I try not to make cookies that often. Because when I do make them, I end up eating half the batch. usually right off the cookie sheet. And there is no such thing as enough cookie options!
Who are you?
I'm Monster. Cookie Monster.
(cue James Bond music now)
My cookie recipes
My Mother's Forgotten Cookies
Chocolate Walnut Cookies - gluten free!
Classic Oatmeal Raisin cookies
Classic Buttery sugary cookies - great for Holiday decorating!
Ginger snaps
some faves from around the interwebs
Katharine Hepburn's Brownies
50 Best Desserts from Homestyle gossip
Pumpkin cookies from BitchinCamaro (Ok, more cakey than cookie, but still really tasty)
Nine Cookies to try from The Kitchn, one of my new fave sites.
If that doesn't give you some new cookies to try, we gots issues.
Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts
Monday, December 21, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
two Meringue disasters = kitchen mad science!
I attemped to make my Mom's famous Forgotten Cookies the other day, and had multiple egg disasters.
(why do you call them forgotten cookies? Cuz you put 'em in the oven and forget about them until the next morning. seriously).
Attempt one: made meringue with egg whites, waited too long to add sugar, so i added sugar fairly quickly, and it didn't all disolve, and the meringue fell. looked like the texture of frosting. air bubbles were floating to the top and popping. this is bad, but I didn't know it yet. Oh, and I wanted to make mint flavored Forgotten cookies, so i added some Peppermint Oil. If you've ever worked with peppermint oil,you know you only need a drop to flavor a weeks worth of food. well, there was only a few drops left in the bottle, so i just dumped it all in. the peppermint cloud nearly took my head off. and the oils made the meringue fall even more. But hey, I've got an electric mixer! 40 minutes later, i could smell the engine in my mixer over heating. and the texture of the fallen meringue hadn't changed one bit. not one stinkin bit!
time to try again.
two more eggs. an 1/8 tsp cream of tartar. now for the sugar. granulated or confectioners? during the last hour of holding a mixer over a bowl, I'd had plenty of opportunity to read every single article in The Joy of Cooking about eggs and meringue, and there was some mention of using superfine sugar, because it dissolves easier. Superfine sugar is confectioners sugar, right? original recipe called for 2/3 cup sugar, let's try 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar, and added it approximately one tablespoon at a time.
and baby, it was perfect. ok, nearly perfect. the texture was a little, umm, chewier than usual, but maybe that was just the differnet kind of sugar? i also added a handful of chocolate chips and a drop of red food coloring to make pink cookies. into the oven those babies went!
next morning i went to take them out, and they all stuck to the tin foil. Meringue cookies will dry out in the oven, and although there is a little peeling involved in taking them off a lined cookie sheet, they shouldn't stick at all. these stuck. i tasted one.
I'd made taffy. Thank God i don't having any fillings. I made the husband taste one. he laughed. We agreen to throw the entire batch into the garbage.
So what went wrong?
first, the granuated sugar - I added it too much at a time, and it never dissolved properly. because it didn't dissolve right, it couldn't bond to the air bubbles in the foam and keep the bubbles from moving around (like to the surface) and popping.
second, the peppermint oil - not only did i add about 10 times more than i needed, but oil = fat, and fat + meringue = doesn't work. Next time i have a craving for pepperming meringue cookies, i think i'll make unflavored cookies, and after they come out of the oven i'll spray them with a mix of water and a teensy bit of peppermint or other flavors. A bit of chocolate chips doesn't usually hurt, becuase they have very little oils/fats in the surface, and never really get hot enough in the oven to melt and release the oils.
third, the confectioners sugar - I haven't quite figured out that one yet.
for a while I was really cranky that my cookies didn't turn out, but it was some sweet kitchen chemistry. and the husband did help me with dishes after.
if you've read this far, you deserve some fun articles on the science of of meringue.
and now i know why you can buy "meringue fragrances" online. it's oil/fat free flavoring for your meringue. kitchen science rocks.
