Espresso Rub  3 tbsp. ground espresso, 1 tbsp. salt, 1 tsp. pepper, 1 tbsp. sugar in the raw.  Mix and store in a container at room temperature.

Cocoa-and-Espresso Rub by Emily Nabors Hall https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/cocoa-and-espresso-rub-for-steak

"I’m not a health nut or a great chef,” claims the man who cooked for the previous administration’s first family and performed a pantry makeover at Michelle Obama’s request.  “I’m a good cook.”  He is former White House senior adviser for nutrition policy Sam Kass, and we’ve taken enough of a spin through his new cookbook, “Eat a Little Better,” to endorse it in a spirit of true nonpartisanship.  This dish, and its provenance, caught our attention in particular.  Called POTUS’s Lucky Pasta, it was devised by Kass on the fly before the second of three debates—tossed together on Air Force One, in fact.  It put Barack Obama in such good spirits that it might have been responsible for changing the momentum of the 2012 presidential election.  Kass made it for him again, and even on Election Day; hence, the name.  To keep things apolitical, we’re going with a straight-up descriptive title instead.  Pecans lend a sweetness to the pesto, and spinach amps up the green power.  (He uses fresh spinach; we have Dinner in Minutes Pantry-friendly frozen spinach that defrosts in no time.)  Kass added cooked chicken breast to the mix for his boss, but canned chickpeas are our added protein of choice here, some of which are mashed to add texture that further brings the pasta together.  The recipe makes enough to feed a hungry bunch and send off leftovers for a future lunch.  You’ll feel lucky to have it.  Bonnie S. Benwick  Find recipe at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2018/05/01/this-pesto-penne-has-a-presidential-pedigree/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7d7c36886a12

The Right To Browse:  A Library Puts Books Into Storage And Readers Cry Foul by CLAIRE MCINERNY broadcast on All Things Considered May 2, 2018   An unusual sound fills the once silent space. On the main floor of the Fine Arts Library at the University of Texas at Austin, a 3D printer softly whirs.  Tim Zawistowski stands over the printer, trying to create a miniature tree for a model he's building.  Someday, the sophomore hopes to design lighting and projections for live events.  The 3D printer is part of the library's new makerspace.  It sits alongside laser cutters, virtual reality headsets, sewing machines and computers with software for editing video and audio.  The technology was added this school year, and its presence in the library has stirred a heated debate in the College of Fine Arts.  The drama began with Doug Dempster, the dean of the College of Fine Arts, trying to solve two problems at once.  Enrollment was dropping and so was traffic in the library.  Dempster realized both needed an upgrade.  So, first, the school added new, tech-heavy programs, including instruction in video game, sound and light design.  They've been a big hit.  "These new programs are growing so fast," Dempster says, "that they've already added about 30 or 40 percent to our undergraduate enrollments in the College of Fine Arts."   But these new programs—and new students—needed new technology and somewhere to house it all.  With space at a premium, Dempster made a controversial choice:  the main floor of the library.  To make room, librarians removed tens of thousands of books and other materials that hadn't been checked out in years.  The items were put into storage—some across town, some a few hours away.  Students can still request them; it just might take a few days to get them back to the library.  Jeffrey Chipps Smith, a professor of art history, isn't happy.  He says those books were still being used, even if they weren't being checked out.  "A lot of the time, when I use the library, you're not necessarily checking something out," Smith says.  "You're going upstairs to look at an article in a periodical, you're going to check a reference for something and so you may open a few books and find what you need and put them back."  Many students share Smith's concern. In fact, some were so upset that, when Dempster spoke at a conference in March, they chanted outside, "Our books, our say, you can't take our books away."  Their argument boils down to this:  In research, you don't always know what you're looking for, and it's difficult to browse and discover a new, helpful source if the books are only accessible via a search engine.  Lorraine Haricombe, the university's vice provost of libraries, says libraries are like oxygen:  It's easy to take them for granted.  After months of pushback, Dempster, the college's dean, convened a task force to find solutions.  The university recently approved some of the committee's recommendations, including renovating the library to create more shelf space.  https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/05/02/601852816/the-right-to-browse-a-library-puts-books-into-storage-and-readers-cry-foul

