Experts' Expert: Cheese Management

From Cooks' Illustrated comes the following Q&A with Mary Keith, food and nutrition agent at the University of Florida Extension Service.

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How to Deal With Moldy Cheese

Q. Aside from cheese that contains cultivated mold [Cabrales, Gorgonzola, Roquefort, Stilton et al], is it safe to eat cheese that has grown mold as long as I first cut off the affected area?

A. According to Keith, hard cheeses can generally be salvaged, but soft cheeses cannot.

The toxins in the types of mold that grow on cheeses are mostly water–soluble, so they usually cannot travel far beyond the surface of harder cheeses with low moisture levels.

To remove surface mold from a hard cheese such as cheddar, the general rule is to cut off all visible mold as well as an inch of the surrounding area, being careful to keep the knife out of the mold itself to prevent cross–contamination of other areas of the cheese.

Of course, this works only if you have a big piece of cheese.

Small pieces on which the mold has grown on multiple sides should be discarded.

Soft cheeses such as goat cheese, Brie, or Camembert and wet, curd–like cheeses such as ricotta or cottage cheese should never be consumed once mold appears.

Because most of the toxins produced by these uncultivated molds are water–soluble, they can easily travel beneath the surface of these high–moisture cheeses and contaminate the rest of the product.

Cheeses that are injected with mold, such as blue cheeses [top], should be discarded once they start becoming slimy or softer than usual or exhibiting strange odors or colors.

My advice is never to buy more cheese than you can use in one or two weeks; the moister the cheese, the quicker it will spoil.

As for storing most leftover cheese, I have found that wrapping it in parchment paper and then in foil is the most effective method, but a sealed zipper–lock bag is a very close (and much easier) second.

Whichever method you choose, the cheese is best kept in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.

One more thing: Freezing doesn't kill mold.

While freezing might slow down the mold's growth, it will not destroy any of the toxins the mold has already produced.

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I recall my introduction to soft cheese management, back when I was in college: I loved Camembert and Brie but after a couple days I'd notice a sharp ammonia smell when I opened the package: that was a sign that was obvious even to me.

What is it?

Peeps be asking what happened to this long-time feature?

Your wish is my demand.

Hint: Bigger than a bread box (when properly deployed as pictured above).

Another: No moving parts.

Answer here this time tomorrow.

Once upon a time on the internet...

[via Annie Rauwerda]

Mars Rover Perseverance's 6th Selfie — Just In

From PetaPixel:

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NASA's Perseverance rover sent a selfie from Mars taken against the sweeping backdrop of a region scientists call the "Lac de Charmes."

Since landing on Mars five years ago, Perseverance has been analyzing minerals as it travels west across the dry terrain of the Red Planet. On May 12 NASA released the latest selfie taken by the rover — its sixth since landing on Mars in 2021.

Assembled from 61 individual images, the selfie shows Perseverance pointing its mast toward a rocky outcrop in the foreground after creating a circular abrasion patch. During the abrasion process, the rover grinds away part of a rock’s surface so the science team can study material beneath it. The image was captured on March 11 during the rover's farthest push west beyond the crater since arriving on Mars. The western rim of Jezero Crater can be seen stretching into the distance behind it.

Perseverance took the selfie using the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and Engineering) camera mounted at the end of its robotic arm, which made 62 precision movements over approximately one hour to build the composite image.

NASA says the broad expanse of ancient Martian terrain visible in the selfie is known as the “Lac de Charmes.” Scientists consider the region some of the most scientifically important terrain Perseverance has explored so far.

"We took this image when the rover was in the 'Wild West' beyond the Jezero Crater rim — the farthest west we have been since we landed at Jezero a little over five years ago," Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, says in a statement. "We had just abraded and analyzed the 'Arethusa' outcrop, and the rover was sitting in a spot that provided a great view of both the Jezero Rim and the local terrain outside of the crater."

Alongside the selfie, Perseverance also used its Mastcam-Z camera system to capture a mosaic of the "Arbot" area in Lac de Charmes on April 5, or Sol 1882. The panorama (below), made from 46 images, provides one of the mission's most detailed geological views, showing a windswept landscape filled with different rock textures.

