tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49951043132767854762023-11-16T10:27:09.311-07:00シシおんな - The Shishi Girlall the little things we loveKuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.comBlogger153125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-30888387076440997962014-01-11T17:11:00.000-07:002014-01-11T17:13:14.024-07:00Yes......I am still here. Also, yes, graduate school is going well. Down to my last semester and the fiery whirlwind that is student teaching: five days a week in the classroom of an experienced Japanese teacher who, to her great credit, has already demonstrated saintly patience by consenting to take me on in the first place*. I offer my advance apologies and well-wishes to both H-<i>sensei </i>and her classes; this will be a profound learning experience for me, and I sincerely beg for your forgiveness when the inevitable mistakes arise. <i>Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu. </i>m(-_-)m<br />
<br />
No, I am not entirely done with blogging forever. I am deeply enamored with Weebly for future online publications, however, and I'll be sure to let folks know when I start producing said publications again. (Hint: not likely until May.)<br />
<br />
In the meantime, I wish you all a fortuitous beginning to 2014! <i>Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! </i>May all of your own endeavors be successful and deeply satisfying, and your understanding of the universe only ever increase in wonder.<br />
<br />
*<span style="font-size: x-small;">... as have my two previous IMTs, although they only had to contend with my silliness <i>one </i>day of each week, which should technically have been 80% more manageable. <i>Watakushi no sensei-tachi no mina-sama, itsumo o sewa ni narimashita yo! Made ganbatteimasu!</i> ;_; </span>Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-73854876678284991732012-12-08T00:20:00.002-07:002012-12-14T23:43:34.721-07:00"So a shishi walks into the graduate admissions office..."(Stop me if you've heard this one before.)<br />
<br />
I'm going to grad school, folks. Those of you who saw it coming six years ago, come up and claim your prize. I am, indeed, a born academic, and in the words of REO Speedwagon, "I can't fight this feelin' anymore."<br />
<br />
Also in the words of REO Speedwagon, "I've seen hookers dancin' through Times Square with their heads held up so high." But that's another story. What was I going to say again?<br />
<br />
Oh, yes: <b>this does not mean the end of the blog. </b><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Wait," said everyone, "you mean it's still going?"<br />
<br />
Ku looked at Everyone with a tilt of her head. "What?"<br />
<br />
"The blog," Everyone said, "Hadn't it already stopped long ago?"<br />
<br />
"No," said Ku, visibly perturbed, "It never stopped, really.... I do come along every now and then and announce I'm alive, or encourage you to vote or something, don't I?"<br />
<br />
"But you don't POST anything anymore," Everyone noted, "It's been ages since you've put up a new tutorial or photo... let's have a pattern, eh? Like the old days... like we used to."<br />
<br />
"You would not believe the things I have on this side of the publish button," Ku replied with a thin smile and narrowed eyes, "Many things. <i>Splendid </i>things... but I will not reveal them until he time is right."<br />
<br />
"And when should that be?" Everyone asked.<br />
<br />
"Probably after I move into Ku House Tempe," Ku said, casually checking her watch to no benefit whatsoever, "sometime in the new year."<br />
<br />
"Oh," said everyone, "damn."</blockquote>
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So don't give up on me just yet. >:3<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">PS: Thank you for voting. :D</span><br />
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<br />Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-63504197924078679822012-11-06T09:05:00.000-07:002012-11-06T09:05:35.020-07:00VOTE.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2LohZJ4gQGYICWZr1Xg_lfHtEdTpZpW3UriNyM3z1gtTQn1X-Q8Hp8YEIW39aVMWqKZKWtobsJG0TvY-899ETTrtONWqgXsLZX-p7F81s4AnQZt0BA05FMkiKAc40XH9tvQZNi-bqM58/s1600/Final+day0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2LohZJ4gQGYICWZr1Xg_lfHtEdTpZpW3UriNyM3z1gtTQn1X-Q8Hp8YEIW39aVMWqKZKWtobsJG0TvY-899ETTrtONWqgXsLZX-p7F81s4AnQZt0BA05FMkiKAc40XH9tvQZNi-bqM58/s1600/Final+day0.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Dear US friends, if you have not voted already, GO DO IT NOW. This is your right, your responsibility, and your duty to your fellow citizens.<br />
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<b>Whomever you support,</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>PLEASE VOTE.</b></span></div>
Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-14363813085322944832012-11-05T18:21:00.001-07:002012-11-05T18:22:18.355-07:00Time is Running Out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXpXhfu6sTY3TylP4NpQavHC-llma1xPl64Z024oc-kTb0iDMRJ9GOUrnKf16O1moXO-lkxyAynvlTRF2pLiFvLQMgEtGq_zAwNvWhanecp0V1iRdaVIUnakamapZZw4-DQfULhwzzu0/s1600/Monday0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXpXhfu6sTY3TylP4NpQavHC-llma1xPl64Z024oc-kTb0iDMRJ9GOUrnKf16O1moXO-lkxyAynvlTRF2pLiFvLQMgEtGq_zAwNvWhanecp0V1iRdaVIUnakamapZZw4-DQfULhwzzu0/s1600/Monday0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Here it comes.</div>
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Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-17801585194400913122012-11-04T07:14:00.000-07:002012-11-04T18:28:06.148-07:00Oh boy...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjih-dYhT8PwZ5uIsJwy-0YXN_OzQ_94_urSIshODW9h64RsDh869YZ9B6svito0SXbUPXA9HIIhPfQ7EVejYALn1Fz6WtGhj5ziOGLt3B73ARNtFVc1dEsrQgB1I6x9gT2yH3xrhSjPRA/s1600/Sunday0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjih-dYhT8PwZ5uIsJwy-0YXN_OzQ_94_urSIshODW9h64RsDh869YZ9B6svito0SXbUPXA9HIIhPfQ7EVejYALn1Fz6WtGhj5ziOGLt3B73ARNtFVc1dEsrQgB1I6x9gT2yH3xrhSjPRA/s1600/Sunday0.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjih-dYhT8PwZ5uIsJwy-0YXN_OzQ_94_urSIshODW9h64RsDh869YZ9B6svito0SXbUPXA9HIIhPfQ7EVejYALn1Fz6WtGhj5ziOGLt3B73ARNtFVc1dEsrQgB1I6x9gT2yH3xrhSjPRA/s1600/Sunday0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjih-dYhT8PwZ5uIsJwy-0YXN_OzQ_94_urSIshODW9h64RsDh869YZ9B6svito0SXbUPXA9HIIhPfQ7EVejYALn1Fz6WtGhj5ziOGLt3B73ARNtFVc1dEsrQgB1I6x9gT2yH3xrhSjPRA/s1600/Sunday0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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Have you voted yet? :3Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-23445271965952619792012-09-21T21:11:00.000-07:002012-09-21T21:11:25.294-07:00Color+: Hama Beads on Headphone CableI'm a sucker for color. Also for cheap projects and the peerless elegance of simplicity. This idea has 'em all.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.wooz.dk/?page_id=2739" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkjq-DDuTc8YuHRxLfyLfOTFgAVXvhQEwSL3OMToM399E0OrKY_OmB0vKiLhTgGRh0NvUJebx5xmkcOP6kkLoxJY5APjihpEypu8sGN9CRMCO4c4XAhefan6b6q4Fp9C-F5afVd9qyd2A/s640/perleledning.jpg" width="348" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.wooz.dk/?page_id=2739" target="_blank">Absolutely brilliant.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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From <a href="http://www.wooz.dk/?page_id=2739">Wooz.DK</a>. Good show, Ms. Andersen. Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-10150903413951806022012-09-10T14:36:00.002-07:002012-09-10T14:36:54.080-07:00Melts in Your Mouth, and Pretty Much Everywhere Else<i>I was going back through old things I had set up to post but didn't for some reason or another and I found this. Nikki sent me a most generous package earlier this summer, and I am <b>still </b>at a loss for<b> </b>how I can ever fulfill my debt of awesome and interesting things to her.</i><br />
<br />
