Month: January 2003

The best cookbook ever

The Vegetarian Bistro: 250 Authentic French Regional Recipes by Marlena SpielerWhile I'm talking about cooking, I have to recommend my favorite cookbook of all-time: The Vegetarian Bistro: 250 Authentic French Regional Recipes by Marlena Spieler. I use this wonderful cookbook all the time. It's filled with really good stuff: a roasted portobello mushroom recipe that takes less than five minutes of prep (and less than 30 minutes total) that will knock your socks off, tarts, salads, soups, even dessert! I've made probably 50% of the recipes and only one was lackluster (probably user error). If you're looking to spice up your cooking repertoire, I strongly recommend this book.

Vegetable stock recipe

I've posted my veggie stock recipe for those that are interested in making stock from scratch. Don't be limited by the ingredients I use here. You can always add more based on what you're making (i.e. seeds from a squash if you're making a squash soup, mushrooms if the stock will go in porcini risotto, etc.) I like to keep it simple because I usually don't know what I'll be using the stock for in advance.

RU-486 under attack

The abortion pill RU-486 was approved for use in the United States in 2000 but a University of Oregon study, profiled in this Wired News article, Study: Abortion Pill Under Attack, finds that disinformation and political hurdles are hindering its use.

A study by University of Oregon researchers has found that access to the treatment is limited by anti-abortion campaigns, as well by legal roadblocks physicians must face in order to prescribe the drug.

"The basic issue is that the public lacks awareness of what medical abortion is and how effective and safe it is in early term pregnancies," [Maria] Harvey [director of research at the University of Oregon Center for the Study of Women in Society] said. "Women lack that info; therefore they can't be active consumers."

Harvey's paper finds that anti-abortion groups have perpetrated the notion that RU-486 is associated with serious health risks, and that it was rushed through FDA approval without sufficient study.

France approved RU-486 in 1989. England approved it in 1991. Over 200,000 European women have used RU-486 rather than surgical abortions to safely terminate pregnancies. It's outrageous that disinformation campaigns are keeping women from making informed decisions about their best course of treatment. Knowledge is power. Some people would prefer that women don't have any.

8 and 9 are in!

Earlier this week I posted a brief list of tips and tricks. I didn't have any to fill out the "8 tips" or "9 trick" spots but a very nice reader named Kris took the time to send some in. So, here we go:

Eight tips for using your pocket PC

Top Eight Mistakes in Web Site Design
9 tips for new C++ programmers

Nine Tips to Incorporating UML into Your Project

Nine Common E-Commerce Mistakes–and How to Avoid Them

Nine Tips for Dog Behavior Modification (Ok, this one's not tech related, but still useful. Perhaps my neighbors with the lunging dogs that try to eat me will read it?)

Thanks Kris!