Grapevines were already cultivated for wine production in the vicinity of Capezzana 3000 years ago.  The present vineyard was named in Roman times, and written records of the present vineyard date to 932 A.D.  During the Renaissance, the property was controlled by the Medici family.  The estate passed by marriage through several noble Tuscan families, until it came under the control of the Contini Bonacossi family early in the 20th century.  https://www.wine.com/product/capezzana-barco-reale-2014/153646

Carmignano is an Italian wine region located in the Tuscany region and centered on the city of Carmignano, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of Florence.  Noted for the quality of its wines since the Middle Ages, Carmignano was identified by Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany as one of the superior wine producing areas of Tuscany and granted special legal protections in 1716.  In the 18th century, the producers of the Carmignano region developed a tradition of blending Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon, long before the practice became popularized by the "Super Tuscan" of the late 20th century.  In 1975, the region was awarded Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) status and subsequently promoted to Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) status in 1990 (retroactive to the 1988 vintage.  Today Carmignano has approximately 270 acres (110 ha) planted, producing nearly 71,500 gallons ( 2,700 hectoliters) of DOCG designated wine a year.  In 1932, the Dalmasso Commission (in establishing an early precursor to the Denominazione di origine controllata system) officially grouped Carmignano with the Chianti sub-zone of Chianti Montalbano.  This was because of the proximity of the two regions and similarity in altitudes and annually yearly temperature.  But the Carmignano region produced distinctly different wines from Chianti due, in part, to the tradition of including Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend with Sangiovese.  While some theories suggest that this practice dates back to the time of the Medici (with those early vines subsequently being wiped out during the phylloxera epidemic), the practice became more common during the 20th century.  Vine cuttings of Cabernet from Château Lafite Rothschild in Bordeaux were imported and by 1975 Carmignano was the first DOC to be awarded official sanctioning for the use of Cabernet in the blend.  The Carmignano DOCG zones covers roughly 270 acres (110 ha) of planted land producing nearly 71,500 gallons (2,700 hl) of DOCG wine a year.  Current DOCG regulations mandate that Sangiovese must constitute at least 50% of the blend, allowing up to 10–20% Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc, up to 20% Canaiolo Nero, up to 5% Mammolo and Colorino as well as up to 10% white grape varieties like Trebbiano or Malvasia to make up the rest of the blend.  If the wine is aged for at least 3 years prior to release, the wine can qualify for a Riserva designation.  A separate DOC, known as Barco Reale was established for younger or "declassified" Carmignano DOCG wines.  The Carmignano region is located on a series of low lying hills at altitudes between 160–650 feet (50–200 meters) above sea level.  The low altitude of the region produces Sangiovese based wines with lower acidity and more pronounced tannins than those associated with other Tuscan wine regions such as Chianti Classico.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmignano_DOCG

On May 5, 2018, Justify won the 144th Kentucky Derby in spectacular fashion, laying to rest the 136-year-old Curse of Apollo, the rule that said no horse could win the Derby without having run as a 2-year-old.  The newest champion of Churchill did not run his first race until Feb. 18, and started as the 5-2 favorite on Saturday despite having run just three times.  Bob Baffert, who trained American Pharoah to the Triple Crown in 2015, knows superior talent trumps all established rules.  He did not hesitate to draw the comparison with his most famous champion in the wake of Justify’s victory.  With his romp in the $2.192-million race before a soggy crowd of 157,813, Justify gave Baffert his fifth Derby victory, one short of the record held by Ben Jones.  Childs Walker  http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horse-racing/bs-sp-kentucky-derby-0505-story.html

The Cavaliers are one win away from making it back to the Eastern Conference Finals, and, at times during the 2018 NBA playoffs, it has felt like LeBron James has had to win games on his own.  The rest of Cleveland's roster has just been along for the ride for the most part, which was the premise of this very timely Saturday Night Live sketch that was cut for time on May 5, 2018.  The Cavs' point guard is a Roomba.  See 1:52 "The Other Cavaliers" video at https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ftw/2018/05/06/snl-roasts-lebrons-teammates-in-hilarious-sketch-about-the-other-cavaliers/111160618/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1884  May 7, 2018