you're getting more bread today. why? because i like bread too, and your house will smell really good when you bake it. you'll have to reaad the rest of this post to get to the surpris ending, which is the best cinnamon raisin bread you've ever had.
Ok, so i finally finished Lawhead's The Endless Knot. He's got this amazing knack for starting an epic tale, fleshing out the characters, imersing you, scaring you, seducing you. . . and then he paints himself into a corner, gets stuck, and keeps you in that corner with him while he tries to fumble his way out. i was less than impressed. I'd read the first book in The Song of Albion, The Paradise War again anytime, but the rest? not so much.
in better news, i'm in love with Ellis Avery's The Teahouse Fire. the quick version: it's the late 1800's, a young girl is taken to Japan with her missionary Uncle who is killed in a fire shortly after they arrive. The youngster is taken in by a Japanese household as a servant. Life ensues. the Meiji restoration occurs, Western trade begins, Samurai become a thing of the past, and Geishas are suddenly worldly women. I do adore novels like these: Young woman thrown into unexpected circumstances where she must adapt. and props to Avery, i've teared up about 10 times so far. i'll have to find some other books she's written.
On the immediate horizon are Anthony William's Scales, and Jennifer Caress's Perverted Realities. I have GOT to get past that title! but how would i ever read it in the lunchroom at work? i know it isn't dirty, but it shure sounds like it is!
no pictures today. sorry.
alright, you read through my boriness, now you get a reward. this truly is the most incredible cinamon raisin bread i've ever had. i learned the hard way, if the recipe says use bread flour, then, please! for the love of god and good bread, use bread flour! it's about $3 per 5 pounds. a small investment to not have to mess with a recipe.
you'll need:
1 packet dry yeast
1/4 cup + 1 3/4 cups warm water
5 1/2 to 6 cups bread flour
2 tbsp dry milk
4 tsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 cups dark raisins
a little olive oil
for the filling:
3/4 cup sugar + some for dusting
3 tbsp cinnamon
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted & cooled
2 eggs
turn your oven on to the lowest possible setting.
lots of easy steps:
blend dry yeast with 1/4 warm water. let sit about 10 minutes. meanwhile, in a big bowl, blend flour, powdered milk, sugar, salt 3 tbsp butter and 1 3/4 cups water. add the yeast/water mixture, and mix it all together until a dough forms. knead the dough for 15-20 minutes, adding more flour if it's too sticky. don't add too much flour! it will get too dry! pour a little olive oil into the bowl and turn the ball of dough to coat.
turn the oven off, put the bowl of dough in the oven for about 2 hours to rise.
when the dough is nearly done rising, grease 2 loaf pans, and make the ooey gooey insides: combine sugar and cinammon in a small bowl. in another small bowl, beat one of the eggs. cut your dough into 2 equally sized ball of dough. leave the dough you aren't using under plastic so it can't dry out. roll one peice of dough into a roughly 10x14 rectangle. it doesn't have to be perfect. brush it with some egg, sprinkle with half the cinnamon sugar, and drizzle with half the melted butter. rub the mixture together with the back of a spoon or spatula. roll the rectangle up tightly, and pinch the ends. put it into one of the loaf pans. do the same with the 2nd peice of dough. let the loaves rise in a warm place for about an hour. before baking, brush the tops of the loaves with beaten egg and sprinkle on some sugar (the egg helps the sugar stick, and makes the tops of your loaves brown and shiny). Bake loaves at 425 for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 400 and back another 15 minutes or until cooked through. let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing. don't worry, the insides will still be warm and gooey after 30 minutes!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
this is so terrible.
it's been a week, and i'm basically reading the same stuff as i was last time i posted. but it's not my fault! i was too busy reading comic books, i was out of town two days last week, i spent sunday making Challah, and hubby and I attempted making a chicken pot pie thingy. it was weird, but it tasted good. so more on my sad book reading, and cool comic books a little later.
what's Challah? it's an egg bread Jews make for the Sabbath, which for us runs friday night through saturday night. and since i never have time on Friday for bread to rise, i make Challah whenever i feel like it, usually sunday. i know, i know, it's really Purim, but i haven't yet perfected my Hamentashen recipe, so you can enjoy this easier to make Challah recipe instead. it's really very easy. and it tastes SO good.
this recipe makes 2 loaves of bread, which typically end up being slightly smaller than a regular loaf of bread. you can make free-form loaves, or you can put them in a loaf pan.
you'll need:
1/2 a packet dry active yeast (i usually pour the packet onto a plate, and separate it that way)
1 and 1/8 cup warm water
2 eggs plus 1 egg later
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp salt
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup unsalted butter or margarine, or shortening
4-5 cups flour. flour is funny, it depends on the batch, how dry your house is. . .make sure you've got some extra.
a little bit of olive oil
first of all, turn your oven on to it's lowest setting. as low as possible.
