Cooks a-Plenty!

Life happens. I've disappeared from blogging for about 3 months, then life happened, and I just had to blog again.

As a mom of two very spirited kids, everyday seems like a wonderful whirlwind of chaos at home. Outside of work, I find myself constantly shuttling kids between preschool, home and various activities - swimming, ballet, gymnastics, and Hebrew class. I love it, and love that they love being busy, but I realize that I have been so occupied with family activities that I really don't do any socializing outside of my work. I don't really mind as my work tends to be very social - with meetings, interacting at conferences, and more meetings. So... what's the issue, dear? None really. Life happens, and I'm ok with that.

Still, it was a pleasant thing when a group of wonderful folks at our shul came up with an idea for a cookbook club. I happen to like cooking - passionate even. The kitchen is my lab at home. I can experiment and create wonderful things. Sometimes, I have to calmly put out fires too - just like 2 days ago. See? I've been well-trained.

Back to the cookbook club. If you like to read, cook, or better yet, read a cookbook - try joining/starting a cookbook club! Make recipes from the same book and feast as food critics. The idea is simple:

1. The group selects one cookbook 
2. Everyone picks a recipe from it (ensuring all courses are covered), 
3. cooks the dish unaltered (ideally), 
4. brings it to the group dinner (rotating hosts), 
5. describes the process to the group,
6. and the group critics the dishes, while enjoying company and food

It's all win. It's one day a month for this mom to socialize, and discuss one thing I'm most passionate about (outside of family) with similarly passionate people. 

The book we chose was Plenty, a vegetarian cookbook by Israeli chef/author, Yotam Ottolenghi. It's a beautiful book from cover-to-cover, featuring recipes that I'm unfamiliar with. (Translation: I love a good challenge.)  After borrowing a copy from the library, I was tempted to buy the book, but thought I'd wait until after I've tried the dishes during the club dinner. This turned out to be a good decision.

During dinner, it became evident that a lot of the dishes were time-consuming to make. This is not really a deterrent as far as I'm concerned, but something to note if you have very limited cooking time. I also found, from trying 2 recipes outside of that dinner and during the dinner, that as described some of the recipes just didn't work and would need to be tweaked. One recipe I tried, the glass noodles with edamame, was so bland that I had to change it so much it didn't resemble to recipe at all when I was done with it.  The other dish, soba noodles with eggplant and mango, was spectacular. I did, however, used honey instead of sugar, and used mirin instead of rice vinegar.

There were some standout dishes from last night's dinner though. If I were to pick 2: I really loved the peach and goat cheese soufflé, which I'm looking forward to making but will probably add a drizzle of honey, and replace the cream with almond milk. I also liked the lima beans with feta, sumac and sorrell as is, and would note the tip on how to avoid frothing (add oil to beans, but will also use a bigger pot). 

Now for the dish I actually made, Gado-gado, which Ottolenghi described as a "substantial salad". 'Substantial' would be not strong enough. Substantial salad in my book would be a Cobb salad. Also, prep-wise, this is no salad. If it involves making a paste for 1 hour in multiple pots, and separately blanching veggies (potatoes in turmeric, cabbage, green beans, bean sprouts, etc.), and deep-frying shallots and wanton wrappers (or cassava chips), it doesn't qualify as salad in my book. I believe I used a total of 5 pots and pans for that 'salad'. And did I mention that not only does it have hard boiled eggs, but tofu too? Trust me, this is a main course. So, was it worth the trouble? Yes and No.  Yes, because... just look at that beautiful and colorful plate. It shows the layers of laborious cooking, methinks. Or, to pick up the yiddish word I learned yesterday - it's potchke! Heck, all the dishes last night had some potchke level of prep. It can certainly and easily take the centerpiece of your Shabbat menu. Nope. Not a salad. On a certain level, I felt that it was also a NO, not worth it to make all the steps as outlined. For instance, why grind and boil the peanuts to make the satay sauce? Why not just add raw peanut butter? Will I make it again? For sure, but with tweaks. I will use less sugar in the sauce, and add more lemongrass, and  possibly lime. The satay was too sweet for my taste, masking the citrus flavor of the lemongrass completely. I may also just skip the deep-fried wanton wrappers, and serve vegetarian wanton soup instead! 

