I just finished one project off my inspiration list, but I can't share since it's a gift. A gift that I made almost 2 months in advance. I'm the worst at keeping craft projects a secret, so hopefully I can keep this one. But let me just say that it came out awesome!
In lieu of what will be an awesome craft post, I'll talk about another reason why I haven't been crafting as much lately.
In lieu of what will be an awesome craft post, I'll talk about another reason why I haven't been crafting as much lately.
I have been attending a weekly public lecture at Harvard University on the topic of Science and Cooking (from Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter). Harvard actually offers this course to their students, but also allows the public to get a taste of the class through the public lecture series. Also, all of the lectures are streamed online live, and are available a short time after on youtube/itunes. ** I really love the lecture series for two main reasons: 1) It fulfills my curiosity on all of those "Why" questions. (ie Why does this taste so good?) and 2) It more than fulfills my absolute nerdiness into world famous chefs.
The lecture starts with a 15-20 minute delve into the why of certain topics that may be covered that week. There's even an "equation of the week"! It's really dumbed down for us laymen, but goes into enough detail that I can relate it to my everyday work-life as a chemist. Then the next 1.5 hrs is spent on a world famous chef talking about what they do, and even offering tastings!
Then what's even better, is that most weeks we go out to eat at a restaurant that fits the theme for the week. Unfortunately Boston and the surrounding areas aren't known for their molecular gastronomy, but we have been making our way to a lot of the Boston area's great restaurants. Although it hasn't been the best for my wallet, my belly has thanked me!
The two pictures above were from a special lecture that was last Thursday, that was only on alcoholic drinks. We got five 1/2 shot size tastings, and it was free! The picture on the left is of Dave Arnold (sorry about the camera guy) mixing liquid nitrogen into a mixture of gin and lime juice (I think). The picture on the right was of my favorite drink of the night (it had the least alcohol taste) which is called a Red Hot Ale. It's a throwback to the middle ages, where they would use a hot poker from the fireplace to warm/set fire to your drink. They would then douse it with some ale, and call it a day. Dave Arnold had engineered a bar-safe hot poker and was using that to set things on fire. Keep in mind this is in a lecture hall @ Harvard!
Anyways, this class has taken 1 day out of the week for me. Thankfully it's just for my enjoyment - and I don't have to do homework! But it does take a day away from crafting! Next weekend I've got some planned handy crafting with my mom, so that should be fun to post on.
** If you are at all curious - I'd recommend checking out the first lecture with Dave Arnold and Harold McGee. Harold wrote the text book for the course, and Dave Arnold is just super entertaining to watch. A lot of the visiting chefs are from Spain, and thus do not speak english. It can be very difficult to watch since it is a live translation.
