elainegrey

Questions from Oursin

1. Do you have a go-to, never-fail thing to cook?

For potlucks and similar, deviled eggs.

Otherwise, i fail lots. I am getting better at various sheet pan roasts of tofu and veggies. I don't mind cutting up all the veg, and enjoy seasoning them. I've been learning various ways of crisping up the tofu: dredging in corn starch as a minor crust, corn starch, egg, and oil moistened bread crumbs for more crust. Sometimes it's roasted "naked" after marinade. Sometimes i over-crisp everything. AKA burned.

I guess i am getting proficient at quiche. We had some churn as i tried to figure out what was going wrong that Christine did not find them delicious. It turns out she doesn't really like swiss cheese in custardy things; sharp cheddar makes the dish sing for her. However, i can't see sharp cheddar and some of the "mix ins" i had used. Scallops and cheddar seems wrong. I thought mushrooms and swiss was a natural, but not for Christine. I suppose these didn't fail for *me*. I have also upped my crust game. I am now doing a very good job prebaking the crusts which mean i had to quit using the cheapest (store brand) premade pie pastry. The national brand (Pillsbury) is turning out lovely now.

My win at prebaking crusts comes from sandwiching the pastry between two heavyweight aluminum pie pans. I also splurged on precut and preshaped parchment paper. It's GREAT. So pan, parchment round, pastry, parchment, pan. Freeze for at least 30 min if i have time. Bake inverted in the oven for 20 min and work with gravity instead of against. Then take it out, remove the inner pan and parchment (which gets reused, because pennies saved), prick the base a little with a fork, and toast up, about ten minutes. I'm using the plain bake function at 350°F  (176°C) instead of the convection bake because i think it makes a difference. Now, assuming the crust is half decent, you have a lovely flaky crust.

I wish i could go back in time and tell my younger self that prebaking the crust REALLY makes a difference, and it is worth bothering. I am especially thinking of the times i tried making crust from scratch but skipped the prebaking. So many butter rich but bleh soggy crusts.

(Sources, including links to tools via Amazon, here)

More to come, and i am willing to give five questions to the first three who ask for questions.

1. Do you mustard?
Assuming the verbing of the condiment means "enjoy using mustard" yes, from plain yellow to all sorts of seedy concoctions.
2. Choice of carbonated beverage?
Seltzer or Blenheim's ginger ale, ideally from 1982. The current stuff is still good, but memory is that it used to be sharper.
3. Do you own a gun?
No.
4. Whiskey, tequila, or vodka?
Gin.
5. Hot dogs or Cheeseburgers?
Vegetarian alternatives.
6. Favorite type Of food?
I'm not sure. I don't tend to frame things as favorites or not.
7. Do you believe in ghosts?
Agnostic: less likely to find plausible poltergeist and spooky ghosts, more likely to be sympathetic to glimpses of a different time or visitation by a passed family member. The "white lady by the road" is perhaps a tipping point in my willingness to consider: the frequency of the motif leads me to believe it's something other than a ghost.
8. What do you drink in the morning?
Tea
9. Can you do 100 Pushups? In a row?
No. Probably not cumulative in my life.
10. Summer, Winter, Spring, Or Fall?
Yes.
11. Favorite hobby?
Not having favorites. Wait, that's not really a hobby.
12. Tattoos?
I imagined getting one after my first year of grad school, but the place i went to on South Street in Philly depressed me with the prices for stock images. So, no.
13. Do you wear glasses?
Yes.
14. Fears?
I've been recognizing fear as an emotion more. I don't know how much is the political landscape or moving on from having learned more about anger. But i wouldn't identify some persistent driving fear.
15. Nickname?
Yes.
16. Three drinks?
Tea, water, coffee.
17. Biggest downfall?
Where curiosity switches to procrastinatory escaping.
18. Rain or Snow?
The snow here in NC since returning from California has been nice: a few snow storms that actually have a nice blanket for a day or so (or more!) but then it's melted and gone. Nothing like that one year in Philly where ice and snow made getting around miserable for a month.
19. Piercings?
Simply for one pair of earrings.
20. Age?
Middle, probably. Although i wonder if i will have the vitality to enjoy a long one.
21. Are you moody?
YES.
22. Favorite vehicle ?
Well, my heart was broken by a Jeep wrangler that turned out to be a pile of repairs. The Bonneville
with a V8 was a glorious machine for the cross country drives i made in it. I think keeping the Ranger for high clearance purposes and getting something very energy efficient for most driving around may be environmentally responsible.
23. Kids?
None.
24. Favorite color?
Again with the favorites!
25. Employed?
Yes
26. Can you whistle?
Yes
27. Where were you born?
Alabama.
28. Favorite movies?
I think even if i did favorites, i wouldn't have a favorite movie. I am not as excited about rewatching movies i've seen as others seem to be.
29. Ever Been Arrested?
No.
30. Surgeries?
Not what are usually considered surgeries. There's a standard screening procedure that's showing up on my chart as a surgery, though. I think it will be my third?
31. Religious?
I'm not sure if answering "Quaker" is a yes or no.
32. Shower or Bath?
I've moved from preferring baths to showers, except on cold winter Saturdays when i have a book i can read in a steaming tub.
33. Like gambling?
No.
34. Are you reliable?
Not as much as i would like to be.
35. Broken bones?
An arm as a child.
36. How many tv’s in your house?
One.
37. Worst pain ever?
Interestingly, my mind responds with when i had a very high fever from pneumonia. Not pain in the usual sense, but that's been the worst.
38. Do you like to dance?
Erm, i enjoyed Contra dancing but the community seemed very bonded. In some lifetime i might have enjoyed more folk dancing, but not this life.
39. Are your parents still alive?
Yes, and one grandparent.
40. Do you like camping ?
Yes, although now that i have woods right outside, i am far less motivated.

