So. Buttercream. I make one heck of a delicious buttercream frosting. Only problem is that it isn’t technically buttercream because I don’t use eggs. If you are a real baker, you might recognize my frosting as a delicious abomination called “American Buttercream”. If you’re good, I’ll give you the recipe at the end of […]
Welcome to part two of this series on the chemistry of baking/making a geode cake. For those of you joining us for the first time, you can find part one here And Now We Bake Baking happens in three basic stages. In the first stage, all those gas bubbles in the batter you have been […]
I like to bake. I really, really like to bake. But I don’t have a problem. I can stop whenever I want….. I have no formal training other than my mom was a Home Ec. Teacher and I have access to the internet. I do, however, come from a long line of people […]
 At the age of 17, George Washington was diagnosed with malaria. The disease, then referred to as the “ague”, came and went over the years. Although it was known at the time that quinine was a successful treatment, Washington wasn’t prescribe the powder until after the revolutionary War had ended and he was […]
Density is an important concept to understand when you are trying to figure out if something will float or sink, but it can also affect the gas in our atmosphere and even liquids in mixed drinks! Layered drinks look very impressive, but it’s really simple science that makes it all possible. The layers are able […]
Since HMNS is one of the featured charities at Okra Charity Saloon in September (read about it here), we’re doing a series of blog posts about cocktail chemistry this month. Get to know your drinks on a more molecular level. We’ll explore acids and bases, surface area, density, and fluorescence. It’s going to be elemental. […]
Since HMNS is one of the featured charities at Okra Charity Saloon in September (read about it here), we’re doing a series of blog posts about cocktail chemistry this month. Get to know your drinks on a more molecular level. We’ll explore acids and bases, surface area, density, and fluorescence. It’s going to be elemental. […]
As educators, we all want students to understand the world holistically, but we still tend to teach each subject independent from all other subjects. Food is an effective way to capture the attention of students and provide a useful tool for creating a more global and cross-curricular learning environment. This global approach to learning has […]
by Kaylee Gund What’s in a number? They’re symbols we use to quantify the world around us, the basis for astrophysics and time measurement, and among the first things we learn in language. 5: right angle meets curve. 1: straight as a ruler. Using some mental glue, stick these together and the result is 51, […]
My mom was a chemistry and home-ec teacher, so I grew up in a home where ingredients were carefully measured and food items were attractively arranged. While I got to help out in the kitchen as much as I wanted, I always liked being in the kitchen around the holidays. There were always new tricks […]
