Parsley

parsley

A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . MY UNCLE MAKES A GREAT DISCOVERY here CHAPTER I - MY UNCLE MAKES A GREAT DISCOVERY Looking back to all that has occurred to me since that eventful day, I am scarcely able to believe in the reality of my adventures. They were truly so wonderful that even now I am bewildered when I think of them. My uncle was a German, having married my mother's sister, an Englishwoman. Being very much attached to his fatherless nephew, he invited me to study under him in his home in the fatherland. This home was in a large town, and my uncle a professor of philosophy, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, and many other ologies. One day, after passing some hours in the laboratory—my uncle being absent at the time—I suddenly felt the necessity of renovating the tissues— , I was hungry, and was about to rouse up our old French cook, when my uncle, Professor Von Hardwigg, suddenly opened the street door, and came rushing upstairs. i.e. Now Professor Hardwigg, my worthy uncle, is by no means a bad sort of man; he is, however, choleric and original. To bear with him means to obey; and scarcely had his heavy feet resounded within our joint domicile than he shouted for me to attend upon him. "Harry—Harry—Harry—" I hastened to obey, but before I could reach his room, jumping three steps at a time, he was stamping his right foot upon the landing. "Harry!" he cried, in a frantic tone, "are you coming up?" Now to tell the truth, at that moment I was far more interested in the question as to what was to constitute our dinner than in any problem of science; to me soup was more interesting than soda, an omelette more tempting than arithmetic, and an artichoke of ten times more value than any amount of asbestos. But my uncle was not a man to be kept waiting; so adjourning therefore all minor questions, I presented myself before him. He was a very learned man. Now most persons in this category supply themselves with information, as peddlers do with goods, for the benefit of others, and lay up stores in order to diffuse them abroad for the benefit of society in general. Not so my excellent uncle, Professor Hardwigg; he studied, he consumed the midnight oil, he pored over heavy tomes, and digested huge quartos and folios in order to keep the knowledge acquired to himself. There was a reason, and it may be regarded as a good one, why my uncle objected to display his learning more than was absolutely necessary: he stammered; and when intent upon explaining the phenomena of the heavens, was apt to find himself at fault, and allude in such a vague way to sun, moon, and stars that few were able to comprehend his meaning. To tell the honest truth, when the right word would not come, it was generally replaced by a very powerful adjective. In connection with the sciences there are many almost unpronounceable names—names very much resembling those of Welsh villages; and my uncle being very fond of using them, his habit of stammering was not thereby improved. In fact, there were periods in his discourse when he would finally give up and swallow his discomfiture—in a glass of water. As I said, my uncle, Professor Hardwigg, was a very learned man; and I now add a most kind relative. I was bound to him by the double ties of affection and interest. I took deep interest in all his doings, and hoped some day to be almost as learned myself. It was a rare thing for me to be absent from his lectures. Like him, I preferred mineralogy to all the other sciences. My anxiety was to gain real . Geology and mineralogy were to us the sole objects of life, and in connection with these studies many a fair specimen of stone, chalk, or metal did we break with our hammers. knowledge of the earth Steel rods, loadstones, glass pipes, and bottles of various acids were oftener before us than our meals. My uncle Hardwigg was once known to classify six hundred different geological specimens by their weight, hardness, fusibility, sound, taste, and smell. He corresponded with all the great, learned, and scientific men of the age. I was, therefore, in constant communication with, at all events the letters of, Sir Humphry Davy, Captain Franklin, and other great men. But before I state the subject on which my uncle wished to confer with me, I must say a word about his personal appearance. Alas! my readers will see a very different portrait of him at a future time, after he has gone through the fearful adventures yet to be related. My uncle was fifty years old; tall, thin, and wiry. Large spectacles hid, to a certain extent, his vast, round, and goggle eyes, while his nose was irreverently compared to a thin file. So much indeed did it resemble that useful article, that a compass was said in his presence to have made considerable N (Nasal) deviation. The truth being told, however, the only article really attracted to my uncle's nose was tobacco. Another peculiarity of his was, that he always stepped a yard at a time, clenched his fists as if he were going to hit you, and was, when in one of his peculiar humors, very far from a pleasant companion. It is further necessary to observe that he lived in a very nice house, in that very nice street, the Konigstrasse at Hamburg. Though lying in the centre of a town, it was perfectly rural in its aspect—half wood, half bricks, with old-fashioned gables—one of the few old houses spared by the great fire of 1842. When I say a nice house, I mean a handsome house—old, tottering, and not exactly comfortable to English notions: a house a little off the perpendicular and inclined to fall into the neighboring canal; exactly the house for a wandering artist to depict; all the more that you could scarcely see it for ivy and a magnificent old tree which grew over the door. My uncle was rich; his house was his own property, while he had a considerable private income. To my notion the best part of his possessions was his god-daughter, Gretchen. And the old cook, the young lady, the Professor and I were the sole inhabitants. I loved mineralogy, I loved geology. To me there was nothing like pebbles—and if my uncle had been in a little less of a fury, we should have been the happiest of families. To prove the excellent Hardwigg's impatience, I solemnly declare that when the flowers in the drawing-room pots began to grow, he rose every morning at four o'clock to make them grow quicker by pulling the leaves! Having described my uncle, I will now give an account of our interview. He received me in his study; a perfect museum, containing every natural curiosity that can well be imagined—minerals, however, predominating. Every one was familiar to me, having been catalogued by my own hand. My uncle, apparently oblivious of the fact that he had summoned me to his presence, was absorbed in a book. He was particularly fond of early editions, tall copies, and unique works. "Wonderful!" he cried, tapping his forehead. "Wonderful—wonderful!" It was one of those yellow-leaved volumes now rarely found on stalls, and to me it appeared to possess but little value. My uncle, however, was in raptures. He admired its binding, the clearness of its characters, the ease with which it opened in his hand, and repeated aloud, half a dozen times, that it was very, very old. To my fancy he was making a great fuss about nothing, but it was not my province to say so. On the contrary, I professed considerable interest in the subject, and asked him what it was about. "It is the Heims-Kringla of Snorre Tarleson," he said, "the celebrated Icelandic author of the twelfth century—it is a true and correct account of the Norwegian princes who reigned in Iceland." My next question related to the language in which it was written. I hoped at all events it was translated into German. My uncle was indignant at the very thought, and declared he wouldn't give a penny for a translation. His delight was to have found the original work in the Icelandic tongue, which he declared to be one of the most magnificent and yet simple idioms in the world—while at the same time its grammatical combinations were the most varied known to students. "About as easy as German?" was my insidious remark. My uncle shrugged his shoulders. "The letters at all events," I said, "are rather difficult of comprehension." "It is a Runic manuscript, the language of the original population of Iceland, invented by Odin himself," cried my uncle, angry at my ignorance. I was about to venture upon some misplaced joke on the subject, when a small scrap of parchment fell out of the leaves. Like a hungry man snatching at a morsel of bread the Professor seized it. It was about five inches by three and was scrawled over in the most extraordinary fashion. The lines shown here are an exact facsimile of what was written on the venerable piece of parchment—and have wonderful importance, as they induced my uncle to undertake the most wonderful series of adventures which ever fell to the lot of human beings. My uncle looked keenly at the document for some moments and then declared that it was Runic. The letters were similar to those in the book, but then what did they mean? This was exactly what I wanted to know. Now as I had a strong conviction that the Runic alphabet and dialect were simply an invention to mystify poor human nature, I was delighted to find that my uncle knew as much about the matter as I did—which was nothing. At all events the tremulous motion of his fingers made me think so. "And yet," he muttered to himself, "it is old Icelandic, I am sure of it." And my uncle ought to have known, for he was a perfect polyglot dictionary in himself. He did not pretend, like a certain learned pundit, to speak the two thousand languages and four thousand idioms made use of in different parts of the globe, but he did know all the more important ones. It is a matter of great doubt to me now, to what violent measures my uncle's impetuosity might have led him, had not the clock struck two, and our old French cook called out to let us know that dinner was on the table. "Bother the dinner!" cried my uncle. But as I was hungry, I sallied forth to the dining room, where I took up my usual quarters. Out of politeness I waited three minutes, but no sign of my uncle, the Professor. I was surprised. He was not usually so blind to the pleasure of a good dinner. It was the acme of German luxury—parsley soup, a ham omelette with sorrel trimmings, an oyster of veal stewed with prunes, delicious fruit, and sparkling Moselle. For the sake of poring over this musty old piece of parchment, my uncle forbore to share our meal. To satisfy my conscience, I ate for both. The old cook and housekeeper was nearly out of her mind. After taking so much trouble, to find her master not appear at dinner was to her a sad disappointment—which, as she occasionally watched the havoc I was making on the viands, became also alarm. If my uncle were to come to table after all? Suddenly, just as I had consumed the last apple and drunk the last glass of wine, a terrible voice was heard at no great distance. It was my uncle roaring for me to come to him. I made very nearly one leap of it—so loud, so fierce was his tone. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jules Verne (2006). A Journey to the Center of the Earth. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/18857/18857-h/18857-h.htm This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

MY UNCLE MAKES A GREAT DISCOVERY

The Story-book of Science by Jean-Henri Fabre, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . POISONOUS PLANTS CHAPTER LVIII. POISONOUS PLANTS THE death of poor Joseph had spread consternation through the village. If children left the house and went off into the fields, there was constant anxiety until they returned. They might find poisonous plants that would tempt them with their flowers or their berries, and poison them. Many said, with reason, that the best way to prevent these terrible accidents was to know the dangerous plants and teach the children to beware of them. They went and found Maître Paul, whose great knowledge was appreciated by all, and asked him to teach them the poisonous plants of the neighborhood. So Sunday evening there was a numerous gathering at Uncle Paul’s. Besides his two nephews and his niece, Jacques and Mother Ambroisine, there were Simon, who had come upon the two unfortunate children on his way home from the mill, Jean the miller, André the plowman, Philippe the vine-dresser, Antoine, Mathieu, and many others. The day before, Uncle Paul had taken a walk in the country to gather the plants he was to talk about. A large bunch of the principal poisonous plants, some in blossom, others with berries, were in a pitcher of water on the table. “There are people, my friends,” he began, “who shut their eyes so as not to see danger, and think themselves safe because they wilfully ignore peril. There are others who inform themselves about what may be a menace to them, persuaded that one warned person may be worth two unwarned. You belong to this latter class, and I congratulate you. Countless ills lie in wait for us; let us try to diminish their number by our vigilance, instead of giving ourselves up to lazy carelessness. Now that a frightful misfortune has overtaken one of our families, who does not realize the extreme importance of our all knowing, so as to avoid them, these terrible plants that claim victims every year? If this knowledge were more extended, the poor lit Belladonna Uncle Paul, whom thunder never caused even to knit his brows, had tears in his eyes and his voice trembled. The good Simon, who had seen the two children in each other’s arms under the hedge, felt more moved than the others at this recollection. He pulled down the broad rim of his hat to hide the big tears that were rolling down his rough cheeks bronzed by the sun. After a few moments of silence Uncle Paul continued: “The death of the unfortunate little boy was caused by belladonna. It is a rather large weed with reddish bell-shaped flowers. The berries are round, purplish-black, and resemble cherries. The leaves are oval and pointed at the end. The whole plant has a nauseous odor and a somber appearance, as if to announce the poison it conceals. The berries particularly are dangerous because they may tempt children by their resemblance to cherries and their sweetish taste. Enlargement of the pupil of the eye and a dull, fixed stare are the characteristics of belladonna poisoning.” Paul took from the bouquet in the pitcher a sprig of belladonna, and passed it around in the audience so that each one could examine the plant closely. “What do you say that is called?” asked Jean. “Belladonna.” “Belladonna; good. I know that weed. I have often found it near the mill, in shady places. Who would believe those pretty cherries held such a frightful poison.” Here André asked: “What does the word belladonna mean?” “It is an Italian word meaning fine lady. Formerly, it seems, ladies used the juice of this plant to keep their complexion white.” “That is a property that does not concern our brown skin. What concerns us is this confounded berry which may tempt our children.” “Are not our herds in danger when this weed grows in pastures?” Antoine next inquired. “It is very seldom that animals touch poisonous plants; they avoid browsing what might harm them, warned by the odor, and above all by instinct. “This other plant with large leaves, whose flowers, red on the outside and spotted on the inside with white and purple, are arranged in a long and magnificent cluster almost as high as a man, is called digitalis. The flowers have the form of long, tun-bellied bells, or rather of glove-fingers; therefore it is called by different names, all referring to this peculiarity.” Fox-glove “If I am not mistaken,” said Jean, “it is what we call fox-glove. It is common on the edges of woods.” “We call it fox-glove on account of its resemblance to the thumb of a glove. For the same reason it has elsewhere the name of gloves of Notre-Dame, gloves of the Virgin, and finger-stall. The name digitalis, borrowed from the Latin, also refers to the finger-shaped flower.” “It is a great pity that fine plant is poisonous,” commented Simon; “it would be a pleasure to see it in our gardens.” “It is, indeed, cultivated as an ornamental plant, but in gardens under stricter vigilance than ours. As for us, my friends, who hardly have time to watch over flowers, we shall do well not to put digitalis within reach of children by introducing it in our gardens. The whole plant is poisonous. It has the singular property of slowing up the beating of the heart and finally stopping it. It is unnecessary to tell you that when the heart no longer beats, all is over. Hemlock “Hemlock is still more dangerous. Its finely-divided leaves resemble those of chervil and parsley. This resemblance has often occasioned fatal mistakes, all the easier, because the formidable plant grows in the hedges of enclosures and even in our gardens. A plain enough characteristic, however, enables us to distinguish the poisonous weed from the two pot-herds that resemble it: that is the odor. Rub that tuft of hemlock in your hands, Simon, and smell.” “Ouf!” said Simon, “that smells very bad; parsley and chervil have not that horrid odor. When one is warned, no mistake can be made, in my opinion.” “Yes, when one is warned; but those who are not take no account of the smell and mistake hemlock for parsley or chervil. It is in order to be warned that you are listening to me this evening.” “You are doing us a great service, Maître Paul,” said Jean, “by putting us on our guard against these dangerous plants. Every one at home ought to know what you have just taught us, so as not to gather a salad of hemlock instead of chervil.” Arum “There are two kinds of hemlock. One, called the great hemlock, is found in damp and uncultivated places. It is very like chervil. Its stems are marked with black or reddish spots. The other, called the little hemlock, resembles parsley. It grows in cultivated fields, hedges, and gardens. Both have a nauseating odor. “Now here is a poisonous plant very easy to recognize. It is the arum, or, as it is commonly called, cuckoopint or calves’-foot. The arum is common in hedges. The leaves are very broad and shaped like a large lance-head. The blossom is shaped like a donkey’s ear. It is a large yellowish trumpet, from the bottom of which rises a fleshy rod that might be taken for a little finger of butter. This strange flower is succeeded by a bunch of berries as large as peas and of a splendid red color. The whole plant has an unbearable burning taste.” “Let me tell you, Maître Paul,” put in Mathieu, “what happened one day to my little Lucien. Coming home from school, he saw in the hedge those large flowers you are speaking of, like donkey’s ears; the fleshy rod in the middle looked to him like something good to eat. You have just compared it to a little finger of butter. The thoughtless creature was taken with its looks. He bit into the deceitful finger of butter. What had he done! In a moment his tongue began to burn as if he had bitten a red-hot coal. I saw him come home spitting and making faces. He won’t be taken in again, you may be sure. Luckily he hadn’t swallowed the piece. The next morning he was all right.” “A similar burning flavor is found in the white milk-like juice that runs from the euphorbia when cut. The euphorbia are plants of mean appearance, very common everywhere. Their flowers, small and yellowish, grow in a head, the even branches of which radiate at the top of the stem. These plants are easily recognized by their white juice, their milk, which runs in abundance from the cut stems. This juice is dangerous, even on the skin alone, if it is tender; its acrid, burning taste is its sufficient characteristic. Aconites “The aconites, like digitalis, are fine plants which for their beauty have been introduced in gardens, notwithstanding the violence of their poison. They are found in hilly countries. Their blossoms are blue or yellow, helmet-shaped, and grow in an elegant terminal bunch of the finest effect. Their leaves, of a lustrous green, are cut out in radiating sprays. The aconites are very poisonous. The violence of their poison has given them the name of dog’s-bane and wolf’s-bane. History tells us that formerly arrow-heads and lance-heads were soaked in the juice of the aconites, to poison the wounds made in war and to make them mortal. “There is sometimes cultivated in our gardens a shrub with large shiny leaves, which do not fall in winter, and with black, oval berries as large as acorns. It is the cherry-bay. All its parts, leaves, flowers, and berries, have the odor of bitter almonds and peach kernels. The leaves of the cherry-bay are sometimes used to give their perfume to cream and milk products. They should be used only with great prudence, for the cherry-bay is extremely poisonous. They even say one has only to remain some time in its shade to become indisposed from its exhalations of a bitter-almond odor. “In autumn there is seen in abundance, in damp fields, a large and beautiful flower, rose or lilac in color, that rises from the ground alone, without stem or leaves. It is the colchicum, called also meadow saffron, or veillotte, also veilleuse, because it blossoms on the eve of the cold season. If you dig a little way down, you will find that this flower starts from a rather large bulb, covered with a brown skin. Colchicum is poisonous; so cows never touch it. Its bulb is still more poisonous. “But we have talked enough about harmful plants for to-day. I should be afraid of befogging your memories were I to enter into more details. Next Sunday I will expect you again, my friends, and will talk to you about mushrooms.” About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jean-Henri Fabre (2018). The Story-book of Science. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/56795/pg56795-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

POISONOUS PLANTS

One a penny, two a penny, AI buns As a and part-time coder, I’ve seen first-hand the value of taking some text or code and using ChatGPT to help me infinitely improve it. If could refactor my code, it could surely help improve my cooking. product manager ChatGPT specifically, are my culinary kryptonite. This subtly sweetened, yeast-leavened bread native to the British Isles is both delicious and an absolute pain to bake. Despite multiple attempts, my buns better resembled than digestible delicacies. With only stodgy bricks to show for my efforts, I had vowed never to make these tasty treats again… until recently, that is. Hot Cross buns, hockey pucks Then one day, my American colleague strolled into the office, their hands brimming with a basket of homemade hot cross buns. Each one was a — a sweet slap in the face to my British pride. The gauntlet was thrown — I would master this recipe! But this time would be different. This time I had the power of large language models on my side. fluffy delight I mean, baking is not that different from coding right, right? A logically deductive combination of chemicals producing a desired result. Sure, I could find better recipes online, but I tried that before, and it doesn’t help. To achieve this, I will combine some of the most successful prompting techniques I’ve learned using ChatGPT: . Role Setting, Chain of Thought, and Self-Reflexion means giving the AI a focused purpose. Most of the time, asking the all-seeing ChatGPT sage is fine, but you can get the best results by focusing on its intent and drive. For example, I don’t want my AI to start randomly talking about the logistics of sourcing raisins. Role setting To achieve this, I prompted: You are BakerGPT. A Michelin award-winning baker who is here to help me create some of the most delicious baked items in human history, drawing inspiration and techniques from any source to achieve this goal. You will assist me in developing recipes and ask me clarifying questions if you think it will help you improve your answers or suggestions. If you understand, respond: UNDERSTOOD Excellent, so I’ve successfully explained to BakerGPT that I wanted to make amazing hot cross buns. Next, I want to improve its results by providing some examples of recipes I used before. This is . To achieve this, we will provide the AI with examples of things I would like it to imitate before asking it to generate its own. Usually, this would be stuff like a poem or press release, but recipes would be best in our case. It’s like a mini training session for the AI, helping reduce the risk of hallucinating weird solutions like using olive oil instead of butter. So I provided some examples of hot cross bun recipes I found online, and I already can see it commenting and even trying to suggest its own. Not so fast, BakerGPT! called Chain of Thought Prompting So we have our overqualified assistant who has been researching buns all its life. Let’s ask it to — what does it think makes a good or bad hot cross bun recipe? engage in some  self-reflexion So that’s promising — it seems to know exactly the qualities I’m after! Let’s ask what we must do with the recipe to get the best characteristics whilst eliminating the bad. I want more reflexion! How could it make the recipe even better? Let’s pause here because this is super impressive. Right away, the suggestion of had never even occurred to me. I mean, what even is bread improver? A quick search reveals a mixture of emulsifiers, enzymes, and flour treatment agents that help break down gluten and improve the quality of the dough and final rise. That sounds just like what I need! Other great shouts include soaking the dried fruit in orange juice and pre-fermenting. Nice to also know I could adapt this to be gluten-free or vegan if required. bread improver Ok, so this all sounds great. Let’s ask it to generate a recipe using all the suggestions provided. Here is what it produced: British Hot Cross Buns Ingredients: For the buns: - 300ml full-fat milk - 100g butter - 500g strong bread flour - 1 tsp salt - 50g caster sugar - 25g brown sugar - 1 tbsp sunflower oil - 7g sachet fast-action or easy-blend yeast - 1–2 tsp bread improver - 2 eggs, beaten - 100g mixed dried fruits (sultanas, raisins, currants, dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots) - 50g chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, or almonds) - Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon - 1 apple, peeled, cored, and finely chopped - 2 tsp ground cinnamon - 1 tsp mixed spice - 1/2 tsp ground ginger - 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg For the cross: - 75g plain flour, plus extra for dusting For the glaze: - 100g powdered sugar - 2–3 tbsp milk or lemon juice Method: 1. In a small saucepan, gently heat the milk with the orange and lemon zest, cinnamon stick, and a few cardamom pods. Once warm, remove from heat and let it infuse for 10 minutes. Strain the milk and discard the solids. 2. Bring the infused milk to a boil, then remove from heat and add 100g butter. Leave to cool until it reaches hand temperature. 3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the strong bread flour, salt, caster sugar, brown sugar, fast-action or easy-blend yeast, and bread improver. Create a well in the centre. 4. Pour the warm milk and butter mixture into the well, followed by the beaten eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon, then use your hands to form a sticky dough. 5. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 5–7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film or a damp tea towel, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. 6. Add the mixed dried fruits, chopped nuts, orange and lemon zest, chopped apple, and spices to the dough. Knead to distribute the ingredients evenly. Cover and let rise again for another hour or until doubled in size. 7. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas. Then, divide the dough into 15 even pieces (about 75g each) and roll into smooth balls. Place on baking trays lined with parchment paper, leaving enough space for expansion. Cover and let prove for 1 more hour. 8. Mix the plain flour with water to make a thick paste for the cross. Pipelines across the buns form crosses. Bake for 18–20 minutes or until golden brown. 9. Remove the buns from the oven and let them cool slightly on a wire rack. Mix powdered sugar with milk or lemon juice to create a glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the warm buns. Serve these delicious, tender, and flavourful hot cross buns warm with butter, and enjoy the improved texture brought by the addition of bread improver. With bated breath and fingers crossed, I set out to create these AI-inspired buns. Hours of my life were at stake, and tension in the kitchen was palpable… then, finally, the iPhone timer pinged. I had done it, and I have to say the results were nothing short of . spectacular I brought a bunch into the office. My colleagues were blown away by how soft, moist, and flavourful these were (even after sitting in Tupperware for 2 days). Somehow through the alchemy of prompt engineering and baking, I’d made something incredible. I was running around the flat proclaiming to my partner we should start an . AI bakery But why stop there? How far could we push this? Growing up in an Iraqi-Austrian household, the exotic aromas and bold flavors of the Middle East were a comforting constant. So I decided to pay homage to my roots and mix some of those techniques and flavors into my buns, asking ChatGPT to reimagine this recipe from an Iraqi perspective. The idea of taking a British baked good with a literal cross on it and the best of the middle east has something of a crusader-esk poor taste to it. Still, the results were anything but — . an unholy union of deliciousness Spiced Za’atar Cross Buns - 300ml full-fat milk - 100g butter - 500g strong bread flour - 1 tsp salt - 1 tbsp sunflower oil - 7g sachet fast-action or easy-blend yeast - 1–2 tsp bread improver - 2 eggs, beaten - 100g crumbled feta cheese - 75g chopped dates or dried apricots - 50g toasted pine nuts - 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint or parsley - 1 tsp ground cumin - 1/2 tsp ground coriander - 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon - 1/4 tsp ground cardamom - 1/4 tsp ground allspice - 1/4 tsp paprika - 1/4 tsp black pepper For the cross: - 75g plain flour, plus extra for dusting For the topping: - 1 egg, beaten for egg wash - Sesame seeds Method: 1. In a small saucepan, gently heat the milk and butter until the butter melts and the mixture reaches hand temperature. 2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the strong bread flour, salt, sunflower oil, fast-action or easy-blend yeast, and bread improver. Create a well in the centre. 3. Pour the warm milk and butter mixture into the well, followed by the beaten eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon, then use your hands to form a sticky dough. 4. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 5–7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film or a damp tea towel, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. 5. Add the crumbled feta cheese, chopped dates or dried apricots, toasted pine nuts, fresh herbs, and spices to the dough. Knead to distribute the ingredients evenly. Cover and let rise again for another hour or until doubled in size. 6. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 7. Divide the dough into 15 even pieces (about 75g each) and roll into smooth balls. Place on baking trays lined with parchment paper, leaving enough space for expansion. Cover and let prove for 1 more hour. 8. Mix the plain flour with water to make a thick paste for the cross. Pipelines across the buns form crosses. Brush the buns with beaten egg for egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Bake for 18–20 minutes or until golden brown. 9. Remove the buns from the oven and let them cool slightly on a wire rack.  Serve these Middle Eastern-inspired hot cross buns warm with a side of hummus or tzatziki, or enjoy them as a flavorful snack or accompaniment to a meal. The combination of feta cheese, dried fruit, pine nuts, and aromatic spices creates a delicious and unique twist on the traditional hot cross bun. A hot cross bun perfect for dipping with hummus? I’d found ! These buns were impressive, and the use of dried apricots with spices and cheese felt like little bites of bliss evoking memories of my father baking. heaven I went on to create a few more variations: with smoked ham, grated gouda, minced garlic, and chopped dill; Japanese Umami Cross Buns with tamagoyaki omelet, shitake mushroom, and pickled ginger flavored with soy sauce and mirin; and finally the comprised of strong cheddar, crumbled laverbread (seaweed) and crispy bacon topped off with fresh chives. Latvian baltic buns Welsh Celtic Buns Some of the wilder experiments asked what a hot cross bun could look like inspired by Japanese fashion designer (sweetened red bean paste, matcha, and chopped candied yuzu) or clothing brand (milk and white chocolate chips with toasted hazelnuts and vanilla). Issey Miyake H&M What surprised me about all this was how fun it is to use a tool like ChatGPT to create my own . It’s like a cooking simulator, a real-world version of Nintendo’s ‘Cooking Mama’. Within seconds I could be dreaming up new recipes and flavors with no limits on what techniques or ingredients to experiment with from any regional culinary background or school of cooking. test kitchen of ideas Machines are particularly well suited to this as their connections are more diverse and thus have a less compartmentalized view of the world than us humans. Even if I did not have an ingredient, ChatGPT could suggest an alternative or let me know if something in the cupboard would work. What is exciting about this for me is not just being able to produce better recipes but the ability to take chances and be more creative and curious in our approach to food. You usually find a recipe, buy the ingredients, cook, and hope for the best. Now with AI, we are freed up to play with it, tailor it to our tastes, and even ask why something may be better or worse. A chance to even take old recipes and rework them into something new. After all, very few (if any) foods are invented. Most are contemporary twists on traditional themes. As Lynne Olver wrote on the Food Timeline, “Today’s grilled cheese sandwich is connected to ancient cooks who melted cheese on bread. 1950s meatloaf is connected to ground cooked meat products promoted at the turn of the 20th century, which are, in turn, related to ancient Roman minces.” As a culture, we’re cooking less and buying more prepared meals. Since the mid-sixties, the time spent preparing meals has fallen by half. While the global trend is the same, Americans , spending less time cooking than any other country. I hope using AI to cook this way is more fun and exciting than working from prescribed recipes and will bring an entirely new type of cook into the kitchen. lead the way You see, cooking changes your relationship with food. Instead of consuming something, now you’re making it. The more people we can get interested in cooking and asking questions about where ingredients come from can only be better for us and our environment. The alternative is that we become so alienated that within a generation, cooking a meal from scratch will seem as exotic and ambitious — as “extreme” — as most of us today regard brewing beer, baking a loaf of bread, or putting up a crock of sauerkraut. I wouldn’t recommend asking a tool like ChatGPT to generate something from scratch just yet. Still, as shown above, a mixture of specific prompts that set R and use prompting and R is particularly effective in achieving the best results for not just cooking but many forms of creative work. oles Chain of Thought eflexion Now, every time I see a hot cross bun, I no longer feel a sense of dread — AI has given me a chance to think differently about baking. To those willing to experiment, AI makes exploring things like cooking more accessible. Meals become achievements, expressions, discoveries, and relationships and help us honor in a way where we come from. This mad hybrid of human, machine, and food goes beyond nutritionism and essentialism. It serves as a tool for training that connects us with nature and teaches us how to utilize AI for a brighter future. Happy prompt baking everyone. Also published [here.](https://How ChatGPT Took Me From Baking Disaster to Masterchef)

How ChatGPT Took Me From Baking Disaster to Masterchef

THE CETONIÆ

THE PINE PROCESSIONARY: THE STINGING POWER

Field, Forest and Farm by Jean-Henri Fabre, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . THE STALK OF THE PLANT CHAPTER XIV. THE STALK OF THE PLANT “The stalk is the common support of the plant’s various parts. It is called annual or herbaceous when it lives only one year, as in the potato, spinach, parsley, and all forms of vegetation that from their soft structure belong to the class of herbs. Ligneous is the name given to the stalk when, designed to live for a greater or less number of years, it is made of strong woody fibers, such as we find in the trunks of trees. “Let us make a clean cut through any tree-trunk, that of an oak for example. We shall find it divided into three parts: in the center the pith or marrow, very slightly developed; around the marrow the wood proper; and, finally, on the outside, the bark. A closer examination shows that the wood is formed of concentric layers which are indicated in the cross-section by a series of circles having the marrow for a common center. These layers are called ligneous zones or, since one is formed every year, annual layers. During the summer there is a downward flow, throughout the tree, of a peculiar liquid, the descending sap, which constitutes the fluid nourishment of the tree. This liquid runs between the wood and the bark and becomes, little by little in its course, [ ]on one side a layer of wood which attaches itself to the outer surface of the preceding year’s layer, and on the other side a thin sheet of bark which is added to the inner surface of the bark already formed. 71 “Thus each year both bark and wood form a new layer; but this added layer is applied in opposite ways in the two instances,—outside on the wood, inside on the bark. The wood thus encircled from year to year by new layers increases in age toward the center and becomes younger and younger toward the circumference, whereas the bark, lined every year with a fresh sheet, shows its youth on the inside and its age on the outside. The first buries inside the trunk its decrepit and dead layers; the second thrusts its old layers outside, where they crack and fall off in large scales. This aging process is simultaneous on the outside and in the center of the tree-trunk; but between the wood and the bark life is always at work, creating fresh accretions. Cross Section of Tree Trunk “Here are some experimental proofs of this annual formation of a ligneous layer. A strip of bark is removed from the trunk of a tree, and on the wood thus laid bare is fastened a thin sheet of metal. The bark is then replaced and bound with ligatures so that the wound may heal. We will suppose ten years have passed. The bark is raised again at the same place. The metal sheet is no longer visible; to find it you must bore deep into the wood. Now, [ ]if you count the ligneous layers removed before reaching the metal sheet, you will find precisely ten, just the number of years that have passed. 72 “A number of observations like the following are familiar: Some foresters cut down a beech bearing on its trunk the date 1750. The same inscription was found again in the inner substance of the wood, but to reach it they had to cut through fifty-five layers on which no mark whatever appeared. If now, we add 55 to 1750 we obtain precisely the year when the tree was felled, or 1805. The inscription carved on the trunk in the year 1750 had passed through the bark and reached the layer of wood that was then outermost. Since that event fifty-five years had passed and new layers, exactly the same in number, had grown over the first. “Thus a tree is composed of a succession of woody sheaths, the outer ones enveloping the inner. The stem or trunk contains them all; the branches, according to their age, contain more or fewer. Each one represents a single year’s growth. The woody sheath of the present year occupies the exterior of the trunk, immediately under the bark; those of former years occupy the interior, and the nearer they are to the center the older they are. The layers of future years will come one at a time and take their places over preceding layers, so that what is now the outermost layer will in its turn be found embedded in the body of the trunk. “Of all these ligneous zones of unequal age the most important to-day is the outside one; its destruction [ ]would cause the death of the tree, since through it the nutritive juices of the earth reach the buds, leaves, and young branches. In their time the interior layers, one by one, when they formed the surface, rendered the same service to the buds of their day; but now that these buds have become branches the inner layers have only a secondary office, or even none at all. Those nearest the outside still have some aptness for work and help the layer of the year to carry the juices from the earth to the branches. As to the innermost ones, they have lost all activity; their wood is hard, dried up, encrusted with inert matter. In their decrepitude these interior layers are incapable of service in the work of vegetation; the most they can do is by the support of their firm woody structure to give solidity to the whole. Thus the tree’s activity decreases from the outside toward the center. On the surface are youth, vigor, labor; in the center old age, ruin, repose.” 73 About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jean-Henri Fabre (2022). Field, Forest and Farm. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/67813/pg67813-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

THE STALK OF THE PLANT

JavaScript libraries are incredibly useful tools for any web app developer. They’re designed for boosting the development process and adding extra functionality to your projects with just a few lines of code. Today, there’s almost a never-ending collection of JS libraries and frameworks to try, so we picked 20 cool tools for data visualization, animation, form validation, mapping, file uploading, etc. Let’s take a closer look! DHTMLX DHTMLX offers a set of for building user-friendly web apps. It allows integrating Gantt chart, Scheduler, Kanban board, or any other widget into an existing app separately, or combining them thus creating a comprehensive front-end system from scratch. DHTMLX provides clean UI and comprehensive APIs, so you can easily configure widgets’ behavior or customize their appearance by adding custom CSS. You can set dynamic loading, intuitive drag-n-drop, and handy keyboard navigation, as well as export data to Excel, PDF, SVG, PNG, MS Project, and other formats. JavaScript components Bootstrap is a CSS framework for creating nice-looking web projects. It contains JavaScript/HTML-based design templates for buttons, forms, layouts, navigation, and other UI components. Bootstrap is responsive, meaning it looks proper on most gadgets, from desktops to iPhones. As of April 2023, Bootstrap has over 163K stars, being one of the top 5 most starred libraries on GitHub. Bootstrap D3.js is a collection of modular libraries for building dynamic data visualizations in web browsers. It supports a data-driven approach to DOM manipulations, providing you with a lot of control over how your web page will look. Thus, for example, you can use D3.js to generate an HTML table from an array of numbers. You can also use the same data to create an interactive SVG bar chart with smooth transitions and interaction. Data-Driven Documents or D3.js Charts.js includes 8 types of the most-used charts with flexible customization options. Plus, you can use additional community-maintained charts while also combining several types into a mixed chart to provide a really interesting data set. Charts.js Paper.js It’s a vector graphics scripting framework that runs on top of the HTML5 Canvas. offers a clean DOM and a powerful functionality to create and work with vector graphics and bezier curves, all elegantly wrapped up in a well-designed, clean programming interface. Paper.js Anime.js is one of the best JavaScript animation libraries which allows for easily integrating stunning follow-through animations into your project. It works well with CSS properties, SVG, DOM attributes, and JavaScript Objects, making it super versatile. The library comes with a clean API and thorough documentation. It also provides a built-in staggering system, which makes follow-through and overlapping animations simple. Anime.js TweenJS is a simple library for tweening and animating HTML5 and JavaScript. It supports the tweening of both numeric object properties and CSS style properties. You can also chain two tweens and actions together to create more complex sequences. TweenJS PixiJS aims to provide a fast lightweight 2D library for creating splendid digital content. You can develop games and interactive animation-based websites that will work across multiple platforms, including mobile and desktop. PixiJS comes with advanced support for features like rotational packing, trimming, and anti-aliased text rendering. PixiJS Three.js For those who are interested in 3D design, is a great library to play around with. It allows you to create incredible projects and bring any design to life. The current version includes WebGL and WebGPU (experimental) renders. However, SVG and CSS3D renders are available as add-ons. Three.js Floating UI will help you to easily anchor floating elements (such as tooltips, popovers, or dropdowns) on top of the UI, ensuring it will stay in view as optimal as possible by avoiding collisions. In addition to positioning, the library provides interaction primitives to create accessible floating UI components with React. Floating UI Howler.js is a popular (with 22.5K stars on GitHub) library for working with audio in the browser. It supports a wide range of audio formats, including MP3, MP4, MPEG, OPUS, WEBA, WEBM, DOLBY, etc., and has a lot of useful features like cross-fading, looping, and spatial audio. The library defaults to Web Audio API and falls back to HTML5 Audio thus allowing users to work with audio in JavaScript easily across all platforms. howler.js Video.js web video player supports HTML5 video and Media Source Extensions, as well as modern streaming formats, YouTube, and Vimeo. The player skin is built with HTML and CSS, so you can easily modify its appearance by adding new classes or installing community-backed skins or plugins. Video.js Leaflet is a completely open-source JavaScript mapping library for integrating mobile-friendly interactive maps. It has a basic feature set, including zoom scrolling, marker dragging, and keyboard navigation, and works efficiently with modern browsers while being accessible on older ones too. Besides, you can extend its functionality with multiple plugins. Leaflet fullPage.js helps you to build fullscreen scrolling single-page websites. The library provides multiple customization options, touch support, and a set of extensions you can use to enhance its default features. fullPage.js provides lazy loading, so that images, videos, and audio elements get loaded when displaying in the viewport. fullPage.js Parsley.js focuses on front-end form validation. It automatically detects modifications in forms and then adapts them accordingly. The library has an intuitive DOM API and works on generally all web browsers. It comes with dozens of built-in commonly used validators but you’re able to add a custom one. Parsley Currency.js is a lightweight (about 1kb) library for working with currency values. It allows performing all the basic arithmetic operations without being concerned about decimal precision. The library works with different types of inputs, strings, numbers, and other currency instances. It provides flexible formatting, so you can customize default USD-conformed options according to your locale. Currency. js Math.js is an extensive JavaScript and Node.js library for displaying math notations in web browsers. It allows working with different data types, including complex numbers, fractions, units, arrays, and matrices, and features a flexible expression parser with support for symbolic computation. The library comes with a large set of built-in functions and constants. Math.js Carbon With , you can create and share modifiable images of your source code. Having imported your code into Carbon, you can customize your image by changing the syntax and window themes, background color, padding, fonts, and more. Any Carbon snippet can be embedded in the website, shared on Twitter, or downloaded in PNG or SVG formats. Carbon Feather is a collection of 287 simple concise icons. Each icon is designed on a 24x24 grid and colored in black. However, you can configure their appearance before downloading by changing size, stroke width, and color. Moreover, Feather is available as a Figma component library so you can easily duplicate the file to your drafts. Feather Devices.css showcases modern mobile devices created in pure CSS. It includes mobile devices like iPhone14 and Google Pixel, computers, tablets, and watches. All devices use the same HTML structure and allow setting desirable colors via their classes. Devices.css In conclusion, the world of JavaScript libraries is wide and constantly evolving. From popular UI frameworks like Bootstrap, D3.js, and DHTMLX, to specialized libraries for audio processing or data animation, there is no shortage of options to choose from. By taking advantage of these tools, you can save time and effort while creating more robust and feature-rich web apps. So keep exploring and experimenting with the cool JavaScript libraries out there, and see what amazing things you can create.

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