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April 2006

April 22, 2006

When bad things happen to good eGulleters

Almost done with the endless project and my new (only seemingly endless) project is mucking out the impact of a month-long project on my kitchen/pantry. Meaning I'm actually going to bake those cookies, start some bread and bagels, maybe do something with the pile of granny smith apples I brought home the other day.

In the meantime, here's one more not-exactly-a-post. Go here. It will make you feel better about every marginal dish you've ever made. There's something for everyone:

Bonus: it works as a calorie intake reduction device. Enjoy.

April 18, 2006

If you were baking cookies right now...

...what kind of cookies would you be baking?

Realizing this morning that I had neither bread nor cookies in the house — and with the last round of project editing coming up, we need both — I set about remedying the situation. I just pulled five loaves (2 regular and 3 pint-sized*) of Honey WheatBerry bread** from the oven, which has left the house smelling like breakfast.

Next up is cookies, which is why I am here. (because it is easier to bake cookies while typing on a computer in your office, right?) I'm feeling uninspired, I've got specific requirements for this batch of cookies, and none of my tried-and-true recipes beckon. Most of the time, this would send me to the cookbook shelves or on a multi-hour blog crawl,*** but this time around the first item on the requirement list is a reliable recipe from a trusted source. While I generally love new, even untested, recipes, I've know I've got time tonight but tomorrow may be another story entirely. Hence the need for a recipe I know will turn out well.

Here's where you come in...well, if I'm lucky. What's your go-to recipe for cookie-jar cookies? I've ruled out the brainless ideas (is that an oxymoron?) like oatmeal, chocolate chip, and peanut butter but that's the sort of thing I'm after. Not biscotti, not kiwi-pistachi macarons, nothing with more steps than ingredients.

The pantry is well-stocked: several kinds of nuts, 3-4 kinds of chocolate, an assortment of dried fruit, oatmeal, as well as the usual ingredients like eggs and butter...and half a dozen kinds of flour, if that matters. I've even got a decent selection of less usual things: dulce la leche, coconut milk, some Nutellaesque stuff from TJ's and almond paste. I don't have coconut or peanut butter.

Requirements:

  • an actual recipe you've actually baked (ideas wthout recipes are fine, but please don't point me at a specific recipe unless you've had them)
  • no assembly required (i.e., drop or bar cookies)
  • not too messy to eat while working on a computer
  • bonus points if I can make a double batch and freeze a bunch
  • more bonus points if it uses jam (mostly because I just unearthed an open jar of berry preserves in the fridge and it looks really good)

So, whatcha got? Inspire me. Dazzle me. Make me gain weight. laughs

* one of the rare times this is true, they actually are about the size of a one-pint canning jar... grin

** a recipe I think is almost ready to go public...as Farmgirl would say, soon...

*** (hi, my name is kitchenMage and I am a blogoholic...)

April 13, 2006

Science you can use: Fixing Cheap Vodka with a Water Filter

I am sure someone will point to a certain inevitability to a writer on a tight deadline choosing the topic of this post...I think I'll call it channeling my inner Hemingway and leave it at that.

A while back, an online community I belong to was talking about the purported effect of a standard water filter on cheap vodka. The theory was that, since vodka is supposed to be tasteless — or is it tastefree? — then the problem with cheap vodka was that it tasted like...well, cheap vodka. Hence, removing the harsh flavors would leave the desired nontaste and render a palatable drink. The tool of choice seemed to be a standard water filter pitcher, something that a lot of us have shoved in the back of a cabinet somewhere, and also available at thrift stores for a few dollars.

Continue reading "Science you can use: Fixing Cheap Vodka with a Water Filter" »

April 09, 2006

Stockhouse's Farm CSA

Yellowmagnolia It is perhaps a paradox that it is easier to find a farm offering CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscriptions in the city than out here in evenTinierTown. Odd though that may be, I spent last summer watching sadly as friends of mine in Seattle got weekly boxes of farm-fresh produce, brimming with marvelous, and sometimes new to them, produce while I had to make do with going to a chain grocery store for far too much of what we ate. Sure, I have friends who felt took pity on my gardenless self and gifted me with the occasional overflow from their own gardens, but it's just not the same as having a plot of raised beds and a CSA.

Continue reading "Stockhouse's Farm CSA" »

April 04, 2006

NAIS Informational meeting

(grok'd from the Gray's River Grange site)

There's been a bit of information floating around lately about the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), a new program of the USDA.From the USDA website:   

“As part of its ongoing efforts to safeguard U.S. animal health, USDA initiated the implementation of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) in 2004. NAIS is a cooperative State-Federal-industry partnership to standardize and expand animal identification programs and practices to all livestock species and poultry. NAIS is being developed through the integration of three components—premises identification, animal identification, and animal tracking. The long-term goal of the NAIS is to provide animal health officials with the capability to identify all livestock and premises that have had direct contact with a disease of concern within 48 hours after discovery.”

It sounds good on paper, but it raises some significant red flags in my mind, seeming to place a huge logistical and financial burden on small farmers. Farmgirl has been talking to me about it in mail recently and she pointed me at NONAIS, a portal for all things NAIS (Yes, they have a position, but you could tell that from the name, right?)

Carrie Kennedy, our local WSU Extension Agent, will be hosting a meeting at the Grays River Grange on May 9th at 7:30 pm to talk about NAIS and answer questions that you may have about how it will impact you. The grange hall is at the west end of the hamlet of Grays River on SR 4. Hope to see you there.

April 03, 2006

Foolish Berries: the Dessert that Might Have Been

Although you'd never know it by reading this site, I've been managing to do a lot of cooking even during the crazy writing project. Last night's midnight treat was going to be this wonderful looking Strawberry Ouzo Mock Napoleons that I saw on She Craves the other day. Looks terribly elegant and truly simple: a few sheets of phyllo, strawberries, cream and a shot of booze. What could go wrong?

Continue reading "Foolish Berries: the Dessert that Might Have Been" »

April 02, 2006

Cookbook for a cause

While I am currently off in writing land and this site languishes (which might seem more appropriate in August when it's hot and humid and thus languishy), I'd like to take a moment and point out a project in which I had a wee smidge of involvement.

Atct2And They Cook, Too is a cookbook comprised of recipes donated by all sorts of bloggers, some of whom you might know, many of whom you probably haven't heard of yet. Spearheaded by Ginger Mayerson and Kathy Flake, all proceeds from this book will go to Doctors Without Borders, an admirable organization whose members travel the world providing medical assistance in that superhero style of running into the places most sane people are running away from.

There's a list of contributors here if you want to tease yourself, and find some interesting new blogs in the process. But really, it's only 15 bucks, so give up your take-out espresso for a week and give a little for the cause.

My contribution? Well, it's a stream of consciousness semi-recipe and might even make you laugh...at my pain. But that's what writer's have pain for: to make others laugh at it.

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All content on this site is © Beth Sheresh (2005-2012). Please play nice and don't take things that aren't yours.
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