We got another meal from the dinner party remains. Always a good thing. Last night I made a Southwest Salad, a Penzeys recipe using their southwest seasoning, sent gratis because I am such a good reliable customer. The salad had a dressing of oil, lime juice, garlic and the seasoning, and in the salad was rotini pasta, fresh cooked corn from the cob, black beans, tomato, red bell pepper, scallions and roast chicken meat for the carnivores.
www.penzeys.com
The little vegetarian received a separate salad sans chicken. She liked it and ate thirds.
We saw the new Narnia movie yesterday, Prince Caspian, which I liked a lot. Battles between good and evil are always a ripping good story, as was this, with wonderful special effects, esp. the centaurs. Yowsa!
We want to see the American Girl movie this week, too. Rented Flushed Away and Fly Away Home (four stars!) so I'm getting caught up on my kids movies. Young at heart, and too soon made glad.
Tonight we are making our own pizza with fresh dough from Roche Bros. Toppings will be:
tomatoes, summer squash, red bell pepper, mushrooms, olive, garlic, ricotta, mozzarella, fontina, romano, and I do believe that is all. I should add up the cost of all the cheeses, etc., and determine if this is financially worthwhile, but of course it will taste so good and we will eat any leftover cheese.
I have sent the first 50 pages of Festival Madness to my Guppy's critique group. Another rejection, making nine. Not a lot, but no one has asked for the manuscript. In the meantime, I'm plugging away at--ta da!!! working title: In Flight.
Busy week ahead, with a Pawsox game on the 4th, a trip to Boston's Harbor Islands, and maybe some shopping for school clothes. I know. School was just out, but a young lady has to stop.
Til I drop, no doubt.
Cheers!
Grapeshot
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The Dinner Party
I admit it, when it comes to cooking and entertaining, I do get carried away. Here are some photos from last nights feed. The grilled red pepper and cauliflower salad was very tasty and easy, too. Meat was fork tender with a great flavor. Dessert to die for, but a pain in the ass to make, and I will probably substitute a simpler fruit sauce when I make it again.
The smoked trout appetizer is an old favorite, and would work well with smoked salmon.
Time in the kitchen: approximately 8 hours. Oh well.
One of my favorite art installations is Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party. I still remember the awe and excitement when I first saw it with my friend Elaine in Chicago. She and I marched for women's rights. Ah, heady days, and we had lots of dinner parties.
Grapeshot
Bon appetit!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Dinner Party
Eeek! I haven't posted for days. Two houseguests in residence, and now a dinner party. Yesterday we had a Duck Boat Tour of Boston. Much fun, then on to the Museum of Science for an afternoon of really cool stuff. This is a great museum which should be put on any Boston vacation. The butterfly garden itself is worth the trip.
Last night we had a wonderful Indian feast at Masala in Needham. One can go crazy with just the breads. The youngest guest is a vegetarian and just loves the long menu of stuff that caters to her eating habits. We came home to feast on home made lemon lime ice milk which tastes rich and wonderful and I'm thinking ice milk is a misnomer.
So for tonight I am making a barbequed brisket, salad of red peppers and roasted califlower, rice pudding with fresh poached rhubarb and glaze, corn on the cob, smoked trout on endive with an herbed cream cheese, various appetizer cheeses. Not served in that order, of course.
Couldn't find trout at the fish counter, and had to buy already smoked at Trader Joe's who always reliably stocks it.
Corn came from Ward's berry farm which was aswarm with kids picking strawberries. Cute little girls in sun dresses with pails. Like a impressionist painting.
So now to wrap up details, vacuum, finish laundry, all that stuff and even set the table. Kitchen smells so good.
Bon appetit!
Grapeshot
Last night we had a wonderful Indian feast at Masala in Needham. One can go crazy with just the breads. The youngest guest is a vegetarian and just loves the long menu of stuff that caters to her eating habits. We came home to feast on home made lemon lime ice milk which tastes rich and wonderful and I'm thinking ice milk is a misnomer.
So for tonight I am making a barbequed brisket, salad of red peppers and roasted califlower, rice pudding with fresh poached rhubarb and glaze, corn on the cob, smoked trout on endive with an herbed cream cheese, various appetizer cheeses. Not served in that order, of course.
Couldn't find trout at the fish counter, and had to buy already smoked at Trader Joe's who always reliably stocks it.
Corn came from Ward's berry farm which was aswarm with kids picking strawberries. Cute little girls in sun dresses with pails. Like a impressionist painting.
So now to wrap up details, vacuum, finish laundry, all that stuff and even set the table. Kitchen smells so good.
Bon appetit!
Grapeshot
Monday, June 23, 2008
Odyssey Review
Every now and then I send a book out to a review site, and sometimes it takes pretty much forever, and one tends to forget all about these forays, since they produce a review but so far as I can tell, no sales.
Or maybe everyone buys them 2nd hand at Amazon. Hey, I've done that. At least the book gets readers and who knows where it goes?
So last night, when I had an email from a website asking ME for a copy of The Shadow Warriors based on another review, my ears pricked up. I found the review, which just came out a couple days ago. On the whole it is good (4 medallions) and probably even fair, although the reviewer wanted MORE TECHNOLOGY, which I doubt the general public does.
I am old enough to know you can't please everyone. See the prior Muffin Post.
So if you are curious about The Shadow Warriors or thinking of buying a copy, this review may be of some interest or even help.
http://herodyssey.blogspot.com/2008/06/judith-copek-shadow-warriors.html
Or maybe everyone buys them 2nd hand at Amazon. Hey, I've done that. At least the book gets readers and who knows where it goes?
So last night, when I had an email from a website asking ME for a copy of The Shadow Warriors based on another review, my ears pricked up. I found the review, which just came out a couple days ago. On the whole it is good (4 medallions) and probably even fair, although the reviewer wanted MORE TECHNOLOGY, which I doubt the general public does.
I am old enough to know you can't please everyone. See the prior Muffin Post.
So if you are curious about The Shadow Warriors or thinking of buying a copy, this review may be of some interest or even help.
http://herodyssey.blogspot.com/2008/06/judith-copek-shadow-warriors.html
A Blueberry Muffin Kind of Day
The muffins you make yourself, especially from old recipes, taste nothing like the supermarket/Dunkin Donuts fare. They aren't as big or as sweet and anyone who never ate an old fashioned muffin probably wouldn't even like them.
But I do. So this morning, with two pints of super cheap (99 cents) blueberries in the fridge, I dug out an old recipe and got going. Discovered at the last possible moment that the recipe made 24 muffins and I had one muffin tin of twelve. Found some miniature tins in the cabinet, and used those.
Came out pretty well. Could have used a few more blueberries to my taste. The recipe called for orange peel and orange juice, so that made them quite tasty. Good for breakfast or a snack. I limited myself to one of the tiny ones.
S.O. ate a large one and pronounced them good.
Last night we had a fantastic steak dinner. The creamed spinach was particularly good. I put some crumbled (real bacon) in it, and a generous grating a fresh nutmeg which just arrived from Penzey's spices. www.penzeys.com
The cucumber salad, 100% from scratch with home grown dill was also fine. I made the dressing from low-fat plain yogurt, mayo, a little white vinegar and a pinch of sugar. Salt and pepper, natch. I slice the cukes in the Cuisineart and the salad looks pretty, too.
Steak was from D'Arpinos in Mansfield, who always have good meat. Recipe was from either Gourmet or Bon Appetit. Marinated in herbs, garlic and olive oil. How can you lose?
Kitchen was a total mess. I think I would ditch the washing machine before the dishwasher. Really.
The corn is good this year.
But I do. So this morning, with two pints of super cheap (99 cents) blueberries in the fridge, I dug out an old recipe and got going. Discovered at the last possible moment that the recipe made 24 muffins and I had one muffin tin of twelve. Found some miniature tins in the cabinet, and used those.
Came out pretty well. Could have used a few more blueberries to my taste. The recipe called for orange peel and orange juice, so that made them quite tasty. Good for breakfast or a snack. I limited myself to one of the tiny ones.
S.O. ate a large one and pronounced them good.
Last night we had a fantastic steak dinner. The creamed spinach was particularly good. I put some crumbled (real bacon) in it, and a generous grating a fresh nutmeg which just arrived from Penzey's spices. www.penzeys.com
The cucumber salad, 100% from scratch with home grown dill was also fine. I made the dressing from low-fat plain yogurt, mayo, a little white vinegar and a pinch of sugar. Salt and pepper, natch. I slice the cukes in the Cuisineart and the salad looks pretty, too.
Steak was from D'Arpinos in Mansfield, who always have good meat. Recipe was from either Gourmet or Bon Appetit. Marinated in herbs, garlic and olive oil. How can you lose?
Kitchen was a total mess. I think I would ditch the washing machine before the dishwasher. Really.
The corn is good this year.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Begonias
This is the opposite of my last post. This is about beauty and taking care of plants and loving them. My begonias, especially this color, go crazy every summer. The red one never compares with the peachy yellow. This morning I cut the dead sage blossoms so the heirloom beets could get more sun. We're eating the dill in the cucumbers and the rosemary in the steak sauce.
