Monday, August 27, 2012

Separation Anxiety

My son gets very nervous when he has to separate eggs. I was taught to use the two halves of the shell method. The link shows you what is, without a doubt, the simplest, most tidy way I have ever seen to separate an egg. I recommend that you just open a fresh bottle of water and empty it out before you try to do this. I'm not sure I'd trust how clean the bottle would be after drinking from it, no matter how hard you scrub. Using a plastic bottle to separate an egg.

I'm almost tempted to bake an angel food cake, just to give it try. There is little as much fun as applying science to your baking (creating a vacuum is what sucks in the yolk, if you weren't aware.)

Monday, August 6, 2012

Duplex on Third

Len had to go to Cedars for some tests today, so I decided we'd take advantage of our location to try lunch at Duplex on Third Street, directly across from the hospital complex. We were not disappointed.
The restaurant has been open just about a month, and my friend Vanessa DiSteffano is the pastry chef. Our waiter let her know we were seated out on the veranda and she soon popped on by to say hello. She looked and sounded very happy.
Seviche at Duplex on Third.
We asked for menu recommendations and she said the seviche was very popular. I decided to give it a try along with the gazpacho to make a meal. Len decided to try the roast beef sandwich after Vanessa said they cooked everything in house.

Vanessa sent over two desserts from her menu for us to try: brioche beignets with a Valhrona  chocolate center and a panna cotta with apricots. If I can figure out how to import them, they eventually will show up here. Both were delicious. I'm looking forward to trying the crab cakes the next time I visit.

Getting the pictures that I took on my iPod over to this blog has been a challenge. I could get them to upload to Facebook, but not to Blogger. If anyone has a clue why this would be so,  please let me know.