I traveled abroad for the first time when I was in sixth grade. My dad and I took a trip to England. We stayed in a Holiday Inn Express just down the street from Victoria Station, we saw the British Museum, Harrod's, Stonehenge, Bath, Dover, York, Leeds, and went to a dinner show at the court of Henry VIII near St. Katherine's quay. It was the first of four trips I would make to England. I was homeschooled from fifth grade through graduating high school and was lucky enough to have many opportunities for travel, particularly foreign travel.
That first trip introduced me to the cuisine of the United Kingdom. Sparkling water is more common than still, meat pasties are more common than sandwiches, and if you do have a sandwich it probably has prawns on it. Strong black tea is a staple not a luxury, biscuits are cookies, and shortbread is divine. I loved it and I love it still. Maybe it's the Irish in me but despite traveling through Europe and Asia, a meat pastie and a hot cup of tea still makes my mouth water more than anything else.
At the moment, my fascination is focused on baking the perfect loaf of soda bread. I've made three loaves in the past week, trying to get the right balance of crisp crust and soft interior. It's actually quite the challenge. Yeast and heavy grains were not common in Ireland so the rise in bread had to be gained by activating baking soda with buttermilk. You have to work quickly to mix the dough because if you let it sit too long the process runs its course and the dough toughens. Anyway, I think I'm almost there. I do better baking the dough as a large loaf in the oven, rather than baking it as farls on the stove-top. I still have a ways to go. I would like to achieve a softer crust. I'm getting another pint of buttermilk tomorrow to make more. I think Buddy Holly might be growing weary of soda bread.
Showing posts with label Cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cooking. Show all posts
Friday, April 6, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Naughty, naughty brownies
I made Slutty Brownies for dessert this evening. Do you know why they're called Slutty Brownies? Because they're so easy. Ahahahaha. But seriously, Happy Valentine's day.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Another Zodiac's Gone Around
The new year came quietly enough. Sparkling grape juice (because it's so delicious and only major Holidays can validate the buying of it in bulk quantities), Dick Clark, and Tim Tam slams made up the advent of my 2012.
What's that? What's a Tim Tam slam? Well, let me tell you. Tim Tam's are a cookie, native to Australia and New Zealand, that can be found in the U.S. from October through March, under the branding of Pepperidge Farm. They're a sort of porous, crisp inside coated in chocolate. They are good in and of themselves but slamming them makes them divine.
Tim Tam Slam:
Gosh, I'd like to say that my new year resolution is to be the kind of girl I think I am in my head. A girl who makes fantastic salads from fresh exotic fruits and vegetables and likes them more than whip cream and scones. A girl who wears pretty, flowing dresses all the time and is comfortable in them. A girl with hair that curls naturally, who wakes in the morning refreshed and pleasant. A girl that keeps a pristine but welcoming home. Gee, that'd be a great resolution and boy, would I louse it up. I'd love to be that girl. I'd love to dress like the girls at A Beautiful Mess and bake like Joy every day of 2012. But I can't and I won't. I'll be inspired by them and maybe, on the weekend, I'll try my hand at a new recipe or wake up a little early to put on make up for once. But in reality, day to day? I love scones and shortbread and hot chocolate and pumpkin anything, more than I care about being a size 6. I'm a girl who loves white eyelet dresses and bright patterned tights but is most comfortable in jeans and boots and a big, slouchy sweater. My hair is straight and that's all there is to it and I'm a grumpy-gills in the morning. My house was mostly clean for new year, which I considered a personal victory, but there's no less than three pairs of kicked-off shoes in my range of vision, just this moment. So, that's not what I'll be endeavoring toward in 2012 because being honest with one's self is just as important as a resolution.
