By Greg Ingersoll | Posted April 11th, 2010 at 14:56
This was unexpected, but after I thought about it for a bit, I suppose it makes sense: chocolate chips cost less than bar chocolate of the same type and brand. Maybe it’s an issue of yield. No one cares about a misshapen chip.
Anyway, I needed chocolate for making ganache. Making this is simply an issue of heating heavy cream to a simmer, removing it from heat, and melting chocolate in it. One cup of cream and eight ounces of chocolate. Because you’re melting the chocolate, small pieces are good—lots of surface area—so starting with chips saves time as well as money. Plus because they come in a 12 ounce bag, you have some left over for garnish.
The cake is a pretty simple combination of cocoa powder, sugar, flour, butter, baking powder and soda, eggs, vanilla extract (not the artificial stuff made from wood), and coffee. It takes about 10 minutes to assemble and 50 more to bake. (Please stop using boxed mixes. This isn’t difficult, and you know exactly what’s in the end product because you put it there.)
Fresh berries are a favorite garnish of mine. Raspberries are especially good with chocolate. And to drink? This is excellent with coffee, milk, port wine, dark beer, you name it.
cake, chocolate, raspberries
No Comments »
By Greg Ingersoll | Posted April 6th, 2010 at 10:19
Have I mentioned before how much I love coffee? I started drinking it in high school and then regularly in college. And now I drink it every day.
About a year ago, I cut way back on coffee. I was drinking five or six cups of regular drip coffee each day. Then the stomach problems started. I don’t think they were caused by the coffee—doctors think it was stress-related—but the coffee certainly wasn’t helping. After not drinking any coffee for a while, I started drinking only very dark espresso based drinks.
Now I normally drink either a double espresso or an Americano (triple espresso diluted to 16 or so ounces with water). And I don’t put anything in it; no sugar, no cream. (I do enjoy a well-made dry cappuccino from time to time, but you can keep your flavored syrups and whipped cream and sprinkles and all that nonsense.)
The stomach problems are largely gone. Again, it’s probably due to other things in my life having changed, but there is apparently something to dark coffee. I recently saw this post from Wired (via Lifehacker). Check it out.
coffee, stress
No Comments »
By Greg Ingersoll | Posted March 24th, 2010 at 11:42
Since January I have been trying out a new working schedule. The basic idea has been to be more effective in managing time to work on the research for my Ph.D. dissertation. So far, I think it has been working quite well.
Previously, I was working four days per week in the office at my day job and spending the fifth day and, in theory, the weekends and evenings to work on research. It often turned out, though, that I was not particularly motivated to work from home on that fifth day, and it was easier to run errands and do all of the other life-sustaining things that most people do on the weekends. Read the rest of this entry »
research, time management
No Comments »
By Greg Ingersoll | Posted March 6th, 2010 at 12:55
This is something that’s been on my radar for a while: just because you’re an engineer or a programmer, you don’t have to buy into the stereotype by dressing the part. And you all know what I mean.
A recent post on one of the blogs I monitor suggested, “You have to admit, one of the best parts of working at home is never having to put on a suit ever again.” I agree with the wording; you don’t have to wear a suit. But the hidden implication is that never wearing a suit is something to strive for, and I disagree with that. For me, I like wearing nice clothes. I like looking good. It’s a motivator for me. A nice suit for me now feels like shining plate armor must have felt to a knight back in the day. I feel confident. I think about myself differently. People look at me differently. People treat me differently. And by “differently,” of course I mean “better.” Read the rest of this entry »
engineers, rants, suits
No Comments »
By Greg Ingersoll | Posted January 10th, 2010 at 13:38
Browning Chicken Thighs
A day after I roasted a chicken, I read this
post from Michael Ruhlman about roasting chicken and the general perceived inability of people to cook. Needless to say, I felt pretty good about myself. Yesterday, I turned the remains of that chicken into soup despite Ruhlman’s toungue-in-cheek warning not to bother to try to make stock.
The stock was fairly straightforward. Bones, carrots, onions, herbs, celery, water, heat. Lots of waiting. Some skimming. Finally straining, chilling, more skimming.
The soup was a similar process. It starts with chicken thighs. These are cheap, and a lot of the time they actually taste like something unlike chicken breasts. I just browned these for a few minutes to get some color and flavor (both thanks to the Maillard reaction).
Read the rest of this entry »
chicken, soup, stock
No Comments »
Anyway, I needed chocolate for making ganache. Making this is simply an issue of heating heavy cream to a simmer, removing it from heat, and melting chocolate in it. One cup of cream and eight ounces of chocolate. Because you’re melting the chocolate, small pieces are good—lots of surface area—so starting with chips saves time as well as money. Plus because they come in a 12 ounce bag, you have some left over for garnish.
Follow
Link
Subscribe