If you are interested in purchasing Base to aid your development projects (it is a front-end for SQLite3 database design), you must remove the ".xml" extension on the license file (Base_License.baselicense.xml) Menial sends to you in order for the app to recognize it.

I realize this applies to a very small subset of folks out there (most of whom probably figured this out as quickly as I did), but if this post helps out even one person, it was worth the entry time.

If you use Accordance for more personal application/study vs message or text preparation, the following is a pretty good setup:

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

The first pane is the ESV text (with Strong's #'s). The second pane is the ESV Study Bible and the third is "User Notes". This way, you have the text (with the option to view the original language per term), a significant amount of background material from solid sources, and items you wanted to keep in association with the verse. Scroll the panes and everything keeps in sync.

I like the font & color configuration that I made, but white-on-black is not for everyone. Myriad Pro *rocks* (IMHO) as a base font, but it does not come with the system.

This is my default Workspace view. How is yours setup?

The news brings weekly – if not daily – reminders of just how terrible the next four years are going to be. Don't get me wrong: I have no love for the past eight years. There were no good choices to pick from this past November.

Because memory is fleeting for many, I will be chronicling the foibles and failures "ut accidit". Since I was forced to listen to the message of "hope" for 18-24 months, his supporters should be willing deal with his blunders of the next 24-48 months.

Evernote makes it very easy to accomplish this without cluttering up the blog. There will be a link in the sidebar (soon) for my Obama FAIL public notebook where web clips will no doubt consume the majority of my "Pro" account space.

As I said to the Bush supporters many times: "substantiated facts do not lie". Most kept the blind faith. We'll see if Obama's supporters are equally as deliberately deluded.

1 Timothy 1:15-17

"The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever."

No rhyme (not even an attempt at a Seussian muse...I promise!)

The snow globe is a good picture of what it has been like here since last week.

It's 22:53 as I begin typing and we started the day with...more snow (as the hiking pictures should have indicated).

For a change, we had all the presents (the trip to Florida is the major present for Tori & Jarrod, so their share is a bit slim) wrapped before 22:00 and I even have the 29 pound turkey seasoned, dressed and ready for the seven hour roasting session tomorrow. At the moment, two pumpkin pies are in the oven awaiting retrieval in ~50 minutes and a layer of ganache. (Update: pie FAIL..maybe...we'll see how they taste. meh)

Mary and Tori finished trimming the artificial tree earlier today and we surprised mom with as traditional of a Christmas Eve supper as I could let myself impress upon the children (it's mostly fish, so not exactly in anyone's "top ten" dinner menu).

Being snowbound, we wound up watching a service from Northland Church on the suggestion of daughter #1, Liz (Happy Birthday, btw!). It was a very lavish production but had a good message. I was a bit skeptical of it at first given that it started with a Charlie Brown song, but it turned out well (LED candles...meh).

FedEx managed to get here! (UPS still has not delivered Mary's presents or called me back as they said they would), so we trekked to the Wygle's on foot to ensure Eve received the remainder of her gift. A good four mile walk (we went back the long way and stopped to try to find stamps for Tori).

I miss friends and family back east. I miss Bethlehem at Christmastime. I miss celebrating the Moravian Lovefeast at the small church in our old-old neighborhood in town. At the same time, I am very thankful for new friends and church family. It's been a rough year (still kinda rough in many, many ways, actually) but blessings abound. It is a welcome opportunity to set aside everything to celebrate the birth of our Saviour tomorrow. I pray you manage to find the time to be still and know who He is amid the toil and chaos that will no doubt ensue at most of the households who end up reading this.

In closing, you really need to pick this up: How Many Kings by downhere. $0.99, no DRM and a great addition to your Christmas collection. (Lyrics at the end of the post.)

Merry Christmas!

(I'm sure we'll be posting pix tomorrow and potentially "uStream"ing presents, dinner or dessert, so keep watching the blog, Twitter or Facebook :-)

"How Many Kings" – downhere

Follow the star to a place unexpected
Would you believe after all we’ve projected
A child in a manger

Lowly and small, the weakest of all
Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl
Just a child
Is this who we’ve waited for?

Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many gods have poured out their hearts
to romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn savior
All that we have whether costly or meek
Because we believe
Gold for his honor and frankincense for his pleasure
And myrrh for the cross he’ll suffer
Do you believe, is this who we’ve waited for?
It’s who we’ve waited for

How many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
to romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me

All for me
All for you
All for me
All for you

As a result of a distributed Thanksgiving menu Twitter conversation, here is another recipe (and two blog posts in two days...whoa).

This serves 4. Just multiply if you need more.

• 1.0 lb fresh brussels sprouts, cleaned & halved
• 0.5 cup maple syrup
• 2.0-3.0 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1.0 tbsp peanut or walnut oil
• 0.75-1.0 cups of walnuts
• lemon zest (to taste, but about 0.125 surface of a lemon)
• nutmeg (to taste, but about 0.125-0.25 teaspoon)
• coarse kosher salt

"Miz ɑ̃n plas" is kinda important here as I tend to make this dish last when preparing any meal it will be served with. The procedures below assume all ingredients are prepped and ready.

