An Eagle at the Shore of Lake Michigan in Evening Twilight

Recently Escaped from Origami Zoo

Chicken Pot Pie and Pasty

After my recent dalliance with vegetable pot pies, I decided to attempt some chicken pot variations.

The filling is diced roasted chicken, with carrot, celery, onion, and rutabaga. Without any egg wash or other priming the pastry didn't brown much. But otherwise I think they are easy enough on the eyes. They tasted quite nice too, about as homey and comforting as they look.

Just to mix it up a bit, I did a pasty also.

Banana Nirvana

At the risk of gilding the lily, and mixing metaphors, I decided last week to turn a bunch of very ripe bananas into some malted banana ice cream, and unwittingly ended up taking the first steps on the blessed path to banana nirvana. The formula for the ice cream is from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop, though like this fellow traveller (click here for recipe) I increased the milk to 2 cups, and all on my own initiative I added 2/3 cup malted milk powder and a big splash of rum. The ice cream by itself was wickedly good. The malt flavor melds perfectly with the banana and really intensifies the already intense roasted flavor. But not content with wickedly good, I forged ahead into the dizzying realm of banana splits. The hot fudge is also courtesy of Monsieur Lebovitz's oeuvre d'genie. The whipped cream I whipped very soft, with no sugar. Some chopped walnuts and maraschino cherry direct from the jar completed the picture. And a very pretty picture I think it is!

Origami 600 Roundup

This weekend I finally passed the 600 milestone in the slow march to 1000 giraffes and other origami models. Here is a roundup of some of the highlights in paper from the past several weeks.