off. History The first Doctor Who episode "An Unearthly Child" premiered on the BBC television service on November 23rd, 1963. The original series ran until 1989, during which eight different actors portrayed the Doctor, each providing their own twist on the the regenerating humanoid. During the first two seasons, 106 episodes were lost due to broadcasters wiping tapes clean after every use. There is an ongoing effort by the BBC and fans to locate copies of these episodes, which aired between 1967 and 1978. As of August 2011, many of the episodes are still lost. In 1996, English actor Paul McGann was cast to play the role of the eighth Doctor in a direct-to-TV film. Although McGann appeared in only one film, his character's adventures have since been extensively portrayed in spin-off media. In 2005, after nearly a decade of hiatus, the TV show was revived for a new series with English actor Christopher Eccleston as the ninth Doctor. After its successful run from March to June 2005, the show was immediately renewed for a sequel series starring Scottish actor David Tennant as the tenth Doctor from 2006 to early 2010, who was subsequently replaced by Matt Smith as the eleventh Doctor in January 2010. Following the 2013 Christmas Special, Matt Smith was replaced by Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. The Twelfth Doctor On June 1st, 2013, Matt Smith announced that he would be ending his tenure as the eleventh Doctor, with his character regenerating into a new iteration in the upcoming Christmas special. In the following weeks, Twitter became awash with rumors of possible replacement candidates amidst a steady build-up of anticipation for the announcement of Smith's successor, some of the more intriguing candidates being Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock), David Harewood (Homeland) and Dame Helen Mirren (The Queen), the latter two of which would be the first black and first female actress to portray the lead role, if cast as the twelfth Doctor. On August 4th, Scottish actor Peter Capaldi was unveiled as the twelfth Doctor during an exclusive special on BBC UK about the show. The Thirteenth Doctor On July 16th, 2017, the @bbcdoctorwho Twitter feed posted a short teaser video revealing actress Jodi Whittaker as the 13th doctor in the series (shown below). Within 24 hours, the tweet gathered upwards of 114,000 likes and 71,300 retweets. In response, many praised the show for casting Whittaker as the first female Doctor. In a statement to the BBC, Whittaker told fans "not to be scared" of her gender. Meanwhile, various Twitter users posted jokes mocking those who took issue with the casting (shown below). Impact By 2006, the BBC series had been recognized the television’s longest running science fiction show by the Guinness Book of World Records. The success of the series has prompted the BBC to produce several novels (shown below, left), comic books (shown below, center), stage plays , an animated series and a spin-off series set in the Doctor Who universe (otherwise known as the "Whoniverse "). The most notable spin-off series are The Sarah Jane Adventures , Torchwood (shown below, right) and K-9. Over the course of its original run, Doctor Who won two awards: a Royal Television Society award in 1974 for Best Graphics and a Writers' Guild of Great Britain award in 1975 for Best Children's Drama Script. The current incarnation has won 125 awards including several BAFTAa, BBC Awards, Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, and National Television Awards, and all three actors portraying the Doctor received awards for their performances. Online Presence The BBC maintains several active social networking sites for Doctor Who, where they interact with fans and hold special contests. As of August 2012, the Facebook page has more than 2.5 million likes, the @DoctorWho Twitter account has 213,319 followers and the Tumblr has more than 100,000 followers. Fandom The series' popularity has garnered numerous hardcore fans known as "Whovians", who have created a number of fansites dedicated to the show. Among the largest are Doctor Who Online , Doctor Who TV and DoctorWho.com. Many fans also congregate on the /r/DoctorWho subreddit and on Tumblr under the tags "#doctor who" and "#the doctor." Many sites also focus on the canon, including the Tardis Index File and Whoniverse.net. There are a number of toys and action figures based on the main characters and villains, including the Daleks and Cybermen. In 2011, BBC Worldwide announced the first annual Doctor Who convention, which took place at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on March 24th-25th. The convention featured several notable guests, including Matt Smith and writer Steven Moffatt. Cosplayers will also often wear Doctor Who-inspired outfits to sci-fi or comic book conventions. Doctor Who cosplayers have a dedicated LiveJournal community and Tumblr to share their photos. In July 2012, BBC America provided official cosplay guides for a variety of male and female characters from the show. Fan Works Many Whovians have created fanfictions inspired by the show on the site Fanfiction.net, making it the third subculture with the most fanfictions in the site's TV Show category. Many more can be found in A Teaspoon And An Open Mind. In addition, there are more than 217,000 fan art submissions on DeviantArt and more than 162,000 photos tagged "Doctor Who" on Flickr. Related Memes "Don't Blink!" / Weeping Angels "Don’t Blink!" is a phrase based on the villains known as Weeping Angels, which originally appeared in the episode "Blink" aired on June 9th, 2007. The Weeping Angels can only move when they are not being looked at, forcing viewers to resist the urge to blink. In the episode, the Doctor explains this in a video to the protagonist, repeating the phrase "Don't Blink!" multiple times. The phrase is commonly used in the context of creepypasta to instill fear. Another line associated with the Weeping Angels is "The Angels have the Phonebox" , which Whovians often use to identify themselves, similarl to the Redditor catchphrase "The narwhal bacons at midnight". Doctor Whoof/Whooves Doctor Whoof (or Doctor Whooves) is a background character with short brown hair and an hourglass cutie mark from the animated television show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, that has often been compared to the tenth Doctor portrayed by actor David Tennant. At first, his personality was entirely a fan construct, but in Season 2 of the show, several references were made to his fanon personality. The character is often featured as the subject in fan-created comics and artwork. Bow Ties are Cool "Bow Ties are Cool" is a phrase frequently spoken by the eleventh Doctor (played by Matt Smith), who often wears a bow-tie and is frequently ridiculed for it by his companions. The phrase has also been applied to some of his other fashion accessories, including Fezzes, Stetsons, Spacesuits and Tailcoats. Online, it is used to poke fun at eccentric behavior or taste. Tennantface Tennantface is a photoshop meme that originated on Tumblr in 2010 after several people began photoshopping the Tenth Doctor David Tennant's face on to various images. In September 2011, nearly a year after it started, several fans showed Tennant a blown-up version of the face to which he responded, "That’s just creepy.” The Silence The Silence, introduced in the April 23rd, 2011 episode "The Impossible Astronaut" are a race of aliens bearing a striking resemblance to Slender Man. They have the power of being able to erase themselves from people's memories in order to move without being seen, much in the manner of Slender Man. Many fans consider The Silence to be an homage to the mythical being, as discussed on Tardis Index File , Slender Nation and the Minecraft Forums. Daleks Daleks are one of the main antagonists of the show, first appearing in the 1963 episode "The Daleks". They are alien mutants who feel nothing but hate, strongly believe that they are the most superior race in the universe and that all non-Daleks have to be "exterminated". They are often the subject of image macros including the caption "Exterminate!". Catchphrases Over time, Doctor Who has generated several notable catchphrases. They are frequently used in image captions, as well as by fans of the show in day-to-day speech and in forum posts. Below are the most notable examples: "Geronimo!" -Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) -Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) "Come along, Pond!" -Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) -Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) "Allons-y!" -Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) -Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) "Fantastic!" – 9th Doctor (sometimes used ironically – Christopher Eccleston) – 9th Doctor (sometimes used ironically – Christopher Eccleston) "Funny little human brains. How do you get around in those things?" – Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) – Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) "Would you like a Jelly Baby?" – Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) – Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) "Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" – Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) – Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) "Spoilers" – River Song (Alex Kingston) – River Song (Alex Kingston) "Hello sweetie" – River Song (Alex Kingston) – River Song (Alex Kingston) "You will be deleted!" – The Cybermen – The Cybermen "Silence will fall" – The Silence Search Interest Search interest for Doctor Who has remained high since the 2005 reboot, generally peaking before the start of each new season. External References

Performance analysis of ARQ schemes for wireless networks We present a unified method to compute the exact performance of ARQ schemes for wireless networks. A wireless channel is modeled as a stochastic sequential machine. Accordingly, we propose a channel state ordered representation of the performance provided by an underlying block code. Based on proper events introduced to assess reliability, throughput, and delay performance of an ARQ scheme, we employ a discrete system model to obtain a matrix description for ARQ schemes used on wireless channels. Then, closed formulae are developed for all examined performance characteristics. Numerical results are given for a wireless ATM system.

Armed U.S. Drones Alone Killed Twice As Many As Al Qaeda … A new report from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNCHR) documents the number of civilian deaths in Yemen over the year-long period between July 1, 2014 to June 30 of this year. The UNCHR report states: At least 24 civilians were killed and 65 injured in attacks claimed by Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, mainly in Sana’a, Aden and Taizz. [all cities in Yemen.] We all know that Al Qaeda are bad guys … but let’s compare that with civilian deaths caused by the U.S. and the “coalition” partners of Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States and various other Mid-East dictatorships . The U.N. report documents: Allegations of violations committed by coalition and joint government forces Information gathered by OHCHR indicated that, on 30 March 2015, the coalition forces launched a number of air strikes that hit the al-Mazraq camp for internally displaced persons in Harad. At least19 civilians were reportedly killed and 35 others injured, including 11 children. The camp, which shelters some 4,000 people, was established by the United Nations in 2009 and, at the time of the attack, hosted at least 300 families recently displaced from Sa’ada. Information provided to OHCHR did not identify the presence of any military objectives in the area. At least 20 civilians were killed and 59 others injured when a dairy factory was directly hit in four air strikes in Hudaydah city (Al Hudaydah Governorate), on 31 March 2015. The people killed inside the factory were personnel. On 12 May, at least 43 civilians, including eight women and 12 children, were killed, while an additional 135 were injured as a result of four air strikes that directly hit the Al-Wajeeh building located in a busy commercial hub in Zabeed (Al-Hudaydah Governorate). The majority of the casualties belonged to Al-Muhamasheen community. The information received by OHCHR did not clarify whether the building was deliberately targeted. On 20 April 2015, at least 87 civilians were killed, including six children and two women, and at least 647 others injured as a result of airstrikes that appeared to be directed at the Faj Attan military base in Sana’a. Hundreds of homes and private businesses in the vicinity of the base (as far as Al-Tahrir Square) were damaged. On 21 April 2015, 40 civilians were killed, including seven children, and 70 civilians were injured as a result of air strikes that hit the Al-Dhaleel bridge (Ibb Governorate). Reports indicated that the connection bridge between Ibb and the main route to Sana’a Governorate was hit twice by air strikes, causing a large number of civilian casualties. People were arriving to assist those injured by the first explosion when missiles were launched in a second round of air strikes. OHCHR received reports alleging that, in late April 2015 in Sa’ada Governorate, cluster munitions were used by the coalition forces in several air strikes, which resulted in at least six civilian casualties, including children. Owing to the continuing airstrikes, OHCHR was unable to collect any further information. … Although OHCHR was unable to obtain detailed information on affected cities and resulting casualties, it was informed that coalition air strikes hit at least six residential homes and five markets in Sa’ada, reportedly with no evidence of Houthi military deployment. On 6 May 2015, 15 civilians were killed, including four children and three women from the same family, when two homes collapsed while the families were inside. The homes were hit by two air strikes in Al-Dhaid, Sa’ada. OHCHR gathered information indicating that, on 7 June 2015, coalition forces conducted air strikes against an area hosting a high concentration of internally displaced persons in Duaij village (Hajjah Governorate), allegedly killing four civilians, including three women, and injuring 41 civilians, including 12 women and 16 children. Four makeshift homes for displaced persons were allegedly destroyed in that incident. On 14 June, a family of 10, including four women and two children, were allegedly killed in Al-Hamza as a result of an air strike by coalition forces that struck their vehicle travelling from Al-Jawf to Sana’a. OHCHR documented allegations that, on 17 June 2015, two buses transporting displaced families were hit by air strikes conducted by coalition forces in Al-Alam (Abyan Governorate). It found that 17 civilians had been killed in the incident, including five women and five children, while 10 others, including two women and three children, had been injured. The victims were reportedly fleeing the violence from Al-Mansoura district (Aden Governorate), and were on their way to Hadramout. Next, the U.N. report discusses murder by armed drones: OHCHR was informed of reports of drone strikes in parts of the country with allegations of civilian casualties. The attacks are believed to have been conducted by joint forces of the United States of America and Yemen as part of a campaign against Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. OHCHR received reliable information indicating that as many as 40 civilians, including a child, may have been killed during the period under review as a result of drone attacks in Al-Baida, Al-Jawf, Marib and Shabwah. According to a Yemeni non-governmental organization, a one-year-old boy and two adults were killed on 26 January 2015 after a Yemeni Air Force drone struck a vehicle at Huraib (in Marib Governorate). The U.S. is the only nation flying armed drones in Yemen. Adding up the numbers, approximately 304 civilians were killed by the U.S. and other coalition members in the past year … 13 times more than killed by Al Qaeda during the same period. And there were twice as many civilians killed by armed U.S. drones alone than by Al Qaeda during this period. Whew! Good thing we’re the good guys. Postscript: The above quotes come from the footnotes to the UNCHR report (namely, footnote 28 and 44 through 54). For the sake of readability, I deleted the footnote numbers.