Corn on the cob, creamed spinach, steak with parmesan-smoked paprika sauce, dilled cucumber salad. With family.
The hummingbird was back. Lots of birdsong in the woods.
Nothing better.
Why women leave technology careers
Actually, I never left technology until I retired to write full time. Technology paid the bills for years, and yet, I have so many regrets. I was one of those women who worked holidays, weekends, endless hours of OT. Survived a gazillion layoffs. Once I did the work of four people.
I missed a fabulous wedding. I didn't fly out for my mother's broken ankle, her move various moves, her cancer treatment. I couldn't leave my important projects and I managed everything via long distance.
Do I regret it? Absolutely. Will I ever forgive myself. Never ever. Do I remember the projects that were so important I couldn't leave? No clue.
Women with more sense than I had are leaving technology. I know and admire a few former colleagues who threw in the towel and left.
I had a manager who never told us we had 3 personal days a year. I worked like a sweat shop slave, coming in every weekend for months. Was management there? Hell no. In the end, they said, "Ben's people are overpaid." I heard "you are mainframe dinosaurs and no one will ever hire you."
Someone did. And I moved from the frying pan to the fire. Some incompent people had the grace to say "thank you," and mean it when we delivered Y2K with no bugs.
Some SOB's never said thank you. They are still running the company, firing loyal hardworking people right and left. "Eliminating" jobs. Bull shit. Corporate America is the most venal, calulating place you can imagine.
It sucks.
Glad I'm gone.
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/06/19/why-women-quit-techn.html
Grapeshot
I missed a fabulous wedding. I didn't fly out for my mother's broken ankle, her move various moves, her cancer treatment. I couldn't leave my important projects and I managed everything via long distance.
Do I regret it? Absolutely. Will I ever forgive myself. Never ever. Do I remember the projects that were so important I couldn't leave? No clue.
Women with more sense than I had are leaving technology. I know and admire a few former colleagues who threw in the towel and left.
I had a manager who never told us we had 3 personal days a year. I worked like a sweat shop slave, coming in every weekend for months. Was management there? Hell no. In the end, they said, "Ben's people are overpaid." I heard "you are mainframe dinosaurs and no one will ever hire you."
Someone did. And I moved from the frying pan to the fire. Some incompent people had the grace to say "thank you," and mean it when we delivered Y2K with no bugs.
Some SOB's never said thank you. They are still running the company, firing loyal hardworking people right and left. "Eliminating" jobs. Bull shit. Corporate America is the most venal, calulating place you can imagine.
It sucks.
Glad I'm gone.
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/06/19/why-women-quit-techn.html
Grapeshot
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Clematis
This morning while I stood by the garden, the hummingbird arrived and, ignoring me, drank long from the sugar water. So charming. Later we fed the ducks and one ostrasized white goose at Glue Factory Pond.
Here is a photo of my clematis. Half of it died, but the other half thrives.
The tomatoes continue to exert theirselves in growth and leaves and blossoms. Last night we had fresh dill in the salad, and tonight there will be a wealth of chopped cilantro on the chicken.
Herb gardens rock!
Friday, June 20, 2008
The Gargoyle
Today's lesson is that you don't have to do everything right--in fact you can do everything wrong and still come out on top. Of course you must write a good book. Eventually.
The Wall Street Journal has the story of a young novelist who wrote a 195,000 word book and sent it off to agent Eric Simonoff along with a cheeky query. The novel was Gargoyle. Parts were good, parts were bad, but the good parts were good enough that Eric Simonoff sent back a detailed critique (almost unheard of) and much later the writer presented Simonoff with the much edited, much improved manuscript.
The POD technology allowed the author to actually send Simonoff a printed copy of the book, with blurbs, a dedication and all that good stuff. Even cheekier.
Cut to the finish. Author gets one million plus, and Simonoff gets fifteen percent. Copies translated to every language you ever heard of and some you didn't.
The author is Andrew Davidson of Winnipeg and he is to be congratulated for his originality, persistence, and creativity. What rules did he break?
1) Your first novel is supposed to be 80,000 words of less. Hmmmmm.
2) Query respectfully.
3) No gimmicks.
4) Took years to write. No pumping it out in twelve months.
I love it. I love it. I love it. Love people who break the rules and get away with it. The novel, Gargoyle, sounds riveting. You can catch the article here.
Small worries that the book may not play in Peoria, but so much of that sort of speculation is hogwash. Great word, that. Hogwash.
http://investing.wsj.com/article/SB121392716313490945.html?mod=fpa_editors_picks
Sidebar: I love gargoyles, especially the ones on Notre Dame and St. Stephan's church in Vienna. We found a tiny church with a Tiffany window in Georgia's Sea Islands that had a few very cool gargoyles. My youngest son used to amuse us by crouching like a gargoyle, holding the position for a long time. But then we are easily amused, "too soon made glad," as you recall.
Trekked to West Newton Cinema to see The Counterfitters, an excellent foreign film. See it if you get a chance. We watched (and watched and watched and watched) Barry Lyndon last night. Interesting. Langorous. Another good word. So many good words. Note to self: use them in interesting ways.
Grapeshot
The Wall Street Journal has the story of a young novelist who wrote a 195,000 word book and sent it off to agent Eric Simonoff along with a cheeky query. The novel was Gargoyle. Parts were good, parts were bad, but the good parts were good enough that Eric Simonoff sent back a detailed critique (almost unheard of) and much later the writer presented Simonoff with the much edited, much improved manuscript.
The POD technology allowed the author to actually send Simonoff a printed copy of the book, with blurbs, a dedication and all that good stuff. Even cheekier.
Cut to the finish. Author gets one million plus, and Simonoff gets fifteen percent. Copies translated to every language you ever heard of and some you didn't.
The author is Andrew Davidson of Winnipeg and he is to be congratulated for his originality, persistence, and creativity. What rules did he break?
1) Your first novel is supposed to be 80,000 words of less. Hmmmmm.
2) Query respectfully.
3) No gimmicks.
4) Took years to write. No pumping it out in twelve months.
I love it. I love it. I love it. Love people who break the rules and get away with it. The novel, Gargoyle, sounds riveting. You can catch the article here.
Small worries that the book may not play in Peoria, but so much of that sort of speculation is hogwash. Great word, that. Hogwash.
http://investing.wsj.com/article/SB121392716313490945.html?mod=fpa_editors_picks
Sidebar: I love gargoyles, especially the ones on Notre Dame and St. Stephan's church in Vienna. We found a tiny church with a Tiffany window in Georgia's Sea Islands that had a few very cool gargoyles. My youngest son used to amuse us by crouching like a gargoyle, holding the position for a long time. But then we are easily amused, "too soon made glad," as you recall.
Trekked to West Newton Cinema to see The Counterfitters, an excellent foreign film. See it if you get a chance. We watched (and watched and watched and watched) Barry Lyndon last night. Interesting. Langorous. Another good word. So many good words. Note to self: use them in interesting ways.
Grapeshot
Friday is Cat Blog Day
Annie gazing at the camera.And sometimes the cats just aren't very bloggable. I wouldn't gross you out with the description of the hair ball that Thisbe coughed up yesterday, with some weird green plastic in it. She has a tendency to eat twine or anything stringy. This morning she went onto the front porch (adventure time) and saw something rustling in the bushes where the birds (mostly sparrows but sometimes doves) eat the spilled food. Great excitement, but in the end it was Just Too Scary, and she came back inside.
In the meantime, Annie, her housemate had a nap in the garage. No place beats the garage on a cool morning for a private nap. Then Annie came downstairs to lurk in her favorite spot where she can attack Thisbe after she comes downstairs into Annie's territory, the home office.
Actually, Annie has sort of given up chasing Thisbe out of the office, and my feeling is that she is getting used to hanging with her down here.
We have cat birds gobbling up the suet, and ugly blackbirds that I don't like. A cardinal across the street, and the woodpeckers feeding their young. A gazillion little goldfinch battles over the thistle seed feeder. Always the males. The drama in the backyard. Who needs violent movies? All the rain made the tomatoes like, explode, and the sage is still blooming like crazy.
A fresh pot of cat grass in the kitchen, for the kitties eating pleasure. Annie prefers the grass outside, and when she sneaked out this week, S.O. caught her while she was nibbling some. That cat takes her paw and opens the screen door. Freedom now!
Meow!
Grapeshot
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Sucking It up on the Roads and at the Registry
You know you're in Massachusetts when your friend tells you she spent all day at the DMV aka the Registery. In Reno, they can process hundred of people in an hour. Why not here?
You know you're in Massachusetts when a Jeep cuts off a dump truck and the resulting accident closes the freeway for 3 hours at rush hour.
You know you're in Massachusetts when they kick everyone off the subway and tell them to take the shuttle bus, while in the station they tell everyone the buses aren't running anymore. Wait for the train.