dissolve the yeast in the warm water. mix well, and let it sit for 10 minutes.
meanwhile, beat the egs in a very large bowl. add the honey, and beat it again. add the sugar, salt, and butter (or whatever) and beat well. add the yeast mixture, and beat again.
now add the flour, one cup at a time, till a dough forms. blend the last cup in with your hands. knead the dough for 15 minutes, adding more flour if it's too sticky. pour a little olive oil in the bowl, and roll the dough around in it, so it's lightly covered in oil.
turn the oven off.
cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise in the over for about 3 hours. it should double in size. after 3 hours, take it out, punch it down, knead it some more, and form it into loaves.
the traditional Sabbath Challah is in a braided shape. if you don't know how to braid, ask your sister or your mom. whatever shape you decide to do, put it in a greased loaf pan, or on a greased cookie sheet, and put it back in the over for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, with the oven turned off.
see why this takes so long?
remember that egg we haven't used yet? beat it in a bowl. take the loaves out of the oven, and brush them with the raw egg. preheat the oven to 350, and put the loaves back in. they are done in about 35 minutes. using those glass loaf pans is great, because you can see how brown the bottom is.
this bread is SO good, and the yeast does all the work for you.
ok, on to books. i'm about half way through The Endless Knot, and i'm having trouble with it. i don't know if Lawhead was getting bored, or what. the foreshadowing is heavy, the plot feels contrived, it better have one of those hits-you-like-a-brick-wall endings, or i'm going to be really disappointed. i'm still annoyed from book II, where people from our world fell into Albion, and then it was really never touched on again. Mr Lawhead! this needs to be touched on more. like now! like, how about whoever kidnapped so and so (i don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it) is someone from our world, or something.
i'm a chapter or so from the end of China Meiville's King Rat. if you know a teenager who hates Harry Potter because it's all namby pamby, have them read this. blood, gore, violence, swear words, it's pretty cool. some of the characterization is better than others. you can tell which characters Mieville liked, and which ones he really didn't care for. I've heard his new book, Un LunDun is supposed to be closer to King Rat than anything else he's written, but i kinda hope not.
ah yes, comic books. or, as us smarty pants call them, graphic novels. oh come on, it's manga, or american manga wannabes. i wasted a good hour reading Rikdo Koshi's Excel Saga, and you know what? it was so rediculously silly and stupid, i think i'll read the 2nd one. it's a genre of manga that spoofs a lot of the super serious melodramatic plot lines. also in the comic pile was my buddy Paul Sizer's Little White Mouse. i say "my buddy". yeah right. I took his graphic design class at WMU in 1998. but i still see him around town! and he lets me buy him drinks! Little White Mouse is quite cool, as is his Moped Army comic. much better than it looks. He needs to put out the 2nd volume, like right now.
you! go make bread, and while it's rising, read cool stuff!!
it's been a week, and i'm basically reading the same stuff as i was last time i posted. but it's not my fault! i was too busy reading comic books, i was out of town two days last week, i spent sunday making Challah, and hubby and I attempted making a chicken pot pie thingy. it was weird, but it tasted good. so more on my sad book reading, and cool comic books a little later.
what's Challah? it's an egg bread Jews make for the Sabbath, which for us runs friday night through saturday night. and since i never have time on Friday for bread to rise, i make Challah whenever i feel like it, usually sunday. i know, i know, it's really Purim, but i haven't yet perfected my Hamentashen recipe, so you can enjoy this easier to make Challah recipe instead. it's really very easy. and it tastes SO good.
this recipe makes 2 loaves of bread, which typically end up being slightly smaller than a regular loaf of bread. you can make free-form loaves, or you can put them in a loaf pan.
you'll need:
1/2 a packet dry active yeast (i usually pour the packet onto a plate, and separate it that way)
1 and 1/8 cup warm water
2 eggs plus 1 egg later
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp salt
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup unsalted butter or margarine, or shortening
4-5 cups flour. flour is funny, it depends on the batch, how dry your house is. . .make sure you've got some extra.
a little bit of olive oil
first of all, turn your oven on to it's lowest setting. as low as possible.
dissolve the yeast in the warm water. mix well, and let it sit for 10 minutes.
meanwhile, beat the egs in a very large bowl. add the honey, and beat it again. add the sugar, salt, and butter (or whatever) and beat well. add the yeast mixture, and beat again.
now add the flour, one cup at a time, till a dough forms. blend the last cup in with your hands. knead the dough for 15 minutes, adding more flour if it's too sticky. pour a little olive oil in the bowl, and roll the dough around in it, so it's lightly covered in oil.
turn the oven off.
cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise in the over for about 3 hours. it should double in size. after 3 hours, take it out, punch it down, knead it some more, and form it into loaves.
