And one that is so very true.
“Cats believe that all human beings, animals and plants should congregate in a huge heap in the centre of the universe and promptly fall asleep together.
…
The patron saint of cats is called: Beast of the Skies, Warm Presence, Eyes…”
from Magic Cats, by Gwendolyn MacEwen.
I love the first crocus I see in our yard. When I took this photo yesterday, this was the only one; now it’s surrounded by a few dozen more.
The idea of “soul food” has always had an appealing ring to it. Sort of like soul music: I’m not religious in the least, but when I sang in high school choir, we did a lot of soul and gospel songs that were just plain fun to sing with a bunch of friends. I don’t think one has to be a believer to enjoy being a part of that complex, upbeat harmony.
Some of this fascination might just be the allure of the unknown, too: after all, what does a girl of French-German-English-Irish extraction growing up in Toronto learn about Southern soul food? My mom’s cooking, happily, has always leaned away from the meat and potatoes and boiled-to-death peas, but we were more likely to stir fry bok choy than to braise some collards – and everything I heard about collard greens seemed to involve ham bones. Soul food sounded like it should be simple and filling and delicious, but at the same time it seemed so out of reach. When it comes to actually eating, I’m not a vegan, or even a particularly devout vegetarian, unless chicken and fish and an occasional slice of bacon count as vegetables, but most of my cooking is vegetarian. I’ve certainly never cooked with a hambone in my life.
Then I got Bryant Terry’s Vegan Soul Kitchen for Christmas, and it’s quickly becoming one of my favourite cookbooks. Yes, one favourite among many, but it’s definitely one of the more distinctive books, with recipes that are simple and yet creative and fun and delicious. Terry isn’t preachy about the veganism; he’s simply written a book full of songs and stories and recipes for food that’s as good for your body as it is for your soul.
And of all the recipes I’ve tried so far, my favourite has been the smothered cabbage. Maybe this is just the natural result of the intersection of soul food and my Western European ancestry; I’m sure there’s no genetic basis for the love of cabbage, but there’s certainly a cultural one. And cabbage that’s been sort of braised and sort of sautéed and sort of steamed until it’s tender, caramelized, and deeply flavoured with mustard and a touch of hot pepper is just about as good as cabbage gets, in my opinion.
According to Wikipedia, a “tian” is defined thus:
A tian is a tall, conical earthenware cooking vessel used in the Alpes-Maritimes area of France. Today, most of these vessels are produced in the town of Mougins. It is traditionally made from red clay and can be either glazed or unglazed. A modern tian can come lidded or not and sometimes has a looped handle on one side.
Apparently, the word has undergone a significant shift, though: the cranberry orange tian I made for the March Daring Bakers challenge is certainly very far removed from clay pots.
The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.
From an ex-student at my university, about to be sentenced for the rape of two teenage students in their residence in 2007:
In a pre-sentence report, Katsnelson said he hoped “some day the victim would be able to take something positive away from this, as he has … that maybe she will know to keep her doors locked,” Locke told the court.
All I can say is, well, fuck you, Katsnelson. Thanks for demonstrating how much you haven’t learned, though. The only person who needs to learn something from your actions is you, and that is to not go around raping women. It’s not that hard for most people.
It’s rare for me to read an article about a trial or a sentencing and root for the maximum. In this case, I certainly hope that the judge accepts the recommendation of the prosecutor. I don’t think three years is going to be long enough for this person to learn how to be a human being instead of a piece of shit, since apparently the first 25 years of his life weren’t sufficient – and neither was “coming from a good family” or his “good background” which apparently are some of the “mitigating factors” the judge will consider.
I just got accepted to the master’s in environmental studies program! My whole life is validated and vindicated.
I feel as relaxed as Sputnik.
I applied for graduate school on 1 February. Acceptances are going out – several friends in my faculty have been accepted. I’m happy for them, but I’m also freaking out; I know that the acceptances go out in waves and depend on variable admission committee schedules, but I haven’t heard anything yet. The last couple weeks have been stressful.
So, when I get an envelope from the university, I tear it open, heart pounding, hoping, hoping…
And when it turns out to be yet another invitation to join the “Golden Key Honour Society”, my opinion of which is admirably summed up by the ever-topical xkcd, I don’t know whether I should laugh or cry.
Does want grad school. Does not want weirdo academic scam.
I could never, ever do a low carb diet. (In fact, the very idea horrifies me.) When I go out for Korean barbeque, my friends all go straight for the meat and say that they don’t want to fill up on the rice; mixed with the kimchi and other vegetables, that’s my favourite part! A spicy vegetarian riff on gallo pinto just became my go-to for breakfast. My brother and I have to fight over the nasi goreng when my family gets Malaysian take-out – and oh, how I envy my parents’ proximity to that restaurant!
Yeah, this month’s Daring Cooks challenge was straight up my alley. Risotto. Mmm.
I make risotto a lot, but I took the opportunity to play around and try a few new things: a roasted vegetable stock, a different play of flavours in the risotto itself, arancini, and an Indian-inspired “sweet risotto” (yes, it’s rice pudding in my lexicon – but made using the general risotto method).
The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.
If you can sit outside on a sunny day.
Tiramisu: I love the name. According to one source, it means “pick me up”; I don’t speak Italian, but it sounds plausible to my French-conditioned ears. It’s also exactly what one needs after a good meal: a sweet pick-me-up to carry on with the evening’s conversation. I love the idea of it, too: soft, spongy cookies and coffee, cocoa, and delicious mascarpone beaten with pastry cream. Oddly, though, I’ve rarely eaten tiramisu; I remember having it for dessert when I was in Nice, but it wasn’t terribly memorable, and as much as I love to bake, I generally prefer pies and cakes and cookies to a complex composed dessert. However, joining the Daring Bakers is all about trying new things, and so:
The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.
The challenge required me to make my own savoiardi (ladyfingers) and my own mascarpone, which was fun. I’m no stranger to baking cookies but the technique for savoiardi was definitely outside of my experience (and clearly I need more practice with the method). I’ve also made paneer, and the method for making mascarpone is similar but not quite the same; it was interesting to compare the two. Making the tiramisu was a good way to get out of a baking rut that I didn’t really realize I was in: although I’ve got some experience with each individual part, except the zabaglione, I’ve never made anything that incorporated many different elements the way tiramisu does.
I definitely need to play around some more, though. My savoiardi were tasty, but I think I must have deflated the batter somehow, because instead of the predicted 36 cookies, I had 15, which wasn’t really enough. I also experimented a bit with the flavours, using amaretto as the liqueur instead of marsala, which I didn’t have. I really love the idea of the fruit flavours some of the other Daring Bakers tried, and if I make it again I think I’ll head in this direction, because sadly, I didn’t love my execution of tiramisu. It wasn’t that it was bad, but it didn’t really come together as more than the sum of its parts. read more »
