Today has been the source of a number of small irritations.
I forgot to pick up a squirt bottle while out shopping, which I need to make a vinegar solution to set the pleats of my skirt.
I can't find my grosgrain ribbon that I bought to make the ties for the bustles. I remember calculating how much ribbon I would need and buying it ahead of time so I would have it on hand for bustles. Now it's missing.
Not to mention that Gabriel didn't come to gaming on Tuesday, so I wasn't able to get her measurements for her bustle.
I had to spend twenty minutes to find a copy of my preferred character sheet for Pathfinder on the internet, and then ran out of paper while printing copies. And since I didn't collate my printing, I have five first pages and no second or third pages.
As a result, no sewing was accomplished today. Things were pinned, and fabric was purchased for me to make padded armor for a friend, but I didn't really DO anything.
That's a lie. I made tacos. And they were good tacos.
Luckily I'm working tomorrow (yay money!) and I can pick up some ribbon while I'm there. Maybe even a squirt bottle. One way or another, Castiel's bustle will be finished tomorrow. And even if I have to drive to Thousand Oaks myself, I will get Gabriel in her corset and take her measurements before she leaves for fieldwork.
So there
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Recipes!
Strawberry-Cherry Jam
2 cups sliced strawberries
2 cups pitted cherries
3 - 6 cups sugar
Squeeze of lemon juice
1 tsp butter
1 box or pouch of pectin
Slice up your strawberries and pit the cherries. You can slice the cherries as well, but since I used really juicy cherries I just crushed them with a spoon while they were in the pot. Put fruit and juice in pot and heat over medium. Add lemon juice. Slowly add sugar one cup at a time. If you are using a no-sugar pectin and/or have really sweet fruit, so should only need to add about 3 cups sugar for sufficient sweetness. If you are using regular pectin and want your jam to gel correctly, you're gonna need to add closer to 6 cups. Bring to a boil. Add pectin (and butter, if you like, to reduce foaming) and boil for one minute. Turn off heat and let it cool a bit. Pour into sterilized jars.
Makes 6 - 8 cups.
Lemon Curd
4 tbsp lemon zest
0.5 cup lemon juice
1.5 cups sugar
6 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
3 eggs, lightly beaten
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine zest, juice, and sugar. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add butter and stir till melted. Turn off heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Add eggs to lemon mixture until blended. Return to heat and cook over medium-low, stirring constantly, for 10 to 15 minutes or until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Do NOT allow to boil or it may curdle. Let cool.
Makes about 2 cups.
2 cups sliced strawberries
2 cups pitted cherries
3 - 6 cups sugar
Squeeze of lemon juice
1 tsp butter
1 box or pouch of pectin
Slice up your strawberries and pit the cherries. You can slice the cherries as well, but since I used really juicy cherries I just crushed them with a spoon while they were in the pot. Put fruit and juice in pot and heat over medium. Add lemon juice. Slowly add sugar one cup at a time. If you are using a no-sugar pectin and/or have really sweet fruit, so should only need to add about 3 cups sugar for sufficient sweetness. If you are using regular pectin and want your jam to gel correctly, you're gonna need to add closer to 6 cups. Bring to a boil. Add pectin (and butter, if you like, to reduce foaming) and boil for one minute. Turn off heat and let it cool a bit. Pour into sterilized jars.
Makes 6 - 8 cups.
Lemon Curd
4 tbsp lemon zest
0.5 cup lemon juice
1.5 cups sugar
6 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
3 eggs, lightly beaten
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine zest, juice, and sugar. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add butter and stir till melted. Turn off heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Add eggs to lemon mixture until blended. Return to heat and cook over medium-low, stirring constantly, for 10 to 15 minutes or until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Do NOT allow to boil or it may curdle. Let cool.
Makes about 2 cups.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Food and things
I disappeared for a while, life happened, and now I've returned. Spent the last few days cooking and cleaning, with some great results. My husband regularly requests certain baked goods from me, and most recently that means crumpets. I threw a English tea party last year and made crumpets for the first time, and he's been requesting them ever since. On a trip to Solvang with my mom, I bought a set of crumpet molds, so I figured I'd try my hand at them again.
So much easier when using proper molds! I tried using a cookie cutter before, and the batter would stick. Plus, it goes much faster when you do four at once.
And nothing goes better with crumpets than jam. My strawberry-cherry jam didn't fully set, probably because I used much less sugar. Most recipes call for so much sugar, and I usually start at half and add more until it's tasty. Next time I'll use low-sugar pectin for my jams. It's a little runny, but it makes up for it in delicious-ness.
Well, there is one thing that goes better with crumpets, and that's lemon curd. Mmm, lemon curd. That turned out perfectly, as usual.
That second image is the hardest part of making lemon curd: that last bit that's too little to put in a mason jar, so you just have to stand in the kitchen and eat it with a spoon. Torturous, really.
I plan to update when I can with images of all I've made. Recipes will follow soon. Peace!
So much easier when using proper molds! I tried using a cookie cutter before, and the batter would stick. Plus, it goes much faster when you do four at once.
And nothing goes better with crumpets than jam. My strawberry-cherry jam didn't fully set, probably because I used much less sugar. Most recipes call for so much sugar, and I usually start at half and add more until it's tasty. Next time I'll use low-sugar pectin for my jams. It's a little runny, but it makes up for it in delicious-ness.
Well, there is one thing that goes better with crumpets, and that's lemon curd. Mmm, lemon curd. That turned out perfectly, as usual.
That second image is the hardest part of making lemon curd: that last bit that's too little to put in a mason jar, so you just have to stand in the kitchen and eat it with a spoon. Torturous, really.
I plan to update when I can with images of all I've made. Recipes will follow soon. Peace!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Imbolc
Did a bit of pre-Spring cleaning today: vacuumed, did all the dishes, folded laundry, cleaned some of the frig, and scrubbed the floor. Then I just sat there, basking in the joy of a clean house, until Elliot got home and I had to mess it all up for dinner. I realized that the milk was still good, so I put it to use making dishes for Imbolc. I made my favorite, Swedish pancakes, but I also have skansk grot in the rice cooker for breakfast tomorrow. I was also going to bake bread, but we just ran out of propane. I'm trying to decide between a creative solution and just wanting until morning when I can get more propane. I should probably just wait. To be honest, I think Imbolc is my favorite holiday, it's optimistic and forward looking, it's about anticipation. Eat good, rich foods, give thanks for handling the winter thus far, and know that change is coming.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Yum, Bread
I made some homemade bread yesterday. I've heard it mentioned that the shape of the dough effects the taste of the final product. Now I finally understand. I shaped my dough into some little hoagie rolls for easier sandwiches later. However, they took longer to cook like that and the crust got quite dark. It is still good bread, but it's not what I was hoping for. However, I still don't know enough about shaping to make bread always turn out good, so I will need more delicious experiments.
I did get to try out the cherry-strawberry jam I made recently on the bread. Is very good jam, quite sweet and full of flavor. I did turn out a little runny though, I think I may have over-cooked it when I added the pectin. I think I may have to start purchasing the pectin for less sugar jams. I didn't add the recommended amount of sugar, and that may have been the cause of the runniness. I just start adding sugar, and when it tastes sweet and delicious I stop. I usually end up adding a few cups less of sugar than is called for, because most recipes want you to sweeten the hell outta jam. What I made would have been about 5.25 cups of sugar . . . to 3 cups of fruit! I made it 3 cups of sugar and decided that was enough. Why does there have to be more sugar than fruit? Tasting it now, I think I should've done only 2.5 cups of sugar. Maybe I'm losing my knack for sweetness.
I did get to try out the cherry-strawberry jam I made recently on the bread. Is very good jam, quite sweet and full of flavor. I did turn out a little runny though, I think I may have over-cooked it when I added the pectin. I think I may have to start purchasing the pectin for less sugar jams. I didn't add the recommended amount of sugar, and that may have been the cause of the runniness. I just start adding sugar, and when it tastes sweet and delicious I stop. I usually end up adding a few cups less of sugar than is called for, because most recipes want you to sweeten the hell outta jam. What I made would have been about 5.25 cups of sugar . . . to 3 cups of fruit! I made it 3 cups of sugar and decided that was enough. Why does there have to be more sugar than fruit? Tasting it now, I think I should've done only 2.5 cups of sugar. Maybe I'm losing my knack for sweetness.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Breakfast of Champions
I tried making hash browns for the first time this morning. At first I tried to make them in my big cast iron pan: fail. Any part that got crispy just got stuck to the pan, so no matter how long I cooked them, what I had was always soggy (and getting continually smaller). Once the turkey sausage finished in the non-stick pan I dumped the hash browns in. By now they were kinda greasy from the oil I had put in the cast iron pan to prevent sticking. Cooked them until they were as crispy as I could get them, and then pulled them out. They taste like homemade potato chips, sort of a hash brown/latke hybrid. Not bad, but definitely need some work.
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