Wild Cherry

Clematis Montana

Coffee; A confession.

I am fully committed to coffee. Indeed so much so that I've lordy alone knows how many ways I can get the stuff into myself.
One tool I lusted after was a burr grinder but I really couldn't spend the €70 about $100. Well that's not true. I could spend it what I couldn't do was justify it to myself.
The burr grinder crushes the bean slowly and so cold. Meaning you have a better result from the coffee. Now I've had the purchase in mind for the better part of 15 years and never pulled the trigger, and still haven't. But neither did I buy a normal spice coffee spinning thingy for €12 thinking as I did that since I was going to buy the Burr at some point and wouldn't it be a waste.
So, in one of the usual things with me when the €12 grinder was reduced to €8 I said I'll get it. And now I'm kicking myself that I didn't go earlier.

German update

Dear deers and a commentry on current disconnect.

Note I am well aware of the irony of what will follow.

After I went back to the car from the Royal Magazine Fort I spotted a herd of deer that live in the park.

 

 

 

Dublin and a terrible place

I was up in Dublin to collect my pictures from the RHA. Since I went before Jessy's walk I decided to bring her for a run in the Phoenix Park. Thinking also I might go to the Zoo as I was at it. The latter i nixed since there was no parking. But I did take her for a walk in the main park itself.
The Park was a royal enclosure and housed the houses of the main officers of the British administration in Ireland

The biggest was the viceroy's lodge, now housing the president of Ireland. The next in size was the chief secretary lodge, now the house of the US ambassador to Ireland.  But the point I'm making is the shading. These were designed to be interlocking killing ground blocking the western approach to Dublin. But should these be overcome the Magazine Fort was the place to retreat. The park is about 1800 acres, give or take a few.

It was down by the magazine Fort I took Jessy. Now I must say I've been to the PP a few times before. I was at the Zoo as a child and I've driven through. Still I'd never really explored. So it was with a some shock that I found a truly engineered landscape. So much so that I a trained landscaper was left wondering what was truly natural and what was made ground.
Usually when man/woman sculpts ground attempting a 'natural' enhancement they end up with something too curved or too angular. But there was little doubt in the area around the fort for every inch was a killing ground. And filled with traps and funnels.

 
  The people playing there had little idea that 100, 150, 200 years ago they were under the guns of the fort.

The profile you see from below is just the very top of the wall, the plastered bit. And for scale that is Jessy down in the Haha.

Sous Vide update

I suppose the hint was in the name. Without air might actually mean just that.
Anyway I thought I can't just leave another electrical appliance designed for cook to fester in some corner and then to end up after a few years of delusional thinking in the recycling at the what we used to call dump, now facility. So I bought a sealer and the cooking plastic. And while I'm never going to niks the BBQ or the grill, boiling in a vacuum bag will become a feature.
It works, but not as I thought with big joints, but with cuts less than an inch. Then the cooking time depends on how one likes it, you know rare, to well done. While with a joint the time expands with a square, or probably cubed in truth. But you can cut the joint into slices, seal the serving and cook the joint that way in an hour.  

In other news.
I'm a member of the local camera club, on the committee in fact. Anyway we were asked to photograph the cast of a play being put on in May. And I truly haven't met a group quite so unfriendly in a very long time. Since we were being asked to do this gratis by a member of the club and about 10 of the club turned up I don't get their attitude. I think I would describe it as un-engaged. Anywoo, it left a rather ugly taste in my mouth.

I didn't get into the RHA show this year either. Blast them :-). So I have to drive to Dublin on Saturday.

I'm holding an exhibition in July this year in the Main Guard. A better time I feel. And I can put the three from the RHA into it.

I have another blog opened at http://vincent-hannon-art.blogspot.ie/ for art stuff. I had a web page for a few years having followed the current trends to have a 'store online' but it was the greatest waste of money so I went back to blogger.

I can't get Sage/Jeff's work blog to nest on my page foe some reason.     

Odd storms.

We had a very odd sort of storm earlier in the winter. November time.
Well at the time it seemed that it had little effect but as winter has gone on more and more trees are showing up, knocked.
I know it's an Irishism to say that storm knocked trees that never fell before.
Nearby, where I usually bring Jessy for her day walks are State lands, of one sort or another. Some National Park some state forest and some sites of special scientific interest SSSI's. The latter a big thing thesedays.
Anywoo's, I usually go to a deciduous wood of about 400 acres where I noticed with all the snow we've had huge amounts down 'in' off the paths. You couldn't usually see them, but with the snow creating hard contrasts they came out.
Lately though I've been taking her to the ridge and the state forests. where the unusual character of the storm exposed itself profoundly, and makes a kinda sense of the never fell before comment.
These two are a sample. You see they didn't blow over, which is what we'd usually get. And what we usually get is the young trees and the old, very old trees down. But these were snapped off, which was what occurred in the deciduous wood. There I liken the damage like how you'd snap the florettes off broccoli.

 

Royal Hibernian Academy summer show.

The RHA wants three images. Well that's the limit they will accept. For the last few years I made my own frames and they didn't like what I was doing. So this year I bought frames. This is one.
The image is 42 cm by 30cm(16.5 inches by 12). With the frame 24 by 17 inches.

OK, Sous Vide update.

Hmmm, is all I can say at the moment. Yes, it cooked the 3/4 inch steaks. But the result was so utterly tasteless it couldn't be more tasteless had it been boiled in the water directly. Yes, the Pro's say to keep the Jus, juice in our language, to make a gravy. And to fry it off after drying the meat, which I did. Texture-wise it was good. You wouldn't need a steak knife for instance, but it was a chew. Meaning there was a substance to it.
Ok so maybe I didn't do all the steps. I didn't have a vacuum for instance. And I didn't make a gravy.

So, today I saw an offer for rump steak. And I bought a joint and had the butcher seal it in with their vacuum machine. It's now been in the pot for 5.30 hours and is going to be in for another .30. Then I'll leave it overnight, thence to an oven for a blistering 20 mins at a high heat.  And I'll reduce the liquor and add some olive oil and herbs and so forth to make a sauce.

On other news. I have an image hanging in Italy near Como. The one with the gate finials, ooo, maybe I didn't post it here.
I titled it Ajar. A term in English connotes a welcome, as in opening. In Italian, it's the opposite, as in closing.

   

Sous Vide

I bought a Sous Vide wand. It was on offer so I'm not too bothered if it turns out to be a toasted sandwich maker and sits under the sink unused for years.
I haven't tried it yet but reports are that it makes very tender beef, but then so does cooking in a crock pot for 8 hours. And one of the selling points was it made silky poached eggs, but who wants to wait an hour and a half for eggs. But maybe there's a timer to set things so you could set-up the night before and then have them in the morning.
It also seems you could get an eye of round, a lean piece of beef and turn it into fillet but it would take 24 hours in this thing.
Now as I said I don't know. I don't know if it will work, I don't know if it will be more of a pest than anything. I don't know if it will be heavy on power.
It seems it operates at a warm tapwater temp', about 60 degrees.

More to follow.

Oh I thought I'd need a pump to suck out all the air but you don't. All you need is a bag you can seal, one you can squeeze out all the air so the food sinks.