When I was obsessing about the weather forecasts earlier this year, I read a lot on basic weather theory, hoping to better understand forecasting methodologies and, specifically, how all these intelligent people arrive at different results. Once this mystery was solved, I thought I’d tackle macroeconomic theory (ha ha!). I went to my library and […]
Weather Forecasting Read More »
I made some excellent cream cheese brownies last night, using the recipe from the January 1999 Cook’s Illustrated. The combination of cocoa and bittersweet chocolate works wonderfully. I used whole wheat flour because this would otherwise absolutely no redeeming nutritional value. Eat sparingly. I love the magazine, but its indexing is frustratingly linear. Instead, I’d
Cream Cheese Brownies Read More »
I had originally written this piece because I wanted to vent about why I won’t donate to my undergraduate institution. It’s an okay rant, as far as rants go, but I find it serves as an excellent example of how corporate goodwill can be successfully sabotaged by a bad customer experience. There are really two
Bad customer service goes a long way Read More »
Last week, I wrote about the difficulty I had getting my sourdough starter … started. All this effort is done because I want to have a starter that leavens and provides a rich flavor in my bread. Leavening in baking is done aerating the dough with carbon dioxide, causing it to puff out. There are
What a great day for cycling! On Saturday, I rode Flying Wheels, Cascade Bicycle Club’s summer century. The event (map, cue sheet) is three loops along the rural roads of eastern King and Snohomish counties. One can do 50, 70, or 100 miles: 50 miles: Marymoor (Redmond) – Carnation – Fall City – Marymoor 70
Flying Wheels 2004 Read More »
Last month, I killed my second batch of starter. This was a good thing, for reasons I’ll comment on later. I decided to purchase some “professional” quality sourdough starter from Sourdo International, the company Ed Wood, author of Classic Sourdoughs created. I went a little wild — pun intended — as evidenced by the number
Sourdough III: The Search for Spock Read More »
Last year, we subscribed to market baskets through Pike Place CSA. Because there’s no convenient pick-up option in the ‘burbs east of Seattle, we found another CSA, run by Full Circle Farm. During the summer months, the market basket concept is great because it offers excellent, quality produce grown locally, and in many cases, organically.
Beets, potato salad, and limeade Read More »
I’m playing with Dragon NaturallySpeaking again because I want a more efficient means of getting ideas into a more permanent form. When I get excited, I can talk about 5x faster than I type, and I can type 10x faster than I can handwrite. Handwriting doesn’t work very well, especially on a blog (though it
Voice recognition software Read More »