Macaron (The one prounced with a fancy French accent)

"Aim for the Moon. So that if you miss you're still in outer space, rather than burning up in the atmosphere. That would hurt"

~ Medved

 

        When planning a dessert for Thanksgiving, I wanted to try to flex my culinary muscle. And what better way to do so, than a recipe known for having few ingredients and relying heavily on technique. Yeah, I went for macarons. The French ones. Actually, fun fact: their similar names are not a coincidence: both macaroons and macarons are from Italian - maccherone (fine paste). Bon Appetit and Adam Ragusea both have good explanations. I actually really recommend Adam's YouTube channel - he has a lot of great videos explaining the science, etymology, and history behind foods and ingredients. And as an ex-professor and ex-radio host his explanations are really engaging and great to listen to. Can't recommend him enough.

        On the macarons - I went for a raspberry version, taking inspiration from the recipe published by Taste of Home, but riffing on it to make it raspberry. The end result was a tasty meringue sandwich cookie, but I cannot consider it a true macaron. Failed at getting the shell's texture and glossiness, and didn't get the "foot" (little rough rim at the base) traditionally associated with them. I'll need to play around with it more, but in the mean time, I'll provide the meringue sandwich cookie recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4/3 cups almond meal
• 1.75 cups powdered sugar
• .5 cups freeze dried berries
• 3 egg whites
  
• Raspberry jam
  

Recipe:

1. Blend almond meal with freeze-dried fruit
2. Whip egg whites until frothy
3. Slowly add powdered sugar to egg whites while whipping
4. Keep whipping until stiff peaks
5. Fold in almond meal mixture
6. Pipe into (preferably uniform) circles
7. Air dry for 30 minutes 
   
8. Bake at 300°F for 30 minutes
9. Leave to cool completely
10. Apply dab of jam to one meringue, compress with second one

 

 

The Storm and Calm

The tides take turns

Pulling me to and fro.

Waves raise and drop me

Lift me up, bring me low.

A tempestuous storm

Plays out in my mind.

But a ray of bright light

Shines on me from behind.

It makes a light path

That shows me the way

To calmer waters where

The storm’s held at bay.

August 4, 2021

Superfreakonomics

    There aren't many authors capable of writing about teachers and sumo wrestlers cheating before switching to the connection between abortion and crime. Especially doing so in an interesting and engaging manner. That's why, many years ago when I read Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner I'd been so impressed.

    Somehow, I missed that they actually had a followup: Superfreakonomics. So of course, upon finding out about it, I felt the need to read it. There's a lot going for it. Written in the same approachable, yet informative, style, it asks seemingly random questions about the relationship of two vastly dissimilar topics prior to teasing out their connection. It relies on data and statististics, referencing experts.

    Some incredible trends emerge - for instance, apparently having a pimp leads to higher wages and safer conditions for Chicago prostitutes, while the home price increase that realtors bring does not offset their cut (although other less tangible benefits such as time needs to be factored in). The most shocking one was that there are more deaths due to intoxicated walking than drunk driving when normalized by the number of miles traveled. 

    And had the authors stuck with this winning format, I would have been as happy with the sequel as I'd been with the original. Unfortunately, they decided to tackle bigger questions and reached for climate change... That's when the approach of breaking down complex questions into small logical steps breaks down. Climate change is a huge issue. And one that isn't amenable to being drastically simplified away. I won't pretend like I'm better qualified than their sources - I wish I had the opportunity to speak to Nobel prize winning scientists. However, the vast oversimplifications that they propose seem almost dismissive, and unfortunately, when the entire last third of the book doesn't sit well with me, the whole work leaves a sour taste when it's finished. A shame really...