The Haidu and Others

The women who their sang apologies to the birch tree as they peeled its bark to make their baskets had it right. Human civilization and culture have since degraded, and our politics has never seen the light.

In Response to Julia Moskin's Column in the New York Times

I play Flight of the Bumblebee on the pan with a freshly cut cedar branch to get my cookies both crisp and chewy. It helps if the humidity is around 85-87%, temperature between 15 and 16.4 degrees C, with wind coming from the northwest at around 3.7-6.2 miles per hour. After 11 minutes and 23 seconds of baking time (more or less), I start taking the pan out of the oven every 30+2.5 seconds for seven iterations (30, 32.5, 35, 37.5 . . . ). Aim for ripples that are spaced at the Golden Ratio. Cooling is best done in a bariatric chamber until the desired temperature is reached. But if you don't have one, that is okay, you can just let them cool on a rack on the counter.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/29/dining/chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe-instagram.html?comments#permid=24264640

Is there something especially funny about cedar? Why not oak or birch or pine? I will take up the differing personalities of tree types in a future post.