Andres Max Salmeron

Author: amsal

  • Fudge

    • 400 grams sugar
    • 4 tablespoons butter
    • pinch of salt
    • 198 grams marshmallows
    • 5 ounces of evaporated milk (it’s in a can; NOT condensed milk)

    Directions

    • Heat this mixture to 234 degrees. Stir plenty. Flame should not be too hot or sugar will scorch. Keep stirring especially if you decide to increase the flame to get to 234. 
    1. Turn off heat.
    1. Add vanilla extract. Stir. 
    1. Add chocolate. I add around 9 ounces of bitter chocolate (72-88%). You can add 12 ounces if you have that much. Stir like crazy so it blends in.
    1. Add nuts (roasted, any kind, salted add more zing). Stir. You could add dried fruits if you wanted. 
    1. I lay on a pan that is lined with nonstick foil. I used 9 X 13 or thereabouts. Can cool on the counter for 1-2 hours if the kitchen is cool.

    Via David Lebovitz and Joy of Baking

  • Pistachio Cake

    CAKE

    • 1½ cups unsalted roasted pistachios
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • ½ cup flour
    • ½ cup ground almonds
    • 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • 1½ cups sugar
    • 4 large eggs
    • Zest of ½ lemon
    • ½ teaspoon almond extract

    GLAZE

    • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
    • ½ cup powdered sugar

    Directions

    • Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9×4-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
    • In a food processor, grind the pistachios to a fine crumb. Be careful not to overprocess or else you will end up with pistachio butter. Measure out 1½ cups of the mixture and transfer to a medium bowl. Set aside the remaining crumbs for the cake topping. Add the salt, flour, and ground almonds to the bowl with the ground pistachios and whisk to combine.
    • In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each, then add the lemon zest and almond extract. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Scrape the batter into the pan and bake until browned on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Begin checking for doneness at 45 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
    • To make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and powdered sugar and pour it over the cake. Top with the reserved ground pistachios and enjoy.

    Adapted from Molly Yeh

  • Shell’s Pasteis de Nata

    via David Leite

    • DOUGH: 
    • 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons flour, plus more for the work surface
    • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
    • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water
    • 2 sticks unsalted butter (8 oz), room temperature

    • CUSTARD: 
    • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    • 1 1/4 cups milk, divided
    • 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
    • 1 cinnamon stick
    • 2/3 cup water
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 6 large egg yolks, whisked

    Directions

    • DOUGH: Use a dough hook to mix 224g flour, pinch of salt, and 207g of cold water. Pillow should form in ~30 seconds. 
    • Flour work surface, pat dough into 6-inch square, flour, cover and let rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. 
    • Roll into an 18-inch square, ensuring it doesn’t stick to surface.
    • Stir butter until smooth, and then spread 1/3 of it on a portion of the dough square (~2/3) leaving both 1/3rd of the square and a 1 inch border untouched. 
    • Fold over the untouched third, and the fold the other side in as well. Pat the dough down to release air bubbles and then seal. 
    • Roll the dough out twice more using the same process. Then roll into log and chill for 2 hours or freeze up to 3 months. 
    1. CUSTARD: Whisk 23g of flour and 60g of milk until smooth. 
    2. Boil 300g sugar, 160g water, & cinnamon until 220°F. Don’t stir. 
    3. Separately scald 240g of milk and whisk it into flour mixture.
    4. Remove cinnamon from #8 and pour it into #9, whisking briskly. 
    5. Add vanilla and stir for a minute. Whisk in yolks, then strain into bowl and let sit in fridge up to 3 days. 
    1. FINAL: Roll log so that it’s 16in long and 1in diameter. Cut 3/4in pieces and put in muffin pan. Dip thumbs in water and press dough out to cover sides (~1/16 in thick pieces). 
    2. Fill each cup 3/4 full with the cool custard.
    3. Bake at 550°F for 8 minutes in mini, 15 for classic muffin trays. 

