Book & Baking Blog Entry 43

I have been reading a lot but not baking.  The beginning of the school year always slows me down.  I wonder why baking becomes a chore when I really love it so much.  I also have begun to really enjoy baking alone.   I know that's wrong.  I love my daughter, but a 4-year-old is not always the best assistant baker.  Yep.  Imagine that.  She is an awesome companion, but, IMAGINE, she gets bored with baking and cooking. 

Well of course.  It's boring,  That's why I listen to books on tape.  OK, audio books. NOT books on tape.  I'm old.  Live with it.

So tonight I had to bake.  I love to bake but really hate it when I'm pressed for time.  And of course I am almost always pressed for time.

But I did it.  2 types of short bread and an angel food cake.  The shortbread is in the 'fridge.  Now I have a new experiment.  I am going to bake tomorrow.  I've never just let it sit.  So I'll add tomorrow or the next day how this went.  I'm so excited that I might try to serve sub-par food to my colleagues on Wednesday.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 42

So, I've been feeling frugal and rereading a lot of books, or should I call them texts?  They are mostly on Kindle.  Not my point.  I get new items each month via audio and this is my only guaranteed source of new material.  It's weird how books aren't books.  And if they're audio are they texts?  Hmmmm. Stories (only my husband doesn't like that word because it makes him think of old ladies watching soap operas...)

So, anyway.  I have been reading/listening to a new story called, A Pointed Death.  The author is Kath Russell.  It's not bad.  It's about a biotech consultant in San Francisco.  Her plot is OK, while not compelling it is basically keeping my interest.  But here's the kicker:  The heroine is is 40-something (which actually works for me considering how successful she is--I get a little tired of the 28 year old who has done it all and worked in the field for 10 years and has 50 published papers and a Nobel Prize) and her 2nd serious boyfriend was shot down and died in Vietnam.  They had planned on marrying. 

Seriously?  So she was 10 and engaged to a soldier.  What kind of parenting did she have?  Even assuming that she is closer to 50 than 40 she might have been 15 in 1975.  And, according to the story her biological clock is still ticking, so I would assume that she's closer to 40. 

So then I thought, hmmmmm, maybe this book was written 10 years ago.  I didn't really think so because our intrepid herione (who manages to get into a number of secured offices and copy files) uses a thumb drive.  I'm sure that they were around 10 years ago, but I don't think they were in common use.  None the less, I look up the publication date: 2010.  Yep.  She's my age.  Maybe a little older.  Now, I had friends whose dads were in Vietnam.  But to have a boyfriend who died there, I'm wondering how precocious this child was?!

Well, I haven't finished the book yet.  So far it's not bad.  But I really had to get the bad taste of this age issue out of my head and share it.

No great pastries lately...I wish.

Good eating and good reading.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 41



Pulled-Pork Pie right out of the over.



Summer Time and the Living is Easy....Wow, I wish that were true.  It's been a fast and furious summer.  Not a great one for excellent pastries or cookies or cakes or pies.  I did learn a better way to prepare salad, but really, who cares?!  It's salad.  Green.  Crunchy. 

So, I returned to my baking with a triple batch of chocolate chip cookies.  Seemed like a good idea.  A triple fits in my mixer.  I don't recommend it.  It just was too much.  I don't know.  Maybe it was too hot that day?  The cookies taste fine, but look bizarrely brown.  Go figure!  Luckily it didn't stop people from eating them.  Chocolate chip cookies.  Why do Americans LOVE them so much?  Ironically, not my favorite. 

So, I also made way too much pulled-pork for a small get-together at my house last week.  I think there were fewer people at my wedding.  Of course, half of the crowd was the under 10's.  Yep.  A lot of kids.  So, imagine this, the pizza got eaten but the pulled-pork didn't.  Now, what am I supposed to do with THAT much pork? 

Make a pie!

That's what I do, I bake.  Well, my last foray into baking pork into a crust did not go so well.  This time I went to the expert:  HELLOOOOOOOOOO google.  Yep.  Gotta google pulled-pork pie recipes.  I love the Internet.  See my other blog to figure out why...

