Biscotti on a metal rack

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Another part of the Dessert Project. I thought biscotti were difficult, but this isn’t so, although it does take a few hours to make a batch. Once cooled, the biscotti can be dipped in a chocolate coating! Makes […]
Four photographs showing the steps to make a banana cream pie

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This is part of the Dessert Project. Techniques practiced in this recipe: Basic flaky pie crust, pre-baked Crème patisserie Whipped cream topping Servings: 8 (9-inch pie) 5 ripe bananas4 T unsalted butter, divided2 ½ c half-and-half½ c (3 […]
Six photos that illustrate the steps for making a pre-baked pie shell

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This is the start of the Dessert Project, a cooking exploration into techniques and tastes. It seems fitting that the first entry is the basic crust for pies and tarts. #1 – Pastry for a 9-inch pie shell […]
A book cover with an arrow in a circle against a background of a city

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The Magic Circle by Barry Ryerson takes the reader on a twisty, exciting ride through a post-apocalyptic world. I’d call this a techno-magic-thriller. Is that a genre? If not, I just made it up. The devastation wreaked by […]
Text for a book cover (red on orange): "The Dawn of Everything - A New History of Humanity"

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The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow started out to write a book about the origins of social inequality, according to the authors (an anthropologist and an archeologist). However, they […]
A yellow starburst on a black background

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In the near future, a billionaire businessman aims to change the climate of the planet. What could go wrong? This is the Big Idea tackled in Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson. The novel is huge, featuring multiple intertwined […]
A small figure of a person stands at the end of a huge tunnel looking out at a blue sky with clouds and the moon

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Kim Stanley Robinson has written a lot of books, but The Ministry for the Future is the first of his that I’ve read, largely because of the topic. I know quite a bit about climate change and the […]
Two women wearing robes and sitting on a cloud

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Knowledge comes into the world by many paths. The Knowledge Machine (subtitled How Irrationality Created Modern Science) has a lot to say about the process by which scientists since the 17th century have created scientific knowledge. The book […]
Two profiles of queens in black and white in the style of a playing card of the Queen of Hearts

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Queen of Hearts is the first in a series of fantasy books that follow the young Princess of Wonderland. Colleen Oakes has taken Lewis Carroll’s work as a starting point to build an interesting and coherent world. This […]
Chinese dumplings in a pan

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It’s the start of the lunar new year, specifically the year of the ox. To celebrate, I decided to make fried dumplings, from a recent recipe in the New York Times. I had to make a visit to […]