From the category archives:

Equipment

Speak up for the Nashville Riverfront Plan

by lcreekmo on March 8, 2009

UPDATE: Don’t just take my word for it. District 23 Council Member Emily Evans was also at the meeting, and came away with a similar impression. Thanks for your time today!

ORIGINAL POST: Today is another one of those days I am so proud to live in East Nashville. Our neighborhood has a long history of civic activism, and I was really energized by the overflow crowd at the East Park Community Center for a meeting with MDHA on the riverfront redevelopment plan. To judge by crowd reactions, I believe most left feeling the way I did, ready for action!

The background
In 2007, the Metro Council approved funding for the initial two parts of a plan to redevelop areas of the east and west riverbanks, roughly between the Korean Memorial/Gateway and Woodland Street bridges on the east and corresponding locations on the west [downtown] side of the river. Improvements in the plan were slated in several phases, to facilitate long-term funding and take advantage of the length of time it takes to get the approval of the Army Corps of Engineers when you do anything related to a river channel managed by the Corps, as the Cumberland is.

There are around 20 projects total in the plan, but significant items include:

  • Transforming the parking around LP Field into an urban forest, with grass parking and permeable pavement
  • Improved and expanded large and small watercraft access on both banks of the river
  • Full greenway connections on both riverbanks to existing and planned greenways
  • Re-creation of small wetlands areas on both banks that would improve water runoff and the health of the Cumberland
  • Improved river event access on the west bank
  • River overlook on the west bank
  • Amphitheater on the east bank
  • Water adventure park on the east bank

The basic order of the original plan, as designed by a team of development experts, calls for the first phase to include the water adventure park [After reviewing the plan today, it makes me think of Chattanooga's aquarium/waterfront park areas, but on steroids.] and a test site for the urban forest. Next phases handle the east and west bank wetlands and greenway development — all of which will involve significant permitting from the Corps — and then the plan wraps up with the complete urban forest.

In accordance with this plan, Metro’s consultants had already completed the schematic for the water park, making it ready to move into the final planning stages and begin development quickly. The council had already allocated money for that phase of development, back in 2007 when the plan was OKed.

And yet to date, nothing has happened.

Today
At today’s public meeting, a couple hundred Nashvillians heard the initial plan sketched out, and then heard a proposed revision to the plan from the Metro Development and Housing Authority, the agency charged with managing such civic projects. The revised plan currently includes all projects in the old plan, but it re-orders them.

New order

  • All east bank projects except the water park and urban forest
  • All west bank projects
  • Water park and urban forest

At first blush, it just sounded like a reshuffling. The reasons given — the state of the economy and the impetus to continue burying power lines on the riverbanks — didn’t quite make any sense to me, especially since the money’s already in place to get started.

The real story
And then we learned from District 6 Council Member Mike Jameson the most important point: There’s no money allocated yet for phase 3. So we’ll likely never see the water park or urban forest if the plan is re-prioritized.

I’m actually skeptical we’ll see any of the project if the new priorities hold, because — and this is just a gut feeling on my part — since permitting for all parts of the plan except the water park and forest require full-blown Corps permits, we won’t have anything happening for at least a year [absolute best case] and more likely, 3-5 years.

I hope you don’t think I’m coming across as one of those East Nashville whiners. I have lived in this neighborhood for almost 14 years, and I’ve seen a decent number of broken promises about development. But this situation just dumbfounds me. The water park isn’t about East Nashville. It’s about creating an amazing civic resource out of a brownfield — the kind of resource that will bring tourists to Nashville, tie in perfectly with the new downtown convention center, and give all Nashvillians a great destination to both enjoy and be proud of. Take a look at the plan on this PDF. Just awesome!

I’m really struggling to understand how you oppose the water park. And the urban forest — the Titans are willing to give it a try, and it would both be more attractive, and dramatically better for the environment than the vast asphalt parking lots on the east bank today.

I got the sense from Ed Owens, the MDHA representative, that MDHA views its role as to implement what the administration directs it to do. So I am anxious to hear directly from Mayor Karl Dean the rationale behind this plan. From what I know now, the revised plan will serve only to kill the riverfront development. I can’t figure out whom that’s going to benefit, but I know it’s not me.

Stay tuned. As I learn more about what’s happening and what we can do, I’ll let you know.

file_schematics_pbtb-13

AND: The Tennessean’s report on the meeting.

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Remember my new oven? It’s broken.

by lcreekmo on February 22, 2009

Remember a year and a half ago, when I had all that trouble with Nashville Gas, when I was trying to get my new oven installed? And how awesome my life became when I finally got my new oven?

This week my oven stopped working.

The top oven still works fine. The bottom oven cuts off the minute you set it. I fiddled with it a long time, finally running the top and bottom ovens both through the self-cleaning cycle, which they needed anyway. And once that was complete, the bottom oven worked again. Once.

