Happy New Year

Local Hero

 

Pound Cake

I was always interested in the idea that it was possible to make a cake with a pound each of the following ingredients:
1 pound butter
1 pound sugar
1 pound eggs- Compensate for the weight of the eggshells by adding two extra eggs.
1 pound flour


Technique is directly proportional to the outcome since the ingredients do not vary.

1. Ingredients must be at ambient temperature
2. The butter and the sugar should be creamed together until the sugar granules melt and the mixture becomes light and smooth.
3. The egg yolks are singularly added creating a golden emulsion.
5. The egg whites having been whipped into soft peaks are slowly folded into the golden emulsion.
6. Slowly folding the flour into the mixture creates a batter that is thick and firm.

note: Dry ingredients such as nuts, candied ginger, chocolate chips, etc. should be added to the flour before it is folded into the sugar, butter, and egg mixture.

Select a large springform ring pan 9 inches in dia. by 5 inches high. Butter and flour the pan. Spoon the batter in the pan and pound the pan against a solid surface until the batter is distributed evenly. Make an incision around the middle of the batter top about an inch deep.

Bake at 300 degrees for about an hour. the cake will be nicely browned and the top will have split. (an inserted toothpick will come out clean)

Remove from the pan and cool on a rack.

In My Environs

 

Botched Fig

 

Fig Suite

 

Figante

 

Mixed Grill

 

Embassy Exit

 

Embassy

 

What Happened To Your Birds?

Walking home from Safeway, my arms balanced with bags, I noticed a man who had leaned his grocery bags against the building adjacent to the bus-stop. A few steps after I had passed, I remembered him. I turned back and asked him, “Aren’t you the man that I took a picture of here at the bus-stop a few months ago just after you bought your birds?”  “Oh yeah”, he said, “I remember you”. “ Do you want a copy of the picture?” I said. “No, I don’t care”, he said. As I started to walk away he said, “Do you know what happened to my birds?”  “Well no, I don’t, what happened to them?” I said. “My neighbor killed them, they sang all day and he worked nights so…” “I am sorry to hear about that” shaking his hand. I re-distributed my bags and started to walk away. “Yeah, I remember you”, he said.

His New Birds

 

The Old Paint Store

 

Looking For The Moment

 

Waiting For The Bus

 

The Gate