Life in Motion

Yeast crosses the line

2012-02-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

I'm a fan on cinnamon. It can be sweet, it can be savory. Sugar and cinnamon turn toast into a tasty snack. Cinnamon takes chili to the next level.

Yeast breads embody warmth and happiness. The smell of bread in the oven is like a hug from a dear friend. Studies have even shown the aroma of baking bread increases the odds a buyer will like your house! Crazy.

So, pair up cinnamon and yeast bread and you get cinnamon rolls. They're ubiquitous--from the mall to Ikea, everywhere is capitalizing on a great combination.

But...I like cookies!

And the average cinnamon roll could be used as a flotation device!

So when I saw this recipe in A Spicy Perspective, I was intrigued. Had to try it out.

And they're good. Not as good as a cinnamon roll, but quicker, and tasty.

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Ingredients

2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened (1 ¼ cups)
4 oz softened cream cheese
3 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
1 tsp. dry active yeast
1 cup granulated sugar
3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
½ cup brown sugar
1 ½ Tb. cinnamon
3 Tb. whole milk
1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Mix 2 tsp. vanilla extract with 1 tsp. of dry active yeast.
Cream the butter, cream cheese, vanilla with yeast, and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy—2-3 minutes.
Turn the mixer on low. Add the salt, then slowly add the flour. Scrape the bowl and mix until well combined.
Press the dough into a flat disk. Wrap and refrigerate the dough for (at least) 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
Cut the dough in half and leave one half in the fridge while working with the first half.
Flour a piece of wax paper and roll the dough into a 7 X 18 inch rectangle that is approximately ¼ inch thick.
Sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar over the dough leaving 1 1/2 inches bare along the long edge. Starting on the cinnamon covered side, carefully roll the dough tightly toward the bare edge. You may want to cut the dough into two sections to make the rolling easier. *At this point, you can place the rolls back in the fridge and save for weeks if needed.
Press the seam firmly, then cut the roll into 1/3-1/2 inch slices and lay on parchment paper lined cookie sheets.
Repeat with the remaining dough and cinnamon sugar.
Bake for 9-12 minutes.
Cool completely. Then whisk the powdered sugar, milk and remaining vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Dip the face of each cookie into the glaze and set on a rack to dry.

2012-02-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

I am getting older.

If you graduated high school in the 90's you're fast approaching 40 if you haven't gotten there already. It's one of those 'big' birthdays, one where things change. Things like, you go to the doctor and are told you need a mammogram. Happened to me at my last visit, and like a good patient, I made the appointment and went in to get a base line picture of my boobs. I do my monthly self exams, and have never found anything. I wasn't worried.

You have probably heard the horror stories about squashings and squeezings. It is not a picnic. Even with the digital x-rays, expect discomfort. I'm told it's worse if you're not..well, not overly busty. The scans consisted of 2 shots of each breast, one flattened top to bottom, one flattened side to side. It wasn't great, but not horrible.

Until the next day, when the doctors office called me. "There's a 1cm mass in one breast. You need a diagnostic mammogram. I can schedule it for next Monday."

My immediate reaction was concern. A mass? That doesn't sound good. What does that mean? Should I be scared? I was scared, I was worried!

I searched around, and found mixed information. A lot of women under 50 need additional scans. Breast tissue is still firm, and that boggles the scans. A diagnostic scan is needed to target suspicious areas, and sometimes, an ultrasound might be needed as well. But for a lot of women, that is how they find out they have cancer.

The diagnostic scan was worse. The tech said 'Let me know if you can't take it, I have to really compress to target the spot." She wasn't kidding! Ouch.

They sent the scan off to the doctor while I waited around in a 'cape' (less Little Red Riding Hood, more One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest). Nope, still couldn't confirm normal tissue. Off to get the ultrasound. Slathered in goo, more squishing.

And that takes longer to be evaluated. Or maybe they weren't concerned about getting in touch with me because the 'mass' turned out to be normal tissue. I still worried and stressed.

So. I'm sharing this so that with all of you so that you'll know. Younger breasts are dense. They trick the x-rays. Additional scans are sometimes needed, but it does NOT mean you have cancer. Especially if you don't have any other symptoms, and don't have a family history. Talk to your friends and family, see if they went through something similar. Get the test--but don't worry unnecessarily.

Upcycling recipes

2012-02-09T07:40:00.000-08:00

This is the same recipe as was used to make the blueberry crumb bars, but I swapped the blueberries for cherries.

