Monthly Archives: March 2007

Privacy Policy

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Types of information we collect:

Your current internet address (IP address) is stored in the server logs each time you visit. The type and version of your browser software may also be collected if your browser is configured to allow it. If you do not wish this to happen, you should investigate using a web surfing proxy or anonymizer service.

Our sites will not disclose any personal information about you to any third party unless required by law, or in the good-faith belief that such disclosure is necessary to comply with legal process, respond to claims, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our other visitors or the public.

Our web hosting provider, BlueHost, has their own privacy policy which is outside of our control. You may visit their public site, linked above, to find out more about their policies.

Cookies

The WordPress software that is the basis for this site uses browser cookies to keep track of which messages you have read, and other information about your visit. Cookies are small text fields which are generated by our system and which stay on your hard drive between visits. For example, we use a cookie to store your name and URL when you post comments so you don’t have to re-enter them each time you visit. These cookies do not collect, store or maintain any private, personally identifiable information. You do not have to accept these cookies to visit or use this site; however, turning cookies off will impair the site’s functionality. You may refuse the cookies, delete the cookies from your hard drive, or turn off cookies at any time by updating your system’s browser preferences.

Comments on Articles or Posts

If you provide personal information in a online posting, that information is visible to anyone, and may be used by someone in a manner unintended by you. For that reason, we discourage you from posting any personal information on this or any website in comments or otherwise. We reserve the right to delete, modify, or edit any message, comment, or posting you may make on our sites without notifying you. Your continued use of this website indicates your agreement with this policy.

Email

Our sites will never send you unsolicited or automated email unless you specifically opt-in for such mailing (for example, if you explicitly register for a mailing list or listserv.) If you provide your email address in a comment, we may elect to contact you to verify the validity of your comment before it is posted. If you enter into a commercial sales or service agreement or contract with us, we may email you status reports, billing notices, and other information directly related to your transaction. We will never send you unsolicited commercial email for any reason.

Recipe: Cinnamon Buns

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Makes 9 or 12 rolls

Dough:

  • 16 oz by weight all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/8 c (10 oz) milk, heated
  • 2 t instant yeast
  • 1/8 c (2 T) butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 t salt

Filling:

  • 1/4 c butter, slightly melted
  • 1 c raisins
  • 1/2 c brown sugar
  • 1 t cinnamon
  • 1/2 c nuts, chopped (optional)

Glaze (optional)

  • 1 c powdered sugar
  • 1 T cold milk

Combining all of the ingredients and knead until smooth. Dough should be moist but not sticky. Allow to rise until doubled.

Plump the raisins by soaking in boiling water for a few minutes.  Drain thoroughly and pat dry.

When the dough has risen, roll it out on a floured surface, as close to a 18 x 24 ” rectangle as possible.  Spread the butter on the rolled-out  dough.  Sprinkle with the rest of the filling ingredients.  Don’t forget the raisins!  Roll into a cylinder.  For a dozen smaller buns, roll the long side up.  For nine larger buns, roll the short side.  Cut into 9 or 12 equal pieces.  Put into greased 9 x 13 baking pan.  (If you want a particularly sticky bun, you can put some additional filling in the bottom of the pan.)

Allow to rise until doubled in bulk and the sides press against each other.

Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes. 

Cool for five minutes.  If you went with the sticky variety, invert the pan over doubled aluminum foil.  Beware of the hot filling.  Cooks call that stuff “napalm” for good reason.

Let the rolls cool, then glaze.

Adapted from a recipe posted on The Fresh Loaf.

Changes

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Well. That was fun. I’m glad it’s over.

I’ve moved the Hicinbothem web sites (.com and .org) to a new web host, Bluehost. The single new host has the same (or more) features than the old multiple hosts at about a quarter of the cost. If you’re reading this, everything has gone well and you’re looking at the new host.

Oh, and as if moving everything wasn’t enough fun by itself, I did a little spring cleaning and a tuneup at the same time. The entire site has been moved to a WordPress blogging platform. I’m still in the process of cleaning things up and importing old data, so there may still be a few things that don’t work. They’ll be fixed over the next couple of days.

Those of you using the Internet Explorer browser may notice a few things that don’t look real nice. All the design and construction have been done in Mozilla Firefox so there’s still some adjustments that need to be made.

The blogs which have always been the most popular part of the site can be found via the “topics” and “archives” links over there to the left. The older entries that were on other blogging platforms have mostly been imported into WordPress but there’s still some cleanup to be done there, too. I’ve added a couple of nice new tools to make it easier to add blog entries, and I’ve been testing them out over the past couple of days. You can expect to see more content, more often.

If you have a hicinbothem.com email address, it should be working again. The webmail interface is exactly as it was before, and your POP3 email client shouldn’t have needed any changes.

Any problem or questions, let me know.

Home Depot

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I have a love/hate relationship with Home Depot.  On the one hand, they’re always open and they usually have what I need, or a reasonable facsimile.  But on the other, they’ve driven pretty much everyone else out of business so they’re the only game in town for the DIYer.  As they’ve become a de-facto monopoly, the quality of customer service has dropped to the point that I won’t even go there on a weekend morning anymore.  Consumerist has a roundup of all that’s wrong with their customer service.

Terrorists

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This will vanish off CNN.com’s front page in a few hours, but today’s lead story is:

Not just 9/11: Terror suspect claims he plotted 29 attacks

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed admitted he planned the 9/11 attacks and a catalog of other terrorist acts, according to a transcript of a tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mohammed said he planned to assassinate former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and that he plotted to destroy the Panama Canal, Chicago’s Sears Tower and London’s Big Ben.

I suspect I’m not alone in thinking the feds decided to trot this out now just to get ‘berto off the front page. I wonder how long they’ve been sitting on this waiting for an appropriate crisis?

Recipe: Cranberry-Apple Chutney

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Ingredients

    1 (10 to 16-ounce) bag fresh or frozen whole cranberries
    2 crisp sweet red apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1-inch thick
    2-inch piece ginger, peeled and finely grated
    1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
    1 cup granulated sugar
    1 cup water

Preparation

Add ingredients to a large pot and simmer for about 30 minutes. The mixture will soften, reduce and thicken. Cool completely before serving. Keep in the refrigerator. Makes about 4 cups of chutney.