(why do you call them forgotten cookies? Cuz you put 'em in the oven and forget about them until the next morning. seriously).
Attempt one: made meringue with egg whites, waited too long to add sugar, so i added sugar fairly quickly, and it didn't all disolve, and the meringue fell. looked like the texture of frosting. air bubbles were floating to the top and popping. this is bad, but I didn't know it yet. Oh, and I wanted to make mint flavored Forgotten cookies, so i added some Peppermint Oil. If you've ever worked with peppermint oil,you know you only need a drop to flavor a weeks worth of food. well, there was only a few drops left in the bottle, so i just dumped it all in. the peppermint cloud nearly took my head off. and the oils made the meringue fall even more. But hey, I've got an electric mixer! 40 minutes later, i could smell the engine in my mixer over heating. and the texture of the fallen meringue hadn't changed one bit. not one stinkin bit!
time to try again.
two more eggs. an 1/8 tsp cream of tartar. now for the sugar. granulated or confectioners? during the last hour of holding a mixer over a bowl, I'd had plenty of opportunity to read every single article in The Joy of Cooking about eggs and meringue, and there was some mention of using superfine sugar, because it dissolves easier. Superfine sugar is confectioners sugar, right? original recipe called for 2/3 cup sugar, let's try 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar, and added it approximately one tablespoon at a time.
and baby, it was perfect. ok, nearly perfect. the texture was a little, umm, chewier than usual, but maybe that was just the differnet kind of sugar? i also added a handful of chocolate chips and a drop of red food coloring to make pink cookies. into the oven those babies went!
next morning i went to take them out, and they all stuck to the tin foil. Meringue cookies will dry out in the oven, and although there is a little peeling involved in taking them off a lined cookie sheet, they shouldn't stick at all. these stuck. i tasted one.
I'd made taffy. Thank God i don't having any fillings. I made the husband taste one. he laughed. We agreen to throw the entire batch into the garbage.
So what went wrong?
first, the granuated sugar - I added it too much at a time, and it never dissolved properly. because it didn't dissolve right, it couldn't bond to the air bubbles in the foam and keep the bubbles from moving around (like to the surface) and popping.
second, the peppermint oil - not only did i add about 10 times more than i needed, but oil = fat, and fat + meringue = doesn't work. Next time i have a craving for pepperming meringue cookies, i think i'll make unflavored cookies, and after they come out of the oven i'll spray them with a mix of water and a teensy bit of peppermint or other flavors. A bit of chocolate chips doesn't usually hurt, becuase they have very little oils/fats in the surface, and never really get hot enough in the oven to melt and release the oils.
third, the confectioners sugar - I haven't quite figured out that one yet.
for a while I was really cranky that my cookies didn't turn out, but it was some sweet kitchen chemistry. and the husband did help me with dishes after.
if you've read this far, you deserve some fun articles on the science of of meringue.
and now i know why you can buy "meringue fragrances" online. it's oil/fat free flavoring for your meringue. kitchen science rocks.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
April 11th, part 2: food is better than the book
April 11th, part two. The food is better than the book.
Review of Gordon Dahlquist’s Glass books of the dream eaters. Not a bad book, but not particularly good either. If you were stuck on a desert island with nothing to do, it would be a good, long, book to have.
The Passover cooking is going strong, read on for recipes for a spicy north African Beef Stew, deliciously light Chocolate Walnut cookies, and Zuchini & Tomato gratin.
Moroccan Beef Stew (adapted from Faye Levy’s 1000 Jewish Recipes)
2 lbs cubed stewing beef
2-3 tbsp oil
1 large onion, chopped
Up to 3 cups water
4 tbsp minced garlic
Good pinch hot pepper flakes (or more, to taste)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
Salt & pepper
2 lbs red potatoes
1 large (or two small) sweet pepper peppers, chopped
3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Heat oil in large dutch oven over medium high heat, and brown beef on all sides. Remove beef, and add the onions to the pan. Cook onion till softened, 5-7 minutes. Add beef back to pan, stir in garlic, hot pepper, cumin, paprika and salt & pepper. Add enough water to barely cover the beef, stir, and bring to a boil. Simmer over low-medium heat for 90 minutes, adding more water if needed. Cube potatoes, and add to stew, pushing them down into the liquid. Simmer another 30 minuets, then stir in sweet peppers, cooking into they soften, 5-10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.
