“Who’s Albert Einstein?” When I asked my 15 y/o da…

“Who’s Albert Einstein?” When I asked my 15 y/o daughter she replied, “Are you kidding me? He’s like the smartest dude in the world. Ever. E=MC2, man. The theory of relativity…” Her response made me almost as happy as last week when she heard a song from my PC and asked, “is that the Bottle Rockets?”

Wired magazine has an article by Rowan Hooper called A Century of Einstein. It’s been 100 years since Mr. Einstein wrote “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies.” Its theories are responsible for much of the technology we take for granted today. For example, if not for Al, you might not be reading this fascinating blog.

As the father of two teenagers, the author really grabbed me with his opening: “If you think it’s sometimes hard to understand how a teenager’s mind works, have some sympathy for Albert Einstein’s mother. When he was just a teenager, Einstein was pondering what a light wave would look like if he could observe it while moving at light speed.” While he solved the seemingly unanswerable, he didn’t get all the answers he was seeking. “I want to know how God created this world.” Then again, maybe he did.

Today I’m going to go in-depth on meatballs… Yea…

Today I’m going to go in-depth on meatballs… Yeah, I’m sure some of you are thinking, “Why does it always have to be about meatballs?” Well, meatballs are important to me; an obsession, really. Since I went to college in Arizona (no, not Arizona State), I’ve been on a quest to re-create the meatballs my mother has made famous. OK, maybe “famous” is a stretch, but they are in serious demand within my extended family. On several occasions I’ve asked for the “recipe,” but it doesn’t exist. Making meatballs is an artform, and my mother is the Mary Cassat of meatballs. Now lets make some meatballs!

One thing I’ve been able to pry from Mom is that she uses only 85% lean ground beef. It seems to help make the meatballs softer, and much of the excess fat gets cooked out of the meat. To the meat I add some finely diced onion, parmesean cheese and Progresso brand Italian bread crumbs. Not a specific amount. Just enough. One other secret ingredient evidently is water. Just a little, like 4 3/4 to 4 7/8 tablespoons… It also seemed to make the pre-cooked product a little softer.

ROLLING IS CRITICAL!!! The important thing is to form the meatball with as little compression as possible. Over-rolling with result in a hard, and in this case, under-satisfying meatball experience. Also, no matter what you may have heard, size does matter. I try to roll my balls into orbs about 2 inches across.

Some people like to brown their meatballs before submerging them into the molten depths of the sauce, but not me. We pass the frying pan and go right into the fire. With medium heat, bring the sauce to a boil and then gently place your balls into the sauce. Let the sauce re-heat again to a boil, then set it to low and let everything simmer for a minimum of 2 hours. NOTE: There will be shrinkage! Do not be alarmed. The shrinkage of your balls is caused by the fat content being forced out by the heat. Yeah, it’s the opposite effect of a cold pool, but stay with me here… The fat will form gross little glistening pools on the surface of the sauce and should be skimmed off.

A note on tomato sauce: Granted, sauce, or “gravy,” as Mom calls it, is important, but my dirty little secret today is that I’m using Classico Cabernet Marinara, doctored with sautéed mushrooms, roasted garlic and basil. Yeah, I can make sauce from scratch, but don’t bother because the jar stuff is fine with a little customization.

The “Mom’s meatballs” taste test: My 15 y/o daughters take: “I don’t know. One time you got really close, like two batches ago. These are good, though.” She’s right, but I think I know where it all went wrong…

Here’s an Onion link to get things going toda…

Here’s an Onion link to get things going today:

Relationship Beats Second-Quarter Expectations

The article spoofs corporate earning releases and relationships at the same time. Let’s look at both, shall we? Corporations and investors live and die by the quarterly earnings report. Unfortunately, it’s this short term measurement that seems to get many companies in trouble. Long-term, strategic initiatives and investments often lose out to the short-term requirement to show results. The intense pressure to deliver results is what created some of the accounting scandals that surfaced over the past couple years. Oh, and lots of greed. I’m lucky to work in a company that has done a great job of balancing both long and short term needs of the business. Yesterday we reported our 100th consecutive quarter of revenue growth compared to the same period in the previous year, and our 71st consecutive quarter of profitability. What’s really amazing is that these results were achieved as we conducted a major reorganization of our field Sales and Service organization, and prepared to roll out a new accounting system in the company. It’s a credit to our management and employees.