The Astounding Nikki, who I fear shall be an expat forever more, always sends me astounding things. Sometimes those astounding things are made of chocolate, a medium I hold in very high esteem. Delicious esteem, you might say. The local climate, however, is less... uh... <i>respectful</i>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNF8p5CR1EkA-PomD7LlS_hGD-8Fff2Eal-OqA-zWwSpoFoqlJQaVxe6AumhcczZUM0gkrN3pNDqKG1HGAvk-oAe2524yDt90VFYz3AVTFw0rAFGovcpp1fgiTXixSH9bLBzdpbtaotSU/s1600/hotel-chocolat-happy-easter-egg-milk-chocolate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNF8p5CR1EkA-PomD7LlS_hGD-8Fff2Eal-OqA-zWwSpoFoqlJQaVxe6AumhcczZUM0gkrN3pNDqKG1HGAvk-oAe2524yDt90VFYz3AVTFw0rAFGovcpp1fgiTXixSH9bLBzdpbtaotSU/s400/hotel-chocolat-happy-easter-egg-milk-chocolate.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">stock photo of the delicious and delightful "Happy Egg" of Great Britain that Nikki so thoughtfully sent me</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_pt836tmIj864m4plXD1qj8WJm7uuW_cMosDCujMBCbi753JNS7tyEid0phEqXKQRPermj6U5byVmufG-VGUco42jjfkKGyymb3xs3TdhP9irEbLuBfst2BK9WXT9FgXMP3sIKT3P6z4/s1600/happy+egg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_pt836tmIj864m4plXD1qj8WJm7uuW_cMosDCujMBCbi753JNS7tyEid0phEqXKQRPermj6U5byVmufG-VGUco42jjfkKGyymb3xs3TdhP9irEbLuBfst2BK9WXT9FgXMP3sIKT3P6z4/s400/happy+egg.jpg" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">aftermath of mailing a Happy Egg to the Arizona desert</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I am pleased to report that in any physical format, Happy Eggs are delicious! Furthermore, their twee little faces, even when melted to the window of their packaging, remain perfectly adorable. The outcome of posting chocolate through the desert has never been more endearing (or more comedic) in my humble opinion.<br />
<br />
For this and all other delights you send me, Astounding Nikki, please accept my sincere gratitude. I am without the means to thank you properly unless you should need a kidney someday. c:Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-15181506369735548092012-08-06T20:44:00.003-07:002012-08-06T20:46:03.501-07:00Eventful DayWell shit, this has been a busy Monday. Let's see:<br />
<br />
✓ Land a <a href="http://www.about-robots.com/curiosity-rover-nuclear-battery.html" target="_blank">nuclear</a> rover on Mars<br />
✓ Remember Hiroshima 67 years after the first atomic bombing<br />
✓ Hey Jamaica, happy Independence Day<br />
✓ Hey <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usain_Bolt" target="_blank">Jamaican</a>, you're the Fastest Man on Earth<br />
✓ Apply to <a href="http://education.asu.edu/" target="_blank">grad school</a><br />
<br />
Yep.<br />
<br />
Oh yeah, and I know what I want for Christmas this year:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZYb_QVj7pFFfcEdsCu0kuSn6Pdm11-vIAX0fLzZeUihBXBbpB29XhH-3k_bQDRE5alWWHb8c576M00b6CrdLJH1yMUpLLNjlUee6YobQprbpDC23Vh-XswN3_p-jOTz5SYoklRK3bbI/s1600/FuckIWantThisToy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZYb_QVj7pFFfcEdsCu0kuSn6Pdm11-vIAX0fLzZeUihBXBbpB29XhH-3k_bQDRE5alWWHb8c576M00b6CrdLJH1yMUpLLNjlUee6YobQprbpDC23Vh-XswN3_p-jOTz5SYoklRK3bbI/s640/FuckIWantThisToy.jpg" width="451" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I will drive it around my desk with a 20 minute contact delay for added realism.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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So I'm going to start writing this blog again, but it's going to be decidedly different. I was trying to do just the artsy-crafty stuff here, but then I ran out. ._. So now I'll just post everything. `u` フフフぅ〜Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-33608154299269748422012-06-30T21:04:00.001-07:002012-08-06T20:20:49.940-07:00WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN<b><</b>Ku anger ENGAGED<b>></b><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Suckah redirecting from mah blog just bettah step the HELL back. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: large;">I ain't done here, no GOT-DAM way.</span></div>
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<b><</b>Ku reset<b>></b><br />
<br />
To anyone recently visiting who was redirected to some asshat's placeholder, I do apologize. A javascript installed from a Japanese page was corrupted when that J-page got hacked... so no more little ghostie on the sidebar. :<<br />
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Also, I am still alive. :3Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-10311994285218887562012-01-21T22:51:00.000-07:002012-01-21T22:51:37.530-07:00You stopped SOPA; you stopped PIPA!Thank you, everyone. <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/20/sopa-stopped-after-unprecedented-online-protests/">The Internet is safe <b>for now</b></a>, but there remains <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more">much to be done.</a><br />
<br />
Don't back down. <a href="http://americancensorship.org/">Keep the pressure on your representatives in Congress</a>, and <a href="https://plus.google.com/115040231829422107651#115040231829422107651/posts">spread the word</a>. SOPA and PIPA (and <a href="http://www.stopacta.info/about">ACTA</a>, an international agreement that is slowly evolving into similar legislation) are still on the table, and they'll be back. Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-68598313608062249102012-01-18T00:05:00.000-07:002012-01-18T00:05:23.271-07:00Stop SOPA. Stop PIPA.This post will remain, long after <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more">the blackouts of January 18th</a> have come and gone.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1157700364"><br />
</a><br />
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/17/stop-sopa-or-web-will-go-dark">SOPA and PIPA are closely-related bills in the US legislature that, if passed, will cripple the Internet</a>. They are scheduled to go up for a vote on January 24th.<br />
<br />
<b>This is not a drill.</b><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1157700360"><br />
</a><br />
<a href="https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/">Google: End Piracy, Not Liberty</a>: sign the petition<br />
<a href="http://www.stopthewall.us/?gclid=CPDuzdn-2K0CFQdjhwodF1pqng">StopTheWall.us</a>: protest about PIPA directly to your senator<br />
<br />
Learn about the bills (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act">SOPA</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act">PIPA</a>) and make yourself heard.Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-48290573792680547902012-01-07T16:23:00.000-07:002012-01-07T16:23:23.795-07:00WARNING: blog has reached critical massAlright, damnitall, here we go:<br />
<br />
I need to get my online data organized. First off is this blog, which IS still alive, honestly. It's connected to my private account and a webspace where I host designs for clients, though, which is less than optimal. Also, it is ugly. I can't design the space here the way I'd like to without circumventing a bunch of Blogger rules and garbage. Vehement MEH.<br />
<br />
SO, with everyone's merciful understanding and forgiveness, please know that <b>things are going to go royally haywire for a little while</b>. I intend to leave everything up and accessible for as long as I can, and I will make any hot switches in the shortest length of time possible. That said, there are going to be broken links here and there. In the end, things should seamlessly redirect to wherever I decide to drop them for permanence... <span style="font-size: x-small;">fingers crossed.</span><br />
<br />
In the process, <b>I will be permanently deleting some posts.</b> These will generally be the posts that have nothing of interest to anyone, anywhere, <i>anyway</i>. (All the "oh crap what happened let me fix this sorry brb" posts, for example.) Anything that contains a pattern, tutorial, or experiment will remain online and fully accessible by the end of the cleanup. The current links to PDF patterns and diagrams, however, will break. I intend to replace them with a forwarding image.<br />
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Lastly, I will establish a secondary blog for some of the things that I would have previously posted here. I think. Maybe. Let me think it over. (If you're only here for patterns, don't worry; you'll still be in the right place.)<br />
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Postscriptively, happy new year to everyone. :3 I hope you've all had a great first week.Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-18952270855370979152011-11-04T21:35:00.000-07:002011-11-04T21:35:49.970-07:00Damnitall.Something snapped in the overburdened monstrosity of a template I have been using on this blog for a long time, so MEH. I intend to redesign the whole thing this weekend.<br />
<br />
...and then post new stuff.<br />
<br />
Don't be afraid of any weird errors you see here for the next however many days, thanks. m(-_-;)mKuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-37525431351386575622011-10-27T21:29:00.000-07:002011-10-27T21:29:40.922-07:00Zzzzzzz.......zzzzzzz....<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/C2p5_OUv_Dc?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
