Category: food

01/25/14 11:10 - ID#58609

Chocolate Truffle Cake

(e:terry) and I made this flourless chocolate truffle cake for (e:Paul)'s birthday. I thought I would write it down with modifications if we ever wanted to make it again. The fanciest cake I've ever made.

1 bag semisweet chocolate chips
7 squares unsweetened 100% cacao
3 eggs, 3 whites
2 sticks butter
3/4 cup sugar

We followed these

directions minus the water bath and it worked out fine. We served it with a seedless raspberry sauce and Sweet Jenny's sweet cream ice cream.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease one 10 inch round cake pan and set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the water, salt and sugar. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside.
Either in the top half of a double boiler or in a microwave oven melt the bittersweet chocolate. Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.
Cut the butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in the hot sugar-water. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Have a pan larger than the cake pan ready, put the cake pan in the larger pan and fill the pan with boiling water halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
Bake cake in the water bath at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 45 minutes. The center will still look wet. Chill cake overnight in the pan. To unmold, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for 10 seconds and invert onto a serving plate.

Permalink: Chocolate_Truffle_Cake.html
Words: 276
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 01/25/14 12:49

Category: birthdays

01/23/14 09:51 - ID#58602

Happy birthday Paul!

Late but happy birthday Paul!
I love you and hope that your birthday was amazing, and your party this weekend is even better. Here's to many more years!
I'll leave the write up about the bougie bday to you.

Permalink: Happy_birthday_Paul_.html
Words: 41
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 01/23/14 10:09

Category: health

01/21/14 10:30 - ID#58598

More blood pressure

Also caught up in the health records trend, I am very happy with my resting heart rate but no so thrilled with my blood pressure. Prehypertension is now defined as 120 and my readings have been consistently over in the mid 120s or low 130s over 70s and 80s.

Some of it is mentally stressing about it, but I can't figure out what else would be contributing to it. I exercise, eat alright, am not too stressed and am generally pretty healthy.

Google tells me poor sleep quality (and I assume length) leads to persistent hypertension. If anything I think that may be it. I usually average 6 hours or less except weekends.

Permalink: More_blood_pressure.html
Words: 125
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 01/22/14 12:29

Category: work

01/21/14 08:59 - ID#58593

We'll be counting cars

I'm sitting out in Orchard Park sprawl counting traffic for a study today. 7 hours counting cars, 4 in the office. It seems crazy but my company doesn't have enough automated counters for the study. (e:terry) and I think it'd be possible to come up with a cheaper/better device.

Definitely not as nice as it was in the summer but at least I have a data plan now, lol.

The cops just came up to me because I guess I look shady sitting in a parking lot.

Permalink: We_ll_be_counting_cars.html
Words: 90
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 01/21/14 09:02

Category: music

01/21/14 08:48 - ID#58592

Erica's open mic at Nietzsche's

Yesterday (e:czarkasm) undid her belt at Nietzsche's and sang at the open mic night. I'm not super muscial but I definitely thought she was one of the best (throat lady notwithstanding). She did four songs, I recorded her cover of Titanium.

Hopefully you're all regular now, Erica.

Permalink: Erica_s_open_mic_at_Nietzsche_s.html
Words: 62
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 01/21/14 08:48

Category: movies

01/21/14 08:16 - ID#58591

Wolf of Wall Street

Sunday we watched The Wolf of Wall Street. Basically it was about Jordan Belfort

and a bunch of scummy stockbrokers who became rich off insider trading and other scams.

The movie itself was well made. Leo was an amazing actor and the plot itself was ridic. I don't think the movie ended well because it glamorized them a bunch, but I guess they got off pretty easy in real life too, right? They even freaking put Jordan Belfort in the movie. It's so messed up that you can fraud and cheat, and then sell the story and have a movie made about it. They even advertise his motivational speaking company at the end, as if he is somehow redeemed.

Afterwards and the whole next day, I felt so repulsed by the movie. Not just by how disgusting and corrupt the characters in the movie were, but how much I worry about money. Obviously our motivations are different (doing coke in a Ferrari vs paying student loans) but I still feel so disgusted by any sort of greed. I have everything I could ever want or need, so money should be the last thing on my mind. It feels so selfish and I hate our cultural obsession with it.

Permalink: Wolf_of_Wall_Street.html
Words: 216
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 01/21/14 11:33

Category: dancing

01/21/14 07:57 - ID#58590

Lindsay and Carrie's birthday

Saturday night (e:paul) (e:terry), (e:xandra) and I headed out to Casa di Pizza for Lindsay and Carrie's birthday party. Casa was fun, we hung out there for a bit before going to Torro.

After we headed out to Toro for dancing since it was across the street. I had fun dancing, but the music was only okay and I definitely agree with (e:paul) about the crowd being way too bro/Long Island. I stepped on a guy's shoe by accident and he wanted to fight. Never going there again. Some of my friends started getting sloppy so we finished the night there. Paul got us Casa pizza which seemed to be so amazing at the time.

Permalink: Lindsay_and_Carrie_s_birthday.html
Words: 127
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 01/21/14 08:50

Category: dancing

01/19/14 06:35 - ID#58587

Boom at the Block Club

Friday night, Emily and I headed out for the Blcok Club launch party. We met up with Mickey, and some of Emilys coworkers there. Eventually (e:terry), (e:xandra), Tanya and (e:Robert) came too.

Dancing was super fun. I ran into a couple of people from high school and caught up with tons of other people too. Free beer from Community Beer Works was real good.

Permalink: Boom_at_the_Block_Club.html
Words: 82
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 01/19/14 06:35

Category: food

01/18/14 07:42 - ID#58584

Paul the butcher

Watch out, he's armed with a slicer and 17 pounds of cured ham.

Permalink: Paul_the_butcher.html
Words: 15
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 01/18/14 07:42

Category: food

01/16/14 07:33 - ID#58580

Dinner with Emily

After work yesterday I rode up to Shish Kebob Express to have date night with Emily. She has a third job plus school now which is absolutely insane. Shish Kebob was pretty good, although I felt kind of gross after - two samoons and fried falafel will do that I guess.

She wanted to get ice cream so we went to Wegmans. I actually shopped there, and ended up paying only a few more dollars than I would have at Trader Joe's. So bougie, (e:paul) and (e:terry) should be proud. They started doing construction in the freezer section, it made the whole store smell like mildew, so sick.