In a frying pan on the low-ish side of medium heat, put in peanut or walnut oil and roast the walnuts with a little bit of salt. Your nose should tell you when they are ready. Put them in a prep bowl and set aside. Don't eat them! (But, if you do, I promise not to tell :-)

Setup steamer and have the sprouts ready to go. Get a sauce pan on the burner on medium heat (you can use the roasting pan you made the walnuts in).

When steamer is ready, add sprouts then make the sauce while they are cooking:

Put 2 of the 3 tbsp of butter in the pan and melt it. Add the nutmeg and lemon zest. Remember to use whole nutmeg and grate it yourself, otherwise you could be eating shredded & powdered leftover "beauty bark" or just wretched filler. Stir until it all gets heated nicely, but not browned.

Add maple syrup and then salt to taste. Keep sauce on low. You are not done yet.

Just as the sprouts finish steaming, remove sauce from heat and add last 1 tbsp of butter to the pan and swirl it gently around. This will thicken the sauce very nicely and add a warm, buttery feel to it.

Remove sprouts from steamer and sprinkle salt on them, then mix with sauce in a serving dish. Grate some fresh nutmeg on top and serve!

I made lamb curry the other night and posted a note on Twitter about it. A few folks asked for a recipe. So...below is my recipe for this particular version of a basic lamb curry (I have four of them). Where there are ranges, you must decide how much to use given your personal preferences. I used the max for each, but I tend not to measure, so they are kinda very edumicated guesses at the max. REMEMBER, while it is not optimal (the frying brings out more spice flavor through extraction of oils than just adding later) you can start with a smaller initial amount and add more once it cooks for a while to experiment. The essence of cooking is knowledgeable experimentation.

A basmati rice & peas recipe is below all this to keep the ingredients from being confused with one another.

This recipe is designed to serve 6-8. That's just how I roll.
The main bits:

• 1 5-6lb lamb leg
• 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 onion (not huge, but slightly bigger than what you get if you buy them bunched in a bag)
• 3-6 whole cloves of garlic
• 3.0 tbsp Gourmet Garden Ginger Spice Blend (do not give me a hard time about this...3 kids at home and full-time job. I am not cutting, peeling and chopping ginger for as much as I use it :-)
• 1.0-2.0 tbsp brown sugar
• 1.0 tbsp pure cane sugar (I probably use a bit more)
• 3.0 tbsp ghee or peanut oil (real chefs use ghee, don't be a poseur)
• coarse kosher salt (to taste)

For the curry powder:

• 1.0 tbsp ground coriander
• 0.5-1.0 tbsp ground cumin
• 0.5 tbsp ground turmeric (I probably end up using more, tho)
• 0.5 tbsp fenugreek (I would not make the curry without this)
• 0.25 tbsp ground mustard
• 0.25 tbsp paprika
• 0.5 tsp (yes, teaspoon) nutmeg
• 0.0-1.0 tbsp of chili powder (this is the kick, so consider yourself warned)
• 3-6 whole cloves
• 2-8 whole green cardamom pods
• 1 whole cinnamon stick
• 1-2 tsp of powdered ginger

(NOTE: I will not mock you if you use 3.0-4.0 tbsp of Simply Organic Curry Powder instead of mixing your own...Well, not much, anyway. Purists take whole spices, roast and grind, so I am already taking a shortcut)

I'm a pretty big believer in miz ɑ̃n plas, so we'll cover the recipe that way. You should have a number of decent-sized and small holding bowls/ramekins. These work well. I use stainless steel ones.

Mix coriander, cumin, turmeric, mustard, paprika, nutmeg, giner & chili powder (if any) in a small prep bowl and set aside. Notice that the fenugreek is not in this list.

Trim as much of the fat as possible from the lamb leg and remove the bone. (I roast the bone and give it to our golden retriever...your dog will love you forever, trust me). Remove all traces of tendon from the meat as it will make the lamb tough unless you slow-simmer the curry for hours. Cut the remaining lamb meat into smaller than you think it should be bite-sized pieces. Dust the meat with some kosher salt and set aside in a larger bowl.

Peel and cut onion into small enough pieces to put into a food processor (and then put them in the food processor). Toss in garlic and ginger. Make it into a fine paste with almost no lumps. The lumps will be large pieces of garlic or onion and your guests will despise you if they bite into it. It's not like you are doing the chopping or grinding. You're just pressing a button. Set this mixture aside in a bowl or the food processor container with the lid off.

Heat the ghee in a decent sized pan/pot (I use this) on medium heat and put in the paste you just made. It will probably splatter a bit, so just take that into consideration. Stir it constantly (you'll end up dedicating a spoon to curry if you use wooden ones) and let it turn just a hint of brown. This releases sugars that are quite yummy and also helps break down the garlic for those that are more sensitive to it (like me).

Toss in the whole cloves & cinnamon stick, then press the cardamom pods with your fingers and add them too. Stir this mixture for about 2 minutes.

Add the curry powder you made, lower the heat a bit and stir for 4-5 minutes.