They were created to be a subject for Gavin, with the intent of entering a photography contest. We swapped for cherries in an effort to add red, and more contrast, but sadly the only way to get cherries the lurid shade needed would have been to use pie filling or maraschinos. So, after lots of arranging and lighting and a drizzle or two, they were deemed unworthy.

The batch was brought in to work and shared. Everyone thought the taste were just fine.

4 Letters or more?

2012-02-01T16:42:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if this makes me a prude.

How often do you curse? And not 'eye of newt, spleen of toad', but those outed by George Carlin.

I seldom think about my cursing, unless there are children around, but expletives aren't something that make up my daily vocabulary. Even my internal dialogues tend towards more flowery and arcane descriptors. I picked up 'buggerit' from Terry Pratchett DiscWorld novels and find that it covers most situations rather well, from the frustrating to the painful.

But for some reason, the past few days I'm seeing more swearing online. And in contexts where it doesn't make that much sense. On a story about a pedophile, the number of WTF's reflected a confounding, painful crime that most people can't comprehend since protecting children is built in to our biology. But a post on chocolate? Economic theory? The upcoming football event? Do they really warrant the f-bomb?

I'd encourage people to reach outside the four letter window and find more graphic and descriptive means of describing things. Yes, I get the visceral appeal of calling someone a fucktard, but isn't 'puerile troglodyte' more satisfying to roll off the tongue? Those few fragrant syllables will leave an opponent unsure he's been insulted, floundering for something more witty than 'huh' as a response. That is well worth the effort!

Oh Dear

2012-01-31T07:32:00.000-08:00

Well, clearly trying this as a daily thing failed.

Sorry.

Other than all those things that must be done each day to keep living, doing something every day is more than I'm willing to commit to. It was silly of me to try.

But, I'm going to give this another go. Not daily, but I will strive for 2 weekly posts...and I'm going to try making those weekly posts worth reading. Not just something slapped together in an effort to comply with a random expectation. So, something that might actually be WORTH reading as well and enjoyable to read.

Thanks to DavBob and Mr Long for provoking me to try again. Keep pushing!

The topic for today will be a continuation, however tenuous, of the flavored vodkas. As noted by my Limey, we made our own flavored vodka. It's not terribly hard--get vodka, get flavorings, add to vodka. Set aside. Wait. Test. (That means drink!)

We made 2 varieties, ginger, and ginger lime. We used Pearl. It was on sale. :) Ginger was peeled and cut into matchsticks. For the lime, rather than try using flesh, ~~rind was peeled off~~ zest was removed with a peeler. Ginger was divided between two glass flask, and lime peel added to one. Both flasks were shaken and retired to the basement for a week.

Ginger Lime and Ginger

Last night we tasted. The ginger has a good ginger flavor, not as spicy as I expected, but nice. I think I was surprised by the difference between ours and the Pinnacle Ginger vodka--apparently, the Skyy ~~Pinnacle~~ variety is sweetened. The ginger lime was also good, but the lime flavor dominated. I could barely detect the ginger--though this may be my palate, not the actual product. I really like the color or the ginger lime. I'm not sure if using a better vodka would make much difference, though it's possible. Other recipes advise filtering the solids out, but I don't think this will last long enough for that to be a concern.

Sediment!

Over all, though, I think it was a success, and worth repeating with other flavors.

We'll need more vodka.

*corrections based on comments.

**We'll need more vodka. :)

The flavored vodka experiment continues

2010-05-31T21:50:00.000-07:00

My friend on the other side of the country made a cherry limeade martini a few months back. This began an adventure in vodka that continues today.

Flavored vodkas have been around for a long time, but recently the variety has soared, with most makers offering a couple varieties. The quality of the vodka and the flavor varies widely. Most are best mixed--I think espresso and butterscotch are the only flavors we truly enjoyed as shots (so far).

Pineapple is my favorite so far. I've tried Skyy and Smirnoff. Not surprising, the Skyy is better than the Smirnoff, but both are acceptable. Equal parts ruby red grapefruit juice and pineapple vodka is yummers.

Vanilla and caramel are decent in cola and coffee.