I actually surprised myself by making a resolution this year. On the last Monday of December, after having driven from my parents house to home (a fourteen hour trek), with very little sleep, I had the brilliant notion that I wanted to finish my novel in the new year. Maybe not have it published, not yet at least, but get it out, done - a good, mostly draft. I began writing this novel in college and it's been slow going at best ever since. But I feel encouraged this time around. I have a game plan and a reward system. As an incentive, I'm converting our "office", which has been a storage room for important paper items and my desktop since we moved, into a writing room, tentatively known as the niche. (We have a thing for naming rooms things other than what they are or elaborating on the name. We have a Geek Room for all things DND, New Orleans Saints, Knitting, Bookish, and Firefly. We also have a Lilac room, so called because the walls are purple. Eventually it will be repainted but it will probably still be called the Lilac room. It's the spare bedroom, maybe in a nod to Narnia I should call it Spare Oom.) This makeover is being done on the cheap but will include another of my resolutions, file all our important papers and shred the rest. Old cork boards, prettied up with quotes, inspirations, and story ideas, newly framed pictures, and an overall Oriental theme, because I got a rug for free from church with a dragon on it. And sage green is totally my color, my vibe color, my heartbeat at rest, deep thinking, sunshiny afternoon with tea, a blanket and a good book color, my book color. (Deep red is Buddy Holly's color. Together we make brown, which we have a lot of in our decorating). I will also keep tea in this room and I may need an electric tea kettle. I'm hoping to find a chaise or big, comfy, reading chair for the corner. Someplace I can go sit aside and think or where Buddy Holly can do his thing while I'm getting my write on. This room will be inspiring and cozy, it will make me think of mountains and pounding waves, but also homemade cookies and a well-worn couch. This room will have scope for the imagination.
Once the room is finished, I will create a timeline for completion of the book. The year mapped out with important landmarks, completion of a certain number of chapters or plot points, matched with rewards, perhaps themed rewards. All of this will be tacked up on the wall in plain view. Then, of course, I'll have to sit down and actually start working on the damn thing. And, this Summer, a research trip. Fortunately (or not so fortunately), the book is set a few states away and will only require a long weekend. Next time I write a book, I'll have to set it in Norway or Ireland...or DisneyWorld. "But Dahling, (the girl I am in my head talks this way) we have to go. It's for my novel."
What intimidates me most, even with all my careful preparations, is that I'm not miserable. How can I write when I'm not in travail? I am willing to make sacrifices for my writing but I don't want to suffer for it. Is it entirely necessary to starve oneself or fall into the depths of despair? It seems so. It seems all the greats were tortured, suicidal, or held at the mercy of the critics - wracked with doubt, drugs or delusions. But then, I'm not out to be great, am I? I don't want to be Hemingway, Shakespeare, or Austen. I don't need to be a classic. I just want to write. This story is there, inside, and it wants to be written. And when I've finished that one, there will be another. Maybe none of them will see a bookshelf but, if I have anything to do with it (which I do), they'll see the light of day.
What's that? What's a Tim Tam slam? Well, let me tell you. Tim Tam's are a cookie, native to Australia and New Zealand, that can be found in the U.S. from October through March, under the branding of Pepperidge Farm. They're a sort of porous, crisp inside coated in chocolate. They are good in and of themselves but slamming them makes them divine.
Tim Tam Slam:
- Take 1 Tim Tam cookie & 1 mug warm drink (coffee, hot cocoa, cappuccino, etc.)
- Warm because you do not want to scald your mouth, duly warned.
- Carefully nibble off opposing ends of Tim Tam, so that inside is visible
- Use Tim Tam as straw to draw liquid drink, until Tim Tam begins to disintegrate
- Eat Tim Tam before it falls apart in your fingers
- Achieve Nirvana
Gosh, I'd like to say that my new year resolution is to be the kind of girl I think I am in my head. A girl who makes fantastic salads from fresh exotic fruits and vegetables and likes them more than whip cream and scones. A girl who wears pretty, flowing dresses all the time and is comfortable in them. A girl with hair that curls naturally, who wakes in the morning refreshed and pleasant. A girl that keeps a pristine but welcoming home. Gee, that'd be a great resolution and boy, would I louse it up. I'd love to be that girl. I'd love to dress like the girls at A Beautiful Mess and bake like Joy every day of 2012. But I can't and I won't. I'll be inspired by them and maybe, on the weekend, I'll try my hand at a new recipe or wake up a little early to put on make up for once. But in reality, day to day? I love scones and shortbread and hot chocolate and pumpkin anything, more than I care about being a size 6. I'm a girl who loves white eyelet dresses and bright patterned tights but is most comfortable in jeans and boots and a big, slouchy sweater. My hair is straight and that's all there is to it and I'm a grumpy-gills in the morning. My house was mostly clean for new year, which I considered a personal victory, but there's no less than three pairs of kicked-off shoes in my range of vision, just this moment. So, that's not what I'll be endeavoring toward in 2012 because being honest with one's self is just as important as a resolution.
