A Comonplace Book

New Mishka Photo

2009-12-02T17:42:58Z

Mishka wishes it to be known that he only posed for that other photo to humor me, in a spirit of holiday generosity, and that he generally disapproves of stupid bows being worn by pets. He allowed me to take a new photo this morning, sans bow.

He looks a little grumpy, but that might be because his paw still hurts.

My Elder Muse

2009-12-01T05:05:33Z

We've had some scares recently with Mishka, the elder of my furry muses. A couple of weeks ago he had a seizure, and then he had another yesterday morning. Apparently seizures are not uncommon for cats, but they're sure scary for the human servants.

Mishka is at least nineteen years old. We adopted him in 1991, and he was an adult then. He was a street kitty - we got him from the pound, and he was sick six ways from Sunday. Got him cleaned up and medicated and healthy, and he's been our friend ever since. (Actually, he picked my spouse as his human. Bumped up against his hand when he was still in the cage, and that was all she wrote.)

After the first seizure I took him to the vet and had some tests done to asses his general state of health. The vet says he's in good shape for his age, but he's still old and getting frail. Has arthritis, cataracts, etc.

For a while now we've been aware of this, and we view ourselves as providing kitty assisted living for our pal. We're watching him pretty closely, brushing him a lot as he can't groom himself very well any more, and helping him get up and down places sometimes. A few months ago my dear spouse built some steps to help him get on and off our bed (yes, we spoil him).

I'm writing this now because I want to save some memories of him while he's still alive. I don't want to have to scramble for them after he's gone. So this blog is going to be a Mishka journal for a while.

Today he hopped down from my desk chair and hurt his forepaw, went limping around the house. He seemed to take this stoically - I guess one more pain isn't so new to him. Hard to watch, though. He got some extra cuddles for it.

Wolf photos

2009-10-27T05:14:33Z

I posted some photos of the wolves at Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary on my Facebook page. We went to their annual Howloween celebration Saturday. Took pictures of the wolves devouring their treats of pumpkins stuffed with goodies.

This is my favorite pic: Storm, the wolf I sponsor, with a pumpkin on the move.

Part of the annual event is a fire circle with a campfire story and a special farewell to the wolves and other friends of the sanctuary who have passed on in the last year. This year the amazing ambassador wolf Raven passed, and I was glad to be there to say farewell and to hear the wonderful stories people told about Raven. Leyton, the sanctuary's director and Raven's chosen human, had the best stories, of course.

Seasons shifting

2009-10-27T04:29:08Z

Saw a hummingbird today. They're still coming through, but I've only been seeing one at a time at the feeder, instead of swarms. No fights.

Last night I put the heater in the bird bath. This morning, a dusting of snow. Wednesday we are supposed to get whomped.

We were out running errands today and a roadrunner crossed the road in front of us. Not very fast; we had to swerve to avoid hitting him.

The coolest birds we've seen lately were a flock of about 8 wild turkeys on the road to our neighborhood, Saturday morning. First time we've seen them in the area!

I grated cheese today!

2009-10-23T22:42:20Z

Finally replaced my wounded food processor. The old, graterless one has gone to a deserving soul who is grateful to pulverize and need not grate.

The new one is more massive, pretty easy to handle, and grated a zucchini without blinking an eye (not that it has an eye to blink). It also grated hard cheese with a little more effort but no trouble.

I am a happy kitchen camper.

Sugar Skulls, part 3

2009-10-20T14:09:15Z

The party was a blast. We had 42 skulls and by the end of a long day, they were all decorated. Kids and popcorn and lots of messy fun. Photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7750129@N08/sets/72157622625852150/

Sugar Skulls, part 2

2009-10-12T18:44:01Z

Lost one overnight. Stress fracture from being moved around too much before dry.

I made another batch of skulls today. Tried to keep from getting sugar all over everywhere. Not terribly successful.

