79! I got rid of all but 79 of my stared blogs!
Filed under: 101 in 1001 , blogs
• 1:37 pm 0
Pie #2
Friday’s full moon was not only the first full moon of the year, but according to the all-knowing internet, was also the biggest and brightest of 2010. To be honest, I had a mini crisis about how to best celebrate such a moon. Should I make a big bright pie? This is also the first moon of the year, the so-called Wolf Moon, so should I make a wolf inspired pie? Since I have no clue what a big bright pie would be and the thought of a wolf pie made me grimace at thoughts of a bloody pie of moose, elk, and squirrel, I sat down with the cookbooks and looked for inspiration.
Banana Cream looked hopeful, but I just wasn’t in the mood. Lemon Meringue can be described as big and bright, but I’ve had a long week at work and meringue seemed like too much work. And then I saw it, staring at me, yet again from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook . In my mind big and bright and wolves conjured up a rich and filling pie, as well as made me think of my little sis for some reason. And there is no pie my sister loves as much as Key Lime Pie.
Growing up, I remember this was always a treat around my house. There were a couple of goto pies, but every August my sister would demand upon a Key Lime Pie for her birthday and my mom would begrudgingly make one for her. I have memories of it being a long and messy ordeal, so looking at the recipe I kept looking for that dreaded step that many a recipe includes.
But I couldn’t find it.
I figured something would come up while I was working away, but honestly I don’t know what all the fuss was about because this was one easy pie to cook up. Little over an hour since I started and the dishes are all done and the pie is already happily cooling in my icebox, nestled between a carton of milk and the stragglers of various six-packs that always end up in the back of the fridge.
* * *
With my mind on pie and cooking in general, I want to write a bit about a terrible affliction I have. I cannot pass up on keeping good-looking recipes from the food blogs I read. I don’t read too many, thankfully, but looking at the number of posts that I have starred with my trusty Google Reader is rather appalling: 315. And I only read about 10-15 food blogs! I know that I have a problem, be it that I save too much (can one be a virtual packrat?) or that I just don’t cook as much as I should/want. I’m afraid to get rid of anything fearing that I won’t be able to find it when I want it, but I also have no clue about what all I have saved. I’m going to try to get the list cut in half by the end of the afternoon, and then halved again by next week, but I know it is going to be a labor of love. Thank heavens for green tea, free time, and iTunes.
Filed under: 101 in 1001 , blogs, Key Lime Pie, pie
January 23, 2010 • 10:17 am 0
Pie #1
As expected, my first pie of the year was baked a few days after the year’s first new moon. It was a wonderful Chocolate cream Pie found in a copy of The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook that was living on the cookbook shelf of the bookcase. Going into the adventure, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’d never made a cream pie and for whatever reason I found that thought rather daunting. Was I ever surprised! All in all, the pie was a breeze to make and took almost no time. I’d say that the cleanup process took much longer than the pie making, and even that would have been a breeze if it wasn’t for my dishwasher free existence.
And the result? Heavenly! It was agreed that this was possibly the best Chocolate Creme pie the household had ever had. I made it with a mix of unsweetened, bittersweet, & semi-sweet chocolate which resulted in a wonderfully rich and flavorful chocolate filling. So good in fact, that two people made the pie disappear in a few quick days. And as a breakfast (and I do consider pie to be one of the best breakfasts available) it went splendidly with a hot cup of coffee.
Next week brings a full moon and with it another pie. I have one in mind already, another cream pie, but my appetite might change between now and then so I’m afraid I’ll leave you guessing until next weekend.
Filed under: 101 in 1001 , baking, pie
January 2, 2010 • 11:58 am 0
A Year Start update
As promised I am back and a lot more chipper than I was a week ago. As we speak I have a kettle going for some tea and I am looking forward to a productive weekend. The tunes (Yo La Tengo) are going in the background and all is well in my little sphere of existence.
First off, I did a wee bit of house cleaning this morning to The List. A few things here and there needed some updating. Nothing big, most just checking off the (very) few things that I’ve accomplished since I last went through my list.
The other thing that I did this morning was look at two things of great interest to me: my cycling goals and my financial goals. I’ll start with the later as it is the one that I least want to speak off for – let’s be honest – it isn’t too becoming to speak of money. I went through my income and spending and made a very basic budget to follow through the end of June. One of the reasons for this is very much related to my cycling goals, so let us move on to those.
My number one cycling related goal is to purchase a new bicycle this year. For going on 6 years I have ridden, almost exclusively, a wonderful Bianchi Pista. While my fixed gear is a blast around town, I have become more and more interested in pushing greater and greater distances during the summer months. For these rides my bike has become increasingly impractical and I occasionally desire the ability to change gears or coast down a hill.
Additionally, I am still chasing the elusive goal of riding 3652.5 miles in a year so I can claim to have ridden 10 miles every day for a year straight. This year will be no different. Looking at my distance from last year and doing a little extrapolation since I only had an odometer for 9 months, I’d say that I averaged a bit over 6 miles a day last year. As a far-reaching goal (and to make things nice and rounded) I’m shooting for 6000km this year. Yes, I am going metric. If the majority of the world can do it, so can I. Plus, riding 30 on my way to work feels a lot better than riding 20. Of course, this will be about a 66% increase over last year, so I’ve got to get out and get riding a lot more.
And before I go, I’ll let you in on a little goal I have for the next year. I have a wonderful Nikki McClure calendar hanging in my kitchen. As usual, her calendar is rather sparse on information (holidays, observations, etc.), but it does mark all of the new and full moons. As a goal for the year, I am intending to make a pie on each and every new or full moon. I know that some of these pies will be put off until the days or weekend after, but I am okay with that. I’m going to try to match up my pies with the seasons/moons, so stay tuned to see where this side trip of mine takes me.
Filed under: 101 in 1001 , budget, km, Nikki McClure, pie, Saturday morning, tea, Yo La Tengo
December 26, 2009 • 4:58 pm 0
Do I really hate the Holiday Season?
I used to think that I really liked this time of year. Meteorologically, this city of mine often finds itself counting not consecutive days of rain at this time of year, but consecutive weeks of daily rain. It is wet and cold outside, so this is normally the time of year when I feel more than content to head inside and catch up on all of the reading that I have been putting off for the past couple of months. And the weather seems to be cleansing, ridding the body, mind, and soul of all of the garbage that it has accumulated over the sunnier months. Problem is, this year we haven’t gotten the rain. Sure there were some downpours here and there, but to quote local band Minmae, “In Portland it rains/But it’s a soft rain with a mist like December.” This was the December that I sought, the soft misty Portland December that is so wonderful. Instead, I feel like I’m been dumped in some Midwest or Plains state January, with the constant (and thankfully unfulfilled) threat of snow, cold air, and freight train wind. My body is a parched and windswept shell of dry skin and cracked lips, while the mind and soul ache for the pitter-patter of raindrops, not the rush of wind.
But I digress. I want to speak of more than the weather, although the weather seems to reflect so well what seems to be going on.
Everything else seems to be rushing by as well. Work and leisure time, day and night, peoples comings and goings, expectations and distractions; everything is flying by like a storm through the Gorge, not the sticking around like the winter mist. And for me at least, it has all grown up to a barely tolerable roar as the Holiday season reached it zenith. I feel stretched so thin, asked again and again to give to those around me, but I have yet to feel that helping hand offered to me in return. With Christmas behind me, I have hopes that the New Year will bring better prospects, but a look at the good old Accuweather is suggesting that the next two weeks bring cold and sun, so I doubt that much is going to change.
Ach, I digress still. I never meant for this to be an outlet for all of the crap going on in my life, but rather a place to celebrate my attempt to complete a seemingly random list of 101 tasks in 1001 days. Fear not, for I am still trudging my way forward, I just need some good old winter weather so that it can return to being a happy stroll into the future. Tomorrow is already doomed (I know, a great attitude to have), but I promise to return more regularly with the birth of a new year.
Filed under: 101 in 1001, Everyday Life , Holiday Seson, Minmae, mist, Portland, rain
November 22, 2009 • 3:04 pm 0
National Bundt Cake Day
As I write I have a bundt cake in the oven. Based off the smells alone, I can tell that I made a good choice in making this cake from Orangette. But the real question is, or at least it should be, why did I make a bundt cake?
Don’t be fooled by the title of this post, National Bundt Cake Day was last Sunday. I didn’t make my cake then because I was making a boozy Pumpkin pie instead. But with a growing love of bundt cakes and another boozy recipe to try, I figured I’d celebrate a week later. Besides, I don’t have a ‘real‘ bundt pan, but rather a silicone ring pan, so I’m okay being a little belated in my celebration. (On a side note, don’t make the mistake that I did and assume that your bundt pan is the right size. I mean really, why wouldn’t it be universal. If in doubt, I will from here on out measure. Lesson learned, I promise.)
Additionally, as this recipe calls for a cup of bourbon, I had to head to liquor store. And a trip to the liquor store is an excuse to poke around a see what they stock that I want to try. On this trip, that meant a bottle of Campari so that I can try my hand at making Negronis, Americanos, and other Italian cocktails. And with my cake soon to be done, I will leave you that and promise of reports of good eating and good drinking to come.