the traditional Sabbath Challah is in a braided shape. if you don't know how to braid, ask your sister or your mom. whatever shape you decide to do, put it in a greased loaf pan, or on a greased cookie sheet, and put it back in the over for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, with the oven turned off.
see why this takes so long?
remember that egg we haven't used yet? beat it in a bowl. take the loaves out of the oven, and brush them with the raw egg. preheat the oven to 350, and put the loaves back in. they are done in about 35 minutes. using those glass loaf pans is great, because you can see how brown the bottom is.
this bread is SO good, and the yeast does all the work for you.
ok, on to books. i'm about half way through The Endless Knot, and i'm having trouble with it. i don't know if Lawhead was getting bored, or what. the foreshadowing is heavy, the plot feels contrived, it better have one of those hits-you-like-a-brick-wall endings, or i'm going to be really disappointed. i'm still annoyed from book II, where people from our world fell into Albion, and then it was really never touched on again. Mr Lawhead! this needs to be touched on more. like now! like, how about whoever kidnapped so and so (i don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it) is someone from our world, or something.
i'm a chapter or so from the end of China Meiville's King Rat. if you know a teenager who hates Harry Potter because it's all namby pamby, have them read this. blood, gore, violence, swear words, it's pretty cool. some of the characterization is better than others. you can tell which characters Mieville liked, and which ones he really didn't care for. I've heard his new book, Un LunDun is supposed to be closer to King Rat than anything else he's written, but i kinda hope not.
ah yes, comic books. or, as us smarty pants call them, graphic novels. oh come on, it's manga, or american manga wannabes. i wasted a good hour reading Rikdo Koshi's Excel Saga, and you know what? it was so rediculously silly and stupid, i think i'll read the 2nd one. it's a genre of manga that spoofs a lot of the super serious melodramatic plot lines. also in the comic pile was my buddy Paul Sizer's Little White Mouse. i say "my buddy". yeah right. I took his graphic design class at WMU in 1998. but i still see him around town! and he lets me buy him drinks! Little White Mouse is quite cool, as is his Moped Army comic. much better than it looks. He needs to put out the 2nd volume, like right now.
you! go make bread, and while it's rising, read cool stuff!!
Sunday, March 4, 2007
attempting to focus. . . .
so, instead of giving one sentence on a zillion books i'm nose deep in, i'm going to try to focus on only one or two (ok, maybe three) that i'm intimately involved in. I'm going to attempt to focus.
food for thought? no pun intended.
i recently blew through Stephen Lawhead's Silver Hand, the 2nd book in his Song of Albion trilogy. Can i still love Lawhead, and not love ever page of this book? The beginning and the end were brutal, exquisitve, unremorseful and painfully human. the middle. . . not so much. Tegid's conveinent "inner sight" started to get gimmicky for me. Tegid's a great character, and i'm happy we fleshed him out more, but a)he started to get on my nerves after a while, and b) i haven't got past the Llew/ Simon thing, and want to get back to that, like right now. there is a great interview with Lawhead at the end, where he's asked how he feels about writing about good vs evil, and he says it's fine, but he's not writing about good vs evil, he's writing about the nature of sovereignty. nice. i just got the 3rd book, The Endless Knot from the library, and hopefully that gets back to Llew & Simon. i'll let you know.
also on the book pile is China Mieville's King Rat. I think this was his first break out novel? or maybe his first young adult novel? it is definately YA, and offers a dirtier, grittier look at the classic "young man finds out he is of royal blood, and has to win his kingdom back from the usurpers" plot line. for a YA book, this sure has lots of swear words! i must be really old fashioned. if i get a book from the young adult or kids section at the library, i'm shocked (just shocked i tell you!!) everytime i run into shit or fuck. and i trust the library, so i must just be old fashioned. King Rat is a lot of fun, especially since i've read newer Mieville stuff, i'm seeing where it all got started. You read any Mieville? what do you think of him?
over at Havenland, we're getting started on our March/April book club book: The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell. so head over there and join the fray, cuz i don't want to type all that stuff twice.
did i do an OK job focusing on just a coupla books? cuz i got way more from the library. more than any normal person should ever read in 3 weeks, not to mention a handful of manga.
mmmm..... pie. somewhere on this page, i gave a recipe for apple pie filling, but i didn't tell you how to make the pie crust. if you don't want to know how much fatty butter goes into a divine pie crust, quit reading right now. if you're just looking for an excuse to screw your diet, read on dear reader, read on.
this makes two pie crusts, or a top and bottom for a covered pie. you'll need:
a really big bowl
plastic wrap
a spatula
a pastry knife. a pastry knife is one of the best $8 investments you can make. seriously. it's 8 bucks. go buy one.
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 sticks very cold butter. keep it in the fridge until you're ready to use it. it really does make a difference, as i learned the hard way, last night.
