Return of the Yummy

I'm bored at work, it's been eons since I last read fanfic, and there's too much to sort through at The Fire and Ice Archive. Recommend some good ones to me please?

Before I get to the boring stuff that is my real post, I just thought I should do a PSA. To all the people who have me friended because of my ties to HP fandom and D/G love, I should warn you that my journal is going to be much, much less fandom oriented and much more me oriented (and my current obsession -- cooking/baking). That doesn't mean NO fandom stuff ever, but I wouldn't want to keep you here under false pretenses. Feel free to unfriend at will, or stick around, the choice is all yours, no hard feelings whatsoever. And now, the post...

1) I realized at some point that all the books and movies I was buying didn't actually need to be bought. Or in my house. So I've been trying to weed out the things I don't want (or realized I am never going to get around to reading) and either selling them on Half.com or eBay or back to Half Price Books, trading them at paperbackswap.com, or just donating them. And it is inevitable that something gets sold every couple of days, necessitating multiple trips to the post office. Why can't people just buy/request stuff all on the same day?!

2) I need to do the same thing with my clothes and CDs. I don't have that much closet space to begin with, and over the years with all the buying and the hoarding, stuff is like exploding out of drawers. I keep missing the deadline for the truck that comes every month or so to take away donated clothing. ><

3) I forgot to watch Acts 2 and 3 of Dr. Horrible before the Sunday deadline and now it's only on iTunes. Cry. Someone tell me what happens!

4) I've joined the Daring Bakers, with my membership officially beginning next month. Every month they do a baking challenge, chosen by that month's sponsor, and every single member bakes the exact same thing and are not allowed to talk about it on a public forum until the official posting day where everyone reveals their results. There are a number of rules to keep your membership, including having to participate in a minimum of 8 challenges a year (out of 12), not missing 2 months in a row, and providing photos/a run down of your experience with the challenge on your blog. It sounds really fun and challenging, as I've seen some of their past challenges and they run from the fun/easy to truly difficult/complicated. As a novice baker it will definitely help me with my range/skill, and help provide some direction to my projects. <g> So look for my first DB challenge result next month!

Well, I finally finished the borscht. And while I was making it, I realized that it is definitely jade_okelani's kryptonite. She would hate it. :)))) First of all, it has beets, which I don't think she's a big fan of. But that's the least of it. There's also the onion. But she's used to having to deal with that. Not sure if she's a big fan of cabbage, which there's 2 cups of. But then comes the red wine vinegar. And last, but not least, the 3/4 cup of fresh DILL. Dun dun duuuuuun!! In fact, it was way too much dill, even for me. If I ever make it again I'm putting 1/4 cup, if even that, since I'd still probably have to buy it in a bunch and it's just not worth it.

( Here's the pic. )

I also made Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake! Well, half of one. Since it's just for me and I'm going to have to eat it all, even that's probably too much. As you can see from the pic I still have a lot to work on with regard to my cake making skills (aesthetically in particular), but flavor wise it's fabulous. Even though it looks like a plain vanilla cake it's actually lemon, with lime-flavored buttercream and tayberry jam (because those are the things I had on hand, but if I ever made this for other people I'd follow the recipe exactly).

( Here's the pic. )

Not sure why I had to take on two cooking projects at once, but it did mean I spent the better part of the day chopping vegetables. Cooking would take no time at all if I could be like the cooks on TV and have everything prepared for me ahead of time and all I'd need to do is add ingredients.

Anyway, the borscht is still being made. I did manage to finish the mushroom asparagus risotto, and my god is it stove intensive. (For that alone it's probably worth it just to order it in a restaurant.) I've never made risotto before, and the key is to have as much of everything prepared ahead of time as possible, because you're basically having to stand there the whole time, stirring it. To me, who made some prior preparation but not all, it felt like I was constantly trying to do 5 things at once, while stirring the risotto at the same time. It was delicious, though. Thank you to Jade who found and shared the recipe. If only she were here to share with the eating, because I have a ton of leftovers.

( Risotto pics. )

So I've recently gotten into making homemade food a lot (if you couldn't tell by my rambling yeast trials), and I went on another Amazon splurge and got some attachment rollers for my stand mixer that will enable me to make my own pasta. I've always been kind of curious about doing that, but have never had the will/impulse to actually do it, feeling that that would cross some kind of "you've gone too far" line in my mind. Well, the line is good and crossed. In a way it makes sense ... if I'm making things with dough anyway, why not just make another form of it?

