Monday, March 30, 2015

Breaking Bad Binge


We're on a Breaking Bad binge. We tried to watch the program several times when it was regularly aired and it never succeeded in holding our attention. The world of meth dealers and dope addicts is so far removed from us, there was nothing we could relate to. Now using the binge view method, we're watching the central figure's character deteriorate, without interruption, in a moral tailspin of Shakespearian proportions. It's addictive. We're at the end of season 2.

We love the opening credits for the show with the elements Br for bromine and Ba for barium, highlighted - periodic table style. Here's a very clever poster with a unique BB periodic table incorporating the show's characters.



What does breaking bad mean?

'Show creator Vince Gilligan has said that he had thought it was a commonly used phrase when he decided to use it as a title, not knowing that the expression was a Southern regionalism from the area in Virginia from which he hails. It means “to raise hell,” he says, as in “I was out the other night at the bar…and I really broke bad.”' - Time magazine, 9/23/13


Food plays a larger part in this series than you might expect. Elements of the plot unfold over breakfast when the family of the principal character eat eggs or pancakes, fruit or cereal. The contrast between the character's secret life and his regular life - (pregnant wife, son, suburbs) helps build the dramatic tension. I wondered if anyone had put together a Breaking Bad cookbook and as expected, one was introduced last summer. There's also a parody book, "Baking Bad Cookbook" by Walter Wheat. The recipes are very funny. My favorite is Mr. Whites Tighty Wightie Bites.
The gingerbread men - Tighty Wightie Bites


Mr. White, in the flesh, so to speak. 

Recurring Pink Bear Bites

Show fans know what this is. 

Arghhh....here I go jiggling along pulling my own strings from one thought to another. It's both the joy and curse of having no discipline whatsoever.
Warren Miller in New Yorker







During my 20 some years consulting to the California Egg Commission, "breaking bad" meant breaking the yolk of an egg when you crack it open.



It can be disastrous when you absolutely positively have to keep the yolk out of the white, as in preparing a souffle or meringue. Egg yolk contains enough fat to inhibit the incorporation of air into the whites. If I was still working in the industry I'd take a look at the egg separating devices on the market and re-introduce one with a name something like No More Breaking Bad. I did a Google search to see if anyone had taken this tack and couldn't find anything. But I did see some interesting new egg products.


The Gogol Mogol was invented by the Russian packaging design agency, Kian. Here's how it works:

Here's a new egg separator which acts like a pipette and sucks the yolk out of the egg. It's called the YOLKR.

My favorite egg separator of all time is the one give to me by Beth......

And if you have a back yard chicken coop, here's a few things to watch for near Easter...
  •  an egg laid by a white hen in a new nest on Easter day would cure pains in the head or stomach; if it was broken in a vineyard, it would protect the vineyard from hail; if it was broken in a field, it would protect the field from frost; whoever owned the egg would be able to see witches.
  •  an egg laid on Good Friday, thrown on the fire, would extinguish the fire.

We may complete the Breaking Bad marathon by the weekend when we'll crack the heck out of our eggs and make a nice quiche.

Asparagus and 2 cheese quiche with hashbrown crust - Epicurious, March 2015

We could use one of these mix-in-the-shell devices if we had one.
The Golden Goose - scrambles eggs in the shell
The Golden Goose is a hand-powered 'kitchen gadget' that magically scrambles an egg without breaking or penetrating the shell.
Here's how it works:
goose-by-yline product design


"You haven't entered any outside air or other gases into the mix of protein and fats, and it allows for this chemistry to happen that has culinary benefits, because depending on what temperature the egg is at and for what time period, you can achieve a range of different flavor profiles and even different colors," says the inventor, Geraint Krumpe of YLine product design.

Krumpe claims that a hard-boiled golden egg comes out tasting like savory custard. And if you simply scramble the egg in its shell and crack it into an iron skillet, it creates a tasty scrambled egg dish because you never whisked in any outside air. Plus, there's a little less dish washing.


This design project was funded on KickStarter..here's the LINK

















2 comments:

  1. Beautiful post, words and pictures.

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  2. Anonymous11:43 AM

    I love how you evolved from Breaking Bad, the TV show to breaking bad the egg separator. I can't figure out how that last device works. Where does the shell go? Are you going to try one when it gets on the market? Those tightie whitie cookies are hilarious.
    Nancy

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