The Followspot

Why's everyone ganging up on Kansas?

Two days ago it was McClatchy.

Yesterday it was the L.A. Times. In its review of the Prius 2010, there was this bit of snark:

As for the powertrain, it's so much a product of evolution they probably won't teach the Prius in Kansas.

National origins: not always what they seem

Danish Bread Dough Whisk: Made in Poland.

BuiltNY Clink-Proof BYOBag: Made in Taiwan.

Oyster Knife, Boston Style (also New Haven Style and Galveston Style): Made in Brazil.

Tortilla/Taco Shell Baking Pans, Blued Steel Deep Paella Pan, Cucina Pro Electric Krumkake Iron, Swissmar Classic 8 Person Raclette Party Grill -- and a mindboggling array of other cooking utensils: Made in China.

At www.fantes.com (the Fantes shop was established in Philadelphia in 1906) you can travel around the world by merely exploring their catalogue. It feels as through every national cuisine is represented. But it's clear, even after only a few clicks -- and if you love kitchen stuff the way I do, I challenge you to perform only a few clicks; I found that the enterprise quickly became addictive -- that almost every category is swamped by the number of items manufactured in the People's Republic.

The copper pots come from France, and so do the Peugeot pepper mills, as one would hope and expect. There are tagines from Tunesia, as one would hope and expect, although the catalogue does include tagines from both France and the USA.

But for the rest, one must imagine endless ranks of Chinese workers in endless ranks of Chinese factories turning out endless numbers of melamine measuring cups, silicone spatulas, meat grinders, flour sifters, pickle forks, ketchup bottle scrapers; not to mention Cuisinart coffee makers and even the Sushi Magic Express Sushi Maker Kit.

Without doubt, however, this item is my very favorite:

You'll find it in "Toasters." An instructional note says:

Press stamp into a piece of bread before toasting it. Works best on fresh white sliced bread. Makes a light image, almost as if the image appeared naturally on the toast.

Beware of imitations!

McClatchy's finger on the pulse of Kansas

Two items from the McClatchy website:

What's the matter with Kansas? For one, minimum wage is $2.65

Inflated penises, assaulted horses: A grand time in Kansas

Time to roll the hard six

I watched Obama's online town hall this morning. It was a good performance that probably added to his considerable store of political capital. There's one issue, though, where I am extremely angry and pessimistic: health care reform.

Obama tried to make the case for "reform" that still reserves a place for "legacy interests," i.e., private insurance companies and employer-based insurance. Why? Supposedly because people are "familiar" and "comfortable" with that framework. Right. It couldn't possibly be because the insurance lobby has most of frakking Congress in its pocket. Yes, the single-payer system as it exists in Canada and Europe is just too radical and controversial for us American rubes.

It's bullshit, pure and simple. There is no way to make a case for reform, for saving money and getting the most health care delivery on the dollar as long as some of those dollars are being siphoned off for shareholder profit and executive bonuses -- profits and bonuses based on the denial of health care.

Instead, Obama kept peddling those same old bogus cure-alls: electronic medical records and preventive care, blah, blah, blah. I don't know about you, but I'm not wild about the idea of my entire medical history in online databases given the state of electronic security and the pattern of corporate abuse of private information. It's also just another thing for private companies to sell at exorbitant rates.

Obama revealed that in the administration's health care roundtables, the insurance companies (bless their hearts!) are "coming around." How are they coming around? They're willing to stop cherry-picking and excluding people with pre-existing conditions from coverage. Their price for doing the right thing? They demand universal coverage be mandated and bought from them. Nice, eh? It's like a license to print money. What business wouldn't want everyone to be forced to buy their product?

When is somebody in Washington going to come out and say it: There is no reform or affordability until health insurance companies are cut out of the mix. Obama must know this -- after all, he's no dope. But, as Admiral Adama would say, he's got to be willing to roll the hard six.

Later came a question about affordable higher education and Obama seemed unaware of the total logical disconnect between his answer on student loans and his line on health care affordability.

He made the case (an easy one to make) that the student loan system as provided by banks and other financial firms results in graduates burdened right out of the gate with payments that keep them from pursuing careers that are socially important but not lucrative or from starting families and buying houses. In other words, debt service on the student loans harm the larger economy as well as the individual graduates.

And so -- now get this -- Obama proposes that student loans should be provided primarily by the government to cut out the middleman profits ("billions of dollars") that would otherwise go to the banks. That's billions of dollars that could go toward more loans that are more affordable. As for the banks themselves, Obama said there are plenty of other places for them to make profits; they don't need to profit from students just starting out in life.

