Ferris Jabr
@ferrisjabr.bsky.social
NYT bestselling author of Becoming Earth (Random House, 2024), being translated into 12+ languages ✵ Contributing Writer, New York Times Magazine ✵ Gardener, baker, naturalist ✵ 🇱🇧🇺🇸🏳️🌈 ✵ Surname rhymes with neighbor ✵ https://www.ferrisjabr.com
As usual my piping is far from perfect, but overall I’m pretty proud of this. Each component is a lot of work, but they come together so beautifully thanks to Mary Berry’s great recipe and design www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes...
Will follow up later with photos of a slice + tasting notes
Will follow up later with photos of a slice + tasting notes
November 28, 2025 at 12:10 AM
As usual my piping is far from perfect, but overall I’m pretty proud of this. Each component is a lot of work, but they come together so beautifully thanks to Mary Berry’s great recipe and design www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes...
Will follow up later with photos of a slice + tasting notes
Will follow up later with photos of a slice + tasting notes
Ever since I learned of a marjolaine via GBBO, I’ve wanted to try my hand at one. Finally made one today! Layers of hazelnut-almond meringue (dacquoise), praline buttercream, and chocolate ganache, decorated with toasted nuts. One of the more complex cakes I’ve attempted.
November 28, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Ever since I learned of a marjolaine via GBBO, I’ve wanted to try my hand at one. Finally made one today! Layers of hazelnut-almond meringue (dacquoise), praline buttercream, and chocolate ganache, decorated with toasted nuts. One of the more complex cakes I’ve attempted.
A couple Thanksgivings ago, I poached some pears in syrup flavored with vanilla, honey, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise; wrapped them in strips of pastry; and baked them until golden brown.
This year I made whole apple dumplings basted in an apple cider reduction for a tangy sweet lacquer finish.
This year I made whole apple dumplings basted in an apple cider reduction for a tangy sweet lacquer finish.
November 27, 2025 at 5:42 PM
A couple Thanksgivings ago, I poached some pears in syrup flavored with vanilla, honey, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise; wrapped them in strips of pastry; and baked them until golden brown.
This year I made whole apple dumplings basted in an apple cider reduction for a tangy sweet lacquer finish.
This year I made whole apple dumplings basted in an apple cider reduction for a tangy sweet lacquer finish.
Holiday baking has officially commenced in our household! So far I’ve made cranberry orange bread, a “Nantucket cranberry pie” (basically an upside down, nutty cranberry cake), and a unique Polish apple dessert with a shortbread base and meringue/crumble combo topping (szarlotka or jabłecznik)
November 26, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Holiday baking has officially commenced in our household! So far I’ve made cranberry orange bread, a “Nantucket cranberry pie” (basically an upside down, nutty cranberry cake), and a unique Polish apple dessert with a shortbread base and meringue/crumble combo topping (szarlotka or jabłecznik)
Kestrels are such handsome birds. Lots out and about today, their plumage even more striking than usual. This shot captures the colors and patterns well.
November 22, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Kestrels are such handsome birds. Lots out and about today, their plumage even more striking than usual. This shot captures the colors and patterns well.
2025 in pressed flowers from our garden
November 21, 2025 at 9:11 PM
2025 in pressed flowers from our garden
Moving onto darker shades against a white background:
November 21, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Moving onto darker shades against a white background:
I harvested and pressed various flowers from our garden throughout the past year. Now I’m experimenting with arrangements. First up, relatively bright colors against a dark background:
November 20, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I harvested and pressed various flowers from our garden throughout the past year. Now I’m experimenting with arrangements. First up, relatively bright colors against a dark background:
From the same video, a closeup of an ancient leaf gingerly peeled from rock and suspended between acetate sheets. You can see its colors, veins, and even blemishes that might be spots of damage from weather or insects.
A relic from a different Earth, another world, yet instantly familiar.
A relic from a different Earth, another world, yet instantly familiar.
November 19, 2025 at 5:55 PM
From the same video, a closeup of an ancient leaf gingerly peeled from rock and suspended between acetate sheets. You can see its colors, veins, and even blemishes that might be spots of damage from weather or insects.
A relic from a different Earth, another world, yet instantly familiar.
A relic from a different Earth, another world, yet instantly familiar.
In Idaho's Clarkia fossil beds, ~15-million-yr-old leaves are sandwiched between rock. When exposed, the leaves momentarily retain their original colors—red, copper, sometimes even a chlorophyllic hue—before oxidizing and fading.
A sedimentary scrapbook. Reverse polaroids from Earth's deep past.
A sedimentary scrapbook. Reverse polaroids from Earth's deep past.
November 19, 2025 at 5:44 PM
In Idaho's Clarkia fossil beds, ~15-million-yr-old leaves are sandwiched between rock. When exposed, the leaves momentarily retain their original colors—red, copper, sometimes even a chlorophyllic hue—before oxidizing and fading.
A sedimentary scrapbook. Reverse polaroids from Earth's deep past.
A sedimentary scrapbook. Reverse polaroids from Earth's deep past.
Working from 1886-1936, the Blaschkas used innovative techniques to emulate the colors, forms, & textures of real plants, meticulously joining numerous individual parts on wire frames, melting glass on glass, and often coating and adorning the glass with resins, gelatins, cotton fibers, and paint.
November 14, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Working from 1886-1936, the Blaschkas used innovative techniques to emulate the colors, forms, & textures of real plants, meticulously joining numerous individual parts on wire frames, melting glass on glass, and often coating and adorning the glass with resins, gelatins, cotton fibers, and paint.
Recently visited the Glass Flowers at Harvard, a collection of 4,300 extraordinarily realistic glass models of plants crafted by the Blaschkas, a father and son team of sculptors
That’s right, these are all made primarily of GLASS — a fact difficult to accept given how accurate & lifelike they are
That’s right, these are all made primarily of GLASS — a fact difficult to accept given how accurate & lifelike they are
November 14, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Recently visited the Glass Flowers at Harvard, a collection of 4,300 extraordinarily realistic glass models of plants crafted by the Blaschkas, a father and son team of sculptors
That’s right, these are all made primarily of GLASS — a fact difficult to accept given how accurate & lifelike they are
That’s right, these are all made primarily of GLASS — a fact difficult to accept given how accurate & lifelike they are
Every now and then I remember that sponges are ANIMALS — that these seeming hybrids of plant and rock; these sessile, porous, tissue-and-organ-less barrels, tubes, and blobs are just as much an animal as a falcon, wolf, or shark — and marvel once more at the wonderful weirdness of life on Earth.
November 14, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Every now and then I remember that sponges are ANIMALS — that these seeming hybrids of plant and rock; these sessile, porous, tissue-and-organ-less barrels, tubes, and blobs are just as much an animal as a falcon, wolf, or shark — and marvel once more at the wonderful weirdness of life on Earth.
The first ever images of baby planets forming in the discs of dust and gas surrounding their respective stars. How thrilling that we can actually observe the birth of other worlds from so far away!
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
www.eso.org/public/unite...
HT @drfunkyspoon.bsky.social
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
www.eso.org/public/unite...
HT @drfunkyspoon.bsky.social
![An amber-colored, vaguely ovoid blob of dust and gas in space with dark regions. A bright spot near the center is a baby planet forming.
"Astronomers led by a group at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany have captured a spectacular snapshot of planetary formation around the young dwarf star PDS 70. By using the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) — one of the most powerful planet-hunting instruments in existence — the international team has made the first robust detection of a young planet, named PDS 70b, cleaving a path through the planet-forming material surrounding the young star"
"This research was presented in two papers, entitled “Discovery of a planetary-mass companion within the gap of the transition disk around PDS 70” and “Orbital and atmospheric characterization of the planet within the gap of the PDS 70 transition disk”, both [published] in Astronomy & Astrophysics" in 2018.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:i4cn6hmf2bu54j6wozz2ckzb/bafkreiflyl4ctmspbmnsout3twbuvczscnqnktfezq4gz3qk4mdqilnke4@jpeg)
November 8, 2025 at 2:32 PM
The first ever images of baby planets forming in the discs of dust and gas surrounding their respective stars. How thrilling that we can actually observe the birth of other worlds from so far away!
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
www.eso.org/public/unite...
HT @drfunkyspoon.bsky.social
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
www.eso.org/public/unite...
HT @drfunkyspoon.bsky.social
Join me Sat Nov 8, 1PM at Boston's @museumofscience.bsky.social for a family-friendly presentation about our living planet, based on my book Becoming Earth. We'll learn how life transformed Earth over billions of years, making it the world we've known. Blue Wing Stage (w/ a view of the giant globe!)
November 7, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Join me Sat Nov 8, 1PM at Boston's @museumofscience.bsky.social for a family-friendly presentation about our living planet, based on my book Becoming Earth. We'll learn how life transformed Earth over billions of years, making it the world we've known. Blue Wing Stage (w/ a view of the giant globe!)
Wednesday Nov 5 I’ll be at my alma mater Tufts with Pulitzer winner and MIT KSJ director @usha.bsky.social discussing the importance of science journalism in this moment and the lessons and tools it offers us all
Free and open to public w/ registration
www.tuftstickets.com/event/lighti...
Free and open to public w/ registration
www.tuftstickets.com/event/lighti...
October 28, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Wednesday Nov 5 I’ll be at my alma mater Tufts with Pulitzer winner and MIT KSJ director @usha.bsky.social discussing the importance of science journalism in this moment and the lessons and tools it offers us all
Free and open to public w/ registration
www.tuftstickets.com/event/lighti...
Free and open to public w/ registration
www.tuftstickets.com/event/lighti...
Luminaries, bats, spider web, kraken (paper, yarn, paint)
October 27, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Luminaries, bats, spider web, kraken (paper, yarn, paint)
Broomsticks (foraged branches, rattan, string)
October 27, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Broomsticks (foraged branches, rattan, string)
Window silhouettes (black poster board)
October 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Window silhouettes (black poster board)
Monster door (poster board, paint)
October 27, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Monster door (poster board, paint)
We recently hosted a spooky season celebration. I tried to make most of the decor from recyclable / repurposed materials to reduce waste.
🎃👻🦇🧵of a few favorites:
Spell book (paper, clay, mod podge, fake eye, paint)
🎃👻🦇🧵of a few favorites:
Spell book (paper, clay, mod podge, fake eye, paint)
October 27, 2025 at 8:15 PM
We recently hosted a spooky season celebration. I tried to make most of the decor from recyclable / repurposed materials to reduce waste.
🎃👻🦇🧵of a few favorites:
Spell book (paper, clay, mod podge, fake eye, paint)
🎃👻🦇🧵of a few favorites:
Spell book (paper, clay, mod podge, fake eye, paint)
Made some Miyazaki soot sprite cake bites. Chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream, chocolate shell, and sprinkles.
Susuwatari (ススワタリ, 煤渡り), also known as soot gremlins or dust bunnies, are fuzzy, golf ball-sized sprites, featured in My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.
Susuwatari (ススワタリ, 煤渡り), also known as soot gremlins or dust bunnies, are fuzzy, golf ball-sized sprites, featured in My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.
October 25, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Made some Miyazaki soot sprite cake bites. Chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream, chocolate shell, and sprinkles.
Susuwatari (ススワタリ, 煤渡り), also known as soot gremlins or dust bunnies, are fuzzy, golf ball-sized sprites, featured in My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.
Susuwatari (ススワタリ, 煤渡り), also known as soot gremlins or dust bunnies, are fuzzy, golf ball-sized sprites, featured in My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.
PSA: There's a relatively new and super useful Gmail feature: a "Manage Subscriptions" tab in the lefthand menu under
More. It instantly shows you all the email lists you're subscribed to, including spam, and allows you to unsubscribe from most with the click of a button
More. It instantly shows you all the email lists you're subscribed to, including spam, and allows you to unsubscribe from most with the click of a button
October 23, 2025 at 5:09 PM
PSA: There's a relatively new and super useful Gmail feature: a "Manage Subscriptions" tab in the lefthand menu under
More. It instantly shows you all the email lists you're subscribed to, including spam, and allows you to unsubscribe from most with the click of a button
More. It instantly shows you all the email lists you're subscribed to, including spam, and allows you to unsubscribe from most with the click of a button
We grew a squash. An heirloom called sweet meat that grows particularly well in the PNW. It is very large 😳 Just 1/4 filled up my biggest roasting tray.
Fortunately we are hosting a celebration of autumn / spooky season this weekend. I’ll be making a stew, pie, cake, and savory sides.
Fortunately we are hosting a celebration of autumn / spooky season this weekend. I’ll be making a stew, pie, cake, and savory sides.
October 22, 2025 at 11:09 PM
We grew a squash. An heirloom called sweet meat that grows particularly well in the PNW. It is very large 😳 Just 1/4 filled up my biggest roasting tray.
Fortunately we are hosting a celebration of autumn / spooky season this weekend. I’ll be making a stew, pie, cake, and savory sides.
Fortunately we are hosting a celebration of autumn / spooky season this weekend. I’ll be making a stew, pie, cake, and savory sides.