lightcastle

So hey, those came out pretty well.

Mind you, the first batch was somewhat lacking in cohesion. On the plus side, this artist loved that I made tasty "abstract expressionist" cookies.

I am so trying this trick next time I have the chance.

How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds from SAVEUR.com on Vimeo.

We almost missed it because Kitty crashed from lack of sleep, but made it in the end. Given the vast amounts of unpreparedness of the organizers, we probably didn't even have to rush.

If I do this again, my group is planning to account for the organizers' lack of planning.

It was ok, in the end. The music was desperately bad and too loud, but overall it was fine and very pretty to see.

Also:
Intrigued, happy stares at me dressed all in elegant white last evening? Amusing
Slightly disapproving stares at me dressed all in elegant white coming home this morning? More amusing.

That's my black dress shirt, too.

Never got it back, either. Of course, she does go by the name Magpie.

In other news, not sure I will be trying out Gordon's new restaurant tonight after all.

(Seems he's not around, anyway, so it isn't like I can pick an argument with him.)

Sometimes, one is inspired to make a dish that is a bit on the fancy side. The kind that involves blanches carrots, ginger, peeled tomato, red bell pepper, cucumbers, Tabasco sauce, cumin, and celery. After pureeing all these ingredients and pressing them through a strainer to make the base of your amuse-bouche, you are left with this vegetable pulp.

It seems a waste, but the recipe calls for only the pressed juice. You could just throw it away.

Or, you could take it the next day, chill it, roll it into balls and combine with a beaten egg, some flour, and breadcrumbs to bind it and then fry it in a pan.

I recommend the latter approach.

I have a bunch of leftover pumpkin mush, so I am thinking of modifying this recipe.

It's from "Simple Cooking" by John Thorne. It has lots of garlic and also Parmesan.

Pumpkin Tian
One 3-4 lb pumpkin
1/2 cup flour
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme (or 1/4 teaspoon dry)
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove seeds, string and rind from pumpkin and cut into 3/4 inch cubes. Toss cubes in a colander with flour so the cubes are coated but the excess flour escapes. Coat the inside of a casserole dish with half the olive oil, add the pumpkin and other ingrediants and toos to mix. Drizzle the rest of the oil on top. Bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. The top with get brown and caramelized and the inside will melt in your mouth.

I ended up with a mix of fruits left over from a party that started to go soft and so I threw them in the freezer. Plums, blueberries, strawberries, etc. Not many of each, but enough that I feel I should do *something* with them. The majority of votes have been for me to buy a blender and make smoothies (alcoholic or not seems to be a debate). I was considering pie or crumble or some such, though, as cooking them might be a good plan given their age.

Anyone have an inspiration to share?

I had lunch with my friend E__ today, at Anancy - a Jamaican restaurant by her place. Terribly yummy it was. (The Drama is hers. I am actually on the tail end of drama, as now that I have internet I can wrap up that trailing piece.)

Resetting the connections in the desktop seems to have helped with that, which is good, since I have a model coming over Monday to sort some pictures. I am tempted to use this as my replacement.

Does anyone use Sketch Up? I've thought about trying to plot out what to do with my living room with it. (Separately, I am also considering using Page Four as the Windows version of Scrivener. Mind you, CeltX is looking more and more promising.

This article is old, but it looks at the culture of diving in Football, and why different teams have different views on it. To some degree, there is the issue that if you already have a rep, maintaining it makes sense.

That Picture of the Universe


(Extra bonus garters for reading to the end.)

A friend of mine is coming into town to dance the week away. She is vegetarian and while I know a couple of places I can direct her to, I really have not been paying much attention to the restaurant options in this city anymore.

So... anyone have decent, relatively cheap veggie options for Montreal they can recommend?

I could make the "welcome back from surgery" meal for only one of those who went in today, so it is tweaked for my father's preferences.

Primo - Avocado and Pepper salad with a mustard vinagrette

- One avocado, in manageable slices
- One orange bell pepper
- One yellow bell pepper
- Greens
- Tiny heirloom tomatoes.
- The bits of mustard that cling to the jar after you've used it normally.
- Honey wine vinegar
- Olive oil

Cut up the vegetables, make sure to rub some citrus on the avocado to keep it from going brown. Mix with the greens. Pour some olive oil into the mustard jar, shake to mix. Pour on salad. Pour some vinegar into jar to gather last parts of the mustard, shake to mix. Pour on salad.

Serve.

Secondo - Bavette of Bison with mushroom accompanied by Oven-roasted winter vegetables.

Marinate bison overnight. Brown both sides of bison at medium-high heat. (A few minutes each side.) Add some stock made from game along with the marinade. Cook in low heat for an hour and a half. About 20-25 minutes before the end, add in a handful of chopped shitake and pleurot mushrooms.

Cut up carrots, turnips, potatoes, and onions into smallish pieces. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, marjoram. Add cloves of garlic, unpeeled, and ginger cut into small matchsticks. Cook at 375 for an hour or so.

Dessert
Raspberries in a chocolate heart with 16-year Glenlivet Nadurra scotch.