## Cowgirl Chef TEXAS COOKING with A FRENCH ACCENT by **ELLISE PIERCE** © 2012 by Ellise Pierce Photographs © 2012 by Steve Legato, except for the photographs on the following pages: 19, 105, 122, 125, 273 photographs © Ellise Pierce, page 103 © Xavier L'Hospice Published by Running Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Group All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions _This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher._ Books published by Running Press are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail special.markets@perseusbooks.com. ISBN 978-0-7624-4463-2 Library of Congress Control Number: 2011944642 E-book ISBN 978-0-7624-4505-9 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing Book design by Amanda Richmond Edited by Jennifer Kasius Typography: Clarendon, ITC Clearface, and Samantha Running Press Book Publishers 2300 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19103-4371 Visit us on the web! www.runningpress.com Some recipes in this book call for the use of raw eggs. Please note that the consumption of raw or undercooked eggs may increase the risk of food-borne illness, and is especially not advised for young children, pregnant women, and the elderly. ## Contents How I Found My Inner Cowgirl Chef Cowgirl Chef Kitchen Basics CowgirlSpeak: A Trail Guide CHAPTER 1 Appetizers: Old Favorites and New Beginnings CHAPTER 2 Cowgirlified Frenchy CHAPTER 3 Souped Up CHAPTER 4 Greens CHAPTER 5 Tacos, Tarts, and Tartines CHAPTER 6 Riding Side-Saddle: Veggies CHAPTER 7 From the Farm and Sea CHAPTER 8 Desserts CHAPTER 9 Tex-Mex 101 Epilogue Acknowledgments Index ## HOW I FOUND MY INNER **COWGIRL CHEF** ###### After a year in Paris, I was ready to call it quits. I had completely given up. Given up on the relationship I had moved halfway across the world for. Given up on learning the language. Given up on myself. My freelance writing career was all but over. Magazines that I'd written for had merged with others, stopped using outside contributors, or simply gone under. The future of journalism looked bleak, and mine looked worse. I had less than 100 euros in my bank account, and my credit card was maxed out. I needed to do something... and quick. I wanted to move back to Texas, but couldn't afford the plane ticket. Home was horse country, a college town called Denton, about a half-hour north of Dallas and Fort Worth, where I learned to ride bareback, fearlessly and at full gallop, after school. Back then, Denton was still a small town, with its old-fashioned square and turn-of-the-century courthouse. It had one high school, two movie theaters (plus a drive-in on the north side of town), a hamburger joint called Johnny's, a Sonic, and Luby's cafeteria, where we'd sometimes go for chicken-fried steak. I always felt like Denton lived in the shadow of the two bigger, more interesting cities to the south: Dallas, with its flashy glass buildings and air of sophistication, and Fort Worth, with its deep western roots and frontier confidence. I wanted to be like both of those places. I wanted to get out of Denton. I wanted something more. Early on, I learned that I could explore a world beyond my own through food. Traveling to go out to eat was something that my family did on a fairly regular basis—Dallas for Greek or Italian, Fort Worth for Chinese or Tex-Mex—and closer to home, in elementary school, when other kids were playing kickball, I'd hop on my bike to go to Dairy Queen for a Buster Bar, or to Leroy's Drive-In Grocery for a chopped beef barbecue sandwich. It was my early recognition of eating as adventure. I saw cooking as its own adventure, too. By junior high, when I was baking batches of chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies, or making my own fudge, I'd lose myself in the process of it all, captivated by the magic that happens along the way when this becomes that with a little heat from the stove or the oven. When I wasn't cooking, my mom was. I'd sit on a stool and watch while she spun her beaters around a big Tupperware bowl in clockwise and counterclockwise motion, thumping them against the sides. We usually had homemade cakes for dessert after dinner, and the table was always set the same as it would be if we were having company: the forks, knives, and spoons, lined up and in their proper places. Bread always had a basket, and its own plate. Food was passed from the left to the right. It didn't matter whether we were having Beef Stroganoff or black-eyed peas and cornbread, it was always like this. I never knew any other way. Dinnertime was an event, and the food, no matter how simple, was always the star. By the time I was twelve, I had a subscription to _Gourmet_. In the spring of 2005, through the same friends who had introduced us 10 years before, Xavier (the Frenchman known hereafter as "X") and I finally hit it off. We drove to a friend's wedding in Muskogee, Oklahoma, singing to the Isley Brothers in the car with the windows rolled down. We drank Champagne and giggled and laughed all weekend. We danced all night. When he left to go back to Paris, I thought he was the one. For the next two years, we flew back and forth to see each other every couple of months, for a week or two at a time. Each visit unfolded like the pages of a clichéd romance novel, with gifts of French chocolates and lingering dinners over wine in tiny French bistros, followed by walks along the Seine, and a stop on the Pont des Arts (a.k.a. "the Lovers Bridge") for a kiss. Then came the goodbyes, a blur of jetlag and heartache, the time apart, the missed phone calls. The seven-hour time difference was difficult, the stretches of time between visits unbearable. Finally I ran out of frequent-flier miles. We both decided that one of us had to move... or we needed to break up. X had a full-time job. I was a freelance writer. I could work from anywhere, I figured. Why not from Paris? So I rented out my house, packed up my cowboy boots and Cuisinarts big and small, and called the movers. February is the coldest month of the year in Paris. At least it was when I arrived in 2007. But if it was bitter outside, it was warm in our new apartment. X and I picked out paint for the walls, and bought rugs and furniture to make things cozy. We settled in. Sort of. Feeling at home in a foreign country has a lot less to do with unpacking books and cookware, and a lot more to do with speaking the language; and on that front, I was failing miserably. My French was a mishmash of words that I remembered from college and high school, which was useless because I couldn't string them together in a way that made any sense. At the local boulangerie I'd be harshly corrected by the old woman behind the counter—she pretended she didn't understand and made me repeat myself two, sometimes, three times. It was humiliating. I stopped buying bread there. As much as I struggled with the language, and knew that I needed to spend more time studying French, I felt even more pressure to find work. Months went by without any income, something that had never happened to me before. I soon grew tired of the cold and the rain, of not being understood. I was homesick for my friends, my family, and the big sunny skies of Texas. X didn't understand why I wasn't happy. We were together in Paris. Wasn't that what I wanted? Wasn't that enough? Actually, no. Turns out, we didn't know each other at all. I was lost with him and without him. So I retreated to the only world I knew: the kitchen. In the midst of chaos and the unknown, the kitchen was safe, predictable. Among the teaspoons and cups and well-sharpened knives, I found order. Things made sense. It felt like home. I couldn't order a loaf of bread in perfect French, but I could bake one. So I started exploring and discovering. I learned that French flour isn't anything like what we have back home—it's milled and mixed to standards I still have trouble getting my head around. The butter has a higher fat content. The crème fraîche a richer, heavier version of sour cream. It took awhile, and many disasters, to understand the differences between American and French ingredients, but I'd been in the kitchen all my life. I knew that if I kept trying, I could make my recipes work. It took some improvising. When I ran out of salsa and flour tortillas, Tex-Mex staples that I'd bring back to Paris from home, I started making my own. I didn't have a _comal_ , so X bought me a cast-iron _crêpière_ to use instead. I went to the weekly markets and found sweet potatoes, or black-eyed peas, and yellow squash, ingredients that were familiar. The more I cooked, the less homesick I felt. But after a while, there was only so much that a batch of cookies could do to lift my spirits. I needed work. But I didn't know what I could do in France. Then I met a couple of American women who'd invited me to be part of their small expat support group, which got together every few weeks to help one another brainstorm about new careers. Turns out, my predicament wasn't that unusual. Most of us move here with a dream, sometimes just the dream of living in Paris. Then the money runs out. Reality sets in. So it wasn't just me: we were all trying to figure out how to make a buck. Or a euro. Anything. I thought about teaching yoga, like I'd done in Dallas a few years earlier, and it seemed to everyone like a good enough idea... until I took guacamole, salsa, and some chicken empanadas to a meeting. "Yoga!" one of the women said, waving her empanada in the air. "Why aren't you cooking? Catering to other homesick expats?" Cooking? In the culinary capital of the world? Sure, I'd always thrown dinner parties, but I was a writer. It was one of the more farfetched things I'd heard... but I was out of ideas. So I spent the next two months building a website, and by September of that year, Cowgirl Tacos, a Tex-Mex catering company, was born. I gave myself a month to see if it would work, just one month, and if it didn't, then I was going to borrow the money to move back to Texas. A funny thing happened after my website went live. I met a woman who worked with the State Department—she asked if I'd ever thought about offering cooking classes, because, she said, if I did, she'd get a group together to take them. For the next four weeks, Melinda, Julie, Debbie, and Valorie sat around my kitchen table every Wednesday night, and drank margaritas while I taught them the differences between jalapeños and habañeros, and explained the importance of corn in Mexican cuisine. We rolled out flour tortillas, pressed corn tortillas, and made enchiladas. We made guacamole and salsa, too. But more than that, over those few weeks, friendships were hatched that remain today, even though Melinda's now in Beijing, Julie's in Angola, and Valorie has moved on to Madrid. After the fourth class, and we'd all hugged and they walked out my door, I was so happy, feeling like those classes were the most rewarding thing that I'd ever done, and the most fun, ever—but I was also terribly sad, because now it was over. Which of course, it wasn't. It was only the beginning. When I announced a new series of classes that next week, they filled up in a day. So I started writing a blog, and called it Cowgirl Chef, to promote the cooking classes and catering business, which was providing new and steady income, something that freelance hadn't done in years. Suddenly I was too busy to leave Paris. And I was happy for the first time in years. I had a focus. I had friends. I was doing something that I loved, and was actually making money sharing a passion I'd had all my life. I started seeing Paris differently, with a new curiosity. I'd go to the grocery store and to the markets and notice all sorts of things that I hadn't seen before. I once counted thirty-nine (!) different types of sponges at the Casino. I'd wander down the cereal aisle and see if I could find one box without chocolate (nearly impossible). I tried new recipes — French, not American. I bought a madeleine pan. I ate yogurt, plain, with a swirl of honey, just like X did. I made crêpes. I found inspiration all around me. In the restaurants that X and I would go to. In the weekly markets. In French cooking magazines. My life was opening up. I kept teaching classes and catering and soon, besides my own Cowgirl Chef blog, I was writing a Cowgirl Chef column for publications back in the States. I was developing dozens of recipes each month. I began making videos, too. I also began to cook differently. Whereas I'd started cooking recipes from home to ease my homesickness, I soon found that I was ready to try something new. Something French. I bought pans in all shapes and sizes, and made tarts both savory and sweet. I bought a fire gun to perfect the _crème brûlée._ When my baby Cuisinart broke, I bought a new one, a French one. I stopped thinking about moving home altogether. There was too much to experience, to taste, and to make, right here. One week, I'd experiment with vinaigrettes; another, I'd work on meringues, or puff pastry, or soufflés. I bought vegetables I'd never seen in my life—the pre-Roman, celery-looking, artichoke-tasting _cardons_ (cardoons) and cooked them up in a tart, with a recipe that I made up on the spot. I became hooked on the tiny French pumpkin, _potimarron,_ and made soups, tarts, and ice cream with it. I fell in love with the knobby pink _topinambours_ (Jerusalem artichokes), which I roasted and tossed with cauliflower or puréed into soups. I cooked with a new sense of adventure, and with the confidence that if it didn't work out, I'd just do it again. I became fearless once more. . . this time in my French kitchen. I was cooking all the time. And I was having the time of my life. But when someone suggested I write a cookbook, I thought, _Seriously? Me?_ Then it hit me that besides cooking for people and teaching them what I knew about food, I'd been writing and testing new recipes, which was what I loved most. When I wasn't in the kitchen, I was thinking about food, talking about food, or reading about food. Maybe, just maybe, I could do it. My inner chef had finally caught up with my outer cowgirl. My Le Creusetcrammed kitchen was on par with my boots-filled closet. Cowgirl Chef, I realized, is who I'd always been. I just had to move to Paris to find her. ## COWGIRL CHEF ## **KITCHEN BASICS** Even though I love to cook, I don't love spending an entire day in the kitchen any more than anyone else does. So I've outfitted myself with a few tools to help me do what I need to do faster and more efficiently. These are the tools that help me get the job done each day. ## **MACHINES** I've had the same heavy-duty white **KitchenAid stand mixer** for almost twenty-five years. It's made hundreds of batches of cookies and cakes, whipped more egg whites for soufflés and mousses than I can count, kneaded bread, and even ground meat. If you have only one appliance in your kitchen, let this be it. I've got both **a large and a small food processor** , and I use them both all the time. The small one's great for making pestos, mayonnaises, and vinaigrettes. And it'll chop a big batch of garlic into a nice small mince that you can keep in a jar with some olive oil in the fridge for a few days; I do this when I've got a week's worth of cooking ahead of me and want to save time (you can do the same thing with onions and shallots). The large food processor is my go-to helper for pie and tart crusts; shredded cabbage and carrots, and small batches of bread doughs, like corn and flour tortillas. I use my **heavy-duty blender** every single day. Mine's made of sturdy thick glass, not plastic. It's great for post-yoga smoothies, perfectly creamy soups, salsas and sauces, and puréed chiles and super-concentrated _moles._ A **hand (or immersion) blender** is great for blending things that don't need to be too finely puréed, like some soups, and salsas, potatoes, and other veggies. ## **MEASURING STUFF** Invest in a good **kitchen timer** , and use it. It'll prevent overcooked cakes and cookies, and keep your kitchen running smoothly. Buy two **oven thermostats** , and put them in different parts of your oven so you'll know where the hottest spots are. That way, as you bake, you can make adjustments, and turn your cookies around so one side isn't twice as brown as the other. A **candy thermometer** will help you make perfect caramels—and fried chicken, too. You can't make either without one of these. To be on the safe side, I always use a **meat thermometer** for chicken, and other meats that need to be cooked to a certain temperature, such as pork. I know you don't want to hear this, but a **kitchen scale** will keep your measurements exact. That's what we use in France (as does most of the rest of the world) and it's a lot easier than cups once you get the hang of it. The next time you're wandering down the school-supplies aisle, pick up a **wooden ruler** , just like the one that you used to have in your yellow school box. My mom told me about this: It's a great tool for measuring the depth and width of pans, etc. I keep my kitchen ruler in a drawer next to the stove, and use it all the time. ## **SHARP STUFF** Everyone needs a **zester** , not just for lemons, limes, and oranges, but for finely grating hard cheeses, too. It's an inexpensive and indispensable tool you'll use constantly. I have a drawerful of knives, but I only really use three—my **7- inch santoku** , a **paring knife** and a **small serrated knife**. I also have a **long serrated knife** , for cutting bread. I rely on **kitchen scissors** for tons of things—to cut slices of pizza, flat tarts and croustades, and to snip herbs from my garden. **Chicken shears** are crazy-looking, super-sharp snippers, but they're exactly what you need to cut up your own chickens. You'll save tons of money by doing it this way. I found a **serrated vegetable peeler** in Paris and it changed my life. Made for tomatoes, it'll peel anything with tricky, hard-to-remove skin, from peaches to butternut squash. ## **HANDS-ON STUFF** I have lots of **wooden spoons, tongs** (which do double-duty as lemon and lime squeezers), **silicone brushes, heatproof spatulas** and **whisks** of all sizes. When I want a strong shot of garlic, I use my **garlic press** —it's a heck of a lot easier than peeling cloves. ## **STUFF THAT ADDS LOTS OF FLAVOR** I make a lot of vinaigrettes, pestos, flavored oils, and salsas, because they're fast and easy. The key is having lots of **fresh herbs** on hand, whether you're growing your own (the best and most cost-efficient way) or buying them at the market. I can't say enough about fresh herbs or the difference using them will make in your cooking. They can liven up the dullest of things —even those mashed potatoes in the fridge from yesterday. I use oils and vinegars, together and on their own, to flavor everything from salads, fruits, and veggies, to all sorts of meats and fish. As a general rule, I use olive oil and grapeseed oil interchangeably for my vinaigrettes, but also use nut oils. Walnut, hazelnut, and pistachio oils are some of my favorites; they're a bit pricey, but you don't need a lot to make a big impact. I've always got sherry vinegar, Champagne vinegar, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and apple cider vinegar on hand, too. And let's not overlook **sea salt** and **freshly ground black pepper**. Sea salt because it tastes brighter and cleaner than table salt, and has a higher mineral content. Never white pepper. Please. ## **COWGIRLSPEAK:** A TRAIL GUIDE ## **FLOUR, SUGAR, EGGS, MILK, AND BUTTER: THE LOWDOWN** We have lots of different flours in France, but in this book, whenever flour is mentioned, unless otherwise noted, I'm referring to all-purpose flour. All eggs should be large, all milk whole. Butter's unsalted. When I refer to cream, I mean whipping cream. If I'm talking about crème fraîche or sour cream, I'll be sure to spell it out clearly. I use powdered sugar, and call it that, because I think confectioners' sugar sounds silly. (Have you ever said I need a box of confectioners' sugar? Have you ever put that on your grocery list? Of course you haven't.) Unless you live in France, in which case it's _sucre glace_ , or icing sugar, which is what it's also called in the U.K. ## **WHEN SIZE DOESN'T MATTER** I know lots of cookbooks are nitpicky about this, and will often tell you if you should use a small onion or a medium carrot, or whatever. I don't do much size prescribing for a couple of reasons: One, my large onion might be your medium; and two, it often really doesn't matter that much, so I try not to micromanage when it's not necessary. On the other hand, when it does matter, when size does count, I'll let you know. ## **COOKING TIMES AND OVEN TEMPERATURES** The more you cook, the more you rely on your eyes and nose, and the less you depend on the clock. I've got two thermostats in my oven to let me know when the temperature is going up or down, but my oven's a bit crazy, and as much as I try to manage things, in the end, I trust what I see, smell, and touch, to tell me when something's ready. Same goes for the stovetop. I've made suggestions about temperature and flame and cook times, and I've given visual cues about doneness whenever possible. Interpret my recipes using your own good judgment and simply adjust as you go. That's the Cowgirl way. ## **SWAP IT, DOUBLE-DUTY, AND COWGIRL TIPS** I've become the queen of the swap-out. If I don't have cheddar, I'll use Comté; if I'm fresh out of crème fraîche, I'll use yogurt. I didn't used to be so thrifty and flexible, but in Paris, when the stores are closed, they're closed, and a girl's gotta eat. But resourcefulness is a great thing to cultivate even if you've got a 24-hour grocery store down the street—it makes good sense not to waste, and it makes cooking even more fun when you know the rules can be bent a little (and in some cases, a whole lot). I've guided you to possible substitutions ("Swap It"), suggested ideas for leftovers ("Double-Duty"), and given you little tips that'll help you do the job better and more efficiently ("Cowgirl Tip"). ## **COME COOK IN MY COWGIRL KITCHEN** Trying to satiate one's hunger for home is the life of an expat. It is a life of constant longing—for the place you left, and when you return, for the place you left home for, that you thought you'd never love as your own. It's like some sort of cosmic joke. The homesickness is only lessened by the growing attachment to the new place. Then the very idea of home becomes amorphous, ever changing. Sometimes it almost feels like I'm cheating, loving both France _and_ Texas. I love them both for their food, for the passion that both places have for their cuisines. There is nothing quite like eating _enchiladas verdes_ in San Antonio or bouillabaisse in Marseille. And whichever side of the Atlantic I happen to be on, I feel like I'm in a semi-constant state of withdrawal. When I'm in France, I miss the jalapeños, the serranos, and the New Mexican Hatch chiles. When I'm in Texas, I crave the French _fleur de sel_ butter, the chocolate, the cheese. Every time I'd sit down to work on this collection of recipes, I'd think about the kitchen explorations that have allowed me to bring my two beloved culinary cultures together. When you come into the kitchen to cook with me, I hope you'll discover the happiness of that fusion. And that you'll come back often. I've thought a lot about the kind of cookbooks I like to buy and the kind I actually use. I wanted to write something that was both practical and creative; filled with recipes that were multipurpose, could be sized up or down, or made into something else with a twist here or a trick there. And I wanted to include suggestions on what to do with a dish, how to serve it, what to pair it with, and, as much as possible, how to make it look good on the plate. The stories I wrote alongside the recipes are meant to entertain, but first and foremost, I hope these recipes resonate. I hope they will inspire you to make them, enjoy them, and share them with your friends and family. And, finally, I hope I've succeeded in writing a cookbook you'll dog-ear and accidentally spill your coffee on—when you're having fun cooking, that just happens. That's what cooking's all about. What are you waiting for? So go put your boots on, and get cookin'! ## **CHAPTER 1** ## Appetizers: **OLD FAVORITES and NEW BEGINNINGS** Not long after I arrived in Paris, I realized that besides navigating the special driving rules of France—you always yield to traffic incoming from the right, except, of course, when you don't; only use your blinker, if at all, at that precise moment of turning the wheel, and not a second before, because where you're going is no one else's business but your own—I had a lot to learn about how the French eat. The French dining ritual is, like many other fine traditions here, such as the twice-yearly government-sanctioned sales, fairly rigid, but once you get the hang of it, it's easy to follow along. Dinners don't kick off the same way that they do in Texas. For example, you'd never walk into a restaurant and just start in on the red or white. And if you're at a dinner party, the same rules apply. Wine is for accompanying food. It's not for drinking yourself silly with. Instead, you start with an aperitif, maybe open the Champagne and have a glass or two. Along with this you might have a little something to eat. Perhaps a bowl of radishes with their green ends trimmed down to a stubby "handle" length, served with a side dish of salt. Or something more elaborate, like a loaf of bread with a sausage baked right inside, served in tiny, easy-to-eat slices. Or Barbie-size quiches (see p. 54). It's all about small. You won't see a big bowl of tortillas with helpy-selfy queso served on the side. Ahem. Now, the importance of this course, which really isn't a course per se, but rather the prelude to the rest of the meal, cannot be overestimated. Just look at the words that are devoted to the idea of culinary foreplay in France. You've got your hors d'oeuvre, which literally means "outside of the chief work." Hors d'oeuvre is sort of the catch-all that also means "appetizer," but not in an American, buffet-style way. "Oeuvre" typically refers to a body of work, as in an artist's oeuvre; in the case of hors d'oeuvres, the word refers to the main course. As the prelude to such a main attraction, hors d'oeuvres can be little artworks in their own right. The French have canapés, one-bite little toasts topped with even smaller bits of this and that, from a quarter teaspoonful of tuna tartare to a smidgen of smoked salmon atop a wisp of crème fraîche. Shrinking things down even further, there's the amuse-bouche, also known as the amuse-gueule, meaning something to amuse your mouth. Ha! Ha! Ha!, your mouth must be thinking. Can I have some more? As if Champagne weren't amusing enough. The truth is, I had no problem whatsoever adapting to any of this. Any evening that begins with a few glasses of Champagne is one that's getting a fine start if you ask me. And if there's something to eat along with it, all the better. But you've got to remember that Champagne is French for goodness' sake—I mean, everyone knows that—and there's no reason at all not to just go along with this very French custom of drinking Champagne and nibbling miniature food. ## TEXAS KILLERS One summer in the south of France, I was drinking chilled rosé in in the medieval town of Uzès, near Provence, and the waiter brought out the tiniest cookies I'd ever seen, no bigger than a nickel, or a 1 euro coin. They were not sweet, but savory, and because they were so small, I ate lots. That gave me an idea. I thought, Why not come up with a spicy, cheesy cookie—something like a tortilla chip swiped through a big bowl of Rotel dip, but in the shape of the great state of Texas? Which is what we have here. I introduced the Texas Killers to my first cooking class students in Paris, and they were a hit. I took the savory cookies-with-a-kick to expat picnics on the Seine. I took boxes of them to X's family get-togethers, which always began with a couple of bottles of Champagne. The Americans loved them, and, surprisingly, so did the French, including X's mother, who is so _parisienne_ that she gets nervous when she has to cross the _boulevard périphérique_ , the ring road that separates the city proper from the suburbs ( _quelle horreur!_ ). They're perfect with beer. Excellent with Champagne. And (drumroll...) the state drink of Texas, margaritas. ## TEXAS KILLERS ## MAKES ABOUT 9½ DOZEN TEXAS-SHAPED COOKIES 3 cups/345 grams of flour ½ teaspoon of sea salt 1½ teaspoons of sugar ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper 2 sticks/250 grams of butter, softened ¾ cup/55 grams of shredded cheddar cheese **1.** Preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C and line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper. **2.** Whisk together the flour, sea salt, sugar, and cayenne. In your mixer, cream the butter, then add the cheese. Now add the flour mixture and mix just until it comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, form two round discs, and cover them in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a half-hour or until the dough is firm. **3.** Roll out the dough and cut into Texas shapes, and put them on the cookie sheets about ½-inch/12 mm apart. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the tips of the Panhandle just begin to brown. Let them cool on the pan. **COWGIRL TIP:** Not a Texan? That's OK. You can also roll these out and simply slice and bake. **ADVANCE PLANNING:** These cookies freeze beautifully. They're on the fragile side, so pack them in plastic containers with layers of parchment or wax paper in between—then pull them straight from the freezer for your next party! ## SWEET POTATO BISCUITS with HAM There is no baguette, no croissant, no crispy, still-warm-from-the-oven _pain au chocolat_ in all of France as good as my mother's biscuits. Rolled out with my grandmother's hefty wooden rolling pin with the black handles, cut out into fat circles with biscuit cutters slightly misshapen from decades of use, they are both fluffy and flaky. Slathered with butter and honey or covered with a whole bunch of gravy, so much the better— _tant mieux,_ I say. My mom only made biscuits on special occasions, and always with her fried chicken. They were not everyday food, and if they had been, I'd be as big as a double-wide. I can push back from the table from many things, but not my mom's biscuits. Ever. This isn't her recipe, because I couldn't do justice to her biscuits, which are a proud tribute to her Birmingham, Alabama roots. Some things you just don't mess with. I developed this recipe after tasting something similar at Doc Martin's in Taos, New Mexico. I liked the idea of marrying sweet potatoes and biscuits. So what is this recipe doing in a cowboy-boot-wearing Parisian repertoire? We've all got our soul survival foods. If I'm putting down roots anywhere for long, there must be boots and there must be biscuits. ## **SWEET POTATO BISCUITS WITH HAM** ## MAKES ABOUT 3 DOZEN (1½-INCH/4 CM) BISCUITS 1 large sweet potato (to yield 1 cup of mashed) a big pinch of sea salt 2 cups/285 grams of flour 1½ tablespoons of baking powder ½ teaspoon of sea salt 2 tablespoons of sugar 1 stick/125 grams of butter, cut into small cubes and chilled in the freezer ¼ cup/60 ml of milk about 5 ounces/140 grams of thinly sliced smoked ham **1.** Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C and line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper. **2.** Peel your sweet potatoes and cut them into fat slices, about 1-inch/2.5 cm thick. Toss them in a large, heavy stockpot, cover with cold water, and add a big pinch of sea salt. Turn the heat to high, and when the water boils, turn the fire down to a simmer and let the potatoes cook for about 5 more minutes, or until you can easily insert a fork into them—do this at the first opportunity because you don't want the potatoes to get too mushy. Drain off the water and mash up the potatoes by hand with a fork or a potato masher, making sure to leave plenty of small chunks throughout (this is what'll make the biscuits pretty!) Set this aside to cool. **3.** Whisk together the flour, baking powder, sea salt, and sugar. Add the pieces of frozen butter and mix just until it looks like you've got smallish pebbles throughout. You can do this by hand, as my mom still likes to do, or use the food processor (my way). **4.** Measure out 1 cup of the cooled, semi-mashed sweet potatoes, and gently mix this with ¼ cup/60 ml of milk. Now add this to the dry ingredients and mix gently, only until the dough comes together. We want pieces of sweet potato in the biscuits, so be careful not to overdo. **5.** Now, the fun part. Lightly dust a work surface with flour, and roll out the dough it until it's 1-inch/2.5 cm thick. Cut out your biscuits and put them on the cookie sheets about 1-inch/2.5 cm apart. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the edges (and the bottoms—it's OK to turn them over to check) are lightly browned. Once the biscuits are cool, split 'em open, stuff with pieces of ham, and serve. **COWGIRL TIP:** Make big sweet potato biscuits instead, and serve them with soups, salads, or for breakfast—yum! **SWAP IT:** Instead of ham, stuff the biscuits with: slices of Spanish chorizo or any other mildly spicy cured sausage; jalapeño pimento cheese (p.187) and fresh dill; or smoked salmon, a bit of crème fraîche, or sour cream and fresh chives. **ADVANCE PLANNING:** Want hot biscuits at another time? Put your already cut-out biscuits in the freezer on the cookie sheet, and let them harden before putting them in a plastic zip-top sack. Keep them in the freezer until you're ready to bake them. Just add a couple more minutes to the baking time. ## SWEET PEA PESTO My mother only served Le Sueur brand peas, which came in small cans wrapped in shiny silver paper. They were superior to the fatter, American peas, Mom said, because they were small and delicate. They were French. As European as they sounded, my brother and I didn't like them, and wouldn't eat them, no matter how long we had to sit at the table. After a certain pea mishap involving a double-dare and my brother's nose, peas were phased out of our family dinners. That's how I always remembered peas. Then I moved to France and ate real French peas. Not Le Sueur. Not anything out of any sort of can. Peas so bright they were fluorescent green. Every spring, they were puréed in soups along with mint, and served, simply boiled, with fish, or chicken, or just about anything else. They were perfect. I started buying peas by the kilo whenever they'd appear at the market, one of the first signs of spring. I loved shelling the peas in my kitchen, pulling the string, and emptying them into a handmade terra-cotta bowl from Gascony. I put peas in pasta and ate them on their own. Now that I know the joys of fresh peas, I like them almost any way, but I like them best made into a pesto and smeared on a hunk of crusty baguette, eaten with a glass of wine or Champagne (these being French peas and all). ## **SWEET PEA PESTO** ## MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS/480 ML 4 cups/340 grams of freshly shelled peas (or you may use frozen) ½ cup/30 grams of grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving 6 to 10 fresh mint leaves 1 shallot, finely chopped 1 teaspoon of olive oil sea salt **1.** Put a medium-size pot of salted water on to boil. When it's ready, drop in your peas and set the timer for 2 minutes. While the peas are cooking, fill a large bowl with ice cubes and some cold water. **2.** When the timer goes off, drain the peas in a colander, and put them in the ice-water bath so they'll stay pretty and green. **3.** Make your pesto. You can do this in a food processor (the easiest way) or with a hand masher. Just mix your cooled peas with the rest of the ingredients just until combined—this is meant to be coarse rather than smooth; we're not going for a purée. Pop it in the fridge for an hour to let the flavors come together. Spread this on top of toasted, thin slices of a baguette or Toasted Pita Chips (p.35) with curls of Parmesan. **COWGIRL TIP:** If you're in hurry, just run some cold water over your peas instead of putting them in the ice-water bath. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** Boil up your favorite chunky pasta (I love the tiny bows), and fold in this pesto. Hello, spring. ## TOASTED PITA CHIPS A long, long time ago, when water didn't come in bottles, but straight out of the faucet, and the now-ubiquitous pita chips were still years away from being stuffed in sacks and put on the grocery store salty-snacks aisle, I learned to make my own. It sounds so quaint and pioneer-like now. But make them I did. I'd buy sacks of pitas, as many as two or three at a time, and with my kitchen scissors, I carefully cut each round piece of bread into quarters, and then eighths. I'd wipe my brow on my sleeve from all of the hard work, and then I'd toss the little bread triangles into a very large bowl. I wouldn't even take a break before I moved on to the next very complicated step: I'd drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper over it all, and then I'd mix it up, by hand. Then, it was onto the cookie sheet and into the hot oven, where the soft little pita pieces were magically transformed into—ta da!—crispy, salty, and peppery pita chips. It is so old-fashioned, I know, to take the time—in this case, fifteen minutes tops, from start to finish to cut and toss and bake pita chips when you can buy them at the grocery store. Some things are just worth going that extra mile. ## **TOASTED PITA CHIPS** ## MAKES 4 DOZEN 6 pieces of pita bread*, each piece cut into eighths about ¼ cup/60 ml of olive oil sea salt and pepper **1.** Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C and line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper. **2.** In a large bowl, and with your hands (it's easiest), Mix up the pita triangles with the olive oil, and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Spread these out on your cookie sheets, and cook them until they're crispy and brown, about 10 minutes; then take them out, flip them over, and cook for 5 minutes more. * Pita bread is made two different ways—with and without a cute pocket-I always use the pocket kind. **COWGIRL TIP:** For a party, simply double or triple the recipe. To save time, use your kitchen shears to cut up the pita bread. ## EGGPLANT CAVIAR ## (CAVIAR D' AUBERGINE) There are no tiny, overpriced fish eggs in this "caviar"—it's actually a dip from Provence. But dip sounds about as appealing as, well, eggplant, and I think that whoever named this wonderful stuff had it right, coming up with something that sounds both elegant and unexpected, to entice us all to give it a try. As an added inducement, this caviar, like the real stuff, goes nicely with Champagne. Eggplant caviar is another one of those things you'll find in just about every grocery store in France, next to the ready-to-eat hummus and the take-home tabouli. But I do not recommend that you try your first taste of it the prepackaged way. Instead, just roast up some eggplant and make your own. It's really not so hard. And there are so many fun variations—I played around a bit to come up with one that I really liked. Mine's a bit lighter and more eggplant-centric; instead of garlic, which can push every other flavor right out of the room, I lean heavily on fresh herbs. For your next party, surprise your friends and tell them you'll bring the caviar. ## EGGPLANT CAVIAR ## (CAVIAR D'AUBERGINE) ## MAKES ENOUGH FOR 4 2 large eggplants, halved ½ cup/120 ml of olive oil, plus a little more for oiling the cookie sheet sea salt and pepper the juice of 2 lemons a pinch of cayenne pepper 8 fresh basil leaves, roughly torn 12 cherry tomatoes, quartered **1.** Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place the four halves of eggplant on this, insides-up, and with a sharp knife, make a few long slashes into the flesh of each one. Brush the olive oil on your eggplant pieces, making sure to use it all—the eggplant should willingly soak it right up. A sprinkle of salt and pepper, and into the oven they go. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the eggplant halves are soft and the tops have browned. Remove from the oven and let cool. **2.** Scoop out the eggplant's flesh and mix it up—in your food processor or simply with a fork, if you like it chunky—with the lemon juice, cayenne, and basil. Taste for seasonings, then gently fold in the cherry tomato quarters. Refrigerate for an hour before serving. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** Make eggplant caviar tartines. Toast some bread, spread it with this delicious stuff, and add some more basil and a drizzle of olive oil. ## BASIL PESTO MATCHSTICKS ## (PESTO ALLUMETTES) Some people look forward to sleeping in on Saturday mornings. I am not one of those people. I think the best place to be at 7:30 in Paris on a Saturday morning is at the Porte de Vanves flea market, a year-round, weekend junk sale with vendors who back up their vans to a long stretch of sidewalk, and unload their booty onto folding tables and right onto the ground, in cardboard boxes. The sellers are never the same from week to week, so you never know what treasures you might find. I once scored an enormous copper stockpot, in perfect condition, for 40 euros. I've bought vintage silverware for 1 euro a stem. I've picked up oversize antique French linen kitchen towels known as _torchons_ , hand-stitched with the initials of the former owner in red. An Eiffel Tower bottle opener, a carving knife with the leg of a deer as a handle, blue and white café au lait bowls—the finds are endless. It is best to go early, as anyone who loves fleas knows. Early affords a clearer view of the merchandise, without the crowds of like-minded people who show up at around 9, lit cigarettes in hand, held at waist-level, dogs in tow, pushing baby strollers, and unbelievably, sometimes all three. I wake up, throw back a small, strong coffee like a shot of tequila, and I'm out the door. Thirty minutes and two changes on the metro later, I'm there, with an empty bag thrown on my shoulder, and a few euros in my pocket. I shop fast, and with an air of detachment. I never make the first offer, letting the seller do the bargaining instead, and I am always ready to walk away. I usually get what I want, and for the right price. Afterward, on the short walk back to the metro, I stop into a boulangerie and buy an _allumette choco-noisette_ , which is basically a long strip of croissant dough filled with Nutella. Then I take it to the café next door and order an extra-hot café au lait to celebrate my good luck—whether I found something or not—to be living in Paris and spending a Saturday morning just like this. ## BASIL PESTO MATCHSTICKS ## (PESTO ALLUMETTES) ## MAKES ABOUT 4 DOZEN 1 cup/200 grams of ricotta cheese 1¼ sticks/180 grams of butter, softened 2¼ cups/285 grams of flour ½ teaspoon of sea salt Basil Pesto (recipe follows), or you may use store-bought 1 egg white, mixed with a little water **1.** Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. **2.** Whip the butter with the ricotta until it's light and fluffy. Add the flour and salt and mix until it forms a solid mass. Wrap the dough in plastic and pop it into the fridge for a half-hour. **3.** To make the matchsticks, divide your dough in half, and put one half on a lightly floured surface, and the other back in the fridge to stay cool. Roll out your dough into a large rectangle. Spread a couple of tablespoons of pesto on one half of the dough, then fold over the other half. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into strips ½-inch by 5-inches/12 mm by 12 cm wide, and lay each piece on one of the cookie sheets, leaving about a ¼ inch/6 mm between each one. **4.** Brush a little egg white mixed with water on each strip, and slide the first pan into the oven for 20 minutes, or until the matchsticks are light brown. Repeat the above step with the second half of the dough. Serve warm or at room temperature. **COWGIRL TIP:** Keep uneaten matchsticks in the fridge and simply reheat by putting directly on a cookie sheet and popping back into the oven (400°F/200°C) for 10 minutes—they'll crisp right back up. **SWAP IT:** Instead of Basil Pesto, use Kalamata Olive-Basil Salsa (p.269), or go the sweet route, and spread these with Nutella, your favorite jam, or cinnamon and sugar. ## **BASIL PESTO** ## MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP/240 ML ¼ cup/35 grams of toasted pine nuts a big handful of fresh basil (about 2 packed cups, or enough to completely fill a small food processor) 3 tablespoons of olive oil 1 clove of garlic, minced ¼ cup/15 grams of grated Parmesan cheese sea salt and pepper Toss the pine nuts in your small food processor and pulse until they're roughly chopped. Now, add the basil and pack it in as tight as you can. Pour in the olive oil and pulse until the basil is nice and fine; then toss in your minced garlic clove, Parmesan, and big pinch of salt and pepper. Taste. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** Spread your pesto on the bottom of a tart, such as the Tomato-Ricotta Tart (p.172) Smear some Basil Pesto on a split, toasted baguette, add chopped tomatoes and mozzarella for a super-quick pizza. Stuff it under the skin of your Easy Roast Chicken (p.265). ## MUSHROOM TAPENADE In France, the mushroom population is so vast and varied that pharmacists are required to have a working knowledge of the different varieties, so they'll know, for instance, if you've been out foraging in the forest and have filled up your cute wicker mushroom basket, that you've plucked the very delicious, edible kind, and not the poisonous Shakespearean, kill-your-enemy ones. As someone who grew up eating mushrooms from cans (fresh mushrooms weren't yet available at the Piggly Wiggly) I still get overwhelmed when I go to the market and see the endless selection of mushrooms. It seems odd, foreign, and exotic. There's even a stand at Marché Avenue du Président Wilson (President Wilson market in the 16th arrondissement) that, along with potatoes, sells only mushrooms, from the oversize, prized _cèpes_ (porcini) in the fall to the pricey _morilles_ (morels) in the spring, along with gangly-legged _girolles,_ blue-hued _pieds bleus_ from Brittany, shitakes, and delicate triangle-topped _mousserons_ , which look the most fairylike of all. But no need to get overly fancy. My everyday go-to mushroom is the most common of all— _le champignon de Paris,_ a.k.a. the white button. It does, however, have a most uncommon history. At the turn of the nineteenth century, France, much like my hometown Piggly Wiggly in the 1970s, didn't have these mushrooms, and was either making do without or taking its chances with the often-chancy forest fungi. But all of that changed in the mid-1800s, when Napoleon III hired Baron Haussmann to modernize Paris, then still a smelly old medieval city, with narrow streets and buildings that were in need of repair. Since the city's center had already been quarried to such a degree that it had fallen in on itself a few times, Haussmann had limestone hauled in from the suburbs. Imagine the baron's surprise when he found hundreds of beautiful, crisp white mushrooms growing on the rocks brought in to rebuild the capital—which is how these mushrooms, still grown in a mixture of dirt and manure in caves just outside of the _périphérique_ , became known as the mushrooms of Paris. ## MUSHROOM TAPENADE ## MAKES ENOUGH FOR ABOUT 20 LITTLE BAGUETTE TOASTS about 2 tablespoons of olive oil about 2 tablespoons of butter 2 shallots, finely chopped 16 ounces/450 grams of white mushrooms, chopped a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves removed, plus more for serving 5 ounces/150 grams of soft goat cheese 1 baguette, thinly sliced and toasted **1.** Put 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter along with the shallots in your largest skillet, and turn your heat to medium. When the butter melts, add as many mushrooms as will comfortably fit, leaving a little space between them so they can brown—if you've got too many mushrooms in the pan, they'll steam and become soggy, which we don't want. To prevent this, I usually cook them in batches, adding equal amounts of olive oil and butter with each batch. Salt and pepper as you go, then put the cooked mushrooms in a bowl to cool. **2.** Toss your cooled mushrooms with the fresh thyme. Spread a bit of goat cheese on your little toasts, add a spoonful of mushrooms, and a drizzle of olive oil. Lay these out on a platter and sprinkle with more fresh thyme. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** You can also stir your mushrooms into an omelette, put them on a pizza, add them to pasta with lots of Pecorino-Romano, or stuff them into a baked potato. ## CHICKEN EMPANADAS with CILANTRO YOGURT I bit into my first empanada one afternoon in Miami at a stand-up Cuban coffee bar in South Beach. I was about to set sail on a country music cruise that even Lyle Lovett couldn't rescue from sinking, and I had no idea that I was about to have my last edible nosh for days. The empanada was no longer warm, but the _café con leche_ was hot and strong, and between the two, my hazy sun-soaked world came back into focus. What I liked about the empanada was its familiar half-moon fried-pie shape. Like a fried pie, it was easily eaten with one hand and carried from here to there. The dough was flaky, yet sturdy enough to fold over and not fall apart in your hands. It tasted great, and it was practical, which you can't say about many crusts. Back in Paris on terra firma, I started tinkering around with doughs and fillings. I made these cute little chicken empanadas and took them to a meeting where my cowgirled-up version of the Latin American standby was such a big hit I knew I was onto something. ## **CHICKEN EMPANADAS WITH CILANTRO YOGURT** ## MAKES ABOUT 4 DOZEN 2¼ cups/300 grams of flour 1 teaspoon of sea salt 1 stick/125 grams of butter, cut into small pieces and popped in the freezer ahead of time 2 eggs ⅓ cup/75 ml of ice water (or a little less) 1 tablespoon of white vinegar canola oil 1 onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, minced 2 cups/345 grams of cooked, shredded chicken (use leftover Easy Roast Chicken, p.265) 1 roasted red bell pepper (p.185), diced or you may use store-bought ½ teaspoon of cumin ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper Cilantro Yogurt (recipe follows) **1.** First, make your dough. Whisk together your flour and salt. Add the pieces of cold butter and either with a pastry cutter or pulsing in a food processor, cut in the butter only until the mixture resembles coarse meal with small pieces that look like pebbles. **2.** Whisk one of the eggs with the water and vinegar in a small bowl. Add this to flour mixture, and blend just until the wet and dry ingredients are incorporated, but it's still a bit crumbly—you don't want to overmix. Dump the dough directly onto a piece of plastic wrap, and form your dough into a disc. Refrigerate for an hour. **3.** While the dough's chilling, you can make your filling. Put a little canola oil into a large skillet, along with the onion and garlic, and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook for a few minutes, just until the onions become translucent. Now add your shredded chicken, diced red bell pepper, cumin, cayenne, and pinch of sea salt. Stir it up, reduce the heat to low, and after about 10 minutes, turn off the heat. Let the chicken cool completely before you stuff the empanadas. **4.** When you're ready to make your empanadas, preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C and line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll out your dough, and using a biscuit cutter, cut out 3¼-inch (8.5 cm) circles, and place these on the cookie sheets. Stuff them with a spoonful of chicken, fold the dough over, and press the edges together with the tines of a fork. Whisk the second egg with a little water and brush this over your dough, especially around the edges to seal it together. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown—at this point, you can also freeze the empanadas and simply reheat them later for about 25 minutes at the same temperature. ## **CILANTRO YOGURT** ## MAKES ABOUT 1½ CUPS/300 GRAMS 1¼ cup /300 grams of Greek yogurt a small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped about 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh chives 1 clove of garlic, minced the juice of 1 lime a pinch of cumin a pinch of cayenne pepper sea salt Mix everything together in a small bowl and refrigerate for an hour. Taste again before serving and adjust any seasonings. ## CHEESY ROSEMARY-OLIVE FLATBREAD Sometimes on Sundays, X, my Australian shepherd, Rose, and I hop in the car and drive to the Louveciennes forest near Versailles for a long morning walk. There are trails over hills and through dense trees and open spaces, which I like, and plenty of sticks to be thrown and fetched, which Rose likes. As much fun as it is tromping through Louis XIV's old hunting grounds, the real reason I love going to Versailles is the _fougasse_ at the Maison Guinon boulangerie, where they bake bread the same way they have since 1802. The line is always out the door, snaking down the sidewalk, but the wait is worth it. Walking always makes me hungry for wheat-shaped bread stuffed with olives and cheese. And this Provençal take on Italian focaccia is such an easy and satisfying snack. I love tearing it apart with my hands and sharing a hunk on the way to the Sunday market down the street. The Versailles market—an indoor/outdoor setup with permanent fish, meat, spice, and vegetable vendors in four different long buildings in what were once the royal stables—has been the scene of much aisle-meandering and _fougasse_ devouring. I love stuffing myself on bread, but my jeans (which have some stretch, but not nearly enough) do not. So, with cheese, olives, and looser-fitting jeans in mind, I made a version without yeast, flattened it out, and created this very quick and easy flatbread inspired by my very favorite, very bready _fougasse_. Like the _fougasse,_ this is also perfect for tearing and sharing. ## **CHEESY ROSEMARY- OLIVE FLATBREAD** ## MAKES 4 FLATBREADS, ENOUGH FOR 8 PEOPLE 2½ cups/300 grams of flour, plus a bit more for dusting the pan and shaping the dough 1½ teaspoons of baking powder ½ teaspoon of sea salt 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary 1½ cups/160 grams of grated cheddar cheese 5 ounces/150 ml of water 2 tablespoons of olive oil, plus a bit more for brushing on top of the flatbreads a handful (about 20) of pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped **1.** Position a rack in the lowest part of your oven and preheat it to 450°F/230°C. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. **2.** Whisk together your flour, baking powder, salt, and rosemary. Add the cheese, water, and olive oil, and with your hands or a mixer—it'll work either way—and mix it all together until it's a nice smooth dough. **3.** Divide the dough into 4 pieces, take out one piece, and cover up the rest with plastic wrap so it'll stay moist. Flatten the first piece of dough with your hand, and put about one-quarter of the chopped olives on top. Fold the dough over itself, like you're closing a book, and put it onto your parchment-lined cookie sheet. With your hands or rolling pin—I use both—very gently press out the dough until it's a thin, long, football shape. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces. Brush the tops of the flatbreads with a little more olive oil, and pop them in the oven. Cook for 15 minutes or until they're brown and crispy. Serve warm—these are great straight from the oven, although they're fine at room temperature, too. To reheat your flatbreads: Just pop them into the oven at 450°F/230°C for about 10 minutes—or if you're impatient like me, just tear off pieces and put them in the toaster—works like a charm. **COWGIRL TIP:** Rosemary is one of the easiest herbs to grow; I always have some in my garden—in a clay pot or right in the ground. **SWAP IT:** Instead of cheddar, try Parmesan, Gorgonzola, or Roquefort. Nix the olives and add bits of ham instead. ## TINY TARTS The French are as obsessed with making things small as Americans are with super-sizing them. Like cars, some of which are only slightly bigger than Rose's doghouse. Appliances, such as my Barbie-size stove, which can bake no more than twelve cookies at a time. Apartments and bathrooms, especially, with rectangular sinks no bigger than a ballet slipper box. There are miniature magazines and tiny Rhodia notepads no more than two inches wide by three inches tall, with tiny pens to write on them with. Then there's the whole idea of miniaturized food. Pass by any boulangerie or patisserie and you'll see the classics, downsized: pinky-size éclairs stuffed with chocolate and coffee-flavored pastry cream; lemon meringue tarts that'll fit in the palm of your hand; _pains au chocolat_ , croissants, the French apple turnover called _chausson aux pommes_ that you can eat by the handful; and the cutest damn quiches you've ever seen. I have never been to a cocktail party in Paris and not been served baby quiches. To the French, I suspect these two-bite quiches are simply familiar, smaller versions of what they eat all the time. I don't think they find them fancy or particularly elegant. But I do. ## TINY TARTS ## MAKES 30 BITE-SIZED TARTS **CRUST** 2¼ cups/300 grams of flour ½ teaspoon of sea salt 1 stick/125 grams of butter, cut into tiny pieces and put in the freezer ahead of time 1 egg, separated about ½ cup/120 ml of ice water **FILLING** 2 eggs ½ cup/120 ml of milk a big pinch of nutmeg sea salt and pepper 1 to 2 tablespoons of diced green chile (I use canned in France) 1 to 2 tablespoons of goat cheese 1 to 2 tablespoons of Mushroom Tapenade (p.43) 1 to 2 tablespoons of crumbled feta 1 to 2 tablespoons of diced ham 1 to 2 tablespoons of diced Swiss cheese **1.** Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C and get out your nonstick mini-muffin pan. **2.** Make the dough for the crust by first whisking together the flour and the salt. Working quickly, either with a pastry cutter or pulsing in a food processor, cut in the butter only until it looks like small pebbles (if you work this until it's uniform, the butter will get too warm and your dough won't puff). **3.** Whisk your egg yolk with 2 tablespoons of the ice water, then sprinkle this on top of your flour-butter mixture. Quickly incorporate this, and then add just enough additional water—I use the "sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time" method—for the dough to come together when you press it between your fingers. It should look crumbly. Dump the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, mash it into a round disk, then wrap tightly and put it in the fridge for an hour. **4.** When the dough's firm, take it out and put it on your floured work surface. Roll out your dough, and cut out round pieces just slightly bigger than the size of the muffin mold, and very gently press each little piece of dough into each one. Once you've filled up your tin, slide this in the freezer for 15 minutes or the fridge for about 30, or until the dough is firm (it's very important for dough to be firm so it won't fall in on itself when you get to the next step). **5.** Half-bake your little crusts. Brush the dough with the egg white mixed with a little water, and pop into the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crusts turn a light brown. **6.** Make your filling: Mix up the eggs, milk, nutmeg, sea salt, and pepper. **7.** Now, you've got a choice. You can make all ham and Swiss, mushroom and Feta, or green chile and goat cheese quiches—it's up to you. Just know that you need to put only the tiniest amount of ingredients in the little tart shells, just enough for a taste, because you need to leave room to pour the egg mixture on top. Go with less than you think that you need, and it'll probably be just right. Put your tiny tarts back in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the custard is set. Serve warm or at room temperature—these are great either way—and don't forget the Champagne. ## **CHAPTER 2** ## Cowgirlified Frenchy For most of my life, I put jalapeños on or in just about everything I ate. On pizzas and cheeseburgers. Chopped up and stirred into pasta sauces, gumbos, and soups. In scrambled eggs and with beans of all types. I bought them fresh and pickled, sliced and whole. My father grew jalapeños and canned them himself and always sent me home with a half-dozen or so jars at the end of each summer. Then I moved to Paris. Where there were no jalapeños. I just couldn't get over this. To fill in the American gap in my cupboards, I brought suitcases stuffed with staples from Texas back to Paris every few months, but I was always running out of something. A Samsonite, no matter how big, will only hold so many cans of jalapeños, so much Velveeta. At some point, your Reese's disappear, there's no more Rotel, and you're down to your last Frito. So, I figured that perhaps I needed to try to adapt, and at least be open to the idea that maybe there were some things that I needed to learn in my new country. It wasn't that I didn't love French food. Besides making crêpes and the occasional crème brûlée, I just had not ventured very far into French cuisine. Like many people, I thought it was complicated and intimidating. But the longer I lived here, the more I realized that French food wasn't either of those things. It was just unfamiliar. Once I became determined to learn, I began to see similarities instead of differences. The onion-bell pepper mixture known as _piperade_ in the Pays Basque reminded me of the onions and peppers that always come with fajitas back home. The buttery _quatre-quart_ cakes (p.279) in boulangeries all over the country were a like the pound cakes of my childhood. The more I could relate the foreign to the familiar, the more comfortable I got. And then a funny thing happened: I became more interested in what was right in front of me than in what I'd left behind. When I'd go to restaurants, I started asking the chefs how to make what I'd just eaten, from _brandade_ -stuffed _piquillo_ peppers in Biarritz to a _noisette_ (hazelnut) crème brûlée in Honfleur to the Roquefort sauce (p.243) with the steak frîtes at my favorite bistro in the 17th arrondissement. They were all happy to let me into their kitchens, and each patiently showed me how. I started to make these new recipes, and they turned out surprisingly well. I began reading the French cooking magazines each month, tearing out pages of recipes I wanted to try. My French — or at least the words and phrases that dealt with cooking — improved. I bought tart pans and French cookbooks — in French. I made monthly runs to G. Detou, the city's professional pastry supply shop in Les Halles, for vanilla, baking chocolate, hazelnuts, and almonds, all of which I started buying in bulk. Connecting with the food helped me to connect with the place. I no longer felt like an outsider. At some point, I felt confident enough to take French recipes and techniques and make them my own. Keep the original intention, and arrive at the same destination, but take it down a different road. It didn't happen overnight, this merging of what I was most comfortable with—Tex-Mex and Southern home cooking—with French cuisine, but once it did, there was no turning back. Suddenly, I saw possibilities everywhere. I call it Cowgirlified Frenchy. A little bit me, a little bit them. ## COWGIRL QUICHE "This," I said excitedly to X after I took my first bite, "is just like a breakfast taco!" I felt like I'd hit the jackpot, told Carol Merrill to pick the right door, and was about to go home with the prize money _and_ the new side-by-side. I could hardly contain myself. "Isn't it _just like a breakfast taco?_ " I said, again, trying to elicit a response. X looked at me, puzzled. "Breakfast? Taco?" "Breakfast taco," I said. "Scrambled eggs, chorizo, and maybe some cheese or potatoes, wrapped up in a flour tortilla?" "For breakfast?" "All right," I said. "Imagine having too much tequila the night before. Too many margaritas, let's say. The next morning, what would you want to eat?" "I don't like margaritas," he said. This is how it goes with us. We are forever lost in translation, having to overexplain things that you just breeze through with people who know you, who come from where you come from. So you'll just have to take my word for it: This quiche is just like a great hangover breakfast taco. X, for the record, loves it, even though he doesn't really understand why. ## COWGIRL QUICHE ## MAKES ONE (11-INCH/28 CM) TART 1 half-baked Polenta Tart Crust (p.183) 1 cup/65 grams of grated cheddar cheese 1½ cups/170 grams of crumbled Cowgirl Chorizo (p.322) 1 (4.5 ounce/127 gram) can of chopped green chile 3 eggs ½ cup/120 ml of milk ½ cup/120 ml of cream sea salt and pepper fresh chives **1.** Preheat your oven to 400°F/ 200°C and put your half-baked Polenta Tart Crust on a foil-lined cookie sheet. **2.** Scatter the grated cheddar, chorizo, and green chile on the bottom of your crust. **3.** Beat the eggs with the milk, cream, and good pinch of salt and pepper. Gently pour the eggy mixture over the cheese, chorizo, and green chile, and snip some fresh chives all over the top. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until set—you'll know it's done when the edges begin to puff. Serve warm or at room temperature. **COWGIRL TIP:** I always bake my tarts on cookie sheets lined with foil to catch any eggy drips in case of tart pans with leaky bottoms. As a secondary measure, I'll often wrap the bottom of my tart pan with foil, too. This may sound like overkill, but I really hate scrubbing baked-on eggs off of pans. **LEFTOVERS?** Just cut into pieces, wrap in foil, and pop into the freezer. To reheat, preheat oven to 400°F/200°C, unwrap the top of the foil so heat can get to the tart pieces, and place directly on the rack in the oven. Should take 35 to 45 minutes. ## CORNBREAD MADELEINES I have a thing for seashells. I've got seashells in bowls all over our Paris apartment—smooth yellow ones from Indonesia; thick, alabaster ones from Thailand; hefty deeply grooved charcoal gray ones from the beaches of Normandy; and delicate sand dollars from Port Aransas, Texas, where my beachcombing began. Every summer, my mom, dad, brother, and I would pile into our Buick station wagon and drive eight hours south on I-35 for seven days of sunburns and blistering hot sand. A week of early mornings that started with cinnamon bear claws from the Island Bakery and walks on the beach, to pick over the tide's just-washed-in seashells clinging to the wet shore. We'd all set out in different directions, combing that sweet spot between the outline of sea foam and the water's edge, seeking the best treasures. After a few hours, we'd go back to the Tropic Island motel, where Mom would make sandwiches in the kitchenette with fresh-baked Island Bakery bread and thick slices of peppery German sausage and spicy mustard that we'd bought at the New Braunfels Smokehouse along the way. I bought my first madeleine pan in Paris because it reminded me of seashells and Port Aransas. And the first thing that I made wasn't traditional madeleine cakes, but my mom's cornbread—a nod to my Southern roots and my new French home. ## CORNBREAD MADELEINES ## MAKES 24 4 tablespoons of bacon drippings or butter 2 cups/285 grams of cornmeal ½ cup/80 grams of flour 2 teaspoons of baking powder ½ teaspoon of baking soda ½ teaspoon of sea salt 2 eggs, lightly beaten 2 cups/480 ml of buttermilk **1.** Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C. **2.** When the oven's hot, divide the bacon drippings (or butter, depending on which way you go) among the 24 madeleine molds (you'll need 2 pans with 12 molds each) and slide into the oven so the pan gets nice and hot. Depending on the size of your oven, you may need to do this one pan at a time, and bake your madeleines in batches. **3.** Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Combine the lightly beaten eggs with the buttermilk, and mix this into the dry ingredients. Pull your hot pans out of the oven, pour the bacon grease or butter into the batter, give it a quick stir, and divide the batter among the madeleine molds. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Pull them from the oven and remove immediately by giving the pan a bang on your countertop—they'll pop right out. **COWGIRL TIP:** If you don't have a madeleine pan, don't worry. Just use your muffin pan instead. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** Leftover cornbread? Make croutons. Cut the cornbread pieces into cubes, toss them on a cookie sheet and pop into a 400°F/200°C oven for 15-20 minutes or until crispy. **GREAT WITH:** Soups (p. 83), Texas Chili (p.320), and Salads (p.117). ## SLICE and BAKE HAZELNUT-CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES You live in another country and you start to notice that they just don't do things the way they do back home. They talk funny. They drink tiny, strong, and often sugary coffees, thrown back in two sips, while standing at the bar; or else big milky ones, served in bowls, in the morning. They don't eat in the car; instead, they stop somewhere and sit down and _have lunch_. They aren't big snackers. And their cookies... well, they aren't like the ones I was used to craving. I'm forever saying to X around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, "I sure wish I had some cookies," because this is the time that I usually have a big and not-so-milky coffee, and what goes better with that than cookies? "Hmmpf," he says, if he responds at all. Yes, they have cookies in France and they have a cookie aisle per se in their grocery stores, but they're called biscuits, not cookies, so already, it's not the same thing. Look closer and you'll see a clue. Written across many of the biscuit boxes and bags is " _Petit Déjeuner_ ," meaning "breakfast." Breakfast cookies. Not that I have a problem with that. The preferred cookie in France is something called a _sablé,_ which means sandy, referring to the cookie's texture. Buttery shortbread cookies, basically. Again, no problems here. But when I say that I want a cookie, what I really want is an American chocolate chip cookie, or even better, a peanut butter-chocolate chip. Or at least, that's what I used to mean. Live long enough in another country and the line between us and them begins to blur. You begin to adapt. You find that you love the French peanut, _la-noisette,_ or hazelnut, as much as peanuts themselves. You seek out hazelnut-flavored anything you can get your hands on, from cakes called "the Russian" to chocolates and pastries with creamy, crunchy hazelnut middles. You have a deeper appreciation of the Italian Nutella, the perfect marriage of chocolate and hazelnuts. Then it happens. Peanut-chocolate cravings are replaced with hazelnut-chocolate cravings, and even cookies take on a French accent. Which brings us to this little cookie that I now crave in the afternoons, a French version of my American favorite. It's a _sablé_ , but it's loaded with nuts and chocolate chips, and comes together in a very American slice-and-bake format. As difficult as some French-American alliances can be, this one totally works. ## **SLICE AND BAKE HAZELNUT-CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES** ## MAKES 2 DOZEN ½ cup/70 grams of hazelnuts ¼ cups/160 grams of flour 1 teaspoon of baking soda ½ teaspoon of sea salt 1 stick/125 grams of butter, softened ¼ cup/55 grams of sugar ¼ cup/55 grams of brown sugar 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract ½ cup/80 grams of mini chocolate chips **1.** Toast your hazelnuts by tossing them in a heavy skillet over low heat. This won't take long, so watch them carefully and shake the pan around every now and then so all sides get toasted. When you can smell them, and see that the skins are starting to lift away, pour the hazelnuts onto a clean dishtowel laid out flat on the countertop, and use the towel to rub the skins off. Don't worry if small bits of skin stick to some of the nuts; this is fine. When the nuts are cool, chop them up to a mixture that's about half fine, and half still chunky—you can use the food processor for this, but just be sure not to overdo (they'll quickly turn to powder, and we want both small- and medium-size pieces). **2.** Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In your mixer, beat the butter until it's light and fluffy; then add the sugars and vanilla and mix well. Add your flour mixture, and combine only until it comes together—err on the side of crumbly, because you're not finished yet. **3.** Fold in the toasted, chopped hazelnuts and chocolate chips by hand. Don't worry if the dough still seems too crumbly; like tart dough, it'll come together while it's chilling down. Divide the dough in half and shape each piece into a 12-inch/31 cm log—I usually roll mine to be about 2 inches/5 cm in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and pop in the fridge for an hour, or until firm. **4.** To bake your cookies, preheat the oven to 375° F/190°C and line the baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice the cookies into pieces 1/4 inch/6 mm thick, and put them on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch/2.5 cm between each cookie. Bake for around 14 minutes, just until the cookies begin to firm around the edges. You don't want them to get brown; if they do, they'll be too hard when they cool. Let the cookies cool right on the pan. These are meant to be eaten once they're cool, but I can never resist eating them warm, too—I'm an equal opportunity cookie eater. **COWGIRL TIP:** A plastic bag and a rolling pin makes a fine "nut chopper," too. ## PEANUT BUTTER-CHOCOLATE SOUFFLÉS I always thought soufflés were as fussy as the French—too delicate, too froufrou, and certainly not worth the trouble. Then one day, I slipped into the booth at Bistrot Paul Bert, one of Paris' great old-school bistros, and ordered some wine. For lunch. So, as you can see, I was already heading to the other side. On this particular crispy fall afternoon, I had a kink in my back and was in desperate need of a new hairdo. X, wanting to please, offered to take me to lunch, so off on Nadine, his mauve-colored scooter, we went. Which is how I landed at Bistrot Paul Bert in the first place, and why I decided to order the chocolate soufflé. The Frenchiest, fluffiest dessert of all. It was divine to the 100th power. Each bite a puffy, warm chocolate cloud, with a crunchy sugar-rimmed crust. I forgot about my woes with all of that goodness, every last bit of it, just for me. Other than one bite, I did not share. Naturally, I soon tried my hand at chocolate soufflés. I got out my ramekins and dusted the insides with sugar for that Bistrot Paul Bert crunch. I whipped up some egg whites. I folded them into chocolate. When I pulled my most-perfect soufflés from the oven and took that first bite, I felt so silly for my former anti-soufflé sentiments. It was a gateway soufflé, which naturally led me down a path of soufflé experimentation, and the uncontrollable binge buying of eggs. Which is how I came up with this, a soufflé that tastes like an inside-out Reese's, sacks of which I always stuff into my suitcase to take back to Paris, and keep in the freezer in case of emergencies. ## PEANUT BUTTER-CHOCOLATE SOUFFLÉS ## MAKES 6 butter, for buttering the ramekins 4 ounces/100 grams of good-quality white chocolate ¾ cup/180 ml of cream 3 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter (I like Skippy, because that's all that's available in Paris, but I'd steer clear of natural peanut butters for this) 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 3 egg yolks, at room temperature 4 egg whites, at room temperature 3 tablespoons of sugar, plus more for dusting the ramekins ¼ cup/55 grams of semisweet or a good milk chocolate, chopped **1.** Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C and butter the insides of six ½ cup/115-gram ramekins and dust with sugar. **2.** Melt the white chocolate, cream, and peanut butter in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla, and let this cool. **3.** When the peanut butter-white chocolate mixture has cooled a bit, whisk in the egg yolks. **4.** In your mixer (and using a super-clean bowl—egg whites are notoriously finicky), whip the egg whites on high speed until they start to hold their shape. Now add the sugar, and whip until soft peaks form. **5.** Using your biggest rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the peanut butter mixture, mixing them in in 3 additions. Don't worry if it's a bit streaky—this is much better than overmixing, which will lessen your soufflés' puffy tops. **6.** Fill the ramekins halfway with the soufflé batter, and sprinkle some the chopped chocolate bits on top. Now, add the rest of the batter, filling each ramekin almost to the top. Put these on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and gently slide them into the oven. **5.** Bake for about 15 minutes, or just until the soufflés rise and puff (they'll look like they've gotten cute little hats) and begin to crack across the top. Don't be in a rush to take these from the oven at the first opportunity—you want these to be firm (not runny) throughout, so just let them bake. Serve your perfect soufflés immediately. **COWGIRL TIP:** Don't have a double boiler? Neither do I. I simply put a glass bowl over a deep saucepan filled with just enough water to warm the bowl, but not touch the bottom. Works like a charm. ## PARIS CHICKEN FRICASSÉE X and I had been fighting all afternoon. By dinnertime, it was time for a truce, which is how things usually go with us. No matter what we've disagreed over, by dinnertime, we break the silence and we start talking again, even if it's just about whether we want to order in a pizza or go out. We sit down across the table from each other and we eat. Eating together is always been a way for us to reconnect. On this particular fall evening, we set out for a walk in Saint-Germain, crossed over to the Right Bank, and meandered back into the Marais, crisscrossing the narrow cobblestone streets, not knowing where we were going, and not saying much as we were walking, either. I still wasn't that familiar with Paris, and I had no ideas about where we could go. After we'd walked for more than an hour, I got hungry and my feet were tired. X told me to hop on his back, and for the next block or two he gave me a piggyback ride. Yes, a piggyback ride. We soon found a simple bistro, Vin des Pyrénées, and I hopped off. I ordered fish, and he ordered chicken _fricassée,_ which is an elegant, Frenchy way of vaguely saying "cooked in a sauce." When his dish arrived, I knew I'd ordered the wrong thing. His chicken came in a cute black cast-iron pot; when he lifted the lid, I smelled rosemary and saw chicken thighs and fat pieces of Spanish chorizo in a tomato sauce. He offered me a bite, which I happily took, and then we traded. It was impossible to stay mad at him after that. ## PARIS CHICKEN FRICASSÉE ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 4 chicken legs with the thighs attached ½ cup/50 grams of flour 1 teaspoon each of sea salt and pepper 1 (32-ounce/765 gram) can of whole tomatoes olive oil 1 onion, sliced into half-moons 1 clove of garlic, minced a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves removed and chopped, plus a bit more for serving 5 ounces/150 grams of cooked and crumbled Cowgirl Chorizo (p.322), or you may use store-bought ½ of a habañero pepper, finely chopped (if you dare) **1.** Rinse and pat your chicken pieces dry with a paper towel and set them aside. **2.** Mix together your flour, salt, and pepper in a plastic bag by giving it a shake. Now, put one piece of chicken at a time in the sack and shake like crazy, so it's well coated. Reach in, shake off the excess flour, and put the chicken on a plate. Do the same thing with the rest of the chicken pieces. **3.** Pour your tomatoes into a medium bowl and tear them up with your hands. **4.** Drizzle a little olive oil in your biggest skillet (large enough to hold all of the chicken pieces), and turn the heat to medium. When it's hot, add the chicken legs, skin-side down, and let them cook for just 4 to 5 minutes, until they're brown and crispy. Now flip them over to the other side. It'll just take another 3 minutes or so. Remove your chicken legs and let them rest on the plate while you make the sauce. **5.** Reduce the heat to medium-low, add your onions, and start scraping the bottom of the pan to remove the browned bits. After a minute or so, the onions will slightly soften. Now, add your garlic and let it cook for about a minute, just until you can smell it. **6.** Turn your heat down again; this time to the lowest setting. Add the tomatoes and their juices to the skillet, and give it a stir. Toss in about 1 tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary, the chorizo, and your finely minced habañero pepper. Gently mix this up, and put the chicken pieces back in. They should be on top, yet slightly nestled into the sauce, not drowning in it. Cover and cook at a simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the chicken falls off the bones. Serve this in shallow bowls, with a spoonful or two of sauce on the bottom, then the chicken, and a little extra chopped rosemary on top. You'll also want a nice hunk of a crusty baguette to soak up the extra sauce. ## CRUNCHY GRATED CARROT SALAD WITH LIME ## (CAROTTES RAPÉES) X never kept much in his refrigerator—some milk for coffee, a few eggs, and usually hunks of Camembert and Roquefort cheeses stinking it up. And carrots. He always had this enormous container of pre-packaged shredded carrots. Shredded carrots are a very French thing, and they are everywhere, at just about any grocer, _traiteur_ (deli), and gas station convenience store along the autoroute, right there in the refrigerated section, next to the screw-top rosé and the single-serving containers of chocolate mousse. If there's a picnic, you can be certain that along with a quiche or two, someone's brought a big bowl of shredded carrots. I didn't get it. They looked so uninspired. Too _orange._ But curiosity—and hunger—got the best of me one afternoon while X was at work. I carefully peeled back the plastic, and dug my fork in. They weren't soggy, as I'd assumed; they were crunchy, and the vinaigrette wasn't half-bad, either. Before I knew it, I'd eaten half of his of ready-to-eat carrots. Which got me to thinking. I wondered how much better they'd be if I gave the whole carrot thing a Cowgirl spin. As it turns out, way better. X hasn't eaten the store-bought carrots since. ## **CRUNCHY GRATED CARROT SALAD WITH LIME** ## (CAROTTES RAPÉES) ## SERVES 6 about 1½ pounds/800 grams of carrots, peeled and shredded a handful of fresh cilantro, chopped the juice of 2 limes 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar a pinch of sea salt a pinch of cumin a pinch of cayenne pepper Put your carrots in a super-big bowl and add everything else, tasting as you go. Serve right away. ## MY BIG FAT FRENCH SALAD We met at a writer's workshop in Paris. Suzanne was a poet from Los Angeles who knitted words into powerful naked prose and read them out loud with unshakable confidence. She was tough and vulnerable, and I liked her instantly. After the workshop, our small group hopped on a crowded city bus to go the Left Bank bookstore Shakespeare and Company, and Suzanne and I stood near the front, holding on to the dirty, smudged silver poles, already telling stories and giggling. I'd only been in Paris for a few months, and I hadn't had a good laugh with a girlfriend since I'd arrived. Or with anyone. Even though Suzanne and I had just met, I already knew we were going to be friends. The next week, we met for dinner—the first of many to follow—at Le Relais du Gascon in Montmartre, a place known for its enormous salads, about halfway up the steep hill to the iconic Sacré Coeur (the church with the Dairy Queen ice cream cone top). Suzanne and I would laugh for hours over carafes of Gamay and the biggest salads I'd seen outside of Texas, mixing-bowl-size things, filled with heaps of lettuce, lots of _lardons_ (Frenchy for small matchsticks of bacon), and melted goat cheese on toast, covered with a mountain of warm, garlicky roasted potatoes. Hot potatoes on a salad? Inspired. A great friendship grew out of those evenings, and I loved that particular Montmartre salad so much that I came up with my own, to eat at home. ## MY BIG FAT FRENCH SALAD ## MAKES 2 DINNER-SIZE SALADS ½ pound/225 grams of red-skinned potatoes, cut into 2-inch/5 cm pieces olive oil sea salt and pepper 8 slices of bacon 6 slices from a baguette, toasted about 6 tablespoons of fresh goat cheese 1 head of romaine lettuce, rinsed, dried, and sliced into 2-inch/5 cm strips a handful of cherry tomatoes, halved fresh herbs, such as chives, thyme, basil, and parsley Champagne-Honey Vinaigrette (recipe follows) **1.** Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C. Put the potatoes on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, along with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, and toss this all together. Give the pan a shake so the potatoes aren't crowded, and slide them into the oven. They'll take about 30 to 45 minutes total, but after 15 or 20 minutes, the halfway mark, pull them out of the oven, and flip them over so both sides are evenly cooked. **2.** Fry up the bacon. Once it's cooked and crispy, let it drain on paper towels. Don't forget to pour off the bacon grease into an old jam jar and keep it in the fridge; it'll make your cornbread (p.64 and p.210) fabulous. **3.** Toast the baguette pieces, then put a heaping tablespoon of fresh goat cheese on each piece of toast and slide back into the oven for just a minute or two so the cheese can warm up. **4.** To assemble your salads, divide the lettuce between two bowls, crumble the bacon over, add the warm potatoes, and arrange the cherry tomatoes and baguette pieces around the sides. Use your kitchen scissors to snip your fresh herbs on top, serve, and pass around the vinaigrette. ## **CHAMPAGNE-HONEY VINAIGRETTE** ## MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP/240 ML 1 shallot, finely chopped ¼ cup/60 ml of champagne vinegar 1 tablespoon of lemon juice + the zest of 1 lemon 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon of honey sea salt and pepper ¾ cup/180 ml of grapeseed oil Combine everything but your oil along with a pinch of salt and pepper in a jam jar, and give it a shake so everything combines. Let this rest for 10 minutes or so. Add the grapeseed oil, and taste for seasonings. **COWGIRL TIP:** When making vinaigrettes, let your own taste be your best guide. Add about half of the oil, shake it up, and add a bit more until you strike the right balance of oil and vinegar. I like my dressings slightly more vinegary, so I use less oil; you might like more oil. ## **CHAPTER 3** ## Souped Up A little known fact about the French: They're crazy about soups. I've hardly had a meal in France, whether at the newest trendy bistro in Paris or dinner at an inn in the country that doesn't begin with something served in a bowl. There are _potages_ , thick, stew-like soups; _veloutés_ and _crèmes_ , soups thickened with cream; clear bouillons and consommés; bisques made from shellfish and cream; _garbure_ , a rustic soup made with ham and veggies; and, of course, there's just plain old soup. Or rather, _soupe_. All of which makes me very happy, and very much like the French, at least in this one teensy way, because I, too, love soup. I've got at least four cookbooks devoted just to soups and a parrot green folder filled with soup recipes that I've collected over the years. If I can't think of what to make for dinner, I'll often pull together some kind of soup. Probably because I've spent so much of my life as a single girl and soups were easy to make and freeze, I still turn to soup as my default meal. Men have come and gone, but soups have never let me down. In Texas, soups are traditionally cold-weather friends, but in France, soups are seasonless; they are a year-round, not just fall and winter, affair. I don't know why cold soups aren't eaten more in the summertime in Texas; you'd think they'd be the first thing people would think of when the thermostat gallops past the 100-degree mark. Paris, where air conditioning is still considered an unnecessary luxury and drinks come with just two ice cubes, taught me to turn to cold soups when the weather warms up. Hot or cold, the proper way to eat soup is in a shallow bowl with a spoon that moves away from, not toward, your mouth. But I'll confess that I do not usually do this, and please do not mention this to my mother. I actually prefer my soup in big café au lait-size bowls, with an oversize spoon (I'll even use a coffee mug). I like to add crispy, crunchy, salty, or cheesy things to soup, to dress it up, to make it a little bit fancy. Soup deserves this extra attention. It has been there for me. ## Soup Up Your Soup As comforting as soup already is, it can still benefit from a little something extra. Smooth soups need crunch. Heavy soups and stews often need to be brightened up a bit. Monochromatic soups need a splash of color. Besides, who wants to have a naked soup in the house? **1.** Grate your favorite cheese—cheddar, Monterey Jack, Comté—and put it on top of your soup, or just crumble feta, queso fresco, or Roquefort. Shaved Parmesan or Pecorino-Romano is great, too. **2.** Make soup croutons by tearing up stale bread and sprinkling the pieces with a bit of olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. Toss, put on a cookie sheet, and slide into a 400°F/200°C oven for 15 to 20 minutes. **3.** Add a spoonful of Pico de Gallo (p. 319) to your soup. **4.** Make a batch of caramelized onions (p.166) and add them to your soup. **5.** Veggie soups love leftover bits of shredded chicken (p.89) or brisket (p. 155). **6.** Toss some cooked grains into your soup (barley, rice, millet) to add texture. Quinoa is one of my favorites, too, and it's loaded with protein. Remember, it's always a ratio of 1:2/quinoa to water. Just boil your water, add the quinoa and cover your pot, reduce the heat, and set the timer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the quinoa rest for 10 minutes more. Fluff. **7.** Nut oils, such as pistachio, walnut, and hazelnut, are great swirled into soups. So are herby and flavored oils, such as Lime-Cilantro Oil (p.135) and Basil Oil (p.97). **8.** Chopped fresh herbs—basil, dill, rosemary, thyme, cilantro—always look lovely on top of soup, and add a brightness of flavor. **9.** Toasted seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame), and nuts (almonds, pine, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, cashews) add great crunch. **10.** Rip open a bag of Fritos, and throw a handful on top. They're not just for chili, you know. ## SMOKIN' TORTILLA SOUP This recipe is one of those things, like some wines and a few old boyfriends, that improve with age. Over time, I've added to, taken away, and swapped out different ingredients. What I've got now is what I believe to be the very best tortilla soup, ever—and believe me, I've tasted some tortilla soups in my day. Some tortilla soups are clear and brothy, and on the thin side, with a few token tortilla strips thrown in at the last minute. This is not one of those. This is thickened with tortillas, first toasted till crisp, then puréed to give the soup some substance. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a wimpy soup. When I moved to Paris, I brought this recipe with me. Problem was, there weren't any corn tortillas around here. So I had to start making them (p.315) myself. Which you may do, too, if you so choose. I highly recommend it. Get out your tortilla press, call in those kids, and put them to work. These things don't have to be just so. Great thing about this soup, besides the soup itself—which tastes like a big ol' bowl of Texas—is that it takes almost no time to put together. This is not one of those soups that taste better the next day. Well, I suppose it could be, but I always eat it right away until it's all gone and it just doesn't have time to sit around. ## SMOKIN' TORTILLA SOUP ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 1 onion, cut into eight wedges 8 cloves of garlic, left in their skins canola oil 6 Corn Tortillas (p.315), or you may use store-bought 1 (28-ounce/765 gram) can of whole tomatoes, with their juices 1 canned chipotle in adobo 4 cups/1 liter of Save Your Scraps! Veggie Stock (p.114) or Skin & Bones Chicken Stock (p.112) sea salt and pepper about 1 pound/500 grams of shredded cooked chicken* Toasty Tortilla Strips (recipe follows) 1 avocado, chopped a handful of fresh cilantro, chopped 1 lime, sliced into wedges **1.** Preheat your broiler. Toss the onion pieces and the garlic cloves onto a foil-lined cookie sheet along with a little canola oil, and toss with your hands. Slide into the oven and broil until the onions char around the edges, about 10 to 15 minutes. **2.** Put your tortillas directly on the rack directly beneath the onions and garlic and let them crisp at the same time. Just keep a close eye on this—it should all be ready about the same time. **3.** When cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic out of its skins and toss into a blender along with the charred onions, crispy tortillas (torn into pieces), tomatoes, chipotle, and veggie or chicken stock, and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Purée until smooth, then pour this into your soup pot. Turn the heat to medium, add the shredded chicken and give this a stir. Let this come to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for another 15 or 20 minutes. Serve your soup in big bowls with a handful of Toasty Tortilla Strips, chunks of avocado, chopped cilantro, and lime wedges on the side. * Use leftover Easy Roast Chicken (p.265), a store-bought rotisserie chicken, or poach your own. If poaching, here's all you do: Put your chicken thighs or breasts in a large stockpot, cover with water, and add 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1 bay leaf, a teaspoon of dried oregano, 8 pepper-corns, and a big pinch of sea salt. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the chicken falls off the bones or is tender. Let the chicken cool in the pot if you have time, then shred. ## **TOASTY TORTILLA STRIPS** 8 Corn Tortillas 1 teaspoon of chili powder ½ teaspoon of sea salt canola oil **1.** Preheat your oven to 450°F/250°C. **2.** Slice the corn tortillas into strips ½ inch/12 mm wide and toss them in a bowl with the chile powder and sea salt. Add a little canola oil and mix it all up with your hands so the tortilla strips are evenly coated with the oil and seasonings. **3.** Spread the strips out on a cookie sheet, and bake until they're nice and crispy, about 15 minutes. You'll need to watch them carefully, and flip them over halfway through cooking so they'll be crunchy all the way through. **COWGIRL TIP:** I always make more Toasty Tortilla Strips than I need for this soup so I can use them for salads, too. Just throw them in a plastic bag and store in the fridge. ## SWEET POTATO-BUTTERMILK SOUP As soon as I found sweet potatoes in France, I turned a corner. Saw brighter days ahead. My homesickness might never be completely cured, but it would certainly be less severe if sweet potatoes were in my life. Pricey as they were, I bought them by the kilo and made sweet potato anything I could think of—sweet potato fries, sweet potato pies, sweet potato biscuits (p.29), sweet potato hash browns. I actually started this recipe in Texas one winter and finished it when I returned to France. It is not unlike a sweet potato pie. There is buttermilk instead of crème fraîche, because I was feeling particularly homesick, and liked the idea, anyway. And there are pecans, because they are a Texas thing; they're coated with a sugary-spicy combo that I adapted from a French recipe, but I got the idea from something similar a Texas friend brought me as a gift. The tasty result is a soothing reminder that some cross-cultural combinations are deliciously effortless. ## SWEET POTATO-BUTTERMILK SOUP ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS olive oil 1 shallot, finely chopped 1 clove of garlic, minced 1 teaspoon of peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 2-inch/5 cm chunks 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped into 2-inch/5 cm pieces 3 cups/720 ml of Save Your Scraps! Veggie Stock (p.114) or Skin & Bones Chicken Stock (p.112), or you may use store-bought ½ cup/120 ml of buttermilk sea salt Happy Dance! Pecans (recipe follows) **1.** Put your olive oil, shallot, garlic, and ginger in a large soup pot and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook for a few minutes, or until the shallots become translucent and, along with the garlic and ginger, give off a nice aroma—your nose will tell you when it's ready before your eyes will. **2.** Toss in your sweet potato and carrots, add your veggie or chicken stock, and turn up the heat to medium-high. When it boils, reduce the heat to a simmer. Let this cook for about 20 more minutes, or until the sweet potato and carrots are soft. Carefully pour this into a blender, and add the buttermilk and a pinch of sea salt. Blend until it's smooth, then taste. Serve warm with a handful of roughly chopped Happy Dance! Pecans. ## **HAPPY DANCE! PECANS** ## MAKES 2 CUPS/ 230 GRAMS 2 cups/230 grams of pecans 4 tablespoons of butter 2 tablespoons of brown sugar 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce ½ teaspoon of Tabasco sauce 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika or 1 teaspoon of chipotle powder ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon of sea salt ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon **1.** Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set this aside. **2.** Toast your pecans in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. It won't take long – not even 10 minutes — so watch them carefully. Once they're nice and brown, add the rest of the ingredients and stir until the butter and sugar are melted, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the pecans to the baking sheet, separate the nuts, and let them cool completely. Store your nuts in the fridge in an airtight plastic bag or in an old jam jar. **COWGIRL TIP:** These will turn out better if you make them on a dry rather than humid day. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** Well, you can just eat them by the handful (which you will), or toss these on top of salads, or make a whole bunch, put them in jars, and give them as gifts. ## GAZPACHO I realize gazpacho's a Spanish thing, but you'd never know that in France. Around the middle of May, cheery red and green containers of gazpacho appear on grocery store shelves, sandwiched between the endless white cartons of orange juice. One spring, to kick off cold soup season, the exuberant gazpacho-to-go people stationed themselves at the various entrances of the République metro station—one of the city's largest—and gave away samples of the blended tomato-and-veggie soup. Or tried to. I watched with curiosity as Parisians reacted to this American-style promotion with suspicion. Things aren't free here. There's no try-before-youbuy policy—anywhere. It's buyer beware, not some silly notion about the customer always being right. Living in France, I learned pretty quickly that the customer is never right, and if you think you are and want to make your case, then good luck to you. If you get home from the store and realize that the sack of onions you just bought is rotten, well, congratulations, you're now the proud owner of a sack of bad onions. Sure, you can try to take them back and you can try to find a manager who may or may not be there, because it is very likely that he: a) is on a cigarette break; b) has already gone home, having met his government-mandated, 35-hour per week requirement; or c) is on vacation. If he is there (and chances are good that it will be a he), go ahead and try to explain— _en français, s'il vous plaît_ —that the onions are bad and you would like your money back. Or, just do what I do, and toss the onions into _la poubelle_ and make something else instead. And resolve to shop the twice-weekly markets. It isn't always convenient, but the produce is always better than what you'll find in the grocery stores, including all the ingredients for gazpacho. ## GAZPACHO ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 2 pounds/1 kilo of tomatoes ½ of an onion, roughly chopped 1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped 1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped 1 cucumber, peeled and seeded, plus 1 small cucumber, diced, for serving (about 1 cup) 1 garlic clove, minced 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar ¼ cup of olive oil sea salt and pepper 1 avocado, diced 2 eggs, hardboiled and roughly chopped a handful of tortilla strips (p.89) **1.** With a serrated knife, make an X on the bottoms of your tomatoes, just slicing through the skin. Put a pot of water on to boil, and when it's bubbling, add your tomatoes and set the timer for 30 seconds—we're just blanching them, not cooking them. Remove the tomatoes and peel off the skins. Now, cut them in half and squeeze out the seeds. **2.** That was the hard part. Now you can just toss the tomatoes, onion, red and green peppers, the peeled, seeded cucumber, garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and a big pinch of salt and pepper into your blender and pulse until the mixture is coarse (this is a rustic dish and you don't want it to be too smooth). Taste for seasonings and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours. Serve this in shallow bowls and pass around the chopped avocado, eggs, the diced cucumber, and tortilla strips. **COWGIRL TIP:** Make gazpacho early in the day and let it rest. It'll be better that way. ## BROCCOLI-BASIL SOUP I think that everyone should love broccoli, and I never understand it when people don't. Even though X says he doesn't like broccoli, I'm convinced that if I just keep giving it to him in disguise, like you would with a kid, he'll come around. And I have good reason to believe this: He'll eat broccoli if it's stir-fried, and he doesn't mind it in the Roasted Broccoli-Red Bell Pepper Tart (p.182). So I figured that he'd like it in this soup, too, because you don't actually _see_ the broccoli. I also know that if I throw in a bit of cheese and bread to distract him (as I've done here with these goat cheese croutons), he'll be finishing up the first bowl and asking for more before he figures out what he's just eaten. Which is exactly what happened when I first made this. Call me sneaky, but it's just a little trick that I learned from my mom, who used to hide carrots—which I did not like as a child—in her meaty spaghetti sauce and in her meatloaf, too. Of course I ended up loving carrots. I figure this broccoli thing with X is just a matter of time. ## **BROCCOLI-BASIL SOUP WITH GOAT CHEESE TOASTS** ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS olive oil 1 shallot, finely chopped 1 large head of broccoli, florets removed and the stalk, peeled then chopped into 1-inch/2.5 cm pieces 4 cups/1 liter of Save Your Scraps! Veggie Stock (p.114) or Skin & Bones Chicken Stock (p.112), or you may use store-bought a handful of fresh basil leaves sea salt and pepper ½ of a baguette, thinly sliced and toasted 5 ounces/150 grams of fresh goat cheese Basil Oil (recipe follows) **1.** Put a little olive oil in your stockpot and add the shallots. Turn the heat to medium-low and let the shallots cook for a few minutes, just until they're translucent. Add your broccoli and vegetable stock. Put the lid on, and bring this to a boil over medium heat. **2.** Once it boils, turn the heat down and simmer until the broccoli stems are soft—this'll only take about 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully pour your soup into a blender—you'll probably need to work in batches so you don't spray yourself with hot soup—then add the basil and a big pinch of sea salt and pepper. (Blend some of the basil, salt, and pepper with each batch of soup if working in batches.) Purée until smooth and taste for seasonings. Serve warm with baguette toasts spread with goat cheese, and a swirl of Basil Oil. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** This soup will also work as a pasta sauce. Just heat up your favorite chunky pasta—I love penne—and toss with a couple of spoonfuls of Super-Quick Homemade Ricotta (p.173, a bit more torn basil, and the Basil Oil. ## **BASIL OIL** ## MAKES ABOUT ½ CUP/120 ML 15 large fresh basil leaves 1 tablespoon of finely chopped shallot ½ cup /120 ml of olive oil ¼ teaspoon of lime or lemon zest a pinch of sea salt and pepper Put all of the ingredients in a small food processor and pulse until blended. Pour into an old jam jar and refrigerate for a half-hour, at least, before using. This'll keep for a few days in the fridge. **COWGIRL TIP:** Fresh basil will keep for at least a week if you trim the stems and stuff it into a vase with fresh water, changing it every day or two, and trimming the ends each time. ## MINTY CANTALOUPE SOUP By Texas standards, summers in Paris aren't really that hot, but if you don't have air conditioning in your teensy apartment, then it's a whole different story, especially when you consider the impact of the city itself—an island of concrete that radiates warmth like the floor heater at my grandmother's house. Smart people leave the city and go to their country homes for a month or two, where cool breezes blow from the mountains, or head straight to the sea. But since I haven't yet found the perfect Normandy château or seaside flat on the Île de Ré, I've come up with a few summer survival techniques in the meantime. Fans on four-foot-high stands in each room of our tiny apartment push the warm air around nonstop, which means that there's a constant roar over which the volume of everything from conversations to the television must be increased. I drink lots of iced coffee, even though I'm constantly reminded by X that I should drink water instead. Coffee _is_ water, I tell him. Water that's been enhanced and improved. I also eat lighter—and later, too—since the summer sun doesn't set until well past 10 p.m. And I make lots of cold soups. Like this one. And yes, I know it may sound weird to put Roquefort on top of a cold melon soup, but that's exactly what makes this wonderful. ## MINTY CANTALOUPE SOUP ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 2 ripe cantaloupes, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks the juice of 1 lemon 6 large fresh basil leaves, plus a bit more for serving 8 fresh mint leaves, plus a bit more for serving a pinch of sea salt about 1 ounce/30 grams of crumbled Roquefort cheese about 1 ounce/30 grams of toasted almond slivers **1.** Put your cantaloupe pieces in your blender along with the lemon juice, basil, mint, and salt, and purée until it's very smooth. Chill down in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving. **2.** Pour the soup into bowls and garnish with a bit of Roquefort, toasted almonds, and some torn basil and mint leaves. ## MINESTRONE One chilly October, I was in Florence having lunch with a friend of mine at a trattoria not far from the Arno River. We ordered the daily soup, _ribollita_ , which is basically minestrone's last gasp—after a day or two, what's left is put in a pot along with whatever stale bread's still hanging around, and you get a "boiled again" soup that's thick and bready. It was–and remains—the perfect thing for a chilly autumn day. Like so many Florentine dishes, this rustic soup won me over. Served with a swirl of fruity local olive oil and a couple of glasses of red wine, the _ribollita_ made for a lunch I've never forgotten. I can still remember how it warmed me right down to my bones. There are vegetable soups, and then there's minestrone, the vegetable soup that tastes like a lazy afternoon in Florence. Paris isn't Florence, but when it's cold and damp in France and I hear it's 80 or 90 degrees back in Texas, there's nothing like a Florentine minestrone. Served as is or puréed till it's creamy or bolstered with bread and made into _ribollita_ , it's as good one way as the next. And when it's all gone, I'm usually thinking about when I'm going to make it again. ## MINESTRONE ## MAKES 8 TO 10 SERVINGS olive oil 2 leeks, sliced (white parts only) 2 cloves of garlic, minced a few fresh basil leaves 3 carrots, peeled and chopped 2 celery stalks, chopped 2 zucchini (one green and one yellow), chopped 4 new potatoes, chopped into 2-inch/5 cm pieces 1 (28-ounce/765 gram can) of diced tomatoes with their juices 4 cups/1 liter of Skin & Bones Chicken Stock (p.112), or you may use store-bought 1 (6-ounce/170 gram can) of tomato paste 3 bay leaves 1 teaspoon of dried thyme ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes the rind of 1 piece of Parmesan cheese sea salt and pepper 1 (14.5-ounce/395 gram can) of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed a handful of shredded Chinese cabbage (it's also called Napa cabbage) a handful of fresh spinach **1.** Drizzle some olive oil into your biggest stockpot and add the leeks, garlic, and basil. Turn the heat to medium-low and let this cook, stirring every now and then, until the leeks begin to soften. **2.** Add the carrots and let them cook for a few minutes, then add your celery, and let this cook for a couple of minutes, too. After the celery and carrots have softened slightly, now you can toss in almost everything else—the zucchini, potatoes, diced tomatoes, chicken stock, tomato paste, bay leaves, thyme, red pepper flakes, and the Parmesan cheese rind—this is the key to the soup's great flavor. Season with a big pinch of sea salt and pepper, cover loosely, and let this cook on low heat for about 2 hours, or until the potatoes are cooked. Then add the cannellini beans, and let them warm through for about 10 minutes. **3.** Taste again for seasonings, then right before serving, add the cabbage and spinach—it won't take but a minute or two to cook. Garnish your soup with a swirl of Basil Oil (p.97). **GREAT WITH:** Cheesy Rosemary-Olive Flatbread (p.50). ## ZUCCHINI-CILANTRO SOUP When I was still living in Dallas and I'd come to Paris to visit X, while he was off at work, instead of studying French and trying to sort out the difference between the plus-que-parfait and the passé composé tenses, I'd walk down the street to The Village Voice Bookshop and thumb through the English-language books. I always loved seeing the owner Odile Hillier's picks, which she'd stack on a large wooden table near the front window, with handwritten cards folded over the covers of her favorites, explaining why each book was chosen. I loved that she actually took the time to read the books she sold, and I always found something I needed to buy that I'd not yet heard of. I tried to time my book shopping right before lunch, so afterward I could take my new book to the restaurant across the street that served a half dozen or so fresh soups each day. I got the zucchini soup right off the bat because I loved its pretty green color and I'd never tasted zucchini soup before. It was creamy, zucchini-y, and so simple. Nothing else, just that. Back in Dallas, I started making my own, but without cream, because I didn't think that it needed it, and with lots of cilantro. This soup's great on its own, just as it is, with a squeeze of lime—but I like it even more with DQ-style mixins. Like a Blizzard on a road trip, it's just more fun that way. ## ZUCCHINI-CILANTRO SOUP ## MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS olive oil 1 shallot, finely chopped 1 potato, peeled and cubed 4 large zucchini (about 2 pounds/1 kilo), cut into fat slices, and 1 medium zucchini, cut into fat sticks about 2 inches/5 cm long (see Cowgirl Tip) 2 cups/480 ml of Save Your Scraps! Veggie Stock (p.114) or Skin & Bones Chicken Stock (p.112), or you may use store-bought sea salt and pepper 1 bunch of cilantro with stems 6 Oven-Roasted Tomatoes (p.197), chopped 4 to 6 tablespoons of fresh goat cheese a handful of toasted slivered almonds **1.** Pour a little bit of olive oil into a your soup pot, toss in the minced shallots, and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook for a few minutes, just until the shallots become translucent. Add your potatoes, 2 cups/480 ml of water, and put the lid on. Cook until the potatoes begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Now, toss in your zucchini slices, the 2 cups/480 ml of vegetable or chicken stock, a good pinch of salt and pepper, and turn the heat to low. Keep your pot covered, and let this go until the zucchini softens, not more than 10 to 15 minutes. **2.** While the soup's cooking, roast your zucchini sticks. Preheat the oven to broil. Put the zucchini pieces onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and toss with a bit more olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and slide this into the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, making sure to flip the zucchini pieces over about halfway through. **3.** Add the cilantro to the soup pot, and either purée the soup with your hand blender, or if you want it super-smooth like I do, use your blender. Taste for seasonings, and serve warm in bowls with a few pieces of roasted zucchini, and about a tablespoon of each: chopped oven-roasted tomato, fresh goat cheese, and roasted slivered almonds. **COWGIRL TIP:** To make zucchini sticks, simply cut off the top and bottom of your zucchini, then slice it into 2-inch/5 cm chunks. Now cut each one of these in half, making two fat half-moons. Put each one on the cutting board, flat-side down, and slice your zucchini into small "sticks." ## 30-MINUTE TOMATO SOUP with GRILLED CHEESE CROUTONS ## **OR,"HOW I OUTSMART TOMATOES," PART I** Ages ago, I used to make a tomato soup entirely with slow-roasted tomatoes. It was not a 30-minute soup. It was a two-day soup. Pounds of tomatoes first had to be bought and roasted; the soup I made after that. It was a great soup. It still is. I don't know about you, but to me, tomato soup's one of those things, like grilled cheese sandwiches, that I want right away, and I usually want them together. Waiting is not an option. With a craving for tomato soup one fall afternoon, I opened my kitchen cabinet and saw a jar of sundried tomatoes just sitting there on the shelf, and I knew, I just knew, that this was my answer, to an almost-instant tomato soup. Made with sundried and canned tomatoes, this soup tasted so much like one I used to make with slow-roasted tomatoes that I scrapped that recipe and kept on making this one. Now I save my slow-roasted tomatoes for other things (Winter BLT Tartines, p.196; Roasted Ratatouille, p.231), and I can have homemade tomato soup any old time I want it. ## **30-MINUTE TOMATO SOUP WITH GRILLED CHEESE CROUTONS** ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS olive oil 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1 (8-ounce/227 gram) jar of sundried tomatoes in oil, drained (be sure to save the oil in the fridge for vinaigrettes) 1 (28-ounce/765 gram) can of crushed tomatoes 2 cups /½ liter of Save Your Scraps! Veggie Stock (p.114) or Skin & Bones Chicken Stock (p.112) 1 cup/240 ml of water 2 tablespoons of butter, melted 4 thin slices of brioche (my favorite) or white sandwich bread about 4 tablespoons of grated cheddar cheese a handful of fresh thyme, leaves removed **1.** Put some olive oil in your stockpot along with the minced garlic and turn the heat to medium-low. When you begin to smell the garlic—and you will after just a minute or two—add the sundried tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, stock, and water. Bring this to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to a simmer and let it cook for 30 minutes. **2.** While the soup's cooking, make your grilled cheese croutons: put 1 to 2 tablespoons of cheese on each slice of bread (this will depend on how big your bread slices are), sprinkle over a few fresh thyme leaves, and top with the remaining 2 pieces of bread. Brush one side of each sandwich with the melted butter, and put this side down onto a hot skillet over medium-low heat. Let this cook until brown and crispy, brushing the tops of the sandwiches with the rest of the melted butter. Flip the sandwiches over and cook the other side until brown and crispy. When the sandwiches are done, cut them diagonally into fourths, then eighths, and finally, 16ths—now you've got lots of little triangles of grilled cheese sandwich croutons. **3.** Purée your soup with a hand blender (or use your blender if you want it super-smooth), divide among serving bowls, and toss a few grilled cheese croutons on top, along with some fresh thyme. **COWGIRL TIP** : Melting your butter, then brushing it onto your bread when making any sort of grilled sandwich, ensures that the browning will be even, and you won't have those big "butter spots." ## SKIN & BONES CHICKEN STOCK I love the idea of always making chicken stock with a whole chicken, but more often than not, I've got a freezer full of leftover chicken carcasses and I'm needing to make space for something else, like ice cream, right away. So I make stock, and as with my veggie scraps stock (p.113), I get the added satisfaction of feeling super-thrifty. No matter how awful the dollar-to-euro exchange rate is, if I've made my own stock I can end the day feeling like I'm a little bit ahead. It's something my mom always did, and because of her, I've never been able to toss a perfectly good chicken carcass in the trash. Not with all of those still-tasty bits of meat clinging to the bones. If you've never made stock before, fear not. It pretty much makes itself. You just need to peek into the pot every now and then to make sure it's bubbling slowly, blurp-blurp-blurp, just as it should. ## SKIN & BONES CHICKEN STOCK ## MAKES ABOUT 4 QUARTS/4 LITERS 1 to 2 chicken carcasses 5 quarts/5 liters of water 1 onion, quartered 1 carrot, peeled and halved 1 celery stalk, halved about 20 peppercorns 3 bay leaves 5 sprigs of fresh thyme 5 sprigs of fresh parsley sea salt **1.** Get out your biggest stockpot and throw in your chicken carcasses. Cover with 5 quarts/5 liters of water and turn the heat on high. Once this boils, carefully skim off the foam (not the fat, which will give the stock great flavor). **2.** Add the onion, carrot, celery, peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme, and parsley (which you can tie together with a string if you want to be neat—I usually just throw it all in), and a big pinch of salt. Loosely cover, turn the heat down to a simmer, and let this cook for 5 hours. Towards the end, taste, and if you need to add a bit more salt, this is the time (or you may skip the salt altogether). Strain through a piece of cheesecloth pressed into a colander, and let cool. ## SAVE YOUR SCRAPS! VEGGIE STOCK One afternoon, I read a blog post by Theresa Murphy, who also lives in Paris and teaches classes on organic vegetarian cuisine, about what you can do with the odd bits and pieces of vegetables that you normally toss right into the garbage or compost—onion skins, the tops of bell peppers, carrot peels, the leafy tops of celery, things like that. Vegetable stock, she said. We should be saving these scraps instead of throwing them away. Well, of course. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before. I'd always saved my chicken carcasses for chicken stock (p.112), and my shrimp shells for fish stock (p.249) but I'd never thought of making vegetable stock from scraps. I hated thinking about all of the scraps I'd tossed out in my lifetime. Enough to stretch from France to Texas and back a few times, I imagined. Right then, I vowed to save my scraps, always make veggie stock, and change my wasteful ways. ## **SAVE YOUR SCRAPS! VEGGIE STOCK** ## MAKES ABOUT 4 QUARTS/4 LITERS 1 (1 quart/1 liter) plastic bag filled with scraps (carrot peelings, onion skin, celery leaves, zucchini ends, or whatever you've collected) 3 bay leaves 20 peppercorns a few sprigs of fresh herbs, such as thyme, basil, and parsley 5 quarts/5 liters of water a big pinch of sea salt Put everything in a large stockpot and bring this to a boil. Cover, turn the heat down to a simmer, and cook for 4 hours. Taste, and add more salt if needed (or you may simply leave out the salt if you'd rather). Strain the stock through a piece of cheesecloth placed over a colander on top of a large bowl. Let your stock cool completely and either use right away or freeze. **COWGIRL TIP:** I like to freeze my stock in 2 cup/½ liter and 4 cup/1 liter containers, since those are the sizes that I use the most when making soups. ## **CHAPTER 4** ## Greens The wooing actually began with the simplest of salads—endive stuffed with Roquefort. Then he moved on to something bigger and more impressive, served one summer on a balcony overlooking the Atlantic in Biarritz. Hearts of palm, mushrooms, ham, hard-boiled eggs, summer tomatoes, cucumbers. Cue the blazing sunset. I was toast. Since then, I've taken over the salad-making in our household, and I've learned that salads—even a few leaves of lettuce tossed with some fresh herbs —are as much a part of an everyday French dinner as wine and a baguette. I've never seen so many kinds of lettuce. There are enormous ruffled heads in purple or green; torpedo-shaped endive, the perennial French favorite; _sucrines,_ which look like baby romaine; curly and slightly bitter _frisée;_ watercress; _mâche;_ radicchio; and mesclun, a mix of them all. Eating lots of salads is nothing new for me. Whether I'm alone or having a group over for dinner, I love the idea of a big bowl of something fluffy and green that's passed around the table. Like the French, I eat salads both at the beginning and at the end of a meal, or along with—and sometimes right on top of—whatever I'm eating. I've always put arugula on homemade pizza, just like they do in Italy, and now I heap it right onto slices of tarts. Salads can be anything you want them to be: big productions with lots of different textures and colors, tossed with an herby vinaigrette, a simple lettuce-lemon-oil-salt-and-pepper number, or anything in between. Salads welcome spontaneity. They invite play. There are very few rules with salads. You start with a bowl or a big plate and open the fridge. There's a salad lurking in there somewhere. Even though the word for salad in French is _salade,_ the similarities stop there. A French _salade_ is not an American salad and never will be. Consider: A _salade_ in France doesn't always mean salad; a _salade_ can also be just veggies, or noodles, or noodles and veggies, or beans, or any combination of the above. Fruit. Bread. Fish. Chicken. Pork. You get the idea. There are no salad bars here. If you order a salad—anywhere—you will never be offered a choice of dressings and it will never come on the side. The salad will be dressed for you, and lightly, with a vinaigrette, and while there may be thick, greasy bacon bits ( _lardons_ ), there will not be croutons. If you order an omelette or a croque monsieur at a brasserie, even in a small country town, it will always come with a salad on the side. Not _frîtes,_ not potato chips. A salad. Along with melted goat cheese, canned corn is a popular brasserie salad topping; I've seen corn served no other way than sprinkled on top of lettuce, which may be why it only comes in tiny cans. Lettuce is not torn into bite-size pieces, and the leaves are never sliced before eaten; rather, salads are eaten by patiently folding the lettuce leaves as many times as it takes with your knife and fork to create a manageable mouthful. ## SUNDAY TUNA SALAD If you live in Paris and you've not gotten up early on Sunday morning and gone either to the market or to one of the few grocery stores that are open until 1 p.m., then you're out of luck. This is merely a scheduling issue, you're probably thinking. Who can't rearrange their Sunday morning to get to the store? Well, I can't. Or don't, usually. My Sundays go like this: I wake up, I drink a whole bunch of coffee, and I read _The New York Times_ online. Leisurely. I might walk Rose. I might go to a late yoga class. When I'm finished with all of this, it's usually around 1 p.m., exactly when the markets and grocery stores close. I don't know how the French got this one so wrong. They work for just thirty-five hours a week. They take two-hour lunches. It's not uncommon to have a 10:30 p.m. dinner reservation on a Saturday night, and to finish well past 1 a.m. Yet they wake up early on a Sunday morning to go _grocery shopping?_ I've learned that a 7 p.m. cocktail party never starts before 8:30 p.m., and I'm no longer surprised when I go to the butcher's at 1:45 and he asks if I can come back after 4, because it is nearly time for him to break for lunch. Transportation strikes no longer phase me, sketchy Internet service is a given, and handymen who need three to four weeks' notice and then forget to show up are the rule, not the exception. But this Sunday morning grocery shopping business I just can't get used to. This is what I made one Sunday night when I had very little in the fridge, even less in the cabinet, and half of a stale baguette from the night before. I liked it so much that now I'll go shopping just to buy things to make this salad. But of course, never on a Sunday. ## SUNDAY TUNA SALAD ## MAKES 2 DINNER-SIZE OR 4 FIRST-COURSE SALADS a big handful of cherry tomatoes, halved 1 (6-ounce/160 gram)* can of tuna packed in olive oil, drained a handful of kalamata olives, split in half and pits removed 2 tablespoons of capers, drained and rinsed about ⅔ of a day-old baguette, cut into cubes (about 4 cups) 1 clove of garlic, minced olive oil sea salt and pepper 2 eggs a big handful of arugula a small handful of fresh basil, roughly torn Basil Oil (p.97) **1.** Preheat your oven to 450°F/230°C. Throw the halved tomatoes, tuna, capers, and kalamata olives in a big salad bowl. **2.** Tear the baguette into 1-inch/2.5 cm pieces (or thereabouts—you can slice them if you want them to be the same size, but I like to just tear it up, because it's easier), and toss them onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet, along with the garlic. Drizzle a little olive oil on the croutons and garlic and toss it all around with your hands to make sure all of the croutons are covered in oil and the garlic is evenly distributed. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, keeping a close eye on the little croutons, and flipping them over if needed, until they're crispy all the way through. **3.** Put the eggs in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, add a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. When the water boils, turn the heat down to a simmer and set the timer for 10 minutes. When the buzzer goes off, put the saucepan in the sink, run cold water over it, and take out your eggs. Peel and roughly chop them up. **4.** When you're ready to eat, add the chopped eggs to the big bowl, along with the cooled croutons, arugula, and basil. Add a couple of tablespoons of the basil oil on top, toss, and taste for seasonings. * This is the largest can of tuna in oil in France, which is what I use, but if you'd like more tuna in your salad, or if the tuna where you live comes in larger cans, just add more. **ADVANCE PLANNING:** You can make the croutons and boiled eggs ahead of time. **SWAP IT:** Use leftover salmon instead of tuna. ## IT'S THE BERRIES SALAD Fruit salads at our house were always a special affair. Strawberries came from my grandparents' strawberry patch at their farm outside of Ardmore, Oklahoma. We'd pick them ourselves, spending weekend afternoons on our knees, filling up the previous year's saved milk cartons with the fat, juicy berries. Melons were always balled, never simply sliced into chunks (it was years before I knew you could eat them any other way). And if the occasion was grand enough, we'd have an oniony-sweet poppy seed dressing served on the side in a small crystal pitcher made from a recipe that my grandmother handed down to my mom. While I love each fruit and berry on its own—I routinely eat a container of raspberries on the walk home from the market, popping them into my mouth like M&Ms—I also like to mix them together, just like my mom did, then dress them with something that's a little bit savory, both to offset and intensify their natural sweetness. ## IT'S THE BERRIES SALAD ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 2 big handfuls of arugula 12 ounces/340 grams of strawberries, hulled and halved 8 ounces/225 grams of raspberries 2 oranges, supremed (see Cowgirl Tip) Orange Vinaigrette (recipe follows) Put your arugula in a bowl and add the strawberries, raspberries, and orange pieces. Drizzle with Orange Vinaigrette, and gently toss. Serve immediately. ## **ORANGE VINAIGRETTE** ## MAKES ABOUT 1/3 CUP/75 ML 1 small shallot, finely chopped (about 1 tablespoon) the juice of 1 orange sea salt and pepper about ¼ cup/60 ml of grapeseed oil Put your chopped shallot, orange juice, and a big pinch of sea salt and pepper in a jam jar and shake it up. Let it rest for about 10 minutes, add the oil, and shake again. Taste for seasonings. **COWGIRL TIP:** Supreming sounds hard, but it's really easy. Here's all you do: Using a sharp paring knife, slice off your orange's thick skin, making sure to get the white membrane, too. Simply slice between the membranes (which act like walls between the segments), and you'll get perfect slices—and no pith. ## LES HALLES SPINACH SALAD I never thought about putting a poached egg on top of a salad when I lived in Dallas; in fact, I never gave eggs that much thought at all. I made frittatas occasionally, and scrambled eggs for breakfast tacos, but that's as far as eggs and I went. Then I moved to Paris, and it was eggs, eggs, eggs, all over the place. Eggs on pizzas. Eggs mixed into raw ground beef and served as _steak tartare._ Eggs cooked in red wine and onions in cute little _cocottes_ and served as a first course called _oeufs en meurette_. Eggs on top of inside-out ham sandwiches called croque madame. And everywhere I went, pâtisserie and boulangerie cases were filled with eggy tarts, quiches, flans, and crèmes brûlées. Grocery stores routinely devote a number of shelves (always unrefrigerated) to eggs, labeled _moyen_ (medium), _gros_ (large), and _matins_ ("mornings"). French laws require each egg to be stamped with a number in red ink, which corresponds to the sort of life the hen has enjoyed. Number-three eggs are laid by hens in crowded, industrial chicken prisons, which I avoid. Partially free-range are twos, and free-range are stamped with a number one. An egg stamped with a zero is considered the top; it's both organic and free-range. With their tangerine-orange yolks, French eggs are creamy and rich. Intensely eggy. Fried, poached, scrambled, served simply on toast or as the centerpiece of a spinach salad, they're so good they've become my default meal when I don't have anything else planned. I first ordered this spinach and egg salad at a little bistro near Les Halles, the area that was the city's central marketplace from medieval times until the 1970s, and quickly adapted it. I'll often make it with the super-fresh eggs I get from a friend who keeps chickens and call it dinner. ## LES HALLES SPINACH SALAD ## MAKES 2 DINNER-SIZE SALADS 2 big handfuls (about 5 ounces/150 grams) of baby spinach 8 pieces of thinly sliced prosciutto a small wedge of Parmesan cheese 2 eggs E-Z French Vinaigrette (recipe follows) sea salt and pepper **1.** Divide the spinach between two big plates, heaping it up in the middle like a big spinach mountain. Put 4 pieces of the prosciutto on each salad, and with your vegetable peeler, make curls of Parmesan on top. Now, go poach your eggs. **2.** Put about 4 inches/10 cm of water in a deep skillet or saucepan along with a big pinch of salt, and turn the heat on high. When the water boils, turn it down to a simmer. Crack your eggs one at a time into a small glass bowl and ever so gently pour the egg from the bowl into the barely bubbling water. Set your timer for 2 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove each egg and put the egg and spoon on a paper towel to absorb the moisture for a few seconds before carefully putting it on top of the spinach. Pass the vinaigrette and salt and pepper. Stab that yolk. ## **E-Z FRENCH VINAIGRETTE** ## MAKES ¾ CUP/180 ML ¼ cup/60 ml of sherry vinegar 1 shallot, finely chopped 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard sea salt and pepper 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh herbs (basil, thyme, chives) ½ cup/120 ml of olive oil Put your sherry vinegar, minced shallot, mustard, a big pinch of salt and pepper and herbs in a jam jar, and shake, shake, shake. Let this rest for about 10 minutes—this softens the intensity of the shallot's flavor and allows the salt to dissolve. Now, add your olive oil, and shake again. Taste for seasonings. **COWGIRL TIP:** This is the classic French vinaigrette, good for salads and over veggies, too. Highlight this one; you'll use it often. ## END OF SUMMER SALAD I didn't want to call this salad "End of Summer Salad." I didn't want summer to end. But I knew, I just knew, sort of like an impending breakup, it was almost over. I didn't need to say it out loud. It was goodbye to the last good tomatoes and the few remaining peaches of the season. I shouldn't get attached to seasons, and I certainly shouldn't be so silly about fruit and vegetables. I know this. They have seasons. They are here, and then they are gone. This is how it goes. I can sense the clock ticking the moment they arrive, and I know not just the sellers who sell the ever-changing fruits and vegetables at the weekly markets but also exactly where they put them in their stands, whether it's on the left or the right, or perhaps on the very end, far on the corner. I know where to look and what to look for, and when I don't see it, I notice. I ask. How much longer will we have tomatoes, I'll say, afraid of hearing the answer, _Ils sont finis._ Finished. Over. Gone. But unlike a real breakup, they won't be gone forever. They'll be back next year, and they'll bring the summer with them. ## END OF SUMMER SALAD ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 1 avocado 2 medium tomatoes 2 medium peaches 4.5 ounces/125 grams of fresh goat cheese a handful of fresh basil, roughly torn a handful of toasted almonds Basil Pesto Vinaigrette (recipe follows) sea salt and pepper Chop up your avocado, tomatoes, and peaches into pieces roughly the same size and put them in a medium bowl. Add some of the Basil Pesto Vinaigrette and gently toss. Taste for seasonings, add the fresh goat cheese, toasted almonds, and torn pieces of basil—looks so pretty when you put it on the table—then toss again at tableside, like you're a waiter at a fancy restaurant. Serve immediately ## **BASIL PESTO VINAIGRETTE** ## MAKES ABOUT ½ CUP/120 ML 1 shallot, finely chopped 3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard 1 big tablespoon of Basil Pesto (p.41), or you may use store-bought sea salt and pepper 6 tablespoons of grapeseed oil Put your shallots, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, Basil Pesto and a pinch of salt and pepper in a jam jar and give it a good shake. Let it rest for about 10 minutes; add the oil and shake again. Taste for seasonings. ## BEETS and CLEMENTINES SALAD Winters in Paris are brutal. No one tells you that. But they are. I arrived in February, freezing, and spent the next few months (it was a very cold spring, too) feeling like I'd made a huge mistake. I missed the sun. I longed for warmth. Ugg boots seemed to be the only sensible choice when it came to footwear. Everywhere I went, I wore a down coat that nearly covered my ankles. It looked like a sleeping bag. I was still cold. Over the next year or two, I not only got used to the long winters, I actually started to look forward to them. I embraced the gray. I welcomed the rain. And the snow—oh how beautiful Paris looks when it's covered in snow! I amassed an impressive collection of scarves, boots, sweaters, wool coats (no more down), and hats, so no matter how cold it got, I was prepared. Nevertheless, there's a point when enough is enough. When you know that spring is coming, but it still seems so far away. This is where this salad comes in. Beets, one of the season's finest offerings, and sunshiny clementines team up to let winter know that its time is almost up, and that brighter days are ahead. ## BEETS AND CLEMENTINES SALAD ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 3 medium beets 5 clementines (Mandarin oranges), peeled E-Z French Vinaigrette (p.126) a small chunk (about 2 ounces/55 grams) of crumbled feta a small handful of fresh dill, chopped **1.** Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C. **2.** Trim the ends off the beets, give them a good rinse and dry, and wrap them up with heavy-duty foil (or about 10 pieces of foil if you live in France, where the foil is like tissue paper). Put your beets on a cookie sheet and slide them into the oven to bake for an hour, depending on the size of your beets. To check doneness, simply take them out of the oven, unwrap the foil—do this carefully so you don't burn yourself—and slide a dinner knife into the beet. It's done if it easily cuts through the beet. If it doesn't, just wrap it back up, and put it back in the oven. When they're done, let the beets completely cool in the foil before slicing—and whatever you do, don't wear white. **3.** Cut the whole, peeled clementines right across the tummy (horizontally) into slices about ½-inch/12 mm thick so the slices resemble flowers. Cut the cooled beets the same thickness, and layer them across a serving plate, fanning them as you do so. Drizzle a little E-Z French Vinaigrette over the top, and sprinkle with some feta and fresh dill. **COWGIRL TIP:** No time to roast beets? Just buy them pre-roasted. ## ASPARAGUS and AVOCADO SALAD One spring, I took a bus to the outskirts of Paris with a group of journalists and Yannick Alleno, the Michelin three-star chef at Le Meurice, to a family asparagus farm that was about to go under (it didn't, thanks to marketing muscle by a start-up company aimed at promoting local producers and helping them sell their goods). It was at the end of the six-week asparagus season, which begins in France around the end of April and ends around the first or second week in June. The family had been growing asparagus for generations and had, in fact, supplied asparagus to Napoleon III. Picking asparagus isn't easy work, we all found out as we shimmied the funny-looking skinny spade into the earth, hoping to slice the stalk at the correct root in the octopus-like system below ground. Some of us caught on faster than others, but the fragility of this ancient crop, and that of its growers, resonated. I've always looked forward to the arrival of asparagus each year as the first sign of spring, but now, I think about those farmers and how little time they have to harvest, and profit from, their crop. I try to do my part and eat as much asparagus as I can. ## ASPARAGUS AND AVOCADO SALAD ## MAKES 2 SERVINGS 1 pound/500 grams of asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 2-inch/5 cm pieces olive oil sea salt and pepper 1 avocado, cubed 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh cilantro Lime-Cilantro Oil (recipe follows) lime zest a small wedge of Parmesan cheese a small handful of toasted pistachios, roughly chopped **1.** Preheat your broiler and line a cookie sheet with foil. **2.** Put your asparagus pieces on the cookie sheet. Add a little olive oil, a bit of sea salt and pepper, and toss it all together. Slide into the oven and broil just until the tips of the asparagus tips begin to brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool. **3.** Get out a medium-size bowl and gently mix your asparagus, avocado pieces, and cilantro with a big drizzle (about 2 tablespoons) of the Lime-Cilantro Oil. Top this off with a sprinkle of lime zest, a few shavings of Parmesan, and some crushed pistachios. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** Add salmon, grilled scallops, or smoked salmon to your salad for a light dinner. ## **LIME-CILANTRO OIL** ## MAKES ABOUT ½ CUP/120 ML a small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped 1 clove of garlic, minced the zest of 1 lime ⅓ cup/75 ml of olive oil sea salt and pepper Put the first 4 ingredients in a jam jar, and shake. Salt and pepper to taste. Let this hang out for an hour, at least, before using. It'll keep for at least a week in the fridge. ## THROW-TOGETHER SALAD Here's a little something (Secret #1) that I don't often admit: If most of the Paris grocery stores didn't have their silly closed-on-Sunday, open-only-until-8 p.m.-the-rest-of -the-week hours*, I wouldn't be forced to use what I have on hand, and I wouldn't come up with the recipes I do. I could probably call this whole book Throw-Together Recipes: What I Made When the Stores Were Already Closed or When I Was Too Lazy to Walk Down the Street. Not very catchy, though. Secret #2: If you buy good produce—beautiful veggies and fruits that are fresh—when you do make it to the store or the market, you'll have little trouble coming up with ideas about what to do with them. How do you decide what to buy? Secret #3: I buy what I already know that I love, and in some cases, what I don't love yet but want to get to know a bit better. One night, I had these gorgeous ripe apricots in my bowl, which I'd intended to make a pie with, but now they needed to be eaten right away. Everything else—romaine, pecans, feta, chorizo—I had on hand, too. The idea started with apricots, and the rest came together easily, without a thought of going to the store for a forgotten ingredient. Besides, it was already too late for that. * I'm happy to report that my neighborhood Franprix is now open until 9 p.m. most nights. ## THROW TOGETHER SALAD ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 16 thin slices of chorizo or other spicy cured sausage 1 head of romaine lettuce, cut into 2-inch/5 cm strips or roughly torn 2 ripe apricots, pits removed and cut into 8 slices each ¾ cup/75 grams of pecans, toasted and roughly chopped 1 to 2 tablespoons of crumbed feta a big splash of balsamic vinegar olive oil sea salt and pepper **1.** Fry up your chorizo until crisp in a skillet, just as you would with bacon, and let it drain on paper towels. **2.** Put the romaine, apricots, pecans, and feta in a big bowl. Add the crispy chorizo. Right before serving, splash on some balsamic vinegar and olive oil, along with a bit of sea salt and pepper. Toss and serve. **COWGIRL TIP:** Keep your nuts in the freezer, and they'll stay fresh for months. **SWAP IT:** No chorizo? No big deal. Just use bacon or ham instead. ## TEXAS PICKUP SALAD In the 1970s, Texas was coming into its own. It had its own magazine, _Texas Monthly_ , a new restaurant in Dallas with a menu built around chili, the state's most famous and well-loved dish, and it wouldn't be long until Dean Fearing would arrive and put Southwestern cuisine on the world's culinary map. A half-hour north, my hometown of Denton was pushing culinary boundaries, too. Next to a laundromat and across from the tennis courts at what is now the University of North Texas, Texas Pickup served an unheard-of salad: On a dinner plate, piled high with crispy iceberg lettuce, there was chili, shredded cheddar, and Fritos. On top of it all, a river of the new white dressing that you made with buttermilk and mayonnaise, called Ranch. It was the most exotic dish to hit Denton since the Denny's on I-35 introduced the bacon-cheeseburger, something that my family would pile into the station wagon for on special occasions. In high school, my friend Melanie and I often played tennis at the courts across from Texas Pickup, and afterward, we'd both order this salad. I don't remember when or why, even, but Texas Pickup eventually closed, and I forgot all about this salad. Until I moved to Paris, and began playing tennis again. A Pavlovian response kicked in, and I found myself craving this salad. I now bring Fritos back from Texas just to make it. ## TEXAS PICKUP SALAD ## MAKES 2 DINNER-SIZE SALADS 2 cups/500 grams of Texas Chili (p.320) 1 head of romaine, sliced into strips 2-inches/5 cm wide or roughly torn 3 ounces/100 grams of grated cheddar cheese 2 big handfuls of Fritos 2 fat tomatoes, quartered Jalapeño-Buttermilk Dressing (recipe follows) Warm up your chili, then on each of 2 of your biggest dinner plates, simply layer: a big handful of romaine, a cup of chili, some cheddar cheese, and as many Fritos as you'd like. Place the tomato quarters all around the edges of the plate, and pass the jar of Jalapeño-Buttermilk dressing. I like to let the cheese melt on top of the chili before I add the dressing. ## **JALAPEÑO-CILANTRO BUTTERMILK DRESSING** ## MAKES ABOUT 1 ½ CUPS/360 ML 1 shallot, finely chopped 2 pickled jalapeños, finely chopped a big pinch of sea salt and pepper 1 tablespoon of chopped chives 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish ½ cup/120 ml of good mayonnaise, such as Hellmann's ½ cup/120 ml of crème fraîche or sour cream ½ cup/120 ml of buttermilk Whisk together the first 5 ingredients and let rest for about 10 minutes. Add the mayo, crème fraîche, and buttermilk, and taste for seasonings. Cover and put in the fridge for a half-hour before serving. ## END OF WINTER SALAD I hate to talk trash about the produce in France, but I've noticed a rather large oversight. There are no collard greens. No turnip greens. Or mustard greens, either. And you can forget about kale, the curly dark leafy of the moment. But we do have Swiss chard and spinach here, which I often use together or interchangeably. It's not the same as _greens_ greens, but they're both dark and leafy, so I think that counts for something. I love Swiss chard and spinach, so much so that I came up with this recipe one winter when I was craving a salad but wanted something more filling. What I got was loads of texture, with plenty of contrast and balance. Nutty barley. Sweet white raisins. The salty bite of Pecorino Romano cheese. The crunch of toasted walnuts. All tossed together with the Swiss chard and spinach. It's super-healthy, but don't let that put you off. In fact, you may not even want to mention it, because every time I do, X just rolls his eyes. ## END OF WINTER SALAD ## MAKES 6 SERVINGS 1 cup/190 grams of dried barley 1 big bunch of Swiss chard 2 big handfuls of fresh spinach, the woodsy stalks removed olive oil 1 shallot, finely chopped sea salt and pepper a pinch of ground nutmeg the zest of ½ lemon a big pinch of red pepper flakes a small handful of white raisins a small handful of walnuts, toasted then roughly chopped a small wedge of Pecorino Romano cheese **1.** Put 4 cups/1 liter of salted water on to boil, and when it's ready, add the barley, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cover. Set your timer for 45 minutes. When it buzzes, let the barley rest in the pot for 10 minutes or so, then pour it into a colander to drain. **2.** Remove the stalks from your Swiss chard and roughly cut the leaves into 1-inch/2.5 cm strips. Rinse these well. Ditto with your spinach. **3.** Drizzle some olive oil into your largest skillet, toss in the shallots, and turn the heat to medium-low. Let this cook for a few minutes, then add all of your Swiss chard and spinach along with a big pinch of salt and pepper, and give it a stir—just like spinach, Swiss chard shrinks like crazy, so don't worry if it seems like you've got too much for your skillet; it'll work just fine. Now add the nutmeg, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes, and keep stirring until the Swiss chard is just ever so slightly wilted—just like spinach, it'll keep cooking once it's off the heat. Drain the chard-spinach mixture in a colander to remove the excess water. **4.** Put your chard-spinach mixture and barley in a large bowl and give it a good toss. Add the raisins and walnuts and shave lots of curls of Pecorino Romano over right before serving. I like this best warm, but it's great at room temperature, too. **COWGIRL TIP:** Swiss chard is part of the beet family, and the colors—white, yellow, and the red-leafed—have a similar taste structure. The red are the sweetest, the yellow slightly less so, and the white, the least sweet of the bunch. **SWAP IT** : No Swiss chard? Just use all spinach instead. Kale or any other kind of greens would work great, too. ## ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH, SPINACH, and BACON SALAD In the dead of winter when the entire city of Paris has turned a gloomy brownish gray, including the veggies at the market, where all I see is a sea of mushrooms, potatoes, and onions—I want color. I want something bright. In Paris, winter means _potimarron_ , the little pumpkin that tastes like chestnuts; sunny yellow spaghetti squash, if you're lucky enough to find one; and the always cheerful, widely available butternut squash, itself a reason to love winter. Its yellow-orange insides remind me of marigolds. The first winter I made this squash salad, it was one of the coldest winters on record; the city was covered in snow by mid-December. Not particularly salad weather, but this isn't any old salad. The roasted butternut's still warm, the bacon crispy, and the spinach, a willing accomplice to it all. ## ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH, SPINACH, AND BACON SALAD ## MAKES 2 DINNER-SIZE OR 4 FIRST-COURSE SALADS 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch/2.5 cm cubes olive oil sea salt and pepper 2 big handfuls (about 5 ounces/140 grams)of baby spinach 4 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled Apple Cider Vinaigrette (recipe follows) about 2 ounces/55 grams of fresh goat cheese, crumbled **1.** Preheat your broiler. **2.** Put the squash pieces on a foil-lined cookie sheet, and drizzle them with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and toss with your hands and make sure they're evenly coated. Slide the cookie sheet into the oven for about 15 minutes, checking and turning the pan around if necessary. When the edges of the squash turn brown, they're done. **3.** Assemble your salad while the squash is still warm. Just get out a big salad bowl, and add your spinach, still-warm squash pieces, and bacon bits. Add some of the vinaigrette on top and toss (you may not need all of the vinaigrette). Crumble the goat cheese on top and serve right away. **SWAP IT** : Instead of butternut squash, roast some pumpkin or acorn squash, or even sweet potato. ## **APPLE CIDER VINAIGRETTE** ## MAKES ¾ CUP/180 ML 1 shallot, finely chopped ¼ cup/60 ml of apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon of grainy Dijon mustard sea salt and pepper ½ cup/120 ml of grapeseed oil In an old jam jar, add your minced shallot, apple cider vinegar, and grainy mustard along with a pinch of sea salt and pepper. Give it a shake and let this let rest for 10 minutes. Add the grapeseed oil, shake again, and taste for seasonings. You can store your vinaigrette in the fridge for a few days. ## ASIAN CHICKEN SALAD with GINGER-LIME VINAIGRETTE I love Asian food—Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, you name it—and my idea of a fun afternoon is going for a Bo Bun lunch at one of the places in the 13th arrondissement, one of Paris' two Chinatowns, then hitting Tang Frères, the Walmart-size grocery store for all things Asian, and filling up my basket with limes, knobs of ginger, bunches of cilantro, Thai chiles, and fresh tofu. The place is a madhouse with so many people shopping that you can hardly squeeze by each other, but it's such an adventure, I just ignore my own avoid-crowds rule and go for it. Tang Frères reminds me of an Asian version of the Fiesta grocery store that I used to go to in my neighborhood in Dallas. It was like crossing the border into Mexico, with fresh tortillas and sugar-coated _pan de huevo_ at the front of the store and _cabrito_ near the back. More proof that food can take you places, and you don't even have to leave your own city. This salad's my fast train to an Asian dinner without having to go to the other side of town. I came up with this as a way to use leftover chicken. Now I often roast chicken just so I can make this the next day. I love the bright mango, the crunchy cabbage, and the light lime-ginger vinaigrette that pulls it all together. But the best thing about this salad just may be its practicality. There's absolutely nothing to cook. ## ASIAN CHICKEN SALAD WITH GINGER-LIME VINAIGRETTE ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 3.5 ounces/100 grams of arugula 6 ounces/170 grams of shredded purple cabbage, green cabbage, or a mix of the two 1¼ cups/225 grams of leftover shredded chicken from Easy Roast Chicken (p.265) 1 avocado, cubed ½ of a ripe mango, cut into small chunks a handful of fresh cilantro, chopped ½ cup/35 grams of sliced almonds, toasted Ginger-Lime Vinaigrette (recipe follows) sesame seeds Put everything but the Ginger-Lime Vinaigrette in a large bowl. Right before serving, add the vinaigrette, gently toss, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. ## **GINGER-LIME VINAIGRETTE** ## MAKES ABOUT ½ CUP/120 ML 2 teaspoons of soy sauce 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar the juice of 1 lime a big pinch of ginger powder a big pinch of red pepper flakes ¼ cup/60 ml of canola oil, grapeseed oil, or another light, flavorless oil Put everything in a jar; give it a shake and taste for seasoning. Let rest for 10 minutes or so before serving. ## DEEP SOUTH SALAD I love the Italian bread salad, _panzanella_ , in the summertime, and this salad's a hopped-up, Deep South version of that. Like panzanella, this salad's a great way to use up leftovers in the summertime, but instead of stale _pane Toscana_ , it gets its heft from black-eyed peas. If you're lucky, there's an abundant summer crop of juicy, sweet tomatoes that you need to do something with because fresh tomatoes are the heart and soul of this dish. Add some crispy bacon, crunchy pecans, and a hot bacon dressing to pull it all together, and I'm right back where I came from, catching fireflies in jars at sunset and running around barefoot, wet grass between my toes. ## DEEP SOUTH SALAD ## MAKES 2 DINNER-SIZE OR 4 FIRST-COURSE SALADS 4 slices of bacon about 3 cups/360 grams of Jalapeño Cornbread croutons (see p.210) 3 cups/750 grams of Mom's Black-Eyed Peas (p.209), or you may used canned a handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered two big handfuls of arugula or baby spinach a couple of green onions, sliced (white part only) 1 clove of garlic, minced 3 tablespoons of sherry vinegar the juice of ½ lemon 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard 2 teaspoons of honey sea salt and pepper ½ cup/120 ml of grapeseed oil a handful of toasted pecans, roughly chopped **1.** Fry your bacon until it's crisp, leaving 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease in the skillet. Put the bacon on paper towels to drain. **2.** Meanwhile, put the cornbread croutons, black-eyed peas, cherry tomatoes, arugula, and green onions in a big salad bowl. Crumble the bacon over the salad. **3.** Shake up the garlic, sherry vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, honey, and salt and pepper in an old jam jar. Let this rest for 10 minutes, then add the grapeseed oil and shake again. **4.** Reheat the bacon grease in the skillet and when it's warm, whisk in the dressing. Let it cook for about a minute, then pour over your salad and toss. Top with pecans and serve immediately. ## **CHAPTER 5** ## Tacos, Tarts and Tartines What do tacos, tarts, and tartines have in common? They're all easy to assemble. Simple to serve. Food that's fast, but doesn't come through your car window in a paper sack. If I've got tortillas in the house, and if I'm hungry, the first thing I'll think of is a taco. An anything-that-I've-got-in-the-fridge taco. Eggs, ham, leftover chicken, veggies from the night before. I have eaten more tacos than sandwiches in my day, but what's a taco anyway but a folded-over Mexican sandwich that's made with a tortilla? In France, _le sandwich_ is commonly eaten without the top layer of bread, turning it into _la tartine_ , which sounds much fancier than it is. But it is much more French to eat a topless sandwich on a plate, with a sharp knife and a fork—the way everything, including pizza and hamburgers, is eaten here. (X also eats tacos, and even nachos, like this, and when he does, I try to look the other way.) Ham-stuffed baguettes aside, this isn't an eat-with-your-hands kind of place. Tarts are the French answer to what to make for dinner when you're short on ideas, low on eggs (they only require a few), and don't have much time. They are deceptively easy, which I mention because they look more difficult to make than an American pie; in fact, they are far simpler. There is no edge to crimp; you just roll out the dough, put it in the tart pan, and let it hang over as much as you want. Or, if you want to be neat, just pass your rolling pin over the top, so the edges are even. Because tart pans are much more shallow than pie pans, what's inside of them cooks much more quickly. Plus, tarts are versatile. Like tacos, they can be filled with all sorts of interesting things. They travel well. They can be eaten warm or cold. They're great for picnics as well as weeknight dinners. Have I sold you on buying a tart pan yet? ## CORONA BEER-BRAISED BRISKET TACOS My remedy for jet lag? Tacos and beer. When the plane touches down in Dallas after the 11-hour flight from Paris, my mom picks me up at the airport and we drive straight to Mazatlan, a family-run Tex-Mex joint in an old Dairy Queen, right next to the Holiday Lanes bowling alley, in my hometown of Denton. I order an icy Negra Modelo, and we stuff ourselves with warm tortilla chips, salsa, and queso until the brisket tacos arrive. Knowing that I'll soon be sitting in a brown Naugahyde booth with Mom, eating my favorite tacos, is what gets me through the long plane ride home. I try to get back to Texas as often as I can, but sometimes, the in-between-visits time stretches a bit too long. A few years ago, with homesickness setting in and no plane ticket in hand, I got desperate, so I figured I'd just make my own. Brisket and corn tortillas. How hard could this be? Well, harder than you'd think. Brisket doesn't exist in France. They don't cut up cows—or anything, for that matter—the way we do back home. Whereas we have about a dozen different cuts of beef, in France, there are more than thirty, so it wasn't a simple matter of translating the word brisket into its French equivalent, because there was no such thing. So I printed out diagrams of American butchery cuts and French ones, too, and stuffed them in my bag. I wrote down the words _paleron, macruese,_ and _jumeau_ , all French cuts that are in the same upper-shoulder area as brisket, and I went down the street to the butcher to try to explain. What I wanted, and how I was going to cook it—not even Rosetta Stone had enough French instruction to make sure I got a piece of meat that would work the same way brisket would. Thinking about that conversation with the butcher still makes my head hurt. Luckily, Corona was surprisingly easy to find and needed no translation. ## CORONA BEER-BRAISED BRISKET ## SERVES 6 TO 8 Vegetable or olive oil sea salt and pepper 2 to 3 pounds/1 to 1½ kilos of beef brisket 3 onions, sliced into half-moons 8 cloves of garlic, minced 1 bottle of Corona beer 6 to 8 Corn Tortillas (p.315) or you may use store-bought Pico de Gallo (p.319) Holy Guacamole! (p.318) **1.** Position a rack in the lowest part of the oven and preheat your oven to 300°F/150°C. **2.** Heat some oil in a big Dutch oven over medium-high heat, and while it's warming up, generously salt and pepper your brisket on both sides. When the pot's hot, go ahead and brown your meat—on the top, bottom, and all sides—then take it out and let it rest on a plate. **3.** Turn the heat down to medium-low and add your onions and garlic to the pot, scraping the brown bits off the bottom with your wooden spoon. If the onions stick to the pot, just add a little more oil. Let this cook for a couple of minutes, and then add about three-quarters of the bottle of beer. Keep scraping the bottom so you can get all of the little crunchy bits. Once you're finished, turn the heat off and put the meat back in the pot. See where the beer lands on the meat—it should be about one-third up the side from the bottom. No more, no less. If it's not, add a bit more beer, and if you've hit it just right, the rest is for you. Thirsty work, cooking. **4.** Now, one last thing, and this is a great trick: Tear off a big piece of parchment paper and press it right down into your pot, directly onto the brisket and the juices. Even though we're putting a tight lid on the pot before it goes into the oven, this helps push more of the moisture down back into the meat, which will make it even that much more tender. It'll also make the beer-onion sauce more concentrated and flavorful. **5.** Cover the pot and slide it onto the lowest oven rack and set the timer for 15 minutes, so you can check back and see if it's simmering. If it is, great; if not, adjust the temperature. Let this cook for 2 to 2½ hours, checking on it every now and then, and pulling it out to flip the meat over. It's ready when it just takes the gentle push of a wooden spoon for the meat to fall apart. Let it cool in the pot, with the lid on, for a couple of hours. Once it's cool, shred your meat and keep it in the juices. Slide it into the fridge until the next day. **6.** To warm up your brisket for tacos, preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Put the meat in a casserole dish with some of the juices, cover with foil, and let it warm through for 30 to 45 minutes. Serve with Corn Tortillas, Pico de Gallo, and Holy Guacamole! **ADVANCE PLANNING:** Make this the day before you want to eat it, and you'll be happy that you did. Like any braise, the magic happens overnight, after cooking and cooling, and the meat itself takes on the flavors of what you've cooked it with, and becomes even more tender. ## TACOS AL PASTOR When I'm back in Texas, I'm on a mission to eat as much Tex-Mex as I can. Which means tacos for breakfast, tacos for lunch, and if I can swing it, tacos for dinner. One of my favorite places in Dallas to get tacos is Fuel City, the combination truck stop and taqueria about a half-mile from the county jail. Which seems fitting, actually. I'm sure the first thing I'd want when I got out of jail would be a taco. And maybe a shower. Fuel City is legendary and has been hailed as having some of the best tacos in the state. I've not yet tasted all of the tacos in Texas, but these are at the top of my list. Plus, they're super-cheap—just $1.40 apiece. They've got a whole range of breakfast tacos and picadillo, barbacoa, and beef and chicken fajita tacos, too. I usually go for the tacos al pastor, served, like the rest of the tacos at Fuel City, with fresh cilantro, chopped jalapeño, finely diced white onion, salsa, and lime. A street-vendor staple in Mexico City, pork cooked _al pastor_ is slow-roasted on Middle Eastern shawarma-style rotisseries, so the meat is super-moist. Besides the non-traditional way of cooking there's the taste itself—smoke and fire from the chiles (which give this a warm orangey color) and a sweetness that perfectly balances the heat, which comes from an unexpected source—pineapple. A few weeks after a Fuel City taco fill-up in Texas, I found myself back in Paris, with an al pastor craving that wouldn't go away. With nary a taco stand in sight, and certainly not a truck stop selling tacos, I decided to give it a go myself. Since we're not allowed to have grills in Paris, I nixed the marinating in pineapple, then grilling the pork idea, opting to let the oven do the work instead. And work it did. One bite and I was back at Fuel City, standing in line with the construction workers, suited-up attorneys, and just-released inmates, eating my taco, leaning on the hood of my mom's green truck. ## TACOS AL PASTOR ## SERVES 6 TO 8 Vegetable or olive oil sea salt and pepper 2 to 3 pounds/1 to 1½ kilos of pork shoulder 2 onions, 1 sliced into half-moons and 1 finely chopped 4 cloves of garlic, minced ⅓ cup/75 ml of orange-flavored liqueur, such as Cointreau ¾ cup/180 ml of Adobo Salsa (p.323) 1 cup/240 ml of water ½ of a fresh pineapple, cut into 2-inch/5 cm chunks 2 teaspoons of cumin 1 teaspoon of dried oregano 6 to 8 Corn Tortillas (p.315) or you may use store-bought a small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped a few jalapeños, finely chopped 4 or 5 limes, sliced into wedges **1.** Position a rack in the lowest part of the oven and preheat your oven to 300°F/150°C. **2.** Drizzle some oil in a big Dutch oven over medium-high heat, and while it's warming up, generously salt and pepper your pork shoulder. When the pot's hot, go ahead and brown your meat—on the top, bottom, and all sides—then take it out and let it rest on a plate. **3.** Turn your heat down to medium-low and add the half-moon onion slices, plus a little more oil if you need to. When the onions start to soften—it'll only take a minute or two—go ahead and add the garlic and give this a couple of stirs. When you smell the garlic, add your Cointreau and using your big wooden spoon, scrape all of the crunchy brown bits off of the bottom of the pot. **4.** Whisk the Adobo Salsa with 1 cup of water and add this to the pot, along with the pineapple chunks, cumin, and oregano. I like to add another teaspoon of sea salt and pepper at this point, too. Turn off the heat and add your pork back to the pot. The liquid should come up to about one-third on the side of the meat. **5.** Now, I'd like to introduce you to the secret to opening your oven to a juicy, perfectly cooked piece of braised meat: parchment paper. Just tear off a piece that'll fit down into the pot nicely, press it right onto your piece of pork, and then let it go up the sides a little bit. Don't worry, this doesn't need to be perfect. The idea is to push the moisture thrown off by the meat and the juices right back down, which will make the meat just that much more tender and the sauce more concentrated and flavorful. **6.** Cover the pot and slide it onto the lowest oven rack and set your timer for 15 minutes, so you can check on its progress. It should be simmering, but not boiling. Adjust the temperature if you need to. Let this cook for 2-2½ hours, checking on it every now and then, and pulling the pot out and flipping the meat to the other side. It's ready when the meat falls away with a gentle push with your wooden spoon. Let this cool in the pot, with the lid on, for a couple of hours. Once it's cool, shred your meat and keep it in its juices in the fridge until the next day. **7.** To warm up your pork for tacos, preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Put the pork and some of the sauce in a casserole dish, cover with foil, and let it warm through for 30 to 45 minutes. Serve with corn tortillas, chopped onion, cilantro, jalapeño, and lime wedges. **COWGIRL TIP:** Cutting up a pineapple can be a sticky mess. To cut down on the cleanup, I slice mine on a dishtowel, right on top of my cutting board. ## TACOS CARNITAS with PURPLE ROQUEFORT SLAW Before I lived in France, I rarely ate pork. I guess after one too many dry, tasteless pork chops in my day, I simply gave up. Now, if there's pig _anything_ —cheeks, belly, or just a plain old chop—on the menu, it's my first choice. As much as I like to complain about the beef here (see p. 242), I've got nothing but good things to say about the pork. The French definitely know how to do pig. I have eaten chops that are so tender and juicy I've wanted to cry, and enough _jambon de Paris, jambon de Bayonne, lardons_ , and saucisson to build my very own pork Eiffel Tower. When X goes to the store, he always buys ham. With more than sixty different kinds of pre-sliced packaged ham at the grocery store to choose from, who can blame him? This recipe isn't made from the finest cut of pork, and it's not meant to be. But I daresay these crispy-on-the-outside and juicy-and-piggy-tasting-on-the-inside French pork Mexican carnitas are some of the best that I've ever tasted anywhere. Including Mexico City. It's not always easy trying to replicate recipes over here, because the ingredients and products are often not the same. Sometimes this turns out to be a very good thing. ## **TACOS CARNITAS WITH PURPLE ROQUEFORT SLAW** ## SERVES 6 TO 8 Vegetable or olive oil 2 to 3 pounds/1 to 1½ kilos of pork shoulder 1 onion, chopped 4 cloves of garlic, minced 1 cinnamon stick 1 teaspoon of cumin ½ teaspoon of dried oregano 1 teaspoon of smoky Spanish paprika ***** or ancho chile powder sea salt and pepper 6 to 8 Corn Tortillas (p.315) or you may use store-bought. Purple Roquefort Slaw, recipe follows 4 or 5 limes, sliced into wedges **1.** Position a rack in the lowest part of the oven and preheat your oven to 300°F/150°C. **2.** Pour a little oil in a big Dutch oven, set it over medium-high heat, and when it's hot, put the pork in, and sear it on each side. When the pork is brown and crispy all over, take it out and let it rest on a plate and turn the heat down to medium. Toss in the onions and garlic and more oil if you need to and stir them around with your wooden spoon, scraping the bottom to get all of the browned bits. Once the onions have cooked for a minute or two, add 1 cup/240 ml of water and keep stirring along the bottom, so you can get every last bit. Go ahead and add the pork back to the pot. Check the water level—it should reach one-third up the pork from the bottom. If it doesn't, add a little more. The idea here is not to cook the meat in too much liquid. **3.** Toss in the cinnamon stick, cumin, oregano, Spanish paprika, a big pinch of salt and some pepper. Give it a stir, then turn off the heat. **4.** One last step: Tear off a big piece of parchment paper and press it right down into your pot, directly onto the pork and the juices. Even though we're putting a tight lid on the pot before it goes into the oven, this helps push more of the moisture down back into the meat, which will make it even that much more tender. And it makes for a great, super-concentrated sauce. **5.** Cover the pot, slide it onto the lowest oven rack and set the timer for 15 minutes, so you can check back and see if it's simmering. If it is, great; if not, adjust the temperature. Let this cook for 2-2½ hours, checking every now and then, and pulling it out to flip the meat over. It's ready when it just takes the gentle push of a wooden spoon for the meat to fall apart. Let it cool in the pot, with the lid on, for a couple of hours. Then refrigerate until the next day. **6.** When you want to eat your carnitas, preheat your broiler, and position a rack in the middle of the oven. Once the oven's nice and hot, put your pork, along with the juices and onions, in a baking dish (you don't want to cover this) and slide it on in. Let this go for 15 to 20 minutes, keeping a close eye on it so it doesn't burn, and when it's brown and crispy, it's ready. Serve on fresh corn tortillas with a heap of Purple Roquefort Slaw and lime wedges. ***** I use Santo Domingo brand "agridulce" smoky paprika, which is simply smoky, not hot. ## **PURPLE ROQUEFORT SLAW** ## MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS 1 shallot, finely chopped ¼ cup/60 ml of apple cider vinegar 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard sea salt and pepper ½ cup/120 ml of grapeseed oil, canola oil, or another light oil ½ head of a purple cabbage, thinly sliced the juice of about ½ lime 2½ ounces/75 grams of Roquefort cheese, crumbled a handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped **1.** Put your shallot, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, and a nice pinch of salt and pepper in an old jam jar and give it a shake. Let it rest for 10 minutes, then add the grapeseed oil and shake again. Put the sliced cabbage in a large bowl. Pour the vinaigrette over the chopped cabbage and toss. Pop this in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. **2.** Right before you're ready to serve this, give the cabbage and dressing another toss, add the lime juice, Roquefort, and cilantro and toss again. Taste for seasonings. ## SPINACH, POTATO, and CARAMELIZED ONION TACOS One kilo (a little over two pounds) is the maximum amount of spinach I can stuff into the kitchen sink. My kitchen sink, like the rest of the features of my Paris kitchen, is small. It is not a double, and it is just eight inches deep. Cookie sheets and Silpats simply won't fit, so I wash them in the bathtub, where I have a hand-held sprayer (which most Parisian kitchens lack, along with garbage disposals). So far, I have not had to resort to washing spinach in the bathtub and doing the Lucy Ricardo grape-stomp. But you hear stories. People wash all sorts of things in their bathtubs here. Thankfully, once it's rinsed of all its dirt, spinach can be put in a towel-lined colander on the countertop to drain. Yes, I know. It's a process. It takes some time. And some precious kitchen real estate. But for those of you who have a normal-size kitchen with a large, deep sink, or better yet, a double sink, this really isn't that big of a deal, now is it? Spinach cooks up in no time. No time at all. Which is great not just for ease of cooking but because spinach is high in nutritional value and extremely rich in antioxidants, especially if it's fresh, steamed, or quickly boiled. It couldn't be easier: I get out my biggest, deepest, made-in-the-U-S-of-A skillet (which dwarfs my little four-burner, BTU-challenged gas stove), stuff it with my spinach, and let it go. If I can make this in my silly little kitchen, the rest of you can, too. No excuses. ## **SPINACH, POTATO, AND CARAMELIZED ONION TACOS** ## MAKES 8 TO 10 TACOS 1 pound/500 grams of red-skinned potatoes, cut into 2-inch/5 cm pieces olive oil sea salt and pepper 2 onions, sliced into half-moons, plus ½ of an onion, chopped 1 clove of garlic, minced 20 ounces/600 grams of fresh spinach, washed and stems removed a pinch of ground nutmeg about ¼ teaspoon of lemon zest a pinch of cayenne pepper 8 to 10 Wheat or Corn Tortillas (p.312 and p.315) or you may use store-bought a handful of crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese 3 or 4 limes, sliced into wedges Taqueria Salsa (p.316), or your favorite bottled salsa, such as Valentina or Cholula **1.** Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C, toss your potatoes on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, and drizzle some olive oil over them. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt and pepper on top, and mix it all up with your hands. Pop into the oven for 30 to 45 minutes, making sure to check them frequently and flip to the other side about halfway through—check at 20 minutes—when the edges start to brown. **2.** While the potatoes are roasting, make your caramelized onions. Get out a big skillet and add your onion slices and some olive oil, and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook the onions slowly, for about 30 to 45 minutes, stirring every now and then, until they're brown and caramelized. The slower these cook, the better they'll be. **3.** Now, cook your spinach. This won't take any time at all. Put a little olive oil in your largest skillet, along with the chopped onion and minced garlic. Cook over medium-low for just a few minutes, until the onion begins to become translucent. Now add the spinach, nutmeg, lemon zest, pinch of cayenne, sea salt and pepper, and cook only until the spinach begins to wilt. Remove from the heat and put straight into a colander, so the water can drain off the spinach. **4.** It's taco time. Warm up your tortillas either on a comal, one by one, or stacked and wrapped in foil for about 10 minutes in a hot (375°F/190°C) oven. For each taco, simply layer a bit of spinach and potatoes across the middle of the warm tortilla, then top with a few caramelized onions and a bit queso fresco or feta. Serve with lime, and pass the salsa, _por favor_. **COWGIRL TIP:** Caramelized onions are great to have on hand, so you may want to double up on these. They're great on sandwiches and pizzas, added to soups, and stirred into omelettes or pasta. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** On its own, the spinach makes a great side dish for Salmon with Kalamata Olive-Basil Salsa (p.269). ## FISH TACOS with MANGO-AVOCADO SALSA Fish tacos aren't as big in Texas as you might think given that it sits right on the Gulf. We do eat a lot of shrimp in Texas, and a whole lot of catfish, so you'd think that someone would've pushed this idea a little bit more. Paris is big on fish of all sorts, and I love buying fish here. The _poissonniers_ are always happy to take a whole fish, that's lying on the ice display, and cut it into fillets for you, right there, while you wait. It's that fresh. Reminds me of fishing for catfish with my dad at my grandfather's lake in Oklahoma. Those catfish were particularly fond of chicken fat, and we'd bait the hooks of our bamboo poles and wait for the little red-and-white bobber to go under. We'd pull in the whiskered white-bellied fish, and they'd flop around on the ground for a while, until they didn't anymore. Back at the house, Daddy would clean the fish with a Bowie knife and a garden hose. Then Mom would fry them up, hush puppies on the side. These tacos are inspired by all of that—the fresh fish I see every day here, the crunchy cornmeal crust that my mom made, the afternoons spent fishing with my dad. And my own tendency to turn just about anything into a taco. ## **FISH TACOS WITH MANGO-AVOCADO SALSA** ## MAKES 10 TO 12 TACOS 1 mango, chopped 1 avocado, chopped 2 tablespoons of finely chopped red onion 1 jalapeño, finely chopped a small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped the juice of 1 lime a few pinches of sea salt, divided ½ cup/80 grams of cornmeal ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper 1 pound/500 grams of medium-firm white fish fillets, such as halibut, cut into 2-inch/5 cm chunks ¼ cup /60 ml of buttermilk corn oil, for frying 10 to 12 Corn Tortillas (p.315)or you may use store-bought 3 to 4 limes, sliced into wedges, for serving **1.** Gently toss together your mango, avocado, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro, and lime juice. Taste and add a pinch or two of salt. **2.** Whisk together the cornmeal, cayenne, and big pinch of sea salt. Pour the buttermilk into a bowl. Dip your fish pieces in the buttermilk, and then roll them around in the cornmeal, and shake off the excess. Add just enough corn oil to the bottom of a large skillet to coat it and turn the heat to medium-high. When it's hot, add your fish, turning them when one side's brown—this whole process will only take a couple of minutes, since fish cooks quickly. Immediately top the fresh corn tortillas with a few pieces of fish, and pass the mango-avocado salsa and lime wedges. ## TOMATO-RICOTTA TART It begins around the middle of May. The unfurling of blankets on any patch of grass or flat pedestrian-free spot in Paris. Along Avenue Foch stretching from Porte Dauphine to the Arc de Triomphe. In the expansive 2,137-acre Bois de Boulogne park. Up and down the Seine. Wine is uncorked and passed around and poured into plastic cups. Baguettes are torn. Pâté is sliced. Salads are tossed. And the eating begins. And goes on for hours. The French are particularly obsessed with _le pique-nique._ And a picnic is not a _pique-nique_ in Paris without a tomato tart. I once went to a picnic where there were four different ones—all slight variations on the simple combination of tomato, crust, and either cheese or mustard, or both. Yes, mustard. A thin layer of Dijon mustard, plus tomatoes, is the most common summer tart in France. Too simple, you may be thinking. Tomatoes. Crust. Cheese. Well, let me remind you about a little something called _la pizza_. Which is sort of what I had in mind here. A free-form tart, one that doesn't require a tart pan, that could be rolled out into a thick or thin crust, smeared with herby ricotta, and topped with tomatoes. Great for picnics, if you happen to be in France, and perfect for your dinner table if you don't. ## TOMATO-RICOTTA TART ## MAKES ENOUGH FOR 4 **Crust** 2½ cups/300 grams of flour ½ teaspoon of sea salt ½ cup/120 ml of olive oil ¼ cup/60 ml of dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay ¼ cup/60 ml of whole milk **Filling** ¾ cup/150 grams of Super-Quick Homemade Ricotta (recipe follows), or you may use store-bought 2 tablespoons of olive oil, plus a bit more for drizzling on top about 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh basil, divided about 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves, divided about 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided sea salt and pepper 1 medium tomato, sliced **1.** Make your tart dough. Whisk together the flour and salt; then add the olive oil, white wine, and milk, and mix until combined with a wooden spoon, your hands, or pulsed until it comes together in a food processor—this is a very easy dough. Cover the dough plastic wrap and put in the fridge for an hour. **2.** Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C, and while the oven's coming to temperature, mix up your homemade ricotta with the 2 tablespoons olive oil, about ½ teaspoon each of the fresh herbs, and a pinch of sea salt and pepper. **3.** When you're ready to make your tart, on your floured work surface, roll out the dough to the desired shape and thickness—since we're not using a tart pan, it can be one large rectangle, or two, if you like your crust super-thin, which I do. Don't worry too much about how this looks—we're going for rustic, not perfect. **4.** Put the dough on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and prick the bottom a few times with a fork. Bake the tart shell for about 15 to 20 minutes or until it's firm but not browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. **5.** Go ahead and spread the herby ricotta mixture all over the tart shell, then add the tomatoes, a bit of sea salt, pepper and olive oil over. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes are cooked. Sprinkle the rest of the fresh herbs on top and serve. ## **SUPER-QUICK HOMEMADE RICOTTA** ## MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS/500 GRAMS 4 cups/1 liter of milk 1 cup/240 ml of buttermilk 1 cup/240 ml of cream a big pinch of sea salt **1.** Cut out a piece of cheesecloth and lay it in a colander, set over a mediumsize bowl. **2.** Put the milk, buttermilk, cream, and salt in a large, heavy saucepan and turn the heat to medium-high. Stir every now and then so the milk doesn't scorch on the bottom of the pan. When it boils, reduce the heat to the lowest setting, and watch the curds rise to the surface. With a slotted spoon, gently remove the curds and put them in the cheesecloth-lined colander nearby. They'll continue to bubble up for about 5 minutes, then you can turn off the heat. Don't squeeze your curds with the cheesecloth; rather, just let them drain for 15 minutes—and voila!—you've got ricotta. Remove the cheesecloth and put your ricotta in a plastic container and keep it in the fridge. It's only good for about 2 days, so eat it right away. ## TEX-MEX TART I'm calling this a tart, but I think we all know what it really is. Corn tortilla dough pressed into a French tart pan, then layered with refried black beans, shredded chicken, and lots of melty cheese. A big nacho. I always smile when I make this, just like I do when I pour cornbread batter into my madeleine pans, because I'm thinking, Ha! I know there's no one else in Paris right now making this with _this_ pan _._ I know how silly it sounds, but I always take a special pleasure in discovering a new way to use something that's designed specifically for something else. It's a bit of defiant fun to fly in the face of convention, especially here. You may have noticed that the French are not real big on change. This is an old country. People do things the same way they always have. There are rules. There is protocol. There is a _tu_ form of " _you_ " and a _vous_ form of " _you_ " and a time and a place for each. Convention isn't always an easy thing to navigate. After I'd known X's family for a few years, I asked him if I could use the informal _tu_ form with his parents, who had already been using it with me. "I can have a meeting with them and ask if you want," he said. A meeting. When I said that I wanted to have some people we'd met at the park over for dinner, he suggested we meet for a drink at a restaurant down the street instead. I asked him why. "This is just how we do things," he said. I'm from Texas. And I can strike up a conversation with anyone, whether I know them or not. When I lived in Dallas, the checkers at Whole Foods hugged me when I walked in the door (probably because I was such a good customer, but still . . .). Here in Paris, X looks at me with horror when I greet the baristas at our neighborhood Starbucks with kisses on both cheeks. And quizzically when I serve him big nachos out of French tart pans. This, I explain to him, is just how I do things. ## TEX-MEX TART ## MAKES 1 (11-INCH/28 CM) TART 2½ cups/625 grams of masa 1 teaspoon of sea salt 1¼ cups /300 ml of hot water 3 cups/500 grams of cooked and drained Back in Black Beans (p.314), or you may use canned 2 tablespoons of lard, duck fat, or vegetable oil 1 clove of garlic, minced 1 teaspoon of cumin ¼ teaspoon of sea salt 2 cups/345 grams of shredded Easy Roast Chicken (p.265) 2 cups/120 grams of grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese a small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped Peach-Tomato Chipotle Salsa (recipe follows) **1.** Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C and line the bottom of an 11-inch/28 cm tart pan with parchment paper (I do this even with my nonstick tart pans). **2.** Make your corn tortilla tart dough. Put the masa and sea salt in a food processor or whisk them together in a medium bowl. Slowly add the hot water and mix (or pulse in the processor) until combined. The dough should be firm, yet moist; not dry, crumbly, or sticky. With your fingers, press the dough right into your tart pan—I've rolled this out, too, but it's just as fast to do it this way. Cover the dough with a piece of parchment paper, add dried beans or pie weights, and bake for 15 minutes, or until the crust is firm. Remove from the oven, and let it cool. **3.** Make your refried beans. In a medium bowl, smash up the drained black beans with a potato masher or hand blender. Get out one of your largest skillets, big enough to comfortably hold the beans, and add your lard, duck fat, or vegetable oil along with the minced garlic, and cook over medium heat for a minute or two, just until the garlic softens. Now, add the beans, cumin, and sea salt and cook and stir the beans until they are dry, about 5 minutes. Set them aside so they can cool. **4.** To assemble the tart, evenly spread the beans on the bottom of the tart shell, then add the shredded chicken. Top with your shredded cheese. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes, so the cheese gets bubbly. To serve, top with the chopped cilantro and a big spoonful of Peach-Tomato Chipotle Salsa, or just pass it around and let everyone add their own. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** Sprinkled with a little queso fresco or feta, these refried beans make a great side for any of the tacos in this chapter. ## **PEACH-TOMATO CHIPOTLE SALSA** ## MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS/ 230 GRAMS 1 large tomato, diced 1 large peach, diced 1 tablespoon of red onion, diced the juice of ½ lime (about 1 tablespoon) 1 canned chipotle in adobo a pinch of sea salt a small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped (about 1 tablespoon) Put all of the ingredients in a bowl. Let sit for an hour in the fridge before serving. Taste and adjust seasonings, if you need to. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** This salsa also goes great with grilled fish, shrimp, and scallops. ## SPINACH and ROQUEFORT TART Given the choice, X would eat a ham and cheese pizza every night. Then he'd have a bowl of ice cream for dessert. Other than the brief period when X declared himself a vegetarian, and vowed to eat lighter and healthier—a dalliance that lasted all of three weeks—it's been this way since I've known him. His favorite vegetable is a potato, which he loves best cooked in cream with cheese on top ( _gratin dauphinois)_ and served alongside a bloody steak, cooked _bleu_ , with Roquefort sauce on the side. His Frenchness causes him to consume more dairy products on a daily basis than I ever imagined possible. We're talking enormous hunks of cheese in various degrees of stinkiness; cartons of yogurt, generously sweetened with swirls of raspberry jam, honey, or maple syrup; and the milkiest coffee that I've ever seen. (I tune my coffee with a splash of milk; not the other way around.) French paradox or not, it seems to me that he's on the road straight to high-cholesterol land. But since my not-so-gentle suggestions have had little impact, I've got my own methods. I either hide veggies that X doesn't like in something that he won't be able to resist (Cauliflower Galettes, p.204; or Broccoli-Basil Soup, p.96), or I try to create something that he'll love by incorporating one of few veggies that he'll willingly eat. With enough Roquefort to entice him, I don't even have to resort to Popeye's muscles. ## SPINACH AND ROQUEFORT TART ## MAKES 1 (11-INCH/28 CM) TART olive oil 1 shallot, finely chopped 16 ounces/450 grams of frozen chopped spinach, thawed a big pinch of nutmeg ¼ teaspoon of lemon zest sea salt and pepper 3 eggs ½ cup /120 ml of milk 5 fresh sage leaves, chopped 2 ounces/60 grams of Roquefort cheese, crumbled 1 Whole Wheat-Oatmeal tart crust, blind-baked and cooled (recipe follows) **1.** Preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C. **2.** Pour a little bit of olive oil into your skillet, add the shallots, and turn the heat to medium-low. Let this cook just a few minutes, until the shallots become translucent. **3.** Squeeze as much water out of the chopped spinach as you can (I use a potato ricer for this) and add this to the skillet. Toss in the nutmeg, lemon zest, sea salt and pepper and give it all a stir. Cook until it's warmed through, about 5 minutes; then pour the spinach mixture into a bowl to let it cool. **4.** Whisk your eggs with the milk and the sage, and add a pinch of sea salt and pepper. Evenly spread the spinach all over the bottom of the tart shell, and sprinkle the Roquefort on top. Pour the egg mixture over this, and bake for 30 minutes or until the tart is set. Serve warm. ## **WHOLE WHEAT-OATMEAL TART CRUST** ## MAKES 1 (11-INCH/28 CM) TART SHELL _This recipe was inspired by one for a tart crust made with whole-wheat flour and olive oil that I found on Clotilde Desoulier's blogsite, Chocolate and Zucchini. I loved the idea of whole wheat because it's got such a great nutty taste, but using olive oil instead of butter is what really got my attention._ 2 cups/250 grams of whole-wheat flour ¼ cup/50 grams of oatmeal (quick) 1 teaspoon of sea salt ¼ cup/60 ml of olive oil 1 tablespoon of honey ½ cup /120 ml of ice water **1.** Line the bottom of an 11-inch/28 cm tart pan with a round of parchment paper ( _très important_ —this will keep your crust from sticking to the pan and tearing apart), and preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C. **2.** In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oatmeal, and sea salt. Add the oil and honey and mix it up by hand—I sometimes use a big wooden spoon, but more often, just use my hands. It's easier, quicker, and one less thing to wash. Now add your ice water, little by little (you may not need all of it), and mix just until the dough comes together in a ball. **3.** Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, lay it into the tart pan, and use your kitchen scissors to trim the hangover, leaving ½ inch/12 mm—it allows for shrinkage, plus it's prettier this way. Prick the bottom with a fork and refrigerate for an hour or pop in the freezer for 30 minutes (my favorite method, because it's faster), until the dough's nice and firm. **4.** Blind bake your crust. Line the frozen crust with parchment and fill it up with pie weights or dry beans, making sure to push them tightly into the edges, where shrinkage can occur. Put the tart pan on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment, and bake for 10 more minutes, so the bottom cooks through. Let the tart shell cool completely before you fill it. ## ROASTED BROCCOLI-RED BELL PEPPER TART Four years of eating daily baguettes smeared with _fleur de_ _sel_ butter and raspberry jam and duck confit whenever I felt like it had finally caught up with me. My jeans were tight. Even my T-shirts had gotten snug. As much as I wanted to blame the French washer and dryer for shrinking my clothes, I couldn't. My clothes hadn't gotten smaller. I'd gotten bigger. I needed to find balance again, in my body and in my eating. So I signed up for yoga classes, and I was back on the mat, faced with it all. I wasn't about to give up all good things French, but I knew it wouldn't hurt—me or X, who'd been my chief food tester—to trim down a bit. To limit our baguette intake, cut back on the cheese, skip the _pains au chocolat_ from the boulangerie across the street, and try to eat more veggies, fruits, and grains. This tart is more veggies than custard filling, done purposely, so the egg-milk mixture (mostly whites and skinny milk) simply acts as glue to hold it all together. There's just enough cheese to give it a bit of richness and depth, and to make it seem like a regular tart, not part of _un régime_ , or diet, which everyone always seems to be on around here. ## **ROASTED BROCCOLI-RED BELL PEPPER TART** ## MAKES 1 (11-INCH/28 CM) TART 1 medium head of broccoli, cut into florets ½ of a red bell pepper, cut into ½-inch/12 mm pieces 3 green onions, sliced (white part only) olive oil 6 egg whites ¾ cup/180 ml of reduced fat milk, such as 2% sea salt and pepper 2 cups/120 grams of grated cheddar, Monterey Jack, or your favorite melty cheese 1 Polenta Tart Crust, blind-baked and cooled (recipe follows) **1.** Preheat your broiler, and line 2 big cookie sheets and 1 smaller one with foil. Toss the broccoli florets on one, the red bell pepper pieces on another, and the green onions on the small one. Drizzle about a tablespoon or so of olive oil over each batch of veggies, salt and pepper them, and give them a good toss with your hands—it's just easier this way. **2.** Now that all of your veggies are prepped, go ahead and slide your broccoli into the oven, and let it cook for about 15 minutes, or until the florets are light brown. Do the same with the red bell peppers, and then the green onions. (These cook at slightly different times, which is why they're on separate cookie sheets—but they all cook quickly.) **3.** Once the veggies are roasted, leave them on their pans to cool, and reduce your oven temperature to 375°F/190°C. **4.** In a medium bowl, mix up the egg whites, milk, and salt and pepper. **5.** Assemble your tart. First, lay as many broccoli florets as you can into the tart shell. Then add the cheese, and all or as much of the red bell pepper as you'd like, and top with the onions. Gently pour the eggy-milky mixture over the veggies. You'll probably need to use your fingers to squish the cheese down a bit between the broccoli florets. Put the tart on a foil-lined cookie sheet (in case of spillage, this will make for an easy cleanup), and slide into the oven for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the tart is set. Let cool 10 minutes before serving. ## **POLENTA TART CRUST** ## MAKES 1 (11-INCH/28 CM) TART SHELL 1¾ cups/270 grams of flour ¾ cup/125 grams of yellow cornmeal or polenta 1 teaspoon of sea salt ¼ cup /60 ml of olive oil 1 tablespoon of honey ¼ cup/60 ml of ice water **1.** Line the bottom of an 11-inch/28 cm tart pan with a round of parchment paper—very important, so your tart crust doesn't stick—and preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C. **2.** Whisk together your flour, cornmeal, and sea salt. Add the oil and honey and mix it up. Pour in the water bit by bit, adding just enough for the dough to come together. **3.** Roll out the dough out on a lightly floured surface, and gently lay it into your tart pan. Snip the crust edges with your kitchen scissors, leaving a dough hangover of about ½ inch/12 mm. Refrigerate for an hour or simply pop in the freezer (which I often do) until firm, for about 30 minutes. **4.** Blind bake your crust. Line the chilled crust with parchment and fill it up with pie weights or dry beans, making sure to push them tightly into the edges, where shrinkage can occur. Put the tart pan on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment, and bake for 10 more minutes, so the bottom cooks through. Let the tart shell cool completely before you fill it. ## ROASTED VEGGIE MELT For a long time, I've had a love-hate relationship with eggplant. Loved eating it, hated making it. I'd sliced, salted, and drained it; then wiped off the salt, just like I was supposed to, to remove the eggplant's bitterness. I don't know if it worked or not: I always ended up with soggy, salty eggplant that I couldn't eat. So I nixed the salt and tried roasting it, without oil. My eggplant was dry and spongy. I eventually gave up. Then I moved to France, where eggplant, along with zucchini and red bell peppers—ratatouille's key ingredients—was prolific, and I knew I couldn't avoid it any longer. I had to figure eggplant out. Turns out, the French eggplant isn't bitter, and doesn't need the pre-cook salting—now, lots of new bitterless varieties have been developed worldwide, too—but it does respond well to olive oil, salt and pepper, and a smoking hot oven. Some relationships require a lot more work than others. In the case of eggplant, it was simply matter of finding the right one, which just happened to be French. ## ROASTED VEGGIE MELT ## MAKES 4 2 medium eggplants, sliced into ¼-inch/6 mm rounds olive oil 2 large red bell peppers 1 (4.4 ounce/125 gram) ball of fresh mozzarella 4 large slices of country bread 4 fresh basil leaves, roughly torn Basil Oil (p.97) **1.** Preheat your broiler. Put the eggplant pieces on cookie sheets lightly coated with olive oil (eggplant likes to stick), and then brush some olive oil on both sides of the eggplant pieces (I use about 1 teaspoon of olive oil per piece). Pop the eggplant into the oven and watch it carefully, and after 10 minutes or so, when the pieces brown, pull them out, flip them over, and cook the other side. Remove from the oven and let cool. **2.** To roast the red bell peppers, simply put them on a foil- or parchment-lined baking sheet (no oil needed), and make a few slits in each pepper with a sharp knife—this will keep them from exploding. Keep an eye on them, and when the peppers' skin blackens, flip over to the next side, and repeat until all sides are charred. Then, put your peppers into a bowl of ice water for about 10 minutes, let the skins loosen, and you can peel them off easily. Seed the peppers, cutting away the membranes, and cut into fat strips. **3.** Make your tartines. If the oven's still on broil, you're ready to go; if not, preheat the broiler. Pop 4 large slices of country-style bread into your toaster, and once they're toasted, lay them out on a cookie sheet. Fan four eggplant slices on each piece of toasted bread, and add strips of roasted red bell pepper. Tear off pieces of mozzarella and place on top. Slide into the oven and let cook until the cheese melts. Remove, and sprinkle with a few torn pieces of basil and some Basil Oil. ## JALAPEÑO PIMENTO CHEESE TARTINES Pimento cheese is a Southern thing. You won't find a church potluck in Texas without it. It's always been my default snack. Just ask my mom. High school, college, and even now, one of the first things I do when I walk in her door is walk straight to the kitchen. I grab a Dr. Pepper and the pimento cheese from the fridge and get a box of Wheat Thinsfrom the pantry, and start sipping and dipping. There are more than three hundred cheeses in France, but there's nothing like this killer Southern sandwich spread made from grated cheddar, mayo, and red peppers. Mom makes her own. So do I—but I turn up the pepper quotient and the heat. I make a roasted red bell pepper mayo; then I add chopped fresh jalapeño if I can (a friend from Dallas brought me a sackful once and I kept them in the freezer for months); another hot pepper if I can't. When I make this, I stuff it in the back corner of the fridge, behind the jars of Dijon mustard (smooth and grainy) and bread-and-butter pickles that I bring from home. If X reads this, I'm going to have to find another hiding place. ## **JALAPEÑO PIMENTO CHEESE TARTINES** ## MAKES 4 TARTINES 4 cups/240 grams of grated cheddar cheese ¼ of a small red onion, finely chopped 1 to 2 medium jalapeño peppers (with membranes and seeds included if you like it hot), finely chopped 1 roasted red bell pepper (jarred ones are OK), finely chopped about 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh dill, plus a little more for serving 2 to 3 tablespoons of Roasted Red Bell Pepper Mayo (recipe follows) sea salt and pepper 4 big slices of country bread, toasted Gently mix together the grated cheese, chopped red onion, jalapeño, roasted red bell pepper, and dill in a medium bowl, along with the 2 to 3 tablespoons of roasted red pepper mayo, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before eating—it's much better this way. Spread on each piece of your toasted bread, and sprinkle with a little more dill to make it pretty. **COWGIRL TIP:** In the summertime, I like to add sliced tomatoes and bacon to this, too. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** Try Jalapeño Pimento Cheese instead of regular cheese on your burgers. ## **ROASTED RED BELL PEPPER MAYO** ## MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP/240 ML _I started making my own mayo when I moved to France, where, unbelievably, the store-bought stuff is awful. You can skip this step, and simply blend the roasted red bell peppers with a good mayo, such as Hellmann's, but making your own takes less than five minutes and makes everything better._ 1 egg yolk 1 whole egg 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard 1 roasted red bell pepper (see p.185), or you may use jarred the juice of ½ lemon (about 1 tablespoon) sea salt and pepper 1 cup/240 ml of vegetable or olive oil Put the egg yolk, egg, Dijon mustard, roasted red bell pepper, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt and pepper into your food processor and blend. While the motor's running, very slowly add the oil. Taste for seasonings. ## GRILLED BRIE, PEAR, and PROSCIUTTO SANDWICHES Lord knows I love grilled cheese sandwiches, the most satisfying comfort food ever, so when my group of enthusiastic eaters on Twitter, LetsLunch, suggested that we all post recipes for a grilled cheese dish one fall, I couldn't have been happier. I never need an excuse to make grilled cheese sandwiches, but this got me thinking. I was up against some pretty tough competition. Not that I would ever look at our monthly virtual lunches as a _contest_ , but Cheryl Tan, author of _A Tiger in the Kitchen,_ and I started this little group one summer when we bonded over our mutual love of bacon. We decided to post recipes for our own version of BLTs one Friday, and she outdid us all with her lattice bacon layer. Who does that, weave bacon for a sandwich? Cheryl Tan, that's who. Months, years later, we just kept posting recipes around a theme or an ingredient, and our little group grew. It now stretches around the world, from Paris to Los Angeles and over to Australia, too. So for our grilled cheese day, I wanted to make something with a French accent. Which is how I came up with the Grilled Brie, Pear, and Prosciutto Sandwich. I used Brie de Meaux, the sweet and creamy, slightly nutty cow's milk cheese from the nearby town of Meaux, 50 kilometers east of Paris, where it's been made since the eighth century. Brie de Meaux is one of only two cheeses that can legally claim the name Brie in France. It's often called the "king of cheeses." Maybe because King Louis XVI asked for a bit of Brie before his execution. Cheese and guillotines. Isn't French history fun? ## **GRILLED BRIE, PEAR, AND PROSCIUTTO SANDWICHES** ## MAKES 4 SANDWICHES 4 tablespoons of butter, melted 8 slices of country bread 4 (3-inch/7.5 cm) wedges of Brie cheese 4 ripe pears, cored, peeled, and sliced 8 thin slices of prosciutto **1.** Brush some of the melted butter on one side of each slice of bread, and lay the bread slices on a plate or your prep area, butter-side down. Stay with me. There's a method to this madness. **2.** Layer the ingredients, dividing evenly, onto 4 bread slices in this order: brie/pears/prosciutto. Add 1 wedge of Brie to each slice, top with one-quarter of the pear slices, and 2 slices of prosciutto. The idea is to keep the wet pears away from the bread, and by doing it this way, the brie and prosciutto will keep the bread dry. Go ahead and top each sandwich with the remaining slices of bread, butter-side up. **3.** Get out your biggest skillet, put it on the stovetop, and turn the heat to medium. When it's warm, put as many sandwiches that'll fit (you may need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your bread) in the skillet, and press down with your spatula. You'll want to do this again, every now and then, while they cook. When the bread's brown and crispy, give the sandwiches a flip. Let them cook for a few more minutes—until the second side is browned, and the cheese has melted—and eat immediately. ## ADOBO SALMON SALAD TARTINES It's inevitable. If you live in Paris, you get spoiled. For example, I have three boulangeries within one block of our apartment. Three. And they all make a full range of baguettes and other breads, along with tarts filled with fruit, chocolate, or lemon cream; madeleines and tiny cakes, oversize _sablé_ cookies; lacy thin _tuiles;_ and meringues as big as a cast-iron skillet. When I first moved here, I was so excited to have a boulangerie across the street that I couldn't stand it. I'd buy fresh croissants in the morning and a warm baguette _de tradition_ every afternoon between 5 and 7, right when they were being pulled from the ovens. Then I discovered the place down the street, where the baguettes were much better, but 25 centimes more. X thought that was criminal; I didn't. After that, I tried the boulangerie on the circle. I didn't like their baguettes, but thought their _chouquettes_ were the best. So now I frequent all three: _pains au chocolat_ across the street, baguettes down the block, and _chouquettes_ on the circle. And I wouldn't call any of these the best in town. They are simply the best in my neighborhood. See? Spoiled. Salmon's another example. There are three different _poissonneries_ in the neighborhood that I like; where I go depends on the day of the week, because one's at a Wednesday/Saturday market, another's at a Tuesday-to-Saturday market, and the other place has really unpredictable hours but the best fish, since the guy who runs the shop also catches the fish. In a pinch, there's the salmon at Picard, the all-frozen-foods store. If I'm looking for smoked salmon, that's something else entirely. Every now and then I'll end up with too much salmon, which is how I came up with this recipe. Of course, I had to run across town to Poilâne to get my favorite sourdough bread to heap it on, but that's another story. ## ADOBO SALMON SALAD TARTINES ## MAKES 4 TARTINES 14 ounces/400 grams of salmon fillets ½ cup/120 ml of a dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay ½ cup/120 ml of water 2 or 3 sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley 1 small shallot, sliced 2 (3-inch/7.5 cm) pieces of lemon zest 10 peppercorns a big pinch of sea salt 2 tablespoons of good mayonnaise, such as Hellmann's 2 tablespoons of Adobo Salsa (p.323) 2 tablespoons of minced green onion or shallot a handful of fresh cilantro, chopped about 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice sea salt and pepper 1 baguette, cut in half, split, and toasted 1 medium avocado, sliced about 1 tablespoon of fresh dill, chopped lime wedges, for serving **1.** Poach your salmon by putting the fillets in a saucepan with the wine, water, parsley, sliced shallot, lemon zest, peppercorns, and sea salt. Turn the heat to low and when it reaches a simmer, cover and set the timer for 3 minutes and test for doneness. It may take another minute or two. Remove the salmon from the pan, place in a large bowl, and let cool. **2.** Using a fork, gently flake the salmon into large pieces, and add the mayo, Adobo Salsa, green onion, cilantro, lemon juice, and sea salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. When ready to eat, just heap a couple of spoonfuls on each piece of toasted country bread, top with avocado slices, fresh dill, and serve with lime wedges. ## WINTER BLT TARTINES ## **OR "HOW I OUTSMART TOMATOES, PART II."** I can be terribly impatient, especially when it comes to something as important as tomato season. I wait. I anticipate. I think of all of the things I'll make with them when the time comes. I make lists. Then— _enfin!_ —they appear, the star of the weekly markets, the reason behind the long queues. I'm lucky that Joël Thiébault, a fourth-generation vegetable farmer with a stand at President Wilson market in my neighborhood, carries an abundance of tomatoes when they're in season. And in the most beautiful heirloom varieties I've ever seen. Some have tiger stripes. Others are bright orange or lime green. My favorites look like tie-dye T-shirts, with swirls of orange, yellow, and red. The season in Paris is short, from about mid-July to mid-September. Then, like the summer rock stars they are, after a brief sell-out show, tomatoes disappear. And always before I can make half of the things on my tomato list. One winter day, surrounded by heaps of sub-par tomatoes at the grocery store, I realized what I wanted was a BLT. It made no sense. It was the wrong season. But I wanted a BLT and I wanted it right then. I knew just what to do. I filled up my basket with the sad too-firm Romas, and took them home. I split them open, drizzled them with some oil and shoved them in the oven. I let them roast, slowly, overnight. And I woke up the next day to the sweetest winter tomatoes I'd ever tasted. And I had my Winter BLT. Sometimes impatience is a good thing. ## WINTER BLT TARTINES ## MAKES 4 TARTINES 4 big slices of country bread, toasted about 4 tablespoons of Arugula Pesto (recipe follows) 8 Oven-Roasted Tomato halves (recipe follows) 8 slices of bacon, cooked until crispy 4 small handfuls of arugula For each tartine, just spread about 1 tablespoon of Arugula Pesto on each slice of toasted bread, then add 2 roasted tomato halves, 2 slices of bacon, and a small handful of arugula. **SWAP IT:** You may make this with fresh sliced tomatoes when they're in season, too! ## **ARUGULA PESTO** ## MAKES ABOUT ⅓ CUP/75 ML 2 big handfuls of arugula ¼ cup/1 ounce/35 grams of toasted pine nuts 2 tablespoons of olive oil about ¼ teaspoon of sea salt 1 teaspoon of lime juice a pinch of cayenne pepper Put everything into your food processor and pulse until combined. Taste and adjust seasonings. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** This is also great stirred into pasta or smeared on crostini and served as an appetizer. ## **OVEN-ROASTED TOMATOES** _I like to put these in the oven before I go to bed and let them roast overnight._ 6½ pounds/3 kilos of Roma tomatoes, halved and cored olive oil sea salt and pepper herbes de Provence Preheat your oven to 200°F/100°C and put your tomato halves, insides-up, on 2 foil-lined cookie sheets. Drizzle with a good bit of olive oil, and then sprinkle with sea salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence. Pop into the oven and bake overnight, or for about 8 hours, until they're wrinkly and soft. ## **CHAPTER 6** ## Riding Side-Saddle: Veggies Before there was an Eiffel Tower—even before Paris was Paris— there were markets here, places where farmers could bring whatever they'd grown and sell for the best price possible. In the fifth century, Paris was still a Gallo-Roman city known as Lutetia, on the island that's now known as the Ile de la Cité. People lived there, so naturally that's where the market was. It's the same today. There's a market in every one of Paris' twenty arrondissements, and then some; more than seventy markets are scattered all over the city. Some are covered, and open most every day while others are open-air, setting up and tearing themselves down twice a week. I like the open-air markets the best, and I go to two of them each week; Tuesdays and Fridays are Belleville, after yoga; and Wednesdays and Saturdays are President Wilson. I love market days so much that I mark them on my calendar with a highlighter. I make lists for each one. I think I'll find one thing, but end up buying another. What's available at the weekly markets determines what I'll make that week, and not the other way around. Instead of letting recipes dictate what I'll make, I let the ingredients lead the way. The weekly markets are my guide to what's in season right now, this week, this particular day. Next week might not be the same. It's always changing. You never know what you're going to see. Each market has its own personality that reflects the neighborhood it's in. With barrels of olives, couscous, fresh dates, and men carrying oversize aluminum teapots filled with mint tea, Belleville's like stepping into North Africa. Chaotic and noisy, with men selling pineapples, shouting a sing-songy, " _Un euro, ananas, un euro, ananas_ ," it's a big messy scene, packed with people from the neighborhood, women wearing jilbabs, and lots of older men, waddling more than walking, usually with a cane in one hand, or a wheely cart in tow. There is much wheeling and dealing here. Slices of orange, melon, or nectarine are offered on the ends sharp knives for a taste. Haggling over prices is part of the fun; if you don't make a fuss, you don't earn their respect. I try to get there early, but Belleville is always packed by 8:30 a.m. I go for the prettiest, cheapest sweet potatoes in Paris; habañero peppers and okra from a man from the French island of Antilles; Moroccan peppers; one-kilo sacks of black-eyed peas and black beans; almonds, cashews, and pistachios; and saltless peanut butter in a can. I buy fresh thyme, rosemary, cilantro, and dill for 30 centimes a bundle, and basics like celery, onions, and garlic for a fraction of what I'd pay in my neighborhood. I often buy so much I can barely carry it home. At President Wilson market, the vendors are usually still setting up at 8:30, a good hour earlier than the crowds of well-groomed men in crisp shirts and slacks and women in teetering high heels with far too many small dogs in tow. It's not far from where I live, and I either walk or take the #82 bus to Place d'Iena. I start at the top of the market near the statue of George Washington riding his horse into battle and end twenty minutes later two long blocks away across the street from a brasserie with a postcard view of the Eiffel Tower and some very pricey coffee. Despite its privileged airs, I love this market. There are beautiful flowers here and a foie gras man. Three boulangers, (one that makes rectangular-shaped baguettes), and three different _poissonniers_. There's a stand that justsells sea salt; another that sells only mushrooms and potatoes. I come to see the farmers, who peddle what they grow themselves right outside of Paris. You know them by the signs that say " _Producteur's._ " And by the long lines. This is where I find Swiss chard in red, yellow, and white; cauliflower in purple and gold; and yellow squash for my grandmother's soufflé (p.233). Paris' Michelin-starred chefs come for Joël Thiébault's veggies. So do I. The potatoes still have dirt clinging to their skin, the lettuce with nary a brown spot on their leaves, and the carrots come with their bushy green tops attached. It's the sort of market where you can say to the mushroom seller, as I've done before, "I'm making roast duck pizzas. What sort of mushrooms do you think I should buy?" And she'll ask how many people you're feeding and fill up a brown paper sack with just the right amount. This is also where I buy fresh eggs and goat cheese every week from my friend Sandy, an Irishman who lives in Normandy. We always go for a coffee together. If he's busy, I'll stand behind the counter until he can take a break, and usually end up waiting on customers, along with him. After I've shopped, bought and sold some cheese, and had coffee with Sandy, I'll sometimes stop by the crêpe stand in the middle of the market. Owned by a couple from Brittany, it's the place to get a hot-off-the-griddle Nutella-filled crêpe—the perfect hand warmer for the four-block walk home on a cold day. ## CAULIFLOWER GALETTES with CHIPOTLE CRÈME FRAÎCHE It was no secret that X didn't like cauliflower. He'd tell me every time he walked in the door and smelled it roasting in the oven, which it often was, especially when it was on sale for just 1 euro a head. He'd make a face, turn around, and leave the kitchen in disgust. Just more roasted cauliflower for me, I figured. But even I can only eat so much. So one afternoon, when I had a whole bunch of leftover already-roasted cauliflower in the fridge, and no ideas for dinner, I decided to hide the cauliflower in something X might actually like. I grated some sharp English cheddar (always a good start), chopped a few green onions, and threw all of it into a cornmeal batter, so these galettes would be more Southern than Gallic. I fried them and served them with a bit of chipotle-spiked crème fraîche on top. The verdict? The next day, I came home and found X standing in the kitchen eating—not the chocolate chip cookies I'd made the day before but the few leftover cauliflower galettes, straight from the fridge, cold. ## **CAULIFLOWER GALETTES WITH CHIPOTLE CRÈME FRAÎCHE** ## MAKES ABOUT A DOZEN (2½-INCH/6 CM) GALETTES 1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets olive oil sea salt and pepper 1 cup/145 grams of cornmeal 2 teaspoons of baking powder 1 teaspoon of sea salt ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper ½ teaspoon of cumin 2 eggs 1 (5.29 ounce/150 gram) container of Greek yogurt 1 cup//240 ml of water 4 green onions, sliced 1 cup/60 grams of grated cheddar cheese 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil Chipotle Crème Fraîche (recipe follows) **1.** Preheat your broiler and line a cookie sheet with foil. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. **2.** Toss the cauliflower florets on the foil-lined cookie sheet, add a little olive oil, and salt and pepper. Toss it all together with your hands, then slide the pan into the oven. The florets will begin to brown after about 10 minutes—when they do, pull them out of the oven and turn them over, so the other side browns, too. This'll take about 10 more minutes. When browned on both sides, remove from the oven and let cool. **2.** To make the galettes, in a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, baking powder, sea salt, cayenne pepper, and cumin. **3.** In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, and water. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and stir together. If the batter is too thick, just add a bit more water. Gently fold in the cauliflower florets, grated cheddar, and green onions, reserving about 2 tablespoons of green onions for garnish. **4.** Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a skillet and turn the heat to medium-low. When it's hot, spoon about 2 tablespoons of the batter for each galette into the skillet, fitting in as many as you can. You'll need to work in batches. Cook the galettes for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the bottoms are brown, and flip to the other side for another few minutes. You don't want these to cook too fast, or they'll be wet in the middle. Repeat with the remaining vegetable oil and batter. Serve immediately with Chipotle Crème Fraîche, and sprinkle some chopped onions on top. **ADVANCE PLANNING:** Roast your cauliflower ahead of time, so all you have to do is assemble and cook them up. **COWGIRL TIP:** Reheat your leftover galettes the next day—just pop them in the toaster. **SWAP IT:** Try using grated zucchini instead of cauliflower. ## **CHIPOTLE CRÈME FRAÎCHE** ## MAKES 2 CUPS/ 480 ML 16 ounces/480 ml of crème fraîche or sour cream 2 to 3 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce Toss your chipotles in a food processor to finely chop them up, or do this by hand. Add your crème fraîche or sour cream, and stir it up. Voila! ## CHERRY TOMATO GRATIN Daddy didn't have a big garden, but what he grew proliferated in what we called our very back yard (the "very back" for short), because it was its own fenced-in space between our regular backyard and the alley. My dad was an adventurous gardener. One year he tried to grow watermelon. Another year, he planted asparagus, delicate French carrots, and Japanese eggplant. He always sowed corn ("High as an elephant's eye," he told me when I asked him how his corn was growing one year); jalapeños and cucumbers, which he'd pickle and send home with me in jars; okra and yellow squash; and fat tomatoes called Big Boy. There was always an aggressive gang of cherry tomatoes threatening to take over the back half of his plot. When I'd come by, he loved to give me a tour of the garden. We'd tip-toe through the rows, bending down to more closely inspect the radishes that were nearly ready to be pulled from the dirt, or the green bell peppers that were beginning to turn red. We'd always end up at the highlight: the cherry tomatoes. Daddy and I would pluck them from the vine, and eat them like bonbons they were so sweet. Hot from roasting in the Texas summer sun, with skins so tight that they'd pop when you bit into them, those tiny tomatoes were one of the best things about summer. In the summertime in Paris, when tomatoes are at their peak, every now and then I'll taste a cherry tomato at the market that's nearly worthy of my dad's, and I'll bring some home and make this. ## CHERRY TOMATO GRATIN ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS about 2 tablespoons of olive oil 1 pint/500 grams of cherry tomatoes, halved 1 cup/70 grams of plain breadcrumbs ¼ cup/13 grams of grated Parmesan cheese 2 teaspoons of herbes de Provence sea salt and pepper **1.** Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C and drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil onto the bottom of an 8 × 11-inch/20 × 28 cm baking dish. **2.** Whisk together the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, herbes de Provence, and a big pinch of sea salt and pepper. **3.** Stuff your little tomato halves, insides-up, as tightly as you can into the dish—there will be shrinkage—and sprinkle with the breadcrumb topping. Slide into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is brown and crispy. **COWGIRL TIP:** No herbes de Provence in your cupboard? Use Italian seasoning instead—it often has a similar herb mixture. **GREAT WITH:** Roasted Salmon with Kalamata Olive-Basil Salsa (p.269). Pistachio-Crusted Lamb Chops with Cowgirl Chimichurri (p.252) or Basque-Style Fish en Papillote (p.271). ## MOM'S BLACK-EYED PEAS and JALAPEÑO CORNBREAD I can't remember where I bought my first sack of black-eyed peas in Paris. It was either at one of the North African stores in Belleville, or at the Filipino grocer in my neighborhood, and when I found them in a hefty 1-kilo bag, I felt like I'd just found a piece of home. I made big pots of black-eyed peas and served them to X with jalapeño cornbread, neither of which he'd ever tasted before. It was dinner for him, and medicine for me—an attempt to ease the bad bouts of homesickness that I'd sometimes catch like a bad summer cold and have a hard time getting rid of, no matter what I did. The black-eyed peas and spicy, cheesy cornbread were like a long phone call to my mom, comforting and familiar. Whenever I visit my mom in Texas, she still makes this for me. She always worries about whether the cornbread's crusty enough, or cooked enough, or if she's put enough jalapeños in the batter. Of course, it's always just as it's always been—perfect. X calls my cornbread _gâteau_ and eats the triangle wedges from the cast-iron skillet with a knife and fork. He doesn't really understand the significance of this simple Southern meal, but that's okay. It's not for him, anyway. ## MOM'S BLACK-EYED PEAS ## MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS olive oil 1 onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, minced ½ of a red bell pepper, diced ½ of a green bell pepper, diced about 8 ounces/220 grams of ham (I like smoked ham, but you may use whatever ham you like), cut into fat pieces 1 pound/500 grams of driedblack-eyed peas, soaked for 8 hours or overnight about 6 cups/1.4 liters of water a big pinch of cayenne pepper a few drops of Tabasco sauce sea salt and pepper Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of a deep, large stockpot, add the onions and garlic, and turn the heat to medium. Cook until the onions become translucent, just a few minutes. Add the red and green bell pepper, and let them cook for a minute or two. Now, toss in your ham, drained and rinsed black-eyed peas, water, cayenne, and Tabasco. I also add a pinch of black pepper at this point, but not the salt—I add this later. Let this come to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 2 hours, or until the peas have that nice, perfect "bite"—a pop of the skin, with soft insides. **COWGIRL TIP:** There are two camps—the salt-when-cooking and the salt-later group, but I always salt all of my beans and peas at the end. It's how my mom always did it, and it works for me. **ADVANCE PLANNING:** Like many other peas and beans, black-eyed peas are better the next day, so plan accordingly. ## JALAPEÑO CORNBREAD ## MAKES 1 (10-INCH/25 CM) SKILLET OF CORNBREAD 4 tablespoons of bacon grease or butter 1½ cups/225 grams of cornmeal ½ cup/70 grams of flour 1 teaspoon of baking soda 1 teaspoon of baking powder 1 teaspoon of sea salt 1½ cups/360 ml of milk 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1 onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1 cup/150 grams of canned corn, drained and rinsed 3 to 4 pickled jalapeños, chopped 2 cups/130 grams of grated cheddar cheese **1.** Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C and when it's hot, put the bacon grease or butter in your cast-iron skillet and slide it on in. **2.** Mix together your cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Now add your milk and eggs and stir this all up. Fold in everything else—onion, garlic, corn, chopped jalapeños and grated cheese, and then pull the skillet from the oven, pour the hot bacon grease or butter into the batter, quickly mix it up, and pour the mixture into the skillet. This is how you get that nice crispy brown crust. Pop this back into the oven for 40 to 45 minutes. It's done when the cornbread is brown and the top feels nice and firm. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** Cut up your leftover cornbread into bite-size chunks, then toss onto a cookie sheet and slide into a 400°F/200°C oven for about 15 minutes, and you've got croutons—for salads, soups, or just snacking. ## ROASTED OKRA and TOMATOES My mom always got out her biggest cast-iron skillet for frying okra in the summertime. She made it simply, with a cornmeal crust. She never used a batter, which she and I agreed was a ridiculous thing to do to okra. Okra is not a corny dog, for goodness' sake. Mom's cornmeal way made crunchy brown okra nuggets, which she'd lay out on paper towels on a plate on the kitchen counter, and then cover with another layer or two, as much to hide them, I now believe, as to soak up the extra bacon fat. When Mom wasn't looking, I'd sneak over and lift the paper towel and grab a few, then a few more. It never seemed like there was enough. I could eat a whole skillet's worth of fried okra. Then I tried roasting okra and felt the same way. Sometimes called _le gombo_ in France (derived from a Bantu word, and the origin of the Creole/Cajun word for _gumbo_ ), okra can be off-putting for its sliminess. Roasting it makes it nice and crispy. You'll be tempted to eat it right out of the pan before dinner's on the table, so do what I do—make a double batch. ## ROASTED OKRA AND TOMATOES ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 1 pound/500 grams of okra olive oil sea salt and pepper a small handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half Lime-Cilantro Oil (p.135) Preheat the broiler. Put your okra on a foil-lined cookie sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and toss. Slide into the oven and cook until the okra browns; this shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. Toss your crispy okra in a big bowl with the cherry tomatoes and a some Lime-Cilantro Oil and serve warm. **GREAT WITH:** Basque-Style Fish en Papillote (p.272), Fried Chicken Bites with Cream Gravy (p.258), or Mexican Meatloaf (p.266). ## MAPLE-WHIPPED SWEET POTATOES with COCOA NIBS The first year I was in Paris, I found sweet potatoes at the little corner grocer that's open on Sundays for nearly four euros for a kilo—a ridiculously high price, which I paid nonetheless, because when you're homesick, you'll do just about anything to inch towards a cure. Now I can find them just about anywhere, because _les patates douces,_ like American cupcakes and the Gap, are trendy. Puréed, gratinéed, or folded with egg whites into a soufflé, they're still good old Southern food to me. We never ate sweet potatoes any other time than Thanksgiving. At our house they were made into a gooey marshmallow-topped side dish to go with the turkey. And that was that. But I like sweet potatoes best without a lot of fuss: baked, then split and stuffed with a pat or two of salty butter. Or like this, with a little maple syrup, and for good measure—and because I met John Scharffenberger of Scharffenberger Chocolates one summer and he gave me a sack to try—a few cocoa nibs, the leftover bits of crushed cacao beans used in making chocolate. I can't remember what made me think of adding cocoa nibs to sweet potatoes in the first place, but now I can't imagine them any other way. Crunchy with a slightly bitter chocolate flavor, the nibs make a wonderful jimmies-style sprinkle right before serving. But remember, this is not a dessert, people. It is a vegetable. It is good for you, and you just may want to emphasize this to the kids at the table, so they will not want to eat any. ## **MAPLE-WHIPPED SWEET POTATOES WITH COCOA NIBS** ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS about 1½ pounds/680 grams of sweet potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced sea salt about 2 tablespoons of butter ¼ cup/60 ml of cream about 3 tablespoons of maple syrup a couple of tablespoons of cocoa nibs (see Cowgirl Tip) **1.** Put your sweet potatoes in a big saucepan, cover with water, and add a big pinch of sea salt. Cover, and turn the heat to high. When it boils, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes or until you can easily pierce the potatoes with a fork, then drain off all of the water. **2.** Toss the butter in with the sweet potatoes and smash them up with a hand potato masher. When the butter melts, add the cream, maple syrup, and a pinch of sea salt, and be sure to taste, because you may need more (or less) butter, or maple syrup, depending on the sweetness of your potatoes. Sprinkle the cocoa nibs on top and serve. Lovely! **GREAT WITH:** Fried Chicken Bites with Cream Gravy (p.259), Mexican Meatloaf (p.266), or Toni's Lamb (p.239) **COWGIRL TIP:** If you can't find cocoa nibs, just use mini chocolate chips—it's not exactly the same, but I doubt you'll get any complaints. ## GREEN CHILE-GOAT CHEESE SMASHED POTATOES New Mexico and I are sort of like those relationships you read about in _The New York Times_ wedding pages. Neither of us was looking for the other, but there was an attraction from the start. A spark. It deepened and grew over time. Texas may be my home state, but New Mexico is my heart state. I started covering New Mexico-based stories back in the early 1990s for _Newsweek_ and _People_. For years, it seemed like I was driving to Dallas' Love Field once a month to make that one-hour-and-forty-five minute flight to Albuquerque. I covered wildfires in Los Alamos and took flamenco classes; I met weavers with their own flocks of sheep and searched out vintage cowboy boots at the flea market. I bought a book on hiking around Santa Fe and started crossing trails off my list. And every chance I got, I ate as much fresh roasted Hatch green chile as I could. I had it on tacos and flat enchiladas, on eggs for breakfast, and on pizzas, hamburgers, and even in scones. On my way to the airport to go back to Dallas, I'd always stop at a grocery store in Albuquerque to buy frozen Hatch chiles. I'd triple-wrap them in heavy-duty foil and hand-carry them on the plane home. I have a friend in Albuquerque who once tried to engage in a debate with me about the superiority of the green chile over the jalapeño. He said jalapeños were all heat and no flavor. I said that he was wrong. It's not an either-or situation. There's room in my pantry—and my life—for both. For Hatch and jalapeño. For Texas and New Mexico. And for France, too, which has neither, but makes up for its chile deficit in other ways. ## **GREEN CHILE-GOAT CHEESE SMASHED POTATOES** ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 1½ pounds/680 grams red-skinned potatoes, cut into 3-inch/7.5 cm chunks 1 teaspoon of sea salt 3 tablespoons of butter 3 tablespoons of cream 3½ ounces/100 grams of goat cheese ½ of a (4.5-ounce/127 gram) can of chopped green chiles sea salt and pepper **1.** Put your potatoes into a big pot along with a pinch of sea salt, and cover them with water by 4 inches/10 cm. Put the lid on, and turn the heat to high. When the pot boils, reduce the heat to low, and set the timer for 10 minutes. When it buzzes, check to see if the potatoes are ready by puncturing them with a fork—the potatoes should be soft, but not mushy. If they're ready, take them off the heat and drain them. If not, give them a few more minutes, and keep testing until they're done. **2.** After you've drained the water off of the potatoes, add the butter, and give it a stir with your big wooden spoon. Now, with the hand potato masher (or just use your wooden spoon), mash up the potatoes, so some of them are smashed and others are still in pieces—we're not going for a smooth purée. Stir in the cream, then oh so gently fold in the goat cheese and green chiles—so the goat cheese will be in bits throughout rather than completely incorporated. Serve warm. **COWGIRL TIP:** If you're close to New Mexico or any other place where you can get fresh roasted Hatch green chiles, by all means, use them. And consider yourself very lucky. **GREAT WITH:** Perfect Roast Chicken (p.265), Pistachio-Crusted Lamb Chops with Cowgirl Chimichurri (p.252), or Mexican Meatloaf (p.266) ## FRENCH BISTRO GREEN BEANS I once met a New York journalist who spent the better part of her stay in Paris seeking out the best places to eat _haricots verts_ , the slender French green bean that are a bistro and brasserie staple, which come cold, tossed in a light vinaigrette as often they do warm. She ordered an enormous plate of them for lunch at the posh Hôtel George V. She'd also eaten them the day before, for dinner. Just haricots verts. I totally got it. For as long as I can remember, I've been green bean-obsessed, and they've always been a part of our family dinners. We always had green beans for any sort of holiday, but I liked them best with fried chicken, dipped into a mound of mashed potatoes covered in cream gravy (still do). My grandmother would come to visit and she'd sit in a chair in a corner in the kitchen, underneath the window, snapping off the ends of green beans, then breaking them into pieces of twos and threes. She'd do this all afternoon—by the grocery sackful. Long and skinny, French green beans may be slenderized versions of their fat American cousins, but they're really not that different. They both squeak when you bite into them, and they both have the power to round out a memorable meal. If Texas green beans go well with a Mason jar of iced tea at the family kitchen table, haricots verts go just as nicely with a glass of _vin rouge_ at a sidewalk café or a picnic on the beach. ## FRENCH BISTRO GREEN BEANS ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS about 1 pound/500 grams green beans or haricots verts, stems removed olive oil 1 shallot, finely chopped sea salt and pepper E-Z French Vinaigrette (p.126) **1.** Put a large pot of salted water on to boil, and fill a large bowl with ice water and keep it nearby. When the water boils, add the green beans, and set the timer for 3 minutes, so they're just blanched, not cooked all the way. Pour the beans into a colander, give it a good shake, and then put the beans in the bowl of ice water. Drain the beans again. **2.** Drizzle some olive oil in your biggest skillet and add the minced shallots. Cook them on medium-low for a few minutes, just until the shallots start to become translucent. Toss in the green beans, making sure to have just one layer of beans in the skillet, so they cook evenly, and let them go for about 15 minutes or so, or until they start to brown. Put the green beans in a large bowl, toss with half of the vinaigrette (adding more if you need to), and serve warm. **GREAT WITH:** Fried Chicken Bites with Cream Gravy (p.259) or Easy Roast Chicken (p.264) **DOUBLE-DUTY:** Add Rosemary Potatoes (p.225) to your French Bistro Green Beans and vinaigrette for a great picnic side. ## STUFFED ZUCCHINI ## (COURGETTES FARCIES) One of the things I love about cooking in France is the enormous variety of cute little dishes to bake, roast, and serve things in. Maybe it's driven by the mini-me ovens and refrigerators here: if you make a lot of something you have to cook in batches, and if you have leftovers, there's no place to store them. Still, I suspect that there's a right-ramekin-for-the-job aesthetic that's hard-wired into these people. Here, in the land of Le Creuset, every recipe seems to have its own baking dish. There are bowls specifically for onion soup. Shallow, scalloped-edge dishes that are best for crème brûlées. Enormous clay pots for cassoulet. Special molds for the upside-down apple pie, tarte Tatin _,_ and another for the long, flat _langues-de-chat_ (cat's tongue cookies). And so forth. While it may be a well-contrived conspiracy by cookware manufacturers to keep cash registers ringing, Living here has taught me that there really is such a thing as the right cookware for one particular recipe. Would a madeleine be a madeleine in any other type of shape? I think not. Luckily, there's another traditional way of serving things here that's much easier on the wallet. I'm talking about _legumes farcis,_ or stuffed veggies. They're not only as cute as a little Staub cocotte, but you can also eat what they're served in, which you certainly wouldn't want to do with cast-iron. My neighborhood butcher proudly displays already-stuffed red bell peppers and sells the stuffing for DIYers—veal, pork, or a mixture of the two—but I prefer to make up my own concoction. I love the idea of stuffing veggies with veggies. I particularly like them stuffed with this meatless, cheesy mushroom mixture full of fresh herbs. They look great on a plate, and if there happen to be leftovers, they're already in their own edible containers. ## STUFFED ZUCCHINI ## (COURGETTES FARCIES) ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 3 tablespoons of olive oil 2 tablespoons of butter 1 pound/500 grams of mushrooms, diced (stems included) sea salt and pepper 1 shallot, finely chopped 4 round (or regular) zucchini about 2 tablespoons of diced red bell pepper ¾ cup/20 grams of fresh breadcrumbs ½ cup/30 grams of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus a bit more for the top about 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves about 1 teaspoon of finely chopped fresh basil about 1 teaspoon of finely chopped fresh chives about 1 teaspoon of finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley **1.** Preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C. **2.** Put 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and butter into your largest skillet and turn the heat to medium. Once this melts and the skillet's hot, add as many mushrooms as you can without crowding them (leaving space around the mushrooms allows them to brown; otherwise they'll knock into each other, sweat too much, and become watery)—you'll probably need to do this in batches. Be sure to add a pinch of salt and pepper as you go. Once the mushrooms are cooked, put them in bowl to cool off, then wipe out your skillet with a paper towel. **3.** If you're using round zucchini, simply slice off the tops; if you're using a regular, long zucchini, carefully slice off the top third (the long way), leaving the stem intact. Scoop out the flesh, and roughly chop this up. Put your hollowed-out zucchinis on a foil-lined cookie sheet. **4.** Drizzle another tablespoon of olive oil into your skillet, add the shallots, and turn the heat to medium-low. Let this cook just a few minutes, until the shallots are translucent, then add the chopped zucchini and red bell pepper. Stir until this is cooked through—the zucchini will be your guide, turning opaque—then put this in a separate bowl to cool. **5.** Mix up your breadcrumbs, Parmesan, fresh herbs, and a big pinch of salt and pepper; then add the cooled mushrooms, zucchini, and red bell pepper. Stuff your zucchini, add a bit more grated Parmesan, and slide into the oven for 45 minutes or until the tops are brown and crispy. Serve right away. **ADVANCE PLANNING:** Assemble the stuffed zucchini in the morning, and refrigerate until you're ready to bake them for dinners. **GREAT WITH:** Roasted Salmon with Kalamata Olive-Basil Salsa (p.269), Gascon-Style Pork Chops with Pepper Honey (p.256), or Easy Roast Chicken (p.264). **SWAP IT:** Don't stop at zucchini. Stuff your tomatoes, red bell peppers, eggplant, and anything else you can think of. ## ROSEMARY POTATOES If not for Antoine August Parmentier, for whom a metro stop is named in Paris, there would be no pommes frîtes, no pommes anything around here. Parmentier, a French pharmacist whose daily diet of potatoes helped him survive prison camp during the Seven Years' War, returned to Paris with a mission—to clean up the potato's bad reputation as food fit only for hogs, thought to cause leprosy in humans. His one-man PR campaign worked, and just in time to feed the country's poor, who were on the brink of starvation. And a few years later, when the French Revolution brought famine along with freedom from monarchical rule, the potatoes that had been planted in the Jardin des Tuileries saved the day. Now there are more than two hundred varieties. And with evocative names like Red Pontiac, Dolly, Sassy, Rodéo, and Colorado, it's no wonder I love French potatoes so. ## ROSEMARY POTATOES ## MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS 2 pounds/1 kilo of red-skinned potatoes, cut into 1-inch/2.5 cm pieces olive oil about 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh or dried rosemary sea salt and pepper **1.** Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C. **2.** In a large bowl, mix up your potatoes with a drizzle of olive oil, rosemary, a big pinch of salt and pepper, and spread them out on 1 or 2 parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, flipping the potatoes over to the other side about halfway through. Serve immediately. **COWGIRL TIP:** Always make more of this than you need, so you can reheat and crisp them up the next day in a skillet with a bit of olive oil. They're great with a poached egg on top, mixed into an omelette or heaped on top of My Big Fat French Salad (p.80). **GREAT WITH:** Pistachio-Crusted Lamb Chops with Cowgirl Chimichurri (p.252), Easy Roast Chicken (p.264), or Kalamata Olive Basil Salsa (p.268). ## PAN-ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS with HAZELNUTS One night, I was having dinner at Frenchie, one of Paris' hottest (and, with just twenty-eight seats, smallest) bistros, working my way through my pork fillet, when I discovered something underneath, something I hadn't recognized at first. Tiny _choux de Bruxelles,_ it turned out, that had been roasted until they were brown and caramelized. Fabulous. Well, I couldn't get to the market fast enough to fill up my straw basket with those cute little cabbage heads. How had it taken me so long to come around to Brussels sprouts? I wondered. I loved all of its cousins: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and bok choy. I felt so foolish for ignoring them all of these years. After I got my sprouts home, I roasted them, just like Frenchie's chef, Gregory Marchand had. To make things really interesting, I threw in some bacon and toasted hazelnuts, because, in my book, there's nothing that bacon and hazelnuts don't improve. ## **PAN-ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH HAZELNUTS** ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS a small handful of hazelnuts 1 pound/500 grams of Brussels sprouts, halved 4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled sea salt and pepper Hazelnut Vinaigrette (recipe follows) **1.** Toast your hazelnuts by tossing them in a cast-iron skillet (you don't want to use nonstick) over low heat. This won't take long, so watch them carefully and shake the pan around every now and then, so all sides get toasted. When you can smell them, and see that the skins are starting to lift away, pour them into a clean dish towel laid out flat on the countertop, and use the towel to rub the skins off. Don't worry if there are small bits of skin still stuck to some of the nuts; this is fine. After they've cooled off a bit, roughly chop them up. **2.** Put a pot of salted water on to boil. When the water's boiling, drop in your Brussels sprouts, and set the timer for 1 minute. Remove them, and let them drain in a colander. **3.** Heat up your cast-iron skillet again—but this time, on medium heat. When the skillet's hot—and without oil—place your Brussels sprouts, flat-side down, and cook until they're brown and roasted. Flip to the other side, and when both sides are roasted, put them in a bowl along with the hazelnuts and bacon. Salt and pepper your sprouts. **4.** Drizzle with the Hazelnut Vinaigrette and toss. Serve immediately. **SWAP IT:** Instead of hazelnuts, try toasted walnuts or pecans. **GREAT WITH:** Gascon-Style Pork Chops with Pepper Honey (p. 256) or Easy Roast Chicken (p.264). ## **HAZELNUT VINAIGRETTE** ## MAKES ½ CUP/120 ML 1 shallot, finely chopped 3 tablespoons of Champagne vinegar 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard sea salt and pepper 4 tablespoons of hazelnut oil 3 tablespoons of walnut oil 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil Put your chopped shallot, Champagne vinegar, mustard, and a big pinch of sea salt and pepper in an old jam jar and give it a shake. Let this rest for about 10 minutes, then add your oils and shake again. Taste for seasonings. ## ROASTED RATATOUILLE There are two ratatouilles in my life and I didn't feel like I could mention one without the other. There's the one you watch, and the one you eat. **Ratatouille #1: The Kind You Watch** Not long after I moved to Paris, X and I went to see _Ratatouille_ , the animated Disney movie about Remy, the country rat with dreams of learning to cook in a fancy French restaurant. This was long before I'd hatched any of my own Cowgirl Chef dreams, but I identified nonetheless with Remy, and especially his frustration with his brother Emile, who had a big appetite, but an undiscerning palate. I fought the same battles with X, who had unknowingly become my chief food tester. A few days after the movie, X bought me a "Ratatouille" coffee mug, which I began drinking my coffee out of each morning. Sometimes when I'd notice that the last slice of cake or the last few cookies had mysteriously disappeared, X would say, "I guess Emile was here again." **Ratatouille #2: The Kind You Eat** I used to make ratatouille the traditional French way, with all the veggies in a pot or a skillet stirred up together. I wanted to like it more than I actually did. It was just too mushy, and I really don't like mushy anything. After reading Alain Ducasse's cookbook, I tried chopping up everything really small. Also fine, but not great. Then, I finally got around to doing things the Cowgirl way: I roasted everything, and it was wonderful. Emile, I mean X, said it was the best he'd ever had, too. ## ROASTED RATATOUILLE ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 1 eggplant, cut into ½-inch/12 mm rounds, then quartered 2 zucchini, cut into ½-inch/12 mm rounds, then quartered 1 red bell pepper, cut into ½-inch/12 mm pieces 1 onion, chopped into ½-inch/12 mm pieces about 8 tablespoons of olive oil sea salt and pepper 12 halves of Oven-Roasted Tomatoes (p.197), quartered 4 large basil leaves, roughly torn **1.** Preheat your broiler and line 4 different cookie sheets—1 for each veggie, because they'll cook at slightly different times—with foil for easy cleanup. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. **2.** Put your eggplant on 1 cookie sheet, and the zucchini, the red bell pepper, and the onions on their own cookie sheets, too. Drizzle some olive oil on both sides of your eggplant so it won't stick (eggplant loves to do this) along with a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Now oil, salt, and pepper the other veggies and roast them one pan at a time. The eggplant will roast the quickest—usually about 10 minutes—so watch it carefully and flip the pieces over when the first side has lightly browned. Do the same with the zucchini and the red bell pepper pieces, making sure to evenly brown each side. **3.** When you've roasted all of your veggies, let them cool slightly, then toss them in a bowl with the Oven-Roasted Tomatoes and torn pieces of basil, and serve immediately or refrigerate. This is also great at room temperature. **COWGIRL TIP:** This recipe is very forgiving. If you like more eggplant, then use more eggplant. Double or triple this for a large group. ## MY GRANDMOTHER'S YELLOW SQUASH SOUFFLÉ My mom told me that her mother made this soufflé every summer when she was a teenager at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Alabama. "I just remember that I loved it, which was surprising because at the time I wasn't that crazy about yellow squash," she said. There's nothing not to like about a soufflé that features the curvy, slender-necked yellow squash, and includes tons of grated cheddar cheese and crushed Ritz crackers. My mom still makes it every summer, in the middle of the season, when there's so much squash you don't know what to do with it. And now I make my own version. It is an easy mix-it-up-in-one-pot thing; I love to whip it together whenever I get my hands on yellow squash at the one stand in the one market that seems to be the only place in town to have it. Lovely, light, cheesy, and crunchy, this soufflé goes with just about anything, from barbecue to sliced tomatoes. It's a bit old-fashioned, but that's exactly why I like it. ## **MY GRANDMOTHER'S YELLOW SQUASH SOUFFLÉ** ## MAKES 8 SERVINGS 1 onion, sliced 3 to 4 medium yellow squash, sliced 2 cups/160 grams of crushed Ritz crackers 2 cups/4 ounces/130 grams of grated cheddar cheese 2 eggs 1 cup/240 ml of milk sea salt and pepper **1.** Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C and grease an 8 × 8-inch/20 × 20 cm casserole dish. **2.** Toss the onions and squash in a medium saucepan, and just barely cover the veggies with water. Cover, turn the heat to medium-high, and when it boils, turn the heat down to a simmer. Let this go for 10 to 15 minutes or until the veggies are tender. Drain off the water, leaving the veggies in the pot—this will be your mixing bowl. **3.** Mix your grated cheese with the Ritz cracker crumbs, and scoop out 1½ cups/100 grams for the top and set aside. **4.** In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs with the milk. **5.** Add the cheese and crushed crackers to the squash, stir this around with a wooden spoon, then add the milk, eggs, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour this into your casserole dish, sprinkle the rest of the cheese and Ritz cracker crumbs on top, and bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the soufflé is set. Serve warm. **GREAT WITH:** Gascon-Style Pork Chops with Pepper Honey (p. 256). Mexican Meatloaf (p.266), or Fried Chicken Bites with Cream Gravy (p.258) ## **CHAPTER 7** ## From the Farm and Sea People come to France and they say it changes them. Forever changes how they see food—how they relate to it, make it, eat it. Julia Child. Dorie Greenspan. Alice Waters. Countless others. It's true: Before you know it, you won't look at a chicken the same way, or a stick of salty butter, or a baguette, an egg, a potato, anything. You won't be able to see anything without thinking about where it came from, how it was raised or grown, who did the tending. You shop and you get to know farmers, butchers, cheese makers, fishmongers. Knowing the producers— _les producteurs_ —makes it personal. Take chickens. Go to any butcher shop in Paris and you'll see a variety of chickens, heads and feet still attached and neatly curled to one side, so you can see what kind of bird it is. A chicken with a red head, one with yellow feathers, one with black feet—when you choose your chicken, you choose _your_ chicken, not just any old headless industrial prepackaged bird in a grocery case. You may watch, like I do, as the butcher chops off the head and feet, and uses a blowtorch to burn off the last few remaining feathers. You take the chicken home, and you unwrap it. Then you do whatever you're going to do with it. It's a process, and by going through this process, you connect. That's why I called this chapter "Farm and Sea," not "Beef, Chicken, Pork, and Fish." If you live in France for any length of time, one of the most annoying things is the slow-pokey way many things are still done here. It is not an on-demand, right-now sort of place. But this old-school mentality, of meeting people in person when an e-mail would certainly do, grows on you. In fact, it's what made me become more closely linked to, and more appreciative of, what I cook and what I eat. I actually know the man I get my goat cheese from. Heck, I even know the goats. Sandy the goat cheese man hasn't hired an ad agency to design a slick logo for his cheese. And he'd laugh out loud if he heard me describe his products as "artisanal." But Sandy, who raises his own goats and sheep and makes cheese from their milk by hand, is indeed an artisan. Just as the butcher and the fishmonger, and the bread maker and pastry chef are. There's nothing trendy about it. They're just doing things the same way things have always been done. By hand, in person. There's next to no marketing about it. It's just an honest farm-to-market business, where customers get to know who's making, who's growing, what we're eating. The idea of knowing where your food comes from isn't anything new. But I had to move from a small town in Texas to a big city in France to experience it firsthand, to meet the people and make the connections, and I'm forever changed because of it. ## TONI'S LAMB It was on a press trip, those awful group events for travel writers that involve military-like schedules, required group breakfasts, and unrelenting itineraries, that I first met Toni De Coninck. I usually avoid press trips, but I couldn't say no to a first-class ticket to Madrid. So there we were in Spain. He was a food and travel writer from Belgium, and over tapas and Tio Pepe and group bus rides to museums, we struck up a friendship. When it was over, we said our goodbyes and swapped e-mail addresses, and I figured he'd just fade away. But he didn't. And I didn't either. We kept on writing, and calling (this was way before Skype). A year or two later, Toni came to visit me in Dallas, and a few years after that, I saw him in Brussels. He got married and had two kids, I met X and moved to Paris; along the way, we all had dinner together at Toni's house in Ghent. That's when he made this lamb. It was springtime, the perfect time for lamb. We also had the season's first asparagus, which he and I were both excited about. I'm not sure if Toni knew then that braised lamb was my favorite dish or not, but it is just the sort of thing that he would figure out. When I asked him for the recipe, he sent me a note with a list of ingredients, including, "garlic, left in their jackets." I just loved that. This one's for my sweet Tonissimo. ## TONI'S LAMB ## MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS sea salt and pepper 2 to 3 pounds/1 to 1½ kilos of lamb shoulder olive oil 1 onion, sliced into half-moons 5 cloves of garlic, left in their jackets 1 cup/240 ml of a dry red wine, such as a Pinot Noir (see Cowgirl Tip) 1 cup/240 ml of water 2 tablespoons of tomato paste 1 cinnamon stick 5 whole cloves 3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 3-inch/7.5 cm fingers 5 red-skinned potatoes, chopped into 2-inch/5 cm chunks a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for serving **1.** Preheat your oven to 300°F/150°C and position a rack in the lowest part of the oven. **2.** Salt and pepper your lamb, put a little bit of olive oil in the bottom of a Dutch oven, and turn the heat to medium-high. When it's nice and hot, brown your lamb on the top, bottom, and all sides, turning the meat with your tongs. When you're finished, remove the lamb and let it rest on a plate. **3.** Turn down your heat to medium-low. If there's still some oil in the bottom of the pot, go ahead and add your onions—if not, drizzle a tiny bit more—and let them cook just a few minutes, just until they begin to soften. Toss in the garlic. Now add your wine and water, and with a wooden spoon, scrape all of the brown bits off the bottom—this is the key to making a merely good braise really great. Let this reduce by half—it'll just take about 5 minutes, stirring all the while—then you can add your tomato paste, cinnamon stick, and cloves. Put the lamb back into the pot, and scatter the carrots and potatoes all around. **4.** Tear off a big piece of parchment paper and press it right down into your pot, directly onto the lamb, veggies, and the juices. Even though we're putting a tight lid on the pot before it goes into the oven, this helps push more of the moisture down back into the meat, which will make it even that much more tender. It'll also make the sauce more concentrated and yummy. **5.** Cover your pot and slide it onto the lowest rack and set the timer for 15 minutes, so you can check back and see if it's simmering. If it is, great; if not, adjust the temperature. Let this cook for 2 to 2½ hours, checking every now and then, and pulling it out to flip the meat over. It's ready when it just takes the gentle push of a wooden spoon for the meat to fall apart. Let it cool in the pot, with the lid on, for a couple of hours. You can eat it right away, but I like to make this a day in advance, because it always tastes better the day after, so I usually just slide it into the fridge until the next day. **6.** To warm up your lamb, preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Put the meat in a casserole with some of the juices, cover with foil, and let it warm through, for 30 to 45 minutes. Serve with chopped parsley and crusty bread on the side with the roasted garlic. **COWGIRL TIP:** Pinot Noir wines have a subtle though intense, velvety, and long-lasting flavor and light tannins, making them the perfect match for lamb. ## STEAK FRÎTES with ROQUEFORT SAUCE The biggest problem with the beef in France? It's not Angus. As a Texan, I was raised on Angus beef. Burgers, barbecue, steaks on the grill—all Angus. We had a second freezer in the garage just to store the tender bacon-wrapped filet mignon steaks my parents would order from a cattle rancher. The biggest difference between beef at home and in France is that most beef in the U.S. is slaughtered at two to three years-old versus five to ten here, so French beef is naturally going to be tougher because it's older. The more this meat is cooked, the harder it is to chew. Which may be why the French prefer their steaks bloody rare. X was tired of hearing me complain about the inferiority of French beef, so he took it upon himself to research some of the best places in Paris for _steak frîtes._ One night, we went over to Le Petit Chavignol, a little family-run bistro in the 17th arrondissement. We sat outside and ordered a carafe of wine and steak frîtes with Roquefort sauce. The steak and frîtes filled up the entire oval platter; the Roquefort sauce was in a little ceramic ramekin on the side. I cut off a piece and dunked it into the rich blue cheese sauce. When the owner, Bernard Roque-Bouges, came over to say hello, I told him that I was from Texas and that his beef was excellent. He told me it came from his brother's cattle ranch in the Languedoc region. X and I soon became regulars, and one afternoon Bernard invited me into the kitchen and showed me how to make his Roquefort sauce. It is not low-cal, and it is not going to be on anyone's "healthy foods" list. But it is a damn fine sauce, and it'll put you right in the middle of a bistro in Paris, wherever you happen to be. ## BISTRO-STYLE STEAK ## MAKES 2 SERVINGS 2 (8-ounce/225 gram) New York strip steaks, about 1-inch/2.5 cm thick sea salt and pepper olive oil **1.** Preheat your broiler and salt and pepper your steaks on both side. **2.** Drizzle a bit—only a little—of olive oil in a cast-iron skillet, and turn the heat on medium-high. When the skillet's hot, sear your steaks on both sides, then slide the skillet into the oven for a total of 8 minutes — flipping the steak over after 4 minutes so it cooks evenly. Let the steaks rest, loosely covered with foil, for 5 minutes. Serve them on a plate heaped with frîtes, and the Roquefort sauce on the side. ## **ROQUEFORT SAUCE** ## MAKES ABOUT 1½ CUPS/360 ML ½ stick/60 grams of butter 2 shallots, finely chopped 2 tablespoons of a dry white wine, such as a Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay 2 tablespoons of water 1¾ cup/420 ml of sour cream or crème fraîche 5 ounces/150 grams of Roquefort cheese sea salt and pepper a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg **1.** Warm your butter in a small saucepan over low heat and add the shallots. Let them cook for a few minutes, or just until they become translucent. **2.** In another small saucepan, warm your wine and water over medium heat. Let this cook until it reduces by half—this will only take about 5 minutes. **3.** Add the crème fraîche or sour cream and Roquefort to the saucepan with the butter and shallots, and whisk to incorporate. Add the reduced water and wine mixture and season with salt, pepper, and a tiny bit of nutmeg. Cook over low heat until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Serve warm, in a little bowl, as a dipping sauce for your steak (and frîtes). ## OVEN-ROASTED POMMES FRÎTES ## MAKES 2 SERVINGS ½ pound/500 grams of starchy potatoes, such as Idaho, peeled olive oil sea salt and pepper **1.** Preheat your oven to 450°F/230°C and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. **2.** Slice your potatoes into fat sticks (or skinny, depending on your preference), and give them a rinse under cold water—this'll help remove some of the starch — then put them in a bowl of fresh cold water with a big pinch of sea salt and let them soak for about 10 minutes. **3.** Drain off the water and dry your potatoes by wrapping them up in a dish towel (or two if you need to). Make sure the potatoes are nice and dry before proceeding to the next step, because if they're not dry, the olive oil won't adhere. **4.** Put your potatoes on the cookie sheet, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, some sea salt and pepper, and give them a good toss. Spread them out and make sure there's space between them, or they won't get crispy. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are browned on the edges. Serve immediately. ## SALMON with LENTILS Lentils in France are mostly a winter thing. I know that. But I became so smitten with the delicate, petite _lentilles du Puy_ that I didn't see why I couldn't have them other times of the year. No one ever said that I couldn't. Lentils that have the _du Puy_ name are the most prized lentils in France. Like Roquefort, Champagne, and other French specialties, du Puy lentils are fiercely protected with their own A.O.C. status, or _Appellation d'origine contrôlée_. That means that only lentils grown in the legally defined geographic area around the Gallo-Roman town of Le-Puy-en-Velay in the Auvergne region in the middle of the country can claim the du Puy appellation. These lentils have a clean, minerally, almost fruity flavor, which is due to the volcanic soil they're grown in. When they're properly cooked and you bite into them, there's a bit of a pop through the skin to the lentils' tender insides. The tiny green lentils called "French lentils" in the United States. are similar, but they're not quite the same. If you can find du Puy lentils, by all means, buy them. Seek them out. I always have a box of these lentils in my cupboard, and I love them like a true _Parisienne._ As for proper and effortless scarf tying, I'm still working on that. ## SALMON WITH LENTILS ## MAKES 2 SERVINGS _I love this dish best in the summer, served at room temperature, but you may also eat this warm._ ½ cup/115 ml of a dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay 2 5-ounce/150 gram salmon fillets 2 pieces of lemon zest, each about 3 inches/7.5 cm long 1 teaspoon of peppercorns a sprig of fresh basil, plus a few leaves for serving sea salt 2 cups/470 grams of cooked French Lentils (recipe follows) a handful of cherry tomatoes, halved 2 tablespoons of fresh goat cheese a small handful of pine nuts, toasted balsamic vinegar, for serving (optional) **1.** Put your wine, ½ cup/ 115 ml of water, salmon, lemon zest, peppercorns, and basil sprig in a shallow skillet with a big pinch of sea salt. Turn the heat to medium and when it starts to simmer, cover and set the timer for 5 minutes. Check for doneness and if you need it to go a little bit more, just reset your timer for another couple of minutes—this really doesn't take long. When the salmon's cooked, remove it from the liquid then pop it in the fridge, let cool, until you're ready to eat. **2.** To serve, get out a couple of soup bowls, and put about a cupful of cold or room temperature lentils in each one. Flake your salmon over the lentils, add the cherry tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of goat cheese to each bowl, tear up a few basil leaves, and sprinkle on the pine nuts. I usually add a little splash of balsamic vinegar too—it goes really nicely with the lentils. **COWGIRL TIP:** Although Sauvignon Blanc is the best known dry white wine grape, some Chardonnays are quite dry too, and would work just fine here. As would a Chablis, which is made from the Chardonnay grape as well. When in doubt, simply ask your wine purveyor. ## **FRENCH LENTILS** ## MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS olive oil 1 onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, minced 2 carrots, diced 3 cups/720 ml of Save Your Scraps! Veggie Stock (p.114), or you may use store-bought 1 pound/500 g of lentils du Puy or small green lentils, rinsed 1 bay leaf a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme sea salt and pepper **1.** Drizzle a bit of olive oil in a heavy stockpot, add the onions and garlic, and turn the heat to medium-low. Let this cook just until the onions become translucent, just a few minutes, then toss in your carrots. Stir them around and let them cook for a few minutes, too. **2.** Add 4 cups/1 liter of water and your veggie stock along with the lentils, the bay leaf, thyme, and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Put the lid on and turn the heat up to medium. When it boils, turn the heat back down to a simmer and cook until the lentils are tender but not mushy, for about an hour. Taste for seasonings and serve hot, cold, or at room temperature. ## PROVENÇAL FISH STEW I once spent an entire afternoon getting far too much sun with a friend of mine at the Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct that stretches over the Gard River. The spot on the river has no doubt been a great swimming hole and the bridge a perfect jumping point for teenage boys since the first century, back when the aqueduct was built. We stayed in a tiny town not far from Uzès, where people still hang cloth sacks on their front doors, many of them painted Provençal blue, for the next day's baguette delivery. Worn out from the sun, I sat on the balcony overlooking the clay tile rooftops and fields of sunflowers—yes, I realize how postcardy this sounds, but this _is_ the south of France—and drank a cool glass of rosé while my friend warmed up leftover soup she'd made the day before. It was light. Summery. And filled with chunks of fresh white fish and shrimp. Nothing like the heavy _soupes de poisson_ I'd tasted before. Back in Paris, I unpacked my bags, went to my neighborhood _poissonnerie,_ bought some fish and shrimp, and created this recipe. Because even though it's just a few hours away on the high-speed TGV, I can't always get to Provence. ## PROVENÇAL FISH STEW ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS **Homemade Fish Stock** olive oil fish trimmings, such as a couple of heads from mild white fish and shrimp shells 2 leeks, sliced 2 carrots, roughly chopped 2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and cut in half 1 teaspoon of peppercorns a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley 1 cup/240 ml of a dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay 1 (6-ounce/170 gram) can of tomato paste sea salt and pepper **Fish Stew** olive oil 2 cloves of garlic, minced Homemade Fish Stock (see recipe above) about ¾ pound/340 grams of red-skinned potatoes, cut into 1-inch/2.5 cm pieces 2 large summer tomatoes, seeds removed and juices reserved a pinch of cayenne pepper sea salt and pepper ½ pound/225 grams of a medium-firm white fish, such as halibut or sea bass, cut into 1-inch/2.5 cm chunks ½ pound/225 grams of shelled, raw shrimp ½ pound/225 grams of mussels a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped **1.** Make your fish stock. Drizzle a little olive oil in your stockpot and turn the heat to medium. Toss in the shrimp shells (and fish heads, too, if you have them), and cook for about 5 minutes. Now add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and let cook for 5 more minutes. Add 6 cups/1.4 liters of water along with the peppercorns, parsley, and bay leaf, the wine, tomato paste, and a pinch of sea salt and pepper. **2.** Bring this to a boil, skim the foam off the top, and reduce the heat to a simmer for an hour. Let this cool off a little, then strain your stock through a piece of cheesecloth placed over a mesh strainer. You should have about 4 cups/1 liter of stock, which is what you'll need to make the soup. At this point, you may refrigerate your stock and make the soup the next day—it'll just take 30 minutes—or go ahead to the next step. **3.** To make the stew, put a bit of olive oil in your stockpot and turn the heat to medium. Add the minced garlic and let this cook for a couple of minutes, or until you can smell your garlic. Add 4 cups/1 liter of your fish stock and the potatoes, loosely cover, and let this go until the potatoes are cooked, about 15 to 20 minutes. While this is cooking, de-beard your mussels by simply wiping the edges, and pulling the beards off gently with a dish towel—don't rinse the mussels or put them in water, or they'll open up. **4.** Tear up the tomatoes with your hands, and add this to the soup along with a pinch of cayenne. Taste, and adjust your seasonings. Now you can add your fish, shrimp, and mussels and turn the heat to low. Stand over this, stir frequently, and in just 2 minutes, the fish, shrimp, and mussels, should be cooked. Serve immediately in big bowls, with a bit of chopped parsley, hunks of crusty bread, and the rest of your white wine. **COWGIRL TIP:** Call your fish shop ahead of time and ask if they can put aside some trimmings for your stock. ## PISTACHIO-CRUSTED LAMB CHOPS with COWGIRL CHIMICHURRI There's a Greek place that X and I go to sometimes, at the bottom of the 16th arrondissement not far from the Seine, where the walls are painted a bright sunny yellow—to remind the owners, I guess, of a place that's far less gray than Paris. It is not fancy. There's a stand-up counter for lunch and a separate dining room for sit-down eating at night, which is when we usually go. I usually order the _kefte,_ ground lamb that's mixed with Greek spices, shaped into a torpedo, then skewered and cooked on a grill. With _frîtes._ And a salad with enormous chunks of feta, the best kalamata olives I've found in Paris, and fat wedges of tomato with a sprinkle of dried oregano on top. I have always loved lamb. I don't remember ever not loving lamb. The first time that I tasted it was at a Greek restaurant in Dallas. I was instantly hooked, and even during my vegetarian period, I still ate lamb. It was my very non-vegetarian dirty little secret. Now the secret's out. I will eat lamb chops, lamb legs, lamb shoulders, lamb whatever-you-can-think-of. Braise it, grill it, throw it in the oven, I don't care. As long as it's lamb and not dressed-up mutton, you can slide the plate on over. ## **PISTACHIO-CRUSTED LAMB CHOPS WITH COWGIRL CHIMICHURRI** ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS 6 tablespoons/50 grams of pistachios, toasted and ground 2 tablespoons of homemade plain breadcrumbs* ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon ⅛ teaspoon of cumin sea salt and pepper 8 lamb chops, nicely trimmed olive oil Cowgirl Chimichurri (recipe follows) **1.** Mix up your pistachios, breadcrumbs, cinnamon, cumin, and salt and pepper in shallow bowl. **2.** Take out the lamb chops, rub a little bit of olive oil all over them, and one by one, dredge them in the pistachio mixture, making sure to evenly coat both sides. Put the chops on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and pop in the fridge for 3 to 4 hours or overnight. **3.** When you're ready to cook the chops, take them out an hour ahead of time and let them come to room temperature so they'll cook evenly, and preheat your oven to 500°F/260°C. **4.** Lay the chops out on a foil-lined cookie sheet (this will help save you time cleaning up), and slide into the oven and cook for 10 minutes or until a thermometer reads 130°F/55°C—this should give you a nice medium-rare chop. Remove the chops from the oven, loosely cover with foil, and let them rest for 5 minutes. Plate your chops, one flat, and the other leaning against it (fancy!), with a spoonful of Cowgirl Chimichurri on top. ***** To make your own breadcrumbs: Simply put a few pieces of stale bread in a food processor and pulse until the crumbs are small and fine. Store in a plastic bag in your freezer. **GREAT WITH:** Maple-Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Cocoa Nibs (p.215). Green Chile-Goat Cheese Smashed Potatoes (p.217), or My Grandmother's Yellow Squash Soufflé (p.233). ## **COWGIRL CHIMICHURRI** ## MAKES ABOUT ⅓ CUP/75 ML 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 1 tablespoon of finely chopped red onion 1 jalapeño, finely chopped 1 teaspoon of sugar sea salt and pepper 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar 3 tablespoons of olive oil Put everything but the olive oil in a small bowl and stir it all together. Let this rest for 15 minutes or so, then add the oil. **DOUBLE DUTY:** This chimichurri is great on just about anything that you can think of—on top of lamb or beef, and on salmon and other seafood, too. ## GASCON-STYLE PORK CHOPS with PEPPER HONEY Expats tend to seek each other out, and it's no different with Americans. Besides a common language, we've got the same frame of reference, and even though we may not know each other yet, we already have a shared history. We're from the States, and now we're here, in France, where we all struggle with the language, the culture, the overall Frenchness of it all. I don't remember how Kate Hill, who grew up in Arizona and other places in the West, and I found each other. I just know that when I got her first e-mail to me that said, "Are you free for a chin wag tomorrow?" I liked her instantly. Chin wag? I couldn't wait for her call. As soon after our first two-hour chat as I could, I hopped on the TGV to visit Kate in Gascony, where she's taught cooking classes for the last twenty-five years and lives in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in the tiny hamlet of Camont, a few hours southeast of Bordeaux. She's one of the leaders of the artisanal butchery and charcuterie movement, and is on staff at the School of Artisan Food in the U.K. The skies are big in Gascony, and the sun heats up far beyond what I'd ever experienced in Paris. It reminded me of Texas, I told her, and I began calling her Cowgirl Kate. I pulled weeds in her garden, gathered eggs from the chickens, and I sat outside, underneath the vine-covered trellis, and shelled coco beans for dinner. She introduced me to the Gascon brandy, Armagnac. We sipped it together one night on her canal barge, the Julia Hoyt. Moored in the Garonne River, we drank, and ate _tourteau_ , the crab-shaped cake made from goat's cheese. The last day of my visit, Kate fired up her Gascon-style barbecue, a helmet-shaped wood-burning grill, and cooked the most tender pork chops I'd ever tasted. Drizzled with _miel de poivre_ , or pepper honey, that she'd made a few days before, they were out of this world. The food was so good and we were having such fun that I missed my train and had to stay another night. I really hated that. ## **GASCON-STYLE PORK CHOPS WITH PEPPER HONEY** ## MAKES 2 SERVINGS 2 pork chops, each 1-inch/2.5 cm thick Armagnac or a good bourbon sea salt and pepper a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves removed Pepper Honey (recipe follows) **1.** Get out your pork chops 1 hour before you want to cook them, so they'll be at room temperature. This is really important—from-the-fridge chops won't cook evenly. **2.** Preheat your broiler, and lay your chops out on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Splash a little Armagnac or bourbon on both sides of the chops and rub it in. **3.** When the oven's nice and hot, salt and pepper your chops, sprinkle some fresh thyme on top, and slide them in. Cook for 6 minutes, flip the chops over, and cook for 6 minutes more (for a medium chop). Put a piece of foil over the chops and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle more fresh thyme, and drizzle some Pepper Honey over each chop and serve. **GREAT WITH:** Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Hazelnuts (p.228) or My Grandmother's Yellow Squash Soufflé (p.233). ## **PEPPER HONEY** ## (MIEL DE POIVRE) ## MAKES ABOUT 1¾ CUPS/420 ML 1 lemon 2 cups/400 grams of sugar 2 small handfuls of black peppercorns **1.** With your vegetable peeler, zest your lemon and put the strips of rind aside. Juice your lemon. **2.** Put ¾ cup/180 ml of water in a medium-size saucepan, add the peppercorns and bring this to a boil—it won't take long. Then, cook this for just 5 more minutes on low heat, then strain, reserving the peppercorns and the cooking liquid; you'll need it in the next step. **3.** Put the dark-colored water back in your saucepan, then add the sugar, strips of lemon zest, and juice. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is thick, about 5 minutes. **4.** Now, add the peppercorns back to the syrup, and cook on low heat for a final 5 minutes. **5.** Remove from the heat, pour into an old jam jar, and let cool. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** **1.** Stuff pears with a tablespoonful of goat's cheese, slide them into a 400°F/200°C oven for 15 to 20 minutes, and when you're ready to serve, drizzle some of this on top. **2.** Spoon the Pepper Honey over slices of Manchego, brebis, or any other hard cheese for dessert. **3.** Stir a spoonful of Pepper Honey into your tea. ## FRIED CHICKEN BITES with CREAM GRAVY In spite of my phobia of anything that might involve steam tables, soggy bacon, and lukewarm glasses of Champagne mixed with orange juice concentrate, there is one brunch I look forward to each year. On Christmas Day, after all of the presents have been opened, and homemade cinnamon rolls have been eaten, my mom moves on to the day's main attraction, what we've all been waiting for, our very Southern brunch. Mom ties on her red apron, scoots into the kitchen, and with two large electric skillets, she gets to work on the chicken, frying the breasts in one skillet and the legs and thighs in the other. The biscuits have already been cut out and lined up on extra-large cookie sheets, their tops buttered. The sausage casserole is already in the oven. The eggs, broken and in a bowl, ready to be scrambled. The grits, measured in a cup, next to a pot of water that'll soon boil. Cheese, grated, on the side. When the chicken's finished frying, Mom scrapes and stirs around the brown bits on the bottom, until it's transformed into a milky-thick, peppery cream gravy, just like the one her mother made. When she finally takes off her apron, we all sit down, passing every plate, bowl, and biscuit-filled basket until we've all gotten plates that are far too full, as we soon will be. I make this, a smaller bite-size version of what Mom cooks in her side-by-side skillets. I'll serve them for dinner, a Southern tapas party, or even for lunch. Something this good can't wait till Christmas. ## **FRIED CHICKEN BITES WITH CREAM GRAVY** ## MAKES ENOUGH FOR 4 1 pound/500 grams of skinless boneless chicken breasts (about 4) 1 cup/240 ml of buttermilk 2 cups/250 grams plus 2 tablespoons of flour sea salt and pepper a pinch of cayenne pepper vegetable oil 2 cups/16 ounces/480 ml of milk **1.** Cut the chicken breasts into 2-inch/5 cm pieces and toss them in a plastic bag. Pour in the buttermilk, and squish it all around to make sure all of the chicken is well coated. You may need a bit more buttermilk to submerge all of the chicken; if so, pour a bit more on. Don't be stingy. Put the plastic bag with the buttermilk and chicken in a bowl, and slide this into the fridge for 8 hours or overnight. **2.** When you're ready to fry the chicken, before you do anything, take your chicken out 1 hour beforehand—cold chicken will not cook evenly, and it'll completely mess up your frying temperature, so make sure your chicken is at room temperature. Turn the oven on to 200°F/100°C, and layer some paper towels on your biggest cookie sheet and put a wire cooling rack on top of that, so the fried chicken will stay crisp. **3.** Pour about ½ inch/12 mm of vegetable oil in a skillet or a deep stockpot (this is what I use, and although it's smaller, and I must work in batches, it reduces the amount of splattering). Turn the heat to medium-high, and clip your candy or deep-frying thermometer to the side of the pot, but don't let it touch the bottom, or it won't give an accurate reading. When the mercury reaches 350°F/175°C, you're ready. **4.** Put your flour, a big pinch of salt and pepper, and cayenne pepper in a plastic bag and give it a good shake. Add a few chicken pieces, give them a good shake so they're well covered, then pull each piece out one by one and shake off the excess flour. Do this with all of the chicken pieces and lay them on a plate. **5.** Fry the chicken a few pieces at a time, making sure not to crowd the pot and to turn the pieces over so they brown evenly. Keep the lid partially on, to keep splatters to a minimum. Because the pieces are small, this will only take about 4 to 5 minutes per batch. Once they're cooked, remove the chicken pieces, and put them on the rack over the cookie sheet and pop into your oven so they'll stay warm and crisp. **6.** After you've fried all of your chicken, it's time to make the gravy. Pour all but about 2 tablespoons of oil out of the pot, making sure to leave the brown crunchy bits, and turn the heat down to low. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons flour over the oil and stir constantly until it begins to turn a nutty brown color—you're making a roux. Once you've gotten the right color, keep stirring and slowly add the milk. Stir and stir until it thickens—it won't take more than 5 minutes or so—and you've got gravy. Serve on the side, and dip away. ## BUCKWHEAT CRÊPES with HAM, GRUYÈRE, and EGG ## (LA CRÊPE COMPLÈTE) I remember my first, bought from a street vendor along the Seine, somewhere near Notre Dame. Stuffed with ham and melted Gruyère, hot off the griddle and wrapped in a too-thin white paper napkin. On that inaugural trip and subsequent visits to France, crêpes became my go-to to-go comfort food, something familiar, something cheap, something you could walk around with and eat. When I returned to Texas, I started making them myself, with ham and cheese, just like the ones I had eaten in Paris. I found out later that I was making the wrong kind. This is France, and there are rules. There are crêpes and there are galettes. Crêpes are made with white flour and galettes are made with buckwheat flour. Crêpes are for sugary fillings, like Nutella, the sugary chestnut paste _crème de marrons_ , and salty caramel sauce. Galettes tend to be for salty fillings, like ham and cheese. But to confuse matters, they are all known casually as crêpes, as in, "I'm in the mood for a crêpe." You wouldn't say galette, even though that's what you meant, and you'd never find a restaurant that specializes in galettes and crêpes calling itself a galetterie; it is always a crêperie. Got it? X and I have been going to Crêperie Josselin in Montparnasse for as long as I can remember. Considered one of the best in Paris, it's owned by 68-year-old Marie-Therese Benuzzi, who has run the place since she opened it in 1969, and who still presides over the crêpe-making two nights a week. Marie-Therese's famous crêpes and galettes are as thin and lacy as the Brittany lace curtains in the windows. One afternoon, she showed me how to make them. Into a large plastic pail that looked more suited for washing clothes, she added eggs and dumped containers of milk with one hand, and with the other, which she'd made into a fist, she stirred. By feel. No recipe. That, she told me, was how she got the right consistency. Marie-Therese made a crêpe to demonstrate how it's supposed to be done. The batter must be spread quickly and with a light touch, or you'll get thick, lopsided crêpes, she said. (Unlike American pancakes, which are simply poured onto the griddle, crêpes need a little help.) This crêpe, called _la crêpe complète_ , (actually a galette since it's made with buckwheat flour), is one that you'll find at any crêperie in France. It's the most basic, and usually the most inexpensive crêpe on the menu. I love these best because they're so simple, and because they remind me of that first one. You always remember your first. ## **BUCKWHEAT CRÊPES WITH HAM, GRUYÈRE, AND EGG** ## SERVES 4 (MAKES ABOUT EIGHT 10-INCH/25 CM CRÊPES TOTAL) 2 cups /250 grams of buckwheat flour 2 tablespoons of flour 1 teaspoon of sea salt 1 egg, beaten ½ stick/55 grams of butter, melted, plus a little more melted butter for cooking the crêpes about 2 cups/480 ml of milk 4 slices of ham 1 cup/65 grams of grated Gruyère or Emmental cheese 4 eggs **1.** First, make your crêpes. Whisk together the buckwheat flour, regular flour, and sea salt. Now, add the beaten egg, 4 tablespoons of melted butter, and as much of the milk as you need to make a batter that's not too thick and not too runny—it should look and feel like a thin pancake batter. I usually use almost all of the milk to get the right consistency, saving about ¼ cup/60 ml to add in later, right before I cook these up. Cover with plastic wrap and let this rest for at least 4 hours before you make the crêpes— _très important!_ —crêpe batter needs to rest before it can become tasty French pancakes. **2.** When it's crêpe-making time, check your batter to make sure it's still the right consistency—it may have thickened up a little, so just add some milk to thin it out if you need to. Now, dip a paper towel into a little bit of the remaining melted butter, and spread it around on your largest non-stick skillet on so there's a thin, even coating all over. Turn the heat to medium, and when the skillet's nice and hot, add a couple of tablespoonfuls of crêpe batter and with a spatula, lightly spread the batter around as thin as you can—they have these very cute wooden T-shaped sticks for this very purpose in France, and you twirl the "T" around in a circle in the middle of the batter—but a spatula will work just fine. Crêpes cook much like American pancakes—when you see bubbles appear, you know that it's getting done, so flip the crêpe over when this happens. Cook on the other side for just about 30 seconds, and then repeat with the rest of the batter until it's all gone and you have a stack of freshly made crêpes on your kitchen counter. You can let these cool and put them in a plastic bag, as I often do, and put them in the fridge until you're ready for crêpes, or make some right away. **3.** To make your ham and cheese crêpe _s,_ simply butter the skillet again with a little butter on a paper towel, and turn the heat to medium-low. Lay your already-cooked crêpe on its most cooked side down, so it'll get nice and crispy around the edges. Put one piece of ham in the middle, and a small handful of shredded cheese, and let this go for about 30 seconds, or until the cheese begins to melt. Now, the fun part—crack an egg directly onto the ham, and cover with a lid or bowl, so the egg will cook. Check this after about a minute, and see if the egg has begun to set; just keep peeking until it's done. With your spatula, just fold over the edges of your crêpe a little, and slide onto a plate. Repeat with the other 3 crêpes. Serve immediately. ## EASY ROAST CHICKEN With _le coq_ as its national mascot, it's no surprise that the French are big on chicken. Chickens, just like wine, are designated by color and the area they come from. They've got yellow chickens, _poulets jaunes_ , so called because the chickens are raised on a corn diet, which turns their skin yellow. Black chickens, _poulets noirs_ , which have black skin and black feet, and black feathers, too, before they're all plucked. There's even a chicken that comes in the colors of the French flag, the prized _poulet de Bresse_ , with its red crown, white feathers, and blue feet. Organic and free-range, the A.O.C.-protected Bresse, from the Bresse region near Alsace, are the most expensive chickens you can find in France, costing as much as 17 euros a kilo. King Henry IV, who promised every one of his subjects "a chicken in every pot," wouldn't be too pleased about such pricey _poulet_ , but he'd probably be happy to know that France is the number-one producer of chicken in the EU, and that every person in France now eats an average of 24 kilograms (about 53 pounds) of chicken each year. I try to do my part. More often than not, what I make is a simple roast chicken with a _poulet jaune_ from Challans in the Loire region. My butcher says these are the juiciest and sweetest of the bunch, and they may well be. I'm still saving for a _poulet de Bresse_. ## EASY ROAST CHICKEN ## SERVES 4 1 (3-pound/1½ kilo) chicken 4 to 5 tablespoons of olive oil sea salt and pepper herbs de Provence 1 onion, cut into 8 wedges 1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges a few sprigs of fresh thyme **1.** Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. **2.** Rub your chicken all over—and in the cavity, too—with olive oil and generously salt, pepper, and sprinkle with herbs de Provence. Stuff the pieces of the onion and lemon in the cavity, along with some of the thyme. Carefully reach under the skin covering the breast and slide in a few pieces of thyme where you can. Truss if you'd like, though this chicken will roast just fine if you don't. Put the chicken in your roasting pan and pop it in the oven, breast-side up, on the middle rack. **3.** Cook the chicken for 20 minutes, then flip over to the other side for another 20, and back with the breast-side up for the final 20 minutes. (The rule for chicken is 20 minutes per pound, so if you've got a bigger chicken, give it the time that it needs.) The chicken's ready when the drumstick easily wiggles, the juices run clear, or a meat thermometer registers 180°F/85°C degrees when placed in the thigh. Take the chicken out of the oven and let it rest, covered with a foil tent, for 15 minutes before carving. **GREAT WITH:** Rosemary Potatoes (p.225), or French Bistro Green Beans (p.219). ## TEX-MEX MEATLOAF My quest to find a really great hamburger in Paris has been a flop. Good burgers just don't exist here.* The patty is usually small and thick as a hockey puck, and it's either far too dry or not cooked enough. Then there's the issue of the buns, which are dinner-roll size and even smaller than the burger itself. Either that or they're faux American-style white buns that are far too large for the patty, never buttered and cooked on the griddle, and almost always dry or stale. I eventually gave up, and I asked myself what qualities I looked for in a good burger. Texture. Juiciness. Great flavor. Three qualities that make a good burger _and_ a great meatloaf. I spent the better part of a week one year playing around with meatloaf recipes, using the ground beef in France. To no avail: Because the beef here's so lean, I always ended up with a dry loaf, no matter what I did. Pork is another story. Our cow is their pig. The French love pork, and good pork is easy to find here. So I asked my butcher to grind up a mix of pork and beef, with enough pork fat to make it moist and tasty. I pulled out my grandmother's recipe and borrowed a few of her secret ingredients—grated carrot and oatmeal—to make the meatloaf go further (this was a Depression-era recipe). Then I Cowgirlified the whole thing and turned it into something that tastes like a cross between a burger, a bowl of chili, and a taco, the holy trinity of Texas. Of course, it is not a hamburger. I know that. But there's something wonderfully homey about meatloaf that's hamburger-like, and until I can get back to Texas, that's good enough for me. * To be fair to the French, burgers are an American thing. I'm sure they'd say the same about our attempts at creating some of their iconic dishes. Anybody remember the 1970's crêpe restaurant chain, The Magic Pan? ## TEX-MEX MEATLOAF ## MAKES 8 TO 10 SERVINGS 1 pound/500 grams of ground chuck (15%) 1 pound/500 grams of ground pork ½ cup/60 grams of oatmeal (quick) 1 carrot, grated 1 egg 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1 onion, chopped 3 jalapeños (fresh is best but in Paris, I use pickled), finely chopped 1½ tablespoons of chili powder 1 teaspoon of cumin ½ teaspoon of chipotle chile powder 2 heaping tablespoons of tomato paste 1 teaspoon of onion powder 1 teaspoon each of sea salt and pepper **1.** Preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C. **2.** Put everything in your biggest bowl and smoosh up all of the ingredients with your hands—it's the only way to do this. Shape this into a loaf, and fit it into a 10 × 4-inch/25 × 10 cm loaf pan. Slide into the oven and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reads 160°F/70°C. **3.** Take your meatloaf out of the oven, and cover loosely with a foil tent to cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Slice and eat while it's still warm—and be sure to save some for sandwiches tomorrow. **GREAT WITH:** Green Chile-Goat Cheese Smashed Potatoes (p.217), Roasted Ratatouille (p.231), or Maple-Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Cocoa Nibs (p.215). ## SALMON with KALAMATA OLIVE-BASIL SALSA In France, it's not uncommon to be served a small terra-cotta dish filled with olives along with wooden toothpicks to spear them with, when you sit down at a bar for a pre-dinner drink. This always makes me happy, and even more so because X doesn't really like olives. Occasionally, he'll eat one or two of the green olives at the Spanish tapas place that we both like, but if they're mixed into food or if they're warm, he won't touch them. It's hard to keep up. I, on the other hand, haven't met an olive I didn't like, and I like to toss them into or on top of anything I can think of, from pasta sauce and pizza to breads (Cheesy Rosemary-Olive Flatbread, p.50), salads (Sunday Tuna Salad, p.120), and this chunky, yet light salsa; it's sort of like a tapenade and a chimichurri rolled into one, with lots of herbs and chopped-up olives and just enough olive oil to hold it all together. I've spooned this on top of salmon, but I can't think of anything it wouldn't go nicely with. Yummy on grilled steak, chicken, scallops or shrimp or other seafood and fish. _Quelle surprise_ — the picky Frenchman loves it, too. ## **ROASTED SALMON WITH KALAMATA OLIVE-BASIL SALSA** ## MAKES 2 SERVINGS 1 shallot, finely chopped a small handful of fresh basil, chopped a few sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped a small handful of pitted kalamata olives, chopped 1 tablespoon of capers, chopped ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar sea salt and pepper 4 tablespoons of olive oil, plus more for coating the salmon 2 5-ounce/150 gram salmon fillets, with skin **1.** In an old jam jar, mix up your minced shallot, basil, parsley, olives, capers, red pepper flakes, red wine vinegar, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let this rest for 10 minutes. Then add 4 tablespoons of olive oil, give it a shake, and let the mixture rest for a half-hour, at least, before serving—the longer this hangs out, the better it tastes. **2.** Preheat your broiler. Rinse and pat dry the salmon, and rub about 1 tablespoon of olive oil on each, making sure to evenly coat (and include the skin). Place the salmon fillets on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, give them a little salt and pepper, and slide into the oven. Watch carefully—it'll only take about 5 to 7 minutes to cook, depending on the thickness of your salmon, and how you like your salmon cooked. When it's ready, remove from the oven and let it rest with a little foil tent on top for a few minutes. Serve your salmon with a spoonful of Kalamata Olive-Basil Salsa on top. ## BASQUE-STYLE FISH EN PAPILLOTE It had been snowing in Paris for weeks, and we needed to get away. So for Christmas, X, Rose, and I piled in the car and headed to the southwest. To Biarritz, a place that can be so cold in the summer that you've got to wear layers. But we didn't care. We were ready to take our chances. We drove for two days, mostly in the snow, but by the time we got to Biarritz, the temperatures were soaring, nearly 75 degrees. We ate lunch outside at a seaside café in St. Jean-de-Luz, without jackets. We ran with Rose on the beach. For Christmas Eve dinner, I bought fresh fish in Biarritz at the market across from Bar Jean, our favorite _pintxos_ bar (that's Basque for tapas). After we'd drunk some Champagne and eaten the traditional first course of foie gras on Pringles potato chips, I made this. I love preparing fish this way because it's easy, quick, and it doesn't smell up the kitchen. The little parchment package keeps everything super-moist, but more important, it's fun to tear open the paper and see what's inside. Which seemed fitting, being Christmas and all. ## **BASQUE-STYLE FISH EN PAPILLOTE** ## MAKES 2 SERVINGS ½ cup/120 ml of a dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay ½ cup/120 ml of water 6 sprigs of fresh thyme 2 6- to 8-ounce/150 gram sole or flounder fillets about 5 ounces/45 grams of cured chorizo, thinly sliced 8 to 10 pieces per serving sea salt and pepper a pinch of piment d'Espelette or cayenne pepper **1.** Preheat your oven to 450°F/230°C. **2.** Put the wine, water, and 2 sprigs of thyme in a small saucepan over medium heat and let this reduce by half; it'll just take 5 to 10 minutes. Once it reduces, just turn off the heat and let this cool. **3.** Tear off 2 pieces of parchment paper, a couple of times bigger than your fish, and lay them flat on a rimmed cookie sheet. You're going to fold the parchment over the fish like a book. Place a fillet on each one of the pieces of paper, layer some chorizo on top, then a couple of sprigs of thyme. Do the same with the other piece of fish. Pour half of the wine-water mixture on each fish. Now, with each one, fold over the paper, and starting at one corner, just fold and roll up the paper all the way around, and tuck the end under—it'll end up making a semi-circle. **4.** Slide your fish into the oven for 10 minutes and serve, as is, on a plate. That way, everyone can tear into their own—that's the fun of it. **COWGIRL TIP:** Both the Marine Stewardship Council and Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch are great sources for checking on sustainability of specific species of fish. ## **CHAPTER 8** ## Desserts Nobody does desserts like the French. The soufflés, the mousses, the pastries. The mille feuilles, éclairs, macarons. The perfectly symmetrical tarts with paper-thin slices of pears fanned in a circle, raspberries lined up in neat rows. I still stop and stare in the windows of the pâtisseries and boulangeries. Some of these things are easier to make than you think. Everyone here didn't go to pastry school. They learned how to make cakes and tarts from their moms, and their moms, before that. Some observations: The French make cakes, but they're not like our big fluffy American multilayered ones covered with swirls of sugary icing. They don't ice their cakes at all; instead, they'll dust the top with a light sprinkle of powdered sugar. Most French dessert recipes call for separating the eggs, with the whites whipped and folded in at the end. Making a caramel sauce is something everyone seems to know how to do. From my Easy-Bake Oven days to today, I've always loved making desserts, but when I first moved to France, everything I baked was a flop. The flour here is different. The butter's not the same. Recipes I could count on every single time back in the States didn't work anymore. For a long time, I just wanted to make a cookie that didn't spread all over the pan. It took awhile, but I finally figured out which flours worked best with which cookies—I use different flours for chocolate chip than I do for snickerdoodles—and which ones are better for cakes. After I was able to replicate my favorite American desserts, I started trying French recipes, too, ones that were more old-fashioned than chic. Rice pudding. French chocolate sauce. Cherry compote. Then I began mixing and matching, blending American ingredients with French techniques (Peanut Butter Soufflés, p.70), or simply combining the two to come up with something completely new (Slice & Bake Hazelnut-Chocolate Chip Cookies, p.66). I've always had a sweet spot for desserts—making them and eating them, too. When I plan dinners, more often than not, I first try to imagine what I'll make for dessert, then I'll work my way backwards to the appetizers. When I eat out, it's the same thing. I always look at the dessert menu first, make my pick, and then decide about everything else. I've heard about people who like to share dessert or can even skip dessert altogether. Other than an obligatory bite offered for a taste, I don't believe in sharing when it comes to desserts. And skipping? Well, that was just for school. ## CHERRY COMPOTE My first cherries came out of a jar and were plopped into a glass—decorations to be fished out of cocktails I was too young to drink. We didn't have fresh cherries in Texas, not in the '70s. Once we got them, I became a big fan. So naturally I sought them out when I moved to France. This much I've learned about cherries while living here: 1) The season is painfully short, and I never feel like I get to eat enough. 2) There are a dozen different varieties here, ranging from sour to sweet and in deep purplish reds to bright yellow. 3) Once you buy them, you'd better be ready to eat them. They go south quickly. 4) Pitting them is messy. My kitchen always looks like a crime scene afterward, with red splatters on the walls, cabinets, and floor. 5) They really do grow in pairs, like cute little cherry couples. 6) I love the sweet ones the best. I also figured out that while cherries are just fine on their own and don't need any help in bringing out their flavor, they're probably one of the most mixable and matchable fruits around; they go with just about anything. They hold their own with savory dishes like duck breast or lamb, and they work just as nicely in a sweet pie. Take this compote, infused with just a little bit of lemon and rosemary. I've paired this with cheese, and spooned it on ice cream. I've swirled it into yogurt and made it into its own little tart. I've thought about doing other things with it, too, but by the time I get around to it, the season's over and it's back to yearning. ## CHERRY COMPOTE ## MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS 1 pound/500 grams of cherries, pitted 3 strips of lemon zest, each 2 inches/5 cm long 1 cinnamon stick 1 sprig of fresh rosemary ¼ cup/50 grams of sugar Put everything in your saucepan with just enough water to cover the cherries—I usually use about 1 cup/240 ml—and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, or until the cherries soften a very tiny bit (you don't want mushy cherries). Let them cool in the pan, remove the cinnamon stick and rosemary, and refrigerate. **GREAT WITH:** your morning yogurt, or with Buttermilk Ice Cream (p.298), on top of Rice Pudding (p.286), Grilled Orange-Vanilla Pound Cake (p.308). Or use it as a filling for a Croustade (p.280). ## GRILLED ORANGE-VANILL A POUND CAKE with STRAWBERRIES In France, there's a cake that's available at just about every boulangerie called _quatre-quarts_ , or "four-fourths." Four equal parts flour, butter, sugar, and eggs. Same as a pound cake. But not the same. I've baked both, and even though the ingredients are identical, the way you put them together is different. The French version separates the eggs and folds in the whites at the end ( _quelle surprise_ ), whereas my mom's recipe uses sour cream as part of the butter, adds whole eggs one at a time, and you beat them for about a minute each. Guess which recipe made the fluffiest cake. I always liked this cake best the first day while it was still warm. Once it cooled, so did my interest. My mom started reheating pieces in the skillet with butter and serving them hot off the griddle, crispy around the edges and warm all the way through. It might sound wrong to fry up slices of already buttery cake in butter, but if it is, I don't wanna be right. ## **GRILLED ORANGE-VANILLA POUND CAKE WITH STRAWBERRIES** ## MAKES 1 LOAF **Pound Cake** the zest of 1 orange 1½ cups/300 grams of sugar 1 stick/125 grams of butter, at room temperature 3 eggs, at room temperature 1½ cups/200 grams of flour ¼ teaspoon of baking soda a pinch of sea salt ½ cup/115 grams of crème fraîche or sour cream 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract **Berries** 1 pint/450 grams of strawberries, hulled and sliced ⅓ cup/65 grams of sugar (you may not need all of this; it depends on how sweet your berries are) the zest of ½ lemon butter **1.** Make your cake. Line a 4¼ × 10-inch/11 × 25 cm loaf pan with parchment paper. You don't preheat your oven. **2.** Toss the orange zest in a small bowl with your sugar, and rub it together with your fingers so the oil from the zest will help perfume the sugar. **3.** Pour the orange sugar in your mixing bowl, and beat it with the softened butter until it's light yellow and fluffy. Add your eggs one at a time, beating for about 1 minute each—this will help make the cake airy and light, so don't rush this step. **4.** Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and pinch of salt, and add half of this to the mixture. Now, add half of the crème fraîche or sour cream. Add the second half of the flour mixture, then the second half of the crème fraîche or sour cream, mixing well between each. Finally, add the vanilla. Pour the batter into your loaf pan and turn the oven to 325°F/160°C. Bake for an hour and a half, or until a toothpick or knife inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a rack before you lift the cake out of the pan. **5.** To serve the cake, first, gently mix your strawberries with the sugar and the lemon zest and set aside. Cut your pound cake into thick, 1-inch/2.5 cm slices, and melt some butter in your skillet over medium-low heat. When the butter sizzles, add your cake and cook 'til it's brown and crispy on each side. Add a spoonful of strawberries and dig in. I like this for dessert as well as for breakfast, and afternoon coffee time, too. **SWAP-IT:** Strawberries are just the beginning. You can put whatever berries or fruit you've got on top of this little cake, and add a drizzle of French Chocolate Sauce (p.296) or Salty Caramel Sauce (p.287), and maybe a scoop of Buttermilk Ice Cream (p.298), too. ## HALF-BAKED CHOCOLATE CAKES ## (MOELLEUX AU CHOCOLAT) Brownie-like on the outside with gooey warm insides—talk about a great idea. These cakes probably began as a mistake somewhere, someone with an oven not unlike mine, a rascal of an appliance that says one thing—I'm hot! I'm 375 degrees! I'm ready to bake!—and then does another. Cools down to 200°, then it's—Whoops! —up to 450°. Cakes and cookies on a roller coaster ride in there, not knowing what to do. For a long time, I'd simply point at the words on the menu when I wanted to order the French cake with the impossible-to-pronounce name. MWHEY-luh, or, as X told me, slightly incorrect but easier, MWAH-luh. At some point it just became easier to make it myself than to suffer mispronouncing and being corrected in public, either by X or by a waiter (they love to do this, too). Sold all over the place—in bistros, restaurants, and even Picard, the store that only sells frozen food—the cake that doesn't even bake all the way couldn't be hard to make, I figured. And it's not. The only trick is not letting it go too far. The cakes will lift up and you're looking for an ever-so-slight jiggle on the top. And that's all I'm going to say about that. ## HALF-BAKED CHOCOLATE CAKES ## (MOELLEUX AU CHOCOLAT) ## MAKES 6 SERVINGS 2 sticks/250 grams of butter, plus more for buttering ramekins 12 ounces/310 grams of good quality semi-sweet chocolate (about 2 cups chopped) 5 eggs ¾ cup/160 grams of sugar ¾ cup/200 grams of flour a pinch of sea salt powdered sugar, for serving **1.** Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C, generously butter the insides of 6 ½-cup (4-ounce) ramekins, and put them on a foil-lined cookie sheet. **2.** Melt the butter and chocolate together in the top of a double boiler, stirring every now and then. When the butter and chocolate have melted, remove from the heat, and let this cool down a little. **3.** In your mixer, beat the eggs until they're light, for about 3 or 4 minutes. Now toss in your sugar, flour, and a pinch of sea salt, and combine. Add the cooled, melted chocolate and mix well—you're nearly there. Divide the batter among the ramekins, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the little cakes begin to slightly lift out. Gently turn the ramekins upside-down onto dessert plates, and serve immediately, with a sprinkle of powdered sugar on top. **A NOTE ABOUT CHOCOLATE:** I use 66% Callebaut chocolate pastilles in France, but plain old Baker's chocolate works just as well. **ADVANCE PLANNING:** Assemble the cakes up to a day ahead of time and keep them in the fridge until you're ready to bake. ## RICE PUDDING with SALTY CARAMEL SAUCE It had been years—decades probably—since I'd eaten rice pudding, and I can't say I'd _missed_ it. But when I saw the café au lait bowl of rice pudding at L'Ami Jean, where Basque chef Stéphane Jego presides over the kitchen at what is still one of Paris' top bistros, I knew something was different. Fluffy, not heavy, and heaps of it, served with caramel whipped cream on the side and a wooden paddle so you could share. Share? Whenever we'd go back, X would wax nostalgic about the _riz au lait_ of his childhood. It was served in enormous bowls, and instead of caramel whipped cream on the side, it came with salty caramel sauce on top, which sounded even better. I'd had salty caramel many times on trips to Brittany. Fleur de sel, sea salt hand-harvested off the Brittany coast, is the special ingredient in the heavily salted caramels that are a traditional treat in the region. And I'd ordered salty caramel sauce many times on top of dessert crêpes at Crêperie Josselin (see p.261). I asked Marie-Therese if she'd share her recipe with me and show me how to put it together, which she was happy to do. This is an adaptation of her sauce, along with my rice pudding. Pour at your own risk. ## RICE PUDDING WITH SALTY CARAMEL SAUCE ## MAKES 8 SERVINGS 4¾ cups/1.12 liters of milk 7 tablespoons/120 grams of sugar, divided ¾ cup/115 grams of Arborio or any other short-grain rice ½ teaspoon of sea salt 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 1 cup/240 ml of cream Salty Caramel Sauce (recipe follows) **1.** Combine the milk, 5 tablespoons of sugar, rice, and sea salt in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, and bring this to a boil. **2.** After this boils, reduce your heat to medium-low—just to a simmer—and cook until the rice is tender and the mixture is thick and porridge-like, but still has some liquid—the rice will continue to absorb the milk after it's cool. Stir every now and then. Just be patient—this will take 20 to 35 minutes. When it's ready, remove from the heat, pour into a bowl, and add the vanilla. Let this cool before covering with plastic wrap, making sure to press the plastic down onto the top of the pudding, so you don't get "pudding skin." Then refrigerate for a few hours or until it's completely cool. **3.** A half-hour before you want to serve the pudding, beat the cream and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar together until medium peaks form. Fold this into the chilled pudding and refrigerate. Serve your rice pudding, Frenchy-style, in big bowls with warm caramel sauce on the side. ## **SALTY CARAMEL SAUCE** ## MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS/480 ML 1½ cups/300 grams of sugar ¼ cup/60 ml of water 1 stick/125 grams of butter ¾ cup/180 ml of crème fraîche or sour cream 1 teaspoon of sea salt (see Cowgirl Tip) **1.** Get out your heaviest, deepest pot (this will help reduce caramel splatters), and a long wooden spoon. **2.** Put your sugar and water in the pot, give it a stir or two so it combines, and turn the heat to medium-high. Now, just leave it alone. It'll bubble continuously. Don't even think about stirring the pot. The less you mess with caramel, the better. After 10 to 15 minutes, you'll notice the sugar beginning to darken around the edges of the pot. I'll repeat: Don't stir. But you may, if you want to (and usually I do), pick up the pot and give it a swirl. A _gentle swirl_. Now, the sugar may look weird and crackly at this point, but don't worry. It'll all work out in the end. Soon, you'll notice that the bubbling sugar has turned into a bubbling foam, which means that you're getting very close. Watch for the color to turn to amber, and when it does, remove from the heat, add the butter and crème fraîche or sour cream, the sea salt, and stand back, so you don't get splattered. It'll bubble up like crazy, but don't worry. It'll also calm right down. Once it does, stir it up with your wooden spoon until the butter and crème fraîche or sour cream is completely incorporated. Pour this into a glass bowl to cool, and then refrigerate. To serve, simply rewarm the sauce over very low heat. **COWGIRL TIP:** Use fleur de sel if you can for your Salty Caramel Sauce—it's clean and light and will make a huge difference. ## FRENCH BISCOTTI Cooked twice, so they're two times as crunchy as they'd otherwise be, biscotti are meant to be dipped right into your coffee—an espresso, a _noisette,_ even a café au lait. Not too sweet, with a hint of lemon and loaded with almonds, these French biscotti remind me of Tuscan _cantuccini,_ but they have a finer crumb, they're flatter, and they're not nearly as hard. My friend Catherine Chalverat brought these for us to share over coffee one morning after walking the dogs (hers is a black Lab named Ulysees) at Parc St. Cloud. "They're a special biscuit from Nîmes," she said. We dunked and crunched and kept on eating them long after the coffee was gone. They're called _croquants villaret,_ after the boulangerie that's been making them since 1775, before the French Revolution. A top secret recipe, the Web site said. Not that secret. I found something that sounded similar, and went to work in the kitchen, adding this and taking away that. Discovering regional specialties like these biscotti is one of the things I love most about France. Imagine: cookies made the same way for hundreds of years, from seventeenth-century wood-burning ovens to my Cowgirl kitchen in Paris and now to you. Generations of cookies and coffee and friendship. I just love that. ## FRENCH BISCOTTI ## MAKES ABOUT 5 DOZEN 1 stick/125 grams of butter 4 cups/500 grams of flour ¼ teaspoon of sea salt 2 cups/200 grams of powdered sugar 2 eggs, lightly beaten 2 teaspoons of lemon juice the zest of 1 lemon ¼ cup/2 ounces/125 grams of unsalted whole almonds 1 egg white, whisked with a bit of water **1.** Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C, and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper (my favorite way). **2.** Melt your butter over very low heat, then remove from heat and let cool. **3.** Mix together the flour, sea salt, and powdered sugar. Pour in the eggs, the cooled butter, the lemon juice and zest and mix until combined and the dough changes from crumbly into a mass—this will take less than a minute. Add the almonds and smoosh them into the dough with your hands. **4.** Divide the dough into 4 portions, and press each piece into a 3 × 12-inch/7.5 × 30.5 cm rectangle, about ¼-inch/6mm thick. I like to press this out and then use a small rolling pin to finish it off and make it smooth. You should be able to get 2 pieces of dough on each cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from the oven, and let cool for 2 minutes. Now, slice the dough into cookie fingers about ¾-inch/2 cm wide, and spread them a little on the cookie sheet so they have some breathing room. Brush the cookies with the egg white, and pop them back into the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes or until they're brown on the edges. Let them cool completely before you eat them—hopefully, with a cup of coffee for dunking. Store in an airtight jar. ## WATERMELON GRANITA Watermelons were Fourth of July food, a summer treat that was a production from beginning to end. Carried from the car to the house in an old red wagon. Too big for the fridge, they'd barely fit into our green metal Coleman cooler. You could never eat them the day they were bought. Cooling down a watermelon took a day, at least, back then. Cold as ice, after being on ice, our watermelon was crisp, juicy, something to behold and to be eaten. We'd salt them if they were too sweet. I'd spit the slippery black seeds at my brother. We ate them in big wedges on doubled-up paper plates that never did the job—they sagged, the pink juice spilling off the plate and onto the concrete, a sticky mess to clean up later. Not that I ever did. Now watermelons aren't just pink, they're yellow, too. Skins of deep dark green, not just the two-tone stripes. I buy the smaller, refrigerator-size seedless for my watermelon granita, a fancy sounding thing, but just another way to ice down a melon. Chop it up, blend it, pour it into a box. Into the freezer instead of a Coleman cooler. Eaten with a spoon, out of a glass or a bowl, without so much as a drop on the ground. So civilized. ## WATERMELON GRANITA ## MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS ½ of a small seedless watermelon sea salt about 8 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped, plus a bit more for serving 1¼ cups /300 grams of Greek yogurt 4 teaspoons of sugar (or more or less, to your taste) ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract **1.** Cut your watermelon into big chunks (discard the rinds), and toss into the blender along with a pinch of salt and the mint. Purée until it's nice and smooth, pour it into a shallow plastic container, and slide this into the freezer. Every half-hour or so, take a fork and scrape the top. After 3 to 4 hours, you'll have granita. **2.** That was the hard part. Now, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla. Simply layer the granita and the yogurt mixture in small see-through glasses, starting with a layer of the watermelon granita, and ending with the creamy yogurt. Top with a bit more chopped mint, and serve. ## BROWN BUTTER WALNUT CAKES ## (FINANCIERS AUX NOIX) One Sunday afternoon, I talked X into going with me to a _marché des producteurs_ , a market of food products sold by the actual producers: beekeepers with jars of honey and bars of soap made from beeswax; lavender growers from Provence with essential oils and dried lavender in cloth sacks; goose and pig farmers from the southwest with foie gras and artisanal sausages (which there always seem to be the most of). When I saw a man selling walnuts and little walnut cakes from Périgord (where the best walnuts in France come from), I screeched to a stop, bought one, and ate it on the spot. Then I bought another. Called a _financier aux noix_ , this was a walnuty version of the classic French mini-loaf cake made with ground almonds called _financier_ —so named because of its gold bar shape, and the long-held legend that these cakes were first made popular around Paris' financial district, near the stock exchange. I bought two sacks of walnuts and started baking the next day. I roasted walnuts. I browned butter (there's a reason why this is called _beurre noisette_ in French—it tastes just like hazelnuts). I got out my mini-muffin pans (I have not added financier pans to my ever-growing collection yet). The verdict? Nuttier, moister, and lighter. Round rather than rectangular didn't seem to make a bit of difference. If I sold these around La Bourse today, I might just start a whole new trend. ## BROWN BUTTER WALNUT CAKES ## (FINANCIERS AUX NOIX) ## MAKES 2 DOZEN 2 sticks/250 grams of butter, plus more for buttering the muffin tin 5 ounces/140 grams of walnuts, toasted and finely ground 1 cup/200 grams of sugar ½ cup/70 grams of flour ½ teaspoon of sea salt 6 egg whites **1.** Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and generously butter a 24-mini muffin tin. **2.** To make the brown butter, melt your butter in a saucepan over low heat until it turns brown and begins to smell nutty—the butter should gurgle bubbles—this'll just take about 10 minutes. Whatever you do, don't try to rush this—or you'll end up with burned butter. Once it's brown and nutty, pour your butter into a bowl and let it cool. **3.** In your mixer bowl, whisk together the walnuts, sugar, flour, and sea salt. Add the egg whites and mix well. Add the brown butter, and mix just until it comes together—don't overdo. Scoop the batter into your greased muffin tin, filling three-quarters to the top. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the edges start to brown and the little cakes' tummies rise up out of the pan—they really do this! Flip the pan over, whack it on your countertop, and the cakes should fall right out. Serve immediately—these are best the day that you make them. ## FRENCH CHOCOLATE SAUCE In case of emergencies, something like this should be in the fridge at all times. To shake hot fudge sundae cravings. To pour over a cake or a tart. To eat by the spoonful at 4 in the afternoon, when you need something to go with that last coffee of the day. My dad understood the need for chocolate sauce, and he made it often late at night. My brother and I would already be in our bedrooms doing homework, or pretending to, and then he'd call us down to the kitchen, and there they'd be, hot fudge sundaes for us all. The leftovers were kept in an old peanut butter jar in the fridge, which is how I learned about the value of chocolate sauce as an afternoon snack. In France there are profiteroles, balls of puff pastry usually filled with vanilla ice cream and served with a polite drizzle of chocolate. Crêpes, too, come with chocolate sauce, and ice cream on the side if you ask for it. A shared love of chocolate may be the only thing my father had in common with the French. There's nothing to making your own chocolate sauce. It takes minutes. But then you've got to decide: How much will you eat now and how much will you save for later? ## FRENCH CHOCOLATE SAUCE ## MAKES ABOUT 1½ CUPS/360 ML 1 (7-ounce/200 gram) bar bittersweet chocolate (I use Lindt 70%) ½ cup/100 grams of sugar ¾ cup/180 ml of cream 3 tablespoons of butter a small pinch of sea salt Put all of the ingredients in a double boiler over medium-low heat (the water shouldn't be boiling, but gently simmering), and stir until everything's melted and combined. Serve immediately over ice cream, or let cool and refrigerate for later. To reheat, simply warm the sauce over low heat in a double boiler. **COWGIRL TIP:** This sauce is also great spread on your morning toast, drizzled over oven-roasted pears, Grilled Orange-Vanilla Pound Cake (p.280), or simply eaten by the spoonful, right out of the fridge. ## BUTTERMILK ICE CREAM I can still see my dad, opening our olive green side-by-side fridge, and pouring himself a tall glass of buttermilk, thick as a milkshake, and sprinkling it with salt. Mom would make a face because buttermilk was for cornbread and biscuits and for making cakes, not for drinking. In Paris, buttermilk's tricky to find; it's called _lait fermenté_ , or fermented milk, which is what it is, the leftover liquid from making butter, which is how the real stuff—not the manufactured stuff that we buy today—was made. I like the buttermilk best in the Arabic parts of town. It's sold right on the street in skinny green-and-white cartons during Ramadan, along with boxes of fresh dates still on the stems. Like my mom, I'm not a buttermilk drinker; but like my dad, I love its subtle tang. Also like my dad, I eat a lot of ice cream, and I make a fresh batch just about every week. A carton of buttermilk in my fridge, some cream, and eggs are the start of cake batter for some; but these ingredients also happen to make some mighty fine ice cream, I learned. Tastes just like cake batter, in fact. ## BUTTERMILK ICE CREAM ## MAKES 1 QUART/1 LITER 2 cups /480 ml of cream 2 eggs ¾ cup/150 grams of sugar a pinch of sea salt 1½ cups/360 ml of buttermilk **1.** Warm your cream in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, and give it a stir every now and then so it doesn't scorch. **2.** Beat the eggs in a bowl. Add the sugar and pinch of salt and mix this well. **3.** When the cream begins to show tiny bubbles along the side, it's ready. You don't want this to boil. **4.** Temper the eggs by slowly pouring a little cream into the bowl, and whisking quickly—if you've got someone to pour while you whisk, all the better. Then add the egg mixture back to saucepan and continue to cook for a few more minutes, just until the mixture begins to thicken. **5.** Pour this through a strainer (to catch any pieces of cooked egg) into a bowl, then whisk in the buttermilk. Cool your mixture in an ice bath, then refrigerate for a couple of hours or until you're ready to make the ice cream. Freeze in your ice cream maker, and serve immediately for soft ice cream, or pop into the freezer for a few hours, then scoop. ## MILKY WAY ICE CREAM Melanie was my best friend in fifth grade and still is today. One summer, not long after we'd first struck up a friendship, she invited me to go with her family to her grandmother's house. She had just made ice cream—with Milky Way candy bars. A few years ago, Melanie made dinner for X and me, and for dessert—and as a surprise—she made Milky Way ice cream. Decades later, it was even better than I remembered. Then I moved to Paris and she gave me the recipe. I started making it here with Milky Ways that I'd carry over in my suitcase or that friends would mule for me. Before I served this for a dinner party one night, I worried that Milky Way ice cream was so entangled with my own fond memories that it might not be as good as I thought. But as one of our dinner guests went back to the kitchen for seconds and ended up licking the last remaining bits off of the dasher, I stopped worrying. ## MILKY WAY ICE CREAM ## MAKES 1 QUART/1 LITER _Adapted from Melanie Watson's grandmother's recipe._ 4 (2.05-ounce) Milky Way bars 4 cups/1 liter of milk, divided 3 eggs ½ cup/100 grams of sugar a pinch of sea salt 1 cup/240 ml of cream 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract **1.** Slice your Milky Way bars into chunks and toss them into a small, heavy saucepan over low heat. Add 1 cup/240 ml of the milk and let this cook until the candy is melted, stirring every now and then. **2.** In another heavy saucepan on low heat, scald the remaining 3 cups/720 ml of milk. (You'll know when the milk has scalded when you see tiny bubbles along the side.) **3.** Beat the eggs in a bowl with the sugar and pinch of salt, and mix well. **4.** Temper your eggs by pouring a little bit of the hot milk into the bowl, while continuing to whisk vigorously. Then add the eggs to the milk in the saucepan and cook for a few more minutes, until the custard begins to thicken. Remove the custard from the heat, pour it through a strainer set over a big bowl, and whisk in the cream and vanilla. Let this cool in an ice bath or simply on the countertop, then refrigerate for a few hours. **5.** Once the Milky Way bars are melted, remove this mixture from the heat, too, let cool, and refrigerate until cold. (You keep the two mixtures separate until freezing.) **6.** When you're ready to make your ice cream, pour the custard mixture into your ice cream freezer, and then pour in the melted Milky Way bars. It'll be ready soon. And you'll thank me for this one—and Melanie, and her sweet grandmother, Ma. ## MASCARPONE MOUSSE with RASPBERRIES Since X showed me the French way to eat chocolate mousse, spoonful by tiny spoonful, dunked in espresso, I've eaten more than a person should. I ordered it wherever we went. I started making it at home. After a few years, though, I'd had enough. I'd had too much. I stopped eating chocolate mousse. Then one summer, I saw a recipe in one of the French food magazines for a mousse made with mascarpone, the super-rich Italian cow's milk cheese that's really more like a crème fraîche. I'd not thought of mascarpone in years, not since my tiramisù phase. Nothing to cook, just a few eggs to separate and whip into a frenzy. I made it once, twice, maybe three times in one month. That's not too much, is it? ## **MASCARPONE MOUSSE WITH RASPBERRIES** ## MAKES 6 SERVINGS 3 room temperature eggs, separated ½ cup/100 grams of sugar the zest of 1 lemon 8 ounces/225 grams of mascarpone cheese sea salt 8 ounces/225 grams of fresh raspberries **1.** Whisk together your egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, and mascarpone until it's smooth. **2.** In a very clean bowl, whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt, and when stiff peaks form, fold this into the mascarpone mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. To serve, spoon the mousse into bowls, and add a small handful of raspberries to each one. **COWGIRL TIP:** It's always best to use room temperature eggs for mousses, because they have more puff power. ## CARAMEL FLEUR DE SEL POTS DE CRÈME My grandmother Mary was a fiercely independent chocoholic, caffeine addict, and world traveler. No wonder I identified with her early on. She was often gone for months at a time, traveling to Cairo, where she rode a camel in front of the pyramids; to Carnival in Rio de Janiero; and to Paris, where I still have a framed photograph of her standing in front of the Eiffel Tower on my wall. When she wasn't packing or unpacking her bags, she gardened. She knitted. She was an avid reader. She rescued dogs, and cooked for them. She joined every woman's club that she could in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and led most of them. She drank strong black coffee from beans that she'd grind herself from morning till night. And she cooked for her family (she also burned a lot of what she made, tossing the blackened pans into the backyard, which my grandfather would retrieve and clean). Holidays were a formal affair, with more forks and spoons around each plate than I'd ever seen. For dessert, she'd often make a chocolate meringue pie. But once, after a trip to France, she made chocolate pots de crème. She served them in mismatched porcelain demitasse cups, with the tiniest of spoons. It was the richest, most elegant dessert I'd ever tasted. Nothing like Jello pudding from the box. When I hosted my first cooking class in Paris, I wanted to make something special for dessert, and I remembered my grandmother Mary's pots de crème. But I made them with salty caramel instead of chocolate. I'm pretty sure Mary would be fine with that. ## **CARAMEL FLEUR DE SEL POTS DE CRÈME** ## MAKES 6 SERVINGS 1¼ cups/250 grams of sugar ¼ cup/60 ml of water 1 teaspoon of fleur de sel, plus more for sprinkling on top 1½ cups/360 ml of cream ½ cup/120 ml of milk 6 egg yolks **1.** Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. **2.** Go ahead and put the sugar and water in a heavy deep pot, give it a stir, then turn the heat on medium-high, and leave it alone. It'll bubble continuously. Please don't stir the pot, as tempting as it may be. The less you mess with caramel, the better. After 10 to 15 minutes, the sugar will begin to darken, just around the sides, and I'll repeat: Don't stir. But, you may, if you want to (and usually I do), pick up the pot and give it a gentle swirl. Soon, you'll notice that the bubbling sugar has turned into a bubbling foam, which means that you're getting close. Watch for the color to turn to amber, and when it does, turn off the heat, add the cream and milk, and stand back. It'll bubble up like crazy, but don't worry. It'll also calm right down. Stir it with your wooden spoon until the cream and milk is completely incorporated. It'll just take a minute or two. Remove from the heat. **3.** Beat the yolks in large bowl, then temper the eggs by adding just a tiny bit of the caramel mixture, so it comes to temperature and the eggs don't scramble. Slowly add the rest of the caramel to the eggs until incorporated. **4.** Divide the mixture among 6 ½ cup/115 gram ramekins placed in a large roasting pan. Pour enough water into the pan to reach three-quarters up the sides of the ramekins, cover with foil, and slide into the oven. Bake just until custard is set at edges, but moves in center when shaken gently, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven. Take the custards out of the water, and let them cool on a towel on the counter. Once cooled to room temperature, cover each one with foil, and refrigerate for 2 hours, at least. Sprinkle each with a pinch of fleur de sel and serve with fresh strawberries, raspberries, and/or a spoonful of whipped cream. **COWGIRL TIP:** No ramekins? No problem. Any heatproof ceramic or glass container will do. ## PEACH CROUSTADE I hate to admit to having favorites, but when it comes to summer fruit, peaches are at the top of my list. I eat them standing over the sink, juices dripping down my chin. I cut them up, and throw them in yogurt and smoothies. When I'm going to a little trouble, I make peach granitas or Peach-Tomato Chipotle Salsa (p.176). When buying things like peaches, avocados, and mangoes I always buy the hardest ones, so I can put them in a big bowl on the kitchen table and babysit them as they become softer each day. But these French peaches are something else: They're hard as metal _boules_ at the market, but once they're home, they quickly turn soft—within twenty-four hours. Texas peaches, they were different. Bigger, for one thing. Sweeter, and juicier, too. They were just happy to sit in my blue bowl and ripen at their own slow pace. These Paris peaches are in such a hurry. Which is why I like to find the firmest ones that I can. At the markets here, that's a very big _non_. After living here for five years, I know well that you're not supposed to touch the fruit and veggies at the market, but recently, at a stand that I'd frequented a few times already during peach season, I did the unthinkable. I reached across that invisible forbidden barrier between customer and vendor and _picked up a peach._ Of course, I didn't just walk up to the stand and grab a peach. That sort of behavior would certainly get me thrown out of the market and possibly right out of France. I was under the impression that this vendor and I had been building a relationship. On this particular day, I'd already complimented him on his wonderful cherries from the Loire and expressed great remorse that he didn't have any that week. But he wasn't listening. The Peach Man grabbed the peach from me, and scolded me harshly. _"Ne touche pas!"_ he said, using the familiar _tu_ form, since as we were already, as I mentioned, building a relationship, and were past the more formal _vous_ standoffishness. And for a moment, a brief nanosecond, I thought about walking away. I felt rejected. He didn't remember me. But I knew his peaches were delicious. This was no time to make a stand or feel hurt. I told him that I'd take four, and I went home, put them in the bowl, and made this _croustade_ the very next day. A croustade is just like a pie or a tart, but flattened out and free-form, so you can bake it on a cookie sheet. It can be round or rectangular, small or large. Things don't get much simpler than this; it's just peaches and some buttery sweet dough, dusted with sugar so it crunches a little when you bite into it. It's not peach cobbler, but the idea is the same. Just peaches and dough, that's all. And if the peaches are good, that's enough. ## PEACH CROUSTADE ## MAKES 2; SERVES 4 1¼ cups/150 grams of flour 5 heaping tablespoons of sugar, plus a little more for sprinkling on the crust a pinch of sea salt 1 stick/125 grams of butter, cut into small cubes and chilled 3 to 4 tablespoons of ice water 3 large peaches a squeeze of lemon juice 1 egg white, whisked with a bit of water powdered sugar **1.** Whisk together your flour, 3 heaping tablespoons of sugar, and sea salt, or put this in a food processor and pulse a time or two. Add the butter cubes and either with a pastry cutter or pulsing in a food processor, cut in the butter only until it looks like tiny pebbles throughout. Add the ice water by tablespoonfuls and mix just until the dough is still quite crumbly and you can pinch it together easily with your fingertips—you don't want it to be one big mass. Dump the dough bits directly onto a piece of plastic wrap and gently press it together into a nice fat disk. Wrap it up and pop into the fridge for an hour. (You can also do this a day in advance.) **2.** Preheat your oven to 450°F/230°C and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. **3.** Just before you want to roll out your croustade, cut your peaches into thick slices and gently toss them with the lemon juice and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar (you may need more depending on the sweetness of your peaches). You don't want to do this too far in advance, because the peaches will get too watery and you don't want watery peaches sogging up your crust. **4.** You've got a choice. You can make 2 medium-size ones, or 4 smallish, individual ones—it's up to you. I usually go with 2 mediums. Whatever you decide, divide the dough accordingly, and put whatever you're not rolling out immediately back in the fridge. Now, on a lightly floured surface, roll out your dough into a roughly round shape—the beauty of making a croustade is that it's not meant to be perfect. Put the dough on the parchment-lined cookie sheet and heap as many peaches as will fit in the middle of the dough, leaving 2 inches/5 cm around the edges. Fold the edges of the dough over the peaches, brush the dough with the egg white mixture, and sprinkle a little bit of sugar on top. Slide into the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the crust is brown. Serve warm, with a sprinkle of powdered sugar, and a scoop of ice cream. **COWGIRL TIP:** Cut your butter into tiny cubes and pop into the freezer an hour before you make the dough, or even better—do this the day before. ## **CHAPTER 9** ## Tex-Mex 101 All of the recipes in this book are personal, but the ones in this chapter are even more so. When I started making tortillas in my French cast-iron skillet made for crêpes, I reconnected with Texas. With its blazing sunshine and unforgiving summers, pitchers of margaritas and bowls of queso and salty tortilla chips still warm from the fryer. Those first tortillas forever changed how I saw Paris, and how I felt about being here. They made a very foreign-feeling place less so, and I suddenly felt less displaced and more at home, because I was making food from home. It wasn't long after that that I thought, if I could make tortillas, what else could I do? So down the list I went. Salsas and guac, enchiladas, black beans, and chili. Making Tex-Mex in Paris wasn't as easy as making it back in Texas. Every ingredient had to be hunted down—black beans on one side of town, avocados and limes on another—but the scavenger hunt-style shopping became part of the fun. Even with all of the substitutions I had to make, these dishes weren't just stand-ins for what I remembered from home. They actually worked. So what if I was using Moroccan chiles when I needed jalapeños, and a mix of English cheddar and mozzarella instead of Monterey Jack? It was all good. These recipes became the foundation of my first cooking classes here, which I called Tex-Mex 101. They are the nuts and bolts of the Texas-based cuisine, loved by many, but still so misunderstood in France. I'm just happy to do my part helping to dispel the myths that guacamole comes in screw-top jars, and that fajitas are made from a kit that you buy at the Casino grocery store. It's no wonder that Parisians make a face every time I mention Tex-Mex. They don't know what it really is. Poor things. ## WHEAT TORTILLAS ## MAKES ABOUT 30 SMALL TORTILLAS _I first learned to make flour tortillas many years ago at Jane Butel's cooking class in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I'll never forget tasting that first homemade tortilla hot off the comal. Here, I've taken Jane's recipe and tweaked it a bit to make it my own. I like the flavor of wheat, but you can make these with all white flour if you like, or add green chiles or chipotle chiles to the dough._ 2 cups/255 grams of whole wheat flour 2 cups/255 grams of flour 2 teaspoons of baking powder 1 teaspoon of salt ¼ cup /55 grams of lard, Crisco, or butter 1 to 1¼ cups /240 to 300 ml of warm water **1.** Put your first 4 ingredients in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to blend—or if you're doing this by hand, simply whisk it all together. Add your lard, Crisco, or butter and mix it up only until the mixture looks crumbly. Add the warm water slowly, and pay attention, because you want the dough to come together and be only slightly sticky. **2.** Let your dough have a siesta under a dish towel for about 15 minutes. **3.** When you're ready to make the tortillas, tear off a ping-pong-ball-size piece of dough, roll it into a ball, and put this back under the towel. Repeat until you've made small balls out of the entire batch of dough. **4.** Now, with your rolling pin, on a lightly floured surface, roll out each ball into a thin 6-inch/15 cm tortilla, and stack on a plate with parchment paper or wax paper between each one. I like to do all of my rolling out first; then I move on to cooking them all. **5.** To cook the tortillas, heat up a cast-iron skillet or comal (or crêpe pan, if you're in France), and turn the heat to medium-high. Do not oil the pan. When the pan is nice and hot, put your circle of dough in the middle, wait for it to bubble, then flip. Stack your tortillas with pieces of parchment or wax paper in between each one, slide them into a plastic bag and store them in the fridge for a week, or in the freezer for a month or two. To reheat, simply place the tortillas on the hot cast-iron skillet, comal, or crêpe pan, or wrap in foil and pop into a 375°F/190°C oven for 10 to 15 minutes. ## BACK IN BLACK BEANS ## MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS _I've come up with lots of recipes for black beans over the years, but this one, the most pared-down of them all, is what I like best, because this serves as a great base for so many other things—salsas, dips, refried beans, and anything else I can think of. More spices can always be added later._ olive oil 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, minced ½ of a red bell pepper, diced 1 pound/500 grams of dried black beans about 6 cups /1½ liters of water sea salt and pepper Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of a deep, large stockpot, add the onions and garlic, and turn the heat to medium. Cook for just a few minutes, until the onions become translucent. Add the red bell pepper, let this cook for a minute or two, then add your beans, water, and a big pinch of black pepper—not the salt yet, because I like to salt at the end. Let the beans come to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover (with the lid slightly askew), and let cook for 2 hours, or until your beans have that perfect "pop" of the skin when you bite into them, with soft insides. ## CORN TORTILLAS ## MAKES ABOUT 2 DOZEN SMALL TORTILLAS 2½ cups/625 grams of masa from white, yellow, or blue corn 1 teaspoon of sea salt 1¼ cups /300 ml of hot water **1.** Cut 40 pieces of parchment or wax paper to put between your tortillas—a 5 × 5 inch/12 × 12 cm square will work perfectly. **2.** Mix up your masa and salt, then add the hot water a little at a time, until the dough comes together. Test the dough by pinching off a piece and rolling it into a ball, then flattening it with your palm. It shouldn't crack, but have enough moisture to be pliable. If it's not, just mix in a little more water. **3.** Tear off a golf ball-size piece of dough, and roll it into a ball. Keep the rest of the dough covered with a damp kitchen towel so it doesn't dry out. Using a tortilla press, put 1 piece of parchment on the bottom, add the ball of dough, and put a second sheet of parchment or wax paper on top. Press down the tortilla press and when it feels like it's as far down as it can go, give it a little shimmy and move it from side to side—this will help flatten the tortillas a bit more. Remove the tortilla with the parchment attached, and repeat with the rest of the dough. **4.** Using an ungreased comal or cast-iron skillet, over medium-high heat, cook your tortillas for a minute or two on the first side, or until you see the edges just begin to lift up—this is very subtle, but it's a great clue to the tortillas' readiness. You don't want these to get brown, but merely to cook through. Flip them over, let them cook for about 20 more seconds, then stack them on a plate, with parchment in between each one. Store your tortillas in a plastic bag in the fridge for a couple of weeks or in the freezer for up to 6 months. ## TAQUERIA SALSA ## MAKES ABOUT 4 CUPS/1 QUART/1 LITER _This salsa is made from pickled jalapeños, which I realize sounds weird, but that's all I've got in Paris. By all means, if you've got fresh, use them here._ 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil 1 onion, roughly chopped 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1 (28-ounce/765 gram) can of diced tomatoes 2 pickled jalapeños a big handful of fresh cilantro sea salt and pepper Put the vegetable oil in a saucepan and add your onions and garlic. Turn the heat to medium-low, and cook for a few minutes, just until the onions become translucent. Add your tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, a big pinch of salt and an even bigger pinch of pepper. Let this cook for about 5 minutes, then purée with a hand blender. Serve warm for maximum fun. Put any leftover salsa in an old jam jar in the fridge; it'll keep for a few days just fine. **SWAP IT:** No jalapeños? Use serranos or chipotles instead. ## ROASTED SALSA VERDE ## MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS/480 ML _Sadly, Paris is just as tomatillo-poor as it is jalapeño-deprived, so I make this when I'm back in Texas, and put it on everything I can think of, from scrambled eggs to leftover chicken, shoved in a tortilla._ 1 pound/500 grams of tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed 2 cloves of garlic, unpeeled ½ of an onion, sliced in a few big pieces 2 fresh jalapeños a handful of fresh cilantro sea salt **1.** Roast your tomatillos, garlic, onion, and jalapeños on an ungreased comal or cast-iron skillet, over medium-high heat. This'll only take about 15 minutes, and you may need to do this in batches—the tomatillos first, and then the rest. **2.** Peel the garlic and put everything but the jalapeños in a medium bowl. **3.** Cut off the stems of the jalapeños, slice them open, and take out the seeds and membranes if you want a milder salsa; don't mess with them if you like it hot. Toss your peppers in with the onions and garlic. **4.** Add a big handful of cilantro to the bowl, and with a hand blender, mix everything together—but not too much, because you'll want this to be chunky—and season with a pinch of salt. I love this salsa with everything, and like it especially warmed up—with chips, over eggs, on tacos, you name it. Keep this in the fridge and if you want to warm it up the next day, you'll need to add just a little bit of water; it thickens up like crazy. ## HOLY GUACAMOLE! ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS _There are lots of variations on guacamole, and many include onions and jalapeños, but I like mine without, simply because usually when I'm eating guac, I'm also eating spicy salsas and pico, so I like the guac to be something that's cool on the plate._ 4 ripe avocados 1 tomato, diced 2 cloves of garlic, minced a small handful of cilantro, chopped the juice of 1 lime sea salt and pepper **1.** Cut your avocados in half and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. With two knives, simply cut and slice until the avocados are in small pieces—but not too much, because we want this to be chunky. **2.** Gently fold in the rest of the ingredients. Taste. Refrigerate for an hour before serving. **COWGIRL TIP** : Don't worry about saving the pit to keep the guac from turning brown—invest in some good plastic wrap instead. Smash the wrap down onto the surface of the guac so there's no air between the plastic and the guac; then put another piece on top of the bowl. It'll keep for a couple of days. ## PICO DE GALLO ## MAKES 4 SERVINGS _This is one of those recipes that you'll "see" when it's ready. The ratio of tomatoes to onions is a little less than two to one, (and of course, it depends on the size of your tomatoes and the onions) but just remember the red of the tomatoes is the dominant color, and there should be flecks of white onion and green cilantro throughout._ 3 tomatoes, diced 1 onion, diced 1 clove of garlic, minced 1 to 2 jalapeños, finely chopped a small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped the juice of 1 to 2 limes sea salt Throw your tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeños, and cilantro into a bowl. Add the lime juice and a big pinch of sea salt, and give it a taste. Add more lime if you need to, or if you like more cilantro, toss it in, too. Refrigerate for an hour before serving. ## TEXAS CHILI ## MAKES ABOUT 4 QUARTS/4 LITERS _I've been making this chili for years, and usually with turkey, because it's just a slightly lighter, healthier spin on the Texas classic, plus you've already read my rant on French beef (p.266). Feel free to add jalapeños or chipotles if you want something spicier, but I like to create a bowl that's not too hot, so folks can turn up the heat if they want._ 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil 1 onion, diced 4 to 5 cloves of garlic, minced 2 pounds/1 kilo of ground chuck mixed with ground sirloin (or use ground turkey, which I often use in France) ½ of a green bell pepper, diced ¼ of a red bell pepper, diced 3 (14.5-ounce/395 gram) cans kidney beans, black beans, or a mixture of the two, drained, then rinsed 2 (28-ounce/765 gram) cans of diced tomatoes 1 (6-ounce/170 gram) can of tomato paste 5 tablespoons of chili powder 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper 2 teaspoons of cumin 2 teaspoons of dried oregano 1 teaspoon of smoky Spanish paprika or ancho chile powder 2 teaspoons of sea salt 2 cups/480 ml of water **1.** Put the vegetable oil in a heavy, deep stockpot and add your onions and garlic. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook until the onions become translucent, just a few minutes. Stir in the ground beef (or the ground turkey) and cook until browned if you're using beef. (Or if you're using turkey, until it's cooked through and no longer pink.) **2.** Toss in your red and green bell peppers, beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, spices, salt, and water. Turn the heat down to low and cook for a couple of hours, adjusting seasonings if you need to along the way. **DOUBLE-DUTY:** **1.** For chili-cheese soft tacos, spoon your chili onto a flour tortilla, add shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, avocado, and cheddar cheese. Serve with your favorite salsa. **2.** Toss some tortilla chips on a heatproof plate. Spoon the chili on top, along with some grated cheese and jalapeño slices. Slide under the broiler until it melts. **3.** Make single-serving Frito pies. Layer Fritos in the bottom of a ramekin, add chili and shredded cheese, and repeat. Bake at 375°F/190°C until bubbly. Serve with chopped green onion. **4.** Make cheesy-chili macaroni, by adding chili to your favorite mac 'n cheese recipe. **5.** Add chili to a hot dog or a burger—messy, but good. **6.** Stir some chili into your queso. **7.** Add a couple of poached eggs to your chili. ## COWGIRL CHORIZO ## 2 POUNDS/ 1 KILO _After living in Paris a couple of years, I realized there would never be a Spanish chorizo that equaled the Mexican chorizo I craved, so I decided to make my own. This is spicy, but not spicy-hot, allowing the smokiness of the paprika and the subtle hint of cinnamon to peek through._ 2 pounds/1 kilo of ground pork 2 tablespoons of chili powder 2 tablespoons of smoky Spanish paprika or ancho chile powder 1 teaspoon of dried oregano 1 teaspoon of garlic powder ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar 2 teaspoons of sea salt **1.** Smoosh everything together in a big bowl with your hands—there's no other way to do this. **2.** Make a small chorizo patty and cook it up in a skillet and taste for seasonings. Now, you have a choice. You can either: 1) cook up your chorizo and pop into the freezer for 1 to 2 months, which is what I do, or 2) simply freeze the uncooked chorizo for 1 to 2 months, then thaw and cook when ready to use. ## ADOBO SALSA ## MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS/480 ML _I learned to make this sauce at Culinario Centro Ambrosia in Mexico City, and it's great for marinating meats and spooning over enchiladas or tacos._ 5 dried guajillo chiles 3 dried ancho chiles 2 dried cascabel chiles 2 cups/480 ml of boiling water 3 cloves of garlic, peeled 1 teaspoon of cumin seed 1 teaspoon of peppercorns 1 teaspoon of dried oregano 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar sea salt **1.** With your kitchen scissors, split open your dried chiles, throw away the stems and remove the seeds and veins. Give the chiles a quick rinse. **2.** Get out your comal or cast-iron skillet, and turn the heat to medium-low. Once the surface is hot, put your split-open chiles directly onto the hot, ungreased surface, and use a wooden spoon to press them back down when they curl up from the heat. They're ready to flip to the other side when they begin to change color. This won't take long—around 30 seconds per side. Watch closely, and make sure your skillet doesn't get too hot, because the chiles will burn easily. Once the chiles are toasted, put them in a bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let them rest for 15 minutes. **3.** Toast the garlic on the comal, then your cumin seeds and peppercorns. Put all of this in your blender. **4.** Add your softened chiles and a little bit of the chile water to the blender, along with the oregano, and apple cider vinegar, and turn it on high. Add a big pinch of sea salt and more chile water, if needed, to blend easily. Keep the blender going until the mixture is super-smooth—give it at least 5 minutes. Have patience. The longer this blends, the more complex the flavors will be. **ADVANCE PLANNING:** This sauce will freeze for about 6 months, or keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. ## Epilogue Life's a lot like cooking, I've learned. Take chocolate cake. Even with a trusted recipe, the right ingredients, a perfect pan, and a reliable oven, you never know how it'll turn out. Will it be the gâteau of your dreams? Or will it sink below your worst fears? I followed my heart to France with my heart set on romantic, barefoot strolls along the sandy beaches of Normandy...and found myself instead in my cowboy boots in a cramped kitchen in Paris. Turns out, moving to France was the best bad decision I ever made. Can't wait to see what I'll cook up next... ## Acknowledgments Big hugs to the team at Running Press: Jennifer Kasius, my wonderful editor; Amanda Richmond, my book designer, who understood my funky part cowgirl, part French flea market aesthetic; and photographer Steve Legato, whose beautiful food photographs are surpassed only by his superb air guitar playing. Thank you to my fantastic agent, Doe Coover, who loved the Cowgirl Chef cookbook idea from the start. A big merci to my food pals in Paris and France who offered support along the way: Dorie Greenspan, who was always available for coffee and encouragement; David Lebovitz, Clotilde Desoulier, Alisa Morov, Julie Mautner, and Kate Hill. And to my friends on both sides of the pond who cheered me on: Catherine Chalverat, Suzanne Allen, Julie Nauman, Melinda Meador, Debbie Gabriel, Gregory Edmont, Karen Eubank, Stephanie Chambers, Rebecca Sherman, Andrea Beane, Marissa Wallace, and Michael Tucker. To X, my chief dish washer. Thank you to my recipe testers Melanie Watson, David Acree, and Stephanie Doublait. And to my Texas-based web support team, all of whom kept the Cowgirl Chef website running smoothly: Lisa Lawless, Dan Langendorf, and Wes Phelan. Margaret Brown encouraged me to write this book in the first place. Thank you, Margaret. To my friend and editor Dana Joseph, who told me years ago that I should write about food, because she saw this was my passion. Dana helped shape this book into what it is today; she gave her eyes and heart to this project as if it were her own. Lastly, to my family: To my late father, who gave me a cookbook each year for Christmas as long as I can remember; and to my mom, who always encouraged me to play...in the kitchen and elsewhere. I thank you all. ## Index **A** Adobo Salmon Salad Tartines, , 193–194 Adobo Salsa, 323–324 Appetizers, 23–55 Basil Pesto Matchsticks, , 39–40 Cheesy Rosemary-Olive Flatbread, , 49–51 Chicken Empanadas with Cilantro Yogurt, , 45–47 Eggplant Caviar, 36–37 Mushroom Tapenade, 42–43 Sweet Pea Pesto, 32–33 Sweet Potato Biscuits with Ham, 28–30 Texas Killers, 26–27 Tiny Tarts, 53–55 Toasted Pita Chips, 34–35 Apple Cider Vinaigrette, Arugula Pesto, Asian Chicken Salad with Ginger-Lime Vinaigrette, 148–149 Asparagus & Avocado Salad, 133–134 **B** Back in Black Beans, Basics, cooking, 14–16 Basil Oil, Basil Pesto, Basil Pesto Matchsticks, , 39–40 Basil Pesto Vinaigrette, Basque-Style Fish En Papilotte, , 271–272 Beans, Back In Black, Beef Bistro-Style Steak, Corona Beer-Braised Brisket Tacos, 154–156 Steak Frîtes with Roquefort Sauce, 242–244 Texas Chili, 320–321 Tex-Mex Meatloaf, 266–267 Beets & Clementine Salad, , 131–132 Beginnings, 6–13 Biscotti, French, 288–289 Bistro-Style Steak, Black-Eyed Peas and Jalapeño Cornbread, 208–210 Black-Eyed Peas, Mom's, BLT Tartines, Winter, 195–196 Breads Cheesy Rosemary-Olive Flatbread, , 49–51 Cornbread Madeleines, , 63–64 Jalapeño Cornbread, , Sweet Potato Biscuits with Ham, 28–30 Brie and Prosciutto Sandwiches, Grilled, 189–190 Broccoli-Basil Soup with Goats Cheese Toasts, 95–96 Broccoli-Red Bell Pepper Tart, , 181–183 Brussels Sprouts with Hazelnuts, 227–229 Buckwheat Crêpes with Ham, Guyère and Egg, 261–263 Buttermilk Ice Cream, 297–298 Butternut Squash, Spinach and Bacon Salad, , 145–146 **C** Cakes. _See also_ Desserts Brown Butter Walnut Cakes, , 293–294 Grilled Orange-Vanilla Pound Cake with Strawberries, 279–281 Half-Baked Chocolate Cakes, 282–283 Caramel Fleur De Sel Pots De Crème, 303–305 Caramel Sauce, Cauliflower Galettes with Chipotle Crème Fraîche, , 203–205 Cheese Tartines, Jalapeño Pimento, 186–188 Cheesy Rosemary-Olive Flatbread, , 49–51 Cherry Compote, 277–278 Chicken Asian Chicken Salad with Ginger-Lime Vinaigrette, 148–149 Chicken Empanadas with Cilantro Yogurt, , 45–47 Fried Chicken Bites with Cream Gravy, 258–260 Minestrone, 101–103 Paris Chicken Fricassée, , 73–74 Perfect Roast Chicken, 264–265 Skin and Bones Chicken Stock, 111–112 Smokin' Tortilla Soup, , 87–88 Tex-Mex Tart, 175–176 Zucchini-Cilantro Soup, , 105–107 Chili, Texas, 320–321 Chipotle Crème Fraîche, Chipotle Salsa, Chocolate Cakes, Half-Baked, 282–283 Chorizo, Cowgirl, Cilantro Yogurt, Cookies Slice and Bake Hazelnut-Chocolate Chip Cookies, 65–67 Texas Killers, 26–27 Cooking tips, 18–21 Cooking utensils, 14–16 Cornbread, Jalapeño, , Cornbread Madeleines, , 63–64 Corona Beer-Braised Brisket Tacos, 154–156 Cowgirl Chimichurri, Cowgirl Chorizo, Cowgirl Quiche, 59–60, Crêpes with Ham, Guyère and Egg, 261–263 **D** Deep South Salad, 150–151 Desserts, 275–309 Brown Butter Walnut Cakes, , 293–294 Buttermilk Ice Cream, 297–298 Caramel Fleur De Sel Pots De Crème, 303–305 Cherry Compote, 277–278 French Biscotti, 288–289 French Chocolate Sauce, 295–296 Grilled Orange-Vanilla Pound Cake with Strawberries, 279–281 Half-Baked Chocolate Cakes, 282–283 Mascarpone Mousse with Raspberries, 301–302 Milky Way Ice Cream, 299–300 Peach Croustade, , 307–309 Peanut Butter-Chocolate Soufflés, 69–70 Rice Pudding with Salty Caramel Sauce, , 285–287 Watermelon Granita, 290–291 Dressings and Vinaigrettes Apple Cider Vinaigrette, Basil Oil, Basil Pesto Vinaigrette, Champagne-Honey Vinaigrette, EZ French Vinaigrette, Ginger-Lime Vinaigrette, Hazelnut Vinaigrette, Jalapeño-Cilantro Buttermilk Dressing, Lime-Cilantro Oil, Orange Vinaigrette, **E** Eggplant Caviar, 36–37 **F** Fish and Seafood Adobo Salmon Salad Tartines, , 193–194 Basque-Style Fish En Papilotte, , 271–272 Fish Tacos with Mango-Avocado Salsa, , 169–170 Provencal Fish Stew, 248–250 Salmon with Kalamata Olive-Basil Salsa, 268–269 Salmon with Lentils, 245–247 Sunday Tuna Salad, 119–121 French Biscotti, 288–289 French Chocolate Sauce, 295–296 French Lentils, French Salad, My Big Fat, , 79–81 **G** Gazpacho, 93–94 Green Beans, French Bistro, 218–219 Greens and Salads, 117–151 Asian Chicken Salad with Ginger-Lime Vinaigrette, 148–149 Asparagus & Avocado Salad, 133–134 Basil Pesto Vinaigrette, Beets & Clementine Salad, 131–132 Deep South Salad, 150–151 End of Summer Salad, 128–129 End of Winter Salad, 141–142 EZ French Vinaigrette, It's the Berries Salad, , 122–123 Le Halles Spinach Salad, 124–125 Lime-Cilantro Oil, Orange Vinaigrette, Purple Roquefort Slaw, 163–164 Roasted Butternut Squash, Spinach and Bacon Salad, , 145–146 Sunday Tuna Salad, 119–121 Texas Pickup Salad, , 139–140 Throw-Together Salad, 136–137 **H** Hazelnut-Chocolate Chip Cookies, 65–67 **I** Ice Cream, Buttermilk, 297–298 Ice Cream, Milky Way, 299–300 It's the Berries Salad, , 122–123 **J** Jalapeño Pimento Cheese Tartines, 186–188 Jalapeño-Cilantro Buttermilk Dressing, **K** Kitchen basics, 14–16 Kitchen tips, 18–21 **L** Lamb, Toni's, , 239–241 Lamb Chops with Cowgirl Chimichurri, 251–253 Le Halles Spinach Salad, 124–125 Lime-Cilantro Oil, **M** Mascarpone Mousse with Raspberries, 301–302 Minestrone, 101–103 Minty Cantaloupe Soup, , 99–100 Mushroom Tapenade, 42–43 **O** Okra and Tomatoes, Roasted, 212–213 **P** Paris Chicken Fricassée, , 73–74 Peach Croustade, , 307–309 Peanut Butter-Chocolate Soufflés, 69–70 Pecans, Happy Dance, Pita Chips, Toasted, 34–35 Polenta Tart Crust, Pork Buckwheat Crêpes with Ham, Guyère and Egg, 261–263 Cowgirl Chorizo, Gascon-Style Pork Chops with Pepper Honey, , 255–257 Grilled Brie, Pear and Prosciutto Sandwiches, 189–190 Sweet Potato Biscuits with Ham, 28–30 Tacos Al Pastor, 157–159 Tex-Mex Meatloaf, 266–267 Winter BLT Tartines, 195–196 Potatoes, Green Chile-Goat Cheese Smashed, 216–217 Potatoes, Oven-Roasted Pommes Frîtes, Potatoes, Rosemary, 224–225 Pound Cake with Strawberries, 279–281 Prosciutto and Brie Sandwiches, Grilled, 189–190 Provencal Fish Stew, 248–250 **Q** Quiche, Cowgirl, 59–60, **R** Ratatouille, Roasted, 230–231 Rice Pudding with Salty Caramel Sauce, , 285–287 Roast Chicken, 264–265 Roasted Broccoli-Red Bell Pepper Tart, Roasted Red Bell Pepper Mayo, Roquefort Sauce, 243–244 Roquefort Slaw, Purple, 163–164 **S** Salads, 117–151 Asian Chicken Salad with Ginger-Lime Vinaigrette, 148–149 Asparagus & Avocado Salad, 133–134 Beets & Clementine Salad, , 131–132 Crunchy Grated Carrot Salad with Lime, 76–77 Deep South Salad, 150–151 End of Summer Salad, 128–129 End of Winter Salad, 141–142 It's the Berries Salad, , 122–123 Le Halles Spinach Salad, 124–125 My Big Fat French Salad, , 79–81 Purple Roquefort Slaw, 163–164 Roasted Butternut Squash, Spinach and Bacon Salad, , 145–146 Salmon Salad Tartines, , 193–194 Sunday Tuna Salad, 119–121 Texas Pickup Salad, , 139–140 Throw-Together Salad, 136–137 Salmon Salad Tartines, 193–194 Salmon with Kalamata Olive-Basil Salsa, 268–269 Salmon with Lentils, 245–247 Salty Caramel Sauce, Sauces and Salsa Adobo Salsa, 323–324 Arugula Pesto, Basil Pesto, Cilantro Yogurt, Cowgirl Chimichurri, French Chocolate Sauce, 295–296 Holy Guacamole!, Mango-Avocado Salsa, , 169–170 Olive-Basil Salsa, 268–269 Peach-Tomato Chipotle Salsa, Pepper Honey, Pico De Gallo, Roasted Red Bell Pepper Mayo, Roasted Salsa Verde, Roquefort Sauce, 243–244 Salty Caramel Sauce, Taqueria Salsa, Seafood. _See_ Fish and Seafood Skin and Bones Chicken Stock, 111–112 Soups, 83–115 30-Minute Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons, 108–110 Broccoli-Basil Soup with Goats Cheese Toasts, 95–96 Gazpacho, 93–94 Minestrone, 101–103 Minty Cantaloupe Soup, Skin and Bones Chicken Stock, 111–112 Smokin' Tortilla Soup, , 87–88 Sweet Potato-Buttermilk Soup, 90–91 Veggie Stock, 113–114 Zucchini-Cilantro Soup, Spinach, Potato and Caramelized Onion Tacos, 165–167 Spinach and Roquefort Tart, 177–178 Squash Soufflé, 232–233 Steak Frîtes with Roquefort Sauce, 242–244 Super-Quick Homemade Ricotta, Sweet Pea Pesto, 32–33 Sweet Potato Biscuits with Ham, 28–30 Sweet Potato-Buttermilk Soup, 90–91 Sweet Potatoes with Cocoa Nibs, 214–215 **T** Tacos Corona Beer-Braised Brisket Tacos, 154–156 Fish Tacos with Mango-Avocado Salsa, , 169–170 Spinach, Potato and Caramelized Onion Tacos, 165–167 Tacos Al Pastor, 157–159 Tacos Carnitas with Purple Roquefort Slaw, , 161–164 Tarts and Tartines Adobo Salmon Salad Tartines, 193–194 Jalapeño Pimento Cheese Tartines, 186–188 Polenta Tart Crust, Roasted Broccoli-Red Bell Pepper Tart, , 181–183 Roasted Red Bell Pepper Mayo, Roasted Veggie Melt, 184–185 Spinach and Roquefort Tart, 177–178 Tex-Mex Tart, 175–176 Tiny Tarts, 53–55 Tomato-Ricotta Tart, 171–173 Whole Wheat-Oatmeal Tart Crust, Winter BLT Tartines, 195–196 Texas Chili, 320–321 Texas Killers, 26–27 Texas Pickup Salad, , 139–140 Tex-Mex Dishes, 311–325 Adobo Salsa, 323–324 Back In Black Beans, Corn Tortillas, Cowgirl Chorizo, Holy Guacamole!, Pico De Gallo, Roasted Salsa Verde, Taqueria Salsa, Texas Chili, 320–321 Tex-Mex Meatloaf, 266–267 Tex-Mex Tart, 175–176 Wheat Tortillas, 312–313 Tomato Gratin, 206–207 Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons, 108–110 Tomatoes and Okra, Roasted, 212–213 Tomato-Ricotta Tart, 171–173 Tortilla Soup, Smokin', Tortilla Strips, Toasty, Tortillas, Corn, Tortillas, Wheat, 312–313 Trail guide, 18–21 Tuna Salad, Sunday, 119–121 **V** Vegetable Side Dishes, 199–233 Black-Eyed Peas and Jalapeño Cornbread, 208–210 Cauliflower Galettes with Chipotle Crème Fraîche, , 203–205 Cherry Tomato Gratin, 206–207 Chipotle Crème Fraîche, French Bistro Green Beans, 218–219 Green Chile-Goat Cheese Smashed Potatoes, 216–217 Jalapeño Cornbread, Maple-Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Cocoa Nibs, 214–215 My Grandmother's Yellow Squash Soufflé, 232–233 Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Hazelnuts, 227–229 Roasted Okra and Tomatoes, 212–213 Roasted Ratatouille, 230–231 Rosemary Potatoes, 224–225 Stuffed Zucchini, , 221–223 Veggie Melt, Roasted, 184–185 Veggie Stock, 113–114 **W** Walnut Cakes, Brown Butter, , 293–294 Watermelon Granita, 290–291 **Z** Zucchini, Stuffed, , 221–223 Zucchini-Cilantro Soup, , 105–107 ## NOTES

