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For Thanksgiving, the elegant Luxirare molds Silicone Plastique Food Grade Silicone Mold Putty around a real, tiny pumpkin, cuts it in half to make two molds, then presses pie-crust dough around their inside walls, pipes in pie filling, removes the outer molds and seals the edges of the dough.

Photos by Luxirare
Individual self-contained pumpkin-shaped pumpkin pies result.

Lots of photos, few verbal directions but Luxirare makes it look easy.

A simpler way to contain your filling:

Pie Pops:

I want to eat pie, but I don't want a whole slice- I want to try other flavors too, but for just a little, and move onto another. If I have one slice, I may have guilt hanging over me all day. I want little pies, yes, with more pie crust than filling. 50 calories or less, no guilt. Eating pie slices makes me feel fat. Lolipop-Pies, perhaps this would work. Rotating flavors. Grab and go. In and out. Blackberry, pumpkin, apple, banana...

AP modifies the presentation of apple pie on the pop scene:

The trick to getting an apple pie to perch happily on the end of a lollipop stick is to shape the pie into a crescent, rather than a round. This allows the dough to wrap around and more fully anchor itself to the stick.

It's also important to use a thick apple filling that is partially cooked on the stove. These pops bake more quickly than a standard pie, so they won't be in the oven long enough for the apples to cook entirely there.

One final warning: Be sure to use cardboard lollipop sticks (available at craft and baking shops), not plastic.

And offers a recipe:

APPLE PIE POPS
2 large apples or 3 small, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice blend
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
15-ounce package prepared rolled pie dough (contains 2 pieces)
20 lollipop sticks
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Heat the oven to 375. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, then coat the paper with cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the apples, 1/2 cup sugar, lemon juice and apple pie spice. Bring to a boil, then cook for 2 minutes. In a small glass, mix cornstarch and water, then add to apples. Stir and continue cooking until thick. Remove the apple mixture from the heat and set aside.

One at a time, unfold each sheet of pie dough and run a rolling pin over it several times. Use a 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut 10 circles of dough from each. Knead and reroll the scraps as needed.

Place a scant tablespoon of apple filling in the center of each circle. If you have a dumpling press, it works great to seal these. Otherwise, fold each round in half and seal the edges by crimping with a fork. Poke a lollipop stick into the corner of the crescent and run it up the inside of the fold. Pinch the dough around the stick to anchor it. Arrange the pie pops on the prepared baking sheets. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and water, then brush it over the tops of the pops. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon. Sprinkle over the pops. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet. Makes 20 pops.

From Laura Washburn's "Cooking With Apples & Pears," (Ryland, Peters & Small, 2009.)

I might skip the sugar and cinnamon part to get Luxirare's golden pies:

Very crucial to slather egg whites on pie exterior. This is what gives it the "Betty Crocker" touch. Without this, the pies wouldn't look as blistered or nicely toasted.

Its opposite -- filling but no crust -- would be little ramekins of pie filling -- pudding, puree or compote. Luxirare uses the mold to make a crustless "cocktail" of rum and pumpkin custard:

Bob Dylan, Must Be Santa by Hal Moore and Bill Fredericks (1960), first made popular by Mitch Miller.

Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped and kneeled
Was that trainload of fools bogged down in a magnetic field.
A gypsy with a broken flag and a flashing ring
Said, "Son, this ain't a dream no more, it's the real thing."

-- Bob Dylan, Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)

Black Friday 2009 countdown: Sales, deals and tips. Doug Stanglin of USA Today blogs the roundup (so I don't have to). For instance,

Dealnews is awash with Black Friday information, including a Buying Strategy Guide.

If nothing could get you into crowds like that, Dealnews is awash with online deals, too.

The madness takes place a mere week from today.

Here's the first pass of 2009 through the nation's newspaper's Thanksgiving food sections online. I'll add more over the next few days.

Akron Beacon Journal: Holiday sides from scratch, Maple Candied Yams, Green Beans With Mushrooms, Almonds And Caramelized Onions, Fresh Cranberry-OrangeSauce

Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle: Whole-Wheat Couscous, Wild Mushroom And Leek Stuffing

Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald: Cauley Square Tea Room's Harvest Pie, Sweet Potato Vichyssoise, Spirited Cranberry Relish.

