Global Cooking--A Recipe for Baked Alaska

Senator James Inhofe (R Oklahoma), currently head of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has repeatedly stated that global warming is a hoax.  In fact, his book, published in February 2012, entitled The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future advances his beliefs about climate change.  According to Senator Imhofe, there is no need to be concerned about the climate because it is controlled by God.  He states, "God's still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing..."  So the message is...be apathetic...don't be concerned, God will decide what will be.    Man is incapable of changing God's plan.  God causes a person to have a heart attack or cancer.  Do nothing.  What GOD wills, will be.  No medical intervention...to prevent...to cure...it's His Plan...mankind's attempts to alter His plan will be futile.


Those who deny claim global warming to be a hoax.  Currently one of the major arguments against global warming is that the Antarctic ice cap is increasing in size rather than an expected decrease in size.  This argument is based on satellite images showing an increase in the area covered by the southern polar ice cap.  This is fact!  Yet the conclusions from this data made by deniers is WRONG!  The reason for the "growth" in area of the ice cap is because a huge volume of glacial ice has broken off from the land based ice mass and is now floating in the Antarctic ocean.  The volume of ice has actually decreased while the area it covers has increased.  The fact of increasing area of the ice cap is deceitfully used by the same public relations company that in the past was hired to deny that cigarette smoking caused cancer.  Today , paid by the petroleum industry, they disseminate propaganda denying the significance of climate change. 


Fact is that land based glacier calving and meltwater is at unprecedented levels causing oceans to rise resulting in significant flooding in many parts of today's world.


Yes, smoking does cause cancer.  Yes, Antarctic ice melt is a cause of menacing  growing global flooding. 


Our world is being severely compromised piece by piece.  Science and technology can definitely ameliorate the likely devastating environmental changes caused by global warming. 


Below is a grid of the risks and benefits of being complacent or taking action.







 

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Baked Alaska-Martha Stewart

Baked Alaska-Martha Stewart

This old-fashioned dessert, which originated at New York City’s Delmonico’s restaurant to commemorate the United States’ purchase of Alaska in 1867, has become popular again, and why not? An ice-cream cake covered with an igloo of meringue emerging from an oven is a real showstopper.

Servings: 8

INGREDIENTS

6 tablespoons sugar

3 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

3 large egg whites, room temperature

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 pints pistachio ice cream, slightly softened

1 1/2 pints cherry ice cream or berry sorbet, slightly softened

Swiss Meringue

Vegetable-oil cooking spray

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper, and spray with cooking spray.

2. Combine 3 tablespoons sugar and the egg yolks in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; whisk, on medium speed, until pale yellow and thick, about 15 minutes. Add vanilla, and fold in melted chocolate just to combine.

3. In a medium bowl, combine egg whites and pinch of salt in bowl of electric mixer; whip, on medium speed, until frothy. Add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar; beat until stiff. Fold egg whites into the chocolate mixture.

4. Carefully pour batter out into prepared cake pan. Bake until cake is set and top is dull, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on a wire rack.

5. Spray a 5-cup-capacity metal bowl with cooking spray; line with plastic. Pack base of bowl with pistachio ice cream; layer cherry ice cream over pistachio, then finish with another layer of pistachio ice cream (or layer ice creams and sorbets as you desire). Pack firmly, cover surface with plastic wrap, and place in freezer.  Freeze until ice cream is very hard, at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours in advance.

6. Place cake on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Remove ice cream from the freezer, and invert bowl over cake. Keep the ice cream covered with plastic wrap, and return ice-cream cake to the freezer.

7. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.Fill a pastry bag, fitted with an Ateco #5 star tip, with meringue; pipe onto ice cream in a decorative fashion, or spoon meringue over ice cream and swirl with a rubber spatula. If ice cream starts to soften, return cake to freezer for 15 minutes.

8. Place in oven, and bake until meringue just starts to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from oven, and serve immediately.