Chocolate Walnut Cookies off the interwebs, somewhere.
2 1/2 cups walnuts
3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup unsweeted baking cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 egg whites
1 tbsp vanilla extract
preheat oven to 350, and line baking sheets with parchment paper. finely chop the walnuts. if you are using a food processor, be careful because you don't want them pulverized, just chopped. toast the walnuts in the oven for about 7-8 minutes, and let cool. in a large bowl mix sugar, cocoa and salt. stir in walnuts. fold in vanilla and egg whites, stiring until the mixture has moistened, and darkened. do not beat or overmix, you just want it blended. Drop batter by teaspoonful onto baking sheets, and bake for 12-15 minutes, until tops are glossy and begins to crackle. let cool on baking sheets, then remove to racks. makes about 3 dozen cookies.
i was afraid these cookies would be overly rich and heavy. Nope. light, airy, and a nice balance of bitter chocolate to sweetness.
Zucchini & Tomato Gratin
I think I made this last year. it's from my French Provincial cookbook.
2lbs zuchini
salt
3-4 tbsp butter or oil
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 tbsp basil
1 cup matzah meal or breadcrums
4-5 tbsp grated Greyere, Danish Fontina, Swiss, or other swiss-like firm white oily cheese
Slice zucchini thinly, and layer in a colander with generous sprinkles of salt between each layer. don't be chinsy with the salt, it's important because it leeches the moisture out of the zucchini, and you'll be washing the salt off later anyways. Let zucchini sit for 1 hour, then rinse with cool water, and dry the slices on paper towels. Taste a peice. see? not as salty as you'd expect, and crispier and crunchier than unsalted zucchini.
Preheat oven to 400, heat the butter/oil in a skillet over medium heat. in batches, sautee the zuchini until browned. remove the zucchini from the skillet. add the tomatoes, garlic, basil and salt and pepper, and bring mixture to a boil. simmer for 5-10 minutes, until it has thickened a bit. Stir the zuchhini back into the skillet, and mix everything together. Pour into a baking dish. in a small bowl blend the matzah meal and the cheese, and sprinkle it over the zuchhini. dot with butter, and bake for 25 minutes.
Review of Gordon Dahlquist’s Glass books of the dream eaters. Not a bad book, but not particularly good either. If you were stuck on a desert island with nothing to do, it would be a good, long, book to have.
The Passover cooking is going strong, read on for recipes for a spicy north African Beef Stew, deliciously light Chocolate Walnut cookies, and Zuchini & Tomato gratin.
Moroccan Beef Stew (adapted from Faye Levy’s 1000 Jewish Recipes)
2 lbs cubed stewing beef
2-3 tbsp oil
1 large onion, chopped
Up to 3 cups water
4 tbsp minced garlic
Good pinch hot pepper flakes (or more, to taste)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
Salt & pepper
2 lbs red potatoes
1 large (or two small) sweet pepper peppers, chopped
3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Heat oil in large dutch oven over medium high heat, and brown beef on all sides. Remove beef, and add the onions to the pan. Cook onion till softened, 5-7 minutes. Add beef back to pan, stir in garlic, hot pepper, cumin, paprika and salt & pepper. Add enough water to barely cover the beef, stir, and bring to a boil. Simmer over low-medium heat for 90 minutes, adding more water if needed. Cube potatoes, and add to stew, pushing them down into the liquid. Simmer another 30 minuets, then stir in sweet peppers, cooking into they soften, 5-10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.
Chocolate Walnut Cookies off the interwebs, somewhere.
