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Catching up on some sunset photos from last month...

I received a catalog in the mail today from Design Within Reach (DWR).  Have I ever purchased anything from DWR? No.  Did I ask for this catalog?  No.  The title of the catalog is "What is Green?" and it's 160 pages.  That's right, this company promoting "sustainable, eco-friendly, cradle-to-cradle, recycled, recyclable, small footprint, low-VOC, Greenguard, LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] and FSC-certified [Forest Stewardship Council]" and being "encouraged by the increasing number of smart solutions to improve the planet" has sent me a 1/4" thick, 8.5x11" catalog that weighs 15 ounces.  The inside of the catalog goes on to say "we know that not all items fit into every category of ecological perfection," and I'd have to say the DWR catalog itself is one of those items.  Do they realize the hypocrisy of their catalog?  They close by saying "We're all doing our part, and we welcome your response when we ask, 'What is green?'"

Dear Ray Brunner, CEO (rbrunner@dwr.com) and Kimberly Oliver, PR Manager (koliver@dwr.com):

Are you doing your part?

Green is not sending an unsolicited 160 page catalog to (how many?) people.  How much paper did you just waste?  How much energy was used producing and distributing them?

Green would be sending us a postcard letting us know that your new product line was available and that in lieu of further environmental impact, we should go to your website to see what you have to offer.  That would have been eco-friendly with a small footprint.

Green is understanding that words like "green" and "ecological responsibility" are more than just the latest marketing buzzwords.  If you really mean it, then practice it at every level of the organization.

I do not know how my name got on your mailing list, but one of my personal approaches to "What is green" is to try and limit the amount of junk mail I receive by requesting I not get put on mailing lists when I place orders and by removing myself from those lists when I do get unsolicited mail.  After I call your customer service department to do that, you can be sure I'll be recycling the catalog, unread and uninterested in shopping at DWR.

[Press release announcing "What is Green?"]

Remember the test cake?  It's time.  Here's what I'll be doing over the next two days.  I'll try to take some pictures.

Cake Layers

3.22 T butter, melted for pans
45.11 T butter
20.94 ounces chocolate
29.00 egg yolks
3.22 cup sugar
12.89 egg whites

 
Chocolate Raspberry Mousse

1.91 pints raspberries
0.48 cup sugar
30.48 oz. semisweet chocolate
7.62 oz. unsweetened chocolate
11.43 egg whites
2.86 cups heavy cream

Chocolate Ganache
 
3.22 cup heavy cream
6.44 T butter
6.44 T sugar
38.67 ounces chocolate

Decoration

8 oz. white chocolate
6 oz. milk chocolate
48 lemon leaves
0.5 pint raspberries

I managed to escape Boston before the brunt of the snow storm last Friday.  Flights to JFK were being canceled, but luckily our plane was coming from Florida (and only about 30 minutes late).  After some slight delays and a de-icing the flight was on it's way.  Being on JetBlue, I got to watch the live report about the American Airlines plane that had to make an emergency landing in Miami.  My thoughts were with those on board, but it also put my mind at ease with regard to my own flight.  After all, how often are there problems with two planes in one day?

The weather report for San Francisco called for rain and high winds most of the weekend.  Friday was beautiful, Saturday and Sunday had intermittent showers.  Not too bad, and certainly not a deterrent for wandering around the city.  The delayed flight cut into Friday's explorations before having dinner at Aziza (delicious modern twists on Moroccan cuisine).  Saturday started with a visit to the market at the Ferry Building and picking up some focaccia at Liguria in North Beach before heading up to Coit Tower.  I managed to get a fleeting glimpse of the parrots in flight while exploring Telegraph Hill, then on to Chinatown (which was having a street festival before that night's New Year Parade) and Russian Hill.  The walk to dinner at Canteen was slowed by the parade.  It was windy with slight drizzle.  I felt sorry for the people who had to wear rain gear over costumes they probably spent lots of time preparing.  Another fabulous dinner.

Here are a few shots from last night's lunar eclipse.  There was slight cloud cover, so they're a little fuzzy.

I'm piecing together three recipes to make a cake full of chocolately goodness.  The final cake will need to be made a day or two in advance of eating, so I'm trying some test cakes to make sure they hold up.

The base is a chocolate génoise that is sliced into three layers, sandwiched with chocolate-raspberry mousse, and covered with a chocolate ganache.

Now it's just a matter of letting it sit so I can see what it tastes like after a day or two.  I suppose I should have a piece now so I have a frame of reference for what it tastes like after a day.  All in the name of science and research, of course.

Another year, another year of useless statistics.  Now new and improved with a fancy graph showing MPG distribution per tank.  Just for kicks I also broke down the distribution by months.  Sometimes I scare even myself.

First, the useless statistics:

Useless Statistics:			Lifetime	Last 90	Last 180	Last 365
Number of Days in Service			1488	90	180	365
Number of Fillups			101	11	25	39
Avg. Days between Fillups			14.73	8.18	7.20	9.36
Avg. Gallons per Fillup			7.76	7.97	7.86	7.96
Avg. Miles per Tank			358.75	370.04	381.41	374.60
Avg. Miles per Day			24.35	45.23	52.97	40.03
Avg. Gallons per Day			0.53	0.97	1.09	0.85
Avg. Cost per Day			$    1.259	$    2.838	$   3.044	$   2.317
Avg. Cost per Gallon			$    2.390	$    2.912	$   2.791	$   2.725
Avg. Estimated MPG			46.75	46.80	49.00	47.59
Avg. Daily Temperature			50.11	37.89	53.22	49.19