myschyf | (no subject)

Via

firinel, Mildred Loving died on Friday.

On the 40th anniversary of the ruling in Loving v Virginia, Mildred Loving has released a public statement that really must be read. I’m going to post the full text below the fold and encourage others to distribute it far and wide, put it on Fark and Digg and Reddit and anywhere you can for the widest possible reach. Americans need to read this statement and see how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go to protect liberty and equality in this country.

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I made really good cupcakes on Sunday. Vanilla cake with strawberries in 'em. Though, I'm still having trouble with the strawberries sinking. I think I've got the problem licked though...just have to wait till next time to see if my hypothesis is correct. Even with the strawberries falling out, the cupcakes were delicious. Especially with cream cheese frosting.

A standard cake batter makes three huge cupcakes and twelve small ones. This is currently perfect, 'cause it's nice to have a big cupcake when you've been smelling them baking, and the "regular sized" ones are perfect for snacks.

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Oh, here's an interesting spam subject. "Start looking the age you act". Well *that* could be dangerous.

Does that mean I'd never be able to be juvenile again? No more swings in the park? No more Fraggle Rock?! Hmmph. I'd rather look like me and do what I want.

So there. *grin*

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One for the Really Bloody Cool Files, if you go to NIN.com, you can download the new album. For free. With Trent's blessing and DRM free.
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Oooh, *another* for the Really Bloody Cool Files, though in a completely different direction.

Winter was just two months old when she got her tail caught in a crab trap—and rendered a useless stump—off the coast of Florida. After a long recuperation and a year and a half of hard labor by one of the veterinary world's top prosthetics wizards, Winter became the first dolphin to receive a functional but fake tail, qualifying her, according to the Daily Mail as the "world's first bionic sea creature."

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And, now that I've had a marvelous conversation with my mom, I should think about making dinner.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

blueberries can sink sometimes too. so i put some in the batter and then some on top of the batter when its in the pan. then they sink a little and it all evens out. but maybe you have a better plan! also do you have a vanilla cake recipe? v wants one for her birthday.

if you coat the fruit in flour, they won't sink in the batter. I don't know why, but it works. this also works to keep chocolate chips and nuts afloat in batter.

Yep, my mother taught me that one.

Also, for raisins, soak them in warm water for about 5 minutes before mixing them in. Nummy, soft raisins...

"Start looking the age you act". Well *that* could be dangerous.

Does that mean I'd never be able to be juvenile again? No more swings in the park? No more Fraggle Rock?!

I think it means that you'd get carded every time you bought alcohol, and they'd never believe that you weren't under twenty-five. It's "looking the age you act," not "acting the age you look."

OMG, please for to share the cupcake recipe? Those sound FANTASTIC.

I made Sunday's cupcakes with a boxed mix (I think it was Duncan Hines vanilla, the kind where one adds a stick of butter, three eggs and water), but the best cake recipe I've ever come across is this one, from Cook's Illustrated:

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Rich and Tender Yellow Layer Cake
Makes two 9-inch cakes

To quickly bring the eggs and milk to room temperature (65°F), submerge them in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes after mixing them together. Adding the butter pieces to the mixing bowl one at a time prevents the dry ingredients from flying up and out of the bowl.

INGREDIENTS
4 large eggs , room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk , room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened (see illustration 1), each stick cut into 8 pieces

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease two 9-by-1 1/2-inch cake pans with vegetable shortening and cover pan bottoms with rounds of parchment paper or wax paper. Grease parchment rounds, dust cake pans with flour, and tap out excess.

2. Beat eggs, milk, and vanilla with fork in small bowl; measure out 1 cup of this mixture and set aside. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment; mix on lowest speed to blend, about 30 seconds. With mixer still running at lowest speed, add butter one piece at a time; mix until butter and flour begin to clump together and look sandy and pebbly, with pieces about the size of peas, 30 to 40 seconds after all butter is added. Add reserved 1 cup of egg mixture and mix at lowest speed until incorporated, 5 to 10 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high (setting 6 on KitchenAid) and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

Add remaining egg mixture (about 1/2 cup) in slow steady stream, about 30 seconds. Stop mixer and thoroughly scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Beat on medium-high until thoroughly combined and batter looks slightly curdled, about 15 seconds longer.

(To mix using hand mixer, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Add butter pieces and cut into the flour mixture with a pastry blender. Add reserved 1 cup of egg mixture; beat with hand mixer at lowest speed until incorporated, 20 to 30 seconds. Increase speed to high, add remaining egg mixture, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Stop mixer and thoroughly scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Beat at high speed 15 seconds longer.)

3. Divide batter equally between prepared cake pans; spread to sides of pan and smooth with rubber spatula. Bake until cake tops are light golden and skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. (Cakes may mound slightly but will level when cooled.)

Cool on rack 10 minutes.

Run a knife around pan perimeter to loosen. Invert cake onto large plate, peel off parchment, and re-invert onto lightly greased rack.

Cool completely before icing.

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I put some batter in the cups and dropped in the strawberries, then put more batter on top. Next time, I'll drop the berries on the very top after dusting them with either flour or powdered sugar and see where that gets me. Oddly, the berries didn't seem to affect the baking time.

That was weird, you finding a dolphin and me finding an eagle.

Loving V Virginia. Thank you for linking to this - so touching. (and it strikes me the name of the plaintiffs was very appropriate) One thing about Britain - we never had those laws. Discrimination might have happened, but at least it was never enshrined in law.

thanks for the NIN link! i'm downloading it right now!