Weekend flew by << this was the FIRST weekend in March. I've been dragging on this post.

We had dinner up at Christine's sister's, and i split a bottle of sparkling wine with her. We were home late for me, and so Saturday morning was a very slow start. Mower had the blade replaced with assistance from the local shop (they undid the bolt for me), and then i mowed. The back yard had long grass; everywhere else was just tidied.

Spring onions are the main "culprit" of an untidy appearance: it turns out that the best way to get rid of them will be to dig them all out. (Or some annoying pattern of poisoning.) Since they are theoretic deer detractants, i ponder waiting until i have plantings of fruit trees, etc, that could use a circle of onions (as ground cover?). They are attractive plants, just a good bit taller than anything else out in the yard at this point.

The main reason i mowed was to minimize bittercress going to seed.

--== ∞ ==--

I have discovered sudoku. The NYTimes website puzzle interface for sudoku is just as appealing as for crosswords. I never found these attractive diversions with paper and pencil: with the efficient interfaces i am much more engaged. Also, i seem to be not so stressed out by work that puzzles are unattractive.

--== ∞ ==--

I AM SO DIFFERENT from me a year ago.

There. I had often wondered if i would really have time for a yard. Well, i do. I just don't have time for anything else. Yesterday evening i just wandered around outside, appreciating the fading light, looking at the state of various plants, worrying about the freeze coming....

I am also very happy to sit an watch the dog or cats or just sit.

Contentment? Maybe. There's an edge of procrastination/avoidance going on hinting at dysthymia.

I've dropped so many habits that used to anchor me: some just since the election, some since the move. I know i need to reinitiate them.

--== ∞ ==--
owlmoose tagged me for the ten random facts meme. I decided it needed to be an acrostic, for some unfathomable reason, so there's that.

Also, i need to tag some folks, so : amaebi, gurdonark, zlabya.

Training has included hunt seat riding (not much jumping though), how to handle radioactive materials, andhow to record the location of weeds.

Environmental preference is currently on the cool and shaded. While I have SAD and like the sun, i wilt pretty quickly.

Arithmetic is a weakness of mine. Manipulate symbols? No problem. Actually add? Let me get my fingers.


Shopping is not a delight of mine. I was a catalog shopper before the internet. I imagine that had the internet not come along, i'd have file cabinets or bookshelves full of catalogs.

Tea was one of those shop-by-mail items, although i don't know if i found out about the company i've used for the past 30+ years by USENET. That's Upton Tea by the way. I know there are many different tea companies out there, but novelty in my tea isn't something i've desired.

A glimpse of me without the internet is offered by my mother, with her files and files of paper and all her books. I'm thankful to have been raised by someone so interested in information, and i appreciate the cautionary lesson she offers as she now goes through all her clippings. I was just referencing USENET "clippings" from the 1990s, but i have full text indexing.

I can still remember, shortly after Christine and I were married, explaining the internet to Christine and having her ask, "How will you find anything?" I can't remember when Yahoo started its directory of information. I do recall the "what's new" page where new websites were announced.

Novelty isn't a driver for me. I don't really care for rereading novels or rewatching videos, but given the narrow  genres i choose, i'm not sure I can claim a delight in novelty there. At one point, i would have claimed delight in novel restaurants, but.... Well, if a Noma-esque restaurant opens nearby, i'll save my pennies. I guess i've eaten widely enough that novelty in dining is now pricy. Milk snow at the Umstead!

