Carley got out on skates today, by herself, and performed in the Basic Skills Competition. I’m proud of her.

Our bike trip to Sanford Farms and Rams Pasture:

Here’s an interesting collection of old medical advertisements.

Scenes from Carley’s Kindergarten Graduation, courtesy James’ camera.

What’s the best way to cook a steak? For me it has generally involved high temperatures on a charcoal grill, or searing in a cast iron skillet and finishing underneath the broiler, set on High. With some nice, fresh Ribeyes needing to be cooked tonight, I was searching the internet for guidance. In the eGullet forums, I found a better way of doing it.

The poster quoted famous French chef Alain Ducasse in a NY Times article from 2002 in which he compared his method of cooking steaks to the typical high heat Midwestern way of doing it.

I’m not interested in carbonizing the surface of the meat. To me that ruins the flavor.

Instead of hellish temperatures, and visible flames, this article claimed that the best way to cook a steak was over medium heat in a skillet bathed in butter.  This more  moderate approach allows for even cooking and a great flavor because of the Maillard Reaction. Suddenly my simple meal of modest Ribeye and potatoes required a science lesson.

This technique requires a little more care.  The steak is first cooked on its edge to render some of the beef fat and lubricate the pan, then flipped onto its side and cooked in its own fat for a few minutes.  Then the fat is poured out and a lot of butter is added.  A LOT of butter.

I had my doubts.  I worried that the relatively long cooking times would mean the steaks would cook past medium rare.  I worried that all I was going to taste was butter.  And mostly I worried I hadn’t been gluttonous enough.  Ducasse recommended a steak that was 24 ounces and an inch and half thick.  The one I picked up was only 16 ounces and only an inch and a quarter, which is still more than I need to eat on a normal night.

I adjusted the cooking times, hoping that I could still get a nice a rare steak, but I was just a little off.  Mine got just a tad too close to medium, which makes me wonder whether this technique is only good at cooking insanely big steaks. But I think the technique is right.  Next time I might start with butter sooner in the process, flip more often, and pay just a little more attention to it.  Because once you see this crust, man…it’s hard to look away.

The Butter Steak Technique

• 2 16-ounce Ribeye
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper

I set an iron skillet over medium heat.  Then I set the ribeye on its fatty edge upright in the skillet.

I cooked it for about 5 minutes until it had rendered a decent amount of fat.

I flipped it on to one flat side and cook it for about 5 minutes.  Then flipped it and cooked it for about 3 more.

I removed the steak, poured off the beef fat, and added the butter and garlic.

The steak was returned to the skillet on the side it had cooked on the least, sprinkled with salt, and cooked for about 6 minutes.  During that time I basted it continuously with the butter.  Then I flipped it, sprinkled that side with salt, and cooked it for about 3 minutes continuing to baste it with butter.

It then rested for about 10 minutes.  Ducasse’s rule of thumb is that it need half as long as it takes to cook the meat.  It was seasoned with more salt and pepper and sliced up.

As you can (sort of) see, I cooked mine just a tad too much.  The middle is past red and into a muted pink territory.  There is a definite band of pink though and the crust excellent.

From The Onion:

President Barack Obama had such high hopes for America…until he went to Denny’s. Now he’s aiming less for being a world leader and setting more reasonable goals for the American people:

Before we reclaim global leadership, we must first stop eating six sausages and a pound of eggs covered in syrup for breakfast, and we must stop leaving the house in sweatpants.

Is he asking for too much? Would you be willing to give up your mountainous plate of syrup-drenched sausages and eggs? Only time will tell.

(Warning–the following video has some rude language.)

Next month, the American Academy of Pediatrics will, for the first time, address the problem of childhood bullying when it publishes a policy statement on preventing school violence. Goals include changing school culture and re-socializing the bully to change behavior, including…

…a recommendation that schools adopt a prevention model developed by Dan Olweus, a research professor of psychology at the University of Bergen, Norway, who first began studying the phenomenon of school bullying in Scandinavia in the 1970s. The programs, he said, “work at the school level and the classroom level and at the individual level; they combine preventive programs and directly addressing children who are involved or identified as bullies or victims or both.”

Dr. Perri Klass discusses the role of pediatricians, parents and schools in solving bullying problems in a new article on the NYTimes website:  At Last, Facing Down the Bullies (and their enablers).

I am 7 days into a 30-day Challenge using the new “game” for Wii from EA Sports:  Active. We have the Wii Fit (and this games takes advantage of the balance board that comes with Fit) and you can work up a sweat using it, but Wii Fit seems more focused on balance and Yoga stretching. It is also not as structured when it comes to putting you through a workout. So we mostly use it for the games, which the kids enjoy. EA Active, however, is not a game. It’s a little animated personal trainer in a box.

It comes with a leg strap, which holds your Wii nunchuk to moderate your lower body movements, and a resistance band, which is used a many of the exercises and makes it much more likely you’ll feel these exercises the next day. I found the band to be a little too easy to use and am using a stronger band we already had. I’m thinking of ways to velcro the Wii remote and nunchuck to my hands so I can use dumbbells instead.

A typical preset workout lasts about 30 minutes, involves a warm up, such as running in place; upper and lower body resistance exercises, such as alternating side lunges, side jumps, biceps curls and shoulder presses; and intermixes some game play like tennis, inline skating, or jump shots. It calculates the calories you burn and keeps track of your progress.

The downside is you are tied to the motion-sensing Wii remote and nunchuk. The onscreen trainer is concerned about your form doing the exercises, but can only tell you’re doing them right if you’re holding the remotes properly, and it can be a little tricky sometimes to hold the remotes AND hold the straps of the resistance band. If you’re doing the exercise right, but not holding the remotes like the TV wants you to, the onscreen trainer can get a little preachy.

For the casual fitness user, EA Active provides an adequate workout and some nice variety, and for someone that has trouble getting motivated to get off the couch, it can be a fun way to get you moving.

Major health insurance companies own nearly $4.5 billion worth of stock in tobacco companies, according to a Harvard University study. It kinda makes sense: health insurers know tobacco sickens people, and so as long as people are smoking, why not profit from the killer? It’s what David Himmelstein, a co-author of the study, calls “the combined taxidermist and veterinarian approach: either way you get your dog back.”

The largest tobacco investor on the list, the 160-year old Prudential company with branches in the US and the UK, has more than $1.5 billion invested in tobacco stocks. The runner-up was Toronto-based Sun Life Financial, which apparently holds over $1 billion in Philip Morris (Altria) and other tobacco stocks. In total, seven companies that sell life, health, disability, or long-term care insurance, have major holdings in tobacco stock.

Why is it a big deal? “If you own a billion dollars [of tobacco stock], then you don’t want to see it go down,” says Himmelstein, “You are less likely to join anti-tobacco coalitions, endorse anti-tobacco legislation, basically, anything most health companies would want to participate in.”

This is something to keep in mind this summer as Congress debates health care reform. Mandating health insurance using commercial, for-profit insurers may not be in our best interests.