Top 10 Most Imported Golang Packages — Some Insights Or Hiltch Blocked Unblock Follow Following Feb 7, 2017 Having seen the cool things it’s now possible to do using using Google BigQuery’s public data sets (notably this), I decided to take a look at the top imported golang packages on a weekly basis. Interested in finding the best logging solution for your go application? or perhaps you want to make sure you are using the right HTTP request multiplexer? What better way is there than good old democracy! It is usually the case that the most imported package will be the best one for the job. Additionally, going over the most imported packages was a nice exploratory experiment, I got to learn about really cool things I should be using and still did not — notably Ginko and Gomega, who already changed the way I write my tests in Go. I plan to republish this sort of post every couple of weeks, covering new packages that are a part of the most commonly imported packages.

Jewish cuisine in America is nearly synonymous with New York-style fare. Outside the city, the shorthand for Jewish food is nearly the same list of old-world Ashkenazi delicacies: gefilte fish, borscht, kugel, knishes and other Eastern European Jewish fare. Yet contemporary tastes are ever-changing, and the vanguard of the expanding kosher palette lies where the American Jewish culinary experience began: in New York City. While tradition rarely bends to the whims of the times, tastes do—and one Chabad House has ventured into the nexus of haute cuisine and halachic permissibility. At Chabad of Columbia University, students are doing something a bit different: sampling the finest dining options around parts of New York, while still adhering to the comprehensive laws of kashruth. There, in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, and under the guidance of co-directors Rabbi Yonah and Keren Blum, the students proposed a monthly event of kosher food investigation and appreciation throughout the city. Originally called the Kosher Dining Club, the group moniker was altered somewhat into the more ironic Kosher Foodies of Chabad, or “KFC.” The food club was co-founded by community member John Peter Kaytrosh, who acts as the group’s iconic “colonel.” With general approval by Chabad’s board, he helps select each month’s restaurant choice. According to Kaytrosh, the “idea of KFC is to bring people together to show them the best kosher restaurants New York City has to offer.” Blum agrees: “When students suggested the idea for KFC, I thought what a quintessential venue for socializing and Torah learning: NYC’s legendary restaurant scene! It taps into students’ desire to explore the city and Jewish life. It also increases awareness of high-quality kosher cuisine as a plausible life choice for participants.” The outings demonstrate that haute cuisine and strict halachic observance can go hand in hand. For the students, it has been important to expand the repertoire beyond the obvious. Indeed, the operative terms for the Kosher Foodies of Chabad are “new experiences.”

