by Brian | Jul 6, 2013 | Dedicated Drinker's Diary, Recipes
Last year was not a good one for our mint. It was late coming up, the stalks had few leaves, and the leaves were perforated by gobbling insects that I never saw. Or tasted. To my knowledge. This year, all that rain and now intense heat have given us a mint forest. The...
by Brian | Jun 21, 2013 | Restaurant Reviews
The 4th of July approaches. Dessert is needed. There is nothing more American than blueberry pie on the 4th of July. For this treat, which we tested last weekend, Suzen turned to Great Pies and Tarts by Carole Walter. Carole is a friend, a wonderful author, and truly...
by Brian | Jul 16, 2011 | Food Styling for Foodies
I love blueberries. They are not sweet enough but that can be remedied. And, as a side benefit, they can be made to look oh so beautiful. And, as a side side benefit, you can make double use of the flavors. There is one issue with blueberries that can cause pause....
by Brian | Jul 8, 2011 | Dessert Digest, Recipes
Looks good? Well, it tastes better. There is a story to this pie, but first a summary. This a chiffon-style pie with a liqueur-infused gelatin base folded into slightly sweetened egg whites and unsweetened whipped cream. Alright, I strongly sweetened the egg whites...
by Brian | Aug 28, 2010 | Dessert Digest, Recipes
I went to graduate school studying applied mathematics, in particular optimization theory. At the time, some of the biggest users of the optimization techniques were the airlines. They were struggling with how to do scheduling, sizing of aircraft, and optimizing their...