Soldier, Painting
Thomas Wilkinson
How to Paint: The Dead of Dunharrow

In which I finally start delivering on the promised painting guides...

I have been sat on a fully constructed Battle of Pelennor Fields box for just about a year after purchasing it as a Christmas present to myself at the tail end of 2021. Having signed up to a few "slay the grey" style challenges in the New Year I thought it was time to start with a nice easy paint job.

How to Paint: The Dead of Dunharrow
Puddings, Sponge
Thomas Wilkinson
Vegan Christmas Puddings

In which I modify an old family recipe to be vegan friendly...

After successfully turning my hand to vegan Christmas cake I thought it was high time I adapted my old Christmas pudding recipe to be vegan too.

Vegan Christmas Puddings
Tinker, Web, Python
Thomas Wilkinson
Dominant Colour Extraction in Python (for a ...

In which I discuss getting the dominant colour from an image quickly...

I have recently made a Discord bot that searches for online versions of board games to help people find games to play remotely. This link will add it to your server.

Discord embeds have a colour bar down the side that can be manually set. I thought it would be cool to have this display the 'average' (i.e. dominant) colour of the board game box and decided to investigate the best way to do it.

Dominant Colour Extraction in Python (for a Discord Bot)
Tinker, Productivity
Thomas Wilkinson
The Holiday Do List

In which I plan my holiday tasks…

So it may just be because it is 2020 or perhaps I'm just a bit lazy but I’ve found that I often start holiday breaks with a list of things I’d like to do and by the end of the trip* I’ve not achieved most of them. Whether it’s odd jobs or relaxing activities I wanted to get through I just accidental sit around and don’t do them. This holiday season I decided I needed a to do list and though I’d try out the new Todoist Boards feature.

*Or, let’s be real this year: sitting on the sofa at home.

The Holiday Do List
Tinker, Podcasting
Thomas Wilkinson
How to Record a Podcast Remotely And Get It ...

Remote interviews are a fact of life for every podcaster, and in today’s era of social distancing, more so than ever. Since you rarely get the chance at an interview do-over, nailing down your remote recording workflow is essential. We’ll show you how to prepare for and record a remote interview, so you get it right the first time — with some additional tips along the way to make sure all your bases are covered.

How to Record a Podcast Remotely And Get It Right The First Time

red velvet cake

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Red Velvet Cake

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In which I shamelessly bow to the whims of the masses (one person who replied) and make red velvet cake.

Ingredients

  • 650g butter

  • 650g caster sugar

  • 10 eggs

  • 1 tbsp vanilla essence

  • 650g self raising flour

  • 75g cocoa powder

  • 70ml red food colouring

  • 300g icing sugar [icing]†

  • 500g butter [icing]†

  • blue food colouring [icing]†

†I generally just make the icing by eye so these aren't accurate measurements.

How-to

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C.

  2. Cream butter and sugar together.*

  3. Beat in a ⅓ of the eggs, a ⅓ of the flour and the vanilla essence.

  4. Beat in the second third of eggs and flour.

  5. Beat in the cocoa and remaining eggs and flour.

  6. Add the food colouring.

  7. Mix thoroughly.

  8. Grease two 9'' round cake tins.

  9. Place half the mixture in each tin.

  10. Bake for 1 hr 15 mins (use your judgement mine took a little longer).

  11. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Icing

  1. Cream the icing sugar and butter together.

  2. Add blue food colouring.

  3. Mix well.

  4. Apply liberally to your cake.

  5. Enjoy :)

*You will need a LARGE bowl!

Tom Out!

P.S. Based on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/three-tier_red_velvet_17795