Oh, no!

This weekend, I am going to venture into the world of cooking.
During the choosing of appliances for the house, I went looking for a double oven gas stove and a fridge that was very flexible in how the shelves could be arranged. I managed to succeed and it is time to begin to use them.
When I was at the Agriculture Fair on Ash Wednesday, one of the Junior Achievement groups was selling a "heavy cake kit" that contained everything except the main ingredient. What is heavy cake? Well, the name says it all. It is heavy because the main ingredient in it is a root crop called cassava (yucca to the Spanish). Add some brown sugar, spices like nutmeg and cinnamon, a bit of vanilla and mix it all together and the result is a item that anyone in the Caribbean and Central America will readily accept a slice of (assuming you prepared it well). Heavy cake is a great seller no matter where it is available.
I got into a discussion with a co-worker Janet who knows how to make it (by seeing her Mom) yet had never made it herself. Topics ranged from type of container it should be baked in (thick metal not thin but pyrex is acceptable and cast iron is great - and I though I understood the laws of thermodynamics), coconut milk (fresh made from the coconut, not from the can), how to bake (slow not fast so that it becomes stretchy - still working on understanding that) and finally basting the cake as it is cooking. Eventually, another co-worker Jennifer got involved in the chat. Needless to say, they thought that I was starting at the wrong end of the learning to cook scale but I still contend that how hard can it be?
The end result is that I now have two not too willing but will give it a try Caymanian tasters for Monday who will hopefully survive the experience.
I did let them know that I an going to take the quick way in preparation for now by using canned or previously prepared items as much as possible. Once I get the procedure down pat, I will explore other methods of heavy cake creation.
I have learned that most of the cooks in Cayman don't follow a recipe. They can estimate well enough based on what amount of ingredients that are available to deliver a consistent product.

If anyone is interested in trying heavy cake, here is the Junior Achievement recipe. You can replace the cassava with most Caribbean root crops (yams, etc) for a slightly different taste and texture but I believe the procedure and other ingredients remains the same.

Ingredients for Process A:-
-1 and 1/2 cans (32oz) of coconut milk
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup dark brown sugar
-1/2 tsp Vanilla
-1/4 tsp Allspice
-1 tsp ground nutmeg
-1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Ingredients for Process B
-1 cup light brown sugar
-1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
-1 1/4 tsp vegetable oil
-1/4 cup dark sugar

Step 1 - Peel and grate 3 lbs of whole cassava (a food processor can be used) or you can buy pre-grated cassava if you are lucky. I was!

Step 2 - Place the ingredients for Process A in a large pot on a heated stove. Bring the mixture to a boil until a film of froth is seen.

Step 3 - Use a spoon to remove and collect the froth from the top of the boiled mixture until you have a measurement of 1/4 cup. This froth will be used to later baste the cake. Please preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 4 - Add the grated cassava to the mixture along with the ingredients from process B. Stir until well mixed.

Step 5 - Lightly oil an 8 x 8 inch baking pan and pour the mixture into pan.

Step 6 - Place mixture in oven to bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and baste it lightly with the froth.

Step 7 - Place the cake back into oven for 10 to 15 minutes. After this period is complete allow cake to cool overnight.

Step 8 - Enjoy your delicious heavy cake.

Sounds pretty straightforward to me, but then what do I know as I have only been a consumer for all my life! Since last night, I have had the 3 lbs of cassava defrosting in the fridge. This morning, It was still a solidly frozen mass. I have placed it on the counter to speed the process up.

An update on chickens. When we were transferring the Rhode Islands Reds from the chicken tractor to the coop, they were like pets. Calmly allowing us to hold them without any sign of fear or fuss. And true enough, 3 have begun laying eggs. Our maximum daily count so far is 7 but some were very small. These are believed to have come from beginning layers.

I also have some new plants to plant. 5 pineapple, a black mint, a peppermint and a thyme were bought at the Agriculture fair. I had pineapples about 15 years ago. Very small in size (the fruit was definitely less than 6" long) but it seemed to have contained all the flavor available in a large sized one.
Every now and then I start to imagine what would happen if the supply ships could not get here or we delayed by some disaster. Then I go out an plant another banana or some fruit tree. Who knows when they will be useful!

