- 1920 – A bomb exploded outside the J.P. Morgan & Co. bank headquarters in New York City. The explosion killed 38 people and injured hundreds more in what is known as the Wall Street bombing, a tragic act of terrorism.
- 2001 – The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) reopened for trading after being closed for four days following the September 11th terrorist attacks. This marked a significant moment in the recovery and resilience of the financial markets in the wake of the attacks.
- 2011 – The Occupy Wall Street movement began in New York City’s Zuccotti Park. This protest movement, which spread to other cities and countries, aimed to address issues related to income inequality, corporate influence, and economic injustice.
- 2018 – The Governors Island Climate Summit took place in New York City. This summit brought together leaders from around the world to discuss climate change and its impacts, coinciding with the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco.
Dormansville, NY
Baking Soda, Baking Powder and Baking Yeast 🍞
I was trying to understand the differences of methods of baking using various ingredients and I found ChatGPT offered this excellent summary of when you use it chemical to make the desired baked good. This is pretty fundamental but I am new to cooking and I thought it worthwhile to share.
The choice between baking powder, baking soda, and yeast depends on the specific type of baked goods you’re making and the desired characteristics of the final product. Here’s a breakdown of when to use each leavening agent:
Baking Soda:
Use baking soda when a recipe includes an acidic ingredient, as baking soda requires an acid to activate and produce carbon dioxide gas for leavening. It’s best for recipes that already contain elements like buttermilk, yogurt, vinegar, citrus juice, or brown sugar.
Examples of recipes that often use baking soda:
- Buttermilk pancakes
- Banana bread (if there’s acidic content like mashed bananas)
- Chocolate cake with sour cream or yogurt
- Molasses cookies
Baking Powder:
Baking powder is a versatile leavening agent that contains both an acid and a base. It’s used when a recipe doesn’t have sufficient acidity to activate baking soda. Baking powder is especially helpful for achieving a controlled and consistent rise in baked goods.
Examples of recipes that commonly use baking powder:
- Most cake recipes
- Muffins
- Biscuits
- Quick breads (like zucchini or pumpkin bread)
- Pancakes and waffles (especially double-acting baking powder for a two-stage rise)
Yeast:
Yeast is a living organism that ferments sugars to produce carbon dioxide gas and alcohol, causing dough to rise. It’s commonly used in recipes for bread and other yeast-leavened doughs. Yeast provides a slow and gradual rise, resulting in a distinct flavor and texture.
Use yeast when:
- You’re making bread or other yeast-leavened doughs, such as pizza dough, bagels, and cinnamon rolls.
- You want the characteristic aroma and flavor associated with yeast fermentation.
- You have time to allow the dough to rise over a period of several hours or even overnight.
Keep in mind that yeast requires more time and careful handling compared to baking powder and baking soda. It’s also affected by temperature and humidity, so it’s important to follow specific instructions for activating and proofing yeast in recipes.
In some recipes, you might even find combinations of these leavening agents. For example, some recipes for fluffy bread or rolls might use both yeast for flavor and a small amount of baking powder or baking soda for additional lift.
Ultimately, the choice of leavening agent depends on the type of baked goods you’re making, the desired rise and texture, and the flavor profile you’re aiming for.
Here’s what I’m thinking about for dinner tomorrow 🍕🍅
I have a lot of tomatoes I got from my parents yesterday, and I want to use up a lot before they go bad. I was thinking I could run the tomatoes through the food processor with oregano, basil and thyme — or that Italian spices mix I have at home — plus lots of chopped garlic, spinach, mushrooms and tofu — and then make the following crust that was suggested to me by ChatGPT.
I would cook this up tonight but I’d rather limit carbs after a carbs-heavy weekend, fueled by too much alcohol, bread and that spinach-mackerel-protein pasta salad I had on Saturday. But I’m thinking this would be a good treat for a Tuesday.
Whole Wheat Garlic Herb Pizza Crust:
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried herbs (such as oregano, basil, or thyme)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2/3 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C).
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, dried herbs, and garlic powder.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the warm water and olive oil.
- Mix the wet and dry ingredients together until a dough forms. You can use your hands or a spoon for this.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for a couple of minutes until it’s smooth.
- Roll out the dough to your desired pizza crust thickness.
- Transfer the rolled-out dough onto a baking sheet or pizza stone.
- Optionally, you can brush the crust with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle additional dried herbs and garlic powder on top.
- Bake the crust in the preheated oven for about 8-10 minutes, or until it’s slightly golden and cooked through.
- Remove the crust from the oven and add your desired pizza toppings. Return the pizza to the oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the toppings are cooked and the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Once the pizza is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool for a minute before slicing and serving.
Enjoy your homemade whole wheat garlic herb pizza!
Jamesville Rock Query
Aggregate mining is an inherently destructive act, one that involves removing non-renewable resources like limestone, sand, and gravel, from deep within the earth. This comes at a heavy cost to the environment and local communities.
Open-pit mining, the type of mining used at the Jamesville Quarry, is exactly what it sounds like — a gaping pit carved out of the land. In the case of the Jamesville Quarry, the land formerly consisted of pristine lakes, gorges, ice caves, and other unique geological features. Now the land is little more than a 1,174 acre trench. Another 1,064 acres is considered part of the quarry.
Monday returns this last one of August 🌼
The clam bake last night with the folks was nice, stayed overnight, having breakfast and then will head home, shower and ride to work. Got to burn off those alcohol calories from the family clam bake riding up the Madison Street Hill. Then the hike up to the 18th floor.
Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. Partly sunny and 55 degrees in Dormansville, NY. 🌄 Calm wind. The dew point is 55 degrees. It’s a pleasant morning, I was up around 5 AM which sounds early but I was dead out a little after nine, after having a few beers with the family clam bake, then drinking some of the clam juice. Part of the reason I woke up so early is I had to go pee off the tailgate of my truck. But it was a nice morning.
I had a nice morning with mom and dad 🍳, mom made up her scrambled eggs with tomato, spinach and feta. Maybe not as healthy as I’d make it up at home as I really like to load my eggs up with spinach, but still pretty good breakfast. They also have some bacon 🥓 which I had a small portion along with toast, which I had a half a slice. Maybe I’d have more but I had a lot of clams 🕹 last night and didn’t want to totally over-due it. Lunch today at work I am going the direction of tofu and veggies, for some less calories but still a good portion of fiber and protein. Looking at my nutrient profile, I think I’m still consuming way too much sugar in my day, so lately I’ve been swapping out some of the fruit in my office 🍏 for more carrots or celery with halved avocados for dipping. 🥑 The great thing about the celery or carrot 🥕 combination with avocados is you end up with fiber and omega-3 fats certain to help ward off hunger for a few hours.
Today will have a slight chance of showers after 2pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny 🌦, with a high of 73 degrees at 2pm. A bit foggy currently in Dormansville, will have to be careful going over Derbyshire Hill to Clarksville this morning. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 19th. Maximum dew point of 63 at 4pm. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. It was humid. The high last year was 83 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1948.
I am not sure if it’s going to rain 🌦 or not be nice for the evening bike ride home, but if it’s bad, I’ll just put Blackie 🚵♀️ on the bus, and we’ll take it from there. I had forgotten how nice the bike racks are on the bus, and how secure bikes ride when you mount them on the bus. 🚌 The thing is if you ride at least one way, that’s still calories burned and time enjoyed on the bike trail, even if I can’t do both ways. But I’m hopeful the rain holds off until 6 PM or later, or if I get a little wet on my evening commute, 💦 I don’t think I’ll necessarily melt. Might be muggy later, but probably not super hot.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:58 pm with sun having an altitude of 57.3° from the due south horizon (-13.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:01 pm with the sun in the west (278°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (284°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:39 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 59 seconds with dusk around 8:06 pm, which is one minute and 39 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the southeast (137°) at an altitude of 12° from the horizon, 226,847 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:44 pm.
At sunset, look out for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 67 degrees. The dew point will be 63 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 5 mph. Tomorrow will have 13 hours and 21 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 44 seconds over today. Probably a good night to spend with a book at home 📗 — I still have a lot of books to read but I have to find the time to do it. I am thinking of doing another light meal for dinner to balance out the heavy calorie-rich clam bake of yesterday 🕹 and carbs of bread and bacon this morning, probably broil tofu with smoked salt, green beans, sweet corn and crack open that cantaloupe I bought yesterday for dessert. 🍈 Need to find out if those 36″ waist jeans I bought yesterday at Walmart fit. I should try them on. 👖
Tonight will be mostly cloudy ☁️, with a low of 60 degrees at 4am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical night around August 25th. Maximum dew point of 64 at 8pm. South wind around 6 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It became very sticky as the night progressed. It got down to 69 degrees. The record low of 34 occurred back in 1982.
The clam bake I had with my folks was pretty good, 🕹 though I wish there was more veggies and garlic in the mix, 👩🍳 but I had to compromise over how I wanted it versus what my parents would like. My mom has surgery in a few days, so it was one of the last days she could enjoy food like this for a few months, so it was fun spending a nice evening out back, especially as you know these nice evenings won’t last forever.
Labor Day Weekend Looks Great. 👷Friday, mostly sunny, with a high near 74. Maximum dew point of 57 at 6pm. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Maximum dew point of 60 at 7pm. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 79. Maximum dew point of 64 at 1pm. Labor Day, will be a warm 85 degrees and sunny. Typical average high for the weekend is 79 degrees.
Definitely going to try to take Friday off so I can get a jump on the holiday weekend ⛺ in the Adirondacks. Thinking Speculator for a great weekend with lots of sun ☀ relaxing, biking and swimming 🏊. It doesn’t look like we will be short on staff, I could probably remote work but I’d rather just be able to set up camp and relax, do a lot of mountain biking or paddling on Friday, especially as the weather looks so nice. And hammock time with a good book. 😁 Plus maybe some of those fourth of July fireworks I bought but never lit off. And a few cold beers, though not like back in the day. 🍺 I mean I was surprised how many pounds I packed on Piseco-Powley during that rainy weekend a few weeks back, with some drinking and too many shrimp and other things cooked with cornstarch. Burned it off in a few days, but it was noticeable.
Hard to believe but, next Monday is Labor Day 👨🏭 when the sun will be setting at 7:27 pm with dusk at 7:54 pm. Dark so early, come September! On that day in 2022, we had hot, humid, partly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 87 and 61 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 79 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1929.
Embracing Change and Beauty
Monday, Monday, a fresh start anew,
Back to work with tasks to pursue.
Memories linger of the weekend’s grace,
As August departs with a gentle embrace.
Autumn whispers secrets of gold,
Labor Day Weekend, a story untold.
Soon, students gather with books and zeal,
Traffic and bustle, a familiar ordeal.
Days grow shorter, a cooler embrace,
Nature’s canvas adorned with grace.
Amidst the change that’s in the air,
This week’s beauty, let’s cherish and share.