As for the cookbook club? I can't wait until the next one in February!

The price of neglecting neglected diseases

Today, as I prepare tomorrow's day of atonement, I was greeted by headlines on Turing's price hike for its drug, Daraprim. Not a good start for Yom Kippur preparation as the curses trembled in my lips.  Scientist friends and lay friends alike expressed their displeasure in social media and has some choice words for Turing's CEO. This also comes at the heels of me drafting a response to an anti-vax comment pointing the fingers on Pharma's selfish interests. You see, I was going to try to explain that each vaccine takes about 10-15 years of research, which translates to about $2 billion in cost, which would somehow justify the cost.  But that post was taken down before I could even respond. And now, I feel somewhat betrayed.

So, to wake up this morning to "CEO: 5000-percent drug price hike "not excessive at all",
was kind of a slap in the face. Here I am trying to gently and tactfully explain the cost of drug and vaccine R&D, while this guy tweets his flippant responses to detractors without restrain and at one point in a vulgar way, way worse than a rebellious teenager.

Here are some key points and facts for those interested.

BASIC INFO:

• Daraprim (Pyrimethamine) is a prophylactic antimalarial agent against Plasmodium falciparum and in the treatment of toxoplasmosis.
• Toxoplasma gondii can be transmitted to humans by eating undercooked pork or lamb that contains this protozoa, or through ingestion of contaminated vegetables. Usually individuals don't show symptoms unless one is immunocompromised - those with severely weakened immune systems. 
• As can be expected, these parasites usually infect already HIV-infected patients. Yes, these are opportunistic little bastards. 

POINTS: 

• In general, the drug development process is complex, lengthy, risky and expensive.
• It takes about 10-12 years for a drug to travel the lab bench (research) to patient's bed. After drug discovery, which means sorting through tens of thousands of candidate compounds for a few active ones, the lead compound has to be optimized, get approved for trials, go through Phase I, II, III (and sometimes IV) trials before it can be registered and manufactured in large scale. 
•  
  
  
  
  
• Neglected and rare diseases (diseases that primarily affect the developing world) are given less R&D funding and attention because either a smaller part of the population is affected (smaller market) or there's smaller financial gain from developing countries and considered non-commercial.
• Very few big pharma companies are interested in investing resources for reasons mentioned above.
• Furthermore, many multinational Super Companies have downsized, and the first budget they cut is the less profitable infectious disease division.
• Small companies, like Turing, often focus on technologies or niche markets. 
• The wheel of drug discovery need to keep churning as pathogens evolve with increasing drug-resistance.

 
So, going back to the Daraprim case, I think it is reasonable that the drug cost be increased to support the cost of R&D. What gets me though is the amount of price hike. 5000% increase. Really. Can you at least break that down for us? If you currently have 25 scientists, and plan to double that, it would justify a 100% hike from $14 to $28, don't you? Triple it even, if needed for return of investment (ROI).  Let's be honest, the guy is clearly trying to recoup the cost of the start-up, but what else? I would really like some transparency here on how they came to that figure ($750). One thing to note is that this price hike is egregious, and does not represent the usual drug price increases. Was market research even conducted in this case? Plus, no one should really be flippant in addressing a situation like this. Ethical and humanitarian reasonings should apply.

It really saddens me that R&D researchers could take the blow for this, and will further bring the reputation of drug industry down the sink - inclusive of the not-for-profit ones. This kind of increase reflects the fault in an unregulated drug market. And I for one cannot wait to hear our the plans that our political candidates plan to unveil to address this.

As a former synthetic chemist, I suddenly had the itch to go back and synthesize that damn pyrethamine. (I'll atone for my language later.) This move should be a wake up call, and the only incentive one would need to put their hard efforts in neglected diseases.

