Willy Blackmore sends us this press-release:

I’d like to submit this event for your consideration as a calendar listing or news item.

Fairfield, Iowa is nearly 2000 miles from the Pacific, but the eclectic town of 10,000 will be feeling more like 1960s Southern California this Labor Day when seminal rock band The Beach Boys come to town. Playing to benefit the David Lynch Foundation and presented by DLF.TV, The Beach Boys will be performing alongside Iowa-based roots rockers The Nadas–a lineup that will undoubtedly bring out music lovers from Fairfield and the rest of Iowa out for a day of classic rock and contemporary sounds. The show starts at 12:30 on Monday, September 7th.

The Beach Boys are certainly a household name, but Fairfield is definitely not on par with Chicago, St. Louis or Minneapolis as entertainment destinations in the Midwest. With hopes of bringing people from all over the region to the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center next weekend, we would be honred if you might inform your readers about the upcoming show. The Labor Day date will be the last on The Beach Boy’s Endless Summer Tour, so not only is it a chance to see this classic all-American band close to home, but the last chance to see them anywhere in the country anytime soon.

Please let me know if you’d be interested in getting more information about the show, including press passes and complimentary admission for media [if we can offer it].

Best,

Willy Blackmore

Social Radius / Terpin Communications

On November 3rd Fairfield is going to have 3 open seats for city council: Ward 4 (currently Martha Norbeck), Ward 2 (currently John Revolinski) and at-large (currently Myron Gookin). The departure of these three council-members is going to change city-council dynamics quite a bit and new civic-minded individuals are needed to step into these positions.

In the few months that I’ve been regularly sitting in on City Council meetings I’ve come to appreciate that there is not always a clear understanding of issues, and there is still a relatively strong polarization of the different community interests in this town. Specifically what I mean by this is that some council-members seem to have a bias against either “roos” or “townies”. To be fair I’ve never seen the bias expressed in quite such language, but there have been too many times I’ve seen conversations get derailed and snide comments interjected, and this leaves me with the feeling that we need more community-aware and civic-minded folk on the council.

Martha Norbeck, currently serving Ward 4, has, in my opinion, is someone I think the city will sorely miss from city council. She’s been working diligently to address a great many pertinent issues, and is still working on bringing some of Fairfield’s city ordinances into the 21st century. She has put together a great page detailing what she thinks is necessary of new city council members – or the sort of people who should fill these upcoming vacancies.

Martha has also put out a call for new candidates for city council – I’ve reproduced it in full below:

My city council seat is up for election this November 3^rd. I will not be seeking re-election. Please help me, and the city of Fairfield, in identifying a candidate who can help Fairfield transform itself into the green city envisioned by so many.

Two key issues inform my decision. First, I want to focus my energy on environmental issues, my specialty, rather than the breadth of issues that come before the council, such as: demolishing people’s homes, patching potholes, or funding for digital cameras at the police department. Second, I’ve learned that I do not have the necessary skill to be successful at influencing the council. To do so, I would have to have the gumption to seek out conversations with those who disagree with me and seek common ground.

Elections for three Fairfield City Council seats will be held Tuesday, November 3^rd; Myron Gookin for At-Large, John Revolinski in Ward 2 and Martha Norbeck in Ward 4.

Map of Ward 4

http://cityoffairfieldiowa.com/images/database/92.jpg

May of Ward 2

http://cityoffairfieldiowa.com/images/database/90.jpg

Please review the maps. Think about who might be a good candidate and let them know. NOW is the time to act.

Fairfield deserves the best caliber of council members. This is where the rubber hits the road. The US House and Senate may have interesting conversations, but city government is where we decide the intimate details about how to clean your water, process your sewage, protect your safety, grow/raise food, mow your lawn, care for your dog, etc€¦.

Nomination papers must be submitted by 4pm on September 17. Ten signatures from residents of the Ward are required. Call Joy Messer at City Hall for papers, 641-472-6193.

The Jefferson County Democrats are eager to help with a campaign. Now we need a candidate.

For a more in-depth discussion of what is required of a council member and how I envision progress on the green front, please visit my website: http://www.cwise.com/pb/wp_2d967f91/wp_2d967f91.html

Contact me at my e-mail: marthaforfairfield@yahoo.com

As Martha points out, there is going to be some great help available for anyone willing to run. So let’s get some names in the hat!

