It’s been a busy few months. A lot has happened. Also, I decided to make apple pie.

I haven’t tried to make a sweet pie since I [left Seattle](http://uwmike.com/articles/2008/10/13/the-piemaker/). I had enthusiastically bought a pie plate upon my return, but some mixed results with quiches left me a bit discouraged. Pie is a lot of work, and it can be hard to find the motivation if it’s not a 100% sure thing. A few weeks ago, though, I tried again, and found success making the [cauliflower cheese pie](http://www.recipesource.com/main-dishes/dinner-pies/cauliflower-cheese1.html) from Moosewood, and practiced doing a pastry crust rather than the healthier shredded potato shell that is recommended.

This success inspired me to try another dessert pie, and as apples are the fruit of winter, why not an apple pie? Read on…

This weekend was Thanksgiving for my Canadian friends and family. I thought I’d challenge myself a little and spent Sunday afternoon attempting to bake a pumpkin pie. How were the results? I was pleased, especially for a first attempt.

The [recipes I followed for both filling and crust](http://www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.org/pumpkinpie.php) are easy to read and pretty straightforward. I still ran into a few gotchas, though; I’ll be noting those as I can. Read on…

The [#1 Matt](http://photomatt.net) was in town on Wednesday night, so some folks organized a meetup at the Heartland Brewery. I only took a handful of pictures, none of which turned out very well, but fortunately John Keegan has shared some [nice snaps](http://www.flickr.com/photos/49037741@N00/sets/72157600071154401/).

It was neat to chat with Matt and find out more about [Automattic](http://automattic.com/) as a company and what some of their plans are for Wordpress. He’s a really fun, personable guy. It’s awesome to use a product with such a great spokesperson.

My room is the cleanest it’s been in months. The dishes are washed, and the counter is wiped. This morning I had bacon and eggs for breakfast, and last night I baked fresh bread. Now there’s a delicious-smelling pot roast on the counter that’ll be ready in a few hours.

It is officially exam time. Can you tell?

I’ve mentioned [The Book of Bread](http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060913592/) previously, but it really is the definitive resource for any kind of bread you can imagine. I thought I’d share one of the recipes I tried recently that was particularly delicious.

I’m cautious of any recipe that claims to be *creamy*, as I had a bad experience once with bread so creamy that each bite tasted like a glass of whole milk. This recipe isn’t just soft and airy, it’s also tough enough for nice big sandwiches, and has a yellowish colour and very slight sourness that’s extremely pleasant. Read on…

This seemed to go over well at a pot-luck on Saturday. With prep, rising, and cook time, it was a mite over an hour total, of which twenty minutes was kneading dough and shredding cheese.

Read on…

Exam time means study time. Study time means *not enough time*. And this, of course, means streamlining.

Obvious targets are tasks that can be eliminated altogether. The justification which allows fast food to replace real food becomes more muddled, and can even extend as far more bizarre substitutions. For example, the purchase of new clothes to save that hour and a half spent on laundry. (Possibly a guy-only savings; apparently some females find clothes shopping to be a veritable black hole of time consumption.)

But besides killing chores, what about the necessary recreation? Man cannot live on studying alone… What kinds of relaxation activities give the highest degree of *relaxation per unit of time invested*? Read on…

I don’t normally use this space to express negative opinions, but I’m making an exception for the Low Fat Yogurt commercial from Tim Hortons.

The advertisement in question is not simply annoying, it is *offensive*.

A trim, red-haired woman is featured, enjoying a fruit and yogurt cup on a couch. A small crowd gathers outside the window, presumably to observe her consuming the treat.

On seeing these people, she assumes the look of a trapped animal. “It’s low fat,” she pleads, eyes wide, “It’s *low fat*!” Read on…

There are lots of reasons to love working at a small company. No, spending nights sipping a Corona and tweaking the templates is not one of them.

But it is really cool to be developing for the web when the company in the next office is innovating for the supermarket. This is an organic tea-based carbonated beverage. It’s really delicious, but it won’t hit shelves until the middle of next year sometime.

And it probably won’t be sold in an unmarked clear glass bottle.

I bought a bag of potatoes. The intention was to boil and mash them, and make shepherd’s pie. But then I had mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving.

So I did homemade french fries instead. And here’s how it went down.

###Recon

The only “real” home deep fryer I’ve ever encountered was an intimidating affair comprised of thick stainless steel and heavy plastic.

The primary function of it simple: It completely contains the volatile grease as the food is lowered into it.

As chopped and washed potatoes descend into 150+ degree oil, all the surface water boils very very quickly. Beneath the surface, this causes the oil to go psycho and splatter all over the place. At 150 degrees, this isn’t simply messy, it’s hazardous.

It was this functionality that would need to be replicated. Read on…