A new project

Rusting Sign Post, a photo by chuckularone on Flickr.

I'm starting a photo group on Flickr. The idea is to have a place where we can create photo assignments and get critiqued by other members.

Currently I have an annual, monthly and weekly assignment laid out. See: http://mckenna.tv/u/assignments for details.

Go to http://flickr.com/groups/groupassignments/ and select join this group or just let me know. The idea is that there is no pressure to do a particular photo assignment. It's more to give you a place to start if you are looking for an idea and allow you to compare your work with others.

Feel free to invite others that you know would be interested in something like this.

I have a few ideas about assignments, but if you have any ideas I'm happy to put them in the line up.

Coming next to my kitchen, Low budget Sous-vide

Time to get back into the micro controller world. I plan on blending micro-controllers with temperature sensors, heaters and pumps to COOK!

Sous-vide

French for under vacuum. The process basically consists of vacuum packing food in a plastic bag and immersing it in water bath at a constant temperature (typically the temperature of the food when it's considered "done") for a long enough period of time to let it reach that heat all the way through and kill any possible pathogens in the food.

Most food, when cooked sous-vide requires "finishing" or a quick trip into the frying pan or under the broiler to give it the appearance of having been cooked by that method.

Two of the biggest benefits of sous-vide are that the food is extremely moist since all of the moisture is trapped in the bag with the food and the food can rest at the "done" temperature for many hours without becoming overdone, allowing for wide flexibility in serving times.

There will be much more to come on this topic.

Time to make the Doughnuts

Something I've always wanted to try is to making doughnuts. I've been making a lot of interesting baked goods lately, so Why Not?

They're not exactly "baked" but the dough is not far from bread dough.

The Ingredients

2 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup shortening (63 grams)
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 quart vegetable oil for frying

1/3 cup butter
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 tablespoons hot water or as needed

The Process

• Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, and let stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy.


• In a large bowl, mix together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix for a few minutes at low speed, or stirring with a wooden spoon. Beat in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Knead for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a greased bowl, and cover. Set in a warm place to rise until double.


• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and gently roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter. Let doughnuts sit out to rise again until double. Cover loosely with a cloth.


• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in hot water one tablespoon at a time until the icing is somewhat thin, but not watery. Set aside.


• Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large heavy skillet to 350 degrees F. Slide doughnuts into the hot oil using a wide spatula. Turn doughnuts over as they rise to the surface. Fry doughnuts on each side until golden brown. Remove from hot oil, to drain on a wire rack. Dip doughnuts into the glaze while still hot, and set onto wire racks to drain off excess. Keep a cookie sheet or tray under racks for easier clean up.

I made the dough last night. After a 2 hour rise, I punched it down and put it in the fridge. This morning it had risen tremendously. (Yikes!)

Mason and I rolled out the dough and Maddie cut out the doughnuts.

Rise!

Boiling in 350F oil:

Enjoy!

Welding

I didn't get any pictures of this project, but I beefed up and re-welded the license plate/tail light bracket on the trailer. I love being able to just break out the welder and whip something up that needs whipping.

Now I need to figure out where the problem is in the wiring for the lights so I can get that working again.