:: The UberPlexer ::

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:: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 ::

Cinnamon-Sugar Butter Cookies

These are delicious and easy to make. I keep meaning to put this recipe somewhere that I won't lose it. Some have likened them to snickerdoodles - and to them I say, these are much better.

Topping Ingredients
3tbsp white sugar
1tbsp brown sugar
1tsp cinnamon

Cookie Ingredients
2.5c flour
1/2tsp baking soda
1/4tsp salt
1c dark brown sugar
1/2c white sugar
1c salted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a small bowl mix the topping ingredients together.
In a medium bowl, mix the 1st three ingredients with a wire whisk.
Put the sugars in a large bowl and add the butter to form a grainy paste.
Scrape the bowl edges, then add the eggs and vanilla. Mix until light and fluffy.
Add the flour mixture until just mixed.

Form into 1" balls and roll them in the topping.
Place 2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 18-20 minutes (they are pretty good slightly undercooked, so I suggest taking them out earlier rather than later).

Cool on a flat surface.

Yields approximately 3 dozen cookies.

Later.

:: Matthew 5:22 PM [+] (0) comments ::
...

Green pens

Sustainablog

Green Options (launching Monday - preview now available)

_______________
On a different note:

Top Yankee Prospects by baseballprospectus
[via yankeesetc]

Later

Labels: environment, sustainability

:: Matthew 2:06 PM [+] (3) comments ::
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A Push for Workers' Rights

An nytimes editorial on being able to receive compensation (sue) if you have been harmed while in the workplace.

"In a ruling that would have done Kafka proud, the court held that there was never a valid time for Mr. Cline to sue. If he had sued when he was exposed to the benzene, it would have been too early. Alabama law requires people exposed to dangerous chemicals to wait until a 'manifest' injury develops. But when his leukemia developed years later, it was too late. Alabama’s statute of limitations requires that suits be brought within two years of exposure."

And scientists, in the form of the National Research Council, refuse to allow the Office of Management and Budget rewrite the definition of a risk assessment.

I also like this opinion piece at nytimes about the politics of food. Kelly shops at the farmer's market in Union Square a lot, which I really like. The author, a chef, notes:

"While our legislators are at it, they might also look at another powerful paradox that chefs confront every day. If I want to purchase a case of carrots, it’s much easier (and cheaper) to get them from the Salinas Valley, in California, than from the Hudson Valley that surrounds my restaurants. The food distribution system favors size. A distributor in California can send one truck to pick up 50 cases of carrots; a distributor procuring exclusively from the Northeast will need to send 50 trucks to 50 different farms.

That’s a shame, not just because a carrot that comes to New York from California gets singed with petroleum as it travels cross-country, but because at this time of year carrots pulled from the rich muck dirt of Western New York have 50 times more flavor than their West Coast counterparts.

Same with milk...

And also it's much more environmentally friendly to buy locally (see "food miles"). Read more about big-business agriculture here.

Later.

Labels: environment, politics, workers rights

:: Matthew 8:46 PM [+] (0) comments ::
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Nelly

Fake to 3rd, throw to 1st!

"Jeff Nelson wanted to retire as a member of the New York Yankees, so he agreed yesterday to a minor league contract and then said he wouldn't play anymore."

[via baseballmusings]

Though waswatching.com notes, "Sounds like Nellie wants a job at the YES Network." Waswatching.com also has an interesting roundup of best seasons (ever) by position for the Yankees.

Karen's mad that Yankee Stadium isn't in the Top 5 of baseball stadiums ranked by SI (note: apparently the stadium is ranked much better if it looks like or is in the vicinity of a "warehouse"). Understandably.

SI has in the past ranked them as low as 23. Though, as I noted then (and titled "I still don't like Jim Caple" - nice) the reviewer is a fucker. (He didn't read the notice while buying tickets that you can't move around the stadium from the bleachers and that they are alcohol free. He also did not appreciate the security. Etc., ad nauseum)

[On January 9th, 2007, waswatching.com noted that it was 460 days since the Red Sox had been in the playoffs. Funny post.]

Later.

Labels: yankee stadium, yankees

:: Matthew 2:57 PM [+] (0) comments ::
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Electric costs

Want to have a free month of electricity? See here. Total savings if the US installed smart electrical meters and adjusted 7% of peak power usage: $23 billion. Wow!

(Conveniently it would keep older power plants off-line as well, decreasing the amount of pollution in the air.)

A variation on a theme: saving electricity.

Later.

Labels: electricity, environment

:: Matthew 11:09 PM [+] (0) comments ::
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The Electric Car

40 miles per charge and 100 gallons per mile? Looks like it's already a concept car.


Biobutanol:

"Butanol yields an impressive 104,800 BTU/gallon far surpassing the meager 84,250 BTU/gallon of ethanol. Gasoline contains about 121,000 BTUs/gallon. This means the butanol in your Otto cycle internal combustion engine will yield fuel consumption close to that of gasoline. E85 increases fuel consumption by about 10 percent or more. The net energy released per air fuel ratio is higher for butanol than that of gasoline."

[electric car info via dailykos.com]

Later.

Labels: butanol, electric car, environment, ethanol

:: Matthew 10:36 PM [+] (1) comments ::
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2006 Year in Quotes

From Baseball Prospectus:

"When they give you lemons, you’ve got to make lemonade, and when they give you oranges, you've got to make orange juice. Tonight, we tried to make tomato juice out of lemon juice or something. It just didn't work out. I don't know if that's a good quote."
--Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, on trying to do too much with the pitches they saw against the Angels

And others.

Later.

Labels: arod, baseball, quote

:: Matthew 10:42 PM [+] (1) comments ::
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Who Links Here

	The Ol' In'ernet aljfkds.com