So, I found a recipe.  It looks ok. OK, not really exciting.  None the less.  So, of course, I didn't really follow the recipe.  BUT it smells good.  I am using my pulled pork, some hashbrowsn (they were supposed to be country style but I didn't really pay attention...oh well,) some extra carrots, potatoes, and of course the pie crust recipe that a friend recommended earlier last year.  It was actually pretty quick since I used prepared hash browns.  It's in the oven now.

Well that was quite an experiment.  It's very rich.  Being used to hamburger pie the meat in the pork pie is much ore dense.  It also seems sweeter for some reason.  Ruth picked through it and ate a few bites.  I liked mine but wished that I could have had a smaller piece.  I guess maybe with some asparagus or corn on the side? 

I liked it.  If I ever have a HUGE pot of pulled pork again, I'd make it again.  Brian tried it with BBQ sauce on it. That's what living in Tennessee will do for you.  He felt that the sauce did not complement the crust. 

Well, happy eating. Maybe it's time to blog about a book again.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 40

As I sit here at the computer hardly able to type, certainly not doing a good job of typing and wishing that I were wearing my reading glasses (that I am too tired and lazy to go get), I have realized that sometimes some things are just not meant to be. 

In fairness, I am SURE that I will accomplish my goal (princess and castle b-day cakes for my daughters 4th b-day) by Saturday morning.  2 princess cakes.  1 castle.  It's enough.  It was my choice, and one I freely made.  The cakes are done.  They sit in Tupperware right now; except for the one that is in plastic wrap.  That one I forgot while mopping the floor and WHOOPS!  Left it out over-night.  I'm sure it will taste fine.  Small children.  Cake.  Does it really matter?

That question actually came up the other day.  Another mother said to me that I should just buy a Costco cake (thus freeing my time.)  After all, kids don't care.  And I have to agree, it's true.  I'm the one who wants a homemade cake, homemade pizza, and a party.  Well, OK, as Miss Thing gets older she wants the party too.  But as long as there's a bounce house and some kind of cake, does the rest really matter?  Probably not.

So why do it?  What do I have to show for it?  I'm tired.  In pain (a lot of standing.)  I have a lot of work ahead of me.  And the small child will not even realize all of the work that went into it (unless I remind her 85 times a day until she leaves for college--and maybe not even then.)  All of the parents will say what a great cake it is, but as my friend noted, they would say that if it were from Costco.  Slightly different compliments, but compliments none-the-less.

Let's get back to why do I do it?  Well,  it's for me.  It's an accomplishment.  I hope that long term it shows my child how much I love her that I want her to have a crappy homemade cake vs something store bought.  I hope to instill in her the fact that I love her enough to want to put in the time and effort even though I'm tired and could easily buy her something.  I want her to know that it's special.  And really I want her to know this when she's 30. 

Right now.  It probably doesn't matter (although she did say she wanted me to make the cake when given a choice.)  But maybe some day she think, "wow, making a castle and two princess cakes is NOT as easy as my mama made it look."

So, what is NOT meant to be.  Frosting.  I have baked 3 cakes.  They are in the correct shapes to make 2 princesses and one castle.  I just haven't had time to make the frosting.  Every time I start someone calls from work.  I'm lucky that I get to work from home in the summers, but GEEZE people.  I didn't think you'd actually call me THIS week.  Nothing should need to be done...except, of course it did.

So, frosting tonight?  I hope so,  but I'm awfully tired...

Book & Baking Blog Entry 39

Baking Baking Baking.  I do like it and wish I had more time to do it.  I also loathe that most of my baking now takes place after 9pm.  It's not relaxing.  Well, not as much as it should be.  It's either feast or famine with the baking for me.  This week I'm making a triple batch of sugar cookies (aka cut-out cookies) for Imagina's graduation.

