So random...It's Random Tuesday Thoughts!

So random:

Courtesy of the Un Mom. Come on, click the button.  You know you want to.

This is supposed to be Random Tuesday, but it's about my random Monday. Maybe more like manic Monday.  You decide.  I had the day off and away we go....

Baked gingerbread and it's not your mother's gingerbread, or maybe even your grandmother's.  Might be a great great grandmother's.  Check out my next Foodie Friday and I'll surprise you with the recipe.

Took son to orthodontist.  He's getting a bar across the top of his mouth to spread out his upper jaw.  Good thing, there's no room at the inn for the big teeth.

Baked the bottoms of jelly tarts.  Little tiny pie crust type things.  Then, after baking you put jelly on them.

Pressed out eight, count them eight, dozen springerle.  All thanks to my new mold.  And my new baker's ammonia.  Did you know that baker's ammonia is the same compound as smelling salts?  So it's a leavening, and if you need to help someone out of a faint, voila!  Almond flavor yesterday.  Baking them tonight.  It's a tricky challenge to bake them.  They might overpuff and not look as good as they might if they didn't puff so much.  I'm baking at 225 F for 20 minutes.  Keeping my fingers crossed.  One pan seems to be better than the others.  I need another pan like it.  Still planning on a batch of orange flavored.  Maybe next week.

Made a super supper.  Pork chops with Italian dressing in the crock pot.  Tried to make some homemade cranberry dressing, but it didn't turn out quite like I expected.  Steamed sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole to round it out.  Actually good I did a test run of the cranberry dressing.  I need to try again with a tweak of the ingredients before serving it at Christmas.

Bathroom sink got fixed, finally.  It's been dripping for maybe three months.  I replaced the seat springs and rubber bits.  But not before I forgot to turn off the water.  Can anyone say bathroom geyser?  Hence I had to do the towels in the laundry.  Everything, including me and my slippers, soaking wet.

Had to run to the store for broth.  While heading there I realized the moon was full, or nearly so.  Um, can we say no wonder I was a little crazy?

I watched one TV show and played one video game yesterday.

Last night I dreamed aliens that looked like humans (yes, it probably is V influenced) had captured all the humans and were making us do work for them.  Slaves, I guess.  Somehow I came up with the plan to foil them and coordinated the effort worldwide right from where I was standing.  We captured all of them and then I had to get up.

Does that explain why I was sore today?  Nah, maybe it was the mixing and baking and kneading and rolling dough?  My triceps feel like they've been through the wringer all day.

I was up way too late and am very tired tonight.

Good night, Gracie.

Foodie Friday

I hear the moans and groans out there.  Too much turkey?  Too much stuffing?  Too many potatoes?  How about that pie?  It's so sad, because for years I used to think all we could do with pumpkin was make pie.  But no more folks!  Some of you may recall the pumpkin waffles.  These are brilliant, yes, but sometimes one would like something else to add to the arsenal.

Enter pumpkin pancakes!

Yes, it is a breakfast theme, but pumpkin goes well with maple syrup.  Just ask my oldest, Andrew.  He will only eat the real stuff, not the fake stuff.  His sister is slowly coming around to the real stuff, but we have to mix the two at the moment.  The real stuff is a bit pricier and she's a syrup hog.  Uses three times as much as the rest of us.  So maybe not being into the real stuff yet is a good thing.

This recipe is by way of my friend, M.  She also gave me the pumpkin waffle recipe.

1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. wheat flour
1/2 c. pumpkin
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. or more water

Whisk flour, eggs, and pumpkin together.  As soon as combined, start gradually adding milk and water.  Continue adding milk and water if too thick.  Cook on medium high.

Enjoy!

And if any of you lucky people (or unlucky as the case may be) got cracking at 4 am on Black Friday, enjoy your your bargain purchases!  We are too far from major retailers for this to be of any use to me.  I am not normally into Black Friday (hello, have to get up really early!  Maybe stay up, that would work better for me) but if there's a bargain, then I might want to be there.  Oh well, it wasn't meant to be.

