Thanksgiving.

Oh, it’s been a while…I wrote this in a timely manner and am posting it in a less timely manner and I am sorry for that. And I’ve half written three or four other posts. Eh. I hear blogging is dead anyway. But I am not. And I have those other posts to post..so I will…eventually. But if I don’t do it before Christmas…Happy Christmas! And all that jazz.

THANKSGIVING….

So, here’s the scoop. The pumpkin empanadas: super good. I used the recipe for empanada dough from The Joy of Cooking and added about two tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon. For the filling, I mixed canned pumpkin with brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and mace to taste. They were a keeper and although I am not really a “pie” person, I did enjoy both the making and eating of these.

The chocolate pie with the pretzel crust was…good. Good with some reservations. I liked the filling a lot, but it was, essentially, just a rich chocolate pudding. The crust is a good idea, but I was not picky enough with my pretzels and ended up not liking it. I say go for good, thin pretzels. I am thinking a Mr. Salty stick pretzel type would be good. And although the recipe tells you to “coarsely chop”…don’t. Finely chop. Whiz (or, if you are Jamie Oliver, “wazz”) it all up in the food processor until it’s the consistency of bread crumbs or graham cracker crumbs. Coarse doesn’t work well. And also, if you are even mildly lactose intolerant, don’t get all cocky and think you can eat this. You can’t. I don’t know why you thought you could. Just don’t.

The mashed potatoes and parsnips with carmelized onions and blue cheese were..fine. I got lazy and bought a package of cubed parsnips, rutabagas and turnips and they were a little…grainy and slightly watery. And I sliced the onions into fine rings. Next time I would cut them into cubes or something so they weren’t so…dangly. In fact, I also think I’d just go with potatoes and leave out the other root veggies. And add more cheese. You’re not adding butter or milk to these so go for the cheese.

Let’s see…what else? Oh, the twice baked sweet potatoes…they were good, but hollowing out a baked sweet potato is slightly more delicate a process than hollowing out a russet. So they got made in ramekins, and that was fine. Probably good. But once that happened I just started winging it and didn’t really follow the recipe. But the principle is sound and the flavors were good, so don’t be worried about that.

Everything else was fine. I thought last year that I was over turkey. And this year, when the turkey came out of the oven I was actually quite excited about it. And then I ate it and I thought, “Hmmm… I think I am over turkey.” And then there were leftovers and I was definitely over turkey, so…I’ll have to think on that for next time.

*sigh*

I know, I know. You weren't waiting for me to post, but here I am anyway.

The thing is...this year is kind of just buzzing past me. And it's my own fault. I basically ignored Halloween. Not really a fan so it didn't seem like a big deal. Bought a bag of candy, just in case. SIDENOTE TO THE CHILDREN OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD: You should totally take advantage of apartments. You can get craploads of candy superfast. Seriously, when I was a kid, back in the olden days, we LOVED trick-or-treating in apartment buildings. Granted, that was on the east coast, where it might be really chilly on Halloween, but still, LOTS of candy, VERY LITTLE walking. Then you can move on to the neighborhood and you're golden.

I hear people are trick-or-treating less and now doing this trunk-or-treating thing. That's all well and good but please make it clear to the kiddies that they can't take candy from trunks on any other day of the year, ok?

So, like I said, I kind of skimmed over Halloween and started planning Thanksgiving dinner. Which is a little silly because it's just for two of us. But I like it. Here's the plan...


-Ancho Chili and Honey rubbed Turkey Breast (possibly cooked in the crock pot)
-dressing made with french bread and sage
-roasted brussels sprouts with garlic
-twice baked sweet potatoes
or
-vanilla mashed sweet potatoes
-mashed potatoes and parsnips with carmelized onion and blue cheese

and for dessert:
-pumpkin empanadas
AND
-milk chocolate cream pie with a pretzel crust

FOR THE TWO OF US.

Yeah, it's overkill, but I really want to try out some of these recipes. Besides, you'll come over for leftovers...won't you?

Smug.

So tell the truth. Do you read certain blogs or websites because you hate them? Hate the recipes, hate the designs, hate the suggestions for improving your life, the sanctimonious tone or the trite ideas? Do you?

I subscribe to a newsletter that I detest. It’s written by a “person of note” and it’s ridiculious. It tells me all the wonderful things I can do in cities I can’t afford to visit and places to stay that will cost more than I make in a week. It gives me recipes that make me shudder and tells me that I should exercise more, eat more fish, and only use organic toilet paper. It tells me why my friends don’t like me, who my friends should be, what my friends should be wearing and where to meet my friends to tell them I no longer want to be friends with them. It’s amazing and spectacular and hateful and horrible. And every time I read it I think, “Man, this is awful, I should cancel it.”

But I don’t.

Because then how could I possible feel so smug about being better than all this? Being better than a newsletter? How could I make fun of it if I didn’t read it every damn time it appears in my inbox?

It’s petty and it’s childish and I am pretty sure we all do it. I am pretty sure that someone is doing it right here, right now. It’s all right. We don’t all have to like the same things. Heck, I rarely like the stuff other people like, but I’m just contrary like that. But yeah…’fess up. You do it too, don’t you?

Soooo…here’s what I am doing for and you can now dislike and make fun of in your spare time…

Soulless by Gail Carriger- my dad says that the Kindle, which he loves, is problematic in one way, he can’t browse the aisles of the book store the way he used to and he has a hard time finding new books. Um…I have the opposite problem. I browse online (he doesn’t really like being online) and I follow links and the next thing I know I’ve got a list of new books and not enough time. I think that’s how I came across this one. And I was given a few gift certificates and I thought, oh what the heck? And I am glad I did. Very entertaining, light but not fluffy. Good understanding of the Victorian age and clothing of, and sexy in a way that worked without being embarrassing. Oh and it has vampires and werewolves. Can’t really go wrong can you? But then I finished that. So right now it’s:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Yeah, I know, I know, you read it ages ago. Whatever. It’s taken me while to get into it but at about 23% in (hello kindle!) and I am starting to get into the groove and I’m enjoying it a bit more (NO! Wait! I finished I enjoyed it but…well…that’s for another day). After this…well, I have quite a lot of free books I have picked up for the kindle, a few cozy mysteries, a romance (of all things!) and what appears to be a parody of a Victorian mystery. So I have choices to make, but I also just ordered the first book of the Red Riding series by David Peace. After reading about the tv series based on these books which were themselves inspired by a series of murders and…well, I haven’t read it yet, but it looks good. I’ll let you know.

What I’ve been listening to:

I think I have a new desert island disc. I’ve been listening to Pablo Honey on repeat for a while now. I think I kind of dismissed the whole Radiohead thing early on. Well, not true, I liked Creep, from this album and of course Fake Plastic Trees, but then I kind of wandered away from them, as I tend to do, until much later. And then I started kind of obsessively listening to Thom Yorke’s solo album, which I really, really love and that brought me back to Pablo Honey. So, the current list of desert island discs kind of reads like this:

Pablo Honey- Radiohead
The Eraser-Thom Yorke
Fashion Nugget -Cake (I know, what?)
All Over the Place-The Bangles (DO NOT JUDGE ME! It's a very listenable album!)
Django Reinhardt Box Set (sorry, I’ve not yet decided which single disc, I’ll try not to get stranded until then)
Elvis Costello-Mix cod (spell check insists that I mean COD here, and who am I to argue?) that I will have to prepare before being deserted
And I am starting to think that Massive Attack may have to appear here, possibly with Blue Lines (or maybe Protection) and some Rolling Stones...and...and...

Hmm. I think I need think on this. I did spend some time over the weekend tracking down some cds. Don’t you hate when you grab a cod (*ahem, thank you spellcheck) case take it to your car and then go to pop it in and…what? Am I the only person who doesn’t have an mp3 player in their car? Anyway, lots of empty cod (knock it off!) cases later I tracked down my copy of Fashion Nugget and listened to it on the way to work. It remains awesome.

Also, I’Ve been baking cookies. It’s experimental as I don’t really care for the act of making cookies as much as I like the act of eating cookies, but…it’s been slightly enlightening. Which is mostly just a phrase I wanted to use because I like the way it sounds. I’ll get back to you on this cookie experiment later…

Prunes.

How often can I start a blog with…”So much has happened since last time!”?

Apparently, pretty often.

I don’t even know when last time was…hang on, let me look…hmmm….not quite a month. So I have almost avoided blogging for the entire national blogging…month…thing…what do you call that? NANBLOPOMO…eh. I am not participatory anyway.

So, we’ve had Halloween…nothing on there, I’ve made a few new Christmas card designs…the ‘rentals have come to visit and now we are well on our way to Thanksgiving. So, there…now we are caught up. Oh, right. And I got a year old and I received an awesome gift or two…one of them being a Kindle. Which is exciting…for me. I also became the proud owner of a 1917 cookbook entitled “A Thousand Ways to Please A Husband, “ oddly, there seemed to be no companion book on pleasing a wife…go figure.

Let’s see…Thanksgiving. Same ol’, same ol over here. Turkey…last year I felt like I was done with turkey. That maybe it was time to move on to some other holiday protein. Tofurky…nut loaf…something else. I still kind of feel this way but because I am cooking for others, I will stick with traditon. We’ll see how I feel about it this year and perhaps next year I will add the vegetarian option. I don’t know. I do have strong feelings on both sides, but last year the turkey just didn’t work for me.

Sorry, lost my train of thought there…turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole (topped with pecans and brown sugar or may be almonds or walnuts since I already have those …), roasted Brussels sprouts, cranberry jelly (from a can, dammit, none of your fancy compotes here!), crescent rolls (ya gotta!), and…what else? Pumpkin pie. Maybe some whoopee pies…and, if we have company, some sort of snacks for earlier in the day. Maybe the old standby of artichoke spinach dip or some jalapeño dip. I think that sounds pretty good. We’ve gotten rid of the mashed potatoes because…eh, we have enough. And I was going to make an acorn squash pie instead of a pumpkin pie but was advised against it. So there you go.

Actually, let me check my new 1917 cookbook and see if it has any good recipes…no…several “creamed” things…several “escalloped” things and…oh, this is kind of telling, three dessert recipes that involve prunes. Considering we no longer even call them prunes (they are now called “dried plums”), that seems pretty…dated. Prune blanc mange, prune soufflé and prune whip. Hey, I LIKE prunes, but…yeah. We’ll stick to pumpkin pie for this one.

One last thing for today…my big and lovely birthday present from my husband was a Kindle. I am swoony over it. Jodi said a while back that she didn’t think I would want one. She thought that I am the kind of reader that likes the tactile sensation of a book, and the smell of them. I’m gonna be honest with you here…I’m not. Despite loving books and owning many, many old and treasured volumes. I really don’t like touching old books. Too dirty (I know! Coming from me that’s pretty rich!) and I am really not fond of the smell of old books either. Guys I work with rhapsodize over that musty smell but ugh. Maybe it’s the memory of traveling during my childhood. I would bring my mother’s and grandmother’s books with me to read on long cartrips and spent too many sunny days trapped in the backseat of a car with and old book, and old dog and two older brothers coming back. I would get so queasy from the smell of the book on a hot day (not to mention the smell of dog and brothers!) and now, when I crack open an old book, that’s all I can think of. Yeesh, I’m feeling carsick right now. So, the Kindle seems ideal for me. No smell. No dust. And since I got it, I have put…let’s see, maybe 15 or 20 books on it and I’ve only paid for two! Naturally, like a good little geek my first addition was “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and being a lit geek, my second was the complete works of William Shakespeare. But since then I have been adding historical cook books, classics and the occasional free mystery novel. It’s been fun finding new stuff and so far, I am really enjoying it. And, again, no smell.


p.s. oh hey, look, a recipe for homemade crescent rolls....nah. i'm gonna get mine from a tuuuuuube!

Menu.

Easter Dinner

Jalapeño popper dip w/some sort of cracker/chip
Deviled eggs

Roast lamb with parsley, garlic, lemon, breadcrumb and anchovy gremolata sort of thing
Roast asparagus
Spring potato salad (with green onions, pickles, eggs, parsley and celery)
Homemade challah

Strawberry cupcakes w/strawberry cream cheese frosting
Deep-dish brownies


That’s the plan, man. We’ll see how it works out. We’ve had the same basic meal for the past three or four Easters and we still like it so…you know.


I was just having a conversation with someone about how you think you know a person and then they tell you something so simple and basic that you had no idea about that you feel like you’ve never known them at all. Like how they hate chocolate, or how they were raised by bears. Stuff like that. I think I am pretty transparent. It was made obvious when I found this in my inbox (that’s not a euphemism).


Oooh…shiny and naked. My two favorites.

(That's Wolverine there, in case you DON'T know me all that well. I get Naked Wolverine emails. Oh yes I do.)

And in my continuing adventures in hypnosis, I had another hypnotherapy session. Now, I don’t know how deeply I am actually hypnotized. To me it just feels more or less like sitting with my eyes closed, being mellow and listening to my friend’s voice. But it was pleasant, and I did feel relaxed and everything kind of…sloooowsss….dowwwwwn. So that’s good. This session was centered on creativity. It was nice and I do feel good and raring to draw today, but I think I liked the visualization part of the relaxation session more. We’re going to try some other stuff, but I have to say, even if it’s not achieving much, it’s very nice, and it’s 40 minutes or so of deep relaxation. I do feel something though and it’s been different somethings each time, so…whatever. It’s fun.

Finally....look at this. Give it a few seconds to load and then just sit and watch.

Semi.

I know everyone who cooks loves to complain about Sandra Lee and her Semi-Homemade show. I watch it. I am fairly frequently horrified by the ideas she has. But I fully support the concept. 70 percent storebought , 30 percent home made isn’t perfect, no. But it’s certainly better than 100% drivethrough. And it’s a good way to start if you really aren’t much of a cook. So, no, I don’t take issue with it, but I do hope that it’s a learning tool. I mean I use canned beans all the time. Have I used dried beans? Yes, I have. And I like dried beans but it’s pretty amazing that I remember pants most days so let’s not push it, ok. I don’t want to be out a dinner just because I forgot to put the beans to soak. Have I made my own bread? Yep, many, many times. And I love it. But do I still buy sliced sandwich bread? Oh hells yes.

I enjoy a baking challenge. Just yesterday I was reading a recipe for croissants and I thought…hey…I should…no. No! NO! But you know I will someday. I like to try stuff and I like to bake and I wish all my food was perfect and home made and organic and vegan…but it’s not. I can’t pretend that there aren’t Wendy’s nights. And even, once a year, a…dare I say it? McDonalds night (literally ONCE…A…YEAR because it takes me 364 days to forget how much I didn’t like any of it except for the hot mustard. I love the hot mustard.). So I can’t really complain about Semi-Homemade all that much.

Except for one thing. And it’s not the Kwaanza cake because that just defies…everything.


(And just so you know, I am not the only person obsessed with the Kwanzaa cake.)

I was watching the other day and she made a cocktail called the “Risky Whiskey.” She started by saying “Put three cups of Whiskey in a pitcher…”” and I said “DONE!”.

Sandra Lee, I just beat you at your own game. 100% store bought. 100% delicious. Wanna come over for a cocktail?

(Obviously she added other things to the pitcher (maple syrup? really? ew.) but really…why mess with perfection?)

Crispy.

I think I said previously that I have gotten in the habit of roasting things. Did I say that previously? Because I should have. I like to roast things. Or, maybe more accurately, I like to cook as much of my dinner as I can in the oven, so I can do other things while that is happening. Like go to the bathroom.

Seriously. I come home from work, throw things in the oven and then go to the bathroom, change into sweats, find my clothes for the next day, find some pajamas, give the cat her meds, wash my hands and then finish dinner. So, anything that can happen in between throwing something in the oven and washing my hands is good. Very good. Anything that makes dinner easier and faster…very, very good.

So a lot of things get thrown in the oven these days. Most veggies get roasted. I love asparagus, but roasted asparagus? Perfection. Don’t like Brussels sprouts. Roasted? They are awesome. Roasted cauliflower stinks while it’s roasting but tasted great, especially the browned bits and roasted broccoli works great, even with frozen broccoli. So the newest veggie to get chucked in the oven was kale.

Kale is bit of a tricky one. I like it, most of the time. But it’s got a strong flavor and if I am not in the mood…eh. Boiling it just never seems to do the trick, steaming it doesn’t seem to cook it enough and sautéing it used to be the best option. That is, until last night when I roasted it. The husband declared it a keeper and we ate a whole pan of it as a topping to baked potatoes.

Here’s what I did:

Preheated oven to 450°

Washed and spun one smallish bunch of kale dry…actually, I do this backward. I usually cut the kale (lettuce, greens, cabbage, whatever) first, then put them in a salad spinner and wash and dry them. Is that bad? I wash the cutting board and knife before using them again, in case the greens were contaminated, but it just makes more sense to me…anyway…kale is cut into about 1” strips and washed and dried.

Then I put it on a baking sheet and drizzled it with olive oil and tossed it around a bit to coat. You want a fairly healthy covering here, so if you are concerned with fat, this probably isn’t much better than frying or sautéing. But it’s olive oil, so your skin will be smooth and your coat will be nice and glossy.

Chuck the whole mess in the oven for about 10 to 14 minutes. Check it at ten and see what you think. It should still be very green but the edges may start to get brown. That’s about where you want it. Too much brown is bad. Black is also probably not good.
Take it out of the oven and turn the oven off…because I always forget that part.

Drizzle with a little tiny bit more oil, just a little bit and sprinkle liberally with sea salt or kosher salt. I don’t want to be all fancy here, but they do work better as finishing salts because they have a “softer” taste and we’re all about the soft taste over here.

We put the kale on top of baked potatoes and it was good. Like really good. It’s crispy, and almost like a really thin potato chip, only made from kale. And I could eat these leafy greens like chips, just put ‘em on a plate and munch away, they were that good.

I was going to draw you a picture of my potato with kale topping but…that sounded like work, so I didn’t. Here’s a worried tiger instead…

Baked.

