mourningdove

Friday Favorites: Old-School Web Comics

From the early days of the Internet, where things either didn’t move or were animated with Flash (remember Flash?):

Grits v. Polenta v. Cornmeal v. Atole v. Chaquewe v. Masa: What’s the Difference?

TL;DR: not a whole heckuva lot—it’s mostly about the fineness of the grind and whether the corn has been nixtamalized or not. But for the fine print, read on…. If you try to cook even a little bit outside the box, you’ve run into this issue before. You’ve found yourself staring at a recipe thatContinue reading “Grits v. Polenta v. Cornmeal v. Atole v. Chaquewe v. Masa: What’s the Difference?”

Boloquoy Farmhouse & Mill

A unique and sweet project in Orkney to restore an 18th-century farmstead as a way of preserving culture and memory on the island: youtube.com/watch

ESC #41 and #42: DessArt Night (ft. shibori dyeing)

My friend Gina asked me when I got interested in shibori, and I couldn’t remember, but I love the graphic simplicity of it and the rich color of the indigo. Indigo dyeing always intimidated me, though—until I found Yamato Indigo’s instant dye vats. It’s a mix of organic indigo with the agents you need toContinue reading “ESC #41 and #42: DessArt Night (ft. shibori dyeing)”

Building the Dohyō for the Grand Sumo Basho

youtube.com/watch Continuing on our Grand Sumo theme, here’s a great video about how the dohyō or competition ring is made. It’s a sloped platform made of clay and straw, and it’s constructed by hand by the yobidashi, the announcers! Amazing.

Friday Favorites

Here’s what I’m grooving to these days:

Origami Pegasus

youtube.com/watch Just incredible.

The Piñata (and other cocktails) from Padrecito

I really can’t exaggerate how good the cocktail menu was at Padrecito, the upscale Cole Valley tacquería that tragically didn’t survive the pandemic. (Happily the bar director, David Ruiz, did and he’s currently running Stillwater with his wife in Fairfax—so check it out if you’re in the neighborhood). But nearly as awesome as the drinksContinue reading “The Piñata (and other cocktails) from Padrecito”

Operation Baguette (aka Projet Boule): Succès!

Wow, you guys. Mad props to the ancestors. Also, agriculture is clearly a team sport because I can tell you as an individual it is NOT worth it. You spend way more time and energy planting and processing grain than you get back in calories. You’d be better off spending all that time fishing andContinue reading “Operation Baguette (aka Projet Boule): Succès!”

ESC #39 and #40 plus bonus ESC: Beach Edition

Yep. Been passing this sign outside Sebastopol for years and finally couldn’t resist pulling over and taking a picture given its current, shall we say, mood. Plus Bill’s is a really great organic market I didn’t know about with a great little coffee shop. So, win/win. Playing catch-up here after a couple of busy workContinue reading “ESC #39 and #40 plus bonus ESC: Beach Edition”