So random

Let's join the random blogging world.

I am shooting for incredibly random, mostly rants of the last few days.

I am annoyed at the concept of query letters.  Yes, I've been trying to craft one for that book I co-wrote.  Writing is a lot easier when you're making a book with characters, plot, research, descriptions, emotions.  SELLING a book you wrote is a whole lot different.  Too bad I can't just send a video of me describing my book to my potential agents.  Though a video of me could be scary.  I just want to say that the editing phase and the writing and editng phase of a query letter is not fun.  You hear that.  NOT FUN.  I want fun again.  Guess I should write another book.

And on that subject, no, I did not participate in NaNoWriMo or whatever that is.  I'll write my novel whenever I damn well please, thank you very much.

At work, I had someone who was supposed to interview me for a newspaper article.  That's fine.  Except she was random about when she'd call, maybe yesterday afternoon, maybe this morning.  Well, she called today at 11:50 am.  Yup, I waited around the office (somewhat) expecting this important call and she calls with 10 minutes to spare on the morning.  Then we had a brief conversation and she decides why don't I just email her the information.  I would have done that earlier in November if she had decided that back then when she first called to set up the "interview."  But instead I spend my last minutes at work today, the day before my day off of travel to the glorious state of Iowa, cranking out a tome on the subject, which I could have done with ease and care two weeks ago!

By the way, the title of this post is not original.  There's a silly little show on Disney Channel, which I can actually watch with my kids.  Sometimes Sonny with a Chance can be pretty funny.  So, it's a show I don't mind watching with my kids, unlike SpongeBob or Fanboy and Chumchum (I am not making that up).  It's a show about two shows and the actors that are in them.  Check it out:




Oh, I did say, "Check it out!"



So the mice mouse is gone from our house.  Yay!  But, again, at work I get to enjoy their company.  I have some traps there, which we call tin cats.  They look like this:

Click here for original.

It works, even without bait.  You set the hole along the wall where they run, and they decide to run right in, but can't get out.  I know I should take it out and empty it, but eew! I know it's supposed to be humane and all, but I am not feeling humane.  Even more so when the mouse nose and paw scrape and chew outside the air vents you see there.  It was trying to get out, banging and scrabbling around.  I don't have a problem with nature, as long as it stays outside in nature where it should live.  And yes, I've said that before.

The best thing is a few days off now.  Today feels like my Friday.  My son gets fitted on Monday for a bar across the top of his mouth for spreading apart his narrow upper jaw.  This is just phase 1 of the treatment.  Poor guy.  His dad and I have given him both bad eyes and bad teeth.  I should have married someone with good eyes, my kids might have had a chance then.

And it's so random over at the Un Mom.

Foodie Friday (day late, maybe a dollar short)

And short a brain, too, since I accidentally published before I wanted.

How about an ethnic trip to the Czech Republic.  Or the area formerly known as Bohemia, for some special holiday bread, a bit like challah, but this one is called hoska.  None of my family is remotely Bohemian, but I was making a demonstration piece for something related to work.  I found that many East European countries make these holiday breads around Christmas and Easter.  It is very similar to the Jewish challah bread with eggs, yeast and braiding, so it is interesting how all these groups influenced each other.

This is from Cooks.com.

CHRISTMAS BRAID BREAD (Hoska)   

2 pkgs. dry yeast
2 c. warm milk
1 c. sugar
3 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1 c. butter
1 1/2 tsp. salt
7 to 8 c. flour
2 tsp. vanilla
1 lemon rind, grated
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. mace
1 c. white raisins
1 c. chopped almonds
1 c. candied mixed fruit

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup lukewarm water until bubbly. To the warm milk add soft butter, salt, sugar, vanilla, spices and lemon rind. Let cool to lukewarm.

