p_roqueforti

New Cheese Alert

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:15:52 GMT

We've been working on a beer-infused blue cheese using Summit's Winter Ale here at work. Tonight is our launch party, and it goes on sale at Lunds/Byerly's nex Friday. It's been a pretty fun project to work on these last few months.

The flavor is pretty unique, and I mean that in a good way. The salt rind picks up the flavor of the beer, and the body of the cheese has a hint of beer flavor and a mellowed blue flavor. Overall it has an earthiness and the peppery note I associate with our St. Pete's Select has been mellowed.

It's a very limited release, and I can't wait to see how it goes.

The joys of work-related web surfing

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:58:42 GMT

I was reading the blog of a local cheesemonger, and within four or five clicks I found out my sister has a favorite poem about chemistry.

In times like these one feels obligated to say something like "life is full of surprises," but in reality I was neither surprised to find her commenting on that blog nor that she has reads science-related poetry.

Geometry Burn

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:13:36 GMT

I don't often laugh aloud when I'm alone, and the first two panels of this comic hadn't led me to expect a hilarious punchline, but the third panel delivered humor far beyond my expectations. As infrequently as I wear something with words on it, I would be sorely tempted to wear a shirt with the third panel's final line.

Odd Firmware Bug II: Electric Boogaloo

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:27:17 GMT

I'm not sure who heard about Odd Firmware Bug I, as it occurred back when I blogged the old-fashioned way (i.e. speaking with friends). I had a repeat of it today, for reasons almost as mystifying as the bug itself. In a nutshell, my pH meter decided that instead of giving me a calibration slope and allowing me to take accurate pH measurements it would re-boot itself. Here is how my discussion with technical support went when I first had this problem.

Me: My pH meter won't give me a calibration slope, it is re-booting itself at the end of calibration, and therefore cannot be calibrated.

Tech Support: Ah yes, that is a known issue, and we issued a firmware update a while ago that will correct the problem. Your meter must not have this more recent version.

Me: A fair assumption. How may I obtain this update?

Tech Support: I can give you a web address where you can download this update.

Me: How shall I move this update from my computer to my meter?

Tech Support: Well, if you don't have the necessary cable, you can order one for the reasonable price of ~$35 dollars plus shipping.

Me: That is an inconvenient solution, as I want to take measurements now.

Tech Support: Well, there is a workaround. You can set the meter's internal clock back a few years.

Me: Really?

Tech Support: Yes, really. With the old firmware, your meter will re-boot at the end of a calibration cycle if set to a date later than some arbitrary day in 2006.

Me: That's odd, seeing as it is currently 2008.

Tech Support: Trust me, it will work.

And it did. I set the date back to some time in 2001. The meter must have reset itself somehow, since today it was back to showing 2006 for the year. I had almost forgotten about this incident until today when this specter from my past returned to haunt my every waking moment. What kind of twisted logic exists in the cold circuits of my pH meter that such a bug could pop up.

Machine Intelligence Movie Recommendations

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 03:59:11 GMT

Because I liked Dr. Strangelove, Brazil, and The Manchurian Candidate, Netflix thinks I'd like Once Upon a Time in the West. I haven't seen it, so I'll take Netflix's word on it.

US Government Standard Bathroom Malodor

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:21:00 GMT

I like to think of myself as fairly libertarian, but there is something oddly comforting that our governments' bureaucracy is sufficiently bureaucratized to find it necessary to identify a standard by which to measure the efficacy of air fresheners. And that said standard is sufficiently strong to be considered one of the two worst smells in the entire world.

Seriously. I have a little warm, fuzzy feeling inside right now and a slight grin on my face. I really hope no one notices.

I think I've got the blue lung, pop

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:05:41 GMT

The top secret cheddar project proceeds at work. This afternoon, Steve and I did our second knock-down wash on the natural rind cheddar. The trick to a good natural rind cheddar is to let the wheel get really moldy. Then you "knock-down" the mold using something like brine or vinegar that will slow the growth of that which you don't want growing on your cheese and allow the growth of that which you do want. Don't rinse, but do repeat every few months until you like the rind you are getting. This was our second knock-down and it looks like the cheddar will be ready late summer or early fall. I think we'll have a pretty good cheese when we're done. I certainly hope so, considering all of the mold spores I inhaled today.