Come on over

It's pizza night Chez DoubleG. Wanna come over for dinner? There's plenty.

We can't really sit at the table because it looks like this, but that's ok, because I was thinking that we should watch a movie with our pizza. How about Casino Royale? Or we could do 27 Dresses instead, if you're feeling girly. I'm thinking beer with Casino Royale and salad with 27 Dresses. What do you think?

I'll be working on Demi for sure, which is looking pretty ok. I majorly miscrossed a cable (the wavy one on the far left) and had to tink back a really long way last night. This wouldn't have been so annoying except that I miscrossed the exact same cable in the exact same spot on the back. It still looks a little wonky, but that's what blocking is for, right?

Danielle gave me that apron, and I love, love, love it. I've never had an apron before, but I possess unique powers for wearing black on bread-baking days and for getting flour everywhere. Now I can get flour on my apron, and it's a badge of honor, not shame. Danielle tells me that she has been stalking my blog. Maybe we can lure her out by being friendly. Let's all say "Hi!" to Danielle! (Hi, Danielle!)

The pizza dough recipe is this one, recommended by Leya. I'm doing it with half whole wheat pastry flour, because I'm healthy like that. It negates the cheese, right?

A word on resolutions and other things

You know how they say that stupidity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result? Well, I'm really stupid. Luckily, this is the kind of stupid that only effects myself. I went cross-country skiing for the first time this season today, and although I know that I always get blisters from the boots, I chose to ignore this bit of evidence and do what I always do, which is to wear liner socks and thicker socks on top. About three strides into the trail, I knew that this was stupid. It was so stupid that I hadn't even thought about how stupid it was until that point. So, of course, I ended the trail the way I typically do, which is to take off my skis and hobble back to the hut while trying to hold back tears and grimacing.

It was a beautiful day though, even if the trail was less than ideal (lots of skiers going both the proper way around the trail and backwards, necessitating jumping off the trail to let people pass frequently, the snowmobile grooming the trail alongside all of these skiers, and a couple walking their dog in direct violation of the posted signage which says that hikers are not allowed on the trail when the XC trails are open. Of course, they followed behind the snowmobile, obscuring any sign of the groomed path.)

These top two pictures are actually from New Year's Day, which was cold but sunny. I went out for a walk around the neighborhood and listened to Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me on my iPod. Love that show.

And about those resolutions, anway? Well, you may remember that way back last year my resolution was to read all the unread books in my bookshelves. I was pretty good about talking about them here for a while, and then I stopped talking about them, but not reading. I am proud to say that with the exception of 1.25 books, I met my goal. Some of them were great. Some I stopped reading because I decided I didn't care enough to muscle my way through. And some I just decided I wasn't interested enough to start. The 1.25 books I have left to finish are Siddartha by Herman Hesse (this is the .25) and The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupery.

My resolutions for this year, I have already discussed here. I am unconcerned about making lots of resolutions. Two is enough for me: 1. Complete a half-marathon and 2. Incorporate yoga into my life.

One more thing. Everyone knows that the best part of getting cold is getting warm again. I made this soup in a flash after skiing today. It took maybe 10 or 15 minutes to chop everything up and then simmered for about 20 while I was in the shower. Delish! It's the Hearty Stew from The Vegan Table, which I highly recommend. Only, I un-veganized it by adding a chunk of parmesan rind which was lying in my freezer. What a chewy cheesy treat!

Happy Halloween!

I taught a friend to sew today. We made a skirt for her Tinkerbell costume. The Wind Symphony is playing a concert tomorrow. The clarinets are dressing up as characters from Peter Pan.

Not pictured: Stephanie's AWESOME Tiger Lily costume. We did the whole thing by hand, not being in possession of a sewing machine. It's not exactly professional, but it will do!

May I suggest that you add some Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing to your Halloween festivities? These (like pretty much all the cupcakes I make) are from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. The only changes I made were to double the amount of powdered sugar in the icing to make it spreadable. I left some cupcakes plain because, well, that's all the icing I had, and I didn't expect us to eat them all, and I figured I'd just freeze the leftovers. Oh me of little faith, though I did send four to good homes, there is only one lonely cupcake left for me to eat tomorrow (and to be clear, I only ate one today!). It turns out that they are perfectly delicious without the icing after all!