It really is like playing with damp sand. Not wet enough to make a sand castle, but packs into the molds well. The just-molded skulls are so fragile that brushing against them will damage them, but once they're dry they're amazingly tough. You can see the mold in bowl at the left side if you look carefully.

I added a picture of the sucker mold to yesterday's post, if anyone's curious. I got it from The Specialty Shop, a local cake and candy supply shop.

Sugar Skulls, part 1

2009-10-12T01:40:16Z

Last year I dipped a toe in the water of making sugar skulls. This is a wonderful Dia de los Muertos tradition. We had so much fun with it that I decided to invite some friends to share this year.

These aren't food, by the way. They're pure sugar, just decoration.

Making the base skulls is actually pretty unexciting, and they have to be dry before they can be decorated, so today I made some in advance. I used the molds from last year, best molds I could find then, which turned out to be skull sucker molds. (Hmm...good name for a band...Skull Sucker Mold). This year I cut one down to make it easier to slide the skulls onto cardboard for drying.

I made a double recipe with four cups of sugar, four teaspoons of meringue powder, and about seven teaspoons of water. The recipe called for four, but the sugar seemed too crumbly so I kept adding more. The consistency is supposed to be like "moist sand." Pack the sugar into the mold, scrape off the excess with the flat edge of a knife, cover with an index card and flip over, then place on cardboard and slide out the index card. Voila! The double recipe made ten full skulls and one that was almost full (close enough).

I had a little trouble with some of the chins crumbling, but hey. Not everyone has the same chin, right?

Changing of the Guard

2009-10-09T23:33:01Z

Saw the first junco of the season today. Still a few hummingbirds, but not throngs. Flickers invaded a couple of weeks ago.

Disposability

2009-10-08T15:06:51Z

I'm frustrated by the way American companies do business.

Last January I bought a food processor, a wonder of modern technology. Lovely and affordable.

This summer, the grater attachment self-destructed. My dear spouse went online to find a replacement part. This was harder than we expected. Finally he contacted the manufacturer, Black & Decker, and found out that the food processor is under warranty. Hurrah! We get the replacement part for free! Only thing is, it was backordered.

Three months and several email exchanges later, the part is still on backorder, with no end in sight. So much for warranty coverage. I must now junk a perfectly good machine and buy a whole new machine, just so I can grate cheese. I would happily pay for a new grater attachment, but I can't get one! I am being forced to be wasteful! Grrr!

20 Dozen Scones: postmortem

2009-08-31T14:38:22Z

The Right Tools department for baking day: parchment paper. It enabled me to bake multiple batches of scones without having to clean the baking sheets each time. Also made it easy to move the scones to a rack for cooling and a tray for final cooling.

Baking took about three hours, at 16 minutes per batch of 30. Quite a few of the scones flopped over, probably because they were cut a little too thick. I plan to practice through the year, and learn to make them so they don't do that. I have an idea for a trick that may fix the problem.

Floppy or not, they were a success and got lots of nice compliments. One person who has lived in England told me they were very authentic, which pleased me a great deal.

As I baked my way through the geologic layers in the freezer, I noticed that the scones became less regular. This means that practice improved my technique, so that the last batches were cut much cleaner and nicer than the first batches. That had nothing to do with whether they flopped over, however.

There were scones left over, so if I do them again next year I will probably scale back, maybe to ten dozen. Meanwhile, there's a nice bag of scones made from the mushed together scraps in the freezer, to be baked up whenever the mood strikes. And when those are gone, I know how easy it will be to make more.

Yay, scones!

20 Dozen Scones: Day 10 - The Final Batch

2009-08-27T16:44:25Z

Music: Vivaldi's Four Seasons

Well, I think I've been doing this long enough. This morning as I was about to cut in the butter I realized I hadn't looked at the recipe. I've got it memorized.

Still, I had a sense of melancholy as I put things away. This has been fun.