Cherry--three brands tried, Three olives, Skyy, and Smirnoff--is good with juice, cola, and in the cherry limeade martini. The Skyy and Three Olives are much better than the Smirnoff, and I prefer the Skyy to the Three Olives.
.
Strawberry Smirnoff, tonight's choice, is not impressing me. I've tried it in oj and cola. It's interesting with orange, but not great. Cola is a better combination but it still isn't fabulous. I suspect it would be decent in a daiquiri but I'm not feeling the need to go that far...frozen foofiness isn't the goal for me.

On the list: Watermelon. Passionfruit. I'd really like to find Herb's, since I think fennel would be amazing in a bloody mary.

New Hike, conquering a fear

2010-05-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

I love hiking. I love going new places, getting away from roads and seeing the world from places I got to on my own. California has a LOT of hiking opportunities, many just a short drive away.

Today, my sister who is in town visiting, and I headed up Highway 1 with the goal of a hike I did last year in the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park...but due to me not remembering how far up said park was, and a lot of road construction on the highway...we didn't make it that far.

We did make it to just north of Gorda, and hiked there. Wasn't a long hike, only about 1.5 miles round trip, but there was a pretty significant elevation gain...and mostly traversing up switchbacks.

I hate traversing.

Not in a 'oh, this is tiring' way, but in a 'inner child is SHRIEKING about falling backwards and sideways' kind of way. I have to pause after each turn, and balance myself so I don't feel like I'm going to fall. If it's bare rock on both sides, my heart pounds and I don't always make it through.

Stupid. I have no problems with heights, I can cross plank bridges over streams with no problems. But going up a hill at a slant makes me fight the panic.

I won the fight today. There weren't any truly bad places, a few with little vegetation on the sides, but enough that my heart raced...and I pushed through.

So, yay, me!

And some pics!

Elephant Seal rookery, north of San Simeon

Lots of elephant seals.

View from the top.

Ladybug on Lupine

New

2010-05-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

Went to the tidepools this morning (not new) and saw coyotes! (new!) I'd seen tracks in the sand on previous visits, but this was the first time seeing them out in the tidal area. I don't know what they were eating, but obviously it's something tasty.

Also saw several of these little creepy crawlies.

Edit to add: I'm going to try getting back in to the swing of this. Life is stabilizing a smidgen, in a beautifully happy way. Will be more so shortly, but until then...I'll try!

Not happening daily

2010-03-14T01:00:00.000-08:00

For those who have been following me...and noticed the, well, rather painful gap and failure to post daily...

And update.

I'm in the midst of a divorce. It's not as messy as it could be, as my previous divorce was, certainly, but the admission of failure, the untangling of lives, the apologies and the ongoing 'what if' questions...Have taken a priority over doing something new at all, much less every day.

Nothing is easy. I'll make an effort to get something new planned for each week, and try to get it posted. I have several items done that were never posted, and hope to get those uploaded as well.

:/

Not how I wanted this to go. Hopefully, later in the year my life will be stable enough that this can be part of my days again.

Need to catch up

2010-02-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

I have my things done for most every day, but just haven't gotten them uploaded...Soon, I think.

So.

Here's today.

Playing with light and flowers.

(yes, they were given to me for Valentine's Day)

Hope you had a lovely made-up holiday.

More fungi

2010-02-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

Went past this yesterday on my run. Looked like a skull!

Origami Sticky Notes, Crane

2010-02-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

It's hard to take pictures of the process that are worth anything, but...

We'll have to try this again. Kind of a challenge.

Fruiting Bodies

2010-02-07T13:22:00.000-08:00

Alternate title: Is there a mycologist in the house?

While living in California, I've had the chance to see a lot of new and rather cool things. Growing up in Colorado, I'd never seen a live, wild praying mantis. Nor terrestrial snails. Nor tidepools.

I did see a lot of mushrooms and fungi, but never on the scale seen here. This pile is visible from the main road into base, and has been growing for a couple of months now. I meant to go take pictures around Christmas time, but didn't manage it.

And because silliness is a good thing...

Kitchen ant explores!

Explorer duck shows the way

And, Ressamac made them awesome!

Bending steel

2010-02-06T21:26:00.000-08:00

More steel origami! I've tracked down a source for some of the other models, and will be purchasing them...eventually. It wasn't hard to find them, I'm just reluctant to open an amazon.uk account, since it would feed my rubber duck collecting habit...and that's maybe scary.

Anyway, back to bending steel! The dragonfly was a piece of cake compared to making the grasshopper. (and yes, that is said ala Kung Fu).