You know you're in Massachusetts when you're racing to get home before the bad storm hits and the ramp from 128 to I-95 is suddenly closed and there's a sign to take route 138. That's all there is. No detour signs, no directions. Take 138 to where? We knew how to get home via the back roads, but someone from Maine heading for New York sure as hell wouldn't appreciate being lost in the wilds of Canton. Or Stoughton. Or Taunton. Or wherever. Fall River, anyone?
When all these events happen within two days of each other, you know for sure you're in Massachusetts.
Yowsa! Once I was standing in one of three long lines at the Registry and they closed my line while the clerk went to lunch. He told us to get into one of the other lines. Yup.
Grapeshot
You know you're in Massachusetts when a Jeep cuts off a dump truck and the resulting accident closes the freeway for 3 hours at rush hour.
You know you're in Massachusetts when they kick everyone off the subway and tell them to take the shuttle bus, while in the station they tell everyone the buses aren't running anymore. Wait for the train.
You know you're in Massachusetts when you're racing to get home before the bad storm hits and the ramp from 128 to I-95 is suddenly closed and there's a sign to take route 138. That's all there is. No detour signs, no directions. Take 138 to where? We knew how to get home via the back roads, but someone from Maine heading for New York sure as hell wouldn't appreciate being lost in the wilds of Canton. Or Stoughton. Or Taunton. Or wherever. Fall River, anyone?
When all these events happen within two days of each other, you know for sure you're in Massachusetts.
Yowsa! Once I was standing in one of three long lines at the Registry and they closed my line while the clerk went to lunch. He told us to get into one of the other lines. Yup.
Grapeshot
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Pie Oh My!
With the approach of summer we have a world of pie possibilities: cherry, berry, plum, and any demented combination you can dream up.
With pie in mind, here are some tips on making the perfect crust from King Arthur.
Maybe the Knights of the Round Table used ye olde table to roll out the pie crust on. What do I know?
When I was fourteen and knew everything, I worked one summer at my uncle's restaurant and variety store in central Kansas. Early every morning, a bunch of aunts and cousins, all elderly, all women, came in and baked a host of pies. From scratch, natch!
They made everything: cherry? yup Berry, amen! Apple, of course, and some things my mom never made like custard, yum! Raisin! Chocolate. to die for. Pie oh my! I still remember it.
Peach and apricot! Don't forget them. Ah what could be better than a slice of fresh peach pie?
When Old Money Marries New Media
The Sunday Styles section of the NY Times featured an article about Blogger Melissa C. Morris, a NYC "society wife" who apparently caught the bachelor of the decade a few years ago. Lots of people are asking , "how did she do it?"
I read the article and her blog and the answer would seem to be that not only is she attractive but she's smart and also nice and looks like she might even be lots of fun. The gentleman in question was probably ready to marry and settle down. There's such a thing as being in the right place at the right time.
So . . . sometimes endless speculation has perfectly reasonable answers if anyone takes the trouble to think about it.
The thing is, if you're a computer person and programmed and analyzed and did all that work for a living, you can't ever stop analyzing anything and everything. And thinking about stuff. Like why no one is publishing your ever-so-cool books.
I've noticed a lot of good published authors are having a hell of a time. It's kind of like the movies. Lots of huge blockbusters, and then a few "little" films, like Juno sneak up on everyone. Saw Juno yesterday, compliments of Netflix. O.K., I am not the first one out of the blocks to see big movies, or small movies. Haven't even seen Sex in the City yet.
I have 15 pages and 3500 words on the new book which now has a working title, "In Flight," but nothing to do with airplanes. The character even has a last name, someone from my home town. Not too worried that she'll freak. After all the book has to be finished, polished, find an agent and then a publisher, and be bought and read. How likely is all that? I only have control over the finishing and the polishing. Sounds like jewelry. In a way it is.
I dithered over finding a gangster name that didn't belong to someone I googled. Finally harkened to a name back in fifth grade. Writers remember every bloody thing.
What else is new? While we're on the Times' Style Section: Cool Fendi handbag, cool Ralph Lauren pink blouse. He never loses his touch. The photos of the big HEAT WAVE showed quite a few women wearing black. Don't they know?
The first car ever was black and in Houston. No A.C. I arrived everywhere drenched with sweat. Black is not a good hot weather color. Black and white, that's different. Cool.
$695 Gucci shoes on the front page of Sunday Styles. I would break an ankle. Father's Day already history. Chanel fall clothes showing up. Summer sales. La Di Dah.
I made beef tacos last night. To die for. Tonight will be Kielbasa with sauerkraut and new potatoes. Drop a comment if you want the sauerkraut recipe. Can't just open a can. Sorry.
Made tuna salad out of the remaining tuna from the affaire nicoise. Again, drop a comment for my tuna recipe. A few little tricks. Shabby secrets, that's all.
Ye gods, this turned into a long post.
Grapeshot
Almost forget. Here's the link to the socialite blog. Cute graphics. Cute dog.
http://melissacmorris.blogspot.com/
I read the article and her blog and the answer would seem to be that not only is she attractive but she's smart and also nice and looks like she might even be lots of fun. The gentleman in question was probably ready to marry and settle down. There's such a thing as being in the right place at the right time.
So . . . sometimes endless speculation has perfectly reasonable answers if anyone takes the trouble to think about it.
The thing is, if you're a computer person and programmed and analyzed and did all that work for a living, you can't ever stop analyzing anything and everything. And thinking about stuff. Like why no one is publishing your ever-so-cool books.
I've noticed a lot of good published authors are having a hell of a time. It's kind of like the movies. Lots of huge blockbusters, and then a few "little" films, like Juno sneak up on everyone. Saw Juno yesterday, compliments of Netflix. O.K., I am not the first one out of the blocks to see big movies, or small movies. Haven't even seen Sex in the City yet.
I have 15 pages and 3500 words on the new book which now has a working title, "In Flight," but nothing to do with airplanes. The character even has a last name, someone from my home town. Not too worried that she'll freak. After all the book has to be finished, polished, find an agent and then a publisher, and be bought and read. How likely is all that? I only have control over the finishing and the polishing. Sounds like jewelry. In a way it is.
I dithered over finding a gangster name that didn't belong to someone I googled. Finally harkened to a name back in fifth grade. Writers remember every bloody thing.
What else is new? While we're on the Times' Style Section: Cool Fendi handbag, cool Ralph Lauren pink blouse. He never loses his touch. The photos of the big HEAT WAVE showed quite a few women wearing black. Don't they know?
The first car ever was black and in Houston. No A.C. I arrived everywhere drenched with sweat. Black is not a good hot weather color. Black and white, that's different. Cool.
$695 Gucci shoes on the front page of Sunday Styles. I would break an ankle. Father's Day already history. Chanel fall clothes showing up. Summer sales. La Di Dah.
I made beef tacos last night. To die for. Tonight will be Kielbasa with sauerkraut and new potatoes. Drop a comment if you want the sauerkraut recipe. Can't just open a can. Sorry.
Made tuna salad out of the remaining tuna from the affaire nicoise. Again, drop a comment for my tuna recipe. A few little tricks. Shabby secrets, that's all.
Ye gods, this turned into a long post.
Grapeshot
Almost forget. Here's the link to the socialite blog. Cute graphics. Cute dog.
http://melissacmorris.blogspot.com/
Monday, June 16, 2008
Food Dictionary
After the salad nicoise and the strawberry bavarian cream, I thought you might like to have a food dictionary. Be prepared. Look up those obscure terms your foodie friends are tossing about. Be informed. Find recipes.
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/fooddictionary/
So far, however, I have not been able to find an orange Bavarian cream recipe which pleases me. Will dig through old cookbooks. Nothing like having a mission.
Grapeshot
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/fooddictionary/
So far, however, I have not been able to find an orange Bavarian cream recipe which pleases me. Will dig through old cookbooks. Nothing like having a mission.
Grapeshot
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Strawberry Bavarian Cream and The Garden
This is the strawberry bavarian cream. (See previous post). I must be the only person in the world to make this dessert any more. The orange flavored one, by the way, tastes like paradise.
Not the recipe I used, but this one looks flavorful:
Isn't it so true to all we know that Eden was a garden? What else could it have been? How traumatic to be ejected. I only had one baby snake in the garden. A shrew runs under the raised bed sometimes, and tiny little frogs, turtles and salamanders are spotted at random.
Salade Niçoise
We had company this weekend and due to working around a theater curtain time, etc., I decided to make a Salade niçoise, I chose the salad in Julia Child's The Way to Cook as my recipe.
Now we all know that Julia is not the short-cut queen, no recipes in 30 minutes from the French Chef, so I was prepared for a bit of work. My only "shortcut" if indeed it was, was to cook the small Yukon Gold potatoes whole and peel them. I also omitted anchovies since I don't like anchovies and when you are the cook you can do what you damn well please.
O.K. second substitution was to buy three small beautiful tuna steaks and grill them. I made Julia's potato salad, cooked the beans, S.O. grilled the tuna, and I boiled some eggs, and pounced upon a beautiful red tomato, capers, black olives, lettuce, the works all laid out beautifully on a big ceramic platter.