2 1/2 cups walnuts
3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup unsweeted baking cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 egg whites
1 tbsp vanilla extract
preheat oven to 350, and line baking sheets with parchment paper. finely chop the walnuts. if you are using a food processor, be careful because you don't want them pulverized, just chopped. toast the walnuts in the oven for about 7-8 minutes, and let cool. in a large bowl mix sugar, cocoa and salt. stir in walnuts. fold in vanilla and egg whites, stiring until the mixture has moistened, and darkened. do not beat or overmix, you just want it blended. Drop batter by teaspoonful onto baking sheets, and bake for 12-15 minutes, until tops are glossy and begins to crackle. let cool on baking sheets, then remove to racks. makes about 3 dozen cookies.
i was afraid these cookies would be overly rich and heavy. Nope. light, airy, and a nice balance of bitter chocolate to sweetness.
Zucchini & Tomato Gratin
I think I made this last year. it's from my French Provincial cookbook.
2lbs zuchini
salt
3-4 tbsp butter or oil
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 tbsp basil
1 cup matzah meal or breadcrums
4-5 tbsp grated Greyere, Danish Fontina, Swiss, or other swiss-like firm white oily cheese
Slice zucchini thinly, and layer in a colander with generous sprinkles of salt between each layer. don't be chinsy with the salt, it's important because it leeches the moisture out of the zucchini, and you'll be washing the salt off later anyways. Let zucchini sit for 1 hour, then rinse with cool water, and dry the slices on paper towels. Taste a peice. see? not as salty as you'd expect, and crispier and crunchier than unsalted zucchini.
Preheat oven to 400, heat the butter/oil in a skillet over medium heat. in batches, sautee the zuchini until browned. remove the zucchini from the skillet. add the tomatoes, garlic, basil and salt and pepper, and bring mixture to a boil. simmer for 5-10 minutes, until it has thickened a bit. Stir the zuchhini back into the skillet, and mix everything together. Pour into a baking dish. in a small bowl blend the matzah meal and the cheese, and sprinkle it over the zuchhini. dot with butter, and bake for 25 minutes.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Hamentaschen make me happy
i don't have a lot of luck with pastries, but Hamentashen make me happy.
Hamen-what-shah? Hamentashen, those triangular shaped pastries eating during the Jewish holiday of Purim, which celebrates how Esther saved the Jewish people from certain destruction (she saved the tribe, and married outside the faith! go Esther!).
I used to always use my Mom's crisco based recipe, and Mom, I love you, but crisco left my dough dry, and too crunchy. Thanks for those Jewish cookbooks you bought me a few years ago, I found the best Hamentaschen recipe! Instead of a cookie-ish dough, it's a tricked-out pastry dough (tricked out? can i say that about a pastry dough?)
the filling is also important. i've learned the hard way DON'T OVERFILL YOUR HAMENTASCHEN! the dough expands, and the filling expands, and they will kind of explode in the oven. although yummy to eat, it doesn't look pretty. it's tempting to cram in as much filling as possible, i know, but these are NOT cannoli! and everything expands. I've had best luck with using the SOLO brand of pie filling, or a 1/2 to 3/4 tsp of melted and cooled chocolate chips per Hamentaschen.
This recipe is from Faye Levy's 1,00 Jewish Recipes. it makes about 3 dozen Hamentaschen. I think the trick is the cooling of the dough before baking.
2 3/4 cups flour
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 sticks cold butter, cut into little peices and chilled until you're ready to use them.