NASA says the image gives scientists a clearer guide for studying the ridgeline and the area’s ancient rock formations, including what appear to be megabreccia — massive rock fragments, some as large as skyscrapers, that were thrown out by a huge meteorite impact on the plain known as Isidis Planitia around 3.9 billion years ago.

"What I see in this image is excellent exposure of likely the oldest rocks we are going to investigate during this mission," Ken Farley, Perseverance’s deputy project scientist at Caltech in Pasadena, says.

If the Casio F-91W were a dish rack this would be it

This simple bamboo sinkside accessory is ubiquitous.

I owned my first one when I was in college and have had several since.

They're very sturdy and long-lasting.

The reason I'm mentioning it here is that I saw one prominently displayed in Zendaya's new movie "The Drama," finally streaming.

From now on I'm gonna consciously clock this well-designed piece of kit when it pops up on screen.

You can too!

$25.95.

Halupedia

Halupedia is an encyclopedia covering topics that have received insufficient attention in mainstream reference works. Coverage spans historical events, scientific disciplines, geographical features, notable persons, organizations, treaties, academic disputes, and cultural phenomena. 

Articles are generated on demand and stored permanently upon first requiest.

The encyclopedia approaches all subjects with equal seriousness regardless of their prominence, scope, or the number of people aware of their existence. Entries follow standard encyclopedic structure and cite relevant scholarly literature throughout.

Minor inconsistencies between entries are a known characteristic of the encyclopedia and fall within acceptable tolerances.

Learning How to Use My COOP Side Sleeper Pillow

I've slept on my left side for as long as I can remember.

A few months ago my sleep started getting broken up and I was waking up way too early for no apparent reason.

I thought maybe it was my pillow being no longer right for me, so I had my Crack Research Team©®™ investigate and find out if there have been any new developments in the pillow space since I last looked.

Sure enough, they found the COOP Side Sleeper pillow (top), with an interesting cut-out shape which is clearly designed to have the side sleeper's shoulder rest in the cut-out area.

I ordered one of these pillows and then spent a couple weeks trying different shoulder and head placements.

Two nights ago I finally decided to go all in and ram my left shoulder up into that cut-out area as deeply as possible.

Success at long last!

Best night's sleep in months.

'A Violent Masterpiece' — Jordan Harper

I saw this new novel, published a couple weeks ago, reviewed somewhere I can't recall and the essence was that it's indeed violent but also impossible to put down.

Then I saw that it's set in today's LA and that was enough for me: any novel or film taking place in LA — preferably in the present but going back decades as well — is must read/watch for me.

Though I lived there 17 years, leaving 43 years ago for Podunkville, Virginia, I loved LA and the things that happened there made an indelible impression.

I'm on page 61 of 368 and I've invoked SlowRead©®™ so as to make it last as long as possible.

Fantastic book jacket.

Boing

 

Fair warning: there goes the day.

"Apropos of 'Readymades'" — Marcel Duchamp

In 1913 I had the happy idea to fasten a bicycle wheel to a kitchen stool and watch it turn.

A few months later I bought a cheap reproduction of a winter evening landscape, which I called "Pharmacy" after adding two small dots, one red and one yellow, in the horizon.

In New York in 1915 I bought at a hardware store a snow shovel on which I wrote "In advance of the broken arm."

It was around that time that the word "Readymade" came to my mind to designate this form of manifestation.

A point that I want very much to establish is that the choice of these "Readymades" was never dictated by aesthetic delectation.

The choice was based on a reaction of visual indifference with at the same time a total absence of good or bad taste... in fact a complete anaesthesia.

One important characteristic was the short sentence which I occasionally inscribed on the "Readymade."

That sentence instead of describing the object like a title was meant to carry the mind of the spectator towards other regions more verbal.

Sometimes I would add a graphic detail of presentation which, in order to satisfy my craving for alliterations, would be called "Readymade aided."

At another time, wanting to expose the basic antinomy between art and "Readymades," I imagined a "Reciprocal Readymade": use a Rembrandt as an ironing board!

I realized very soon the danger of repeating indiscriminately this form of expression and decided to limit the production of "Readymades" to a small number yearly.

I was aware at that time, that for the spectator even more for the artist, art is a habit forming drug and I wanted to protect my "Readymades" against such a contamination.