[At the end of this article are links to scanned images of the registration form for the "Firearms Safety Program"]

A couple of months back I overheard a conversation about the Jefferson County Sheriff pushing for a concealed carry law. This piqued my interest not because I care all that much about people carrying concealed weapons as much as the premise of the conversation – that Obama is taking away all our rights and is going to also take away our 2nd amendment rights to have weapons and we should get ourselves armed before the government comes down on us so that we can defend ourselves when the government collapses. There’s a thread of logic there that caused my brain to hurt, so I decided to look into all this concealed carry stuff.

I called the Sheriff’s Office and asked them about this new push by the Sheriff and the nice receptionist told me that the law has not changed in any way, and that what I was probably meaning to ask about was the Firearms Safety Program, which is the course necessary for applying for a concealed carry permit. I asked how the course worked and how I could sign up. She said she would take my name and address and let me know as soon as information was available about it – a date for the course had not been set yet.

The guys at IowaCarry.org (who honestly come off as gun-toting, NRA-lovin’, second-amendment-focusin’, good-ole-boys, let alone have a horrendous website!) have laid out some of the issues around concealed carry in this state. The one that caught my attention is this:

Even more appalling is the fact that those who are fortunate enough to be issued a permit in their home county (like Cedar, Jones, and Polk) may legally carry their weapon anywhere in the state – even in counties where a sheriff may issue no permits (like Dubuque, Mahaska, and Johnson)!  Why is it OK for a citizen in Jones county who receives a permit be denied that same permit if he moves to Johnson county?  What changed other than a mailing address?

Irrespective of which side of the second-amendment fence you’re on the concealed carry laws in the state are largely unfavorable to you as a Jefferson County resident. I wrote earlier about legislation that is inconsistent across legislative boundaries, such as gay marriage or medical marijuana. Concealed Carry appears to fall into a similar category, except with a reverse bias in Iowa.

Traditionally concealed carry laws do not traverse state lines. So if you live in a state that has a lax permit acquisition process and then move to a state with more stringent ones, your existing permit is invalidated (as far as I can tell from reading the law – I would welcome any clarification from the public about this). In Iowa the law is reversed. As the above concern from IowaCarry.org indicates, if you live in a county with lax concealed carry laws, you are able to easily get a permit which allows you to carry in counties with much stricter laws. So only those living in areas with strict permit regulation are penalized! Now to be totally honest it’s probably best that spacy roos and crackpot townies don’t get their hands on a concealed carry permit too easily, but for the whole county to be penalized because of one town seems a bit harsh, no? (Yes, that’s a joke).

So does Jefferson County have an easier or harder process for obtaining a concealed carry? About middle of July I got the registration package for the Firearms Safety Program, and here’s the process in a nutshell:

• The course costs $100
• The classroom portion is 8.00am to Noon on August 15th (Friday). Registration starts at 7.30am, at the Jefferson County Law Center
• You must not have a conviction of pretty much any level
• You MUST have an Iowa Firearms Safety Training Program Enrollment Permit (a permit to take a class?!), which must be signed by the Jefferson Country Sheriff prior to attending the class
• Do NOT bring your weapons to the classroom
• The range portion (the actual gun action) will be at 1.00pm on August 15 at the law enforcement range at 2307 200th Street, Fairfield.
• DO bring your weapon to the range test
• You’ll only be approved for a concealed carry for the caliber (or lower) of weapon with which you qualify the range test
• Passing the classroom and range portions only approve you to APPLY for a permit. They are not approvals themselves.
• Permit approval is still at the discretion of the County Sheriff

The contentious parts of the concealed carry permit process are the fact that there is no defined process which allows you to carry (there’s much at the discretion of the Sheriff), and this is what Iowa Carry and Gun Owners of America are trying to fight. They argue that there should be a consistent (and very very relaxed) process to obtain a concealed weapon permit.

Emily Geiger, over at the Iowa Republican, has a well-articulated article about a couple of weapons bills making the rounds in the Iowa legislature. She’s actually calling for a different level of permit “restriction” (see the references section at the end for links to the bills).

