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Eplepai—A Norwegian Apple Pie

 This is a delicious apple dessert from Norway. Although it is called a pie, it isn’t exactly what most Americans will think of when we think of a “pie.” Without a pastry crust, it falls somewhere between a pie and a cake. The bulk of the desert is the diced apples themselves. They are accompanied by the slight crunch and mild nuttiness of chopped almonds, and a slightly sweet cinnamon-flavored batter that holds the desert together. Some whipped cream or ice cream would top this off perfectly. Recipe below…

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Apple-Stuffed Pork Loin

 Pork is an excellent and tasty meat, but are you looking for something other than the same, ordinary pork chop for another Sunday dinner? Or perhaps you might be interested in pork you can proudly serve to company. This Norwegian recipe is an excellent choice for a tender, juicy, and succulent pork loin roast. Apples are always an excellent accompaniment to pork, and here they are used as a stuffing for the roast. The apples and prunes provide a good counterpoint in flavor and texture, and help keep the roast juicy. It’s also a great combination for the flavors of the autumn season.

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Chicken with Lemon and Almond Sauce

 This is one of my favorite chicken recipes. It’s delicious. In the original this recipe was called “Limonia.” It’s chicken braised in almond milk, nicely and mildly spiced, and with a bit of lemon. The dish is very flavorful yet mellow, slightly exotic but not strange. The sauce is milky, but doesn’t have the heaviness that dairy-based sauces can sometimes have. The recipe comes to us from one of the oldest surviving medieval cookbooks, Liber de Coquina. Two copies have survived, dating from the beginning of the 14th century. Both are preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. Liber de Coquina is believed to be of Italian origin. It is…

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Aquavit Hens

 We tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago, and it was very good and enjoyable. Not wanting to buy a large bottle of aquavit for the 2 tablespoons in the recipe, we used brandy (and were able to get a sample size that still supplied a more than adequate amount for the recipe). The recipe is of Swedish origins and is called “Kokt Höns” in Swedish (literally “cooked hens”). Apparently the Swedes prepare duck and other game hens this way as well. It’s an easy and tasty recipe if your looking for something nice, but a little different, to do with chicken. It would be really nice for a…

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The Star Formation Regions of M33

 In my first post about the Triangulum Galaxy (M33), I mentioned that there were many star formation regions visible in the galaxy. I also pointed out the largest known such region, NGC 604, which is in that galaxy neighbor. These star formation regions are called HII regions because they are made up primarily of ionized hydrogen gas. (HII is a reference to that ionized hydrogen. Astronomers refer to neutral hydrogen as HI and molecular hydrogen as H2.) You’ll find some images that highlight these regions below, and I’ll also say more about these regions and their nature. See my previous post for more information as well.  If you just want…

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Messier 33 revisited

 I have a new version of my photograph of M33, this time with longer exposure for the master luminance (non-color) data.  It shows more detail and the galaxy’s disk more extensively. Gallery: Astrophotography Coming very soon: a post showing off those star formation regions I had talked about in this post.

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The Great Minnesota Get Together 2009

 We were able to get back to the Twin Cities to enjoy a day at the Minnesota State Fair about a month ago. My photography from the day has been edited and is now available for you all to see and enjoy. Displays, animals, crowds, the “Kidway,” and other things await you in my new gallery. Gallery: Minnesota State Fair 2009

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Messier 33, The Triangulum Galaxy

 I’ve trained a telescope in on a nearby galaxy in the small constellation of Triangulum near the constellations of Andromeda and Pisces. The galaxy is M33 and is a member of the Local Group. I have to say that I’m quite pleased with my result, even with fairly short exposure times. Gallery: Astrophotography A larger, full-frame view of the galaxy can also be seen here. Exposure and instrument information is also on that page. Much more about this object and image are below.

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A Beautiful Sight: Saturn at Equinox

 NASA has a stunningly beautiful picture out of Saturn at it’s equinox taken by the Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn. At equinox, the sun shines over the rings at a very low angle, leaving just a thin shadow on Saturn’s cloud tops and casting a beautiful golden light over the rings themselves. You can read more about this at the NASA webe site here. You will also find a link to the full resolution image. It’s definitely worth a look.

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Astrophotography

 Recently I’ve found a couple of services that allow you to rent time on telescopes located in dark sky areas which are set-up for automated remote observation. For my first target, I picked an open cluster in Cassiopeia called NGC 457, often called the “Owl Cluster.” It was taken on a 12″ telescope located in New Mexico. It’s certainly not a perfect photograph, and I’m very much learning the techniques of both acquiring image data and the processing of that data into the final images (much of which remains a mystery to me), but I’m fairly pleased with the result. Hopefully soon I’ll have another image to share. The next…

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A Historic Day for Lutherans

 Today, the Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA made monumental decisions for the future of the church body. With a series of four resolutions, the Assembly voted to commit the church, first, “to bear one another’s burdens, love the neighbor, and respect the bound consciences of all” (which passed 771-230). This was followed by a resolution explicitly allowing congregations to “recognize, support, and hold publicly accountable” same-sex couples. In other words, they voted 619-402 to allow congregations and pastors in the ELCA to bless same-sex unions. This was followed by consideration of a resolution that would commit the ELCA to allowing gay and lesbian individuals in same-sex relationships to serve as…

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Of Lutherans and Tornados (Oh, and Human Sexuality, Too)

 While the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America started their afternoon session with a Bible study, a possible tornado hit Minneapolis just south of downtown and apparently even coming right up to the convention center were the meeting was being held. While there have been trees downed in Minneapolis, and there is damage to Central Lutheran Church’s steeple and other property in the area, there were no immediate reports of injuries from the storm.  Because the assembly is being held in a storm safe hall, the only disruptions were a few announcements about the storm. This means that after dealing with the Lutheran Malaria Initiative yesterday, and…

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