I actually surprised myself by making a resolution this year. On the last Monday of December, after having driven from my parents house to home (a fourteen hour trek), with very little sleep, I had the brilliant notion that I wanted to finish my novel in the new year. Maybe not have it published, not yet at least, but get it out, done - a good, mostly draft. I began writing this novel in college and it's been slow going at best ever since. But I feel encouraged this time around. I have a game plan and a reward system. As an incentive, I'm converting our "office", which has been a storage room for important paper items and my desktop since we moved, into a writing room, tentatively known as the niche. (We have a thing for naming rooms things other than what they are or elaborating on the name. We have a Geek Room for all things DND, New Orleans Saints, Knitting, Bookish, and Firefly. We also have a Lilac room, so called because the walls are purple. Eventually it will be repainted but it will probably still be called the Lilac room. It's the spare bedroom, maybe in a nod to Narnia I should call it Spare Oom.) This makeover is being done on the cheap but will include another of my resolutions, file all our important papers and shred the rest. Old cork boards, prettied up with quotes, inspirations, and story ideas, newly framed pictures, and an overall Oriental theme, because I got a rug for free from church with a dragon on it. And sage green is totally my color, my vibe color, my heartbeat at rest, deep thinking, sunshiny afternoon with tea, a blanket and a good book color, my book color. (Deep red is Buddy Holly's color. Together we make brown, which we have a lot of in our decorating). I will also keep tea in this room and I may need an electric tea kettle. I'm hoping to find a chaise or big, comfy, reading chair for the corner. Someplace I can go sit aside and think or where Buddy Holly can do his thing while I'm getting my write on. This room will be inspiring and cozy, it will make me think of mountains and pounding waves, but also homemade cookies and a well-worn couch. This room will have scope for the imagination.
Once the room is finished, I will create a timeline for completion of the book. The year mapped out with important landmarks, completion of a certain number of chapters or plot points, matched with rewards, perhaps themed rewards. All of this will be tacked up on the wall in plain view. Then, of course, I'll have to sit down and actually start working on the damn thing. And, this Summer, a research trip. Fortunately (or not so fortunately), the book is set a few states away and will only require a long weekend. Next time I write a book, I'll have to set it in Norway or Ireland...or DisneyWorld. "But Dahling, (the girl I am in my head talks this way) we have to go. It's for my novel."
What intimidates me most, even with all my careful preparations, is that I'm not miserable. How can I write when I'm not in travail? I am willing to make sacrifices for my writing but I don't want to suffer for it. Is it entirely necessary to starve oneself or fall into the depths of despair? It seems so. It seems all the greats were tortured, suicidal, or held at the mercy of the critics - wracked with doubt, drugs or delusions. But then, I'm not out to be great, am I? I don't want to be Hemingway, Shakespeare, or Austen. I don't need to be a classic. I just want to write. This story is there, inside, and it wants to be written. And when I've finished that one, there will be another. Maybe none of them will see a bookshelf but, if I have anything to do with it (which I do), they'll see the light of day.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
A few of my favorite things
I had to be at work at 6:15 this morning and I have a half-hour commute. Consequently, I've had quite a bit of coffee. Caffeine and I do not mix well. Or perhaps we mix very well because it is very effective. I am typing like a manaic right now. How do maniacs type?
