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Matt

@mattbakes.bsky.social
385 followers 665 following 2.5K posts

I write about the global energy industry, with a slight focus on the renewable side. A lifetime ago, I was in the Marines. For fun and self-therapy, I bake, and that's mostly what I post here. Glorified butler to three dogs.

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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Mini maple french toast muffins from @kingarthurbaking.bsky.social. Easy, quick recipe and really good. The muffins are coated in a mixture of melted butter and maple syrup and then tossed in a mixture of sugar, maple sugar and cinnamon.
A tray of 24 mini maple french toast muffins after coating. The are next to a bowl of the sugar and cinnamon mixture and a cup of the butter and maple syrup mixture.A close up of the mini maple french toast muffins24 mini maple french toast muffins still in the pan, before turning them out to coat them.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Made brown sugar strawberry frosted cakes from @kingarthurbaking.bsky.social. First time I’ve tried reverse creaming. Probably overmixed the batter, since the centers didn’t rise. Still really good & neighbors enjoyed them. Silver lining is that the buttercream is piled high in the middle. #baking
Two brown sugar strawberry frosted cakes on cooling racksA slice of brown sugar strawberry frosted cake on a plateTwo brown sugar strawberry frosted cakes without strawberries added yetTwo brown sugar strawberry frosted cakes, before adding the buttercream and strawberries. The centers did not rise.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Haven’t had the time or energy to bake anything for weeks. Took the opportunity of a three-day weekend to make hot milk cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and berries.
A tray of eighteen hot milk cupcakes. Each is topped with piped vanilla buttercream, a blackberry, blueberry and slice of strawberryA closer shot of two hot milk cupcakes. Each is topped with piped vanilla buttercream, a blackberry, blueberry and slice of strawberry18 hot milk cupcakes fresh out of the oven. Still in the two cupcake pans—there are 12 cupcakes in one and six in the other. The cupcakes have light golden tops.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Every time I see whatever fresh, new horror each day brings from AI companies, I can't help but think that none of them watched Jurassic Park as kids, or did not take any lessons from it if they did.
An image of Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic park with his quote, "Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn't stop to think if they should."
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Every Monday I wake up and wonder what new fuel the week will bring for my existential dread. I did not have to wait long. Fantastic piece, by the way, @newyorker.com, @ronanfarrow.bsky.social and Andrew Marantz. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted?
New interviews and closely guarded documents shed light on the persistent doubts about the head of OpenAI.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Chocolate chip cookie brownies, used a recipe from King Arthur Baking. Easy to make and really good. #baking
Two plates of chocolate chip cookie browniesA close up of a plate of chocolate chip cookie brownies
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
A superbly written article by @willoyd.bsky.social of @newstatesman1913.bsky.social. As a veteran of an earlier (and simpler?) war, it brought back a lot of old feelings. Shame, too. Fair warning, if the headline doesn't make it obvious: it's a dark topic. www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
newstatesman.com
The new world war
Why the battle for Iran and Ukraine is coming for us all
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Every day in the gym it’s not a question of will I hurt myself, it’s a question of what I will hurt this time. Today it was my Achilles tendon. This is what I get for getting old.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Made çiğ börek (or chebureki) this morning for the first time. Its a simple dough filled with a mixture of mince meat—often beef but could also be lamb or pork—grated onion, salt and pepper. I also added garlic powder because just about everything is better with garlic. Then it's fried.
Twelve çiğ börek on a cooling rack on a tray.Dough balls on a tray and filling in a bowl for çiğ börek, sitting on a stove top.A dough ball rolled flat with filling on half of it for çiğ börek, before it is folded and pinched closed.Three çiğ börek deep frying in oil in a pan.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Had a bunch of buttermilk left over from baking last week that I didn’t want to go to waste. So I decided to make a ton of buttermilk pancakes to give to my neighbor. I ate a few myself and I still gave them about two dozen. Luckily, they have a big family.
A stovetop with a skillet and two bowls. One bowl has pancake batter, the other has utensils that are being used to keep the work area clean. The skillet has four pancakes cooking in it. A tray of about two dozen pancakes
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Just learned I will get a promotion and a ~16% raise next month. Looks like I'll be sticking around (also the job market is trash, so I better). Now my finances will be slightly less uncomfortable, which is wild considering salary, its just me and three dogs, and I am not frivolous with spending.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Nothing like a bit of existential dread to start the day off right.
media.tenor.com
a cartoon dog is sitting at a table with a cup of coffee surrounded by fire .
Alt: a cartoon dog is sitting at a table with a cup of coffee surrounded by fire .
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Red velvet cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting. The ermine frosting I made last night was absolutely unusable lol, so I had to whip up some buttercream instead. Meant to pipe flowers too but decided to leave that for after I’ve practiced some. #baking 1/2
Red velvet cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting on a cutting board Red velvet cupcakes without frosting on a cooling rackA red velvet cupcake cut in half to show the crumb
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
A few cups worth of ermine frosting for tomorrow. Tastes good, but then it’s mostly milk, butter and sugar so kinda hard to mess that up. Not so sure about how it will look after piping. Guess I’ll find out. Tomorrow’s #baking will be a lot of new things.