More pieces, possibly, but the addition of alcohol may be a factor as well. Gimme' a break, it's Saturday night! :D

Anyway, grasshopper (do you hear it at your feet?) is complete.

I, in my current condition, can not make his back feet touch the ground whilst simultaneously having his front feet make contact as well. Call it and action pose, he's mid-hop.

Look at the determination!

Look at the focus!

Look at the shiny thing?

Ok, that's enough looking. Night.

Markers!

2010-02-04T20:09:00.000-08:00

The recent kids.woot off had these markers.

They looked cool, and despite my lack of artistic skills, I do like drawing and art supplies. Ok, mostly the supplies part--I admit to having a bit of fetish. Pens, pencils, scissors, staplers...reams of paper, oh MAI! Sad confession...I've closed down more office supply stores than I have bars.

So I thought these might be fun to goof off with, and give me a chance to make something cool.

I like the yellow. It contrasts well with most every color of paper!

Orange paper, purple, pink, brown and yellow for the dinosaur (yes, that's what that is, don't hurt yourself laughing!), green and brown tree and blue...puddle, I guess. And RAWR!, because RAWR is dinosaur for I love you.

Totally loving my new markers! I'd forgotten how fun it is to play with markers.

I might need to track down some crayons next.

Paper hop!

2010-02-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

More origami! A little hopping frog.

I'll make an attempt to take pictures of each step next time...

Pan fried noodles, and the difference good soy sauce makes

2010-02-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

So my fruity loaf friend and I discuss food and share recipes as well as sharing pictures.

The ants on a branch recipe is one we've both made, he more times than me (with pictures!). First time, he used a better than average dark soy sauce, 2nd time he used something a bit more mundane. He declared the first effort far superior, and pooh-poohed the common-off the shelf soy sauce.

Much to my dismay, as I was fairly certain that included my own!

Thus began a search for better soy sauce.

And more recipes, in order to try out my purchases.

Which leads us to pan fried noodles, with beef and snow peas.

Ok, not beef, since I prefer buffalo.

So, pan fried noodles with buffalo and snow peas, and foofy soy sauce.

It's awesome.

I'd happily eat the noodles and sauce, plain. Yum!

Origami Sticky Notes

2010-02-01T18:57:00.000-08:00

Think Geek has this package of sticky notes the include instructions for folding an origami critter.

Totally cool, easy to follow, very cute.

Baconing the sweet.

2010-01-31T18:44:00.000-08:00

It's a trend, lately, to put bacon in sweets. Savory, sweet, salt...It makes sense. If you've not tried a dark chocolate bacon bar...They're interesting. I can't say good, but definitely interesting. And crisp bacon in maple syrup is divine!

Thus far, I've resisted the trend. Despite encouragement, begging, even threatening, I've not made bacon chocolate chip cookies. I've kept the bacon away from my brown butter toffee blondies.

But, like all good lines in the sand, this too was a place I knew I'd one day tread.

The Hungry Engineer leads the way, with Bourbon Bacon Blondies. Booze, bacon, and toffee blondie?

Yeah, I went there.

I enjoyed.

I might even make them again.

And try out the bacon brownies.

Oh, and check out the lovely new bar pan!!!

And those lovely new plates, too!

Sunrises

2010-01-29T08:39:00.000-08:00

I go to work around 6:30 most days. This morning, the sun was pushing through the clouds, lighting the horizon in this sultry shade of red. It was inspirational, it was glorious, it was a moment to stand and bask in the beauty.

It was not, however, well captured on film.

Best of three. Poor little purse cam just doesn't do well in awkward light situations, and I didn't have time to get far enough away from parking lot lights to help it out. Nor to get on the other side of those stupid telephone poles.

So, a vague memory that fails complete to convey the sultry, glimmering awe of my Friday morning.

Steel Origami Bugs

2010-01-28T20:32:00.000-08:00

Via ThinkGeek. The dragonfly and the grasshopper were the only ones in stock, but I'm going to search out the others...these are awesome!

Metal sheet, etched with the pattern.

Said sheet, minus the fun foldy-bits.

Voila!

At rest in the wild.

Curry

2010-01-26T17:58:00.001-08:00

Turkey curry on a bed of rice.

I forget how little I like dark meat.

Good thing there are lots of onions and potatoes.

The stand off

2010-01-25T17:45:00.000-08:00

30 seconds later

15 seconds a a tussle later.