We did manage to move the lathe and stand on Wed. Only 4 guys and Janie, Sarah and Dorothy as standbys and counterweights but it has been successfully installed in its new (and hopefully permanent) parking space. It takes up more space that I thought (have to re-plan the garage organization) but it never hurts to have more room around it for working and maintenance.

Addendum:
It's Sunday morning and for better or worse, my heavy cake concoction is in the oven. Last night, I was over at Janet's and she had a Caymanian cookbook with a heavy cake recipe by Frank Conolly. I work with his daughter and he made a heavy cake for our family Christmas dinner in 2008 which was enjoyed by everyone. His recipe differs slightly from the one above but that is to be expected. He claims that the older Caymanians "cooked by eye".
Mr. Conolly's recipe called for more sugar and for some butter, which was not mentioned in the JA recipe. So I compromised and split the amount between them. I also added a bit of almond extract and honey for a slightly different twist on things. Mixing time was not long. I spent more time locating pans, measuring spoons and figuring out how to set the oven. I am cooking at 325 instead of 350 so that I can see how things are proceeding.
Here is the mixture before cooking...



Just waiting for the result - maybe an hour or two?

And the final result. The slash in the middle is where I insert a knife to see if the center was cooked




Now I have to find some coconut icecream to put on top but we will be tasting this by dinnertime if not before.

February already?

They say that the older you get, the faster time flies! They were not kidding!

Things are still progressing on the house. We completed the trim for the four storage areas and they have all been primed with two of them already final coated. Just have to choose they type of flooring and the doors and all is completed. The biggest problem is still the garage. I never realized how much stuff I have stashed in the old one. Ash Wednesday is a holiday and after a visit to the Agriculture Show in the morning to get fruit trees and other plants, later that day is "Let's move the lathe'! The lathe is about 6' long and weights about 600 lbs all stripped down. The base is another 400 lbs. Luckily, we can get a flatbed trailer within 3' of it so with 6 guys, we should be able to move things quite easily.
Then to plan the milling machine!

The chickens are fine. On this past Friday, we came home to find out that the Rhode Island Reds had laid 3 eggs. This was not natural as we are still feeding them grower, not layer! Later today, they will be joining the main flock and start to eat layer and corn.
The biggest problem I have seen is the roosters. They are continually chasing each other around and fighting. My solution - prepare 5 of them for the pot. The hens seem a lot more settled since we have cleared that mess up.

Still playing with photography. Got a couple new lens and attachments last month, but there are still some more that would be nice to have. With the upcoming Easter 4 day weekend and adding some vacation days, I will have 10 days off work. One of the things I am planing is an all day trip where I will do is drive around and photograph the island. Should be fun.
My newest lens is a Pentacon 300mm F4. It is made in Germany and is all old school - metal with very little if any plastic. Weighs about 5 lbs. It is not a hand holding lens and has to be used with either a tripod or a sandbag. It goes back to the old days when you bought a lens, you got a leather round case that is velvet lined. These days, you are lucky at times to get a glare hood much less a case.

To those that don't know me well, I collect and read magazines. Not everyday stuff but useful ones like Fine Homebuilding, Fine Woodworking, the Handyman, Home Shop Machinist, Projects in Metal, etc. You get the idea. DIY is the theme!
Some of these magazines have been in publication for 30 or more years. And I have almost every copy! Of course, the wife sees it as clutter but use an idea from them and she thinks I am the smartest guy in the world! I just smile and bask in the short limelight.
The problem for me is how to index and store them and for her is to get them out of sight? I have managed to locate in Cayman some medium sized plastic storage boxes from Sterilite. They have an air and moisture resistant seal and hold the magazines quite nicely. Solution - store the magazines in them in sequential order. I will have to build a storage unit in the garage where the boxes can all be lodged safely but still accessible when needed. I hope she likes the idea.

Yesterday, I went to the first birthday party of my God-daughter Sarah. Never had a God-daughter before and I am still feeling out what is required. She seemed quite happy to be running around with other children and did not have a care in the world. I took quite a few pictures and Janet will be combining them with others that have been taken of her by during the past year to make a photo book. First attempt at this but hopefully it will be a fun project.