  • Lemon Squares

    • beat 1 stick butter + 60 g powdered sugar
    • add 128 g all-purpose flour, 72 g almond flour, and pinch salt 
    • bake for 20 minutes at 350°F 
    • 4 large egg yolks (74 grams)
    • 150 g sugar
    • 94 g lemon juice (about 2 1/2 large lemons) 
    • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened) (2 ounces = 57 grams)
    • Pinch of salt
    • 2 teaspoons lemon zest (finely grated) (4 grams)
    • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar for dusting (0.5 oz = 14 grams)

    Directions

    • In a heavy noncorrodible saucepan, beat the egg yolks and sugar with a wooden spoon until well blended. Stir in the lemon juice, butter, and salt. 
    • Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 6 minutes, until thickened and resembling hollandaise sauce, which thickly coats a wooden spoon but is still liquid enough to pour. (A candy thermometer will read 196°F.)
    • The mixture will change from translucent to opaque and begin to take on a yellow color on the back of a wooden spoon. It must not be allowed to boil or it will curdle. (It will steam above 140°F. Whenever steaming occurs, remove the pan briefly from the heat, stirring constantly to prevent boiling.)
    • When the curd has thickened, pour it at once into the strainer. Press it with the back of a spoon until only the coarse residue remains. Discard the residue. Stir in the lemon zest.
    • When the shortbread is baked, remove it from the oven, lower the temperature to 300°F., pour the lemon curd on top of the shortbread, and return it to the oven for 10 minutes.

    Adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum and someone else

  • poupon

  • Pancakes

    • 3/4 cup milk (180 grams)
    • 2 tablespoons lemon juice (30 grams)
    • 1 cup flour (120 grams)
    • 2 tablespoons sugar (32 grams)
    • 1 tsp baking powder 
    • 1/2 tsp baking soda
    • 1/2 tsp salt 
    • 1 egg 
    • 2 tablespoons butter
    • Sprinkle of cinnamon 

    Directions

    • Preparation: In a small bowl, stir together milk and vinegar. Allow to sit for five minutes. It will look curdled–that is normal.
    • Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
    • Place butter in a small bowl and melt in the microwave. Once melted, crack the egg into the butter and stir with a fork or whisk until well-combined. Pour butter/egg mixture into milk/vinegar mixture and mix again.
    • Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients all at once. Gently stir only until all ingredients are uniformly moist. Don’t over mix or the pancakes will be tough.
    • Heat a skillet over medium heat, spray with cooking spray, and drop 1/4 cup spoonfuls of batter onto skillet. Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Cook until bubbles form and pop, then flip and cook the other side.

    Adapted from RecipesAndMe

  • V’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

    150g flour
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1 stick butter
    50 grams sugar
    100 grams brown sugar
    1/2 teaspoon vanilla
    1 egg
    1 cup of chocolate

    350 for ten minutes

  • Breck

  • Austin2

    • Dolce Neve (one of the best ice cream places in the country)
    • Uchi (go at Happy Hour for reasonably priced and excellent sushi)
    • la Barbecue (I think this place is better than Franklin Barbecue, but feel free to try both)
    • Turf N Surf Po’ Boy (terrific fish)
    • Waltons Fancy and Staple (go have a golden egg here)
    • Launderette (excellent food in general)

  • Investments

    A series of financial disclosures, both previous and current holdings, with my thoughts. Updated Nov 3, 2021