Filed under: 101 in 1001, Everyday Life , baking, bundt cake, Campari, Orangette
September 14, 2009 • 8:10 am 0
Youth in Revolt
A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across a copy of Youth in Revolt. A few days prior one of my coworkers had been extolling the pleasure she had derived from reading this book. Normally I don’t put too much stock into what this person enjoys, but I was feeling bored that day. Looking at the back cover I was a little skeptical. While it looked like a fun book, I was rather unsure of a book from the early 90’s, about a 14 year old, told through his journal. I read enough really bad epistolary novels in college (albeit ones from the 1700’s) to make me really cautious of that style of storytelling. Then I flipped the book over since, and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise, you can tell a lot about a book by its cover. Blue and hokey it seemed harmless until I saw that sticker in the lower left quadrant, “Soon to be a film starring Micheal Cera.”
That was almost a deal breaker.
Don’t get me wrong here folks, I think he is a great actor and all, but he tends to play the same character in a lot of his work. And after hating myself for sitting through Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (and that wonderfully “Did he just do what I think he did?!” scene towards the end) the young lad isn’t necessarily a drawing point for me. Even if it is him drawing me to a book for a movie that he is acting in. Odd I know, but is it really any different then being attracted to the book because a sticker tells me that he is in the upcoming movie?
To make a long story short, the book was great. For about three days I was reading for wonderfully pleasant three hour chunks, devouring the pages with chuckles and laughs. While it slowed a bit by the end and I wasn’t sad to see it end, I wasn’t glad either. In fact, I’d go as far as to recommend the book to a friend (or stranger) and might consider seeing the movie because of the book.
Filed under: 101 in 1001 , books, Youth in Revolt
August 26, 2009 • 8:10 am 0
The Power of Others on the Music I Like pt. I
I began thinking about this a bit ago when I created the playlist that I spoke of a few posts ago. There is a lot of music that my interest in has been highly influenced by others. Not just in the Susie Q gave me this album and I really liked it so she influenced my music taste. No, I’m talking about something a little bit different, more along the lines of how music and memory are so wonderfully interconnected. There is something in that relationship that can make or break a song/album/artist no matter how much I should like or dislike an album (and don’t try and tell me that there are albums that you know that you should like that you cannot stand and vise versa).
Take for example Arcade Fire. Due to the fact that I seem to live in a cocoon, I had never heard of these folks until their second album was released. My coworkers played that album, the fabulous Neon Bible, over and over in every single room of the building for about two weeks. Like it or not, I wanted nothing to do with Arcade Fire for the next year and a half. At some point I was finally able to really give the album a listen, away from the praise of everybody around me and I discovered that I really liked the album and Arcade Fire.
This process, however, can work in reverse as well. In college a roommate brought home a copy of Menomena’s I Am the Fun Blame Monster. It was love at first listen. My roommates and I wore the hell out of the borrowed CD until it was too scratched to use as a coaster. For almost any mood, I knew that I could turn to that wonderful album and it would take care of me. Then I brought a copy to work. One coworker liked it and started to play it on occasion. Then a couple more began to play it. Next thing I knew I was listening to it every single day. And I was listening to folks sing, hum, and drum along. They ruined my album, it wasn’t something I savored but something I despised. So I stopped listening to it for almost two and a half years. It was so bad that I wanted nothing to do with the band and put of purchasing or even listening to the second album (the amazing Friend or Foe that I have written of in the past) until it was almost a year old. Now I can listen to it again, but it has been a long journey back and I fell that much has been lost in our once intimate relationship.
Now there is a third type of way that other have influenced the music I listen to, but I think I’ll hold off on sharing it for a while. It is a little bit harder to talk about for a host of reasons. But fear not, I will share.
Filed under: Everyday Life , Arcade Fire, menomena, music
August 25, 2009 • 7:55 am 0
First Rainy Morning of Fall
When I informally awoke at my comfortable quarter to six, minutes before the alarm would announce the formal arrival of morning, I noticed that it seemed dark – darker than it has been of late that is – and that the sprinkler seemed to have been going a little longer and harder than usual this morning. The cat seemed to now what was what, for while I had the desire to get up and face the day, it was he who knew better and chose to stay perched in his window eying the world with sleepy suspicion.
As the day slowly, ever so slowly, brightened and lightened I noticed that it was not the usual sidewalks but the streets as well that showed signs of dampness. And under all of the cars were inverse shadows, light spots of dry against the slick blackness of wet. It is still cool and not so bright and there is a mist that isn’t a rain but more than a mist hanging in the air, leaving the entire city – or at least the parts of it that I can see from the safety of my kitchen window – damp, dreary, and sounding of that stickiness that wet asphalt has against rubber tires.
It may be early, but I do dare to hereby decree by the power given to me by nobody that this morning, the 25th morning of August, is the first rain of the fall. Yes, sure, I promise that there will be sunny days and warm days and summer will continue until the first day of fall plus some and that “Yes, it is a little early,” but I fear that I am right and deep down inside you know I am right for that cat silently agreed with me this morning and cats are never wrong (ask one if you think I speak lies, they are always correct, always).
Hello darkness. Hello rain. Hello Fall. Hello time of year that this city loves most of all.
Filed under: Everyday Life , fall, intelligence of cats, rain
