Teleidoscope

Thu, Dec 20, 2007

Cookie Tech Notes

Posted at 10:04 pm MST to Technology

It is officially Christmas time: I just made a batch of Ginger Snaps.

My Kitchenaid mixer turned out to be strong enough to stir the dough after the last dry ingredients were added, at least as well I ever did it by hand.

And the cookies turn out well when cooked on baking parchment instead of a lightly greased pan. The pans don't get dirty and it is easier to move the cookies from the pan to the cooling rack: I just slid the whole sheet onto the rack. No spatula-mangled cookies. (And none that tried to fall through the wires of the rack: the paper was in the way.

Tomorrow I will start the dough for a Stollen to take to Nanette's Yule gathering on Saturday, since the dough needs to rise over night.

I will also make another kind of cookie, probably something more festive than chocolate chip. I have lots of choices: a cookie gun (with recipes), a shortbread mold (with recipes), a pizzelle baker (I can't find the recipe book for that one in my kitchen, but I found it on-line).

I will probably do the pizzelles, because the traditional recipe includes anise, which I love. Neither my Mom nor Nonna had a pizzelle baker. And I don't think Aunt Irma ever had one, but I remember having home-made pizzelles on special occasions, usually at Irma's house. I think either Magna Irma had a pizzelle baker (the wife of my Grandfather's brother John) or someone in my Uncle Tom's family made them.

I asked for and received a pizzelle baker for Christmas one year, and make them most Christmases when I'm not stuck in some remote city without the baker, and occasionally at other times

permanent link || trackback || 0 comments || Add a comment

Stuck Garbage Truck

Posted at 8:33 pm MST to Miscellaneous

Today I went over to Nanette's farm at lunch time to get some eggs for baking. That was just as well: when I got home, my driveway was blocked by a stuck garbage truck. I parked at my neighbors, walked home to put the eggs in the fridge, walked back out and got to work a bit late. Which turned out not to matter because the guys who need to let me in had forgotten that I arrive at 1pm on thursdays, not 1:30.

The stuck truck was very impressive. It was one of the very long ones with one axle in front and two axles in back. It looked like the front wheels had sunk into the dirt that was stirred up for burying the electric cable. The wheels on the rear-most axle were lifted up so they were no longer touching the ground, and the other rear wheels were on ice/hardpacked snow. When I left to go to work, the truck driver was crawling under the truck trying to install chains.

When I got home after 5:30, he was gone. I wonder how long it took him to get out?

permanent link || trackback || 0 comments || Add a comment

UPS

Posted at 9:08 am MST to Miscellaneous

I need to praise UPS.

Last week, when I was insanely stressed, with three simultaneous part-time gigs that were all going badly, I shipped out some Christmas presents to the wrong street address. (I need to reorganize my address book.)

I realized the problem on the following day, and got in touch with the UPS store. For a handling fee they were able to re-direct the packages to the correct address.

I verified today that the packages had arrived safely.

I can't imagine trying to get the Post Office to redirect packages en route... it's no wonder they say they are losing business.

One reason I use UPS is that they are convenient for me. There is a UPS Store near Costco, on my way to and from home to anywhere. The USPS refuses to build a Post Office in Superior, Colorado. (Or even give it a zip code, which makes sales tax collection complicated for the town of Superior.) If there was a Superior Post Office, my address and zip code might be Superior rather than Boulder. Or maybe not, since I'm outside the city limits.

There isn't even a blue mail box anywhere in the big-box sales district that includes the Costco -- when I have outgoing bill payments and won't be going to the office, I drop them at the UPS Store. I don't like putting outgoing mail with checks in my rural mailbox, which is on a busy road 1/2 mile from my house.

permanent link || trackback || 0 comments || Add a comment