Muffles. Or Maybe Wafflins.

Recently we had some success at making omelettes on the waffle iron. There is a weird pleasure in eating food with grid-patterned holes in it, so we thought we would try something else.

Muffin batter made with molasses, spices, walnuts and tea-soaked raisins.

As the batter rises, the iron opens slightly. The hinge is not articulated, so the muffins turn out slightly wedge-shaped.

Oh yes.

So satisfying to peel it off the iron.

A pile for the freezer.

The ratio of crispy edge bits to moist innards has been vastly improved. And there was much rejoicing.

We have not found a way to use the waffle iron to make coffee, but we aren't very interested in trying. The origami pour-overs that we wrote about are still making reasonable coffee. Soon we'll have a Best Of list ready to post.

While we sipped coffee and munched muffin-waffles, we wondered why so many breakfast foods seem to contain double f.

Dig-Dig #8: U-Dig Fossils, Utah

Delta has a big green park in the middle of town. A picnic table was the perfect spot for a quick breakfast. Not so quick that we couldn't enjoy our espresso, of course. We were looking forward to a day of fossil digging, out in the Utah desert.



View Dig! Dig! August 2010 in a larger map

We followed the clear instructions to U-Dig Fossils, about an hour west of Delta. The dark "C" shape to the right of the dirt road is the quarry.

A smattering of wind and rain-damp shale made a refreshingly cool start to the morning, but the sky cleared quickly. By the end of the day we could feel the heat radiating from the black rock.

Aya got right to work, splitting slabs of soft shale with the chisel end of a rock hammer.

What's inside?

Trilobites! Extinct sea-bugs!

The rock splits at all kinds of unpredictable places, quite unlike the fish fossil site in Wyoming. Hearts were also broken many times as one hit too many resulted in unrepairable smithereens.

But there were many sweet victories!

This little sea bug was lost for millions and millions of years until... now. Each time a layer peeled back to reveal a treasure, it was like a sudden connection with an extinct era; a time capsule, opened at last to reveal a ghostly memento mori.

Yet still lively! This, our biggest find, popped out of its carbonite and disappeared into the rubble around us, leaving us with only the negative impression. That could mean two things, but it only means one.



Here's one that came out of its hiding place with a gentle poke from our new shale-splitter (old paint-scraper).

Aya came prepared with a carrying-case, which she managed to fill with trilobites and other small fossils. Bevan, the very friendly and educating host of U-Dig Fossils, helped make the day even better with his gentle guidance and advice.


Some of the ones that managed to make it home. We are going to take our Dremel tool to them and polish them up a little, as demonstrated by Bevan.

Boxing Day Breakfast

A growing tradition for Christmas: pannetone French toast made with egg nog. And short, strong espresso, of course. Then out for a brisk walk (after brushing our teeth).

Pannetone. An Italian brioche with candied peel, raisins and orange essence. Makes excellent toast.

Sakai Apartment

Events with both family and friends took us to Sakai, Japan (just south of Osaka) for six weeks in April and May. We got set up with computers and internet access there and were able to continue working on projects, too, if not always as smoothly as we had hoped.

Here is the view from our second-floor apartment, facing west. The Nankai Koya line passes under the overpass on its way to Namba station. The sound of the commuter trains is somehow very comforting, especially when echoing over a warm spring night.


Kitsune soba for breakfast! Slightly sweet deepfried tofu in dashi soup with buckwheat noodles. And many salads with about one hundred ingredients each, including shredded crab, tiny translucent fish, bamboo shoots, cucumber, spinach, seaweed, sesame seeds, and skinny mushrooms.


Mario from Caffé Rustico gave us a pack of espresso ground coffee when he heard we were going away for six weeks. We thought of him and his wonderful café every morning when we brewed up our cappuccinos.