It's mulberry season in Virginia, and after about 30min of picking your pie making crew had enough for a pie and a batch of mulberry syrup. Yes, you should come.
This week's pie almost exactly followed the Mulberry Pie recipe on All Recipes, except that we used an 8", deep dish pie plate.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
It's primary time!
The original version of this was written shortly after the State of the Union address, but with the ongoing budget fights and GOP primary season filling the airwaves with talk about the size, scope and sustainability of government programs, now is as good a time as any to publish it.
The idea for this blog began when your pie maker was riding his bike to the farmer's market and contemplating the surprisingly complex web of connections required to support his pie-a-week habit. It's hard to imagine a more "progressive hipster" image than the twenty-something pedaling off to buy local produce while thinking about the environment and social justice. However, of the many things your pie maker has been called, "hip" is rarely mentioned and "progressive" hardly ever.
Instead, consider that this particular twentysometing was traveling on an unlicensed vehicle that requires no credentials to operate and for which he paid no special fuel taxes on a trail built with funds from leasing a public toll road (Public-Private Partnerships!). His objective was to conduct cash transactions with multiple small businesses, some with "employees" clearly under 14, many who were clearly related to the owner, and some who's documentation status was probably suspect. The purchased food had no FDA labels or any inspection beyond the seller's and buyers' (caveat emptor!). There was at least one case in which an offer was made to partake in the production of a highly regulated and subsidized product in a way that involved neither regulation nor subsidy, and yet was still legal, mostly (moo!). Your pie maker baked in a home rented from the owner on the basis of a contract they negotiated with no federal interference. A company doctor handled most of your pie maker's medical care (and did an excellent job overall). Far from seeking an abstract notion of equality or justice, his wandering mind was concerned with how to avoid interfering with the complex systems required to keep pie fixings available. PMCIN, it seems, expands with little government help.
Ah, but it's GOP primaryseason year. What would the "Republican" version of this story look like? Based on demographic data from the last couple elections, your pie-consumer would travel to the nearest suburban big box or supermarket in his pickup truck or SUV while trying to decide whether to buy a pie from the store's bakery, freezer case, or maybe one of the chain restaurants in the shopping center. He would contemplate the necessity to maintain current regulatory, economic and military policies to support his pie-a-week habit because between the mortgage and car payments things are pretty tight, and while the system is clearly unsustainable, the day of reckoning has clearly not arrived. Economic growth requires specialization, and time spent making pies at home is time away from working or more thorough relaxation.
Let's look for the "small government" in this Red State version: Sitting on a state-issued ID card in a registered vehicle with government imposed safety, pollution and materials requirements on a tax-and-debt funded road and fueled by a hydrocarbon that provides more money for socialism than George Soros, the transportation side of this story is a story of central planning. At the store, staffed by people whose documentation, demographics, health and retirement plans all must match imposed guidelines and buying products from subsidized farms with mandated labels, the body politic has clearly chosen regulation over markets to manage information. Even the payroll of the store and its suppliers, likely traded on the commercial paper market, hasimplicit explicit backing from agents of the USG. Meanwhile, it's a safe bet that this fictitious pie-eater's home mortgage was backed by the US Treasury in hopes of increasing his consumption potential, and thus economic growth overall.
Is it possible to have suburban prosperity without a coercive agency to ensure that the food is safe, that enthnic agitation is minimized, that the roads are in good shape (without disruptive toll collection), that loans (like Savings Accounts) are guaranteed and that, in general, any individual's capacity to do harm is kept to a minimum while their capacity for consumption is maximized?
History suggests not. A "small government" is usually seen as a weak government by its citizens (like Mitch McConnell, look up his comments on last year's oil spill), who generally demand security and prosperity before their basic Lockean rights (see Hannity on torture and detention of US citizens labeled "terrorist"). This forces governments to restrict individual liberties as technology and economic progress give citizens greater ability to expand into their neighbors' interests. The Tea Party's response to the State of the Union Address supports this observation: replace "freedom" with "purchasing power" and Rep. Bachman's statement makes a lot more sense. The reason six years of the GOP holding two branches of government lead to government's largest expansion in history is not due to moral failings or the 9/11 attacks. Very simply, suburbanism requires too many assumptions be and remain true (so that people can borrow against them) for any free or unregulated system to be allowed to emerge. Not, of course, that any of the candidates for office can say that . . .
The idea for this blog began when your pie maker was riding his bike to the farmer's market and contemplating the surprisingly complex web of connections required to support his pie-a-week habit. It's hard to imagine a more "progressive hipster" image than the twenty-something pedaling off to buy local produce while thinking about the environment and social justice. However, of the many things your pie maker has been called, "hip" is rarely mentioned and "progressive" hardly ever.
