So, IBM is still seeing what they can do with Watson the computer. Recently they've tried feeding in data about foodstuffs and how humans react to different flavours, and tried having the machine generate recipes. It's rather reminiscent of Eddie, the Heart of Gold's computer, trying to make proper tea (as opposed the usual sweet brown liquid ( Read more... )

Price Chopper/FreshCo had a sale last week on frozen bala fillets (2 for $2, where one is usually enough for a light dinner for two), so I bought a bunch and have been defrosting and cooking them in various ways. Tonight I tried frying them in batter, which turned out to be the tastiest so far. I've never made battered fish at home before. I used ( Read more... )

Yesterday I made spaghetti carbonara (only with macaroni) for the first time, and considered it a success. Consequently I've been thinking about Italian cookery. Carbonara, at least according to wikipedia, is likely a dish invented in the post-war period. All I know about pre-war Italian cuisine is the weird recipes concocted by the Futurists.

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Bovril has a very elaborate website. I don't think it's even the official site.

Spent most of yesterday at a party, from 2 pm to around 1 am when I green_trilobite and handful_ofdust got into a taxi. Lots of good conversation with people, including a tax accountant, Sunny, who's really interesting -- she apparently plays the ukelele (sadly, she did not bring it to the party), knows the founder of Knitty.com through the ukelele ( Read more... )

Today I established that trying to use yogurt as an ingredient in cake icing isn't a very good idea.

Awoke from a dream about cooking lamb chops, to reflect that one area where Deadwood handwaves things a bit is kitchen staff. I can believe that Cy keeps his out of sight; maybe the Gem girls pull a second shift watching pots for Jewel; but E.B. and Richardson appear to be running the Grand Central entirely on their lonesomes - granted, it's ( Read more... )