Muslims and Democracy an Empirical Critique of Fukuyama’s Culturalist Approach This paper intends to demonstrate three objectives: (1) Fukuyama’s theory of the triumph of liberal democracy is cross culturally plausible at the attitudinal level; (2) Fukuyama’s claim that Islam is resistant to modernity (characterized by liberal democracy and capitalism) does not hold up to empirical testing. That is, using Islam as an explanatory variable of democracy/authoritarianism is largely uncorroborated; and (3) Explore alternative explanations for the absence of democracy in most of Middle Eastern countries. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of Human Development and Political Opportunity Structure for the explanation of democracy/authoritarianism. The main conclusion of the paper is that Islam is largely irrelevant as an explanatory variable for authoritarianism/democracy.

Stability conditions for a neutralised electron cooling beam Charge neutralisation of the cooling electron beam, e.g. by stationary ions produced from the residual gas, is desirable to compensate the space-charge induced velocity spread which tends to reduce the cooling force. However, it has been demonstrated by Parkhomchuk and collaborators (1993) that two-stream instabilities, especially transverse dipole modes, are a serious threat to the stability. In the present report we analyse stabilising mechanisms including Landau damping, external feedback and clearing of reflected electrons. Experimental results at LEAR (the Low Energy Antiproton Ring at CERN) are discussed in a companion paper at this conference.

Kathleen Willey, the former volunteer aide to Bill Clinton who says she was sexually harassed by the president in the 1990s, is now sounding the alarm about the potential danger of Hillary Clinton becoming president. “Hillary Clinton is the war on women, and that’s what needs to be exposed here,” Willey said Sunday night on Aaron Klein’s WABC Radio show. “The point is what this woman is capable of doing to other women while she’s running a campaign basically on women’s issues. It just doesn’t make any sense. She singlehandedly orchestrated every one of the investigations of all these women [who accused her husband of sexual crimes]. They’re the people reminding us of how sordid this all is.” Click below to listen to Part 1 of Klein’s interview with Kathleen Willey: Willey continued to rail against both Bill and Hillary Clinton, saying, “They take up all the oxygen in the room, and everybody is depressed. We’re gonna go back to all the sordid details [if Hillary runs for president]. They need to just go away because they’re forcing themselves on us is the way I feel. Just pack your bags. You’ve had your 15 minutes. … Stop forcing us to have to look at this stuff again. We’re sick of it!” Willey stressed it was not herself who was the one responsible for dredging up old dirt. “They’re the ones that are reminding us of all that behavior. Not me! They’re the ones.” Get the book exposing the Clintons’ incredible, political payback machine that none but WND dared to print! And Willey also lashed into feminist organizations who never seem interested in the harassment against her by the Clintons. “All of these women’s groups, they’re all pro-Hillary, they need to … talk to someone like me and listen here, what Hillary Clinton has done to me and many, many, many other women. They are so hypocritical, it’s unbelievable. And this is the woman that wants to be president.” Click below to listen to Part 2 of Klein’s interview with Kathleen Willey: As WND reported, Willey and her husband, Ed, were Democratic activists who founded Virginians for Clinton and helped send Bill and Hillary to the White House in 1992. While serving as a volunteer in the White House and facing financial hard times, Willey says she met with Bill Clinton in the Oval Office to request a paying position. But instead of getting help, she says, she was subjected to “nothing short of serious sexual harassment.” Distraught, Willey fled Clinton’s presence, only to discover that her husband Ed had committed suicide that same tragic afternoon. Later, she was drawn “unwillingly” into the Paula Jones lawsuit, the Ken Starr investigation and impeachment proceedings. Willey also claims the Clinton tag team was behind a string of events that can only be described as a mob-style intimidation campaign to keep her silent that even included breaking into her home to steal her memoirs of the events. Nonetheless, Willey wrote about her experiences with Bill Clinton’s sex addiction and Hillary Clinton’s revenge in the book “Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill & Hillary Clinton.” Willey wrote “Target” when Hillary Clinton was running for president the first time in 2007, and her comments today are all the more relevant now that Clinton is considering a 2016 presidential bid and a number of figures are examining the former first lady’s reactions to her husband’s indiscretions in the Oval Office. Wesley Pruden: Hillary Clinton’s war on women Just last month, for example, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., made headlines by bringing up Bill Clinton’s notorious affair with another White House volunteer, Monica Lewinsky, on “Meet the Press.” Paul told host David Gregory, “The media seems to have given President Clinton a pass on this. He took advantage of a girl who was 20 years old and an intern in his office. There is no excuse for that, and that is predatory behavior.” “And then they have the gall to stand up and say Republicans are having a war on women?” Paul asked rhetorically. “So yes, I think it’s a factor. It’s not Hillary’s fault, but it is a factor in judging Bill Clinton and history.” Then earlier this month, the Washington Free Beacon broke the explosive news of a confidential memo issued in 1992 by Stan Greenberg and Celinda Lake, top pollsters for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign, detailing their “research on Hillary Clinton.” The memo is one of many previously unpublished documents from the archives of one of Hillary Clinton’s best friends and advisers, documents that portray Hillary as a strong, ambitious and “ruthless” Democratic operative. “The full contents of the archive, which before 2010 was closed to the public, have not previously been reported on and shed new light on Clinton’s three decades in public life,” the Free Beacon reports. “The records paint a complex portrait of Hillary Clinton, revealing her to be a loyal friend, devoted mother, and a cutthroat strategist who relished revenge against her adversaries and complained in private that nobody in the White House was ‘tough and mean enough.'” The Free Beacon’s report also includes mention of Willey as well as Hillary’s reactions to the Lewinsky scandal and reports of Bill’s affairs and rumored affairs with Gennifer Flowers, Elizabeth Ward and Lencola Sullivan. Additional research by Drew Zahn and Joshua Klein. Is Hillary the personification of 'war on women'? No, a Hillary presidency would be the crowning achievement of women in the U.S. No, Hillary is a shining example for American women No, Hillary is a great role model for women and a champion of feminism No, she's the personification of a major war on beauty Yes, she is an enabler of her husband's predatory behavior Yes, she covered up her husband's philandering for decades Yes, her entire resume is built on being Bill Clinton's 'first lady' Other View Results

Shortly after Adele took home the Grammy award for Album of the Year in February, she broke it in half--with the intention of physically sharing it with Beyoncé, the internet concluded—in recognition of the latter's Lemonade. But Queen Bey won an even more valuable distinction outright: she's this year's highest-paid woman in music, pulling in a whopping $105 million pretax. Lemonade was a hit with both critics and fans, giving Beyoncé her sixth solo No. 1. The ensuing Formation World Tour, much of it falling into our list's scoring period, grossed a quarter of a billion dollars. Then she took time off as she and husband Jay-Z welcomed twins Rumi and Sir this summer. Adele finished second, earning $69 million, boosted by seven-figure nightly grosses on her first proper tour since 2011. "Adele’s music appeals to listeners of all ages all over the world with her undeniably powerful, emotional vocal interpretations paired with timeless songwriting and production," says multiplatinum singer-songwriter Skylar Grey. "No matter what genre someone generally subscribes to, it’s hard to find a music lover who doesn’t appreciate what she does." In order to form our list, we looked at pretax income from June 1, 2016 through June 1, 2017, and did not take out fees charged by agents, managers and lawyers. We gathered data from Nielsen SoundScan, Pollstar, the RIAA and interviews with industry insiders. The two mononymous stars both earned tens of millions more than the rest of the pack, but there are plenty of notable names further down the list. Taylor Swift raked in $44 million to claim the No. 3 spot, representing a significant dip from the peak of her 1989 Tour. With the release of new album Reputation—already the best-selling album of 2017—which came after the end of this list’s scoring period, look for her earnings total to rise significantly in next year’s accounting. Celine Dion ranks fourth with $42 million, resuming a lucrative Las Vegas residency last February after going on hiatus in the wake of her husband’s January 2016 death. Jennifer Lopez rounds out the top five with $38 million, also boosted by a standing Sin City gig, as well as new show World of Dance, where she serves as both judge and producer. The rest of the list proves that age is just a number: 71-year-old Dolly Parton (No. 6, $37 million) still tours with the rigor of stars half her age, grossing mid-six figures per city across 63 dates during our scoring period; Barbra Streisand (No. 10, $30 million) remains a huge draw even at 75, selling $46 million worth of tickets on her 14-show stint last year. Next up: Netflix special Barbra: The Music…The Mem’ries…The Magic! Earning double-digit millions does not guarantee a spot on this vaunted list—as near misses Madonna, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande can attest. The first two names should be back in the running the next time they go on tour; the latter two could be, too, as their careers continue to progress. Despite the success of the female stars on the list, there are regrettably still more than twice as many men than women among music's top-earning stars. Acts like the ninth-highest-paid woman, Katy Perry--who earned millions from endorsement deals with the likes of CoverGirl, Claire's and H&M--are doing their best to change that. "I am proud of my position as a boss, as a person that runs my own company," she told Forbes. "I'm an entrepreneur. ... I don't want to shy away from it. I actually want to kind of grab it by its balls." As for Adele's Grammy? Sorry, folks--it seems she broke it in half by accident. For more on the business of music, sign up for my email updates, follow me on Twitter and pre-order my new book on Jay-Z, Diddy & Dr. Dre.

Creative Worlds Collide! Nickelodeon’s The Fairly Odd Phantom Animated Short Features Butch Hartman’s Characters All Together for First Time Wanda, Cosmo and Timmy from The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, and Dudley Puppy and Kitty Katswell from T.U.F.F. Puppy Assemble and Make Way for Hartman’s Newest Character, Bunsen Hartman’s New Bunsen is a Beast Series Premieres Today, Feb. 21, at 5:30 p.m. (ET/PT) # # # What do you get when you putand a NEW Nicktoon together in one short film? TOTAL AWESOMENESS! Watch as one of Nickelodeon's newest Nicktoons,, meets up with some of your favorite friends from the world of master cartoon creator, Butch Hartman!:Update: Added Nickelodeon's press release, below!:Tune into weekdays at 5:30 p.m. ET/PT between Tuesday 21st - Friday 24th February 2017, then Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. ET/PT, only on Nick USA! Visit Nick.com Instagram and the Nick App to learn more aboutShare it: @nickelodeon #bunsenisabeast #dannyphantom #fairlyoddparentsWorlds and characters collide in, an original animated short featuring an ensemble cast of characters from the Nickelodeon animated series created by Butch Hartman:and the brand-new. The short, which marks the first-time these popular characters have ever been featured together, is now available across Nick.com Facebook , and Nick’s YouTube page. Hartman’s latest series,, premieres today, Feb. 21, at 5:30p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon, telling the story of Bunsen and Mikey--two new friends who embark on endless fun and adventures in their town of Muckledunk.In, Danny Phantom and friends capture escaped ghosts in their lab, Fenton Works, but their mission quickly goes awry when secret agent Dudley Puppy messes with the control panel. Soon after, Wanda, Cosmo and Timmy end up in the lab instead of Fairy World, where they are all met by a very different newcomer, Bunsen.For over 18 years, Hartman has created hit series for Nickelodeon, includingand, with his brand-new series,debuting today. As part of Nickelodeon’s continued celebration of its rich animation history, Hartman combined his pantheon of iconic characters into one comedic short.On Feb. 24,voice cast members, David Kaufman, Grey Griffin, Rickey D’Shon Collins, and Colleen O’Shaughnessy, will appear on a brand-new episode of the toon-talking Nickelodeon Animation Podcast, which gives voice to the creators and talent who bring to life some of the most innovative, hilarious, and heart-tugging animation in the history of television. Episodes are available on iTunes SoundCloud and nickanimationpodcast.com (10 seasons), which debuted in 2001, follows Cosmo and Wanda, husband-and-wife fairies, as they wreak havoc and help their godson Timmy overcome typical kid obstacles by granting him wishes.(3 seasons), which bowed in 2004, charts the adventures of14-year-old Danny Fenton, who becomes half-ghost, “Danny Phantom.” Now with paranormal powers, he’s responsible for capturing the ghosts and monsters that roam the Earth.(3 seasons) debuted in October 2010 and showcasesa gung-ho, dim-witted dog named Dudley Puppy who finds himself accidentally thrust into the role of secret agent.Visit Nick.com Instagram and the Nick App to learn more about. Full-length episodes are currently available on Nick.com , Nick On Demand, and the Nick App, available for download on iOS, Apple TV, Roku, Android, and Android TV.Hartman began his animation career as an assistant animator on. He created his own shorts for, and also wrote and directed episodes ofandmarks Hartman’s fourth animated series for Nickelodeon. Hartman joined Nickelodeon in 1998 where he created and produced several cartoon shorts for theseries, including. Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the animated series, Hartman brought the series to life in the 2010 live-action/CG animated hit TV movie,The series came to life once again in the original TV movie,in 2012 andin 2014. Hartman is also the creator of Nickelodeon’s animated seriesandNickelodeon, now in its 37th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 90 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 20 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com . Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).

Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in pdns, an authoritative DNS server. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project identifies the following problems: CVE-2016-2120 Mathieu Lafon discovered that pdns does not properly validate records in zones. An authorized user can take advantage of this flaw to crash server by inserting a specially crafted record in a zone under their control and then sending a DNS query for that record. CVE-2016-7068 Florian Heinz and Martin Kluge reported that pdns parses all records present in a query regardless of whether they are needed or even legitimate, allowing a remote, unauthenticated attacker to cause an abnormal CPU usage load on the pdns server, resulting in a partial denial of service if the system becomes overloaded. CVE-2016-7072 Mongo discovered that the webserver in pdns is susceptible to a denial-of-service vulnerability, allowing a remote, unauthenticated attacker to cause a denial of service by opening a large number of TCP connections to the web server. CVE-2016-7073 / CVE-2016-7074 Mongo discovered that pdns does not sufficiently validate TSIG signatures, allowing an attacker in position of man-in-the-middle to alter the content of an AXFR. For the stable distribution (jessie), these problems have been fixed in version 3.4.1-4+deb8u7. For the unstable distribution (sid), these problems have been fixed in version 4.0.2-1. We recommend that you upgrade your pdns packages.

Neutron scattering studies of Y1-xUxPd3 compounds. We have performed neutron scattering measurements on two alloys of Y1-xUxPd3 (x = 0.2, 0.45). Our results indicate that the x = 0.45 compound orders antiferromagnetically with a moment of 0.7 mu(B) per U atom and a Neel temperature (T-N) of 21 K Although the x = 0.2 compound does not order above 0.2 K, critical fluctuations associated with antiferromagnetic ordering were observed on cooling from 77 to 0.2 K. The magnetic spectra for both compounds, obtained by polarized inelastic neutron scattering, were dominated by a quasielastic response close to 0 meV, suggesting a magnetic ground state.

STAR WARS™ BATTLEFRONT™ RELEASING ACROSS THE GALAXY STARTING ON NOVEMBER 17TH Feel the ominous thud of an AT-AT stomping towards your location as Rebel forces fire blasters at Imperial speeder bikes zipping by. Look up to see an intense dogfight between X-wings and TIE fighters filling the sky above you. Get ready to immerse yourself in epic Star Wars™ battle fantasies when Star Wars™ Battlefront™ releases on November 17 in North America and starting November 19 in Europe for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and on Origin for PC. Fight for the Rebellion or Empire in a wide variety of multiplayer matches for up to 40 players, or in exciting challenges inspired by the films available solo, split-screen or through online co-op. Star Wars Battlefront combines this epic action on a galactic scale with stunning visual recreations of some of the most iconic planets, weapons, characters, and vehicles in the Star Wars universe and the original sound effects from the films, to give you the ultimate immersive interactive Star Wars experience you’ve been looking for. PRE-ORDER AND BE THE FIRST TO BATTLE ON THE PLANET OF JAKKU* Pre-order Star Wars™ Battlefront™ and on December 1st, 2015, be among the first players to experience the Battle of Jakku*, the pivotal moment when the New Republic confronted key Imperial holdouts on a remote desert planet. Taking place in the aftermath of the Rebel victory in the Battle of Endor, players will experience the events that created the massive, battle-scarred landscape of Jakku shown in Star Wars™: The Force Awakens™. Players who pre-order Star Wars Battlefront can fight the battle one week early. All other players will get access to this content on December 8th, 2015. KEY FEATURES Learn what happened at the Battle of Jakku, which precedes the events of Star Wars : The Force Awakens : 2 maps set on the all-new planet of Jakku 7 days early access for those who pre-order Star Wars ™ Battlefront™ ™ Battlefront™ Available as a free† download to all players on December 8th, 2015 The countdown to November 17th has begun. Stay tuned to Star Wars Battlefront and our official social channels for updates and May the Force™ be with you.

AFP, January 2, 2011 KABUL — More than 10,000 people, about a fifth of them civilians, lost their lives in violence in Afghanistan last year, an AFP count based on official figures and an independent website tally showed Sunday. An Afghan child injured in the 4 May, 2009 US air strikes in Farah province. (Photo: Abdul Malek/AP) An Afghan child injured in the 4 May, 2009 US air strikes in Farah province. (Photo: Abdul Malek/AP) Afghanistan's interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary revealed new figures for the number of civilians, police and militants killed in 2010 -- a total of 8,560 people. In addition, the Afghan defence ministry said that 810 Afghan soldiers died in 2010, while independent website icasualties.org puts the total death toll for international troops last year at 711. That brings the overall number of dead from the war last year to 10,081, according to an AFP calculation. Afghanistan has been in the grip of a Taliban insurgency since the hardline Islamists were ousted by a US-led invasion in 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States. The Taliban were accused of sheltering Al-Qaeda leaders linked to the attack. Last year was the deadliest yet in Afghanistan's nine-year war for international troops, according to the icasualties tally. Bashary said his ministry had recorded 2,043 civilian deaths caused by Taliban attacks and military operations targeting the militants. This is lower than the 2,412 Afghan civilian deaths in the first 10 months of 2010 identified in a United Nations report last month. It said the toll was up 20 percent on the same period in 2009. The UN has yet to release its figures for the whole year. The interior ministry spokesman added that 1,292 policemen were killed battling the Taliban and other insurgents last year. Meanwhile, he said 5,225 militants were also killed in 2010 operations by the war-torn country's security forces and their international backers, a NATO-led force of about 140,000 troops. Limited, conditions-based international troop withdrawals are due to start in July 2011 ahead of a planned handover of responsibility for security to Afghan forces by 2014.

Coast Guard shares ice rescue safety tips Copyright 2019 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Video ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC-TV) - Got plans to go ice fishing or ice skating on frozen ponds this year? The United States Coast Guard wants you to think twice about the ice. One wrong step, and you can find yourself in freezing water – unable to get out. Would you know what to do? Jason Pata, Senior Chief of U.S. Coast Guard in Rochester, says it’s vital to try and gain control of your breathing and fight off the initial shock of the cold water entry. “You have about one minute to try to fight off the gasping reflex, about 10 minutes of functional mobility, and about one hour until loss of conciseness,” said Pata. According to the Coast Guard, you want to keep breaking at the ice until it is strong enough for you to climb out. To climb out, get your elbows on the ice with your chest at ice level, and kick your feet hard behind you while walking your elbows on the ice. “Once your whole body is out of the water and on to the ice you want to roll to safety,” Pata said. “You don’t want to try to crawl or stand up. You just want to roll towards the shore for as long as possible.” If you’re able to help yourself out of the water, get to a place where you can get warm as quick as possible. Stop the cooling process and start a slow warming process by removing all your wet clothing and getting dry clothing on. You don’t want to eat or drink any liquids that are hot, because you can send your body into shock from the inside out. Find any blankets or sit next to heat source. If you can’t get your body back to normal temperature on your own, call 911. If you still plan on heading the icy waters then remember “ICE” – information, clothing, and equipment. That means you want to pay attention to the weather. Wearing the appropriate layers can save your life. The layer closest to your skin should be moisture wicking, meaning it absorbs the sweat and keeps you dry. Then a middle layer composed of fleece or wool, and a top layer that can handle the weather elements – for example, a wind breaker or rain resistant coat. Finally, bring the right tools. Have a life jacket, something that can dig into the ice in case you need to pull yourself out, and a friend who can get help and know where you are.

FRAMINGHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A Framingham boy diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor received an honor from a Massachusetts police department on Tuesday. The Framingham Police Department allowed 6-year-old Devin Suau to be police chief for a day. “We’re honored to have Devin here today, he’s a courageous young man,” said a member of the police department. Devin was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in late January, and was given eight months to two years to live. Devin and his family were picked up at their home by a motorcade with lights flashing. He was greeted by his fellow officers over the radio. Devin and his family were then escorted to police headquarters, where it was made official; Devin was chief for the day. The #WhyNotDevin was created on social media by his family, to raise awareness for his disease. The hashtag helped Devin gain support from some notable people including state police, the Harvard Hockey team, Kim Kardashian and Tom Brady. Brady let Devin ride on his float during the Super Bowl parade. That’s the thought process behind this special day; why not Devin as chief? Why not be the first to find a cure? Devin’s family set up a Facebook page where they post updates on Devin’s fight. There’s also a GoFundMe page to help cover the family’s medical costs.

Gauss, a new "cyber-espionage toolkit, has emerged in the Middle East and is capable of stealing sensitive data such as browser passwords, online banking accounts, cookies and system configurations, according to Kaspersky Lab. Gauss appears to have come from the same nation-state factories that produced Stuxnet. According to Kaspersky, Gauss has unique characteristics relative to other malware. Kaspersky said it found Gauss following the discovery of Flame. The International Telecommunications Union has started an effort to identify emerging cyberthreats and mitigate them before they spread. In a nutshell, Gauss launched around September 2011 and was discovered in June. Gauss, which resembles Flame, had its command and control infrastructure shut down in July, but the malware is dormant waiting for servers to become active. Kaspersky noted in an FAQ: There is enough evidence that this is closely related to Flame and Stuxnet, which are nation-state sponsored attacks. We have evidence that Gauss was created by the same "factory" (or factories) that produced Stuxnet, Duqu and Flame. Among Gauss' key features: Gauss collects data on machines and sends it to attackers. This data includes network interface information, computer drive details and BIOS characteristics. The malware can infect USB thumb drives using the vulnerabilities found in Stuxnet and Flame. Gauss can disinfect drives under certain circumstances and then uses removable media to store collected data in a hidden file. The malware also installs a special font called Palida Narrow. Since May 2012, Gauss has infected more than 2,500 machines, mostly in Lebanon. Kaspersky said that the total number of Gauss victims is likely to be in the "tens of thousands." That number is lower than Stuxnet, but higher than Flame and Duqu attacks. So far, Gauss has swiped data from the Bank of Beirut, EBLF, BlomBank, ByblosBank, FransaBank and Credit Libanais. Citibank and PayPal users are also targeted. Why Gauss? The malware's main module was named after German mathematician Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss. Other components are also named after well-known mathematicians. A few key slides from Kaspersky's Gauss report:

New (g-2)_{\mu} Constraints on Light-Gravitino Models We show that the gravitino contribution to (g-2)_{\mu} is finite in many popular supergravity models, including no-scale supergravity and string and M-theory models. This contribution is greatly enhanced for very light gravitino masses, and leads to new upper bounds on the ratio of the smuon to the gravitino mass. Introduction One of the quantities which are measured with great precision in particle physics is the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (g − 2) µ . The new E821 experiment at Brookhaven is expected to improve the precision of the previous measurement by a factor 20 . This improvement should be sensitive enough to detect the electroweak contribution to (g −2) µ , and should provide a way to probe for new physics, especially supersymmetry . The most recent experimental value of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon is : while the latest theoretical prediction within the Standard Model is estimated to be : a µ = (11659181 ± 15) × 10 −10 , leaving an allowed interval for new physics contributions, at the 90% C. L, Recently, light-gravitino models have attracted renewed attention because they may explain the eeγγ + E T,miss event reported by the CDF Collaboration , and may have further interesting consequences at LEP 2 . If the gravitino is very light it will contribute significantly to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon . In addition, in supergravity models the gravitino contribution may diverge, unless certain relations among the Kähler function components are satisfied . These relations provide new constraints on supergravity models, as we believe that (g − 2) µ should be finite in any consistent theory after spontaneous supergravity breaking. We have checked that (g − 2) µ is indeed finite in various models based on no-scale supergravity, weakly-coupled heterotic strings, and M-theory-inspired models. We also present numerical studies of the gravitino contribution to (g − 2) µ , and the upper bound that results on (mμ/mG) when δa µ is restricted to the range in Eq. (3). Finite gravitino contributions In general, the one-loop gravitino contribution to (g − 2) µ may be divergent because of the non-renormalizability of supergravity. It is interesting to explore under what conditions will this contribution be finite in spontaneously broken supergravity. Using dimensional reduction and requiring one-loop finiteness independently of the photino mass, del Aguila obtained the following constraints on the Kähler function : where i, j indicate derivatives with respect to the charged sleptons, and z represents derivatives with respect to hidden sector fields (including the dilaton and moduli fields). These constraints have been obtained in a field basis where G m n = − 1 2 δ m n , which assures canonical kinetic terms. First let us consider standard no-scale supergravity , where the gauge kinetic function is f αβ = h(z)δ αβ and the Kähler function for the SU (N, 1) SU (N )×U (1) theory is: where z is a hidden-sector (singlet) field and the φ i represent observable sector fields. Without loss of the generality, this Kähler potential satisfies the field basis condition in Eq. (5) when we choose z = √ 6 2 and φ i = 0. This choice also allows G to satisfy the finiteness conditions in Eq. (4). Next we consider an E 6 × E 8 compactified model derivable from the weaklycoupled heterotic string or M-theory . The Kähler potential is: and the gauge kinetic function is f αβ = S δ αβ . This Kähler potential satisfies the field basis condition in Eq. 2 , and φ = 0. Clearly the dilaton field satisfies the finiteness conditions for z = S. The T field also satisfies these conditions, as shown in the above no-scale supergravity case. 1 Let us also consider string no-scale supergravity , where at present only the lowest-order Kähler function is known: with where n I represents the number of untwisted fields in set I, and set-indices I = 1, 2, 3 on the α i (i.e., α i ) are understood. Also, where the β (I) i are twisted sector fields that belong to the I-th set, n T 1,T 2,T 3 are the number of these fields, and K (1,2,3) are given in above equation. We see that the constraints in Eq. (4) are satisfied because there are no mixing terms β Other string-derived orbifold models have similar Kähler potentials at lowest order , for example: For phenomenological reasons related to the absence of the flavor-changing neutral currents in the low-energy theory, one assumes a diagonal form for the piece of the Kähler potential associated with the matter fields,K i j =K i δ i j . Therefore, by the same argument as in string no-scale supergravity, in these orbifold models the gravitino contribution to (g − 2) µ is finite. Moreover, ifK i j is not diagonal, then it should satisfy the condition K i T j = 0, in order to keep the gravitino contribution finite. Numerical analysis The gravitino contribution to (g − 2) µ in spontaneously broken supergravity was calculated in Refs. . In what follows we explore its magnitude and obtain constraints on the sparticle and gravitino masses by requiring that it be confined to the experimentally allowed interval in Eq. (3). The usual supersymmetric contributions to (g − 2) µ (i.e., not including the gravitino) have been studied in the literature and will not be addressed here, other than to assume that they themselves satisfy Eq. (3). There are further aspects of this result that are worth pointing out. Note first that even lighter gravitino masses (say mG < 10 −6 eV) lead to aG µ values that do not fit in the allowed interval in Eq. (3). However, such light gravitino masses are already ruled out experimentally from collider and astrophysical considerations . Furthermore, the function f (x) has a zero at x ≈ 1 4 , and therefore the (fine-tuned) choice mγ ≈ 1 2 mμ would preclude an absolute lower bound on mG. Also of interest is the fact that aG µ grows as m 2 µ , as a result of the nonrenormalizability of supergravity. Indeed, for a fixed value of mγ ≪ mμ, f (x) → 1/6 and aG µ < 190 × 10 −10 entails mμ 100 GeV This experimental upper bound on the ratio mμ/mG is new, and will become significantly stricter once the data from E821 begins to be analyzed. A related bound on the sparticle spectrum in the presence of very light gravitinos has also been obtained from a theoretical viewpoint by considering violations of tree-level unitarity . Let us now comment on the effect of α = 0. The smuon left-right mixing angle, in typical supergravity theories, may be estimated as sin 2α ∼ m µ µ tan β/m 2 µ , where µ is the Higgs mixing parameter and tan β the usual ratio of Higgs vacuum expectation values. This angle plays a crucial role in the usual supersymmetric contribution to a µ . In the present case, its effective contribution to the square bracket in Eq. (12) goes as ∼ mγ µ tan β/m 2 µ , which is not negligible, and may even be enhanced for large values of tan β. Note however that this contribution is suppressed if the smuon masses are close to each other (because of the (−1) k factor). Without introducing further unknown parameters into the calculation, one may conclude that the numerical results obtained above should remain approximately valid in this more general case. Conclusions We have considered the contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon from loops involving light gravitinos. This contribution may be divergent in generic supergravity models, but we have identified several popular ones where it is finite, including no-scale supergravity and string and M-theory derived models. We have also studied the phenomenological aspects of this contribution and established a new upper bound on the ratio of the smuon to gravitino masses.

Role of miRNA polymorphism in recurrent pregnancy loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis. There are a plethora of publications on the role of miRNA gene polymorphism and its association with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), but a lack of uniformity in the studies available due to the variable subject population, heterogeneity and contrary results of significance. Rigorous data mining was done through PubMed, SCOPUS, Cochrane library, Elsevier and Google Scholar to extract the studies of interest published until June 2021. A total of eight SNPs of miRNAs have been included, where ≥2 studies per SNPs were available. Analysis was done on the basis of pooled odds ratios and 95% CI. This is the first meta-analysis on miRNA SNPs in RPL that suggests that rs11614913, rs3746444 and rs2292832 biomarkers may decrease the risk of RPL under different genetic models.

Since taking the reins of our rail network, Metro Trains Melbourne has been known for their pursuit of profit over service provision. The best example of this is station skipping – a practice that first emerged in early 2012 as a way for late trains make up time and avoid fines for poor performance, but soon reached plague proportions. As a result PTV started collecting data on the practice in May 2014, but Metro Trains has already found a new way to fudge their performance statistics – ‘stepping down’ services. I haven’t any any luck finding the official name of the new practice, but ‘stepping down’ is the best unofficial one so far – the best way to explain it is though the eyes of a passenger traveling on an affected train. We've just been told this train is going to sit at the station for 10 minutes so that it can "become a new service that's running on time" — Matthew Rowland (@matt_roly) September 10, 2015 … Instead of running 3 minutes late. — Matthew Rowland (@matt_roly) September 10, 2015 The driver apologised for "the train network being run like this". He sounds more annoyed than we are — Matthew Rowland (@matt_roly) September 10, 2015 Compare this to the previous station skipping scam, and this new tactic delays more passengers – passengers already onboard the delayed train are delayed even further, while passengers further along the line still have their train cancelled and instead board the newly ‘on time’ train. Fudging the numbers Holding a late train to make it even later seems a bit backwards, given how Public Transport Victoria measures performance: In each financial quarter Metro Trains is required to: deliver at least 98 per cent of the timetable ensure that at least 87 per cent of services arrive at their destination no later than four minutes and 59 seconds after the timetabled arrival time. From a naive reading of the above, ‘stepping down’ a service would result in no fine for late running, but a new fine for the original service that never reached the destination! However Metro manages to avoid these penalties thanks to how the statistics are collected. Once upon a time recording late trains was a manual process, but this changed in March 2015 to an automated one: The new automated system, PRS, replaced a long-standing manual system in which Metro staff recorded the company’s on-time and cancellation figures and supplied the data to the state. Public Transport Victoria then cross-checked the information against its own sample surveys. PRS uses track sensors that automatically record train arrival and departure times at stations, reducing the government’s reliance on data provided by Metro to inspect whether it has met targets that can secure it million of dollars in quarterly bonuses. As a passenger you probably refer to the train you want to catch as the 12:03 from Examplestown, but for a rail operator this gets very confusing, very quickly. Instead, each service is allocated a unique train number, which can be used to be used in an unambiguous manner no matter what day of the week it is, or location that you are looking at the train from. In the case of Victoria, we use four digits, ordered into logical number groups. Train numbers are also how the new monitoring system tracks system performance, and they allow Metro Trains to fudge their figures – the driver of the late running service is instructed by train control to ‘drop’ their current train number and pickup the number of the train behind. The end result is that the automated system sees the late service disappear into the aether, and an on-time service appear on the network, resulting in Metro Trains avoiding BOTH cancellation and late running penalties! If only Metro Trains put as much effort into actually running a rail service than they do into fudging their performance figures! Some more examples A reader shared another example of the ‘stepping down’ practice via Facebook: I had the same thing happen to be back in June. The train left Werribee quite late and by the time it got to Aircraft it was altered to become the following service. A somewhat related example via Reddit: I had this happen to me twice last week on the hurstbidge line and didn’t know what was going on. I got to Alphington with 7 mins to spare for the next city bound train, but the sign said that I had to wait 27 mins. Odd as trains run every 20 mins out of peak, but there was no announcement that there was a delay or cancellation. And someone sent me a link to this post title ‘How Metro Trains Fudge Their Figures‘ by the people behind the ‘Metro Memes’ Facebook page. The relevant bit: The Bait and Switch. When a track or signal problem proves to be a long term delay to trains Metro employs a bait and switch tactic. It works like this: 9:00am Train departs Frankston Station on time. Track works at Mordialloc ensure that it arrives at Mordialloc station 10 minutes late. Metro departs a DIFFERENT train from Mordialloc at the time that the first train was due to depart. Metro changes the 9:00am train at Mordialloc to the 9:10am train. Train then departs Mordialloc station ON TIME. The people who caught the train from Frankston are ten minutes late and the people further up the line get the same service they get if there were no troubles. So what’s the problem? The problem arises when Metro then claim that both trains were running on time, despite one train cancelled between Frankston and Mordialloc and the other train running ten minutes behind schedule. These two on-time trains are then figured into their accounting which is passed onto the Government. The Government then pays Metro bonuses based upon these dodgy figures. I’m sure there are more examples out there!

Place/Transition Sharing Composition and Application in Metallurgical Processes This paper proposes the Place/Transition Sharing Composition on the basis of Petri net Sharing Composition, which be used in the metallurgical processes. It provides a theoretical basis for the Place/Transition modeling. Besides, the theorem of Place/Transition Sharing Composition lays the foundation for the validation of feasibility and analysis of performance of new technology and new process applied in the original process in the metallurgical process. Finally, the steel process will be modeled and simulated, which be used as an example of its application.

There's a really good discussion over at Drawger right now, over Gary Taxali's flipping off at wannabe-clients who ask illustrators to work for insulting fees, or for free!Go read it, because it's an absolutely wonderful display of a creative community coming together to support each other and offer advice, but here's the gist of Gary's anger:Gee, Google sure has been hit by some hard times! I had no idea. I'll have to make sure I use their services more, maybe click on some ads. Help them get back thoseIn an effort to somehow get by, Google has been forced to ask a great number of commercial illustrators for free work. It's the only way! The mean and unreasonable Melinda Beck thoughtlessly send back this reply to such a request:Really. Google.And although I'm sure you've either already read the discussion or shall do right after this, I'm going to post this short quote from William Self I think the advice coming from everyone here is important not only to illustrators or artists in general, but also of course to businesses big and small, and just to people in general.EDIT: Brian Stauffer has done some fantastic illustrations for Google

There were two really important Cameron developments this week: 1. Cameron, Tom, and Joe At the very beginning of the episode, there is a flashback of Cameron explaining to Tom why she slept with Joe. She says: “I was sad, I needed to pour that sadness into something.” Tom asks if she loves Joe and she answers that: “Joe’s impossible to love, he’s empty, he just becomes whatever circumstances require him to be.” But she does love Joe, and Joe isn’t just a shell. Joe is trying desperately to hide who he is while Cameron is putting how she feels and who she is right in the world's face. Joe desperately wants the world not to see HIM so he creates important masks to wear so that the world doesn’t know he feels inadequate and small (in relation to his Father). He swallows his pain, is never surprised when the world lets him down, and is constantly reinventing the Joe people see. Cameron insists the world see her anger, frustrations, and failures. She is an incredibly authentic person, and, as a result much more easily broken by events. Joe hides behind a facade of masculine confidence (backed up by moments of real genius) while Cameron gives the world the finger as she screams at the world as it disappoints her over and over again. Joe’s despair is a deeply buried tumor where Cameron’s despair is an angry open wound. There is a great scene where Joe gives Cameron the “present” of a pair of headphones while she is making breakfast to the music of Belly’s song “Slow Dog.”

Jimmy’s “Mugging Monday” Whew! I finally got this thing done! This took me.. waaaay longer than it should have. Like.. three days or something. I was struggling on what style to go with. There was experimentation everywhere. In fact, I’m probably going to come back to this just to slap a background to the panels without any just so it’s not that jarring going from my faux artsy first two panels. Also, I just realized I forgot to put an item on the cafe special thing. Will have to figure that out later.. Also, screw hands. Context: Uh.. So this is my Massacre Monday comic! On the second day, we wound up releasing every Pokemon except for one Tympole, and I think one Purrloin that’s in the PC. I was pretty bummed out by it, and was kind of at a loss as to how I’d even be able to do anything regarding the trainer, but.. I figured something out. And it’s all thanks to the super unpolished comic I put up a while ago. I know lots of people prefer that he slaughtered them or something, but in my head canon, our trainer’s a little bit more than just a big nerd. He used to be a hikkomori (before going on this adventure) (whoops, I forgot to draw some bags under his eyes..). So this meek dude didn’t exactly strike me as the type to just slaughter his Pokemon. Also, I kept envisioning a very young David Cross to be playing Jimmy, here. The color of our trainer’s cap is based off /u/Everyle’s comic done a while ago.

ISLAMABAD: At a time when both India and Pakistan celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 war, a statement from RSS favouring India's engagement with Pakistan and other neigbours, appears to send positive vibes across Pakistan after its ties with New Delhi remaining under stress for quite a long time over ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and Working Boundary.While the list of problems between the two countries is too long and complex, a show of jingoism further narrows chances of any breakthrough on least important issues, be it shallow promises of CBMs. As these days, both countries are busy, like every year since 1965, marking the anniversary of war, the offer of olive branch from rightwing RSS, the mentor of ruling BJP, is a serious matter for serious consideration. "The timing of this message of brotherhood from RSS is crucial. It came at a time when media in both countries are occupied with celebrations of 50-year-old war,” said Ali Akbar, an observer. "Geography, history and culture offer more for both countries to celebrate than victory or defeat in war," he added.Nazrul Islam, another observer, said that positive statement by RRS at a time when skirmishes on both sides of the LoC and working boundary have been intensified, will somehow help in lowering the temperature. "The cancellation of Delhi talks was huge setback for both countries. Talks should not be called off at any stage. Closing doors for talks provide an opportunity to the 'unwanted' elements on both sides of the borders to create mess," he said.Had talks not called off, Islam added, the tension on LoC, working boundary would not have increased, and both countries may not suffered civilian casualties. "Talks must prevail and it is the only way to move forward. Both nations cannot afford wars, be it full fledge or short term," he said.About the 1965 war, there is common belief in Pakistan that India had terribly failed to invade Pakistan and had suffered heavy losses. Though, the war ended in stalemate, but Pakistan marks it as its victory. Air Marshal (retired) Nur Khan, who headed the Pakistan Air Force in 1965, had reportedly said in an interview that the army had misled the nation with a big lie that India rather than Pakistan had provoked the war - and that Pakistan won a "great victory".And since the "lie" was never rectified, the Pakistani "army came to believe its own fiction, (and) has continued to fight unwanted wars," he had said.

The Toronto Maple Leafs could be on the verge of going full Buffalo Sabres. Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment’s ownership board met with the hockey club’s management team two weeks ago and approved a long-term, down-to-the-wood rebuild for the Maple Leafs, according to a report by the Globe and Mail‘s Cathal Kelly. 5 trade destinations for Mr. Phaneuf | 5 trade destinations for Mr. Kessel The rebuilding project should spell another three to five more seasons of losing for a city that — barring a miracle — will have seen just one playoff series in the past 11 years. The article also details which players management believes are valuable and which core members — including the captain and the leading scorer — are not part of the rebuild’s blueprint. Writes Kelly: Mr. Shanahan and his lieutenants have now finally received a broad mandate from ownership to scorch as much earth as they see fit in order to return the Leafs to contention, according to two sources familiar with that meeting. It will mean a new philosophy on building slowly through the draft and long-term projects, rather than quick fixes via trades for established players. It will mean at least three more years of pain for fans, and as many as five…. This season has allowed management to identify a new core of players it wants to keep – Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Jonathan Bernier, William Nylander. Nazem Kadri and James van Riemsdyk are still considered valuable because of their youth. There are some favourites, but no one – not even a budding star such as Mr. Rielly – is untouchable. It won’t happen until summer, but Mr. Phaneuf and Mr. Kessel are not in the plan. The goal now is extracting as much value as possible for them. That translates either to young players who are high-ceiling projects and draft picks. Read the full article here.

Phil Harrison, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft EMEA. On the third floor of a building that fits snugly into the heart of London's West End is Soho Productions, the self-confessed "biggest Microsoft Studio you never knew existed". Founded in 2008, Soho Productions' mission to "change all that you understand about television" resulted in the creation of the Sky player for Xbox 360. It's now working on similar, secret projects for Xbox One. On the fifth floor is Lift London, the recently-opened Microsoft Studio focused on creating new free-to-play IP for tablets, mobiles and, of course, Xbox. Lift London was set up by Phil Harrison, the former Sony and Atari executive hired by Microsoft last year to help grow Xbox 360 - and now Xbox One - in Europe, and it's here that Harrison works. His office is white and airy, his desk tidy save for a strewn newspaper pullout reprint of Pop Chart Lab's "The Evolution of Video Game Controllers" poster (it turns out Harrison, who started his video game adventure back in the late 80s, worked on many of these devices), and a couple of sofas that face each other. I sit in one. Harrison, cross-legged, sits in the other. It's been a turbulent few months for Microsoft and Harrison, who must have wondered more than once what he got himself in for after his double pre-owned themed encounter with Tom at the Redmond Xbox One reveal event in May. Since then, Sony gave Microsoft's controversial digital-heavy policies for its next-gen console a kicking at E3 in June, Microsoft ditched many of those digital-heavily policies for its next-gen console in a dramatic U-turn, and we saw the announcement of ID@Xbox, Microsoft's indie self-publishing initiative that, depending on who you talk to, has either been in the works for years or frantically put together over the last few months to counter Sony's indie love-in. Now, to coincide with Harrison's just-completed Eurogamer Expo 2013 developer session and with the Xbox One less than two months from release, it's time to talk about the present: the launch, the threat from Valve and its Steam Box, disruptive Virtual Reality headsets and the "unstoppable force" that is the digital revolution. I'd like to start with Xbox One stock levels. Those who have pre-ordered expect to get their console at launch. But will someone who hasn't pre-ordered be able to walk into a shop on launch day and buy an Xbox One? Phil Harrison: We hope so. There are a few weeks to go between now and launch. Pre-orders have been unprecedented. It will mean Xbox One by far and away the largest launch we've ever done on a global basis and on a UK basis. And we work carefully with our retail partners to make sure we have as much capacity and inventory as possible. Inevitably, there will be situations where demand outstrips supply. But we work hard to minimise the impact of that. Are we looking at a sold out situation for Christmas? Phil Harrison: It's hard to predict, but the demand is very high. We will do everything we can to get as much inventory into our retail partners, because we want to sell them. There's no desire on our part to lose a sale or hold back inventory. You mentioned pre-orders being unprecedented compared to previous console generations, but some observers claim consoles are doomed. Some suggest the next-gen will be the last. What are Microsoft's expectations for sales of Xbox One versus previous generations? Do you expect the market to grow significantly here? Phil Harrison: We have this expression internally where we talk about gen six, gen seven and gen eight. Xbox One is a gen eight console. Gen seven, if you include Xbox 360 and the other Sony and Nintendo consoles, is by far and away the biggest generation the console industry has ever seen. Gen seven was substantially, materially bigger than gen six - in some markets two or three times as big. So, the trajectory - and I'm a bit long in the tooth so I know these numbers back from 1990 all the way to the present day - is that every generation has been bigger than its previous generation. So the macro economic of the game industry is incredibly strong. You're seeing a lot of growth in console but you're also seeing a lot of growth in gaming fullstop, whether it's on mobile phones, tablets or consoles and a number of new entrants. So the games market overall is in an incredibly strong position. Look at Grand Theft Auto 5. That's the perfect proof point. You've got a computer game generating over $1 billion of revenue in its first three days. It's the biggest entertainment launch in any medium of all time. And it's on console. That belief is based on the trajectory of console generation sales, but is there anything about the consoles themselves that will drive further growth? Phil Harrison: Yes, absolutely. And the very purposeful choices we've made with Xbox One we think will help accelerate that growth. Yes, we want to be the best place to play games, and we also want to give more people in the household the opportunity to play and interact with the device connected to the biggest screen in the living room. So, adding non-game features, adding entertainment features, whether it's live television, whether it's Blu-ray playback, whether it's all the social and digital connectivity, we think gives more people in the household a reason to use Xbox One and discover games as a result. That's going to help the growth. One of the subtle benefits of Kinect in every Xbox One is identity. It means when you go to your Xbox One, it recognises you and presents you with your choices of games, what you've previously been playing, what your preferences are for your TV shows, what your preferences are for music and film. Whereas somebody else in your house, your wife or partner or whoever, would have their choices presented to them when they log-on, with their identity. It means Xbox One is very personalised and very customised for your entertainment choices, and we think that reduces friction and increases enjoyment of the console. That makes sense, but you know better than anyone that those early adopters who buy consoles at launch are, typically, core gamers. What is it about the Xbox One that will convince those people specifically to buy a console at launch? Phil Harrison: It's all about the games. It's about having the strongest lineup of franchises that players love and also some new experiences we think they will love that perhaps they haven't yet played. Of the 23 games we have coming out for Xbox One in the launch window, I was looking at this the other day and I think there are 10 billion dollar IPs in that launch lineup. It might be 11, but it's definitely 10. When you say billion dollar IPs what do you mean exactly? Phil Harrison: A game like Call of Duty. A game like FIFA. A game like Forza. A game that has cumulatively sold over a billion dollars in its history. These are powerhouse franchises, household names, games players want to play, and games players have a rich history of playing with their friends, which is very important on Xbox Live. No console in history has ever launched with a lineup of IPs that are that powerful. That's great for Xbox One. But, there are also some new games people haven't had the chance to play before, which will be showing up uniquely on the console, like Ryse, which just looks amazing and has beautiful graphics. Also, somebody who's buying into an Xbox One at launch is not only judging the launch lineup, but they're also thinking about what's coming around the corner. And it's games like Titanfall that will be hugely motivational for players to buy into the Xbox One. We know they have a choice, but it's the games that ultimately what cements that choice. "Of the 23 games we have coming out for Xbox One in the launch window, I was looking at this the other day and I think there are 10 billion dollar IPs in that launch lineup. It might be 11, but it's definitely 10." Microsoft's Phil Harrison You've touched on some of the TV features of Xbox One. Microsoft has made much of this, but with a focus on American Football. Will you offer similar experience for football? Phil Harrison: Xbox One has HDMI in as well as HDMI out. HDMI out is, obviously, what connects the console to your TV or receiver. HDMI in is what can take the live television feed from the device you already have in your home for television. It could be your satelite box. It could be your cable box. It could be a Freesat or Freeview box. And you can then bring that feed into the Xbox One dash, and then make TV fullscreen, instantly snap between software, switch between applications - games to TV - and those features will be available day one for consumers everywhere. What I meant was, will we see the interactivity layered on top of the NFL we've seen in the US with football, perhaps Sky Sports? Phil Harrison: The short answer is we have nothing to announce. The long answer is, two floors below you is a large team of people who are working on some really interesting things. We learnt this week that Xbox Upload Studio will work with Xbox Live at launch, but won't work with YouTube and social networks into next year. Can you give us some insight into how that will work in Europe specifically? Phil Harrison: Upload is a global platform feature. Wherever you live you will be able to enjoy content made by your friends or made by others on the network. It's one of the most exciting features for user-generated content on Xbox One. We want to create the next generation of game broadcasters, and we think people will become stars from this as a result. It's another great example of why having Kinect in every box is powerful, because we're putting an HD camera into the living room, and you can then use that camera to then enrich and augment your upload creations. We're creating a pretty powerful video editing took, which allows you to edit and personalise and customise the content. For now, that is going to be just inside the Xbox Live network, but we do have plans to broaden the reach of that onto your social feeds in the future. "Irrespective of size or way you bring the title to market, connecting games with gamers, and gamers connecting with games is the challenge of creating and publishing on any platform." In my conversations with indie developers who are interested in getting their games onto next-gen consoles, I hear over and over again about a potential issue of discoverability of their games on the various digital store fronts. I know Microsoft is doing away with Xbox Live Arcade and Xbox Live Indie Games for a more all-encompassing store where all games are treated equally. But how will you deal with this discoverability issue when an indie developer self-publishes a game on Xbox One in the same week Microsoft publishes a new Halo game? Phil Harrison: You're right, it is the number one challenge in fact any developer faces. It's not a uniquely independent developer challenge. Irrespective of size or way you bring the title to market, connecting games with gamers, and gamers connecting with games is the challenge of creating and publishing on any platform. But we have designed some very specific features into Xbox One to solve this problem. We mentioned Upload. Upload allows you to see what your friends are playing in video form, be able to watch a video clip of somebody's upload game DVR footage and go, 'that looks cool, I want to play that', and there's a button that will take them straight to the store if they don't already own the game, and they will be able to download that game there and then. In the future, we will also be able to tag video clips with unique downloaded content. So, if you are seeing a video stream which incorporates some DLC you had not previously seen or not already got for your game, you'll be able to get that as well. That's a future feature, but it's still a very powerful one. So Upload I think is going to dramatically increase virality of games on the platfrom. That's number one. Number two is, the store has been redesigned to have a number of algorithms behind it that will promote games automatically. So what your friends are playing, what's trending and hot in your area, your region, your country. Fundamentally, what are your friends playing? Those are the things that are going to influence your purchase decision. Then we will also add on top of that our own spotlight for the games we think are exciting, different, uniquely taking advantage of our platform, funny, great, whatever the reason. We have the opportunity to promote a particular game. We can add on top of that this additional spotlight feature. All of which is built into the system, so every game gets the benefit of that. Everyone is first among equals. I'd like to talk about SteamOS and the Steam Box, which undoubtedly impacts your business as it specifically targets the living room - the same space Xbox One targets. What's your take on what Valve is doing there? Is Steam Box a threat to Xbox? Phil Harrison: The announcement was only made last night so I'm still studying all the facts Valve has released. But Valve is a very impressive company, and obviously we're going to be watching what they do with great interest. But it actually goes back to an earlier question. I think the death of the video game console was prematurely announced. Clearly there is a lot of excitement around gaming in the living room on the biggest screen in the house, often times connected to a great sound system and creating that real intensely high quality game experience with a very powerful CPU and a very powerful GPU. Our point of view, clearly, is that Xbox One is the best incarnation of that, but competition is good! "Valve is a very impressive company, and obviously we're going to be watching what they do with great interest." The thing that strikes me about Steam Box is that it reflects Microsoft's initial vision for Xbox One, as it was revealed in May and again at E3. It has a very heavy digital focus, game sharing digitally - and Family Sharing was part of Xbox One before it was removed. The difference of course is that the Xbox One comes with a disc drive and Steam Box doesn't. If the Xbox One hadn't had a disc drive, might you have avoided the negative reaction to it? Phil Harrison: We've given players a choice, and we think that choice is really important. We've given players a choice to purchase and enjoy games on the format that is most convenient to them. If you purchase games on disc there are certain advantages and benefits that gamers are used to and comfortable with, based on previous generations, and we will continue that on Xbox One. If you purchase games digitally, there are a bunch of additional benefits that come with that, particularly around your content showing up wherever you are, rather than being linked to that particular console or that particular disc. We think that choice is great. I'm glad we made those changes because it allows the most people possible to enjoy our console wherever they live and whatever the access they have to whatever kind of connectivity they have. That is the right approach. I'm not going to speculate on what other companies may or may not be doing. Do you envisage a situation in the future where a version of Xbox One without a disc drive might be released? Is that something Microsoft would consider as part of bringing back some of those initial policies? Phil Harrison: Well, I'm not going to make any speculation on future hardware, but the general trend of the world is to be more digital and less physical. That is in our opinion an unstoppable force. Depending on where you live on the planet, that transition has already happened. Some parts of South East Asia, Korea for example, don't have a physical disc or media-based games industry anymore. It's all digital. In other parts of the world, clearly, infrastructure lags behind. William Gibson, the science fiction author, has one of my favourite quotes. He says: 'The future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed.' I bet that ran through your mind more than once over the last few months. Phil Harrison: Possibly! The world is clearly moving into a connected, digital world in all devices in all functions, and Microsoft is clearly at the leading edge of many of those innovations and many of those investments, whether it's our Azure cloud business, or the investments we're making in Surface or phone or other technologies. One disruptive technology that's emerged among the development community is virtual reality headset gaming. Oculus Rift is exciting many, but some doubt its mass market appeal. As someone in the business of making mass market gaming products, what's your take? Phil Harrison: It's a really interesting discussion. Whether it's headsets or other consoles from other companies or other devices, being successful at scale requires more than just a cool piece of hardware. It requires a software support strategy to have first and third-party software. It requires a business model. It requires distribution. It requires a massive supply chain to build the thing and distribute it around the world, all of which takes significant financial resources. I love some of these platform innovations that are coming along, and I'm always excited about them, but I don't know that every single one of them can be an at scale, global consumer product, a mass market consumer product, the kind of thing everybody on the street will know about, because of the factors I just listed. This is why our industry is so exciting. It's this nexus of hardware, entertainment and technology all within this one space. That's why games is such an incredibly fun industry to be in, because there's always something new coming along. It keeps it fresh. "We put USB 3.0 ports on Xbox One to facilitate high bandwidth connection with peripheral devices, so technically you could imagine a wide variety of devices being attached to Xbox One." Is Microsoft open to facilitating compatibility with Oculus Rift for Xbox One? It's basically a USB connection, and we know developers can make it work with their games. Phil Harrison: There are many business and technical reasons that would have to be overcome, so I'm not going to talk specifically about any brand or partner. But we've put USB 3.0 ports on Xbox One to facilitate high bandwidth connection with peripheral devices, so technically you could imagine a wide variety of devices being attached to Xbox One. What those actually are and when they show up is a different discussion. Let's talk about Kinect. Xbox One would be significantly cheaper to buy if there was a version that didn't come with Kinect. And in the context of the announcement you made about Kinect not having to be plugged in to the console to work, that seems like a natural extension. Will you release Xbox One without Kinect in the future? Phil Harrison: The platform of Xbox One is a combination of many things. It's a box with CPU, GPU, memory and a hard-drive. It's a game controller. It's a Kinect sensor. It's Xbox Live. And it's the cloud. All of which inter-operate and work together. You're absolutely right, you can utilise Xbox One with Kinect unplugged in those scenarios where you want to take Xbox One to a room where it's not convenient to have Kinect plugged in. We fully support that. But we believe the most exciting and valuable use cases of Xbox One are where Kinect is part of the experience. Walking into your room and saying, 'Xbox on,' and for it to hear your voice, switch on your machine, recognise it's you and present your entertainment choices to you, and to be able to then recognise other people in the room and present their entertainment choices to them, is a great value, which is made possible by Kinect. Being able to use your voice to do sophisticated conversational navigation of entertainment and search on the Xbox One is valuable. Being able to say, 'show me movies starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt', using your voice to have rich and deep interrogation of Bing search and the entertainment that's on either the Xbox Music or video store or other app stores that will be on Xbox One, that's powerful when you use your voice rather than having to type. Being able to have HD quality Skype calls with your friends from the living room - that's only possible when you have a Kinect connected to Xbox One. And that's before we start talking about any of the game scenarios. "We should be really proud of what Kinect has done for motion gaming on Xbox 360, but we also recognise there were limitations to that technology." But Kinect on Xbox 360 didn't work out as well as many had hoped. Why should we believe it will this time around? Phil Harrison: We should be really proud of what Kinect has done for motion gaming on Xbox 360, but we also recognise there were limitations to that technology. There was not the level of fidelity in the signal we have on Xbox One. We now have incredible precision on Xbox One. We now measure in millimetres and nanoseconds. What this means is a vastly improved way of tracking your body movement in a much more subtle way. On Xbox 360 it was quite big movements, maybe waving your arms around in a big way. Now on Xbox One, much more subtle. Seated, as well as standing. Being able to enjoy a movement-based games but also continue to be sitting down is important. And also being able to augment gameplay with subtle gestures. So the primary input device might be your game controller, but you might be able to augment the experience by touching your eye to bring up a HUD. It's creating the notion of additional buttons or functions on the controller just by a subtle body movement. Being able to pass the controller around the room and then for the settings to pass to the correct player, because of Kinect skeletal tracking. Six players being able to be tracked simultaneously. We show this in Kinect Sports Rivals, being able to create a champion based on your body and face likeness, and create a virtual champion avatar of you and use it in the game. These are all examples that are only possible using Kinect. So I really like the fact that as a developer every Xbox One I target has this functionality, so I can create experiences and game design features that scale to 100 per cent of the audience rather than a subset of the audience. One of the issues with the original Kinect was you couldn't guarantee developers all Xbox 360 owners had it. Phil Harrison: Correct. It was because Kinect came somewhat later in the lifecycle of Xbox 360 that was inevitable. Was that the motivation behind bundling it with every Xbox One? Phil Harrison: As a developer I want to be able to create game design features and invest development time and effort in the features that are going to hit 100 per cent of the audience. I think that's good.

There are people who argue that South America's Copa Libertadores is better than the Uefa Champions League. It's a perverse view, often motivated by bitterness - a bit like those who like to claim that The Beatles were over-rated. The Champions League congregates the best players from all over the world - it's where they want to be, and where they need to shine these days in order to be considered truly great. But if Europe's leading club competition is Lennon and McCartney, it doesn't necessarily follow that the Libertadores is Herman's Hermits, as last week made abundantly and gloriously clear. The reigning champions can be beaten in the Champions League - Barcelona can be spoiled and marked and frustrated, as they were by Rubin Kazan of Russia last October. But it's hard to imagine them being ripped apart in the group phase by rank outsiders, as happened to their South American counterparts in the Libertadores last Thursday. Alianza Lima caused an upset by beating Estudiantes It is only two months since Estudiantes of Argentina came within two minutes of causing a major upset by beating Barcelona and being crowned world club champions. Then they got the defence of the Libertadores title they won last year off to a sound start, turning the screws on Juan Aurich of Peru in the second half to win 5-1. With Juan Sebastian Veron backed by Brana to win the ball, Perez to scurry down the right and Benitez with his elegant left foot on the other flank, there is probably not a better midfield in the continent - especially since the elegant Jose Sosa has been loaned back from Bayern Munich. Last Thursday in Peru, Alianza Lima kicked off - and it took Sosa just seven seconds to charge down a forward punt and race away to score. Business as usual. Alianza had surprisingly won 3-1 away to Bolivar of Bolivia in their first match, but surely they would be out of their depth now. Nothing much was expected of them going into the campaign. The club had competed in the competition six times since the expansion in 2000 without reaching the knock out stages, and this year they had not qualified as champions of Peru. Giving away an early goal in such inept fashion would surely be an insurmountable blow to their morale. Instead they hit back to win 4-1. Striker Wilmer Aguirre was impossible to mark. The Estudiantes defenders could not catch him to throw sand at his backside as he scored a hat-trick. And this is a player who spent two utterly unremarkable seasons in France with Metz, and spent most of last year on the Alianza bench. The remaining goal was scored by big centre forward Jose Carlo Fernandez, who put in another impressive display to follow up a superb one the previous week against Bolivar. Fernandez also spent two seasons in Europe - and came back from Russia and Belgium without a single league goal. In 2009 for Alianza he only managed three in 33 appearances, the last in July. And now in two Libertadores matches he already has three to his name. Suddenly these two players - both of them three months short of 27 - have shot up a level or 10. Theirs is an extreme example, but it is wonderfully illustrative of the capacity the Libertadores has to surprise. Teams can emerge from nowhere, players can find the key to unlock their natural ability. It all makes the Libertadores a much less predictable competition than the Champions League. The other great virtue of the South American competition is the space it gives to youngsters on the way up - another aspect that was strongly highlighted last week. Libertad have become a force in Paraguayan football over recent years, but have a very small support base. Their strategy is based on producing players and selling them on, and this year's crop looks very promising. Last Tuesday's 4-0 win over Blooming of Bolivia as not a great night for their lanky left-footed striker Pablo Velasquez, so impressive in the three previous games as they fought their way through the qualifying round and then won away to Lanus of Argentina. But gnat-like little Rodolfo Gamarra, 21, on the right flank was in fine form, greedy but excellent in one-against-one situations. And 22-year-old right wing back Victor Hugo Ayala looks an interesting prospect, curling in crosses like ex-national team right back Arce, and scoring with a ferocious free-kick. With victory assured, Libertad gave a few minutes to a 16-year-old, Rodrigo Alborno, tall, strong and left footed, who produced a couple moments of breathtaking promise. Banfield's Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez (right) is one to watch And talking of strong, well-built players with an excellent left foot, Banfield of Argentina have a magnificent prospect in 18-year-old Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez. He scored with a nice, clipped finish last Wednesday away to Deportivo Cuenca of Ecuador, after opening his account the week before against Morelia of Mexico. Rodriguez looks tailor-made for European football, and may well be joining Udinese of Italy in the next transfer window. He is unlikely to be gracing the Libertadores for long. The last three teams in the competition will make their debut this week - three Brazilian heavyweights, Internacional with an impressive squad, and the big two, Flamengo, with Adriano and Vagner Love, and Corinthians with Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos. With some big names to enjoy, along with the surprise factor and the sneak preview of the up and comers, then perhaps a connection can be made between the Copa Libertadores and Herman's Hermits. As I settle down to follow the action, 'something tells me I'm into something good!' Comments on the piece in the space provided. Questions on South American football to vickerycolumn@hotmail.com, and I'll pick out a couple for next week. From last week's postbag; In one of your previous articles you briefly mentioned the high influx of Paraguayan players going to Mexican clubs. As a Mexican, I grew up watching Jose Saturnino Cardozo shine in Toluca but as for other big name Paraguayan internationals, that was it. Now nearly every club in Mexico has a Paraguayan star in their team. Even today my favourite club in Mexico, Pumas UNAM, has two Paraguayan players in Dario Veron and Dante Lopez who were vital in winning the league title recently. Cristian Riveros is one of many Paraguayan players who have moved to Mexico Why is it that so many players from Paraguay are coming to play in Mexico, and do you think the recent incident with Salvador Cabañas, who to me has been the closest to emulating what Cardozo did in Mexico, discourage Paraguayan players from coming to Mexico? Rafael Diaz I doubt that the shooting of Cabanas - who I believe has now moved out of the intensive care unit - will have much effect on the trade. Paraguayan clubs need to sell, Mexican clubs have money to buy and the long move north has been good for lots of Paraguayan careers. The main reason that so many have moved is that Mexican clubs have discovered what a good investment Paraguayan players can be. Some go to Europe, but not that many - perhaps they're frequently not the biggest players around and they can also be a bit shy. But so often they are excellent team players, battlers with increasingly, a good technical level as youth development work has improved in the country. There are some Paraguayans in Mexico - Cristian Riveros of Cruz Azul is an obvious example, perhaps Edgar Benitez of Pachuca - who could do a good job in Europe. Credit goes to the Mexican clubs for snapping them up. For Argentina at the Fifa World Cup 2010, who are the options at right back besides Marcos Angeleri? Chris Leonard Angeleri of Estudiantes is only just starting his comeback from long-term injury - and we'll have to see if this has affected his pace, which was his outstanding asset. For next week's friendly against Germany his club-mate Clemente Rodriguez has been called up but I really don't see him as a viable option. Is there anyone better than Zanetti out there? I still wonder, bearing in mind the lack of full-back options on both flanks, whether Maradona will end up going with a back three.

