Climate Absolution?

Not so much...

Beautiful Ontario Lacus Lake...

Beautiful, that is, if you don't mind the oxygen-free atmosphere, or swimming in a mixture of liquid methane, ethane, and propane at a temperature of -300°F!

A Hot Weekend...

We had a hot weekend – the first, really, of the season (much later than usual).  This morning it's much cooler, back down to the level of early last week.

Saturday I made some lime gelato, picking and choosing ideas from several recipies.  The result is very good – tart and smooth.  I learned one thing that's worth passing along to fellow citrus-dessert lovers: an easy way to get the flavor from the zest, without the bitterness.  It's simple: simmer the zest in a little water-and-sugar mixture.  By adding sugar you raise the boiling point of the water; this makes it more effective at dissolving the oils in the zest that bear the flavor.  After ten minutes or so of simmering, just run the mess through a sieve, saving the now-zesty sugar water.  Yum!

We spent Saturday morning talking with a roofing contractor, and in the end, deciding to use him.  I'll keep you posted on how this goes.  Our new roof will be bright red, made of Kynar-covered 24 gauge steel.  We're having the fascia covered and soffits put in as well.  The steel roofs are completely fireproof (a very attractive feature out here in the  chaparral!), and they are not as hot as you might think, because they reflect more sunlight than a conventional shingle roof does.  In addition, as part of the work, we're having 12 dormer-style ventilators installed, which should considerably cool down our attic (and thence our house) by removing the hot air via convection.  That's the theory, anyway...