Blueberries, little blue orbs of happiness

2010-01-24T14:58:00.000-08:00

Aside from all the media hype about the health benefits of blueberries, they really are wondrous. Slightly tart, slightly sweet, a dusty looking deep purple, popping on the tongue in a rush of juice, there's not much bad about blueberries.

Add in butter, cinnamon and a little bit of oatmeal...Well. Now you've really got something!

Blueberry Crumble Bars
Crust:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Filling:

3 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/4 cup blueberry preserves (10 to 11 ounces)
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 teaspoon finely grated lime peel

For crust:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter bottom of 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan. Whisk flour, oats, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in large bowl. Add 1 cup butter; rub in with fingertips until mixture sticks together in small clumps.

Transfer 2 cups to medium bowl; mix in almonds and reserve for topping.

Press remaining crumb mixture evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake crust until golden and just firm to touch, about 22 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.

For filling:
Mix all ingredients in medium bowl. Spread evenly over crust in pan, then sprinkle reserved topping over.

Bake bars until filling bubbles thickly at edges and topping is golden brown, about 40 minutes; cool in pan on rack. Cut into bars.

Awesomely yummy. The original recipe used less berries, and lemon peel instead of the lime.

What counts as art?

2010-01-23T21:26:00.000-08:00

It's a long standing argument...what counts as art?

Thousands of dollars says splatters of paint on a canvas counts, if the name is right.

But don't despair! You can create your own blobby paint masterpiece. :D

Manhandle Mandelbrot

2010-01-22T21:49:00.000-08:00

Close enough, anyway.

Fractal art is pretty awesome stuff. There are lots of galleries full of amazing work--things you'd swear had to have been drawn, couldn't possibly be a generated image. A variety of colors, shapes...mind boggling! The first fractal art I saw was created by a long lost touch friend, who made art on the side--she was a programmer. I was bewildered, and spent days talking to her and looking at her work and trying to grasp the complexities of tweaking algorithms to behave for me.

Never really mastered it--math is not a strong point in my arsenal.

However, there are some really impressive programs out now, complete with tutorials to walk you through the process, letting you focus more on creating than on flailing blindly.

These were created (ha!) in the tutorial stages of Ultra Fractal. I'm probably going to end up buying the program, just as a cool way to spend some time...this is the freebie stage right now. ;)

Fun to play with, certainly!

Back on track

2010-01-21T20:36:00.000-08:00

Following the detour for tarnished metal yesterday, back to the digital artwork generated online.

Maven!

Kero (the amazingly wise woman!)

Form Mizer-Yourself! The LEGO version of you!

Great fun. An awful lot of choices, backgrounds, colors....Great way to kill some time.

How about just something cool?

2010-01-20T17:15:00.000-08:00

I didn't make them.

But in one of the rare moments when I have and use cash to make a purchase, got these as change.

Real silver. Cashier handed back the change, 67 cents worth, and I heard that distinct 'clink'. If you've ever handled real silver coins, you'll know what I mean. Modern change sounds so very different from the real silver.

One is from 1942, the other 1948. Both are pretty worn and tarnished. I'm guessing some kid raided his grandpa's change jar--when I worked as a cashier I saw that happen often. But back then, I bought those quarters out of the register myself! I'm a tad surprised that didn't happen with these, unless the cashier just didn't know? Given the condition, they're unlikely to be worth a whole lot more than $3 or $4 each, but still...That's more than I was spending to get them as change!

Anyway. My cool thing for today!

Digital Art

2010-01-19T15:42:00.000-08:00

Not digital as in, it's on a computer. Not digital as in it's created on the computer, though it is.

Digital, as in created using a software program that creates lines and shapes at the click of a mouse.

There are a lot of them out there, websites that kill the time on conference calls with something less mind-numbing than tetris or Tower Defense.

Lollipops

Experiment, mostly failed

2010-01-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

Giant pancake.

No, making pancakes is not something cool.

The goal was to make a design in the pancake by pouring the batter in different stages.

And while the idea is sound, my execution was clearly off.

Heh.

But it was a good pancake, at least.

2010-01-17T20:51:00.000-08:00

So, in addition to making lots of food, taking pictures of said items is important. I'm still learning how to frame the shot, field of focus, etc. Food is a challenge (no, really--if you look into it, food photography is rough, and they usually resort fake food, or food substitutes that can take the temperature created by high intensity lighting!) I'm working with a point and shoot...no special lighting...And real food, dammit! So, the limit of what I can do is learn to frame my shots, and get something more than just..food on a plate. Here's the 'blah'.