    1. Tesla (2010)— First stock I ever bought. Also the most successful. Also the only reason why there’s the list below. [Update: I sold when it hit $419 at 21x ROI. Had I held for another couple years, it would have been a 210x ROI. Just add a zero!]
    2. Microsoft (2011)— I’m a big fan of the innovation at Microsoft over the past five years. Seems like they’re investing heavily in interesting projects.
    3. General Motors (2011) — Read an article about how GM was Tesla’s most formative competition. Wanted to invest to cover my bases.
    4. Ford (2011)—Covered my bases.
    5. Nokia (2012)—Thought Microsoft would buy them and expand Windows Phone. They did.
    6. Pandora (2012) — Figured Apple or Google would buy them. I was wrong. Google instead bought Songza, and Apple bought Beats and Lala. Ah well.
    7. Jamba Juice (2012)—This was a stupid investment. I saw the rise of the juice craze, but didn’t realize Jamba wasn’t seeing the same success as other juice brands. Also, Jamba started shutting down stores. Don’t invest in seasonal businesses.
    8. Bitcoin (2014) — Like Tesla, I wish I had invested far more when I could have. [Dear Past Self: you could have then too.]
    9. Nuance (2015) — As I watched the rise of Siri and Google Now, I figured Nuance would be ripe for acquisition. Instead, companies developed their own voice recognition tech. Such is life.
    10. Twitter (2014 & 2015 & 2016) — Definitely losing my money on this. [Update: I did not lose my money on this.] I’ve doubled down on Twitter a couple times, as I still believe in the company’s future, despite the mediocre leadership. It’s a great tool that’s highly sticky and useful, at least in the media/tech industry. Also, it’s the app I use the most, by a long shot.
    11. 21st Century Fox (2015) — Should have got Disney instead, but that was a bit too costly.
    12. Yelp (2015) — I thought it would get acquired by Apple or Facebook honestly. It’s got a lot of data. Though now maybe I should look into getting some Yext. Yelp feels slimy to me.
    13. Shopify (2015) — Noticed their rise thanks to Tim Ferriss. [Sold this too early…. Then got in again in 2020, loathing my sell and vowing to never sell again]
    14. King (2015) — I got this because of a Planet Money episode about overvalued stocks.
    15. Facebook (2015) — Zuckerberg is smart, and the company is a money machine.
    16. ShakeShack (2016)— Thought it might be the next generation of McDonalds. Probably wrong.
    17. GoPro (2016) — DJI ate their lunch.
    18. Corrections Corporation of America (2016) — Owning this made me feel bad about myself. Had to sell it quick. Scum.
    19. Netflix (2016) — Reed Hastings is a smart guy. Not sure how I feel about all their debt though.
    20. Square (2016) — Quietly great company. Too bad Twitter hasn’t seen the same stock success. [Update: they did eventually.]
    21. Coca-Cola (2016) — I think beverage companies will grow in popularity as we destroy our public water sources.
    22. Bank of America (2016) — Got these on the advice of a friend. Should have got Goldman instead.
    23. [One of my worst sell events, almost everything listed prior to this – thought Trump would win and the markets would tank. They did… for like… two hours… Had I stayed in, I would have made a stupid amount of money. Live and learn.]
    24. Direxion (2017)—Got this because of r/wallstreetbets or r/robinhood. Probably not a great idea to get advice from internet forums. But I only got a couple shares.
    25. Inverse Natural Gas (2017) — Also got this from Internet people. Again, don’t listen to people on the internet.
    26. Twilio (2017)—Interesting tech company that seems to fly under the radar while powering much of mobile tech. [Update: Insanely good investment!]
    27. Snapchat (2017) — Instagram is going to crush Snapchat, and I’ve come to realize that Snap’s performance will most likely end up looking much like Twitter. Both are useful, addicting, and feature a loyal user base, while struggling for Facebook’s meteoric expansion rates and income.
    28. Activision Blizzard (2017)—This purchase happened after I heard that eSports will become a huge industry.
    29. Everspin (2017)—Remember how I said don’t take stock advice from Reddit? Well sometimes it pays off.
    30. Ethereum (2017)—Not as big as Bitcoin, but seems like the tech behind this is more interesting. [Great investment!]
    31. Whole Foods (2017)— Thought they might get acquired. They did.
    32. Applied Materials (2017)—Another Internet people recommendation.
    33. General Electric (2017)—I think a family member recommended this pick.
    34. Houston American Energy (2017)—Recommendation from Internet people. Just put in a little bit.
    35. Blue Apron (2017)—Oooof what a terrible investment. Only got two shares though. Amazon is going to crush them.
    36. Target (2017)—Got this around the time Amazon acquired Whole Foods.
    37. Micron Technology (2017)—Internet people recommendation.