Add yeast mixture and beaten eggs and mix well. Sift in 4 cups flour, stirring well, add floured fruit and nuts alternately. Then add remaining flour, beat until dough does not stick to bowl.

Turn out on floured board and knead until smooth and elastic about 8 or 10 minutes. Put in greased bowl, cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough and divide in half. This make 2 loaves.

Cut 4 large and 5 smaller portions, roll each into long rolls. Braid the 4 rolls forming a loaf. Put on pan lined with greased brown paper. Braid the 3 smaller rolls and place on top, then remaining 2 pieces on top. Place toothpicks to hold braids in place.

Brush with beaten egg whites in a little water. Let rise to double in bulk. For rich crust brush with melted butter during baking. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, lower temperature to 325 degrees for 45 minutes longer depending on how you like it.


I only made two separate braids with four strands each.  Something about weaving four strands is really elegant.

 

 

Silly me forgot to take a picture of the end result.  One was a little too dark on the bottom because I had both in the oven in the same time and the bottom one was too close to the bottom of the oven.  Good thing I made two.  Other than that, they looked beautiful.

Also, I tried quick raising yeast, which is a crock.  It didn't really raise any faster.

Happy holidays!

Something by way of The Grandpa.  I was glad I visited.

Time for Random Tuesday

Dear Little Mouse,

I know the weather is a little chilly outside at night. I also know that you are cute, and fuzzy, and look adorable when you chew on a corn kernel. However, you may not know that this is my house and it is not acceptable to leave your little presents on my counter or under my sink. Mice are to live in the wild and my house is not the wild, thank you very much, despite what you may have heard. You are to be evicted immediately and I don't care how cute your little whiskers or paws are. It is also not acceptable to be sneaky and lick the peanut butter right off the trap without setting it off. Therefore, I have placed more presents for you around the places where you left us presents. I am sure you will not enjoy them, but I hope your life is quick and short and painless and I can then get on with mine.

Thank you.

 

House Mouse

Dear Little Chipmunk or Ground Squirrel or whatever the heck you are called,

I know you think you're cute, with all your aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings living under our garage and in our house walls. However, when one of them dies inside those said walls, the stench is pretty nasty. If you're going to live there, have the courtesy to die elsewhere so our basement does not smell like death. In addition, we could live with seeing one or two of you around, but now there's a whole commune and we do not want to see more holes in our yard or foundation wall. Therefore, Mr. Wild left you some tasty treats that may make your stomach hurt. Please be sure to have that stomach ache away from our house, so we don't smell your rotting carcass when it finally gets to you. If you want to go move to the neighborhood park, I think that would be the best for all of us. But if not, share the tasty poison pellets with your aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings and we will deal with the stench until it goes away.

Eastern Chipmunk

I wouldn't have such a problem with wildlife, if it would just stay in the wild and not invade my space.

Go visit the Un Mom by clicking on the label for more randoms.

Foodie Friday (with a little history)

I was at a gathering earlier this week and this is what I made for the food table.

Blintzes with...

blueberry sauce

I made the crepes, cheese filling and sauce from scratch.

Sorry there's no picture of the sauce on top of the blintzes.

They do taste as good as they looked, if I may say so.

So the history lesson is that when I was maybe 10 or 11, we went out to Ohio to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins who were (are) all older than me.  My oldest cousin was graduating and at her graduation they served blintzes with cherry sauce.  It was really yummy and my first exposure to something that is often considered a Jewish food, though I didn't really know it was that.  My uncle is Jewish.  I think on this same trip I was also introduced to bagels, lox, and cream cheese.  I thought that was a pretty tasty treat, but didn't know its cultural background until I was a lot older.

I was going to do cherry sauce, but cherries cost more.

If you're absolutely dying for the recipe, then maybe I'll post it, but I think it came from the Food Network and is very long, which is why didn't spend the time copying it and posting it.

Bon Appetit!