Reason and Freedom

When I was a child, one of my favorite dishes that my mom made was cube steak with rice & gravy. Cube steak is, of course, some sinewy, stringy cut of cheap steak that has been machine-pounded into near-hamburger to make it at least edible. The preparation was to pan-sear the meat, use the fond in the pan to make a gravy, then finish cooking the meat in the gravy. When I made this dish as an adult, I was surprised at how bad it was. Well, last night, I decided to re-make this dish with the cooking knowledge that I've gained in the past few years of cooking. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
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1 T butter
1 c basmati rice
1 vidalia onion, diced small
1 3/4 c water

1 strip steak
1 T butter
1 T flour
2 c beef broth
1/4 c red wine
1 bay leaf

Method:
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0. Melt butter over high heat in saucepan. Add rice and stir until fragrant. Add water, diced onion, and cover. Let boil then reduce heat to low. Cook for 30 minutes and turn off heat. Do the remaining steps while the rice cooks.

1. Heat a saute pan until really hot. Pan-sear steak on all sides brown on all sides. Don't let fond (the "pan scab" that is left over from browning the steak) burn. Remove steak and reserve.

2. Melt 1 tbsp butter in still-hot saute pan. When foaming subsides, mix in the tablespoon of flour and whisk until it is tan (this mixture is called a "roux" and will thicken the sauce). Add the beef broth, wine, and bay leaf. Stir to incorporate the roux. Re-add the steak and cook over high heat until the sauce thickens.

3. Serve steak with rice. Ladle sauce over steak and rice.

Yum yum yum! A childhood favorite resurrected and improved!

My partner went to a "health trade show" for his company to pitch his company's services. Naturally, he saw several million references to "removing the toxins," "flushing the toxins," and "unhealthy toxins." The use of the word "toxins" sends my BS alarm into overdrive.

Anyway, his company delivers high-quality frozen meat, so to pitch it they were offering samples of cooked chicken breast to passers-by. Every time it was offered to a vegetarian, the vegetarian would respond in some condescending manner. "I never eat anything that was once alive!"

Honestly, vegetarians have no right to complain about bad treatment because they think they are better than everyone else and openly share their disdain whenever they have the opportunity to do so. Why should I be tolerant and understanding of vegetarian's needs if they're going to treat me like scum because I don't accept their religion?

I'm posting to my blog my desire to create a Rational Pueblo. It's much like the pueblos that exist in Northern New Mexico (a community of folks that is cenetered around a church), but based around reason and the love of life rather than around the Roman Catholic Church. I've put the link in my links secion, but it's also here.

I've been thinking and experimenting with trying out different ways of talking to people since I realized (a few days ago) that the rules of socialization that were taught to me by being in school did NOT apply in real life. More on that later.

Background: my son receives an allowance of 25 cents per week.

I was driving home with my son, and I told him that I wanted to bake some cupcakes and have him sell them to grown-ups. I told him that he would give them a cupcake, and they would give him money. His answer to this was, "I'll be able to buy a toy without waiting!"

My heart jumped. He's on the way to discovering using win-wins toward his own rational self-interest.

Veganism is a religion. Vegans dislike talking about it in this way, and, in fact, they may angrily deny it. (In general, vegans get violently pissy when you are anything but completely accepting of their religion.) But if you look at the internal communications among vegans,you'll observe the same disingenuous behavior that you do among other proselytizing religious groups. For example:

1. Nothing is more important than gaining more converts.

Take a look at this page. I find it to be very interesting and revealing. In it the author lists the following problems that Vegans exhibit with "information" when trying to win converts. It includes:

If we are going to make such extraordinary claims in our literature, they must be backed up with overwhelming proof in that literature if we expect people to believe them.

Note that the author does not raise the question of the "extraordinary claims" possibly being falsehoods, but instead that they be backed up with "overwhelming proof." In other words, "Lie all you want, but make sure it looks really well-supported."

Unwarranted generalization is a related problem, such as taking the results from a single study (e.g., heart attack rates of vegetarianscompared to nonvegetarians) and generalizing those rates as facts for the entire population. Often this is done when there are other studies indicating more conservative figures, or even opposing conclusions.

Note that this is done "often."

Another problem is connecting unrelated or loosely-related facts, such as arguing that one should be vegan to avoid sterility.

Perhaps we can call this "playing hard and loose with the facts." Par for the course for Vegans (and all religious proselytizers).

