Trying to do a bit of coding to optimise the use of electric prices changing every 30 minutes. Red line in the graphic is “average price” and clearly you could charge the battery at cheap rates overnight or during non-peak hours and use the Powerwall to provide electrics for the expensive time of day.
Using jupyter Lab notebook to code this in python.
Too easy to make ….to not make it from scratch…
Ingredients :
How to make Pastry :
How to make the Quiche Lorraine :
Been a long time coming, bought the kit to make cheese probably 18 months ago….found the time and patience to try my first Mozzarella.
I am very pleased with my first go, however, it is quite fiddly and definitely needs a good thermometer to get the cheese to behave as expected.
I was inspired to make some for myself by Alex.
Ingredients :
How to make :
Put the cold milk in a large casserole and put on medium heat to avoid burning the bottom of the milk. (use Fresh whole milk (pasteurized))
I use 2 UK size jugs of milk of 4 pints each for a total of 8pints or 5.5Liters
As the milk is heating up put the citric acid into the casserole. The dosage is 2g citric acid for each litre of milk. Dilute the citric acid into / 1/4 cup water.
Warm the milk on a soft flame to 32 degrees celsius mixing gently to avoid hot spots
Once you reached the target temperature, a quarter of a tablet of rennet diluted in water. Stir the liquid into the milk gently for 30 seconds.
Time to wait. Let the milk/curd rest for 30 minutes until you can create a clean break with your finger in the curd that has started in the casserole. You can wait 45 minutes if a “clean break” does not happen immediately. Ideally, we want the milk to stay warm at 32 degrees so do not leave the casserole in a cold place.
Cut some criss-cross through the curd, approximately 3 cm apart from each other. Then put back on the medium heat and bring the curd up to 43 celsius. Stay at 43 degrees for 5 minutes. All the curd should separate nicely. Spin the curd gently for an even heat distribution but do not break the curd pieces to avoid a big mess.
Using a slotted spoon transfer the curd to a colander to drain the “petit lait” (weigh). Be gentle try to work the colander in circles to remove the “weigh” from the curd.
This technique will be used again later when the curd is super hot (82 degrees) from the microwave.
Slide the “dry” curd and transfer into a wide container which can go in the microwave.
Put curd in the microwave oven on full heat and heat up until the curd is at 82 degrees. This is the temperature were the curd will be warm enough to make elastic strands and will accept to be shaped like kneading bread dough. I tend to split the main curd into smaller batches (4) to make it easier to heat-up and handle.
This is very hot to handle so have running cold water for your fingers. Knead the cheese as you would do with bread dough. Gently. Try to roll into a ball with a tuck-in technique. Some people use gloves for this part to avoid getting burns on their fingers. I find the cold running water method simple. If the curd is at the right temperature it will go stringy and make a shiny ball. This is the point you add the salt or other spices to give a taste to the mozzarella. I prefer just salt.
If you do not get to a shiny ball, it is because you did not heat-up enough the curd in the microwave. Try again. All is not lost yet…
Once you have the balls shaped, put into the fridge. BUT !…make sure you wrap each one in cling film to avoid them going to dry….made that mistake….
Enjoy!
Update :
Although the first Mozzarella was nice and tasty, I think I should have stretched it a lot more. I should have brought the temperature of the cheese higher (a proper 82 degrees) so that it would “really” stretch and create those stringy lines within the Mozzarella. Also, putting the balls into cling film is a must to avoid the drying off.
A few years ago, I started playing with Processing as a language. Recently discovered that the language has evolved and more importantly you can now run sketches from anywhere on the Cloud/web. Magic…
I use this recipe but I do not use cinnamon and I used red port instead of the white one recommended in the recipe.
This post is to have a reference point for stringing tennis racquets with the stringing machine.
Install the racquet on the stringing machine. Do not do this too tight! Just so that the racquet is not moving when pulling on the strings with the machine.
Cut the old strings going from the centre of the racquet towards the outside, alternating mains and crosses. This is to prevent uneven stress on the racquet.
Remove all the old strings and check that the grommets are still in good condition
Ensure you have enough string for the mains and for the crosses. You need 40 feet or 12m of string for the whole racquet. Half for the mains and half for the crosses. Most strings are sold in 12m lengths. So if you have a new set of strings, take half for the mains and half for the crosses. If you are using a reel, measure 8 lengths of the racquet for the mains and cut at an angle to make a “pointy” end for the string. This will make it easier to weave and put through the grommets.
You will need another 8 lengths of the racquet for the crosses.
Start with the mains ( the ones going the long way of the racquet).
Put the string through the middle at the bottom of the racquet and make sure the string is even between both sides. Put the locking clamp close to the frame to ensure tight fit.
Start stringing and progress on both sides evenly to avoid putting biased stress on the racquet.
Once the whole mains are done, it is time to make the “end” knots. go through the grommet and around the anchor string but do not make it tight yet. Pull towards the centre of the racquet and then rock towards the frame. This will make a secure “flat knot”, then do a second one. Over the string and back through the loop to finish and secure it.