It's also Valentine's Day everyone so hope that your special someone has remembered!

How we look at things

It is amazing how one's view of things can change rapidly. The new year started out normally, looking like the old year. Plans were being made for various vacations,trips and achievements that one hoped to make and all seemed well.
Then the earthquake in Haiti happened. A land where the average person lives on less than US$1/day. Being only 600 miles east of Cayman and close enough to the US so that there was full news coverage, we have been able to follow the developments. It is saddening to see the damage and struggles they are going through and it reminds us how blessed we really are. Our prayers go to the people in Haiti.
There were discussions at work on who would be willing to go and help the Haitians if they could. Most would go in a flash but some would isolate themselves from the scene.
Then Cayman gets a little shake to remind it that we are still here. A 5.9 earthquake on Tues Jan 19 rattles a few nerves but fortunately no damage was done to buildings or people. The only "damage" that we know about is a sinkhole that formed beside a beachfront condo.



One of my images was used in an online news site and I am now looking at adding watermarks to some of my photos. You can never tell when one of them might be important - but I'll keep on dreaming!

Chickens - some days we are getting 5 eggs as more of them begin to lay but 2 or 3 is the norm. We are now giving eggs away to family members. The Rhode Island Reds are all alive and just keep getting larger. When you lift them, they are solid and heavy and it seems like they might all be females. Another month or so of grower feed and we let them join the main population.

Still moving house. The good thing is that one can get organized as new stuff comes over. The biggest challenge is still the garage but I expected that move to be not only slow, but among the last to get done. I have been building cabinets and shelving to house sorted items.

AS work on the house continues to slowly get less and less, I am spending more time playing with my hobbies. Photography and astronomy are getting more time spent on them as well as woodworking. I just like creating/building things and keeping busy so I am always looking for neat projects or ideas to undertake. I will have to post some pictures at a later date on some of my projects.

Another year has begun

By the reckoning of the Western world, we have entered into a new decade, 2010. I did a bit of research and our counting of years is a little on the new side. It seems that our current numbering was calculated by a guy named Dionysius in around 523AD. Previous to those days, the year was calculated using the reign of the current king (i.e. the 20th year of King Mike). Of course you can see the confusion when you have King Mike in country A and King Fred in Country B. They just don't start or end their reigns at the same time!
I found out that this is 2010 (our calculation) but it is also 2753 for the Romans, 2312 for the Greeks, 5770 for the Jews, 4707 for the Chinese, 1931 for India, 1424 for Islam and Persia and 2001 for Ethiopia. So pick your number.

Cayman has been personally quiet over the holidays. Good food, company and days off are the usual fare. Did not leave the island but I'll fix that soon enough.

We have achieved something a bit disquieting as a country. We were #6 in terms of murders per population at the end of 2009. Not a great achievement to be boasting of. A total of 8 murders with a population of 60K puts ahead of Mexico but behind Russia. And it seems to be all gang related. A sad trend these days.

Still moving into the new house. Installed closet organizers over the holiday as well as sorted out some things. Trying to declutter.

I was reading about New Year resolutions and decided to follow the lead of a great thinker - the Adam comic strip. It is recognized that most resolutions are broken by February as we settle back into the old way of doing things. I am keeping mine simple but achievable and promise to brush my hair, have at least one meal every day and try to keep alive.

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous 2010.

Time is flying by....

I did not realize that so long has passed since my last update. Well, here is all the new stuff.
Temperatures are cooling down. We had two nor'westers (periods of winds from the north west that are a result of winter storms in the US) in the last month with did a lot to reduce the humidity and bring nice temperatures back again.
There is still rain but it is now isolated showers. About a week ago, I had to ride through two of them on my bike commute to work.
Chickens are OK. There is a bit of competition between two of the large roosters hence a chicken dinner will be coming up this week. The "Group of twelve" to steal a Canadian artist reference, at 9 weeks old are the size of 16 week adult chickens. And are quite heavy. Our best guess is that we have about 5 males and 7 females, but time will tell.
We are starting to move into the new house this weekend. The past month has had us going over every night, tacking some little job or the other. The longest running project has been the master bathroom and the tiling. There has been enough do and redo in order to get things looking just right and it looks like we have finally succeeded. It is really amazing how many little things that have to be done. You think you are finished a room then you remember that you forgot some item which leads to remembering another and so on. I am taking the upcoming week off work so I should be able to get the list down to a couple small items if not finish it off.
The garage has also been worked on. We did an epoxy coating on the floor and it is holding out quite well as machines are dragged over it. I have been constructing drawer cabinets to ultimately store tools and other items. I am hoping that I can get the lathe and milling machine into it before the Christmas season. That would allow me to play during the upcoming holidays.
Well, enough of a break. back to work!

