30 things I've done before 30

There are literally hundreds of lists out there on the net about 30 things you should before your 30, bucket lists etc.  As 30 "guns for me" instead looking at all the stuff I should have done by now or scramble to do, reflecting on what I've done so far seems the more mature thing to do.

the view from my home away from home

1. Earned my engineering degree a life goal since I was 7
2. Travelled outside the country mostly the islands, some Europe and Asia
3. Lived Alone - my mother says every woman should do this.  Yea...it's pretty cool I admit, my little 350 some odd square feet of heaven in the Bay
4. Became a godparent my darling little Alyce 
5. Lost over 100lbs 
6. Fallen in and out of love with no regrets
7. Been on a board of directors  as of this week
8. Visited 26 states (plus Puerto Rico and DC) 



Alyce and Me in 2010

9. Lead a protest Okay so it was 3rd grade but it was more Black History than Dr. King and Rosa Parks and for Asian American History in May
10. Built a computer from scratch actually probably over a dozen. lol
11. Spent a week in Appalachia 
12. Spent a week at the beach North Carolina, surf city, outer banks gotta love it

    

    Me in highschool.

13. Spent a year volunteering  2 actually
14. Learned to change a tire 
15. Baked bread from scratch 
16. Changed a starter on a car actually this is what I was doing when I met my ex-fiance's dad. lol he never did find me "wife material" 
17. Delivered a baby  ...that'll happen in snow-ridden Appalachia
18. Installed Solar Thanks GRID
19. Climbed a waterfall in Jamaica
20. Gone camping on the beach Yea North Carolina
21. Learned a second language Of course Japanese, also 7 years of Latin, a tiny bit of German
22. Read a book in a foreign language  A few actually my top favourites being the Aeneid in Latin "Arma virumque cano," ( I sing of arms and a man) and Steppenwolf in German
23. Learned to play an instrument  Piano and fiddle
24. Composed a song A couple, I mainly minored in music composition. I wrote some sappy stuff because I was in love (see item 6) though "Silven Wind" is pretty neat
25. Started a business Hire Jasmine, Engineered Cupcake, I guess I've got the entrepreneurial spririt 
26. Watched a space shuttle launch Atlantis in 1995
27. Got my driving licence
28. Invented an award Golden Conduit Bender for the win
29. Hired and fired someone (not the same person)
30. Had a tea party don't judge me...I love tea parties, fun stuff helps me remember I'm a girl and not some person who just spends their time doing calculations and climbing into, on top of and under buildings. 

Recipe Request: Icebox Coconut Cream Pie

This recipe was requested by my favourite Continental cousin, Charlotte. ^_^.

I made this pie for 46 (my dear old Dad) for Father's day the last one I was home. We have a similar sweet tooth except he can take sweeter stuff than I can, though neither of us prefer the ridiculously sweet. 46 loves coconut, whipped cream, and ice cream.  This is basically the best of three worlds.

Icebox Coconut Cream Pie

Ingredients

• 1 graham cracker crust
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup regular milk
• 2pkg.  (3.4 oz. each) Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1cup  BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut, divided

Procedure

1. With a handmixer mix together coconut and regular milks with pudding packages
2. In another bowl (from the freezer) whip cream
3. Fold 3/4 cup of coconut into pudding mix
4. Fold in whipped cream
5. Chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours. Then freeze for at least 30 minutes till firm.
6. Before serving top with toasted coconut
7. To toast coconut: Heat oven to 350°F. Spread coconut in shallow pan. Bake 7 to 10 min. or until lightly browned, stirring frequently.

HVAC Fun

A new semester has begun at PGE's Pacific Energy Center and I've been going to alot of classes (as usual). The past few months as I make my transition from Photovoltaics back to Energy Efficiency there's been a need for me to learn more about commercial HVACR. Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning (and) Refrigeration.

HVAC is  complex , it's made gain a real perspective about another transition that's going on in my Engineer life as I transition from Electrical to Electro-Mechanical.  Mechanics seems easier because  you can usually see mechanics so less abstract than electrics can be.  The same thing that took me from GA. Tech Computer Engineering to Georgia Southern Electrical Engineering Technology: if something catches fire than you know you did something wrong. No missing commas blowing up rocket ships here.