Eating, while i do enjoy trying new things, is more often very mundane. The fairly basic meal planning we have reflects an amount of depression and overwhelm on my or Christine's part. Christine is not a very adventurous diner, either, so i tend to be the one to cook things that go outside the usual dishes. Part of my delight in getting a garden is the hope that surplus will lead to creativity.

During one summer i lived in New Mexico and ate fruit salads day in and day out. The produce choices just seemed better than what i had seen in NC near my college, and it delighted me. Again, it was very simple -- fresh or steamed (in the microwave). I didn't seem to have the desire for a carb or fat to be added along. I also dropped in weight -- i hadn't realized what constant cream sodas and Pepperidge farm cookies while studying was doing to me.

snippy gave me the letter B

Something I hate: branding. Please do not ask me to name your product (or my product, for that matter).

Something I love: boraginaceae - the borage family. These five petaled flowers grow on a stem in a coil. Some plants have the coiling stem more obvious than others. In forget-me-nots and borage and houndstounge the coil is loose, while in heliotrope and phacelia the flowers are tightly packed in the spiral.

Somewhere I've been: Boston, once, when a friend and i were theoretically looking at MIT & Harvard for graduate school. I'd decided it was too far from where Christine would be and had been comfortable with my visit to a different school. So while my friend hung out with her sweetheart from high school, i walked across Boston and visited their art museum. It's a fairly blurry memory except for the Greek vases.

Somewhere I'd like to go: Basin & Range - can that count? I am fascinated by the landscape between the Rockies and the Sierras and would love to ramble across it.

Someone I know: My last name begins with B, so that's a list. My brother's dog is named Buster

A film I like: Blade Runner (i can't believe they're remaking it: whyyyyyyyy)

A book I like: Beekeeper's Apprentice - I do enjoy the Laurie R King stories of Sherlock Holmes and this young woman very much. I think it is my fondness of the inner life of the Russell character: a slight crankiness that also mixes with delight and enthusiasm.

Just listened to Hari S. on the PBS New Hour ask, "What was the most important thing you learned in your first job?" as part of the Labor Day weekend observation.

Put the bread and eggs on the top of the bag.

You?

*Stupid boss, stupid thoughtless boss.* There, that feels better. That, and i will take an aleve.

I had a cup of coffee -- 16 oz, i guess -- yesterday morning. Boy, did i feel the caffeine hit my system. I wish i could blame yesterday's headache on that , but i'd had a headache the day before.

I've made progress on some of the worst of my procrastinations outside of my work procrastination, so that's not to blame...

--==∞==--

Hours later. Headache worse. bother.

Anyhow, here's a work procrastination:

From firecat:

Please fill out this survey so I can get to know you better. Old friends, fill it out too! Even if I know you well, I may find out something about you I never knew. Feel free to spread this around so we can all get to know each other. If there is a question you don't want to or don't know how to answer, just tell me something else instead.

( Read more... )

Pony Silliness Inspired by threeringedmoon's post, generated by Pony Creator at Deviant Art.

Manually cross posted from http://elainegrey.livejournal.com/1948395.html

*People who have been tagged must write the answers on their blog and replace any question they dislike with a new, original question.

*Tag eight people. Don't refuse to do that. Don't tag who tagged you.
I like the changing question part, but i don't like the tagging others part.

( Read more... )

I usually avoid posting these, because i feel i'll fail to live up to the commitment, because someone will say something wonderful to me and i won't be able to follow through for them. That's the song of Need.

I'm going to follow my challenge for this morning and go with the other song.

Following amaebi & bobby1933:

One little compliment can make you feel amazing.

So give me a compliment, anything in the entire world, even that my shoelaces are pretty. Put this in your journal, and once you get some comments, put that entry in a memory or tag and when you are feeling down, just go to that entry and this will remind you how great you are.

Don't forget to put this in your own LJ so I can compliment you too! :)

Once upon a time (in April of this year) tenacious_snail asked me, "How did you come to be involved with the Society of Friends? What is your spiritual journey? "

I kept putting off answering that to when i could do it justice, which is the general mode of my procrastination. Yesterday, i saw the meme from batswing that asks

The problem with LJ: we all think we are so close, but really, we know nothing about each other. So I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away.

Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you.

I figured i should answer the last question, first, since what with "The Death of LJ" being a constant theme showing up in a variety of places, i shouldn't waste any questions.
( Long, Part 1 )
And, after a call from my sister and some unhappy physical experiences, i must get off to my day!