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
some ice water. yes, put water in a bowl, and put some ice cubes in there to keep the water super cold.
the trick to an awesome pie crust is to have your butter super cold, and your water super cold, but neither one should be frozen, or have any ice crystals. i don't know the science behind why this works, but trust me, it works. i'm sure Alton Brown has done a show on it.
mix the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. cut the butter into pieces, and blend it into the flour with the pastry knife. keep cutting the fat with the pastry knife till all the big peices are gone, takes 5-10 minutes. some of your dough should be the size of a small pebble, but most of it should be the consistency of corn meal. dribble about 1/3cup ice water on top of the dough, and cut the water in using the sharp side of the spatula, till the dough forms small balls. if this doesn't happen, add maybe a tbsp more ice water. keep blending it, and the small balls should be able to stick when you press them together. the dough should still look pretty rough, and it shouldn't be overly greasy.
divide it into two parts, press them into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
now you got to roll it out. have a cup or so of flour ready at the table. keep your surface floured well, or the dough will stick, and that's just a disaster. as you roll it out, set your pie plate on top, so you know when it's big enough. you don't want to roll it to thin. once you get it rolled out, form it into the pie tin, and put that in the fridge for a few hours. roll out the second disk, this is the top of your pie. once you get that rolled out, it can sit on a cookie sheet in the fridge.
after the crusts have "rested" for a few hours, fill the bottom with whatever you're filling it with, lay the top on (cut vents!!!! cut vents!!!), seal it with cold water, pinch, and trim, and you're ready for the oven! oven temp and time depends on what's in the pie, and if it's pre cooked or not. good luck!
food for thought? no pun intended.
i recently blew through Stephen Lawhead's Silver Hand, the 2nd book in his Song of Albion trilogy. Can i still love Lawhead, and not love ever page of this book? The beginning and the end were brutal, exquisitve, unremorseful and painfully human. the middle. . . not so much. Tegid's conveinent "inner sight" started to get gimmicky for me. Tegid's a great character, and i'm happy we fleshed him out more, but a)he started to get on my nerves after a while, and b) i haven't got past the Llew/ Simon thing, and want to get back to that, like right now. there is a great interview with Lawhead at the end, where he's asked how he feels about writing about good vs evil, and he says it's fine, but he's not writing about good vs evil, he's writing about the nature of sovereignty. nice. i just got the 3rd book, The Endless Knot from the library, and hopefully that gets back to Llew & Simon. i'll let you know.
also on the book pile is China Mieville's King Rat. I think this was his first break out novel? or maybe his first young adult novel? it is definately YA, and offers a dirtier, grittier look at the classic "young man finds out he is of royal blood, and has to win his kingdom back from the usurpers" plot line. for a YA book, this sure has lots of swear words! i must be really old fashioned. if i get a book from the young adult or kids section at the library, i'm shocked (just shocked i tell you!!) everytime i run into shit or fuck. and i trust the library, so i must just be old fashioned. King Rat is a lot of fun, especially since i've read newer Mieville stuff, i'm seeing where it all got started. You read any Mieville? what do you think of him?
over at Havenland, we're getting started on our March/April book club book: The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell. so head over there and join the fray, cuz i don't want to type all that stuff twice.
did i do an OK job focusing on just a coupla books? cuz i got way more from the library. more than any normal person should ever read in 3 weeks, not to mention a handful of manga.
mmmm..... pie. somewhere on this page, i gave a recipe for apple pie filling, but i didn't tell you how to make the pie crust. if you don't want to know how much fatty butter goes into a divine pie crust, quit reading right now. if you're just looking for an excuse to screw your diet, read on dear reader, read on.
this makes two pie crusts, or a top and bottom for a covered pie. you'll need:
a really big bowl
plastic wrap
a spatula
a pastry knife. a pastry knife is one of the best $8 investments you can make. seriously. it's 8 bucks. go buy one.
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 sticks very cold butter. keep it in the fridge until you're ready to use it. it really does make a difference, as i learned the hard way, last night.
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
some ice water. yes, put water in a bowl, and put some ice cubes in there to keep the water super cold.
the trick to an awesome pie crust is to have your butter super cold, and your water super cold, but neither one should be frozen, or have any ice crystals. i don't know the science behind why this works, but trust me, it works. i'm sure Alton Brown has done a show on it.
mix the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. cut the butter into pieces, and blend it into the flour with the pastry knife. keep cutting the fat with the pastry knife till all the big peices are gone, takes 5-10 minutes. some of your dough should be the size of a small pebble, but most of it should be the consistency of corn meal. dribble about 1/3cup ice water on top of the dough, and cut the water in using the sharp side of the spatula, till the dough forms small balls. if this doesn't happen, add maybe a tbsp more ice water. keep blending it, and the small balls should be able to stick when you press them together. the dough should still look pretty rough, and it shouldn't be overly greasy.