No hurricanes as yet but.......

As I sit here this morning, it is pouring rain and howling winds outside. Rain rate gets as high as 4" per hour then drops off. We are getting the effects of an offshoot from former hurricane Ida (now tropical storm). The storm is currently 230 miles SW of Grand Cayman but it has spawned two offshoots. One about 3/4 of the size of the tropical storm (probably will become another storm itself) that is threatening Cayman and a third area about 1/4 the size that sits to the south and in between the two. Our area of concern has just started to interact with us and is heading northeast. The intense rain area for this offshoot is about 1/4 the size of the main part of Ida and 100 miles south of us but can easily grow in size. We will be keeping an eye on it for sure. Since we have not had any hurricanes pass through this year, sea temperatures are very warm (hurricanes use the ocean heat to for their power) and is just waiting to be used!

We have another 4 day weekend. This is a special one. Monday is the usual public holiday for Remembrance Day but there is a new constitution being introduced as well as the first premier.As a result, we have had Friday as a special public holiday. Who am I to complain!

We did a nice chicken test yesterday. I open the door to the coop and let everyone out to roam around. And they did, eating the grass and weeds, scratching for bugs and other niceties that chickens love and even going for a stroll. When it was getting dark, everyone came home to roost, including two that joined from places unknown. Egg production is still at 2-3 per day but it falls off at times. We have a new layer and it's first egg was about 3/4" dia. Hopefully, they will get larger. It reminded me of the quail eggs that one gets in Brazil at the hotels for breakfast! Did a quick count of roosters in the coop and it seems they have about 1/3 or the population. Guess I'll be eating some in the next couple months!
The new Rhode Island Reds at 5 weeks are the size of our normal chickens at 2 months. All 12 are still alive and doing well.

I was planning to go out and do some normal and infrared photography but the weather dictates otherwise - maybe tomorrow or Monday wil be better. I think I'll build the light tent that I have had plans to for the past 4 month sor so.

Time goes by fast

It has been over a month since my last post so I need to do some updating.
The last two weeks of Sept were pretty uneventful. Rained the odd day but life continued with its daily cycle.
We took a two week leave of the island and had a wonderful break and upon returning, quickly got back into the old grind.
We finally have electrical hookup to the new house and the final touch-ups and finishing can begin in earnest. No more electrical umbilical cord from one house to the other. No more quitting as it got dark (around 5:45pm now). No more extension cords to run, change the different plugs when you used something on a different floor and other concerns. Electrical hookup was completed on last Wed and this morning, I started to rewire switches to a more logical (to me) order. What this means is where you have a ceiling fan with the light underneath and it is controlled by a two level switch, you put the fan to the top switch and the light to the bottom. Makes sense to me but obviously not to everyone. It also means that I can now hookup outlets for the table saw and welder. The initial plan did not allow these as they were considered commercial connections. Guess they haven't seen my garage!
We also have to run three high amp circuits to handle some tools - welder, table saw and other 240V power hogs. The fun is about to begin.
In the camera scene, I have been experimenting with infrared photography. This is a little area of the spectrum that is not too often explored by photographers. It is mainly monotone but has an interesting effect. Vegetation becomes while like snow, animals become black and other effects are seen.
In the image below, the white leaves are easily visible. The sky is black (no clouds). The iguana on the wall is a dark gray and the leafless tree in the front is dark. This was taken in full sunlight, hence full infrared.



In the image below, the sun was behind the clouds and things become a bit redder. There are clouds in the sky and the iguana is visible in the middle of the leaves. The tones can be adjusted to mirror that image above but I wanted to show the difference. Most photographers avoid imaging at midday due to the harsh light, but for IR, this is the best time. Please click on any image for a larger view.