Dan J’s Website

A variety of interesting things

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Markdown Tables Generator

Sweet (though non-SSL 😜) utility for easily creating tables in a variety of formats (Markdown being the one I'm interested in).

I used it to create the table [in this post][1], by copying the table off of the website, pasting it into a Numbers document, exporting that to CSV, and loading the CSV into this tool. Worked pretty well.

[1]: {% post_url 2019-11-20-cooking-oils-and-smoke-points %}

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Markdown Guide: Extended Syntax Reference

I can't remember if I'd come across the Markdown Guide before—useful reference for the less-common bits of Markdown, like tables.

In fact, I found the site when searching for evidence that Jekyll supports Markdown tables (it does). The list of tools and what features they support is handy. 👍🏼

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Cooking Oils and Smoke Points

I'd been looking for a quick reference for the smoke points of various cooking oils. I tend to use EVOO for everything, or Avocado Oil for higher-temp frying, or as an alternative to Coconut Oil (which is high in saturated fat).

In fact, in addition to containing the useful table below, this article points out that, as a rule of thumb, oils which are solid at room temperature (coconut oil, and, oh, I don't know, butter) tend to be higher in sat fat, and should therefore be used sparingly.

I mean, butter also has a super-low smoke point, but it's pretty much irreplaceable in the dishes that call for it (most baking, for example). At least in this amateur cook's opinion.

Oil Smoke Point °F Smoke Point °C
Refined Avocado Oil 520°F 270°C
Safflower Oil 510°F 265°C
Rice Bran Oil 490°F 254°C
Refined or Light Olive Oil 465°F 240°C
Soybean Oil 450°F 232°C
Peanut Oil 450°F 232°C
Ghee or Clarified Butter 450°F 232°C
Corn Oil 450°F 232°C
Refined Coconut Oil 450°F 232°C
Safflower Oil 440°F 227°C
Refined Sesame Oil 410°F 210°C
Vegetable Oil 400-450°F 204-232°C
Beef Tallow 400°F 204°C
Canola Oil 400°F 204°C
Grapeseed Oil 390°F 199°C
Unrefined or Virgin Avocado Oil 375°F 190°C
Pork Fat or Lard 370°F 188°C
Chicken Fat or Schmaltz 375°F 190°C
Duck Fat 375°F 190°C
Vegetable Shortening 360°F 182°C
Unrefined Sesame Oil 350°F 177°C
Extra Virgin or Unrefined Coconut Oil 350°F 177°C
Extra Virgin Olive Oil 325-375°F 163-190°C
Butter 302°F 150°C

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Align SVG Icons to Text and Say Goodbye to Font Icons

I used this article to properly position the little Micro.blog logo next to the Status Feed link in this site's navigation bar. Useful!

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Libby, by OverDrive - an App for Library Ebooks and Audiobooks

Looks like a big leap over the old OverDrive app I used years ago. Gotta check this out—it would be nice to patronize my local library with the same convenience that currently drains my bank account to fill up my Kindle. 😅

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2019-11-16-20-55-28-1906991710

This is what a "status"-style post, the kind you'd see on my status feed would look like here on this site. I'm not sure it makes sense here, but this is an experiment.

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Video: My Philosophy for a Happy Life | Sam Berns | TEDxMidAtlantic

I'm glad I took the 12 minutes. Don't cheat yourself out of watching the video, but I'm collecting these bullets to remind myself:

  1. Be okay with what you ultimately can't do... because there's so much you CAN do
  2. Surround yourself with people you want to be around
  3. Keep moving forward
  4. Never miss a party if you can help it

Truer words, and all that. 😄

(via Tim Ferriss's "5-Bullet Friday")

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xkcd: Map Age Guide

This flowchart for determining the age of a map is half ridiculous and half enlightening.

(via Tumblr)

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Useful Terminal Trick - Putting a Bunch of Files in Eponymous Folders

I just downloaded the caption files to a bunch of video clips, and wanted each one to go in a folder with its same name (minus the file extension), cos that’s where the work on each clip is going to happen. I found a script to do that all …

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Just Getting Started

One of my IndieWeb idols, Brent Simmons, writes about his blog turning 20.

I've said it before, but I always look at blogs like that and think, "Why don't I have one of those?" Congrats to Brent, and thanks to him and every other consistent blogger for helping me keep …

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One Page Dungeon by watabou

I have a powerful need. 🤤

via kottke.org

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Vegan Black Bean Chocolate Fudge Brownies

VEGAN BLACK BEAN CHOC FUDGE BROWNIES

  • 1 1/2 cups black beans (1 15-oz can, drained and rinsed very well) (250g after draining)
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder (10g)
  • 1/2 cup quick oats (40g)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup or date syrup (75g)
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil (40g) (Dan: I've been using avocado oil)
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup chocolate chips OR ~~raisins~~ (optional)

Blend ingredients 1. to 8. in a food processor. Then mix in 9. and pour in to a greased/oiled pan so about 1 inch thick. Place into a preheated oven (350ºF) for approx 10-15 mins. Leave 10 mins to cool then cut.

Whole recipe without choc chip OR raisins gives...

  • 1370 Calories
  • 30g Protein
  • 47g Fat
  • 216g Carbs

I usully split into 4 brownies. (Dan: I usually split into 6) And also I sometimes add a scoop or 2 of my raw cacao flavour vegan protein powder to boost the P count. Add a splash of almond milk (Dan: I usually put some milk in there. Real milk.) if mix becomes to dry!

Via the Bony to Beastly Forum (login required)

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Brent Simmons: You Choose

Brent Simmons, creator of NetNewsWire (which I'm quite happily using—can't wait for the iOS version!) on the whole reason I've wanted to have this site:

You choose the web you want. But you have to do the work.

A lot of people are doing the work. You could keep telling them, discouragingly, that what they’re doing is dead. Or you could join in the fun.

I'm in. How about you?

(via @manton and Brent's blog itself)

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Just what do I think I'm doing here?

Every few years, I start a blog. When I don’t have a blog I think about starting one, but I dawdle and dawdle. When I see blogs I admire, I look at the list of hundreds of posts covering maybe a decade or more and think… what a missed …

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