The Alternative is to use the machine to keep the knot tight. to do this start with a simple flat knot, then put the string around the anchor string again and though the first “loop”. find the side of the “new” loop which is tight and pull on that one with the machine. Finish by simply pulling the remaining string with hands or machine.
Do this again on the other side of the mains.
Then time to start with the crosses. This is slightly easier as we start from the top of the racket and weave our way down to the bottom of the racquet. once we have done a couple of lengths it is possible to tie a starter know. Using the same technique as above.
When weaving ensure that you check every time the over and under of the strings so that it is using an alternating pattern. Also, as you go down the racquet, the cross strings will have a tendency to “curve” or make a “smiling” racquet. To avoid this on every string ensure it is nice and straight and tight.
The machine is used to keep the tension constant as we go along.
I use pre-stretch and a pull between 25kg and 27kg. The last one I did was 25.5kg. The lower the tension, the more power and the larger the sweet spot. But you lose some precision in the shots. With my level of tennis, the lower the better…
Made some new Trivet designs, as well as a, incent burner inspired by a Japanese design that my mum has at her house. There are more designs to come…
This is a recipe that used to be the “standard” at weddings and other large family occasions. Over the years it has disappeared from the chefs’ menus to be replaced by a lot simpler chicken dishes to optimise costs and profit.
It requires a little bit of preparation time but it is very nice and can still make a big impression on the plate for a friends dinner.
Ingredients:
How to make :
Optional, get all men out of the kitchen and get them to do “manual” tasks such as taking out weeds from the grass in the garden…
This is for reference only :
Fresh yeast quantities are usually 2.5X to 3.0X the equivalent in dry yeast.
17.5-21g fresh = 7g dry
30-35g fresh = 10 – 14g dry
Helped a little bit Noe to make his own TV stand for his bedroom.
He created the design in Fusion360, we then had the woodcut out of 18mm plywood by a local CNC Workshop, we then used Festool connector system and finally painted the whole thing in a stylish black satin colour….
Enjoyed immensely this project with my youngest son, so we decided to ensure we signed the pice of art for posterity!
When I first bought my Lathe (back in the USA 2006….), I had a few projects to cut some aluminium. Then bought a laser cutter probably in 2009.
I also discovered Quilling which I thought would be something nice for my Mum to get into….I made some very average box and some templates for my mum….
Only 10+ years later my mum has started to use the quilling kit for a special occasion.
[More updates…April 19]
Feb. 2019 : I m back at it!
Trying to make a real French baguette….been trying this since 2012….check my initial effort.
Best one so far ….
It is all in the Flour, need to buy T55 flour and it all becomes a lot closer to true French Baguettes…all made in the UK.
Ingredients :
How to Make :
Prepare the day before a mix of 150ml of warm water, the yeast, and 100g of the flour. once you have mixed it all, cover with cling film and put in the fridge overnight.[update : I have experimented with sourdough starter approach with multiple days of feeding looks promising] Also check this : Here
Next day, bring all ingredients out of the fridge and let everything rest at room temperature for a while so that Water+Flour+Levain is all around 20 to 25 degres celsius. Put all the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl with hook mixing attachment. Put on slow speed for 10 minutes [update : sometimes is require 15 minutes to get to right consistency]
Need to get to a smooth ball of dough. Keep needing if not smooth.
Put in oven to raise for 30 minutes.
Cut the dough in 3 equal pieces and shape all 3 parts in baguettes. The following method is important. Extend the dough between your hands, then fold each side back on the middle on top of each other.
Then do the same but length wise, folding half of the baguette on itself.
You can optionally do this (length wise fold) a second time with a 15 minutes rest time between the previous step.
Then roll with your hands to provide the long shaped baguette.
The dough will rise again and get puff up some more. [update : I do not let the bread rise on a cloth anymore, I put baguettes directly on the “form” and let rise on it]
Put the 3 baguettes on a “form shape” so it can rise again in a humid environment. I put in my steam oven which has a proving option. But simply putting in a closed oven with a bowl of steaming water is fine. You can also use a cloth to keep the shape of the baguette.
Let the dough rise for 60 to 90 minutes.
[update : once bread has had its second rise, cover gently with flour, then make a few deep cuts with “grignette” or sharp blade, this is important for the look but also for the crunch of crumb] If you want the “traditional look” , make 3 cuts in a S shape on top of the baguettes just before putting them in the oven. About 1.5cm deep. (I did not on this occasion)
Warm the oven to 230 degres celsius, with a tray in the bottom of the oven.
Once oven is nice and warm put the baguettes in the oven and throw a glass of water in the tray to create steam. This will provide the crispy outside of the baguettes. Cook until you have your desired colour of baguettes. Between 20 and 30 minutes.
Let bread rest of tray to allow for cooling down and a nice crispy outside to form.
I did more this week ….only 2 baguettes with same dough content. Better.
