Teleidoscope

Sun, Jun 15, 2008

Cider Raisin Tapioca Pudding

Posted at 10:10 am MDT to Technology

2 cups organic cider
1.5 Tbs Minute Tapioca
allspice
raisins
.5 tsp vanilla

Mix everything but the raisins and vanilla. Let sit for a while. Add the raisins. Let sit for longer. Heat while stirring to a very full rolling boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Cool 20 minutes and put into desert cups. Serve at room temperature or cooler.

Notes: Needs more Tapioca next time, probably because it doesn't have eggs or dairy to help bind it. I also didn't use enough raisins, since I didn't want to waste them if it turned out inedible.

I think I'm craving textures and mouth-feel as much or more than flavors, when it comes to missing the dairy stuff. This pudding makes a change from dry, oily or grainy. And it's smoother and less pulpy than apple sauce.

By grainy I don't mean gritty. There is a difference in mouth-feel between real milk and veggie milks like soy or almond: the tongue can tell the difference between a solution and a suspension. Or maybe between starch and protein.

I'm sure rice milk will have the same effect, since I also noticed it in the dairy-free risotto the other night. Using stock instead of broth might help applications like the risotto, or possibly adding a little unflavored gelatin.

The starch vs. protein thing may also be part of the problem with the Egg Replacer stuff. I don't think gelatin will work in pancakes. But adding vanilla might help with the boring, cardboardy flavor. (It's a good thing Costco sells real vanilla in industrial quantities at reasonable prices. I have a feeling I'm going to be using a lot of it.)

Additional Notes:

I should get tested for cinnamon when I go back to the allergist.

A lemon-honey or lemon-orgeat tapioca pudding might be interesting.

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Floods

Posted at 8:41 am MDT to Current Events

Teresa Nielsen Hayden of Making Lighton the Iowa floods:

You know another big difference between this and Katrina? In New Orleans, the official hurricane evacuation plan was "Everyone who has a car, use it to get out of town." The ones who stayed were the poor, the helpless, the stubborn, the tourists, and some emergency personnel. In Iowa, you've got the whole community and its resources.

The thread has some great comments, and links to some wonderful/horrible photos of the flooding. Also an interesting playlist.

The odd thing about the saturday photos is that it was a bright, sunny day with a blue sky, and still the water was rising. It makes for a moment of cognitive dissonance: I think movie/TV visual shorthand may tie clouds and flooding more tightly together than is really the case. And of course, in a snow-melt flood, sun would be exactly what you didn't want.

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And while I'm doing current events links, John Scalzi on "Whatever" had a wonderful rant on Fox News stupidity on Thursday that has been linked far and wide. (But that doesn't make it any less wonderful.)

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