Rainy Portland

I've been feeling vaguely listless and housebound all day long.  It's not really like me to feel this way because usually I have an interest I am pursuing in a single minded fashion.  Today though, I mentally ran through all the possibilities and didn't feel like doing any of it.  Quite strange.  In the end, what is getting me through today is a bit of cleaning and watching my plants grow and Manuelo swim around.  It's funny to think that you can actually watch plants grow, but it's true!  This morning when I checked, I only had 2 new sprouts, but as the day went on, I found more and more new ones.  It's exciting to see them grow right under my nose.

Last night I made a simple cake from a recipe I found here.  I had a bit of it for breakfast with strawberry jam, but the combo was far too sweet for me.  My cafe au lait doesn't look appetizing but it was quite tasty.  I like to make foam on the top with my little handheld foamer.

The purpose of the cake was to use up the 6 leftover egg whites I had from making ice cream (because God knows I shouldn't be making any more sweets right now while I have ice cream in the house).  While I can throw away a single egg white with no feelings of guilt, I can't seem to throw away 6.  Next time I will freeze the whites for a rainy day (oh wait, every day in Portland is rainy).  

This is probably the easiest cake I've ever made.  The flavor reminded me of the Burnt Sugar cake from Joy of Cooking and the texture was quite nice.  I would probably cut down on the sugar in the future though, as it was quite sweet.  A little teaspoon of vanilla extract would be nice too I think.  The recipe called for a bundt pan, which I don't own so I split the batter into two 9x5x3 loaf pans, because I didn't know how much they would poof up.  Now I think a single loaf pan ought to be fine.

Egg White Cake (adapted from nami nami)

6 large egg whites

250 grams sugar (next time use less)

160 grams flour

1 heaped tbs corn starch

1 tsp baking powder

100 grams melted butter (not hot to touch)

Whisk egg whites with 2 tbs of the sugar until very thick, pale and foamy.  In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the sugar and the dry ingredients together.  Fold gently into the egg white mixture (you will end up with a strangely rubbery sort of batter).  Fold in the melted butter.  

Bake in buttered bundt pan (or single loaf pan) at 350F for 30-40 minutes.  

Manuelo

This is my new pet axolotl, Manuelo. The odd thing about both my pets is that I was not the one who named them. The people I was living with at the time in college gave Tony his name while I was out buying cat food and Manuelo was named by Tortoise. I thought it suited him since axolotls are also known as Mexican Walking Fish. Manuelo is translucent and is living in my largest vase, a gift from Pug. Tony is currently blissfully unaware of Manuelo's existence and since I'd like to keep it that way, Manuelo is living on one of my bookshelves.

I think I'm going to maybe get some smooth rocks or gravel to line the bottom of his vase and make it homier for him. Hope he likes living with me...better than dead I guess!