SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS!

Posted in General by sallybr

I got a blog award! And like sunshine it made me very very happy… Thank you so much, Dorothy (from New Vintage Kitchen), it took me a while to compose this post, but better late than never! Life has been slightly hectic, but now that I am for the most part laying in the sun in Hawaii, it seems like the perfect opportunity to say a big thank YOU!

The Sunshine Blogger Award is given by bloggers to peers who they feel are creative, positive, and inspiring while spreading sunshine to the blogging community.

Rules for the Sunshine Blogger Award

Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you and link back to their blog.
Answer the 11 (or so) questions the blogger asked you.
List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award in your blog post.
Nominate 11 (or so) new bloggers & their blogs. Do leave a comment on their blog to let them know they received the award and ask your nominees 11 (or so) new questions.

Being the rebel that I am, I must say that I will not nominate 11 bloggers, so my apologies for that, I hope it’s ok. But here are the answers to the questions Dorothy asked in her nomination

Describe your blog and why you started it. My blog is almost 11 years old and it started just to join my passion for writing and cooking. I like to keep it varied, but over the past couple of years there has been a clear increase in baking.
Favorite time of day to write? I don’t have a preferred time, usually I write my posts in the weekend or evenings.
Music while you write? If so, what? No music. I don’t listen to music while I write or cook. If Phil has music on in the background, it does not bother me, but I never set anything to play.
Do you carry a notebook or use notes on phone or tablet to jot things down when out of the house? No.
What inspires you the most in regards to your writing? First, the recipe I will be featuring. It all goes around it. But I avoid excessive text before the recipe, I find it too distracting.
Have you ever dreamed you could fly? No. I guess I am a very boring person… No music, no notebooks, no flying… what’s wrong with me?
What was the last book you read and did you like it? Man’s Search for Meaning. A difficult, disturbing read but I adored it.
What superpower do you wish you had? Time travel (with 100% safe return to present).
Dark or milk chocolate? Both. Plus white.
Is there a question you wish you were asked? Nothing in particular comes to my mind.

A few more words about blogging. I have perhaps a bit over 3 thousand subscribers to the site, but I doubt that more than 20% of those come and read what I post. I never had a blog post, pinterest or instagram entry go viral. But every time I hit “publish” on a post I feel the same thrill of 11 years ago when it all started. I guess that is what keeps me going. Being nominated for an award by someone who pays attention to my writing and leaves me comments and so much encouragement? That is special. That warms my heart.

THANK YOU, DOROTHY!

6May2019

VENTING ON VACCINES

Posted in General by sallybr

I am re-blogging this article, which I originally wrote in 2015, since it seems even more relevant today. Please feel free to share if you like it. (comments are shutdown, you can add comments to the original post, if so desired)

Bewitching Kitchen

Disclaimer #1: This is not a food-related post

Disclaimer #2: I am taking my gloves off

Few things upset me more than the disturbing movement to stop vaccinating babies and kids. For a while now I’ve been debating whether I should write about it. Having watched an episode of Frontline the other day that dealt with the subject, and almost succumbing to cardiac arrest while screaming at the screen, I decided I cannot stay silent any longer. First of all, let me get this straight out up front: I have a doctoral degree in Biochemistry, three years post-doctoral experience in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford, and I taught Microbiology to Medical students in Brazil at Universidade de Sao Paulo. I also worked for about 10 years on basic research into the biotechnology of vaccines. I’m not bragging, but I am stating my experience, that hopefully will convince…

View original post 2,544 more words

8Jul2018

A DREAM THAT DID NOT COME TRUE

Posted in General by sallybr

Do you remember the Great British Baking Show? I watched every season. It quickly became my favorite cooking show because contrary to other productions, the overall atmosphere is friendly, and the judges, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood work together flawlessly to evaluate the contestants, bringing a perfect balance of criticism and praise. The show was so successful that an American version popped up a few years ago (2015), using a very similar format. Season 3 got canceled after just a few episodes but a new season is coming up probably later this year.

(Word cloud, courtesy of my dear friend Denise – do I have cool friends or what?)

I am not allowed to share any specific details. All I can say is that I got very close from being a contestant in this upcoming Great American Baking Show. I passed all hurdles, except the last one. It was a stressful process, with quite a bit of anxiety but also a ton of excitement. Probably the most amazing experience I’ve been through. For a while I was living in a kind of a daze, not quite sure it was all really happening.

I confess that I day-dreamed a lot about meeting Paul Hollywood, Mary Berry (if they would be the hosts), and ‘the tent.” I confess I day-dreamed about getting a handshake on Bread Week (hey, dreams are free, and sometimes wild). I confess that no matter how much I try to tell myself it was a long shot, that the competition was fierce and the contestants I met were better than me, I am disappointed and sad for not being chosen.