...GAH! WHA! WHA?!<br />
<br />
WHERE AM I<br />
WHAT MONTH IS IT<br />
OH CR*P I AM WAY BEHIND ON EVERYTHING<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Translation: I am both lazy AND I have been sick, and I really need to update. Sorry. Stay tuned.</span>Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-72078851690323238022011-09-03T20:28:00.001-07:002011-09-03T20:29:16.170-07:00What the Felt (or, good places to buy wool felt online)I'm shopping for felt. This is what I do to relax after utterly failing to make chicken stir-fry (apparently).<br />
<br />
Also, I find it soothing to write reports comparing the online retailers of products for which I shop after utterly failing to make chicken stir-fry.<br />
<br />
Yep.<br />
<br />
I rated these on a less-than-scientific system, mind you; most of these players sell a wide variety of sizes and blends, but I make small stuff and I don't need 100% virgin unicorn wool. Ergo, the target is for the smallest piece for sale with one dimension of at least 12", with a blend of minimum 20% wool.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.thefeltedewe.com/index.html">The Felted Ewe</a></span><br />
<blockquote><b>Colors:</b> 26<br />
<b>Wool percentage:</b> 20% ~ 35% wool to rayon <br />
<i>Thickness:</i> unknown<br />
<i>Size:</i> 12" by 18" <br />
<i>Price:</i> $1.35 each<br />
<i>Per square inch:</i> $0.0063<br />
<b>Shipping:</b> $7.00 US, more international</blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.commonwealthfelt.com/default.asp">Commonwealth Felt</a></span><br />
<blockquote><b>Colors:</b> 60+<br />
<b>Wool percentage:</b> 20% ~ 35% to rayon, 100% wool and bamboo/rayon available<br />
<i>Thickness:</i> unknown<br />
<i>Size:</i> 12" by 18" (and 36" by 36")<br />
<i>Price:</i> $1.79 for 20%, $1.89 for 35% ($9.39 for square yard of either)<br />
<i>Per square inch:</i> $0.0083 for 20%, $0.0088 for 35%<br />
<b>Shipping:</b> $8.15 and up</blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.weirdollsandcrafts.com/">Weir Crafts</a></span><br />
<blockquote><b>Colors:</b> 15<br />
<b>Wool Percentage:</b> 70% to rayon, 100% wool and 50% bamboo/rayon available<br />
<i>Thickness:</i> 1/16"<br />
<i>Size:</i> 9" by 12" (larger sizes available)<br />
<i>Price:</i> $1.75 each <br />
<i>Per square inch:</i> $0.0162<br />
<b>Shipping:</b> $4.99 and up</blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ericas.com/fabric/woolfelt.htm">Erica's</a></span><br />
<blockquote><b>Colors:</b> ~90<br />
<b>Wool Percentage:</b> 20%, 35%, and 70% to rayon, 100% wool on same page <br />
<i>Thickness:</i> 1/16" for rayon blends, 7/64" for 100%<br />
<i>Size:</i> 9" by 12" (larger sizes available)<br />
<br />
<i>Price:</i> ranges from $1.05 to $1.50 based on color and blend, $2.15 for 100%<br />
<b>Shipping:</b> ~$3.00+, varies widely depending upon size of order</blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.woolfeltcentral.com/woolfeltcentral.html">Wool Felt Central</a></span><br />
<blockquote><b>Colors:</b> 98<br />
<b>Wool Percentage:</b> 20% ~ 35% to rayon<br />
<i>Thickness:</i> 1/16" for rayon blends, 7/64" for 100%<br />
<br />
<i>Size:</i> 12" by 18" or by the yard (continuous)<br />
<br />
<i>Price:</i> $1.75 each, $8.50 per yard for 20%, $9.50 per yard for 35% <br />
<b>Shipping:</b> $5.99+</blockquote><b>Other Places to Find Felt</b><br />
I didn't do the math for these: they were either too jumbled up, too expensive (but still pretty to look at), obvious places to look, or temporarily closed (Felt-o-rama will re-open in January 2012).<br />
<blockquote><a href="http://www.colonialcrafts.com/category/Wool_Felt/c1">Colonial Crafts</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.achildsdream.com/wool_felt/index.htm">A Child's Dream</a><br />
<a href="http://www.createforless.com/">Create for Less</a><br />
<a href="http://www.feltorama.com/">Felt-o-rama </a></blockquote><span style="font-size: x-small;">AND NOW I WILL EAT MY SAD CHICKEN STIR-FRY AS PENANCE. (〒д〒)</span>Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-30693233555018555642011-07-23T16:32:00.000-07:002011-07-23T16:32:26.276-07:00Experiment: A Mess (Poured Fondant)My sister needed to bake up some cookies to send to a friend, so I suggested a method of decorating that I'd wanted to try for some time now: <a href="http://sugaredblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/poured-fondant-pumpkin-cookies.html" target="_blank">poured fondant</a>. It is, in essence, the same thing as <a href="http://shishigirl.blogspot.com/2011/06/experiment-glace-icing-and-lecture.html" target="_blank">glace icing</a>, but instead of adding more liquid, you heat it up juuust a little to get the sugar to a liquid state, then beat the mixture briefly to force the recrystallization of the sugar to remain fine and even. This <i>supposedly </i>allows you to simply pour it over whatever baked good you're trying to decorate for a solid, even layer. It sets quickly by cooling, then locks into a matte sugar shell within 24 hours.<br />
<br />
The recipe is fantastically simple:<br />
<blockquote>6 cups confectioner's sugar<br />
1/2 cup water<br />
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup<br />
1~2 teaspoons extract flavoring as desired<br />
food coloring as desired<br />
<br />
Mix everything in a pot over low heat to 92~100 degrees F, pour over something edible.</blockquote><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQaS4y18LVnY_3cD846aSlYk2Ml0Pa-pm57E-C-JF96OEr4AWh7v1SjZEXc0osoI5CQj_EnvO_IDhfVw3SEqYXdwLLWFf0PBe6kzlNLiJJVfjQLADz_Mm0Df3TUX7UdkzsL6dVi56cbo/s1600/MakingisEasy.JPG" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQaS4y18LVnY_3cD846aSlYk2Ml0Pa-pm57E-C-JF96OEr4AWh7v1SjZEXc0osoI5CQj_EnvO_IDhfVw3SEqYXdwLLWFf0PBe6kzlNLiJJVfjQLADz_Mm0Df3TUX7UdkzsL6dVi56cbo/s400/MakingisEasy.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Here's the mixing...</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxWc1Rk7PDJ8ZLyn6v5cFv0TvaIR-Jc-zc3RZreCxszrvUbhMng2YExgM8IpvpuLC-2vySpXAUU3weHQnrAqWvpRQuFktR0Bq0Hvlck3nhq_vO-W2mixtol-ICOYM4EN7W5j3K6mYRP80/s1600/UseisHard.JPG" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxWc1Rk7PDJ8ZLyn6v5cFv0TvaIR-Jc-zc3RZreCxszrvUbhMng2YExgM8IpvpuLC-2vySpXAUU3weHQnrAqWvpRQuFktR0Bq0Hvlck3nhq_vO-W2mixtol-ICOYM4EN7W5j3K6mYRP80/s400/UseisHard.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> ...and, uh... the aftermath of the pouring.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><br />
Disclaimer: Those cookies with clean-cut edges in the back of the image were achieved by literally <i>carving</i> them out of a sheet of hardened fondant sludge.<br />
<br />
In brief, this is a hard process to control. Even with twice the water called for in the recipe and increasing the temperature all the way to 105 degrees F, the fondant was never thin enough to really pour over the cookies. It was more like laying down sugary tarp that kinda draped over the sides of each cookie and made indistinct sugary lumps of all of them. I'm not quite sure why this happened, but I suspect either the distinct lack of humidity in the desert or the cheap confectioner's sugar I picked up at Walmart is to blame. <br />
<br />
One more try, dipping the cookies into the fondant while keeping it over steady low heat. They do this with cupcakes, the Internet tells me.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cakejournal.com/archives/how-to-cover-cupcakes-with-poured-fondant" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4tl2CbguUACA05CLD2hPnxzUP3ZPkksAVty6hAyTTqaR5N1VsT056_Y6IlmGOgvYelApiZ-Du9JL2nE6dMIkWK2BwhgqCch-MnihPRvcy2CaXTJm1Ut15deFZi6zOaeCtkuXmn5MZqZM/s400/Image1.png" width="385" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">what the Internet tells me</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitTdibtFUt9h8ZxLpBk9NO3KzTqeUQg82LcmoIiv6ijnuYqYr1nEUiVVwOUJn1PnQUtk14LvidOPdr-S3s0opoFSih5hPesC7sjgmEqBPzZ_adP8VkxvFfdcNEOgj1JjPImLJhqk6-qqY/s1600/Gloop.JPG" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitTdibtFUt9h8ZxLpBk9NO3KzTqeUQg82LcmoIiv6ijnuYqYr1nEUiVVwOUJn1PnQUtk14LvidOPdr-S3s0opoFSih5hPesC7sjgmEqBPzZ_adP8VkxvFfdcNEOgj1JjPImLJhqk6-qqY/s400/Gloop.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">real life*</span></div><br />
...dipping 0.25" thick cookies into hot sugar sludge = not the most fun thing ever. SIGH.<br />
<br />
Maybe I'll make <i>petit fours</i> someday, but I won't revisit poured fondant until then.<br />
<br />