But HVAC has a lot of moving parts and any EE knows moving parts equal trouble, hence electronics. Okay I'm being a bit sarcastic here.  The fact is, WRT to HVAC electronics can cause more harm than good sometimes.  When I was doing residential energy efficiency and working at Laney College in the Environmental Controls Technology (ECT basically HVAC) department, HVAC seemed incredibly simple.  A couple types of of domestic hot water heaters (DHW) a few kinds of air conditioning and heating systems and two simple rules: Laws of Thermodynamics and the refrigeration cycle.

Simple right? source

What keeps me grounded (pun so intended) is that in the end the same thing that applies with residential also applies in commercial Laws of Thermodynamics and the refrigeration cycle.  The refrigeration cycle is one of those things that once you learn it, you see it everywhere! Okay once you have it encounter your daily life. I probably learnt about the refrigeration cycle in middle school but only noticed it recently.






So the refrigeration cycle works like this:

1. The compressor compresses the gas. The compressed gas heats up as it is pressurized.
2. The coils on the back of the refrigerator let the hot ammonia gas dissipate its heat. The ammonia gas condenses into ammonia liquid at high pressure.
3. The high-pressure ammonia liquid flows through the expansion valve (often a thermal expression valve). It reminds me of the spray part of a bottle of perfume. One side of the hole is high-pressure ammonia liquid, the other side of the hole is a low-pressure area
4. The liquid  immediately boils and vaporizes, it's temperature drops rapidly. This is how refrigators get cold
5. The cold  is sucked up by the compressor
6. Rinse and repeat

You're probably noticing a relationship between Pressure and Temperature, there's another part to this equation: volume.  The refrigeration cycle is a real life example of the Ideal Gas Law. Yea, I'm taking it back to Chemistry Class!  But we'll save that fun for another time.

Cottage Food Market

Strawberry Chiffon with Champagne Buttercream and Irish Cream
Brownies. Photos by Ofori Photos

Saturday night, Engineered Cupcake had our first event as a vendor at the Cottage Food Market. It was at the Firehouse Art Collective in Berkeley near Ashby BART.  It was a great night, really got the word out about the biz.  As expected the name, "Engineered Cupcake" bemused and amused many while the baked goodies simply amazed. I'm just quoting

I was so busy preparing, and trying not to get so anxious that I explode into pink glitter that I didn't take pictures of my stuff -_-  I'll do better next time.

For the market I made

1. Special Cranberry Muffins
2. Super Special Cappuccino Chip Cookies
3. Super Special Irish Cream Brownies
4. Super Special Strawberry Chiffon Chibi and regular cupcakes with Champagne Buttercream
5. Super Duper Special "Hella" Vegan Chibi Zucchini muffins
6. Super Duper Special Lemon Blueberry corn muffins (gluten free)

*points*
I'm in the background setting up!

The Irish Cream Brownies were the surprise hit, was it because of St. Patrick's day?  or was it just that chocolate plus liquor is almost always a good plan?  Each of my goodies have some story behind them and it was fun to tell customers about the brownies. How this past Christmas I was talking to a soldier in the Army Corps of Engineers while waiting for our flight in Columbia, SC. I offered him a Irish Cream brownie, he takes one bite looks at me..at my hand and exclaimed "Why aren't you married!?" 

That cracks me up every time. (^_^)

Teveh cupcakes

I got to try some of the other vendors goodies. Sara M., owner of Tevah gave me a sweet little sample box. Chickie's Smore cookies were so good that I ate them before I took a picture lol.  Yum!  In a stroke of irony I was situated in between super healthy A-Live bars and Chickie's Cookies. 

 Got my name out, met some others vendors. I really appreciate everyone who came and support the market.  The next one will be in May and will be there!

Overall it was a great time. It really made me realize that Engineered Cupcake is a reality, it's happening. I work in energy efficiency full time and I run a bakeshop on the side. The dream is coming true!

