bookofjoe

Famous Boat Captains Compared

Ahoy, mate.

[via Milena]

Commuter Tie

Secret pocket on the back perfectly sized to fit an iPod nano.

Purple, Blue, Green, Grey, Charcoal, Orange or Red.

100% silk; extra fabric loop keeps wires out of sight.

8.5cm wide; made in England.

£55 (nano not included).

Testing the power of social networks

...........................................................................

Kickstarter is the new new thing .

Yancey?

Flautist?

Bueller?

Anyone?

Beautiful Game Foosball Table

Featuring rows of mirrored players,

illuminated interior

and digital scoreboard.

$55,782.

[via Wired magazine]

Helpful Hints from joeeze: Over-the-hill mushrooms — trash or treasure?

Long answer short: It depends.

Here's a Q&A on the subject from the latest issue (January/February 2010) of Cook's Illustrated.

Q. I have read that white button mushrooms taste better if they are just past their prime. Is this true?

A. Freshly harvested white button mushrooms have firm caps, stems and gills that are free of dark spots. That said, some chefs advocate the use of slightly older, blemished mushrooms, claiming that they are more flavorful than pristine, ultra-fresh specimens. To test this claim for ourselves, we sautéed two batches of mushrooms, one fresh from the supermarket and one showing signs of age after a week in the refrigerator. In a side-by-side comparison, the results surprised us. Tasters found that the older mushrooms actually had a deeper,, earthier flavor and were substanstially more "mushroomy" than the unblemished samples. This is likely because some moisture had evaporated and flavors were more concentrated.

The takeaway: There's no need to discard old mushrooms. In fact, their imperfections may actually improve the flavor of your dish. Do not, however, use mushrooms that smell fermented or look slimy.

The Breathable Glass

Purported to accelerate wine's "breathing."

Dave McIntyre reviewed it as follows in the December 2, 2009 Washington Post Food section:

"Produced by the Eisch glassware company in Germany, it is available in different shapes online or at Bed Bath & Beyond stores for $30 to $35 per stem. The Breathable Glass has received an 'oxygenizing' treatment that supposedly accelerates the wine's interaction with oxygen so that after two or three minutes in the glass, a wine will taste like it had been decanted for two or three hours. That seems like an 'Emperor's New Clothes' situation, in which enlightened drinkers will taste the difference while the rest of us shake our heads. Comparing wine in the Breathable Glass with the same wine in a similarly shaped stem, I did notice a difference after about five minutes, but 15 minutes later, the glasses tasted the same. In any event, Eisch makes a very nice wine glass."

Business as usual — in Nimbin, Australia

"Spotted by Belinda Black in Nimbin."

[via Telegraph and Milena]

Throwback gas station driveway signal bell — 'Ding ding'

 

From the website:

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Driveway Signal Bell

You still see them around at some gas stations — a long air hose that rings a bell inside the station when a car crosses it.

Maybe you thought, "I could use one of those."

Now you can have one.

The driveway signal bell rings out a clear tone announcing the arrival of a visitor to your home or business.

It plugs into a standard household outlet.

Complete your setup with a hose anchor (Item #155281) that anchors and seals the hose end and your choice of a 50-ft. (Item #155290) or jumbo 300-ft. (Item #155291) hose

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

$69.99.