This will be my last attempt at decorated cookies for a while as I get back to posting patterns I have neglected for a long time.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">* I <b>really</b> wanted to photoshop <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_After_Dentist" target="_blank">David DeVore</a> into that image, but alas, I have neither the time nor the skills.</span>Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-25617259640919811352011-07-05T21:34:00.001-07:002011-07-05T21:35:31.014-07:00Experiment: Stamped Impression CookiesShort one. To decorate cookies with a full coat of icing, you usually do it in two steps. First, <b>piping</b>, where you go around the edges with a line of icing that is thick enough to not flow off the edge of the cookie, then let it set up before step two, <b>flooding</b>, where you fill the outlined area(s) with an icing that is slightly thinner.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiru6BctndqFak4pooVQj7giq9Vj7w2fO1dGFkeY79HhvUdutqjekY6FsZSyGvTlaxauPttMWXV6dhzksOqyOSk7uDaSoeiTfGlUxrMiSsXBwpxE6nWOEJbcUKZaRPuUVTY5Qm2avIELc0/s1600/icingyay.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiru6BctndqFak4pooVQj7giq9Vj7w2fO1dGFkeY79HhvUdutqjekY6FsZSyGvTlaxauPttMWXV6dhzksOqyOSk7uDaSoeiTfGlUxrMiSsXBwpxE6nWOEJbcUKZaRPuUVTY5Qm2avIELc0/s400/icingyay.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">example of piped icing on cookies, before the flooding step (hands and creativity provided by my sister)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Piping exists entirely as a series of dams to keep the flood icing from overflowing the sides of the cookie. There are, conceivably, many other ways of setting up these dams. For example, what happens if you press foam stamp shapes into soft cookie dough, bake it, then fill the impressions with glace icing? Do the walls of the indentations work as well as piped borders to hold the shape of the icing?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIXqpLxuuGj-Ne9aTAaxYP4OFBSh8WZGQdntT6xhHo0U9DPSlFwuOznWUJx849xe8lZVZF8IVTxgI_DlcSlrG1YDpqiv4rDUgg-3K3Ds_xacItmKbbjgttjJEwbWXb2ZyH2vQ1EulWjFo/s1600/stampedcookies.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIXqpLxuuGj-Ne9aTAaxYP4OFBSh8WZGQdntT6xhHo0U9DPSlFwuOznWUJx849xe8lZVZF8IVTxgI_DlcSlrG1YDpqiv4rDUgg-3K3Ds_xacItmKbbjgttjJEwbWXb2ZyH2vQ1EulWjFo/s400/stampedcookies.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Conclusion:</b> Yes. Yes they do.</div><br />
Additionally, chocolate sugar cookie dough offers many creative avenues worth perusal. :D<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsFb1IOmlxlyue9Ge81dkWdh-7uiUUdb1HaneRbKbnJvzDvpJZXHbzpk0-EZ7iDCMZTwUIVw6KTHUMkkqkZQiVTFLQUTxUdzWnuV23qe2O-8GAAGhYR2agAFp1j1YU-AkeqVNCfUZsT0/s1600/poo+cookie.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsFb1IOmlxlyue9Ge81dkWdh-7uiUUdb1HaneRbKbnJvzDvpJZXHbzpk0-EZ7iDCMZTwUIVw6KTHUMkkqkZQiVTFLQUTxUdzWnuV23qe2O-8GAAGhYR2agAFp1j1YU-AkeqVNCfUZsT0/s400/poo+cookie.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yes, it is a poo cookie. No, I am not ten years old.</span></div>Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-8346542688776250022011-06-25T16:20:00.003-07:002011-06-25T16:39:18.496-07:00Experiment: Glace Icing (and a Lecture)Not satisfied in the least with the outcome of <a href="http://shishigirl.blogspot.com/2011/04/experiment-royal-icing.html" target="_blank">the last experiment</a>, I have been puttering around on the Internet in search of an alternative method of decorating cookies with hard icing... and wouldn't you know it, there IS one. Lads and ladies, <b>glace icing</b>:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.the-crafty-penguin.com/2010/09/vanilla-sugar-cookies-with-blue-glace.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2zNG4IxpjjiIZtliI8V9JzmVFKuox6ebOFgIHs_R3QzsTV7xKAu9_gmmoxQbledY3aFuNZnDHvIwHlwetLOGF7NQXXIy3KpNyEFiOjBtkqiXC9-DL12DvVtd0S4Vw3iFSahih5LiHdn4/s400/4966877436_31204ddc42_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.the-crafty-penguin.com/2010/09/vanilla-sugar-cookies-with-blue-glace.html" target="_blank">The Crafty Penguin</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/40152129@N06/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPJvrHt7B8spQoF8c3TY-8j8rsLnILrNyZliImRYRzr2mpsvlBhdgNmrSEjhbe1B-1sum-UABFUXiJ5ISk5iOM1sHhCEwWU92SBhUJ8Z7S1OtZZuvGpWVvxoQBXgxPF9e9CqOPewma4CA/s400/4968676323_945222657a.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/40152129@N06/" target="_blank">Drakegore on Flickr</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/40152129@N06/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRJvYcGxQ-xLkDTyp7hVZZgJzXKXdK59JtQvpHzXuNc2Hh7LsPWO9dqgQCzPbz3e-edsONzJRoGaJuApsnK5iyoEG389DTcBib4on8wiG_sB81pnJ9_h2Xm5kOn54pN2tOouhBeHz_Uk/s400/5179909047_ce111f6583.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/40152129@N06/" target="_blank">Drakegore on Flickr</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Glace icing is similar to royal icing in that it hardens atop cookies, so it's good for fine decorating and making treats that have to survive transit. Unlike royal icing, it does not require egg whites or meringue powder, so it doesn't taste like you were baking in the forge at a tin mill. Which is nice.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXuWUcQQJ1WuMMLESIEbqSwOkCnzNqCxqpOQMHdFTJopxdDvPRPTvjroNDgGCfcocgECmG112bl-_E2uQQm9wOqybVc0vmQ5iQxcVQFi1SPsMPckXhBFOyHUEWx3g7X5whSdHR9pvaDY/s200/41up0WPP1jL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" width="200" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>this is nasty stuff</i></span></div><br />
<b>SO HERE GOES THE EXPERIMENT PART AGAIN</b><br />
<br />
I made some more cookies, same recipe as before. Then I got a recipe for glace icing from <a href="http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/12/tutorial-cookie-decorating-with-glace-icing/" target="_blank">here</a>, with alterations. There seems to be several variations among professional bakers as to which are the correct alchemical elements in this concoction. There's a general consensus on the confectioner's sugar, corn syrup, and your choice of clear flavored extract. Then, a division: milk or water? And, if milk: whole or skim?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ5sOs-X5xTSvZnAFmaB_ji-yWCYVUdv2pBcvcIlF6goV4JccfU-mf36B1SecxgSF_cXPE-O55gyRrVjp_HL0TRJYBptY4skRXU_WpMLqNU6nMtNu6TB6i_-CyOzAMycEar8Q4QgDTP58/s200/milk_quart.jpg" width="86" /><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif5LpIr83enmEIlqR8wZnRJqChbotR46ITEvu1lqjEQ_quan01AIhdO8cFOXMIg0rP-VVqTHqTEZTzxy0qgvurzfyxYmzMhmpRnh5agiH-MyppEwvsDRcFC9e5eMe4P5jTcGvE-7N4F-8/s200/2014566.jpg" width="150" /><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjis7sR7KGcM3YAUT9SuK-gZeQENZfg5rF-8-8raSRTjS0Xn92TKTzZlPNW43jzVcDfflYqGpzjPsnFQ7nUPl4ZJShsPz0jwlpmf7XqH2aCvp3M7LHFQ7tgzALyVgMVtxS1QjVGlqWPjQk/s200/fatfree_skim_quart.jpg" width="86" /><br />
<i>OH GOD SO MANY CHOICES</i></div><br />
I can't think of why you'd want to use whole milk in any recipe that doesn't specifically rely on the fat content, and as far as making a sugar-based icing that you intend to set hard, fats and oils of any kind would likely sabotage the effort.<br />
<br />
Water offers a unique benefit. The other three ingredients in glace icing are all shelf-stable, meaning they can be left at room temperature in closed containers and will not rot. Using water as the final ingredient maintains this property, rendering an icing that can essentially go in the pantry for weeks (perhaps even months?) in a sealed bottle and be used as needed.<br />
<br />