My Spiritual Journey: Circling the Spiral This article discusses the significance of the dreams and synchronicities that led to an exploration of labyrinths and mandalas and to my being called to participate in pilgrimage. My call has led me to explore the deeper psychological motivations and symbolism involved in the pilgrim experience from antiquity through modernity in the Western tradition. Turner (1982), a cultural anthropologist who formulated many influential theories related to Western Christian pilgrimage, postulated that comparative symbology, “both in regards to the subject,” e.g., her/his dreams, and to the persons “s/he is leaving and joining”, e.g. their myths, could be a fruitful avenue for further study (p. 26). The first section of this article shares how my unconscious self guided me to the medieval labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral in France and discusses labyrinths as an ancient form of mandala connected with Greek mythology and the Minoan civilization. The second section delves into Jung's discernment of the mandala as an archetypal symbol representing wholeness, divinity, and the Self for individuation, and elaborates on the metaphor that associates the mandala form with nature as an infinite sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.

Novel gratings for next-generation instruments of astronomical observations We will introduce current status of development of a birefringence volume phase holographic (B-VPH) grating, volume binary (VB) grating and reflector facet transmission (RFT) grating developing as the novel dispersive optical element for astronomical instruments for the 8.2m Subaru Telescope, for next generation 30 m class huge ground-based telescopes and for next generation large space-bone telescopes. We will also introduce a hybrid grism developed for MOIRCS (Multi-Object InfraRed Camera and Spectrograph) of the Subaru Telescope and a quasi-Bragg (QB) immersion grating. Test fabrication of B-VPH gratings with a liquid crystal (LC) of UV curable and normal LCs or a resin of visible light curable are performed. We successfully fabricated VB gratings of silicon as a mold with ridges of a high aspect ratio by means of the cycle etching process, oxidation and removal of silicon oxide. The RFT grating which is a surface-relief (SR) transmission grating with sawtooth shaped ridges of an acute vertex angle. The hybrid grism, as a prototype of the RFT grating, combines a high-index prism and SR transmission grating with sawtooth shape ridges of an acute vertex angle. The mold of the SR grating for the hybrid grism on to a work of Ni-P alloy of non-electrolysic plating successfully fabricated by using our ultra-precision machine and a single-crystal diamond bite. The QB immersion grating was fabricated by a combination of an inclined QB grating, Littrow prism and surface reflection mirror.

New Developments in the Brewing Industry Institutions and ownership play a central role in the transformation and development of the beer market and the brewing industry. Institutions set the external environment of the brewery through both formal requirements and informal acceptance of these companies’ operations by the public, whereas the owners and their managers adapt to these external challenges but also follow their own agenda in setting up strategies for innovation, marketing, takeovers, etc. The 13 chapters in this book cover changes in a range of institutions, such as excise tax, zoning regulation, trade liberalization, consumers’ habits and tastes for beer and sales regulation of alcohol. The responses from the breweries has included a craft beer revolution with a surge in demand for special flowered hops, a globalization strategy from the macrobreweries, outsourcing by contract brewing and knowledge exchange for small-sized breweries, etc. The book consists of two parts. The first includes chapters primarily focusing on institutions, whereas the chapters in the second part take mainly an ownership perspective. The book’s contribution lies primarily in an analysis of the link between institutions and governance, pointing to how the most successful breweries have adapted to the external changes in institutions in the brewery sector.

METAIRIE, La. -- Once again, the New Orleans Saints passing offense made NFL history this year. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Saints became the first team ever to have four players with at least 70 receptions (tight end Jimmy Graham 86, running back Pierre Thomas 77, receiver Marques Colston 75, Darren Sproles 71). Quarterback Drew Brees said he wasn't aware of the accomplishment -- but he was excited to hear it. “Spread the wealth,” Brees said with a smile. That's pretty much been the Saints' offensive mantra ever since Brees and coach Sean Payton arrived in New Orleans in 2006.They throw the ball a lot -- but instead of just targeting any one or two guys, they throw to whomever is open. That's really the combination that's necessary to record such an achievement. This year was a little unique, since the Saints targeted their two running backs so often. Last year, they had four players with 65 receptions, but the fourth was receiver Lance Moore. Brees' 446 completions and 5,162 passing yards this year both ranked fifth in NFL history. And in both categories, Brees holds three of the top five spots in the all-time rankings. Future signings: The New Orleans Saints have inked two players to reserve/futures contracts as teams around the league start to put together their expanded offseason rosters: cornerback Derrius Brooks and kicker Derek Dimke. The Saints plucked Brooks from the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders -- the same place they found defensive lineman Tom Johnson three years ago. The speedy 5-foot-10, 195-pounder, who played in college at Western Kentucky, had five interceptions over the past two years for Calgary. The Saints have a good relationship with the Stampeders' assistant general manager John Murphy, who is based out of Metairie. “(Brooks) has been a versatile defender for us and has exceptional speed,” said Murphy, who said five or six teams were interested in him. “He runs in the 4.3 range and showed the ability to man cover some of the best wide receivers in our league.” Dimke is a second-year kicker out of Illinois who has spent time with the Detroit Lions, New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the past two offseasons. He has made 8-of-9 field goal attempts over the past two preseasons, but he hasn't made an active roster yet. Motivational fuel: Payton pulled out one of his old motivational ploys on Thursday -- one of many that he stole from mentor Bill Parcells -- when he distributed gas cans to the older veterans on the team. The message is essentially to make sure they have enough gas in the tank this late in the season (presumably even more important in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles, who run a fast-tempo offense that leads to more snaps than typical games). “It depends on how you look at it,” Saints linebacker Parys Haralson said when asked to describe the message. “But it's a ‘don't-run-out-of-gas' league.” Worth noting: The final tally for the Saints' remarkable defensive turnaround this year was an improvement of 134.4 yards per game allowed (from 440.1 to 305.7). According to ESPN Stats & Information, that is by far the largest drop since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. The next closest was 97.9 yards by the 1998 Oakland Raiders. Also from ESPN Stats & Info: The Eagles ranked second in the NFL this year with 51 offensive touchdowns, while the Saints were third with 49. (Neither came close to the Denver Broncos, who led the league with 71). Worth a click:

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. Aug. 24, 2017, 9:16 AM GMT / Updated Aug. 24, 2017, 11:06 AM GMT By Ali Vitali and Corky Siemaszko WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago, President Trump declared the opioid crisis a national emergency and called it “a serious problem the likes of which we have never had.” “We’re going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money on the opioid crisis,” the president insisted. Donald Trump speaks at a meeting on the opioid addiction crisis at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Aug. 8. Nicholas Kamm / AFP - Getty Images But so far, Trump hasn’t formally signed such a declaration and sent it to Congress. And that means the millions the executive branch could direct towards expanding treatment facilities — or supplying police officers with the anti-overdose remedy naloxone — aren’t going anywhere because Trump has not yet followed through. A White House spokesperson would not say when Trump would get around to it. “The president recently instructed his administration to take all appropriate measures to confront the opioid crisis,” the spokesperson said. “Right now these actions are undergoing an expedited legal review.” Related: Trump Declares Opioid Crisis National Emergency Northwestern University law professor Eugene Kontorovich said Trump was not breaking any new ground when he announced a national emergency but said “such a declaration does have to be transmitted to Congress in writing.” “Relevant monies won’t be released until such a thing is signed,” Kontorovich told NBC News. “Usually presidents will announce something and sign it at the same time as a photo-op kind of thing. I say usually because Trump is famously more extemporaneous than a typical president.” That spur-of-the-moment attitude was at the forefront when Trump unexpectedly announced from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Aug. 10that the opioid crisis was a national emergency. Students learn to put together a Naloxone spray gun in a class on opioid overdose prevention held by non-profit Positive Health Project Spencer Platt / Getty Images It came two days after he vowed the U.S. would “win” the fight against the epidemic but stopped short of acting on the recommendation of the presidential opioid commission to “declare a national emergency.” Such a declaration would allow the administration to waive some federal rules, including one that restricts where Medicaid recipients can get addition treatment, and it would put pressure on Congress to provide additional funding. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who chairs the presidential opioid commission, thanked Trump for acting on their recommendation to declare a national emergency and said he was confident the president would “address this problem aggressively and do all he can to alleviate the suffering and loss of scores of families in every corner of our country." Lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, also cheered the move. Related: States Work to Keep Opioid Epidemic From Splitting Up Families But Daniel Raymond of the Harm Reduction Coalition, an advocacy group, said he wanted to see Trump back up his words with action. Raymond also noted that Trump stridently supported Republican-backed Obamacare replacement proposals that would have drastically cut Medicaid funds for opioid addition treatment. “Just saying the word ‘emergency’ isn't a magic incantation." “Just saying the word ‘emergency’ isn't a magic incantation — this is about rising up to the task of governing, and giving communities and families a concrete commitment that real help is on the way, and soon,” he wrote in a statement. “For a President willing to threaten a government shutdown over funding for a border wall, the White House silence on action steps for a supposed priority speaks volumes.” Nearly 35,000 people across America died of heroin or opioid overdoses in 2015, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. That’s far more than the combined death tolls of the 9/11 terror attacks (2,977) and Hurricane Katrina (1,836) — two tragedies that resulted in national emergency declarations. Raymond noted Americans would “never give the federal government a pass on empty promises in response to a natural disaster or an infectious disease outbreak.” “We need,” he added, "to see the same sense of urgency and tangible results from this Administration on the overdose epidemic." Ali Vitali reported from Washington and Corky Siemaszko reported from New York.

Ecological and geographical grouping of pear varieties and identification of new sources for breeding in the conditions of the North Caucasus The article presents the results of a long-term study of the world collection of pears, which is one of the largest in the RIPB system. It is kept at the Maykop Experimental Station of the Federal Research Center of the All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources named after N.I. Vavilov» branch and has 875 varieties, 248 species, forms and varieties, and is constantly updated with new samples. The collection includes wild species, as well as Russian and foreign varieties from Europe, America, Asia. The research was carried out in the soil and climatic conditions of the foothill zone of the North Caucasus in 2005–2015. The aim of the research is to study the dependence of biological traits and properties on the origin of samples and to isolate genotypes with the maximum expression of traits for use in breeding. In the research the methodological instructions of the All-Russian Research Institute of Breeding of Fruit Crops and the North Caucasus Center for the Breeding of Fruit, Berry, Flower and Ornamental Crops and Grapes have been used. The analysis of weather conditions has been carried out using meteorological data of the MES of the RIPB Branch. The regularities of the manifestation of signs and biological properties of the studied samples depending on their geographical origin have been established. The varieties that combine a fairly good quality of fruits and other, valuable characteristics have been identified: late flowering for protection from frost – Obilnaya Tuza, Uspenka; resistance to fungal diseases – Vodnik, Utrennyaya Svezhest; early maturity – Borup, Napoca and high regular yield – P. regelii x P. pyrifolia № 2 interspecific hybrid. As a result of many years of studying the world collection of pears the list of isolated genotypes of valuable traits has been added, the use of which contributes to a significant increase in the efficiency of breeding work.

When Olivia Chow and Jack Layton were married on the Toronto Islands in 1988, they gave themselves a tandem bicycle as a wedding present. He always rode in front and she in back – much as they did in life. He was the orator, she was the organizer; together they were a formidable political couple on Toronto City Council, in the NDP and on the opposition benches in the House of Commons. Since Mr. Layton's death in 2011, three months after he led the NDP to its largest electoral success ever, the bike has been stored in the basement of their Victorian semi on Huron Street, and Ms. Chow has been riding solo as NDP transportation critic in Ottawa, and now as a front-runner in the mayoral race to wrest the chain of office from Rob Ford. The campaign is partly a homecoming, partly a tribute to her decades of political and social activism and partly a gamble that Ms. Chow, 57, who was the supporting player in a duo with a charismatic public face, can move into leadership mode and unite the disparate parts of the country's most diverse and polarized city. Ms. Chow launched her campaign with the slogan 'New Mayor, New City' less than three weeks ago. Wearing a black dress and a jacket the colour of daffodils, she stood confidently in front of a bank of cameras and delivered a sleek performance in a packed church hall on the fringes of the St. James Town neighbourhood where she grew up, an only child, caught between a raging, physically abusive father and a fiery tempered mother. Her tightly scripted speech emphasized her four key messages: putting children at the heart of the city; growing the economy; fixing transit and minding the public purse. Since then her team has released an impressive barrage of updates and statements on social and every other kind of media. Off camera, off teleprompter, she is less impressive. Story continues below advertisement In the burgundy living room of the home she and Mr. Layton bought 20 years ago on the edge of Kensington Market, Ms. Chow talks about her politics and her life. She speaks in brief bursts, rather than expansive paragraphs. "If there had been a really good mayor and we could be proud of what the city is doing, then my decision might have been different," Ms. Chow says. "But there seems to be a huge vacuum." Her strength lies not in persuasive intellectual arguments, but in collective action. She is what used to be called "a doer," a person who brings people together on a committee to organize after-school programs or to expand the languages that can be served on 911 emergency calls. 'Doers' don't make late night talk shows or viral YouTube videos, but they resonate with ordinary folks and community activists such as family doctor Joseph Wong, founder of the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care. Mr. Wong, also an immigrant, met Ms. Chow in the late 1970s when she was working on behalf of Vietnamese boat people. He says Ms. Chow has "integrity and honesty," she can bring people together at city council and restore the pride and credibility we have lost. She has a poignant narrative, decades of social activism and a strong team behind her. But Ms. Chow has a challenge ahead to parlay that into a galvanizing vision that will overcome Rob Ford's powerful, if simplistic, "stop the gravy train" semantics, and unravel John Tory's verbose bromides about moving the city neither "to the left nor the right, but forward." In the first televised debate this week, Ms. Chow was scrappy, but she couldn't topple Mr. Ford from his bully pulpit, or silence Mr. Tory's insistence that she is the NDP candidate. Both Mr. Ford and Mr. Tory have denounced her as a "tax and spend" socialist, although neither has provided any examples. "That's because there is no evidence," says Councillor Joe Mihevc, a Chow supporter, who remembers her as "tough as nails" when she sat on mayor Mel Lastman's budget committee, especially when it came to drilling deep into budget lines to find funds to reallocate to community programs such as school nutrition. "It is the politics of deception and repetition," Mr. Mihevc says about the NDP slurs, "until people think that it is true." Councillor David Shiner, who was Mr. Lastman's budget chief, tells a different tale that reflects the perception she must overcome. "Olivia often wished to expand social service programs at the cost of the taxpayer," he recalled. "It was something that we had to manage and control at the budget committee to make sure that we didn't increase taxes beyond what property taxpayers could afford to pay." Ms. Chow has heart and experience, but whether she has the rhetorical passion to cut through the verbal sparring and connect with voters outside her left-of-centre base is another question. If she is to make history as the first Chinese-born mayor of Canada's largest city, being a 'doer' may not be enough. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Three days after the downtown launch, the Chow team holds a rally at the Prince Hotel in North York, the gateway to the suburbs. Why? "To show we could," says veteran campaign manager John Laschinger – he earlier ran campaigns for June Rowlands (winning), David Miller (winning) and Joe Pantalone (losing). At a time on Sunday morning when lots of people still have their heads under a pillow, volunteers have exhausted their supply of campaign buttons and hotel guests are gawking over their brunch menus at the rainbow parade of students, parents with babies, activists trading campaign tales and seniors pushing walkers to an already crowded ballroom. Patricia Hinds, a white-haired senior, confides she is embarrassed to say she is from Ford Nation in Etobicoke. She is here because she believes in Ms. Chow's "compassion, skill and vision." Filmmaker Deepa Mehta has a similar tale, telling the crowd how, as a recently arrived immigrant in the 1970s, she put her daughter Devyani Saltzman into the daycare at St. Stephen's Community Centre, where Ms. Chow was on the board. "I remember her personality … forceful yet friendly," Ms. Mehta recalled in an e-mail, explaining how she has watched Ms. Chow "navigate" the corridors of power. "People tend to focus on your race, your story, your narrative and, important as this may be, it is the work that tells the story." Orange has disappeared from the colour spectrum and references to Mr. Layton and the NDP are few in Ms. Chow's slick, professional campaign that has been building momentum for nearly two years. The earliest manifestation was the publication of her memoir, My Journey. Even while she was irritatingly coy about her electoral ambitions, she used her national book tour to deliver her primary narrative: I am an immigrant; my mother worked in a hotel laundry; I learned to count every penny. No other candidate can top that tale, so they have largely ignored it. Instead they go after her bold transit strategy: Ms. Chow wants to trash the Scarborough subway extension and replace it with the discarded blueprints for the light-rail transit system that goes back to the days of David Miller. Story continues below advertisement The LRT would be built more quickly and cheaply, and Ms. Chow points out it would have more stops and encourage commercial development in the areas around the stops. Calgary's Naheed Nenshi, the most popular mayor in the country, sees the logic behind that. At a speech at the Toronto Board of Trade late last month, he professed to be baffled by Toronto's decision to build a $3.5-billion subway in Scarborough instead of a light-rail transit line. "I don't understand why you'd not spend less to move more people," he said. Ask her bluntly: How are you going to save money for taxpayers? And she retorts: "the Scarborough subway is a billion bucks." Before she made a final decision to run for mayor, she says she had a look at the capital budget for the planned Scarborough subway extensions. "And I thought: 'Wow. With those borrowing costs, we are going to spend a lot of money just paying interest. There is hardly anything left.'" What about the agreement with feds and the province? "Show me the money," Ms. Chow retorts, flashing a lopsided grin from her bout with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a viral infection that has left part of her face paralyzed. "That's an old Mel Lastman line," she adds, pointing out that years of studies, including environmental assessments, have to be completed before money flows from other levels of government for the subway. But her quip also underlines her longevity in municipal politics – she was on city council long before the other candidates were even a glimmer in the public eye. First elected as a school trustee in 1985, she won a seat on city council in 1991 and served for 14 years before resigning in 2005; the following year she was third-time lucky for the NDP in the federal riding of Trinity-Spadina. Making Toronto work more quickly, better and more compassionately is her campaign goal. But how is she going to fix the city's infrastructure without turning herself into the tax-and-spend socialist that her opponents have caricatured? When Matt Galloway, host of CBC radio's Metro Morning, asked Ms. Chow this week if tax is the new four-letter word, she skidded away from an opportunity to make her case for reinvesting in the city. Instead, she waffled, saying the savings from killing the Scarborough subway would provide the fiscal room to build a downtown relief line, increase bus service at rush hour and expand and improve Toronto Community Housing projects. Story continues below advertisement Unlike other major cities – including New York, Madrid, Berlin and Tokyo – Toronto, with its $11-billion operating budget, has a limited range of revenue tools to finance its needs and support its desires to attract global talent and compete internationally, especially since it must, by law, balance its budget. "We talk a lot about our infrastructure needs, particularly on transit, but we don't talk a lot about how we are going to pay for them," says Enid Slack, director of the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. "That is what the new mayor has to do," she says, "but that means using the T-word" – and for Torontonians, that basically means increased property taxes, a highly visible drain on net income. So far, former Scarborough councillor David Soknacki (who agrees with Ms. Chow about the LRT) is the only candidate daring enough to risk an adult conversation about taxes, but he is so far behind that he probably won't be on the final ballot. Everybody, including Ms. Chow, seems to be running on the presumption that Mr. Ford is finished. Big mistake. A lot can happen before the polls close on Oct. 27, but despite Mr. Ford's disregard for the facts, he won this week's televised debate with his Krazy Glue adherence to his mantra about getting rid of waste and safeguarding taxpayer dollars. And Ms. Chow is the lone contender on the left, staring down a bevy of right-wing opponents. How much do party affiliations matter in supposedly non-partisan municipal politics when it comes down to that solitary moment in the polling booth? What's right- or left-wing about snow clearance or garbage collection? According to sociologist Mark Granovetter, political designations and even family networks can be weaker than the alliances people form through the causes they espouse and the interests they share at the local level. Rob Ford is a case in point. Returning all those phone calls to his constituents was a huge impetus propelling him into the mayor's office in 2010. The same may well be true of Ms. Chow. Rather than vision, her greatest political strength may turn out to be the decades she spent working on school breakfast programs, daycare, minority rights, community housing – along with her powerful personal story. Olivia Chow is again in yellow early on a Monday morning at her home on Huron Street. That's the third time in less than a week that she has appeared dressed like a ray of sunshine. "It's my favourite colour," she admits unapologetically, a preference that is borne out by the lemon-curd walls of her kitchen. Painting the bedroom yellow was her only redecorating request when she and Mr. Layton briefly moved into Stornoway, the official residence of the Leader of the Opposition, and as she points out, she chose the lucky yellow tie her late husband wore during the federal leadership debate in the 2011 election. Now the house is bustling again with volunteers and strategists. This time they're here for Ms. Chow's mayoral bid. And yet there is a feeling that an essential part of her is missing – the charisma that Mr. Layton provided. Story continues below advertisement Homesickness helped propel Ms. Chow to abandon backbench rhetoric in Ottawa. "I was very much part of the leader's office," she says about the joined in the heart and the head political style she shared with her husband, admitting she "pulled back quite a bit" after Thomas Mulcair became leader. She didn't contest the leadership because she didn't relish being seen as the Widow Layton. "It didn't feel right to take Jack's place," Ms. Chow says. "I wrote the book to deal with that stuff." Grief wasn't the only trauma Chow exposed in My Journey. She relayed her own story: the spoiled, middle-class Hong Kong girl who immigrated here in 1970 at age 13 and struggled to learn English; her father's depression and frustration, which found release in beating her mother; her cyclical attraction to abusive boyfriends; and her conversion from religion to social democracy as an assistant to Dan Heap, the MP for Trinity-Spadina. She says her story isn't unusual in immigrant communities, but it adds resonance to her policy work rhetoric and personalizes her political mission as an advocate. "I know city hall and how it works," she says, gesturing with her hands as though she is massaging a lump of clay. "I feel I can have an impact here."

Virology of the Hepatitis A Epidemic in Italy We studied the virologic aspects of a hepatitis A epidemic that occurred among hemophilia patients in Italy between 1989 and 1992. Twelve lots of factor VIII concentrate manufactured by the solvent‐detergent chromatographic technique and suspected of contamination by the hepatitis A virus (HAV) were analyzed by a two‐step, nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure. PCR was applied to 1‐ml samples of factor VIII concentrate and 100‐μl serial serum samples available from 2 patients. Particular care was taken to rule out the possibility of false‐positive results during analysis. Results demonstrated PCR amplification of the 3′‐region of the VP3 gene in 5 of the 12 implicated lots of factor VIII and in the serial serum samples of both patients. PCR amplification also revealed that the gene sequences detected in patients' sera were identical to the sequences detected in the product they had received. In all, 3 VP3 sequences (found to be 96–99% identical) were amplified. Further characterization of the HAV found in the factor VIII concentrate and the patients' sera was attempted by PCR amplification of the VP1/2A region. Successful amplification of this region was achieved in the serum of only 1 patient and in the concentrate he received. This fourth amplified sequence was identical in both serum and factor VIII concentrate. Attempts to transmit hepatitis A from the contaminated lots to 3 chimpanzees resulted in no signs of infection after 10 months of observation. Based on the Italian experience, persons with severe hemophilia who receive large‐pool concentrate are at potential risk for HAV infection and should be vaccinated against HAV or use an alternative to solvent‐detergent‐prepared concentrate. Since June 1992, no cases of HAV have been reported in Italian hemophiliacs, most of whom have been vaccinated.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – For the first time since he announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate, Secretary of State Jason Kander is heading to Washington. On Thursday afternoon, the Democrat is scheduled to be in the nation’s Capitol for a “meet and greet” with potential supporters – his first planned interaction with potential Washington donors as he challenges incumbent Republican Roy Blunt. Tickets to attend the meet and greet range from $100 to $500, and the event will be hosted by the Washington-based firm, Flanagan Fulkerson & Company. Kander, one of the nation’s youngest statewide elected officials, has made his campaign about challenging the Washington-establishment against Blunt, who has been in Washington for two decades. While Kander has nearly $600,000 on hand in his state fundraising account, hardly any of that could be directed to a federal campaign. That leaves him with a tough fundraising hill to climb against Blunt, who has around $2 million on hand.

Longwave radiative cooling rates in axially symmetric clouds The effects of cloud sides and of cloud top perturbations on radiative cooling rates are examined using an approximate model of longwave radiative transfer that ignores the effect of scattering on net flux divergence. Tuned monochromatic calculations are used for isothermal clouds, and spectral integration from 8 to 13.4 μm for nonisothermal clouds. Water vapor and cloud droplet effects within the cloud are included. Atmospheric conditions outside the cloud are fixed appropriate to a midlatitude summer atmosphere. The distribution of cooling rates in isolated cylindrical clouds shows local maxima at the cloud top and sides as well as modest warming of the base. These rates also depend on cloud and surface temperature. For a 286 K cloud above a 302 K ground, the local cooling rates were typically −34 K h −1 at the cloud top and −14 K h −1 at the cloud sides, with a typical local heating rate of 8 K h −1 at the cloud base. The gradient in cooling rate near the cloud boundaries is very sharp and high rates occur mainly within 20 m of the boundary. The possibility of sustained cloud side cooling leading to low-level convergence and enhanced cloud development is noted. Changes in cloud top cooling rates due to positive (lifting) or negative (sinking), axially symmetric perturbations to the top of horizontally extensive stratiform clouds were also considered. Significant effects were found that do not cancel when averaged over both positive and negative perturbations. A lifting of the cloud top does not increase the cooling rate, whereas the peak cooling rate decreases rapidly in depressions. For small perturbations, 10 m, this may tend to inhibit the growth of negative perturbations. For larger perturbations, 100 m, changes to the radiative cooling rates within the positive perturbations and next to the negative perturbations may act to sustain the perturbation and promote its growth.

If God is good purely by definition… then what does “good” even mean? The other day, JT Eberhard posted a piece to his blog, What a Savior Looks Like, arguing that the Jesus character in the New Testament myth isn’t really much of a savior. It’s kind of a brilliant piece (although my idea of a savior isn’t Keanu Reeves kicking ass in slo-mo), with an idea that had honestly never occurred to me. He points out… oh, I’m just going to quote him: If we rebelled against god (that guy wanted to keep us from having knowledge and he murdered whole civilizations, so if he exists I damn sure hope we rebelled!), what would our savior look like? Imagine a city in which there lives a man of incomparable wealth and influence who kicked his children out of the house and into the street for wanting to go to college. Not only that, but he’s pretty much running around and killing everybody who isn’t obeying him. Sometimes he tortures them. It would be totally understandable for even his children to rebel, for clearly he is a crime lord. But one day a savior rides into the city and… A) …engages the crime lord in battle, ultimately destroying him and giving the people of the city their lives back. B) …joins forces with the crime lord and helps the crime lord enforce the “obey or be tortured” edict. One of those sounds like a savior, the other sounds like the mafia demanding protection money. “Sure, I’ll keep my family from trashing your business if you just pay your 10% each month for the service and do everything we tell ya.” Are these ruffians also saviors? (snip) A savior sides with the rebels against the oppressor. Jesus isn’t a savior, he’s an accomplice. “Jesus isn’t a savior, he’s an accomplice.” Damn, can that boy write. I’m just sayin’, is all. And he got a comment from Davis S., saying (emphasis mine): I guess it depends on what perspective you’re evaluating the morality of it all from. This is a pretty good post from a humanist perspective, but from the Christian theological perspective, whatever God does is the very definition of good. It’s not necessarily good from our perspective, but it’s at least internally consistent. And the top of my head just about came off. Whatever God does is the very definition of good. Really. Do you seriously want to stick with that position? Because this sort of thinking renders the entire concept of good and evil meaningless. It says that if God does something, it’s good by definition. Killing your own child; slaughtering people (including children) by the thousands; torturing people to death (famine, drought, tsunami, pediatric cancer, etc.) — all of it is good, by definition, simply because it’s God doing it. Even if it’s something that would be monstrously, irredeemably evil if a person did it. Therefore, what “good” and “evil” mean for God are entirely disconnected from what “good” and “evil” mean for people. The concepts literally bear no relation to one another. Which, if you believe that human goodness emanates from God, is entirely incoherent. And I, for one, do not want the concepts of “good” and “evil” to be meaningless and incoherent. I want them to bloody well make sense and mean something. As for, “It’s not necessarily good from our perspective, but it’s at least internally consistent”: Really? I mean… really? What kind of twisted ethical system puts “good” next to “internally consistent,” and decides that “internally consistent” is more important? Christianity. Twisting human ethics into unrecognizability since 33 A.D. ***** UPDATE: A comment on Facebook by Avi Blackmore summed it up perfectly: “It’s basically a massive appeal to authority as an end-run around taking moral responsibility.” FTW!

Retinoid-Sensitive Steps in Steroidogenesis in Fetal and Neonatal Rat Testes: In Vitro and In Vivo Studies Abstract Retinoic acid (RA) was recently shown to modify testosterone secretion of the fetal testis in vitro. We characterized this effect by culturing rat testes explanted at various ages, from Fetal Day 14.5 to Postnatal Day 3. In basal medium, RA inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, both basal and acute LH-stimulated testosterone secretion by testes explanted on Fetal Days 14.5, 15.5, and 16.5. It had no effect on testes from older animals. The negative effect of RA did not result from a diminution in the number of Leydig cells but from a decrease in P450c17 mRNA levels and in LH-stimulated cAMP production. However, the RA-induced decrease in P450C17 mRNA levels was also observed with neonatal testes, suggesting that this enzymatic step is no longer rate limiting at this developmental stage. To study the physiological relevance of RA effects, we used fetuses and neonates issued from mothers fed a vitamin A-deficient (VAD) diet, resulting in a threefold decrease of plasma retinol concentration. On Fetal Day 18.5 and on Posnatal Day 3, testosterone secretion by the testis ex vivo was significantly increased in VAD animals. This shows that the endogenous retinol inhibits differentiation and/or function of fetal Leydig cells before Fetal Day 18.5 and is required for the normal regression of fetal Leydig cell function that occurs after Fetal Day 18.5. In conclusion, our results show that retinoids play a negative role on the steroidogenic activity during the differentiation of rat fetal Leydig cells.

MEN have long wondered what exactly it is that women want. Some pore over men’s magazines, with their promises of “washboard abs”, for guidance. The more scientifically minded look for experimental data. The latest evidence comes from a group of researchers led by Brian Mautz, then of Australian National University. They gathered 105 heterosexual Australian women and showed them a series of digitally generated pictures of men in which three bodily characteristics were varied—height, shoulder-to-waist ratio and flaccid penis size. The women were asked to rate the men as sexual partners. In an article just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr Mautz and his team describe their results. Happily for the insecure, although the women did indeed find a larger penis alluring, it was not the most important factor. That honour went to the combination of broad shoulders and a narrow waist, which accounted for around three-quarters of the variation in attractiveness all by itself. Height was also only a weak predictor of appeal. That is odd, says Dr Mautz, because other studies have linked height with all sorts of benefits, from higher salaries to longer lives. The bigger-is-better effect was also subject to diminishing returns: each extra centimetre, whether of height, shoulder width or penis size, was less significant than the previous one. Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks. Nonetheless, even the tallest, broadest-shouldered and best-endowed digital hunks that the researchers generated fell short of perfection. “The optimum values appear to lie outside the tested range,” they note, adding that the “maxima are more than two standard deviations from the population mean for each trait.” That means that, for each trait, fewer than 2.5% of the men whom women encounter in the real world will be as generously proportioned as they might hope. Men with perfect scores in all three traits will be rarer than hen’s teeth. The study is not perfect. There was no danger of the women mistaking the digital men for the real thing. Other factors—such as social status, for instance—may, in the real world, override the physical preferences that the researchers were measuring. And it is hard, when all the subjects come from a single country, to disentangle the effects of nurture from those of nature. It is commonly pointed out, for instance, that men’s apparent preference for slim women seems to be a relatively modern (and Western) construction. Erotica from the turn of the 19th century tend to feature much curvier women than their modern equivalent. Women’s preferences may be just as influenced by the culture in which they grow up. On the other hand, it is a rule of thumb in biology that females (of any species) are much pickier than males. There are good evolutionary reasons why that is so. Even in humans, who share the burden of child-rearing more equally than many animals, having children requires far more of an investment of resources from a female than it does from a male—after all, it is the woman who must endure nine months of pregnancy and then breast-feed the baby. Women therefore face stronger incentives to spend their relatively limited reproductive resources on only the most attractive men, whose children will be most likely to breed in turn. Back to the sit-ups, boys.

Tolerance estimation of integrated optical waveguides on color centers in glass creation methods The paper deals with analytical investigation of technological equipment tolerance requirements for multiplayer optical waveguides structure creation in monolithic glass substrate by laser-induced clearing of (gamma) -induced color centers. It is proved that autocorrelation interval of waveguide boundary deviation is equal to the step of moving mechanism and is considerably more than signal wavelength. Thus the main scattering mechanism is the axis deviation and the local size varying. We propose the new waveguide creation method in single run of optical system by mean of two laser sources. It allows to reduce the scattering on the local size varying. Theoretical estimation of such waveguide scattering losses is 0.1 dB/cm when the step (tolerance) of laser beam moving is 0.1 micrometers .

A maximum entropy encoder for speech A new approach to the encoding of speech signals is proposed based on directly maximizing the first order entropy of the data sent down the channel. It is formulated recursively and can be implemented via lookup tables. A corresponding decoder is also derived and can be implemented in a similar manner. The performance of the system is competitive with other methods but differs qualitatively as the design is based on entropy considerations rather than minimizing mean square error as is done is most other methods.

Healthy Co-Fan: Temperature Stabilizer and Smell Remover in Poultry Cage to Increase Productivity of Poultry Farms The poultry farm industry in tropical climates such as in Indonesia deals with various kinds of problems such as unstable cage temperature and cage smell. Biological conditions such as no sweat glands and fur that covers almost of its body make it difficult to remove body heat and makes the poultry has heat stress. Heat stress can cause a variety of diseases like slow growth, reduced egg production, and ends up with decreased profit. This study aims to present “Healthy Co-Fan” an innovative tool that combines temperature stabilizer and smell remover in poultry cages which will overcome unstable cage temperature problems and cage smell to increase poultry farms productivity. In data collection techniques, researchers collect secondary and primary data from journals, books, and other references. The method used for problem-solving is SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). From the results of the SWOT analysis, an appropriate solution can be found by applying the Healthy Co-Fan. This tool will control the air temperature to be stable with the help of smooth air circulation around the enclosure. So that the output produced by the farm will be good and will increase productivity. Therefore, Healthy Co-Fan is an innovative poultry farm tool where this tool was created to overcome the problem of cage smell, unstable temperatures, and bacteria in poultry cages.

The Cost-Effectiveness of Criminal Justice Diversion Programs for People with Serious Mental Illness Co-Occurring with Substance Abuse Many cities, counties, and states have criminal justice diversion or jail diversion programs, in which those committing low-level offenses and who have mental illness or substance abuse are diverted from the criminal justice system into treatment. However, there is little existing evidence on the cost and cost-effectiveness of such programs. This article presents the first such estimates for four sites. Estimates of the impact of diversion on both costs and effectiveness varied across the sites. This variation likely reflects heterogeneity in the structure and implementation of the programs across the sites. Directions for future research are suggested.

A7 SoC Explained I’m still surprised by the amount of confusion around Apple’s CPU cores, so that’s where I’ll start. I’ve already outlined how ARM’s business model works, but in short there are two basic types of licenses ARM will bestow upon its partners: processor and architecture. The former involves implementing an ARM designed CPU core, while the latter is the creation of an ARM ISA (Instruction Set Architecture) compatible CPU core. NVIDIA and Samsung, up to this point, have gone the processor license route. They take ARM designed cores (e.g. Cortex A9, Cortex A15, Cortex A7) and integrate them into custom SoCs. In NVIDIA’s case the CPU cores are paired with NVIDIA’s own GPU, while Samsung licenses GPU designs from ARM and Imagination Technologies. Apple previously leveraged its ARM processor license as well. Until last year’s A6 SoC, all Apple SoCs leveraged CPU cores designed by and licensed from ARM. With the A6 SoC however, Apple joined the ranks of Qualcomm with leveraging an ARM architecture license. At the heart of the A6 were a pair of Apple designed CPU cores that implemented the ARMv7-A ISA. I came to know these cores by their leaked codename: Swift. At its introduction, Swift proved to be one of the best designs on the market. An excellent combination of performance and power consumption, the Swift based A6 SoC improved power efficiency over the previous Cortex A9 based design. Swift also proved to be competitive with the best from Qualcomm at the time. Since then however, Qualcomm has released two evolutions of its CPU core (Krait 300 and Krait 400), and pretty much regained performance leadership over Apple. Being on a yearly release cadence, this is Apple’s only attempt to take back the crown for the next 12 months. Following tradition, Apple replaces its A6 SoC with a new generation: A7. With only a week to test battery life, performance, wireless and cameras on two phones, in addition to actually using them as intended, there wasn’t a ton of time to go ridiculously deep into the new SoC’s architecture. Here’s what I’ve been able to piece together thus far. First off, based on conversations with as many people in the know as possible, as well as just making an educated guess, it’s probably pretty safe to say that the A7 SoC is built on Samsung’s 28nm HK+MG process. It’s too early for 20nm at reasonable yields, and Apple isn’t ready to move some (not all) of its operations to TSMC. The jump from 32nm to 28nm results in peak theoretical scaling of 76.5% (the same design on 28nm can be no smaller than 76.5% of the die area at 32nm). In reality, nothing ever scales perfectly so we’re probably talking about 80 - 85% tops. Either way that’s a good amount of room for new features. At its launch event Apple officially announced both die size for the A7 (102mm^2) as well as transistor count (over 1 billion). Don’t underestimate the magnitude of both of these disclosures. The technical folks at Cupertino are clearly winning some battle to talk more about their designs and not less. We’re not yet at the point where I’m getting pretty diagrams and a deep dive, but it’s clear that Apple is beginning to open up more (and it’s awesome). Apple has never previously disclosed transistor count. I also don’t know if this “over 1 billion” figure is based on a schematic or layout transistor count. The only additional detail I have is that Apple is claiming a near doubling of transistors compared to the A6. Looking at die sizes and taking into account scaling from the process node shift, there’s clearly a more fundamental change to the chip’s design. It is possible to optimize a design (and transistors) for area, which seems to be what has happened here. The CPU cores are, once again, a custom design by Apple. These aren’t Cortex A57 derivatives (still too early for that), but rather some evolution of Apple’s own Swift architecture. I’ll dive into specifics of what I’ve been able to find in a moment. To answer the first question on everyone’s mind, I believe there are two of these cores on the A7. Before I explain how I arrived at this conclusion, let’s first talk about cores and clock speeds. I always thought the transition from 2 to 4 cores happened quicker in mobile than I had expected. Thankfully there are some well threaded apps that have been able to take advantage of more than two cores and power gating keeps the negative impact of the additional cores down to a minimum. As we saw in our Moto X review however, two faster cores are still better for most uses than four cores running at lower frequencies. NVIDIA forced everyone’s hand in moving to 4 cores earlier than they would’ve liked, and now you pretty much can’t get away with shipping anything less than that in an Android handset. Even Motorola felt necessary to obfuscate core count with its X8 mobile computing system. Markets like China seem to also demand more cores over better ones, which is why we see such a proliferation of quad-core Cortex A5/A7 designs. Apple has traditionally been sensible in this regard, even dating back to core count decisions in its Macs. I remembering reviewing an old iMac and pitting it against a Dell XPS One at the time. This was in the pre-power gating/turbo days. Dell went the route of more cores, while Apple chose for fewer, faster ones. It also put the CPU savings into a better GPU. You can guess which system ended out ahead. In such a thermally constrained environment, going quad-core only makes sense if you can properly power gate/turbo up when some cores are idle. I have yet to see any mobile SoC vendor (with the exception of Intel with Bay Trail) do this properly, so until we hit that point the optimal target is likely two cores. You only need to look back at the evolution of the PC to come to the same conclusion. Before the arrival of Nehalem and Lynnfield, you always had to make a tradeoff between fewer faster cores and more of them. Gaming systems (and most users) tended to opt for the former, while those doing heavy multitasking went with the latter. Once we got architectures with good turbo, the 2 vs 4 discussion became one of cost and nothing more. I expect we’ll follow the same path in mobile. Then there’s the frequency discussion. Brian and I have long been hinting at the sort of ridiculous frequency/voltage combinations mobile SoC vendors have been shipping at for nothing more than marketing purposes. I remember ARM telling me the ideal target for a Cortex A15 core in a smartphone was 1.2GHz. Samsung’s Exynos 5410 stuck four Cortex A15s in a phone with a max clock of 1.6GHz. The 5420 increases that to 1.7GHz. The problem with frequency scaling alone is that it typically comes at the price of higher voltage. There’s a quadratic relationship between voltage and power consumption, so it’s quite possibly one of the worst ways to get more performance. Brian even tweeted an image showing the frequency/voltage curve for a high-end mobile SoC. Note the huge increase in voltage required to deliver what amounts to another 100MHz in frequency. The combination of both of these things gives us a basis for why Apple settled on two Swift cores running at 1.3GHz in the A6, and it’s also why the A7 comes with two cores running at the same max frequency. Interestingly enough, this is the same max non-turbo frequency Intel settled at for Bay Trail. Given a faster process (and turbo), I would expect to see Apple push higher frequencies but without those things, remaining conservative makes sense. I verified frequency through a combination of reporting tools and benchmarks. While it’s possible that I’m wrong, everything I’ve run on the device (both public and not) points to a 1.3GHz max frequency. Verifying core count is a bit easier. Many benchmarks report core count, I also have some internal tools that do the same - all agreed on the same 2 cores/2 threads conclusion. Geekbench 3 breaks out both single and multithreaded performance results. I checked with the developer to ensure that the number of threads isn’t hard coded. The benchmark queries the max number of logical CPUs before spawning that number of threads. Looking at the ratio of single to multithreaded performance on the iPhone 5s, it’s safe to say that we’re dealing with a dual-core part: Geekbench 3 Single vs. Multithreaded Performance - Apple A7 Integer FP Single Threaded 1471 1339 Multi Threaded 2872 2659 A7 Advantage 1.97x 1.99x Peak Theoretical 2C Advantage 2.00x 2.00x Now the question is, what’s changed in these cores?

Defenders of the Second Amendment often use federal lawsuits in an attempt to protect their right to keep and bear arms. This is a really bad strategy. At its core, the Second Amendment exists as a limit on federal authority. When you sue in federal court, you do so in the hope that the federal government will limit itself. Remember, federal courts operate as part of the federal government, and federal judges are nothing more than politically connected lawyers drawing federal paychecks. When we keep these facts in mind, it becomes pretty obvious we shouldn’t count on federal courts to limit federal power, and uphold or preserve the Second Amendment. If you needed proof of this, I direct your attention to the most recent opinion on the Second Amendment handed down by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. As NBC put it, in a 7-4 decision, the federal panel held that there is no constitutional right to carry a concealed firearm. “The protection of the Second Amendment — whatever the scope of that protection may be — simply does not extend to the carrying of concealed firearms in public by members of the general public.” Before I get the angry emails, I understand the mainstream media frames the issue entirely wrong. The Constitution doesn’t give anybody the right to do anything. It restricts government from infringing on rights we already have – in the case of the Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms. So strictly speaking, there it’s true there is no “constitutional right” to conceal carry. (More on that subject HERE.) But that misses the point. In effect, the 9th Circuit effectively gave government the green-light to infringe on your right to keep and bear arms by making it illegal to conceal carry. It basically just blew a giant hole in the middle of the Second Amendment. And these are the people many Americans count on to protect their rights. That brings us to the real point here. Depending on federal judges to properly interpret and apply the Second Amendment is a fool’s game.The bottom line is the federal government will never limit itself. You can never count on it to put your rights above the “needs” of government. You need a better strategy. James Madison gave us the blueprint. When the federal government commits unwarrantable acts, the Father of the Constitution didn’t say “file a lawsuit in federal court.” Madison advised a refusal to cooperate with officers of the union. Don’t depend on politically connected lawyers to protect your right to keep and bear arms. Instead, nullify.

Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators in Neuroinflammation: Overview of Studies and Perspectives of Clinical Applications Specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) are lipid mediators derived from poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) which have been demonstrated to have an important role in the inflammation environment, preventing an overreaction of the organism and promoting the resolution of inflammation. Our purpose was to point out the current evidence for specialized pro-resolving mediators, focusing on their role in neuroinflammation and in major neurological diseases. Overview on Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators Inflammation is a cascade event preserved along the evolution from the first multicellular precursor organisms to humans. Its main role is to defend tissues from an insulting agent, such as microbes or direct damage, enabling in most cases a natural return to homeostasis. If inflammation is not someway stopped, it can lead to serious consequences, such as uncontrolled edema . For many years, it was assumed that inflammation was a self-limiting process . However, recent discoveries have shown the presence of an active de-escalation process, promoted by a class of molecules, namely specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs). From the beginning of the inflammation process, SPMs reach the site of edema, either transported by blood flow or produced within the inflammatory tissue . Since chronic and/or uncontrolled inflammation plays a key role in a variety of diseases (such as cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, and neurological diseases), SPMs have a potential therapeutic role. In particular, SPMs are lipid mediators (LMs) derived from PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids), such as AA (Arachidonic Acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and n-3 DPA (n-3 docosapentaenoic acid). The properties of ω-3 fish oil fatty acids in human disease and physiology may in part be explained by the formation of autacoids derived from PUFAs . SPMs include lipoxins, resolvins, protectins and maresins, as well as newly identified cysteinyl-conjugated SPMs (cys-SPMs) and n-3 DPA-derived SPMs . In the following paragraphs, each group of SPMs will be analyzed. Protectins Protectins consist of Protectin D1/Neuroprotectin D1 (PD1/NPD1). They are biosynthesized from DHA via the 15-LOX mechanism. It can be found in human cell types, murine exudates and brain tissue; in this last case, it is called "NeuroprotectinD1" (NPD1), whereas PD1 operates in peripheral tissue. PD1/NPD1 has neuroprotective properties in the brain, retina and Central Nervous System (CNS). Its aspirin-triggered epimer, 17R-NPD1, has the same actions as NPD1 in controlling PMN, enhancing macrophage functions and attenuating experimental stroke . Maresins Maresins were first identified in human macrophages, in a pathway initiated by 12-LOX. Their name derives from an acronym: Macrophage Mediators in Resolving Inflammation. Maresin1 (MaR1) is able to promote the regeneration of tissues in an experimental model of simple organisms (planaria) with a strong capability of regeneration. In human cells, it is produced by platelets and PMN interactions. MaR1 promotes tissue regeneration and repair and has a neuroprotective role . Receptors and Pathways It is important to emphasize that these endogenous mediators of resolution do not act thanks to an "inhibition" of inflammation pathways: instead, they actively promote specific pathways in order to obtain a return to homeostasis. There are specific G-proteincoupled seven-transmembrane receptors (GPCR) activated by SPMs . Every single class of SPM demonstrates stereoselective activation of its own GPCR. SPMs show affinities for ligand-receptors in the nano-picomolar range, thus demonstrating a potent action in vitro and in vivo . Resolvin E1 (RvE1) acts via ChemR23 (GPCR for RvE1). It is also a partial agonist on the LTB 4 (leukotriene B4) receptor (BLT1), activated by LTB 4 as well. Nevertheless, RvE1 has a different mechanism of action, which is a time and dose-dependent phosphorylation of Akt and p70S6K (ribosomal protein S6 kinase) via ChemR23 . These receptors demonstrate overlapping actions (for example, ALX, GPR18, LGR6 and GPR101 can promote calcium mobilization via cAMP signal) and distinct actions too; thus, they could act in tandem to promote defense from injury, inflammation, and infection . Mechanism of Action The first signs of inflammation response are vasodilation and changes in vessel permeability. These factors not only permit the recruitment of cells implied in the inflammatory response but also give substrates for the biosynthesis of important molecules, such as SPMs . Apparently, ω-3 PUFAs, AA, EPA and DHA can be found within inflammatory exudates during very early phases, as demonstrated in various works . Therefore, the inflammation response is counterbalanced early by pro-resolution mediators. This avoids an excess of an inflammatory response that can be disruptive for the organism and for the tissue itself . Neuroinflammation and Its Resolution While inflammation is usually a self-limiting physiological process, when persistent or dysregulated it can become harmful to human tissues; if this happens within the CNS it is referred to as neuroinflammation and many studies proved that chronic neuroinflammation could ultimately lead to neurodegeneration . In this picture, an emerging concept is the resolution of neuroinflammation which contributes to brain homeostasis; a great deal of attention has been paid to the topic in the last few years. The main actors of this specular process are the so-called SPMs, whose characteristics have been explained in the previous chapter. In the last decade, several research groups started to investigate the role of SPMs in the nervous tissue as regulators of the inflammation process that may contribute to the crosstalk between glial cells and neurons in several neurological pathologies . The Role of Glial Cells in Neuroinflammation and the Contribution of SPMs Nervous tissue is composed of about 100 billion neurons and 80 to 100 billion glial cells, namely ectoderm-derived astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, and mesoderm-derived microglial cells. Astrocytes play a key role in the metabolism and metabolic support of nervous parenchyma and specifically neurons, i.e., lactate shuttle, the glutamate-glutamine cycle, and ketone bodies supply. Neuroinflammation has lately been interpreted as a condition of metabolic imbalance and energetic depletion, both in the acute and chronic settings. It hence derives that glial cells play a crucial role in the control of neuroinflammation, by regulating nervous tissue metabolism. As demonstrated, brain tissue contains high levels of PUFAs, mainly DHA and AA, which are the principal precursors of SPMs. The main PUFA source is unesterified plasma fatty acid pool rather than endogenous synthesis; such a source is severely impacted by dietary supply according to studies conducted on rodents . Interestingly, the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex contain the highest DHA content while the hypothalamus has the lowest . As for their proportion of representation in the human brain, astrocytes contain 10-12% of DHA, oligodendrocytes 5%, and microglial cells up to 2% . Astrocytes, the most abundant glial cells present in the nervous tissue, take part in many vital processes, such as the migration of developing axons and certain neuroblasts, the regulation of blood flow, electrolyte homeostasis, blood-brain barrier (BBB), and synapse function. Moreover, they seem to be the main glial cells involved in neuroinflammation, although they show significant diversity in this process. For instance, they express high levels of the ALX/FPR2 receptor, which has a central role in the regulation of astrogliosis, an active inflammatory path that leads to neural protection, repair and ultimately to glial scarring . LXA 4 and RvD1, the two SPMs that bind this receptor, promote the inhibition of astrocytes' pro-inflammatory activities . Moreover, it has been observed that peripheral RvD1 administration in brain injury models improved its functional recovery through an ALX/FPR2-regulated pathway probably induced by astrocytes . Another important receptor expressed by astrocytes and playing an important role in neuroprotection is ChemR23/ERV1, expressed in the human hippocampus, which binds RvE1: animal studies demonstrated that peripheral administration of RvE1 in Alzheimer's disease (AD), in combination with LXA 4 , reduced astrocyte activation . Other receptors involved in the neuroprotection and resolution of inflammation are GPR37, GPR18 and LgR6, whose expression in astrocytes is challenged, and further studies both in vivo and in vitro are needed on this subset. Besides their main function of myelin synthesis, oligodendrocytes, the second most represented cell population in the CNS, may play a role in the resolution of neuroinflammation thanks to the latest evidence on their active production of immuneregulatory factors or their receptors . Comparing oligodendrocytes with astrocytes, ALX/FPR2 is not expressed by these cells; the only SPMs receptor identified seems to be GPR37 . On the other hand, microglia, the immune cells of the CNS, thanks to their very physiological role, seem to express all the known SPM receptors and are susceptible to the effects of different SPMs categories (lipoxins, RvE, RvD, protectins and maresins) . Nonetheless, the cellular origin of SPMs in these cells, as in astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, has not yet been demonstrated and only a few in vitro studies have tried to investigate it . Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators in Ischemic Stroke and Cerebrovascular Events The concept of ischemic stroke has been expanded to include not only what happens inside the vessel, but also in the surrounding environment, the so-called "neurovascular unit", which includes the interaction between glia, neurons, vascular cells, and matrix components; after the acute event, secondary neuroinflammation takes place, bringing about detrimental effects producing further injury and neuronal death, and promotion of recovery . Several studies have investigated the possible role of pro-resolving mediators in improving post-stroke prognosis; however, they have mostly been conducted on rodents, and applications in humans remain speculative and in need of further research. Table 1 provides a summary of in vivo studies on SPMs in ischemic stroke and cerebrovascular events. Resolvins in Ischemic Stroke and Cerebrovascular Events Though preliminary studies indicate a decrease in the risk of cardiovascular diseases thanks to n-3 PUFAs supplementation, large double-blind studies did not show clear beneficial effects; however, PUFAs may play a role both through the reduction of pro-inflammatory factors, as well as through the stimulation of the resolution of inflammation . The human body metabolizes n-3 PUFAs into RvD2 via the lipoxygenase pathway. Exogenous supply of RvD2 via intraperitoneal injection in a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) mouse model was able to reverse induced brain injury, including infarction, inflammatory response, brain edema, and neurological dysfunction . Apparently, the capacity of n-3 PUFAs to generate RvD2 was reduced by middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R), making their supplementation less effective than direct RvD2 injection: in the early brain ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury process, the metabolic processing of fish oil (especially DHA) may be blocked. In the same animal model, neutrophil membrane-derived nanovesicles loaded with RvD2 were shown to alleviate inflammation and protect the mouse brain from ischemic stroke injury, thus providing a possible therapeutic strategy . Despite what has just been said about PUFAs, acute post-ischemic administration of triglyceride emulsions containing only DHA (tri-DHA) conferred neuroprotection against hypoxic-ischemic injury in neonatal mice . RvD1 may play a role in modulating stroke risk factors by preventing atherosclerosis: supplementation with exogenous RvD1 improved plaque stability in fat-fed Ldlr-/-via an increase in fibrous cap thickness and decreased lesional oxidative stress and necrosis . Further studies demonstrate how RvD2 and RvE1 supply may significantly decrease or slow down atherosclerotic changes as well . Post-stroke blood levels of RvD1 have also been found to correlate with cognitive performance: in a prospective study assessing the impact of eicosanoids on cognitive function in stroke survivors, prostaglandin E2, 9S-, 13S-HODE and RvD1 were all strongly associated with the post-stroke cognitive impairment, while RvD1 only correlated with better cognitive performance . Maresins in Ischemic Stroke and Cerebrovascular Events The intracerebroventricular injection of MaR1 may play a protective role against I/R injury by inhibiting pro-inflammatory reactions and NF-kB p65 activation and nuclear translocation: in a MCAO mice model, MaR1 significantly reduced the infarct volume and neurological defects, protecting the brain tissue and neurons from injury . MaR1 treatment also attenuated cerebral I/R injury by reducing inflammatory responses and mitochondrial damage via the activation of SIRT1 signaling . Annexins in Ischemic Stroke and Cerebrovascular Events The pro-resolving protein Annexin A1 (AnxA1) has been studied too; targeting the AnxA1/Fpr2/ALX pathway may represent another novel treatment strategy for resolving thrombo-inflammation . Macrophages can differentiate into two subtypes, depending on cytokines and chemokines production during inflammation response. In particular, different chemokines can attract Th1 and Th2 or T regulatory (Tr) cells, and this response is integrated by M1 and M2 macrophages in circuits of amplification and regulation of T-cell responses. M1 macrophages are effector cells that kill microorganisms and tumor cells, producing a multitude of proinflammatory cytokines. On the other hand, M2 cells tune inflammatory responses and adaptive Th1 immunity, scavenge debris, and promote angiogenesis, tissue remodeling and repair . Ac2-26 (annexin/lipocortin 1-mimetic peptide) administered to a transient MCAO/R mouse model was shown to modulate microglial/macrophage polarization towards M2 anti-inflammatory phenotype and alleviate subsequent cerebral inflammation; this was achieved by regulating the FPR2/ALXdependent AMPK-mTOR pathway . The same study pointed to plasma AnxA1 as a potential biomarker for the outcomes of acute ischemic stroke patients receiving endovascular thrombectomy. AnxA1 administration was shown to be beneficial in intracerebral hemorrhage, attenuating neuroinflammation via the AnxA1/FPR2/p38 signaling pathway . In addition, in cerebral I/R injury AnxA1 may shift the platelet phenotype from pro-pathogenic to regulatory: it was able to reduce the propensity of platelets to aggregate and cause thrombosis by affecting integrin (αIIbβ3) activation . Lipoxins in Ischemic Stroke and Cerebrovascular Events LXA4 is another potent anti-inflammatory mediator exerting a neuroprotective effect following a cerebrovascular event. It has been postulated to regulate microglial M1/M2 polarization after cerebral I/R injury via the Notch signaling pathway, and to downregulate the expression of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and TNF-α . The intracerebroventricular injection of LXA4 or its synthetic analogs was shown to decrease infarct volumes and improve neurological function in mice. One study pointed to Nrf2 upregulation being involved in the neuroprotective effects of LXA4; such effects were partially blocked by Boc2, a specific antagonist of the LXA4 receptor (ALXR) . However, LXA4 induced Nrf2 expression and its nuclear translocation, as well as HO-1 expression and GSH synthesis; the latter two effects were not blocked by Boc2, indicating that Nrf2 upregulation may be ALXR independent. In addition, the PPAR agonist rosiglitazone has been shown to be neuroprotective by increasing LXA4 and reducing leukotriene B4 (LTB4) in experimental stroke . As LXA4 is rapidly inactivated, potent analogs have been synthesized, including BML-111. Post-ischemic treatment with BML-111 significantly reduced infarct size, decreased vasogenic edema, protected against BBB disruption, and reduced hemorrhagic transformation in rats . Similarly, post-ischemic, intravenous treatment with BML-111 for 1 week was shown to induce early protective effects, reducing infarct volume, and improving sensorimotor function at 1 week; however, it did not reduce infarct size or improve behavioral deficits 4 weeks after ischemic stroke . Another stable synthetic analog of LXA4 is lipoxin A4 methyl ester (LXA4 ME). Intracerebroventricular injection in I/R injury mice ameliorated neurological dysfunctions, reduced infarction volume, attenuated neuronal apoptosis and had overall an anti-inflammatory effect . It was also shown to reduce BBB dysfunction and MMP-9 expression while increasing TIMP-1 expression . One study suggested that intracerebroventricular injection for two consecutive weeks in mice after the acute event could alleviate spatial learning and memory impairments, thus exerting beneficial effects on the cognitive impairment induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. This was likely achieved through attenuating oxidative injury and reducing neuronal apoptosis in the hippocampus with the activation of the ERK/Nrf2 signaling pathway . Interestingly, one of the few studies on LXA4 conducted in humans showed that the levels of LXA4 in the acute phase of ischemic stroke were significantly reduced in post-stroke cognitive impairment patients compared with those with no cognitive impairment upon Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) testing . LXA4 has also been reported to reduce neuroinflammation by activating FPR2 and inhibiting p38 in a rat model of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH); intracerebroventricular injection of exogenous LXA4 reduced brain water content and BBB leakage, and improved neurological function, memory and learning after the event . An amelioration of endothelial dysfunction, microflow recovery, and suppression of neutrophil infiltration was also shown, possibly involving the LXA4/FPR2/ERK1/2 pathway . Protectins in Ischemic Stroke and Cerebrovascular Events Protectins, also called neuroprotectins, may play a role in stroke too. NPD1 was demonstrated to reduce infarct volume, inhibit the activation of NF-kB, and reduce the expression of COX-2 and infiltration polymorphonuclear leukocytes . The intracerebroventricular injection of NPD1 in the rat I/R injury model has been shown to significantly reduce infarct volume and improve neurological scores, through the inhibition of calpain-mediated TRPC6 proteolysis and the subsequent activation of CREB via the Ras/MEK/ERK pathway . Infarct size reduction in aged rats via the activation of the Akt and p70S6K pathways has also been demonstrated . NPD1 seems to counter uncompensated oxidative stress by upregulating ring finger protein 146 (Iduna) in neurons and astrocytes, which facilitates DNA repair and protects against cell death; in fact, Iduna is usually downregulated in the penumbra after cerebral ischemia . NPD1 may also work on mitochondria-related cell death pathways, which play a major role in ischemic brain injury. Following NPD1 acute intraperitoneal injection in mice, ischemic core expansion was prevented by about 40%; brain mitochondria showed a preserved membrane structure, together with a reduction of mitochondrial BAX translocation and activation . NPD1 administration has also been demonstrated to promote neurogenesis and angiogenesis, BBB integrity, penumbra protection and subsequent long-term neurobehavioral recovery after experimental ischemic stroke . By administering aspirin plus DHA, the synthesis of aspirin-triggered NPD1 (AT-NPD1) in the brain was discovered; the total chemical synthesis of this molecule and usage in mice MCAO model was shown to promote sustained neurobehavioral recovery, reduce infarct volume and brain edema, and protect white matter . Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators in Neurological Immune-Mediated Disorders Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neuroinflammatory disease in which unresolved and uncontrolled inflammation leads to a pathological disease state, thus representing a classical model of chronic inflammation; in this context, SPMs could be instrumental in resolving the pathologic inflammation. However, there are minimal data available on the functional status of SPMs in MS; it seems that SPMs have neuroprotective action in MS by exerting pro-resolving effects in the pre-clinical model; however, little is known about the direct effect of SPMs on oligodendrocytic or neuronal cells . Table 2 provides a summary of in vivo studies on SPMs in neurological immune-mediated disorders. Annexins in Neurological Immune-Mediated Disorders The potential role of SPMs has been studied in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a mouse model of MS. Across the literature, the role of AnxA1 appears to be contentious. However, it is worth underlying that AnxA1 likely exerts a dual function on the innate and adaptive immune systems; in the innate immune system, endogenous AnxA1 plays an anti-inflammatory role that controls events occurring early in the inflammatory process; on the contrary, in the adaptive immune system its role is controversial, and it may as well be pro-inflammatory . Dated works demonstrating annexin-1 immunoreactivity in plaque lesions in both experimental mice and MS patients led to hypothesizing a possible contribution to anti-inflammatory processes . Another study pointed to the potential therapeutic benefit of annexin-1 administration in MS, as intracerebroventricular administration in EAE rats significantly reduced neurological severity, and immunoneutralization of endogenous brain annexin-1 failed to exacerbate the clinical features of EAE . In another work, the potential modulatory role of AnxA1 in the development of EAE was investigated, and a direct correlation between AnxA1 T cells expression and severity of disease was shown. MOG35-55-induced EAE development was impaired in AnxA1 null mice, which showed decreased signs of the disease compared to wild type mice at the peak and reduced infiltration of T cells in the spinal cord . Moreover, reduced in vitro recall proliferative response to MOG35-55 in Annexin A1 null T cells was demonstrated, with a significantly reduced Th1/Th17 phenotype, as compared to wild type cells . Authors thus concluded that the identification and generation of neutralizing antibodies against AnxA1 could play a therapeutic role in MS. A more recent study tried to shed some light on the ability of AnxA1 to influence T cell effector function in relapsing/remitting MS (RRMS); by measuring circulating expression levels of AnxA1 in RRMS patients, it was found that they are inversely correlated with disease score and progression . In addition, at the cellular level, there was impaired AnxA1 production in CD4+CD252 conventional T and CD4+RORgt+ T (Th17) cells from RRMS subjects that were associated with an increased migratory capacity in an in vitro BBB model. Authors associated AnxA1 anti-inflammatory action with the STAT3 signaling pathway. Resolvins in Neurological Immune-Mediated Disorders As far as concerns the therapeutic potential of RvD1 in EAE mice, oral administration was very effective in attenuating disease progression by suppressing autoreactive T cells and inducing an M2 phenotype of monocytes/macrophages and resident brain microglial cells, though not affecting the number of infiltrating cells . Lipoxins in Neurological Immune-Mediated Disorders LXA4 may play a role in MS as well. Intraperitoneal injection of LXA4 was shown to ameliorate EAE clinical symptoms and inhibit CD4+ and CD8+ T cell infiltration into the CNS; in addition, LXA4 potently reduced encephalitogenic Th1 and Th17 effector functions, both in vivo and in isolated human T cells from healthy donors and patients with RRMS . The same study demonstrated that LXA4 affects the spinal cord lipidome by significantly reducing the levels of pro-inflammatory LMs during EAE. Maresins in Neurological Immune-Mediated Disorders A recent paper analyzed SPMs in active brain lesions, serum, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in MS patients and in the spinal cord of EAE mice, showing that levels of MaR1 and other SPMs were below the limit of detection or not increased in mice . Similarly, they were undetected in serum and active brain lesion samples of MS patients, which may be linked to impaired expression of the enzymes involved in the biosynthetic pathways of SPMs. When exogenous MaR1 was administered to mice, various pro-inflammatory cytokines were suppressed, the number of Th1 cells was reduced and the number of Tregs increased, while macrophages underwent polarization towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype . Differential Expression of SPMs in MS The possibility of non-exhaustive or possibly 'delayed' resolution pathways in MS was also suggested by a study observing that LM pathways are regulated differentially in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of MS patients, depending on disease severity . Specifically, in patients with highly active MS, RvD1 was significantly upregulated and NPD1 was detected in this group only. In line with these results, another study group showed distinct LM profiles that significantly correlated with disease severity in MS patients' peripheral blood . In particular, relapsing and progressive MS patients were associated with high eicosanoid levels, whereas the majority of pro-resolving LM were either significantly reduced or below limits of detection and correlated with disease progression. Furthermore, the expression of several enzymes and associated receptors involved in SPM biosynthesis was found to be reduced in the blood-derived leukocytes of MS patients. These findings support the idea that differentially expressed mediators, such as LXA4, LXB4, RvD1 and NPD1 reduced MS-derived monocyte activation and cytokine production and inhibited inflammation-induced BBB dysfunction and monocyte trans-endothelial migration. The same study group recently presented data at the 35th Annual Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS, 2019) suggesting impaired production of SPMs in MS patients. Comprehensive metabolipidomics profiling was used to identify the spectrum of LM signatures in the CSF of patients across different clinical courses, including relapsing, remitting, and progressive modes of MS; CSF analysis revealed lower levels of LXB4 and RvD3 in different clinical courses of the disease (unpublished) . SPMs in Demyelinating Disorders Other Than MS Other than the previously discussed findings in MS, few studies on neurological demyelinating disorders and pro-resolving mediators have been published. A recent paper pointed to inflammation resolution impairment in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD), showing that RvD1 levels were significantly decreased, whereas leukotrienes B4 (LTB4) levels were significantly increased in the CSF of NMOSD patients . Furthermore, AQP4-IgG titer was negatively correlated with RvD1 levels in the CSF of NMOSD patients, indicating such antibodies may contribute to increased and unresolved inflammation. SPMs have been investigated in experimental autoimmune neuritis (EAN) too, a model of acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy. Annexin-1 expression was found to be increased in the inflamed sciatic, which may indicate immunoregulatory functions in-situ and contribute to the termination of the autoimmune response . In addition, in the EAN model RvD1, its synthetic enzyme and receptor were found to be increased in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) during the recovery stage of EAN; intraperitoneal RvD1 injection led to macrophage phagocytosis of apoptotic T cells in PNS, thereby upregulating TGFβ by macrophages, increasing local Treg cell counts, and finally promoting inflammation resolution and disease recovery . Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators in Neurodegenerative Diseases AD is the most common type of dementia; a growing body of evidence suggests that inflammation is involved in its pathogenesis. Epidemiological studies suggest that the use of anti-inflammatory drugs is associated with a lower incidence of AD; however, clinical trials with anti-inflammatory drugs have not been successful . Given these premises, the possibility of promoting resolution rather than inhibiting inflammation looks appealing. The potential benefit of working on inflammation resolution is supported by several observations. First of all, a shift in the LM profile in the CSF from pro-resolving to proinflammatory occurs as AD progresses: in a recent study, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to analyze pro-resolving and pro-inflammatory LMs in the CSF of patients with cognitive impairment ranging from subjective impairment to a diagnosis of AD; LMs profile correlated to cognition, CSF tau, and β-amyloid. RvD4, RvD1, NPD1, MaR1, and RvE4 were lower in AD and/or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) compared to subjective cognitive impairment (SCI); on the other hand, pro-inflammatory mediators were higher in AD and MCI . Similarly, it was found that the levels of the MaR1, NPD1 and RvD5, were lower in the entorhinal cortex of AD patients as compared to age-matched controls, while levels of the pro-inflammatory prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) were higher in AD . In addition, RvD4 showed a negative correlation to AD tangle biomarkers and positive correlations to cognitive test scores . Similar findings have been reported in mice, where SPMs in the brain cortex were substantially lower in mice with an APOE4 genotype . The finding that SPMs receptors are increased in the AD brain in postmortem studies and correlate to Braak stages, suggests a prominent role of resolution pathways; the increase in these receptors may either represent a primary factor in the pathogenesis of the disease or a consequence of failed resolution . The same study group investigated age-related changes in the LM profile in the APP knock-in (APP KI) mouse model of AD, concluding that the brain lipidome appeared to be modified preferentially during aging as compared to amyloid pathology, as the oldest age group was the one with the greatest increase in LMs, despite an early onset of Aβ pathology . In this case, the SPMs biosynthetic enzymes were found to be increased, while their receptor expression decreased in the aged App KI mice, in disagreement with their previous work on AD patients. The discrepancy may be explained by the fact that the stage of AD pathology in 18-month-old App KI mice is likely less advanced compared to that seen in human post-mortem brains . SPMs Administration in AD Models Several in vivo mouse studies support the potential benefit deriving from SPM use in AD. Table 3 provides a summary of in vivo studies on SPMs in neurodegenerative diseases. When a mixture of the SPMs including RvE1, RvD1, RvD2, MaR1 and NPD1 was administered to mice via intranasal delivery, an amelioration of memory deficits occurred, together with a restoration of gamma oscillation deficits, and a prominent decrease in microglial activation . Intraperitoneal injection of RvE1 and LXA4, alone or in combination, increased the concentration of RvE1, LXA4, and RvD2 in the hippocampus of a murine model, reversed the inflammatory process and decreased the neuroinflammation associated with Aβ pathology; the levels of SPMs in the hippocampus of 5xFAD mice were in fact shown to be significantly lower than in wild-type mice . Similarly, intracerebroventricular administration of LXA4 was able to inhibit the inflammatory response induced by β-amyloid in the cortex and hippocampus of experimental mice, in particular, the production of IL-1b and TNFa . Other than LXA4, the effect of aspirin-triggered LXA4 (ATL) has been investigated too; ATL is generated after the acetylation of COX-2, and displays the same anti-inflammatory activity as the native lipoxins and is more resistant to metabolic inactivation . Subcutaneous injection of ATL was able to reduce NF-kB activation and levels of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, as well as create an anti-inflammatory cerebral milieu, resulting in the recruitment of microglia in an alternative phenotype. Such microglia showed improved phagocytic function towards Aβ, ultimately leading to a reduction in synaptotoxicity and improvement in cognition . Not only was ATL demonstrated to enhance the cognitive performance of 3xTg-AD mice and reduce Aβ load, but also to decrease the levels of phosphorylated-tau (p-tau) . Furthermore, intracerebroventricular supply of MaR1 improved the cognitive decline of experimental mice; MaR1 was able to attenuate microglial activation, reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines in favor of anti-inflammatory ones, and up-regulate the levels of proteins related to survival pathways including PI3K/AKT, ERK and down-regulate the levels of proteins associated with inflammation, autophagy, and apoptosis pathways, such as p38, mTOR and caspase 3 . NPD1 seems to play a role in decreasing inflammatory signaling in AD ; however, to our knowledge, NPD1 alone has never been administered to mice. The potential role of AnxA1 in the AD murine model has been investigated too. AnxA1 is a pro-resolving mediator that helps to restore the integrity of the BBB and inhibit microglial activation in the brain; interestingly, these functions depend on AnxA1 integrity, and enzymatic cleavage generates pro-inflammatory fragments . When AnxA1 level was measured in the blood and CSF of patients with AD and behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), reduced plasma levels of AnxA1 were observed in bvFTD compared to AD and controls, while no difference was shown in the CSF; moreover, a significant cleavage of AnxA1 in PBMCs in both dementia groups was shown . A link between AnxA1, neuroinflammation and amyloid pathology is further suggested by the identification of elevated cleaved AnxA1 in the brains of patients with neurodegenerative dementias including AD, positively correlating with amyloidogenic brain Aβ, inflammatory and pro-apoptotic markers . However, intact AnxA1 protein was found to be increased in the brain of both AD patients and animal models and induce the clearance and degradation of the amyloid-β peptide in vitro by acting on formyl peptide receptor-like 1 (FPRL1) . The increases in ANXA1 observed in AD brains suggest that upregulation of AnxA1 could represent an adaptive response of microglia during inflammatory conditions and an attempt to turn down inflammation at the early disease stage; in later stages with chronic production of Aβ and pro-inflammatory cytokines, microglia change their neuroprotective phenotype in favor of a more pro-inflammatory activation state . Still, surprisingly, when APP/PS1 double-transgenic AD mice were treated for 20 weeks with the anti-inflammatory FPR2 agonist Ac2-26, Ac2-26-treatment did not show any beneficial effect . As previously mentioned, AnxA1 protects against BBB breakdown in AD: treatment with human recombinant ANXA1 (hrAnxA1) in the murine brain endothelial cell line bEnd.3 was able to rescue β-amyloid 1-42 -induced BBB disruption via inhibition of RhoA-ROCK signaling pathway . Similarly, intravenous injection of hrAnxA1 was able to decrease BBB permeability, and reduce β-amyloid load and p-tau build-up in 5xFAD mice and Tau-P301L mice; in addition, the prolonged treatment with hrAnxA1 reduced the memory deficits and increased synaptic density in young 5xFAD mice . Few studies have examined the neuroinflammation-modulating effects of n-3 PUFA feeding in the AD murine model; one study reported fish oil feeding managed to attenuate neuroinflammatory gene expression; however, no alteration in the levels of SPMs, brain eicosanoids or docosanoids was detected . When investigating the ability of PUFAs to influence the production of SPMs in AD patients, a randomized, placebo-controlled trial found unchanged levels of the SPMs LXA4 and RvD1 in the group supplemented with n-3 FAs, whereas a decrease was documented in the placebo group, indicating that PUFA supplementation managed to prevent reduction in SPMs released from PBMCs . Another work pointed to the ability of n3-PUFA to increase amyloid-β phagocytosis and RvD1 in patients with MCI . SPMs and Sphingosine Kinase As a conclusive remark on AD and pro-resolving mediators, SPMs have been found to be regulated by sphingosine kinases (especially SphK1) that act by monitoring COX-2, a potent inhibitor of SPMs production . SphK1 generates N-acetyl sphingosine (N-AS) from acetyl-CoA and sphingosine; N-AS then acetylates serine 565 (S565) of COX-2, and the N-AS-acetylated COX-2 induces the production of SPMs . In a mouse model of AD, microglia showed a reduction in N-AS generation, leading to decreased acetyl-S565 COX2 and SPMs production; mouse treatment with N-AS increases acetylated COX-2 and N-AS-triggered SPMs in microglia, leading to resolution of neuroinflammation, an increase in microglial phagocytosis, and improved memory . SPMs in Neurodegenerative Disorders Other Than AD While most literature on SPMs and neurodegenerative disorders focuses on AD, neuroinflammation is also one of the hallmarks of Parkinson's disease (PD) and may play a role in midbrain dopamine (DA) neuron degeneration. Still, the effects of stimulating the resolution of inflammation in PD remain largely unexplored. Both in vitro and in vivo models seem to point to a possible role of SPMs. In a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)induced rat model of PD the effects of intrathecal injection of RvD2 on substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) were studied; RvD2 was shown to recover neural injury by suppressing inflammatory mediator expression . In fact, LPS-induced inflammation in SNpc increased the expression of NO, iNOS, TNF-a, IL-1, IL-18, IL-6, IL-1b, ROS production, the translocation of NF-kB p65, IkBa, and IKKb expression in glial cells; after injection of RvD2, the treatment prevented development of behavioral defects and TLR4/NF-kB pathway activation. Another study on rats overexpressing human α-synuclein (Syn) demonstrated that prior to nigral degeneration they display altered DA neuron properties, and reduced striatal DA outflow and motor deficits; these early alterations are coupled with microglia activation and perturbations in inflammatory and pro-resolving mediators, namely IFN-γ and RvD1 . When early and chronic intraperitoneal injection of RvD1 was provided, central and peripheral inflammation, as well as neuronal dysfunction and motor deficits were prevented. Interestingly, the same work demonstrated that endogenous RvD1 is decreased in human patients with early PD . Supporting the role of SPMs in PD, homozygous missense variants in the AnxA1 were recently suggested to cause parkinsonism by leading to extracellular SNCA accumulation, neuroinflammation, as well as defects in intracellular signaling pathways and synaptic plasticity; however, such mutations seem to be exceedingly rare, and pathogenicity could not be further explored . Other than AD and PD, a third relevant neurodegenerative pathology is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). To our knowledge, no in vivo study on the role of SPMs in ALS has been performed. Although the cause of neuronal degeneration in ALS has not been fully elucidated, there is evidence of macrophage and T cell infiltration into the spinal cord, which may be responsible for motor neuron death. In ALS macrophages, aggregated superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1) stimulated the expression of inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α; it was shown that RvD1 was able to inhibit macrophage IL-6 and TNF-α production, thus suppressing inflammation . Another study investigated the effects of MaR1 on motor neuron cell death, finding it protected motor neuron-like NSC-34 cells against serum-free and SOD1 G93A or TDP-43 A315T -induced cell death, as well as H 2 O 2 -or tunicamycin-induced cell death . Materials and Methods The PubMed library was searched for journal articles published in English up to 4 May 2022; we used the entry words "pro-resolving mediators", "resolvins", "maresins", "annexins", "lipoxins", "protectins", "neuroinflammation", "central nervous system", "glial cells", and "Alzheimer", "Parkinson", "neurodegenerative", "stroke", "cerebrovascular". We purposefully focused on findings in human studies and on pre-clinical studies which have been implemented in the animal model, as pre-clinical animal studies more closely resemble possible future applications in clinical practice. In vitro studies have not been discussed in this work. However, a concise overview of the main in vitro models currently used in the field of neurological diseases and SPMs research has been provided in Table 4. Table 4. Overview of the main in vitro models currently used in the field of neurological disease and SPMs research. Cerebrovascular diseases OGD of rat cortical neurons Primary cortical neurons are subjected to OGD mimicking ischemic injury. OGD/R of BV2 murine microglial cell BV2 murine microglial cells are subjected to OGD mimicking ischemic injury, with subsequent reoxygenation and exposure to a glucose-containing medium. OGD/R of rat astrocytes Primary astrocytes are exposed to OGD mimicking ischemic injury, with subsequent reoxygenation and exposure to a glucose-containing medium. Mixed glial cell model This model is meant to study the expression of inflammatory mediators and myelin genes under inflammation; mixed glial cell cultures are treated with a combination of pro-inflammatory cytokines to create an inflammatory environment. Co-culture studies Mouse brain microglial cells are co-cultured with rat oligodendrocyte progenitor cells and then processed for expression of myelin genes. Co-culture systems allow studying the interactions between cell populations. AD models AD patients PBMCs PBMCs drawn from the venous blood of AD patients. Aβ40-or Aβ42-exposed PBMCs PBMCs are isolated from patients' peripheral venous blood and incubated with Aβ40 or Aβ42 to mimic the AD environment. Aβ42-exposed human CHME3 microglial cells Human microglial cell line CHME3 has also been employed and incubated with Aβ42. Aβ42-treated HNG Co-cultures of neurons derived from mice and mouse brain mixed glial cells, subsequently stimulated by Aβ42. Co-culture of human cells has been employed too (primary human neuronal-glial co-culture). In Vitro Model Brief Model Description HNG transfected with βAPPsw HNG cells may either be challenged with Aβ42 oligomeric peptide as described above or transfected with beta amyloid precursor protein (βAPP)sw to mimic AD in vitro. STS-induced apoptosis in neuroblastoma cells Neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y represents a model of human neuronlike cells. To study neuronal survival, apoptosis can be induced by incubating the differentiated SH-SY5Y cells with STS. LPS-induced murine microglial cells Rat microglial cells incubated with the addition of LPS, which induces inflammatory changes. MPP+ -treated PC12 pheochromocytoma cells MPTP is an environmental toxin that specifically damages DA neurons; the same applies to its metabolite MPP+, explaining why they are commonly used to obtain in vitro PD models. In this case, PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells are treated with MPP+. ALS models Fibrillar wild type SOD-1-stimulated PBMCs In ALS PBMCs, in vitro aggregated SOD-1 is used to stimulate the expression of inflammatory cytokines. Conclusions Inflammation is a reaction to a harmful agent, physiologically self-contained thanks to the intervention of endogenous molecules which promote its resolution. If persistent or dysregulated, inflammation itself becomes noxious for human tissues. Chronic, low-grade inflammation of the CNS is considered the pathophysiological foundation of many neurological disorders and of the neurodegenerative processes themselves. In this picture, pro-resolution is a spontaneous collateral biochemical mechanism led by SPMs in the inflamed tissues and the identification of these molecules contributed to the understanding of the inflammation processes; their use in the clinical setting could potentially be an important tool for clinicians. We have analyzed the bulk of the evidence in this article on the role of SPMs in the control of inflammation processes in several models of the most important neurological disorders. This amount of evidence has moved an interest among patients and physicians for the clinical use of SPMs. Unfortunately, at the moment, this interest cannot be certainly defined as evidence-based. A preliminary problem to be explored for future clinical studies relates to the route of administration of SPMs. In fact, regarding the administration of SPMs, there is at present no evidence on whether they can actually cross the BBB, although their characteristic of small lipophilic molecules makes this possibility plausible, similarly to what is known for their precursors DHA and EPA . A second aspect concerns the definition of precise and clinically meaningful outcome measures, specific for the diseases to be treated. Finally, little is known about the toxicology of SPMs, although no side effects have been reported so far. However, since research on SPMs is relatively new, an effort should be made to conduct future studies on safety, in order to rule out possible harmful effects. This is even more important if we consider that a few, not recent, studies on ω-3 PUFAs, which are SPMs precursors, have pointed out that they may impact platelet aggregation and reduce the immune response to infections . Having in mind these considerations, we believe that the information coming from animal studies should prompt investigators and industry to fill the scientific gap with robust clinical studies on SPMs, which are tremendously needed. It is likely that the clinical use of SPMs will not be as potent as that of anti-inflammatory drugs, but their action is likely more physiological, and it could probably be better tolerated by patients. In addition, their effects could be potentiated by the synergic action of other "natural" approaches to the control of chronic low-grade inflammation, such as those based on nutrition and lifestyle.