The dressing was a lemon-garlic affair, with both lemon peel and lemon juice and raw garlic pounded to a paste. A bit of work but well worth it. The whole was greater than the sum of its parts and we had a feast.
At the other end of the spectrum was dessert. I know our friend likes strawberries, so a strawberry dessert seemed optimal. I recalled back in the first years of marriage I had been on a Bavarian cream kick, making various flavors of a French dessert called Bavarian cream.
I looked in the old New York Times cookbook and lo, there is was, but it was the shortcut version--Julia would have disapproved big time. I measured out all the ingredients including a heaping cup of chipped ice and dumped them into the blender in the prescribed order, and blended the prescibed number of second, and lo, strawberry Bavarian cream in less than a minute, no cooking. Raw eggs, too. My bad. I licked the spoon to test whether the eggs were safe and I guess they were.
We ate it with sliced strawberries from Wards Berry Farm, altogether lucious with no hard white centers, but red berry all the way through.
So this was yin and yang of meals, but lovely.
As for lovely, the garden looks and smells lovely. The white carnations bloomed and have sent a fragrance over the yard and now into the house as I picked a few and added the sage blossoms, favored by the bumble bees.
The tomatoes, heirloom beets, pepper and herbs are growing apace, and the flowers are blooming, even the new white lupine, and the clematis has huge purple blossoms. The hummingbirds come to the feeder regularly and one looked at us in the window this morning. We had a fantastically large butterfly, all yellow and black, and of course the dragon flies swoop and land on the flowers. So life is good on the edge of the slough.
Big goldfinch battle yesterday. They are territorial little guys. Catbirds have discovered how to get into the suet feeder for small birds.
We had a good rain this morning and everything is lush. Looking at the garden puts me into a good mood, which is a good thing, because Festival Madness has two more rejections. We looked at the beginning again, and it read pretty good.
The New York Times Book Review today had many of the same books as the WSJ. Not my cuppa tea. The Globe's list is more literate, but Boston readers are obviously not typical.
Tonight I'll do a few more pages of the new book. I really need a working title.
Grapeshot
Now we all know that Julia is not the short-cut queen, no recipes in 30 minutes from the French Chef, so I was prepared for a bit of work. My only "shortcut" if indeed it was, was to cook the small Yukon Gold potatoes whole and peel them. I also omitted anchovies since I don't like anchovies and when you are the cook you can do what you damn well please.
O.K. second substitution was to buy three small beautiful tuna steaks and grill them. I made Julia's potato salad, cooked the beans, S.O. grilled the tuna, and I boiled some eggs, and pounced upon a beautiful red tomato, capers, black olives, lettuce, the works all laid out beautifully on a big ceramic platter.
The dressing was a lemon-garlic affair, with both lemon peel and lemon juice and raw garlic pounded to a paste. A bit of work but well worth it. The whole was greater than the sum of its parts and we had a feast.
At the other end of the spectrum was dessert. I know our friend likes strawberries, so a strawberry dessert seemed optimal. I recalled back in the first years of marriage I had been on a Bavarian cream kick, making various flavors of a French dessert called Bavarian cream.
I looked in the old New York Times cookbook and lo, there is was, but it was the shortcut version--Julia would have disapproved big time. I measured out all the ingredients including a heaping cup of chipped ice and dumped them into the blender in the prescribed order, and blended the prescibed number of second, and lo, strawberry Bavarian cream in less than a minute, no cooking. Raw eggs, too. My bad. I licked the spoon to test whether the eggs were safe and I guess they were.
We ate it with sliced strawberries from Wards Berry Farm, altogether lucious with no hard white centers, but red berry all the way through.
So this was yin and yang of meals, but lovely.
As for lovely, the garden looks and smells lovely. The white carnations bloomed and have sent a fragrance over the yard and now into the house as I picked a few and added the sage blossoms, favored by the bumble bees.
The tomatoes, heirloom beets, pepper and herbs are growing apace, and the flowers are blooming, even the new white lupine, and the clematis has huge purple blossoms. The hummingbirds come to the feeder regularly and one looked at us in the window this morning. We had a fantastically large butterfly, all yellow and black, and of course the dragon flies swoop and land on the flowers. So life is good on the edge of the slough.
Big goldfinch battle yesterday. They are territorial little guys. Catbirds have discovered how to get into the suet feeder for small birds.
We had a good rain this morning and everything is lush. Looking at the garden puts me into a good mood, which is a good thing, because Festival Madness has two more rejections. We looked at the beginning again, and it read pretty good.
The New York Times Book Review today had many of the same books as the WSJ. Not my cuppa tea. The Globe's list is more literate, but Boston readers are obviously not typical.
Tonight I'll do a few more pages of the new book. I really need a working title.
Grapeshot
Friday, June 13, 2008
Best Selling Books
Normally, I look at the New York Times Bestsellers everyweek in the Sunday NY Times Book Review section. Today I took a look at the Wall Street Journal's list and said, "huh?"
I didn't know most of the authors. How can this be? O.K. Lee Child is a given, and apparently his new book is really good. I came from Colorado and so I'm anxious to try to figure out where the book is set.
Lucky Stephanie Meyer has 3 books on the list. I googled her and she writes vampire/romance stuff which isn't on my radar. Wow! Three books. Must be doing something write, I mean right.
Didn't recognize Emily Griffin either. Looks like chic lit or mom lit or baby lit. Probably cute.
Laurel K. Hamilton was another writer I drew a blank on. Sci-Fi Romance. Jeez, vampire romance, sci-fi romance, mommy romance. Hmmmm. Lauren Weisburger I had heard of, but I saw the movie, didn't read The Devil Wears Prada. Maybe I should.
Dean Koontz, sure, a perennial best seller, as is James Patterson and whoever he's writing with. Steve Martini, another new one for me, writes legal thrillers.
Chuck Palahniuk has a new book. Snuff. Eeeww. Nuff said.
Patricia Cornwall. Yup!
Sebasian Faulks didn't ring a bell, but he is writing the new James Bond books, which I did read about. Shaken not stirred.
W.E. B. Griffin and a co-author are writing military adventures, that kind of thing. Sounded kind of like Clancy, but I am just doing a quick Google on all these people.
So: maybe a vampire, chic-lit romance with elements of law and some army adventures? I dunno. Nothing I will be writing soon.
Onward.
I didn't know most of the authors. How can this be? O.K. Lee Child is a given, and apparently his new book is really good. I came from Colorado and so I'm anxious to try to figure out where the book is set.
Lucky Stephanie Meyer has 3 books on the list. I googled her and she writes vampire/romance stuff which isn't on my radar. Wow! Three books. Must be doing something write, I mean right.
Didn't recognize Emily Griffin either. Looks like chic lit or mom lit or baby lit. Probably cute.
Laurel K. Hamilton was another writer I drew a blank on. Sci-Fi Romance. Jeez, vampire romance, sci-fi romance, mommy romance. Hmmmm. Lauren Weisburger I had heard of, but I saw the movie, didn't read The Devil Wears Prada. Maybe I should.
Dean Koontz, sure, a perennial best seller, as is James Patterson and whoever he's writing with. Steve Martini, another new one for me, writes legal thrillers.
Chuck Palahniuk has a new book. Snuff. Eeeww. Nuff said.
Patricia Cornwall. Yup!
Sebasian Faulks didn't ring a bell, but he is writing the new James Bond books, which I did read about. Shaken not stirred.
W.E. B. Griffin and a co-author are writing military adventures, that kind of thing. Sounded kind of like Clancy, but I am just doing a quick Google on all these people.
So: maybe a vampire, chic-lit romance with elements of law and some army adventures? I dunno. Nothing I will be writing soon.
Onward.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
New Novel
The photo is the Sharon Police Department where my character, Maxine, will report the crime, although the crime (fictional, of course) will be committed in another town.
Into Boston on the commuter train today for lunch. Left my current book, Chris Roerden's Don't Sabotage Your Submissions in the car. On the train, I wrote a paragraph of my new novel, some notes for what to ask the cops, etc., and made a haircut appt. instead of reading. Remembered two things I had forgotten to put on my "to do" list. I live and die by my lists. If something doesn't make the list, chances are it never gets done.
The way to make winter fly by it to make a big list of all the INDOOR tasks you want to accomplish. Before you know it, spring is here. And the list is still long.
So this novel just keeps talking to me. I don't know where it came from. It doesn't even have a "working title." I had given up on crime fiction. I've read ten books doing research for the California book which was supposed to be next. Can I write two an once?
Ha ha.
Tonight we ventured forth to take a few surrepticious photos of the murder house, which is a house I used to drive by on my way to work. The book is set here in the Boston area, in Boca Raton and in Northern Nevada, all places I'm familiar with, so the research shouldn't be too onerous. But it always is. And fun, too.
We are the last of the ribs with ancho-apricot glaze tonight. Ye gods, they were heaven. I'm making a salad nicoise this weekend. From scratch. Including the tuna. Assuming I can find fresh.