Nothing wrong with the focus. The framing is a bit off, but nothing some cropping can't fix.

Shot #2, working the angle.

Closer, from an angle we don't normally get of our food. The reflection on the bowl is distracting, but the sour cream has a lovely creaminess, and the melty cheese drapes nicely. Maybe a bit too much cheese...The beans and corn of the chili is pretty much hidden.

But still, it's just a bowl of food.

Shot #3.

Oh, look, beer! And a spoon! The additional elements help...It's no longer just food, it's a meal...it's companionship...it's an event. Granted, you lose the detail of the melted versus unmelted cheese, but without the angle the chili components are visible. The shadow from the spoon and beer bottle is annoying though--should have killed the overhead light.

And my favorite shot.

Individual components of the chili: check! Depth and texture of the sour cream: check! Fewer elements, but more personalized with the hand (yeah, mine, whoop whoop). It's a decent angle, though I'd have been happier if more of the bowl was included. At least you can't see the edge of the bowl in far right corner, I guess. And the element of action, which I think really helps.

Not about the food...really! ;)

When one gets a gift...

2010-01-16T18:10:00.000-08:00

I love books in general, cookbooks in a specific, and cookbooks from awesome far away places...Well. Giddy begins the explanation of my reaction to getting books as gifts.

A very dear friend of mine spent the holiday season in France. She, being a brilliant woman who knows me very well, got me a French cookbook.

I love it.

Thus far, I've made two recipes from it, and will be adding to the list as the year goes on, particularly since so many French recipes include sauces.

This evening, I made Croque Monsieur. Basically, this is the foofiest of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches ever.

Layer thin sliced ham, béchamel sauce, and grated cheese (emmental or gruyère, which I used) between two slices of white bread, dry fry in a pan.

Here's the sauce in the pan. The addition of Dijon mustard pairs this well with the ham.

The recipe said to put the ham directly on the bread, but I worried the ham, directly on bread, would prevent the sandwich from sticking together, so I slathered a bit of sauce in between.

Dry grilling (ie, pan fry, minus oil/butter/mayo) provides a lovely toasty color in addition to melting the cheese, thickening the béchamel into the bread. I prefer the vertical slice, Hubbin likes diagonal.

Pair with sliced apple, and you have a classic French fast-food meal!

And we wonder why meetings aren't productive?

2010-01-15T16:35:00.000-08:00

Just because I'm not artistic doesn't meant I don't doodle. Meetings are brutal--I either doodle, or I take copious notes. Staff meetings = doodling.

Took a picture, cleaned it up a bit.

Tweaked a bit.

It didn't look as askew on the page. heh.

In case you can't tell...martini glass with olive, a couple cards, and a cigarette in an ash tray. Even though I quit smoking more than a year ago.

And yes, I know I'm missing a day...I have to upload it. Maybe this weekend.

Today is Rubber Ducky Day.

2010-01-13T19:04:00.000-08:00

No, really, it is! It is National Rubber Ducky Day.

It's not a well known fact, but I collect rubber ducks. My collection includes Devil ducks, painted ducks, Super Duck, geek duck, reindeer duck...Lots of little duckies.

And so, in honor of this prestigious day...

I drew a duck. Digitally. So it's not amazing nor awesome. But I think it's identifiably a rubber duck.

The background is just kind of there...It just looked silly hanging on a solid background. But this is a true...something...cool...that I made. Well, it's something I made, anyway. A place to start...showing there's loads of room for improvement.

Fun with colors. And balls.

2010-01-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

Heh.

I'm not even claiming this as artistry, it's more just playing with color. Original courtesy of fruityloaf (correction, NOT Diego-cam), used with his permission. I liked the colors, wanted to boost the contrast without really doing much else.

The crackly pockmarks are the flash-shines.

No soup for you!

2010-01-11T19:29:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'll share if you want some. And show up in time, since it's tasty enough not to last long.

Broccoli Cheese Soup in a bread bowl, ala Panera Bread.

I copped out and bought the boules, but next time I'll make my own. I decided to make these and didn't want to wait for the sourdough starter to grow, didn't want to cop out and use a pain regulaire (seriously, that's what the bread book calls it, not even the French book at that).

