After months of procrastination, last week I finally got my hands on a slow cooker, via my friend @gustavo_armenta. Armed with some left over pork shoulder, a handful veggies and a spice rack, I decided to take the new gadget for a spin.

Ingredients (makes for 4 portions)

• 2 lb of pork shoulder, cut in cubes (you should get about 4-6 cubes)
• 1 yellow onion, sliced.
• 8 - 10 red potatoes, cut in half

For the sauce (ballpark, adjust to taste)

• 1/4 cup of Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp of Whole grain mustard
• 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp of brown sugar
• A few pinches of thyme.
• Salt
• Pepper

How to

• Take the pork shoulder off the fridge at least an hour before (you want it to be at room temperature when you start cooking)
• On a bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients thoroughly. Taste for salt and pepper. (The sauce will be cooked for a long time, so it should start more flavorful than usual)
• Line the bottom of the slow cooker with the sliced onions
• Toss each pork cube thoroughly on the sauce and lay them evenly in the slow cooker (if there's any sauce left, spoon it over the cubes).
• Place the potatoes on top.
• Cook on 'High' for 4 hours.

After 4 hours in the slow cooker, the pork will be done. It should be soft, and will come apart just by pulling with fork. Serve inmidiately, spooning the juices over the pork, onions and potatoes.

The pork turned out to be very soft and sweet (due to the onion, sugar and fat caramelizing), but with a delicious tangy hint due to the mustard.

I really recommend you give it a try. It takes time to cook, but the prep work is super quick and really easy. And the resulting dish is really really good!

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We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too

President John F. Kennedy - September 12, 1962, Rice University

I get goose bumps everytime I hear Kennedy's 'We choose to go to the moon speech' (full transcript here). This is the world I like to believe in, a world full of people doing the hard work, not shy to shoot for the seeminlgly impossible.

Happy 4th of July.

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This is the most impressive use of Kinect I've seen so far. Can't wait for the SDK to be out!

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While I’ve been to the Bay area several times (most of them on Mountain View), I had  never properly visited the city. While the weather wasn’t the best (it was like Seattle, which is bad when you’re on vacation!), I really enjoyed doing all the touristy stuff in the city.  The city is quite beautiful and very picturesque.

One thing I really dig about the city is how bike-oriented it is. From my experience, it seems like a lot of people move around San Francisco in a bike, which rocks (even with all those hills). Also, people dress really sharp, especially in down town.

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Pics: Wells-Fargo in downtown / Yerba buena garden / 'Quantic Man' in SFMOMA / Street car / Pier 39 / Golden gate bridge

- Ramiro

* There’s no such thing, but sure sounds cool ;)

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Yesterday, my step-sister was pregnant; today, a brand-new girl came to live.

Albeit it being the one of the most common events on the planet,  I still can’t wrap my head around it. This is for sure an awesome moment, in the literal sense of the word.

- Ramiro

PS: She’ll be getting this book as a birthday present. Check out the video, is really cool.

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Victoria is a really cool and relaxed city (something that seems to be shared by every island-city I’ve ever been to, something in the air maybe?), with a great park in the middle of the city (Beacon Hill), and a downtown perfect for an afternoon stroll (which includes Canada’s oldest Chinatown).  In general is a very lovely city, perfect for ditching the car and walking (or biking) around.

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- Ramiro

PS: Parking near the ferry terminal in downtown for two days was cheaper than taking a cab. The ferry company has a great deal ($10 per day) with the parking lot in the corner of Wall St. and Alaskan Way. 

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For the past few days I've found myself mentally repeating a couple of lines from Quevedo's 'Salmo XVII' disturbingly often (at least is not Lady Gaga, right?). The Salmo is one of my favorite poems, one which I vaguely remember having to memorize in one of my junior high classes. I've always like the sonority of it as well as the images it produces, albeit it's very dark subject, the dreading sense of the looming death.

Anyways, I've decided to share the poem here, in an attempt to exorcise it from my mind. I'm putting the Spanish version and below (couldn't make the two columns look good)  a very crude translation  (my own) for all of you who don’t speak Spanish. Hopefully you can get a sense of why I like it so much.

Salmo XVII

Miré los muros de la patria mía,
si un tiempo fuertes, ya desmoronados, 
de la carrera de la edad cansados, 
por quien caduca ya su valentía. 
 