Today's batch of 32 brings us up over 300 scones. The really fun part will be baking them all on Sunday morning, and taking them to the con for the Authors Tea. I hope everyone at Bubonicon stops in for a scone! There will be raspberry jam to go with, and lots of other goodies provided by the authors who are hosting the tea. Come and enjoy having your tea poured by bestselling writers!

Thanks to everyone who's commented. I'll post a report when it's all done.

Scone count: 312
Goal: 240+

20 Dozen Scones: Day 9

2009-08-26T15:54:30Z

Music: Handel's Water Music

The freezer's getting full. I removed some green chile cheese tamales which I'll have to do something with. Maybe I'll take them to the pre-con party.

I solved the problem of being out of jam. I happen to love currants, and I happened to have some in the cupboard, so I mixed some into the scraps and baked them up for breakfast. Great with just butter.

Bought plates, cups, etc. yesterday. Today is for packing up everything but the last minute stuff. In a fit of efficiency, I decided to find out the capacity of the four teapots I have on hand. Two hold 38 oz., two hold 40 oz., so very close. That helps with the brewing, because we often end up switching pots as different teas run low.

Today's batch: 31 scones

Scone count: 280
Goal: 240+

20 Dozen Scones: Day 8

2009-08-25T15:42:41Z

Music: Soundtrack from Gosford Park

We've had lovely rain the last couple of days, so it's a nice cool morning, perfect for hot tea and baking. Killed the second 5-pound bag of flour on this batch.

As I was rolling out the scones, the local gang of ravens—a dozen or so—were dancing on the roof. These are massive birds, and make quite a startling thump overhead. They all perched in a tree for a bit, as if wondering whether they'd get any scones, then flew off to patrol the neighborhood. Maybe they'll find a nice bit of roadkill for breakfast.

Ramping up for the Authors Tea. Washed teapots, polished serving things, made charming little signs, and started gathering all the paraphernalia together. Am wondering how to transport the scones once they're baked. There will be a lot of them, and I don't want to stack them too deep or the ones on the bottom will get crushed. Will continue to ponder.

Meanwhile, 32 more scones in the freezer. This brings us up to 20 dozen, but I'm still going to make two more batches. I have all this cream, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste. Or to my waist.

Speaking of which, I'm out of black raspberry jam. How did that happen?

Scone count: 249
Goal: 240+

Day Off

2009-08-24T13:56:17Z

No scones today - dealing with family obligations. Tune in tomorrow as the 20 Dozen Scones Project continues.

20 Dozen Scones: Day 7

2009-08-23T15:05:27Z

Time to make the scones!

It's surprising how easily this is fitting into my routine. I can picture myself making scones every morning indefinitely, which would probably be dangerous.

There's always a moment, when I add the cream, that it seems like the dough will be too dry. I mix with a spoon, but there's still lots of flour. I gather it together and start to knead, and something magic happens. The flour all gets absorbed and the dough becomes a cool, moist blob.

Except this morning, that didn't happen. I was thinking about how it always seems too dry, and working it together, and then I glanced at my measuring cup and realized that I had poured the last of a quart of cream into it, intending to top it off, but never did so. Not enough cream in the dough! I added more, trying to gague from the cream left on the measure how much had gone in already.

Fortunately, this was not a fail. Though the batch contains an inexact amount of cream, the scraps baked up nicely and my dear spouse attested to their success.

So, 32 more scones are in the freezer. Whew.

Scone count: 217
Goal: 240+

20 Dozen Scones: Day 6

2009-08-22T17:31:46Z

More tools. These are the ones I use to roll out and cut the scones.

The cutting board is a square of black granite with little flecks of mica or something equally sparkly. It's 12 inches square, just the right size for a batch of scones. In the upper right is a sifting can, about the size of a soup can, with a metal screen top that makes it super easy to sift flour. (Another favorite kitchen tool - it's great for making gravy, too.)

The roller is a bolillo, a traditional New Mexican tortilla roller, 10.5 inches long. The smaller size makes it easy to handle.