I also bought a digital scale so I can measure ingredients by weight as well as volume (should have done this a long time ago), the two bread books akscully recommended, because now I'm good and hooked on making bread, as well as a baking book by Dorie Greenspan, because her recipe for "Perfect Party Cake" looks delicious and I'm interested to see what else she has up her sleeve in that book. (Links go to my Vox journal, which has only recipes on it.) Seriously, ( look at these pics. )

Along those lines, I went to a farmer's market with corianderstem yesterday where I bought a bunch of fresh veggies, both to cook on their own and as ingredients for salad fixings and borscht, which I've never made before but have had imitations of. I love beets and the idea of a gorgeous, wine-red soup. I've also got the ingredients for a mushroom asparagus risotto recipe that Jade gave me.

And!! At the farmer's market they were selling herb plants, and I finally have my own basil plant! (And thyme, since I've been doing some French cooking lately and they all seem to call for thyme.) This is exciting for a number of reasons ... I love the idea of growing my own herbs that I can use whenever I want, and now I don't have to buy herbs in the store anymore, where they usually are a) expensive; b) sold too much in bulk, which means a lot of times it gets wasted because I don't use it all.

We also saw Mamma Mia, which was very cute. It's one of my least favorite roles of Meryl Streep's (usually I adore her but not so much in this one, don't know why), but I loved Julie Walters ("Go BILLY!") and Amanda Seyfried, who I hope becomes a bigger star. She's way more tolerable than the likes of Jessica Alba (and really, any other Jessicas), Lindsay Lohan (who I used to like), and most of the other girls in that age bracket. Of course, I could just be biased because I loved Lilly Kane from Veronica Mars, and was pleasantly surprised that she could actually sing!

Edited to add: ( This X-Files Quiz Meme ... respectable results but obviously my obsession is gone baby gone. )

Okay, I've now decided that reason #1 to bake bread, other than it being fun, is the smell of baking bread in your house. Ohmygod it's so good.

I finally baked bread! And it's good!! Very soft and fluffy ... I was so afraid that my first effort would yield results of, well, a rock. For my first attempt I didn't want to do anything complicated (to up the chances of it turning out well), so I made a simple "World Bread" recipe that's basically just a white loaf.

( A pictorial of sourdough culture to actual bread! )

My next project is either going to be a cheese-onion loaf or possibly a free-form loaf (like French bread), assuming the stuff I ordered arrives by the time I want to make it.

Today for lunch I went to a Cajun-style restaurant called Alligator Soul. A week or so ago, I interviewed a woman from Louisiana. After the interview portion we got to talking, and crawfish was mentioned. It's been something I've longed to try, because I love seafood/shellfish, but have never been to the South (except for one day in Dallas, but I'm not counting that). Doing some research online, Alligator Soul was the only place even remotely near me that served actual whole crawdads (as opposed to bits of it in a gumbo, or jambalaya, or whatever). It seems that every other Saturday they do a crawfish boil during the lunch hour, so I went today.

The place itself is a little run down, but that kind of added to its charm. The service was really friendly. And the crawfish plate for one that I ordered came with 1 pound of crawfish, along with some fixings. I also ordered a "side" of catfish, because I love fried catfish. When the food came I was stunned at how huge the portions were. I know crawfish aren't that big, but I wasn't expecting THAT many in a pound. And it came with two corn on the cob, three huge red potatoes, two halves of a roasted garlic bulb, and two good-sized spicy sausages. And all this for $10.95. O.o The side of catfish was basically a deep-fried filet with some really yummy tartar sauce that was great too. And it was only $4.50.

I wish I had brought my camera so I could have taken a pic of the giant platter of crawfish that arrived at my table, but oh well -- maybe in two weeks. :D They were good, kind of a cross between shrimp/lobster, but their shells are so hard that my fingers were hurting part of the way through from opening the shells. The pics that follow are my leftovers, because it was just too much food for one person. Look at how much is in my leftover box (which was really deep)!

( If you don't like seafood, or pictures of red, bug-looking creatures, don't continue. )

Saw The Dark Night yesterday with corianderstem and leiliaxf after stuffing ourselves with delicious sushi. ( My spoilery thoughts. )

Last night, I took my Ischia.b starter and turned it into a liquid culture. And then I made avocado soup. ( Click for pics! )

I woke up today and it was overcast. Driving to work, it was 57°F. So I guess summer's over? It was a nice 3 weeks, I guess. /grumpy

Do you guys ever feel like maybe you have too strong a grasp of the written word, and it works against you? I don't mean that in a conceited way. I mean that I have lately experienced from multiple sources that people don't communicate clearly, so I 'misunderstand' what they MEAN even though I am correct in what they are actually SAYING. Does that make any sense? So many times I have to read between the lines or try and forget the actual meaning of what I'm reading, so that I can get what the other person is trying to get across. So I start responding to what they've written, and they're like, "Okay, but that's not what I meant." And I'm like, "Yes, but it's what you said." And they're like, "Well, I didn't know that by saying it like that you would take it to mean xxxx." And I'm like, "Well I took it to mean xxxx because that is exactly the meaning of what you said!" And on and on it goes.

