Bookmarks for 18th May 2012

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These are my saved Pinboard links for 18th May 2012:

  • Sweetcorn cakes recipe | Yotam Ottolenghi | Life and style | The Guardian – These are wonderful as they are, if you want to keep it simple and low in fat. However, adding diced chorizo or feta to the batter would upgrade it. Serve with any combination of these condiments: fresh herb salad with lemon and olive oil; sliced avocado, lime juice, coriander and chilli; or diced tomato, red onion, vinegar and olive oil.
  • Chickpeas on toast recipe | Yotam Ottolenghi | Life and style | The Guardian – Having grown up in the Middle East, eating beans for breakfast always seemed like a bizarre British eccentricity. Here's an alternative, just for the sake of variation. You can play with the idea by adding chorizo or smoky bacon and omitting the smoked paprika. Eggs are another natural addition.
  • Standalone USB temperature logger – Hack a Day – [Jean] wrote in eager to share his latest project, a standalone temperature logger with USB connectivity. Back in November, [Jean] found himself wanting a temperature logger that was roughly the size of a USB memory stick. What he found on the market was not quite adequate in terms of price or size, so he decided to design his own. His would be the size he wanted and wouldn’t require any software or drivers to run. You simply plug it in, edit the configuration text file to set your intervals, and off you go!

    You can follow along through the entire design and fabrication on his site. He’s really great about discussing why he made each decision and how he resolved any errors he ran into. You can download the schematics and source code on his site.

  • Dash – Snippet Manager, Documentation Browser – Kapeli – Dash is an API Documentation Browser and Code Snippet Manager. Dash stores snippets of code and searches iOS, Mac, Man Pages and custom docsets. Included docsets: ActionScript, Android, C++, Cappuccino, Cocos2D, Cocos3D, Corona, CSS, Django, HTML, Java, JavaFX, JavaScript, jQuery, Kobold2D, Lua, MySQL, Node.js, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Sparrow, SQLite, Unity 3D, WordPress, XSLT, XUL. You can generate your own docsets by following the instructions here. Dash is currently free while in beta and is available on the Mac App Store.
  • Curried Peanut Spread (Thai Satay Sauce) | Serious Eats : Recipes – This peanut spread may not look like much. It borderlines on being aesthetically-challenged even. In fact, I have learned that when I serve it to friends, I shouldn't tell them right up front what's in it other than peanut butter. From my personal experience, many people find the idea of pairing Thai curry paste and peanut butter, well, disgusting.
    Instead, I let them taste it. Then I pause for a bit. I remain silent, observing…waiting until their eyes light up. And before they utter a word, I say, "Satay sauce, right?" The answer is always a resounding yes.

    A more concentrated, thicker version of Thai-style satay sauce.
    And that's because this peanut spread is nothing but a more concentrated, thicker version of Thai-style satay sauce. It is developed from my mother's streamlined, easy peanut sauce recipe which has been with our family since before I was born. It contains the same main ingredients: roasted peanuts which have been ground into a paste, Thai red curry paste, and a few other seasoning ingredients. The only difference is the use of coconut milk powder (which, contrary to what some cookbooks say, is not pulverized, desiccated coconut meat but spray-dried coconut milk) in lieu of regular coconut milk in order to minimize the amount of liquid preventing it from being too runny.
    In other words, although you may find this curried peanut spread a bit unusual, if you're a Thai restaurant regular, its taste should not be too much of a shock to your palate. If you like Thai-style peanut sauce, I'm going to wager that you'll like this sandwich spread.
    But satay sauce on, er, bread? Why, yes. If you have been to Thailand and had a chance to eat pork or chicken satay on the streets, surely you remember that your satay set comes with a plate of toast on the side. The idea of putting bread and peanut sauce together isn't strange at all.

Bookmarks for 17th May 2012

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These are my saved Pinboard links for 17th May 2012:

  • Standalone USB temperature logger – Hack a Day – [Jean] wrote in eager to share his latest project, a standalone temperature logger with USB connectivity. Back in November, [Jean] found himself wanting a temperature logger that was roughly the size of a USB memory stick. What he found on the market was not quite adequate in terms of price or size, so he decided to design his own. His would be the size he wanted and wouldn’t require any software or drivers to run. You simply plug it in, edit the configuration text file to set your intervals, and off you go!