And now it doesn’t anymore.

When I bought the oven, I was really leery of it, solely because it had an electronic control board instead of just a bunch of knobs. I had a friend who’d bought one and had to replace the control board almost immediately. But — oddly to me — the only affordable double ovens that use gas on the stovetop all use control boards. I don’t know either why knobs wouldn’t be cheaper than all those electronics. I suspect they aren’t, actually, but that someone at the major manufacturers has decided consumers like electronics better.

No, we don’t! People who actually know how to cook know that manual controls give the cook more control. And that your stupid electronics aren’t ready for prime time. Mine is 3 months out of warranty and it looks like it’s going to have to be replaced. A situation about which I am not happy, people.

So, of course, when I discovered the oven was broken, I had a loaf of bread ready to go into it. And I knew the top oven was too short to hold the bread, so I tried my toaster/countertop oven, which is a couple inches deeper than my top oven. But not deep enough for my awesome-rising whole wheat bread, as you can see in the picture. I got actual flames on this one, but sadly, no bread.

The repairman comes tomorrow.

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In which the 9yo kicks my a$$, culinarily speaking

by lcreekmo on February 3, 2009

I’m a cookbook collector. I can own that. I’m also a simplicity freak [converted packrat, the worst kind] who makes fun of everyone she knows who collects, well, anything. But I can admit upfront that I have this one weakness. I’m particularly prone to getting cookbooks that fall into the “bible” category. I have The Silver Palate. The Joy of Cooking. How to Cook Everything. The Moosewood Cookbook. The Best Recipe. The New Best Recipe. A Mediterranean Feast. You get the picture.

Many years ago, I bought the Italian bible: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. Frankly, I don’t use it as much as I should, but it’s my go-to for sauces in particular.

I’ve made Hazan’s alfredo sauce approximately a zillion times. I’m an alfredo fan, and it’s a quick sauce to make, as well. A 10-minute gourmet dinner.

But I have never in my life made that sauce as well as my 9yo did Sunday night.

The recipe itself is simple:

1 c. heavy cream
2 T. butter

Melt together over low heat until slightly thickened. Add:

2/3 c. grated Parmesan Reggiano

Stir til melted. Season with salt, pepper, a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.

Boom. That’s it. And yet I’ve gotten this sauce wrong more often than not. After I tasted the 9yo’s version, I immediately knew why.

I love, love, love my Microplane graters. I have one for zest, nutmeg and Parmesan sorts of things, and a larger one for softer cheese. Ever since I’ve owned them, I haven’t used any other kind of grater. I used to use a Zyliss grater for Parmesan all the time. It produces a thicker grate–so the finished product is denser than it is with the Microplane.

[Yes, we're about to dive off the culinary cliff, in which I demand recipes with weights and measures.]

I had the 9yo use the Zyliss to grate her cheese, because there’s no way to slice off half your arm, like there is with the Microplane. End result? I’m guessing her sauce had 2-3 times as much Parmesan as mine usually does. And the result was to-die-for.

You could certainly achieve the same result with the Microplane, just by using lots more than 2/3 c., or by packing it down [how much??], but the best thing would be to know how much cheese we’re actually talking about. Saying 1 c. of something solid really tells you nothing. Liquids are more predictable when you’re measuring volume. This is why your cereal is measured by “weight” and not by “volume.” 12 oz. of cereal = 12 oz. of cereal, but 12 oz. of the exact same kind of cereal might be 2 c. or 3 c., depending on how it packs into the measuring cup on any given day.

So, next time we make alfredo, we’ll use the Zyliss and weigh the result. Then we’ll know exactly what we’re dealing with in the future.

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Inferior kitchen equipment

by lcreekmo on November 16, 2008

If you don’t cook a lot, you might not realize how important it is to have the right tools. I have been suffering for almost two years now with bad graters, and it’s about to kill me. Here’s the one I want: the Microplane Extra-Coarse Grater. If you don’t own any Microplane, you are cooking without gas, so to speak. I have one, and I love it dearly. Mine is fine — good for zest, nutmeg and parmesan. But ever since my other favorite grater was lost in a Bermuda-triangle incident, I’ve struggled with one box grater after another, and I hate them all.

Here’s another piece of inferior equipment: A wire-loop pastry blender. I have no idea who thought this was a good idea, but when you’re blending butter into the dry ingredients for pastry, you need blades, not loops. Try telling that to your local big-box retailer. You’ll be lucky to find any pastry blender at Target, never mind one with blades.

Just added both those items to my wish list. The dumb thing is, they’re both really cheap on Amazon. Cheaper even than some of the inferior substitutes. I don’t understand why you’d sell something that’s more expensive, but more likely to break or not do the job, than the cheap, effective version. Oh wait. It’s a profit deal, isn’t it?

