By betting big on property in a down market, and with the help of a donor network, the group is creating Habitat neighborhoods.
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Habitat for Humanity Tries Big-Scale Approach to Housing in Oregon
A Microsoft-Facebook alliance plans an overhaul of Bing in an effort to loosen Google’s grip on the search engine market.
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Bing Search Engine Revamped as War Against Google Intensifies
Mother’s Day is coming up on May 13 and you’re probably scrambling to find a decent place to make those Sunday brunch reservations. Pair that with a bouquet of flowers and some jewelry and you’ve done your duty this year once again. But, how about going the extra mile for your mother and putting a little thought into her special day? Preparing a homemade Mother’s Day brunch will really show Mom how much you care, says Justin Devillier . Devillier is the chef and owner of La Petite Grocery restaurant in New Orleans, and will celebrate this Mother’s Day with wife, Mia, and one year-old daughter, Ruby. Five Tips for a Special Homemade Mother’s Day Brunch for Mom : Justin Devillier 1. Separate your prep list into two categories Divide your tasks into items that can be prepared the night before (cocktail sauce, washed herbs, picked crab, etc.) and items that you will need to prep Sunday morning (hollandaise sauce, shucked oysters, poached eggs and fried bacon). This helps break up the cooking process, so you’re not swamped and frantic. It's a very special brunch for a very special lady, so it is important to allocate the time to prepare your best. 2. Keep the menu on the light side, especially if you have the option to enjoy the morning in the fresh air outside Consider serving the following: Ice-cold raw oysters on the half shell with mignonette sauce (usually shallots, black pepper and vinegar) and cocktail sauce Shaved raw asparagus with lemon vinaigrette, cracked black pepper and pecorino cheese Poached eggs with rye toast, cured salmon and hollandaise Small bowl of fresh fruit to finish 3. Prepare fresh juices Whether it’s orange, grapefruit or lemonade, juices taste much better if they are hand-squeezed. Plus, it shows Mom that you put in the extra effort. Use a citrus reamer or head down to the nearest Latino market or specialty kitchen store and pick up a hand press for a few bucks. 4. Shop for quality Spend a little time to find ingredients that are special, such as fresh eggs from the farmers market and locally-made bacon and ham. If you don't know where to begin looking for these kinds of items, talk to your local grocer or butcher and have him or her recommend the best quality. It’s important to splurge for Mom. After all, she probably did it for you a few times. 5. If you are going to include an adult beverage, make sure it is a complementary selection The last thing you want to do is spend all that time preparing an awesome menu just to have an so-so wine pairing. Some choices that usually pair well with brunch fare are Sancerre, Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley or Willamette Valley Pinot Noir from Oregon. Then again, you can't go wrong with a nice Champagne . Is there someone you'd like to see in the hot seat? Let us know in the comments below and if we agree, we'll do our best to chase 'em down.
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5@5 – Craft a special homemade Mother’s Day brunch
Installers, often working through big-box chains, are taking advantage of hefty tax breaks, creative financing and cheap Chinese-made panels to make solar power accessible to the mass market.
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Solar Installers Offer Homeowners Deals, Gaining Converts
5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe. Editor's Note: Emiliano Lee is the Artisan Market Manager at Farmshop in Los Angeles, California. He also serves as a judge for the American Cheese Society. One of, if not the most, frequently asked questions I field on the cheese counter is, “What's your favorite?” To which I almost always reply, “Well, that depends.” What's ripe? What's tasting particularly good at any given moment? What am I in the mood for? What's the weather like? What am I drinking? Ah, yes, the age-old pairing question. In the end, it really does boil down to personal taste, but there are certainly some combinations that work better than others. Many people want to pair wine and cheese, and while I can dance to that, I'm personally more of the malt and hops persuasion. For me, beer is a more natural choice, and as many others will attest to, it plays tremendously well with cheese. Looking at my cheese case right now, here are a five wheels that are tasting particularly nice along with some of their best drinking buddies. 1. Extra Mature Bandage Wrapped Cheddar by Fiscalini Farmstead Cheese (Modesto, California) This traditional, farmhouse-style English cheddar speaks to the passion and skill of its cheesemaker, Mariano Gonzalez. This raw milk beauty has won the top spot twice at the World Cheese Awards in London, beating the British on their home turf. Its dense texture crumbles and melts creamy on the palate, bringing out various sweet and savory notes. Think butter and toasted nuts with hints of caramel and pineapple. Its complexity lends well across the board to many types of beverages (it pairs just as nicely with reds as whites when it comes to wine), but what could be more fitting to pair with a good farmhouse cheddar than a nice hearty ale? There are few pleasures more satisfying. For some fun, one of my favorite pairings is Lagunitas Brewing Company's India Pale Ale . With the beer's combination of bold hoppiness and deep malty foundation, the complexity of flavor in the cheddar steps up and sings right in tune. Add a hearty rye bread and some pickles and call it a meal. For a mellower combination, pair with your favorite brown ale or special bitter to bring out the buttery notes and bright fruit. 