divide it into two parts, press them into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
now you got to roll it out. have a cup or so of flour ready at the table. keep your surface floured well, or the dough will stick, and that's just a disaster. as you roll it out, set your pie plate on top, so you know when it's big enough. you don't want to roll it to thin. once you get it rolled out, form it into the pie tin, and put that in the fridge for a few hours. roll out the second disk, this is the top of your pie. once you get that rolled out, it can sit on a cookie sheet in the fridge.
after the crusts have "rested" for a few hours, fill the bottom with whatever you're filling it with, lay the top on (cut vents!!!! cut vents!!!), seal it with cold water, pinch, and trim, and you're ready for the oven! oven temp and time depends on what's in the pie, and if it's pre cooked or not. good luck!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
holy crap, is winter over yet? i'm getting really sick of this grey, crappy, icy, wet weather. i'm ready for sunshine. i'm sure we'll have a few more weeks of this crap, which means i should make a batch of corn chowder some time. Ok, this isn't really a "chowder", as it's not thick, but it is a cream based corn soup, and one of my favorite comfort foods. and it's really easy to make!
you'll need:
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
4 green onions, chopped
3 tbsp butter
4 cups low sodium chicken broth (2 cans)
3 cups milk
1 can of cream style corn
2 cans sweet corn
salt and pepper
in a large thick bottomed sauce pan or dutch oven, saute the celery 3 minutes. add the green onions and saute another minute. stir in the flour, and stir constantly for 1 minute. add the chicken broth, and continue cooking until mixture boils for one minute. it should noticable thicken. Stir in milk and corn. add salt and pepper to taste, and heat slowly till hot.
this is one of my favorite foods from childhood. it's nothing fancy, but it's the best comfort food in the world to me.
mmmm... now that i'm all happy thinking about soup, i can give you the book news of the week:
Book reviews are up for Albert Dalia's Dream of the Dragon Pool and Jeff Vandermeer's Shriek: An Afterword. If you're going to read only one book this year, make it Vandermeer's. this man is beautifully strange. i wonder if i would like him if i met him? he's somewhere at the intersection of "New Weird", dark fantasy, and steampunk. all of those things at the same time, but also, not them. perhaps i'll start haunting Vandermeer's blog.
other books on the horizon include my newly aquired copy of The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison, along with previously mentioned delishious books from the library. The "ARC's expected list" includes Scales, a scifi thriller by Tony Williams, a british military historian of international fame. I hope his fiction is as good as his books on weapons, which i think my husband may own a few. . (the books, not the weapons), and something called Perverted Realities by Jennifer Caress. Perverted? ummm.... ok. . . .
so many books, so little time. so much good food. . . . .
you'll need:
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
4 green onions, chopped
3 tbsp butter
4 cups low sodium chicken broth (2 cans)
3 cups milk
1 can of cream style corn
2 cans sweet corn
salt and pepper
in a large thick bottomed sauce pan or dutch oven, saute the celery 3 minutes. add the green onions and saute another minute. stir in the flour, and stir constantly for 1 minute. add the chicken broth, and continue cooking until mixture boils for one minute. it should noticable thicken. Stir in milk and corn. add salt and pepper to taste, and heat slowly till hot.
this is one of my favorite foods from childhood. it's nothing fancy, but it's the best comfort food in the world to me.
mmmm... now that i'm all happy thinking about soup, i can give you the book news of the week:
Book reviews are up for Albert Dalia's Dream of the Dragon Pool and Jeff Vandermeer's Shriek: An Afterword. If you're going to read only one book this year, make it Vandermeer's. this man is beautifully strange. i wonder if i would like him if i met him? he's somewhere at the intersection of "New Weird", dark fantasy, and steampunk. all of those things at the same time, but also, not them. perhaps i'll start haunting Vandermeer's blog.
other books on the horizon include my newly aquired copy of The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison, along with previously mentioned delishious books from the library. The "ARC's expected list" includes Scales, a scifi thriller by Tony Williams, a british military historian of international fame. I hope his fiction is as good as his books on weapons, which i think my husband may own a few. . (the books, not the weapons), and something called Perverted Realities by Jennifer Caress. Perverted? ummm.... ok. . . .
so many books, so little time. so much good food. . . . .