I chose skim milk for this first try, for reasons explained further down the page. There is another decision to be made; how to color the icing? <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvpi3Sku03jyvJec1kL2o418suTMNHfVDFDJovoSQyCsaZztMsvZCsOXWR6yxhCuciqF3ovJWP-4LfIWl6CV_6WBw8vL6uzS4lL_IQ8J5qdTOsBPKHdTjFNPLq1bELW9-09UE5n9zDB4w/s200/601-5127_m.jpg" width="200" /><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvolyKyN7gmnXA28StjjIBO1SegNjFIkr3Uvi5uqIE-l1xSSsBBwiDFeWcLNzEb0Gwiw9A0qbYzpGQeUfrq0cyRuhh67vVc_X8Fe9qjBzHfsYfEm7QUhdeKaw67KrJjxHgZ13FzAeZ37U/s200/ttar_food_coloring_v.jpg" width="200" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZKJ9wx3-Ql9dBLOvQw0gKRn0Cm6QwO2mV5HwjRZiZ6Z2d9xuDAUtsNJqZ5ySbHeCrM4dUqycdmXb6xaQz2_cvB7eipbW4CnMnSsN-SRHwDB36yYbUSCxEhGamTRk1-CsMp2jWTy3i1rc/s200/-%2521AmeriColor+Soft+Gel+Paste+Food+Coloring+Super+Black--78282834.jpg" width="200" /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>WHY IS THIS SO HARD</i></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">...actually, it's not that hard. The liquid food coloring that you buy at the supermarket is the cheapest and most widely-available food dye out there, and it's likely something you've worked with before at kindergarten or in your mom's kitchen. You can also find more concentrated food dyes at specialty shops (and most craft stores, nowdays, since boutique baking has exploded into a billion dollar industry with TV shows and designer brands of icing and tools and competitions with celebrity judges and... wait, am I still in the parentheses?)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Eh-hem. Concentrated food dyes come in two types: gel and paste. There are several brands available, including Wilton, Ateco, and AmeriColor. Both are generally more expensive than liquid dyes. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Now, the sneaky insight part of this post, AKA why I went to college: <b>knowing the nature of your available mediums can help you cheat at achieving bright color.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>OH NO A LONG EXPLANATION</b></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">Every coloring medium falls somewhere on a spectrum of transparency. At one end, you have <b>translucence</b>; inks and dyes that add their color on top of any colors already present. This is like adding a wash of blue watercolor to black text on a white page -- the white takes on the blue hue, while the black text remains fully visible and unaffected. No matter how many times you wash the page with blue, the black test isn't going to be covered -- you will only supersaturate the page with blue until it reaches the maximum available hue of the ink.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">On the other end of the spectrum is <b>opacity</b>. Opaque inks and other mediums have the additional property of <i>coverage</i>. When applied to a page, a completely opaque medium will blot out any colors underneath and fill the area with its own exact color. If you applied an opaque coat of blue paint to the white page of black text mentioned above, you would simply end up with a blue sheet of paper -- both the text and the white background would be gone. No matter how many coats of blue opaque paint you used, however, the hue will not increase in saturation, as it would with a translucent dye; you would be unable to change the value of the one blue shade your paint produced with the first coat.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Applied to coloring foodstuffs, here's the trick: liquid and gel food dyes fall on the translucent end of the spectrum, but pastes fall on the opaque side. (Skim milk (remember?) is also highly opaque.) Glace icing itself is semi-translucent and will not provide an opaque "ground" for brighter colors to "stand" on. If you use add some white food coloring paste to your icing, you are infusing the icing with this necessary ground, which means you can get away with using the cheaper translucent liquid food dyes to achieve your full spectrum of color. Using skim milk (rather than water) in the composition of the icing further enhances this opaque white ground quality.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">Holy crap, that was verbose. o.o' Sorry.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Short version:</b> </div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">To get bright colors with minimal investment in specialty food dyes, use about 10~20 drops of white paste food dye when you mix up a batch of icing, then divide and color it with regular liquid dyes from the supermarket. (You can always invest in a full spectrum of pastes and gels later if you decide colored icing is your calling in life.)</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><b>SO THAT IS WHAT I DID,</b> with American "bright white" paste found at the Hobby Lobby* up in Phoenix. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Outcome:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4FnlYz_d5UBlfXOlYmkTrcpo_v_TmgD-NkqofZ45lfsPgOFHXIygtF7fNAwmKXW23SJToUJaZsdwQWNy4miG90wfmBbIQ8puB2YuA1uiStfGZhO3ZTap2Pgac2dCEClLY4LFRx5KZzDk/s1600/cookieSUCCESS.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4FnlYz_d5UBlfXOlYmkTrcpo_v_TmgD-NkqofZ45lfsPgOFHXIygtF7fNAwmKXW23SJToUJaZsdwQWNy4miG90wfmBbIQ8puB2YuA1uiStfGZhO3ZTap2Pgac2dCEClLY4LFRx5KZzDk/s400/cookieSUCCESS.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Woot, b*tches!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Conclusions</span></b></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Glace icing tastes GOOD.</b> Not as good as buttercream icing (frosting), that soft stuff on cakes that I could eat by the spoonful (and have, on occasion), but glace is dramatically better than royal icing. If I could fault it for anything, it'd be that it's on the upper edge of tolerable sweetness... but paired with a crisp buttery cookie, this works to the sum benefit of both.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Glace icing is easy to make. </b>Four ingredients, none of them exotic, no need for an appliance beater or special paddles, no time limits. Also can be made to last weeks without refrigeration if you use water in place of milk and keep it in sealed containers. You can't beat that.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Glace icing hardens exactly well enough. </b>It takes a drying time of 24 hours (or more, for thick icing on big cookies), but glace does reach a point of stability beyond which it can be stacked, packaged, and mailed (by parcel post, even). It does NOT become crystalline-hard, like royal icing. One thing you need to be careful about is letting the piped outline set up before flooding the interior...and glace icing tends to form lower barriers, so don't overfill:<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9DdjHm_EFRkYPVoBZWViMibtLxuxsdp3W6Ui8Y17kY9mLIUFGVUp9TBNn70jXp2M55NhErjMocG-a8x3inn4x9MyWTZ87zLA3MjqEvnrMqD7rUGqaKVHMiys1kkCgiqA45wT14n7RLx4/s1600/welldamnit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9DdjHm_EFRkYPVoBZWViMibtLxuxsdp3W6Ui8Y17kY9mLIUFGVUp9TBNn70jXp2M55NhErjMocG-a8x3inn4x9MyWTZ87zLA3MjqEvnrMqD7rUGqaKVHMiys1kkCgiqA45wT14n7RLx4/s320/welldamnit.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Oops.</i> </div></div></blockquote><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">...but also, don't underfill, because<b> glace icing sinks as it dries.</b> This didn't seem to be as much of a problem the first time I made it with skim milk, but subsequent batches made with water seem to sink down in the middle. I'm still hoping to figure out if the water is really the culprit, or if it has something to do with the dry atmosphere to be found in any kitchen in the Arizona desert (4% relative humidity, woah).</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><blockquote><b>Glace icing tends to blur a little at the edges between colors.</b> Both milk and water recipes showed this effect... it's like a 2-pixel feathering, if you're familiar with photo editing software. Again, this might be caused by my own inexperience at the technique, the weather conditions in Arizona, alignment of the planets, or butterflies flapping their wings in Africa. Or it could just be intrinsic to glace icing.<br />
<br />
<b>High-gloss only.</b> The corn syrup, an integral ingredient for stability of the icing as it is applied to the cookies, gives glace an inherently shiny finish. This is the exact opposite of the flat, solid look of royal icing. Not too much of a price to pay for the improvement in flavor and ease of production, but it means that desirable hard shell of matte candy color remains out of my reach...<i> for now</i>. </blockquote>Aaaand that's the end of that particular experiment, thought I am still making cookies and glace icing. Like I mentioned up there somewhere, these iced cookies ship well, and I can't think of anyone in my book of addresses who could <i>not </i>use some cookies right about now. (Honestly; can you?)<br />
<br />
*<span style="font-size: x-small;">Hey Hobby Lobby: please build a freakin' store in Tucson already. </span></div>Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-72302804076923825442011-06-07T13:41:00.000-07:002011-06-07T13:41:59.003-07:00Still Alive(...and still channeling Gladys after a weekend of Portal 2 jokes with my sister.)<br />
<br />
That Which Has Been Going On:<br />
<ul><li>a second <a href="http://shishigirl.blogspot.com/2011/04/experiment-royal-icing.html">iced-cookie experiment</a>, now with 200% more success and zero meringue powder*</li>