So what’s the point of all this? The 2nd amendment debate in the US is not going to go away – I was actually surprised that a significant amount of the ranting at Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings were related to the 2nd amendment. But most of the debate lies in the realm of whether or not guns are safe. Ok, so guns are not safe. But if the only people going out and applying for gun permits and concealed carry permits are those who feel strongly about gun ownership, it appears there are going to be more trigger-happy nutjobs with guns than sensible folk. Basically it’s about bringing balance.

Back to the conversation I overheard. I’m appalled that people would start getting concealed weapons because Obama is in power. It reeks of an obvious subtext. Furthermore, given that Obama’s legislation has introduced absolutely nothing that could be construed as anti-2nd-amendment (unless you believe the talking-heads’ vitriol) it’s hard to understand where the logic of Obama being in power leading to needing weapons for self-preservation comes from (hence the subtext). But for a second let’s assume it’s true that Obama being in power requires that we arm ourselves (subtext or otherwise). And we need to do so in public at all times. The way you go about do that is by going through the Firearms Safety Program and applying for a concealed carry permit.

Obviously you also need a weapon [Which, BTW seems unfair - I don't to own a car to get a driving license, so why must I own a gun to get a carry permit?!]

References:

HR596: An act relating to the carrying of weapons

HF193: An Act relating to the issuance of permits to carry weapons and providing an effective date

The Firearms Safety Program registration package can be obtained from the the Sheriff’s Office (641-472-3576) or downloaded from my JeffCo Firearms Course flickr set

Time Poll: Most Trusted Newscaster

I just noticed that Time magazine has a poll on who is America’s most trusted Newscaster. The results were not terribly surprising to me, with The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart winning by a landslide. But the quite obvious state that he did not win is Iowa. WTF? Since when do I/we trust Katie Couric more than Jon Stewart?

The full poll and results are at the Who is America’s Most Trusted Newscaster page at Time. Read them and weep.

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I’ve been meaning to post this for a long time and Will’s post about making your own bread finally lit the proverbial fire under proverbial glutious maximi (sp?). Below is as simple a process as I could define for making absolutely outstanding (and repeatably so) bread. And the best part is that you get to use a bit of beer in it, so it’s almost necessary that you drink while you’re making it. Enjoy!

Oh, the source of this recipe is an article that my friend Dolores copied for me called “Almost no-knead bread”. And sorry about the wonkiness in the callouts in the slideshare. Somehow ComicLife does not play nice with the PDF import of SlideShare (I’d welcome any suggestions)

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Through a stroke of amazing luck and serendipity, I contacted Chef Gordon Rader just a couple of days before the Culinary Arts program’s American Contemporary Luncheon on Thursday, July 9th. This luncheon is part of the International Luncheon series, held 3-5 times a year at the Indian Hills Culinary Arts program. I was curious about just how often these special presentations happen since it was hard to believe that I just happened to have decided to go visit Gordon at such an opportune moment. According to him:

Summer and Winter Terms have the international lunches and we generally have 3 to 5 depending on class size.  We will also begin our Winter/Spring Dinner Series in October.  One dinner in October, November, February, March and April.

The American Contemporary Luncheon was designed and presented by 6th term students Ron Wexman and Mangal Tamang. Mangal’s a Fairfield resident from Nepal.

Chef Gordon went to the trouble of requesting that vegetarian dishes be prepared as the main course for my wife and me. Mangal Tamang asked what I would like, and my first thought (since he’s Nepali) was momos. If you’ve never had a momo, it bears a vague parallel to dumplings. I’ve never had good momo’s in the US, and here was my chance to get a Nepali to make some for me But I also requested that he try to be as true to the theme as possible. So he’d have to make us vegetarian options that fit with “American Contemporary” cuisine.

Momos by Mangal Tamang

To be absolutely honest my expectations were not high for this event. I do not expect to have outstanding food from students in Iowa (many profound apologies to Chef Gordon!). Add to that my vegetarian restrictions and I just have to set the bar low. I’ll say that my expectations were blown out of the water and whether it is Chef Gordon, or whether the students just have their act together, the Culinary Arts program delivered on the promise of a very high caliber luncheon. The entire presentation was well thought out, the students worked smoothly with absolutely no dysfunction, the kitchen was a pleasure to be in (absolutely orderly, clean and no feeling of stress at any point in spite of us being in the way) and the courses went out without a glitch. The plating, garnish and presentation were very appealing and a good combination of color and texture. And the service was extraordinarily smooth.