Saturday, February 17, 2007
big news in the read.eat.rinse.repeat household! we have graduated from clunker station wagon to drumrollplease chrysler sedan! it's new and shiny, and everything works! woohoo!
this was the first weekend after we got the car, and where did i go with it? 2 libraries, and then 2 bookstores. i'm such a book-nerd.
i'd gotten Jeff Vandermeer's Shriek: An Afterword out of the library around Christmas time, and instead of realizing it was a "2 week only" checkout because it was new, i started reading it a few days before it was due, and only got 50 pages in. so now i've got it again. only 30 pages in, and i was already overcome with sensory overload: smell, touch, taste, all of it. usually authors go mainly for the visual. Vandermeer writes like someone with bad eyesight.
i can probably blame Stephen Lawhead for me not getting to Shreik on time, Paradise War was so awesome, that now i've got the 2nd book in the Song of Albion trilogy, The Silver Hand. and while i was at the library, i couldn't resist Meiville's first novel, King Rat. I can't wait to get my hands on his newest, Un Lun Dun.
i can't possibly be helpful to my favorite authors if i insist on getting their books out of the library instead of buying them, so i did actually *gasp* spend money on books today. first up, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, for our reading group at Worm's Sci Fi Haven, and i couldn't resist buying the next Fullmetal Alchemist volume. I'm finding if i don't buy them when i see them, i can never find them again. now i'm up to 5!!
ok, on to food!! and holy crap, i made home made pasta last weekend! and turned it into ravioli!
first things first, pasta is way easier than it looks. it just takes a lot of patience.
for every pound of pasta you want to make (i made one pound), you'll need 2 cups of flour, 3 eggs and a pinch of salt. if you're going to make ravioli (i did), you'll want stronger pasta, so use 2 2/3 cups flour and 4 eggs, and another egg for later.
blend the 3 ingredients together until you get a dough. knead for 10-15 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. if too dry, add a few drops water, if too sticky add some more flour. wrap tightly in plastic wrap and leave for 30 minutes at room temperature. divide dough into 3 or 4 peices for easier handling. stretch it with your hands, then roll out with a rolling pin until it's so thin you can see your hand through it. if you are not making ravioli, cut thinly, and let dry for one hour before cooking.
i used mashed potatoes flavored with garlic, parsley and rosemary for the insides of my raviolis (so i guess they were closer to perogies?). whatever you put into your raviolis, make sure it is spiced well (the pasta is bland) and has a very smooth pureed texture.
when you have your dough thin enough, cut the edges with a knife or pizza cutter so you have a long rectangle. put a teaspoon of filling down on side of the rectangle, each teaspoon about 1 1/2 inches apart from the next. you don't want your raviolis too big, because they will expand while cooking. brush egg around the filling. this is the glue that holds the sides of the ravioli together. fold the other side of rectangle over, and press down very hard around the filling. you don't want any air bubbles and you want all the seams closed. use a knife or pizza cutter to cut the raviolis apart. cook in boiling water for about 10 minutes, or until done.
the main ingredient is patience. the next main ingredient is time.
this was the first weekend after we got the car, and where did i go with it? 2 libraries, and then 2 bookstores. i'm such a book-nerd.
i'd gotten Jeff Vandermeer's Shriek: An Afterword out of the library around Christmas time, and instead of realizing it was a "2 week only" checkout because it was new, i started reading it a few days before it was due, and only got 50 pages in. so now i've got it again. only 30 pages in, and i was already overcome with sensory overload: smell, touch, taste, all of it. usually authors go mainly for the visual. Vandermeer writes like someone with bad eyesight.
i can probably blame Stephen Lawhead for me not getting to Shreik on time, Paradise War was so awesome, that now i've got the 2nd book in the Song of Albion trilogy, The Silver Hand. and while i was at the library, i couldn't resist Meiville's first novel, King Rat. I can't wait to get my hands on his newest, Un Lun Dun.
i can't possibly be helpful to my favorite authors if i insist on getting their books out of the library instead of buying them, so i did actually *gasp* spend money on books today. first up, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, for our reading group at Worm's Sci Fi Haven, and i couldn't resist buying the next Fullmetal Alchemist volume. I'm finding if i don't buy them when i see them, i can never find them again. now i'm up to 5!!
ok, on to food!! and holy crap, i made home made pasta last weekend! and turned it into ravioli!
first things first, pasta is way easier than it looks. it just takes a lot of patience.
for every pound of pasta you want to make (i made one pound), you'll need 2 cups of flour, 3 eggs and a pinch of salt. if you're going to make ravioli (i did), you'll want stronger pasta, so use 2 2/3 cups flour and 4 eggs, and another egg for later.
blend the 3 ingredients together until you get a dough. knead for 10-15 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. if too dry, add a few drops water, if too sticky add some more flour. wrap tightly in plastic wrap and leave for 30 minutes at room temperature. divide dough into 3 or 4 peices for easier handling. stretch it with your hands, then roll out with a rolling pin until it's so thin you can see your hand through it. if you are not making ravioli, cut thinly, and let dry for one hour before cooking.
i used mashed potatoes flavored with garlic, parsley and rosemary for the insides of my raviolis (so i guess they were closer to perogies?). whatever you put into your raviolis, make sure it is spiced well (the pasta is bland) and has a very smooth pureed texture.