2. Vivace by Andante Dairy (Petaluma, California) Cheesemaker Soyoung Scanlan has a reputation for creating some of the finest small batch cheeses available. While we've been familiar with her beautifully crafted goat cheeses reminiscent of the finest you'll find abroad, she has only recently begun to incorporate sheep’s milk from a nearby farm into her repertoire. Vivace is a blend of sheep's and goat's milk with a delicate rind that holds in an unctuous paste that develops from the outside-in. The creamy texture instantly coats the palate in tongue-smacking delight. Flavors are rich, yet fresh and bright, with sweet hay notes lingering on the finish. Alpine Beer Company concocts just the beverage to wash this one down: Willy. This beer is full-flavored, yet light enough to be crisp and nutty at the same time. The effervescence cuts through the rich paste of the cheese, leaving you with a mildly sweet finish and bringing out grass in the nose. In lieu of Willy, pair with a wheat beer of your choice or even a lighter red ale to bring out more of the musky animal notes if that's your kick. 3. Winnimere by Jasper Hill Farm (Greensboro, Vermont) Andy and Mateo Kehler started Jasper Hill Farm in 2003 and have, in a short several years, become one of this country's preeminent sources for American farmstead cheeses. Their Winnimere cheese is wrapped in spruce bark from Jasper Hill's own trees and washed with ale from a neighboring brewery. It's best enjoyed by simply peeling back the top rind, allowing the bark to act as a bowl and digging in with a spoon or just a hunk of crusty bread. The silky texture wraps itself around your tongue with a symphony of flavors: sweet, smoky, salty, creamy, fruity, woodsy, beefy. A friend now famously likened it to taking a walk through the bacon forest. One of my favorite things to have alongside this cheese is dried tart cherries, so a lambic cherry beer like Timmermans Kriek is a perfect pairing with this seasonal wonder. The carbonation helps break down the cheese and bring out individual flavors. The light tartness complements the savory qualities of the cheese, and the cheese itself tones down the sweetness of the beer. 4. Nicasio Reserve by Nicasio Valley Cheese Company (Nicasio, California) A relative newcomer to the farmstead and artisanal cheese scene, the Lafranchi family has been producing some consistently good cheese in a very short period of time. One of those cheeses is Nicasio Reserve. The Lafranchi family went to their roots in Valle Maggia, Switzerland, to learn the craft and bring it home to their Marin County farm. Nicasio Reserve is an Alpine-style cheese that's dense and creamy with a light fruity funk on the nose. Across the palate, the impressive sweet cream flavor of their milk (certified organic, by the way) hits you right off the bat before mellowing into a complex play of stone fruits, grass and hazelnuts. The sweet cream follows through once more on the finish. This cheese instills warmth, as does the beer I've paired with it: California Ale from Telegraph Brewing . It may be a flavorful medium-bodied beer for a flavorful medium-bodied cheese, but by no means is it a medium-bodied experience. 5. MT TAM by Cowgirl Creamery (Point Reyes Station, California) Wherever it's offered, when properly cared for and represented, this cheese is one of the most popular and best-selling – and for good reason. Unlike other more readily available and one-dimensional cheeses, MT TAM has more to offer than its big buttery base. When ripe, the center of the wheel is soft and luxurious. It's often likened to vanilla ice cream, and something I'll often eat with whatever seasonal preserves I'm in love with at the moment. However, this puppy can match up with bold and savory just as well. It's one of the few sweet, creamy cheeses you'll want to pair with a good Pinot. Triple creams love bubbles. While sparkling wine is a natural match, I like something with a bit more body and flair. In this case, I would suggest Grand Cru, a Belgian-style ale from AleSmith Brewing Company . The bubbles cut through the butterfat, allowing the sweet cream to meld with the various flavors encased in this hefty bottle. Is there someone you'd like to see in the hot seat? Let us know in the comments below and if we agree, we'll do our best to chase 'em down.
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5@5 – Cheeses that pair well with beer
Supermarket group Sainsbury’s reports an increase in sales and market share but a small dip in profits in what it describes as a “good year”.
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Sainsbury’s reports ‘good year’
In a weak job market, many college graduates are taking unpaid internships that fail to deliver on their promises of experience by offering little more than menial work.
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Unpaid Internships Don’t Always Deliver
French President Nicolas Sarkozy spends the day with his family and his challenger Francois Hollande visits a market a day before the crucial second round.
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French ponder Sunday poll choice
How are your retirement investments doing these days? For many people, that’s a loaded question. U.S. markets are up more than 100 percent from their 2009 lows, yet many investors are not thrilled by their returns. That’s quite telling and suggests that someone is doing something wrong. Read full article > >
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The mutual funds and managers to avoid
A bomb targeting security forces near a marketplace in north-west Pakistan has killed at least 20 people, local officials say.
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Pakistan market bomb ‘kills 20′
Samsung unveils its new Galaxy S3 smartphone, featuring a 4.8 inch screen, calling it the “best in class” Android-based phone on the market.
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Samsung unveils new Galaxy phone
Al Qaeda’s senior leadership was riven with divisive debates about tactics, strategy and even marketing in the months leading up to the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
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Recovered Documents Show a Divided Al Qaeda
If you have plans next week to pick up lunch on K Street, thrift your way through Eastern Market or meet friends for happy hour, a couple of words of advice: Look out. You just might find yourself starring in the Kennedy Center festival “ Look Both Ways: Street Arts Across America .” Read full article > >
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‘Look Both Ways: Kennedy Center Street Arts Festival’
Habitat for Humanity Tries Big-Scale Approach to Housing in Oregon
Friday, May 11th, 2012Bing Search Engine Revamped as War Against Google Intensifies
Friday, May 11th, 2012