Multi-Modal Identification of Feldspar and Iron Oxide Phases in Granite Using Raman Spectroscopy in the Electron Microscope Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) is one of the most versatile methods for identification of micro-scale material phases of differing elemental composition. However, it is not very helpful in differentiating structural differences or crystal polymorphism, so getting full information about a material usually involves combining SEM-EDS with a complementary structural analysis technique. It is often paired with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), electron diffraction, or x-ray diffraction depending on the size of the features and type of material. Though it is much less common, there are now also commercial solutions for Raman spectroscopy in the electron microscope. Raman spectroscopy can be used on a variety of materials to obtain a characteristic spectrum for identification or information on the crystal structure or molecular bonding . Relevant to this work, Raman spectroscopy has been used to differentiate feldspar and iron oxide minerals with characteristic Raman spectra available through both public online databases and commercial spectral libraries . This paper shows how multimodal analysis in the electron microscope using Raman spectroscopy and SEM-EDS allows positive identification of several phases in granite at length scales of tens of microns down to sub-micron. The Raman spectroscopy tool used here is a pre-production prototype system designed by Thermo Fisher Scientific and installed at the University of Cincinnati Advanced Materials Characterization Center as an attachment to the Scios DualBeam. A piece of granite from Madison, WI with an overall pink color indicative of high K-feldspar content was sectioned, mounted in epoxy, and polished for analysis. Figure 1 shows an area with an inclusion visible in

On January 12, EXID’s agency Banana Culture has spoken up about the group’s Chinese “Up & Down” music video supposedly taken down just hours after its original release. They explained, “We have re-edited and uploaded the music video after it was judged that there was a problem with it. We determined that a scene where it was filmed in a set similar to the Forbidden City could deemed as problematic by the domestic (Chinese) audience, so we have deleted this part.” “While originally filming, we consulted with the Chinese staff to make sure it would be acceptable. Although we did not receive a complaint [about the scene] right after the music video was uploaded, we decided it would be best to edit it regardless, taking into account potential problems in the future.” Previously, a Chinese news outlet on January 11 reported that the music video was halted and postponed because the scene was not in accordance with the law. The report also said that the scene was problematic as the members were “in revealing clothing in front of a building that is reminiscent of the Forbidden City.” What are your thoughts on this situation? Source (1)

Assessment of using the statistical timing analysis software for the VLSI design at the macro level Satisfying timing constraint is the most important issue in today's VLSI design. The recent increase of process variation, however, made it too difficult to predict the circuit timing accurately using traditional deterministic methods. Many statistical static timing analysis (SSTA) approaches have been proposed to deal with the impact of large process variation effectively. However, most of them focused on the gate-level design, and those for macro-level designs have not been well developed yet. This paper investigates the validity of applying SSTA to the macro-level designs by presenting preliminary experimental results that compare SSTA and the worst-case corner timing analysis in accuracy. In addition, this paper investigates how the process variation affects the usefulness of the macro-level SSTA.

On the use of meshfree methods and a geometry based surgical cutting algorithm in multimodal medical simulations In this paper, we present some of our recent advances in the simulation of surgical procedures including surgical cutting in multimodal virtual environments. Progressive cutting, without the generation of new primitives, is achieved by snapping the nearest nodes to the interaction point between the cutting tool and the underlying polygon edge. The realism of the simulation is enhanced by employing a local subdivision algorithm in the vicinity of the tool-tissue interaction region. A cutting gutter is constructed to display the interior of the cut surface as the cut opens up. A meshfree method is used to compute the deformation fields and interaction forces. Simulation examples involving the cutting of realistic organ models are presented.

Republicans Talk Impeachment at House Hearing on President’s Duty to Execute the Law The House Judiciary Panel is holding a special hearing today to see if the president went over the line of the US Constitution to advance his agenda. ENFORCING THE PRESIDENT’S CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY TO FAITHFULLY EXECUTE THE LAWS You can watch live on CSPAN. Witness Panel 1 Witness Panel 2 Depending on the findings of the panel the Obama Administration may be forced to follow the US Constitution or other extreme measures may be taken including impeachment proceedings. Rep Jim Gerlach (R-PA) offered this testimony today: I think we can agree that Congress has fairly limited means of redress in the event that the executive branch circumvents the legislative branch through its decisions not to enforce certain federal law. Congress can try to pass new laws to either remedy or defund a violating action – but a president who undertook the action will not likely support the measure. Where the action rises to a “high crime or misdemeanor,” the House may initiate an impeachment proceeding. But, such an avenue would surely be extremely divisive within the Congress and the nation generally, and would divert the attention of Congress from other important issues of the day. Finally, judicial relief could be sought, but we well know that that process can take years and years while the underlying transgression continues. Rep. H. Tom Rice (R-SC) added this testimony: The “take care” clause in Article II, section 3 of the Constitution provides that the President shall “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” While the President has the right to exercise reasonable discretion, he may not choose which laws shall be enforced. This is fundamental to our constitutional framework. Knowing the expectations for the executive branch, I have watched President Obama’s various actions with great dismay. My constituents overwhelmingly share this dismay. Throughout my first months in office, my constituents continually voiced the same refrain: President Obama is overstepping the bounds of his office and Congress is doing nothing to stop his power grabs. Some have even suggested impeachment. If the President can continually use his discretion to rewrite laws without congressional approval, the House of Representatives and the Senate may as well cease to exist. This erosion of our separation of powers diminishes our democracy; leaving us with an imperial presidency.

Facilitating Arab‐Jewish intergroup dialogue in the college setting The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an especially entrenched ethno‐national stalemate. The upsurges of violence in the Middle East provide flashpoints for tension among Arabs, Jews and other students on college campuses. The author presents methods for facilitating dialogue between these groups in the form of a psychologically informed, educational case study. A short, university‐level course helped students from different cultural backgrounds deepen their understanding of this complex conflict in the context of learning about Jewish‐ and Arab‐Americans. The instructors used an intergroup dialogue model of pedagogy enabling students to engage with each other in a setting that allow affect and conflict to emerge safely. Students developed greater understanding of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict by hearing ‘the other side’ and attributed learning primarily to their peers. The author provides several recommendations for replicating this course or conducting similar interventions.

A histological investigation on tissue responses to titanium implants in cortical bone of the rat femur. Implant materials are placed under various sites-including cortical bone, spongy bone, and bone marrow-at the same time according to the depth at implantation. Although cortical bone is an important site for the prognosis of implantation, detailed reports on tissue responses to implantation have been meager. The present study aims to reveal tissue responses to pure titanium implantation in rat femoris cortical bone. The rats received titanium bars surgically in their femurs and were sacrificed 1 day to 40 weeks post-implantation. The prepared tissue specimens were processed for light and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Further histochemical detections were performed. One day post-implantation, empty osteocytic lacunae indicating degeneration of osteocytes were found in pre-existing cortical bone around the implant. Such pre-existing bone was replaced by new bone, but remained in part even 40 weeks post-implantation. Light microscopy showed that direct contact between the implant and new bone was identified 12 weeks post-implantation. Chronological and ultrastructural observation showed that new bone deposition appeared to proceed toward the implant, and that the intervening layer at the interface was derived from the degenerated debris of multinucleated giant cells and/or osteoblasts. Furthermore, it seemed that the width of intervening layer varied in relation to the distance from the blood vessels. The cells showing tartrate resistant acid phosphatase activity possessed cytological features of osteoclasts under TEM; they were frequently observed in perivascular sites near the implants even after osseointegration, suggesting that bone remodeling took place steadily around the implant.

If you have spent much time working with Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS or any public cloud provider, you have probably started to wonder about how many public IPv4 addresses they have. Whilst we know there is a limit to the number of addresses, and that we have reached these limits, it still seems like there are quite a few to go around. I recently had the need to get a listing of all the Azure subnets, and whilst I did this, I thought it would be good to make a reusable PowerShell module to assist. Microsoft makes this process pretty easy, providing an XML file under the Microsoft Download Center title: Microsoft Azure Datacenter IP Ranges. There are a few things to note about this file: It contains all compute (including SQL), It is updated on Wednesday (Pacific Time), but changes are effective from the following Monday (Pacific Time), and, The file will contain only production Azure DCs, for instance, at the time of writing the German and Canadian DCs are not contained in the file. I have developed a PowerShell module that simplifies working with this file by developing CMDLets that: Allowing for automated downloads of the file, and, Allow for specific DCs to be extracted Get-MicrosoftAzureDatacenterIPRangeFile provides us with a method to simply and easily access the XML document. If called without parameters, we will get the XML document returned, however we can opt to save the file to disk for future processing. Then we have Get-MicrosoftAzureDatacenterIPRange. With this CMDLet, we can get a list of objects containing the subnets (in CIDR format) for a specific DC or for all of the DCs. You can specify the path to a previously downloaded file, or it can download the file for us (and keep it in memory). The module can be found on: I have tested this module against PowerShell 5, however there should be no issue with earlier versions (I recommend PowerShell 3 or higher). If you encounter any issues, please raise an issue on the GitHub page. Just in case you were wondering, Azure has approximately 1700 subnets, or around 5.8 million IPv4 addresses! Kieran Jacobsen

Vive la Différence! Text Mining Gender Difference in French Literature In this study, a corpus of 300 male-authored and 300 female-authored French literary and historical texts is classified for author gender using the Support Vector Machine (SVM) implementation SVMLight, achieving up to 90% classification accuracy. The sets of words that were most useful in distinguishing male and female writing are extracted from the support vectors. The results reinforce previous findings from statistical analyses of the same corpus, and exhibit remarkable cross-linguistic parallels with the results garnered from SVM models trained in gender classification on selections from the British National Corpus. It is found that female authors use personal pronouns and negative polarity items at a much higher rate than their male counterparts, and male authors demonstrate a strong preference for determiners and numerical quantifiers. Among the words that characterize male or female writing consistently over the time period spanned by the corpus, a number of cohesive semantic groups are identified. Male authors, for example, use religious terminology rooted in the church, while female authors use secular language to discuss spirituality. Such differences would take an enormous human effort to discover by a close reading of such a large corpus, but once identified through text mining, they frame intriguing questions which scholars may address using traditional critical analysis methods. Amanda Bonner: What I said was true, there's no difference between the sexes. Men, women, the same. Adam Bonner: They are? Amanda Bonner: Well, maybe there is a difference, but it's a little difference. Adam Bonner: Well, you know as the French say... Amanda Bonner: What do they say? Adam Bonner: Vive la difference! Amanda Bonner: Which means? Adam Bonner: Which means hurrah for that little difference. (Adam's Rib, 1949)

A robotic bone drilling methodology based on position measurements Over the past decades many studies have dealt with the development of robotic tools to improve the process of bone drilling. The main difficulty of the operation resides in the ability to detect bone layer transitions and/or protrusions during the procedure so that damage to surrounding tissue is minimized. The present paper set up a test bench in order to study some of the most relevant drilling methodologies in the literature. The study illustrates some of the drawbacks, and it proposes a new drilling methodology that provides improved results.

1529 oil painting by the German artist Albrecht Altdorfer The Battle of Alexander at Issus (German: Alexanderschlacht) is a 1529 oil painting by the German artist Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480–1538), a pioneer of landscape art and a founding member of the Danube school. It portrays the 333 BC Battle of Issus, in which Alexander the Great secured a decisive victory over Darius III of Persia and gained crucial leverage in his campaign against the Persian Empire. The painting is widely regarded as Altdorfer's masterpiece, and is one of the most famous examples of the type of Renaissance landscape painting known as the world landscape, which here reaches an unprecedented grandeur. Duke William IV of Bavaria commissioned The Battle of Alexander at Issus in 1528 as part of a set of historical pieces that was to hang in his Munich residence. Modern commentators suggest that the painting, through its abundant use of anachronism, was intended to liken Alexander's heroic victory at Issus to the contemporary European conflict with the Ottoman Empire. In particular, the defeat of Suleiman the Magnificent at the Siege of Vienna may have been an inspiration for Altdorfer. A religious undercurrent is detectable, especially in the extraordinary sky; this was probably inspired by the prophecies of Daniel and contemporary concern within the Church about an impending apocalypse. The Battle of Alexander at Issus and four others that were part of William's initial set are in the Alte Pinakothek art museum in Munich. Subject matter [ edit ] Detail of Alexander the Great from the Alexander Mosaic c. 100 BC Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BC), best known as Alexander the Great, was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who reigned from 336 BC until his death. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest military tacticians and strategists in history,[1] and is presumed undefeated in battle.[2][3] Renowned for his military leadership and charisma, he always led his armies personally and took to the front ranks of battle.[4][5] By conquering the Persian Empire and unifying Greece, Egypt and Babylon, he forged the largest empire of the ancient world[6] and effected the spread of Hellenism throughout Europe and Northern Africa.[7] Alexander embarked on his expedition to conquer the Persian Empire in the spring of 334 BC,[8] having pacified the warring Greek states and consolidated his military might.[9] During the first months of the Macedonian passage into Persian Asia Minor, Darius III – king of Persia – largely ignored the presence of Alexander's 40,000 men. The Battle of the Granicus, fought in May,[8] was Persia's first major effort to confront the invaders, but resulted in an easy victory for Alexander. Over the next year, Alexander took most of western and coastal Asia Minor by forcing the capitulation of the satrapies in his path.[10] He continued inland, travelling northeast through Phrygia before turning southeast toward Cilicia. After passing the Cilician Gates in October, Alexander was delayed by fever in Tarsus.[11] Darius meanwhile mustered an army of up to 100,000 (some ancient sources posit exaggerated figures of over 600,000)[12] and personally directed it over the eastern slopes of the Amanus Mountains. In early November, as Alexander proceeded about the Gulf of Issus from Mallus via Issus, the two armies inadvertently passed one another on opposite sides of the mountains.[13] This was decidedly to Darius' advantage: now at the rear of Alexander, he was able to prevent retreat and block the supply lines Alexander had established at Issus.[14] It was not until Alexander had encamped at Myriandrus, a seaport on the southeastern shores of the Gulf of İskenderun, that he learned of the Persian position. He immediately retraced his route to the Pinarus River, just south of Issus, to find Darius' force assembled along the northern bank.[13] The Battle of Issus ensued. The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is 7 miles (11 km) to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence. Darius' initial response was defensive: he immediately stockaded the river bank with stakes to impede the enemy's crossing. A core vanguard of traitorous Greek mercenaries and Persian royal guard was established; as was usual for Persian kings, Darius positioned himself in the centre of this vanguard, in order that he might effectively dispatch commands to any part of his large army.[15] A group of Persian light infantry was soon sent to the foothills, as it was suspected that Alexander would make an approach from the right, away from the coast. A mass of cavalry commanded by Nabarsanes occupied the Persian right.[16] Alexander made a cautious and slow advance, intending to base his strategy on the structure of the Persian force. He led a flank of his Companion cavalry on the right, while the Thessalian cavalry were dispatched to the left, as a counter to Nabarsanes' mounted unit.[17] Aware of the importance of the foothills to his right, Alexander sent a band of light infantry, archers, and cavalry to displace the defence Darius had stationed there. The enterprise was successful – those Persians not killed were forced to seek refuge higher in the mountains.[17][18] When within missile range of the enemy, Alexander gave the order to charge.[17][19] He spearheaded the assault of his heavily armed Companion cavalry, who quickly made deep cuts into the Persian left flank. The Macedonian left wing, commanded by Parmenion,[18] was meanwhile driven back by Nabarsanes' large cavalry. The Macedonians' central phalanx crossed the river and clashed with the renegade Greek mercenaries who fronted Darius' vanguard. As the Companion cavalry pushed further into the Persian left, the danger arose that Darius would exploit the gap that had formed between Alexander and the rest of his army. When he was satisfied that the left wing was crippled and no longer a threat, Alexander remedied the situation by moving the Companions to assault the Persian centre in the flank. Unable to handle the added pressure, the Persian vanguard was forced to withdraw from the river bank, allowing the Macedonian phalanx to continue their advance and lifting the pressure on Parmenion's left wing.[19] Upon realising that the onslaught of Alexander's Companion cavalry was unstoppable, Darius and his army fled. Many were killed in the rush, trampled by those who fled with them or collapsed with their horses.[20] Some escaped to regions as remote as Egypt, and others reunited with Darius in the north.[21] The onset of darkness ended the chase after approximately 20 km (12 mi); Alexander then recalled his army and set about burying the dead. Darius' family were left behind in the Persian camp; it is reported that Alexander treated them well and reassured them of Darius' safety.[21][22] Darius' royal chariot was found discarded in a ditch, as were his bow and shield.[21] Ancient sources present disparate casualty figures for the Battle of Issus. Plutarch and Diodorus Siculus approximate 100,000 Persian deaths, in contrast with the 450 Macedonian deaths reported by Quintus Curtius Rufus.[23] In any case, it is probable that more Persians were killed as they fled than in battle;[24] Ptolemy I, who served with Alexander during the battle, recounts how the Macedonians crossed a ravine on the bodies of their enemies during the pursuit.[23][25] The Macedonian conquest of Persia continued until 330 BC, when Darius was killed and Alexander took his title as king.[26] Alexander died in 323 BC, having recently returned from campaigning in the Indian subcontinent. The cause of death remains a subject of debate.[27][28] Background [ edit ] Previous work [ edit ] Saint George and the Dragon (1510) (1510) Albrecht Altdorfer is regarded as one of the founders of Western landscape art.[29] He was a painter, etcher, architect, and engraver, and the leader of the Danube school of German art. As evidenced by such paintings as Saint George and the Dragon (1510) and Allegory (1531), much of Altdorfer's work is characterised by an attachment to sprawling landscapes that dwarf the figures within them;[30] The Battle of Alexander at Issus epitomises this facet of his style. With reference to St George and the Dragon in particular, art historian Mark W. Roskill comments that "The accessory material of landscape [in Altdorfer's work] is played with and ornamentally elaborated so that it reverberates with the sense of a sequestered and inhospitable environment".[31] Inspired by his travels around the Austrian Alps and the Danube River,[32] Altdorfer painted a number of landscapes that contain no figures at all, including Landscape with a Footbridge (c. 1516) and Danube Landscape near Regensburg (c. 1522–25). These were the first "pure" landscapes since antiquity.[33] Most of Altdorfer's landscapes were made with a vertical format, in contrast with the modern conception of the genre. The horizontal landscape was an innovation of Altdorfer's Flemish contemporary Joachim Patinir and his followers.[34] Triumphal Procession (1512–16) A miniature from(1512–16) Altdorfer also produced a great deal of religious artwork, in reflection of his devout Catholicism. His most frequent subjects were the Virgin Mary and the life and crucifixion of Christ. As in The Battle of Alexander at Issus, these paintings often feature settings of great majesty and use the sky to convey symbolic meaning. This meaning is not uniform throughout Altdorfer's corpus – for example, the visage of the setting sun connotes loss and tragedy in Agony in the Garden, but serves as "the emblem of power and glory" in The Battle of Alexander at Issus.[35] Larry Silver of The Art Bulletin explains that The Battle of Alexander at Issus is both similar to and in direct contrast with Altdorfer's previous work: "Instead of the peaceful landscape of retreat for Christian events or holy figures, this panel offers just the opposite: a battleground for one of ancient history's principal epoch-making encounters ... Yet despite its global or cosmic dimensions, the Battle of Issus still looks like Altdorfer's earlier, contemplative liminal landscapes of retreat, complete with craggy peaks, bodies of water, and distant castles."[36] Although the Battle of Alexander is atypical of Altdorfer in its size and in that it depicts war, his Triumphal Procession – a 1512–16 illuminated manuscript commissioned by Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire – has been described as a conceptual antecedent.[37] The Procession was produced in parallel with the Triumph of Maximilian, a series of 137 woodcuts collaboratively executed by Altdorfer, Hans Springinklee, Albrecht Dürer, Leonhard Beck and Hans Schäufelein.[38] Influences and commission [ edit ] The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host (c. 1515) Matthias Grünewald's(c. 1515) Altdorfer's most significant contemporary influence was Matthias Grünewald (c. 1470–1528). Art historian Horst W. Janson remarked that their paintings "show the same 'unruly' imagination".[39] Elements of The Battle of Alexander at Issus – particularly the sky – have been compared to Grünewald's Heavenly Host above the Virgin and Child, which forms part of his masterpiece, the Isenheim Altarpiece. Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553), also associated with the Danube school, was another important influence for Altdorfer. According to Roskill, works by Cranach from about 1500 "give a prominent role to landscape settings, using them as mood-enhancing backgrounds for portraits, and for images of hermits and visionary saints", and seem to play a "preparatory role" for the onset of pure landscape.[40] Altdorfer owed much of his style, particularly in his religious artwork, to Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528);[41] Larry Silver writes that Altdorfer's "use of convincing German landscapes in combination with celestial phenomena for his religious narrative" is "firmly tied" to a tradition "modeled by Albrecht Dürer."[42] William IV, Duke of Bavaria commissioned The Battle of Alexander at Issus in 1528.[43] Altdorfer was approximately 50 at the time, and was living in the Free Imperial City of Regensburg.[44] As a result of over a decade of involvement with the Regensburg city council, Altdorfer was offered the position of Burgomaster on 18 September 1528. He declined; the council annals reported his reasoning as such: "He much desires to execute a special work in Bavaria for my Serene Highness and gracious Lord, Duke [William]."[44] William probably wanted the painting for his newly built summer Lusthaus ("pleasure house") in the grounds of his palace in Munich, approximately 60 miles (97 km) south of Regensburg.[43][44][45] There, it was to hang alongside seven other paintings with a similar format and subject matter, including Ludwig Refinger's The Matyrdom of Marcus Curtius, Melchior Feselen's The Siege of Alesia by Caesar, and the painting of Battle of Cannae by Hans Burgkmair (1473–1531).[46][47] Another eight, each portraying a famous woman from history, were later added to the set, probably at the behest of the Duke's wife, Jacobaea of Baden.[47] Altdorfer's Susanna and the Elders (1526) was among these.[48] Earlier depictions [ edit ] The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum Earlier depictions of the Battle of Issus are few. Battle of Issus, a fresco by Philoxenus of Eretria, is probably the first such. It was painted sometime around 310 BC for Cassander (c. 350–297 BC), who was one of Alexander the Great's successors.[49] Alexander and Darius – each within a lance's length of the other – are pictured among a wild fray of mounted and downed soldiers. While Alexander maintains an aura of unshaken confidence, fear is etched in Darius' face, and his charioteer has already turned to rein his horses and escape.[49] Roman author and natural philosopher Pliny the Elder claimed that Philoxenus' portrayal of the battle was "inferior to none".[49] Some modern critics posit that Battle of Issus might not have been the work of Philoxenus, but of Helena of Egypt. One of the few named women painters who might have worked in Ancient Greece,[50][51] she was reputed to have produced a painting of the battle of Issus which hung in the Temple of Peace during the time of Vespasian.[52] The Alexander Mosaic, a floor mosaic dating from c. 100 BC, is believed to be a "reasonably faithful" copy of Battle of Issus,[49] though an alternative view holds it might instead be a copy of a work painted by Apelles of Kos,[53] who produced several portraits of Alexander the Great.[54] It measures 5.82 m × 3.13 m (19 ft 1 in × 10 ft 3 in), and consists of approximately 1.5 million tesserae (coloured tiles), each about 3 mm (0.12 in) square. The mosaicist is unknown. Since the mosaic was not rediscovered until 1831, during excavations of Pompeii's House of the Faun,[55] Altdorfer could never have seen it. It was later moved to the Naples National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy, where it currently resides. Painting [ edit ] Description [ edit ] The Battle of Alexander at Issus is painted on a limewood panel measuring 158.4 cm × 120.3 cm (62.4 in × 47.4 in),[56] and portrays the moment of Alexander the Great's victory. The vertical format was dictated by the space available in the room for which the painting was commissioned – each in William's set of eight was made to be the same size. At an unknown date, the panel was cut down on all sides, particularly at the top, so the sky was originally larger and the moon further from the corner of the scene.[57] The scene is approached from an impossible viewpoint – at first only feet from the fray, the perspective gradually ascends to encompass the seas and continents in the background and eventually the curvature of the Earth itself.[58][59] Thousands of horse and foot soldiers immersed in a sea of spears and lances populate the foreground. The two armies are distinguished by their dress, anachronistic though it is: whereas Alexander's men clad themselves and their horses in full suits of heavy armour, many of Darius' wear turbans and ride naked mounts.[60] The bodies of the many fallen soldiers lie underfoot. A front of Macedonian warriors in the centre pushes against the crumbling enemy force, who flee the battlefield on the far left. The Persian king joins his army on his chariot of three horses, and is narrowly pursued by Alexander and his uniformly attired Companion cavalry.[47] The tract of soldiers continues down the gently sloped battlefield to the campsite and cityscape by the water, gravitating toward the mountainous rise at the scene's centre. Beyond is the Mediterranean Sea and the island of Cyprus.[61] Here, a transition in hue is made, from the browns that prevail in the lower half of the painting to the aquas that saturate the upper half. The Nile River meanders in the far distance, emptying its seven arms into the Mediterranean at the Nile Delta.[61] South of Cyprus is the Sinai Peninsula, which forms a land bridge between Africa and Southwest Asia. The Red Sea lies beyond,[61] eventually merging – as the mountain ranges to its left and right do – with the curved horizon. Detail of the sun and the Nile River A fierce sky caught in the dichotomy between the setting sun and the crescent moon dominates more than a third of the painting.[57] The rain-heavy clouds swirling ominously around each celestial entity are separated by a gulf of calmness, intensifying the contrast and infusing the heavens with an unearthly glow.[62] Light from the sky spills onto the landscape: while the western continent and the Nile are bathed in the sun's light, the east and the Tower of Babel are cloaked in shadow. The painting's subject is explained in the tablet suspended from the heavens. The wording, probably supplied by William's court historian Johannes Aventinus,[63] was originally in German but was later replaced by a Latin inscription. It translates: Alexander the Great defeating the last Darius, after 100,000 infantry and more than 10,000 cavalrymen had been killed amongst the ranks of the Persians. Whilst King Darius was able to flee with no more than 1,000 horsemen, his mother, wife, and children were taken prisoner. No date is provided for the battle alongside these casualty figures. The lower left-hand corner features Altdorfer's monogram – an 'A' within an 'A' – and the lower edge of the tablet is inscribed with " ALBRECHT ALTORFER ZU REGENSPVRG FECIT " ("Albrecht Altdorfer from Regensburg made [this]"). Tiny inscriptions on their chariot and harness identify Darius and Alexander, respectively.[64] Each army bears a banner that reports both its total strength and its future casualties.[43][60] Analysis and interpretation [ edit ] Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans." Detail of women on the battlefield Anachronism is a major component of The Battle of Alexander at Issus. By dressing Alexander's men in 16th-century steel armour and Darius' men in Turkish battle dress, Altdorfer draws deliberate parallels between the Macedonian campaign and the contemporary European–Ottoman conflict.[44][59][64] In 1529 – the year of the painting's commissioning – the Ottoman forces under Suleiman the Magnificent laid siege to the Austrian city of Vienna[64], then also the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and called 'the golden apple' by the Sultans. Although far inferior in number, the Austrian, German, Czech, and Spanish soldiers marshalled to defend Vienna were able to force the enemy into a retreat and stall the Ottoman advance on central Europe. It is probable the painting's underlying allegory was inspired by the siege of Vienna, given its similarities to Alexander's victory at Issus. Some critics go further, suggesting that the inclusion of anachronism may have been an element of Altdorfer's commission.[47][59] In his Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time, historian Reinhart Koselleck discusses Altdorfer's representation of time in a more philosophical light. After differentiating between the superficial anachronism found in the casualty figures on the army banners and the deeper anachronism ingrained in the painting's contemporary context, he posits that the latter type is less a superimposition of one historical event over another and more an acknowledgement of the recursive nature of history. With reference to Koselleck, Kathleen Davis argues: "... for [Altdorfer], 4th-century Persians look like 16th-century Turks not because he does not know the difference, but because the difference does not matter ... The Alexanderschlacht, in other words, exemplifies a premodern, untemporalized sense of time and a lack of historical consciousness ... Altdorfer's historical overlays evince an eschatological vision of history, evidence that the 16th century (and by degrees also the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) remained locked in a static, constant temporality that proleptically saturates the future as always a repetition of the same ... In such a system there can be no event as such: anticipation and arrival are together sucked into the black hole of sacred history, which is not temporalized because its time is essentially undifferentiated ..."[65] Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus Featured alongside the anachronism in The Battle of Alexander at Issus is a genuine lack of historicity. Altdorfer demonstrates minimal hesitance in neglecting the painting's historical integrity for the sake of its heroic style, in spite of the pains he took to research the battle. That the Persian army was up to twice the size of the Macedonian army is not clear, and the relative positioning of the soldiers as reported by ancient sources has been disregarded. According to art critic Rose-Marie Hagen, "The artist was faithful to the historical truth only when it suited him, when historical facts were compatible with the demands of his composition."[60] Hagen also notes the historically baseless inclusion of women on the battlefield, attributing it to Altdorfer's "passion for invention" and saying they "look like German courtly ladies, dressed for a hunting party" in their feathered toques.[60] Altdorfer's primary point of reference in his research was probably Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle (Schedelsche Weltchronik), an illustrated world history published in Nuremberg in 1493. Schedel was a physician, humanist, historian and cartographer, and his Chronicle was one of the first books produced on the printing press. With a heavy reliance on the Bible, it recounts the seven ages of human history,[66] from Creation to the birth of Christ and ending with the Apocalypse.[67] Altdorfer's statistics for the battle of Issus mirror those of Schedel. Furthermore, the errors in Schedel's maps of the Mediterranean and Northern Africa are also present in The Battle of Alexander at Issus: the island of Cyprus is noticeably oversized, and both the mountain rise in the painting's centre and the range adjacent to the Nile do not exist.[61] Since the Chronicle describes Alexander's victory over the Persians in terms of its proximity to Tarsus and omits mention of Issus, it is likely that the cityscape by the sea is intended to be the former city rather than the latter. Issus in the 16th century was minor and relatively unknown, whereas Tarsus was renowned for its having been a major centre of learning and philosophy in Roman times. Tarsus was also said to be the birthplace of the Apostle Paul, which may explain the presence of the church towers in Altdorfer's portrayal.[61] Another source may have been the writings of Quintus Curtius Rufus, a 1st-century Roman historian who presents inflated figures for the number of killed and taken prisoner and the sizes of the armies.[60] The sky bears overt metaphorical significance and is the centrepiece of the painting's symbolism. Alexander, identified by the Egyptians and others as a god of the sun, finds his victory in the sun's rays; and the Persians are routed into the darkness beneath the crescent moon, a symbol of the Near East.[68] Considered in terms of the painting's contemporary context, the sun's triumph over the moon represents Christendom's victory over the Islamism of the Ottomans.[35] Eschatological meaning, probably inspired by prophecies in the Book of Daniel, is imbued in the heavenly setting. In particular, Daniel 7 predicts the rise and fall of four kingdoms before the Second Coming; these were thought to be Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome at the time of the painting's creation. Altdorfer saw the Battle of Issus as a principal indicator of the transition of power from Persia to Greece, and thus as an event of cosmic significance.[35][57] The battle also marked a progression toward the end of the world – an important theological concern in the 16th century, given that the last traces of Rome were diminishing with the papacy. As a member of the Regensburg council and a practising Catholic, Altdorfer frequently interacted with the Church and was surely aware of this trend of eschatological thought. Schedel, too, had calculated that the final age of the seven he identified was nigh.[66] It may therefore be inferred that the sky's expression of the momentous event at Issus was intended to be of contemporary relevance as well.[57] Legacy [ edit ] Susannah and the Elders (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the Alte Pinakothek The Battle of Alexander at Issus remained part of the royal collection of the Dukes of Bavaria for centuries. By the late 18th century, it was regularly featured in public galleries at the Schleissheim Palace. The painting was one of 72 taken to Paris in 1800 by the invading armies of Napoleon I (1769–1821),[69] who was a noted admirer of Alexander the Great.[60][70] The Louvre held it until 1804, when Napoleon declared himself Emperor of France and took it for his own use. When the Prussians captured the Château de Saint-Cloud in 1814 as part of the War of the Sixth Coalition, they supposedly found the painting hanging in Napoleon's bathroom.[71] The Battle of Alexander at Issus and 26 others taken in the 1800 invasion were subsequently restored to the King of Bavaria in 1815.[69] Five of the paintings in William IV's original set of eight – including The Battle of Alexander at Issus – later passed from the royal collection to the Alte Pinakothek art museum in Munich, Germany, where they remain; the other three are in the National Museum of Fine Arts in Stockholm, having been looted by the Swedish army in the Thirty Years War of 1618–1648.[72] Susannah and the Elders is the only other work by Altdorfer in the Alte Pinakothek. Contextually, the painting forms part of the Northern Renaissance, a resurgence of classical humanism and culture in northern Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The Renaissance induced a new kind of social individualism which Altdorfer expressed through the heroic emphasis on Alexander and Darius, and which is reflected in the specifics of the painting's commission and by the subjects of its companion pieces: "During the Renaissance people no longer saw themselves solely as members of a social group, as the citizens of a town, or as sinners before God in whose eyes all were equal. They had become aware of the unique qualities that distinguished one person from another. Unlike the Middle Ages, the Renaissance celebrated the individual. Altdorfer may have painted row after row of apparently identical warriors, but the spectators themselves would identify with Alexander and Darius, figures who had names, whose significance was indicated by the cord which hung down from the tablet above them."[47] Altdorfer was not only a pioneer of landscape, but also a practitioner of early incarnations of the Romanticism and expressionism which impacted the arts so greatly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Kenneth Clark writes of Altdorfer and contemporaries Grünewald and Bosch, "They are what we now call 'expressionist' artists, a term which is not as worthless as it sounds, because, in fact, the symbols of expressionism are remarkably consistent, and we find in the work of these early 16th-century landscape painters not only the same spirit but the same shapes and iconographical motives which recur in the work of such recent expressionists as van Gogh, Max Ernst, Graham Sutherland and Walt Disney."[73] According to art critic Pia F. Cuneo, "Altdorfer's construction of landscape on a cosmic scale" in the Battle of Alexander at Issus, and his "spiritual and aesthetic affinities with Romanticism and Modern art (in particular, German Expressionism)", "have been especially singled out for praise".[74] The Battle of Alexander at Issus is typically considered to be Altdorfer's masterpiece. Cuneo states that the painting is usually "considered in splendid isolation from its fifteen other companion pieces, based on the assumption that it either metonymically stands in for the entire cycle, or that its perceived aesthetic predominance merits exclusive focus."[74] German writer Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel (1772–1829) was one of many who saw the painting in the Louvre and marvelled, calling it a "small painted Iliad".[71] Reinhart Koselleck comments that Altdorfer's depiction of the thousands of soldiers was executed with "a mastery previously unknown",[65] and Kathleen Davis describes the painting as "epochal in every sense".[65] Gallery [ edit ] Detail showing the knights of Alexander heading east Detail of the crescent moon Detail of the Tower of Babel Detail of inscription Notes [ edit ] References [ edit ]

(Photo: mikeyexists / Flickr) Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration has decided to sign a 40-year contract to privatize the state’s crumbling bridges, but there has been little to no media coverage of the deal and what it will mean for two generations of Pennsylvanians. At midnight of January 20, 2014, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announced that the administration of Gov. Tom Corbett finally decided to take action on the state’s crumbling bridges. The action it is taking is to sign a 40-year contract to privatize Pennsylvania bridges. The word privatization does not appear in any of the announcements. Instead, PennDOT refers to the project as a public-private partnership. However, whether called a PPP, P3, public-private partnership, contracting out or privatization, the result is the same. Infrastructure privatization – that is privatization of roads, bridges, parking garages, parking meters, airports and the like – involves signing a contract, generally for a term of 30 to 99 years. In the case of Pennsylvania’s bridges, the private contractor takes on responsibility for designing, constructing, financing and operating bridges for up to 40 years. [PennDOT, McCalls] Experience with infrastructure privatization shows what we can expect as the bridge privatization proceeds. Pennsylvania will hire a privatization industry insider as a consultant to advise the state. International firms such as Mayer Brown, Morgan Stanley and Macquarie frequently are hired to act as the consultant and, in other cases, will sit on the other side of the table as the private contractor. Consultants often are paid a “success fee” if a privatization agreement is reached. The success fee will motivate the adviser to recommend privatizing. The public tends to grumble about paying tolls, but that misses bigger issues, such as the contract’s adverse-action rights. Adverse-action rights give the contractor the right to be paid compensation whenever an action lowers the amount of money the private contractor expects to receive. Chicagoans already have expensive – and extensive – experience with adverse-action compensation as a result of privatizing the city’s parking meters and garages. Chicago has been in litigation over whether it must pay adverse-action compensation because the city built a new parking garage near a privatized parking garage. Chicago has been liable for adverse-action compensation when it has had to put its parking meters out of service – as, for example, when it has had to close a block to do repairs on streets or water and other underground systems. Privatization has created such a complex system of contractor rights that Chicago’s inspector general has created a detailed document to explain the rights and obligations that have emerged from the privatization of Chicago’s parking meter and to control the costs privatization creates. There is no question that the November PennDOT announcement should have been big news months ago, because the state finally announced it was taking action on its dangerous bridges and because it was planning to privatize Pennsylvania’s bridges for 40 years. These are certainly issues Pennsylvanians care about, yet there has been almost no media coverage concerning the decision to privatize the state’s bridges. The decision whether to privatize Pennsylvania’s bridges for 40 years rather than repair and rebuild them deserves wide and thoughtful discussion instead of silence. Here are some questions that Pennsylvanians and their representatives need to ask and to press for answers to: 1. What is the real cost of privatization? Will the deal really cost less than the traditional way of building and repairing bridges – that is, hiring private firms as consultants, engineers and construction crews to do the repair work while the people of Pennsylvania retain control and ownership of the bridges? 2. Once the government and private contractor sign their 40-year deal, the people of Pennsylvania will have to live under a 40-year monopoly contract that will cost the state money any time it needs to make a change. What will the privatization contract say about adverse action and other contractor rights? 3. Forty years is two generations, and there likely will be many unanticipated situations the contract does not cover. For example, how will developments in transportation technology affect the bridges? Will Pennsylvanians have to pay adverse-action compensation because the contract terms don’t cover new technology or other changes? If PennDOT starts making changes outside the contract, how will it affect the parties’ costs and responsibilities? Any adjustments once the contract is signed will become particularly expensive, because locking the state into such a long contract takes away the state’s bargaining power. 4. Right-to-know rights currently give the public the right to ask for public records. How will the public’s right to know be affected once bridge-related activities become confidential, private business practices?

Image caption Epidurals are the most effective way of reducing the pain of childbirth Having an epidural during labour may protect key muscles and therefore cut the risk of incontinence in later life, a study of nearly 400 women suggests. Research in the BJOG, the leading obstetrics journal, found more than one in ten women who had vaginal births suffered damage to the "levator" muscles which hold up internal organs. A third of those who had a forceps delivery suffered some muscle trauma. But overall women who had the spinal analgesia ran a lower risk of damage. Injury to the pelvic muscles during childbirth is known to be a key risk factor for organ prolapse. Women who have given birth once are four times more likely to require hospital attention because of prolapse than those who have no children, and those with two vaginal births eight times more likely. Prolapse occurs when the pelvic muscles become so weak the organs they support - such as the bladder and the uterus - begin to drop down. Symptoms vary, but can include sexual problems as well as both urinary and faecal incontinence - or conversely chronic constipation, depending on how the muscles are affected. There are a number of means to manage this, with surgery usually the most effective long-term option. Needing assistance The team from the Nepean Clinical School of Medicine in Sydney followed up 367 women who gave birth between 2005 and 2008. Over a third had undergone either a planned or emergency Caesarean section, and there were no cases of muscle damage or tearing among these women. The short-term priority is to reduce pain during childbirth but the longer term effect of reducing muscle damage and prolapse is welcome Professor Philip Steer, BJOG Of those who had delivered their baby vaginally, about 13% were found to have some damage. The risk of muscle tearing was slightly lower among those whose birth had been assisted with a ventouse - a suction cup which fits on the baby's head - than those who did not have an assisted delivery. But the use of forceps did push up the risk of damage, with a third of these births resulting in muscle injury. The length of labour was key: a long period of pushing was strongly associated with injury. But overall, those who had opted for an epidural, the spinal analgesia which blocks out some or all of the pain of contractions, had a lower risk of damage than those who had none. Two-thirds of the women who suffered damage had no epidural. The researchers, led by Dr Clara Shek, speculated there may be two reasons for this. Firstly, women who have epidurals tend to be told when to push as they can no longer feel contractions This means the potential damage from premature or over-pushing is reduced. And physical changes in the paralysed muscle may also mean it is less likely to suffer injury. Pain and prolapse Epidurals are now used by about a third of women during childbirth in the UK and two-thirds in the US. They have had a mixed press in recent years, but studies show they are low risk and do not increase the need for a Caesarean section. They have been associated with more intervention such as the use of a ventouse or forceps, although it has been noted that mothers experiencing longer and more difficult labours in the first place are more likely to request spinal pain relief. The use of forceps, credited with dramatically reducing maternal and foetal mortality in centuries gone by, has seen a decline worldwide in recent years amid the introduction of the ventouse and safer Caesarean. In the UK, they are used in about 5% of births. BJOG editor-in-chief, Professor Philip Steer said: "There will be occasions when the use of forceps to help deliver the baby is appropriate. "This research shows the effects of forceps delivery are not without risk so it is important to ensure that all our trainees receive good training in carrying these out and existing doctors keep up-to-date with their skills so that levator trauma is minimised. "Likewise, the finding that epidurals may provide a protective effect by reducing levator damage is reassuring. "The short-term priority is to reduce pain during childbirth but the longer term effect of reducing muscle damage and prolapse is welcome."

Image copyright Gov.uk The SNP has described as "patronising" a UK government document suggesting Scottish people could choose to spend extra money on daily fish suppers, pies and Hogmanay celebrations. A lighthearted list - hosted on the official gov.uk website - offers twelve ways in which Scots could spend the £1,400 which the Treasury says they benefit from as UK citizens. The SNP's Stewart Hosie called them "bogus figures" and the list "silly nonsense". But a senior UK government source defended the list as "humorous". Among the suggestions is: "Watch Aberdeen play all season with two mates - with a few pies and Bovrils thrown in for good measure." The site also suggests: "Share a meal of fish and chips with your family every day for around 10 weeks, with a couple of portions of mushy peas thrown in." The Danish toy has entered the referendum campaign. Or, more precisely, been deployed by the Treasury in ironic musings The independence debate... in Lego Alternatively Scottish people could "scoff 280 hotdogs at the Edinburgh festival". The government source said it was a "good humorous way of making a point". The document originally appeared on a Community page of the Buzzfeed website, created by a UK government account. A number of Buzzfeed-style documents had been produced said the source. But Mr Hosie, SNP Treasury spokesman, said: "This is the kind of patronising attitude to Scotland we have come to expect from the Tory Treasury - presumably the establishment elite think we spend all our time eating fish and chips and pies. "The Treasury figures have been roundly discredited, so this is just adding insult to injury. Real figures are that £300 billion of North Sea tax revenues have flowed from Scotland to the Treasury over the last 40 years... but all we get in return from Westminster is bogus figures and silly nonsense." A UK government Twitter account later posted a picture of a heart made of Lego. It tweeted: "Our Lego Buzzfeed is building interest but we just love the UK and want to tell everyone!" In a statement, Lego said it would not have given permission for any of its images to be used. A spokeswoman for the toy company said: "People all over the world use Lego to depict stories and scenarios - some of it not to our knowledge. We maintain our position of being a politically neutral company."

Preventive effects of a novel herbal mixture on atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions in BALB/C mice Background A combination of parts of Cornus officinalis, Rosa multiflora, Lespedeza bicolor, Platycladus orientalis, and Castanea crenata is commonly used for alleviating inflammatory skin disorders. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo preventive effects of a novel herbal formula made from the five plants (C2RLP) against atopic dermatitis in BALB/C mice. Methods Mice were allocated into five groups (n = 8) including, control (Normal, petrolatum, and betamethasone treated) and treatment groups (treated with 2.5 and 5% C2RLP ointment). Atopic lesion was induced by applying 1-Chloro-2, 4-dinitrobenzene to the dorsal thoracic area of mice. Macroscopical and histological evaluations were performed to determine the effects of treatment on the progress of the skin lesions. The effects of treatment on the production and release of interleukins, interferon -ϒ, nitrite, prostaglandin E2, thymus and activation-receptor chemokine, and β-hexosaminidase were evaluated and comparisons were made between groups. In addition, the chemical compounds present in C2RLP were identified by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. Results Topical application of C2RLP reduced the dermatitis score and suppressed histopathological changes in mice. Treatment significantly reduced (P < 0.05) plasma IL-4 level, the production of nitrite, prostaglandin E2, and thymus and activation-receptor chemokine production. The lipopolysaccharide-induced iNOS-mRNA expression in RAW 264.7 cells was also suppressed by high concentrations of C2RLP. In addition, C2RLP showed an inhibitory effect against DPPH free radical (IC50 = 147.5 μg/ml) and β-hexosaminidase release (IC50 = 179.5 μg/ml). Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry analysis revealed the presence of various compounds, including loganin, ellagic acid, and kaempferol 3-glucoside. Conclusion Down-regulation of T- helper 2 cellular responses and suppression of inflammatory mediators contributed to the protective effects of C2RLP from atopic dermatitis in BALB/C mice. Background Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an allergic skin disease characterized by complex symptoms such as drying and thickening of the skin, and scratch marks that are frequently associated with immunoglobulin-E (IgE) hyper-responsiveness to environmental allergens. The wrist, neck, face, and the crooks of the elbows and knees are among the most frequent locations of the lesions . AD is mostly affecting children with onset before the age of five years . Environmental (house dust mites and air pollution) and genetic factors considered the causes of AD. In addition, genetic predisposition accompanied by assorted peculiar immune symptom accounts for more than 50% of reported cases . Activation of T-helper 2 (Th2) and mast cells are mentioned in the development of AD . It is associated with an increase in serum concentration of Th2 cytokines, including interleukin (IL) -4, IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13. In addition, expression of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) is also reported in cases of AD . Basal keratinocytes produce thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) recruits Th2-lymphocytes and further aggravate dermatitis . Authors also suggested that the release of β-hexosaminidase from degranulated mast cells, high levels of serum immunoglobulin (Ig)E, and the expression of proinflammatory mediators such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and nitrite (NO) are important determinants in the propensity of mice to AD . In spite of the profound side effects caused by topical steroids and oral anti-histamines, these drugs are commonly used to treat AD . Hence, efforts have been directed towards identifying safer and effective compounds of plant origin which can modulate the pathological mechanism(s) of AD such as anti-histamine effects, inhibition of Th 2 responses and IgE production . More than 20% of the population in Korea rely on traditional medicine as the primary health care . However, only a few studies have been conducted on the efficacy and safety of medicinal plants. Therefore, a screening test was conducted using the DPPH antioxidant, β-hexoseaminidase, and NO assay on 286 plants from Gyeongbuk Forest Resource Development Institute, Republic of Korea. These assays were selected as a screening method, taking into account the multifactorial nature of AD. Accordingly, Cornus officinalis (Family: Cornaceae), Castanea crenata (Family: Fagaceae), Rosa multiflora (Family: Cornaceae), Lespedeza bicolor (Family: Legumes), and Platycladus orientalis (Family: Cupressaceae) were selected for further studies. Previous studies have shown that these plants produced various degrees of biological activities that are associated with AD . In addition, various parts of these plants combined in different proportions to produce ointments for inflammatory skin disorders, including AD . However, all of the studies are conducted on the activities of a single plant against inflammation or free radical activity. To the best of our knowledge, there is no scientific report available on the efficacy and safety of the most commonly used plant combinations. Based on the results of the screening assay, a 4:1:1:1:1 ratio of Cornus officinalis (fruit): Rosa multiflora (stem), Lespedeza bicolor (aerial part), Platycladus orientalis (leaves), Castanea crenata (leaves) respectively, were selected for further studies. Additional investigation using the NO and β-hexosaminidase assay have demonstrated that C2RLP produced better activity than each plant extract (data not shown). Finally, a topical ointment was formulated (C2RLP) taking into account the main complaints of the disease such as pruritus, dryness, and psoriasis on the skin . Therefore, the study was aimed to evaluate the in vivo protective effects of topical application of herbal formulation, C2RLP, against 1-Chloro-2, 4-dinitrobenzene (DNCB) induced AD-like lesion in BALB/C mice. In addition, the effects of C2RLP on free radical scavenging activity and cellular mediators were evaluated using various in vitro methods. Plant extraction and preparation of ointments Rosa multiflora (stem), Lespedeza bicolor (aerial part), Platycladus orientalis (leaves), Castanea crenata (leaves) and Cornus officinalis (fruit) were purchased from the Gyeongbuk Forest Resource Development Institute, the Republic of Korea. The identity of the plants was confirmed by a taxonomist (Dr. Zi-Eum Im) and voucher specimens were deposited (LVPPM 2001(LVPPM -2005 in our laboratory. The dried and crushed parts of each plant were boiled in 30% ethanol (100 g/Liter). The extracts were filtered with Whatman filter paper Number 1 (GE Healthcare, UK Limited, UK), evaporated to dryness, and freeze-dried. A 5% (w/w) and 10% (w/w) ointments of C2RLP were made using petrolatum (Sigma-Aldrich) as a vehicle. For in vitro experiments on various cell lines, the extract was dissolved in the respective media used to grow the cells and then filtered using a 0.22-μm syringe driven filter (Merck Millipore Ltd., Carrigtwohil, Ireland). Experimental animals and materials The availability of genetically manipulated strains, ease of manipulation, and low cost of mice as compared with other species of animals makes mouse models preferable to study AD. Therefore, specific-pathogen-free male BALB/C mice of 5 weeks old (male with an average weight of 18.5 g) were purchased from Orient Co. Seoul, South Korea (Charles River Technology) and acclimatized for 10 days. Mice were maintained in the animal room with 20-25°C temperature, 55 ± 10% relative humidity, and 12 h light/dark cycle. A standard pellet diet and filtered tap water were given ad libitum. The total sample size (n = 40) was calculated using the G*power program based on α error probability of 0.05 and power (1-β error probability) of 0.80. The experiment was approved by the Institutional animal care and use committee of Kyungpook National University, Republic of Korea (KNU 2016-120). All experimental procedures were conducted according to the international guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals . In vitro experiments Cell culture Murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells, Rat Basophilic Leukemia cells (RBL-2H3), and human keratinocyte HaCa-T cells were obtained from the Korean Cell Line Bank, Seoul, and the Republic of Korea. RPMI medium (Roswell Park Memorial Institute) was used to maintain RAW 264.7 and RBL-2H3. The human keratinocyte HaCa-T cells were maintained in Minimum Essential Medium (MEM). Penicillin (100 U/ml), streptomycin (100 μg/ml), and fetal bovine serum (10% FBS) were added and incubated at 37°C in 5% CO 2 incubator. The RPMI, MEM, penicillin, streptomycin, and FBS used to supplement the medium were purchased from Sigma. Measurement of TARC production The inhibitory effect of C2RLP on tumor necrosis factor-α and IFN-γ (TI) (Sigma-Aldrich) induced TARC production in HaCa-T cells were evaluated in accordance with the method of Lim et al. . HaCa-T cells (1 × 10 6 /ml) were cultured on 24-well plates and stimulated with TI. The amount of TARC produced after 24 h following treatment with C2RLP was measured using an ELISA kit (R&D Systems Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA). In addition, the cytotoxicity of C2RLP on HaCa-T cells was assessed using the MTT cell proliferation assay in the presence and absence of TI (10 ng/ml, each). β-Hexosaminidase release assay The effects of C2RLP on β-hexosaminidase release in RBL-2H3 cells was evaluated with some modifications of the method used by Kuehn et al. . Briefly, RBL-2H3 cells (4 × 10 5 cells/ml) were cultured on 24-well plate and incubated at 37°C in 5% CO 2 for 24 h. Following sensitization with anti-dinitrophenylimmunoglobulin E (anti-DNP IgE) (Sigma-Aldrich) (100 ng/ml), the cells were washed (3x) and re-suspended in Siraganian buffer. An aliquot of 100 μL cells with C2RLP (10-300 μg/ml) was made into 96 well plates. Quercetin (Sigma-Aldrich) was used as a positive control. Following 30 min of incubation at 37°C, cells were stimulated with 10 μL of 100 ng/ml of DNP-HAS (Sigma-Aldrich). The reaction was terminated by spinning the plate at 450 xg, at 4°C for 5 min. An aliquot of 100 μL 1 μg/ml of N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamide (PNAG) (Sigma-Aldrich)) solution in citrate buffer (pH 4.5) was made into two new 96 well plates to measure the level of secreted and total β-hexosaminidase. Accordingly, 50 μl supernatant and 50 μl cell lysates were transferred to the plates containing PNAG solution and incubated for 90 min at 37°C. The appearance of yellow color following the addition of 50 μL of 0.4 M Glycine buffer indicated the degree of β-hexosaminidase activity. Finally, optical density (OD) was measured at 405 nm and percentage β-hexosaminidase release was determined as follows. Where A is the OD value of the supernatant, B is the OD value of the plate blank, C is the OD value of the total supernatant, and D is the OD value of the lysates. Antioxidant activity of C2RLP The antioxidant effect of C2RLP against DPPH free radical was conducted following a previously described method . The optical density was determined at 517 nm using a multichannel spectrophotometer (VERSA max, Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) and the percent inhibitory effects of the test extracts on DPPH free radicals was calculated as follows: Where, X is the OD value of C2RLP with DPPH, Y is the OD value of C2RLP in ethanol, and Z is the OD value of Ethanol with DPPH. Compound analysis of C2RLP using liquid chromatographymass spectrometry (LC-MS) LC-MS analysis of C2RLP was conducted by using an Accela UHPLC system (Thermo Fisher Scientific, CA, and USA) coupled with an LTQ-Orbitrap XL hybrid mass spectrometer (Thermo Electron, Bremen, Germany) via an ESI interface. Sample separation was carried out at room temperature using Waters BEH C18 column (2.1 × 150 mm, 1.7 μm). The mobile phase consisted of Water (A) and acetonitrile (B) with 0.1% formic acid and flow rate of 400 μL/min. The elution gradient was adjusted as follows: 5% B (0 min), 5% B (1 min), 70% B (20 min), 100% B (24 min), and 100% B (27 min). One μL of samples were injected and analysis was made in positive ion mode. The conditions of the ESI source were similar to a previous study . In vivo experiments Acute oral toxicity in rats Acute oral toxicity of C2RLP was conducted in six 6-week old female Sprague-Dawley rats (average weight of 150 g) purchased from Orient Co. Seoul, South Korea (Charles River Technology). The experiment was carried out according to OECD guidelines -425. C2RLP was administered at a single oral dose of 2000 mg/kg to three rats, while the remaining three served as untreated controls. The rats were monitored for changes in body weight, water, and food intake. Rats were also carefully inspected for abnormal signs and symptoms such as changes in the color of the skin and eyes, convulsions, diarrhea, lethargy, and coma for a total of 14 days. Finally, rats were euthanized by carbon dioxide inhalation (flow rate adjusted to 15-30% per minute) and pathological examination was carried out . Induction of atopy and treatment of mice Mice were randomly allocated into five groups (N = 8) as follows: Group I: treated with petrolatum (Negative control group); Group II: treated with betamethasone (Positive control group); Group III and IV: treated with 2.5 and 5% (w/ w) C2RLP ointment, respectively and Group V: normal control group. The atopic lesion was induced by using 1-Chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DNCB, Sigma-Aldrich) with slight modifications of previously described methods (Fig. 1) . Immediately on the next day after shaving (day 1), mice were treated with 150 μL of 1% DNCB dissolved in an acetone: olive oil mixture (3:1 vol/vol). Five days after hair removal (day 5), 150 μL of 0.2% DNCB was applied to the shaved area three times a week for almost 4 weeks (until day 33). On the 8th day after hair removal (day 8), mice were treated with C2RLP ointment daily, for 25 days. At the end of the experiment (day 34), mice were euthanized Fig. 1 Experimental schedule for induction of atopic dermatitis and treatment with C2RLP in BALB/C mice by carbon dioxide inhalation and samples (blood and skin) were collected for chemokine analysis and histopathological examination. Blood was collected using a vacutainer tube and allowed to clot by leaving it undisturbed at room temperature for about 30 min. The clots were removed by centrifuging at 2000x g for 10 min in a refrigerated centrifuge. Serum was stored at -20°C until analysis. Whereas, skin specimens were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin. Evaluation of skin lesion Skin lesions were recorded for each animal and dermatitis were scored once every five days, as follows : (1) Erythema, (2) skin dryness, (3) Edema, and (4) erosion. Scores of 0 (none), 1 (mild), 2 (moderate) and 3 (severe) were given for each lesion and the individual scores were added to determine the extent of overall dermatitis. A researcher who was unaware of the treatment and control groups conducted the evaluation of dermatitis score. Histopathological investigation Paraffin-embedded specimens were sectioned to 5 μm thicknesses and subjected to the automated tissue processor. Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE) and Toluidine blue (TB) stained skins sections were examined to determine the degree of epidermal hyperplasia, inflammatory and mast cell infiltration. A pathologist who was unaware of the treatment and control groups performed a microscopic evaluation of skin lesions. Th2 and Th1 cytokines Serum samples were harvested from blood samples collected at the end of the experiment and the levels of IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6 IL-13, and IFN-ϒ were analyzed using ELISA kits following the manufacturers' instructions. Statistical analysis Data are presented as means ± standard deviation (SD). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted by using Prism (GraphPad Software Inc., USA) followed by Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) test. Differences with P < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results Effects of C2RLP on nitrite and PGE2 production in RAW 264.7 cells MTT assay was used to evaluate the effect of C2RLP on the viability of RAW 264.7 cells with an initial concentration of 1 mg/ml. The result demonstrated that > 85% of the cells were alive at the tested concentrations (Fig. 2a). Cells were stimulated with LPS (0.5 μg/ml) prior to treatment with various concentrations of C2RLP, and the levels of NO and PGE2 production were measured after 24 h. LPS stimulated cells produced a higher amount of nitrite (40.5 ± 0.7 μM) (P < 0.05) with respect to the non-stimulated cells (Fig. 2b). However, treatment with 100 and 300 μg/ml of C2RLP significantly reduced (P < 0.05) the LPS-induced nitrite production. In accordance with the findings in the NO assay, a significant suppression of iNOS gene expression was observed following treatment with C2RLP (Fig. 2c). On the other hand, the level of PGE2 in the cell culture supernatant of LPS-stimulated cells (15.1 ± 0.4 ng/ml) reduced significantly (P < 0.05) only in 300 μg/ml C2RLP treated cells with a mean concentration of 10.5 ± 0.2 ng/ml (Fig. 2d). C2RLP treatment reduced TARC production in HaCa-T cells HaCa-T cells were stimulated with TI and treated with various concentrations of C2RLP for 24 h. The amount of TARC production in cells stimulated with TI elevated almost 7-fold with respect to the non-stimulated cells (Fig. 3a). The TI induced TARC production was reduced by 49.78 and 22.92% (P < 0.05) following treatment with 300 and 100 μg/ml of C2RLP, respectively. In addition, the cytotoxic effect of the test concentrations of C2RLP in HaCa-T cells was assessed prior to determining its effect on TARC production. The results have demonstrated that the test concentrations did not interfere with the viability of HaCa-T cells, both in the presence and absence of TI (Fig. 3b). Effect of C2RLP on β-hexosaminidase release in RBL-2H3 cells The release of β-hexosaminidase from IgE-DNP antibody sensitized RBL-2H3 cells was evaluated to determine the effect of C2RLP on mast cell degranulation. C2RLP significantly reduced (P < 0.05) β-hexosaminidase release at concentrations of 100 and 300 μg/ml (IC 50 = 179.5 μg/ml) with a percentage inhibition of 43.1 ± 1.9 and 57.5 ± 3.8, respectively. In addition, MTT assay demonstrated that C2RLP was non-toxic in both IgE-DNP stimulated and non-stimulated RBL-2H3 cells (Fig. 4 a,b and c). Antioxidant activity of C2RLPC The DPPH free radical scavenging assay was conducted to evaluate the scavenging capacity of C2RLP at various concentrations. The result demonstrated a concentrationdependent inhibitory activity of free radicals with an IC 50 value of 147.5 μg/ml (Fig. 5). LC-MS analysis of C2RLP The main constituents of C2RLP identified by LC-MS are summarized in Table 1. C2RLP possess various compounds that belong mainly to the flavonoids and phenols. Loganin, Ellagic acid, and Kaempferol 3-glucoside were the main compounds identified in C2RLP with retention times of 5.7, 6.4, and 7.5 min, respectively. Acute oral toxicity Oral administration of C2RLP extract was safe up to 2000 mg/kg body weight. None of the rats showed any signs of toxicity such as weight loss, restlessness, ruffled hair, lacrimation, diarrhea, and convulsion. Effect of C2RLP ointment on AD-like skin lesions in mice Cutaneous findings related to atopic dermatitis such as mild to moderate erythema, skin dryness, edema, and erosion were evident following application of DNCB for almost 2 weeks (with an average dermatitis score of 6.8) in the petrolatum treated control mice. Topical application of C2RLP and betamethasone significantly suppressed (P < 0.05) the cutaneous symptoms as of the 5th and 10th day of treatment, respectively. However, a slight degree of erythema and alopecia were evident in the 2.5% C2RLP treated group. At the end of treatment, the average dermatitis score of the 2.5, 5% C2RLP and betamethasone treated mice were 3.4 ± 0.5, 2.6 ± 0.5 and 2.1 ± 0.4, respectively (Fig. 6 a, b, c, d, e, f ). These findings were 2-3 folds lower than the dermatitis score recorded for the petrolatum treated control mice. Therefore, C2RLP produced a concentration-dependent attenuation of DNCB induced AD-like skin lesions in mice. Effect of C2RLP on DNCB induced histopathological changes of mouse skin HE-stained skin sections exhibited marked epidermal hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration into the dermal skin layer of the petrolatum treated mice (Fig. 7a). The epidermis of the petrolatum treated control mice were 4.8 fold thicker than the normal control mice. However, treatment with C2RLP and betamethasone exhibited 18.9-54.6% reduction in epidermal hyperplasia and suppressed cellular infiltration compared with the petrolatum treated control. Moreover, the number of mast cells in the dermal layer of the skin was markedly reduced in the C2RLP treated mice with respect to the petrolatum treated mice (Fig. 7 b,c,d). Effects of C2RLP on serum levels of cytokines The serum levels of IL-4 in the 2.5 and 5% C2RLP ointment treated groups were 41.7 ± 2.5 and 37.6 ± 3.9 pg/ml, respectively. C2RLP reduced the serum levels of IL-4 in a dose-dependent manner with respect to DNCB treated control group. However, treatment did not produce a significant change (P > 0.05) in the level of IFN-ϒ among treatment groups (Fig. 8 a and b). In our study, the levels of IL-2, IL-5, IL-6 IL-10, and IL-13 were not detectable in the serum of Balb/C mice (data not shown). Discussion AD results in various histopathological and pathophysiological changes in mice, which are related to alterations in the levels of proinflammatory cytokines, IgE, and histamine . These changes resulted in epidermal hyperplasia, inflammatory cell infiltration, erythema, alopecia, skin dryness and hyperkeratosis which were clearly observed in petrolatum treated control mice shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The binding of antigen activates infiltrated cells to secrete chemical mediators such as histamine, proteases, cytokines, and chemokines that are essential in the progression of dermatitis . Our study showed that C2RLP treatment suppressed the DNCB induced AD-like lesions and histopathological changes, including epidermal hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration. The Th1/Th2 cytokine imbalance is vital in the progression of atopic dermatitis, with increased production of IgE and mast cell activation in Th2-dominant AD . Studies have shown that compounds isolated from plants modulate the Th1 and/or Th2 cell response and prevents the development of AD in mice . More precisely, Th2 cytokines such as IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, and IL-4 mediated increment of serum IgE and mast cells were reported in mice with symptoms of AD . In this study, C2RLP significantly reduced the serum levels of IL-4 with respect to petrolatum. IL-4 is known to activate mast cells by inducing isotype switching to IgE synthesis by B cells. The binding of IgE with allergens activates the immune system and induces degranulation . In contrast, C2RLP did not affect the DNCB induced production of IFN-γ which are strong inhibitors of IgE synthesis and Th2 cell proliferation . Therefore, down-regulation of Th2 immunity could be considered as a possible mechanism for the mechanism of C2RLP against AD. AD is commonly associated with marked infiltration of the skin by mast cells, eosinophils and macrophages . Macrophages are known to release proinflammatory mediators such as NO and PGE 2 , which aggravate the inflammatory responses . Regulation NO production and iNOS expression might be essential because it is known to affect the pathogenesis of several inflammatory diseases, including AD . In the current study, C2RLP inhibited the LPS induced production of NO and PGE 2 in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. In addition, C2RLP produced a dose-dependent attenuation of iNOs-mRNA expression. Chemokines produced by keratinocytes can cause an imbalance in Th1/Th2 cytokines and contributes to the development of atopic lesions . The expression of TARC by keratinocytes in AD patients and in mice with atopic lesions was confirmed in previous studies. TARC is known to attract Th2 cells and aggravates the pathological changes related to AD . In this study, the production of TARC by TI-sensitized HaCa-T cells was reduced following treatment with 300 and 100 μg/ ml of C2RLP consolidating the Th2 cell suppressing effects of C2RLP. Degranulation of activated mast cells and release of mediators are suggested in allergic reactions associated with AD. Mast cell degranulation can be determined by measuring the amount of β-hexosaminidase released from various cell lines including RBL-2H3 . Inflammatory mediators are released from degranulated mast cells following an Fc epsilon RI (FcεRI) receptor activation, which is a high-affinity IgE receptor . In our study, C2RLP exhibited a concentration-dependent inhibition of β-hexosaminidase release from RBL-2H3 cells (IC 50 = 179.5 μg/ml) with significant inhibitory activity at 300 μg/ ml. Direct inhibition of FcεRI cascade could be one of the mechanisms of the anti-atopic activity of C2RLP. Oxidative stress in AD is associated with an increase in lipid peroxidation and reduction in the levels of antioxidants. It promotes tissue inflammation through upregulation of genes that code for pro-inflammatory cytokines and subsequent release of free radicals . Oxidative stress can also alter the integrity of epidermal keratinocytes by damaging DNA and cellular enzymes . Previous studies have confirmed higher levels of lipid peroxidation and lower levels of antioxidants in patients with inflammatory skin conditions that resembles AD such as eczema and alopecia areata . Therefore, the antioxidant activity of C2RLP could contribute to the reduction in reactive oxygen species and alleviate the oxidative stress associated with AD. Chemical compounds are implicated directly or indirectly in the biological effects of most plant extracts. The study revealed the presence of various compounds in C2RLP, mainly Loganin, Ellagic acid, and Kaempferol 3-glucoside (Table 1). Previous studies indicated that suppression of NF-κB and MAP-kinases (mitogen-activated protein kinases) are critical to inhibit the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and reduce the number of mast cells, which are involved in the inflammatory response . Among the major metabolites, loganin is reported to inhibit NF-κB activation and MAP kinase . The polyphenolic compound, ellagic acid, is suggested to have a diverse biological activity, including antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic actions . Most importantly, Ellagic acid has been shown to inhibit activation of MAP kinases and repress NF-κB through down-regulation of the secretion of various inflammatory mediators during AD . Kaempferol-3-O-glucoside and its derivatives were also reported to produce an anti-inflammatory effect through inhibition of the activation of cyclooxygenase (COX-2) and iNOS . In addition to the three major compounds, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of cornuside , naringenin7-O-β-D-glucoside , and quercetin could also contribute to the protective effect of C2RLP in the development of AD. Therefore, suppression of AD-like lesions in C2RLP treated mice might be due to the synergistic action of these compounds. Conclusions The study results confirmed the absence of in vitro and in vivo toxic effects of C2RLP. C2RLP attenuates the symptoms of atopic dermatitis in mice by modifying local and systemic inflammation. It produces a marked reduction in dermatitis score and inflammatory cell infiltration; and decreased the production of IL-4, NO, PGE2, and TARC. C2RLP also suppressed β-hexosaminidase release, which is the hallmark of allergic reactions and mast cell degranulation. Therefore, the findings of this study suggest that topical application of C2RLP might be effective in preventing the development of AD. However, detailed studies on the molecular mechanism (s) of C2RLP are needed.

The Bear Mountain Compact is an unofficial agreement among members of the New York State legislature in which they agree to keep whatever happens in the state capital in Albany, such as extramarital affairs and other embarrassing behavior, secret.[1] "The Bear Mountain Compact" is similar to the Blue Code of Silence (also the Blue Wall of Silence), in which police officers never inform on one another, Omertà, the code of silence among Mafia organizations, and the expression "Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." Origin [ edit ] In his article for New York magazine, Michael Tomasky traces the secrecy in Albany "back to the days [in the 19th and early 20th centuries] when the Democratic hotel was the De Witt Clinton, the Republican hotel was the Ten Eyck, and one didn't pry too deeply into who was sleeping where."[2] Explanation of the Term [ edit ] In their book, From Rocky to Pataki: Character and Caricatures in New York Politics (1998), Hy Rosen and Peter Slocum write that the "so-called Bear Mountain Compact dictated that anything that went on north of Bear Mountain wasn't ever discussed back home in New York City." In The New York Times, however, Al Baker associates the Bear Mountain Compact with the Bear Mountain Bridge, writing, "For years, the joke has been that the mostly male lawmakers and their hangers-on have clung to a secret code known as the Bear Mountain compact, whereby any liaisons with interns or young staff members that occur north of Bear Mountain Bridge, which spans the Hudson River between Orange and Westchester Counties, are not spoken about in the home districts in New York City or elsewhere."[1] One traditional, political definition of "Bear Mountain Compact" describes where "open secrets stay secret."[3] References [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ] Albany Times-Union, TU Editors' blog, September 20, 2006, "Rex Smith: Sometimes, the private turns public

On July 25, the Democratic National Convention will begin in Philadelphia, Pa. To commemorate the event and its embrace of corrupt politician Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee, Wikileaks is releasing thousands of DNC/Clinton emails. In its recent leak of 20,000 DNC emails from January 2015 to May 2016, DNC staff discuss how to deal with Bernie Sanders’ popularity as a challenge to Clinton’s candidacy. Instead of treating Sanders as a viable candidate for the Democratic ticket, the DNC worked against him and his campaign to ensure Clinton received the nomination. One email from DNC Deputy Communications Director Eric Walker to several DNC staffers cites two news articles showing Sanders leading in Rhode Island and the limited number of polling locations in the state: “If she outperforms this polling, the Bernie camp will go nuts and allege misconduct. They’ll probably complain regardless, actually.” Instead of treating Sanders with impartiality, the DNC exhibits resentful disdain toward him and the thousands of disenfranchised voters he could have brought into the party. “Wondering if there’s a good Bernie narrative for a story, which is that Bernie never ever had his act together, that his campaign was a mess,” wrote DNC Deputy Communications Director Mark Paustenbach to DNC Communications Director Luis Miranda, in response to backlash over DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz shutting off the Sanders campaign’s access to voter database files. Another chain reveals MSNBC’s Chuck Todd and DNC staff members discussing how to discredit MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski’s call for Wasserman Schultz to resign. Most of the emails released come from seven prominent DNC staff members: senior adviser Andrew Wright, national finance director Jordon Kaplan, finance chief of staff Scott Comer, Northern California finance director Robert Stowe, finance director of data and strategic initiatives Daniel Parrish, finance director Allen Zachary and Miranda. The release provides further evidence the DNC broke its own charter violations by favoring Clinton as the Democratic presidential nominee, long before any votes were cast. Over the past several weeks, Guccifer 2.0 released several internal memos showing DNC staff strategizing to make Clinton the presidential nominee—as early as March 2015. In June 2016, Florida-based law firm, Beck & Lee, filed a class action lawsuit against Wasserman Schultz and the DNC based on the revelations from these leaked files. Other emails show DNC staff in damage control over allegations from the Sanders campaign, when a report—corroborated by a Politico—revealed the DNC’s joint fundraising committee with the Clinton campaign was laundering money to the Clinton campaign instead of fundraising for down-ticket Democrats. Regardless of the fundraising tactics, because both major campaigns didn’t agree to use the joint fundraising committee super-PAC with the DNC, the DNC should have recused itself from participating with just the Clinton campaign. The Wikileaks and Guccifer 2.0 leaks are the perfect end to a Democratic primary that undermined democracy at every possible opportunity while maintaining plausible deniability. The party’s rules, including the use of super delegates—who disproportionately endorsed Clinton before the primaries began—are intended to provide the Democratic Party leverage over the election process. Throughout the primaries, decisions were made by DNC officials to help Clinton build and maintain a lead over Sanders. More votes were cast for Clinton, but they were cast at the behest of a Democratic Party that downplayed her shortfalls to the extent that Sanders not only had to run against Clinton but also against the entire Democratic Establishment. Heading into the Democratic National Convention, voters are beginning to understand that their voices are of little concern to the leadership. SEE ALSO: WE’RE STILL WAITING ON CLINTON’S WALL STREET SPEECH TRANSCRIPTS

Assessment of the quality of as-is building information models generated from point clouds using deviation analysis Three dimensional (3D) imaging sensors, such as laser scanners, are being used to create building information models (BIMs) of the as-is conditions of buildings and other facilities. Quality assurance (QA) needs to be conducted to ensure that the models accurately depict the as-is conditions. We propose a new approach for QA that analyzes patterns in the raw 3D data and compares the 3D data with the as-is BIM geometry to identify potential errors in the model. This "deviation analysis" approach to QA enables users to analyze the regions with significant differences between the 3D data and the reconstructed model or between the 3D data of individual laser scans. This method can help identify the sources of errors and does not require additional physical access to the facility. To show the approach's potential effectiveness, we conducted case studies of several professionally conducted as-is BIM projects. We compared the deviation analysis method to an alternative method - the physical measurement approach - in terms of errors detected and coverage. We also conducted a survey and evaluation of commercial software with relevant capabilities and identified technology gaps that need to be addressed to fully exploit the deviation analysis approach.

Russia could become the world's largest supplier of ecologically clean and high-quality organic food, said President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. He also called on the country to become completely self-sufficient in food production by 2020. "We are not only able to feed ourselves taking into account our lands, water resources – Russia is able to become the largest world supplier of healthy, ecologically clean and high-quality food which the Western producers have long lost, especially given the fact that demand for such products in the world market is steadily growing," said Putin, addressing the Russian Parliament on Thursday. READ MORE: Oakland sues Monsanto for ‘long-standing contamination’ of San Francisco Bay According to the President, Russia is now an exporter, not an importer of food. "Ten years ago, we imported almost half of the food from abroad, and were dependent on imports. Now Russia is among the exporters. Last year, Russian exports of agricultural products amounted to almost $20 billion - a quarter more than the revenue from the sale of arms, or one-third the revenue coming from gas exports," he said. 365 days without camembert: Russian food embargo enters 2nd year http://t.co/xEloalJMn1pic.twitter.com/SbwZgnTnFe — RT (@RT_com) August 7, 2015 Putin said that all this makes Russia fully capable of supplying the domestic market with home-grown food by 2020. In September, the Kremlin decided against producing food products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). READ MORE: Two thirds of EU states reject GMO crops, file cultivation opt-out requests Russia imposed an embargo on the supply of products from the EU and the United States as a response to Western sanctions. After Turkey shot down Russian Su-24 bomber, Russian authorities decided to ban the import of fruit, vegetables and poultry from Turkey. The ban will take effect from January 1.