<li>further <a href="http://shishigirl.blogspot.com/2010/09/experiment-pastel-crayons-oven.html">experiments with surplus craft supplies</a> (and further cementing my hatred of painting things)*</li>
<li>using the Internet to solve my problems, like <a href="http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/">old cellphones</a> and <a href="http://myworld.ebay.com/theshishigirl">random collectibles from childhood</a>, both of which help ease my insatiable desire to visit the post office every day</li>
<li><b>rigging up an Etsy shop</b> (!)</li>
</ul>* <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>post coming soon</i></span>Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-88458911790424439632011-04-22T20:18:00.001-07:002011-05-01T18:30:35.342-07:00Experiment: Royal IcingDamn you, cookies. Damn your delicious siren song. Curse your versatility, an appropriate snack for all ages and all venues, from after-school munch to high tea presentables. Most of all, your glorious presentation under coats of delicate icing; your transformation from flat crunchy biscuit to a perfectly appointed treat for the eyes as well as the tongue, sweet and tempting...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sweetopia.net/2010/12/wintery-christmas-cookies/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifr9PGCXuoiMkLVU7T5zWhuagGfSq4zH1PBmYDbOvAeSe2zzLVlHrX4zx_Zg2kI7Otbl9XX6K_G1VZdrIU3HtzAudnQBuvR5GtKle38kly0mCM-8qWbxTCba7g5S5tK-e6kheeNH9yB3Q/s640/decorated-cookies.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Damn it all, I gotta try this. </span></i></div><br />
Between my sweet tooth and the books at the library, the call of the decorated cookie has been too much for me to ignore this spring. I usually make cookies from the "drop" family; that is, drop spoonfuls of dough on the cookies sheet, bake, cool, eat. Chocolate chip cookies are the most famous member of this family; so are snickerdoodles, most cookies involving peanut butter, or any chunky cookies full of nuts, candy, dried berries, oats, etc.<br />
<br />
But I digress.<br />
<br />
To make the sugar-shelled glory of finely decorated cookies, you need to start with a flat, clean canvas of rolled-and-cut cookies, and develop your decorations around the medium of <b>royal icing</b>; that mysterious sugary paste that requires unfamiliar powdered egg ingredients. Beyond the gingerbread cookie recipe I inherited from my mother, I have very little experience with rolled cookies. I have exactly ZERO experience with royal icing. However THIS:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.madbaker.net/2009/12/mad-about-christmas-cookies/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTiAbB8iR1JAUMM93FcTae6Wb06rRz_hvLxTJ0KZdxyUZJrEiaDTF72wKQJHtTjSTGvk75UM4ExNZLnNrY6ib2tIqYJMUbpBPSi3uRfgHMfU7dyOpRXyuBgACJk9nRW0Ui1LoXQdVdubE/s400/4200301568_95d9dc5672.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;">O.O !!!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sweetopia.net/2009/10/how-to-prevent-your-icing-from-bleeding-7-tips/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEjO_ilA9uGCCanMeZtOCYWXaLutD55XB1RoLpFo5hrwEj5VJ1XDh939qj5d0wsRlXUlLPdQ0sSvgM6f8QTYaJRe06Mulh0isQK00hPDPtYuJ3G-MssVY_KckWPU9ArQ5JhrUe_IgsowA/s400/fall-theme-decorated-cookies-picnik-450x300.jpg" width="400" /><span id="goog_852704424"></span></a><span id="goog_852704425"></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">"now with more sparkles!"</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://elenis.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6TpYInVGwWEJT7gI6G5uqQ5ZR9kT1byL2zKWylKXjelBjk_t02HG8EXOZQbyVDSj9yFvbvK4F1WByNWyy4S3IiyDWxvBd4h16WX8p5mkj42IK06L3f18GxohPVwAt8g1NhkwooIKnRU/s400/elenibirds.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dood. Ornithology </span></i><span style="font-size: x-small;">and</span><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> sugar? I'm in.</span></i></div><br />
...is inspiration far more powerful than I can resist. So I got me a book and a canister of meringue powder and READY SET GO.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cookie-Craft-Techniques-Creative-Occasions/dp/1580176941/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303452051&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQEdgSpJAOQLw0zp6eH33-jsmj_ucfPHoXU3hEWKQkKDoOHooGUB5h9F8PXK6ersDU-nqU09ps1CwGO8mhlBp4DgZs1FN-nVlqxPzIl-9ujEIYoMJgarb6ATSU3uhtIus7QiHoy7s8T0g/s200/61eT0yoZlyL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cookie-Craft-Christmas-Decorating-Holiday/dp/1603424407/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1303452051&sr=8-2" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQSpdz48z0RcKPnepu-tq6rxomntBNOdvcfFAwBH7EJ2o-RBOzZPd-wl58YObaN5C36Xm51kyH03DH8HpDXDO0WWyXY4far7V-MDgUfbAVNVTT-xIjScOIsy2oBcEeILQHB5YKsL31Ovo/s200/cg2-4804_300.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
This book (above right), which was available at the library, is actually the Xmas special edition of the other book (above left), which was not, but will be shortly, because I requested it through interlibrary loan and the Empress of Librarians was all "hey, that's a cool book" and she ordered some copies for Pima county yaaay. :D<br />
<br />
I'm not going to detail the recipe and making of the cookies in the book, because it's not my recipe and pretty much a moot point. You can make any cookie as a base for decorating so long as it possesses two particular qualities: flat and stiff. Crunchy butter cookies or hard gingerbread; that sort of thing. The book has recipes for butter sugar cookies, butter chocolate cookies, and gingerbread. I made the butter sugar cookies.<br />
<br />
NOW HERE IS THE EXPERIMENT PART:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Royal Icing </span><br />
<br />
The unique chemical nature of this stuff made me apprehensive about it's creation, but if you measure carefully and follow directions, it seems to come out more or less as it should be on the first try. One thing I have learned regarding the use of royal icing on cookies is that it needs to be made in two formats; piping and flood.<br />
<br />
<b>Piping </b>is the stiffer stuff that keeps more of its shape and dries harder. It can be used in several ways, but for this elementary experiment, it's basically what you use to draw outlines of different areas you want to color. It is the "pen" of cookie illustration.<br />
<br />
<b>Flood </b>icing has the same components as piping icing, but a higher ratio of water. Ergo, it flows a little more freely. Once you've drawn all the outlines you want with piping icing, you fill in the spaces with flood icing. It hits the piped borders and stops, giving an effect like cloisonne work. You can also add flood icing of different colors on top of a flooded background; it will sink in to the same blob, you can swirl the colors together for cool effects (called "feathering", I think).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://mandragoraenamels.mosaicglobe.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXI74njQMaa7ulJh_iToDd8YZbKp0TAN7rsGj8XPk0U0PR79x4w5-fn-NlXcEqRWE4qMUazVzqlAWmvT8PfJSlkiEyUZFyt3tBtcgGGIUvZMEfEPAuP1z0dzcDF-UILG3VC0BkFLqOYw4/s200/cloisonne_bird.jpg" width="150" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kim_thibodeaux/3108749209/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnJO3ppiWmh_D6jep9Oka7G2qBgZyaxhhMU5tVxiiuMIzFN-QnM3UV3E7kDbG8qCICbLA4owEIPdPDxmyA6dx9xagU9xFvT7LvsQxCgpL0w0e0vHmYVVQQ7xl1r-dw0G6PUpFp2soaxyc/s200/birdcookie.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">ancient enameling technique compared to modern cookie (yep)</span></i></div><br />
The other thing I have learned about royal icing is that its key ingredient is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_white" target="_blank">egg albumen</a>, and that this can be supplied in one of at least three ways: liquid pasteurized egg whites, powdered egg whites, and meringue powder. A fourth way (zeroith way?) is just using egg whites that you separate from regular ol' whole eggs you get from a chicken or the store, <b>but this carries a risk of salmonella</b>, so don't do it and then blame me when you get sick. <br />
<br />
I couldn't find powdered egg whites anywhere in town, and I didn't want to measure out liquid egg whites, so for convenience, I chose to use meringue powder. Maybe a bad choice on my part, since it makes things taste tinny and kinda bitter. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXuWUcQQJ1WuMMLESIEbqSwOkCnzNqCxqpOQMHdFTJopxdDvPRPTvjroNDgGCfcocgECmG112bl-_E2uQQm9wOqybVc0vmQ5iQxcVQFi1SPsMPckXhBFOyHUEWx3g7X5whSdHR9pvaDY/s200/41up0WPP1jL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" width="200" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">(I will not use this again.)</div><br />
