Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in 2006in2006's LiveJournal:

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Sunday, August 16th, 2009
1:49 pm	Last few hours in kansas city Work that will get done is done. Final project manuscript submitted for review. Work that will not get done is thrown in the trash. Full Stop on several projects I've tried to nurse along for quite some time, and must acknowledge I will never finish. Desk at work cleaned out, books and papers all shipped, flies taken care of, data backed up. Webmail for work still works (was told it would be gone at 12:01 am today) but don't know how much longer that will last. Leaving work was much harder than I thought it would be, but managed to resist the temptation to go in yesterday (the last day I could have done it.) Keys turned in, which was disappointing in its lack of ceremony. Maybe shouldn't have done it at 10:15 PM. At night I've been doing a single shot of vodka on the rocks (well, rock) to try and get to sleep easier. Polished off the big 1.5L costco bottle of Ketel One last night. Computer and stereo packed up; lots of games and magic cards left to box up upstairs but nothing that can't survive just getting set into boxes. Katje's done a great job on prepping the house. Rental car info and boarding passes printed out for me and Linc to go to Chicago. One way tickets. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
12:33 pm	Wolfram Alpha Wolfram Alpha is an interesting search engine. Rather than indexing the internet, it tries to present useful information. I've gotten good use out of it looking up molecular weights and calculating formula concentrations. Turns out its good for other things, too. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
10:13 am	Creative writing, random Sometimes, the ideas pop into my head, fully formed yet completely unbidden. The scene is just before dawn on a rocky foothill overlooking the African savannah, hundreds of thousands of years ago. Primitive ape-men, rummaging for scraps of food on the carcass of some large beast, argue and quarrel amongst themselves. A smaller member of the tribe, losing a contest for one of the few remaining pieces of meat large enough to be worth fighting over, is driven from the site by a larger male. Dejectedly, he goes exploring around the rocky outcropping, searching for berries or other lesser fare to fill his stomach. After mounting a large pile of freshly-fallen talus, he is startled to discover a large, imposing black monolith standing before him. Suppressing his initial desire to flee, and with trepidation dogging his every step, he slowly approaches the shiny stone edifice. Cautiously reaching out a trembling hand, he gently brushes his palm over the cool surface of the monolith. Suddenly, a kaleidoscope of visions explodes in his mind; colors and sounds, patterns and music appearing with such urgent force that the young ape-man gasps in fear and wonder. In a fit of inspiration, he reaches down, picks up a large discarded bone, and across the surface of the monolith he scrawls: "FIRST POST!" (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
8:38 pm	Birthday cake practice So Lincoln's 5th birthday party is next week. For his second birthday I did an airplane cake, for his third birthday i did a train cake, for his fourth birthday I did a Dance Dance Revolution cake. This year I asked him what kind of cake he wanted this year, and he asked for "a Boom Blox cake". My idea is to do a 9" x 9" x 3" 2-layer cake base, on top of which I put a cake topper. The topper will be a tower (like in boom blox) in the shape of a number 5. But what to make the tower of? My idea is to make homemade marshmallows, which can be cut into slabs large enough to make the tower. I did a test run today. They were surprisingly easy to do, just make a sugar syrup, whisk in a gelatin/water/flavor mix (i did a basic vanilla one for my first try), and then add that to a couple egg whites that have been whisked to stiff peaks and whisk another 10 minutes on the stand mixer. What's most impressive about these to me is the texture -- they are SO pillowy! They're also really really delicious too. I checked out how some slabs of them will work, and I think the cake topper will be good. It was a little wobbly, so I'll probably run some skewers through it for support, but we'll see if the 'mallows stiffen up over the next few days. If they get more firm it may not be necessary. (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