    38. LTC, ZEC, ETC, BCH, DASH, EOS (2017) – A hodgepodge of altcoins I grabbed just in case. Radiolab has an interesting story about ZCash if you like podcasts.
    39. Cisco (2017)—Another Internet people recommendation.
    40. Taiwan Semiconductor (2017)—Despite stiff competition, chip makers in general will do well as the future progresses.
    41. AMD (2018)—Ditto.
    42. Cronos Group (2018)—Was interested in buying something in a marijuana company. Perhaps this wasn’t the best choice.
    43. Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (2018)—When MoviePass’s parent company cratered, I decided to buy low on the off chance there was a miracle.
    44. NIO (2018) – Electric car company in China, let’s see if they can compete with Tesla.
    45. CRWD (2019) – ~~~ Cybersecurity ~~~
    46. CHWY (2019) – People take care of their pets. I see Chewy.com boxes everywhere.
    47. WORK (2019) – I’ve used Slack at almost every place I’ve worked.
    48. HAIR (2019)
    49. AQUA (2019) – Looked up water companies and bought randomly.
    50. CRON (2019) – Weed will be legal everywhere eventually.
    51. TGT (2019) – Target and Walmart aren’t dead yet.
    52. XLU (2019) – Utilities sector is allegedly recession proof.
    53. UBER (2019) – Yes, they are a Bad company. I also think they might take over the world and I might as well profit from that.
    54. ACB (2020) – Another weed company.
    55. PINS (2020) – I don’t use Pinterest, I don’t know many who do, but those who do use it quite a bit.
    56. PRPL (2020) – Saw a tweet about how they were so much better.
    57. KF (2020) – Purchased when I saw how well South Korea was dealing with the pandemic.
    58. ENZL (2020) – Purchased when I saw how well New Zealand was dealing with the pandemic.
    59. BHR (2020) – Hotels! Travel was struggling, and I think it’ll come back.
    60. AUPH (2020) – Pharma
    61. NLS (2020) – Similar to Pelaton.
    62. VXX (2020) – S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN.
    63. TWN (2020) – Taiwan was doing great with COVID so I searched up “taiwan” and bought randomly.
    64. KODK (2020) – Asinine investment. Sometimes meme stocks are just memes.
    65. SLV (2020) – Price of silver.
    66. RIOT (2020) – cryptocurrency mining operation in North America
    67. PFE (2020) – The “best” vaccine.
    68. LUV (2020) – Southwest Airlines has a great reputation and people will fly again.
    69. GPK (2020) – Packaging corp –
    70. GDRX (2020) – Love this company! Saves people money on medicines. Great marketing.
    71. PLTR (2020) – Don’t love the company but I do have confidence that the Paypal Mafia will continue to be profitable.
    72. SPH (2020) – Propane and gas will be needed as we do more outside (space heaters, grills, etc)
    73. Opendoor (2020) – Real estate is booming!
    74. FTCH (2020) – “luxury fashion goods”
    75. MGI (2020) – “cross-border peer-to-peer payments and money transfer services” wonder if Square will acquire them, or something…
    76. ADPT (2020) – “immune medicine”
    77. APHA (2020) – Cannabis! Merged with Tilray.
    78. TPC (2020) – “one of the largest general contractors in the United States”
    79. INAQ (2020) (now MILE) – “leading digital insurance platform and pay-per-mile auto insurer” I got this before the merger, not particularly optimistic about this one
    80. NWL (2020) – household purchases are up! “manufacturer, marketer and distributor of consumer and commercial products with a portfolio of brands including: Rubbermaid”
    81. UL (2020) – Unilever, a massive conglomerate.
    82. SHOP (2020) – I hate that I sold this early. Got back in. Amazon competition.
    83. INGN (2020) – “develops, manufactures, and markets portable oxygen concentrators to patients” (COVID!!!)
    84. LAZR (2020) – “vehicle sensor and software company for passenger cars and commercial trucks”
    85. BEAM (2020) – “precision genetic medicines for patients suffering from serious diseases in the United States”
    86. GME (2020) – One of the only stocks I’ve sold since my 2016 debacle. Smart sell.
    87. ABNB (2020) – Maybe overvalued (like most stocks during the later half of COVID) but interesting company. I try to invest in things that I use regularly.
    88. NEE (2020) – sustainable energy
    89. QS (2020) – “lithium-metal batteries for electric vehicles and other applications.”
    90. UPST (2020) – “aggregates consumer demand for loans”
    91. SI (2020) – “bank holding company for Silvergate Bank that provides banking products and services to business and individual clients” common tech bank
    92. CNST (2020) – what is this
    93. ARKF (2020) – ARK Fintech Innovation ETF
    94. ODT (2020) – “therapeutics for the treatment of cancer”
    95. BILI (2020) – “entertainment services for the young generations in the People’s Republic of China”
    96. Masterworks.io – Basquiat (2020) – Love this artist; love the concept of investing in art.
    97. NVTA (2021) – “medical genetics company, integrates genetic information into healthcare decision-making by clinicians”
