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This might do just as well.
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– Mobincube – Mobile Application Builder
This may be just what I need. Any of you lovely people used this?
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Will it Rain Today? | Rain radar for the UK | Going to rain? | Meteogroup
How handy. Current rainfall radar.
Diigo links for 05/25/2011
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Why I Will Never, Ever Hire A “Social Media Expert”
via @sevitz. Social media are a vital tool for any business these days. But so is a telephone. You wouldn’t have a telephone expert, would you?
Diigo links for 05/24/2011
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‘Look beyond’ patents, trademarks and copyright, manufacturers told – Telegraph
Strategoies for working with customs officials already exist for horticulutre, but they require an industry-wide level of cooperation, good information and effective training if they are to be successful.
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Chelsea Flower Show 2011: The Daily Telegraph show garden – Telegraph
Good to see a “porper” garden win best in show – no gimmicks, good design, real plants, totally achievable in the real world.
Diigo links for 05/20/2011
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Placebo Effect Works Even When Patients Know Medicine is Just `Sugar Pill’ – Bloomberg
May also work for sufferers of fibromyalgia.
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Alternative medicine: Think yourself better | The Economist
The power of placebo. And the power of actually stopping and talking to the patient.
Diigo links for 05/14/2011
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K&S interview. So, not so long to wait until the next album. But what about some more UK gigs? With the band, please and thank you.
Crème brûlée
By popular request, here is the recipe that I use for producing delicious home-made crème brûlée, lifted wholesale from Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook. Seriously, if you haven’t already got this book on your kitchen shelf, you need to get it. Now. It totally encompasses my approach to the kitchen – big flavours, big foods, big cookery, big swearing and big drinking – and is the most-used cookbook on our shelf. This dish, by the way, scores 10 on the impress-your-guests scale, as do many in the book. Most of the recipes are easy or require only moderate skills, but quite a few of them require a fair bit of time.
Amazon link: Anthony Bourdain’s “Les Halles” Cookbook: Classic Bistro Cooking
Ingredients:
- 900ml double cream (we’re not calorie counting here, ok?)
- 1 vanilla pod, whole (no vanilla essence, or else you’ll be shot)
- 170g granulated sugar
- 10 egg yolks
- 85g brown sugar
You will also need 6 or 8 ramekins, a big deep baking pan (or some other ovenproof dish that is at least an inch deep – you’re going to make a bain-marie) and a propane torch. You’ll need an electric whisk, large mixing bowl, sharp knife and a saucepan. Pre-heat your oven to 150 Celsius/300F/gas mark a-bit-less-than-half-way.
First, put the cream into a large saucepan on the hob. Split the vanilla pod along its length using a very sharp knife. Scrape the insides of the pod into the cream and then dump the pod itself in as well. Add half the granulated sugar to the cream, stir thoroughly and bring the mixture to a gentle boil.
Whilst your mixture comes to the boil, place the egg yolks into a large mixing bowl and whisk in the remaining granulated sugar. Keep whisking until the mixture is pale yellow and slightly foamy.
Fish the vanilla pod out of the cream and throw the pod away. Remove the cream mixture from the heat and slowly, gradually whisk it into the yolk mixture. You must do it slowly and whisk constantly, otherwise the mixture will curdle.
Place the ramekins in the baking pan and fill the pan with cold water so that it comes half way up the sides of the ramekins. Divide the custard mixture evenly between the ramekins.
Bake in the oven for around 45 minutes (I sometimes find it takes a little longer – depends on your oven), until the top is set but still “jiggly”.
Remove the whole thing from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature (take the ramekins out of the bain-marie as soon as they are cool enough to handle). You can store them easily at this stage – I’ve found that, once cooled and covered in cling film, they keep in the fridge for a couple of days. If you are planning a dinner party, be canny and do everything up to this stage the day before.
Sprinkle a generous tablespoon of brown sugar over the top of each custard. Carefully run the propane torch flame over the top of each one, just enough to caramelize the sugar (I like to leave a little sugar un-torched around the edge). Allow to sit for a moment so that the sugar sets into a crunchy shell coating across the top and then serve to applause and hooplas from your guests.
Now, what do you do with ten egg whites?
Diigo links for 05/11/2011
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Excellent documentary about library music, recently broadcast on Radio 4.
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YouTube – Kraak & Smaak LIVE festival show
Brings back seriously good memories of pogoing in Middelburg, Hels beside me and Tom on my shoulders.
Diigo links for 05/09/2011
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BBC News – Is ‘open’ killing the Android?
Totally misleading headline, but interesting article. I find the Google Android Market pretty clunky and tend to look for app recommendations on the web before searching for an appropriate app. There needs to be a better search and review process, better QC.
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BBC News – Poor language skills ‘leave Britons out of EU jobs’
This surprises me not-at-all. I deal with a couple of EU bodies and hardly ever meet an English person. Also, because the UK has rarely (if ever) submitted a bid to host an EU agency office, the situation is compounded. All this does nothing for the British view of the EU, IMHO.
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Legal disclaimers: Spare us the e-mail yada-yada | The Economist
… so it’s a good job that I’ve never bothered with email disclaimers. (via @linkmachinego)