5:19 pm	Second outdoor jog -- now with more data! On Monday the weather wasn't very good, so I did the treadmill. But today was cool, calm and overcast and looked like a perfect day to go back outdoors. I remembered that my iPod has a lap timer (that, it turns out, tracks all your laps) so I timed myself. Each lap is a half mile according to Google Earth. Lap Time Pace (mph) Institute -> Park 2:16 Lap 1 5:00 6.00 Lap 2 7:26 4.03 Lap 3 6:16 4.78 Lap 4 5:41 5.27 Lap 5 5:55 5.06 Lap 6 5:41 5.27 Park -> Institute 4:21 I also measured the distance from the institute to the park, and its actually a quarter mile. So my 38:13 time from going to the park and doing the 6 laps is slightly more than 5km (3.1 miles = 5 km), but the way to the park is all downhill, so it probably evens out. Last time I had a nagging worry that I had only done 5 laps (since I was just counting them in my head) but clearly that was not the case. Since I had no speedometer, I pushed myself to jog the entire first lap, then made myself walk the entire second lap, so I could get a handle on my normal paces. The remaining 4 laps I mixed walking and jogging as I was comfortable. I knew my walking pace was very close to 4 mph, although I was a bit surprised to get up to 6 mph on the first lap -- it felt like I was going the usual 5.2-5.4 jogging pace I do on the treadmill. Overall pace was right around 5 mph. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, March 21st, 2009
11:18 am	First outdoor jog So I've worked across the street from Kauffman Legacy Park for over 5 years, but I've never made it over there. (If you want to see it, check out a map. The place I work is the complex of buildings south of Volker. The park has a nice jogging path; I measured it in Google Earth and the large rectangular route that runs from the left edge of the pond to Troost is exactly 1/2 mile long. ) Since via_lens had encouraged me to try running outdoors instead of on the treadmill, on Friday I went down to the park to give it a try. Counting the block and a half to get from the south door of the institute to the park, six laps would give me my usual 5k. Some notes: The yellow face, it burnnnssss ussss.... There is more TV and less goose poop on a treadmill. But the fresh air was nice and I'll probably keep at it until it gets too hot outdoors. I been doing the treadmill with the incline set to 0. Even though the jogging trail only has very gentle little rises, I could definitely feel them. Must have worked a number of little balance-maintaining muscles (like the ones for going downhill) that I've been neglecting, cause I can feel it the next day too. I felt like I was working harder outdoors. I don't think I made it half a lap at a jogging pace before I had to drop down to walking. I also felt more winded by the end of it, too. Set out at 1:22, and ended the sixth lap at 2:01, for a 39 minute pace (4.8 mph) This is actually right in line with what I've been doing on the treadmill. Oh, and here is the new rental place... I've been lazy and have driven to work since I got back from my travels (travails?), but it will be a nice walk or bike ride once I start doing it. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
12:24 pm	Oooh, baked something new Katje mentioned that she had some Bearclaws (a type of Danish) while on her trip to CA, so I made a batch to welcome her home with. These came out really really nice. Very crispy and flaky, with a very nice almond flavor from the remonce they were filled with. Not bad for my first attempt at shaping them this way... (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 11th, 2008
2:28 am	Best. Cake. EVAR. http://www.flickr.com/photos/withoutform/sets/72157601654815836/show/ (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, August 29th, 2008
2:22 pm	toys So i had an iPhone for a month, but was having issues with it. So i took it back and, since i got an iPhone because my venerable Sidekick 2 had finally bit the dust, went and got the SK 2008 that just came out. I might have to get mamagotcha one too, cust because it appears its possible to post to LJ from the phone now... (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, July 5th, 2008
11:27 am	Old video Nothing to do with cooking, but I remembered this video on my hard drive and wanted to upload it to YouTube for others to see. One of the cooler things on my things-i've-done-list: performed at a major league ballpark opening day. (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