    98. IPOE (2021) (Now SOFI) – Really bullish on SoFi; they’ve done a great job of thoroughly expanding their product suite and brand recognition in the space.
    99. ACEV (2021) – Convergence Acquisition Corp
    100. AFRM (2021) – Max is so thoughtful; I have a ton of confidence in his efforts.
    101. WOOF (2021) – Once heard that people will always provide for their pets versus buying things for themselves.
    102. IPOF (2021) – Chamath! Might be snake oil, might be something great (like SoFi). A tiny gamble here.
    103. PRCH (2021) – services for home inspectors, homebuyers and homeowners
    104. DM (2021) – 3D printing systems
    105. TLRY (2021) – weed!
    106. POSH (2021) – One of my colleagues uses this service so made the best.
    107. AMC (2021) – got in on the reddit fervor and incredibly made money
    108. BB (2021) – ditto except for the making money
    109. Dogecoin (2021) – made me some money but a garbage coin
    110. WISH (2021) – garbage company, lost money
    111. HOL (now ASTR) – Rockets to space!
    112. DMTK – non-invasive genomics tests to diagnosis skin cancer
    113. VGAC (now ME) – 23andMe is interesting, if not unnerving.
    114. CTRM – ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide
    115. STIC (now BARK) – Things for dogs. People love their pets more than their children.
    116. ZYNE – “clinical stage specialty pharmaceutical company” with weed!
    117. TCEHY – Tencent! China!
    118. AIRT – “overnight air cargo, ground equipment sale, commercial jet engines and parts”
    119. F – Ford!
    120. PLG – exploration and development of platinum
    121. Ethereum – great investment, should have gotten more
    122. SUMO – Don’t remember why I got this so I must have seen a tweet.
    123. CVS – In a world without competent governance, private companies like CVS are going to be making a killing off the health care market.
    124. RKT – I’ve heard enough ads for Rocket Mortgage to make this move.
    125. CPNG – “largest online retailer in South Korea, focusing on the speed of delivery” (Amazon rival?)
    126. BIGC – saw a twitter thread about this Square competitor. More bullish on Square still.
    127. HIMS – leading telehealth company, good brand recognition and marketing
    128. EVFM – “biopharmaceuticals”
    129. RHHBY – getting into some medical diagnostics stocks
    130. HOLX – “diagnostics products, medical imaging systems, and surgical products for women’s health through early detection and treatment”
    131. DGX – Quest Diagnostics – COVID and STD testing, both things I expect will continue to grow.
    132. FIGS – Similar to Allbirds in proliferation in the upscale medical apparel industry. If they’re smart, there’s a lot of room for collaboration and growth.
    133. RVLV – “next-generation fashion retailer for Millennial and Generation Z consumers” lol probably garbage
    134. CQQQ – “provides broad, vanilla exposure to Chinese tech firms.”
    135. H – Hyatt! Hotels are interesting to me right now thanks to COVID, traveling, and the future of remote work.
    136. ATAI – “Life Sciences”
    137. ACWI – An ETF someone must have recommended.
    138. SPT – I have a new rule; if my work uses it, I buy some. Sprout is what we use for monitoring and responding on social. It’s fine.
    139. PAYO – Not sure why I bought this, more bullish on TransferWise.
    140. GNOM – ETF for genomics!
    141. WCLD – ETF for cloud companies.
    142. DUOL – I used this app back in school and found it helpful; now half of my family uses it.
    143. HOOD – Robinhood is a clear leader right now; let’s see if it’ll last. I’ve heard good things about Public. Plus the DOGE debacle is not inspiring confidence.
    144. ASAN – I don’t like Jira but everyone uses it.
    145. IAU – Gold! Who knows!
    146. AA – Aluminum is likely to become a more sought after material.
    147. ZEV – e-Bikes are becoming a big thing, will probably become even bigger.
    148. FTT – Did little research here, but have heard enough to get a little.
    149. AGLD – The latest meme crypto. Probably garbage.
    150. SOL – Allegedly the next Ethereum. We’ll find out together I suppose. [Update: wow shout out to myself for getting in June 2021}
    151. XRP – Twitter is abuzz.
    152. SRM – Again, a few tweets.
    153. MAPS – Weed stock.
    154. BNTX – Listened to a podcast about the future of vaccines.
    155. TTD – Tip from a feller in a restaurant.
    156. CRM – Ditto.
    157. KNX – Saw some tweets about the supply chain and wanted to invest in trucking.
    158. Enjoy – I’m a bit neutral here since I’m not convinced of scalability or interest but I bought because I applied to work there a few years ago.
    159. LendingClub – Mentioned in some fintech circles I’m in.
    160. NerdWallet – A major player in the finance space. I see them as The Wirecutter but for everything finance which seems more lucrative.
    161. AllBirds – I own enough pairs to invest a bit too.