So this is probably the most challenging cream based soup, since it involves creating a roux. It was lovely--thick and creamy, just a hint of color. I was very pleased. Next time...less nutmeg. It tasted fine, and if you're using pre-ground nutmeg I'm willing to bet the quantity is fine, but with fresh ground...WOW! Strong nutmeg flavor.

And unrelated to the soup...Wow, not impressed with the pictures! Not sure why the camera was unhappy with focusing, and I just did a crap job of framing up the shots. Meh. Here's Puck, with his 'meh' face on.

So this is part of another goal.

2010-01-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

I'm aces at baking. Seriously. Cookies, cakes, pies, breads, muffins...Sticky and sweet, crisp and buttery. Me, sugar, flour, and butter can go wonderful places. I can handle frying and baking and grilling a variety of meats and vegetables, too. Casseroles, pizza, all things I am confident making.

Not so when it comes to soups and sauces.

I spent the last year mastering a basic sausage gravy. And still end up with something that has to be eaten right away or it crosses the line from 'gravy' to 'sausage jello'. Which, while tasty, is still kind of eew.

2010 will be the year of soups and sauces, culinarily. I'm continuing to bake, that's just a given. But making soups I'm proud of is a goal. Sauces that don't curdle and break...I'm hoping.

One step closer.

Butternut Squash Soup

The recipe called it a 'curried' soup, given the presence of some curry powder. I shan't argue, but I think it's more an afterthought than a significant component in the flavor. Topped with cashews and coconut. The coconut is wonderful, the cashews don't contribute much. The recipe is from Food Network magazine by Ina Garten, but the version in the magazine substitutes chicken stock for water/apple cider. I think next time I'll use vegetable stock instead, and maybe some coconut milk.

It was deemed (by myself and my husband) as good. :)

More food.

2010-01-09T19:05:00.000-08:00

Coconut banana bread.

Ha!

2010-01-08T17:08:00.000-08:00

Took my picture to PS and worked on it there. Think maybe I can figure out how to do something similar in Gimp, now.

This is Petrus.

Petrus is a gargoyle. He currently lives on the counter in my kitchen. The idea was to have him look more realistic, with the background and apple somewhat cartoon-ish. I tried, anyway. Some touch up on the background, as well.

And then...

Well, it made me laugh. I played around with the highlights and shadowing. I like it. Might not be cool, but it's different.

And better than the other option for the day, doodles from my morning staff meeting...

Progress is made...

2010-01-07T19:21:00.000-08:00

But now I'm stumped.

The background clean up is done, but I really have no clue how to smooth the shading the way I want. Sigh.

Debating pitching what I've done thus far and starting over, maybe with a method that produces less speckling.

But, for what it's worth, a larger chunk.

I like the background...but what to do with Petrus? I don't want to flatten the colors...More thought is required.

Argh

2010-01-06T20:01:00.000-08:00

So for those who don't know...I don't pretend to be artistic. I don't have a bad sense of color and layout and such (I hope, anyway) but I really lack the creativity and skill to put what I can picture down.

But I am trying.

This is a total cheat. I know that. I don't have a pad, I'm doing all my work on a laptop, so...

Be kind. This is a small section of what I'm working on. I'm about 1/3 done with colorizing, hopefully I'll be able to finish it and be happy with it by Friday.

Yep, I'm being vague.

Ok, it's food...

2010-01-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

But this is more about taking the picture than making the dish. A fellow foodie is taking up the challenge in his own way--he's going to take a picture of something every day. I shan't out him here, unless he says I can (hint hint!!!) but out discussion today prompted me to take some more time in taking my pictures, and to add 'take better pictures' to my goals for the year. I take a LOT of pictures, and usually end up with a couple that I like. I think if I took more time to frame my shots, learned to use the camera better...Maybe fewer pictures would end up languishing in folders long forgotten.

Dinner presented me with some pretty contrasting colors...And the following shots.

Plain, simple...but the fork looks odd and I'm not happy with the flash shine. And I failed to clean the bowl, so there's a splotch of sauce within the blue.

Probably the best shot. The fork is more obviously a fork, the blue is clean of sauce and cheese, close enough to get detail without being as pr0nish.

Changed the angle a bit. Left picture might be okay with some cropping, since the the bowl is awkwardly floating. Right hand picture is ok, lighting doesn't really show the color as well, and the shadow from the fork bugs me. A lot.