Pudding Night

If you have ever had the good fortune to be in Ithaca on a weekend, and then were able to make it to the Farmer's Market, and had the patience to stand in line at the Macrobiotic stall when they serve tapioca pudding with fruit on top, well, you're one lucky person. I love, love, love their tapioca pudding - thick and chewy and flecked with vanilla bean. I've been wanting to try and replicate their recipe for a while. I can't say that I've made it, but this recipe was an excellent place to start last night. I was drawn to it because it had real vanilla bean in it, and I've been trying a lot of her recipes lately (I also made this one last night). I think the original has some coconut milk in it, though. Next time. It's a little bit time consuming - you've got to stir it constantly - but so, so worth it. Read a book, contemplate life, listen to The Greencards latest CD, whathaveyou. Just make it. You won't be sorry.

When life gives you lemons....

Yesterday about lunchtime I nearly had a panic attack as I was browsing through my planner, trying to get my head around my schedule for the next two months. My brother's wedding, my recital, the Wind Symphony tour to Austin, oral exams, ski trip Up North, two auditions.... suddenly there just aren't enough hours in the day, and even if there were, I have a limited physical capacity to make these things happen.

Clearly, I needed to bake something. Enter, Gingery Pear and Cranberry Crisp.

I'm not very good at following directions, especially cooking directions, so this is a completely bastardized version of several recipes I found online. Luckily, I wrote it down, so you can make it too!

Gingery Pear and Cranberry Crisp
Filling:
4 ripe pears
3/4 c fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 T fresh grated ginger
1 T cornstarch
1/3 c sugar
pinch of salt

Topping:
1/2 c rolled oats
1/4 c flour
1/4 c wheat germ
1/4 c oil
1/4 c brown sugar
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350. Peel and slice pears. Layer in an 8x8 inch pan. Combine the cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Toss with the pears. Sprinkle cranberries on top. In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the topping, mixing until crumbly. Spread over pears and cranberries. Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes until browned and bubbly.

The result is somewhat juicy, but completely delicious. Using ripe pears is key, since they do not break down in the oven like apples do. Far be it for me to tell you have to follow the recipe. Do what feels right to you and then tell me about it!

The verdict: the crisp - yummy. My life - still panic inducing.

Traditional Christmas Morning

After reading Kate's wonderful account of her Christmas morning, I thought I'd show you what I've done with my Christmas mornings for as long as I can remember (and probably continuing for as long as I live.) Most of the Christmas traditions that we keep in my family have to do with food. My mother's family is English and German. All of our Christmas cookies (which must be done, no matter what) are German - lebkuchen, chocolate lebkuchen, springerle, and white cakes. Actually, that last one is something that seems to be unique to my family. They are a flat, hard, rolled cookie, cut out with cutters which leave an impression in the top. They are slightly sweet and fruity (one of the ingredients is citron), keep forever, and one batch makes roughly 22 dozen cookies. If you've heard of these cookies or know anything more about them, please let me know. I'd love to know more. Traditionally, our Christmas Eve supper includes a vast spread of these cookies.

My dad's family is English and Serbian. It's not really possible to label the country any more closely than that. The borders keep changing. Currently the village my great-grandmother was born in is in Romania. Christmas Day is for making strudel.

First, we have to get out the traditional strudel cloth. This one belonged to Mica, my dad's great-grandmother and strudel-maker extraordinaire. You can't see it in this picture, but the center is stained yellow from years of dough sitting on it.

Then, we have to make the dough. The dough is made with water, flour, salt, egg white, and lard. Yes, lard. You can use shortening, but where's the fun in that? In the old way, you have to knead the dough for 20 minutes to half and hour. My mom and I use the food processor to cut down on kneading time, though mom's processor seems to be on it's last legs, so I muscled up this year. The transformation from sticky, un-kneadable mess to smooth, elastic dough is incredible. Truly the best way to develop the gluten in the dough is to slam it on a counter, using a bench scraper to help lift it away and slam it again. Then the dough must rest.