The cutter is a 1.5 inch round. This makes a small scone, which is what I wanted for this tea. Lotsa little scones.

It's Saturday, and my dear spouse said, yes he would like some scones please. So all the scraps are getting baked up today.

Today's batch: 32 scones

Scone count: 185
Goal: 240+

20 Dozen Scones: Day 5

2009-08-21T17:32:08Z

Music: Saltimbanco (Cirque du Soleil)

My dear spouse is fond of saying that the right tools make all the difference. Here are some of the tools I'm using to make scones. I'm getting very friendly with them.

That's a pastry cutter nestling inside the big bread bowl under the spoon. Having tried to cut pastry without one, using two knives, for example (we won't talk about the food processor), I must say the pastry cutter makes the job much easier.

Another tool I'm very fond of is the sliding measuring spoon at upper left. Measures anything from 1/8 to a teaspoon. Great tool.

Little stub ends of butter sticks are collecting in the refrigerator. The recipe calls for 1/3 cup of butter, or 2/3 of a stick. I should be able to use two leftover ends for a recipe, but somehow it feels more right to start with a fresh stick.

Fortunately, there are other uses for stub ends of butter. Like slathering them on scones. Although, considering what goes into them, putting butter on scones is almost redundant.

Today's batch: 31 scones. We are at the halfway mark.

Scone count: 153
Goal: 240+

20 Dozen Scones: Day 4

2009-08-20T15:41:46Z

Breakfast: yogurt and peaches. Managed to resist the urge to turn on the oven.

This morning's music was Chopin's Nocturnes - a bit more contemplative.

Killed the first 5-pound bag of flour. Another waits in the pantry. I will need to buy more cream soon, perhaps tomorrow.

Got 32 scones out of today's batch - not sure why the extra 2.

When I was getting butter out of the freezer, a plastic container of leftovers leaped out. Did you know that plastic containers that have been in the freezer will shatter on impact? My lunch has been chosen by fate.

Scone count: 122
Goal: 240+

20 Dozen Scones: Day 3

2009-08-19T17:18:19Z

This morning I felt the need for some music to make scones by, so I popped Mozart's Eine Kline Nachtmusik in the player. Brisk and cheerful, perfect for cooking.

Thinking you might like to see what we're talking about, I baked up a scone to photograph. Of course, having baked it, I then had to eat it. Ah, the sacrifice.

Very good with black raspberry jam.

Moved a loaf of bread out of the freezer and tossed some ancient ice pops.

Scone count: 90
Goal: 240+

20 Dozen Scones: Day 2

2009-08-18T15:12:12Z

Managed to resist having scones for breakfast (strawberries and yogurt instead), but since I'm going to tea later today and will have scones there, it's not much of a feat.

Yesterday after washing up, I set aside the scone-making equipment instead of putting it away. That was a good idea; it made the whole process easier than if I'd had to get things out of cupboards.

Thirty more scones are in the freezer. This batch is slightly taller than yesterday's, but I still got 30 out of it. If the count remains consistent, I'll have 300 scones for the Authors Tea.

I wonder how many calories are in a scone. I think I don't want to know.

Scone count: 60
Goal: 240+

The 20 Dozen Scones Project

2009-08-17T15:06:55Z

Inspired by Julie & Julia, a delightful movie (Meryl Streep is brilliant as Julia Child), I've decided to blog about a much less ambitious project I'm undertaking. For this year's Authors Tea at Bubonicon, I'm going to make cream scones. Since we get dozens of guests (100?  300? we've never counted...), I figured I should make ten batches, or approximately 20 dozen small scones, hoping that each guest will get at least one. My plan is to make the scones ahead, freeze them, and bake them the morning of the tea, August 30.

When I calculated the groceries, I knew I was going to have a problem. 40 cups of flour, 10 cups of sugar, 3.5 cups of butter, 5 quarts cream. I am not sure my freezer will hold all this. I am planning to use up as much of the food that is presently in the freezer as possible, to make room for scones.