Lying and cheating, like that contributing to companies getting in trouble was the subject of a movie I saw last night, “Closer.” It’s about the self-deception that fills people who allow a fleeting moment of infatuation, and perhaps short-term performance, to devolve into a disloyal affair. It was an interesting, but ultimately depressing film that left me hoping I never experience anything like it…again.

Finally, and even though Jeff has covered this particular ground, I must plug the film “Sideways.” One reviewer wrote Sideways is a “Comedy about wine, women and men’s inability to handle either is painfully funny.” If you’ve ever had the experience of touring wine country anywhere (Pal Dave and his wife Georgia actually toured wine country in Chile!), you’ll love this film. It brilliantly uses wine as a metaphor for life.

In my favorite scene of the movie, Miles, the downtrodden protagonist describes his favorite wine, pinot noir. He says pinot is “a hard grape to grow…thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early…Only when someone has taken the time to truly understand its potential can Pinot be coaxed into its fullest expression. And when that happens, its flavors are the most haunting and brilliant and subtle and thrilling and ancient on the planet.” His new acquaintance Maya responds by describing wine as a living thing, “constantly evolving and gaining complexity” toward its prime until it reaches its peak. The real beauty of the scene (besides Virginia Madsen as Maya), is that Miles and Maya are defining themselves. Go see “Sideways.”

I love Jeff’s blog! I love Jeff! (And Leo…)

I love Jeff’s blog! I love Jeff! (And Leo…)

I was supposed to help Leo blog the Tife and Limes of Jeff this week. Instead, I’ve been blogged with illness and family events. Illness is not good. Family events are unpredictable.

I’m ill. Old story…

Yesterday we had to place my 102-year old Grandma Frances Klug (my Dad’s mother) in a nursing home. Sound odd? I mean, she is 102. Well, she’s lived alone in her home now in Peru, Illinois for 15 years since my Grandpa Francis Klug died. She has all her mental faculties about her…she’s as sharp as a tack! But her physical body is giving in. And yesterday my Grandpa Klug’s sister-in-law, Bernice, who lived around the corner from my Grandma and was 93 years old, died. My father helped bury her. A big day in history for the Klug family. My son, Joseph, who’s 4 years old, is the only one of over 50 children, grand children and great grandchildren of Frances and Francis that will carry on the Klug name. Life is funny. And sad.

I hope Jeff and Steph are layin’ on a beach right now, just hanging out. Hearts are one now. In love…

Dave

np The Boss: Factory (one song that always sends chills…)

Hey Dave, is he gone? OK… Leo here… A friend of mi…

Hey Dave, is he gone? OK… Leo here… A friend of mine thinks blogging is just so narcissistic. I love it already.

People in New England have entered the realm of the insane today. Gearing up to watch the Patriots burn Pittsburg* on their march to the marvelous basin, you say? Of course I mean the “big game.” The actual game name is trademarked and the NFL employs herds of lawyers year-round to slap lawsuits on anyone using the term without paying to do so. With Jeff dropping so much money on his honeymoon, I sure don’t want him coming back owing someone money. Anyway, no, it’s not over the game. You see, there’s snow in the forecast and people behave like a new ice age is descending upon us. I just returned from the grocery store and I have never seen it so mobbed. I did manage to catch up on some celebrity news while in line. Brad and Jen on the cover of “Us” with a very sad picture taken, “hours before the breakup.” Sure, people make fun about Hollywood couples and their fleeting pairings, but isn’t it still sad? All the money and fame in the word doesn’t diminish the pain of a broken relationship. Wait. How the hell do I know? Maybe it does.

On that note, lets move on to the world of online dating, an area Jeff and Dave refuse to cover. Here’s a picture of a 40-ish woman from an online dating site.

She looks pretty good, right? Did she not notice anything else in the picture besides herself? I emailed to ask, but she hasn’t responded.

Yesterday was a “use it or lose it” vacation day and a trip to Harvard Square and the Fogg Art Museum. It was about 2 degrees with a bitter, cutting wind, so the walk through Harvard Yard was, uh, refreshing. Once in the museum though, the Maurice Wertheim Collection was a highlight. It includes Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, including works by Degas, Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Gauguin, Renoir, Cézanne, and my favorite of the Impressionists, Camille Pissarro. My “art buzz” was wrecked when I descended into the subway to see a homeless man asleep on a bench (See weather conditions above…). Then once in the train, another homeless man was talking to himself for the entire trip. I did, however, heed what the man kept repeating: “Six to twelve coming. Better get ready.” Over to you, Dave.

* NE 24 Pitt 6 (13 at the most…)