Bicycling in Chiang Mai

While in Thailand, the dangers of bicycling should not be understated. The main issue is the unwritten rule that smaller vehicles (motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians) are to give way to larger vehicles (cars and trucks). There is no right of way for bicycles, or pedestrians for that matter. The second main issue is dogs. That said, ... Read more

A Minimal Kitchen

Minimalism isn't necessarily only about less, but rather the minimum needed for effectiveness. With recipes this means the least amount of preparation, cooking, the fewest necessary ingredients, etc. Multi-Use vs. Functionally Improved For a minimal kitchen, some people confuse this with not having any single use utensils and instruments. This is a considerable mistake when ... Read more

Canola Oil – Healthy or Not?

Canola oil is made from the canola plant, a genetically modified rapeseed plant. This was done back in the 1970s through cross-breeding to remove glucosinates and erucic acid, as those can be inedible and/or toxic. Canola is an invented word combining Canada and oil/ola). Canola is seen as a healthy oil for cooking as it ... Read more

Homemade Energy Bars

Energy bars can be made at home, much less expensively and with known ingredients. It is possible to make them with few ingredients. In the recipe below there are four ingredients: Peanut butter Nonfat milk Rolled oats Protein powder (whey protein isolate) The key is to have a reasonable ratio of fats to carbs to ... Read more

Mushroom and Onion Gravy

Gravy is needed sometimes, but we needn't make it mostly salt. Here is an option that can top any dish. It is a combination of a standard roux-based gravy (but without a stock), and a Bearnaise-like emulsion. I find that it is not common in our house to have soup stock. The soups I make ... Read more

Pork Tenderloin Slow Roast

This recipe can accommodate 1kg of fresh pork tenderloin. The key is to roast low and slow until the internal temperature reaches 62 degrees Celsius (using a reliable meat thermometer). At which point, let sit 3 minutes, then carve and serve. The second key part of the recipe is to marinade for two days beforehand. ... Read more

Thai Sriracha Sauce

Sriracha in the United States Sriracha sauce has been popularized in the United States by Huay Fong Foods famous rooster sauce which contains red jalapeno peppers (formerly they used serrano peppers). Huay Fong Foods was founded by a Vietnamese refugee of Chinese extraction in California in 1980. There is even a Sriracha Film made about ... Read more

Homemade Eggnog Recipe

Ingredients Six egg yolks 1/2 tsp vanilla 1/4 cup sugar (50 grams) 1 cup heavy cream (230 grams) 2 cups whole milk (490 grams) 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg pinch of salt Instructions Cream egg yolks with sugar in bowl In saucepan over medium heat mix heavy cream, milk, nutmeg, and salt. Stir until simmering, turn ... Read more

Flush DNS Cache

Turns out there are several ways to flush the DNS cache on Linux, depending upon what service is being used for DNS caching. In some cases, no services are being used, which means resetting the network should do the trick. sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart Google Chrome Browser DNS Caching However, Google will have its revenge since ... Read more

Recycle Batteries and E-Waste in Chiang Mai

Recycle Batteries in Chiang Mai > In the underground parking lot of Kad Suan Kaew you can recycle batteries, fluorescent tubes, plastic and all kinds of stuff. If you park on the very bottom floor near the Post Office, all you do is walk up those 5 or so steps near the elevator and toilet ... Read more