Anyway, since I got to work so early, I chilled out and watched the Pilot of Once Upon a Time for the first 45 minutes while I ate coffee cake and drank hot cocoa laced with coffee and cinnamon creamer. Delicious. The drink and the show. Belle and I were discussing how surprised we've been at the number of splendid television shows this Fall. For the past while my main TV entertainment has been in disc format from Netflix (Tudors, Scrubs, 30Rock etc.), shows that are complete or nearing completion. The only show I have kept up with that is still active is Castle, which is dear to me. But this season I have found new favorites! Pan Am, Up All Night, New Girl, and now Once Upon a Time. Well done predominantly ABC! Particularly Pan Am and Once Upon a Time have captured my attention and I encourage you to give them a look-see on Hulu - if you're into history in the case of Pan Am or fairytales retold in the case of Once Upon a Time. That's where I watch them because both air on Sundays, which in our household is devoted to football and Buddy Holly's Fantasty Football writing. So, there's that.
You know what else I love? Norwegian Fjord horses. Really, I love all horses. Morgans, Freisians, etc. Horses with pep, get-up-and-go. I'd rather have to rein in a horse than coax it along with a nudge every five seconds. But Norwegian Fjord's are delightful. They are small but strong and steady. They also resemble prehistoric horses, which had toes, which is cool.
I also love feeds, Google reader, and blogs. Blogs that make me want to accomplish more, write more often, really work on making something out of Fabled Orxata, finish my short stories (or my, shh, novel), bake, photograph, read, go for a hike. There's a link roll on the right but of honorable mention are:
A Beautiful Mess - these ladies always make me want to put on make-up, put my hair up, and pull out a cute vintage dress. I don't usually have the energy for that but they make me want to.
Joy the Baker - Joy is a recent discovery courtesy of StumpleUpon (we'll get back to that in a moment) but, just in the little I've been able to read, she is a marvel in the kitchen and a great photographer.
Ms. Snarky's Awesometastic Comics Blog - I love comics, graphic novels, and manga and Ms. Snarky makes that okay. Also, as the name suggests, she's my favorite kind of snark.
Occupation: Girl - I've been following Cleolinda for many a year. And so should you.
Reader of Fictions - I have the distinct pleasure of being personally acquainted with this blogger. I love trying to keep up with her library and have a growing list of books to lend from the library on her recommendation.
The Bloggess - There aren't words. I was introduced to The Bloggess through Beyonce the Giant Metal Chicken but have since made room in my heart for Copernicus the homicidal monkey, a haunted doll house, and the myriad of delightful and snarky things Jenny brings to her blog.
I have a Gmail label devoted to Cooking, I also have one for Shopping (things I want to own), Travel (places I need to go and tips on how to get there), and Writing (my list of resources). I email, text, and leave voicemails for myself constantly updating these. My Cooking label is an archive of delicious recipies I want to try. Collected from everywhere. Mostly baked goods because I am addicted to such things but there's some healthy stuff with avocadoes and chicken pot pie in there too. I love tucking away recipes.
I love the StumbleUpon app on my smartphone. This is the greatest time spender when waiting in line. It is great finding new things - wacky, serious, educational, edible, a plethora of undiscovered items. I StumbledUpon Joy the Baker, a recipe for Butterbeer, a picture of a spaniel with wheels instead of back legs going crazy in some leaves, and, just recently...
Drinkify. Input to whom you're listening and Drinkify will tell you the perfect accompanying libation. I have yet to stump this device and I listen to some ecclectic stuff. Fantastic. P.S. a bottle (as opposed to a glass) of red wine is the suggested drink for listening to Dean Martin. Right on.
Anyway, since I got to work so early, I chilled out and watched the Pilot of Once Upon a Time for the first 45 minutes while I ate coffee cake and drank hot cocoa laced with coffee and cinnamon creamer. Delicious. The drink and the show. Belle and I were discussing how surprised we've been at the number of splendid television shows this Fall. For the past while my main TV entertainment has been in disc format from Netflix (Tudors, Scrubs, 30Rock etc.), shows that are complete or nearing completion. The only show I have kept up with that is still active is Castle, which is dear to me. But this season I have found new favorites! Pan Am, Up All Night, New Girl, and now Once Upon a Time. Well done predominantly ABC! Particularly Pan Am and Once Upon a Time have captured my attention and I encourage you to give them a look-see on Hulu - if you're into history in the case of Pan Am or fairytales retold in the case of Once Upon a Time. That's where I watch them because both air on Sundays, which in our household is devoted to football and Buddy Holly's Fantasty Football writing. So, there's that.
