And a maple ice cream freebie at the end.
So, I had a dilemma. We all agreed that tonight was a perfect night for home-made ice cream, but the forces of evil were against us. First, we had very little time; it was dangerously close to bedtime. Thus cooked recipes, or recipes that needed cure time, were out. Second, raw-egg recipes were ruled out because of the recent salmonella outbreak; I wanted to play it safe. Finally, I’m allergic to “quick recipes” that sacrifice taste and texture for speed. This needed to be good.
I couldn’t find any recipes that met my qualifications, so I threw some ingredients in a bowl, Jonagold whisked them up, and into the churn they went. Coly How, the result was fantastic.
Continued…
Posted in Recipes.
By David
– September 2, 2010
In case you haven’t seen it yet, read “The Perils of ‘Wannabe Cool’ Christianity” in, of all places, the Wall Street Journal.
If we are interested in Christianity in any sort of serious way, it is not because it’s easy or trendy or popular. It’s because Jesus himself is appealing, and what he says rings true. It’s because the world we inhabit is utterly phony, ephemeral, narcissistic, image-obsessed and sex-drenched—and we want an alternative. It’s not because we want more of the same.
It’s from the author of the new Hipster Christianity: when church and cool collide. Which I haven’t read yet, but sounds interesting. He also has a blog (mostly to promote the book).
Posted in Theology.
By David
– August 16, 2010
Today I made some fantastically delicious shredded chicken barbecue, and it was easy as tic-tac-toe. But that’s not what I’m here to discuss … today it’s a twofer, with Snickerdoodle cookies and Snickerdoodle milkshakes.
The snickerdoodle cookies are a recipe I’ve been working on for a month or two and I think it’s just about perfect. Last night, one of my nephews declared (loudly) that a girl at school brings in snickerdoodles to buy votes, and they are supposed to be the best in the world. But, he said, mine are ten times better than hers. Ten times! That’s astonishing. If you haven’t watched Charles Eames’ classic Powers of Ten, then you really should — if for no other reason than to hear that really crazy Hammond organ soundtrack. But I digress; ten times better than hers. However, you should understand that this bit of hyperbole is coming from someone who is prolific in their exaggerative discourse, so take it for what it’s worth. But they are good, in any case. Continued…
Posted in Recipes.
By David
– August 15, 2010
This is a Paula Deen recipe, which isn’t surprising given that it’s completely composed of fat and sugar. It’s crazily easy. Paula’s original is a teeny bit simpler, but my version tastes better.
Continued…
Posted in Recipes.
By David
– August 10, 2010
Music has been a hot topic for centuries, and I certainly don’t have the answers. However, I’d like to add a point to the discussion: a comparison between the morality of music and that of art.
Plato wrote, “The ways of poetry and music are not changed anywhere without change in the most important laws of the city.”
“Music, for Plato, was not a neutral amusement. It could express and encourage virtue—nobility, dignity, temperance, chastity. But it could also express and encourage vice—sensuality, belligerence, indiscipline” [American Spectator].
Continued…
Posted in Art & Design, Theology.
By David
– August 1, 2010
I want to try this.
Posted in Art & Design.
By David
– April 10, 2010
And I really don’t do those popular “cute” sites that are just lines of saccharine photos. But these aren’t bunnies; they are Rabbit Overlords of Doom. And the photos are more frightening than they are saccharine.
Continued…
Posted in Miscellaneous.
By David
– April 4, 2010
These chocolate chip cookies are better than yours.
I’m almost happy with this recipe. It gets slightly better each time, and I’ll tweak the recipe as I make refinements.
Prep time: 3 weeks, give or take 3 weeks.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup real butter (see note 1 below)
- 1/4 cup honey, warmed (see note 2 below)
- 2 eggs
- 3 TABLEspoons vanilla extract, the real stuff (see note 3 below)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar (see note 4 below)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3−3÷4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips (see note 5 below)
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
Continued…
Posted in Recipes.
By David
– March 2, 2010
Yesterday morning I had the opportunity to inspect a piece of genuine Fabergé from the late Imperial period, in preparation for a future exhibition on which I have the privilege of working. The curator first showed me a piece that is claimed to be Fabergé; it was interesting, though not particularly well made, and I was a little disappointed. As I told him, I could have made that! He saved the best for last, however, and when he pulled out an amazing little jade letter opener my brain shot through the back of my roof. (Of course that doesn’t make sense. It didn’t to me, either.)
Not the one I saw.
There aren’t many times in a life that your eyes land on something and have instant comprehension that you are looking at something special. This tiny piece of perfection, a little bundle of rocks and metals and miniscule mollusk secretions, was like that.
It probably wouldn’t have been like that a few years ago, before I started jewelry-work. Now I know what it takes to cast and braze and engrave and repoussé, and I’m not very good at it. I’ve seen a lot of jewelry from people better than me, too. But it’s a little like a magic trick: when you know the trick, it’s not so magical.
I don’t know Fabergé’s tricks, though, and the result is simply magical. I’m amazed and a little dumbfounded, which is why it took me more than 24 hours just to sputter out a post about it. A few things are clear: he hired the best in each branch of the business, and divided the work among each expert. So the guilloché was done by the best guilloché-man he could find, and the subsequent enamel by the best enameler, and so on. With the budget to hire the best in the world, hire as many of them as he needed, and take as much time as required to create perfection, the result is something that no single master could create.
The letter-opener is quite similar to the probable-Fabergé letter opener listed at All That Glitters and pictured left. Sorry I don’t have a picture of the one I saw, but their piece is representative. Unlike the one I saw their opener has a bust at the top, which appears awkward in comparison. But a few characteristics are extremely close: the jade blade is virtually identical, the ornamentation on the blade, the signature guilloché and overlaid metal. My version was more finely detailed, with strands of seed pearls and twisted wire, more carved appliqué, and flawlessly-implemented custom alloyed gold to create a range of colors. Then very carefully added patinas — just a little, just here and not there, perfect control.
Continued…
Posted in Art & Design.
Tagged with Faberge, jewelry.
By David
– February 6, 2010
And a maple ice cream freebie at the end.
