More Coffee Please

I’m okay, you’re okay – in small doses

Robyn — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:59:43 +0000

Quotation of the Day for February 27, 2010

“Extroverts are energized by people, and wilt or fade when alone,” writes Jonathan Rauch in The Atlantic. “In contrast, after an hour or two of being socially `on,’ we introverts need to turn off and recharge. This isn’t antisocial. It isn’t a sign of depression. It does not call for medication. For introverts, to be alone with our thoughts is as restorative as sleeping, as nourishing as eating. Our motto: `I’m okay, you’re okay – in small doses.”‘

- Wendy Dennis, in House and Home magazine, December 2009.

Random neat stuff from RSS feeds – Wed Mar 10, 2010

Robyn — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:00:54 +0000

Embracing Your Inner Scientist

Now THAT’s how we like it

Robyn — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:29:09 +0000

Don’t tell the groundhog.

Random neat stuff from RSS feeds – Wed Mar 03, 2010

Robyn — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:03:40 +0000

Can chocolate lower your risk of stroke?

Mark My Words: Tone of Voice Changes Affective Word Representations in Memory

A New Horned Crocodile from the Plio-Pleistocene Hominid Sites at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Random neat stuff from RSS feeds – Wed Feb 24, 2010

Robyn — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:04:08 +0000

Do speedy elephants walk or run?

Singing ‘rewires’ damaged brain

Review highlights health benefits of flexible working arrangements: Blood pressure, sleep and mental health improve

An Ecological Approach to Prospective and Retrospective Timing of Long Durations: A Study Involving Gamers

Skeletal Remains from Punic Carthage Do Not Support Systematic Sacrifice of Infants

Poe Pillow

Robyn — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:33:14 +0000

I finished this project in December but just managed to deliver it to its intended recipients — it was a wedding gift for Ruby Nite and her now-husband — last week. In the interim between finishing it and delivering it, the pillow lived in my office, so all my colleagues who saw me working on the embroidery during many long meetings and teleconferences also got to see the final product.

The raven and word design on the front and the thorn design on the back are hand-embroidered, mostly in a split backstitch. It’s a bit clearer on the larger version on Flickr: front, back. The actual pillow-cover construction I did on the sewing machine, though — my taste for hand-sewing doesn’t extend quite that far.

The cover is designed to come off for washing and ought to hold up through a fair number of machine cycles. I figure whenever one is making something for people with kids or dogs (they have a dog [so far]), it had better be something that can stand some chewing and some washing.

I’m pleased with how it turned out!

…and now I need a new project to keep my hands busy and my mind clear for meetings and teleconferences…

Chocolate-mint ice cream

Robyn — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:48:18 +0000

I mentioned this recipe on Facebook and got requests, so here it is. It’s adapted from the KitchenAid ice-cream maker book, but of course any ice-cream maker will work.

I should mention that making your own ice cream, although pretty easy, is a vanity project and not a money-saving one. This is REALLY good ice cream but it is not cheap to make. It is not the slightest bit low-fat. It creates an impressive pile of dirty dishes. And it takes three days.

This recipe makes about two litres.

Before starting, make sure you have room in your fridge for a large bowl of proto-ice-cream. Also, if you have to put some part of your ice-cream-maker in the freezer for pre-chilling and it isn’t already there, do it now.

Day 1
Step 1:
1/2 cup whipping cream
120g mint-flavoured dark chocolate, cut into chunks. You want good-quality chocolate here — hit your local yuppie gourmet food emporium. If you can’t get mint-flavoured chocolate, buy good dark chocolate and add a bit of peppermint extract.

Put the whipping cream and chocolate in a small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the chocolate melts. Remove from heat and set aside.

Step 2:
2 cups table cream

In a medium saucepan, stirring often, heat the cream over medium heat until very hot and steamy but not boiling. Remove from heat and set aside.

Step 3:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
8 egg yolks (put the whites in the fridge and pretend you’re going to make meringues with them)

Combine the sugar and cocoa in a small bowl and set aside.
Put the egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the wire whip attachment. On low speed (speed 2) gradually add the sugar mixture and mix about 30 seconds, until well blended and slightly thickened.
Continuing on low speed, VERY gradually add the chocolate mixture and then the cream. Mix until very well blended.
Return the mixture to the medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until small bubbles form around the edge and the mixture is steamy, but don’t boil.

Step 4:
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
4 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Transfer the hot mixture to a large bowl.
Stir in the whipping cream, vanilla, and salt.
Cover and chill thoroughly (at least overnight, preferably 24 hours)

Day 2
Step 5:
200g mint-flavoured milk or dark chocolate, chopped into tiny bits. I use leftovers from Step 1 here plus some Laura Secord Frosted Mint bars for this part, mostly because I like a bit of green in my mint stuff.

Follow your ice-cream maker’s directions to turn the chilled mixture into ice cream. Add the chocolate bits in the last couple of minutes of stirring.
It’ll now be the consistency of soft-serve, so transfer it to containers and freeze it overnight for the best texture. In the meantime, content yourself with licking all the ice-cream-maker parts clean.

Day 3
Step 6:

Eat!

Random neat stuff from RSS feeds – Wed Feb 17, 2010

Robyn — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:03:51 +0000

My big fat geek wedding: Tears, joy and oxytocin – life – 10 February 2010 – New Scientist