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Eric Lechner

@drinkumbrella.bsky.social

76 followers 120 following 56 posts

Sometimes makes toffee.

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Eric Lechner

@drinkumbrella.bsky.social

@exocomics.com happy to see Detective Beans in the wild at @bookshopsantacruz.bsky.social

Detective Beans found prominently displayed at bookshop Santa Cruz

July 10, 2025 at 4:47 AM

Eric Lechner

@drinkumbrella.bsky.social

Burnt basque cheesecake

The cheesecake as extracted from the pan. The parchment sling has been flattened, with some bits of butter the edges stuck to it. The top is golden brown in the center and darker, almost burnt, brown closer to the edges. The top edge looks slightly broken towards the left side.

The cheesecake as it came out of the oven. It is in a small springform pan, which is mostly obscured by the parchment paper sling that extended past the pan. The cheesecake is puffed up on the edges and more sunken in the middle. The edges are dark brown and slightly cracked. The center is golden brown, smooth and a little shiny. The pan is on top of a steel wire mesh cooling rack, which is on top of a black glass-top stove.

April 27, 2025 at 4:00 PM

Eric Lechner

@drinkumbrella.bsky.social

Dear Duolingo, why on earth would I want to shame a friend for using the features of your product and then keeping on using it?

Ugh.

dark patterns should not be design ideas!

Screenshot of a Duolingo friends feed entry to shame a friend for having used more than one streak freeze last week. It has a blue frozen Duolingo owl picture, and offers a reaction button that says “OUCH”.

April 23, 2025 at 2:01 PM

Eric Lechner

@drinkumbrella.bsky.social

I don’t remember the last time I sent anyone a valentine. I’m excited about these bug ones from @sarahmackattack.bsky.social. (My daughter already has plans to swipe a bunch of them.)

Four brightly colored bug-themed Valentine’s Day cards standing on a wooden desk.

Top left: a green sweat bee and with text “u make me sweat”
Top right: firefly and with text “u light up my life”
Bottom left: fuzzy pink and yellow moth with text “are u a lamp? Because I wanna be around you”
Bottom right: green mantis with text “You look good enough to eat”

January 30, 2025 at 6:31 PM

Eric Lechner

@drinkumbrella.bsky.social

I was happy they made the old sign true for a while. A short restaurant life, even for downtown.

Green fake neon sign in store window reading “rustico Italian street food” below an old sign reading “Santa Cruz hotel Italian dinners cocktails”

January 16, 2025 at 5:46 AM

Eric Lechner

@drinkumbrella.bsky.social

I checked inaturalist using your photo and a random location in the middle of Ireland and it suggested:

Results of an inaturalist search suggesting black mold and a pic with a squirrel (superfamily sarcoptoidea) as likely matches for the photo.

January 5, 2025 at 12:51 AM

Eric Lechner

@drinkumbrella.bsky.social

Toffee, before, during, after.

A chocolate tempering machine filled with chocolate in foreground, a board with English toffee ready for chocolate coating in background.

In progress chocolate coating. The toffee in front is covered in chocolate, the most recently dipped are glistening, while the earlier dipped pieces are more matte colored. A hand is holding dipping forks over the tempering machine. A little uncoated toffee in the background.

A wooden board with a grid of chocolate coated English toffee, 8 across, 10 rows. One row inexplicably has 9 across.

December 18, 2024 at 5:49 AM

Eric Lechner

@drinkumbrella.bsky.social

It can’t all be holiday candy.

A slice of quiche with ham, spinach and cipollini onions, golden brown on top.

December 17, 2024 at 2:55 AM

Eric Lechner

@drinkumbrella.bsky.social

It’s the start of holiday candy season. Start with two quarts of apple juice, boil it down until it’s a syrup, then make it into caramels. (Recipe from @smittenkitchen.bsky.social)