Another aspect of the "Readymade" is its lack of uniqueness... the replica of the "Readymade" delivering the same message, in fact nearly every one of the "Readymades" existing today is not an original in the conventional sense.

A final remark to this egomaniac's discourse: Since the tubes of paint used by an artist are manufactured and readymade products we must conclude that all the paintings in the world are "Readymades aided" and also works of assemblage.

Written in 1961

Auto-On Lighted LED Slippers

Genius: wear your nightlights.

From websites:

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Lighted slippers give you a leg up in the dark!

Illuminates up to 25 feet in front of you.

Take night time trips to the kitchen or bathroom without searching for and flicking on a switch, disturbing others in the process.

Powerful LED lights operate automatically every time you put them on.

Comfortable and convenient.

Lithium batteries included.

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S/M/L/XL: $23.97.

Sushi Tip Sheet: A Diner's Guide

[via G. Bruce Knecht writing in the Wall Street Journal]

'ONE TWO THREE ••• INFINITY' — George Gamow

Published in 1947, this book by a fantastically creative polymath — who some believe should have received the Nobel Prize in Physics — remains a superb, fascinating introduction to the universe even nearly 80 years after publication.

I read it when I was a boy and loved it.

Gamow was among the most underappreciated great minds of the 20th century.

$12.95.

Outline Vase

From websites:

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• Fully hollow and glazed inside, it holds water for fresh flowers or seasonal greenery

• Inspired by the shape of a water jug

• Made in Seto, Aichi, Japan

• Designed by Yuko Tokuda

• 9.4"H x 6.3"W x 2.5"D

• Porcelain

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$78 (yellow roses not included).

Dust Bunnies

C. Claiborne Ray's New York Times Science section Q&A demystifies these ubiquitous creatures.

Q. How do dust bunnies form? Do they prefer new houses or old? Bare wooden floors or carpets? What can be done to keep them at bay?

A. Dust bunnies form from the surprisingly large supply of stuff in the air, including fibers from clothing fabrics and carpeting; hair; animal fur and dander; and especially human skin cells and the dust mites that feed on them.

Fibers have an electric charge that causes things to stick to them so dust bunnies are more common in carpeted houses, which have a larger supply of fibers.

People shed dead skin cells constantly, so it doesn't matter how old or new the house is.

But because dust mites need moisture to survive, a dehumidifier can help keep them away.

Only constant cleaning can foil dust bunnies and the unseen particles in the air, and that cleaning is especially important if someone in the house has allergies or asthma, because the proteins in household dust are asthma triggers.

Recommended: vacuum cleaners with high-efficiency particulate air filters (called HEPA filters), because conventional vacuums pick up only some of the dust but spread around the rest through the exhaust.

Hand Deodorizing Garlic Crusher

Say what?

I like it.

Combines those oval stainless-steel thingies you keep on your kitchen sink solely to remove odors with a real culinary function.

From websites:

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Pulverizes garlic with a simple roll, producing a superior flavor.

When done, simply "wash" your hands with it and the 18/10 stainless steel from which it is made removes the garlic aroma from your hands.

Dishwasher-safe.

7"L x 1.25"Ø

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$36.88 (garlic not included).

'Many Worlds' IRL

A post here last month explored the philosophical connection between Richard Hughes, author of the 1929 best seller "A High Wind in Jamaica," and Hugh Everett III, born in 1930 and famous for his 1957 Princeton University doctoral dissertation, "'Relative State' Formulation of Quantum Mechanics,'" now referred to as "Many Worlds." 

It was this sentence in Hughes' novel that stopped me in my tracks:

"Philosophically speaking, a ship in its port of departure is just as much in its port of arrival: two point-events differing in time and place, but not in degree of reality."

This morning I decided to try to use Hughes' view of "reality" while I was out running.

As I was chugging along somewhere in the course of mile 1 of my projected 4-mile outing, I tried to "throw" my consciousness to what it would be like at the 2-mile turn-around point near Albemarle High School, right at the stoplight.

I visualized the intersection, where I've been many times before while out running, and tried to forget how tired and hot I was at the moment in the midst of mile 1 in favor of "being" at the end of mile 2, ready to turn around and head for home.