The latest experience along those lines has to do with the sourdough cultures, and the directions I've been trying to follow. But I've realized that, despite it being an actual published 'expert' book and written by someone with a doctorate, it still needed a better editor. It's not that it's not in plain English -- that part is fine. It's the sentence structures that don't convey the true meaning of the words, making everything kind of muddled instead of clear. But the good news is, ( I think I've figured out what's goiing on with my cultures. )

More fun/useful sourdough links and recipes, mostly for me to keep as a resource but if they help someone else, awesome. :-)

( Links to yeasty goodness. )

1) First things first, and this is first, since it's had a big impact on my life for so long -- I'm quitting WoW. ( How it came to be. )

2) I hate exercise with a fiery passion. Some people say that they don't like it, but are always glad after they've done it, because of the endorphins or whatever and they feel good. I also feel good after I've done it, not because it feels good, but because it's a relief to know that I did my daily duty and now I have the rest of the day to not think about having to do it. I should never have gotten a treadmill! Now I'm forced to use it!

3) The sourdough cultures. Still nothing, and today is Day 4 of the washing cycle. I know that 5-6 days is possible, but I'm impatient and frankly I'm starting to wonder if they're viable anymore. I get bubbles, but nowhere near the amount that would indicate a full working/active culture. They smell pleasantly sour, of sourdough, and the hooch is on the top. So the contamination phase should be over. But nothing is haaaappppeninnggggg. I did another wash cycle this morning, and have conducted an experiment. ( What I did. )

4) Friday Night Lights. ( Stuff about the show from S1. )

So, I have 3 new pets. Their names are Italy (Camaldoli), Italy (Ischia Island), and France.

Who or what are these new pets? you might ask. They are sourdough starters! ( I go on and on about bread and yeast. Any other bakers out there? )

I'm not the greenest person ever, but I do try and be conscientious of my carbon footprint, particularly when it comes to REALLY EASY things that take almost no effort to do. And it drives me crazy when people -- supposedly intelligent, informed people -- can't do the same. Two of my biggest pet peeves:

- Writing only on ONE SIDE of pages in a notebook. Write on the other side, which is completely blank, for pete's sake! Related: printing a number of documents, or something with many pages, on one side of a sheet of paper.

- Using a recyclables trash can as a normal trash can, which is right next to it. Is it really that hard to comprehend what is recyclable and what isn't, or to make the effort to notice what fucking trash can you're putting something into? It's not like they're asking us to sort between the various kind of recyclables -- everything from paper to plastic to aluminum can go into one bin. Food, tea bags, the like? The other bin. IT'S NOT THAT HARD PEOPLE.

I see this behavior constantly at work. It makes me insane. What galls me is how EASY it is. It's not like anyone has to go out of their way to be responsible, or that I'm some extremely serious environmentalist who's just being freakish and hard on them. God!

Last week I received an email to see a screening of Mamma Mia. It was from The Screening Exchange, which is an LA program. I am not in LA. Therefore I could not go to the screening. Cry. And this is why I hate Trix, who did get to see it.

I've bit(ten?) the bullet and hired someone to put together the treadmill. It's going to cost around $175, which is a lot, but considering the time and stress I'll save from having to do it myself (and getting it done by someone who knows what they're doing), it'll be worth every penny. Plus they're coming on Monday -- and who knows when I'd get around to it? The only thing is that I had originally wanted to put it in my bedroom ... but apparently getting the thing moved would require hiring other people to do, because it's so damn heavy. >< So I've cleared a space in the downstairs "fun room," which is probably just as well, because now I can watch TV while on the treadmill. Well, it has a built-in TV, so I could have done that before, but it doesn't have a DVD player!

( I've watched more DVDs/shows -- kind of cont. from my other entry about this. )

So it's Father's Day on Sunday, and I just mailed my card out today. Well, I wouldn't want it to get there on time and hurt my mom's feelings when her card was late, would I? No.

Going to a baseball game tonight with Alicia and Sharon, and currently the plan is that I will be getting a SeaDog for dinner. It's like battered fried fish in a hot dog bun, topped, no doubt, with tartar sauce. The only problem is that it's an evening game and will probably be even more cold than it is right now, which is pretty damn cold. Currently? 55°F. I know, what kind of insane part of the country do I live in? Answer: a sucky part that has never heard of summer. Oh I know, a bunch of people are experiencing crazy heat where they live ... but what I wouldn't give for that right now! Warm weather! Cute clothes! Walking out of the house without a coat! Walking my dog NOT in the rain! The bliss!