While the dough is resting, we turn a pile of Granny Smith apples (must be Granny Smith. I don't know why.) into slices. An apple peeler makes this short work.

Then, we pull the dough. This is the fun part. We take a double handful of dough and turn it into a paper thin sheet.

There really is no trick to pulling the dough, except it's easier with two people so you can pull against each other, and your fingertips are the best tool. Also, a bit of extra melted lard can help grease the works. Around and around you go, stretching it just a little bit futher. There are always holes in the dough, but this is not a problem. Then the dough must dry a bit.

You can see here how thin the dough is. There are little bubbles in it and places that are thinner than others. After the dough is leathery dry, you pull off the doughy edges and lay out the filling. My mom used to give my brother and I the pulled off edges to play with. Boy were they fun!
We exclusively do apple, but Mica used to make cheese and cherry too. You lay out the apples on the longest edge and sprinkle with bread crumb, sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
This is not an exact science, as you can see. Rolling the strudel involves using the table cloth as extra hands and sort of tossing it together. Then you maneuver it into a pan, drizzle with extra lard, and pull the next dough.

They bake together and make the whole house smell wonderful. This kind of strudel is much more traditional than the super flaky kind you get in the bakeries. The dough is layered, though the final effect is much more chewy than crunchy.

This dough can also be cut into squares and layered in a pan to make Chesnitza (spelling wrong, I'm sure, but that's what it sounds like). A New Year's dessert similar to baklava with coins baked in it. If you get a coin, you can't spend it and you'll have good luck the whole year.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, and I'll be back after the New Year!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ok, so it's an Anti-Valentine's Day party.

But my grandma gave me this pan recently, and I felt compelled to use it, and you know I don't need a giant heart-shaped cookie lying around my apartment. All of the usual suspects for pawning off baked goods have sworn off goodies for Lent. So, Anti-Valentine's party it is. The cookie recipe is off the wrapper for the pan. No word on how good it is yet, though it looks just fine. The wrapper also had lots of ideas for other uses besides heart-shaped cookies. Heart-shaped pizza anyone? The frosting recipe is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. If you don't have this book, GET IT NOW. No joke. The pictures are beautiful, and the cupcakes are to die for. No need to tell anyone that they're vegan. Or that they have whole wheat flour in them. I made the Cookies and Cream cupcakes last weekend (no pics because it was too dark when I finished) and they were fabulous. The frosting recipes are hands down the best I've ever tasted. This chocolate one is so thick and richly chocolately that I, never a particular chocolate lover, am in danger of inhaling the leftovers. It would have been lighter had I used my hand mixer, but I didn't fancy cleaning up a coating of chocolate and powdered sugar off my kitchen. Again. So the consistency is very fugde-like. Whether you are celebrating Valentine's or Anti-Valentine's, I suggest you add a heart-shaped cookie with chocolate frosting to your day.

In which I divulge some great campfire recipes

I went camping this weekend with my family. There a few things I love more than being outside - hiking, camping, canoeing, swimming, whatever you've got as long as I'm out of doors. We went to Yankee Springs State Park, which was lovely. There were lots of hiking trails and a lake to go fishing. Also, there were lots of acorns.

I love acorns. I can't really tell you why. Maybe its their shiny roundness. Maybe it's their sweet little caps, or their thousands of variations, or all the different colors of rich brown. I found my pockets stuffed with them by the end of Sunday. I'm particularly enamoured of the stripy ones. I've never seen stripy acorns before.

I call this one "Acorns on White and Yellow Table Cloth."

One of the things we like to cook while we're camping is foil packs, also known as Hobo Stew. You need some kind of meat, onions, canned potatos, other vegetables as you like and then some kind of liquid. We were doing a tribute to Oktoberfest, so ours had sausage, potatos, onions, apples, sauerkraut, and for liquid potato juice from the can, sauerkraut juice, or beer. Other variations include hamburgers, potatos, onions, canned mushrooms, and canned gravy. It's important that the potatos be canned, because raw ones would take both too much time to cook and too much liquid.