My goal was to bypass the rest of the fatigue of mile 1 and that upcoming during mile 2.

FAIL.

Nothing happened, not even a flicker in my sense of where I was and how I felt at the time.

I do believe it's possible, and so I'm going to repeat this experiment until something positive happens or I get frustrated with repeated failures.

I'm reminded of "jaunting," described in Alfred Bester's great 1956 novel "The Stars My Destination," in which individuals are able to learn to controllably teleport themselves at will.

The thing is, in Bester's masterwork jaunting didn't become a documented reality until the turn of the 24th century in a laboratory on Jupiter's moon Callisto.

I can't wait that long.

Excitement: Elizabeth Strout's new novel — 'The Things We Never Say' — arrives tomorrow

Above, an email that arrived while I was sleeping.

I'm so stoked: I only came to the novels of Elizabeth Strout a few years ago.

Once I read one I was hooked: it was so good, sui generis.

I rationed out those that remained such that I only read one every six months or so until I'd completed them all.

Since then I've always pre-ordered each new novel.

She's 70 years old and I'm hoping she's got another 15 years of writing in her inimitable style ahead.

Fingers crossed.

The most interesting thing I've read this month

It was the opening sentence of Patrick McGrath's New York Times book review of Kevin Brockmeier's novel, "The Brief History of the Dead," and follows:

"Here is a novel with an intriguing premise: that humans are divided into three categories, comprising those who are still alive, those who have died but live on in the memories of the living, and those who are dead and forgotten."

What an interesting way of looking at the world.

As I think about it, I realize that I do occasionally think of some dead people — relatives, friends, classmates, ballplayers I enjoyed watching as a boy (many of whose autographs were my most precious possessions at the time); beyond those relatively few, though, most of the people I've had occasion to cross paths with while sporting my current meat suit are entirely forgotten, and thus belong to Brockmeier's third group.

McGrath wrote that the novel takes place in a city populated by individuals in the second group: "... they're entirely sustained by the thoughts of people still living in the real world."

How is this different from virtual people in virtual gaming worlds?

Are they too not "entirely sustained by the thoughts of people still living in the real world?"

And let's take it a step farther: aren't the inhabitants of virtual worlds created "by the thoughts of people still living in the real world?"

Unless the game creator is dead.

BTW the reviewer said the book is terrible apart from its superb premise.

Still, that premise is powerful and provocative enough for me to go ahead and take a flyer on the novel.

Are virtual worlds real if there's no one around to visit them?

If the world is a calculation and everyone drops dead and there's no one around to do the math, as it were, does the world disappear?

There are many who would say, "Absolutely."

Me, I think there's no more interesting question than that one.

World's Largest Zip Tie

I'm always attracted to claims like this, regardless of whether or not they're actually true.

In that sense my credulousness age is about five years old.

But I digress.

From The Drive:

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Duct tape, WD-40, and zip ties make up the DIY trifecta.

If you need to fix something quickly, and don't have the "proper" tools and materials, zip ties (also called cable ties) are your friends.

Even NASA's Perseverance Mars rover uses them.

And because this is America, where bigger is always better, one company has made the largest zip ties it possibly could.

Cable Tie Link is now selling what it claims is the world's largest and strongest zip tie.

To be clear, we're not just talking about length, although at 47 inches long it's certainly substantial.

But extremely long zip ties already exist for things like wrapping large bundles of cable. 

This one is also cartoonishly thick, and features a similarly upscaled locking mechanism that allows it to hold up to 2,000 pounds, according to the company.

The company also claims its oversized zip tie is "perfect for industrial use, garages, shops, events, and creative builds."

Still, I'm having a hard time thinking of a practical use for such a big zip tie.

In addition to being strong and relatively nonconducting, what makes zip ties so versatile is that they're small enough to be easily slotted into tight spaces when needed.

That makes them perfect for neatly tucking away wires and lines.

If you have a super-sized project in mind, or just have a thing for oversize novelty items, the 47-inch ties are now available for $75 apiece.

Cable tie link will also sell you a 12-pack or 25-pack for $799.99 or $1,699.99, respectively.

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Get yours here.