The graduation cookies are  fun.  Hopefully Ruth will want to help me on Tuesday.  It's a lot more work baking with a small child.  You either have to be a martinet or you have to be ready to get really filthy and enjoy a small flour covered finger in your ear (at the very least....)

Nope.  This isn't the stress.  The stress is always the task that you set for yourself.  A birthday cake for a birthday girl who really wants a princess cake.  Of course.  She also said that she wanted Mama  to make it.  This is cool and awesome.  It's also chilling.  What if she doesn't like it.  Is there a cake that a 4-year-old doesn't like?!  What if she cries because it's not right?  I'm paralyzed with more than fear and wearing adult pampers.  I still don't have a perfect butter cream recipe.

So I have her convinced that she wants a princess castle.  And I'm making a castle.  The castle will take 2 cakes and 1 batch of cupcakes.  A mix of yellow cake (do people really need a flavor for this?  butter?)  and chocolate (probably devil's food--hmmm I should probably make sure that I have all the ingredients.)  But, what is my big surprise?  An actual princess cake.  Yep.  Probably make 2 of those as well.  So that's one other cake.  She likes yellow.  Yellow cake with white frosting hopefully colored to match the princess topper that I've bought.  Which princess?  Well, I bought them all.  Yep.  Seriously.  Well, all that I could find.  And I accidentally ended up with 2 Tianas....

There are so many ways for this to go wrong:  1.  She hates both (all three) cakes. 2.  She only hates one. 3.  It's the wrong princess (I am so not making five princess cakes.) 4.  She complains at all about any of  it and I haven't had a drink. 5.  The other kids make fun of her obviously homemade cake.  6.  Did I mention trying to color match a plastic cake topper and create a "skirt" for the princess.  7.  What if I make the wrong princess.  8.  Did I mention my fear of humiliation.

I know I had a bigger list of fears.  Oh, what if the cakes taste horrible?  It could happen.  What if the edible glitter really isn't? 

Well, I think I'll post a place for you to vote which princess that I should make.  It's not going to make a difference because I think that I know who she wants, BUT I'm curious. 

I'll take pictures.  It should be interesting.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 38

So this is a blog about baking or about books.  Sometimes I digress such as my rant about publishers and costs, etc.  But really, who cares?!  Frankly, other than a few fabulous people that I know about  I'm not getting much traffic.  So I thought I might talk about baking again today.  Not just any baking but VIRTUAL baking.

Oh yes.  Not only do I bake IRL but I also bake virtually.  Facebook, that great time-sucker, has a game called Baking Life.  I was introduced to Baking Life just like I have been introduced to all my games: My friend Tracy. 

This is not a popular game.  I also joined because my sister, the pastry chef, was also on it.  Well, that was good enough for me.  Then Tracy's daughter.  Finally, my husband joined, just to send me gifts, although he seems to enjoy it quite a bit now.

Baking Life is lame.  It is still in Beta.  Or so they say.  They have some stupid rules, the game runs slow, and there are often glitches.  So, naturally I am devoted.  I check my bakery regularly.  My small child likes to change me and make me different colors and have me wear new outfits.  She also loves to change my hair.

So I bake.  She gets to play dress up and Brian and I send each other gifts.  Everyone is happy.
So, the fun part.  Brian and I were discussing our bakeries (oh yes we do!) and talking about what we bake and how we decide to bake: Our strategies as it were.  It kind of pays to bake all of the stuff available.  But, well...I don't like peach cobbler.  It's OK, but given a choice of the cobbler, scones, and creme brulee, I'll take either rather than the cobbler.  I actually won't bake anything that I don't want to eat.  Really.  I know it's a virtual bakery.  If I won't eat it IRL I won't sell it virtually. 

So, now I can be stupid IRL and in my virtual bakery..  Yep.  baking.  Yep.  I think I should read more....

Book & Baking Blog: Book & Baking Blog Entry 36

Book & Baking Blog: Book & Baking Blog Entry 36

Book & Baking Blog Entry 36

It's been way too long since I've blogged about baking or books. I don't know that I'm going to be doing so this time either.  I've been really busy (as are most people who have jobs and families and a domicile.)  I have actually blogged quite a bit since my last entry here. 

