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still trying to watch Band of Brothers
Jun. 13th, 2014 04:13 amI give you my thoughts while watching episode 4 (in stream-of-consciousness form) under the cut:
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Jun. 13th, 2014
seven days of self-promotion meme
Jun. 13th, 2014 02:29 pmThere's a meme going around called "Seven Days of Self-Promotion." How could I not play?
The first day's topic is: Something old (i.e., talk about an old fanwork you made). I interpreted "old" to mean "made more than five years ago," and I decided to avoid the fanworks I usually talk about when I'm self-promoting. Instead, here's my favorite of the stories I wrote during my brief sojourn in due South fandom.
( Link and my thoughts under the cut )
The first day's topic is: Something old (i.e., talk about an old fanwork you made). I interpreted "old" to mean "made more than five years ago," and I decided to avoid the fanworks I usually talk about when I'm self-promoting. Instead, here's my favorite of the stories I wrote during my brief sojourn in due South fandom.
( Link and my thoughts under the cut )
recipe Friday
Jun. 13th, 2014 05:50 pmI haven't cooked anything of huge interest since last time, but yesterday, inspired by The Guardian's discussion of a proper cream tea and by strawberries being on sale for 98 cents a pound, I made the closest American equivalent of a scone with cream and jam: strawberry shortcake.
I modified this recipe for lemon shortcakes with strawberries a bit. I halved the recipe, first of all. Then, because I read somewhere (perhaps the Joy of Cooking?) that a bit of orange complements and heightens the flavor of strawberries, I used orange zest in the shortcakes instead of lemon zest.
As for the berries, I sliced my pound of strawberries about five hours beforehand, added a couple of teaspoons of sugar, a few gratings of orange zest, and a teaspoon or two or fresh orange juice, stirred and let the berries macerate in the fridge. Then while the biscuits were still slightly warm from the oven, I assembled in the obvious way--a split biscuit topped with strawberries and whipped cream. Result: yum. The strawberries, being the usual supermarket berries, could perhaps have used a bit more sugar, but the orange definitely improved them. And the shortcakes were gorgeous. I, er, may have ended up eating two servings in place of dinner.
I should note, though, that both yesterday and tonight (because there were strawberries and shortcakes left over) I failed at whipping cream, of all things. Yesterday I tried making it in the food processor (with a chilled bowl and blade) and ended up with only slightly thickened cream despite two minutes or more of processing time. I concluded that it just wasn't possible to whip cream that way, but the internet tells me otherwise. Tonight, with a chilled eggbeater and bowl, the result was equally runny. So I think the problem must be my cream; I just checked the label and noticed that it doesn't say "whipping cream" or even "heavy cream," just "cream." So probably it has too little fat to whip properly. Who knew? (Possibly every cook who isn't me?) I was also trying to whip quite a small amount, which I'm sure didn't help. Anyway, it was still tasty despite the failure of the cream to be properly light, thick, and luscious.
Speaking of which, The Guardian's cream tea forum has made me crave clotted cream. Om nom nom. But I will resist, because $6 for a tiny little jar is not on. I wonder if it's possible to make it oneself?
I modified this recipe for lemon shortcakes with strawberries a bit. I halved the recipe, first of all. Then, because I read somewhere (perhaps the Joy of Cooking?) that a bit of orange complements and heightens the flavor of strawberries, I used orange zest in the shortcakes instead of lemon zest.
As for the berries, I sliced my pound of strawberries about five hours beforehand, added a couple of teaspoons of sugar, a few gratings of orange zest, and a teaspoon or two or fresh orange juice, stirred and let the berries macerate in the fridge. Then while the biscuits were still slightly warm from the oven, I assembled in the obvious way--a split biscuit topped with strawberries and whipped cream. Result: yum. The strawberries, being the usual supermarket berries, could perhaps have used a bit more sugar, but the orange definitely improved them. And the shortcakes were gorgeous. I, er, may have ended up eating two servings in place of dinner.
I should note, though, that both yesterday and tonight (because there were strawberries and shortcakes left over) I failed at whipping cream, of all things. Yesterday I tried making it in the food processor (with a chilled bowl and blade) and ended up with only slightly thickened cream despite two minutes or more of processing time. I concluded that it just wasn't possible to whip cream that way, but the internet tells me otherwise. Tonight, with a chilled eggbeater and bowl, the result was equally runny. So I think the problem must be my cream; I just checked the label and noticed that it doesn't say "whipping cream" or even "heavy cream," just "cream." So probably it has too little fat to whip properly. Who knew? (Possibly every cook who isn't me?) I was also trying to whip quite a small amount, which I'm sure didn't help. Anyway, it was still tasty despite the failure of the cream to be properly light, thick, and luscious.
Speaking of which, The Guardian's cream tea forum has made me crave clotted cream. Om nom nom. But I will resist, because $6 for a tiny little jar is not on. I wonder if it's possible to make it oneself?