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As some of you may remember, I am participating in a virtual cooking community called Tasting Jerusalem. Created by two food writers, Beth from the blog OMG! Yummy and Sarene Wallace from 805 Living magazine, Tasting Jerusalem is a community dedicated to exploring the cuisine of the Middle East using the cookbook Jerusalem as a [...]The post Chocolate Spice Cookies for Tasting Jerusalem appeared first on West of the Loop.

10 Reasons we don’t love Monsanto:

Congressmen demand dismissal of Raman govt; Rahul says its not time for politics

LHP David Huff claimed off outright waivers by the New York Yankees today, — Cleveland Indians (@Indians) May 25, 2013 Let's get the important but little things out of the way. The Yankees will need to keep Huff on their 25-man roster, and can't send him to the minors without (a) getting him through waivers and (b) Huff's consent, as it would be the second time he'd be outrighted. I really don't know the reason the Yankees claimed Huff (maybe a temporary innings shortage? injuries?) but they thought enough of him to DFA Francisco Rondon, another left-handed AAAA pitcher, to make room for Huff on their 40-man roster. The Indians could claim Rondon without having to remove anyone from their 40-man roster, as they currently have only 39 players on it. Huff's departure officially ends an era. He was the last first-round (or in this case, sandwich round) selection left from the John Mirabelli era, an era that began in 1999 and ended in 2007. It was an era that saw very little help from the draft, and almost zero help from the first couple rounds of the draft. Of the 17 players drafted in the first round or sandwich round, one player (Jeremy Guthrie) has had a major-league career of any consequence. After Guthrie (18.7 WAR), comes Jeremy Sowers (1.6), and then J.D. Martin (0.7). This is not to say that Mirabelli's drafts were completely fruitless. Players like Ben Francisco (2002), Ryan Garko (2003), Kevin Kouzmanoff (2003), Aaron Laffey (2003), Tony Sipp (2004), and Vinnie Pestano (2006) have all been decent or better major-league players at one time or another. And players like Michael Aubrey and Adam Miller had star potential, but injuries derailed their careers. But on the whole, the Indians have been one of the worst performers in baseball at drafting and developing major-league talent. It's difficult to assess organizational strengths and weaknesses because of a draft. Unlike in other sports, players drafted by baseball clubs are most of the time 3-5 years away from being a productive major-league player. Even the most talented players won't make the majors until they've spent at least two seasons in the minors. It's one thing to identify talent, but you also have develop that talent as well. I think some organizations excel in developing players who weren't that highly thought of into major-league players (St. Louis, to give an example), but it's so hard to separate the drafting from the development. In this case, though, I think the selection itself was flawed. Huff was the top player selected by the Indians in 2006, Mirabelli's penultimate draft as Scouting Director. And it's a bit unfair to classify Huff as such, as he was taken 39th overall in that draft (as the Indians' first round selection had gone to Anaheim when they signed Paul Byrd). But Huff was a rather typical MIrabelli selection, a polished college player who wasn't that far off from the majors. If he was to make it in the majors, he was going to have to do it with command, as his fastball velocity was rather pedestrian (88-90 mph), not leaving much separation from his changeup. He did move quickly, making it to AAA in his second full pro season, but ran into a developmental ceiling at the AAA and MLB levels. He didn't have the stuff that could be developed into a plus pitch at the major-league level, and since 2009 (his MLB debut) he's been bouncing back and forth between AAA and Cleveland because of it.

Jim Rogash/Getty ImagesFor a second straight game it was the previously slumping Mike Carp who had the big hit. Today, Carp drove in the tying run in the eighth inning in an eventual 7-4 Red Sox win. After Pedro Ciriaco had doubled, Carp drove him in and then Dustin Pedroia drove in Carp for the game-winner. Jon Lester struggled but persevered, yielding ten hits and four earned runs in seven innings. Jose Iglesias continued his claim to stay on the major league roster by notching three more hits and scoring two runs.

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Everyone is still buzzing about the blown double-play call in the second inning last night, in which Rangers pitcher Justin Grimm actually grabbed the throw well off first base. Down on the field, it looked like first baseman Mitch Moreland had caught the ball, to the extent that Mariners manager Eric Wedge's argument to first-base umpire Jeff Nelson was that Moreland had pulled his foot. It was a valid argument, but a moot point, of course, because the throw never reached Moreland. Wedge didn't see that, nor did Justin Smoak, who had been forced at second and was looking back at the play. "I was just looking at the umpire to see if he called him safe or out,'' Smoak said. "I couldn't even tell. I didn't see the replay until after the game, but I heard  about it as soon as I went in. It was just one of those things I guess. I think if Wedgie would have known that going out there, it might have been a little different story. Nobody really knew until the guys go down and look at the video. That’s when we knew." Naturally, the play brought up questions about instant replay, something Wedge has always been lukewarm about. "I think we are pushing towards it,'' he said. "Some of that’s going to be inevitable. It just has to be tempered. I think that’s where everybody struggles, where do you draw the line?. I’ve always been a big believer in the human element of it, but I think there’s a place for the replay. "Again, they’re human. Hey, no one in here saw it. Including myself, who was doing the same thing he was doing, watching the bag, listening for the pop of the ball. The only way anyone saw it was when they had access to the replay. By then, it was too late. And even then, it’s not like you look at the replay once and say, ‘Oh, there it is.” You’re like, “Did I just see what I thought I saw on replay?”  Then you have to play it again. They don’t have that luxury." Wedge said he doesn't feel the need to bring up the play tonight, even knowing now that Nelson blew it. "No, it’s a dead issue,'' he said. "He knows as well as the rest of us knows." On the subject of instant replay, Brendan Ryan said, "Whatever help they need that we can give them … maybe it’s something we need to explore a little more. Nobody wants to look stupid out there. It would have been first and third with one out. That’s a tough one. "Personally, I thought Moreland caught it. I didn’t even know. I heard a couple innings later about what happened. It fooled me too. That’s maybe one of those things that maybe someone is upstairs and they pick up the phone and appeal it really quick. I’m definitely not in favor of making these games 5 ½ hours long. If I saw it that way, how could he not see it the same way? It looked very casual. My opinion is lesser than any of those guys out there calling the games. "You still want some human element. There is always going to be argued strikes and balls. There has to be a point at which human error is involved. That’s for Joe Torre and Tony (LaRussa) to figure out. They all know what they are doing. They will make the right calls."    

BOSTON -- Back at the NHL trade deadline, the Boston Bruins thought they had swung a deal with Calgary for future Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla.

The Bruins will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2013 Eastern Conference Final, and that means more playoff hockey at the TD Garden. Tickets for Games 3, 4 and 6 of the series will go on sale at 12 p.m. on Sunday, May 26, according to the team. However, the specific dates for the series have not been set yet. The tickets will be available for purchase at the TD Garden Box Office, on BostonBruins.com or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.

Cathay Pacific plane heading for Hong Kong forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok (SCMP)