Two deli containers laying on their sides with lids on. They are each about three-quarters full of freshly made ermine frosting.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Had to try again. Used a different recipe this time. Still not completely satisfied, so the search continues. Now I just need to find someone(s) to give about 40 cookies to. I think I might give them to the dogs' vet staff when I pick up Arlo tomorrow. #baking
A plastic container lined with parchment paper, with about 40 freshly baked chocolate chip cookies inside.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Couldn't decide what to bake yesterday, so I went with chocolate chip cookies. Tried to make them crispy, but they ended up a bit too thin. I need to bake cookies more often. They can be deceptively tricky to get just right. But even an imperfect cookie is almost always still a tasty cookie. #baking
A sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray, on top of which there are three rows of chocolate chip cookies.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Does anyone know a good online source for food-grade beeswax? I need some for canelés but haven’t been able to find anything that I felt I could trust. #baking
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Made crumble cake muffins with vanilla icing for New Years dinner. Not the prettiest muffins I've ever made, but they turned out pretty good. I think I'm finally starting to get a feel for properly creaming butter and sugar together—only took me the better part of two years.
15 crumble cake muffins with vanilla icing sitting on a cooling rackA crumble cake muffing with vanilla icing on a plate. The muffin is cut in half and the interior turned toward the camera to show the muffin's crumb.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
The worst part of leg day has to be the splitting exertion headache about half way through the session. It's inevitable, and the proverbial adding insult to injury.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
I got home and someone had left a wrapped gift at my door, had my name on it, but no indication of who it was from. Asked both of my neighbors and it wasn't them. I am confused.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
The gingerbread cake and cinnamon rolls. First cake I’ve ever baked, as it turns out. I did overbake it, so it’s a little too dry. But the flavor is good and crumb turned out ok I think. Overall not bad for a first time. My back is a goner though, so that’s all the Christmas baking for me #baking
A gingerbread cake with icingA slice of gingerbread cake with icingA pan of cinnamon rolls covered it plastic wrap
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Christmas baking begins. Today was focaccia with homemade pesto and frosted chocolate buttercream brownies. Tomorrow, cinnamon rolls and I'm going to try a gingerbread cake recipe.
A pan of focaccia bread, a container of homemade pesto and a pan of frosted chocolate buttercream brownies.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
It’s amazing how much weaker I feel after taking just a week off from the gym with a cold. Cut leg day short, lost reps or a set off of everything I did do. Walked dogs when I got home, felt like death after.
A list of lifts with weight, sets and reps
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Here’s the interior of the tartlets. From bottom to top (not counting shell): pistachio frangipane, chocolate ganache, vanilla diplomat crème, chopped pistachios and wedges of tempered chocolate.
Kadayıf tartlet cut in half
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Thanksgiving baking for the family crowd. Kadayıf tartlets, mini pumpkin cheese cakes and cinnamon rolls (for tomorrow morning). Still need to make the cream cheese icing for the cinnamon rolls but I’ll do that later tonight.
Three trays of kadayıf tartletsMini pumpkin cheesecakes with salted caramel and pecansA pan of cinnamon rolls
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
I increased my Romanian deadlift weight by 40 lbs at the gym today; it just felt like the right amount. My (chronically bad) lower back doth protest now. Excited to struggle getting out of bed tomorrow morning.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
Made neighbors my kadayıf tartlets for Thanksgiving (and other neighbors chocolate pecan pie, but forgot pictures). Tried clarified butter this time, but for some reason it made the shells not set up properly so I couldn't take them out of molds. Lesson learned. 1/2
Two trays of kadayıf tartlets.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Brownies with chocolate buttercream frosting and pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for a friend
Two trays of brownies and one tray of pumpkin muffins
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Dropped truck off for a bunch of work. Going to cost ~$5,700 (yay tariffs/inflation). Pain, lots of pain.
media.tenor.com
a man standing in front of a refrigerator with the words i am never going to financially recover from this
ALT: a man standing in front of a refrigerator with the words i am never going to financially recover from this
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
New and improved kadayıf tartlets. This time I made the base layer a pistachio frangipane, then above that there is a cap of tempered chocolate (sets hard, think peppermint bark) and finally on top vanilla diplomat crème. Pretty happy with these, although there are some adjustments to make. #baking
Two kadayıf tartlets on a plate. One is cut in half to reveal the layers of pistachio frangipane, tempered chocolate and diplomat crème.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
I started splitting my dinners into two meals to keep my late-night snack cravings in check. Small(er) meals are wildly unsatisfying. I miss the days of stuffing myself to the gills (sort of).
