insights into the world of caffeinated monkeys
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| javamonkey insights into the world of caffeinated monkeys |
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Thursday, February 15, 2007 They Do Get Along Baldric and Cinnamon spend their days napping together--Baldric on a bed or blanket, and Cinnamon on the floor in front of him. It's cute how they get along when they think no one is paying attention. I know this because this is day 2 off work--stupid snow and ice. I left work early Tuesday because the sleet and freezing rain had started; I stayed home yesterday because the roads were shitty (Dad and Mark left for work at 4:30 am and were back at 7 am--the roads were awful, but they had to be out on them). I'm home today because I can't get my car out of it's parking space. I'm stuck. Here's the predicament: I'm parked in a space on the street, passenger side doors next to the sidewalk. I've got about an inch between my tires and the sidewalk. I've got a clear shot to back out (I've got another parking space that's empty behind me). In front of my car, about 6 inches in front of the bumper on the passenger side is a 3 foot pile of ice. About 3 inches in front of my car on the drivers side is my neighbor's rear bumper (he's parked at an angle). And all along the drivers side is about a foot of ice that's been kicked up by the plows. I can't get over the sidewalk or foot of ice without fucking up my tires (they're new so that's out). I can't back out of the space because I'm parked on concrete, with the ice piled up behind my car--I can't get enough traction to get up onto the ice to get out. I can't move forward without smashing my neighbor's car, and I can't push the car out, because it's just me, and I've got no one to steer while I push and then put the car in gear and give it gas once I get it onto the ice (otherwise, it will fall back into it's spot). I've got nothing I can put down and wedge under the tires to try to get traction, and I'm not going to sit spinning my wheels, which will just make the situation worse. So, I did the only thing that I could have done--called off work. So, I'm home another day. Not that I have enough work right now to justify going into the office--I don't. I'm caught up on all of my customer issues, I've been working to clean out parts from the warehouse, and I'm working through a list of open tickets for customers that look like they've been ignored. I'm trying to find the angry people before they find me. However, I've got nothing so pressing that I need to be there. I've got no one so angry that I need to deal with them immediately. I've got enough actual work to fill maybe an hour or two, and enough bullshit project things to fill the remainders of my day. But I don't want to be at home again. I spent yesterday cooking--I made a corn souffle, an apple pie, and a chocolate sour cream cake. It was all delicious, but I don't really feel like cooking today--our kitchen is freezing, and even with the stove and oven and socks, it's still too damn cold to be out there. There is no insulation between the outside walls of the house and the cabinentry, no insulation between the floor of the kitchen and the crawlspace in the basement, and three windows that aren't properly sealed. It's so cold that the butter I sat on the kitchen table was harder to spread than the stuff in the fridge. Even with thick socks on, you can feel the cold sneaking through to find your toes. It's not the most welcoming room to be in when it's cold, so I don't want to spend a lot of time there today--too cold. But I probably will be out there, making a chocolate cheesecake for this weekend with Ian, and making something for dinner. And, because I like sharing recipes: Corn Souffle 5 eggs 1 can cream-style corn 1 can corn (regular, not cream-style), drained 4 T flour 1 t baking powder 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup heavy cream Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 6-7 cup casserole dish (or give a light spray with cooking spray). I use a large measuring cup, but feel free to use a bowl--beat the eggs with a whisk until the yolks are thoroughly combined with the whites. Add the corn, flour, and baking powder. Whisk until the flour and powder are dissolved. Add the milk and cream and combine. Pour into your casserole dish, and bake, uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour--your souffle should rise slightly and be golden brown and have the faintest bit of wiggle. Let it cool slightly and dig in--this is great with bacon, country ham, and biscuits. Also good with fried chicken. Apple Pie Crust: 1 1/2 cups flour 1/4 cup shortening, cut into little bits (or spooned bit by bit into your bowl) 1/4 cup butter, very cold and cut into bits pinch of salt 1/4 cup iced water Put flour, shortening, salt, and butter in a bowl. Put the bowl in the freezer for about 10 minutes. When time is up, bring it out, cut butter and shortening into the flour (or let your stand mixer do the work) until it resembles oatmeal. Add water slowly, until the mix looks like it's about to form a ball, but isn't there yet. At that point, form the dough into two discs, wrap in plastic, and stick in the fridge until you're ready to roll it out (or put the plastic-wrapped discs in a freezer bag for up to three months--when ready to use, defrost in the fridge). Filling: about 8 smallish apples or 6 medium apples (I used Granny Smiths as that's what I had--use something tart and not too sweet) 1/2-3/4 cup sugar 3-4 T flour 1 T butter 1 t china cassia cinnamon* 1 t vietnamese cassia cinnamon* 1/2 t ground cloves 1/4 t ground cardamon 1 t pure vanilla extract 1/2 t almond extract Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples. Add sugar, flour, and spice. Mix with your hands until the apples are covered in the mix and let them stand for a little bit (about half an hour). You can sprinkle some lemon juice onto the apples to keep them from turning, but I really don't have an issue with it, and I find the lemon detracts from the spicy goodness. Roll out your pie crusts, put the bottom crust in the pan, fill with apples, dot with butter, and seal with the top crust. Cut steam holes in the top, trim and seal the edges, and put the pie on top of an aluminum foil covered baking tray in an oven preheated to 425 for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the temperature down to 350 and bake for another 30 to 45 minutes until the top crust is golden brown. And yes, you probably will have leakage from the pie (I always do), so the foil covered baking sheet is imperative to easy clean-up. *I love the differences between the two cinnamons, and mixing them gives more depth to the apples than one cinnamon alone. And, yes, these cinnamons have converted me to the joy of Penzeys. Chocolate Sour Cream Cake For the cake: 1 1/2 cups flour 1 cup sugar 1 t baking powder 1/2 t baking soda 1/3 c unsweetened cocoa 1 1/2 sticks butter, soft 2 large eggs 2 t pure vanilla extract 2/3 c sour cream Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Easiest way to make cake batter--put all dry ingredients into the food processor and blitz to remove any lumps. Add rest of ingredients; blitz to batter. Otherwise, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, and sour cream; combine. Add dry ingredients, and mix until you have a smooth batter. Pour into 2 greased 8-inch cake pans; bake for 30-35 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool cakes in their pan for about 10 minutes before turning cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Icing: 3/4 stick butter 6 ounces baking chocolate 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar 1 T light corn syrup 1/2 cup sour cream 1 t pure vanilla extract Melt butter and chocolate together, combine until smooth, and sit aside to cool just a bit. Add in syrup and vanilla. Mix in sour cream (warning--it will look gross when you do this). Sift in confectioners sugar and mix until you have frosting--it will not be a firm icing, but will be soft. It should not be runny--if it is, add more confectioners sugar. Or, blitz confectioners sugar in the food processor to remove lumps. Melt chocolate and butter together, combine until smooth, and let it cool for a bit. Then add everything into the food processor with the sugar and blitz to icing. (Can you tell I'm having fun with the Cuisinart?) And if you needed another reason why Ian is wonderful--he sent flowers yesterday. Irises and lilies. They're beautiful. Baldric wants to eat them. posted by jaime | 8:28 AM 0 comments |
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