So now to totter upstairs and see how the Red Sox are doing. I have been watching a lot of games and am starting to bond with the team big time. How does this happen?
Grapeshot
The way to make winter fly by it to make a big list of all the INDOOR tasks you want to accomplish. Before you know it, spring is here. And the list is still long.
So this novel just keeps talking to me. I don't know where it came from. It doesn't even have a "working title." I had given up on crime fiction. I've read ten books doing research for the California book which was supposed to be next. Can I write two an once?
Ha ha.
Tonight we ventured forth to take a few surrepticious photos of the murder house, which is a house I used to drive by on my way to work. The book is set here in the Boston area, in Boca Raton and in Northern Nevada, all places I'm familiar with, so the research shouldn't be too onerous. But it always is. And fun, too.
We are the last of the ribs with ancho-apricot glaze tonight. Ye gods, they were heaven. I'm making a salad nicoise this weekend. From scratch. Including the tuna. Assuming I can find fresh.
So now to totter upstairs and see how the Red Sox are doing. I have been watching a lot of games and am starting to bond with the team big time. How does this happen?
Grapeshot
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Drinks around the world
Sometimes on a nice evening, we sit on our little deck overlooking the slough, quaffing a glass of wine or even a "Sea Breeze," and one of us will utter the phrase, "wie Gott im Frankreich," translated from the German "Like God in France." In other words, it can't get much better than this.
The other evening we were reminiscing about the most interesting drinks ever, which started many years ago at the George V in Paris. This was obviously at a time when the dollar went far. It was August and hot, and we were still in American mode for some reason and ordered gin and tonics.
How the George V served a gin and tonic: a glass full of gin and ice was served with a little bottle of Schweppes tonic on the side. Now think about this. A whole glass of gin, (yowsa!) and one had to keep drinking the gin and adding tonic until, by the time one was pretty well sloshed, one was finally drinking a gin and tonic. Somehow, through the oceans of gin, we remember this occasion.
This happened so long long ago that Frank Sinatra was alive and in Paris and was being a bad boy, according to the George V gossip. He and his chums were tossing lighted fire crackers around, apparently inside the hotel. They were not amused, and we were embarrassed (in a tipsy, gin-soaked way) by our fellow countryman.
The next historic drink was a Bellini at Harry's Bar in Venice. I believe it was a then godawful six dollars, maybe eight. We were having lunch, and I have to tell you that while the Bellini was refreshing and very fine, the appetizer, which was pasta with a cheese sauce was to die for. The best pasta and sauce ever. Ever. The stuff of memories.
Some ladies of a certain age, maybe schoolmarms from the midwest came in and wilted as they perused the menu. Harry's was never, like, a cheap place to grab a bite. They asked for club sandwiches, which bamboozled the waiter, but sure enough, a little later, club sandwiches were served. I'll bet those were $15.00 club sandwiches.
The last historic drink was in the Writer's Bar at Raffles in Singapore. And of course at Raffles in Singapore, whatever would you order but a Singapore Sling? This set us back (15 years ago) $12.00 each, the most expensive drink I had ever ordered. It was pretty good, although I am not a gin person (in spite of the George V), but sitting at the Writer's Bar (I had just started writing) was such a dizzying experience. The history. The glamour. The je ne sais quoi. The writer's bar at Raffles.
A book came out of the trip to Singapore, but only memories of the George V and Harry's Bar. Good places all. Did you notice I did not use the verb "imbibe" even once?
Grapeshot
What historic drinks did you have?
The other evening we were reminiscing about the most interesting drinks ever, which started many years ago at the George V in Paris. This was obviously at a time when the dollar went far. It was August and hot, and we were still in American mode for some reason and ordered gin and tonics.
How the George V served a gin and tonic: a glass full of gin and ice was served with a little bottle of Schweppes tonic on the side. Now think about this. A whole glass of gin, (yowsa!) and one had to keep drinking the gin and adding tonic until, by the time one was pretty well sloshed, one was finally drinking a gin and tonic. Somehow, through the oceans of gin, we remember this occasion.
This happened so long long ago that Frank Sinatra was alive and in Paris and was being a bad boy, according to the George V gossip. He and his chums were tossing lighted fire crackers around, apparently inside the hotel. They were not amused, and we were embarrassed (in a tipsy, gin-soaked way) by our fellow countryman.
The next historic drink was a Bellini at Harry's Bar in Venice. I believe it was a then godawful six dollars, maybe eight. We were having lunch, and I have to tell you that while the Bellini was refreshing and very fine, the appetizer, which was pasta with a cheese sauce was to die for. The best pasta and sauce ever. Ever. The stuff of memories.
Some ladies of a certain age, maybe schoolmarms from the midwest came in and wilted as they perused the menu. Harry's was never, like, a cheap place to grab a bite. They asked for club sandwiches, which bamboozled the waiter, but sure enough, a little later, club sandwiches were served. I'll bet those were $15.00 club sandwiches.
The last historic drink was in the Writer's Bar at Raffles in Singapore. And of course at Raffles in Singapore, whatever would you order but a Singapore Sling? This set us back (15 years ago) $12.00 each, the most expensive drink I had ever ordered. It was pretty good, although I am not a gin person (in spite of the George V), but sitting at the Writer's Bar (I had just started writing) was such a dizzying experience. The history. The glamour. The je ne sais quoi. The writer's bar at Raffles.
A book came out of the trip to Singapore, but only memories of the George V and Harry's Bar. Good places all. Did you notice I did not use the verb "imbibe" even once?
Grapeshot
What historic drinks did you have?
Monday, June 09, 2008
Writing Down the Bones, the Sinews, the Connective Tissue and the Tendons
Lately I've heard and read much discussion about how productive a writer needs to be to stay au courant, so to speak. The consensus seems to be that you better muster up a book a year, although some can write three or even four. Of course an easy little cozy mystery that tips the scales at 75,000 words or the light as a feather romance that is barely 60,000 words may be easier to churn out than that 135,000 word thriller with its sixteen subplots. Some writers say, no way, and will take their sweet time, be it two years or five to produce the new oeurve.
Me, I'm taking about 3 years per book but that was with work and lots of other "stuff", but why would I bust my butt to write, write, write when no one is able to read, read, read? It is already mega-depressing to have three, count 'em three books unpublished, but think how I'd feel with six or ten? Set my hair on fire? You got it.
The Boston Globe had a long article on the topic today. Hooray fro Dennis Lehane who writes slower and better than most. If you scan the hard cover best seller list, do the plots make you want to race out and buy the books? Not me. On the other hand, the trade paperback list usually has lots of "must reads." Depends, I guess, on what you're looking for.
Here is the link to the Globe.
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2008/06/09/top_writers_feel_heat_from_publishers_presses/
Me, I'm taking about 3 years per book but that was with work and lots of other "stuff", but why would I bust my butt to write, write, write when no one is able to read, read, read? It is already mega-depressing to have three, count 'em three books unpublished, but think how I'd feel with six or ten? Set my hair on fire? You got it.
The Boston Globe had a long article on the topic today. Hooray fro Dennis Lehane who writes slower and better than most. If you scan the hard cover best seller list, do the plots make you want to race out and buy the books? Not me. On the other hand, the trade paperback list usually has lots of "must reads." Depends, I guess, on what you're looking for.
Here is the link to the Globe.
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2008/06/09/top_writers_feel_heat_from_publishers_presses/
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Barbequed Spare Ribs with Apricot-Ancho Glaze
Yowza! These were about the best ribs ever!
http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2006/05/24/barbecued_spare_ribs_with_apricot_ancho_glaze/
We limited ourselves to half a rack each and are doing penance with a South Beach Diet shrimp salad tomorrow, but I have to tell you, these ribs were supurb.
S.O. is gaining real cred as a grillmeister.
Penzey's has dried ancho chilis and all the rest of the fresh, price-wise spices you need:
http://www.penzeys.com/
The Apricot King (grown in the flavor zone) has wonderful dried apricots and other apricot products so fresh and tasty and vitamin-A rich! http://www.apricotking.com/
The only changes in the recipe I made were 1) light brown instead of dark brown sugar and 2) my ancho chilis were huge, so I only used one. I left most of the seeds in and cut down a bit on the cayenne pepper. I also left the glaze sort of chunky, but not, you know, really chunky.
I substituted smoked paprika in the glaze because I was running low on sweet paprika. Be sure to reconstitute the ancho before you put it into the glaze mixture. The pepper water can be used to flavor other dishes if you have them on your recipe horizon.
The heirloom beets in my garden look good and the one that the bad bunny nibbled is recovering. Cilantro, dill and sage going crazy. Summertime!
http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2006/05/24/barbecued_spare_ribs_with_apricot_ancho_glaze/
We limited ourselves to half a rack each and are doing penance with a South Beach Diet shrimp salad tomorrow, but I have to tell you, these ribs were supurb.
S.O. is gaining real cred as a grillmeister.
