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Oatmeal bread reference

Honey Oat Bread recipe

Modifications / Measurements

  • 1/4 c (USA) = 45g butter, no need to melt
  • Mixed dry active yeast directly in to dry ingredients, works fine
  • Decrease oats to 160g
  • Increase bread flour to 275g, more if using whole wheat/brown

Notes

Makes a pretty wet dough. Knead very thoroughly. Thoroughly preheat oven to prevent dense bottom of loaf. Try preheating oven w/ tray, then placing loaf tin on that to bake.

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Sushi-making reference

Got a crash-course in sushi making from a lovely guy over New Year’s. I’d always wanted to make it, but it’s one of those things that’s a lot easier to get the hang of when someone shows you what to do. I’d also always been nervous about the raw fish bit (love eating it, but not so sure where to find sushi-grade fish at home…). Never really thought to just make vegetarian rolls (d’oh!).

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WordPress function for images with ‘srcset’ attribute

Wrote a function returning an image element with srcset and sizes attributes. See this Gist for the function and this Gist for an example of the function in use (would need to be within the WP loop).

Wanted to give a front-end dev like Sam the ability to define the important bits, including the default image size for the src attribute, the media queries for the sizes attribute, and classes for the img element if necessary.

Edit 23 Jan 2019
This isn’t necessary anymore, responsive images have been part of WP core since v4.4. They’re implemented on wp_content automatically via a filter. Use their related functions if you need to do something custom. Responsive images are behaving a little erratically on my site though, so will have to take a look at why that might be happening.

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Visited “Nostalgia & Progress: Illustration after the Second World War”

Had the pleasure of checking out Nostalgia & Progress: Illustration after the Second World War last weekend at Leeds Uni. There was quite a range of work on display, and together it made for a very enjoyable experience.

Somewhat embarrassingly, I’m not very knowledgeable about influential illustrators. That said, I could tell there were a few big names in the exhibition. I erred on the side of caution and didn’t take any photos, regretting that now. Two pieces by Charles Keeping, There had never been such a battle and an illustration from The Highwayman, were particularly arresting, and I can’t find them anywhere online. At any rate, the image here is an example of his work.

There were some more contemporary illustrators as well, two of which I’m lucky to know. William Goldsmith and Louise Lockhart had some lovely work on display.

The exhibition is on at The Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery in Leeds University Library until 28 February 2015, so perhaps I’ll head back to try and grab a few photos (after asking, of course of course!).

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Fig & peanut butter thumbprint cookies

Fig and peanut butter cookies

I’ve made these simple, flourless peanut butter cookies for years but have never thought of putting something in the center. Need to try it with apple butter next time.

Fig and peanut butter thumbprint cookies

Ingredients

  • 260 grams (1 US cup) peanut butter
  • 180 grams (scant 1 US cup) sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 figs (or possibly some sort of preserves)

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Ken Garland, First Things First

Look in to Ken Garland’s First Things First manifesto, particularly his reflection on its impact over the years, how it has or hasn’t been misinterpreted, the original signatories I’m not familiar with. I think there’s a bit of information about this around page 40 of Ken Garland: Structure and Substance by Adrian Shaughnessy. Haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading the book, but read a few extracts last night after Garland’s (great) talk and book launch last night at Sheffield Hallam. The Garland exhibition in the Cantor Building gallery is on until 9 November. 

Incidentally, the electric doors at the main entrance to the Cantor building sound like dubstep. Cannot be unheard…