I guess what makes me most disappointed is that I feel I did not do my best on some levels. That is what bothers me. And I will have to find ways to deal with it. But it’s all water under the bridge. Life goes on, and my plan is to continue trying to improve my baking skills. I have a long list of things I want to learn and a long list of skills I want to get better at. It would have been so nice to be on the show, but unfortunately, not every dream in life comes true.

SaveSave

7Mar2018

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE

Posted in General by sallybr

For the past couple of months we’ve been struggling with intense sadness, brought by the shocking news that our very dear graduate student, and my lovely friend, Aritri was diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive type of cancer. She had surgery on the day of her 30th Birthday, and the diagnosis came a few days later as a New Year sarcastic surprise, on January 1st. Her cancer, leiomyosarcoma, is pretty much unheard of in women in her age bracket, hitting those in their 50’s instead. Usually post-menopausal women. A very unlucky roll of the dice for our friend.

Aritri has been working daily on the bench right next to mine for the past 5 years. I taught her every technique of molecular biology I know, and she not only learned them all, but I must admit, she does them better and faster than her mentor. You want something tricky done as efficiently as possible? Give it to Aritri. She loves having a ton of stuff to do (I often think she pushes the envelope a little), and after lab meetings in which we go over what everyone is doing, she will often approach me with a very characteristic smile and ask “why don’t you let me do it for you?” She loves being busy, she loves earrings, colorful outfits, she loves to cook, to have fun, she loves to sing and does so beautifully – at a professional level, actually. She often performs at functions on campus.

Bottom line is, she is a special person in our lab in general and in my life in particular. I wish I had a magic wand to wave and make this nightmare go away from her life. So that she can go on to become a successful scientist, so that she can go on singing, and brightening up the world around her with her smile, her beauty, her sense of humor and sweetness. I don’t have a magic wand, but I do have this blog and I hope that you understand if I use it to at least try to help her deal with the financial burden of what she is going through.

To this end, I am setting up a GoFundMe campaign for her, and the link is here.

I should let you know that I will not keep track of who is donating or not, I don’t want to do that. Not everyone can donate, and that doesn’t mean a person does not care. I leave it up to you, if you can do it, we really appreciate it.

One final note: if you try to donate, the way gofund is set up, it makes you think there is no way to avoid including an extra tip. Just scroll to “OTHER” and fill the value with zero.

(comments are shutdown to this post)

SaveSave

19Jan2018

THE IRON (UPTAKE) CHEF CHALLENGE

Posted in Desserts, Desserts, Sweets, General by sallybr

I wish I could take credit for coming up with Iron Uptake Chef, but one of my readers – you know who you are – coined the term for me. Coolest title ever! Iron uptake experiments are my “thing” in the lab. You know how a person might love to make pasta from scratch, or bake breads, or bake cookies, and that is their comfort zone in the kitchen? In a lab, we all have our favorite experiments. For me, by far, it is anything related to iron uptake. These experiments require careful timing and I was born with a chronometer inside my head. Anything that requires careful timing, please let me take care of it. I love it, and all modesty aside, do a pretty good job with it. For these experiments we must measure the radioactivity in hundreds of test tubes, one by one, using a machine called gamma-counter, aka My Preciousssss.

If something happens with My Preciousssss, I am in deep, deep trouble. Unfortunately that is exactly what I faced last year. My beloved gamma-counter died. I suspected a mechanical problem, the chains that move the tubes around were stuck. Our counter is old (built in 1990), no one services it anymore, parts are next to impossible to find. So the Iron Uptake Chef was left with 180 samples inside the machine. Paralyzed. We considered buying a new machine, but the price tag is painful: about 25K.

In despair, we asked our IT guy to take a look at it. He’s been working in our department for 30 years (!!!), and performs all sorts of miracles in anything involving computers and beyond. Gamma-counters go beyond the definition of beyond, but… he said he would take a look at it. Yes, it was a mechanical problem, and he thought that replacing one component that rotates a big handle inside the machine could be the key to solve it. He took the part out, searched for it on ebay, and found something that seemed to be a good replacement. A few more days went by, the radioactivity in my samples decaying at the same rate my hyperventilation was increasing. When we finally got the part, the dimension of one metal component was too big, it would not fit in the little space available for it. Undeterred, our guru got a special saw and “trimmed” the part to fit. He worked a whole weekend on it, and by Monday morning my Preciousss was in top shape, and my experiment saved!

So how do you even begin to say thank you for someone who went not just the extra mile, but what it amounts to a full marathon for you? I asked him what was his favorite cake, and promised I would bake him one. As he considered all the possibilities, I started to shake inside, fearing the worst. What have I just done? Have I set myself to calamitous trouble? Could he possibly pick a Gateau Saint-Honore’? A Sacher Torte, perhaps? Well, it was challenge enough for this Iron Woman. Stay tuned for the outcome…

(to be continued….)

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSave