This is not a food blip

- it's about circles and rectangles.

I wanted to make the frangipane slices that Veronica blipped recently but, problem. I am living very light in my new home because I will have to move out when the rebuilding starts next year so I have no cooker. I have a two-ring camping gas stove and a clever microwave that can also be a small convection oven. It's fine, but everything I cook needs a circular dish. 

The frangipane recipe requires a rectangular dish 24cm by 33cms. 24x33=792 sq cm. So I needed a circular dish with a surface area of 792 sq cm. (Stick with me - there's food at the end.)

I could dredge up from school that the area of a circle is π x radius squared. Area needed is 792 and by asking the calculator to divide 792 by π then work out the square root of that answer I established that the radius needed to be 15.87. Doubling the radius gives a diameter 31.75. Near enough a 32 cm diameter dish.

So I bought one. Ebay - took only 2 days to arrive. And today I cooked the frangipane 'slices'. 

If I cut them as cake-type wedges they'll be too narrow and will fall apart so, using a spreadsheet, I worked out how to cut this into differently-shaped pieces of equal area (give or take a few crumbs) and I discovered something rather beautiful. I wish I'd known it years ago - it would have been a very satisfying bit of knowledge to carry round with me.

Cutting day is tomorrow. Do come back for a piece.

(If all this disconcerts you there's a more conventional Arachne as an extra where you can help yourself to a swig of Chartreuse. Or even absinthe.)

Meanwhile, SpotsOfTime and I have come up with a Christmassy tag we invite you to share - NaturesBaubles. Click to see what we mean and do please join in.