I did, this week, bake a delicious batch of pinwheel cookies.  I never got enough of these as a kid.  They're quite simple. You need a batch of regular sugar cookie dough and a batch of chocolate sugar cookie dough.  Instead of rolling and cutting, you simply break each batch into 4 parts.  1 part of chocolate gets rolled out.  1 part of vanilla gets rolled out.  Lay the vanilla over the chocolate and roll it.  Once it's rolled cut slices, place onto a cookie sheet and bake at 400⁰ for 6-10 minutes depending upon your oven....

Enough about that.  I have been rereading so many books.  I am not sure that I care to review any.  Nothing stands out.  I do have one new Sookie Stackhouse.  Well.  You can't argue with the name.  She's quite a character, and while I don't generally love the vampire genre, it is a bit of fun.  I'll probably let you know how the latest Sookie outing does later...

I guess my new exciting kitchen moment was the appearance of my new refrigerator.  Oh yeah.  MY new 'fridge.  It's HUGE.  And what's so great about a huge 'fridge?  Well, first, we found a bunch of food that was hidden.  We also found the food that was rotten and making the 'fridge smell like freshman gym class.  It's all out the door now. Although I saved us $50 that we were going to spend on a used deep freezer on Craig's list by suggesting that we keep the old 'fridge in the shed for the kegs.  Yep.  Always have a great idea....

Well, the beauty of the new appliance encompasses many things not the least of which is ice cream.  Not just any ice cream, but home made ice cream.  For Christmas, my husband, not only got me a great deal on a HUGE (word of the day) new kitchenaid mixer, but also a free ice cream maker attachment.  Cheap and free.  In general two words that women don't want to be associated with, however, I'll make an exception here.  So, this week I will endeavour to make my first vanilla ice cream.  Why vanilla?  Well, that's what the incredibly loud bruiser that I live with loves.  She is so not the delicate flower of the past.  Almost 4, we tremble in fear of her.  I think home made vanilla ice cream should calm the beast....stay tuned for how it turns out.

I realize that this blog has meandered.  But hey, bite me.  It's my blog.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 35

Well, now you all know the truth, which is that I don't have a lot to say about anything that anyone really needs or wants to know about.  But sometimes I have something to say and probably some English major in the 25th century will come across my blog and decide that his thesis will include my savvy interpretations of 20th and 21st century pop fiction (which will have it's own separate major by then...)  Yep, what some guy won't do to get a PhD.  But I digress


I believe that I wrote a short review of a book by Linda Castillo, Sworn to Silence.  I thought that the author had potential.  So I bought and listened to Pray for Silence.  Both books had good, creepy crimes.  Our heroine, former Amish girl, and Chief of Police, Kate seems like a pretty good character.  I can't figure out if she's supposed to be an alcoholic, if Castillo wants you to think that she's on the edge, or if she just likes her vodka (to which I say, "YOU GO GIRL!)  Tomasetti (Thomasetti?  Spelling names from audio books can be a pain) is fairly limited as well.  Castillo keeps trying to draw these characters for us but instead just designates attributes that they have.  We also get to relive their traumas which regularly come back to haunt them at inopportune times.


It's a shame, because I think Castillo has some talent here.  But why, oh why go out of your way to have a hero and heroine with backgrounds in law enforcement (long and successful careers) and them have them be stupid in emergencies and ignorant of the law and how it works. 


In both tales, the final 1/4 to 1/3 of the book just becomes unbearable as Kate makes stupid mistake after stupid mistake.  And really, how many times does she have to prove that she has good ideas to those around her when A. She's chief of police and B. She was right the last time.  Duh.  Just fuss and nonsense.  Seriously.

If you don't mind a bit of foolishness and can get these for a good price, go for it.  If you have trouble with foolish characters, don't.

Happy Reading.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 34

I love to bake cookies.  Really.  And I prefer baking for others to eat.  Mostly because I put on weight easily and couldn't possibly eat all the cookies that I really would like to eat.