The author states in his conclusion:

Getting accurate, complete, and unbiased information can be difficult. Until 1999, some of the information in Vegan Outreach's pamphletshad been based on secondary sources. When we finally had the time to go to the original sources, they often did not correspond to what was being attributed to them.

Yes, getting accurate, complete, and unbiased information is difficult, but since when was being accurate, complete, or unbiased more important that winning converts? The cavalier attitude that the author displays toward honesty and integrity betrays this common sentiment amongreligious proselytizers.

2. Don't be up front about the fact that your lifestyle will suffer if you convert, and try and diminish this fact if it does come up.

Christians almost never share the difficult, personal struggles that they have to face as Christians. Those facts just don't make it into the sales pitch. Likewise, I'm sure you remember Christians saying things like, "Christians have lots of fun!" and "Christianity isn't just a big list of rules." Again, let's visit the page I was ripping up for another choice quote:

In order not to scare off potential vegans, some advocates rarely mention any difficulties in being vegan. This can backfire by not preparing people well for a vegan diet. Our experience indicates there are a large number of people who become vegetarian or vegan, don't feel healthy, and go back to meat-eating. As one nutrition professor recently told Jack, "You're the only vegan I know. I know a lot of ex-vegans,but no vegans."

Wow, Vegan apostates! Who would have thunk! You don't hear of those folks all that often, do you? Notice that you have to be "prepared" for a vegan diet. Apparently, it's a difficult, inferior lifestyle.

Now let's turn our attention to this page. There are some interesting quotes in it as well:

Always, always, always remember: Veganism isn’t a dogma. Veganism is about stopping suffering. Let me say that again, as a 17-year vegan: Veganism is not a list of ingredients or a set of rules. Being vegan is about doing our best to help animals. So it requires thought, not a checklist.

The parallels continue: "Not a checklist" verses "not a big list of rules." "Veganism isn't a dogma. Veganism is about stopping suffering" verses "Christianity isn't a religion. Christianity is a personal relationship with god."

In the same vein, I went years refusing to eat with meat-eaters. Please be aware that many meat-eaters read your non-attendance as either deprivation, self-righteousness, or both, and that’s the sort of club nobody wants to join. “You can’t even go to parties, can’t go out toeat, whatever. Who wants to live like that?”

Don't reveal the difficult, personal struggles you have to face as a Vegan. I'm sure Christians can relate with potential converts seeing the Christian lifestyle as "deprivation" and "self-righteousness." That's because it is. Veganism is those things, too: self-righteous asceticism. It sounds like this: "I'm better than you because I don't do the sinful things that you do."

Because on some level, everyone knows that animals are treated badly and most people know that animal flesh is not good for them.

Animals are inferior to humans and affording them the rights that humans have is illogical. Furthermore, it seems that the author is fain to admit that Veganism is not good for humans, perhaps even more harmful than "animal flesh" is. How about we all much on some death cap mushrooms? It would be vegan, after all.

And for any Vegan reading this: that I am "cruel" for being an omnivore is Vegan dogma. It has no basis in reason or upon any fact that I derive pleasure from causing the death or pain of some other critter. And the only reason that such "cruelty" is wrong is because a person who expresses such cruelty is more likely to do the same thing to another human.

The popularity of gas grills seems to get ever higher. I think the convenience of a gas grill and the ability to cook outside are both very strong points to having one. The problem with the gas grill is that it's the exact same thing as my gas broiler in my oven, but upside-down. That was my prevailing thought when I considered buying a grill: what was the purpose in duplicating a cooking method that I already had in my kitchen? Hence, I settled on a charcoal grill and it was the best culinary decision I ever made. This post will explain what should have been explained to me before buying and using a grill.

The one and only reason you should have a charcoal grill is flavor. There is no other cooking method which can deliver the flavor of cooking over hot coals. What most people don't realize is that this grilled flavor successfully applies itself to more than just meats -- much more, in fact. Every other aspect of charcoal grilling is a pain the ass compared to gas grilling. But it's so worth it.