I have recently rented/purchased soooooooo many DVDs, mostly of the TV series persuasion. Here's what I've gotten so far, with high-level thoughts:

( Cutting, because this got longer than I intended. )

By the way, the treadmill arrived. It's currently sitting in my garage, in its box. Because it weighs 300 lbs. I have no idea whatsoever how I am going to get the pieces out, to my bedroom, and assembled. I really need to think these things through.

And my last bit of news -- I am minorly embroiled in a drama wherein this guy I met and spoke to on a few carpool bus commutes (company employees only, so at least it's not really iffy in that sense) asked me out a couple of weeks ago. Only I misheard him and didn't realize that was what he was doing, and accepted. So then I had to backtrack on it and make up a story about being involved in a relationship already. I thought that was the end of it, but then he called and left a voicemail recently to see how I was doing, and now I don't know what to do. Can't just ignore him as I will likely see him on commutes (today, even), and he's a perfectly nice fellow. I'm just not interested in him that way. Plus he thinks I have a boyfriend. So could he just have called to be friends? I'm still at a loss as to how to respond.

Okay, I've purchased a treadmill -- link to it here in case anyone else goes through the same hemming and hawing. Basically what I did was use the basics from this article to determine the basic stats of a machine that would work best for me (given my weight/predicted usage) and went to NordicTrack to find one in my price range with those stats. I tried a couple of other brands the article mentions, but their Web sites/offerings didn't seem very impressive and at least I've heard of NordicTrack (reputable company important when parting with a significant chunk of change). Probably a true exercise guru would know the actual best brands, but as a noob this worked for me.

This helped me determine that their lowest end model would work for me, but before just buying it off the NT site I decided to look for it on eBay (the article makes a sensible point that you can get good exercise equipment used, as people often buy on impulse and don't end up using them). Well, eBay didn't have the model I wanted, but I did find a higher-end model, that has a TV (O.o), iPod dock, and other niceties on top of being better functionally (in terms of motor type, weight capacity, etc.), at less than half what it retails for on the NT site -- and not much more than what I would have paid for the lower-end model. It's also brand new, from a seller who has over 270 feedback and a 99.3% positive rating, so I feel pretty good about it. The only thing I'm a bit leery about is the manufacturer's warranty -- I called NT, and according to them it's still good regardless of who I purchase the equipment from, but I can't purchase extra warranty as I've seen some suggest. Plus, it's still a bit of a risk because I'm going through eBay and all, so NT may not consider it legitimate or whatever. And of course, it's being shipped so I haven't actually seen or used it yet, so hopefully everything will be OK when I get it.

Now I just have to find a place to put it, and contemplate how difficult it's going to be to put it together!

Does anyone know anything about treadmills -- as in, recommendations for what a good, but relatively inexpensive brand/type might be? I'm considering getting one, and don't want to get something cheap that ends up breaking down in 3 months, but I also don't want to spend a ton of money on a top-of-the-line machine that I won't make full use of. This article is helpful, but it doesn't name specific brands or models and not being in the know I don't know which are trustworthy/reliable, etc.

Thanks in advance!

Well hello Live Journal peeps, long time no talk. I hope everyone is doing well!

When you haven't posted as long as I have, every time you want to make a post it seems like there isn't anything important enough to say to actually do it. Well I finally have something I want to share that I think people might enjoy: CRACKTASTIC ASIAN DRAMAS! [tm] by akscully. Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but if you're like me you'll love them.

Honestly I haven't been here in so long that these could well be old news, but just in case they aren't I want to spread the squee around:

Hana Yori Dango: Based off a shoujo manga series by Kamio Yoko. Rather off the wall and stylized, but thoroughly enjoyable. Took me awhile to warm up to the actor who plays the male lead, but now I can't imagine anyone else in the role. Also watch for the extremely amusing supporting cast/relationships.

http://www.mysoju.com/hana-yori-dango/
http://www.mysoju.com/hana-yori-dango-season-2/
Plus a movie, which comes out June 28.