Now I <i>am </i>going to put down the recipe for royal icing -- using meringue power -- as provided in the book, specifically because <b>THERE IS AN ERROR IN IT</b>. A quick look around the Internet establishes that several bakers have identified a typo whereby "teaspoons" was accidentally replaced by "tablespoons" in the measurement of meringue powder. The publisher has acknowledged the mistake and will supposedly correct it in future reprints. In the meantime:<br />
<br />
<b>Here is the correct recipe for royal icing, adapted from the book <i>Cookie Craft Christmas</i>:</b><br />
<br />
<u><b>For Piping</b></u><br />
2 cups confectioners' sugar (1/2 pound)<br />
4 teaspoons meringue powder<br />
<b>3</b> tablespoons of warm water*<br />
1 tablespoon lemon juice OR 1/2 to 1 teaspoon flavored extract<br />
<br />
<u><b>For Flooding </b></u><br />
2 cups confectioners' sugar (1/2 pound)<br />
4 <i>teaspoons </i>meringue powder<br />
<b>6</b> tablespoons of warm water*<br />
1 tablespoon lemon juice OR 1/2 to 1 teaspoon flavored extract<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">*</span><i>Notice that the amount of water is the only difference between piping and flooding icing.</i></span><br />
<blockquote>"Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat on high speed with an electric mixer, 5 to 10 minutes or until icing reaches desired consistency. Store in airtight containers when not in use."</blockquote>SO HERE IS WHAT I DID: <br />
<br />
I put the piping icing, which I left white, in a quart Ziploc bag (thick freezer type) and cut a tiny hole in one tip to make a ghetto decorating bag. The flood icing went into three sammich bags along with some 5 to 15 drops of standard cheapo grocery store food coloring in each, which I then squished around in the sealed bags to color the stuff three ways: yellow, pink, and light green. I later added a darker green to the originally light green icing bag, making a darker green fourth color. <br />
<br />
AND HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4XN15C-EFmGjFpHYgXKCYd3mbPorEZxR2f73NLIyFCGAyPFZh3OErpVYSdK2wgAb-hkrukXEH5Fn8uRisJ2A1rE4TOh5J3-5PkJPtv5QHCfd4b9UbYu_4SXs0RC1Q5eFK5cVWgGDa2A/s1600/cookehs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4XN15C-EFmGjFpHYgXKCYd3mbPorEZxR2f73NLIyFCGAyPFZh3OErpVYSdK2wgAb-hkrukXEH5Fn8uRisJ2A1rE4TOh5J3-5PkJPtv5QHCfd4b9UbYu_4SXs0RC1Q5eFK5cVWgGDa2A/s400/cookehs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">...hmm.</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: large;">Conclusions</span><br />
<blockquote><b>I cannot pipe royal icing worth a crap.</b> In hindsight, this is because <i>I made the rookie mistake of putting the tip of the icing bag against the cookie</i> when squeezing out the icing. The correct way, apparently, is to "drape" the icing, holding the tip of the bag an inch or two above the cookie and allowing the string of icing to hang down, directing where it falls to make your shapes. So... yeah. Learning process. -_-; (You <i>are</i> supposed to put the tip of the bag against the cookie when adding flood icing, however.) <br />
<br />
<b>Meringue powder tastes bad.</b> After the icing dried on the cookies, they actually tasted rather decent and lemony. The frosting alone, however, is bleh. Even though they contained the same ratio of sugar and meringue powder to flavoring, the piping icing was considerably less offensive than the flood icing. I can only assume the addition of more water in the flood icing causes a different reaction with the meringue powder. If I ever try royal icing again, I will use pasteurized egg whites.<br />
<br />
<b>Liquid food coloring is for pastel colors only.</b> If you want strong colors, get paste colors in the little jars. It simply takes too much liquid coloring to get any considerable color at all, and you'll end up changing the consistency of the frosting with all those little drops.<br />
<br />
<b>Ziploc baggies are not equivalent to decorator bags.</b> The quart bag worked admirably, but my control over the flow of the icing was poor compared to the control I could have gotten with a coupler and a few decorating tips. One of the sammich bags had a blow-out, taking out a few cookies with a sudden flood of squishy icing. Decorating bags are not expensive, but the cheapskate in me wants to try <a href="http://fantes.com/parchment-triangles.html" target="_blank">this technique</a> before I spring for a pack of plastic cones. It's apparently a tried-and-true pro technique to fold baking parchment to make one's own disposable paper cones for frosting, and heaven knows I'm a nerd for folding paper. :D<br />
<br />
<b>Extra piping icing (and to a lesser extent, flood icing) can be used to make fancy tea sugars.</b> Run out of cookies, but still have icing? It can last a while in the fridge in sealed containers, but it'll start to separate after a few days. You can use leftover icing to practice your decorating technique on wax paper or bakers' parchment, leave the sugary scribbles to dry overnight, and then use them like large, misshapen sugar cubes in your tea or coffee. As a bonus, the meringue flavor pretty much vanishes when dissolved in coffee or stronger tea.</blockquote><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ5_3bwJObX3KsPB9dr5bu-wxDKyJ8KyeMV7-oVUXTpsflYrGUZpQlFa4idOU_kFuhxGJnagr_-zM-u9IYQzBkb9mvPUpI1YnXKiDCSoWtfxiqBM5UYCxmdGTcPG7ZVEkBM8Gy6ZmRsgk/s1600/sugars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ5_3bwJObX3KsPB9dr5bu-wxDKyJ8KyeMV7-oVUXTpsflYrGUZpQlFa4idOU_kFuhxGJnagr_-zM-u9IYQzBkb9mvPUpI1YnXKiDCSoWtfxiqBM5UYCxmdGTcPG7ZVEkBM8Gy6ZmRsgk/s200/sugars.jpg" width="200" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tea sugars! Fancy ones!</span></i></div><br />
And that's the end of that experiment... but not of my lust for cookies. I can imagine I'll be back on this track someday. In the meantime, anybody want a tin of meringue powder? <:PKuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-7173319794076909612011-04-18T22:08:00.002-07:002011-04-21T19:58:27.201-07:005:29The tsunami in Miyagi prefecture, as viewed from Shidzukawa high school. Public schools are commonly built atop hills in Japan, especially in the Tohoku region, specifically to become safe zones in the case of tsunami. The public is instructed from childhood to gather at schools in case of any disaster or emergency.<br />
<br />
In 5 minutes and 29 seconds, the entire town of Minamisanriku is destroyed.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="305" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8vZR0Rq1Rfw&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8vZR0Rq1Rfw&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="500" height="305"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">This is the last post I'll make for a while regarding the tragedies in Japan, but please don't forget that the suffering continues every day, in millions of ways great and small. Your generosity can make all the difference. If you haven't already, please consider making a donation of your time or resources to help Japan. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Besides the <a href="http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main&s_src=RSG000000000&s_subsrc=RCO_FrontPagePanel" target="_blank">American Red Cross</a>, the <a href="http://www.rescue.org/news/irc-aids-relief-efforts-japan-10331" target="_blank">International Rescue Committee</a> and <a href="http://we.care.org/post/notes/categories/EB32982C-E222-4BAF-8E27-7167C4080953.html?cons_id=&ts=1303189089&signature=321c953fba5e7c76d302f681fc33eeb7" target="_blank">CARE</a> are two highly-rated charities currently working to provide relief and aid in Japan. There are many others. Check with your favorite charity.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.bbb.org/us/article/charities-providing-japan-earthquake-relief-26046" target="_blank">The BBB's List of Accredited Charities Providing Relief to Japan</a><br />