Salíme al campo; vi que el sol bebía 
los arroyos del yelo desatados, 
y del monte quejosos los ganados, 
que con sombras hurtó su luz al día. 
 
Entré en mi casa; vi que, amancillada, 
de anciana habitación era despojos; 
mi báculo, más corvo y menos fuerte. 
 
Vencida de la edad sentí mi espada, 
y no hallé cosa en que poner los ojos 
que no fuese recuerdo de la muerte. 

  Franciso de Quevedo

English translation:

I watched the walls of my country,
at one time strong, now decayed,
tired by time’s race
for whom they bravery now fades.
 
I went to fields; watched the sun drink
the brooks freed from the ice,
and from the mountain the cattle lamenting,
which with shadows stole the light from the day.
 
I walked upon my house; saw that, stained,
it was now ruins of an ancient room;
my walking stick, more bowed and weaker.
 
Defeated from age I felt my sword,
and I couldn’t lay my gaze upon nothing
that wasn’t a reminder of death.

Hope you like it!
Ramiro

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In my efforts to successfully complete the great no meat challenge 2010 I’ve been trying out some new meat-less recipes to eat at home (eating out on a no-meat challenge is hard, so say the least). Last week I prepared a coconut milk risotto that turned out fairly good, so I decided to share the recipe, in case a brave soul decides to risk it all and try out something I recommended:

Ingredients (makes for 2 big portions)

• 1 cup of Arborio rice
• 1 14oz can of unsweetened coconut milk (I used Thai Kitchen’s)
• 1/2 14oz can of diced tomatoes (or two finely chopped fresh tomatoes, seeded)
• 2 tablespoons of chopped shallots* (eyeball it)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• A handful of fresh cilantro
• A handful of julienned carrot (optional)
• Chili paste (optional, but everything really tastes better with chili paste)

How to

1. Put a pan on medium heat, coat it with the olive oil
2. Once the olive oil is hot (but before it starts smoking) put the butter in the pan
3. Once the butter is melted add the chopped shallots and cook until they are transparent
4. Toss in the rice, moving it around the pan until everything is evenly coated with oil and the rice starts to brown (this is very important!)
5. Once the rice is starting to brown, incorporate about a quarter of the coconut milk and the tomatoes (feel free to use the whole can if you prefer a more tomatoey flavor)
6. Stir the rice until the milk has been absorbed (the rice will start to take a creamy consistence)
7. Repeat 5 and 6 until you incorporate all the milk (I only added ¾ of the can as the coconut was too sweet, but feel free to go all the way)
8. Let the rice cook through for about 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until rice is tender (feel free to try some rice to test for tenderness, just don’t eat the whole thing)
9. Once the rice is done, turn off the heat and remove the pan from the heat.
10. Wait for a couple of minutes for the rice to cool a bit, and stir some more
11. Add chili paste to taste (I recommend adding a bit even if you don’t like chili, it really improves the overall taste of the risotto)
12. Garnish generously with the cilantro and the julienned carrot and serve while it’s still hot

Extra points

I haven’t tried this yet, but adding some chopped peanuts or cashews sounds like a great idea (as they go really well with the whole Thai theme). Let me know how that goes if you give it a try.

Hope you like it!

* Feel free to replace the shallots with garlic or onions. I just like shallots a lot.

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Ash Wednesday represents the beginning of one of the most important celebration for Catholics around the world, Lent.  Tradition dictates that during Lent one should make a sacrifice in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus. While I’m not a devout catholic (heck, most of the people who know me will be surprised that I even consider myself a Catholic ;)),  I’m a big fan of constantly challenging myself, so every year I use Lent as the perfect pretext for some good old self-denial.

This year I’m taking the challenge to the next level, and I’ve decided I’ll give up eating meat* for the whole 40 days of Lent (Feb 17 to April 3). While I already made my challenge public through a couple of tweets I’m also writing this post as a way of giving myself some extra motivation ;)  (the power of  facing public shame FTW).

Here’s for a few weeks without meat!  Be sure to check back from time to time for my updates on how the challenge is going (tips and well wishes most welcome).

- Ramiro

*Note: I’m giving up red meat. I’m allowing myself to eat fish, and some chicken every now and then.

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I love this ad, from  Gandhi, a chain of libraries in Mexico:

The ad translates to: “Less face and more book” :D.

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Ingredients (makes for 12 - 16 quesadillas)

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