Charcoal comes in two useable forms: hardwood charcoal and briquettes. Hardwood charcoal is wood that has been burned in an oxygen-free environment. Briquettes are wood that has been burned in an oxygen free environment and then mixed with some other things to form them into neat little shapes. Which one is better? That depends. Behold the chart o' comparisons:

Hardwood Charcoal
Coal Temperature: Extremely hot (700 degrees F)
Time to burnout: 40 minutes at best
Ash residue: minimal
Flavor: Yummy

Charcoal Briquettes
Coal Temperature: Very hot (660 degrees F)
Time to burnout: hours
Ash residue: quite a bit
Flavor: Yummy, but can add off-flavors to delicate foods

So which one is better? Perhaps some examples would serve:

* Steaks for 2-4: Hardwood, since it will deliver the sear better and also burn out faster
* Burgers for 50: Briquettes, since they will hold the heat longer and cook more food
* A mess of vegetables and steaks: Briquettes, since you'll probably be cooking in shifts
* Salmon filets: Hardwood, since the delicate fish may pick up off-flavots from the briquettes

In conclusion, you should have both hardwood and briquettes on hand and know when each is appropriate.

Next, about lighting the charcoal. Do not use lighter fluid. Do not use briquettes that are pre-soaked with lighter fluid. It is dangerous and makes your food taste like lighter fluid.

I use a wonderful, cheap tool called a chimney starter to ignite the charcoal. It's basically a can in which the charcoal can all get very hot and light very quickly. It's safe,fast, and the chimney starter and a second, extremly valuable use that I will desribe momentarily. Here's my procedure for lighting the charcoal:

0. Remove the grates from the grill.
1. Get 1.5 sheets of newspaper. Wad it up in a loose ball and shove it in the bottom of the chimney starter.
2. Place the chimney starter on the charcoal pan in the grill.
3. Drizzle some canola or corn oil (I imagine other oils would work as well) right down into the chimney starter. It will ooze through thegrate and absorb into the paper. You don't want to completely soak the paper.
4. Fill the chimney starter with charcoal.
5. Ignite the newspaper and leave the area: it will produce a *lot* of smoke.

Easy enough. It will get *very* hot. My chimney starter glows red it gets to hot. Once the coals are covered with a layer of fine ash it's time for the next step.

0. Put on gloves and pour the charcoal from the chimney starter into the charcoal pan. Set the chimney starter away from combustible materials.
1. Replace the grates and close the grill cover to get them hot. Wait 5 minutes.
2. Open the grill and use the wire grill brush to scrape every bit of charred leftover food and grease off the grates.
3. Moisten a wad of paper towels with canola or corn oil (I imagine other oils would work as well) and wipe the grates so that they glisten. Eat the paper towel when you're done. Just kidding. Throw it away.
4. Start grilling!

The only limit to what you can grill is determined by whether or not it will fall through the grates. Asparagus is particularly notorious,so you might want to invest in a vegetable basket to help control them. I'll also add that grilling asparagus is a better preparation for that wonderful vegetable than any other; in fact, all the other ones suck in comparison. Grilled asparagus tips are delicious! I have also successfully grilled portabella mushrooms (they taste like meat when grilled), pineapple (for pizza), squash, toast,proscuitto, and god only knows how many kinds of meats.

This takes me into the enormous success that I had last night on the grill: carne asada tacos. Carne asada is grilled steak, but finding the right preparation and combination of ingredients turns a pedestrian dish into a superb one. This was an A+. The key is to get a *reallyhot fire* so that the steak can be cooked and have crispy, super-caramelized tips. Here's the recipe:

1 skirt or flank steak
4 fresh limes
1 fresh lemon
1/2 c olive oil
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 T white vinegar

1 bunch of fresh cilantro, rinsed, destemmed, and chopped (substitute shredded lettuce if you hate cilantro)
1/2 onion, finely diced
corn tortillas

0. Slice the skirt or flank steak against the grain in thin slices (between 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch). Do not make diagonal cuts.
1. Juice the limes and lemon into a mixing bowl
2. Whisk the olive oil, garlic, and vinegar into the citrus juice until it emulsifies. (This is the marinade, though you may recognize it as citrus vinagrette.)
3. Add the steak slices to the marinade.
4. Cover the steak/marinade mixture with plastic wrap pressing the plastic wrap directly down onto the surface of the mixture until no air bubbles remain.
5. Refridgerate the steak for 1-3 hours.
6. Remove the steak from the marinade and thread them into metal squewers. Sprinkle on some kosher salt and pepper.

7. Prepare the grill as above using hardwood charcoal, but instead of pouring the charcoal from the chimney starter you should leave it in there. Instead, put a small grill grate on top of the chimney starter. You will be cooking on top of this grate. It will be *very hot*. Don't forget to oil the grate!

