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Monthly Archives: July 2014

Superpower: Talking to you at the most inconvenient time to inconvenience you further

You might not think that’s a good superpower, but it actually is. If you’re a supervillain that is. And in your supervillainy ways, you’ve been made at least middle management. Preferably middle management. And your dastardly plan involves slowly destroying the morale of your employees while extracting ever more work out of them. And if one of your employees is a superhero in disguise, all the better.

Still don’t believe it’s a good superpower to have if you’re a villain? It’s true, this superpower isn’t very flashy and might not be very good in a fist fight, but if you want a long lasting career as a supervillain, you have to be subtle and you have to plan.

Think of how easily supervillains crash and burn. Actually, not just supervillains. Think about how easily mere villains crash and burn. How many of them even make it to the super status? Sure, you’ll have the plucky villains who resolutely make new plans each time their originals were dashed, but they’re basically treading water. You can’t hope to achieve fame and recognition if you’re always treading water.

And that in itself is a problem. Supervillains make themselves too vulnerable when they’re widely recognized. They’re basically a beacon to every passing superhero to come and knock them out. True supervillains have to be crafty and subtle. Hence, the middle management. They’re there to make you miserable. You, the optomistic, cheerful, spunky superhero that you are. Or the normal worker drone. Whatever. Supervillains probably are not picky about to whom they spread misery.

Think about how quickly a supervillain in middle management can upend your day when they appear out of nowhere right as you were going to go on a coffee break, or lunch break, or leave for the day, and start a long and involved discussion about something work related. And somehow, before you even realize it, you’re saddled with more work, half of which is busy work but absolutely essential to the success of the project. It will probably require days more work with overtime (which you will not be paid for because you are a salaried worker drone).

Supervillain.

Superpower.

I make! Fudge fish pops edition

So recently, I may have purchased a this:

Links to Amazon.

Links to Amazon.

Yup.  I may be the proud owner of a fish pop mold.  Zoku makes them and they are entirely amusing to me.   But fish pop molds are not useful unless you’re actually molding fish pops.  Enter the fudge pop, in particular Alton Brown’s recipe for fudge pops.  That I am making in a fish pop mold.  Thus making them fudge fish pops.  In case you were wondering.

Here is the recipe.  I did make modifications to use what I had on hand and also because I have stress-brain which makes me forgetful.

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I probably should put him on a plate next time so you can see his tail. But don’t worry, it’s a complete shark.

  • I replaced the bittersweet chocolate with semi-sweet chocolate morsels.  Because I always have those on hand.
  • I didn’t add vanilla.  Because of stress-brain.  You should add vanilla.
  • I added 1-2 tablespoons of sugar because I was going to be serving these to kids.  The recipe will be quite bitter if made as is.  It’s going to be bitter even if you make it with semi-sweet chocolate.  This is not your childhood fudge pop.  You’re using fairly dark chocolate and not adding any sweeteners.  It’ll be wonderfully chocolatey, but if you also want something sweet, sub out the bittersweet with milk chocolate or something.  Or dump in a bunch of sugar.  And taste it before you pour it the mold!  If it’s already bitter and gross to you when it’s warm, you’re more than likely not going to like it when it’s cold.
  • If you have issues with your ganache (which is more or less what you’re making) being grainy…well, there are a lot of reasons for that.  What’s likely happening is that you’re stirring too vigorously.  Or possibly that your cream mixture was entirely too hot.  At any rate, just strain it if you don’t like the grainy texture.  It’s not the end of the world.