Librarian Soul

@librariansoul

Gay, autistic, former librarian. He/they

462 Folgt699 Follower3.151 Posts

Bluesky

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Librarian Soul@librariansoul· 29d

Rhubarb cordial unlocked! I’m finally ready for summer (but not for the heat, I’m staying indoors)

Two large bottles full of a ruby-colored liquid stand on a white counter behind a flared shot glass filled with the same liquid. High-angle shot.

Two large bottles full of a ruby-colored liquid stand on a white counter behind a flared shot glass filled with the same liquid. Lower-angle shot.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jul 17

Thanks to @emilyhughes.bsky.social ‘s rec, I made the strawberry summer sheet cake from @smittenkitchen.bsky.social and it came out truly amazing. Puddles of jammy strawberries embedded in a moist vanilla cake with a sugared crust on top. Super easy, too! Recipe: smittenkitchen.com/2019/06/stra...

A top-down view of a 13”x9” pan full of strawberry cake.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jul 13

Made my favorite beef stew for dinner—a recipe for Daube Provençale from Cooks Illustrated. Beef, carrots, onions, porcini mushrooms, Niçoise olives, orange peel, tomato, and a fuckton of red wine. Rich, savory, flavorful, and super filling.

Two wide white bowls half-full with beef stew with beef and carrots chunks in a rich brown gravy, sprinkled with chopped parsley,

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jul 12

This is what these curves look like, plotted between 0 and 1 (0%<=ABV<=100%). Both of them look very strange as models of dilution. Let’s take the curve for a shaken cocktail first (the blue parabola facing up in the graph). 2/6

A graph of a blue parabola pointing up and a red parabola pointing down, with the region between 0 and 1 highlighted in green. Below the graph are the equations for these visualizations.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jul 12

I was getting ready to post a batched cocktail recipe here, so I opened my husband’s copy of Liquid Intelligence by Dave Arnold, looking for dilution advice, when I came across something very strange. On page 123, I found this sidebar on calculating dilution. Does anyone see the problem here? 1/6

CALCULATING DILUTION
After lots of testing, I came up with an equation to estimate dilution from stirring and shaking that takes only initial alcohol content into consideration. It works well for the range of alcohol content in cocktails. I discovered that I could safely ignore sugar content. In these equations, alcohol by volume must be input as a decimal (22 percent would be 0.22) and dilution is returned as a decimal percent. I derived these equations by measuring a series of cocktails and using Excel to fit a curve to my data.
Dilution of a stirred drink stirred quickly with 120 grams of ¼-inch cubes for 15 seconds:
Dilution ratio = -1.21 × ABV^2 + 1.246 x ABV + 0.145
Dilution of a shaken drink shaken with 120 grams of ¼-inch cubes for 10 seconds:
Dilution ratio = 1.567 x ABV^2 + 1.742 × ABV + 0.203

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jul 11

Nicer crumb than I usually get, too! Definitely writing down the changes I made for next time #breadsky #bakingsky

A sourdough bâtard that has been cut in half so the crumb is exposed. The crumb is a mix of tight and open structures.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jul 11

Two lovely sourdough loaves #breadsky #bakingsky

Two sourdough bâtard loaves sitting on cooling racks.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jul 11

I mean, look at that! I want a slice of that right now!

A sourdough bâtard loaf with a lifted “ear” in its crust sitting on a cooling rack in a quarter-sheet pan.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jul 6

Sous-vided and then grilled pork ribs for D&D! Fall-off-the-bone succulent and delectable. Will definitely be doing this again.

An aluminum half-sheet pan with three groups of multiple pork ribs on it. The ribs are glossy with barbecue sauce and dark with patches of char.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jul 4

Sous-viding ribs for D&D on Sunday. Gonna throw them on the grill to finish right before we meet

A clear plastic bin full of water and vacuum bags of ribs, with a psychedelic yellow silicone lid. A white sous vide circulator wand can be dimly seen behind the bags of ribs. The plastic bin is sitting on black pyramidal silicone supports to protect the counter from the heat.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jul 4

The Spiked Passion Fruit Mimosa 1 oz Chinola passion fruit liqueur ½ oz white rum ¼ oz Smith & Cross rum 4 drops saline Sparkling wine, chilled Shake liqueur, rums, and saline over ice and strain into a champagne flute or coupe. Fill glass the rest of the way with sparkling wine. Enjoy!

A champagne flute half-filled with an orange liquid, standing in front of bottles of Chinola, Probitas blended white rum, Smith & Cross Jamaican rum, and Trader Joe’s sparkling wine.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jul 3

I’m going to go with an Octavia E. Butler trifecta: - Wild Seed - Kindred - Parable of the Sower

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler. The typefaces are retro and bold and red outlined in black. The image shows a Black woman from the bust up, head turned to her right, and various animal forms growing out of the crown of her head.

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. A Black woman in a simple white shirt looks down on a black and white group of old-timey houses.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. A stylized illustration of a black woman in a red dress and headdress. Both have a motif of orange chevrons.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jun 26

Made Mexican flan last night. This recipe has cream cheese in it, and I was worried it would turn out too much like cheesecake, but it was *dreamy*—perfectly cooked, with an impeccable flavor and custardy texture.