Penzey's has dried ancho chilis and all the rest of the fresh, price-wise spices you need:
http://www.penzeys.com/
The Apricot King (grown in the flavor zone) has wonderful dried apricots and other apricot products so fresh and tasty and vitamin-A rich! http://www.apricotking.com/
The only changes in the recipe I made were 1) light brown instead of dark brown sugar and 2) my ancho chilis were huge, so I only used one. I left most of the seeds in and cut down a bit on the cayenne pepper. I also left the glaze sort of chunky, but not, you know, really chunky.
I substituted smoked paprika in the glaze because I was running low on sweet paprika. Be sure to reconstitute the ancho before you put it into the glaze mixture. The pepper water can be used to flavor other dishes if you have them on your recipe horizon.
The heirloom beets in my garden look good and the one that the bad bunny nibbled is recovering. Cilantro, dill and sage going crazy. Summertime!
El Greco to Velazquez
Into town via the MBTA yesterday to see the MFA's exhibit of Art During the Reign of Philip III. Hot summer day in the city. The first painting was El Greco's View of Toledo, and what a stunning painting it was, and so impressionistic--almost abstract. El Greco and Velazquez dominated the show, although there were a number of painters from their period. The portraits were stunning, the religious art made me feel like I'd been to church and the landscapes were various. Some of the most provacative portraits were the little tykes, practically infants, gussied up in the big collars and gold threaded suits, looking so regal and serious. One wonders how they sat still and didn't look like pouting thunderclouds. The still lifes of fruit, veggies, desserts and game in the last room were magical. Made us hungry, and we went downstairs to the cafe where they had a Spanish (mostly) menu.
If you are in the Boston area before July 27th, this is an old masters show worth seeing. The history, how Philipp II (puritanical and straight laced) and Philip II( more of a Renaissance guy) was instructive, and one could see the difference in the painting. Great portraits of Theresa of Avila and Loyola. There is a reason they are called old masters.
http://www.mfa.org/
In the sunny, light-filled cafe, we ate serrano ham with aged goat cheese, asparagus, grilled eggplant and sun dried tomato relish served with country bread. And Sangria. Yum. Delicious, and the potato tortilla and the gazpacho looked good too.
Tonight we are having some special baby back ribs with a rub and an apricot-ancho chile glaze. Lots of seasonings involved. I am doing Penzeys spices and the Apriocot King proud. Corn on the cob and store-bought cole slaw because it is 95 degrees out today and who wants to cook anymore than necessary?
I will start the new book (no title) tonight or tomorrow. It is really talking to me. Who'd a thunk it?
Grrrrapeshot
If you are in the Boston area before July 27th, this is an old masters show worth seeing. The history, how Philipp II (puritanical and straight laced) and Philip II( more of a Renaissance guy) was instructive, and one could see the difference in the painting. Great portraits of Theresa of Avila and Loyola. There is a reason they are called old masters.
http://www.mfa.org/
In the sunny, light-filled cafe, we ate serrano ham with aged goat cheese, asparagus, grilled eggplant and sun dried tomato relish served with country bread. And Sangria. Yum. Delicious, and the potato tortilla and the gazpacho looked good too.
Tonight we are having some special baby back ribs with a rub and an apricot-ancho chile glaze. Lots of seasonings involved. I am doing Penzeys spices and the Apriocot King proud. Corn on the cob and store-bought cole slaw because it is 95 degrees out today and who wants to cook anymore than necessary?
I will start the new book (no title) tonight or tomorrow. It is really talking to me. Who'd a thunk it?
Grrrrapeshot
Friday, June 06, 2008
Cayman Island PorkChops with PineappleSalsa
Yes, I said, Yes. Yes to grilling and to marinades and to lucious salsa.
http://www.emcarthur.com/recipe/grill/grill_020_CaymanIslandPorkChopsPineappleSalsa.htm
http://www.emcarthur.com/recipe/grill/grill_020_CaymanIslandPorkChopsPineappleSalsa.htm
Cat Blog Day and Other Pensees
Friday Is Cat Blog Day
Last Sunday not only did I give Thisbe a good brushing, but I combed her, especially down close to her tail where lumps appear in the summer. Thisbe is fat and can’t reach this in her daily bathing. She took exception and nailed me on the arm. No big deal, except that she hasn’t slept at the foot on the bed since, and I am bereft without my kitty. No amount of coaxing has helped. Cats can be so cruel. Sigh.
Tonight we’re having Cayman Island Pork Chops with Pineapple Salsa. Doesn’t that sound enticing? The yellow, red, green and purple salsa will be so tasty and colorful. The recipe is from Steven Weber’s grilling email, which comes often enough but not too often. Now if it would only stop raining.
Wednesday’s New York Times food section had a telling-tales-out-of-school feature by Kim Severson. Recipe Deal Breakers. What makes you tear off your apron and throw down your whisk?
Of course for non-cooks, that would be the recipe itself, which would require greater effort than moving a package from freezer to microwave. And the plain cooks, who fry meat and boil potatoes. Give me good old salt and pepper for seasonings. Chop parsley? Go away.
Most real cooks are more adventurous, but only up to a point. Ingredients, according to the article, can be off-putting, for example, “fresh pick vine leaves,” or “two quarts of pig blood,” or my favorite, “wild board from the hills around Santa Fe.” My own turn-off is a host of ethnic ingredients that our supermarket doesn’t carry that would require a day and a tank of gas to round up. Remember I couldn’t even get poblano pepper this week, and S.O. had to go to two stores for jalapenos. This is Boston.
Unfamiliar techniques stop some cooks cold—sieving or pounding—“butterfly 12 4-inch fresh anchovies.” Sure thing. Stuffing small foodstuffs, e.g., cherry tomatoes, olives or squash blossoms makes some cooks quail, including moi.
And then there are each cook’s visceral reactions to certain recipe phrases. “Work quickly before it hardens.” “Have a helper.” “Remove all jewelry before proceeding.”
Perhaps do not proceed.
The most intimidating recipe I ever saw was for fresh strudel dough, which required a kitchen table to stretch it out on. Get serious. That’s why God gave us the frozen food section. Really.
What is your recipe deal breaker?
Last item of the day, again from the New York Times, was a front page article about a young German woman who has written a frank, racy novel, about, I am not making this up, feminine hygiene. A kind of tell-all, a combo orfporno and feminism. The title is “Wetlands.” Throat clearing heard. The author, Charlotte, Roche is cute and calls her profession, “circus pony.” The readings are for over-18 audiences only.
Do I see men smirking? Yup.
Last, last, item of the day. I have considered quitting this blog. There are approximately 30 readers per day on average, but no one ever comments, which means the blog remains mired in the deep bottom of blogdom. By now I’ve written enough words to populate a novel, and so I’m counting on some comments or the blog may die.
Onward to “real” writing.
Grapeshot
Last Sunday not only did I give Thisbe a good brushing, but I combed her, especially down close to her tail where lumps appear in the summer. Thisbe is fat and can’t reach this in her daily bathing. She took exception and nailed me on the arm. No big deal, except that she hasn’t slept at the foot on the bed since, and I am bereft without my kitty. No amount of coaxing has helped. Cats can be so cruel. Sigh.
Tonight we’re having Cayman Island Pork Chops with Pineapple Salsa. Doesn’t that sound enticing? The yellow, red, green and purple salsa will be so tasty and colorful. The recipe is from Steven Weber’s grilling email, which comes often enough but not too often. Now if it would only stop raining.
Wednesday’s New York Times food section had a telling-tales-out-of-school feature by Kim Severson. Recipe Deal Breakers. What makes you tear off your apron and throw down your whisk?
Of course for non-cooks, that would be the recipe itself, which would require greater effort than moving a package from freezer to microwave. And the plain cooks, who fry meat and boil potatoes. Give me good old salt and pepper for seasonings. Chop parsley? Go away.
Most real cooks are more adventurous, but only up to a point. Ingredients, according to the article, can be off-putting, for example, “fresh pick vine leaves,” or “two quarts of pig blood,” or my favorite, “wild board from the hills around Santa Fe.” My own turn-off is a host of ethnic ingredients that our supermarket doesn’t carry that would require a day and a tank of gas to round up. Remember I couldn’t even get poblano pepper this week, and S.O. had to go to two stores for jalapenos. This is Boston.
Unfamiliar techniques stop some cooks cold—sieving or pounding—“butterfly 12 4-inch fresh anchovies.” Sure thing. Stuffing small foodstuffs, e.g., cherry tomatoes, olives or squash blossoms makes some cooks quail, including moi.
And then there are each cook’s visceral reactions to certain recipe phrases. “Work quickly before it hardens.” “Have a helper.” “Remove all jewelry before proceeding.”
Perhaps do not proceed.
The most intimidating recipe I ever saw was for fresh strudel dough, which required a kitchen table to stretch it out on. Get serious. That’s why God gave us the frozen food section. Really.
What is your recipe deal breaker?
Last item of the day, again from the New York Times, was a front page article about a young German woman who has written a frank, racy novel, about, I am not making this up, feminine hygiene. A kind of tell-all, a combo orfporno and feminism. The title is “Wetlands.” Throat clearing heard. The author, Charlotte, Roche is cute and calls her profession, “circus pony.” The readings are for over-18 audiences only.