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3 tbsp milk, or maybe a little more
another egg for later
combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a big bowl. use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until the consistency is course crumbs (like you're making a pie crust). in a small bowl, beat the egg with the vanilla, then add to the flour mixture. cut with a spatula until the dough begins to come together. mix in milk one tablespoon at a time (how much you need depends on the ambient humidity of your kitchen. seriously) until the dough forms small balls which stick together when pressed. Shape dough into a flat disk, and wrap in plastic wrap, and put in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
to make the Hamentaschen: cut your disk of dough into 4 peices. keep unused peices wrapped in plastic wrap. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it's about 1/8" thick. Cut into rounds with a 3" cookie cutter (i found the small can of Dole Pineapple chunks is perfect), and place just less than 1 tsp of filling in the center. pull three sides to the center and pinch, to form a triangular pastry showing a big of filling at the center. roll out all the dough, and use the scraps too. put Hamentaschen on a greased cookie sheet, and refridgerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350. brush hamentashen with beaten egg, so they get shiny when the cook. Bake 12 at a time for about 15 minutes, or until they start to go brown on top. Cool on wire racks.
this isn't a picture of my hamentaschen, but this is what they look like:
Hamen-what-shah? Hamentashen, those triangular shaped pastries eating during the Jewish holiday of Purim, which celebrates how Esther saved the Jewish people from certain destruction (she saved the tribe, and married outside the faith! go Esther!).
I used to always use my Mom's crisco based recipe, and Mom, I love you, but crisco left my dough dry, and too crunchy. Thanks for those Jewish cookbooks you bought me a few years ago, I found the best Hamentaschen recipe! Instead of a cookie-ish dough, it's a tricked-out pastry dough (tricked out? can i say that about a pastry dough?)
the filling is also important. i've learned the hard way DON'T OVERFILL YOUR HAMENTASCHEN! the dough expands, and the filling expands, and they will kind of explode in the oven. although yummy to eat, it doesn't look pretty. it's tempting to cram in as much filling as possible, i know, but these are NOT cannoli! and everything expands. I've had best luck with using the SOLO brand of pie filling, or a 1/2 to 3/4 tsp of melted and cooled chocolate chips per Hamentaschen.
This recipe is from Faye Levy's 1,00 Jewish Recipes. it makes about 3 dozen Hamentaschen. I think the trick is the cooling of the dough before baking.
2 3/4 cups flour
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 sticks cold butter, cut into little peices and chilled until you're ready to use them.
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3 tbsp milk, or maybe a little more
another egg for later
combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a big bowl. use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until the consistency is course crumbs (like you're making a pie crust). in a small bowl, beat the egg with the vanilla, then add to the flour mixture. cut with a spatula until the dough begins to come together. mix in milk one tablespoon at a time (how much you need depends on the ambient humidity of your kitchen. seriously) until the dough forms small balls which stick together when pressed. Shape dough into a flat disk, and wrap in plastic wrap, and put in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
to make the Hamentaschen: cut your disk of dough into 4 peices. keep unused peices wrapped in plastic wrap. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it's about 1/8" thick. Cut into rounds with a 3" cookie cutter (i found the small can of Dole Pineapple chunks is perfect), and place just less than 1 tsp of filling in the center. pull three sides to the center and pinch, to form a triangular pastry showing a big of filling at the center. roll out all the dough, and use the scraps too. put Hamentaschen on a greased cookie sheet, and refridgerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350. brush hamentashen with beaten egg, so they get shiny when the cook. Bake 12 at a time for about 15 minutes, or until they start to go brown on top. Cool on wire racks.
this isn't a picture of my hamentaschen, but this is what they look like:
Sunday, January 6, 2008
oatmeal Raisin Cookies
I made gloopy cookies.
well, they looked gloopy, and kind of gross, but tasted so good I've eaten like five of them so far, and I want more!
My hubby asked me to make him some oatmeal raisin cookies. I don't much care for oatmeal raising cookes (I'm more of a butter/sugar cookie girl myself), so I found a recipe, and started mixing.
Quick classic oatmeal cookies (adapted from the recipe in The Joy of Cooking)
preheat oven to 350. grease a few cookie sheets, or use nonstick cookie sheets.
in a medium bowl, combine the following:
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
in a larger bowl, blend the following:
2 sticks softened butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
once that's well blended, add the flour mixture and blend well. again. now add:
1 1/2 cups chopped raisins
3 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
mix it all up till it looks all gloopy and gloppy. spoon heaping tablespoons onto the cookie sheets, and press down a little with the back of the spoon. you should get 10-12 cookies per cookie sheet, and 40-50 cookies total. bake at 350 for 6-9 minutes, until just browned on top, and slightly firm. remove to racks to cool.
yeah, they look a little gross, but they are really yummy. i think next time i'm going to try this recipe with currants, or dates, or something other than raisins. just to see what happens.
got a handful of reviews up, my first official Manga reviews!