when you have your dough thin enough, cut the edges with a knife or pizza cutter so you have a long rectangle. put a teaspoon of filling down on side of the rectangle, each teaspoon about 1 1/2 inches apart from the next. you don't want your raviolis too big, because they will expand while cooking. brush egg around the filling. this is the glue that holds the sides of the ravioli together. fold the other side of rectangle over, and press down very hard around the filling. you don't want any air bubbles and you want all the seams closed. use a knife or pizza cutter to cut the raviolis apart. cook in boiling water for about 10 minutes, or until done.
the main ingredient is patience. the next main ingredient is time.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
cars, books, and tabbouli, oh my!!!
it's been a stressful week. my car decided that regardless of how much i coaxed in, it just was not going to make it through another michigan winter. as soon as i can convince a bank that i'm not a loser, i'll be the proud owner of. . . something with 4 tires and an engine. until then, i'm begging rides to work at to the grocery store. i better figure something, i got books due at the library next week. maybe i can renew them over the phone?
good new on the book front. i got my advanced reading copy of "Dream of the Dragon Pool", by Albert Dalia. it is Chinese Hero Fantasy based on actual events in the life of historical Chinese poet Li Bo. looks very cool, and his very talented artist wife did the cover art. i know less than zero about Chinese history and myth. . . so hopefully i can keep up. but i did love Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
i finished reading Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, and if you're looking for a review, here or elsewhere, the next few sentences will have to suffice. this was the most readable Bradbury book i've come across, and Mr. Bradbury is so adorably sexist. really, it's quite cute. the short stories outline our first expedition to mars and first contact with martians, our martian colonies, the death of the martians, and the eventual nuclear death of the earth. parts of it feel like it is paralleling the Europeans discovery and colonization of North America, and how the natives were seen and treated. i wonder how many lit students have done that as a thesis?
what are your thoughts on the Martian Chronicles? i heard there was a movie made. do you know if it's any good?
so, no official review of The Martian Chronicles, but there is an official review of Greg Bear's Blood Music over at Scifi haven. I'd start posting reviews exclusively here, but i'm too busy being an attention whore over there.
time for food, i'm hungry.
Tabbouleh is a great summer salad, which is why i'm posting it in February, when it's getting up to a balmy 20 during the day, and dropping as low as -10 at night. too bad that 20 degrees isn't centegrade. i make as many batches of this as i can in the summer, because it's light, yummy, and pretty easy to make. it's divine in pita bread, as well.
you'll need:
1 cup bulgar wheat
1 cup boiling water
3-4 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 green onions, chopped
2 tbsp dried mint leaves
about 1 cup chopped cucumber
an entire bunch of fresh parsley, chopped as fine as you can (you should have about 2 cups)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
black pepper
optional:
can of chickpeas, strained.
garlic, to taste
how to make it:
put the bulgar wheat in a bowl and pour boiling water over it. cover, and let sit about 20 minutes. while the bulgar is busy absorbing all the water and softening up, you can chop everything else up. mix all ingredients well in a large bowl, cover, and let chill in the fridge for a few hours.
very easy, very fresh, and is delish in pitas, on crackers, or straight up. the chickpeas and cucumbers aren't part of the traditional recipes, but i love 'em, so i add 'em.
good new on the book front. i got my advanced reading copy of "Dream of the Dragon Pool", by Albert Dalia. it is Chinese Hero Fantasy based on actual events in the life of historical Chinese poet Li Bo. looks very cool, and his very talented artist wife did the cover art. i know less than zero about Chinese history and myth. . . so hopefully i can keep up. but i did love Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
i finished reading Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, and if you're looking for a review, here or elsewhere, the next few sentences will have to suffice. this was the most readable Bradbury book i've come across, and Mr. Bradbury is so adorably sexist. really, it's quite cute. the short stories outline our first expedition to mars and first contact with martians, our martian colonies, the death of the martians, and the eventual nuclear death of the earth. parts of it feel like it is paralleling the Europeans discovery and colonization of North America, and how the natives were seen and treated. i wonder how many lit students have done that as a thesis?
what are your thoughts on the Martian Chronicles? i heard there was a movie made. do you know if it's any good?
so, no official review of The Martian Chronicles, but there is an official review of Greg Bear's Blood Music over at Scifi haven. I'd start posting reviews exclusively here, but i'm too busy being an attention whore over there.
time for food, i'm hungry.