Instead, consider that this particular twentysometing was traveling on an unlicensed vehicle that requires no credentials to operate and for which he paid no special fuel taxes on a trail built with funds from leasing a public toll road (Public-Private Partnerships!). His objective was to conduct cash transactions with multiple small businesses, some with "employees" clearly under 14, many who were clearly related to the owner, and some who's documentation status was probably suspect. The purchased food had no FDA labels or any inspection beyond the seller's and buyers' (caveat emptor!). There was at least one case in which an offer was made to partake in the production of a highly regulated and subsidized product in a way that involved neither regulation nor subsidy, and yet was still legal, mostly (moo!). Your pie maker baked in a home rented from the owner on the basis of a contract they negotiated with no federal interference. A company doctor handled most of your pie maker's medical care (and did an excellent job overall). Far from seeking an abstract notion of equality or justice, his wandering mind was concerned with how to avoid interfering with the complex systems required to keep pie fixings available. PMCIN, it seems, expands with little government help.
Ah, but it's GOP primary
Let's look for the "small government" in this Red State version: Sitting on a state-issued ID card in a registered vehicle with government imposed safety, pollution and materials requirements on a tax-and-debt funded road and fueled by a hydrocarbon that provides more money for socialism than George Soros, the transportation side of this story is a story of central planning. At the store, staffed by people whose documentation, demographics, health and retirement plans all must match imposed guidelines and buying products from subsidized farms with mandated labels, the body politic has clearly chosen regulation over markets to manage information. Even the payroll of the store and its suppliers, likely traded on the commercial paper market, has
Is it possible to have suburban prosperity without a coercive agency to ensure that the food is safe, that enthnic agitation is minimized, that the roads are in good shape (without disruptive toll collection), that loans (like Savings Accounts) are guaranteed and that, in general, any individual's capacity to do harm is kept to a minimum while their capacity for consumption is maximized?
History suggests not. A "small government" is usually seen as a weak government by its citizens (like Mitch McConnell, look up his comments on last year's oil spill), who generally demand security and prosperity before their basic Lockean rights (see Hannity on torture and detention of US citizens labeled "terrorist"). This forces governments to restrict individual liberties as technology and economic progress give citizens greater ability to expand into their neighbors' interests. The Tea Party's response to the State of the Union Address supports this observation: replace "freedom" with "purchasing power" and Rep. Bachman's statement makes a lot more sense. The reason six years of the GOP holding two branches of government lead to government's largest expansion in history is not due to moral failings or the 9/11 attacks. Very simply, suburbanism requires too many assumptions be and remain true (so that people can borrow against them) for any free or unregulated system to be allowed to emerge. Not, of course, that any of the candidates for office can say that . . .
Friday, May 13, 2011
Chocolate-fat crust
If you come to the Fuzzy Wups B&B with a bar of appropriate chocolate, one of two things will happen. Either it will be chopped up and used to top a pumpkin pie or, if you're staying overnight, it will be heated and have the gooey sweet part separated from the white fatty bits.
The gooey part makes excellent crepes. Come on a weekend when your pie maker is not engaged in wind energy research, and he will make them for you.
The fatty part can be substituted for butter in pie crusts, and smells like good chocolate when heated. Highly recommended for any filling that tastes good with chocolate.
As your pie maker types, a new coconut, almond and pecan pie is baking with a crust with 1/4 chocolate fat and 1/4 cup butter. Yes, we are open for dessert this evening.
The gooey part makes excellent crepes. Come on a weekend when your pie maker is not engaged in wind energy research, and he will make them for you.
The fatty part can be substituted for butter in pie crusts, and smells like good chocolate when heated. Highly recommended for any filling that tastes good with chocolate.
As your pie maker types, a new coconut, almond and pecan pie is baking with a crust with 1/4 chocolate fat and 1/4 cup butter. Yes, we are open for dessert this evening.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
"Instant" Graham Crust
There's a lot of important and interesting things going on in the world, so one can be forgiven for not having the time to make a good, flaky, standard or whole wheat pie crust.
Fortunately, your pie maker has stumbled across the perfect graham crust (not graham cracker, mind) for this season's chess pies, and it should hold work very well for wetter fruit pies, like strawberry. Like a good scientist, your pie maker will investigate this claim shortly, and is always seeking co-investigators.
The Recipe:
Pour, in order:
1/2cup whole milk
1/4cup vegetable oil
into a chilled glass measuring cup but DO NOT STIR! and place in the freezer for a few minutes while the oven preheats and you get the filling ingredients staged.