Blame!, Volume one. I couldn't figure out why this series has this name, since our main character, Killy, is just a guy trying to survive, and only kills cyborgs. turns out the word blame is a mistransliteration of the word blam, the sound Killy's gun makes when he blows away all those H.R. Giger-esque cyborgs.
Psychic Power Nanaki, volume I. this one was just so-so. has the potential to be a viable series, or just fall into iffyness. characters are pretty reminiscent of people already seen from this author. Is he pulling the same crossover stunt that CLAMP is known to do? can he pull it off?
St. Lunatic High School, Volume I. cute, and zany. I've read better, and I've read worse. i hope the author takes this beyond the "monster of the week" theme.
well, they looked gloopy, and kind of gross, but tasted so good I've eaten like five of them so far, and I want more!
My hubby asked me to make him some oatmeal raisin cookies. I don't much care for oatmeal raising cookes (I'm more of a butter/sugar cookie girl myself), so I found a recipe, and started mixing.
Quick classic oatmeal cookies (adapted from the recipe in The Joy of Cooking)
preheat oven to 350. grease a few cookie sheets, or use nonstick cookie sheets.
in a medium bowl, combine the following:
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
in a larger bowl, blend the following:
2 sticks softened butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
once that's well blended, add the flour mixture and blend well. again. now add:
1 1/2 cups chopped raisins
3 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
mix it all up till it looks all gloopy and gloppy. spoon heaping tablespoons onto the cookie sheets, and press down a little with the back of the spoon. you should get 10-12 cookies per cookie sheet, and 40-50 cookies total. bake at 350 for 6-9 minutes, until just browned on top, and slightly firm. remove to racks to cool.
yeah, they look a little gross, but they are really yummy. i think next time i'm going to try this recipe with currants, or dates, or something other than raisins. just to see what happens.
got a handful of reviews up, my first official Manga reviews!
Blame!, Volume one. I couldn't figure out why this series has this name, since our main character, Killy, is just a guy trying to survive, and only kills cyborgs. turns out the word blame is a mistransliteration of the word blam, the sound Killy's gun makes when he blows away all those H.R. Giger-esque cyborgs.
Psychic Power Nanaki, volume I. this one was just so-so. has the potential to be a viable series, or just fall into iffyness. characters are pretty reminiscent of people already seen from this author. Is he pulling the same crossover stunt that CLAMP is known to do? can he pull it off?
St. Lunatic High School, Volume I. cute, and zany. I've read better, and I've read worse. i hope the author takes this beyond the "monster of the week" theme.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
I need a life.
I got a LOT of reading done in the last week or so. Work slow down? Nothin’ on TV? None of my stuff in the Netflix queue? A little bit of all of the above. So here’s a go at quickly summing up some good and not so good books that have been on the horizon.
Oh my god, I got something from the library that wasn’t scifi! Or fantasy! Gimme a break, it had a pretty picture on the cover. Mozart’s Sister, by Nancy Moser follows the life of, yup, you guessed it, Mozart’s sister Nannerl (Anna Maria). When they were children, Papa Mozart carted them around Europe as child geniuses. Nannerl was the only one who didn’t know her future didn’t involve the stage, but a husband, a house, and babies. Quite the shock. Not having met a single other female who wasn’t a wife/mother/widow, she should have seen it coming, don’t you think? The writing had a modern feel to it, which really didn’t match the Mozart families traditional cathlolic values. Nannerl seems a woman out of place. Nancy Moser gave a little blurb at the end about how she got involved in the writing the story. She made her religious views pretty clear, and they don’t match my own. How awful is it, that I allow something like that to color my thoughts on a book? I read somewhere that a story can only live if the author is dead. Because the story should be about the damn story, not the author.