Tabbouleh is a great summer salad, which is why i'm posting it in February, when it's getting up to a balmy 20 during the day, and dropping as low as -10 at night. too bad that 20 degrees isn't centegrade. i make as many batches of this as i can in the summer, because it's light, yummy, and pretty easy to make. it's divine in pita bread, as well.
you'll need:
1 cup bulgar wheat
1 cup boiling water
3-4 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 green onions, chopped
2 tbsp dried mint leaves
about 1 cup chopped cucumber
an entire bunch of fresh parsley, chopped as fine as you can (you should have about 2 cups)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
black pepper
optional:
can of chickpeas, strained.
garlic, to taste
how to make it:
put the bulgar wheat in a bowl and pour boiling water over it. cover, and let sit about 20 minutes. while the bulgar is busy absorbing all the water and softening up, you can chop everything else up. mix all ingredients well in a large bowl, cover, and let chill in the fridge for a few hours.
very easy, very fresh, and is delish in pitas, on crackers, or straight up. the chickpeas and cucumbers aren't part of the traditional recipes, but i love 'em, so i add 'em.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
i love Stephen Lawhead
Stephen Lawhead, how do i love you? let me count the ways. . . Byzantium, The Pendragon Cycle, and now The Song of Albion trilogy! OK, Song of Albion was originally published about 15 years ago, but I just discovered it. this man is a MASTER of suspension of disbelief. i picked up The Paradise War at the library on a lark, as an escape from all the scifi i've been reading. Paradise War was supposed to be fun, it wasn't supposed to be so addictive i got sucked in and refused to put it down until i finished it a few days later, and called the library to make sure they have the other 2 books in the series (the do. phew!) Needless to say, go check out my review at Worm's Sci Fi Haven.
not quite as glowing, is my review of Jackie Kessler's Hell's Belles, at Multiverse Reviews. it was a umm. . perfectly mediocre book. funny, sexy, silly, but nothing special.
these days it seems I can't go a week without buying some kind of graphic novel or manga volume. this week's purchase was Joss Whedon's Those Left Behind, it's a prequel to the Serenity movie. and a mighty expensive prequel at that.
my other expenditures at the friends of the library bookstore all together didn't come to what i paid for that comic book, which, although flimsy, will have a special place on my bookshelf. for the whopping price of about $3, i'm now the proud owner of Greg Bear's Blood Music, Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, and Gregory Benford's Foundation's Fear. i'd love to hear your thoughts on any of these.
for all the sa-weet books i've been devouring, i gots some sa-weet food to go with it. and i'm not kidding, this Chicken in Orange sauce is super sweet, like sweet n' sour, but without the sour. but i dig it, and maybe you will too.
you'll need:
1.5 - 2 lbs chicken, cut into bite size peices
1/2 tsp salt
pepper
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 cups orange juice
1/2 cups slivered almonds
1/2 white raisins
white rice
you'll also need a large skillet, and a medium sauce pan.
melt 2 tbsp butter in the skillet, then add the chicken. season chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic, cook over low-medium heat. when chicken is about 1/2 cooked, remove from skillet and set aside. add the remaining butter to the skillet and the flour. Make a roux by stirring constantly for a few minutes. the flour will absorb the butter and turn brown. this is OK, but don't let it burn! Stir in the orange juice and ginger, turn up the heat a bit, and keep stirring until the mixture boils for one minute. make sure the sauce is smooth. stir in the almonds and raisins. stir in the chicken, turn the heat down to low, and let simmer for about 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and tender.
prepare white rice, and serve the chicken and orange sauce over rice.
it's very good, and very sweet. the leftovers the next day? divine!
not quite as glowing, is my review of Jackie Kessler's Hell's Belles, at Multiverse Reviews. it was a umm. . perfectly mediocre book. funny, sexy, silly, but nothing special.
these days it seems I can't go a week without buying some kind of graphic novel or manga volume. this week's purchase was Joss Whedon's Those Left Behind, it's a prequel to the Serenity movie. and a mighty expensive prequel at that.
my other expenditures at the friends of the library bookstore all together didn't come to what i paid for that comic book, which, although flimsy, will have a special place on my bookshelf. for the whopping price of about $3, i'm now the proud owner of Greg Bear's Blood Music, Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, and Gregory Benford's Foundation's Fear. i'd love to hear your thoughts on any of these.
for all the sa-weet books i've been devouring, i gots some sa-weet food to go with it. and i'm not kidding, this Chicken in Orange sauce is super sweet, like sweet n' sour, but without the sour. but i dig it, and maybe you will too.
you'll need:
1.5 - 2 lbs chicken, cut into bite size peices
1/2 tsp salt
pepper
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 cups orange juice
1/2 cups slivered almonds
1/2 white raisins
white rice
you'll also need a large skillet, and a medium sauce pan.
melt 2 tbsp butter in the skillet, then add the chicken. season chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic, cook over low-medium heat. when chicken is about 1/2 cooked, remove from skillet and set aside. add the remaining butter to the skillet and the flour. Make a roux by stirring constantly for a few minutes. the flour will absorb the butter and turn brown. this is OK, but don't let it burn! Stir in the orange juice and ginger, turn up the heat a bit, and keep stirring until the mixture boils for one minute. make sure the sauce is smooth. stir in the almonds and raisins. stir in the chicken, turn the heat down to low, and let simmer for about 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and tender.
prepare white rice, and serve the chicken and orange sauce over rice.
it's very good, and very sweet. the leftovers the next day? divine!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)