This year I played a prank on the whole building. It happened in two parts. The first part was more of an anti-prank in that it was actually not a prank at all but everybody thought it was one. Here’s what happened: The night before, I made a cake. A nice white cake (from scratch)…
Category: Personal Projects
The Mobius Panorama
A few months ago I hit on the idea of the mobius panorama. I can’t remember exactly why I thought about it, but it was an interesting idea, and I spent the next few hours thinking about how it could be done. There are a few things about the panorama that have to be true…
Sweet and Sour Pork
Last night I tried a new recipe: sweet and sour pork. The book said it would take 30 minutes, but it was my first time trying the recipe, so it took a little longer. Boy was it worth the effort, though. There are a few separate things that need to happen; preparing the batter, frying…
The Tomato Rose
There’s a garnish trick I’ve been wanting to try for a while, and I finally got around to doing it today. It worked fantastically well, and gave me a very attractive rose made out of tomato. They’re actually surprisingly easy to make. Here’s the process, from left to right: First, start with a tomato. I…
A culinary cure
Bummed from my disappointing week and feeling the effects from skipping too many meals and eating irregularly during the week, I devoted some time on Saturday evening to making a good dinner. I had a mango and two plantains that I had purchased for experimentation, and they were starting to get the point of either…
An invention of mine
Here is a video of something I put together not too long ago. It’s me using a laser pointer to control a mouse on my projector. I have a projector that I hooked up to my computer. I also hooked up a webcam and wrote some software that analyzes the camera image to pick out…
Mmmmm. Sushi.
Last week I went to a new place called Sushiya with some friends. They had some pretty tasty sushi, and I felt inspired. This weekend I created some masterpieces at home. While I really love raw fish, it’s not easy to acquire and I don’t think I’m capable of handling it safely enough to not…
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
4 Tablespoons butter 1 cup dark brown sugar 1/4 cup pineapple juice 5-7 pineapple rings (or you could use tidbits artfully arranged) 1/2 cup milk 8 Tablespoons butter (they get used for different parts) 1 egg 1 1/2 Cup flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sugar Preheat oven to 400. Get…
Brownies
4 eggs, beaten until fluffy 1 Cup sugar 1 Cup flour, sifted 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 12 oz package of chocolate chips 2/3 cup butter 2 teaspoon vanilla Melt together chocolate chips and butter (microwave for about 1 1/2 – 2 minutes). Beat eggs and add in everything else. Put in…
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
3/4 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup white sugar 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 cups rolled oats 1 cup raisins Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In large bowl,…