    You can follow along through the entire design and fabrication on his site. He’s really great about discussing why he made each decision and how he resolved any errors he ran into. You can download the schematics and source code on his site.

  • Dash – Snippet Manager, Documentation Browser – Kapeli – Dash is an API Documentation Browser and Code Snippet Manager. Dash stores snippets of code and searches iOS, Mac, Man Pages and custom docsets. Included docsets: ActionScript, Android, C++, Cappuccino, Cocos2D, Cocos3D, Corona, CSS, Django, HTML, Java, JavaFX, JavaScript, jQuery, Kobold2D, Lua, MySQL, Node.js, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Sparrow, SQLite, Unity 3D, WordPress, XSLT, XUL. You can generate your own docsets by following the instructions here. Dash is currently free while in beta and is available on the Mac App Store.
  • Curried Peanut Spread (Thai Satay Sauce) | Serious Eats : Recipes – This peanut spread may not look like much. It borderlines on being aesthetically-challenged even. In fact, I have learned that when I serve it to friends, I shouldn't tell them right up front what's in it other than peanut butter. From my personal experience, many people find the idea of pairing Thai curry paste and peanut butter, well, disgusting.
    Instead, I let them taste it. Then I pause for a bit. I remain silent, observing…waiting until their eyes light up. And before they utter a word, I say, "Satay sauce, right?" The answer is always a resounding yes.

    A more concentrated, thicker version of Thai-style satay sauce.
    And that's because this peanut spread is nothing but a more concentrated, thicker version of Thai-style satay sauce. It is developed from my mother's streamlined, easy peanut sauce recipe which has been with our family since before I was born. It contains the same main ingredients: roasted peanuts which have been ground into a paste, Thai red curry paste, and a few other seasoning ingredients. The only difference is the use of coconut milk powder (which, contrary to what some cookbooks say, is not pulverized, desiccated coconut meat but spray-dried coconut milk) in lieu of regular coconut milk in order to minimize the amount of liquid preventing it from being too runny.
    In other words, although you may find this curried peanut spread a bit unusual, if you're a Thai restaurant regular, its taste should not be too much of a shock to your palate. If you like Thai-style peanut sauce, I'm going to wager that you'll like this sandwich spread.
    But satay sauce on, er, bread? Why, yes. If you have been to Thailand and had a chance to eat pork or chicken satay on the streets, surely you remember that your satay set comes with a plate of toast on the side. The idea of putting bread and peanut sauce together isn't strange at all.

  • gzipWTF | the easiest f***ing way to check for gzip, and more – gzipWTF is the easiest f***ing way to check for gzip and more. The purpose of this site is to aide web designers & developers in speeding up sites by pinpointing which resources are not being gzipped by the server, which resources are slow and which resources are causing 404s. Our mission is to increase awareness of site speed as an important part of the web's future. George Washington approves.
  • My Story: Arduino Temperature Scanner – I do a lot of towing with my LB7 Duramax diesel truck. On hot days I kept having an overheating problem, so I built this six channel temperature scanner for around $40. Compared to an expensive commercial scanner, it's worked out to be a great tool. My scanner is built using a Nokia 3310 LCD screen and an Arduino Pro Mini 3V version. The temperature probes are simple thermistors (see below for Jameco parts list).
  • Mushroom Ragu – Mushrooms!

    Actually yesterday was a big mushroom day. I had some leftover
    roast field mushrooms with poached eggs for brunch.

    Then for dinner the most heavenly mushroom ragu. So simple.

    Just pop everything in the oven, stir once or twice and wait. Then
    dinner is ready.

    I served mine on a bed of raw super finely sliced kale. But you
    could use it anywhere you'd normally serve a stew or bolognese.

