Alexx's Journal

Not too long ago, my friend Libby linked to this video:


I'd been idly meaning to make a batch of chili for a while now, and this finally spurred me to do so, as it could also be an opportunity for SCIENCE!

My results were not as impressive as those in the video, though the general principle does seem sound. Shaking for ten seconds didn't do much but create a shower of loose garlic-paper. Another ten seconds showed a few naked cloves. In all, I shook them for over a minute, in small bursts. About 50% of the cloves were totally denuded, and about 25% were partially naked. the remaining quarter, sadly, retained complete covering. Also, despite my best efforts at keeping a seal between the two bowls, tiny fragments of garlic-paper went flying over much of the kitchen. Total energy+time expenditure, including cleanup, was practically the same as doing it the slow-and-steady way. Rather more entertaining, though!

Hypothesis 1: Fresher garlic might perform better. Try getting fresher garlic to test.

Hypothesis 2: A stronger person shaking might perform better. Try getting herooftheage to try this technique to test :-)

Thanksgiving at the Buttery was excellent as always. Got to meet issendai's friend flapwolf, who was nifty.

Way too much excellent food. I managed not to eat myself ill, though it was a near thing. My chili, as usual, didn't get very much eaten given all the competition, but those who had it said they liked it. And now I have leftover chili available for weeks. I'm *so* happy I have a new refrigerator! No more worries about having to clear out leftovers hastily.

After the main feast, I had the best chocolate chip cookie ever. It was a simple, fairly ordinary cookie, of basic ingredients, made by hugh_mannity's son, Zeth (albeit from an Alton Brown recipe). I do not think that the cookie was, in and of itself, particularly remarkable. But it blended together with the lingering tastes of everything else on my tongue to create a taste that was... sublime.