July 14th, 2008 Perry Sandoval
Flight 676, non-stop from New York to Los Angeles was the epitome of convenience and comfort for its passengers. In the time that it used to take a wagon driver to go from the north end of the island of Manhattan to the southern tip this flight would go from the East Coast to the West Coast. Climate controlled, with tasty snacks served by attractive people were an added bonus. A few wrinkles on their clothes and a slight stiffness were the only side effects to the trip.
About halfway through the trip the plane ran into the bane of summer travel. Rising hot air tossed the plane to an fro and made the trip seem much less comfortable. Seasoned travels barely noticed and continued to work or sleep. The novices and the timid were truly nervous, even frightened.
The two experienced passengers on row 37 were suddenly brought face to face with a freakish nightmare. A crack in the fuselage widened to dangerous proportions. The change in cabin pressure was immediately noticed by the planes sophisticated avionics. The pilots took immediate action by descending from their 30,000 foot cruising level to a lower altitude. At 25,000 feet the crack burst open and air was leaving the cabin. The oxygen masks deployed and the screams began. The pilots radioed a mayday and began emergency checklist procedures. As they neared 20,000 feet, an unbelievable event occurred. The fuselage ripped open and both seats and a portion of the floor on row 37 were ripped out of the plane. Pandemonium broke out in the cabin. The flight attendants, strapped to their jump seats, could no longer comfort the passengers. Loose purses, baggage and magazines were sucked from the airplane in a frightening cacophony of sound. The pilots tense but in control updated the FAA on the situation as best as they could determine, since they couldn’t see through the closed cockpit doors and there are no rear-view mirrors on an airplane. The pilots increased the rate of descent and managed to safely land the plane at a nearby military base. The passengers cried, laughed, vomited and expressed their relief and concern. All were safe.
What about the two men on row 37. Here’s where our tale turns bizarre. At 20,000 feet there is not enough oxygen to stay alive for very long. Our two hapless passengers plummeted toward earth at ever increasing speed gasping desperately for life giving oxygen. At 18,000 feet the danger of death by asphyxiation was no longer an issue but they were still plummeting toward earth out of control. Terminal velocity is the fastest a falling object will go when solely pulled upon by earth’s gravity. The pair had reached terminal velocity. One man had the presence of mind to pull out his video camera and start filming his last and most exciting trip. He screamed against the howling wind in an effort to describe a distant cloud that looked like an easter bunny. He turned the camera downward and yelled descriptions of the approaching farmlands and small towns. He whooped like an excited teenager on the biggest roller coaster in the world. At the sound of a truck backfiring he turned the camera to his face and shouted, “I only have a few seconds! What a ride! I love you all!” He tucked the camera to his belly bent over it and hugged his knees.
The two men hit a hay barn. They ripped through the roof like a bullet through toilet paper and penetrated all the hay bales. Remember that they were still strapped to their seats which was still attached to a portion of the aircraft floor. The whole mass tunneled several feat into the earth. Broken bones, internal organs and blood decorated the area in a gruesome manner. As the coroner’s staff collected the remains they found the camera encased in the man’s body. Its outside was damaged as the man’s spine whipped through his body upon impact. Yet the magnetic cartridge was intact.
The tape was given to the cameraman’s family. The replay was bizarre in the extreme as it told not one story but two. The cameraman attempted to record his last adventure but he also recorded the macabre last few moments of his row-mate. After the two quit gasping for breath the other man began crying out to God. “Save me! Save me!” could be heard over the cameraman’s description of the easter bunny. The howling of the wind was later penetrated by the cameraman’s idyllic descriptions of the farmland fast approaching but the cries of the other man turned to yells as he began to negotiate, “God I’ll do anything, I’ll do anything. Save me!” A truck could be heard backfiring in the background. At this point despair set in and his sobs and cries contrasted creepily with the cameraman’s roller-coaster whoops. “God doesn’t listen. He’s not real. It’s all phony.” While the cameraman declared his awe and family love the other man’s final words were a string of curses punctuated by the bang of their explosive impact
Once born, we all plummet uncontrollably toward the end of our natural life. We have a choice to make. Like the cameraman we can take note of the world around us and whoop-it-up at the marvels we see or we can cry, beg, and finally curse God before we die. The choice belongs to the individual and no one can make that choice for them. The end-point is the same. We all die. Whether or not we enjoy the ride and spread wonder and love to those around us is completely up to us.
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July 10th, 2008 Perry Sandoval
I’ve had a variety of chocolates in my life, many flavored with things like rum, cherry, raspberry, orange, or mint. At this year’s Fancy Food Show in New York City I tried some chocolates flavored in ways that are new to me and maybe to you as well. In a previous post I wrote about sea salt flavored chocolates. In this post I’d like to talk about chocolates flavored with spices not typically associated with chocolates or even other types of sweets or confections.