I just had to share the experience of making the rare, almost never seen out of its natural midwestern habitat, Orange Cookie.  Orange Cookies were almost never found at my house even  at Christmas.  Nope.  Why not?  They are delicious.  They are cakey and sweet.  They actually taste like orange.  They have lovely icing--AHA!  There's the kicker.  As a kid I had no idea that there were people out there regularly icing  their cookies.


I can't speak for my mother, but I suspect that she did not like to frost cookies.  For example, I thought that sugar cookies were called sugar cookies because you sprinkled sugar on them.  I didn't realize that it was because they are sugary goodness and most people put even more sugary icing on them.  Who knew?! 


So, of course, we all like to think that we don't have the hang-ups of our mothers.  So why don't I make the sugary, sweet, orange, frosted cookies?  Well, I don't keep orange juice in the house.  I should find out if there is such a think as powdered orange juice, not Tang, but real stuff.  There has got to be.  Seriously, you can get powdered milk...


I don't mind frosting the cookies and the best part about these is that the frosting gets nice and stiff.  You're supposed to use wax paper to separate the layers of cookies, but I don't.  Honey-badger just don't care....


So, rethinking the cookie line up.  What was really fun was that I know mom would always use orange food color so that the cookies were "orange." I made the frosting, well, mauve? even towards a lilac.  I used pink, but the cream color of the frosting clearly influenced the end color more than I figured.  Too cute.  My daughter LOVES it.


Happy Baking.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 33

WARNING:  some bad language and spoilers

Well, it's time to think about novellas.  First, one of the great thing about Kindle is that novellas are affordable and can be downloaded without an anthology.  I just wish that it was made clear when one is buying a novella.  If I'm on the amazon site I usually double-check but on the kindle itself, at 10pm when I'm reading by flashlight....you get it.

Anyway.  Coffee Clutch by Marshall Thornton.  Wow.  Didn't like it.  At all.  Wouldn't recommend it.  Even for .99. 

First I object to the title.  Please.  I hope that the author was trying to be clever, but I get the idea, based on the rest of the novella, that he was just ignorant of the spelling.

One of the amazon reviewers says that she can't point out what she doens't like without spoilers, so HEY, THERE MIGHT BE SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT.

I don't like the characters.  Are ALL men of the sixties truly heinous assholes?  Are all of the women ineffectual wimps who just take it?  And why are they friends when they don't seem to like each other?

And, the plot.  Our main character, a wimpy, sixties housewife who gave up her non-career that she never really tried to get to be a wife and mother decides that her risque, divorced neighbor must have been murdered by her other neighbor.  So she sets out to prove this?  Not really.  She does a bunch of stuff and accidentally finds the killer BUT because she's so wimpy she won't do anything about it because he (the killer) will actually prove that she did it because her husband and ALL of the other husbands in the neighborhood were actually having affairs with the divorcee?  Really?  And she's not going to confront her husband and she'll continue to live next to the killer. 

I get the idea that there will be more in the "next" Jan Birch novel and that she'll "grow" as a person and find herself, blah blah blah.  The characters couldn't be more one dimensional.  Everything we know is because the author tells us it's so.

The kicker?!  There is a movie short with the same name.  Based on the novella?!  I hope not.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 32

So, I've been lazy and have not been blogging.  And now I have a second blog.  I only have one entry, but I set it up today, so don't expect too much.  I thought that I would go with the professional blog.  But enough about that travesty....


So I finally "read" (audiobook) Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay.  Not bad.  It didn't enthrall me as much as it might have but I did enjoy it.  I understand that there is a TV show.  People love it.


I would say that it was better than a large number of books that I've read, but I'm not beating down the computer to download another.  Perhaps it was the narrator, but I don't think so.  First, I'm not just how Dexter is so smart that he is finding serial killers when no one else can?  Is it merely that monsters can find each other?  Having only read the one book it just seemed to be a matter of the author "said so" and that we, the reader had to accept it.  I might consider another to see if the characters develop at all.  They seemed pretty one-dimensional and, frankly, some of the stupidest cops that I've ever read about in a novel.