This news make me really sick to my stomach. Oh wait - I hope it's not Toxoplasma, because I sure as heck can't afford Daraprim's price tag.


UPDATE: What do you know, social media has a voice after all! It appears that the price hike will be rolled back.  How low? We'll have to stay tuned for that. With all eyes on the company and the drug, and scrutiny from social media users, the government and big pharma, Turing better be doing their research.

A camping gem and our first treasure hunt

This labor day weekend, we went through with our 3-night camping plan in spite of the storm forecast. We headed to REI to get our rain gears, baked some trail mix cookies, and off we went!

While we don't remember why we chose to camp at Bear Head Lake State Park up in the Northwoods, we were blown away by its beauty when we got there. The campsite was surrounded by pines, and birch and aspen treens, and the hikes around the placid lakes were kid-friendly and so serene. The lakes (there were plenty!) shone like emeralds, and mushrooms of different sizes and shapes decorated the widely coniferous flora. To say that the 4 hour drive was worth it is an understatement.



Do I get points for these?

We didn't see bears, wolves or moose (thankfully?), but we did see and hear some eagles, slugs, and other little critters. Blue jays, woodpeckers and crows woke us up with their melodious singing. The fishing program was a success too! 

A family of chipmunks
were our constant visitors

One of about 4 caterpillars who
seeked shelter during the storm



How to teach your kids patience...



2 hours later, they caught the tiniest fish on the lake!

Geocaching 101:

I've always wanted to try geocaching as a fun addition to a hiking activity ever since I learned about it from our friend (Hi Ben!). But for some reason, my network connection is very limited at places we go to, or the idea of bushwacking with the kids was just not appealing.  Well, we decided to give it a try this time because the park had its own GPS for geocaching and we were told it didn't involve bushwacking (or at least only a few feet of it).

For those unfamiliar, geocaching is kind of a high-tech treasure hunt. The locations can vary - from park to a street in city to, apparently, even underwater. You're provided with coordinates to the treasure. For us, the park provided these. You enter the coordinates in the GPS device to navigate and find the geocache (a.k.a "treasure chest"). The device is accurate to about ~20 feet, then you're left on your own to look for it. When the geocache is found, you'll find treasure ans a logbook. You sign the logbook and take out the treasure and replace it with a new one for someone else to find... or you can just leave the treasure behind too. If you want to learn about the history of how all of this started, you can read it here.

When we did our hunt, we looked everywhere, under moss and cobwebs (eew!) but guess who found it? The most curious one of us four!  What a great outdoor activity for kids! And the kids were absolutely thrilled to find toys in the cache. They were only allowed to take 1 each.  We left a treasure from mommy, of course.

Some more pictures from our wonderful camping weekend!

 



He plays; she sings while staring at the stars.

Perfect place to enjoy play-doh while the chefs are cooking dinner



What's for dinner? Drool-worthy roasted corn and grilled hotdog!
And roasted marshmallows for dessert!

Enjoying the water for the last bit of summer left

 


And found the first sign of autumn

CSA Diary: Of alien vegetables and lasting peas



Un-beet-able!

Eh. So I lied about blogging more about my wonderful CSA baskets.  What can I say? Things have been so hectic at work, at home, and at fun places and times!  Writing kind of took a back seat yet again. But rest assured, the CSA continue to deliver good farm-fresh and exciting vegetables and I continue to feed my Iron Chef alter-ego. Since my last (and, for shame, first) blog entry on CSA, we've gotten more cabbage, swiss chard, lettuce, onion, broccoli, cukes, cukes and more cukes than we can handle! Allow me to share some ideas on how we most enjoyed these CSA vegetables.

Zucchini: Still the most versatile vegetable around.  From stirfry to savory bread and sweet pastries, I won't tire of getting this in my basket.

 

Regular and Chub Cukes: Mind you, I'm not a pickle fan, and I can only have so much cucumber salad, so I finally decided to buy a zucchini noodle maker and zoodled these cukes away. Wait, "zoodle" is a word, right?  With light peanut dressing, they were absolutely delicious!