Temporal Evolution of Lower Hybrid Waves in the Presence of Ponderomotive Density Fluctuations The propagation of lower hybrid waves in the presence of ponderomotive density fluctuations is considered. The problem is treated in two dimensions and, in order to be able to correctly impose the boundary conditions, the waves are allowed to evolve in time. The fields are described by i v_tau - \int v_xi dzeta + v_{zeta zeta} + |v|^2 v = 0 where v is proportional to the electric field, tau to time, and zeta and xi measure distances across and along the lower hybrid ray. The behavior of the waves is investigated numerically. If the amplitude of the waves is large enough, the spectrum of the waves broadens and their parallel wavelength becomes shorter. The assumptions made in the formulation preclude the application of these results to the lower hybrid heating experiment on Alcator-A. Nevertheless, there are indications that the physics embodied in this problem are responsible for some of the results of that experiment. I. INTRODUCTION. The injection of rf power near the lower hybrid frequency is an attractive method for the auxiliary heating of tokamak plasmas. 1 Because of the high powers required (several MW) and because lower hybrid waves principally propagate along well-defined resonance cones, there has been considerable interest in nonlinear effects on the propagation of lower hybrid waves. This problem was first addressed by Morales and Lee 5 who studied the twodimensional electrostatic propagation of one of the two lower hybrid rays in a homogeneous plasma. Although this is perhaps the simplest model that can be considered, a correct treatment of this problem has yet to be made. It is this deficiency that this paper attempts to remedy. Briefly the difficulty of this problem arises as follows: If it is assumed that the rf fields in the plasma have reached a steady state, i.e., that the potential is given by φ(x, z) exp(−iω 0 t) (x and z are coordinates perpendicular and parallel to the ambient magnetic field B 0 ), then the electric field obeys the complex modified Korteweg-deVries equation. This equation is mathematically well-posed when solved as an initial value problem in one of the coordinates x, that is when φ(x = 0, z) is given. Unfortunately, this does not correspond to physically realizable boundary conditions since waves can propagate in both the +x and −x directions in a single ray. 7,8 When the correct boundary conditions are imposed, there is numerical evidence that solutions of the complex modified Korteweg-deVries equation need not exist and that this equation is therefore ill-posed. 7 This is confirmed by our finding solutions inconsistent with the assumption of a steady state (see Sec. IV). The problem arises because the direction of power flow which determines how to impose the boundary conditions is defined only with reference to a problem in which a temporal evolution of the wave packet is allowed. In assuming a steady state for the electric field amplitude, the equation no longer has built into it the crucial ingredient which determines how the boundary conditions are imposed. This defect is corrected by including a slow time dependence of the potential . This then leads to a nonlinear partial differential equation in two spatial dimensions and time, which we will study numerically in this paper. In formulating this problem, we shall ignore many effects which should possibly be included to obtain a complete understanding of the propagation of lower hybrid waves. This will enable us to study the effect of the nonlinearity in as simple a system as possible. Even so, the numerical solution of a partial differential equation in two dimensions and time is time consuming and, as we shall see, the behavior of the fields as described by this equation can be quite complicated. In the absence of any analytical methods for solving this equation, we must therefore be content with the solution for only a few cases. This will enable us to confirm the threshold for strong nonlinear effects given in Ref. 7 and to give a more complete description of the nature of these nonlinear effects. Because of the approximations made in formulating the problem, we shall not be able to apply these results to the propagation of lower hybrid waves near the edge of a tokamak plasma where nonlinear effects are most strong. However, there are indications that the physical processes that are considered in this paper do play a role in the propagation in that region. The plan of this paper is as follows: In Sec. II we derive the partial differential equation governing the temporal evolution of φ. The basic properties of this equation will be discussed in Sec. III. In particular, we will show how the right boundary conditions automatically drop out from the equation. Since the equation is analytically intractable, we resort to a numerical integration, the results of which are given in Sec. IV. The threshold condition for a strong nonlinear interaction is derived in Sec. V. The results are summarized and the consequences to lower hybrid heating of tokamaks are presented in Sec. VI. II. FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM. In this section, we derive the partial differential equation governing the evolution of the electric field for one of the lower hybrid rays in two spatial dimensions and time. We assume that the fields are electrostatic, that the plasma is homogeneous, and that it is immersed in a uniform magnetic field. The derivation closely follows that of the complex modified Korteweg-deVries equation by Morales and Lee; 5 the additional ingredient we consider is the slow time dependence of φ. The potential of the lower hybrid wave is taken to have the form where the t dependence of φ is taken to be much slower than ω 0 . Since we are only doing the two-dimensional problem, we have ∂/∂y ≡ 0. In the electrostatic limit, φ obeys Poisson's law Here we regard the dielectric tensor K as an operator through its arguments ∇ and ∂/∂t. The dependence on |∇φ| 2 accounts for the nonlinearity. If the temporal evolution of φ is sufficiently slow (compared with ion acoustic time scales), then nonlinearities due to ponderomotive density changes can be written in this way. Parametric instabilities are excluded from our consideration. If the dependence of φ on x, z, and t is weak and if the φ itself is small so that the nonlinearity is weak, we may expand K to obtain All the evaluations of K on the right hand side of Eq. (2) are at the point ∇ = ∂/∂t = |∇φ| 2 = 0. The term involving ∂K/∂∇ is zero because of the symmetries of a stationary plasma. We have introduced a formal expansion parameter ǫ to aid in the ordering of terms. The fact that the last three terms in Eq. (2) are taken to be of order ǫ results a maximal ordering. If, in fact, one of the terms is much smaller than the others, a subsidiary ordering can be introduced to eliminate that term. Since it is more usual to write K as a normal function, rather than as an operator, we rewrite K as K(k, ω, n) where k is the Fourier-transform variable conjugate to space, ω is that conjugate to time, and n is the plasma density. Then the derivatives in Eq. (2) become In this case, all the evaluations on the right hand sides are performed at k = 0, ω = ω 0 , and n = n 0 , where n 0 is the unperturbed density of the plasma (i.e., in the absence of any electric fields). -4 - We now write down Eq. (1) to various orders in ǫ. To order ǫ 0 , we find Assuming that K ⊥ K is negative, Eq. (3) is hyperbolic and its solution is In general, both the right-and left-going rays will be present. However, if the source of the lower hybrid rays is localized, the two rays will be separated far from the source and in that region we may then treat each ray in isolation. Similarly, only a single ray will be present if the source is adjusted so that only that ray is excited. We may therefore assume that, to zeroth order, only the right-going ray is present, i.e., φ − = 0. To order ǫ 1 , we We should think of x ′ and z ′ as measuring distances along and across the lower hybrid ray. Substituting this form of φ into Eq. (1), we obtain to order ǫ 1 where E = ∂φ/∂z ′ is the electric field measured in the direction normal to the lower hybrid ray, A, B, C, and D are real coefficients given by : andk is the unit vector (−s, c). These expressions may be evaluated using the expression for K for a stationary Maxwellian plasma. 9 Usually the frequency of the incident rf power satisfies Ω 2 i ≪ ω 2 0 ≪ Ω 2 e where Ω j is the cyclotron frequency of species j (j = i or e for ions or electrons). In that case, the components of the zeroth-order dielectric tensor may be written where ω pj is the plasma frequency for species j with density n 0 . The coefficients in Eq. (4) become where v 2 tj = T j /m j , T j is the temperature of species j, and ǫ 0 is the dielectric constant of free space. In writing the expression for D, we have used the formula for the density depression due to the ponderomotive force. 5,10,11 Note that C is always positive. The fact that C and D have the same signs has an important effect on the propagation of the lower hybrid waves. We now rescale the variables in Eq. (4): The equation for v is then where subscripted Greek letters denote differentiation. When integrating Eq. (4) to give Eq. (6a), we assume that v and all its derivatives are zero at ζ = −∞ (i.e., far from the ray). The accessibility condition 12 imposes an auxiliary condition on v namely in other words, the electric potential is equal at ζ = ±∞. Equation (6) In order to give some appreciation of the scaling of the variables in Eq. (5), we give more explicit forms for them in the limit ω 2 pi ≪ ω 2 0 ≪ ω 2 pe ≪ Ω 2 e and T i ≪ T e (these may be the conditions applicable as the lower hybrid wave propagates through the low density part of a tokamak plasma). Equation (5) then becomes where λ De = v te /ω pe is the Debye length and g = ω 0 /ω pe . III. BASIC PROPERTIES OF THE EQUATION. Equation (6) is invariant under the scaling transformation This invariance allows us, for example, to normalize the scale length of the ray in the ζ direction to unity. If we set ∂/∂τ = 0 in Eq. (6), we obtain, as expected, the complex modified Korteweg-deVries equation as the equation obeyed by steady-state fields. If ∂/∂ξ = 0, we obtain the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, which is soluble by the inverse scattering method. 13 Unfortunately, not much use can be made of this fact because, as we shall see, the imposition of the correct boundary conditions involves solving Eq. (6) in a finite domain in ξ. For each of the four conservation laws obtained for the complex modified Korteweg-deVries equation, there is a corresponding conservation law for Eq. (6). These are given in Table I. The second and third of these laws are statements of the conservation of momentum and energy respectively. We will return to these shortly. In order to determine the correct boundary conditions for Eq. (6), we Fourier transform in ζ. Defining the Fourier transform of v by where c = 1/κ, Ω = κ 2 , and N (V ) is the Fourier transform of − |v| 2 v. This equation is hyperbolic in (τ, ξ) space. However, the direction of the characteristic velocity c depends on κ. This means that we must specify boundary conditions at each end of a strip in ξ. More precisely, the full initial and boundary conditions required for solving Eq. (9) in the domain Taking the second and fourth conservation laws in Table I, integrating them over ζ and ξ, and transforming them to κ space, we obtain the laws of conservation of momentum and energy as they apply to the domain of the problem d dτ d dτ where M = κ |V | 2 is the spectral momentum density, F = cM is the spectral force density, E = |V | 2 is the spectral energy density, and P = cE is the spectral power density. The characteristic velocity c is the group velocity of the lower hybrid waves. The boundary conditions given in Eq. (10) stipulate that we should specify the waves entering the domain of the problem, but not those that leave this domain. Given that we are treating a nonlinear problem, it may be a little surprising the boundary conditions are applied in the same way as for the corresponding linear problem. The mathematical reason for this is that the nonlinear term does not involve any τ or ξ derivatives. This arises because, in deriving Eq. (6), we assumed that the nonlinear term was very small. The expressions for the energy density, power density, etc. are therefore correctly given by linear theory. Although the nonlinearity is small, it can have a finite effect because the ordering also assumes that the length over which the interaction takes place is large. Notice that the nature of the equation has forced us to take boundary conditions which are in accord with physical notions of power flow. This has happened because we have the time variation in Eq. (6). If we consider the steady-state equation, the complex modified Korteweg-deVries equation, which is obtained by setting ∂/∂τ = 0 in Eq. then we would clearly like to impose the same boundary conditions as for Eq. (6) namely Eq. (10). But the concept of power flow cannot be defined from Eq. (13) and so there is no guarantee that the boundary conditions given in Eq. (10) are sensible. Indeed, the evidence of Ref. 7 suggests that Eq. (13) is ill-posed with these boundary conditions. This can be so because, even if Eq. (6) is given steady-state boundary conditions, i.e., it is not necessarily the case that the solution to Eq. (6) approaches a steady state. As mentioned in Sec. II, the ordering we used in deriving Eq. (6) was a maximal ordering. We can eliminate some of the terms in Eq. (6) using a subsidiary ordering. E.g., the linear limit is obtained by letting v → δ v and taking the limit δ → 0. Similarly, the non-dispersive limit is obtained by letting ζ → ζ/δ, ξ → ξ/δ and again taking the limit δ → 0. It is instructive to examine this case in more detail because there are indications that if ξ 1 − ξ 0 is sufficiently large then the dispersive term must be included. Consider the steady-state equation (13) without the dispersive term v ζζζ . Multiplying this equation by v * and adding the complex conjugate (these are the same operations that lead to the second conservation law in Table I), we obtain where u = 3 |v| 2 . Since the boundary conditions involve arg v, Eq. (14) should be supplemented by another equation. However, this is not so if we impose initial conditions v(ξ = ξ 0 , ζ). As is well known, the solution develops a shock at ξ IV. NUMERICAL RESULTS. We investigate the solution to Eq. (6) by numerically solving Eq. (9) with boundary and initial conditions where u is the unit step function, v 0 and κ 0 are real constants and κ 0 ≥ 0. The method of solution is given in Appendix A. Without loss of generality, we have taken τ 0 = ξ 0 = 0. In where Z is the plasma dispersion function. With this form of the boundary conditions, we now have three parameters to vary: v 0 , κ 0 , and ∆ξ ≡ ξ 1 − ξ 0 = ξ 1 . The geometry of the waveguide array which might give this input spectrum will be discussed in Sec. V. -8 - We begin by considering the linear non-dispersive limit; i.e., we remove the third and fourth terms in Eq. (6a). Figure 1 shows the solution at various times. Early in the evolution of the waves, only the lowest κ components have propagated throughout the plasma because these have the greatest group velocities. Later on, the other κ components have had time to reach the far end of the system, and the steady state is attained. As τ → ∞, we have v = v(ζ). In the original (x, z) coordinate system, this corresponds to the familiar propagation along resonance cones. In order to further diagnose the results, we identify three sets of waves, the incident waves (ξ = 0 and κ > 0), the reflected waves (ξ = 0 and κ < 0), and the transmitted waves (ξ = ξ 1 and κ > 0). With our choice of boundary conditions the incident waves are constant for τ > 0 and there are no waves incident at the boundary ξ = ξ 1 . We define reflection and transmission coefficients, R and T , as the ratios of the instantaneous power reflected and the instantaneous power transmitted to the incident power. These powers are defined by integrating P over the appropriate segment of the boundary. Note that, because energy can be stored in the plasma, we need not have R + T = 1, although this is true in a time-averaged sense. Furthermore, it is possible that R or T can momentarily exceed unity. In order to determine where in κ space the power is concentrated, we define κ for each wave component as the ratio of the force to the power for that component. (Since P = |V | 2 /κ and F = |V | 2 , this ratio has the dimensions of κ.) For the case shown in Fig. 1, R is obviously zero and the average κ of the reflected waves, κ r , is undefined. Figure 2 shows T and the average κ of the transmitted waves, κ t , for this case. The transmission coefficient T rises in steps as each κ mode reaches the far boundary. Similarly, κ t rises with time since modes with higher values of κ take longer to traverse the domain. As τ → ∞, T approaches unity, signifying total transmission, and κ t approaches (π/2) 1/2 ≈ 1.25 which is the same as the average value of κ for the incident waves, κ i . We now turn to the nonlinear dispersive problem. Because we expect that the effect of the nonlinearity will increase with both v 0 and ∆ξ, we begin with a case where these quantities are chosen small enough that the nonlinearity only weakly modifies the propagation. Figure 3 shows the solution for such a case with v 0 = 3, κ 0 = 0, and ∆ξ = 0.1. It is found that v attains a steady state by τ = 2 approximately and only this state is shown in Fig. 3. The evolution to this steady state is similar to that for the linear equation. In Fig. 4 are displayed the reflection and transmission coefficients. Note that the reflection coefficient settles down to a small value (somewhat less than 2%). As the amplitude of the boundary value v 0 is increased, the solution exhibits quite different behavior from the linear solution. In Fig. 5, we have chosen the same parameters as in Fig. 3, except that v 0 has been increased to 4. Now v appears never to reach a steady state, but instead oscillates in some aperiodic fashion. This can be seen in Fig. 6, where R, T , κ r , and κ t are plotted. From Fig. 5, we can see what is happening during these oscillations. Various κ components in the forward wave nonlinearly interact to produce a reflected wave . This interaction causes a severe depletion of the low κ components of the forward wave and transfer of this energy into higher κ components of the forward wave and into the reflected wave . After the interaction has nearly gone to completion, the nonlinearly excited components of the field transit out of the system and the fields relax to a state in which there is little variation in |V | with ξ . The nonlinear interaction then begins again and the cycle approximately repeats itself . In ζ space, this interaction is manifested by a narrowing and peaking of the electric field amplitude v. A typical field pattern is shown in Fig. 5(f). Returning to Fig. 6, we see that the reflection is appreciable, oscillating around about 20%. Correspondingly, T oscillates around 80%. Because the energy stored in the field comes out in bursts, T is occasionally greater than unity. Finally, we note that κ t exceeds κ i ≈ 1.25 by approximately a factor of 2. Because the long-time solution of the fields does not reach a steady state, it is useful to describe the solution in terms of its temporal spectrum. To do this, we take a time record of the transmitted and reflected waves for τ a < τ < τ b . We choose τ a to be large enough for the transients to have disappeared from the solution and τ b − τ a to be large enough to include several oscillations of the solution. Effects arising from the finite record length τ b − τ a are partially eliminated by multiplying by a cosine window The resulting function is then transformed in time using a discrete Fourier transform to give the output spectrum V (ξ ′ , κ, σ) where σ is the slow frequency variable (conjugate with τ ), ξ ′ = ξ 1 for κ > 0 (the transmitted wave), and ξ ′ = 0 for κ < 0 (the reflected wave). In Fig. 7, we plot the output spectrum V (ξ ′ , κ, σ) for the case shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The spectrum is computed between τ a = 1 and τ b = 5. The large peaks at σ = 0 are the steady-state components of the transmitted and reflected waves. The broad spectrum in σ is symptomatic of the aperiodic nature of the waves. There is an interesting correlation in the spectrum: the positive frequency (σ) components of both the transmitted and reflected waves tend to have larger values of |κ| than the negative frequency components. We have seen that the solution becomes more turbulent and that the reflection increases as v 0 is increased. The other parameters that may be varied are ∆ξ and κ 0 . We now investigate the influence of these parameters. We begin by varying ∆ξ. Figure 8 shows the output spectrum for v 0 = 4, κ 0 = 0 and ∆ξ = 0.05. We see that there is almost no energy in the components of the wave with σ = 0; i.e., the fields nearly reach a steady state. The reflection coefficient is smaller than in the previous case (where ∆ξ = 0.1) being approximately 4%. Similarly κ t is only slightly greater than κ i (1.4 as compared to 1.25). On the other hand, if we increase the value of ∆ξ to 0.2 (twice its value in Fig. 7), a broad turbulent spectrum is recovered (Fig. 9). Although R and κ t have approximately the same values as for ∆ξ = 0.1, there is now more energy in the non-steady components of the output spectrum. Figures 10 and 11 show the effect on the output spectrum of increasing κ 0 (keeping v 0 = 4 and ∆ξ = 0.1). In Fig. 10, where κ 0 = 1, we see that spectrum consists of a few narrow bands indicating that the solution is nearly periodic. Furthermore, the reflected wave consists almost entirely of negative frequency components. The reflection coefficient for this case is about 12%, or half of what it was with κ 0 = 0. The increase of κ t over κ i is moderate (about 3 as compared to 2.42). Increasing κ 0 to 2 (Fig. 11), we see much the same picture except that the frequency of the oscillations is higher. The reflection coefficient of is further reduced to 7% and there is now little difference between κ t and κ i . In the case shown in Figs. 5-7, the nonlinearity causes three phenomena of importance to lower hybrid heating experiments: (1) the reflection coefficient is appreciable; (2) the solution reaches a turbulent state; (3) the mean wavenumber of the waves transmitted into the plasma is increased. Comparing the results presented here with those of Sec. VIII of Ref. 7 in which the solution of the steady-state problem was attempted, we see that the conditions for the occurrence of these phenomena closely agree with the conditions under which the steady-state problem had no solution and reflection was large. Before quoting the threshold results from Ref. 7, we use the scaling invariance Eq. (8) to rewrite the boundary condition Eq. (15b) as This roughly corresponds to excitation of lower hybrid waves by a waveguide array of width ∆ζ. The amplitude of the electric field in the plasma is v 0 and the phasing of the waveguides is such as to give a wavenumber of κ 0 . Thus, if the waveguides are phased 0, π, 0, π, . . . , we have κ 0 = πM/∆ζ where M is the number of waveguides. For these boundary conditions, the threshold conditions given in Ref. 7 are The latter conditions is only correct for M small ( ∼ < 4). For larger values of M , it should be replaced by which specifies that ∆ξ should exceed the distance for a shock to form in the dispersionless equation (14). Equation (16) gives the conditions under which the three phenomena described at the beginning of this section occur. If we now undo the normalizations using Eq. (7), we find that Eq. (16) becomes where E x0 and E z0 are the electric field amplitudes perpendicular and parallel to the magnetic field (so that E z0 = gE x0 ), ∆z is the width of the waveguide array, δz = ∆z/M is the width of a single waveguide (assuming a 0, π, 0, π, . . . phasing), ∆x is the width of the nonlinear region of the plasma in the x direction, and β is 1 4 ǫ 0 E 2 x0 /n 0 T e , the ratio of the electric field energy to the plasma kinetic energy. We have examined the nonlinear evolution of a lower hybrid wave in two dimensions and time. Under the conditions given in Eq. (17), the nonlinearity can cause appreciable reflection, turbulent variation in the fields, and an increase in the wavenumbers of the transmitted waves. In Ref. 7, it was found that these conditions could be satisfied in a small laboratory plasma or near the edge of a tokamak plasma. In such circumstances, the assumption of a steady state and the analyses in Refs. 5-7 based on this assumption are wrong. The most important application of lower hybrid waves is for heating a tokamak plasma to ignition temperatures. It is therefore important to understand the processes that may modify the lower hybrid waves before they have penetrated to the center of the plasma. Unfortunately, it is not possible to obtain quantitative estimates of these effects with the theory as outlined in the preceding sections. The reason is that, as we have pointed out, the nonlinearity is only important in a tokamak near the edge of the plasma and in that region many other physical processes are likely to be involved. Examples of effects which should probably be included to give a full understanding of lower hybrid wave propagation near the edge are: nonlinear coupling to the second (left-going) ray; electromagnetic effects; density and temperature gradients; saturation of the nonlinearity; ion inertia in the low frequency equations; coupling to low-frequency drift waves. Although Eq. (6) should be regarded as a very simplified model equation describing the propagation of lower hybrid waves near the edge of a tokamak plasma, some of the phenomena predicted by this equation have been observed in the lower hybrid heating experiment on Alcator-A. 14,15 The CO 2 -laser scattering diagnostic on that experiment indicated a broadening of the frequency spectrum of the waves. This is consistent with the turbulent spectra seen in the solutions of Eq. (6). Furthermore, the spectrum becomes asymmetric as the wave propagates into the plasma, the peak of the spectrum being shifted down from the frequency of the injected waves. This may be a result of the observation in Sec. IV that the components of the transmitted and reflected waves which are down-shifted in frequency have a smaller (in absolute value) wavenumber than those which are up-shifted. If those waves with higher wavenumbers are preferentially damped as the wave travels into the plasma (e.g., by electron Landau damping), we would expect to see a net downwards shift in the spectrum of waves. The other somewhat puzzling result of the Alcator-A experiment was the apparent independence of the heating results to the phasing of the waveguides. In addition, in order to explain the density dependence of the heating results, it was postulated that the n z (parallel index of refraction k z c/ω) spectrum of the waves was shifted to being peaked at around n z = 5 irrespective of the phasing of the waveguides. (This is to be compared with values of n z predicted on the basis of linear theory of less than 1.5 for the waveguides in phase and of 3 for the waveguides out of phase.) Again, this is qualitatively in agreement with the theoretical results of Sec. IV. There, the average wavenumber of the waves transmitted from the nonlinear region into the center of the plasma was roughly twice that of the wave injected into the nonlinear region when κ 0 = 0 (corresponding to the wave guides being in phase). As the phase difference between neighboring waveguide becomes finite (i.e., as κ 0 is increased), the amount by which the wavenumber spectrum is shifted is reduced. It is not clear whether the nonlinear reflection predicted by the theory given in this paper would be observed as an increase in the reflected power measured in the waveguides. It may be that this power is reflected again on the cutoff at ω = ω pe very close to the plasma edge. This would convert the power into the other lower hybrid ray. Thus, it appears that the physics included in Eq. (6) may be responsible for some of the results of the Alcator-A experiment. In order to be able to say definitively whether or not the experimental observations are a result of the processes included in Eq. (6), two advances are required. Firstly, the theory has to be refined to a point where quantitative comparisons are possible. Secondly, additional experimental observations are required. (At present, Alcator-A is the only tokamak experiment for which the detailed observations provided by the CO 2 -laser scattering diagnostic are available. In addition, it would be helpful to have accurate measurements of the plasma conditions near the edge of the plasma.) We should point out that other theories have beeen advanced to explain the Alcator-A results. In particular, Bonoli and Ott 16 have suggested a linear theory. This is supported by the observed linear dependence between the density fluctuations and the applied power (over a fairly large range) which suggests either that the phenomena are linear or else that the nonlinear processes saturate at a low amplitude. Another interesting theoretical result, given by Morales, 17 concerns the coupling of rf energy into lower hybrid waves at the plasma edge. A density gradient was included in his model and a temporal evolution was allowed. As in the theory presented here, it was found that a steady state need not be reached; rather, the rf energy entered the plasma in bursts similar to the behavior seen in Fig. 5. However, only a single n z component was included so that the nonlinear coupling of different n z components was disallowed. In summary, we have presented a theory of the nonlinear propagation of lower hybrid waves. At sufficiently large powers, the fields become turbulent and the wavenumber spectrum is shifted upwards. The theory should accurately describe the propagation in small laboratory devices. While we may expect qualitatively similar results near the edge of a tokamak plasma, other physical effects need to be included to obtain an accurate description of the lower hybrid fields in this region. The numerical solution of Eq. (6) is carried out in Fourier space so that Eq. (6) becomes Eq. (9). Periodic boundary conditions are used in the ζ direction, v(ξ, ζ + L, τ ) = v(ξ, ζ, τ ); therefore, the Fourier spectrum is discrete the spacing between modes being δκ = 2π/L. We use n points to describe v over a single period L. Transformations between the κ and ζ spaces are achieved using a discrete Fourier transform. Thus, V is approximated by n Fourier modes. The ξ coordinate is approximated by a grid whose spacing is δξ. This equation is solved by splitting each time step δτ into two equal pieces and by approximating Eq. (9a) in the interval 0 ≤ τ < δτ by (For simplicity, we describe the solution only for the first time step. The extension beyond this is obvious.) In each half time step this equation is a partial differential equation in only two independent variables. During the first half time step, κ is merely a parameter and we have a simple linear wave equation to solve. We approximate V ′ ≡ V (τ = 1 2 δτ ) as given by Eq. (A1) by shifting V (τ = 0) over C = c δτ /δξ grid positions. This step is exact if C is an integer. Normally, this is not the case and in that event we interpolate between neighboring grid points. We use linear interpolation on the quantities |V | 2 and |V | 2 arg V . This ensures that in this step energy and momentum are conserved. The reason for interpolating in |V | 2 arg V rather than arg V is that in the former case the ambiguity of the argument of V = 0 is irrelevant. The grid positions within C of the boundary are set to the boundary value. During the second half time step we have to solve the nonlinear Schrödinger equation at each position ξ. The method is similar to that used in Ref. 7 to solve the steady-state equation (13). The dispersive term is treated exactly and the nonlinear term is treated with a second-order Runge-Kutta scheme. Thus, V (τ = δτ ) is approximated by , where B = exp(−iΩ δτ ) and D = −(1 − B)/Ω. The nonlinear term N (V ) is calculated by transforming V into v using the discrete Fourier transform, computing − |v| 2 v, and transforming back into κ space. In order to avoid problems of aliasing in the computation of N (V ), the highest n/2 Fourier modes are artificially set to zero. The accuracy of the numerical integration is checked using the momentum-and energyconservation laws. Specifically, the time integrals of Eqs. (11) and (12) are numerically computed. These are divided by the total momentum input into the plasma (at ξ = ξ 0 ) and by the total energy injected into the plasma (both at ξ = ξ 0 , κ > 0 and at ξ = ξ 1 , κ < 0) to provide two measures of the accuracy of the numerical integration, ∆M and ∆E. The case shown in Figs. 5-7 was also computed with n = 2 9 , L = 20, and δτ = δξ = 5 × 10 −4 (i.e., the grid spacing was halved in τ , ζ, and ξ). The solution agreed well with the solution obtained using the coarser grid until about τ = 1.5. Thereafter, the solutions diverged from each other. This is to be expected in a system which exhibits turbulent solutions because the solution is typically very sensitive to the initial conditions. Numerical errors, which have an effect similar to changing the initial conditions slightly, can therefore lead to large changes in the solution. However, although the detailed solution is different after τ = 1.5 in these two cases, the general character of the solution is the same. Thus, the output spectrum for the case with the finer grid spacing shows the same features as the spectrum given in Fig. 7.

Valproic acid for the treatment of children with mental retardation and mood symptomatology. Most researchers agree that there is a high incidence of psychiatric illness among children with mental retardation. Menolascino1,2 found diagnosable psychiatric disorders in 31 of 616 children who were suspected of being mentally retarded. Of this sample, 24.5% were noted to be "emotionally disturbed." Phillips and Williams3 described the results of 100 psychiatric evaluations of children with mental retardation and assigned the following diagnoses: psychotic symptoms, 38%; neuroses, 5%; personality disorders and other nonpsychiatric disorders, 16%; behavior disorders, 26%; transient situational disorders, 2%; and no psychiatric disorder, 13%. Chess4 and Hassibi5 described behavior disorders in a group of 52 children living with their middle class families who were mildly and borderline mentally retarded.

Dash’s payment network just doubled its transaction rate and significantly reduced its fees. Regular transactions on the highly anonymous Dash network now cost less than one cent; Dash’s special InstandSend transactions, which are executed in less than two seconds, now cost a mere 2.8 cents. To put that in perspective, the United States Federal Reserve reported in 2015 that the average debit card transaction costs roughly twenty-eight cents, a number that increases along with the transaction amount. Meanwhile, transactions on the Bitcoin network have become so expensive, and take so long to be confirmed, that smaller transactions have been priced out of the market – the average transaction on the Bitcoin network costs a whopping US$6. Additionally, an average of just seven transactions can be processed per second on the Bitcoin network; Dash’s upgrade has increased the number of transactions processed per second up to 48. Join the iFX EXPO Asia and discover your gateway to the Asian Markets Dash’s Network Was Created for Scalability, Ease-of-Use Ryan Taylor, Dash Core CEO, said that Dash’s increased transactional capabilities come in anticipation of a future in which it is more widely used. “Scaling solutions take time to develop, test, and deploy. In the digital currency space, transaction volumes can grow quickly, so we believe it is critical to stay well ahead of anticipated demand.” Additionally, Taylor believes that the popularity of Bitcoin could ultimately benefit Dash: “Beyond our own network’s growth, there is a real possibility that Bitcoin’s own exponential growth could spill over into other networks.” Suggested articles Why Brokerages Outsource Their Broker TechnologyGo to article >> Dash’s network was created with many of the lessons learned from Bitcoin’s network in mind. Dash was built to be easily integrated into online stores, apps, and dapps as a means-of-payment. Dash currently has over a hundred ‘merchant partners’, including crypto-based debit cards, VPN providers, web and graphic design services, and online stores. Consensus and Master Nodes Keep Dash Running with Stability The system of governance created by Dash was designed to prevent the kind of rifts that have plagued the Bitcoin community over the last several years. Taylor said: “Bitcoin’s network hasn’t been able to agree on increasing their block size for years.” For Dash’s recent upgrade, “it simply took a vote from our stakeholders and execution in line with our public roadmap, followed by the software rollout.” Additionally, the Dash network is made more stable by ‘master nodes’, computers that are incentivized to hold large amounts of Dash tokens at a time to keep the network running smoothly and prevent major fluctuations in value from happening. A single Dash token is currently worth roughly US$330, a 3300% rise from its value of approximately US$10 one year ago. While the network still certainly has a way to go before it is adopted for mainstream use, it certainly does show some early signs of a strong network.

Subscribe to the Ceph Group Ceph Mailing Groups Octopuses are Smart Suckers!? << Cephalopod Articles | By , Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge and Roland C. Anderson, The Seattle Aquarium The same question about octopus behavior intrigued both authors, though at different places and from different backgrounds. While watching an Octopus vulgaris in Bermuda, the first author observed it sitting in its sheltering den after a foraging expedition, where it caught several crabs, took them home and ate them. Suddenly it jetted out directly to a small rock about two meters away, tucked it under its spread arms and jetted back. Going out three times more in different directions, it took up three more rocks and piled the resulting barrier in front of the entrance to its den. It held them in front with several arms and went to sleep. This didn't look like random action, but planning. The second author came in one morning to the Aquarium to find one of the giant Pacific octopuses had been busy overnight. The gravel on the tank bottom was dug up, the nylon cable ties that attached the undergravel filter to the tank had been bitten through and the detached filter had been bitten or torn into small pieces, which now floated on the water surface (experienced octopus keepers know that Murphy's Laws seem to apply especially to octopuses!). Again, this looked like a careful sequencing/planning of actions and learning put to use, though the reasons weren't at all obvious. These observations made both of us believe that octopuses could possibly be intelligent and use their intelligence for unexpected purposes. When humans think of intelligence, we think of ourselves. This anthropocentric viewpoint is partly because intelligence has only really been studied in vertebrates and partly because we see its evolution as leading to the pinnacle called Homo sapiens. Until recently, there hasn't been any model of how another completely separate group could show us how intelligence might evolve differently than ours. Research on the octopuses is beginning to provide that alternate model. An octopus is very different from a mammal. It only lives about two years. It has much less opportunity to gain and use intelligence than an elephant, which has a 50 year lifespan and three generations of a family to lead and learn from. Still, bees learn about flower locations from other bees, and they live only a few weeks as adults. However, an octopus is also not social; Humphrey (1976) suggested that intelligence has evolved to solve social dilemmas. The young octopus learns on its own with minimal contact with conspecifics and no influences of parental care or sibling rivalry. However, the octopus has a large brain with vertical and sub-frontal lobes dedicated just to storing learned information (Wells, 1978): it has the anatomy for a robust, built-in intelligence. But, it is not enough to know that the anatomy predicts an animal to be intelligent without some idea of how it uses this ability. Investigations at Naples in the 1950s and 1960s found that octopuses (or "octopi", if you want to Get Latin!!) can learn a wide array of visual patterns, encoding information mostly by comparing edges, orientations and shapes. They also learned by touch, and tactile information seemed to be stored in a different brain area than visual. Intent on just demonstrating learning abilities at first, researchers did not follow up to find what octopuses were doing with this learning in their ocean home. As ethology's (i.e., the ethical or "moral" side of science, which discourages direct experimentation on intelligent animals) emphasis on observation of natural behavior in the field began to fill the gap (see Lehner, 1998), the Naples studies ended, and no linkage was made between abstract information storage and the use of learning in daily life. Finally, this gap is being bridged by such works as Hanlon and Messenger (1996), who provide an overview of cephalopod behavior. But, even asking the right questions about octopus intelligence is difficult, since we understand so little of their minds. Watching an animal and wondering how it is organizing its world, then testing it to see if your guesses have some foundation—that is very difficult indeed! Still, we are starting to get some answers both by observing in the field and by studying areas such as prey manipulation, personality and play (yes, play!) in the octopus. One of the insights into how we might view octopus intelligence came for the first author when reading Neisser's (1976) definition of cognition (i.e, thinking) as "all the processes by which sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered and used." It seemed a focal issue: what were octopuses in the ocean doing with the information that learning studies said they could acquire? One study we undertook centered on what we came to call the "Packaging Problem". The problem posed was how an octopus could utilize a delectable clam enclosed in its hard shell, to get at the soft, delectable clam body. This is the end result of what Vermeij (1993) called an "evolutionary arms race": many predators evolved means of penetrating the hard shell the clam uses to protect itself, which is held together by powerful muscles—sea stars pull the valves apart, oyster-catcher birds pry them apart, moon snails (Naticidae) drill a hole into the shell, and gulls drop the clam from a carefully calculated height onto rocks or road pavement. But the octopus goes these predators one better: it can use several different strategies to solve this Packaging Problem, instead of just one or two! Octopuses come well-equipped with an arsenal of different solutions for use in feeding. They have the holding ability of hundreds of suckers and the pulling power of the eight muscular arms, flexible because they are boneless (see Mather, 1998 for arm movement capacity). Underneath, inside the mouth at the junction of the arms, they have a parrot like twin beak for biting. Also inside the mouth are two more useful structures, the radula with teeth for rasping and the extendible salivary papilla. It delivers cephalotoxin, a neuromuscular function-blocker that can kill a crab in several minutes (Boyle, 1990). Fortunately for us, only the venom of Haplochlaena spp. octopuses (the famous "blue" octopuses!) has proven fatal to humans. Since octopuses are well set up to "recover and use" information for solving the problem of the clam's protection, we set out to determine what the giant (up to 50 kg) Pacific octopus, Enteroctopus dofleini, would do to get at three types of bivalves. When we offered them separately or together at the Seattle Aquarium, octopuses ate many Venerupis (a Venus Clam) clams, some Mytilus (mussels) and few Protothaca clams. The prey species were each opened differently, however. The fragile mussel shells were simply broken and the stronger Venerupis were pulled apart. The thick shelled Protothaca were drilled with the octopuses' radula and salivary papilla, or chipped with the beak, then injected with poison which weakened the adductor muscle holding the valves together. The octopuses' strategy to penetrate into the different clams varied. When offered the clams opened on the half shell, the octopuses changed preference and consumed both clam species, but hardly any mussels. When they didn't have to work hard for the clam meat, they liked Protothaca. Some clue that effort might be the reason for this shift came when we measured the resistance to opening force of the adductor muscles of the bivalves: Mytilus resisted until an average of 2.2 kg, Venerupis, 3.6 kg, and Protothaca to 4.6 kg. Octopuses could also shift their penetration strategies. When live Venerupis clams were wired shut with stainless steel wire, the octopuses couldn't pull the valves apart, so they then tried drilling and chipping as penetration techniques (given empty weighted shells glued shut, the octopuses ignored them; they were on to that trick right away!). This flexibility of strategies echoes what Wodinsky (1969) found with Octopus vulgaris drilling Strombus gastropods. These octopuses drilled through the shell apex to poison and weaken the snails' adductor muscles. When he coated this part of the shell with latex, they just pulled it off, then drilled as before. When he then put on aluminum, they simply drilled through the metal and shell, but when he coated it with impenetrable dental plastic they drilled elsewhere on the shell, or pulled the snail out by sheer force. For both species of octopus, the motto might be "do whatever works to get your meal!" They were intelligently adapting the penetration technique to the clam species presented and the situation in which they were placed. The first author (Jennifer Mather) also noticed this pragmatism (i.e., a "whatever it takes to get the job done" attitude!) and identified tool use by octopuses during field studies in Bermuda (Mather, 1994). Tool use does not automatically denote learning but the range of uses of one tool, water, also suggests the octopus is intelligent: circulation of water in molluscan mantle cavities is primarily used for respiration and removal of wastes, and secondarily for locomotion in scallops and squid (Morton, 1967). Octopuses also use water jets through their flexible funnel for tertiary (i.e., additional) functions such as cleaning out their dens. They gather an armful of rocks and sand under their web, go to the den entrance and tilt the web upward, then blow the whole lot out and away with a water blast from their funnel! Similarly, an octopus holds a crab under the web, dismembers it, eats the flesh and holds the cleaned out exoskeletal pieces. At meal's end, it tilts up the web and blows the pieces outside, adding to a midden outside the den. Scavenging fish attend octopuses when they go hunting, and when they discard remains onto this midden. One of the techniques octopuses use to repel these "pests" is to direct strong blasts of water jet at them—like a water gun!! (Mather, 1992). On occasion, an octopus jets water to repel human observers, and octopuses in the lab have jetted into the faces of researchers or onto their delicate electrical equipment. In the laboratory, octopuses adapt and use this water jet in a behavior that has generally been considered exclusively of vertebrates: they play (Mather and Anderson, 1999). We set out to prove that octopuses (Enteroctopus dofleini in particular) play, deciding that being in a non-stimulating situation except for having an item that they could manipulate, might cause such activity. A floating pill bottle, which sometimes drifted in the current from the water intake, was the item. We didn't expect social play from a solitary animal, rather that the exploration that the octopus mentioned at the start of this paper demonstrated so well by tearing a part its tank would turn the focus of its behavior, as Hutt (1966) suggested, from "what does this object do?" to "what can I do with the object? Every octopus jetted at the floating toy at least once in the ten trials, but only two of them reached the criteria for play. These were 1) regular repetitions of 2) simple acts for 3) over 5 minutes, of pill bottle repulsion toward the water inlet jet and return by it. One octopus set up a 2 minute circuit of the bottle around the tank and a second jetted the toy straight towards the water intake, getting a return in 30 seconds. This prompted a long distance call from the more skeptical second author to the first, in the middle of one of those busy academic days, with the simple message "She's bouncing the ball!" Play is a difficult and sometimes controversial area, as it does not delineate a separate category of behaviors. Forms that are seen as play merge into other categories of "useful" actions (Fagen, 1981). This example appears to be a small glimpse of that continuum, change in the use of mantle water circulation from its basic molluscan function to newer situations. Play involves the detachment of actions from their primary context, and such flexibility is both a basis and a sign of intelligence, whether it be shown in a person or a fish or an octopus. It is the formation of a new combination of information input and actions. A third aspect of the lives of the octopuses which shows their capacity for acquiring different responses is their possession of "personalities". The impetus for this study came from the second author's work at the Seattle Aquarium (Anderson, 1987). Volunteers are the backbone of public institutions such as the Aquarium, and volunteers see animals a little differently than scientists. They give individual names to three species ofanimals in the Aquarium—the seals, the sea otters, and the octopuses. There was "Leisure Suit Larry", named for a video game character who would be cited daily for sexual harassment on the job for excessive touching. There was "Emily Dickinson", who hid behind the tank's backdrop and could barely be coaxed out. And there was "Lucretia McEvil", whose destructive acts are featured at the beginning of this article. Volunteers shied away from feeding her because she would try to pull them down into her tank. We decided to take this impression of differences between individuals and systematize it: what would it mean to say that octopuses had personalities, and into what categories might we fit them? So we started an octopus vs octopus study of the small Pacific red octopus Octopus rubescens. Instead of testing in a novel situation and calculating average responses, we tested three everyday situations to find variation. The situations were alerting, threat and feeding, and over three years 44 octopuses were tallied for nineteen responses. To find variation rather than averages, we did some difficult and "advanced" statistics: a Factor Analysis and then a Principal Components Analysis. What the first does is to group behaviors into clusters of occurrence amongst individuals, called Factors, and our analysis told us there were three Factors, described below. The Principal Components Analysis changed these factors slightly so they were not correlated with each other and could then be called Dimensions of Personality. Each octopus (and any future one) could then be placed somewhere on each of these dimensions, and could be given an Octopus Personality Profile (Mather and Anderson, 1993). Once the researcher has these dimensions, they can be assigned names. In the octopuses' case we chose three: Activity, Reactivity and Avoidance. So an Active octopus reacted to the threatening probe by grabbing it, a Reactive one performed a set of behaviors that put distance between itself and the threat and an Avoidantone tried to stay away from the situation in the first place. This catalog of variation is interesting by itself, but the dimensions occur in other animals as well. Fish, monkeys and people differ on some variable often called Shyness, on another called Emotionality and a third defined as Exploration or Activity. While the dimensions were of course extracted from the responses by a human brain, they are similar in phylogenetically (i.e., gentically) distant animals (see Gosling and John, 1999). Why does this matter to the demonstration of intelligence? For one thing, personality overlays intelligence. Autistic children's intelligence is often hard to measure because they don't like people well enough to cooperate with the testers. Patterson and Linden (1981) found the gorilla Koko showed the same withdrawal in the middle of an intelligence test; he got bored and started pressing the same button over and over. One octopus in a group being tested for spatial memory "freaked out" at being put in an open tank and circled the tank for ten minutes at a time (personal observation). She never had a chance to learn the task. Was she stupid? Povinelli, et al., (1993) tested chimpanzees for self recognition and made sure to test many individuals to cover this variation. They concluded that the differences were so high that individuals' intellectual level would have been assessed as typical of quite different species, and not just the one! In addition, "personality" allows individuals to show intelligence. If the sensory input is to be "transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored recovered and used" (Neisser, 1976), it has to be on the basis of individual variation. The intelligent animal can master variable environments by using all these processes, and that leads us back to the topic: what is intelligence like? Indeed, it may be the variable environment that selects for intelligence, in a Darwinian "survival of the fittest" sense: since many octopus species spend their early months as plankton, drifting to all sorts of different habitat-types: the octopus that settles out of the planktonon to a rocky shoreline has to learn to find different prey and avoid different predators than the one that finds its home under the only rock on a sandy bottom. Without this ability to become different, they won't survive. Coping with a variable environment is what will demonstrate the asocial octopus's particular "take" on intelligence. Thus, the studies of Fiorito et al. (1999) on the octopus's ability to open a glass jar and Hanlon etal.'s (1999) assessment of the avoidance strategies of O. cyanea to a threatening human also open a window on the octopuses use of intelligence. Perhaps it is this individual sensitivity to change, honed by intelligence and variability, that has been the key to the success of both the cephalopods and the higher vertebrates. Similarities that could lead us to understand the evolution of intelligence in octopuses and humans are few, but thought-provoking: 1) neither group has the protection of exoskeleton, scales or armor, 2) both have evolved in complex environments, the octopod in the tropical coral reef and the hominid in the savanna edge, and 3) both have considerable variability among individuals and the ability of being able to change their behaviour to help them survive. So, perhaps looking at the octopuses through their intelligence, feeding flexibility, predator avoidance, play, and personality helps us also look at aspects of ourselves, from another angle! References Anderson, R.C. 1987. Cephalopods at the Seattle Aquarium. International Zoo Yearbook. 26:41-48. Boyle, P.R. 1990. Prey handling and salivary secretions in octopi. In: M. Barnes and R.N Gibson (eds). Trophicrelationships in the marine environment. Proc. 24th Eur. Mar. Biol. Symp. Aberdeen University Press(Aberdeen, Scotland). pp. 541-552. Fagen, R. 1981. Animal play behavior. Oxford University Press (Oxford, UK). 684 pp. Fiorito, G., C. von Planta and P. Scotto. 1990. Problem solving ability of Octopus vulgaris Lamarck (Mollusca:Cephalopoda). Behavioral and Neural Biology. 53:217-230. Gosling, S.D. and O.P. John. 1999. Personality dimensions in nonhuman animals, a cross-species review.Current Directions in Psychological Science. 8:69-75 Hanlon, R.T. and J.B. Messenger. 1996. Cephalopod Behaviour. Cambridge University Press. 232 pp. Hanlon, R.T., J.W. Forsythe and D.E. Joneschild. 1999. Crypsis, conspicuousness, mimicry and polyphenismas antipredator defences of foraging octopuses on Indo-Pacific coral reefs, with a method of quantifyingcrypsis from video tapes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 66:1-22. Hutt, C. 1966. Exploration and play in children. Symposium of the Zoological Society of London. 18:61-81. Humphrey, N.K. 1976. The social function of intellect. pp. In: P.P.G. Bateson and R.A. Hinde, eds. Growingpoints in ethology. Cambridge University Press. pp. 303-317. Lehner, P.N. 1998. A handbook of ethological methods. Cambridge University Press. 692 pp. Mather, J.A. 1992b. Interactions of juvenile Octopus vulgaris with scavenging and territorial fishes. Mar. Behav.Physiol. 19:175-182. Mather, J.A. 1994. �Home� choice and modification by juvenile Octopus vulgaris (Mollusca: Cephalopoda):specialized intelligence and tool use? J. Zool. Lond. 233:359-368. Mather, J.A. 1998. How do octopuses use their arms? Journal of Comparative Psychology. 112(3):306-318. Mather, J.A. and R.C. Anderson. 1993. Personalities of octopus. Journal of Comparative Psychology.107(3):336-340. Mather, J.A. and R.C. Anderson. 1999. Exploration, play and habituation in octopuses (Octopus dofleini).Journal of Comparative Psychology. 113(3):333-338. Morton, J.E. 1967. Molluscs. Hutchinson and Co. (London). 244 pp. Neisser, U. 1967. Cognitive psychology. Appleton-Century-Crofts (NY). 351 pp. Patterson, F. and E. Linden. 1981. The education of Koko. Holt, Rinehart and Winston (NY). 224 pp. Povinelli, D.J., A.B. Ruff, K.R. Landau and D.T. Bierschwale. 1993. Self-recognition in chimpanzees (Pantroglodytes): distribution, ontogeny and pattern of emergence. J. Comp. Psych. 107:347-372. Vermeij, G.J. 1993. A natural history of shells. Princeton University Press. 207 pp. Wells, M.J. 1978. Octopus physiology and behaviour of an advanced invertebrate. Chapman and Hall(London). 417 pp. Wodinsky, J. 1969. Penetration of the shell and feeding on gastropods by octopus. American Zoologist.9:997-1010. » What's New? » Cephalopod Species, Information, and Photographs » Articles on Octopuses, Squid, Nautilus and Cuttlefish » Cephalopod Lesson Plans by Wood, Jackson and Amity High School Teachers » The Cephalopod Page F.A.Q. Resources CephBase Cephalopod database by Wood, Day and O'Dor Upcoming Conferences Sources of Live Cephalopods Cephalopod Links Want to learn more about Cephalopods? References and Credits

Architecture and design of a very fast real time delay insensitive asynchronous morphological processor in GaAs Delay insensitive asynchronous design techniques are employed to implement a mathematical morphology processor in GaAs. A modified version of the DCVSL family is introduced, in order to achieve ultra-fast data rates. Simulation of the architecture implementation in GaAs MESFET 0.6 /spl mu/m Vitesse technology demonstrates the reliability of this ASIC system for high end image processing applications.

October 28, 2016 - The Chicago Bulls announced today that the team has exercised its fourth-year option on forward Doug McDermott, and the third-year options on guard Jerian Grant and forward Bobby Portis. By exercising these options, they will be under contract with the Bulls for the 2017-18 season. McDermott (6-8, 223) played in 81 games (four starts) in 2015-16 after appearing in only 36 games during his rookie season. He recorded 37 double-digit scoring games last season, including a career-high 30 points on Feb. 19, 2016, versus Toronto – after only posting four games with 10+ points in 2014-15. McDermott’s 3-point percentage of .425 in 2015-16 ranked fifth in the NBA. The Creighton product owns career averages of 7.5 points and 2.0 rebounds while shooting .445 from the field, .410 from three and .828 from the free-throw line. McDermott was selected 11th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft and came to the Bulls in a draft-night deal with the Denver Nuggets on June 26, 2014. Grant (6-4, 198) was selected 19th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft, with the pick originally owned by the Washington Wizards and subsequently traded to New York via Atlanta. In his rookie year, Grant played in 76 games (six starts) and posted 5.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists (eighth among rookies) in 16.6 minutes per game. His .780 free-throw percentage ranked sixth among rookies. In his final year at Notre Dame in 2014-15, Grant earned NCAA First Team All-America honors from The Associated Press. Portis (6-11, 250) appeared in 62 games (four starts) in 2015-16. In his rookie year, he became the first Bull to record 20 points and 10 rebounds in one of his first five career games since 1999. Portis also became the 25th player in Bulls history to log a double-digit scoring effort in their NBA debut (Nov. 3, at Charlotte), and his field goal percentage of .714 is the highest of any Bull in his first game. He owns careers averages of 7.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 17.8 minutes per game while shooting .427 from the field, .308 from behind the arc and .727 from the line. The Arkansas product was named SEC Player of the Year in his second and final season as a Razorback.

The Pathology of Aging 129S6/SvEvTac Mice The 129 mouse strain is commonly used for the generation of genetically engineered mice. Genetic drift or accidental contamination during outcrossing has resulted in several 129 substrains. Comprehensive data on spontaneous age-related pathology exist for the 129S4/SvJae substrain, whereas only limited information is available for other 129 substrains. This longitudinal aging study describes the life span and spontaneous lesions of 44 male and 18 female mice of the 129S6/SvEvTac substrain. Median survival time was 778 and 770 days for males and females, respectively. Tumors of lung and Harderian gland were the most common neoplasms in both sexes. Hepatocellular tumors occurred mainly in males. Hematopoietic tumors were observed at low frequency. Suppurative and ulcerative blepharoconjunctivitis was the most common nonneoplastic condition in both sexes. Corynebacteria (primarily Corynebacterium urealyticum and C. pseudodiphtheriticum) were isolated from animals with blepharoconjunctivitis and in some cases from unaffected mice, although a clear causal association between corynebacterial infections and blepharoconjunctivitis could not be inferred. Polyarteritis occurred only in males and was identified as the most common nonneoplastic contributory cause of death. Eosinophilic crystalline pneumonia occurred in both sexes and was a relevant cause of death or comorbidity. Epithelial hyalinosis at extrapulmonary sites was noted at higher frequency in females. This study contributes important data on the spontaneous age-related pathology of the 129S6/SvEvTac mouse substrain and is a valuable reference for evaluation of the phenotype in genetically engineered mice obtained with this 129 substrain.

What is the greatest American rock band of all time? I suspect the answer might depend on from which side of the Atlantic you view the question. From a British perspective, it wouldn't necessarily be America's biggest sellers, many of whom don't really have much purchase beyond their national borders, from the plush Seventies soft rock of Boston, Chicago, Kansas and Journey to the flashy Eighties hair metal of Motley Crue and perennial jam rock of the Grateful Dead. Even the most internationally successful American rock bands are often critically scorned in Britain, with superficial, showband aspects that see them dismissed as jumped-up pop acts, from glam rockers such as Kiss and Alice Cooper, to the overblown pomp of Meat Loaf, Bon Jovi and battle-scarred survivors Aerosmith. Greatest band? Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose (right) and DJ Ashba at Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, last year. Credit:Paul Jeffers A new documentary series on BBC 4, Born To Be Wild, offers an intriguing list of possible candidates for the title, with three episodes tracing how rock changed with the political temperature of the times. Subtitled The Golden Age of American Rock, the series proposes a compelling narrative that covers the origins of the modern genre in the revolutionary anti-establishment peace-and-love movement of the late '60s, its gradual transformation into an overblown, conformist, multi-million-selling corporate business in the '70s, and its reformation under the influence of MTV into the flashy, pseudo-rebellious, pantomime rock of the '80s. Although the series concludes with the gritty disenchantment of early-Nineties grunge, its final episode posits Guns N' Roses as "the ultimate American band". Over shots of a scrawny Axl Rose gyrating with leonine threat to the metal groove of a band obscured by manes of shaggy hair, a voiceover explains that "they had the swagger, theatricality and arrogance of the big Seventies bands like Aerosmith and Alice Cooper, but mixed in with the sleaze and energy of punk and British hard rock. They existed in the mainstream alongside pop stars and power ballads but they were completely anti-establishment."

Functional outcome scales in traumatic brain injury: a comparison of the Glasgow Outcome Scale (Extended) and the Functional Status Examination. Clinical trials aimed at developing therapies for traumatic brain injury (TBI) require outcome measures that are reliable, validated, and easily administered. The most widely used of these measures, the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) and the GOS-Extended (GOS-E), have been criticized as suffering from ceiling effects. In an attempt to develop a more useful and dynamic outcome measure, the Functional Status Examination (FSE) was developed, which grades outcome across 10 functional domains. The FSE has been demonstrated to be reliable and sensitive in monitoring recovery after TBI. This manuscript compares FSE with GOS-E in a cohort of patients with a wide range of injury severities. 177 individuals who survived at least 6 months after TBI were studied. The FSE and GOS-E were administered 6-12 months after injury. FSE and GOS-E scores correlated well with each other. FSE scores were distributed throughout the range, indicating that ceiling and floor effects were not present. Physiologic measures of injury severity (Glasgow Coma Score ) did not correlate with anatomic measures (Abbreviated Injury Scale and Injury Severity Score ). GCS correlated weakly with both outcome measures, but AIS/ISS did not. We conclude that FSE and GOS-E are reliable outcome measures for TBI survivors, and FSE may offer some advantages over GOS-E due its ability to provide a more detailed description of deficits. The majority of the variance in outcome is not accounted for by currently available measures of injury severity.

Senators, counsel, witnesses, and visitors at a 1943 meeting of the Truman Committee. Senator Harry S. Truman is at the center. The Truman Committee, formally known as the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, was a United States Congressional investigative body, headed by Senator Harry S. Truman.[1] The bipartisan special committee was formed in March 1941 to find and correct problems in US war production with waste, inefficiency, and war profiteering. The Truman Committee proved to be one of the most successful investigative efforts ever mounted by the US government: an initial budget of $15,000 was expanded over three years to $360,000 to save an estimated $10–15 billion in military spending and thousands of lives of US servicemen.[2][3][4] For comparison, the entire cost of the Manhattan Project was $2 billion, at the time.[5] Chairing the committee helped Truman make a name for himself beyond his political machine origins and was a major factor in the decision to nominate him as vice president, which would propel him to the presidency after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.[6] Truman stepped down from leadership of the committee in August 1944 to concentrate on running for vice president in that year's presidential election. From 1941 until its official end, in 1948, the committee held 432 public hearings, listened to 1,798 witnesses and published almost 2,000 pages of reports.[3] Every committee report was unanimous, with bipartisan support.[7] Background [ edit ] The war production efforts of the US had previously been subject to congressional oversight during the Civil War (1861–1865) and after the Great War (1914–1918), but each of these were considered accusatory and negative. During the Civil War, the United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War hounded President Abraham Lincoln on his moderate stance on the prosecution of the war; its members wanted a more aggressive war policy. The many secret meetings, calling officers away from their duties, caused rancor among the Union's military leaders and delayed military initiatives. Confederate General Robert E. Lee said that the harm caused to the Union effort by the Union's own Joint Committee was worth two divisions to the rebel cause.[8] Two decades after the Great War, the Nye Committee found that heavy US investments in the UK had predisposed US bankers and arms manufacturers to back the UK, rather than Germany. The 1934–1936 investigation, led by Senator Gerald Nye, caused a noninterventionist backlash against any US involvement in European wars and resulted in a much lower level of American military preparedness when European conflict erupted again in 1939.[9] In 1940, Truman was reelected to the Senate as a Democratic politician who was not endorsed by and did endorse Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[10] Truman heard about needless waste and profiteering from construction of Fort Leonard Wood in his home state of Missouri, and he determined to see for himself what was going on. He traveled in his personal Dodge car not only to Missouri but also to various military installations from Florida through the Midwest; approximately 10,000 miles (16,000 km) of driving. Everywhere he went, he saw hard-luck poverty among the working people contrasted with millions of government dollars going to military contractors. Too many of the contractors were reaping excess profits from cost-plus contracts, without being held accountable for the poor quality of the goods delivered. He saw that too many contracts were held by a small number of contractors based in the East rather than distributed fairly around the nation. Returning to Washington, DC, Truman met with the President, who appeared sympathetic to his wish for corrective action but did not want Truman to reveal to the nation the wasteful nature of Roosevelt's own federal programs.[11] In early 1941, Representative Eugene Cox, a vocal anti-New Deal Democrat, proposed an investigative committee run by the House of Representatives, intending to expose federal waste in military spending. Learning of the likely source of embarrassment, Roosevelt joined with Senator James F. Byrnes to back a more friendly committee run by the Senate, one with the same stated purpose but with Truman as leader. Truman was seen by Roosevelt as less ideological and accusatory and more practical.[6][12][13] On February 10, 1941, Truman spoke to the Senate about the problems he had seen on his long drive, and he put forward the idea to have a special oversight committee on military contracts. It was the first new idea that Truman presented to the nation, and he received a positive reaction. Other senators were favorable to the notion that their views about spending would be heard and that valuable military contracts would be distributed more evenly to each state.[14][15] Truman also talked to John W. Snyder and other attorneys of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and Defense Plant Corporation about how to avoid the problems of lost paperwork, wasted time in investigation, and lost productivity experienced during the Great War. He was advised that a swift-acting oversight committee would be a great benefit to the nation's war production.[16] Military leaders were apprehensive of Truman's plan. They pointed to the Civil War committee, with such a negative effect on war production.[6] Truman said he was not going to take that committee as his model, and he spent time in the Library of Congress researching the Civil War-era Joint Committee so that he would better understand what were its flaws and what made it harmful to war production. Among army and navy leaders, General George Marshall was the lone voice of support for Truman. Marshall said to his peers that it "must be assumed that members of Congress are just as patriotic as we are."[9] Establishment [ edit ] On March 1, 1941, the Senate voted unanimously (only 16 out of 96 senators were present) to establish the Senate Special Committee to Investigate Contracts Under the National Defense Program, with Truman as chairman.[17][18] It quickly became known as the Truman Committee. Roosevelt and his New Deal advisers had pushed for a majority of New Dealers as committee members, but Republican Party opposition and Truman's own energy prevented that. The committee was instead formed of a bipartisan group of Democrats and Republicans, pragmatic men who Truman selected for their honesty, practicality, and steady work ethic.[19] Hugh Fulton served as chief counsel until August 1944. Truman asked for $25,000 to empower the committee's actions. Byrnes wanted to limit the committee by giving it only $10,000. A compromise of $15,000 was reached.[16] Serving under Truman were Democratic Senators Tom Connally, Carl Hatch, James M. Mead, and Monrad Wallgren and Republican Senators Joseph H. Ball and Owen Brewster.[16] Connally was the only senior senator, and the rest were juniors. Others on the Committee included chief counsel Hugh Fulton, attorneys Rudolph Halley and Herbert N. Maletz, and staff member Bill Boyle from the Kansas City, Missouri, political machine. Fulton, a US Justice Department prosecutor with a reputation for tenacity, asked for $9,000 as salary, 60% of Truman's total funding. Truman assented, hoping to increase the committee's budget after showing early results. Fulton proved to be a tireless, productive investigator. He and Truman were both early risers, and much of the committee's agenda was completed between them as they conferred in the morning.[2] Investigator Matt Connelly was brought onto the staff without diminishing the budget because he was "borrowed" from the Senate committee investigating campaign expenditures; he later served as Truman's vice-presidential executive assistant and then as his presidential appointment secretary.[20] By June 1941, after more borrowing and dealmaking, Truman had assembled a staff of 10 investigators and 10 administrative assistants.[17] Truman's first target was chosen to give him quick results. He knew that an investigation of waste and inefficiency in military housing projects would save a great deal of money and also would serve as good publicity for the Committee. On April 23, 1941, he began conducting hearings focusing on cost overruns related to the construction of cantonments and military facilities at places such as Fort Meade in Maryland, Indiantown Gap Military Reservation in Pennsylvania, and Camp Wallace in Hitchcock, Texas.[21] As head of the Quartermaster Corps, General Brehon B. Somervell was in charge of the construction of military housing.[22] He complained about the investigation and said that the Committee was "formed in iniquity for political purposes."[20] The Truman Committee determined that the construction of military housing would be better managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, and the change was implemented by the Army.[15] Somervell would later acknowledge that the Committee's investigation of military construction saved $250 million.[20] Because of its fast success, the Committee had its funding increased to $50,000 towards the end of 1941. Republican Senators Harold Hitz Burton and Homer Ferguson joined it, as did Democratic Senator Harley M. Kilgore. The investigative staff expanded by 50%. Truman invited any interested senators to attend the hearings, which were held in the Senate Office Building in Room 449, where the Committee was based or, for larger hearings, in the Senate Caucus Room.[23] Even Senator Nye came to visit, who had been the leader of the Senate investigative committee that Truman carefully studied and then denounced as "pure demagoguery."[24][25] Unlike in other congressional hearings, witnesses were generally treated with respect by the Truman Committee and were neither rushed nor subjected to insulting or accusatory language.[23][26] Even so, Truman revealed his persistence and quiet determination.[23] Roosevelt had created a confusion of agencies to supervise war production. In January 1941, he ordered into being the Office of Production Management (OPM), headed by labor leader Sidney Hillman and business executive William S. Knudsen, an inefficient dual-leadership arrangement that suited Roosevelt's wish to prevent a challenge to his leadership.[27] In July 1941, he formed another government department, the Supply Priorities and Allocation Board (SPAB), led by businessman Donald M. Nelson. The Truman Committee directed its attention on these "alphabet soup" organizations after hearing complaints of inefficiency. In August 1941, after a report by Truman to the Senate on the progress of the investigative committee, Republican Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg probed Truman to name the "chief bottleneck" of all of the problems related to defense contracts. Vandenberg asked if the single point of responsibility was the White House, meaning Roosevelt, and Truman replied "yes, sir."[28] Otherwise, the Truman Committee's reports were designed to keep the President from being blamed for cost overruns, inefficiency, and waste.[29] Wartime work [ edit ] After the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor brought the US into direct involvement in World War II, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson predicted that the Truman Committee would be a needless drag on war production. Under Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson agreed and called upon Roosevelt to pressure the Senate to abolish the committee. Patterson said that supplying the Truman Committee "all the information it desires" would "impair" the government's ability to respond quickly to the needs of war.[7] Roosevelt now realized the value of the Committee; rather than striving against it, he publicly praised its progress. The Truman Committee issued a report to the Senate on January 15, 1942, detailing its achievements to date and its ongoing investigations.[7] The Committee had begun in August 1941 to assess Roosevelt's ungainly Office of Production Management (OPM), and by January 1942, the conclusion was ready for publication. The report severely criticized the OPM: "Its mistakes of commission have been legion; and its mistakes of omission have been even greater."[29] The dual leadership chain of command and the divided loyalties of Hillman and Knudsen were described as causing friction and wasted effort. It was a thorough indictment of poor administration.[30][31] Diplomatically, Truman made certain that Roosevelt had access to an advance copy of the report.[32] Roosevelt was thus able to save face by disbanding the OPM just prior to the release of the report and replacing both the OPM and SPAB with the War Production Board under former SPAB chief Nelson.[29] Nelson used the committee to help his department; when the board had disagreements with the military, Nelson would leak the issue to the committee, and the resulting investigation encouraged the military to cooperate.[13]. In May 1942 the committee was reorganized. "Contracts Under" was dropped from the name to make it the "Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program." Democratic Senator Clyde L. Herring joined the effort.[16] The Committee generally followed a pattern of sifting through the great quantity of received mail and other messages from whistleblowers to determine the largest problems facing the US military war effort. Investigators were sent to confirm that a real problem existed, and at one of the Truman Committee's official fortnightly meetings, one of the senators was offered the task of heading a formal investigation of that problem. Sometimes several senators joined forces to cover the most complex issues. Senator/investigator teams would travel to various US cities to visit factories, construction sites, military bases and war production plants where they would talk with managers and workers.[33] A report would be prepared, and an early copy of the report would be sent to the leaders who were discussed in the report so that they would have a chance to prepare themselves for the consequences.[34] In November 1942, the committee began investigating the Winfield Park Defense Housing Project, a project intended to house the workers from the Kearny Shipyard. H. G. Robinson, an investigator, found that although the project had built 700 houses, they were poorly constructed, and "A good wind would rip the tar paper roofs off and the cellars have been condemned by the board of health." Public hearings were immediately held.[35] The reputation of the Truman Committee grew so strong that fear of an investigation was sometimes enough of a deterrent to stop underhanded dealings. An unknown number of people performed more honestly in war production because of the threat of a Truman visit.[36] "Investigator Truman" on the cover of Time magazine in March 1943 In March 1943, at the second birthday of the Truman Committee, Time magazine put "Investigator Truman" on the cover, showing Truman's craggy face squinting in the mid-day sun, in the background a spotlight shining on government and industry. The issue carried an associated article, titled "Billion-Dollar Watchdog," describing the Committee "as one of the most useful Government agencies of World War II" and "the closest thing yet to a domestic high command."[37] The article raised Truman's importance in the eye of the man on the street, cementing his well-earned position as one of America's most responsible leaders.[38] After Truman [ edit ] In August 1944, to focus on campaigning for the vice-presidency, Truman stepped down as chair of the investigative committee, and Fulton resigned as chief counsel. Truman was also concerned that his campaign on the Democratic Party ticket would call into question the committee's bipartisan nature. The committee's members composed a laudatory resolution thanking "Colonel Harry S. Truman" for his service, writing "well done, soldier!"[38] Senator Mead took over as chairman to continue the work. Truman became vice president, and upon the death of Roosevelt in April 1945, he immediately became president. World War II ended in August 1945. After the war was over, investigator George Meader became chief counsel from October 1, 1945 to July 15, 1947. In 1947, with Senator Owen Brewster as chairman, the committee conducted widely publicized hearings investigating Howard Hughes. On March 1, 1948, the Senate formed the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, under Senator Ferguson and chief counsel William P. Rogers, the subcommittee answering to the larger Committee on Government Operations.[39] The new subcommittee subsumed the old remit of the Truman Committee and became responsible for its records.[40] The Truman Committee's final report was issued April 28, 1948.[41] Legacy [ edit ] The Truman Committee is known for having indirectly helped Truman become president. It made his name prominent across the United States, giving him a reputation for honesty and courage.[13] In May 1944, Look magazine asked a pool of 52 Washington correspondents who were the top ten civilians, after Roosevelt, helping the war effort. Truman was named; he was the only member of Congress on the list.[42][43][44] A few months later, Truman was among the few names put forward as possible vice-presidents under the seriously ill Roosevelt; the vice-presidency was very likely to turn into a presidency. Truman's broad experience with industrial, economic, and military issues gained by three years of investigative work with the Committee served to make him one of the most well-informed men in US government and gave him a reputation for fair dealing.[31][45][46][47] The largely apolitical Truman Committee is also known for setting a high standard of practicality and neutrality in congressional investigative committees. Observers have occasionally compared the situation faced by the Truman Committee in the early 1940s with later political and military issues. In January 2005, in the face of an additional $80–100 billion requested by President George W. Bush to increase the Iraq War, columnist Arianna Huffington recommended the passing of the resolution sponsored by Senators Larry Craig and Dick Durbin to create a bipartisan oversight committee "modeled on the one Harry Truman created during WW II to root out war profiteering."[45][48] The next month, Huffington said that "it's a good time to open a history book" to learn about how a Truman-style committee might be used to counter the Iraq War's US-based problems with "waste, fraud, ineptitude, cronyism, secret no-bid contracts, and profiteering cloaked in patriotism."[49] Huffington's endorsement came three months after a press release by Taxpayers for Common Sense, titled "Bring Back the Truman Committee," in which Truman's record of stopping war profiteering in the 1940s was said to be "the most famous and the most successful" example, a model needed as a corrective measure to stem US military contractor improprieties in the War on Terror.[50] The problem was still not solved by 2007 when Senator Charles Schumer wrote, "The lesson of the Truman Committee is sorely in need of learning today."[45] He described how Republican Representatives blocked "for more than a year" a bipartisan proposal for an investigative committee to look into military "scandals and abuses" in Iraq.[45] When Senators Jim Webb of Virginia and Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who held the same Senate seat that Truman did, formed a Truman-type committee in January 2008, the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush called it "a threat to national security."[45] See also [ edit ] President's Committee on Civil Rights (1948), sometimes called Truman's Committee on Civil Rights References [ edit ] Notes [ edit ] Bibliography [ edit ]

Looking for a quality used fire truck? Selling one? Visit our sponsor Command Fire Apparatus Previously: Complaint of cereal racism brings racist cereal rant from Pennsylvania firefighter In West Lebanon Township, Pennsylvania the Speedwell Fire Company is no longer providing fire protection. According to reporter Daniel Walmer at Lebanon Daily News, township officials suspended and decertified the Speedwell Fire Company because seven of its firefighters showed up at an incident scene after consuming alcohol. Ebenezer Fire Company is handling fire calls for the township. Speedwell Fire Company was in the news two-months-ago after one of its members went on a racist social media rant about a cereal box. Daniel Walmer, Lebanon Daily News: Seven out of nine fire company members who responded to a call at 10:10 p.m. Dec. 14 were under the influence of alcohol, township commissioner John Brenner said in a letter to Lebanon County EMA Director Robert Dowd. “The results of the investigation found that numerous members responded to this incident after consuming alcoholic beverages, to include the operators of both Engine and Squad 39,” he wrote. The North Lebanon Township Police Department, which provides police coverage for West Lebanon Township, declined to say Wednesday whether the incident would result in criminal charges. However, the department confirmed that there is an ongoing investigation. Read entire article

Vocal and movement responses of mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) to natural loud calls from neighbors Loud calls (i.e., long‐range acoustic signals) regulate resource competition among neighboring groups of conspecifics in several nonhuman primate species. Ultimate explanations for primate loud calls include mate, offspring, and food defense. Additionally, loud calls may provide valuable information pertaining to the identity and health status of callers, their competitive abilities, and their spatial location. The loud calls of howler monkeys (Alouatta) have been thoroughly studied and seem to play an important function in the defense of valuable resources in a variety of socioecological contexts. Here, we examined whether the behavioral responses of mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) to natural loud calls from neighbors are linked to three factors: food availability, familiarity, and distance between groups. We studied three groups of mantled howler monkeys at La Flor de Catemaco (Los Tuxtlas, Mexico) for 15 months (1817 observation hours), during which we recorded 236 neighbor loud calls. Food availability per se did not influence the behavior of groups receiving loud calls, although males produced longer vocal responses toward unfamiliar neighbors when food availability decreased. Groups vocalized quicker and both vocalized and moved for longer after loud calls from unfamiliar neighbors. Additionally, groups vocalized and moved for longer at shorter distances from unfamiliar neighbors compared with familiar neighbors. Finally, groups usually moved away from calling neighbors that were closer. These results indicate that the behavioral responses of mantled howler monkeys to loud calls from neighbor groups are associated with the integration of information pertaining to caller identity as well as to their ecological and spatial context.

Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Imagine a developed economy with a highly regarded central bank and a long and distinguished tradition of progressive, state-of-the-art monetary policy-making. Imagine that central bank has been given a mandate of high employment and price stability. Imagine that it interprets “price stability” as 2% inflation, and it regards the natural rate of unemployment as being around 6%. Sound familiar? Now imagine that the current unemployment rate is 7.8%, and inflation is expected to run below 2% over the next few years. They have a policy meeting, where a couple people advocate greater monetary stimulus, while the majority decides to stand pat, despite the fact that their mandate would pretty clearly call for additional easing. Why does the majority favor doing nothing? There are limits to what monetary policy can achieve. Many of the problems on the labour market are of a structural nature. The structural problems include the possibility for new groups joining the labour force to find work, matching of vacancies to job-seekers and the flexibility of the wage formation process. In addition, the policy recommended by the doves would better fulfill their mandate, but there are vague “risks” involved in doing the right thing, and “uncertainty” is holding back the economy, not monetary policy: Although a larger cut, as advocated by Ms Ekholm and Mr Svensson, could bring inflation up to the target more quickly, and the forecast would thus “look better”, Ms Wickman-Parak’s assessment was that the effects on the real economy would not be particularly significant and that there were risks associated with such a policy. It is not an excessively high interest rate that is holding back investment; this is due to the high level of uncertainty about the future course of the economy. And let’s not forget that the low level of interest rates show that policy is already accommodative: Ms af Jochnick pointed out that the Riksbank is currently conducting an expansionary monetary policy. Sounds exactly like the Fed. But it’s not, it’s the Riksbank, with Svensson playing the role of Charles Evans. And here’s what’s most important, the current level of short term interest rates in Sweden is 1.5%, and the debate is over whether rates should be cut. They aren’t at the zero bound. Sweden faces a situation similar to that of the US, which calls for monetary easing to hit their dual mandate. A few members of their central bank favor a rate cut, but most are opposed. That tells me that the problem probably isn’t the zero bound, rather it’s excessive caution at the Fed. We need to accept that fact that exiting the zero bound won’t end our malaise. The Fed will still be too tight, worried about inflating new bubbles (another worry mentioned in the Riksbank’s minutes.) Like the Riksbank and the BOJ and the ECB, the Fed will raise rates too soon and then have to cut them again. As usual the markets figured all this out long before I did. The 2.6% yield on 30 year bonds is basically a forecast of future premature tightening by the Fed. What I don’t understand is how markets can be so damn smart when they are composed of individuals who are individually quite stupid. I suppose for the same reason that Albert Einstein’s brain was quite smart, despite being composed of neurons that are individually quite stupid. HT: Stefan Elfwing Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Tags: This entry was posted on July 18th, 2012 and is filed under Monetary Policy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.

Alex.IGN Profile Joined March 2011 United States 1047 Posts Last Edited: 2011-11-10 00:03:09 #1 We've had time to review the PPSL situation and the community response to it and I felt like we should clarify some more issues in the interest of being open and honest with the community, as well as talk about our future plans for our regional events. 1) Why did we pick PPSL to run our SEA Qualifier for IPL 4? When we were planning IPL 3, we heard that the PPSL was going to be doing an event that same weekend, with Tastosis and Korean players coming in. In order to allow players to play in both events, as well as making sure the community could watch both events, we entered in negotiations with the PPSL to shift their date for their event, even though their broadcast times would only slightly conflict with ours. We agreed to pay them to move their event and also we wanted to support the local Filipino eSports scene and thus went further and became a sponsor of their event. This was not a case of us picking them over anyone else. 2) Will we be able to swoop in and make everything right with the PPSL aftermath? I wish we could just come in on a white horse and right all the wrongs, but we want to share more inside info why that's difficult. Our sponsorship of the event was only $14k, of which we gave Gus 50% before the event. To ensure that the event would be successful, we withheld the remaining $7k. This will not pay for even half of what's been reported he owes. We will work on evaluating where to best allocate the remaining funds. 3) Will we ever do an event in the Philippines again? I cannot answer that either way right now until we evaluate our plans for 2012. If anything, the vigorous defense of the Filipino eSports scene from the Filipino fan base to this situation has only helped the cause to come back at some point. We've talked to both Dox and Mineski already about potential events in the future. 4) What does this mean for future IPL Regionals? What kind of passed by the wayside without too much notice is we actually did similar things with the Devastation event in Arizona in October. Devastation had decided to include StarCraft 2 in its lineup this year and was run the same weekend as IPL 3. We talked to them and worked out a deal where we'd take on sponsorship for their event in exchange for letting us borrow Sir Scoots as a consultant and them cancelling their SC2 portion of the event. Devastation went extremely well and as a result, we actually brought in their senior leader, Robb, to our core team. This gives us the belief that we can successfully sponsor and partner with regional events and have them be successful. Coming up in two weekends is Multiplay's i44 event in the UK, which is another regional qualifier (more info can be found here: Thank you! Hello everyone,We've had time to review the PPSL situation and the community response to it and I felt like we should clarify some more issues in the interest of being open and honest with the community, as well as talk about our future plans for our regional events.When we were planning IPL 3, we heard that the PPSL was going to be doing an event that same weekend, with Tastosis and Korean players coming in. In order to allow players to play in both events, as well as making sure the community could watch both events, we entered in negotiations with the PPSL to shift their date for their event, even though their broadcast times would only slightly conflict with ours. We agreed to pay them to move their event and also we wanted to support the local Filipino eSports scene and thus went further and became a sponsor of their event. This was not a case of us picking them over anyone else.I wish we could just come in on a white horse and right all the wrongs, but we want to share more inside info why that's difficult. Our sponsorship of the event was only $14k, of which we gave Gus 50% before the event. To ensure that the event would be successful, we withheld the remaining $7k. This will not pay for even half of what's been reported he owes. We will work on evaluating where to best allocate the remaining funds.I cannot answer that either way right now until we evaluate our plans for 2012. If anything, the vigorous defense of the Filipino eSports scene from the Filipino fan base to this situation has only helped the cause to come back at some point. We've talked to both Dox and Mineski already about potential events in the future.What kind of passed by the wayside without too much notice is we actually did similar things with the Devastation event in Arizona in October. Devastation had decided to include StarCraft 2 in its lineup this year and was run the same weekend as IPL 3. We talked to them and worked out a deal where we'd take on sponsorship for their event in exchange for letting us borrow Sir Scoots as a consultant and them cancelling their SC2 portion of the event. Devastation went extremely well and as a result, we actually brought in their senior leader, Robb, to our core team. This gives us the belief that we can successfully sponsor and partner with regional events and have them be successful.Coming up in two weekends is Multiplay's i44 event in the UK, which is another regional qualifier (more info can be found here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=277765) . We've been working with them for several weeks now and they proactively reached out to us immediately when they saw what went down on the first day with PPSL. We are working closely together to make sure this is a successful event that is enjoyable for live spectators, online spectators, and the players. Their staff is experienced and while we do not expect our regional partners to be able to create something like IPL 3, we do believe they can create something that is worth your valuable time to watch. We've helped them build an event chock full of top players - Grubby, WhiteRa, Thorzain, Bling, Hasuobs, StarEagle, Cloud, Sase, Stephano, Lau, Adelscott, Demuslim, Darkforce, Minigun, Ryung and Tails thus far - so please do not give up on our regional partners based on one bad experience. The best thing the community can do is watch each regional and give the organizers feedback to make each event even better. We are in this for the long term and we expect to see long term growth and quality increases from each of our regional partners.Thank you! IGN eSports StarCraft 2 Division Manager

Nutrition and its importance in dental health. Balanced and good nutrition is necessary for the growth, development, and maintenance of the dental and oral structures. Nutrition counseling is, therefore, of paramount importance. The physician who is aware of the factors that cause dental and oral disease will be in a position to intercept the progress of dental caries caused by an incorrect diet. This paper considers the significance of highly cariogenic foods, particularly sucrose, and the difficulties of removing it from the diet. A method of conducting a diet survey is presented. The importance of fluoridation is discussed, with elaboration of the advisable prescribing techniques for fluoride supplementation of the diet. Cooperation between physician and dentist is important in order to insure the prevention of dental disease.