I have also recently finished Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo.  I enjoyed this book (audio) quite a bit.  Well, right up until the last 25%.  But I enjoyed the characters, they seemed to be somewhat developed, their interaction seemed true to the story.  Until: our chief of police, who has 8 years of law experience prior to her current job seems to lose any sense of how the law works and her rights under the law.  She actually just walks out of her office and doesn't fight her contractual rights and then allows herself to be manhandled by her successor.  I plan to read at least one more by Castillo.  I thought that the rest was interesting enough to give her another try.

Good reading.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 31: Bite My Princess!

So, just so you know, I'm going to talk about a book that I haven't read.  It's called Cinderella Ate My Daughter, by Peggy Orenstein.  I will probably never read this book for a few reasons:


1.  probably no one dies in it.  I hate to be limited but I rarely read anything without a dead body and generally regret it unless it's by Fannie Flagg, and even her books often have dead bodies so there.


2.  It's not fiction.  Again, I rarely read non-fiction.  I spent many years in college (more than most) reading both fiction and non-fiction.  I couldn't care less for non-fiction.  I would rather  watch reality TV (but who wouldn't.)  OK, I know a lot of people LOVE non-fiction and I respect you for being smarter and more intellectual than me.  Seriously, I'm not there.


3.  It's a book that I believe will probably try to scare me into thinking that pop culture is evil and that I have no influence over my own child: I got the idea it might even be focused on parents...I HATE parenting books.  I have pretty much hated them since I picked up one of my first ones and it spent an entire chapter telling my why I was horrible for bringing a baby into the world at my hugely advanced age of over 40 and how my child was going to either miscarry or be damaged so don't get used to being pregnant.  Yep.  Don't like "parenting" books.


Having said that, why am I writing about this book?  Well, she went on the Today Show.  Yes.  I watch the Today Show and I like I.  Now that I've lost the intellectuals of the group let's get down to it:  This woman was interviewed and actually wanted me to sit around and worry that my 3 1/2 year old like girly sparkly things.  I get it; it's commercial.  I get it; it teaches the wrong message....really?!


First, I get a bit tired of having to be alarmed and afraid about everything from transfats to bonnie bell lip-smackers.  Seriously, is it so heinous that 4 and 5 year olds want to wear Bonnie Bell instead of 12 year olds.  As a parents I can say no OR I can say, hey, when I was 4 or 5 I used to love it if my mom would put a touch of lipstick on me.  While I would certainly object if my daughter tried to go out in make up I let her play "make up" when we're home.  She wants to be like me...gosh I know I should run screaming into the woods on that one, but I just can't bring myself to do it.  She also has a big thing for chapstick.  What's next? Vegas and a stripper pole?


Here's an idea Penny: Let's be parents.  My daughter loves princesses and dressing up.  When I was little I was taunted and mocked for liking girly things (which is odd on the one hand because I was a girl BUT not so odd as I was the youngest of 4 and the only girl in my family when we were very young.)  If she wants to wear a princess dress to ride her tricycle or play soccer or play shopping, so be it.  She gets to have her own likes and dislikes.  I refuse to be a tiger.  Maybe my daughter won't turn out as good as yours, but she'll have had the chance to make decisions with guidance.


My daughter loves princesses.  We read the stories and we watch the movies.  There are many interpretations of fairytales.  I'm sure that if I read your book you possibly don't really attack fairy tales but, I'm not going to spend my hard-earned money on your book so here's my thought and what I'm teaching my daughter to take from the "disney" versions of fairy tales:

Ariel:  The hardest princess to defend.  She disobeys her father to her own peril and yet lives happily ever after at 16.  YIPES!  We do like to point out that if Ariel had listened to her father or at least Sebastian that she wouldn't have traded her soul for a chance at true happiness...But isn't that what Ariel teaches?  Sometimes you have to take chances to really get what you want?  To reach for something new and different?  And, honestly, isn't her dad a bit xenophobic?  A great lesson in everyone trying to be a little more open to others' viewpoints.

