The Allure of the Tart-based Pasty

In all of my dessert making days, no one type of pastry has been more requested than the Tart.  From Lemons to Rhubarb, the tart can be used for just about any type of filling.

The Lemon Tart - Never a dull moment!

Let's dive into the details here...

Food Challenge: Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes

Along the lines of "unusual combinations", I had several requests to attempt a chocolate cupcake.  Another request asked for chocolate mousse.  I don't think either person expected me to answer both requests with a single dessert!

This is the first in a series of food topics.

Let's review the process here...

Adding a new subject type - Food!

As Gordon Ramsay puts it, the "F" word stands for Food.  For many of my recent endeavors, food has been a predominant area of research and study.  I intend to continue that in my coming years, and hope to document and discuss via the blog as well.

Why food?

• It's Primal.  Like the bow, we learned how to hunt.  Now we must do the following action - Prepare food for consumption!
• It's part science and part art.  What better way to showcase your food engineering than to plate it well?
• You have to eat at some point (unless you are not human).
• It's a skill that one can work on their entire life - new recipes and techniques are generated constantly!

Got that? Now to explain the way I will format them.

The general format is split into several types:

• Food Challenges: Experimental Recipes, fusion recipes, and difficult to execute recipes.
• Recipe Reports: Analysis on stock, online, or book recipes and how well they pan out in the real world.
• Research Reports: Testing out multiple techniques to prove, disprove, or expand upon their details.
• Restaurant/Industry insight: Opinions and observations on topics dealing with the food industry. 

I look forward to seeing comments and opinions from you readers out there!

Race Report: Austin Marathon 2013

For my first marathon, I had a lot of expectations and theories of what would go on during the race.  The madhouse of the startline, the difficultly of sticking to a plan on raceday, or even the adrenaline rush screwing up my pace.

So how did I fare? More after the jump.

2013 Austin Marathon: A training exercise for the Ironman

With less than a few weeks to go, the 2013 Austin Marathon is going to be my first Marathon to compete in.  Since the beginning of January last year, I started around 2-3 miles and over the course of the year slowly got to 20+ this past December.

The Tri/TT Bike Build: 2012

The journey of the endurance athlete is equally matched in the time it takes to procure the equipment needed.  This is true for my bike build, which has taken nearly 3 months to complete because of issues sourcing the frame, parts, and the funds.  

Essentially this build is not necessarily the dream bike, but an unusual build of sorts.  It uses a completely blank from from my friend's bike company in Austin, and a 90% build of a SRAM RED groupset to complete it.  If I was really going to do the full beans, I would have done the full SRAM RED v2012.

2012: Changing with the times

In the last two years, I've gotten the chance to do a lot of the things most people don't get the chance to do at my age.  I spent an entire year autocrossing and tracking my Miata, along with other people's cars.      And in that time, I've learned a lot about performance driving, cars, and race techniques.

However, with that experience comes the other side of the story - the cost.