Beautifully done. How did you sand it? Emory and water? I bought a wet polisher for my countertop that I poured for rolling my dough. At 8’ it was a little much for sanding. I stopped at the 1200 diamond pad for a glass smooth to touch finish. Didn’t really need to go higher for the mirror reflection.
Sealing concrete is a challenge. I did mix my own as you did but heated it up and emulsified it with a paint stirrer on a drill. I use that once a year now. For the first year I did it three times. I only use a mild citrus cleaner on it and always wipe it dry after washing.
Your base is very well designed. I really like this piece.
as for sanding, honestly, i just used two grades of sanding discs, and it wasn’t even that high of a grade - i want to say something like 80 and then 220, maybe? i can go down and look at the discs later if anyone really wants to know.
it’s definitely not glass/mirror smooth, but it’s more than smooth enough that it feels polished and smooth to your fingers.
we based the base (heh) on a design from homemade-modern.com, but with a few modifications.
really!? I just ate and now I’m hungry again. Curses on you! (not really, that looks really, really good. And that’s saying something considering I just ate our thanksgiving meal for the fourth time, most food sounds terrible at the moment )
These are beautiful and inspiring. Love the use of color in your food. The palate indicates that you are really a master of mixing. I have yet to do the pickled onion slices like that. And the beignets, fritter, gougiers thingys look amazing. The big cube thing, a potato gallet or some seared skate (a little thin for that) or millefoglie? Looks scrumptious.
Corn fritters! I may have moved to the great white north, but I’m still from the south, haha.
The potato dish you reference is a Thomas Keller recipe called potato pavé. Basically, slice your potatoes thinly on a mandoline or food processor. Then cook them gratin style (except layer the slices neatly in the pan), in a lined / buttered casserole dish layered with copious cream and butter. Season. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until done, up to two hours.
Remove the pan from the oven and put a piece of cardboard (you could cut it to fit with your laser!) on top. Put something heavy on it, like a couple of cans of tomatoes. Leave the weights on until everything reaches room temp.
Put the cans away and remove he cardboard and foil. Pull the parchment and potatoes from the pan (you could use a spatula for this if the paper is sticking). If you have the time, tightly wrap them and shove them in the fridge for a few hours, up to a day.
When you’re ready to serve, bring them out and let them warm on the counter for a while. Slice into roughly even shapes (or in my case only-tangentially-related-to-a-cube-shapes) and fry on at least two opposite sides. It’s a lot of work, and pretty rich, but they make a great fancy meal option if you something starchy that isn’t mashed potatoes.
Oh yes. I just could not figure out where I saw them before. I have all of Keller’s cookbooks. I do the salmon cones for special occasions. I’ll have to try them out.
My wife and I did a little shopping at IKEA. We picked up a couple cutting boards for gifts. One can not just give a plain cutting board when he access to a laser. Lol. So I added a littleness personal touch to them.
A little light sanding to get the sap and smoke stain off. ( I could have masked it to prevent that) I then use mineral oil for cutting boards to redo the finish. I’m hoping they use the other side to actually cut on.
It turned out ok. I tempered using a Sous Vide but it has mixed results. I intend to build a temp. controlled bowl out of acrylic (still utilizing the Sous Vide) before my next batch, and to use syringes to deposit into the molds… measuring cup was hella-messy.
This is a 65% batch using PERUVIAN MARAÑÓN beans which are a rarity. A little less than half of the nibs were a lighter color than the rest… kind of beige or tan. I’m not sure I can distinctly tell a difference between them and other peruvian beans in terms of flavor. Anyway, I have 10% added cocoa butter and a vanilla bean in the batch as well, and I use turbindo sugar. I like the flavor of it, and I like that it isn’t as processed as white sugar.
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