Japanese Woodblock Print Search — Search 223,891 Prints

"Ukiyo-e Search provides a powerful tool: The ability to both search for Japanese woodblock prints by simply taking a picture of an existing print AND the ability to see similar prints across multiple collections of prints."

Fair warning: there goes the day.

World's Best Party Crashing Technique

From famed party-crasher Alex Mamlet (above and below at parties he's crashed with, from the top, invited guests Steven Spielberg, Penelope Cruz, and Colin Farrell):

"A never–fail technique is showing up in an immaculate chef's outfit — including toque — with a food item, looking really concerned. Security will always let you in. The more outrageous the food item, the more likely they are to let you in."

How do you spell "durian?"

Magnified Sand — "Explore the Hidden World of Sand"

From the website: 

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Under microscopic magnification, the unique beauty and individual character of sand grains reveal a diverse origin reflecting geological history and marine life biodiversity.

Sand is everywhere on earth — on our beaches, in our deserts, and on the bottoms of lakes, rivers, and oceans.

Sand particles are coarser than silt but finer than gravel, ranging in size from 0.02 to 2 mm.

They are created when weather and chemicals break down terrestrial rocks, minerals, marine bivalves, corals, mollusks, bryzoans, and foraminifera.

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Wait a sec — what's that song I'm hearing?

Best Book Title I've Come Across So Far This Year

By Gary Leon Hill, it was published in 2005. 

$16.95.

Schrödinger's Laundry

In 1935 physicist Erwin Schrödinger proposed what has come to be called "Schrödinger's cat," a thought experiment which, 91 years later, is still confounding.

His purpose in doing so was to show that the then-new science of quantum mechanics as a theory of reality was incomplete.

According to Schrödinger, one could, in principle, create a superposition in a large-scale system by making it dependent on a quantum particle that was in a superposition.

He proposed a scenario with a cat in a closed steel chamber, wherein the cat's life or death depended on the state of a radioactive atom: whether it had decayed and emitted radiation or not.

According to Schrödinger, the position taken by fellow giants Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg on quantum theory's application in this instance could only be that the cat remains both dead and alive until the state has been observed.

Schrödinger did not wish to promote the idea of simultaneously dead and alive cats as a serious possibility; on the contrary, he intended the example to illustrate the absurdity of Bohr and Heisenberg's interpretations of quantum theory.

But I digress.

The other day I decided to address a couple orange stains on one sleeve of my bathrobe that have been there for a while, from what I have no idea.

I tried to remove them with K2r Spot Lifter because it doesn't require that you wash the article after application.

It lightened the spots but they're still present.

Today I'm gonna go nuclear, as it were, and bring in Zout.

Zout's directions:

• Spray to completely cover the stain. Rub in.

• Wait 1-5 minutes.

• Launder in warmest water per fabric care instructions.

That seems easy enough: here goes...

... 20 minutes later...

Now, what the heck does Schrödinger have to do with laundry?

I was wondering when you'd ask....

After the warm water wash of my bathrobe was completed, I did something I'm betting very few — if any — people would (or would not) do: with my eyes shut so I couldn't peek even inadvertently, I put the bathrobe in the dryer and turned it on.

It takes two dryer cycles of my 1996 Maytag dryer (still chugging along as well as it did the day it arrived, never having required any service) to completely dry the very heavy terry cloth, so after the first cycle I cleaned the lint trap and, after shutting my eyes and sticking my hand in to confirm it was still damp (it was) I turned it on for a second spin.

Upon removing it, with my eyes open, I espied this:

As you can see, faint orange areas remain. 

But here's my point: while the bathrobe was drying — because I didn't know whether or not the spots had come out —I could indulge in the fantasy that they did come out, which made me happy as I did this and that while the drying proceeded.

If, like most if not all normal people, I'd immediately looked at the sleeve in question once I'd removed it from the washing maching only to see the spots were still there, I'd have been disheartened as I proceeded to stick the bathrobe in the dryer.

Doing it my way, I got the frisson of delight that would have come if the spots had come out, even though an hour later my optimism was crushed by reality. 

If you adopt this sort of delayed outcome approach and apply it everywhere, you life will be better. 

Wait a sec — what's that song I'm hearing?