11:13 am	Garlic foccacia recipe Peel and chunk a large potato or two small ones (you want about 9 oz. peeled). Cover with cold water and bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Save 1 cup of the water. Either rice or mash the boiled potatoes. Peel one large head of garlic; cut large cloves into marble-sized chunks. Place in a small saucepan and cover with olive oil. Simmer ~15 minutes until garlic is tender. Remove the garlic from the oil, save the oil. In a stand mixer combine 3 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp yeast 1 1/4 tsp salt With the motor running add the 1 cup potato water (ideally still warm, but not so hot it will kill the yeast) and mix until the dough comes together in a shaggy ball. Add the potato and mix just until combined, then 2 tbsp of the garlic-infused oil. Mix until it comes together. Transfer the dough to an oiled (use some of the reserved garlic oil) rising container, cover, and allow to rise 35-45 minutes until doubled in size. Tear the dough into two halves and form into rounds. Place the rounds on an oiled cookie sheet and drizzle a little oil on top. Cover with saran wrap and allow to rise again, 35-45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 (you can use the top of the oven as a warm place to rise the dough) at least 30 minutes ahead of time. Once the second rise is complete, poke holes in the top of the dough with a wet finger, then tuck a chunk of garlic into each hole. Drizzle remaining olive oil over the top of the dough, allowing some to puddle in the holes, and then sprinkle with ~2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves and ~1 tbsp coarse sea salt. Bake for 23-25 minutes until golden brown. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 7th, 2008
10:52 pm	An easy (non-baking) recipe The "Michelada" Take a very cold bottle of Negra Modelo beer. Pour it in a 16 oz. glass with a salted rim (marguerita-style). Add the juice of 1 lime. (optional: add half the squeezed out remains of the lime. I was first shown this recipe with it in there, but after trying it with and without, I think I prefer it without.) It is the most ridiculously refreshing thing I have ever had. Perfect for after a long day of cleaning out a house you are trying to sell. (Comment on this)
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008
10:01 am	Puzzle Party Pictures We had a little party yesterday and I did some baking. I was just going to do the raisin spiral bread, but mamagotcha asked for the garlic focaccia as well, and I managed to make both on the same day. Despite not having baked anything for over a month, they both were home-run results. I nearly screwed up he garlic focaccia; when I put the final touches on I was being assaulted by a toddler at the same time I was trying to listen into the puzzles and conversation, and I forgot to drizzle on the oil! It was in the oven for about 3 minutes before I realized this, then yoinked it out and put on the oil, and it did no harm at all. It came out very photogenically, with one of the loaves really beautifully round and perfectly browned: It had a caramelized, almost pizza-crust texture on the bottom, without being at all burnt. Needless to say it was all devoured. (I'm not a good enough photographer to deserve the following shot!) Then the raisin spiral bread came out with a tight unseparated spiral; the first time i've gotten it to stick together without splitting. Moist and delicious: We ate one of the two loaves last night, with the other reserved for our easter breakfast. Nom! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 28th, 2007
3:36 pm	I'd hit it Came across this link from DailyKos and am just stunned by its magnificence. Burger Pizza I know I shouldn't, but I am going to have to try this. Just because the phrase "Calzones filled with cheeseburgers" should be in the dictionary as an alternative definition of "awesomeness". (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, September 7th, 2007
6:46 pm	More on calzones Just a few more notes on the making of calzones... Half bread flour and half whole wheat flour also works well in lieu of the UBAP. Will try half UBAP instead of bread flour, but I expect the lower protein content in UBAP will make a dough too fragile to stretch over the filling well. I made a three batches of dough, which turned nicely into 9 calzones (so 1/3 of a dough recipe per calzone -- remember the ingredients I posted before was a double recipe). I also filled all of them with 1 lb sliced sausage, 1 lb mozzarella, as well as some sliced black olives, a yellow pepper, some spinach and some pasta sauce, which seemed to be a Because the filling is fully cooked before you fill them, these are great to freeze for later. Roll out the dough and transfer it to aluminum foil, fill it and crimp the edge, then wrap up in foil and freeze. To cook, preheat oven to 350, remove from foil and place (still frozen) on a cookie sheet, then bake for ~30 minutes until the middle is hot. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 6th, 2007