Boston Globe: A $100 Thanksgiving menu for eight, Pureed maple squash recipe

The Montana Standard: Thanksgiving sides and a dessert: Brussels Sprout Slaw With Mustard Dressing And Maple-Glazed Pecans, Spiced Ambercup Squash With Glazed Walnuts, Dark Pumpkin Tartlets, Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup (not on the stove!)

The Bryan College Station (Texas) Eagle: Lemon-Thyme Rub, Brown-Sugar-And-Cider-Rub">Brown Sugar And Cider Rub

Boulder (Colo.) Daily Camera: It's not the turkey, it's the sides: Udi's Thanksgiving Gluten Free Stuffing, Pan Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta and Chestnuts, Bacon Cranberry Stuffing, Herbed Oyster Stuffing.

Cape Cod Times: Farmers share family recipes. Simply Delicious Chard, Sweet Potato Pudding, Cranberry Chutney.

Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier: Green Beans With Hazelnuts and Gorgonzola, Acorn Squash Stuffed With Apple-Almond-Cherry Basmati Pilaf, Good times, good food: Roasted Turkey With Maple Herb Butter and Gravy, Coconut Cake, Glass Onion's Oyster Cornbread Dressing, Brussels Sprouts With Applewood Smoked Bacon, Sweet Potato Biscuits With Maple Butter.

Chicago Daily Herald: Honey Riesling Bourbon Red Turkey , Fall Cabbage Slaw, Bread Stuffing, Butternut Squash Apple Ginger Soup , Cranberry-Apple Chutney

New York Times: Huge Thanksgiving section.

N.Y. Daily News: Balsamic-glazed pearl onions

Chicago Sun-Times: White Castle stuffing (yes, made with the tiny hamburgers), Green Beans with Prosciutto, Pine Nuts and Meyer Lemon

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Hurrah for the pumpkin pie (or cake)! Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake With Buttermilk Icing, Pumpkin Pie

Dallas News: Other ways to enjoy pumpkin: Pumpkin Bread Pudding, Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Semifreddo With Hazelnuts, Autumn-Spiced Pumpkin Shortbread, Pumpkin Pie Gets An Upgrade

Detroit Free Press: Orange-glazed Cornish Hens, Pumpkin Braid, Apple Caramel Pie, Concord Grape Pie, Pear Pie with Dried Cherries and Brown Sugar Streusel, Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Dover (Del.) Post:Aunt Willa's Green Bean Casserole, Pumpkin Brandy Cheesecake

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Salt and pepper turkey, Bread stuffing with sage; Citrus mustard-basted turkey

Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner: Scalloped Potatoes

The Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World: Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Cranberry Chipotle Sauce, Cranberry-Orange Sauce, Sweet and Yukon Gold Potato Gratin

The Arizona Republic:

Herb-Rubbed Game Hens With Tart Cherry and Sage Sauce

How to make lump-free gravy

Sour-Cream Apple Pie

Ruth's Chris Sweet Potato Casserole

California Fruit Stuffing

Brown-Bag Roasted Turkey

Mashed Potatoes

Green Beans Amandine

Cranberry Relish

Pineapple Yams

Garlic- and Herb- Crusted Prime Rib

Spanish-Style Fried Cauliflower With Garlic-Paprika Oil Drizzle

Grilled Asparagus With Sauce Gribiche

Roasted Root-Vegetable and Hazelnut Hash

Colonial Brown Bread

Green Beans

Baked Dried Corn Supreme

Cranberry Horseradish Relish

Roasted Root Vegetables

Mulled Wine from Colonial America

Shellfish Chowder With Fresh Thyme

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie

Spiced Pumpkin Souffle

Spicy Sweet Potato Pie

Harvest Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie

Sweet Potato Pie

Walnut-praline Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Cake Roll

Providence (R.I.) Journal: How to make a no-fail pie crust / Video, huge archive of Thanksgiving recipes.

Washington Post: Date Pecan Pie; archive of Thanksgiving recipes

Los Angeles Times: Your end-all, be-all Thanksgiving guide

Pumpkin pie,

Bacon and bourbon pie crust recipe

Southern stuffing

Lemon chiffon pie

Creamy mashed potatoes

Pear-blackberry pie

Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal: Veg out on Thanksgiving: Holiday isn't just for meat lovers

Southern Oregon Mail Tribune: Handling a vegetarian Thanksgiving

Broccoli Casserole With Oregon Blue Cheese Sauce

Chanterelle and Cheese Bread Pudding

Baked Tofu With Braised Peppers and Olives

Dried Fruit Cranberry Compote

Spicy Cranberry Salsa

Northwest Indiana Times: Cherry-Apricot Crumb Pie

Sacramento Bee: Mediterranean spaghetti squash (vegetarian)

Wolfgang's Vault lets you listen free to more than 3,000 live concerts and interviews from hundreds of groups and musicians -- Bill Graham's West Coast concerts as well as, as of yesterday, 27 acts from the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival, with more to come. Oscar Peterson's in my headphones now. (The Times last week wrote about this: Historic Sounds of Newport, Newly Online)

It's easy to poke around here, to dip in. It's a simple interface, and you can quickly skip around from one great performance to another, from music and bands you've never heard before to bands you know and songs you don't. It's not comprehensive -- there's the Incredible String Band but not Fairport Convention, for instance -- and the emphasis is on the older stuff, although there are contemporary bands such as Black Lipz, The Jealous Girlfriends, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. Its a giant jukebox.

You may have been at some of these concerts -- Cheap Trick or Styx at the Civic Center, Bonnie Raitt, The Kinks or Roomful of Blues at the Palace, Psychedelic Furs or Translator at the Main Event, Throwing Muses at Club Baby Head, Mason Ruffner at The Living Room.

In the Downloads section there are four songs by Carly Simon and her son Ben, whose dad is James Taylor, "recorded quaintly and privately in her living room in Martha's Vineyard with super-engineer Paul Q. Kolderie." Then you can flip to Al Kooper in the studio alone playing keyboards and singing, "I Can't Quit Her." Or check out three songs recorded last year by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. After briefly listening to Hamza el Din (I'm not in the mood for oud), I've moved on to Halloween, Alaska -- a modern band from Minneapolis. Like some, learn some.

Love some: Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter & James Cotton together at New York City's Palladium in 1977.

You need to offer up an email address, but then you're in and can listen to playlists free. Downloading sometimes costs, sometimes it's free. (Posters, shirts and memorabilia are for sale.)

Its Wikipedia entry describes the Vault as "dedicated to the restoration and archiving of live concert recordings and music memorabilia in order that music fans can access the complete live music experience of the past fifty years."

The site's name derives from Wolfgang Grajonca -- rock impresario Bill Graham's real name

Later: a treat from the Concert Vault: Fleetwood Mac 1968 (long before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the group in 1975), a week into their first visit to the United States from England. They're a heavy blues band doing Elmore James ("Dust My Broom"), Freddy King's "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" and the like:
Peter Green - vocals, guitar
Jeremy Spencer - vocals, guitar
John McVie - bass
Mick Fleetwood - drums

I am watching the 12-year-old play Okami, a game I gave him last Christmas, on the Nintendo Wii. It is stunningly beautiful, perhaps the most beautiful video game ever, and he is still enthralled by it, playing it again. Best of all, because it's a classic now (it's a port of a PS2 game), it's inexpensive for a Wii game -- $16.99 at Amazon now.

Mystical and Oriental, rendered in a blend of woodcut, watercolor and cels, there's an ancient tale behind it -- you assume the shape of a white wolf and save the world, one section at a time, causing bare trees to blossom. Even the soundtrack is special.

The Okami review at Gamespot -- where there are dozens of game images -- begins,

There's a blissful moment in the first hour of Okami, one that is repeated several times throughout the game's epic tale: Tasked with restoring an afflicted sapling to its former beauty, you bring it to life with a swirl of your virtual paintbrush. The sapling bursts with light, a melody of soft pink flowers blooms on its young branches, and lush green meadows breathlessly sweep away the cursed countryside, returning vitality to the diseased landscape. It's a moment that stays with you, and it represents the sheer joy of playing Okami. Few games exude such grace and visual prowess, though you shouldn't assume that its beauty is superficial. Here is a case where stunning graphics, charming characters, and a dreamy, mythical adventure are united into a cohesive, powerful title that simply must be played.

