Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Weekend pix
Dessert photos, decent pic of my son, fat pic of yours truly below the fold.
Jake’s dessert from last Friday night:
Some fool with the patience of a saint must have drizzled molten, caramelized sugar over a spherical form, then carefully unmoulded the whole thing. Jake was annoyed that he had to break this thing in order to eat it, but try as we might, we could think of no way out of the conundrum. Desserts like this are very zen — transitory nature of crystallized caramel and all that. The dessert also consisted of a sugar wafer cup, some ice cream, and berries. Was it one of those “looks nicer than it tastes” desserts? I suspect so, but you’d have to ask Jake.
Karen’s dessert, also from Maison Akira last Friday night:
This is a green tea ice cream Baked Alaska. The waitress poured some brandy over it and flamed it at the last moment. I can’t recall if they had already browned the meringue under a broiler, but maybe so. As for the taste, the meringue was yummy, but I thought the green tea ice cream was a bit bland. On the other hand, the typical green tea ice cream would have overwhelmed the meringue. And on the third hand, I’ve never been a huge fan of green tea ice cream (if I want caffeinated ice cream, I’ll have the coffee-flavored version, thank you), so maybe I’m not a good judge of this dessert.
On Sunday, we went to the Los Angeles Arboretum. I haven’t been there since the 70s, maybe not even since grade school, and I don’t think I ever visited the waterfalls. For us, the whole point of the Arboretum was to go visit (and feed) the ducks. Jake and I explored it a good deal more thoroughly than I ever did as a kid.
Here’s Jake on the verge of his Sweet Sixteen (just one month away!)
And I look fat. No two ways about it. I look like my cousin Barry, don’t you think, Sis?
D.
Comment hog that I am, I offer that holding your shoulders back and sucking in your gut for photos might erase a few pounds. That’s what I do when I can.
When you reach A Certain Age, don’t sit back like you are for photos. Sit well forward, let your legs angle down, pull your head up. You’ll look less paunchy.
I have to echo Lucie’s “shoulders back” comment. You gents have a bad habit of slumping forward, which makes both you and your neck look short, and squashes your chest down onto your stomach. Sit up straight, boys!
Gonna have to do a pre- and post-slump photo . . .
Yes, you do look like Barry, and I agree with Dean.
Lucie is right; what’s with the slouching?!
I want coffee ice cream now. When was your birthday? Happy Belated!