Do I see men smirking? Yup.
Last, last, item of the day. I have considered quitting this blog. There are approximately 30 readers per day on average, but no one ever comments, which means the blog remains mired in the deep bottom of blogdom. By now I’ve written enough words to populate a novel, and so I’m counting on some comments or the blog may die.
Onward to “real” writing.
Grapeshot
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Rainy Day Recipes
A nice soaking rain today, good for the newly planted garden. When I ventured forth in jammies to pick parsley, cilantro and thyme, I noticed the bad bunny had not munched on anymore of the heirloom beets. Oh bad bunny, you have caused such grief this spring.
When it's raining and you are trying absolutely ANYTHING to postpone writing, cooking is a good substitute. I whipped up a batch of Mixed-Nut shortbread, which is so easy, so delicious, and so altogether delightful, it makes not writing and the rain so right.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/MIXED-NUT-SHORTBREAD-235491
I also made an Italian wedding soup, substituting ground chicken for ground veal in my old recipe. Looked on the web, but none of the recipes were similar. I make tiny meatballs out of ground chicken and seasonings, and a soup from onion, garlic,escarole and chicken broth (and seasoning) and is it ever good, in fact we were supposed to eat it two nights and now there's only enough for 1 lunch after tonight. Pass the breadsticks and the parmesan and celebrate the rain.
The organic broth was at Ocean State Job Lot for $1.50, and the store charged for red leaf lettuce instead of escarole (duh!), and I substituted bread crumbs moistened for bread, and added a good grind of nutmeg, and total deliciousness ensued. Economical,too.
Queried a couple agents I found on Litmatch.net, and entered a Linkedin profile. The day passed rather quickly and except for another edit of my short story, Bad Trip, I didn't write a word.
A new pork chop recipe from the grilling cookbook is next, with red bell pepper, fresh pineapple and jalapeno.
I'm so excited about grilling season and summer and my garden. As said before, obviously "a heart too soon made glad." What a lovely phrase. Thank you Browning, I think.
Grapeshot, whose heart is forever too soon made glad
Soup i
When it's raining and you are trying absolutely ANYTHING to postpone writing, cooking is a good substitute. I whipped up a batch of Mixed-Nut shortbread, which is so easy, so delicious, and so altogether delightful, it makes not writing and the rain so right.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/MIXED-NUT-SHORTBREAD-235491
I also made an Italian wedding soup, substituting ground chicken for ground veal in my old recipe. Looked on the web, but none of the recipes were similar. I make tiny meatballs out of ground chicken and seasonings, and a soup from onion, garlic,escarole and chicken broth (and seasoning) and is it ever good, in fact we were supposed to eat it two nights and now there's only enough for 1 lunch after tonight. Pass the breadsticks and the parmesan and celebrate the rain.
The organic broth was at Ocean State Job Lot for $1.50, and the store charged for red leaf lettuce instead of escarole (duh!), and I substituted bread crumbs moistened for bread, and added a good grind of nutmeg, and total deliciousness ensued. Economical,too.
Queried a couple agents I found on Litmatch.net, and entered a Linkedin profile. The day passed rather quickly and except for another edit of my short story, Bad Trip, I didn't write a word.
A new pork chop recipe from the grilling cookbook is next, with red bell pepper, fresh pineapple and jalapeno.
I'm so excited about grilling season and summer and my garden. As said before, obviously "a heart too soon made glad." What a lovely phrase. Thank you Browning, I think.
Grapeshot, whose heart is forever too soon made glad
Soup i
No Nerds Need Apply
It's not often that I put on my IT (Information Technology) hat anymore, and have a good geekout, but this article in Computer World caught my eye. It would feed right into my new novel, Festival Madness, which has technology that could be employed in Afghanistan and Iraq to catch a few bad guys. I made up the technology but suspect our government may be developing it or have already done so.
Here is the link: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9090718&source=NLT_AM&nlid=1
Next time you're grumbling about being on call, or life in the cubicle, think of how life might be and count your blessings.
Grapeshot
Here is the link: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9090718&source=NLT_AM&nlid=1
Next time you're grumbling about being on call, or life in the cubicle, think of how life might be and count your blessings.
Grapeshot
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Real Men Do Eat Quiche--and salad, too
Food should have eye appeal and this red, yellow and jalapeno pepper quiche has it in spades. I set out to make the poblano chile quiche from a 2006 Gourmet, but alas, Roche Brothers didn't have a poblano in sight. So, this was the result. Kept the same recipe, but substituted other peppers. The jalapeno gave it a bit of zing. Doesn't it look like a cool quilt pattern or something? Yesterday was the day I got around to baking that orange yogurt bread I found on another blog. Zowie! Didn't bother to make the glaze, and we just tucked into the bread. Cut down on the sugar a tad. Was it ever good.
I saw my friend Chris Roerden tonight at the Woonsocket, RI library. We overshot Woonsocket, and had to drive all over Rhode Island, which being a very small state was no problem. Chris is an editor and what she doesn't know about writing you can stick in your eye.
I love her book, Don't Murder Your Mystery, and Chris has another book out for non-genre writers, Don't Sabotague Your Submission.
Now if I could only follow some of that good advice. The damn new book is talking to me and I am listening, so I don't know what's going on. Think I'll write a chapter or two.
Half of my beautiful clematis is all droopy and wilted and it seems to be like, dying. The other half is fine. The bad bunny ate one of the heirloom beets last night. Such a bad little nibbler.
Time to try to find that ancient Bo Diddly record and play it. Maybe dance around the house a little bit. Cool.
Grapeshot
Monday, June 02, 2008
The State of the Mystery
The Sisters in Crime Blog has a multi-part report on the state of mystery writing in the U.S. seen from the standpoint of publishers, agents, editors and others in the business. I have to say it's rather disheartening if you are trying to publish a traditional mystery (Promiscuous Mode) or even a genre-bending not-quite-traditional (Festival Madness). The advice is to call it a thriller, whatever it is. It's awfully hard to call an amateur sleuth who solves a crime where there's a soupcon of romance, craziness, technology, and what have you a thriller. I wonder if I put in my query that the book is mainstream enough to require a big umbrella. . .
The other totally disheartening thing is that publishers now say one book a year is not enough. I can barely see myself writing one book a year, much less two or 2.5. It seems like a book requires two years to get it right. Maybe I'm a pokey writer. Maybe I want to make the Indian relish and the orange yogurt bread and see the art exhibits and do OTHER STUFF like till my garden and sit on the deck with a glass of wine and enjoy NATURE. Read other books (Hello again, Proust). Do stuff.
The odd thing is, that while I've been going through the 8th, yes, the 8th draft of Festival Madness, and thinking and researching the California book, and thinking the World War II YA, and thinking (hard) about my cat short story, that yet another book has come into my head. Unbidden.
I didn't need this. It's crime fiction, which I thought I had given up on. It takes place in Northern Nevada and the plot is kind of coming together. I suppose in light of the current market it should be a thriller, but it seems a little more like, I don't know, not a mystery but just a novel. With crime. And scary people.
When people ask, where do you get your ideas, well, the idea for this book came one night when I was (in Northern Nevada) and in the middle of the night awakened by the train rumbling thru town, making the mobile home vibrate, awakened again to someone going down the street playing a slide whistle, and yet again by a coyote howling at the edge of town.
I wrote a poem about it, and hoped that was it. Nope, here comes a book, saying write me, write me. Merde.
I've also got the Chaucer book (don't ask), the Elizabeth von Arnin short bio, and the Grace Hopper short bio in my head. Six books? Well, not in a year. At the rate I'm scribbling it will take 18 years. I'm going to be sort of old by then. Can't see myself doing tours and all that stuff.
Three books a year? Ha ha.
Que faire? Mon Dieu.
Grapeshot
The other totally disheartening thing is that publishers now say one book a year is not enough. I can barely see myself writing one book a year, much less two or 2.5. It seems like a book requires two years to get it right. Maybe I'm a pokey writer. Maybe I want to make the Indian relish and the orange yogurt bread and see the art exhibits and do OTHER STUFF like till my garden and sit on the deck with a glass of wine and enjoy NATURE. Read other books (Hello again, Proust). Do stuff.
The odd thing is, that while I've been going through the 8th, yes, the 8th draft of Festival Madness, and thinking and researching the California book, and thinking the World War II YA, and thinking (hard) about my cat short story, that yet another book has come into my head. Unbidden.
I didn't need this. It's crime fiction, which I thought I had given up on. It takes place in Northern Nevada and the plot is kind of coming together. I suppose in light of the current market it should be a thriller, but it seems a little more like, I don't know, not a mystery but just a novel. With crime. And scary people.
When people ask, where do you get your ideas, well, the idea for this book came one night when I was (in Northern Nevada) and in the middle of the night awakened by the train rumbling thru town, making the mobile home vibrate, awakened again to someone going down the street playing a slide whistle, and yet again by a coyote howling at the edge of town.
