Chaos in Korea, and elsewhere

 

Chaos in Korea, and elsewhere -- My Manila Times column for Thursday, December 5, 2024. 

I've written more about political issues this week than is normal, or comfortable, but it has seemed unavoidable. It seems out-of-tune to concentrate on fine details of other issues when the whole world is in apparent upheaval.

Ugly-Ass Gingerbread

 THE first caveat – and really only – caveat I’m going to offer about this recipe, which is a modification of a couple of different recipes, is that I really need to work on the aesthetic. The gingerbread tasted fantastic, but it wasn’t much to look at, as you can see here: 

So, until I accomplish that, it’s called Ugly-Ass Gingerbread. It might work well in a loaf pan; I’m going to try that next time. This recipe is scaled for a 9-inch square pan.

Ingredients:

3⅓ cups all-purpose flour

1cup brown sugar

½ cup dark molasses (I like the blackstrap for this)

½ cup honey

1 cup unsalted butter

½ cup water

½ cup whole milk

3 large eggs

1½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2½ tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp ground cloves

Instructions:

1.     Preheat the oven to 175° C (325° F).

2.     Line a 9 x 9 baking pan (bottom and sides) with non-stick parchment paper. Trust me on this, if you do the flour the pan method you will be sorry. 

3.     Put the butter, water, molasses, brown sugar, and honey in a saucepan and heat on LOW HEAT. Stir frequently until the butter is melted, and do not allow it to boil. When done, set it aside to cool, it needs to be no more than lukewarm for the later steps.

4.     In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.

5.     When the liquid mixture is cool, transfer to a large mixing bowl and add the eggs one at time, beating thoroughly after each one. This is why you want the liquid mixture cooled off, otherwise it will cook the eggs, which is no bueno.

6.     After all the eggs have been added, add the milk and beat thoroughly until everything is uniformly mixed.

7.     Fold in the dry mixture a little at a time, mixing thoroughly but don’t beat it to death. There may be a few lumps, don’t worry about it as long as everything is mixed well.

8.     Your batter will be quite runny at this point, and you may think you did something wrong, but you’re fine. Pour it into the baking pan, making sure it only goes to about ½ inch from the top of the pan (I messed this part up, so do as I say, not as I do).

9.     Bake for 1 hour (it may take up to 1¼ hours, depending on your oven) until the top feels springy, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

10.  Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan, and then flip the pan onto a plate or tray. Peel off the parchment, and it’s ready to go.

The Trump tariff threat

 

The Trump tariff threat -- My Manila Times column for Sunday, December 1, 2024. 

As the token American around here, I have been inundated with questions about what I think is going to happen after January 25. I wrote this column, and I stand by what I said in it, but otherwise I've decided to try to avoid any further speculation. This assclown and the team of henchmen he is assembling are equal parts evil and stupid, and what they may do is really unpredictable at this point. I can generally guess that they will do atrocious things, but ineptly; but beyond that I would just be blue-skying to guess what those things are. We will know soon enough, anyway; shouldn't let it spoil our holidays.