A C-17 Globemaster cargo plane crashed on Elmendorf Air Force Base Wednesday while training for the Alaska Air Show Arctic Thunder even this weekend.
Four airmen died.
No one was sure if the air show would continue or be canceled, but last night the decision was made to move forward with the air show.
This afternoon the Blue Angels and the Snowbirds were doing some practice runs and buzzing downtown. They made a few passes around my building, and my office on the 19th floor provided a great view.
30 JUL
2010
I was asked to bring a chocolate raspberry cake to Heather's birthday party last weekend, and bring it I did.
This thing is monstrous, so tall (even without the raspberries on top) that I couldn't put the cover over the cake plate. On the drive to the party I held it in my lap and yelled Don't Ruin My Cake!! at Steve every time the car hit a bump. It was fun.
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen, altered only in that I poured the batter into three 8" cake pans rather than two 10" pans. The reason being that I own 8" pans and do not own 10" pans.
I made the entire chocolate frosting recipe despite the recipe suggesting to halve it when using the raspberry filling in between the cake layers (and a layer of raspberry filling on top because I could).
I had enough chocolate frosting and cake bits left over (from leveling the three layers) that I made cake pops. I didn't get photos of them and they didn't last long at the party.
28 JUL
2010
Met up with a group from Twitter on Friday night to walk around downtown with our cameras. It was good to get out and shoot some non-portraits with some fun people.
25 JUL
2010
I popped into the south side farmer's market this morning. I think I've only ever stopped there once before, and my Saturday schedules are such that I'm only out thinking about farmer's markets around 1pm. AKA After All The Good Stuff Is Gone.
But today I had scheduled an early photoshoot which had me driving right by this farmer's market before 10am. I was able to get some fresh king salmon, scallops, shrimp, a fresh loaf of potato sourdough, a giant head of lettuce, and a bag of cheese curds.
I have never had a cheese curd in my life, but I have heard of them and have been intrigued. I jumped at the chance to try these locally made curds.
Then I got them home and I didn't know what to do with them. I put a plea out to Twitter and was directed towards poutine: french fries covered in cheese curds then drenched in gravy. GRAVY. It's like the second worst fate to befall good crispy french fries (the first is, of course, microwaving them) (DO NOT MICROWAVE FRENCH FRIES).
I tried one straight from the bag, it was good. Tasted like... cheese. Not as squeaky as the internet claims they should be, so I'm pretty sure these weren't freshly made today. Alaskans are used to getting un-fresh foods, so I'm not surprised.
But I didn't want to WASTE these fancy new cheese curds by just eating them out of the bag, that seemed silly.
I deep fried them instead.
The batter was simple: 1/2 cup flour, 3/4 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 egg beaten, 1/4 cup milk. But then we were out of milk, so I substituted soy milk, which is PRETTY MUCH the same thing. And by PRETTY MUCH I mean that they both have the word "milk" on the jug. By which I mean basically not the same thing at all, but better than using water and worth a shot.
I threw them in the deep fryer where they puffed up and turned a light golden brown. The cheese inside melted into gooey balls of heavenly cheese.
Towards the end of the batter I was having a harder time getting each curd coated thoroughly, and a few of them leaked hot melty cheese into the oil. Steve got one that had no cheese in it at all.
They were... okay. They tasted an awful lot like mozzarella, but the texture was so much smoother. Substituting soy milk meant that the batter didn't crisp up in the hot oil.
I don't think I'll get them again unless I'm in Wisconsin and am pulling them fresh out of the vat of a cheese plant.
17 JUL
2010
I heard that Greek yogurt was SO MUCH better than regular yogurt, with it smooth and creamy Greekness.
Turns out it's just like yogurt. And I don't much like yogurt.
So. Yeah.
I also made piroshkis for the first time, and they were super good. Needed something creamy to hold the stuffing together a bit, a little bit of cheese or cream or mushroom soup or something.
02 JUL
2010