Combine in a medium, preferably very cold bowl:
1cup whole wheat flour
1cup all purpose flour
1T granulated sugar
Pour the liquid into the flour slowly, stirring very gently until it is just mixed. Spread a baking mat with whole wheat flour and place the dough on it. Roll it out to about 1/2" (1cm) thick, then fold it over and roll it out again, and do this once more. If the dough remains cold that will lead to a flakier crust, in a hot kitchen you can expect a more bread-like consistency, both are very good. Once ready, roll out to fill the pie plate. It can be rolled into a double crust for a 9" pie plate, but use it as a single, relatively thick crust for a deep dish pan.
Fortunately, your pie maker has stumbled across the perfect graham crust (not graham cracker, mind) for this season's chess pies, and it should hold work very well for wetter fruit pies, like strawberry. Like a good scientist, your pie maker will investigate this claim shortly, and is always seeking co-investigators.
The Recipe:
Pour, in order:
1/2cup whole milk
1/4cup vegetable oil
into a chilled glass measuring cup but DO NOT STIR! and place in the freezer for a few minutes while the oven preheats and you get the filling ingredients staged.
Combine in a medium, preferably very cold bowl:
1cup whole wheat flour
1cup all purpose flour
1T granulated sugar
Pour the liquid into the flour slowly, stirring very gently until it is just mixed. Spread a baking mat with whole wheat flour and place the dough on it. Roll it out to about 1/2" (1cm) thick, then fold it over and roll it out again, and do this once more. If the dough remains cold that will lead to a flakier crust, in a hot kitchen you can expect a more bread-like consistency, both are very good. Once ready, roll out to fill the pie plate. It can be rolled into a double crust for a 9" pie plate, but use it as a single, relatively thick crust for a deep dish pan.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
The perils of development assistance
Once your pie maker learned about William Easterly's work, he found a humanitarian expression of the ideas expressed by Hayek and other classical liberals. It comes down to this central thesis: it is difficult or impossible to genuinely help people without getting to know them well. As often as not, feeding one's self while getting to know them well requires that the potential benefactor get some economic benefit from the target population.
People respond imperfectly to any set of incentives, and so any bureaucratic approach to development aid, foreign or domestic, must be able to absorb substantial uncertainty about eligibility, duration and cost. If the goal is to cause a substantial change in the recipients lives, by definition the goal of most poverty alleviation programs, the uncertainty grows with the success of the program. As a result, program sponsors and administrators tend suffer a fair amount of bureaucratic paralysis because the penalty for a small program being late is minor (from the aid deliverer's perspective), while being wrong about the impacts of the program is often fatal.
Organizations that are extremely hierarchical, such as military forces, handle this uncertainty by declaring a qualified person, singular, to be the decision maker with both the responsibility and authority to seek the desired ends. Decentralized organizations such as markets do a very good job of allocating resources if specific conditions about information distribution and scarcity are true, and these are often enforced by the apparatus of a nation-state. Develop aid organizations fall into a middle ground, making them very frustrating to deal with, and possibly irrelevant.
This is an over-simplified version of a very complicated story, for which your pie maker highly recommends reading Reinventing Foreign Aid and The Economist magazine. However, one thing he has often found to be true is that the best way to really screw things up is to try help selflessly, but ignorantly. If you can't make what you believe come true (generally by force) or gracefully be wrong more often than not (markets seek the "least wrong" solution), then the best you can hope is that the situation you're trying to effect will remain static long enough for you to learn how to understand it.
People respond imperfectly to any set of incentives, and so any bureaucratic approach to development aid, foreign or domestic, must be able to absorb substantial uncertainty about eligibility, duration and cost. If the goal is to cause a substantial change in the recipients lives, by definition the goal of most poverty alleviation programs, the uncertainty grows with the success of the program. As a result, program sponsors and administrators tend suffer a fair amount of bureaucratic paralysis because the penalty for a small program being late is minor (from the aid deliverer's perspective), while being wrong about the impacts of the program is often fatal.
Organizations that are extremely hierarchical, such as military forces, handle this uncertainty by declaring a qualified person, singular, to be the decision maker with both the responsibility and authority to seek the desired ends. Decentralized organizations such as markets do a very good job of allocating resources if specific conditions about information distribution and scarcity are true, and these are often enforced by the apparatus of a nation-state. Develop aid organizations fall into a middle ground, making them very frustrating to deal with, and possibly irrelevant.
This is an over-simplified version of a very complicated story, for which your pie maker highly recommends reading Reinventing Foreign Aid and The Economist magazine. However, one thing he has often found to be true is that the best way to really screw things up is to try help selflessly, but ignorantly. If you can't make what you believe come true (generally by force) or gracefully be wrong more often than not (markets seek the "least wrong" solution), then the best you can hope is that the situation you're trying to effect will remain static long enough for you to learn how to understand it.
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