Privacy is *so* 1964

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This is a mostly interesting article although they focus on the personal, not commercial/financial aspects of data privacy, which have a whole other set of issues and challenges. However, I used to say that if my TiVo could figure out enough about my viewing habits to deliver only commercials about Home Depot, Diet Coke and Barnes & Noble, I'd be just fine with surrendering some degree of privacy. (Note that there is a difference between privacy and anonymity in this case) Glad to know I was ahead of the curve. Or with the curve. Or not sufficiently behind the curve to be lumped in with the boomer luddites mentioned in this article. Kids, the Internet and the End of Privacy
Younger people, one could point out, are the only ones for whom it seems to have sunk in that the idea of a truly private life is already an illusion. Every street in New York has a surveillance camera. Each time you swipe your debit card at Duane Reade or use your MetroCard, that transaction is tracked. Your employer owns your e-mails. The NSA owns your phone calls. Your life is being lived in public whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. So it may be time to consider the possibility that young people who behave as if privacy doesn't exist are actually the sane people, not the insane ones. For someone like me, who grew up sealing my diary with a literal lock, this may be tough to accept. But under current circumstances, a defiant belief in holding things close to your chest might not be high-minded. It might be an artifact—quaint and naive, like a determined faith that virginity keeps ladies pure. Or at least that might be true for someone who has grown up "putting themselves out there" and found that the benefits of being transparent make the risks worth it.
This does put me in interesting contrast to my mother, who makes air quotes with her fingers when speaking of things like "the internet" or a "computer".
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Kid tested. 'Groove approved.

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I've mentioned before that Mexican food in Britain is crap. And mostly that's ok, because we've learned to make most things from scratch. (The Critter has been able to work the tortilla press since she turned 3).

One of the things I got turned on to during a pack trip in Colorado was breakfast of chorizo and eggs. You can find chorizo over here, but it's Spanish chorizo, and not Mexican style. Which is similar in the same way that Oscar Meyer resembles kielbasa. It's clearly in the same family, but it's not going to cut it with my eggs. Spanish chorizo is firmer, with less spices, and it just leave you frustrated rather than satisfied when you've really got the craving.

So I figured I'd try and make proper chorizo as well. God bless the internet - I was able to find a few different types (evey Mexican tia has her own special recipe) and settled on one that I had the ingredients stashed away for. It took a good couple of hours worth of effort (and I didn't bother casing it, as I break it apart to cook for breakfast or in burritos anyway, but the results were fantastic! Just be careful on the spices... it turned out a bit hotter than expected. I've made large batches of this a couple of times now and adjusted the recipe as necessary to taste

Chorizos toluquenos del 'Groove
- 1 kg pork (diced, not minced gives you a better consistency)
- 400g lard
(note: you can use any combination of Mexican chiles you like here, adjust according to taste)
- 100g ancho chiles
- 30g pasilla chiles
- 2g arbol chiles
- 6g smoked paprika (definitely include this one - it's a key to the traditional flavor)
- 2g Mexican cinnamon
- 1/2g cloves
- 2g cilantro seeds
- 2g Mexican oregano
- 0.5g cumin
- 3-4 cloves garlic (go on... use 4)
- 1 small onion
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- 3 tsp salt

Before starting, make sure the lard and pork are very cold.

Prepare the chiles: remove seeds and stems and toast on a griddle or cast iron pan until they're dry and brittle but not burnt. If using dried chiles (I did) the weights will vary (generally be less) from the recipe and you'll need to adjust. But be careful, you can easily make the results too spicy for human consumption if you're not careful. Set aside to cool.

Once chiles are cooled, put them in a blender with remaining ingredients (except pork and lard) and grind to a lumpy paste.

Dice the pork into cubes (around .5 - .75") Toss with spice mixture. Add lard and grind or mince with food processor. You can ground it as finely as you like - it's going to end up looking like dog food, but smelling delicious. I like mine only coursely ground, but thoroughly mixed.

It's best if you keep them in the fridge for a day before cooking to give the mix time to thoroughly absorb the flavors. Cook with eggs, serve with tortillas. However you like your chorizo. You can portion out the mix and freeze for several months and still enjoy.

This is the stuff that makes mouths happy. And think of how freaking impressed your friends will be when you tell them you made it from scratch!

Homeless

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As of last Friday, 9 February, we are officially without property. We had listed our California house on the market on the 2nd of January, and despite the many warnings from friends and family that the housing market was rapidly approaching the chill of Goodwife Nurse's mammary glands, we had multiple offers by the 14th. A little bit of paperwork later, and we've now closed the deal on the sale of our house in California with remarkably little fuss or bother on our part, especially considering we managed all of this from about 5,000 miles away. I must say that this is due in very large part to the fact that our dear friend and godmother to the Critter acted with our power of attourney to sign documents which couldn't wait for faxing, and to the fact that we had the World's Best Real Estate Agent. Seriously. She should wear a cape. And carry a golden lariat. And fight Nazis. Considering some of the stuff we had to deal with, she made the whole process relatively painless, moving parts, paperwork and people into place where needed to ensure that there were no surprises and a minimum of money (well, relatively speaking) that had to be invested in preparation for sale. Someone asked me if it felt different to no longer own the Bay Area home that we had put so much effort into over the past years. It was the first house we bought, and the home that we brought our first child back to from the hospital. And the answer is, yes, it feels different. It feels freaking great! Like a 54 year-old, two-story rock has been lifted from my back. Yeah, we put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into that house. But that was because it had sharp pointy bits that made me cry, and were hellaciously difficult to remove. And now that we're home-free (ha!), what are we going to do? Well, we're going to enjoy England for a while longer, and then we'll see. I can't exactly tell at this point what will happen. We've decided on very few requirements at this point: a) we'd prefer to move someplace besides California. b) although not a requirement, I'd really like to have my TiVo back. Hmm. Maybe we need to come up with some other requirements.
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