I wrote a poem about it, and hoped that was it. Nope, here comes a book, saying write me, write me. Merde.
I've also got the Chaucer book (don't ask), the Elizabeth von Arnin short bio, and the Grace Hopper short bio in my head. Six books? Well, not in a year. At the rate I'm scribbling it will take 18 years. I'm going to be sort of old by then. Can't see myself doing tours and all that stuff.
Three books a year? Ha ha.
Que faire? Mon Dieu.
Grapeshot
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Yesterday At the Mall
Coming back from Andover, and passing South Shore Plaza. I needed or thought I needed a new handbag. Used to buy them at the Coach Outlet in East Hampton and now we, alas, don't go there anymore since friends are gone.
Thought a reasonably priced straw handbag would be cool. Didn't see much online. A Douney and Bourke caught my eye Macy's web site, but I thought I better check it out.
The mall was mobbed, a circus. They must have been giving away free makeup at the Mac counter. Sale handbags piled up in a big higgelty-piggelty mess. Big icky handbags. Guess was the worst. Way too much chrome, chrone and gold and silver. I already have a gold bag, thanks. No Douney and Bourke bag like the one I was eyeing. Saw a couple I liked that were, shall we say, out of my price range. What was the old saying, champagne tastes on a beer budget. That's moi.
Ventured out into the mall. Even more people, almost chaotic. Strafed through a shitload of stores, no suitable bag. Filene's Basement a total bust. Lots of cheap ugly stuff that looked like it had been made for the Basement. They do that, you know. Make up stuff strictly to sell at outlets.
Waylaid by cell phone kiosk people, and then "natural handcream" guy. We all know I've been planting all week, and must confess planting without gloves. Had not groomed nails except to scrub. Hands looks like hell. Clean would be the best you could say. The guy takes my hand. Don't know if he visibly shuddered or not. These hands cook, scrub pots, dig in the soil, clean house. They haven't seen a professional manicure for years. I tell him, "sorry" and race off. Slink by the kiosk on the other side coming out of the Basement. In Boston, "Basement" always means Filene's.
Off to Lord and Taylor. After Macy's an oasis of calm. They have the Dooney and Bourke bag, but I decide it's too small. Straw bags must be out of style, like tailored blazers. The stuff you find out when you go shopping. The clerk, nice and helpful, shioot, I could have been at Nordstroms they were so helpful, said Kate Spade had some straw bags, but they had sold them all.
Find a cute leather bag for less. Sort of powder blue. Goes with summer clothes, right size, price is right. Get all kinds of discounts. Yay! Price is even righter, and another 15% off when I pay the bill. Practically giving the bag away.
S.O. ostensibly napping in the car is reading the car manual. When all else fails, read the manual. Or RTFM as we used to say in IS. Wish I had a dollar for every hour I poured over the IBM manuals. COBOL, operations, CICS, VSAM, DL/I. I used to know lots of cool stuff. Make those big blue mainframes dance. Yup.
Discovered there's a Cheesecake Factory at the Mall. I have never ever been to a Cheesecake Factory because there is always a 45 minute wait. Once on a rainy Monday at 5:00 p.m. at the Natick Mall there was a 45 minute wait. People are leaving with lots of doggie bags. Big bags. Place is a pig out factory, not what I need, I think ruefully, remembering lots of clothes for skinny 18 year olds. When I was that age, I had hardly any money to buy clothes. Maybe 40 - 50 dollars a month. We all wore black suede loafers. And other clothes, of course. Shame on you.
New idea for a novel. Just kind of came to me. Weird. Maybe I should go shopping more often.
Grapeshot
Thought a reasonably priced straw handbag would be cool. Didn't see much online. A Douney and Bourke caught my eye Macy's web site, but I thought I better check it out.
The mall was mobbed, a circus. They must have been giving away free makeup at the Mac counter. Sale handbags piled up in a big higgelty-piggelty mess. Big icky handbags. Guess was the worst. Way too much chrome, chrone and gold and silver. I already have a gold bag, thanks. No Douney and Bourke bag like the one I was eyeing. Saw a couple I liked that were, shall we say, out of my price range. What was the old saying, champagne tastes on a beer budget. That's moi.
Ventured out into the mall. Even more people, almost chaotic. Strafed through a shitload of stores, no suitable bag. Filene's Basement a total bust. Lots of cheap ugly stuff that looked like it had been made for the Basement. They do that, you know. Make up stuff strictly to sell at outlets.
Waylaid by cell phone kiosk people, and then "natural handcream" guy. We all know I've been planting all week, and must confess planting without gloves. Had not groomed nails except to scrub. Hands looks like hell. Clean would be the best you could say. The guy takes my hand. Don't know if he visibly shuddered or not. These hands cook, scrub pots, dig in the soil, clean house. They haven't seen a professional manicure for years. I tell him, "sorry" and race off. Slink by the kiosk on the other side coming out of the Basement. In Boston, "Basement" always means Filene's.
Off to Lord and Taylor. After Macy's an oasis of calm. They have the Dooney and Bourke bag, but I decide it's too small. Straw bags must be out of style, like tailored blazers. The stuff you find out when you go shopping. The clerk, nice and helpful, shioot, I could have been at Nordstroms they were so helpful, said Kate Spade had some straw bags, but they had sold them all.
Find a cute leather bag for less. Sort of powder blue. Goes with summer clothes, right size, price is right. Get all kinds of discounts. Yay! Price is even righter, and another 15% off when I pay the bill. Practically giving the bag away.
S.O. ostensibly napping in the car is reading the car manual. When all else fails, read the manual. Or RTFM as we used to say in IS. Wish I had a dollar for every hour I poured over the IBM manuals. COBOL, operations, CICS, VSAM, DL/I. I used to know lots of cool stuff. Make those big blue mainframes dance. Yup.
Discovered there's a Cheesecake Factory at the Mall. I have never ever been to a Cheesecake Factory because there is always a 45 minute wait. Once on a rainy Monday at 5:00 p.m. at the Natick Mall there was a 45 minute wait. People are leaving with lots of doggie bags. Big bags. Place is a pig out factory, not what I need, I think ruefully, remembering lots of clothes for skinny 18 year olds. When I was that age, I had hardly any money to buy clothes. Maybe 40 - 50 dollars a month. We all wore black suede loafers. And other clothes, of course. Shame on you.
New idea for a novel. Just kind of came to me. Weird. Maybe I should go shopping more often.
Grapeshot
Halibut with Indian Rub and Corn Salsa
The halibut recipe has been languishing in my "grill" cookbook for two years. Roche Brothers here in the Boston area had halibut advertised (one doesn't always see it) and with a nice weather forecast, I got out my put-together-by-me grilling/smoking binder. Turned to fish, and this was the first recipe. Looked good, and all I needed to buy besides the fish was a cob of fresh corn and a bit of fresh ginger.
Kids, this was a terrific recipe, and far greater than the sum of it's parts. Highly recommend. 4 forks!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/dining/233grex.html
We grill over charcoal and simply followed the instructions in the recipe. Fish was perfect. Spices perfect. Corn salsa out of this world. What the hell? Five forks!
Most of the spices came from Penzey's mail order spices. Tumeric is something you won't ordinarily use a lot of, and you can order the small small size. Perfect.
http://www.penzeys.com/
It's fun to make your own rubs. Spices are the spice of life. Beautiful day in Boston.
We stopped at Ocean State Job Lot for suet cakes for the feeders. No luck, but I found lots of other stuff cheap. It was instructive that the pasta section, formerly two thirds of a big rack had shrunk to almost nothing, and part of that nothing was noodles that one could get cheaper at the supermarket. The denizens of my town have seen the prices of anything with wheat escalating and bought out the pasta aisle. I found granola at a good price, and Columbian chocolate (no it's really chocolate, not a drug) along with reasonably priced panko and a few other goodies. I used to think of going to the Job Lot as slumming, and now I think of it as smart.
Onward,
Grapeshot
Grapeshot
Kids, this was a terrific recipe, and far greater than the sum of it's parts. Highly recommend. 4 forks!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/dining/233grex.html
We grill over charcoal and simply followed the instructions in the recipe. Fish was perfect. Spices perfect. Corn salsa out of this world. What the hell? Five forks!
Most of the spices came from Penzey's mail order spices. Tumeric is something you won't ordinarily use a lot of, and you can order the small small size. Perfect.
http://www.penzeys.com/
It's fun to make your own rubs. Spices are the spice of life. Beautiful day in Boston.
We stopped at Ocean State Job Lot for suet cakes for the feeders. No luck, but I found lots of other stuff cheap. It was instructive that the pasta section, formerly two thirds of a big rack had shrunk to almost nothing, and part of that nothing was noodles that one could get cheaper at the supermarket. The denizens of my town have seen the prices of anything with wheat escalating and bought out the pasta aisle. I found granola at a good price, and Columbian chocolate (no it's really chocolate, not a drug) along with reasonably priced panko and a few other goodies. I used to think of going to the Job Lot as slumming, and now I think of it as smart.
Onward,
Grapeshot
Grapeshot
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