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Another one bites the dust. Jera Nex BP—offshore wind JV of BP and Jera Co.—just called it quits on the US market. Can't really blame them with how hostile admin is to wind power. Wrote a long-form article recently about how poorly the sector is doing this year—it's very grim & probably gets worse.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Microsoft services for work went dark for awhile this afternoon, and no one was responding to texts. Supposedly confined to people on AT&T. Still wondered for a second if the world ended, despite the sun still shining and no sounds of wailing or gnashing of teeth in the streets.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
After getting into baking a year and a half ago, I've come up with and created my own dessert (not just following someone else's recipe). Kadayıf shell tartlets with chocolate ganache and diplomat creme. Added pistachios on top of half of them as a test. #baking #dessert
A tray of tartlets. Shells made kadayıf, walnuts, brown sugar and butter. Each shell has a layer of chocolate ganache, topped with diplomat creme. Half of the tartlets have pistachios sprinkled on top as well.A plate with two of the tartlets, one with pistachios and one without.The two tartlets on the plate, but each cut in half to show the shell-ganache-cream layers.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
This new video from Veritasium—a YouTube science education channel—is really interesting. It's about small-world networks, how we are shaped by them & shape them with our actions. Worth a watch. Kind of said what I said here, just in a more comprehensive and intelligent way. youtu.be/CYlon2tvywA?...
youtu.be
Something Strange Happens When You Trace How Connected We Are
YouTube video by Veritasium
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Experimenting with making tartlet shells from kadayıf (shredded phyllo dough). Want to coat the interior with chocolate ganache and fill with diplomat crème. This test batch looked & tasted great but was extremely delicate. Not sure if its a feature or a bug, to be honest. #baking #dessert
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
Tried making muhallebili kadayıf. A Turkish dessert that is essentially a milk pudding (muhallebili) sandwiched between two layers of a mix of toasted, shredded phyllo dough (kadayıf), chopped walnuts and butter. It didn't turn out right, unfortunately. 1/4
A 9x13" pan of muhallebili kadayıf chilling in the fridge. It is a Turkish dessert consisting of a layer of milk pudding between layers of a mixture of shredded, toasted phyllo dough, chopped walnuts and butter.A slice of muhallebili kadayıf on a plate.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
The only problem with working out on Sundays (especially leg days) is that I am now exhausted and still have a bunch of stuff I need to get done today around the house. And I definitely don’t want to do any of it now.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
I know its going to be a rough day when my older dog pushing her head under my elbow to ask for pets—objectively adorable behavior—just irritates me. Externally screaming (instead of the usual internal version) within 20 minutes of waking up might also be a clue.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
The federal government's new-found hatred for wind—on and offshore—is jaw dropping. It's honestly hard to keep up with covering everything they are doing to try to kill the industry. Probably going to work too. Who in their right mind would want to invest billions with this kind of risk?
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Out of all the muscles that can be sore, hamstrings might be the worst.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Sure would be nice if I could just quietly while away the rest of my days with baking, woodworking and reading.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
There are things that are more aggravating than having to make a return trip to the hardware store, to get a single specialty bit (carbide bit for tile in this case) that costs $20, just so you can get the job done this century. I just can’t think of what is more aggravating right now.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Arlo got neutered today. Not a happy camper. Wouldn’t lay down until I sat next to his bed
Dog laying on bed, head resting against my arm
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
@imoolg.spills.wine @capernica.avoids.work speak of the (delicious) devil
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
The three amigos enjoying a big backyard (not mine) on Saturday.
A medium sized dog with fur that is mostly white with patches of black and brown, standing on grassA large black lab with a white streak on its chest, standing in grass A large Rhodesian Ridgeback with brown fur sitting on grass
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
Made crème brûlée for my dad's birthday dinner. The color of the custard is a little different because the recipe I used called for a little espresso powder—just half a teaspoon. Used a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar top. Very tasty.
Four ramekins with crème brûlée. Each is topped with a strawberry cut in half and two blackberries.A ramekin with crème brûlée, topped with a strawberry cut in half and two blackberries. A spoon has broken the caramelized sugar crust on top into the custard base.
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
The pup that shows up mid July (now named Arlo). Is doing much better. Coat has started regrowing, and he’s getting along well with my other two dogs, particularly Pyke (the black lab). I said I was going to get him adopted once he was healthy, but now I’m keeping him. So, three dogs now.
Back half of a dog whose coat is regrowing. Black and white color. A Rhodesian ridgeback, black Labrador and mixed breed sit on the kitchen floor together, waiting for treats
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
I really hate people sometimes. This poor guy showed up at my front door today. No shelter would take him (animal control would but they would just euthanize him). Took him to the vet to start getting him treated, going to get him healthy enough for adoption. The sweetest boy, despite his condition.
Stray dog eating food from a bowlStray dog smiling at the camera
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Matt @mattbakes.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
Baked old family recipe for peach kuchen this weekend after finally getting it. Dad said it tasted just like the ones his mom made when he was growing up (1950s-60s). Calling it a success. It's basically a shortbread-like crust, a layer of peaches covered in sugar cinnamon, and custard on top.
Peach kuchen in a 9x13" tray set on a wire rack.A portion of peach kuchen on a paper plate.
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