But, onward!

Today I made the first batch of scones. Tried using the food processor to cut the butter into the dry ingredients, which I thought someone had recommended.

Fail.

Maybe this works for pie crust, but it doesn't work for scones. Not enough butter in proportion to the dry stuff. My little butter lumps just swam around in a sea of flour. I dumped everything into my big bread bowl and got out the pastry cutter. Much better.

There are now 30 scones in the freezer. Two more (from the mushed together scraps) comprised my breakfast. I should not have scones for breakfast every day, but they're awfully hard to resist.

Scone count:  30
Goal:  240+

It's Alive!

2009-06-08T15:07:16Z

Just a quick garden update. The redbud tree is alive! We planted it to honor Chris's mom, but it doesn't like the cold winters up here. The main trunk died, but the roots are alive. This is the second year that it's sent up a new shoot.

So, gladness. Cheering. Come on, little tree! You can do it.

Seriously thinking about using old cat littler buckets to compost kitchen scraps. Can't discover a reason why it wouldn't work. I'd love to get one of those rotating bin composters, but they cost $$$ and I don't see why a bucket with a lid wouldn't work as well. I'd just pick it up and shake it after adding new scraps.

If any more experienced gardeners want to weigh in, feel free.

The Writing Chair

2009-05-29T13:53:09Z

I posted this elsewhere, but wanted it in the Comonplace Book. Recently someone asked to see a picture of my writing chair. This is my view of the chair from my business/internet desk in my office. When I'm doing all that busy-ness, the chair is there reminding me that the first and foremost activity of my career is writing.

When I go over and sit in the chair, I'm disconnected from all the distractions of the business arena. There's a mug of tea beside me, and the petting couch for my furry muses right next to the chair. I have a shawl to keep my legs warm on cold days. The bulletin board with pictures to inspire my writing is more for when I'm at the desk—an additional enticement to go over and write. I can't actually see it much from the chair.

A window to the right overlooks my back yard, where I've put up bird feeders and am developing a butterfly garden. Mountains in the distance. At night, I like a cozy cave-like environment, so I usually only have the stained glass lamp on.

The chair is a recliner and I write on a laptop. This allows me to avoid the physical fatigue problems that come from working on a laptop with more conventional furniture. My arms and wrists are supported.

My writing laptop never connects to the internet. This is crucial—email is a tempting distraction. Even more insidious is research: "Oh, I'll just look up this one detail I need..." and half an hour later I wake up, having meandered down the primrose websurfing path.

It took me a while to put together this environment for my writing. I gradually assembled the separate writing computer, the side table and lamp, and found the perfect chair which a gift from my dear departed mother-in-law helped to pay for. My writing corner is perhaps eight feet square, and it's one of the most important areas in my house.

Every writer needs a good writing environment. Some like to write in coffee shops, others at the kitchen table. Kris Rusch, in her blog series for freelancers, has some good general recommendations about setting up a workspace. Her advice is not specific to writers but certainly applies, and she describes her own writing environments.

Afternoon Tea

2009-05-21T02:06:43Z

It's been a while since I put together an afternoon tea. I decided to invite my friend and neighbor Judith, who gave me two lovely sets of tea plate and cup, to join me for tea today.

Even though I work closely with the St. James Tearoom, I'd forgotten just how labor intensive it is to make a full tea by hand. I started cooking two days ago. Finished as my guest was arriving. We had a lovely, leisurely chat. Here's the menu (served with Lemon Myrtle Herbal Tea, as Judith doesn't drink black tea):

SAVORIES

Cucumber Sandwiches

Deviled Eggs

Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Thyme and Sage Blossoms

Stuffed Mushrooms

BREADS

Cream Scones with clotted cream, lemon curd, and brandy butter

Lemon Poppyseed Cake

SWEETS

Lavender Shortbread

Brownies topped with Ganache and Fresh Raspberries

Fresh Blueberries in Lemon Whipped Cream