11:32 am	Go Linc, Itchya Birfday Lincoln's 3rd birthday party was on Saturday (although the birthday proper is today), and I made his cake. Photos are here (with other party pix): http://www.flickr.com/photos/18626930@N00/sets/72157601238736532/ The cake was two 11x13 cakes, cut into quarters for the cars. Both recipes are from RLB's The Cake Bible. The rear 4 cars were All-Purpose Downy Yellow Cake, and the locomotive and front 3 cars were Perfect All-American Chocolate Butter Cake (which the author says is essentially the same as the downy yellow cake, but adapted for chocolate.) The frosting recipe was from The Best Recipe and is a basic 1:1 butter to confectioner's sugar mix (by weight) with added 1 tbsp/lb vanilla and milk with a pinch of salt. I removed about a cup for piping and added a couple tablespoons of cocoa for color. The wheels and parts of the locomotive were made with vegan chocolate chip muffins (mini for the wheels, full size sliced in half for the cowcatcher/smokestack) that Katje made. The hardest part was frosting the cut edges of the cake. The cake was so crumbly the frosting tended to peel off with a layer of crumbs. But I managed to spackle it on there eventually. I mixed red food coloring into some of the extra frosting for lettering, and piped it using a parchment cone with a round (3mm?) metal icing tip. I had enough white to do the cars as well as the tracks, a RR Crossing sign, the smoke from the engine, and a jet plane flying overhead. And best of all, it was delicious. Yum! Happy birthday, kiddo. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 25th, 2007
10:26 pm	Calzone Photo didn't come out so good, but the calzone itself made up for it by a mile. And it was actually easier to do than the deep dish or thin crust pizzas we've done before. Noting the recipe down for the next time I want to make it. Dough (this is a double recipe, makes 4 calzones): 4 cups (20 oz) UBAP flour 1 tsp instant yeast 1 tsp honey 1 tsp salt 1.5 cups warm water 1/2 cup olive oil Mix everything in the stand mixer just until it comes together (should look shaggy). Scrape dough into an oiled 4 qt bowl with a lid. Let it sit for 1h at room temperature, then refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 350' -- you do not need a baking stone. Bring out the dough, cut it into four pieces while still cold. One at a time, lightly flour and roll dough out on a floured counter to a 10" circle. Transfer dough to a cookie sheet (you can fit 2 on one sheet). Ladle tomato sauce (~1/4 to 1/3 cup) in the middle, add toppings (I did pepperoni and sliced mozzarella cheese this time, but of course anything goes!) to one side. Fold over other side, crimp edge well. Bake for 35-40 minutes... dough will puff up (if you sealed edge right) and be a golden brown when its finished. EDIT: Finally got a picture uploaded... I think this was from the second batch of these I made. http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=920416783&size=m (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 17th, 2006
11:31 pm	So, uh, where was I Between the pictures I took getting scattered across everybody's separate iPhoto accounts, and just running out of time for cooking (since Linc has been staying up later and later, most evenings were spent reading books to beeb instead of baking bread), and spending a lot of time traveling this year, I just lost momentum on this. Yummy Bagels 60 awesome anise biscotti (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, July 9th, 2006
12:57 pm	Cream Biscuits & Gravy Katje did everything except make the biscuits, but they came out soooo yummy. (14 Servings) Running Total: 770 + 14 = 784. (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 8th, 2006
11:59 pm	Step One: Cream Puff Pastry. Step Two: ? Step Three: Profiteroles! OK, I know what step 2 is, actually. Cut the cream puff in half, then put a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a dollop of hot fudge sauce inside. (40 servings... woulda been 48, but some of the puffs got burnt and I didn't count them. The ones on the cookie sheet with the Silpat came out perfect, but the other sheet with the aluminum foil got cooked much more. I think I'm gonna buy another Silpat...) Total: 730 + 40 = 770. (Comment on this)