I could be very nit-picky with certain elements of the meal, but I’ll say that all-in-all (including the meat, which my meat-eating friend gave me comments on) everything was as good as any decent restaurant in Chicago. In spite of their limited exposure to the world of gastronomy the students created an interesting range of dishes – from hand-cut chips to champagne sorbet.

In some sense I regret that I don’t eat meat, but only because it would have allowed me to review those offerings better from a first-hand perspective. My omnivorous friend, however, stated that the meat dishes were “pretty good”, and that the meal was altogether as good as any decent Chicago restaurant.

I should add that Mangal’s challenge to create an American Contemporary envisioning of vegetarian food was pretty interesting. His Nepali background may have hindered him in that he immediately assumed that my being Indian required that he make Indian-tasting fare. But that said, the momos he made were absolutely outstanding. And the tomato sauce that he created to go with them was perfect (and I don’t say *that* too often about food). He also created a rice and vegetable main course. The vegetables were very Indian sub-continent inspired. The rice, however, was very unique. He made it into a sort of pilaf, but included cottage cheese, which created the combined texture of heat and cold, tough and creamy. I’ve never had anything like it and my palate was very happy.

The desserts were really inspired. The menu stated that the dessert would be “Chocolate Ricotta Pudding with a Strawberry Sauce”. The chocolate ricotta pudding was, in fact, served with a combination of mango and strawberry sauces. They were both divine, to the degree that the remaining strawberry sauce was basically spooned up by the students in a non-stop stream until it was all gone. Again, perfection in these sauces. And finally the sorbet. We were told the sorbet was mango-pineapple. I could definitely detect the pineapple texture, but would not have been able to identify these two ingredients (mango or pineapple). It tasted more like a subtle pear-based sorbet. This may have been the result of the champagne crossing with the pineapple and mango flavors. In any case it was very very good.

Chocolate Ricotta Pudding with Strawberry and Mango Sauce

I don’t know what the Culinary Arts program was like prior to Chef Gordon’s arrival. But given the comments I received from a couple of graduates and a couple of the students, he has been nothing short of inspirational. This is quite evident in the respect his students demonstrate and the orderliness with which they conduct themselves in his presence.

Ron Wexman’s goal is to start a higher-end restaurant in Keokuk in the next couple of years (once he can get a loan and get is current student loans figured out). He wants to have his own fresh-baked bread, and is even considering a prix fixe offering weekly to cater to the more adventurous but also dedicated gastronomists. I’m really keeping my fingers crossed that that happens soon.

Mangal Tamang, who used to apparently work in the MUM kitchen for a while, has to deal with the standard visa nonsense and so will try to get a decent internship, probably not in Iowa. This is unfortunate since Mangal has some serious talent (or genetic makeup). I’m of the opinion that a Nepali-fusion restaurant is what he should create, catering to a somewhat adventurous yet still conservatively inclined midwestern palate. We really need some variety in the area and it has to come with quality! [On a side rant, I'm just absolutely appalled by the so-called "Indian" restaurants in the area, pretty much all of which do a dis-service to Indian food. Mangal could even do well serving true Nepali fare, which has a taste and texture that is inspired by Indian spices, but takes it a step further in inventiveness.]

The bottom line here is that anyone interested in a culinary experience should try to sign up for the next International Luncheon. There will also be some prix fixe dinners ($75/plate) coming in the next few months, which Chef Gordon will be blogging about at his blog, and has promised to also send me updates on (which I’ll blog about right here)..

If you’re interested in the American Culinary Foundation South-East Iowa Sub-chapter which Chef Gordon is trying to get going, there will be a meeting on July 27th at 6pm at the Bridgeview Center in Ottumwa about his plans. He’s hoping to bring together the area’s €œlike minded€ chefs, cooks, restaurateurs and culinary enthusiasts to unite and organize on the new €œfood front€ in SE Iowa. Laudable goals and one that I’m gung-ho about!

[P.S. If you'd like to see a full feed of the pictures, check out my HillsKitchen set at flickr or check out the slide-show below.]

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