Back to Scifi, I also picked up The Secret City, by Carol Ermshwiller, who has won about a bazillion awards. Aliens who look pretty much just like humans have visited Earth, as “tourists”. They can blend in pretty well, and all expect to go home soon. When they are abandoned here, the next generation is born here, and they know nothing of their homeworld. When the rescuers do arrive, the earth-born aliens don’t want to go home, because Earth has become their home. The Secret City is a character driven novel, not much action, not much sciency-ness. The back cover says it’s “New Age”. I’m thinking I aughta avoid New Age for a while, or maybe take a break from character driven novels for once, and hook up with some fun easy action. Star Wars, anyone?
In the “continued from last time” section, I blew through CLAMP’s xxxHolic, and in fact, it was so fun, I think I might read it again. The crossover snippets are almost as sweet as Yuko’s wardrobe, I’m still trying to figure where one part of her kimono ends, and the next begins. Somone’s got to be working on liscencing this for an anime, but they’d probably screw it up. The more manga I read, the more I’m finding the anime versions are usually cheap (yet sexy) imitations. I’m amazed at how much more emotion Mangaka are able to convey through a black and white comic book, than through an animated tv show or movie. Still slogging through Frank Herbert’s White Plague. you know, this started out so good. After 100 pages or so, it went to crap. I own it, so I can slowly torture myself with the pedantic writing, crappy dialogue, and annoying characters. Herbert keeps introducting new minor characters, which is cool because many of them are interesting, but our main dude, John, is just a jerk. Yes, I realize he’s been through major trauma and may be suffering from multiple personality disorder, but Herbert hasn’t convinced me to care. Maybe there’s a cool gunfight or explosion at the end.
On the horizon: The Looking Glass Wars, by Frank Bettor. Starts out with some super slick marker drawings of playing card soldiers. Very slick! Luckily, I’ve got Frank’s annoying intro letting me know he’s already working on the screenplay. Little cocky, are we? The 2nd Wheel of Time book The Great Hunt has also made it into my apartment, and my other half keeps telling how awesome it is. Damnit, I might be getting sucked into that annoying series.
Books, books books! I need some cookies!
Gotta give credit where credit is due, this recipe is stolen directly from The Joy of Cooking. Makes about 30 2.5” cookies, so I usually make a double batch.
You’ll need:
2 sticks butter, room temp.
1 cup sugar (brown or white)
0.5 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
2.5 cups flour
cream butter with sugar & salt. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Add the flour all at once, and stir until combined. It’ll be pretty heavy and a little cakey. Divide in half and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for a few hours (over night is best). To make cookies, using about a tablespoon at a time, roll cold dough into a ball, and then flatten with the palm of your hand. bake on a rimmed cookie sheet at 375 for about 10-12 minutes, or until the tops dry out and the bottom edges just turn brown. Cool on wire racks, and keep in an airtight container.
This recipe is great, because you can add whatever flavorings you want. Any liquid flavorings like melted and cooled chocolate, orange zest, mint flavoring, peanut butter, nuts (nuts are oily, and are therefore liquids) should be added before you put the flour in. any dry flavorings, like spices (any spices that go in pie are great in cookies!), should be added with the flour. I usually use brown sugar, but I made a batch of mint cookies with white sugar, and they were delish! I’ll typically make four half-batches, so I can easily do four flavors. If you’re going to do a half batch, use one egg, and one egg yolk.