Okami has the coolest of weapons -- a paintbrush. Gamespot again:

...the Wii controls shine brightly in regards to the celestial brush. You can pull out the brush at any time and use it to slash through demons, create gusts of wind, draw bombs, create impromptu waterspouts, and perform all sorts of sundry tasks. This is Okami's main gameplay conceit, and it's woven impeccably throughout the game, where it's utilized in battles, puzzle sequences, and even some cute minigames. On the PS2, you used an analog stick to draw the necessary rune; on the Wii, of course, you use the remote. For the most part, this works wonderfully. Interacting with the celestial brush in this manner is incredibly pleasing, since you literally draw the motions onto the screen. It also improves the pace of the game, because you can scrawl at a faster rate.

Related:

What game has the coolest (overall) art style? A nice array of screenshots of the nominees.

Truly beautiful Wii games. Others.

Long Sunday before the Pats game tonight.

I'm Belle de Jour: "Finally the anonymous sex blogger from Diary of a London Call Girl comes clean to The (London) Sunday Times: She's Dr Brooke Magnanti." Just another London student paying the rent while she finished her PhD in informatics, epidemiology and forensic science.

Funniest line:

There's no chance of finding Dr Magnanti on duty in hospital or as a GP: this is medical science, not clinical practice. "I decided against being a medic years ago because, ironically enough, my bedside manner is terrible."

Paul Carr ('Tis Pity She's A Success ? Belle de Jour and the Impossibility of Anonymous Blogging) dug up the photo from the print edition, part of a photo shoot mentioned in the London Times story.

Tony Lioce, legendary former Journal reporter, rock writer and entertainment editor, did stints around California MSM before settingling into his current gig: 6 a.m. bartender at the Vesuvio in San Francisco.

The Examiner has the story: Vesuvio mixes history with the drinks and coffee:

So how are you liking the career switch?

I'm loving it! The biggest difference between working at a place like this and working at a place like the Mercury News is that in a place like this, if anybody gives you a hard time you can throw them out. At the Mercury News you say, "Yes, sir."

If you think about it, it's kind of like being a reporter, you just don't have to write about it ... though you could. It's all those interrogation skills, getting people to talk, because that's the job. Anybody can make a drink. The good bartenders are the guys who make people feel welcome, they bring him in, you get them to talk, "How you doin', where you from?" And it's the same thing that an interviewer has to use to penetrate that sometimes frosty exterior that people will put up to protect themselves.

Astrotufing the Congressional Record:: In House, Many Spoke With One Voice - Lobbyists'. NYT.
It's called "astroturfing" when form letters are sent as Letters to the Editor -- early on, we advised our own editorial division to put a sentence or two of letters about national politics and issues into a search engine before publishing them.

Members of Congress submit statements for publication in the Congressional Record all the time, often with a decorous request to "revise and extend my remarks." It is unusual for so many revisions and extensions to match up word for word. It is even more unusual to find clear evidence that the statements originated with lobbyists.

Is this good news? Scientists Develop Rot-Proof Apple that Stays Fresh for 4 Months

Free mp3s: NIRVANA - DEL MAR 1991. 7 tracks.

Paintings by Mike Stilkey; photos by by Dave Kinsey

Mike Stilkey's Library : The Book Bench : The New Yorker:

Books are sacred objects which we are all free to worship in different ways. The L.A.-based artist Mike Stilkey, for example, paints all over them. His work on stacked spines and covers reworks books into a beautiful, albeit unreadable, library.

A new and fragile art form.

More images at both links, the photos from a photoful interview, Mike Stilkey Studio Visit by Dave Kinsey at the unfortunately named (What is the point in choosing a degrading name like this for a site about art?).

Why did you choose to paint on books? It seems like it would have been a challenge to go from working on paper to painting on something so dimensional. What was that transition like?

