Jan 20, 2008 · 1 minute
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If you grovel at the feet of Bob Jones University long enough, then they will eventually forgive you. Meanwhile, Democrats seem to have no problem with the 30 year Bush/Clinton stranglehold on the Presidency. On the other hand, nothing will spur the Republicans harder on dismantling Cheney’s Imperial President than the realisation that they’ve spent the past eight years making Hillary Clinton the most powerful President in history…
currently playing: The Indelicates – Sixteen
Jan 19, 2008 · 2 minute
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This is tapioca maltodextrin.
It's a starch that bonds really well to fatty foods. In the fancy-free world of molecular gastronomy, it has been used for weird and wonderful things like making peanut butter powder; I just had to have a go.
On the left we have 40g of nutella, whereas on the right there's 26g of maltodextrin. You put them in a food processor, blend until mixed, and then sift them out into a contain. BEHOLD, LOOK WHAT I HAVE CREATED!
It's a rather odd sensation; the powder recombines in your mouth and tastes exactly like nutella, albeit somewhat less strong than if you just have it straight. For those of you wondering just what use this is, erm...I'll come up with something eventually.
That is olive oil powder. I'm still struggling to think of any use for this, but think! You can carry olive oil on a plane now! (okay, so maybe security might wonder what the mysterious unmarked powder is, but I'll sure they'll be understanding...)
For my next trick, I mixed chocolate with space dust (or pop rocks, as they're known in the US). My theory was that the dust reacts with water, but as there's no water in chocolate, it would set until it was eaten. I was partially right; some of the rocks starting popping as I poured the bag into the melted chocolate, but enough of them stayed dormant to make the finished sweets rather interesting (the flavour of the rocks seems to get washed away in the process, but the popping still works wonderfully!). Just wait until I conquer tempering.
My repeat of the aero experiment from North Carolina failed miserably. I'm not quite sure why. At the moment, I'm thinking that I didn't shake the whipper enough (one recipe says to do it for a minute, whereas the iSI instructions say only 3-4 times). That and maybe plain chocolate works better, so I'll try it again next weekend!
The final experiment for this weekend was
Salmiakki Koskenkorva. It's the drink that I had on New Year's Eve at Christa's (
remember?), a mixture of Finnish liquorice and vodka. You can see why it appeals to me.
The most difficult part was obtaining the sweets (I eventually tracked them down via eBay). After that, it was simply a matter of pouring the broken liquorice into a bottle of vodka, giving it a vigourous shake, and leaving it all to dissolve. Hurrah!
Next week: the next attempt at aero chocolate, and SPHERES!
currently playing: Sons and Daughters – Gilt Complex
Jan 17, 2008 · 1 minute
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Okay. Does anybody want a ticket for Stars at the Koko on the 29th of this month? I appear to be seeing the Black Kids at the same time. And I’m torn. I thought the Stars concert was in February…I’ve seen them once before, but haven’t seen Black Kids yet, so I think I should go for the younger band, despite how much I love Stars. Grrr.
(on the bright side, I've also book Long Blondes and Yelle tickets tonight!)
currently playing: Neko Case – Wayfaring Stranger
Jan 15, 2008 · 2 minute
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“I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that’s what we need to do — is to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family.”
"I'm interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleaned the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be?"
"My chief of staff, Leo McGarry, insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to call the police?"
"Here's one that's really important cause we've got a lot of sports fans in this town: touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7 If they promise to wear gloves can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point?
"Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother, John, for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads?
currently playing: bis – Action And Drama
Jan 15, 2008 · 1 minute
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They will give you almost exactly what you want, except through in two or three things that hobble it. The Macbook Air looks beautiful, but it’s too wide, almost as expensive as a Macbook Pro, and slower than my current machine. But look at it. MmmmmmmMMMMMmmmm.
(Actually, of all the current Mac line, I think the Macbook is a wonderful little machine; it's fast, has a decent display, and is probably the first Apple laptop where you can change the memory and hard drive without having to disassemble the entire case first)
Time Capsule also looks like it might bug me. I hold out hope that wireless Time Machine will be something that they switch on for all NAS systems, and not just the Apple-branded box...
currently playing: Cat Power – I Believe In You
Jan 15, 2008 · 1 minute
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Make your guesses! Guy Hands has debt to repay!
currently playing: LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends