biocuisine

i know i’ve said it before, but really, i’m amazed at the similarities between lab work and cooking, or especially baking.

i spent most of the morning concocting a secretion buffer from various ingredients and then incubated my cells for set amounts of time in my homemade media. just like making bread, but not as nice-smelling. analogous to baking time-savers like mixes in the kitchen, there are so many kits and premade buffers in a biology lab, always designed to save you time, but costing more and not always working as well. and the equipment! the $10,000 pcr machine? little more than a glorified breadmaker.

i suppose the major difference is that while most cooks do not understand exactly what is happening to their dough when it rises, scientists are expected to understand (most of) the method behind their madness. however, there are certainly gaps. what the hell is the sodium bicarbonate, enzyme grade, doing in my insulin secretion buffer? i have no idea.

anyway, i came home from a day of lab-cooking and proceeded to bake brownies (and yes, from scratch). i guess the repetitive tasks of measuring and incubating all day only fueled my desire to create better-smelling items from similar actions. i’m planning on bringing them into lab tomorrow for everyone to devour. i won’t tell them all that i threw a splash of secretion buffer into the batter for extra flavor.

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tomorrow is my kaplan interview, and i’m nervous! we’re required to perform an audition of sorts, presenting a non-academic topic in a didactic manner. i’m going to give a five-minute presentation on how to make a foolproof key-lime pie.

i hope they hire me!