You know what else I love? Norwegian Fjord horses. Really, I love all horses. Morgans, Freisians, etc. Horses with pep, get-up-and-go. I'd rather have to rein in a horse than coax it along with a nudge every five seconds. But Norwegian Fjord's are delightful. They are small but strong and steady. They also resemble prehistoric horses, which had toes, which is cool.
I also love feeds, Google reader, and blogs. Blogs that make me want to accomplish more, write more often, really work on making something out of Fabled Orxata, finish my short stories (or my, shh, novel), bake, photograph, read, go for a hike. There's a link roll on the right but of honorable mention are:
A Beautiful Mess - these ladies always make me want to put on make-up, put my hair up, and pull out a cute vintage dress. I don't usually have the energy for that but they make me want to.
Joy the Baker - Joy is a recent discovery courtesy of StumpleUpon (we'll get back to that in a moment) but, just in the little I've been able to read, she is a marvel in the kitchen and a great photographer.
Ms. Snarky's Awesometastic Comics Blog - I love comics, graphic novels, and manga and Ms. Snarky makes that okay. Also, as the name suggests, she's my favorite kind of snark.
Occupation: Girl - I've been following Cleolinda for many a year. And so should you.
Reader of Fictions - I have the distinct pleasure of being personally acquainted with this blogger. I love trying to keep up with her library and have a growing list of books to lend from the library on her recommendation.
The Bloggess - There aren't words. I was introduced to The Bloggess through Beyonce the Giant Metal Chicken but have since made room in my heart for Copernicus the homicidal monkey, a haunted doll house, and the myriad of delightful and snarky things Jenny brings to her blog.
I have a Gmail label devoted to Cooking, I also have one for Shopping (things I want to own), Travel (places I need to go and tips on how to get there), and Writing (my list of resources). I email, text, and leave voicemails for myself constantly updating these. My Cooking label is an archive of delicious recipies I want to try. Collected from everywhere. Mostly baked goods because I am addicted to such things but there's some healthy stuff with avocadoes and chicken pot pie in there too. I love tucking away recipes.
I love the StumbleUpon app on my smartphone. This is the greatest time spender when waiting in line. It is great finding new things - wacky, serious, educational, edible, a plethora of undiscovered items. I StumbledUpon Joy the Baker, a recipe for Butterbeer, a picture of a spaniel with wheels instead of back legs going crazy in some leaves, and, just recently...
Drinkify. Input to whom you're listening and Drinkify will tell you the perfect accompanying libation. I have yet to stump this device and I listen to some ecclectic stuff. Fantastic. P.S. a bottle (as opposed to a glass) of red wine is the suggested drink for listening to Dean Martin. Right on.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
A hot cuppa
When it comes to cooking, Betty Crocker is my go-to gal. Just this evening she gave me a fantastic recipe for sage potatoes. Many Christmases ago my brother, Snur, and wife gave me the vintage Betty Crocker cookbook, circa 1950. This is the coup of cookbooks, the climax of culinary compendiums! This is the Betty Crocker that provides not only recipes and a guide to setting your table but tips on how to maintain personal outlook ("While children are napping, do something refreshing. Write, knit, or listen to pleasant music"), how to maintain health and posture during chores ("Alternate sitting down tasks and stranding up tasks. Don't be on your feet too long at one time"), and how to refresh your spirit ("Notice humorous and interesting incidents to relate at dinnertime") (pg. 431). It is only missing a page on how to mix hubby a cocktail before he gets home ("Remember Ladies, no man wants a slothful wife!") (the cookbook doesn't actually say that) (I kind of wish it did). This is my absolute favorite cookbook and I use it any chance I get, simply because it's vintage. I love anything old-fashioned. Buddy Holly would say that I'm actually just a hater, particularly of anything newer than 1965, which is factually incorrect because I love Back to the Future and have a deep affinity for Grooveshark, thank you very much.
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