Adam Wishneusky

Crazy college party what?

This past Saturday, my buddy, Christine asked me along to a party her Stanford buddies were throwing. They host these “Special Dinners” which I guess are more Drunky Drunkfests than dinners, but there was tasty food, and it WAS special… so you know. This one was “Gates of Hell” themed since the place is on Gates street.

I focused much more on drinking than on photographing but here are a few choice shots:

The wackiest thing was that at least three people there know of / were interns at Fog Creek and know a couple of my coworkers. Small world. See all the pictures here. The last three in the album are from when Christine and I took the show on the road to my friend Laurie’s friend’s party.

Summer Prettiness in Brooklyn

Yesterday I checked out the Atlantic Artwalk near me in Brooklyn. It’s pretty spread out but there were a few cool things and it was an excuse to finally get a Merguez (lamb sausage) pita sandwich. Mmmmm meaty.

When I got down to the western end of Atlantic Ave, near the harbor, I wandered up into the southern edge of Brooklyn Heights so soak in some quiet, green streets and gorgeous buildings. I didn’t didn’t take many pictures and definitely plan to do more architecture tourism around here this summer. (The pictures are here in the album)

And finally, some pictures of my street, and of course my beloved backyard. My landlord got a nice new table and chairs. They served Amanda and I well for breakfast when she was here—I’ll post that stuff soon. (The pictures are here in the album)

The Cutest Place in Brooklyn

I discovered the cutest place in Brooklyn via Twitter recently. It’s Warren Place in Cobble Hill. A secret little Alley between Warren and Baltic Streets.

The buildings flanking the alley are cuter than the other brownstones and townhouses, but that’s just a hint. Entering the alley, you see two pedestrian paths with gardens running down the center.

Incredibly lucky (and rich?) people get to live in the many tiny and adorable apartment buildings on each side that open onto Warren Pl. Two alleys run on the other sides of the buildings providing backyard space too. (see all the pictures here)

On my walk home, I encountered one of those “Building under 24 hour surveillance” places:

Bored Adam Eats and Blogs

I didn’t do anything worthwhile today. That means I spent a lot of time on twitter, catching up on RSS feeds, adding stuff to my website and thinking about food. This was a rare day because I cooked TWICE. Breakfast was too-much french toast, heavy on the egg and heavy on the syrup. mmmmm frenchtoastface.

For dinner, I wanted a burger, so I popped over to the grocery store on Smith st for supplies. I always experiment when I cook and I’m successful MOST of the time, but this time, my attempt at Mushroom & Onion Meatloafburger kinda messed up. Definitely tasty, but needs work next time. I wanted to mix finely-chopped mushrooms and onions into the meat, but I like my animal flesh rare, so I sauteed them before mixing in. This and the too-much egg made it squooshy, so a) it threatened to ooze down between the bars of the grill and b) needed more cooking than rare. In spite of these flaws, it was darned good. I was surprised that it wasn’t very messy though. It dripped as I ate it, but didn’t fall apart and get all over my hands.

Now I’m going to get back to doing nothing. Tomorrow I potentially have a non-date via crazyblinddate. I posted that I just want to have fun and get some drinks and skip the interviewing and romantic pressure. Hopefully we’ll be on the same page.

Experiments in Baking Part II

The punchline first: DELICIOUS and UGLY ;)

Here’s how the beast was made.

Position the rack in the bottom 1/3 of your oven and pre-heat to 350°F (a bit higher might work better to carmelize the outside?). Prepare the following:

4 ish diced plums
3 ish diced peaches
Bunch of halved strawberries
3 ish peeled, sliced kiwis

Make the batter. I followed the recipe for “Boysenberry and Peach Buckle” All New Joy of Cooking pg 903 (but somehow used 4 times the recipe’s 1/2 stick butter. I also added allspice):

Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl:

1 3/4 cups all-pupose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Combine in another bowl:

2 sticks salted butter, half melted
1 cup sugar
1 cold large egg (I used jumbo)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat until slightly fluffy. Gradually beat in (this is challenging given the butter situation, but it can be done):

1/2 cup milk

Add to the flour mixture and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened and the batter is smooth. Gently fold the peaches and plums into the batter. Butter a bundt pan and smoosh into the butter some brown sugar. Lay the strawberries in the bottom and line the outside and inside with kiwi slices. Spoon the batter into the pan. Bake for about 1 hour.

Experiments in Baking Part I

I’m going to Joe and Christine’s place for dindin tomorrow. I was charged with dessert. I just spent hours on an experimental cake which is baking now:

• Bundt pan, chosen for volume and upside-down cake potential
• Lined with butter and brown sugar
• Halved strawberries in the bottom and kiwi slices up the sides
• Buttery batter with lots of diced peaches and plums

Suspense!

UPDATE: The exciting conclusion is here!