Pi Day: French Silk Pie with Coffee Cream

In most of America Pi Day has been over but here in the Bay I just wrapped up my Pi Day celebration, with my favourite sweet pie: French Silk Pie


I admit, and you can tell from this blog's absence of such, I'm not a huge fan of sweet pies in pie pans. That's not to say I don't like pie.  You'll get long-standing loyalty from me if you buy me a slice or more of the Heartstopper(intimidating but it's only garlic, spinach, bacon, and Gorgonzola)   from Temescal Lanesplitter, with a Kriek Lambic on the side. One of my favourite dish to make with my cousins aged 5-20 is homemade pizza, including some tasty dessert pizzas with fresh summer fruit. (I went through a pizza phase in college, I consumed about 60% homemade pizza pretty high for a college student)  Quiche and breakfast pies are one my go-to recipes during large familial gatherings.  I've had pie for dinner at least twice this year in the form of Tomato Tart with cornmeal crust.   But when it comes to apple, lemon meringue, even my dear Dad aka "46" who loves my rendition of coconut cream pie, it's rare I crave a sweet pie.


But on those rare occasions that I do, I must admit that it's French Silk Pie that I crave.  I first made this while assisting the pastry chef at my gig in a Macon country club.  Course I've added a few things from the original recipe though I admit this pie is not safe for the veries, y'know very young, very old, very sick, and very pregnant. 

Why?

Because this recipe has raw eggs
*hides*


Yes I know. One day (knowing me if I should ever be very pregnant and have a craving) I'll set to composing a cooked egg recipe. But I buy pasteurized eggs from a grocery store, and I have yet to get sick or have anyone I ever served this pie have issue (serving to ages 5-60ish).  I admit as much as I love free range eggs,  I'd saved those and opt for grocery eggs for this pie.

Now that we've got that out the way.

This year I decided to try something else new. I usually use plain sweetened whipped cream.  This time I added cocoa powder, espresso and a touch of vanilla paste.  Silky smooth chocolate, coffee flavour whipped cream, all on a heavenly Pie crust.  After hanging out with buddy, grabbing some Japanese at Ginza, I came back to Shangri-La (my home ^_~) to serve up pie to him, my housemate and partner.

French Silk Pie with Coffee Cream Topping

1 cooked deep dish pie crust (I used this recipe)

Filling

• 3/4 cup  Butter room temperature
• 1 cup Sugar
• 3 large Egg
• 2-3 ounces semi sweet chocolate (if more than 60% cacao use 2oz)  melted with 1 tbsp Kahlua (or coffee) 
• tablespoon Cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1 cooked pie crust

1. let butter soften to room temperature
2.  melt chocolate, set aside
3. whip butter until smooth
4.  add sugar, one quarter at a time. allow ample time so mixture is smooth not gritty
5. d chocolate scrap sides
6.  add vanilla
7.  beat in eggs, one at a time. Be sure that each egg is fully incorporated before adding another egg. Filling will be light brown and quite fluffy.
8.  Pour filling into pie crust. Wrap with clear plastic wrap and let chil at least 4 hours

Topping:

• 1.5 cup heavy whipped cream
• 2-3 tbsp powdered sugar sifted
• 2 tbsp espresso powder
• .5 tbsp cocoa powder
• .5 tsp vanilla bean paste
• Cocoa powder, Chocolate Shavings, chips etc for topping.

Nota bene (Note well) For best results use chilled beaters, bowl, and very cold cream please. 

1. Beat in  espresso, cocoa, into cream till slightly thickened.
2. Add sugar to taste beat till soft peaks
3. add vanilla bean paste and beat till slightly stiff peaks
4. Using a piping bag pipe onto pie (I used a 21 tip) 
5. Garnish as desired I used Cocoa Powder

P.S if you don't have a piping bag or tip, you can pour into a ziploc bag, cut the tip and top that way. 

P.P.S I must admit I have just spread the plain whipped cream and created a swirl effect. Leads to a more diner style pie, topped with chocolate chips

Happy Pi Day and good nite,

Tools: What men don't tell you

Love this title, though since being in Cali I don't feel it's so accurate. Perhaps "Tools: what folks in the know don't tell you"  would be a better fit. I've met many a computer engineer of varying genders who don't know a Phillips from Straight screwdriver.  On the flip-side my carpentry teacher, she was one of the most talented people I met.

