2022 Easter Eggs
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2021 Easter Eggs
Better late than never, right?
Sculpture Garden
Laurie Anderson at The Hirshhorn
REACH Winter Lanterns, Kennedy Center DC.
Kennedy Center, DC.
An Ode To GoLYTELY
Colonoscopic Humor, circa 2017
There is no describing po-litely,
My tail of flow with GoLYTELY:
Two litres at night,
Two more at first light,
Never have I clenched so tightly.
Crunchy Biscotti Recipe
The Semifreddis Bakery Cafe on Claremont Ave, Berkeley closed, leaving me without a close, reliable source for their excellent biscotti. And also leaving me with no choice but to attempt replicating their tasty treats at home. I tried half a dozen recipes that I found online, and they all came up short in one way or another.
The most promising recipe I could find came from Madeleine Kamman’s The New Making of a Cook and, over the course of three years, I have tried literally a dozen variations on it. What I like most about the Semifreddis biscuit is how airy it is. By version 12, I had upped the baking powder to double Ms Kamman’s recommendation (and learned to love Clabber Girl) in order to get the loaves to rise significantly during baking.
Early on, with version 2, I decided that my biscotti would have glazed ginger bits. Definitely not part of the original vision, but they add a wonderful dimension, and I’m keeping them. This year, starting with version 10, I tried adding dried cranberries to the mix, and they’re staying too.
A note of caution: these things are dangerously addicting! Make sure you have a plan in place to give away most of the cookies in a batch before you lay them all out on the counter, and have them sitting there looking at you.
Ingredients
- 2 cups sifted Tipo Fino flour
- 2.5 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 cups cane sugar Don’t recommend Demerra or Turbinado; crystals are too hard, and take too long to dissolve
- large pinch salt
- 3 large eggs lightly beaten with white from 1 additional egg
- 0.25 cup dry Marsala
- 1.5 cups of dried fruit and nuts. Suggest honey-roasted almonds, dried cranberries, and glazed ginger nuggets, all available in Berkeley Bowl bulk section.
- 0.5 pounds dark chocolate for dipping (optional) I like to use Guittard bittersweet baking wafers
- Vin Santo, for dunking
Special Equipment
- 2 half-sheet (13 x 18) baking pans
- 2 wire cooling racks
- 2 silicone baking mats
- double-boiler for dipping
Prep
- preheat oven to 325F, normal bake setting
- sift together flours and baking powder in large mixing bowl
- make a well in the flour, add salt, sugar, Marsala, and egg mixture
- gradually gather flour into the liquid ingredients
- add nuts and dried fruit, working into the dough. You may want to work the dough with your hands until liquid is evenly permated throughout, and you can form four large balls.
- work each of the four dough balls into loaves, about 7 x 2.5 x .75 inches
1st Bake
- place loaves on baking sheet lined with parchment paper or (better) silicone baking mats
- bake at 325F until loaves are medium beige; verify that a toothpick inserted at thickest part comes out dry.
- remove loaves from oven, and place them on wire cooling racks until completely cool
2nd Bake
- set oven to 250F, convection setting
- slice each loaf into quarter- or half-inch cookies with a large, very sharp knife. If you like, try slicing on a slight diagonal for a slightly irregular mix of longer and shorter cookies.
- lay out the cookies in the baking sheet(s), on wire racks if possible (highly recommended)
- return cookies to oven for up to 40 minutes, checking every 10 minutes flip the cookies every 10 minutes if you’re not using a wire rack
- remove cookies when they’re evenly beige throughout
Chocolate Dip (Optional)
- melt half a pound of chocolate in a double-boiler
- pour a shallow layer of ice into one of the pans. Don’t overfill!
- place second pan on top of ice, and line with wax paper
- dip cookies one by one into the molten chocolate, standing them upright on long, flat bottom edge
- place dipped cookies onto wax-papered sheet. They should stand up on their own, each in a small chocolate puddle
- gently pry them loose when chocolate has set, about 5 minutes later
Gator Swamp tour, starring Allie, The Rescue Gator.
Best BBQ so far (sorry TX, MO, KY)
Ribs were total disappointment, but …sliced brisket was like butter; wings, second only to Momma’s Mustard Pickles in Louisville; and smoked turkey, sublime.
New Orleans!
One night in Austin, TX.
Approaching New Orleans via Lake Pontchartrain
Marfa, TX. What a bizarre and beautiful outpost!
Rollin’ Smoke BBQ, first exit off I-10 on TX. Definitely smokin’.
Santa Fe, NM
Petrified National Forest, AZ
Orange De Tomaso on display at locals’ car show in Flagstaff, AZ
Cliff Dwellings in Vermillion Cliffs
Point Imperial
Canyon rainstorm
First views of the canyon after short bike ride
Approaching The Grand Canyon North Rim
#gowestyoungmen #nowaiteast Heading home, first stop Grand Canyon!
Arrived, Mar Vista CA.
Driving past the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility. Intense seeing the crucibles glowing white hot inthe shimmering desert.
The World’s Largest Chevron on I-15, complete with James Bond submarine Lotus and “life-sized” wookie. #gowestyoungmen
Posing with murals at Randy’s Records in Salt Lake City. Alas, closed while we were in town. #gowestyoungmen
#gowestyoungmen someone stole the Holly Wood « Y » and brought it to Provo UT.
Rocking out to KUAA in Salt Lake City. #gowestyoungmen
Skipping rock on Hebgen Lake, MT. #gowestyoungmen
Bullwinkle’s in West Yellowstone, MT, for lunch: bison steak and elk burger. Isn’t it just a tiny bit odd to serve the company mascot to you guests for lunch? #gowestyoungmen
Yellowstone National Park
Approaching Grand Teton National Park
Astonishingly good burrito and mole enchiladas in Lander, WY! #gowestyoungmen
Endless sunset over the Ogallala Aquifer #gowestyoungmen
Two fades to go, please. Ea La Mar’s waa the first woman-foindes and owned barber shop in KC. Now a barbers school. #gowestyoungmen
Always Ask For Avery’s, because it’s sodasgusting. River Market, Kansas City, MO. #gowestyoungmen
Gateway Arch, St Louis. #gowestyoungmen
Arrived, Kansas City MO. #gowestyoungmen
Pressure Fry’d Chicken is also a thing.
Burnt Ends Toasted Ravs. Apparently they’re a thing here in St. Louis. #gowestyoungmen
The Loop, St Louis MO #gowestyoungmen
#gowestyoungmen St Louis, MO
Because Louisville. #gowestyoungmen
#gowestyoungmen Mohammed Ali was just an amazing human being.
#gowestyoungmen Big Four Bridge, Louisville
Speed Art Museum, Louisville. Devastating, moving tribute to Breonna Taylor #gowestyoungmen
#gowestyoungmen BBQ pit stop
#gowestyoungmen
#gowestyoungmen off to LA first stop Louisville
Does this even matter?