It Started with a Kiss: A more traditional comedy/romance/drama based off a shoujo manga series by Tada Kaoru. Features a heroine I probably wouldn't normally like, but is played by an actress who makes her quite endearing. The male lead/character is unbelievably hot (very Draco-esque, but without the undercurrents of evil). Again a great supporting cast and wonderfully touching storyline (I both laughed out loud and sobbed during parts). May have to give this until episode 2 or 3 to fully get hooked -- and then it's so worth it.

http://www.mysoju.com/it-started-with-a-kiss/
http://www.mysoju.com/it-started-with-a-kiss-2/

If you find yourself with nothing to do, or craving some mind candy/romance, give them a watch and let me know if you liked them! Warning though ... if you do get into them, you may forego sleep and/or watch them at work because they're just that addictive.

Sometimes, it's good that I'm forced to socialize. After a long, hard day yesterday, the higher ups at work decided to treat a few of us to dinner. ( Talk of food, wine, and dessert. )

When I got home I was ever so slightly inebriated, which probably meant that I shouldn't have signed into WoW. A friend of mine was asking my advice about a gal that he's interested in, which he's been doing for a few days now. Initially I was very encouraging ... but after hearing more and more, I finally got fed up with it last night and the alcohol loosened my tongue (and fingers). I might have said things like, "If she knows how you feel and is still behaving like this, then either a) she returns your feelings, or b) she's leading you on, which makes her a bitch" and "If she has a reputation for leading guys on and you still like her, then I have zero respect for that. Don't talk to me about it anymore, because I have no desire to waste my time analyzing the motives of some cocktease." I thought there were going to be negative repercussions to voicing these extremely unflattering opinions about the object of his affections, but he was actually fine with it. Wow, apparently I can do and say anything, now. Then my head continued to hurt and I went to bed.

I've ordered the latest Georgia Nicholson novel. I wonder if there's any end in sight for these books? As much as I love Georgia and her escapades, I don't want to be strung along indefinitely, especially since there isn't much meat per novel anyway. :/

I had a very weird dream last night where I think I was having some sort of lesbian love affair with a friend of mine from high school (whom I haven't seen since college). There wasn't any sex, but we had run away together and had a stash of cash that we were saving up ... it very well might have been a platonic sort of running away, except I seem to think that it was more than that. But maybe not. In any case I blame akscully and jade_okelani, because they were the ones who messed with Bonez's mind last night by claiming that we had all met in an orphanage as little girls, and then when we were older needed money and so participated in a low-budget film (ahem) together. Wait, that last part might have been my idea. I'm blaming them anyway.

My dad sent me two news clips -- one an interview with Keanu Reeves, because he's kind of behind the times and thinks I still harbor the same crush on Keanu that I did after Speed (although I still do like/respect Keanu, I don't care what anyone else says!), and one on how to make a "dog-friendly home." I thought I'd post this here for anyone else who has doggies that they have to leave alone at home for much/part of the day like I do. :( ( Here's the short article. )

Just checking. It's June, right? And I live in the northern hemisphere? Then why the hell is it 56° out and raining? I really hate it here sometimes. >< If it's a choice between freezing even in four layers of clothing or being sticky and hot, give me the latter. I can't play WoW when my fingers are frozen!! Or write, for that matter.

Speaking of WoW (yes, wasn't that a good segue?), Blizzard is doing another one of their promotions. If you're the least bit interested or curious about this thing that consumes so much of my time, I can send you a link for a free 10-day trial, just let me know. Full disclosure is that if you decide to become a paying member, I get 30 days free. But I don't even care about that, honestly -- I just want more of you guys to play! <g> And the first hit is free! ;)

So last night at work, there was some emergency thing that needed to be posted after hours. ( Work bitchery. )

So, as y'all know, I really love the manga Hot Gimmick. I just found out that apparently, a novel was written from the manga, which has an 'alternate' ending to the manga itself. It's really irritating on the one hand (I hate the "let's try to please everyone all of the time!" mentality), but on the other hand it's kind of neat to see how influential public opinion can be these days. I still consider the manga to be the official canon, particularly since Miki Aihara didn't even write the novel, she only illustrated it. I'm vaguely curious about the novel, but if it never gets translated to English I'll be fine with it, since I like how the manga ended.

Does anyone else have the bad habit of reading multiple books at one time? I'm constantly doing that, mostly because I'm lazy and don't like to carry books around, so I have one in the car, one in the family room, and one in my bedroom. Also, sometimes I just get in the mood for a certain kind of book. Currently I'm reading: Speaker for the Dead (Orson Scott Card), Gaudy Night (Dorothy Sayers), and American Gods (Neil Gaiman). Very different in tone, and so far I'm enjoying all of them (even if Sayers can be a bit painful at times).

Happy Friday!

Many happy belated birthday wishes to lissannej and kstanley!

Out of the many, many wonderful things about you guys, you know what I appreciate most? That in your big, generous hearts, you're able to forgive friends who are a day late with their birthday wishes.

I wish I could be just like you!