and </div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.charitywatch.org/hottopics/JapanTsunami2011.html" target="_blank">American Institute of Philanthropy's List of Preferred Charities </a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">Thank you very much; a million hearts rely upon your kindness. </div><div style="text-align: left;">たいへんどうもありがとうございました;お世話になりました。</div>Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-29772282467754905612011-03-26T17:31:00.001-07:002011-03-26T17:37:23.858-07:00Did someone say "Postcard Project"? O,OI am (still) on the AJET-Chicago Consulate mailing list. Every so often, a former JET or two gets in contact with the group to rally us all to certain projects. One <a href="http://mytalkingtree.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Jennifer Bohn</a>, now stationed with the Peace Corps at a high school in Tonga, is asking for postcards from as many places around the world as she can spread the word. Maybe you have some cool postcards and colorful stamps you're just itching to use. Well, <b>here's your invitation:</b><br />
<blockquote style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>Malo e lelei,</i><br />
<br />
Greetings from the Kingdom of Tonga! My name is Jennifer Bohn and I am a Peace Corps volunteer here. My students at <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=%27ohonua,+%27eua,+tonga&sll=35.693701,139.81609&sspn=0.004601,0.013797&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Ohonua,+%27Eua,+Tonga&t=h&z=12" target="_blank">'Eua High School</a> and I are working on a project and we need your assistance. <b>We are asking everyone outside of Tonga to please send us a postcard of your hometown/city.</b><br />
<br />
We are trying to collect as many postcards as possible. This project will help enhance the student's understanding of other places and cultures in the U.S. and around the world. Postcards will be posted in the library, next to the new student-created world map. It doesn't matter if the postcard is from Green Bay, Buenos Aires, Istanbul: we will take them all! Please send postcards to:<br />
<br />
<blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><b>'EUA HIGH SCHOOL</b><br />
<b> c/o U.S. Peace Corps</b><br />
<b> P.O. Box 24</b><br />
<b> 'Ohonua, 'Eua</b><br />
<b> KINGDOM OF TONGA</b><br />
<b> SOUTH PACIFIC</b></span></blockquote><br />
I will keep a running list of all the postcards received with their origin on the <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/euahigh/" target="_blank">EHS Website</a>. Everyone is encouraged to check to see if their postcard successfully makes it to EHS and to learn more about the school.<br />
<br />
The project offers a great chance cultural exchange for everyone involved. The project begins now and will continue until the end of my Peace Corps service in December 2011. Please help out if you can and tell everyone you know! Feel free to forward this information to anyone and everyone.<br />
<br />
If you have any questions/comments or want to know more information about my work in Tonga, please do not hesitate to <a href="http://mytalkingtree.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">contact me via my blog</a>. Thank you very much or, as we say here in Tonga, <i>malo 'aupito</i>!</blockquote><br />
Personally, I am in an itchy-sendy state all the damn time, and it just takes the words "postcard project" for me to send the philately flying. Honestly, have you seen the new forever stamps at the USPS? Let's get those babies posted! XDKuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-8467011528532086142011-03-19T22:39:00.001-07:002011-03-19T22:40:16.976-07:00SupermoonHappy Lunar Perigee. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcG1ya-WDO3hbcTgNkcavFIBwyWkURP75mvscNIKMnxPrxVuYWt491SdLS4Bn5XuSrO7IP38Pn_CKJYdWPPS55u_Fs94OU1x4waS_hJlVSwoscK5Cl_bA8bUkJ6qN0qVAPgkIjfbx4oo/s1600/bright+as+the+sunsmall.jpg" target="_blank" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcG1ya-WDO3hbcTgNkcavFIBwyWkURP75mvscNIKMnxPrxVuYWt491SdLS4Bn5XuSrO7IP38Pn_CKJYdWPPS55u_Fs94OU1x4waS_hJlVSwoscK5Cl_bA8bUkJ6qN0qVAPgkIjfbx4oo/s400/bright+as+the+sunsmall.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Supermoon over the Catalina Mountains, Tucson, Arizona.</span></i></div>Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-53546705282142503922011-03-17T17:24:00.001-07:002011-03-17T17:27:13.369-07:00"Don't Panic."Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all; hopefully you have some corned beef and beer (or at least beer) to get you through the evening. <br />
<br />
If you or anyone close to you happens to be contemplating the purchase of <a href="http://www.nhpr.org/why-iodine-tablets-come-out-when-radiation-threatens" target="_blank">potassium iodine</a> in the near future, may I strongly recommend that you <b>do not</b> add to the uneducated, panic-driven run on such capsules unless you are living in the eastern half of Japan or intend to join the relief effort there within the next six weeks. No, there is no nuclear cloud coming to California. Hawaii is absolutely safe (watch out for that Kilauea, though).<br />
<br />
This crap:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI4gNtuE9tioLvYmuvcAGKKACuIwQyHtm2WCQXhwYDQkn-UbPIOFiMuR_AhlooSlbLdoLrJORmq8sW_Ej2sOW643LIwP4UIxs_84g8lfMIoAvC3ksavwcz6t1kLP1L5Pp5bV3rD87qvOs/s400/nrc-fallout-hoax.png" width="362" /></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOdfBeXWBjjeXwWW7Fz-Jk73qNVj0OO6DxQ5-iEVbB052fggLlutmnapUuwCtIPToKeEkQLFSRsEOJKjcBdkXzMwehJIh9QkGWD0oBTkmQDP2Xbx4kzkjrScjmfQ5-kTuIP413g03qeNk/s400/fallout+crap.jpg" width="400" /></div><br />
...is exactly that; crap. A lulzy hoax born on 4chan. So many idiots have been trolled by these images and other hype that <b>now there is a shortage of potassium iodine for the people who actually need it in Japan.</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTaH4W79RCocDMCK-EFq-9t3L8RfHtRJwycyN5x5X0YyHDEuSOMULDYGlZZ4ltZhn7C9U3c-9Y_cucnp8WIXIe-pc8wkoaiUab3e2vZmFNXhW4vYg-Ax5mHIyxqVKsP3BBiBBFEG5goI/s1600/fake-fallout-map.jpg" target="_blank" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTaH4W79RCocDMCK-EFq-9t3L8RfHtRJwycyN5x5X0YyHDEuSOMULDYGlZZ4ltZhn7C9U3c-9Y_cucnp8WIXIe-pc8wkoaiUab3e2vZmFNXhW4vYg-Ax5mHIyxqVKsP3BBiBBFEG5goI/s400/fake-fallout-map.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
There are several hundred technicians and engineers being cycled in and out of the nuclear plant in Fukushima right now, 24 hours a day, working tirelessly to stop the reactors from going into full meltdown. They are the only ones in the world thus far exposed to any levels of radiation that could be deemed dangerous by modern medicine. Many of these men and women have lost their homes and their families to the quake and subsequent tsunami, but they are still volunteering to go into harm's way to avert a third disaster, doing all that they can to save their fellow citizens. The least we can do is not buy up all the pills they need to protect themselves from thyroid cancer.<br />
<br />
Please spread the word. Tell people to cut this crap out. If you have iodine pills, <a href="http://www.redcross.org/where" target="_blank">contact your local branch of the Red Cross</a> for a way to donate them. Thank you very, very much.Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995104313276785476.post-75372549453362094812011-03-14T22:51:00.003-07:002011-03-16T22:13:35.372-07:003.14 - Pi DayIt's Pi Day again; hope you've all had your slice today. The radiation situation is getting pretty serious in Fukushima. What kind of wicked misfortune is it that the only nation in the world to have been struck with nuclear weapons is now facing what could be the simultaneous meltdown of three nuclear reactors? Honestly. これがまんできなさそう。<br />
<br />
Even though Japan is a modern, first-world country with some of the best disaster preparation possible, the scope of the damage done is truly epic. Please consider making a donation to your favorite international charity to ease the suffering of the displaced and wounded in this immediate aftermath. Please <a href="http://www.redcross.org/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBtyS83d758uk6E9TnKM9SXRoeNItKDmTXKY-ARQ-CVyd8IdqCe7NWRpWHsysNWnyIdn9LvBNtQ3kMXGTnJF7-Zsh8zsWCz9oTycT97JnRcMdnen_HTJPvOhj0iK_HvA2rqJ0hbjPwPpA/s1600/HelpJapan.gif"/></a> by donating now to the Red Cross.<br />
<br />
NHK World channel, live in English:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" height="296" id="utv923472" width="480"><param name="flashvars" value="autoplay=false&brand=embed&cid=7497266&v3=1"/><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/><param name="movie" value="http://www.ustream.tv/flash/viewer.swf"/><embed flashvars="autoplay=false&brand=embed&cid=7497266&v3=1" width="480" height="296" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" id="utv923472" name="utv_n_130620" src="http://www.ustream.tv/flash/viewer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" /></object></div>Kuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264724402803175785noreply@blogger.com0