baking

Via TED.com,

Batch to batch, crust to crust ... In tribute to the beloved staple food, baking master Peter Reinhart reflects on the cordial couplings (wheat and yeast, starch and heat) that give us our daily bread. Try not to eat a slice.

I volunteered to bring a dish to our family's annual Easter dinner, and was asked to make a dessert. A couple of years ago I made three new (to me) dishes that came out okay -- muffins, potatoes au gratin, and hot-cross buns.

Coincidentally, an article in the SF Chronicle, "Something sweet for Passover", appeared in my RSS reader last night, talking about the traditional and popular macaroons.

Jews fleeing Egypt 3,000 years ago to escape slavery probably had to skip the macaroons -- too much fuss when you're on the run. Yet it's one of the most popular Passover treats today.

According to the Old Testament, the Israelites left Egypt in such a rush they didn't have time to let their bread rise. So they omitted the yeast from their dough and baked it on rocks to form flat crackers known as matzos. Now, the eight days of Passover -- the first night starts Monday -- is celebrated by eating only unleavened foods.

Macaroons -- the flourless cookies made with either coconut or almonds -- have become the hallmark of the seder table, a feast that commemorates the holiday, despite the fact that some macaroons take hours or even days to make.

Luckily, they provide a recipe (at the end) for an almond variety that looks relatively uncomplicated and not that time consuming.

I'm not entirely certain how many people will be there, although it's likely to be seven at minimum. Also, I'd like a backup plan in case these aren't as good as I think they'll be.

A few years ago I made Alton Brown's Chocolate Lava Muffins, and they were a big hit. Both recipes are easy enough that I think I'll try to make both. Plus, as transcendently tasty as these are, they'll fit in well with the spiritual theme of the holiday. :)

I'll keep my eyes out for other ideas.

One reason I might still upgrade to the full version of VoodooPad is if I could do some scripting to automate things with the live website.

OTOH I'm beginning to obsess on the text-file way of doing things again thanks to some reading on 43 Folders, not to mention:

• the.taoofmac.com/space/CLI
• freeengineer.org/learnUNIXin10minutes.html
• www.minezone.org/wiki/MVance/GettingThingsDone
• www.43folders.com/2005/02/guest_mike_harr.html
• www.43folders.com/2004/09/quicksilver_app.html
• www.linuxjournal.com/node/3529/print
• www.macdevcenter.com/lpt/a/4988
• www.flickr.com/photos/merlin/5319224/
• www.macdevcenter.com/lpt/a/5695

I was just reading up on some traditional Easter fare. In the really old days, lamb was the traditional meat dish and still is in some parts of the world. I think though in the US ham has taken over as the main item. Eggs have been an Easter dish forever, of course.

From what I was reading, the Pennsylvania Dutch (who weren't really Dutch but rather German) like to use glazed hams at Easter. One of their side dishes which sounds like it would go really well with the ham are some pan-roasted potatoes.

Also on the Easter food front is a British tradition of having hot cross buns. The theory was that any bread baked on Good Friday would never go moldy and would have special healing effects. The Brits would make bread with crosses on the top for Easter -- which is where the name 'hot cross buns' comes from. Now, the Penn. Dutch also like to have homemade rolls with their Easter dinner too, so we could have some of our own 'hot cross buns' too! :)

I think I might split my 'Currently' ooutlines into Office and Home. Seems like it would make sense and reduce visual clutter. Would make sense for the HPDAs to do that as well.

It's part of the whole 'granularity' thing -- dividing things into the proper number+scale of categories. Like, for example, my categorization last year (Body, Cooking, Family+Friends, etc.).

My Do lists took on a higher-level last year, which worked fine until I started getting dozens and dozens of items, like this week when my brain melted.

So with the split of Office and Home, what about splitting it further into Writing, etc.?

What about re-consolidating them (since I don't want a dozen ooutlines open simultaneously) into one ooutline, but each category with its own section? Seems like I did this before during my initial experimentation. Problems arise in the addition of the time factor -- answering questions e.g. what needs doing on Monday?

Of course GTD talks about the idea of location-specific lists, or rather context-specific lists, so that if you're in your @Office, you have your office list, if you're away from everywhere but have your phone, you can use your @Phone list, etc. Which may be more what I'm talking about. Some things can be done anywhere.

Need to read some more.

There are differences among Topics and Contexts and Activity Types, and I have a feeling I've been mixing the three.

I wanna get rid of my wallet.

Take only what's absolutely necessary (ID, Credit Card, throw it in a pocket Moleskine, write down the numbers/stuff that's absolutely necessary. And be done with it.

A continuing series of noteworthy tidbits gleaned from all over.

Writing on the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Seattle
Last week, I took Amtrak's Coast Starlight train from Los Angeles to Seattle, which meant 36 hours on the rails. That's a very long time to spend in linear motion, but it was worth it. My goal was to get some quality, uninterrupted writing time for the oft-delayed Tarzan, and I got it. I wrote long-hand, as I usually do on first drafts, and faxed the pages back to Los Angeles once I got to Seattle. Once everything was typed up, I had 41 more pages finished, which is good for three day's work.... (johnaugust.com)

Why are we still there?
Every day there are news reports about more deaths. Every night on TV are photos of death and destruction. Why are we still there? We occupied this land, which we had to take by force, but it causes us nothing but trouble. Why are we still there?... (2020 Hindsight)

Martha Keeps It Real: Another Deconstruction
This month's Martha Stewart Living (May 2004) features, as usual, a Letter From Martha. Unlike Martha's many other letters, this one actually keeps it real. No BS about gardening: Martha has made the brave (and committee-prodded, I'm sure) choice of addressing her legal woes. Let's look closer, shall we?... (The Amateur Gourmet)

Great first lines:
'I don't believe in Heaven or Hell, but on any given night Los Angeles can do a pretty good imitation of either locale....' (CaliforniaAuthors.com/CaliforniaWriters.com)

Wonderbread indeed!
Wonder why I bake my own bread? That's why! (Il Forno)

The New United States
Here's a proposal to re-draw the state boundaries of the U.S. into 50 areas with equal population. (J-Walk Blog)

Around the world in a bowl of rice: Is My Blog Burning? 4th edition
I have been talking with Alberto about hosting Is My Blog Burning? for a while, and finally decided the time is right for this. Please join us in the newest edition of Is My Blog Burning? on Sunday May... (chez pim)