Carrots: We got the really skinny ones, so I couldn't zoodle these. They were great chopped and stirfried with the peas though. 
 

English Peas: I found shelling these peas very relaxing to my nerves as I watch my 2 girls jump off the couch in that 'crouching tiger, hidden dragon' kind of ninja jump. Yes, relaxing.  Some folks would say that you can't eat the pods because it's too fibrous, but we've tried it both ways - shelled and nto, and enjoyed both immensely.  My plea to the girls: Give peas a chance.

Red Potatoes: Not everything I cook gets thumbs up all the time.  I had high hopes for these baby reds and made mashed potatoes out of them. FAIL. Totaly. They were too gooey and pasty to be mashed. I salvaged it by making fritters/latkes the following night. The following week when we got them again, I boiled then baked them with cheese. No messing around with these spuds.

  

Strawberries: This almost didn't make it to the house. It's a good thing I love my family as much as I do. Otherwise, I would have parked somewhere and enjoyed this by myself. So sweet and succulent - unlike the tart and firm ones from the store. BUT, it's even better enjoyed with family. I also finally shared with them the Filipino way of enjoying strawberries. Dip them in powdered milk! Seriously, you gotta try it. The girls loved them this way too. Too bad strawberry season is over. Sniff.

 

Grape Tomatoes: I will never tire of eating these sweet, 'pop-in-your-mouth' veggie candies.  I broil them for 10 minutes, drizzle with a bit of balsamic vinegar, and serve with a sprinkling of fresh basil leaves. YUM!  Believe me, my youngest hoard these on her plate to everyone's frustration.

 

Kale: So, you don't like greens, huh? That's what everyone says until they take the first bite of the crunchy, crispy, delicate kale chips. Baked at 350F for 10 mins, this makes for an easy, healthy snack. My kids get excited whenever they hear that we have kale in the house. That's saying a lot since one of them is a self-proclaimed picky eater. By the way, I tried making swiss chard chips and there were no takers.  It didn't really crisp up like kale did.  I'm guessing higher water content?
 
Kohlrabi: This vegetable is really starting to grow on me. In the beginning, it was fairly intimidating in its alien looks - with things sticking out of it like antennas. But after sauteeing it, I realized it tastes very mild, just like broccoli stalks, but milder even. So, I started cooking with it more, and CSA kept including them in baskets week after week, to my delight. I made stirfry, latkes (with zucchini), and they've even graced double chocolate chip cookies. When prying, picky eaters inquired about the green stuff in their treat, I say it's green apples. Phew.

Tomatoes: Enjoyed as caprese salad so far, but will probably make soup and sauce with the rest.

Beet: TBD - will most likely be roasted. 
 

Sugar Snap Peas: TBD

Raspberries: TBD

More delicious ideas soon!

Wild, wild west: Badlands and Black Hills

From the names of these places, one would think that we've been casted away in Mordor! Thankfully, it's really just in our neighboring state of South Dakota, albeit it took us about 8 hrs to get there. 

On the last weekend in June, while driving to a state park, hubby and I decided that we should go somewhere for July 4th weekend. "Let's go to the Badlands!", we agreed.   There and then in the car, we looked to see if there are still places to reserve. And yes, we found a seemingly decent cabin near the Badlands, and that's pretty much how we operate these days - on a whim and without much planning ahead.

We left the house at 4 am, and with 2 stretch stops and driver swithichg, we reached the Badlands National Park around noon - Mountain Time. Somewhere in the middle of South Dakota, the time zone changed from Central to Mountain.  Pretty neat! 

A note of caution:
These cliffs easily erode and the rock could be chipped away easily with a fingernail,
so make sure you stay clear from the edge when you hike.

When we got to the Badlands, we were immediately treated to a wonderful view of the pale sandstone structures.  While it may be less impressive than it's red counterparts in Utah's Bryce canyon, and the black ones in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, it's still impressive nonetheless.  The name "Badlands" gives you a clue as to its rugged landscape forming ridges, spires, gullies and 'castle-like' structures which the girls enjoyed seeing. Unlike Bryce canyon, the rock layers are heavily eroded and do not form hoodoos. At least, we didn't see any. The name "Mako sica" was actually given by the Lakota which means eroded land because of the terrain.