Then you wrap the whole thing up in foil and toss it on the coals that you have carefully constructed in your fire pit. Half and hour, forty five minutes later, you've got some seriously good food.
We fished a bit off the fishing dock. I mostly just fed worms to the fishes, but my brother caught some itty bitty little fish after he figured out that the hooks were too big.

Even mom tossed a hook into the water.

The other thing we really like to cook outside is Doughboys. Doughboys are basically biscuit cooked on a stick. First you've got to find a stick in the woods that's long and straight and is about as big around as a broom handle. Then you mix up some Bisquick into a playdough like consistency with milk and form them into palm sized balls. You will, of course, have skinned a good six inches of the bark off of one end of your stick, and on this you will apply your biscuit dough, firmly impaling the ball of dough and squeezing it down the sides. Do not form a pancake and wrap the stick. This will cause the Doughboy to crack a lot while cooking and it may not stay on the stick. Cook over coals.

Cook until everything is golden brown. Your Doughboy will probably crack anyway, even if you have followed my directions. This is how you know the inside is cooking. When everything seems done (or the outside is charred to just this side of edible), pull off the stick with a paper towel and stuff with butter and jam. Or peanut butter and raisins. Or blueberries. Or bananas. Or, if you've got some lying around from last night's dinner, maybe some bratwurst or hot dogs. Enjoy.

Oh, and the name Doughboys? They're called that because if you're a less experienced campfire cook, you're likely to char the outside long before the inside is done, giving you a doughy, half-cooked biscuit which is still delightful, but which may sit like a hockey puck in your stomach.

Blocking Block

Somehow I just can't bring myself to do it yet. I've got both fronts and the back done on Dollar and a Half, and I keep finding excuses not to block it. I have to vacuum the carpet first, I say to myself, even though I'll block it on a sheet. I don't have a clean sheet. This, actually, is true. I don't have enough room. This also is true. Well, sort of true. My apartment, while not small, is not large either, and I don't have a really good out-of-the-way place to block.

So what's the hold up? The fact is, it's only going to get harder to block. I mean, when I get the sleeves done, the blocking the whole sweater at once is going to take up all of my free space for a couple of days instead of most of my free space.

Maybe I'm just losing interest in the $1.50. I mean, I want it. I like it. I like the yarn. I will wear it (provided it looks as good as I hope it does). But suddenly, I'm super anxious for my Knit Picks shipment to come in with yarn for Rusted Root. I'm contemplating starting the Deep V sweater. I'm cruising along on mom's Rib and Cable socks. I'm avoiding blocking.

And, I'm baking bread.


This is the first bread I've baked in my new apartment, due to an unfortunate incident involving a buckeye, a lawn maintenance guy, and some missing skin from the palm of my hand. (I was running and not paying attention, and stepped on a buckeye with the hull still on, twisting my ankle and launching myself face first at the ground and ripping some significant skin off the palm of my left hand while a lawn maintenance guy looked on. It was hot.) My apartment smells fantastic, and the bread is awesome. I've made this recipe before, but this is by far the best it's ever come out. Probably because I did a little tweaking of the recipe. Sweet and chewy and yeasty....
No high fructose corn syrup in this bread. It's going to make some incredible toast and PB&Js. Next up on the bread front - making my own sourdough starter!

FO: Retro Redux Shrug

Yesterday was grey and breezy, much cooler than the 90 degree days which had been the norm for the past two weeks. It was cool enough that I was actually allowed outside (hives not responding well to sun, heat, or humidity) and I took a wonderfully rejuvenating walk with my mom. I was a perfect night for sleeping with the windows open and a light blanket, and this morning I woke to June perfection - clear, sunny, breezy, and mild. The perfect day for some FO shots. So I took a shower, dried my hair for the first time in weeks, put on makeup, slid into the aforementioned dress and tried my darndest to get some reasonable shots of the Retro Redux Shrug.

Not entirely successfully. I have bemoaned the fact in the past that I am not so good at taking pictures. And when you're on your own, taking pictures of oneself becomes a feat of ingenuity and engineering. They're not the best, but they're all I've got.

Retro Redux Shrug by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark
From Lace Style
Yarn: 2 balls Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Maize
Needles: US 8, 9, 10, 10 1/2 straights and US 8 circ
Modifications: Made 42" size, and shortened the back by a couple of inches. I probably wouldn't do that again, but it was wicked hard to get an idea of the fit ahead of time, and it just seemed like it was getting way too long.

I would totally make this again, and, in fact, I'm hoping too when the weather gets cooler. I think a heavier worsted weight would work better, and definitely in a wool or wool blend. I love the orange color of the original, so we'll have to see.

I don't know. I look pretty pleased with myself, don't I? I got some great self portraits today, though, so it wasn't entirely wasted.

I have recently discovered Orangette , and I am hopelessly smitten. I'm starting at the beginning and reading all the past posts in carefully measured bursts, to make it last as long as possible. It is my treat when I have finished practicing, a little something to make me dream.... I hardly need any encouragment to bake anyway. It's just, because of those challenges, I shouldn't really be baking. Or at least eating what I'm baking. So I'm taking advantage of these last weeks at home with my parents to bake up a storm. At least I don't have to eat it all.

Last night, I tried a healtier recipe for banana bread. Oatmeal Banana Bread, to be exact.

It smelled wonderful in the oven late last night, and looks fantastic, but the thing is, I already have a recipe for banana bread that I have developed over years. It's dense and thick and so flavorful that you'll swear off all other banana breads on the spot. Unfortunately, it's also a treat, as in not terribly healthy. This recipe was intriguing because it contained 2 interesting ingredients - eggs and oatmeal. I have found that eggs in banana bread makes it light and fluffy, which is not the consistency I personally look for. But the oatmeal, maybe that would counteract any tendency towards angelic texture and bring it back to the ground, where it belongs.

Well, it's not light and fluffy, but the crumb isn't quite what I like. It's a little... chewy... I guess. And it's not up to my personal specifications of banana-y-ness. But it's a start. I will be spending the next 6 months or so refining my banana bread recipe to be both awesome and healthy. Stay tuned!

Good Eats

Every time I have to buy my dad a gift, I flounder. For one, he's a guy, which means that his likes (shooting sports, fly fishing, and woodworking) and my likes (music, books, and knitting) are vastly, hugely different. For another, he tends to buy just what he likes, when he likes, whenever he likes, leaving the rest of us to scramble when it comes time to give him something. Since I found out his love for handknit socks, I've been home free. But Father's Day? Not so much a handknit socks kind of holiday. Especially if you live in Southeast Michigan, where it's been 90+ for most of this week.

So this year, I'm giving him Hermits. No, not smelly, uncommunicative cave dwellers. Cookies!

These happen to be my dad's favorite cookies. I found the recipe a few years back while browsing a Good Housekeeping and waiting for Tae Kwon Do to start. I thought they sounded like a kind of cookie my grandma gets from the local bakery which are sort of fruit cake-y with citron in it. (I know. Citron. Don't cringe. We like it in this family. We've been exposed since birth.) These are more like molasses cookies with raisins. The recipe says that they're called Hermits because back in the day wives used to make them for their sea-faring husbands who said they "kept like hermits."

They don't keep very long in this house. I'm making 2 batches (One, Classic Hermits - raisins only. Two, Berryful Hermits - changing it up with dried cranberries, blueberries, and currants.) and freezing them.

What's this you say? More yarn? Yes, yes indeed. Impulse buy from Michael's. I went looking for a 16" US6 needle for my brother's hat, and they didn't have it. They seem to never have what I need at Michael's. I'm not looking there for needles ever again. I miss AC Moore. Anyway, I passed the display of cotton, and suddenly decided that I needed some to make the Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style. Because, you see, there's this dress... this dress the absolutely NEEDS a sweater or shrug of some kind. I have no idea whether or not the yarn's going to work. Swatching tonight.

And lest you think I'm abandoning Thermal, I'm not. Here's one sleeve done.
I'll leave you to argue about whether it's the left or the right.