27 February 2008

Google Earth. That's what I was thinking about for a portion of my walk today. Well, actually the Google maps, but I think of it all under the umbrella of Google Earth. I dropped off the kids at school, then continued on to Berkeley Bowl (14 miles, roundtrip) for a little grocery shopping. Something happens when you're out walking....or biking....or running - at a certain point your brain kicks into some kind of strange clarity where thoughts and ideas and solutions just flow. Not about world peace or anything like that (well, maybe for you), but about things in your life. Frankly, I think up some really eloquent musings that I frame out in my mind as a blog entry. The problem is that my clarity wears off by the time I return home, not to mention the fact that my exhaustion takes over, so I often don't get to put fingers to keyboard in time before my brilliant thoughts are long forgotten. On this subject I've devised a strategy....I'll carry my mini tape recorder. You know - the one I used in graduate school 3 times....not to mention the times I tape recorded Scott snoring....because he just didn't believe me. Then I'll come home and transcribe my brilliance.....just you wait.

Back on track......one of the things I do remember thinking about is that I have this whole love-hate thing with my GPS and Google Earth.....I know I could be doing so much more with them, together as well as separately. But as usual, my techno knowledge only takes me up to a certain point, then leaves me on the side of the road like a spent cigarette [bad I know, but I like the image]. I even took a GPS class at REI, but I knew as much as the dude teaching it, to my and his mutual frustration. Anyway, one of the thoughts that occurred to me after about mile 6 (that seems to be my ”walker’s high” point) was how much I love the "Street View" feature on the google maps. It has really helped me a lot. I happened to discover it the day after it launched (hadn't read the oodles of press releases in the paper, as usual) - just in time to look at where I needed to take one of the kids for their chorus audition in San Francisco. It grounded me....I knew the area, but seeing the building and zooming through the cross streets was awesome. Similarly, a couple of weeks ago I bought a mini-fridge off Craig's List for my school, and while the apartment in San Francisco was close to where we used to live, it was on the corner of a one-way street and had a big garage/lot behind it.....so I knew which direction to come from, and could see where to park behind the building. Believe me, it really takes the stress out of not quite knowing where you're going. So where am I going with this? Well, I've noticed that most of the Oakland and Berkeley Hills aren't ”Street-Viewed”. So I'd like to offer my services to take the photos as part of my walks. What better way to gather the photos than from a walker? I think I read the original photos were taken by Google employees driving down the street taking photos from their cars. A walker has to be able to do just as good a job as that, yes? It will take awhile of course, but it certainly is a great way to continue keeping up walking all over the place. There could even be a network of walkers.....and some tie in to health and the American Heart Association.....oops sorry....reverting to my marketing and promotions hat. Really, all I care about at this point is me. And I want Street View for the hills. Plus, think about how cool I would sound at a cocktail party. So, what do you do? Oh, I'm a school counselor part-time, and the other part, I'm doing photography for Street View. Huh? Oh yeah....I'm the only one they trust. I'm methodically going street by street....so make sure your property is all cleaned up....because you never know when I might be going up your street. I'm willing to do it. Really. Now does anyone know someone at Google Earth? Tee hee hee.

14 February 2008

It's Valentine's Day so how could I not take the opportunity to make a crazy-rich dessert? This is called "Love and Death by Chocolate" and the original recipe can be found at the blog raspberry eggplant. I did/would change a couple of things....I used a different meringue recipe that included cream of tartar and I'd probably make a smidge more chocolate mousse. Fair warning: there are six different recipes to be made before even contemplating assembly....so I started on Sunday. Frankly, that made it easier because with such great pre-planning (for once), it felt like a really easy dessert to make. However, if I added up all the time spent on it.....well, I don't think I'll do that...... Here's a photo of the assembled parts before pouring on the final ganache and plating:



If you're interested in the recipe, I've put it into an easy-to-follow order in Word and I can e-mail it to you. It really is a crazy amount of chocolate, and one of these things is easily enough to feed 2 or 3 people. So is anyone interested in the leftover four that are in the fridge?

New Hidden Post 5.26.08: Here is the vegetarian marshmallow recipe info.....combining the Chocolate and Zucchini recipe with the xanthan gum version in Elizabeth Falkner's "Demolition Desserts". I have not yet tried this....but the recipes seem to be equivalent in volume, so the xanthan gum quantity should be correct....but may need to be played around with a little. Good luck!