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Making chocolate ice cream

by lcreekmo on July 27, 2008

[flickr video=2704658769 show_info=true w=425]

Making chocolate ice cream, originally uploaded by lauracreekmore.

So my parents gave us this really nice ice cream maker for our wedding present. Ice cream makers have a long and happy history in the Creekmore and Norment families. I don’t remember any family reunions that did not include homemade ice cream. My uncle Bev is the legendary ice cream maker. His peach will blow your mind.

Speaking of, I think peach will be my next flavor.

But at any rate, our historic family ice cream makers were White Mountain electrics. I’m sure there were hand cranks back there in the past, but I don’t remember them personally. When my parents moved to Florida several years ago, my dad was in charge of dealing with a lot of their stuff, since my mom was already working there. And he gave me what he and I believed to be my grandmother’s old ice cream maker.

The 9yo and I enjoyed it for a couple of summers, but then it died a natural death. It was quite old when I got it.

So after it died, my mom heard of this, and said, it wasn’t Creek’s ice cream maker, it was ours! Which always seemed beside the point to me. But you know, the things we harass family about don’t have to make sense.

So Ashby and I got married and my parents said, well, what would you like us to give you for your present? And there was this one thing we’d registered for that I really, really wanted. A Cuisinart compressor ice cream maker. I wasn’t sure what my mom would think about that present idea. But she just laughed. And, here it is!

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Dear fairy godmother

by lcreekmo on May 9, 2008

I know I have been going around a lot lately talking about how stuff is unimportant. And preaching how everyone should declutter. And watch Clean House and read the Unclutterer and Zen Habits. So in keeping with that theme, I will be glad to give up 10 items of my most cherished junk, or 1 cookbook, whichever is harder, if you will please just forward these two items to me posthaste:

  • A kick-ass digital SLR
  • A house with lighting that doesn’t suck for taking pictures

Thanks so much!!!

Hugs and kisses,

Laura

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One of the mysteries of the universe

by lcreekmo on December 20, 2007

So you may remember that a few weeks ago, in fact, before Thanksgiving, I had to have a man out to fix my refrigerator. And it turned out something was wrong with the thermostat and the I don’t know what, and to fix it, he had to disassemble the entire freezer, including the icemaker, and replace some part and put it back together.

And what I may not have mentioned is this: For the past 4-5 weeks, since the moment this repairman left my house, the automatic ice dispenser in my freezer door has only dispensed crushed ice. There are two ice settings, crushed and cubed, and no matter which one you chose, you got crushed.

First I thought, well it’s clogged up or something. So I selected cubed every time, thinking it just needed to get cleared out. Which didn’t really make sense, since the refrigerator had been unplugged and the freezer entirely defrosted during the repair process, and there was no ice in it at all once the thermostat was fixed.

So I quickly moved on to my second theory, which was, he re-wired something funny and now it can only crush ice. Which made a lot more sense, because I kept testing the cubed button about once a day or so, and it continued to reliably crush ice just as well as the crushed button.

Until tonight. At which time the cubed button started spitting out perfect cubes of ice once again. It’s done it on two separate occasions now, and frankly, I’m scared to try it again. I should note, I always loved crushed ice, until two years ago when I bought this refrigerator that crushes it for me, and now I much prefer cubes. So I will be very sad if this cubing ability is short-lived.

Ideas??

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Break out the elbow-length mitts

by lcreekmo on November 16, 2007

My grill is back!

When I lived in my last house, I inherited a very nice natural gas grill from my dad. I didn’t have gas service at the time, but as soon as my HVAC died, I fixed that problem and got the grill hooked up too.

I grilled happily for several years til I made the mistake of moving to a [otherwise great] house with no gas service. So I put the cover on the grill and thought, something will die soon [I was surrounded by 30+ year old appliances] and I’ll replace it with gas.

Two and a half years later, I finally replaced the water heater out of sheer paranoia [it was almost 15 years old, a ticking time bomb], my stove [totally unreliable] and therefore could FINALLY get my grill hooked up.

My friend Tom the plumber ran all the gas lines and took care of what turned out to be a fairly massive project. Need I say, the gas line for the grill was the most troublesome, vexing Tom and me both till the end?

Yet here I was today, finally ready to grill. I got some squash and mushrooms at the store, chopped them up and mixed with some onions I had. You want to cut the squash into fairly thick planks [at least 1/4 inch, maybe a little more]. Then coat with a little olive oil and your choice of spices. I use a great spice mix I found in a Crescent Dragonwagon cookbook a long time ago. I am never without the stuff.

Then, grill!

I never used to be interested in grilling. I regarded it as a chore, and though I was always glad for someone else to grill for me, I didn’t want to bother with it myself.

Oh my goodness. It was almost 10 years ago — nine years ago next month, in fact — that we moved into a house that had a built-in gas grill. I started using it from time to time, and I discovered how awesome it was to sit out on the porch, wine in hand, and cook dinner in the dark.

