"milk" news and stories

Coffee ice cubes. Photo: Joanne Choi, Week of Menus.

Whoever came up with the idea to put coffee over ice is an unsung hero to caffeine addicts everywhere, who, as a result, can snag their coffee fixes on 100-degree days without chugging 100-degree beverages.

The only drawback, of course, is when the ice melts and that much-beloved morning treat becomes an unappetizing coffee-water hybrid. Here's a twist on the coffee ice cubes we reminded you to make earlier this summer: Joanne Choi from Week of Menus busted out her cubes and plopped them into a glass of milk.

Both clever and appetizing, each chilly caffeinated cube looks good enough to savor on its own -- a coffee Popsicle, if you will -- but, when lounging in a glass of ice-cold milk, they create a sort of inverse iced coffee. Genius.

[Via Week of Menus]

NSFW: This is standup, therefore, beware of foul language.

Here's a laugh to get us through the hump day.

As much as we can all rant, there's nothing quite like the fuming fury of a funny man. Above, you can check out a 10-minute sketch of Lewis Black ranting about the world of milk and the commodification of water, from Black on Broadway. It may be long, but its got enough laughs to make it feel like just a moment.

We're talking the kind of rant where the subject drives you crazy with aggravation, until it boils up into your eyes and makes you suffer short convulsive fits (as Black does while mentioning acidophilus, and sending me to tears). It's wickedly funny, both for Black's treatment of the matter, and its common sense.

[via Ruhlman.com]

• Milk seems like a simple fluid, but this excerpt of Milk shares the convoluted truth.
• The easiest way to start appreciating wine: try it in different glasses (it converted me!). Gord Stimmell talks about the truths of wine glasses and some cheap but tasty wine picks.
• Communal dining at Oddfellows and a warning about mixed nuts.
• Giving thanks is often teamed with religion, but being thankful can mean more, non-denominationally.
  
• Recipe: Apple Ginger Crisp with Honey Mascarpone

Flour is the basic structural ingredient. It's the starch in the flour that will, when mixed with liquid and heated in the oven, gelatinize and set when cooled. Flour also contains the proteins you need to make gluten, which is great for baking bread but not so desirable for making pie crusts. All you have to do is use a flour with a lower protein content, which generally means all purpose flour (cake flour might be too weak).

Fats are considered tenderizing agents for baked goods like cakes and pie crusts, rather than shortening agents like they would be for bread. In pie crusts, fats like oil, vegetable shortening, butter, and lard prevent gluten from getting formed in the first place by coating the flour granules, thus ensuring tenderness. Flakiness is achieved by the way you mix the dough: larger chunks of fat from less mixing make for more flakiness while more mixing and smaller fat chunks make a less flaky crust. They also add a lot of flavor, especially in the case of butter and animal fats. Lard and butter are also generally considered to have a better feel in the mouth, and lard is reputed to create a flakier crust than other fats.

Water and milk are the most common liquids, while buttermilk, eggs, and cream can also be used. Liquids function as a binding agent: they allow all of the ingredients to be evenly dissolved and incorporated. They also hydrate the the starch and protein in the flour and activate whatever leavening is being used. If you're using a liquid besides water, you're also adding fats, sugar, and acidity which is a good thing. The fats add tenderness, the adds to crust color, and the acidity makes the dough more stable and easier to roll out as well as taste better. Make sure to always use a cold liquid to keep the fat nice and cold, so it'll retain its shape/temperature and produce a flaky product.

Eggs are used for hydrating the dough, creating structure, giving color to the dough, and flavor. The whites are 90% water and the rest protein, so that aids in hydration and structure. The yolks are 50% water with the rest being mostly fat, contributing to hydration and tenderness as well as flavor and crust color.

Sugar adds sweetness and contributes the most to crust color. Ths crust turns golden brown because the sugar in the dough caramelizes as it's baked. Also, the texture of the dough can be changed by using sugar ground to different levels of fineness. For instance, powdered sugar makes a dough that is smoother, even if it doesn't taste as good as granulated.

I've always been thankful that I'm not allergic to anything. I breathe a sigh of relief every time I get to say "not that I know of" when the doctor asks if I'm allergic to anything. At the same time, I've always felt really bad for people who do suffer from food allergies. Lactose intolerance? You poor thing! What? You can't eat wheat/bread? I just don't think I could make it.

I realize that if you are one of the people who can't eat certain foods you get used to it and take it in stride. And of course, food labels are enormously useful in helping people avoid those dangerous foods. Even though there are more, manufacturers are required to list the top eight, which are responsible for 90% of allergic reactions. I'm sure all of these look familiar to any careful label reader!

1. wheat
2. soy
3. peanuts
4. tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc)
5, milk
6. eggs
7. fish
8. shellfish