I agree. And here I would add that there are plenty of other places for insurance companies to make profits. They don't need to suck our lifeblood by profiting on health care. That would be billions of dollars that could be used to deliver more and better care rather than lining the pockets of frakking bloodsuckers. Insurance companies already have guaranteed customers for mandated car insurance. They have home and property insurance, travel insurance, life insurance and insurance on insurance. Enough. Frak 'em all. That's the one thing I'd like to see government do before I croak: Cut the insurance companies out of health insurance altogether.

Here's the transcript of the web town meeting Q&A.

Two little piggies

I saw these in a shop the other day, and since I was prowling for a new pair of potholders anyway, I just couldn't resist.

Maybe we should have a separate category for pork (no, not that kind, silly) since Chiaro and I seem to share a love for this most versatile, delectable animal flesh, and both of us enjoy writing about it.

Click the links below to follow our ongoing conversation about the pleasures of pig wrangling.

Chiaro starts it here Then I chime in. I follow up with some sourcing. Chiaro follows up with some saucing. Then more sauce...

Hey, Paul Krugman, your country needs you now

Found this on DKos, and I can't tell you how happy it makes me feel:

Michelle Obama channels Alice Waters

The New York Times reports that there is soon to be an organic food garden at the White House.

This is Alice Waters' dream come true. On last Sunday's Sixty Minutes Lesley Stahl interviewed Waters. This was part of their exchange:

STAHL: Now she has her sights on a new project and we would like to warn President Obama that the steamroller is on its way.

"You have been pushing for a vegetable garden at the White House for years. Rose garden? Forget that. You want a broccoli garden?" Stahl asked.

"I have been talking nonstop about the symbolism of an edible landscape at the White House. I think it says everything about stewardship of the land and about the nourishment of a nation," Waters said.

Asked if she thinks she'll achieve such a garden at the White House, Waters told Stahl, "Well, I'm very hopeful. I've always liked the idea of doing press conferences at the compost heap."

I'm not sure if Waters intended something deeper with her "compost heap" remark -- but that aside, her message seems to have resonated loud and clear. Not that Mrs. Obama and her people wouldn't have come up with the notion on their own. It's a natural for this First Family.

I'm sure some Republican jerks will find a way to make a negative out of this terrifically positive news. For those of us who live midst food stands and grocery stores selling fresh-picked locally grown produce, we know what a treat such unadulterated fruits and veggies can be. We knew that the Obamas know it too, and we're thrilled that they will be giving the "locavores" a bully, er, pulp-it.

P.S. The spinach recipe that Tristero wrote about (see the post immediately below) came from the White House kitchen!

Spinach: outrageous! (and delicious!)

Tristero at Hullabaloo shares a recipe for a simple dish of pureed spinach and notes, "If you think this isn't a post about politics, then you don't know Jack about politics in 21st Century America."

Heigh-ho! Why do you think Food & Drink is the largest entry in our category cloud?
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P.S. The dish would be quite wonderful if you chopped the blanched spinach by hand (don't ever waste your energy chopping uncooked spinach) before adding it into the garlic and shallots. It really doesn't need to be like creamed spinach. It merely needs to be.

To make it even simpler, saute the garlic and shallots till they're translucent, and then wilt the spinach (yes, baby spinach) directly in the pan. No chopping or blending. We do this all the time. It makes a great base for a dish of sauteed shrimp or scallops, or as a side for any nice piece of meat. Squeeze some lemon on it. It's delicious at room temperature. It may be the most useful and elegant dish in your kitchen repertoire.

Word of the day

Thanks to lovehatethings.com/

My best friend Pat

Adam and I drink great quantities of coffee every day and into the evening. Caffeinated, dark French roast. "Fresh pot's a-brewin', Ma" is always welcome news from Adam as he heads toward his office from the kitchen.

Pat, on the other hand, drinks two cups with her breakfast and that's it. And hers is a much milder brew than ours.

I have always been a bit snobby about my coffeemakers, believing somehow that a black-and-stainless steel carapace, combined with a European brand name, makes for better coffee. Pat happily swears by her Mr. Coffee.

Thus we do not drink from the same pot.

Both my DeLonghi and backup (yeah, we have a backup!) Cuisinart croaked last night, one right after the other -- leaving me to contemplate a dispiriting scenario for the morrow -- no comforting first cup, a prolonged stupor until I could haul myself down the road to Java Station for a fix.

Imagine my utter delight when I slumped into the kitchen this morning and saw Pat's coffee pot emblazoned with a great pink heart Post-it, which told me immediately what was in it, what she'd done. She'd made my coffee in her pot, and it was steaming hot and ready for me.

It was such a terrific gesture (I'm smiling ear-to-ear even now, as I write this) and produced just about the best cup of coffee I've ever had.

And oh, yeah. It seems that neither pot is reparable in anything like a short timeframe. So I had to go up to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get a new one. Wanna guess what brand I chose? I walked right past the Krups and the other fancy European marques, and went straight for the...Mr. Coffee!