Focus? Or not...

And the best of the close up shots, I guess. The cheese has a nice melty look, you can see the texture on the zucchini and there's a teaser of pasta peeking out from the carrot. The fork is superfluous, but it doesn't really detract from the shot, maybe contributes a smigeon of depth.

Future photography efforts will include something other than food. I promise. Probably cats. Maybe fish. Flowers. Beach stuff? Oh...and important note...You can clickify the images to imbigginate them.

Edit: I was given permission to out the Fruity Loaf!

Shawl Base to Mountain Fold!

2010-01-04T19:33:00.000-08:00

Paper taken to a higher level!

Or at least a fuzzier one.

I promise, they won't all be food!!!

2010-01-03T18:24:00.003-08:00

But this one is. I can't help it, I really like trying new recipes! And I'm really trying to improve my sauce and soup making skills, which are sadly lacking. Reducing a chunk of meat as the centerpiece is tough, as well.

This is a recipe I found while searching for a good potato soup. This one might do, with some modifications. Here is the first version (I'll update this post with the changes I make in round two).

Beer Cheese Soup
1 large carrot, peeled, sliced in to match sticks
1 rib celery, finely diced
1 large onion, peeled and diced
2 c diced potato
1 c beer (I used Blue Ale)
3 T butter
3 T flour
2 1/2 c milk
1 1/2 c chicken stock
1 1/2 c grated sharp chedder
Worcestershire sauce, salt + pepper to taste
1 c chopped ham or bacon (optional)

Combine veggies and potato in a saucepan with beer and chicken stock. Simmer 20 minutes, until veggies are tender crisp. Let cool, run through food processor (YAY for the immersion blender! I got one as a Christmas gift, and this was the first use--it's awesome). Make a roux with the butter and flour. Add milk gradually, and cook to thicken. Add meat, stir in vegetable puree, simmer 5-10 minutes. Add Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Remove from heat, add cheese, stir to melt.

Top with a sprinkle of grated cheese.

Next time around, I won't blend up all the veggies, I'd like to have soup with some big chunks. :)

Pasta porn

2010-01-02T19:40:00.000-08:00

Ok, not really pasta porn. But naked ravioli. Let's capitalize that: Naked Ravioli.

How, one asks, can ravioli strip? To what tune would ravioli declothe?

Valid questions. irrelevant, but valid.

Here's the facts...The ravioli never get dressed in their pasta clothing to being with! Shocking. Scandalous. Throw them on a big white horse and you have Lady Godiva Ravioli. Curling shavings of parmigiano reggiano stand in for blond hair.

Recipe is as follows

Ravioli
1/2 lb of ricotta
1/2 lb fresh spinach (I think frozen would work as well)
6 T parmigiano reggiano, grated, plus more to top
2 eggs
flour (call it 2 + cups)
salt + pepper to taste

Sauce
4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, crushed
2 garlilc cloves, minced
4 basil leaves, chopped
chili powder
2 T olive oil
salt + pepper to taste

To make the sauce, heat olive oil in a saucepan, add garlic and sauté 2-3 minutes. Add tomato, basil, chili powder, salt and pepper. Let simmer 15-20 minutes.

Cook spinach for 5-10 minutes until softened. Drain well, squeezing to dry. Chop. Beat the eggs, add other ingredients and mix well. Add flour, tablespoon by tablespoon, mixing well in between additions, until you get a thick consistency that's slightly sticky. Fill a bowl with a cup of flour. Scoop out 2 tablespoons of the mixture and roll in the flour to coat.

Add to boiling water in batches. Boil until the ravioli floats, remove and drain. Ravioli are slightly tacky, so keep them apart. Not very pretty, eh?

Once all the ravioli have cooked, place in a pan, top with sauce, sprinkle with extra cheese, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

I was surprised. They do taste like ravioli! Nice. Quite a bit of work, but tasty, and it makes enough for several meals. Served with prosciutto wrapped mozzarella.

Technically a day late

2010-01-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

January 1...Reorganizing the kitchen. This is a big deal, and isn't done. But, the worth noting point is the realization that the tall, narrow but deep cabinet would be perfect for all my cooling racks, muffin pans, and cutting boards. Way better use of space than the cluttered and leaning sauce pans.

Previously, all those were stacked on a shelf, taking up lots of space and a pain to both take out and put away. So, bonus points! More room in the other cabinet, as well.