 



Sun setting in the Badlands

It was very hot when we got there even though it was only in the mid-80F. Interestingly enough, when we went back to the park 2 days later, it was quite chilly.  So, if you're planning a trip here, make sure to bring lots of water, a hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, and a jacket because you just never know when temperature it's going to be that day - even in July!  And I also saw some (smart?) Asians with their umbrellas out. You just gotta love them! 


And blankets it in colors

After a short hike in the Door trail, the kids were pretty hot and sticky.  We checked in to our cabin and headed to Wall Drug.  Since the signs for this place speckled the 500 mile road from Minnesota to South Dakota, we knew what to expect - stores, splash pad, free ice water, 5c coffee, donuts, dinosaurs, belts, and everything else you could imagine or ask for  - including a jackalope. Not exactly the attraction we seek, but the kids enjoyed cooling off in the splash pad. 
 




Washington's profile

Truth be told, there's not really a lot of young-kids-friendly hiking in the Badlands. So, on the next day, we decided to go to the Black Hills and check out some more kid-friendly hiking in that area. Just to make it more interesting, fate threw a wrench, or rather a nail, in our plans and we had to spend a few hours dealing with our flat tire. But that didn't stop us from more adventuring. We drove through the Black Hills and went to Mt. Rushmore in Keystone. Seeing George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt's huge visages amidst granite and greens was more impressive than I've ever imagined. Kudos to sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who I learned studied with Rodin, and used dynamite to carve the massive granite mountain.What best way to celebrate July 4th than here.  The chiseled mountain and the presidential trail highlighted 4 past leaders who made huge contributions to the US history.



 

News Flash: Black Hills > Badlands.

 

There I said it! (well, at least in my opinion.) While a lot of peaple will travel from far away lands to visit the Badlands, a lot of those will most likely skip the Black Hills National Forest. Big mistake. "Black Hills", although ominous-sounding, is named because of the hills' dark appearance, as they are covered in mostly ponderosa pine trees, with dark bark and deep evergreen needles. For many Native Americans, these hills has offered physical and spiritual renewal. And you won't know it until you visit it.

Before heading to Rapid City to have dinner, we stopped at a tucked-away Breezy Point picnic area in the Black Hills forest to get the wiggles out.  It was a great find and treated us to a great view of granite peaks.

Splash pad, Rapid City. If there's a splash park somewhere,
we'll find it.



Roughlock Falls - supposedly provided scenes for Dances with Wolves,
but I honestly don't remember the movie well.

The following day, July 5, we decided to continue exploring Black Hills National Forest. After having explored the Southern Hills a bit, we decided to take the scenic route checking out the Thunderhead falls area south of Rapid city and driving on  385 to the Northern Hills to Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway.  This drive is enthralling. The limestone palisades tower on both sides and makes for the most breathtaking scenery.


Run, river, run.

 

Pactola Lake

As far as hiking goes, the greatest part is our hike in Pactola lake, and meeting a Lakota couple and their dogs. We had a picnic on the ridge with the view of the lake.



We would have loved to continue on to Black Hills in Wyoming to check out  Devils Tower National Monument, but the weather didn't cooperate and shoo-ed us back to Rapid City. Take my word for it, if you're in South Dakota, explore the Northern and Southern Black Hills. It will be good for your heart.

On our last morning before heading back to Minnesota, we left early for the Badlands park and we saw some animals enjoying their breakfast - prairie dogs, big horn sheep, and proghorn antelopes. We even saw some bisons from afar but couldn't get near enough to take pictures. Since it was also cooler, and the hills were soaked by rain the day before, you can see bands of vibrant colors of earth of peach, pink, and creme hues.  I swear, I've been so spoiled by geology this past few months! Which brings me to this question - Where next??!



Dances with Antelopes

 

The kids saw flowers, insects and a burrowing owl in the prairie.