Archives
Teflon
The first time I saw a Teflon-covered pan, when I was four or five, I thought it was magic. Now that I cook, I'm even more impressed by non-stick surfaces. Teflon was discovered by accident by Roy J. Plunkett, 27, a DuPont scientist who was trying to develop a new chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) for use as a refrigerant by reacting a gas called tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) with hydrochloric acid. He'd prepared 100 pounds of TFE in pressure cylinders, which, for safety reasons, he stored in dry ice. On the morning of April 6, 1938, Plunkett's assistant, Jack Rebok, opened the valve of a canister of TFE--and nothing came out. They weighed the cylinder. The gas was still inside, ...Barbecuing II
There are still a few good weeks of summer left, and that means there's still plenty of time for the ultimate summer activity, barbecuing. Technically, what we call barbecuing around here is not true barbecuing, which involves the long, slow cooking of meat, often over hours, at relatively low temperatures in the presence of lots of wood smoke. But say "barbecue" in these parts, and everyone thinks of grilling over an open fire. The word "barbecue" comes to us from the Caribbean, along with the word "cannibal." (I'll leave any connection between the two to your imagination.) For years outdoor cooking meant cooking over charcoal, most commonly charcoal briquets. Briquets are made of scrap wood ...The thermodynamics of turkey
"Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat," goes the old song, but these days, goose is a rare sight on the Christmas table. Instead, the place of honor goes to the turkey. Turkeys are native to North American. In 1519 Spanish ships introduced them to Europe. By the 1700s turkey drives were being held from Norfolk to London. (If cattle drivers are cowboys, are turkey-drivers "turkeyboys?") In 1851 Queen Victoria ate turkey instead of the traditional swan at Christmas, and by late Victorian times, the turkey had supplanted the goose at English Christmas feasts. With this change came the annual battle to cook a turkey perfectly. The problem is that few people approach the cooking ...Umami
My wife and I recently returned from the annual International Festival of Wine and Food at the Banff Springs hotel, where the master of ceremonies, Tim Hanni, presented a fascinating (and very funny) seminar on matching wine with food. Much of Hanni's talk was devoted to exactly how the sense of taste works. It's amazing, but all the enormously varied tastes we enjoy as we eat different foods are technically made up of just a handful of basic tastes. Traditionally, those have been listed as sweet, sour, salt and bitter; but increasingly, Western scientists have begun to accept the long-held Japanese belief that there is a fifth basic taste, called "umami"--a taste Hanni, who is also a chef, is ...Kitchen germs
In my small, elderly house, the bathroom opens onto the kitchen, which has always worried me: I keep picturing armies of bacteria marching out of the bathroom to contaminate my food. It turns out my concern is misguided: a recent study indicates it's more likely bacteria from the kitchen will contaminate my bathroom.. Scientists from the University of Arizona in Tucson tested several houses and discovered the kitchens were almost always more contaminated with bacteria than the bathrooms, even by germs spread by fecal contamination, such as E. coli (source of "Hamburger disease"). In fact, the average toilet rim was relatively germ-free compared to the average counter top....Food preservation
As a kid, I found the kitchen a rather mysterious place, filled with exotic implements like the bizarre "colander," the ominous "deep-fat fryers," and the straight-out-of-the-mad-scientist's-laboratory "pressure cooker," as well as bizarre ingredients like "bouillon," "baker's chocolate" (real chocolate's evil twin), "paprika," "cloves," and something called "pectin." Both the pressure cooker and pectin mostly came into play this time of year, when my mother would undertake strange rituals involving fruits and vegetables which I never really understood until...well, until this week, actually, when I decided to write this column. Two things cause fruits and vegetables to spoil: microbes (bacteria and molds) and the plant's own enzymes, ripen fruits and vegetables in the first place but ...Salt
Okay, it's pop quiz time. What mineral is used in greater quantities and for more purposes than any other? Give up? I'll give you a hint: it's the only mineral we sprinkle on both our roads and our French fries. That's right: salt. Those innocuous little white crystals in the shaker on your table are actually one of the cornerstones of our civilization--not to mention our own bodily well-being. Common table salt--sodium chloride to its friends--isn't called common for nothing. It's found all over the place, especially in the oceans, which contain enough of it to cover the Earth's surface with a layer of salt 35 centimetres deep should they ever dry out. It's also ...Canning
This week I'd like to write about canning. No, no, no, this isn't a column about corporal punishment in Singapore. "Canning," not "caning," as in, "Open up another can of beans, Ma, company's coming up the walk." Canning is a form of food preservation, something humans have been interested in ever since some early hominid discovered the principle of the best-before date: a haunch of mastodon is best before it turns green. Food spoils for a number of reasons. Topping the list are microorganisms. Bacteria and fungi feed on the same food we do and excrete noxious substances in the process. Enzymes, which are present in all ...Barbecuing
Summer may officially begin tomorrow, on the summer solstice, but for many people, summer really begins the first time they're able to barbecue in their backyard. I am not one of them. I enjoy eating the fruits of someone else's barbecuing efforts as much as the next guy, but to actually stand at the grill? Forget it. Too much effort for too little reward, to my way of thinking. Still, barbecuing--or, more accurately, grilling--has an ancient and honorable history. Of course, the first cooking anybody did of meat was simply roasting it on a spit over an open fire, which is a sort of barbecuing. Grilling had to wait until ...
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Magebane
“Spectacular” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Evil wizards, multi-level conspiracies, hidden kingdoms…Lee Arthur Chane…has done a marvelous job…Magebane is a very entertaining book and well worth the time.” – A.M. Donovan, Night Owl Reviews
I happily recommend Magebane and I’ll certainly give Chane’s next novel a try based on this one.” —Bill Capossere, Fantasy Literature
“…an original and delightful tale of epic fantasy and magic, steampunk science, adventure, tragedy, and love…” – Errant Dreams Reviews
Eight centuries ago, the world changed. A devastating war swept the lands, and the MageLords, who had long ruled by virtue of their spell powers, were driven to a distant place, separated from those they had ruled by a magical Barrier. With magic banished from the rest of the world, the MageLords became mere legend and people turned to science to improve their lives. But if one man has his way, all that is about to change….
Written as Lee Arthur Chane (the middle names of my older brothers, Jimmy Lee and Dwight Arthur, and myself, Edward Chane Willett).
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black
When country music legend Johnny Cash took the stage at Folsom State Prison in 1968, he solidified the public’s perception of him as a rebel who followed his own path. Born in Arkansas during the Great Depression, Cash endured poverty, the death of his older brother, and a difficult relationship with his father. He turned to gospel and country music to express the pain, and after many years of struggling, his songs of hardship and hope would finally reach the ears of those waiting for an artist who represented them, ordinary people fighting to survive.
Andy Warhol: Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes
“Paintings are too hard. Machines have less problems…” In the 1960s, Andy Warhol became the most famous creator of a new style of art called pop art, which transformed mass-produced items of popular culture into fine works of art. From Campbell’s Soup cans to photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol’s willingness to use anything and everything from the mass media in his work expanded the range of subject matter available to artists. His avant-garde films, artistic usage of American icons, and unconventional social life made him a controversial figure, both greatly admired and deeply reviled. A trendsetter rather than a trend-follower, a dispassionate observer of both the seamy and celebrity sides of life, Warhol was a true American rebel.
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
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