So I have missed that these past couple years. Tonight there was a fair amount of racing back and forth into the house….one day I’ll master the art of feeding a toddler at a convenient time….but still. It was a good night for grilling and it turned out well.

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In which I am a cooking genius

by lcreekmo on November 12, 2007

Glory hallelujah, the nice man — they apparently have one — from Nashville Gas came out this morning and set my gas meter. One and a half hours after he arrived, I had a gas meter "big enough for commercial use" and my brand new stove was in working order.

A few more hours of work by my friend Tom the plumber, and my new hot water heater was, too. Later this week, my gas grill will be operational.

Y’all, it’s amazing how all that changes your life.

* I am no longer stressed that my 14-year-old water heater will explode and damage large portions of my home and possessions. Ever since I moved in here 2 1/2 years ago and noticed that the heater was positioned in a way that made it clear it couldn’t be drained, and therefore likely never had been, I’ve had this niggling worry in the back of my head.

Today that is gone, replaced by a tankless, high-efficiency gas unit.

I’m just looking over at the control panel — it has a control panel!! — and seeing that my friend Tom the plumber, ever safety-minded, has set the top temperature at 115. That is so not going to be hot enough for a bath. [I love a nice hot bath.] So, I will just pump up the temp on the control panel!! I love it already.

* My 13-day-cooking-ban imposed by Nashville Gas has come to a blessed end! I still don’t like those people, but I can highly recommend Mike [I may have his name wrong; I was delirious while he was turning on the stove.] to you when you make your next service call. Professional, quick and polite.

* And the stove. Ah, the stove.

Yes, so far it is everything I might have hoped for!! I have not cooked on gas — except for a few times at my mom’s house — since 2001. The stove I cooked on between 1998 and 2001 was probably made in the 1930s, and it looked like something out of the movies. It was a black box on legs, and it was the best stove I’ve ever used. The oven was tiny — just one rack. Big cookie sheets didn’t come close. And you didn’t care. It was that awesome.

And since then I’ve been all electric, bleh.

I won’t say this made up for the wait, but I CANNOT WAIT to cook Thanksgiving on this new stove! More on that to follow.

I made up this recipe as I went along tonight, but I can tell it will be a recurring dish here.

Butternut Risotto
1/2 medium butternut squash
1 medium onion
1 c. arborio rice
2-3 T. butter
1 1/2 t. herbes de Provence
2-3 cloves garlic
Olive oil
2-3 c. vegetable broth
1/2 c. good white wine
1/4 c. parmesan cheese

Cut the butternut squash in half. Place flat side down on a cookie sheet you’ve sprayed with Pam.

Slice the onion into slivers or small dice. Mix with 1/2 t. herbes and 1 T. or so of olive oil. Put this on the sheet in a thin layer.

Roast these at about 375 degrees for 1/2 hour or so, until the onion begins to turn brown and the squash is easily pierceable through the skin with a sharp knife.

–One minute. — I have to go break up a fight. — I’m back. Never a dull moment and all that.

The risotto will not take as long to cook as the squash will. I have been "spoiled" by the fact that my old oven had little to no concern about the actual temperature to which you set it, and tended to bake significantly on the hot side. Witness the many burned items over the past few months. So, when you make this at home, start the onions and the squash maybe 15 minutes before the rest of it.

Melt the butter over medium heat and stir in the rice. Cook for several minutes — the rice will begin to toast a little. Throw in the rest of the herbes at some point, the garlic [smashed and diced up] and a little salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt since you’re adding broth later, which is usually salty.

Start the broth warming over high and turn down to medium or low once it starts to simmer. This really matters. I’ve made risotto with cold broth, and it both takes forever and isn’t as good.

Turn the rice to low. Add the broth 1/2 c. at a time. Stir it a lot. When the rice starts to soak up most of the broth, add another 1/2 cup. You’re aiming for al dente here. I usually fly right past it, just like I do with pasta. Maybe you can make a better effort.

When the onions and squash are done, throw the onions in the pot. Seed the squash and scoop out bite-sized chunks into the pot. Lots of it will "melt" into the rice but you’ll probably have recognizable chunks left. Add the wine as your last 1/2 c. of liquid, then the cheese as the wine is almost absorbed.

Check for salt and pepper. Enjoy!!

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We’re still eating without a stove

by lcreekmo on November 11, 2007

Our life sans stove continues here at Fixin’ Supper. It is not always pretty.

Day 10: We ate at a friend’s house, lots of little nibbles over cocktails. I offered the kids food afterward, and both declared themselves full.
Day 11: I didn’t exactly eat dinner. I had some chips and dip. I did feed the 2yo but I don’t remember what.
Day 12: Spaghetti Supper annual fundraiser at the 8yo’s school.

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