It was sort of an accident. I was painting on book pages for forever, and actually published a book in 2005 titled "100 Portraits" in which I drew one hundred portraits on old book pages. At the time, I was drawing on books, records or anything else I could find at a thrift store. Eventually, I started drawing on the books themselves. I was going to do a project where I just drew on the covers of the books, and as I finished them I would stack them against the wall. It dawned on me that it might be a good idea to paint down the spines of the books instead of just on the covers

Charles Bukowski's head is painted on the back cover of J.B. Priestley's The Good Companions, (a tale of people changing their lives by joining a traveling theater troupe) which is probably meaningless. The "wallpaper" design of the discarded book's cover matters. Similarly, the bottom book's cover design comes with an interpretation of the 1885 painting of artist James McNeill Whistler by William Merritt Chase, which hangs in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Via Jorn Barger's Google Reader feed.

Go to Google today and the search may already be filled out, under a special logo honoring NASA's discovery of significant water on the moon.

AP: Splash! NASA moon crash struck lots of water

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The lunar dud for space enthusiasts has become a watershed event for NASA.

Spacecraft that crashed into the moon last month kicked up a relatively small plume. But scientists have confirmed the debris contained water - 25 gallons of it - making lunar exploration exciting again.

Experts have long suspected there was water on the moon. So the thrilling discovery announced Friday sent a ripple of hope for a future astronaut outpost in a place that has always seemed barren and inhospitable.

"We found water. And we didn't find just a little bit. We found a significant amount," Anthony Colaprete, lead scientist for the mission, told reporters as he held up a white water bucket for emphasis.

He said the 25 gallons of water the lunar crash kicked up was only what scientists could see from the plumes of the impact.

Science Now (The Moon Is Wet!) and Space.com (It's Official: Water Found on the Moon, Water Discovery Fuels Hope to Colonize the Moon) have the detailed stories.

The happiest guy out there is Peter Diamandis, Chairman & CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, who writes, Most Valuable Real Estate in the Solar System: Water on Lunar South Pole:

I'm particularly excited for all of the teams building vehicles for the Google Lunar X PRIZE (www.googlelunarxprize.org/). This is a $30 million competition funded by Google and operated by the X PRIZE Foundation. We've offered up a large cash bounty for the first team to privately build and land a robot on the surface of the Moon that can travel, send back photos and video. Think of these vehicles as a low-cost 'prospector' looking for information and valuable data, as well as the companies constructing the shovels and picks on the bleeding edge of this potential boom.

Which may in part explain Google's enthusiasm over all this.

They're thrilled in Bangalore, too: Chandrayaan discovers magnet on moon

BANGALORE: After water, it's magnet . Chandrayaan-1 has discovered and confirmed for the first time the presence of magnetic spheres on the far side of the moon--the side we cannot see from the earth. This could theoretically mean a longer and secure stay for astronauts on moon.

There had been speculation for long but the confirmation was made by Sara, the instrument jointly made by Isro, European Space Agency and Sweden. The findings by Sara, not yet published, were made known by top scientists on the sidelines of the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Indian Academy of Sciences at IISC. The discovery of magnetic forces comes after the discovery of water molecules by M3--the Nasa instrument on Chandrayaan-1.

...The confirmation of micro-magnetic spheres has thrown open an exciting theoretical possibility--a safer stay for astronauts. It is believed that micro magnetic sphere resists or deflects radiation from solar winds hitting the moon's surface . In case bigger magnetic spheres could be built, astronauts could live within those spheres and survive the radiation.

Tara Bradford's Paris Parfait usually shows lush, large photos from elegant curio shops and fashionable shop windows in Paris, or perhaps lush countryside with lovely stone walls and a castle.

A field trip trip suggests there are a lot of Parisians to patronize such rarified tastes.

Photos by David Holmes

More hats and fashion from Longchamp:
Many images of last month's spectators at the Hippodrome de Longchamps in Paris's Bois de Boulogne, Europe's biggest horse-racing event. (Imagine a race course in Central Park.) Photos by David Holmes. Rather like the Kentucky Derby, it's also a hat parade.

Hats at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. This is the most prestigious of the races.