Bookmarks for 8th May 2012

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These are my saved Pinboard links for 8th May 2012:

Bookmarks for 3rd May 2012

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These are my saved Pinboard links for 3rd May 2012:

  • Journey Kitchen – A delectable Marriage of Modern and Traditional Indian Cuisine.
  • Journey Kitchen: How to make Paneer at home – Paneer is a soft fresh Indian cottage cheese made by simply using acid and no rennet. From sweets, to snacks, curries and even flat breads, one or the other form of this cheese is used in North Indian cuisine extensively. Paneer can also be used in kebabs and tikka as an addictive vegetarian option. No one is going to miss the meat!
  • Monkey (Ginger)Bread recipe from food52 – I love monkey bread, and the warm and happy family-time feeling of gathering around something and tearing it apart. But I want my holiday breakfast to have a hint of sugarplum-y whimsy- enter gingerbread. This is my attempt to marry two delicious dishes into one fantastic breakfast. I hope you like it! Oh, and I wanted to test this by doing steps 1-8 the night before, refrigerating the pan of dough, and then doing the second rise in the morning, but I ran out of time. So if you want to make this for breakfast, you could give that a try, or wake up at 5 AM- your call :)
  • Vegetarian Mushroom Thyme Gravy recipe from food52 – As much as I love everything about cooking Thanksgiving dinner I stress about one thing….the gravy! A vegetarian friend came to the rescue offering up her vegetarian gravy. Through the years it has been tinkered with and has become my "go to" recipe any time I need the perfect gravy for both vegetarians and carnivores. It can be used on mashed potatoes, vegetables, stuffing and even turkey! You can use any type of dried mushroom. I have used shitake mushrooms but mixed dried mushrooms will provide more interesting flavors. To make a vegan version substitute olive oil for the butter and additional broth for the cream.
  • Weighthacker – Welcome to Weighthacker, a site that provides smart strategies and tips for geeks who want to lose weight and get healthier.

Bookmarks for 3rd May 2012

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These are my saved Pinboard links for 3rd May 2012:

  • Monkey (Ginger)Bread recipe from food52 – I love monkey bread, and the warm and happy family-time feeling of gathering around something and tearing it apart. But I want my holiday breakfast to have a hint of sugarplum-y whimsy- enter gingerbread. This is my attempt to marry two delicious dishes into one fantastic breakfast. I hope you like it! Oh, and I wanted to test this by doing steps 1-8 the night before, refrigerating the pan of dough, and then doing the second rise in the morning, but I ran out of time. So if you want to make this for breakfast, you could give that a try, or wake up at 5 AM- your call :)
  • Vegetarian Mushroom Thyme Gravy recipe from food52 – As much as I love everything about cooking Thanksgiving dinner I stress about one thing….the gravy! A vegetarian friend came to the rescue offering up her vegetarian gravy. Through the years it has been tinkered with and has become my "go to" recipe any time I need the perfect gravy for both vegetarians and carnivores. It can be used on mashed potatoes, vegetables, stuffing and even turkey! You can use any type of dried mushroom. I have used shitake mushrooms but mixed dried mushrooms will provide more interesting flavors. To make a vegan version substitute olive oil for the butter and additional broth for the cream.
  • Weighthacker – Welcome to Weighthacker, a site that provides smart strategies and tips for geeks who want to lose weight and get healthier.
  • lower-fat vegan raspberry bars and variations | urban vegan – What's not to love about fruit bars? They're carb-y enough to comfort, fruity enough to qualify as at least semi-healthy, sugary enough to feed your sweet tooth, and best of all, they're a snap to throw together for brunch on Sunday morning or for dessert after a long day at the office. In fact, they're so easy to make that you can probably put your kids to work for most of this recipe.

    In my new quest to have my cake and eat it too, I "healthified" the traditional sugar-, fat- and white flour- laden fruit bar recipe by replacing much of the required oil with applesauce and cutting back some of the sugar. The result? Each serving contains only 133 calories and 3 grams of fat, plus a respectable amount of vitamin C, iron and fiber. As is the case with many of my recipes, this one is modular so please tailor it to fit your own tastes, dietary preferences and seasonality [See ideas for variations below]. Recipes should be springboards to creativity – not rules to be followed blindly. You can replace the raspberries with virtually any fruit, for example, and use any kind of flour you have on hand; I actually used sorghum flour, so you can even make these gluten-free. Let me know what you come up with!

  • 12 Ways to Boost Umami in Your Vegan and Vegetarian Dishes | Ecorazzi – Umami, known as the fifth taste, is what makes certain foods savory and deeply flavorful.