Doug's Project 365

Whenever I see this sign at the Newton library, I feel like I’m one of those live-action choose-your-own-adventure games.

I have always made my dad’s waffle recipe. It’s pretty much straight out of Joy of Cooking, with some adaptations by him, and then by me over the years. But for this year’s New Years brunch we had some extra French bread starter so I made (slightly adapted) Mark Bittman’s “Overnight Waffles”, yeasted waffles. I don’t think I’m ever going back — so light, and crisp yet fluffy even after holding on a pot-luck table.

Vegetable prep like today’s is the Nakiri knife’s reason for existence.

This year I could not find pre-shelled pecan pieces, so I bought them in the shell. I am disappointed to learn that they taste *much better* this way — sweeter, less bitter, But definitely less convenient.

The electrician started on our electric car charger project today, and made good progress. This trench for the electric conduit is much smaller than I had feared it would be.

Today I learned that you only need to smoke beef chuck roast to 155 °F for it to be quite tasty — if you have cooked it sous-vide at that temperature for 48 hours already.

A charcoal chimney needs to have holes in it to function properly. Over time, though, it can develop Additional Holes which are not helpful. And when you start to think it might be wise to renew your tetanus booster after using it, it might be wise to invest in a new charcoal chimney.

Kudos to Weber for the one screw that can be removed to take off the plastic handle, then the rest of it is recyclable metal.

I smoked a 3.5 pound pork shoulder roast for my birthday this year.

The view from Halibut Point State Park (Rockport), a former granite quarry. Looking west toward Ipswich.

I told myself, as we went to spend a few days in Rockport, “I am not going to take a photo of Motif Number 1. It’s overdone.” But: the light was perfect, water was like a mirror, and the boats in the marina seemed to be facing it with reverence. What could I do? So here is my photo of “the most-often painted building in America.”