Updated Hidden Post 7.21.08: Success! I finally got a chance to make these today and they turned out GREAT! Just like they should! I decided to omit the chocolate version altogether. I didn't like the consistency on the original, so I know I still won't like it vegetarian. So I've updated the recipe to reflect this. The consistency is slightly softer than the gelatin version - so you'll see I've suggested maybe adding a smidge more xanthan gum and maybe a couple less teaspoons of rose syrup - but either way they will turn out fine. They are not the most shapely of squares or rectangles, but you might be able to work it out better than me with a little practice. They taste great - but I'm not sure if you can roast them. Somebody try and let me know!


Guimauve à la Rose Vegetarian Version

- 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum (maybe a smidge more....like 1 ¾ tsp)

- 3 egg whites

- 40 grams (2 rounded tablespoons) agave syrup (substitute honey)

- 230 grams (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) sugar (vegan if possible)

- 6-8 teaspoons rose syrup (substitute rose water) (if you don't want rose-flavored, try substituting vanilla - maybe around 4 teaspoons or 1/2 to a whole vanilla bean boiled with the sugar mixture, then removed)

For finish:

- 2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar- 2 tablespoons potato or corn starch, sieved (I think I use a lot more....just sift a bunch into a bowl - better safe than sorry)


On day one:

Line a square 20 by 20-cm (8 by 8-inch) baking dish with parchment paper (alternatively, you can use two loaf pans or small silicon molds).

Have the egg whites ready in the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a mixing bowl if you're going to use an electric whisk.

Combine the agave syrup, sugar, and 90 ml (6 tablespoons) water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stir to dissolve, and keep at a simmer for 8 minutes. Remove from heat.

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks just begin to form. Don’t overbeat the egg whites: they should be foamy but still soft-peaking - definitely not stiff - when you pour in the syrup.

With the beater still on, add the hot syrup in a slow, steady stream. As soon as you’ve added all the hot syrup to the egg whites, add 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum while continuing to whisk. Keep whisking until the mixture cools down to just above room temperature.

Whisk in the rose syrup (or alternatively vanilla) quickly.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and even out the surface with a spatula. (At this point I sift confectioner’s sugar on top). Refrigerate for 24 hours.

On day two:

Combine sifted confectioner's sugar and/or potato starch in a wide, shallow bowl.

Have ready a mug of very hot water. Lift the parchment paper to remove the guimauve from the pan, and transfer the whole thing carefully to a cutting board, and cut the guimauve into squares, using a sharp knife that you'll dip in the mug to keep the blade warm.

Transfer the cubes of guimauve three at a time, using your fingers to separate them delicately, into the prepared bowl of confectioner's sugar and coat them well. The cubes will have a maddening tendency to stick to one another, to your fingers, and to the bowl (the top surface is especially sticky), so keep them separate and handle them lightly.

Once coated, set the cubes aside on a plate, and leave them out to dry for 2 or 3 hours, flipping them halfway through. Transfer them in a fine-mesh sieve a handful at a time, and shake over the sink to remove the excess confectioner's sugar.

Guimauve keeps for a few days at room temperature in an airtight container. I also like to keep them in the refrigerator.

07 February 2008

I just love Ry's weather station he got for Christmas. He's now the official forecaster for the entire family. Scott climbed up on the roof to put up this wind thingy majiggy (also known as an anemometer) and it's great fun to see the wind speed. I'm not sure if my favorite thing is to read the outside temperature (with wind chill) or to see the sunrise and sunset times each day. Soon we're going to let him hook it up to the computer and then maybe we can become one of the weather stations on Weather Underground. If you look closely, you can see that in the last week we've received more than 3 inches of rain. Thankfully we're in the middle of some sunshine for a couple of days.....I needed it for recovery of the flu I've had for the last 10 days. The white bucket thing is the rain gauge - and of course there's a digital thermometer. The only thing we haven't put out yet is the UV measurer - haven't been too concerned in January and February about the UV counts. But we will!
Anyway, the learning opportunities for Ry with this thing are endless....so I highly recommend getting your 9-year-old real-life products that can benefit the whole family!