Sleeping Beauty: She does have to be awakened by her "true love's kiss" and that works out.  Frankly, the adults in this story are total losers.  Seriously, the wicked fairy wins just by the parents sending her away for her entire youth and having her raised by fairies. The lesson here is that we shouldn't jump to conclusions.  Probably her parents wouldn't have made her marry Philip if she really didn't want to BUT we'll never know because she and Philip fell in love etc etc.

Snow White:  We do learn not to take anything from strangers even if they seem nice.  Penny particularly mentions in her interview that our daughters should learn not to take apples from old witches/strangers.  Well, if snow White teaches us nothing else it is this lesson.  It's a lesson learned, not a model for behavior. For goodness' sakes--talk to your children about what they are watching...geeze.

Rapunzel:  She believes in her dream enough to wrench herself away from a self-serving, unhealthy, emotionally abusive relationship.  How bad can this be.  Unless you're a self-serving, unhealthy, emotionally abusive mother you have nothing to fear from what your daughter learns from Rapunzel.  Rapunzel also enjoys her talents and gifts.  She has a joi de vivre that is unmatched by many characters in any movie.  A sweetnes in enjoying her freedom.  I want that for my daughter.

Tiana:  Rocks!  My daughter loves Tiana.  She is even beautiful and much loved as a frog.  Her beauty is not of paramount importance.  She learned (from  her parents) that hard work is how you get what you want, not wishing on stars or kissing frogs. I love that she is my kid's 2ns favorite.


Cinderella:  She is, of course, the consummate princess.  She is beautiful and abused and the prince "rescues" her.  Well, I'm not so keen on that part of it either.  We like to focus on Cinderella's spirit and her kindness.  I also like that Cinderella always has hopes and dreams.  Her fairy godmother tells her that if she didn't still hope that she couldn't have come to her. But the fairy godmother is the crux of the story.  EVERY young woman needs an older woman to help her.  To believe in her.  To support her.  Any child can blossom if someone is there for them.

In our house a princess has to have 4 qualities to be a REAL princess:
1. pretty
2. kind
3. brave
4. smart

Pretty is relative and we work on that.  If you ask my kid she'll tell you the most important quality that any princess can have is to be kind. Smart and brave are the next 2.  Why have pretty there?  Well, we all know that princesses are pretty..it's in the script.  She will tell you that all girls are princesses and that they are all pretty.  It's 3-year-old logic.  I'm sure she will evolve to be less kind, but I'm not sure that it will be the fault of princess culture.

Just like everything else in life, you can get a lot of different things from Disney movies and the princess culture.  I choose to help my daughter take a positive message from this culture.  I also help her enjoy being a girl.  And if she comes home in her cinderella dress with paint or dirt on it, I don't get bent out of shape.  I bought a cheap one and she fells pretty and she enjoys playing in the dirt in it.  Oh well...

Also, ask me to tell you her favorite stories about Princess Ruth and the Pea and The Dread Pirate Ruth.  The endings will surprise you.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 30

Wow, I had an entire blog written about butter and using it in baking.  When and why and why not and what the experts say.  As much as I love butter (and given a chance I would put it on bacon and do put it on about anything including toast with schoko-moo) I decided that it was probably even more lame than any of the other blogs, many of which are lame. 

So, I decided to go back to writing about books and murder.  I am going through a time where I am trying desperately not to buy digital books at jacked-up prices.  For those who haven't heard my rant, check out earlier blog entries.  So, because of this I have begun to read a large number of "classic" novels that are available on Amazon for free or .99 cents. 

I recently finished one of these classic thrillers, Murder at Bridge by Anne Austin.  Murder at Bridge was "Set up and electrotyped" in 1931.  And brilliantly so.  It's been a long time since I've received such pleasure from a novel.  Not a lot of suspense as we expect from a modern novel, but truly an enjoyable read.  So much so I might try to find her other novel (only one?)  It reads like film noir.  The dialogue is a bit campy or kitschy but must have been very edgy for its time.  The characters behave in manners that would be considered dysfunction and bizarre in the extreme today. 

