Are diamonds a girl’s best friend? Perhaps they are on Saturn and Jupiter according to some researchers who hypothesize that heat, pressure and chemical conditions on these two giant planets may be conducive to the production of diamonds – diamonds that may rain down through the atmosphere.
This research opens up new and interesting ways to look at the composition and mineral wealth of the solar system. As for me, I am working on the development of my Hydrogen Integral Squeezing System (HISS) in order to produce more helium – because the world needs more helium.
And here are the tattoos:
Tattoo Tuesday is about jellyfish – because I think they pretty and interesting. I remember gathering and studying little pink ctenophores – which are comb jellies – relatives of jellyfish, when I was in college on a biology field trip to Chesapeake Bay. We tromped around the Bay in February, gathering specimens and studying them in the Marine Fisheries Lab nearby. I was particularly taken with the comb jellies. Their rows of cilia undulated down their bodies, propelling them along. Fascinating to watch.
Here are the tattoos:
It’s the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. who matter. – Marlene Dietrich
I am very grateful for mine.
According to the Popcorn Board (who knew there was a Popcorn Board?) October is National Popcorn Month.
Wikipedia explains popcorn thusly: Popcorn, also known as popping corn, is a type of corn (maize, Zea mays var. everta) that expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop becauseits kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. Pressure builds inside the kernel, and a small explosion (or “pop”) is the end result. Some strains of corn are now cultivated specifically as popping corns.
The Muppets explain it like this:
Today is the birthday of Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets.
Henson’s creative genius brought to the television screen the Sesame Street characters and the Muppet Show and he created films such as the Muppet Movies and the Dark Crystal. Henson would have been 77 today.
Here are some Muppet tattoos:
And my favorite:
PLUMS and Plum Blossom Tattoos
A few years ago, my friend, Betty, invited Roz and me over for dinner and made a Plum Galette for dessert. After dinner, Roz and I politely ate a slice of the galette, and then another, and then abandoned our forks and finished off the galette so that only crumbs were left.
I bought some lovely purple plums in Whole Foods the other day and made this tart. While it was not devoured all in one sitting, it was pretty good.
The recipe is an adaptation of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Plum Flame Tart in The Pie and Pastry Bible
1 recipe sweet cookie tart crust
3-4 large purple plums sliced into 1/8 sections
1/3 – ½ cup sugar – depending on the tartness of the plums
½ t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
1/3 cup Apricot or other preserves for glazing
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Place a cookie sheet on a rack in the lowest position in the oven
Crust
One stick of cold, unsalted butter cut into pieces
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ scant cups of all-purpose flour
1/8 t salt
1 large egg yolk
2 T cream
Combine the egg yolk and cream and set aside
Using a pastry blender combine the sugar, flour, butter and salt until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. You can also use a food processor for this part. Add the egg and cream mixture and blend with a fork. I needed a little more cream to make it come together. If the dough is too soft, refrigerate it for a few hours or freeze for about 10 minutes. Mine was perfect as is to press into the pan. Press the mixture evenly over the pan bottom and about ½ inch up the sides. Use a tart pan with a removable bottom or a similar spring form pan. No need to treat the pan because there is plenty of butter in the dough and it will release easily. I used a 10” spring-form pan because that is what I have.
Bake the tart shell for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
Place the plum slices on the tart shell in concentric rows beginning with the outer edge of the crust, working toward the center. Mix the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together and sprinkle over the tart.
Bake the tart for about 45 minutes, or until the plum slices are soft. Remove from the oven and cool.
Glaze the tart by warming and straining apricot preserves and brushing over the tart. I had an extra plum or two, so I just made some plum preserves, strained them and used that as the glaze.
Why did I photograph the plate upside down?
And the tattoos?
Today is bean soup day. What bean soup is more well known than Senate Bean Soup. Here is a reference from the U.S. Senate commenting on the possible genesis of Senate Bean Soup (which is on the menu everyday that the Senate is in session.
I offer a recipe from Food.com:
Ingredients
1 lb dry navy beans
1 meaty ham bone
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup mashed potato flakes or 1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 bay leaf
salt, to taste
Directions
And the tattoos:
Lima Bean
Mr. Bean
El L Bean
So raise a mug to salute this musical fruit and let everyone know como frijoles, or how you bean.
This week a few literature oriented tattoos:
Virginia Woolf
The Wind Up Bird Chronicle
The Tempest
These are from BuzzFeed: 50 Incredible Tattoos Inspired by Books
Okay, so I missed Tuesday this week. We are on vacation. However, August 30, is Toasted Marshmallow Day! Fire up the campfire, find some long sticks, and prepare by watching Ghost Busters.
King Arthur Flour has recently posted a recipe for homemade marshmallow fluff: recipe here.
Firearms, fibers, any news or behaviors that make me say, "hmm, let me take another look at this."
I still miss my man, but my aim is getting better.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 