People who use tools on a regular basis sometimes take for granted those of us who may not use them in our daily life.  Even I, when it comes to tools used in electrical wiring/electronics have the tendency to just assume. But you know what they say when  you assume.  One of the things I love about GRID Alternatives is that, asking questions is highly encouraged because accuracy and safety are so important. Volunteers install the system, and aside from working in the MSP (main service panel- where all the breakers are) volunteers do everything. So it's very important that people ask if they don't know something, no matter how much it may injure their pride.  When it comes to tools especially.

1. Stripping...not that kind. I'm talking about screwing, no wait I mean tools lol. it's so Wednesday. Anyways You're probably familiar with the noise a drill makes when it's "stripping" a screw.  Here's the thing there are drills and there are impact drivers. Impact drivers sound very similar to a drill stripping a screw or doing something else wrong with a drill. Also Impact drivers have a lot more torque than the comparable drill so keep that in mind.
How can you tell the difference?

drill on the left. impact driver on the right

So Impact drivers tend to be more "squat" in appearance also only take 1/4" hexagonal bits. So it won't take regular bits.  ...oh then there's hammerdrills but that's a whole 'nother beast.

2. More than one tool for the job: this is something I really learned installing solar with GRID. On the roof for cutting shingles to fit flashing I preferred tin snips. Alot of guys tended to prefer a knife and couldn't use the snips as well.  On the ground when it comes to splicing rails and pipe, I really must admit the Saw-zall which I call Sawzilla, lol is intimidating. It's loud, it's heavy for me, it feels geared to the right-handed (I use tools lefty because my dad taught me that way) oh and it chop your leg like hot knife on butter. When possible I use a bandsaw, much lighter, much easier.

This image is in my mind, every time I look at a duct or crawlspace.

3. Safety first last and always.  This goes back to that Saw-zall. I see plenty folk grab that thing with one hand, hold the object they're cutting in the other and cut like it's nothing.  Me I use both hands and am very deliberate.  Safety glasses, knee pads, all that good stuff. I never do anything that makes me uncomfortable: getting in crawlspaces or ducts I may not fit (I always think of winnie the pooh). This is something encounter my job as an auditor.  Also anything unsteady, just use common sense.



That's it for now. Good luck getting through the rest of Wednesday.
Friday can't come soon enough!

7 things I learned this week

1. DHW (Hot Water Heaters) are not supposed to catch fire: So I did actually know this. This week was doing an audit on a 4plex and in the basement doing a CAZ Worst case scenario. This worst case scenario? The tank caught fire. ooh. scary. But we've got a good plan to make sure that doesn't happen again.  It's a super old DHW so we're going to get a new one (replace both of them) and get some type b pipe. 
2. Butter and shortening are not the same thing. Shortening melts at a higher temperature than butter so it remains solid longer giving the batter time to rise and set before it spreads. Thank-you Alton Brown, this helped in making those Cappuccino Chip cookies.

3. 

   
   Oh bureaucracy

   Bureaucracy is annoying  So as y'all know I'm in the process of getting my licenses for Engineered Cupcake. Alameda County department of Environmental Health and the City of Oakland have completely op-positional laws. The County says I need zoning clearance first, the city insists I need my food licence first. And yes these are both they're written rules. -_-  I have a meeting with ACEH Monday to present my labels though so hopefully it goes well. 

4. 

   flow chart w/o the flow
   

   
   

   Laplace transformation no longer frighten me. EIT, bring it on! *flexes* I haven't studied near enough. All I can do is study the best I can and do the best I can on this April exam. As I said before I'll take it in April and if I don't pass then I'll pony up the $950 and take the EITexperts class for October. 

5. 
   

   My dad makes awesome cake. Awesome Lego Cake.  This man never ceases to amaze me. But he's "gonna get got" Challenge Accepted! *sailor moon pose*

   

6. HVAC has lots of moving parts: This whole transition from Electrical to Mechanical Engineering is not nearly as easy as I thought it would be.  HVAC, lots of moving parts that sometimes even electronics cannot fix in fact sometimes switches inhibit things. 
7. I'm going to doing my first event as Engineered Cupcake next week!!! 
   That's the big news, I'm so excited I can't believe this is happening. I met with the Cottage Food Market yesterday and they liked the samples and all I'm in. Now I have to figure out what goodies I'm going to bake for next week. It's going to be next Saturday March 16th at the Firehouse Art Collective near Ashby BART. A post and all will soon follow.  I put some info on the EC facebook page so you can check it out there, while you're there you should totally like Engineered Cupcake!

