food network: cake challenges

once in a while i succumb to the desire to watch the cake challenge shows on food network. they have to come up with some interesting pieces of engineering to solve the structural problems of making super tall squishy [technically] edible things.
so on the sex and the city 2 cake challenge there's one woman making decorative cake panels of out pastillage which is so hard that they can't cut it with an x-acto knife.
and another whose cake is squishing and sliding off the dowel that run up the center to keep the tiers stacked.

so why hasn't anybody made pastillage tubes with bases to go down the center of the cake to provide extra structure? would it work?
i mean, a tube affixed perpendicular to a base the shape of the tier. center the cake tier on the tube, resting on the base. stack 'em like one of those old donut ring toys on the central dowel.

has anyone seen this done?

tabletop cooking

finally got my metal patio table set up a few weeks ago and was enjoying the last cool weather before summer. metal table = non flammable surface.
i have a lot of things that i can put small fires in. fire is good for making things hot. yay fire! so i did.

first off is fuel. this post is about the burning thing on the right in this picture. i haven't had a lot off success using the mini hibachi yet. so the thing i made my dinner with was actually the ... chicken feeder. that's right, chicken feeder. when i saw it in a thrift store i had no idea what it was. just looked like it would hold fire. it does. REALLY well

hard working fridge

i like to make the outside of my fridge work as hard as the inside.
to this end, i have long since discovered that my fridge is a feasible dry erase surface.
as you can see, it's currently hosting my shopping list on the right side door.







but i kept losing my big fat dry erase markers and it was hard to fit everything on there with big fat writing.
so i went to american science and surplus for 25 of these dandy magnetic pen holders for about $1. you can also get a three pack for a couple of bucks at your local office supply store [but why pay that much?]


























to get a fine point erasable marker that fits in them i had to get wet erase ones. no big deal, it's the kitchen and there's plenty of water. except... i am soooooooooo lazy. well, that and walking is starting to really hurt with the warmer weather. since the water dispenser on my fridge doesn't work, i wanted a better way.
enter the cheap mini spray bottle i had lying around from the last giant bag o' travel sized containers i bought.
and a mix of flat and spherical super strong mini magnets i bought at dealextreme































































as you can see when the light shines through it, 3 sphere magnets dropped into the bottle are just right. serendipitously they happen to stick to the metal spring in the spray mechanism which holds it in the right place to keep it from tipping over on the fridge door and hanging with the spray top pointing perpindicular

the entire photo set with notes can be found here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/catastrophegirl/sets/72157623981183093/

i feel like an idiot

i can't believe it took me all these years to think of shaving cucumber slices with a cheese plane. it's perfect for the job

paper thin!

by the way rest of that is a flour tortilla, bacon, sunflower seeds, brined sheep's milk feta, greek yogurt with dill and lime juice, montreal steak seasoning.
mmm, it's like junk from my cheese/meat drawer pretending to be greek food

yard sale score!

well there i was looking for a cheap cooler to experiment with and one just dropped right into my path.
the charity i volunteer with does a biannual yard sale and somebody donated this junk cooler. it's intact aside from broken hinges and i can create something that works to replace them.
so i bought that along with some books and a toaster oven to replace the one that spontaneously quit heating last week.
and both my cast iron dutch oven and cast iron deep pan with a lid fit in it at the same time. whee!


so one weekend i'll lay some cork in the bottom and line it all the way around and the lid with the mylar sheet.

solar haybox -more thoughts

i'm liking this style: low bodied, wide marine cooler.

http://tinyurl.com/y7hrayw
the long low body lets more sun in
the marine cooler specs say these coolers resist warping and cracking with extended sun exposure [kind of a must for a solar oven]
there are a variety of sizes and shapes with varying descriptions on amazon. i'm thinking of heading to the boat store some weekend to put my hands and measuring tape on some of them.a couple of them say they have lock in place hinges/lid supports which would be ideal for the solar aspect.the other thought i was mulling over was how to protect the bottom of the cooler from what i hope will become a VERY hot pot of food.

still torn between an inch of cork covered in mylar or silicone mats [or a layer of silicone square potholders since i can often find those on sale]
and don't worry, an inch thick cork rectangle is really easy to find. ikea makes a set of trivets for super cheap.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00078414



there's one on the left side of my glass topped stove right now, acting as a lid/pot rest when i have to remove things from the heat. putting a hot pot on a cold glass stove is just begging to have a nasty incident.

i think this weekend i'll do a small scale test with a mylar emergency blanket that's in my camping gear, a small cooler i have and my littlest all black cast iron pot and some water.

i won't make it permanent though because that's not a large enough cooler for actually using a pot that could hold a whole meal. and it's brand new, only been used to transport gelatin edible hearts and 'blooderfingers' to the set of a zombie movie ... but that's another post for another time

another idea while driving

just driving down the road and BAM, right to the back of the head. gotta tell you, unlimited texting to email myself ideas like this has saved many a useful thought from being lost to my wandering mind

wait, this is another of those ideas i have that i assume would be obvious but actually aren't isn't it? went to look for plans to make a solar oven/"haybox" combo out of a cooler. why aren't there any plans? seems easy - make a solar oven out of a cooler with a 'solar lid' and then when needed swap it for the insulated lid for a 'thermal haybox' that can also be used on sun-free days. one box, fewer used resources.

the basic thought so far:

cheap cooler with a hinged lid
line the lid and inside with mylar
make a frame to fit the top with a sheet of glass in it
black cast iron pot with a lid. the pot needs to be not too much smaller than the cooler itself to function effectively as a haybox.
a rack to set the pot on to keep from melting the plastic of the cooler

my dutch oven is still too new and grey, needs a few years. i will likely have to buy a preseasoned one or search thrift stores