A top-down photo of a nine-inch, caramel-covered flan on a large plate.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jun 21

Making my annual batch of rhubarb cordial!

A 2-quart mason jar two-thirds full with translucent pink liquid with chunks of rhubarb and orange peel floating in it.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jun 14

Samosa chaatdish for D&D. Took absolutely forever to make because the first two steps are “finely chop and then caramelize four onions.” Hopefully it tastes good enough to be worth it!

A top-down view of a tater-tot hot dish in a well-used rectangular aluminum baking pan.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jun 10

Lazy Porn Star Martini Variant 1 small handful frozen passion fruit pulp cubes 2 oz vodka ½ oz Chinola passion fruit liqueur ½ oz Giffard Vanille de Madagascar vanilla liqueur ½ oz lime juice OR lime acid 2-3 drops saline Shake very well with ice and serve in a coupe. No garnish bc we’re lazy.

Two coupe glasses filled to the brim with bright orange liquid stand on a white counter in front of frozen passion fruit pulp, homemade saline solution, Chinola passion fruit liqueur, Giffard vanilla liqueur, and Tito’s vodka.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Jun 2

Made the “Ham & Cheese Lasagna” from Ham El-Waylly’s cookbook. Aside from my getting into a tussle with the lasagne noodles, it turned out really well!

A rectangular pan of lasagne seen from above. The top layer of noodles is rumpled and chaotic, with spotty browning and charring in places.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· May 22

Made sourdough focaccia pugliese last night for D&D and it was a hit! Flavors this time: cherry tomatoes, Castelvetrano olives, and garlic. #breadsky #bakingsky

A rectangular focaccia on a cooling rack. The top of the focaccia is studded with green olives and cherry tomatoes.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· May 17

I’m currently in love with Ham El-Waylly’s new cookbook, Hello, Home Cooking. I’ve made multiple recipes from it and they’re all winners, and I want to make basically everything else in the book too. I know other people have mentioned it, but Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat is just amazing.

The cover of Hello, Home Cooking: Do-Able Dishes for Every Day by Ham El-Waylly. The image is a plate of pork belly and fried yuca.

The cover of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat and art by Wendy McNaughton, with a foreword by Michael Pollan. The image is a colorful drawing of a long counter full of cooking ingredients.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· May 17

Whatever its faults, the sourdough bread I made today at least tastes delicious #breadsky

A sourdough bâtard cut in half with the crumb showing.

Two sourdough bâtards cooling on cooling racks.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· May 17

New cocktail to me: The Oaxapricot Old Fashioned (from Curiada) 1.5 oz reposado tequila 0.75 oz Giffard Abricot du Roussillon apricot liqueur 0.5 oz mezcal 2 dashes Ango 2 dashes black walnut bitters 3 drops saline Lemon peel Build in glass w/ large cube, express lemon peel over top. Enjoy!

An amber-colored drink with a spherical ice cube in a rocks glass.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· May 10

Salt-rising bread! It’s delicious, although the top crust looks like it was attacked with a dough-dissolving ray, and I think I overbaked the loaves slightly. Still scratches that salt-rising–bread itch, which is what I needed #breadsky #bakingsky

A loaf of salt-rising bread cut in half with the crumb exposed. The interior is crumbly.

Two salt-rising bread loaves on a cooling rack. The loaves are golden brown and the sides are squared off. The top of each loaf is slightly cratered and rough.

Two salt-rising bread loaves in 9”x5” Pullman loaf pans.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· May 8

Didn’t roll my Flammenkuchen dough out enough this time (but it was still delicious), the Librarian Soul story

A roundish flatbread with crème fraîche, onions, and bacon on it, sitting on a cooling rack.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· May 1

The crumb is a little weird and I didn’t get an ear, but it’s not charred and it tastes delicious, so I’m calling this batch of @wordloaf.org ‘s “Lazy Sourdough” a success!

A sourdough bâtard on a small cooling rack.

A sourdough loaf that has been cut open so you can see the crumb. Most of the crumb is fairly regular, but there are large-ish bubbles right underneath the top crust on one side.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Apr 29

Made Sohla’s spanakopita again. It smells sooooo good, and it’s not bad to look at either

A top-down photo of a spanakopita in a cast-iron skillet with a heavily browned upper crust of crumpled phyllo pastry.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Apr 27

The grocery store finally had rhubarb, so I made the NYT Cooking rhubarb upside-down cake for D&D yesterday. Lovely and plush, with a nice sharpness from the rhubarb.

A top-down view of a rhubarb upside-down cake, showing that the upper surface is completely covered in cubes of cooked rhubarb.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Apr 21

Nice

A screenshot from a Bluesky account that says “666 followers.”

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Apr 19

It was very pretty inside, and people seemed to like it. It was a little dense, but it tasted good!

Half of a three-layer cake, with the layers exposed. The cake is pink with white cream cheese frosting and sprinkles on top.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Apr 19

Jazzed it up with pearls and Barbie-themed sprinkles

A sloppily decorated three-layer cake with cream cheese frosting. The top surface of the cake is scattered with pearl nonpareils and hot pink sprinkles.

Librarian Soul@librariansoul· Apr 19

Here’s the prettiest side of the cake. I suppose it’s not *that* bad considering this is my first attempt at a layer cake or cake decorating of any kind. The proof, however, will be in the eating.