8. Grill the squewers over the ultra-hot fire until black and crispy on all sides. Use your judgement as to how "black and crispy" you like them.

9. Place the sqewers onto a plate and let them rest for 5 minutes.
10. Remove the meat from the squewers and dice it. It's better to dice it pretty small otherwise you'll end up with huge pieces of steak inyour mouth. (Maybe you like that, I dont.)
11. Assemble the tacos in corn tortillas making about 50%-25%-25% rations of meat-cilantro-onion.
12. Eat! You can add some hot sauce if you want it. I hate it, so I don't add it.

As I said, these are the best carne asada tacos I've ever had. The keys to success are:

0. Ultra-hot charcoal fire
1. Proper slicing of beef
2. Good marinade
3. Proper proportions of ingredients

I tried making yogurt following the recipe here. It didn't work. I used ultra-pasteurized goat milk and Dannon plain yogurt as a starter. The resultant "yogurt" is still pretty much the same consistency as the goat milk that went into it. I suspect one of two problems: 1. using the ultra-pasteurized goat milk won't work, and 2. the water in the incubator (a cooler) was too hot and the L. acidophilus were killed. I think I'm going to skip trying to perfect this recipe and move on to making cheese. Next up: neufchatel, a.k.a. farmer's cheese.

I also attempted my first sourdough bread and I would rate it a C- as far as sourdough bread goes. It has a nice flavor but was not nearly sour enough. It is also very dense: cutting through it takes some embarrassing effort. I have four different ideas about improving this bread: 1. use whole-wheat flour as part of the flour, 2. use some "extra-fermented" sponge as part of the sponge or in addition to the sponge, 3. add some milk or buttermilk to increase sourness due to L. acidophilus, and 4. increase the water/flour ratio.

I think the most confusing thing about being and becoming a gay man was what it was supposed to mean to "be a gay man." What is a gay man? What kinds of attitudes should he express? What kinds of beliefs should he hold? What kind of lifestyle should he lead?

If you are a gay activist living in the gay ghetto of some large, metropolitan area, then there are ready-made responses to these questions. Let's see if I can rattle them off:

- A gay man should have as much more sex with many more partners than any straight man. Sexual freedom without consequences is part of being gay.
- A gay man should be liberal in all ways that mainstream liberals say is appropriate. Only liberals will stand up for gay rights.
- A gay man should talk, walk, and act in a "gay" way at all times. If a gay man "acts straight" then he isn't gay because he actively hides his sexuality of which he should be militantly proud (read: elitist).
- A gay man should be proud (read: elitist) to the point of being insulting about being gay. Any discomfort that straight people feel about this is evidential of the fact that they're gay-bashing bigots.
- A gay man should live among other gay men and eschew straight society.
- A gay man should eschew anything that looks like marriage (such as having children or having successful, long-term relationships), which is for straights. Circuit parties are much more respectable than marriage is.
- A gay man should always know his "HIV status" and should get "tested for HIV" religously. A gay man's "HIV status" is the keystone of his gay identity.

When I finally accepted that I was gay, when I was 20 years old, I started to meet other gay men. In talking to them, I was eventually exposed to all of the ideas above and felt disgusted by it. I thought, "Is this what being "gay" has to be? Is this all I have to look up to?" When I came out to my mother she asked if I was sad about not being able to have children. Even my mother, a straight person who loves me very much, was subject to the bankrupt ideas about what "being gay" was supposed to mean. I answer her question without thinking twice, "I can always adopt." Lo and behold, I am a gay adoptive parent now. Don't misunderstand me: every gay man to whom we've talked has expressed happiness and admiration that we became gay adoptive parents. This ties into the point I'm trying to make.

I think that there are many gay men who, like me, reject some or all of the notions about being gay that are upheld by self-styled "gay activists." They want to have lives where they can succeed and florish. They want to have lives that integrate with those of straight people. They're not interested in obsessive grooming, unrelenting self-indulgence, and hateful Leftist politics. They're open to healthy relationships and parenting. And I think that this type of gay man represents the majority of gay men. I also think that this gay man is quiet about his desires becuase he wants to avoid the vicious attacks from "gay activists" that such attitudes invite. I don't mind that "gay activists" speak for the circuit-party crowd, but I think it's time for a gay man to step forward and speak for the rest of us, which I think is becoming the majority of gay men: Un-gay Gay men.