It's great to have a chance to return to world where a nice young woman can be [SPOILER ALERT ] can just feel better about life after her father, who abandoned wife and family leaving little to live on so that he could run off with an actress, returns and agrees to take her mother back...very generous.  And of course, mom is grateful.  Yet, in the context of the time it contributed to a very happy ending. 

I wasn't going to write about Murder at Bridge; as I noted before I was going to write about butter.  Then I began to read, Blind Spot by Nancy Bush.  Now, this is not a bad book.  Well, maybe it is.  Maybe you'll hear about how trite and insanely stupid the beginning is in my next blog....OK it is kind of but I'm trying to move through it.  But by realizing that I'm working hard to get through what must be Act One of this stupidly crappy novel, I also realized what under-valued books there are available by authors who are little known and deserve some recognition for their work.  It's a product of its time. 

No, Murder at Bridge is not a world/life changing novel.  No one will be redeemed by reading it.  Not one child will be saved and not one life turned from bad to good.  It will not fight poverty, pestilence, or even cancer.  What it did do was give me some honest moments of  pleasure.  Thank you Anne Austin.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 29

Christmas is exciting.  So exciting that I still have 2 batches of unbaked cookies in my refrigerator.  Yep.  Chocolate with peanutbutter chip and oatmeal with butterscotch chip.  I like cookies with chips.  I don't care for cooked raisins.  Everyone has their thing.  That's mine.  I like raisins raw (so to speak) but never want to see one in a baked good.  Ever.  It can ruin an entire breakfast if my cinnamon roll has raisins.  I try not to let it, because, well, frankly diners seem pretty set on having raisins in the cinnamon buns.  Oh well.

So I got lucky this Christmas.  As a gift a friend gave me her best shot at a recipe for Danish Kringle.  So I expected this to be a bread-like concoction.  I had a friend come over and we got out my NEW Kitchen Aid pro (OH YEAH==600watts of baking power PLUS an icecream attachment) and tried to follow the recipe.  I'll be curious how her 1/2 turned out.

So, first analysis:  the dough was more like stretchy cookie dough than bread.  I used the paddle to make it, I'm sure that the bread hook wouldn't work.  The other surprise was that the dough needed to be refridgerated over-night.  OK, I can do that.  We split the dough, I kept half and my friend took the other half.  No harm, no foul. I can do this.

So, the next morning, imagine my surprise that the dough did not rise.  WHY does my dough never rise.  Seriously.  Never ever.  I use fresh yeast.  I think that my kitchen is too cold.  That's my hope.  Either that or I just am not the rising sort.

But as per usual, I trudge on not letting failure stop me now.  I knead the dough and divide it into 2 pieces and then roll it out.  Now you get to add the filling.  What's not great about sugar, butter, and cinnamon.  But I forgot I only had 1/2 the recipe.  Yep, you guessed it.  I made a full amount.  I did feel compelled to use it all.  Yes.  Too bad, because my oven was just cleaned.  So I put in my extra filling and rolled it up, cut and twisted per the recipe.  I left it to rise.

Did it rise?  No NO NO No no....  That stinks.  But again, undeterred I put it into the oven.  So, twice as much butter as called for in the filling.  And the filling isn't sealed into the pastry--merely "twisted."  My oven smokes more than a teen-aged boy.

The BEAUTY moment:  I don't know if it was the extra filling, but I do know that this is an incredible pasty.  Absolutely nothing like any pstry that I had in Denmark, but well worth the time and effort.

Changes that I might make:  I might add more flour and make it more bread-like.  I might heat my kitchen so that it's warmer or wait for a warmer day.

This may kill my determination to not over-indulge in 2011.  If it does I'll just be happy with my buttery, buttery pastry. 

PS:  Did I mention how unattractive the whole mess looked?  I need a photo next time.