08 September 2010

I would throw it on the floor!

Since I quote this fairly regularly now, I'll just put it on my blog. It's from a Larry King Live interview with Julia Child that aired on August 15, 2002.

KING: I ... hate broccoli, hate it, wouldn't go near it, wouldn't touch it, what do you hate?

CHILD: I don't like cilantro.

KING: What is that?

CHILD: It's an herb that it has a kind of a taste that I don't like.

KING: Is there an everyday food you hate, like broccoli?

CHILD: No, I don't think so. I mean, if it's properly cooked and properly served, I can't think of anything I hate.

KING: So you'll eat...

CHILD: Except cilantro and arugula I don't like at all.

KING: Arugula?

CHILD: They're both green herbs, they have kind of a dead taste to me.

KING: So you would never order it.

CHILD: Never, I would pick it out if I saw it and throw it on the floor.


How about you? Would you eat them, or throw them on the floor?

02 September 2010

Adjustments for sea-level bread recipes

I keep these guidelines posted so I can see them when I open the cupboard door to get baking powder and/or baking soda.

Adjustments for bread recipes at 5,000 feet/1524 meters

  • Reduce yeast or other leavening by 50 percent.
  • For each cup of liquid, add another 3 tablespoons of the same liquid, or water, milk. You can add another egg if you are making a tender dough, such as a challah, brioche, or sweet roll. (The alternative is a chewy dough with a substantial crust, as with the marvelously easy-to-make Speedy No-Knead Bread recipe.)
  • Decrease baking temperature by 25° F (13° C).*

Here's the link to my 20-slide "deck" from my IgniteBoulder presentation. Wow, was that some fun.

Adjustments for sea-level cake recipes at 5,000 feet

Adjustments for sea-level cake recipes at 5,000 feet/1524 meters

  • Reduce baking powder, baking soda by 50 percent.
  • Reduce sugar by 2-1/2 tablespoons per cup.
  • For each cup of liquid, add another 3 tablespoons of liquid (or an egg)
  • Increase flour by 2 tablespoons
  • Increase baking temperature by 15° F (10° C).*
Source: The High Altitude Cookbook by Beverly Anderson Nemiro and Donna Miller Hamilton, 1969

* Other sources say a rule of thumb is to increase the temperature by up to 10 percent (so a recipe calling for baking at 350° F would be adjusted to about 385° F). Remember to check the oven a little earlier than the recipe specifies whenever you increase baking temperatures.

Here's the link to my slides for my IgniteBoulder presentation on this topic.

01 September 2010

Hey, kids! Let's put on a show!

In a recent piece of writing, I wrote about the skepticism I grew up with and how over time I came to see things that had no explanations: communication between humans and animals, being able to see things in the future, and working affirmations. Tonight, as I pictured myself calmly fielding heckling from the audience with a smooth, "You don't need any more leavening, do you, dear?" I realized I was no longer petrified about the talk I am giving tomorrow night in front of a bigger audience than I've ever put myself in front of before. I had stopped saying, "Holy sh*t, Batman!" before each iteration of "I'm speaking at IgniteBoulder!" I'd finally started affirming it: "I'm speaking." And it became so. Well, is still becoming, technically, but if everything goes according to plan, I'm going to saunter up the hill on my bike and meet everyone up there and help put on a show!