Monday 28 May 2007

Summer Pudding

Last night, we had some friends over for dinner and I decided to prepare Summer Pudding for dessert. Unfortunately, I don't have this recipe in any of my cookbooks, but found a simple one by James Martin, who hosts Sweet Baby James and Saturday Kitchen on the BBC. Using his recipe for Quick Basil and Summer Fruit Pudding, I made four individual puddings, although I think it could easily be made into one large pudding. During preparation, I had to make some minor adjustments: I ran out of the sauce in which the bread was dipped (I think I used too much for the first few pieces). So I made some extra sauce from the fresh berries I had. Also, we forgot to get the basil, but I don't think it was missed. The recipe says to add enough sugar to taste - the puddings were slightly tart, so I think it needs to be at least a tablespoon in each case. Although the puddings were mostly pink on the outside (the areas that weren't, I covered with the extra sauce), the juices had not soaked completely through. However, the final product was very pretty and still delicious!

Tuesday 22 May 2007

Bonus Article

While working on the publications section of my blog, I was searching the 'Journal of Power Sources' database for an article that I published last year with my colleagues at Delft University of Technology and the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands. During an author search of my name, I was surprised to find two articles as I had only published once in this journal. The second paper had just recently been accepted and was submitted by my former colleagues at Case Western Reserve University. As it has been over 2 and a half years since I left Case, I hadn't expected to see any publications coming from that work. However, it is nice to have this bonus article!

Saturday 12 May 2007

I'm going to hospital on Monday

Having used NMR spectroscopy for some time, it is surprising that I have never actually had any experience with MRI. This Monday, I will finally have the chance to see an instrument up close and personal, thanks to friends who work at the Erasmus MC. Here's hoping that it doesn't turn into an episode of House. More details to follow.