I had some chocolates flavored with things like lilac and thyme. Now when I think of thyme I normally think of a pasta dish or maybe a roasted meat. I don’t think of sweets. The taste experience is different from the sea salt chocolate in that it is a very mild sensation. Not only can you taste the thyme you can smell it In fact the thyme fragrance overpowers the smell of the chocolate.. However, the lilac flavored chocolates had almost no discernible difference in taste when compared to similar chocolates (i. e. other dark or milk chocolates). However, the aroma was intense. The closest I can come to describing the experience is to imagine yourself sitting in the middle of several lilac bushes on a hot day. The lilac perfumes every breath you take. Now put a piece of dark chocolate in your mouth. As the chocolate melts in your mouth take deep breathes through your nose so you can smell the lilac and taste the chocolate at the same time. That is what it was like for me.
I like the smell of lilac and I enjoy thyme in a variety of dishes. The combination of thyme and chocolate or lilac and chocolate is not impressive enough, for me that is, to skip the more traditional raspberry, orange, or mint flavors. Don’t take my word for it. Go try some!
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July 9th, 2008 Perry Sandoval
As a child I used to love to sit outside and eat pomegranates and see how far I could spit the little seeds. It was also a real kick to spit them out machine gun style. At this year’s Fancy Food Show in New York City pomegranate was everywhere. In chocolates, energy drinks, tea, coffee, bar-b-q sauce, hot sauce, caramels, jelly beans and probably some other foods I missed. Pomegranate is a reddish fruit filled with hundreds of seeds. It’s really more like a pea pod than a grape or orange. Each seed is encased in a clear sack that is filled with a deep red colored liquid that is more tart than sweet. The seeds are packed together in sections of the pomegranate and must be gently pried out of the leathery container or you’ll squirt the precious juice all over yourself and anything around you. To get the maximum amount of juice you have to gently grind the little seed sacks between your molars. This is not the type of food to give to your children when they’re sitting close to anything white. It’s also not good for people who can’t use their tongue to separate the seeds from the flesh.
Recently a variety of companies have been producing pomegranate extract in bottles, Pomegranate juice is heavy, tart, and mildly sweet. My son and I really like to mix about 4 ounces of pomegranate juice with about 12 ounces of 7 Up or Sprite. I’ve also mixed it with Dr. Pepper for a quirky tart-dark taste. We liked the caramels and bar-b-q sauces with pomegranate. I thought the jelly beans were too sweet for me but I’m sure kids will love them.
Pomegranates are supposed to be good for you. Everyone was tauting its value as a source of beneficial antioxidants. Frankly, I just like the way a pomegranate tastes. If you have older children or grandchildren with sufficient mouth dexterity and some old clothes please consider buying them a pomegranate, if you can find one. In my opinion, it should be a room temperature and eaten with your feet hanging off a deck or pier. Some people say you can eat the seed. I never did. Enjoy the fruit and the juice but spit out the seeds – machine-gun style if you can.
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July 8th, 2008 Perry Sandoval
Last week we went to the Fancy Food Show in New York City. What a great experience. It was a wonderful opportunity to review specialty food products for Iron-Q. Some members of our team focused on bar-b-q sauces, hot sauces, tea, or coffee. Of particular interest to me were the chocolates.
I’ve always liked chocolate. As a kid I liked milk chocolate and hated dark. As an adult, I prefer dark but still enjoy milk chocolate from time to time. However, I have run into more than one food bigot who thinks that one chocolate is better than another. While I do agree that there are differences in quality between chocolates most people confuse quality and taste. I remember talking to one person in particular who made the comment, “.. but I like good chocolates, not that Hershey’s crap.” There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Hershey’s milk chocolate that you can get in any grocery store, convenience store or gas station in the U.S. It is wonderfully consistent, especially when you consider its low price. It is a very good milk chocolate for about 65 cents a bar. If you want a better chocolate you’ll need to pay more. You won’t find a 70% cacao dark chocolate bar in a gas station for 65 cents.
One chocolate that I came across, that was new to me and quite a surprise, was a salted chocolate. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I took a small bite of a 1 inch square chocolate truffle style candy that had large salt crystals on top (maybe 20 of them). The grittiness of the salt was the first sensation, immediately followed by the intensity of the large salt crystals. It was a major wake-up call for my taste buds. Then came a soothing flow of chocolate that calmed the sea-storm of salt. The salt, which was initially overpowering, enhanced and contrasted the chocolate flavor. I found it a delicious departure from the typical chocolate truffle-style candies I normally find.
Back to the quality and taste issue mentioned earlier. Is the artisan sea-salted chocolate truffle better than a Hershey’s milk chocolate bar? I would say not necessarily. If you’re looking for a consistently made, inexpensive chocolate snack then it is hard to beat a 65 cent Hershey bar at about 43 cents per ounce. On the other hand if you want to really treat yourself or make an impression on someone else (a lover perhaps), then spending about $4.20 per ounce on the sea-salted chocolate is definitely the way to go. In my opinion, the taste of the more expensive chocolates is definitely better. I will buy and savor the expensive chocolates. However, I’ll probably keep buying Hershey’s forever.
Chocolates, like people, come in a variety of flavors. Savor the ones you enjoy and don’t judge the ones you don’t.
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