Last night I decided that I wanted an egg with my dinner. It was a breakfast for dinner night and I thought an egg would be lovely with the Kashi waffle and veggie bacon. And I was right. The thing I is, I don’t generally care about eggs and I eat them so rarely that I am not very good at making them. I can scramble. Oh yes, how I can scramble (I use water instead of milk or cream…something about the proteins? Or the steam? I don’t remember, but it was in a book.) I can boil, soft or hard. I don’t think I’ve ever poached and egg but I am betting I could. It’s the frying that’s the problem. It should be easy enough but I can’t get the timing right and I either break the yolk or I cook it too long or, worst of all, I don’t like to cook eggs in butter so I use olive oil and they get really, really brown and look gross (but they taste fine, I swear). So last night, I figured it was about time to try something new. Baked it was. And it worked perfectly. One good egg was a perfect serving with the other stuff. It was easy. I DIDN’T HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO IT! That’s the biggest thing for me. I get home from work kind of late and I like to be able to put the dinner in the oven and let it go while I change clothes, give the cat her meds, check the mail, go to the bathroom, gather up clothes for the next day, prepare my breakfast and sometimes lunch for the next day and put away some dishes.

…

You know what I’d like even more? Someone else to do all that stuff…

Anyway, it worked well, it tasted good and it’s a keeper. Baked eggs are nothing new but if you are not a fan of standing over a frying pan it’s a nice way to go.

Here’s what I did:

-Buttered small ramekins (Next time I will use olive oil. Turns out, I don’t really like butter all that much. But, I had some in a small dish from a dinner I had served to friends the night before so it was convenient. Live and learn. Olive oil or Earth Balance next time.)

-Cracked one egg into each ramekin.

-Topped with salt, pepper and parsley.

-Added a few drops of soy creamer on top. A very few drops. Just enough to dampen the yolk really. I had read that the eggs could dry out without the addition of cream or milk and I had no cream or milk because I don’t really like cream or milk (or eggs…except last night, or butter…) so soy creamer it was. I was worried that there might be a protein issue here like when you add soymilk to hot coffee....it kind of curdles a bit…but no. No problems. Then, because most of the recipes I read called for it, I added a bit of cheese. Parmesan on one, cheddar on the other.

-Tossed the whole thing in a 350° oven for about 14-18 minutes. I let them cook a little long because I was unsure about how well done they would be. 18 minutes was fine. 14 would have been fine too, for a runny yolk.

-What I’ll do differently next time:
Olive oil instead of butter, no creamer on top, no cheese on top, possibly a wee bit of toast on bottom, and some frozen spinach, and if I have it, a slice of tomato. And maybe some other herbs, like thyme, or some green onion. And despite the fact that I claim not to like eggs (unlike Snarkydork, who REALLY does NOT like eggs), I think I might use two eggs in a slightly larger ramekin…with previously mentioned toast (or bread), spinach and tomato.

Congratulations to me for doing something else that the rest of the world has done for ages. Yeah, I’m not breaking new ground here. But it was really good.

Oh, also, if you are looking for more things to read, I've been posting a bit over here...

Gossip.

Well, hello there...

Some small things of note:

If you have been following the Doctor Who saga of “who is the next who”, you may be interested in some things I have read, which I won’t link, because I am lazy…

James Nesbitt is not currently “the one” but apparently, David Tennant thinks he should be and tells reporters to go congratulate Nesbitt on his new role. Mean boy!

Robert Carlyle is amazing…but I don’t know if I want him as my new doctor. On the other hand…Robert Carlyle. He is, however, signed to be on a new Stargate show, so I'm thinking no.

Rumors abound about the first female doctor. It is my understanding that it has already been established that Time Lords do not change sex when they regenerate. But I could be wrong and anything is possible. Billie Piper has been mentioned as the first female doctor but that’s just silly, and now, everyone is stumping for their favorite girl. Jennifer Saunders? Nah. Joanna Lumley? Nah, although, she did play the female doctor in a one-off, charity video a number of years ago. Sophie Okonedo? Hey, wait a minute…that’s interesting. She's already a part of the team as she's done some voice acting for...Scream of the Shalka, I think. But it gets better. Russell T. Davies has mentioned his interest (although he no longer really has a say) in Catherine Zeta Jones (meh) or…Lesley Sharpe. HOLDIT! If I’m gonna have a female doctor, you have just found her. Lesley Sharpe, if you have watched the most recent season, appeared in the “Midnight” episode as “Sky Silvestry” who was inhabited by the alien/presence that mimicked everything? Remember? Remember how she was creepy as hell? Well, yeah, that’s what she’s good at. And I love her. So if you gotta go for a lady, please do go for her. If you ever see her series "Afterlife" playing on BBCAmerica...dude, it's awesome. So, you know, if we gotta go female, let's do it right. (Also, she has a history with these guys, so that's good).

I think the current buzz is David Morrissey (again, someone with connections to the show and the writers and producers) and you know, that don't hurt, that don't hurt at all.

Oh, ok here, here’s one link with some (fake) info.


Ok, enough of that…well, one more thing. In my humble opinion, despite my deep love for the last two doctors (nine more than ten), I think we need a less sexy doctor for a while. Remember, he started out as an older man. There’s no reason he can’t be that again. It brings a different dynamic to the show and one I think is sorely needed at the moment.

OK, what else?

Pecan pie truffles. Done. Haven’t tried one since they got coated in chocolate but they seemed ok. They aren’t true truffles and I had to adapt the recipe a bit to make them work but…we’ll see what people think.

Chocolate mint brownies. Done. To be gifted this evening.

Gingerbread Cupcakes….
Yeah…I ran out of sugar. I don’t know why I was so underprepared but there you go. No sugar. No cupcakes. But I will be making them in January because dammit, I really want them!

Shopping? Done.
West Coast Christmas? Done. I got a Roomba! Groovy. And lots and lots of books and cds. Excellent. And the complete Nero Wolfe series with Timothy Hutton. THANK YOU!

East Coast Christmas? Leaving on Sunday. Wish me luck.

Have a happy whatever and a merry new year. See ya on the other side…I hope.

Blending in.

Done.

Well, sort of done.

Bourbon balls (sounds uncomfortable)?
Check.
Guinness Truffles?
Check.
Whisky caramels?
Check.
Guinness Cupcakes?
Check.
Gingerbread cupcakes?
…
No.
Brownies?
…
No.
Pecan Pie Truffles?
…
Look, I’m only human…well…mostly human.

Many packages have been mailed (keep an eye out). No presents have been wrapped though. And right now, right this very minute. I am tired. All of the sudden and quite decidedly. But hey, it’s getting there. Although I am doubting that those gingerbread cupcakes will show up before I leave.

And for the record, let me tell you about making caramel. I like to do it. It’s one of my favorite things to make, but be warned, caramel is extreme cooking. It’s candy napalm waiting to happen. Boiling sugar? Oh hell yeah that’s dangerous. But, what you may not think about (but believe me, I do) is that when you add cream to boiling sugar, you get a hot volcano of death. So far I have survived but I can’t say that the eruption doesn’t scare the bejeezus out of me. Luckily, this Whisky caramel recipe doesn’t call for cream. Instead it calls for whisky. Which also boils up violently when added to hot sugar. Except, it sort of…growls at you first. There is a distinct grumbling sound and then the insane bubbling starts. I was expecting the insane bubbling…I was not expecting the prelude of deep angry sounds. I am glad they warned me to step away. I was in the process of stepping away anyway but man did I JUMP when the caramel started making that noise.

Finally, randomly…I was thinking the other day about the Peanuts, the Tao of Pooh and identifying oneself with a cartoon character…don’t ask why. But when I was in college, all those years ago, The Tao of Pooh was a very popular freshman sort of things to read. My friends and I realized that we all fit into the mold of a Winnie the Pooh character and really lead our lives in the manner of those characters. Then I realized that I also fit into the mold of one particular Peanuts character, who also just happens to be my favorite Peanuts character as well. So, I’m asking you…which Pooh character and which Peanuts character do you think I am…and which are you?

Hmmm...also, just noticed that this is my 499th post. That's kind of interesting...

Dinner.

At the moment, the thinking is this:

roast turkey stuffed with:
bread stuffing with sage
sweet potato casserole
roasted brussels sprouts with garlic
crescent rolls (can’t help myself)

And for dessert:
chocolate tart with hazelnut crust

But I am sure that I will feel guilty for not making a pumpkin pie and overcompensate with some kind of pumpkin cupcake or cookie or…pie.

Also watch for hors d’oeuvres to be added, as well as various side dishes as I start to worry about not having a “thanksgiving” feeling…for two people. I’d say you’ll probably see the appearance (or at least the consideration) of: deviled eggs, cheese and olive platter, pastry wrapped olives, cheese straws, home made breads, another vegetable, possibly a salad, corn bread to replace rolls from a tube, various wines (although I am the only one that drinks them), ice cream to go with whatever kinds of pies, and as long as I am making ice cream, maybe I should just go ahead and make chocolate chip mint, since that’s his favorite, and since I don’t eat ice cream, maybe I should make some soy cream too…


Yeah, I always start with the best intentions.

Aren't you thankful that Thanksgiving cards are available in the store?

Returned.

So, you don’t really need to know the details of where I went or what I was doing but I will tell you this. I made:

2 large lasagne with sausage
1 large pan brownies
2 pans of chicken stew topped with biscuits
2 pans of chicken and stuffing with gravy
2 pans of pasta with meatsauce and cheese
1 dozen cupcakes
1 dozen biscuits
1 dozen raisin scones
1 large roll of sugar cookie dough
16 deviled eggs
2 dozen deviled clams
2.5 large containers clam/vegetable soup

...and I am thinking there was more, but I don’t honestly remember. It was all a blur. I cooked a lot, I cleaned a bit, I slept amazingly well. And there was no internets. None. It’s a little like visiting the Flintstones. But you know, it’s do-able.

And now it’s back to this reality and there’s a lot of printing and cutting and folding and drawing and…what else? Ironing…bake and shrinking…framing…cleaning. All that stuff. This week there is the Handmade Brigade (if you are there, stop by and say HI! I’ll be the tired one.) In less than two weeks there is the comic-con. And if you are THERE please bring me a coffee (soy milk, little bit of sugar) because I will be the really tired one.

Quickly.

What DID get done this past weekend the weekend before last:

Spent some time with the cat.
Chose and ordered new bedroom furniture.
Cleaned all of the bathroom.
Cleaned some of the bedroom.
Went to Goodwill.
Ate a very nice veggie taco at Hugo’s.
Made spicy chicken vegetable soup and popovers.
Did some other stuff that I can’t remember…

One notable thing this past weekend the weekend before last? We ate dinner in every night. Usually we go out at least one night on the weekend and I had fully intended to go out on Friday night but my hippie home grocery delivery arrived and we had tons of veggies so it seemed that a roasted veggie salad was in order. Then we tried to go out for BBQ on Saturday but it was too long a wait. So there were BLTAs and the most delicious organic “potato puffs.” Then Sunday it was home made spicy chicken soup. Kind of like tortilla soup but w/o tortillas. And it was all really good. But now I don’t want to cook again…but I did last night too! (Chicken sausages in the slowcooker with a nice tomato sauce with lots of spices and red wine, served over polenta and topped with sautéed fennel, spinach salad on the side). I wouldn’t say it’s been “healthy” around here, there’s been a fair amount of meat going on but you know, it’s been better than average.

Um…yeah, things have not been getting done around here as fast as they should be. My living room is filled with bedroom furniture. My “office” is over run with comic-con supplies, my car, until recently, was filled with Goodwill donations. It’s been a wee bit crazy. And instead of doing what I should be doing, I caught up on Doctor Who episodes.

But there is a lot of new, exciting art in the works. PIN UP GIRLS! CUPCAKES! And I’m having…fun. I am really enjoying drawing lately, so, you know, that’s good. Even if I am not getting everything done.

Thots.

Ah, well, it’s been a weird and crazy few weeks and now I am thinking gee whiz, I haven’t blogged in a while and then I think…eh. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just...well, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately. But I am getting over that so here’s some of what’s been filling my head lately:

Pie crust. I hate making pie crust, I really do, but I also don’t care for ready made pie crust all that much and when I make pies, they are generally as a gift, so it seems like the cheap way out to fake it, since I know how and I am capable of making it from scratch. So I do. And I hate it. But the crust came out ok. First there was a strawberry and cream pie for a friend’s birthday. Then there were jam tarts made from the leftovers. This week there will be a chocolate satin pie for the husband’s birthday. It’s all good. I just don’t get the same joy from making a pie that I do from making cupcakes. Silly me.

Brining chicken breast. I don’t brine turkey. Two reasons for that. I generally buy a frozen turkey because…I do. And most frozen turkeys are already treated with a “solution” which means salt. Secondly, when you brine a turkey you probably shouldn’t then stuff the turkey or make gravy from the drippings. You COULD and I have. But it’s pretty salty. And while I like turkey, what I really like is stuffing and gravy. So…no brined turkey for me. But recently I was watching a cooking show where the chef brined some chicken breasts. I had some chicken in the fridge that I had defrosted a few days before and I kind of hoped that brining it might kill of anything scary in it. Well, no one got sick, so that part was fine. And the chicken was super-tender and very nice. But a little salty for my tastes. So last night I tried again. I used less salt and sugar in my brine and I started with frozen chicken breasts instead of thawed. I also only let it sit in the brine for about 2 hours, on the countertop while it defrosted. Perfect. Excellent chicken. Super tender, fork tender, and not at all salty. I didn’t use an exact brine recipe. More like one hand full of salt to one half handful of sugar and two limes, squeezed into a gallon or so of water and then the rinds thrown in as well. There are plenty of recipes available online though. If you find plain old chicken breasts dry and boring, this might be your solution…heh…get it? Because you soak them in a solution? Nevermind.

Rare Birds. I don’t know if you read Rare Bird Finds, but I’d like to suggest that you do. It’s a site devoted to cool online shopping. They post new finds everyday and they are very conscious about affordable choices. Well, I say “they” but I really mean “we” because I am now a Rare Birder too. Well, I am starting to contribute their awesome site as the finder of “Cool Guy Things.” See, they had filled all the positions except that one and when the call went out, I thought. “Oh sure, I could apply for that, why not?” and next thing you know…I suspect that I was the only applicant but shhhh…don’t tell me that. Let me feel good about it for a while. Annnnnyway, check out the site for help tracking down those really unique gifts. And if you come across any cool guy stuff, let me know. I’ve got a huge list but it’s gonna run out eventually.

Comic Con. Due to a paperwork error, we initially were not accepted to Comic Con. We were on the waiting list and I guess someone dropped out because BAM! now we have a table. I was totally down with taking the year off because it is exhausting (I work TWO jobs there!) but now we have a table so now we are going. I do love to sell stuff though so it’s good. But, as I say, it’s exhausting, so it’s bad. But hey, there is good and bad…in everyone…we learn to live and we learn to give…(you see where I am going with this so I will stop…). If you will be at the San Diego Comic Con this year, please do stop by and say hi. You may have to wake me up but it will be nice to see you.

Headaches. I’ve been having a fair amount of headaches due to stress and allergies. Nothing new. We pretty much all have them in the spring, no? I am not a fan of the optical migraines but I can deal with those. What really pissed me off the other night was the headache I had in my sleep. Sure, I’ve had the kind of headache where it’s there when you go to bed and it’s there when you wake up but the one that actually makes a guest appearance as a significant element of your dreams? That just seems mean.

Pumpkin pie. I changed my shampoo and now every time I turn my head I get a whiff of pumpkin pie…because my shampoo smells like pumpkin pie. Not because my shampoo is toxic and damaging my brain or anything. It actually does smells like pumpkin pie. Which is nice…I guess.

Hey, look, it’s one of those things where it all leads back to the beginning because I started out with “Pie crust” and I ended with “Pumpkin pie”. I like when that happens. Even if I don’t care that much about pie.


p.s. Captain Blogger, I haven’t gotten very far in Midnight’s Children yet. There are a lot of bodily fluids in the first 50 pages though. I’ll call it “earthy” for now and reserve judgment until I get further in. Also, um…you blogging anywhere these days?

Meanwhile.

Well, my husband was out of town for a week and I still got nothing done.

That’s not entirely true. I had a guest, I went to Disneyland, I saw the renovated Griffith Observatory, I made chickpea cutlets with mushroom garlic gravy, I went shopping, I…I didn’t clean the bedroom. Or put away all those winter clothes. I did wash the dishes. I did pick up the cat’s meds from the vet. I did do a lot of things, but not the things I thought I would do. Ah well.

The chickpea cutlets, by the way, were very nice. I made them on a whim, a whim that kept me from having to go shopping right away and when I first tasted one I thought, “Eh, it’s ok. Whatever.” By the time I finished the first, I wanted more. Now, I will say, I had one without the mushroom/garlic gravy and it wasn’t as exciting. But it was still good. And I have decided that I love gravy and it’s easy to make and it’s easy to make pretty much fat free. So there is a fair amount of gravy around here. Actually, when I cleaned out the fridge the other day I found three containers, one of chicken gravy, one of pork gravy and one of mushroom gravy. I have gotten weird about it I guess but it’s so good.

I’ve been doing a lot of half-assed cooking, I guess but…well, I don’t know that “half-assed” is a fair assessment of what I’ve been doing. I’ve been using up the cans in my cabinets. Chickpeas, obviously, and a can of mushroom broth that I had big plans for and then forgot about. Does it make me a bad person that I don’t make my own mushroom broth? Does ANYONE make their own? (I don’t want to hear about it if you do.)

Then, this past weekend there was some baking. Some chocolate cupcakes and some lemon cupcakes and a super fast made up sour cream/whipped cream frosting because there was no confectioner’s sugar and I am too lazy to bother making my own. Some brownies as gifts, some…no, that’s all. Lots of little bits and bobs and no real directed cooking.

No real directed anything really. I guess I need to find my direction in life because I appear to be wandering all over the place.

Oh, I did make some new cards though, and they will be up in the store shortly. If you’ve got something to say and you don’t know how to say it, try this…

Currently.

I wrote a whole post about what I am doing now. What I am reading, what I am watching all that stuff that I usually fall back on when I am stumped for a post. And then…I misplaced it. I know it’s around here somewhere because I read it recently but…eh. Whatever. I can do it again since it’s probably all changed from the time I wrote it anyway.

What I am reading: BAH! I know this has not changed because I am really struggling to read this book. It’s annoying me and I could just put it aside and not finish it but I started it and I have a really hard time just abandoning a book. I was rolling along with my “read more books in 2008” campaign until I hit this one. I WILL FINISH IT. In fact, I could finish it if I just sat down for an hour and read. But I can’t bring myself to enjoy it.

What is this tome of dread, you ask? Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, a New York Times best seller. And not my cup of tea at all. In fact, it’s making me want to punch someone so I will just leave it at that and maybe come back to discuss it some other time when I am less annoyed.

UPDATE: Finished it. Threw it in a box to mail back to my mother. Contemplated attaching a note to it, a note with a face like this:

So now I have started the most recent Jasper Fforde Thursday Next novel (First Among Sequels) and I am feeling better about reading again.

What I am watching: Jose: Made in Spain, Sense and Sensibitlty, Eli Stone

Have you seen Jose: Made in Spain? Am I the only person obsessing over this dude and his food? He’s just so damn happy! I love when people are happy with what they do. And every time he’s on screen he’s got a glass of wine. How could I not love that?

And thank you, Masterpiece Theater. I didn’t love all your Jane Austen, but you did the best Northinger Abbey, a very nice Mansfield Park and an excellent Sense and Sensibility (part 1, part 2 remains to be seen). Your Persuasion, however, sucked it. Hard. Go back and do it again. (But thanks for the David Morrissey in S&S…that made me happy).

And as for Eli Stone, well, I am sure it will be cancelled because I enjoy it. I would say, for the most part,it’s not been the stories that made it appealing, it’s been Jonny Lee Miller's amazingly expressive face (and when did he go from “hottie” to “boyishly adorable”? doesn’t it usually go the other way around?). But then the television knows that I will try to watch anything with Victor Garber or Tom Amandes in it, so yay! The best way to describe it is…charming. But there are a lot of potential layers there, layers to do with faith, trust, morality and George Michael In general, I doubt you will like it, but me, I am loving it. So yeah, sorry Eli Stone, I think I just rang your death knell.

Oh and The Riches is back! The Riches is back! I am a happy, happy girl.

What I am listening to: not a lot, but I have this list that I carry around in my pocket. (Actually, it’s a “Pocket Mod”) and on one of the pages I keep a running tally of the cds I want to pick up next time I am out cd shopping. It currently looks like this:

elbow
m. ward
she & him
bob mould
nada surf
the weepies
kate nash
r.e.m.
vampire weekend
gary louris
except it’s in my scratchy handwriting.

I have managed to get hold of a smattering of all of these and there will have to be a large amount of money spent on actual cds soon.

What I am cooking: After the whole Easter shebang, I have not had much urge to do big cooking. I have made dinner, but nothing special. But I do have a carton of cream in my fridge that was intended to top some chocolate soufflés, which I never did make, and my husband is going out of town soon, so I guess I’d better get on that. I THINK I made lemon soufflés once, I am not sure, so I am a little worried about how this will work, but…chocolate is pretty much always good, so…

What I am drawing: Fruits and vegetables and cupcakes. There will be new stuff in the shop from me…soon. I SWEAR!

Currently crushing on: Ah, Jose, you are so cute when you get all excited about cheese and say things like “Somehow this makes something good.” And the Riches is back! Which means Eddie Izzard is back! Sadly, he never dresses in drag on that show but I will take what I can get. Oh and David Morrissey is Col. Brandon in Sense and Sensibilty and I just couldn’t be happier. If The Rickman isn’t going to play it, at least Morrissey is. I also may have a small crush on Jasper Fforde, but I only just learned that he was cute, my actual crush seems to be on his vocabulary and narrative bending skills.

Easter.

Wait…what?


Yeah, I’ve been all over the place around here. We’ve had guests, Easter, more guests, cupcakes…you name it. OH! And by the way, there is also now photographic evidence that my husband does not know the definition of the word “mini” but…I can’t find my camera cable, so you’ll just have to take my word on it until then.

Let’s see, Easter was nice. Quiet. Just the two of us and way too much food. And probably the straw that broke this camel’s back. I made a nice dinner but somehow I got totally sidetracked and ended up cooking all…day…long. For two people. So…next year, I am thinking is either dinner out, or I am heading south and cooking dinner with Donovan’s Mama (shhhh…she doesn’t know that, I plan on just showing up on her doorstep with a ham). But, before the exhaustion set in there was lamb, potato salad (really good potato salad with eggs and pickles in it), roasted asparagus…did I go over this already? I can’t remember. Either way…too much food. So much that we never even made it to the soufflés. So we’re going to have to have those this week. The success of the meal for me was the potato salad. Just what I wanted to herald spring. I don’t know why, but it was. For the husband it was the pastry wrapped, blue cheese stuffed green olives. I didn’t care for them but I would try them again with an almond stuffed olive. The idea is good, but you really need to get the kind of olives that you like and not just any olive as the flavor really concentrates while baking. Oh and I did use use extra puff pastry to make fig and chocolate…things…turnovers? Hand pies? Is handpie a euphemism for anything? It should be.

Now, the night before Easter we stopped by a friend’s house for a party-ish thing and I took more of the lemon cupcakes. Big hit. Confirmation on their tastiness and their not- mini size. They are a keeper, even if I don’t generally like lemon-flavored things.

Anything else? Yeah, there’s stuff. I wrote a whole post about my teen years Easter baskets and then forgot about it and didn’t post it. Brief summary: granola and soy nuts instead of peeps and chocolate bunnies…BY REQUEST. That right there tells you a lot about me and why I stand in the kitchen eating my all natural, whole grain, 11 grams of fiber per ¾ cup breakfast cereal, doused in fat free soymilk out of the same mug I just used to drink filtered water to wash down my handful of weird supplements and stare at my husband’s box of frosted flakes of corn frosted with sugar and shake my head sadly.

And that, that previous sentence right there tells you I am not very good at constructing sentences.

Recently.

Watch reruns, they replay your memories.

Chocolate is a valentine you give yourself.

Oh Dove. Fine, it may not be the greatest chocolate in the world but I have decided that I like it. I think because it tastes like brownie batter to me. But brownie batter with a snap when you bite into it. And I can buy it in little pieces and one piece is good. So there. But they really need to not print things inside the wrappers because that might be enough to make me hate them. Chocolate IS a Valentine you give yourself…when you are pathetic. And while I do, on occasion watch reruns…nevermind. I just don’t like what they write on the wrappers. Nuff said.

While there has not been much blogging around here, there has been a fair amount of cooking going on over the weekends. For the Oscars there were chocolate cupcakes with vanilla bean frosting and vanilla cupcakes with caramel buttercream. And if you cook but you haven’t make a cooked buttercream before, give it a try. It’s not that hard and the difference between a cooked buttercream (a Swiss meringue buttercream) and a “quick” buttercream is pretty significant in terms of texture and, for me, taste. Silky is the only way to describe it. The closest vegan counterpart I have tried is the “Velvet” frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the world and that one darn good too, so you know, you aren’t missing out on much if you don’t do the eggs/butter thing. Either way, a cooked buttercream (style) icing is, as Martha would say, a good thing. A very good thing. A really very good thing. Seriously.

And last night, well, there was cooking but no cupcakes. I just really wanted a veggie burger with mashed avacado, tomoatoes, green onions and lettuce and oven fries. I never crave any thing that specific. In fact, I rarely have much opionion on what’s for dinner other than “not that” or “this is what I defrosted”. But last night, nothing else would do. And man was it good and satisfying and…good.

Oh and there were some breakfast muffins made too..cocoa-banana-almond (vegan). Last night I thought they were just ok but this morning it made an excellent breakfast. I guess sometimes a day (well, half a day) makes all the difference.

Holiday.

Ah Thanksgiving, how I miss you already. You, with all the cooking and dish washing and burning of the fingers, you were my relaxing day. Although, come to think of it, I didn’t actually DO anything Friday and Saturday at the craft fair. Who knew that sitting for seven hours could be so exhausting?

Yeah…craft fair. It was kind of sad. It was a really nicely run fair, everyone said it was well organized and coming from Comic-con, I don’t have anything to compare it with but hey, they would deliver food to you…in your booth! That’s pretty awesome (even if I didn’t have them do that) and the organizer, she knew my name! And my products! And she was super nice. But apparently, that’s just not enough because NO ONE SHOWED UP. No one. Well, a few people, but not many. And the people that were there? They didn’t actually purchase things. Oh they stopped, they chatted, they loved our stuff…and then they walked away. It would appear that it was not us, for once. We were showered and non-stinky and friendly (well…most of us were…ahem) but the crowds were not at all crowd like, they were more singular. And it just…wasn’t. We had some lovely jewelry designers on one side of us (although I must say, I was terribly distracted by the fact that the male half of the team showed up early one morning topless. And it’s not like he was ripped or anything but apparently, I am easily distracted by half naked men…and shiny things too…ok, fine…I am easily distracted) and an excellent illustrator on the other side who didn’t even show up on the second day. So yeah, that was kind of a bust. But I think we found our niche at comic-con and am happy to stay there. Also, once you have dealt with a building full of 100,000 nerds and geeks, anything else is gonna seem tiny by comparison. So, basically, it was two pretty nice days spent sitting in the sun. Which, as I said, totally exhausted me. Who knew that sitting could take such a toll?

So, now it’s on to bigger and better things. Christmas and travel and family and…stuff.
Oh and for the record, turkey, totally not dry. Totally that other word that I don’t like…the m-o-i-s-t word. Someday I will go to Brenda’s house for a deep fried turkey since there is no way in hell I am going to be allowed around a bucket of hot grease, but until then, plain old roasting works just fine for me. It even took less time than I expected. I put the turkey in and figured it would take about 3 hours. Somehow, I got distracted…probably by something shiny or naked…and then when I finally remembered that I probably should baste the poor dead thing at least once, I opened the oven and it was done. So dinner was a lot earlier than I had planned on, but that’s the nice thing about a small Thanksgiving. You can just go with the flow. Now, several days later, I am officially done with turkey until Christmas. Seriously. I even tried to pawn some off on the cat. She just horked it back up onto the rug. So there’s one (more) failed experiment.

Annnnnnyway…Thanksgiving good. Craft fair bad. Oh except I did make a purchase from the Mincing Mockingbird and I totally recommend you check him out. Excellent stuff that.

Frosted.

I had a cupcake jones the other night which resulted in vegan chocolate cupcakes with chocolate velvet (vegan) icing. I thought they were ok. Jason thought they were gooooood. But he thinks everything is goooooood. My problems probably more had to do with ingredients than anything else. I didn’t have any baker’s sugar, which is what I like to use for this kind of icing. In fact, the only sugar I had was super hippie, coarse washed crystals of love or something. Organic dried cane juice nuggets. Whatever. It’s just sugar but it is extremely coarse, kind of kosher salt coarse. And it has a lot of the molasses flavor still. But a cupcake jones will not be denied and I forged ahead. Then I realized that I didn’t actually have any vanilla. I only had vanilla flavor, which was a shopping error, so don’t yell at me for not using real vanilla. I normally would but I apparently picked up the wrong bottle. So I used some of that and made the up the rest with REAL ORGANIC chocolate extract. Damn hippie. Oh, and then when I made the custard that is the base of the icing…and it’s a really lovely icing, I cooked it too fast so I added a little soy creamer to try and slow it down a little and I think that may have given the icing a little too much of the hippie overtones. But you know, overall, totally edible. Pleasant and if you are not me, you probably wouldn’t notice the problems I had with them.

The icing is…hmmm, well I don’t actually know the non-vegan equivalent. It’s not a cooked butter cream, which I love the flavor of but hate making. But it’s not a straight up quick butter cream because you add this custard element to it for creaminess and stabilization.

I made a really delicious cooked butter cream once, Swiss butter cream, I think they call it. It was going to be the icing for a bridal shower cake for Donovan’s Mama (yes, she has a real name but I don’t know if she wants me to use it and since Donovan has his own blog where he details all her parenting mistakes…well, you get the picture). I say this icing WAS GOING TO because, well, if you’ve ever made a cooked butter cream, it’s…not exactly complicated but it is kind of involved, you need to cook it and there’s hot sugar and your whipping things so they don’t curdle and whatever, but at some point you need to use a candy thermometer to make sure the sugar is the proper temperature. I am not fond of candy thermometers. I don’t really know why though. I mean, when I make candy I usually use the “put a drop in water and see what stage it’s at” method (what do they call that, you know? When the sugar makes a soft ball or a hard ball or a ribbon or it cracks…I don’t know…) but this time, because the recipe called for it, I used a candy thermometer.

The icing was lovely, fluffy and white and just gorgeous. And it tasted nice. Well, it did until I realized that a huge chunk of glass was missing from my candy thermometer. Uh-oh. I thought really hard about this. I hadn’t heard anything grinding in the mixer, I had tasted the icing and it seemed fine…I could just ice the cake; no one would have to know…unless they all started choking and bleeding all over my friend’s wedding shower.

I made a second batch of icing.