Bleary-Eyed, And Food
G’morning, all. Since I’m bleary-eyed and pre-caffeinated (you would not believe how long I had to sit here thinking about how many ‘f’s does caffeinated make) I’ll offer a few random bits and go on my stumbling, shambling way.
* My buddy Jeff Davis got a shout-out in the weekly supplement paper ’round these parts last week. Jeff is the author of several ghost guides to the Pacific Northwest and a trove of information on weirdness, both historical and paranormal, in the area as well. (His most recent book is about Portland’s ghosts.) Plus, I got to see a copy of the pretty, pretty Weird Washington, which Jeff co-wrote and provided almost all the pics for. It’s AWESOME. And picking Jeff’s brains about the weirdness contained in the books while sitting on the patio at McMenamin’s, watching the sailboats go by…priceless.
* Speaking of good food, another shout out goes to the folks at La Bottega, who feed me damn near every weekend. If you’re ever in the area, I highly recommend stopping by. They’re slow food, and more European than Americans might be used to; so it might be a bit of a shock to people used to fast-food and indifferent service. They’ll ask you how you like the food–and REALLY LISTEN when you tell them what you think. Which is just one of the many reasons I like them. Plus Peter and Lisa, the owners, are just awesome people to talk food with.
All this food talk is making me hungry. It’s ridiculous, how much I love fooooooood.
* If you like Indian food and are in my neck of the woods, I’ve gone back to Chutney’s three times now, and each time I was impressed. I keep thinking I should try some of their Indian wines, but the house Cabernet is so good I get seduced into a couple of glasses each time. The naan bread is awesome, and their butter chicken is fast becoming my favorite. The UnSullen One digs their Chicken Chettinad, and we’ve just recently sampled the Chicken Korma too and found it to be delicious.
* Speaking of food, the Red Velvet Cupcakes? I made a double batch on Friday. And ZOMG awesome were they good. Next time I WILL make sure the eggs are room temperature, because there was almost an Incident when I dumped the eggs in and the butter decided it wanted to get cold again. But it all worked out. I think I’m going to be using disposable pastry bags instead of ziploc baggies with the end snipped off. The ziploc method just didn’t do it for me, I think because the topography of the bag was improper for a beginner. Yes, I realize I only have myself to blame.
For some reason, I cannot find a real pastry bag to save my life in the greater Vancouver area, and I don’t really want to go into Portland to check Sur La Table. Because that is a hit my bank account just won’t live with, going in there.
Even looking at the website…ohGod…please…stop…
…time passes…
* Okay, I’m back now. The ciabatta bread I was attempting on Friday did not turn out. Oh, it’s bread, and it’s beautiful bread at that, but I didn’t keep the dough wet enough, so it’s more like a nice tough white bread suitable for toasting and chewing than a ciabatta. It took me a little thinking to figure out where I’d gone wrong. You have to work a dough like that really wet, because the signature texture of it comes from the gluten being in long shiny strands instead of a packed mass. So I know what I did wrong and shall remedy it, along with putting together a buttermilk sourdough starter.
On the good side, though, I am learning about working with a banneton, and created a ZOMG-awesome-looking loaf with it.
* Tonight’s dinner is slow-cooked boneless ribs in barbecue sauce, roast mashed potatoes, and probably a Caprese salad since I have fresh mozz and some heirloom tomatoes for slicin’. We’ll see. I also have some fresh basil left over, so that will go in. Ah, for an herb mincer…
…manfully restrains self from revisiting Sur La Table site…
* In between all this I have paperwork to do and a lot of revisions to get done. I have shelved Weasel Boy for the time being, since all that’s left on that is the showdown and the denouement. (My, the French have such lovely words for things. No wonder it was a diplomatic language for a long time.) And there’s some Latin I need to get back to; I have sorely neglected it of late. I wonder if Rosetta Stone has a classical Greek program?
Anyway, off I go. Enjoy the lovely weather, everyone. I’ll be stuck with my head in a story, as usual, taking no notice of the big bright yellow ball in the sky. *grin*
