:: Ray's Periodic Rantings ::

:: Friday, April 13, 2007 ::

Fun with chocolate

Box brownies are nice, but making them from scratch is a lot more fun. Who can resist the guilty pleasure of melting butter and chocolate together in a double boiler? The first time I tried it, I was hooked. And what kind of chocolate goes in (i.e. high quality bittersweet or unsweetened stuff instead of that crap from a town in Pennsylvania beginning with the letter H, or some mystery powder loaded with anti-caking agents) has a direct effect on the outcome.

I always like trying new brownie recipes, and this week's New York Times food section came through with three of them (registration required - link will only be good until late on Tuesday, April 20). I made the "Supernatural Brownies", notable in that they call for brown sugar along with sugar, for a baby shower at work today, and they got good reviews. I still plan to try the "New Classic Brownies," but the "French Chocolate Brownies" look like just a bit more work than I am willing to do. Enjoy!
:: Ray 4:02 PM [+] ::
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Currently the weather is: icky

I am not usually one to complain about the weather. I live in the Northern United States. It rains. It snows. We have seasons. It's not always pretty outside. But today all I can say is: who knew it could be so crappy on a day in April?

We woke up to an inch and half of slushy, white glop on the ground, and mixture of snow, sleet, and rain kept falling through the early afternoon. Walking into the wind, the sleet actually stung my face as it hit.

Cold, windy, wet, and painful...on a day like today, I have no qualms about whining a bit.
:: Ray 3:24 PM [+] ::
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Make me feel old.

Currently at work there are a bunch of college kids and grad students who take reservations during the odd hours that they have available. Last week, I noticed one of them looking for an apartment on Craigslist. I said to her, "Back in my day, we looked for apartments in the Reader." (For non-Chicagoans, the Reader is Chicago's largest free weekly paper) She replied, "What's the Reader?"

Print media is doomed, and I feel old.
:: Ray 5:28 PM [+] ::
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