Add the crushed tomatoes and mix together thoroughly.

Put the heat back to medium and add the lamb. Stir the mixture until everything is evenly covered. When the curry starts to bubble, reduce the heat and add the sugar and fenugreek.

Cover with a lid and stir occasionally. This can sit for as long as you like (or until the rice – below – is done). It is safe to eat when the lamb is cooked through (the volume of liquid will increase as it is released from the lamb). This will depend on how small you cut the lamb, tho.

If you can find it, adding a small amount of asafetida powder when you remove the dish from the heat will really bring out more flavor.

When you serve it, you can take out the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon stick if you like. Or, you can make it a nice hide-and-seek game for your guests.

You can reduce prep time further by substituting Gourmet Garden Garlic Blend for the garlic cloves and just use the Simply Organic curry powder. It will come out almost as good.

Final warning: I read through this four times after all edits, but check back for updates (I'll note them) and offer up suggestions/corrections/results in the comments.

For the rice:

• 3.0 cups of basmati rice
• frozen peas (as many as you like!)
• 1.0-2.0 tbsp of ghee or peanut oil (see above, yo)
• 2 pinches of kosher salt
• 6-8 whole cloves

Rinse the rice until the rinse water becomes mostly clear. The rice bangs together during transport and generates a fine powder that covers the grains. If your rice sticks together and you don't want it to, this is probably why (not rinsing). You can also take this time to inspect the rice for particles that aren't rice. I've found small rocks/granules more often than you might think.

Put the ghee into a rice cooker and let it melt (or melt it before putting in). Mix rice thoroughly with it and add the salt and cloves. If you are one of those "the salt does not go in with the rice" people, then don't. Now, mix in the peas and add 4-5 cups of water (I would lean towards 4). Start the rice cooker.

Serve all this with buttered naan, mango chutney and yogurt/raita. A nice shiraz would be lovely, too.

Quick list for the sake of anyone with an HD Radio receiver:

KPLU-HD
88.5 FM
Jazz/NPR, Pacific Lutheran University

KPLU-HD2
88.5-2 FM
Jazz 24, Pacific Lutheran University

KNHC-HD
89.5 FM
Top40/Dance, Seattle Public Schools

KSER-HD
90.7 FM
Ecltc/Talk, KSER Foundation

KBCS
Soon in HD
91.3 FM
Variety, Bellevue Community College

KXOT-HD
91.7 FM
NPR/Nws/Tlk, Public Radio Capital, Inc.

KQMV-HD
92.5 FM
Rhymc/AC, Sandusky

KUBE-HD
93.3 FM
CHR, Clear Channel

KUBE-HD2
93.3-2 FM
Xtreme Hip Hop, Clear Channel

KMPS-HD
94.1 FM
Today's Country, CBS Radio

KMPS-HD2
94.1-2 FM
Classic KMPS, CBS Radio

KUOW-HD
94.9 FM
NPR/Nws/Inf, University of Washington

KUOW-HD2
94.9-2 FM
NPR News & Information, University of Washington

KUOW-HD3
94.9-3 FM
BBC World Service, University of Washington

KJR-HD
95.7 FM
Clsc Hits, Clear Channel

KJR-HD2
95.7-2 FM
All 80's, Clear Channel

KJAQ-HD
96.5 FM
Jack, CBS Radio

KIRO-HD
97.3 FM
Clsc Hits, Bonneville International Corp.

KIRO-HD2
97.3-2 FM
Urban AC, Bonneville International Corp.

KFMY
Soon in HD
97.7 FM
Clsc Hits, South Sound Broadcasting

KING-HD
98.1 FM
Classical, Classic Radio, Inc.

KWJZ-HD
98.9 FM
Smooth Jazz, Sandusky

KWJZ-HD2
98.9-2 FM
KKNW-AM, Sandusky

KDDS
Soon in HD
99.3 FM
Mexican, Bustos Media

KISW-HD
99.9 FM
Rock, Entercom Communications Corp.

KISW-HD2
99.9-2 FM
Live Rock, Entercom Communications Corp.

KKWF-HD
100.7 FM
Country, Entercom Communications Corp.

KKWF-HD2
100.7-2 FM
Comedy, Entercom Communications Corp.

KZOK-HD
102.5 FM
Clsc Rock, CBS Radio

KZOK-HD2
102.5-2 FM
Deep Cuts Classic Rock, CBS Radio

KNBQ-HD
102.9 FM
Country, Clear Channel

KNBQ-HD2
102.9-2 FM
Country, Clear Channel

KMTT-HD
103.7 FM
Adult Rock, Entercom Communications Corp.

KMTT-HD2
103.7-2 FM
Blues, Entercom Communications Corp.

KFNK-HD
104.9 FM
Rock, Clear Channel

KFNK-HD2
104.9-2 FM
Indie Rock, Clear Channel

KCMS-HD
105.3 FM
ChrsContemp, Crista Ministries

KCMS-HD2
105.3-2 FM
Christian Rock - Spirit Edge, Crista Ministries

KBKS-HD