Cappuccino Chip Cookies

This week has been one of the most baking-filled weeks since I was at the  Ritz.  Trying to nail down some of the goodies Engineered Cupcake will offer that stay true to the precise goodness I aim for.
This afternoon I'm meeting with the Cottage food market, samples in hand and I'm particularly proud of this cookie. For two reasons 1)everybody seems to really like it though I personally thought they were a bit too sweet and 2) they are stay soft melt in your mouth and bonus; the flecks of espresso are really appealing to the eye.  I started out with another Georgia-Cali cook, Alton Brown's recipe from Three Chips for Marsha.

I think the cookie monster got to this before
the camera on my mobile did!

Cappuccino Chip Cookies
adapted from Alton Brown "The Puffy"  Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients

1/4 cup palm shortening
2/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/4 cups cake flour (Used SoftasSilk)
1 teaspoon iodised salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla paste
1 3/4 cups cappuccino chips
1/4 cup mini semi sweet chips
2 tbsp espresso

Procedure

1. Preheat to 375F
2. With hand mixer  cream the butter shortening, sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy
3.  sift together the cake flour, salt, espresso and baking powder and set aside. 
4. Add the eggs 1 at a time to the creamed mixture, then vanilla, then espresso
5.  Increase the speed until thoroughly incorporated.
6. With the mixer set to low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the shortening and combine well. Stir in the chips  
7. Chill the dough (me, I waited 30 minutes whipped up muffins lol)
8.  Scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets with a #20 disher, 6 per sheet.
9.  Bake for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown and puffy, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. 
10. Cool and store in an airtight-container or wrap them and put into small sandwich bags to give to the lucky.

I've made about 2 dozen nice sized (diametre 3-3.5") and I still have some dough left, all wrapped up in wax paper, saran wrap, in the freezer. Probably about 6-8 cookies worth. Freezing most cookie dough is my favourite, you can make a good size batch, slice and bake, and always be prepared for freshly baked cookies in about 15 minutes when folk stop by. But be sure to have the flour dusted apron on, you know coz you were toiling away in the kitchen making those cookies... not running around to straighten up. ^_~

Engineered Cupcake Logo design, a process

I'm ecstatic that the logo design is done!  It's really been a process as I figured out what Engineered Cupcake was all about.  An adorable tasty brand with the precision of an engineer. And pink, had to be some pink!

very early sketches

EC started as drawing, the idea was simple; a nerdy cupcake. Tried round glasses, oval glasses, binary sprinkles, circuit symbol sprinkles, finally deciding it should be a combination of binary, physics, and  math symbols and of course an ohm, Ohmmm... EE's are so centered :P.    Y'know, all the lovely things that make up a engineering education.  Eventually the cupcake's face was starting to look like me, smiling eyes that a shut closed, square-ish glasses, so I might'd as well put my beauty mark on there. So the logo design, essentially became me personified as a cupcake.

 The funniest part about this being when I showed drafts of this to friend and relatives, some who've known me all my life they were like "What mole?" *points*. People tend not to notice it until I wear lipstick and little old ladies have asked if it was penciled on. I'm a retrolover, but not that much. Some of us just have that classic beauty you know, Marilyn, Cindy,..and me ^_~

 then the banner that's been above for awhile. I wanted a multi color pattern. Fun brands should have lots of color rite?  That's what I thought. I shifted through a dozen combinations of pink,yellow, and blue. Then a pal from high school gave me a lot of good advise at a file of Bourges colour chart. When she mentioned it, the name was unfamiliar but when I saw it, it looked familiar.  Back on Illustrator I test a million colour combinations, or at least a few dozens...

so Oaklandish

raver cupcake!

finally deciding on these  3 levels of pink. the sprinkles got bigger and fewer and I'm very happy with the final design.  Ordering the first batch of business cards which have an extra subtle engineering reference, the background is grid paper but not just any grid paper, engineering grid paper. Yea, engineers are so awesome we have our own paper.

First EC business card

Next up? Ordering an apron with the logo for events!

Happy Monday ^_^