Coconut Dream Bars

Sometimes, without trying too much, everything just works. Case in point:  these simply superb bar cookies. It all began with a visit New Year's Eve from some friends, who arrived bearing gifts in the form of a gallon of raw milk. (Unpasteurized milk, for those not in the know, is the de rigueur contraband foodie badge of honor at the moment.) Since I am not nursing, nor was I feeling up to the challenge of making any kind of yogurt or ricotta, I spent a couple of days pondering how to put this bounteous grassy dairy delight to good use. A week of macaroni and cheese indulgence followed, and I still had a generous quart left, when it occurred to me to try a homemade dulce de leche. A quick web search brought me to a recipe from Alton Brown. It worked wonderfully, but then I realized that I had only transformed the milk, but hadn't yet reached the end-stage where consumption would follow. Fortunately a bit of scanning the bookshelf brought me to a recipe I've used once before from Nick Maglieri, for a caramel crumb bar. With his shortbread crust as a base, I used the homemade dulce de leche as filling, and stirred into it about a cup of sweetened flaked coconut. Just out of the oven I sprinkled a cup of chocolate chips over the top, waited a couple of minutes, and then smoothed the chocolate into an even layer. The result was phenomenal. So good from the first bites while still warm that I could only just lean over my kitchen counter and stare at the sheet of coconut caramel shortbread and chocolate gooey goodness and wonder were I dreaming such delightful taste sensations? They were even better the next day and the day after...

Etta James's "I'm Feeling Uneasy"

Tree Frog by Lang

Here is my first attempt at the tree frog from Lang's Origami Design Secrets. I used a metallic tinted sheet of washi, back coated with methylcellulose. The paper cooperated beautifully until the final few folds. Then it turned out just a bit thick and hard to compress neatly. As a result the limbs and the toes are all a bit too rectilinear I think. Also I wasn't able to smooth the pleats in the eyes. Still I am pleased with the result, and learning a lot from Lang's text.

Parrot, 500 (50%)

From Lang, The Complete Book of Origami

It's taken over seven months, but last night I finally reached the midpoint between zero giraffes and 1,000 giraffes. This parrot is number 500. Last night I also made a batch of aebleskiver, but didn't take any pictures. (Perhaps when I reheat them sometime for a snack.) With a cup of milk and three eggs languishing in my refrigerator, as always I was looking for something I could bake and freeze. And also I was looking finally to take for a spin the aebleskiver pan a group of students had given me last spring. Almost as long as I've been working on my origami models, it's been on my counter next to a copy of Beatrice Ojakangas's The Great Scandinavian Baking Book. But as of this morning, the cookbook is now back on the shelf. The pan back in a drawer. And the aebleskiver in a ziploc bag in the freezer. Altogether a very good Saturday night.

Lizard (Lang) and Snail (Yoshizawa)

Lizard (Lang) and Snail (Yoshizawa)

Tyrannosaurus by Satoshi Kamiya

This is my second attempt at the tyrannosaurus by Satoshi Kamiya. The details in the head got a bit mushy,  and the body requires more modeling, but the idea I think is clear enough.