Oh my god, I got something from the library that wasn’t scifi! Or fantasy! Gimme a break, it had a pretty picture on the cover. Mozart’s Sister, by Nancy Moser follows the life of, yup, you guessed it, Mozart’s sister Nannerl (Anna Maria). When they were children, Papa Mozart carted them around Europe as child geniuses. Nannerl was the only one who didn’t know her future didn’t involve the stage, but a husband, a house, and babies. Quite the shock. Not having met a single other female who wasn’t a wife/mother/widow, she should have seen it coming, don’t you think? The writing had a modern feel to it, which really didn’t match the Mozart families traditional cathlolic values. Nannerl seems a woman out of place. Nancy Moser gave a little blurb at the end about how she got involved in the writing the story. She made her religious views pretty clear, and they don’t match my own. How awful is it, that I allow something like that to color my thoughts on a book? I read somewhere that a story can only live if the author is dead. Because the story should be about the damn story, not the author.
Back to Scifi, I also picked up The Secret City, by Carol Ermshwiller, who has won about a bazillion awards. Aliens who look pretty much just like humans have visited Earth, as “tourists”. They can blend in pretty well, and all expect to go home soon. When they are abandoned here, the next generation is born here, and they know nothing of their homeworld. When the rescuers do arrive, the earth-born aliens don’t want to go home, because Earth has become their home. The Secret City is a character driven novel, not much action, not much sciency-ness. The back cover says it’s “New Age”. I’m thinking I aughta avoid New Age for a while, or maybe take a break from character driven novels for once, and hook up with some fun easy action. Star Wars, anyone?
In the “continued from last time” section, I blew through CLAMP’s xxxHolic, and in fact, it was so fun, I think I might read it again. The crossover snippets are almost as sweet as Yuko’s wardrobe, I’m still trying to figure where one part of her kimono ends, and the next begins. Somone’s got to be working on liscencing this for an anime, but they’d probably screw it up. The more manga I read, the more I’m finding the anime versions are usually cheap (yet sexy) imitations. I’m amazed at how much more emotion Mangaka are able to convey through a black and white comic book, than through an animated tv show or movie. Still slogging through Frank Herbert’s White Plague. you know, this started out so good. After 100 pages or so, it went to crap. I own it, so I can slowly torture myself with the pedantic writing, crappy dialogue, and annoying characters. Herbert keeps introducting new minor characters, which is cool because many of them are interesting, but our main dude, John, is just a jerk. Yes, I realize he’s been through major trauma and may be suffering from multiple personality disorder, but Herbert hasn’t convinced me to care. Maybe there’s a cool gunfight or explosion at the end.
On the horizon: The Looking Glass Wars, by Frank Bettor. Starts out with some super slick marker drawings of playing card soldiers. Very slick! Luckily, I’ve got Frank’s annoying intro letting me know he’s already working on the screenplay. Little cocky, are we? The 2nd Wheel of Time book The Great Hunt has also made it into my apartment, and my other half keeps telling how awesome it is. Damnit, I might be getting sucked into that annoying series.
Books, books books! I need some cookies!
Gotta give credit where credit is due, this recipe is stolen directly from The Joy of Cooking. Makes about 30 2.5” cookies, so I usually make a double batch.
You’ll need:
2 sticks butter, room temp.
1 cup sugar (brown or white)
0.5 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
2.5 cups flour
cream butter with sugar & salt. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Add the flour all at once, and stir until combined. It’ll be pretty heavy and a little cakey. Divide in half and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for a few hours (over night is best). To make cookies, using about a tablespoon at a time, roll cold dough into a ball, and then flatten with the palm of your hand. bake on a rimmed cookie sheet at 375 for about 10-12 minutes, or until the tops dry out and the bottom edges just turn brown. Cool on wire racks, and keep in an airtight container.
This recipe is great, because you can add whatever flavorings you want. Any liquid flavorings like melted and cooled chocolate, orange zest, mint flavoring, peanut butter, nuts (nuts are oily, and are therefore liquids) should be added before you put the flour in. any dry flavorings, like spices (any spices that go in pie are great in cookies!), should be added with the flour. I usually use brown sugar, but I made a batch of mint cookies with white sugar, and they were delish! I’ll typically make four half-batches, so I can easily do four flavors. If you’re going to do a half batch, use one egg, and one egg yolk.
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