Happy Birthday Brian

Iain's Day

Iain's "fire hat," made at school. He likes to wear it around the house. You know, in case I set the kitchen on fire. Don't laugh - I've done it before.

Today, Iain awoke at 7:29. I, of course, spent the next half hour thanking the Buddha for his generosity. Mr. Pasha found my gratitude tiresome and demanded "Cyrl!!" So we breakfasted on granola together.

Then it was time to bake. Shortbread: check! Chocolate biscotti: check! Fresh apple cake that does-not-suck: check!

After naptime, Iain took us to the local resale shop for some consumer activity. Since it's Black Friday, we have to spend a little money or they kick us out of the country. We bought him a sleeper and three pairs of trousers (one to replace the cords that he has outgrown because he eats so much!).

From there, to the library. 25 books later (and about 20 minutes spent at the puzzle table) we returned home so Iain could read about tractors, trucks, diggers, pavers, vans, and bears. Then we had art time, during which we learned that Iain might enjoy fingerpainting at school but at home he wants a brush.

In short, a relatively normal day. No turkey leftovers, no creative uses for cranberry sauce, but also no tantrums or fevers or bites. The Pasha was pleased, we were pleased, and everyone has apple cake to enjoy.

Cookiepalooza 2009 Continues

1. Shortbread, batch 2, baked and cut and boxed.

2. Chocolate-pistachio biscotti, baked, cut, baked again, cooled and boxed.

So that's two down and four to go (maybe more - the biscotti were easy and look great, so I might go find another recipe and make some more in a different flavor).

Ready, Set, BAKE!

Here's my super-messy mise-en-place. Such as it is. So far, we've got one batch of shortbread baked and boxed, with a second batch of dough chilling. Next are URB's chocolate-pistachio biscotti (she used Martha Stewart's recipe, but modified the amount of chocolate/nuts because it was way too high, so I consider it her recipe now).

After that, brittle. And tomorrow, cut-out cookies with icing, maybe. Or maybe I'll take a day off. But Sunday and Monday I'll need to make the meringue cookies and the chocolate-orange espresso thins. Then it's time to package and deliver.

1:2

The title refers to my cooking record today. And also on the injury rate, though if that was the third variable it would be 1:2:3.

Let's start with the apple cake. I've made that cake at least five times. It's always excellent. Except today. Why? Well, forgetting to add the sugar until the very end is never a good thing. I should have started over. But I didn't. It's like a cinnamon-apple brownie. Not bad (the flavor's good), but not cake.

Next are the ribs. Yes, we had baby-back ribs for Thanksgiving. We don't play "traditional" around here much. So we had salad and ribs, and (in theory) apple cake. The ribs had a coca-cola glaze, made with coke, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and a hot pepper.

First, the peppers were making the glaze smell terrible, so I fished most of them out (2 peppers, minced. I used a slotted spoon and left in just a little bit). Then, it turned out that when you boil sugar with sugar-syrup what you get is soft-ball stage candy. Imagine ribs that make your teeth stick together. Finally, I was experimenting with one of those rib recipes where you just cook them until they're done. Not falling off the bone but more like firm pork-chop consistency meat. Charles was ok with that, but it turns out I'm not. I did not enjoy the texture.

So that's two failures. Or, at the very least, two non-successes. I'd make the ribs again, but I'd make the glaze differently and I'd slow-braise the ribs so they're soft.

There was one success in today's culinary adventure. I made absolutely outstanding shortbread. Plain, simple shortbread. It's ridiculously good. I like to cut the square of baked shortbread into tiny pieces (one inch square) for my Christmas cookie boxes. This means I always have corners and edge pieces to "discard" (read: eat).

So I took those bits over to Iain in a little bowl and said, "cookie." He was all, "oh, ok, Mom. Whatevs." and he took one. He tasted it. He said, "Cooookie!" with his eyebrows raised as if to exclaim: "where have you been all my life!??"

In other news, I managed to have One Of Those Days with regard to minor injuries. I pulled off part of my cuticle at the store, then somehow jammed a piece of orange rind up under my thumbnail. Then I was pushing The Pasha at the park and got too close. Boot to the teeth. Joy.

Iain had a good day, though. He read his books in the morning (as you can see above), watched an episode of Monster Machines via Netflix, enjoyed a delicious brekkie of scrambled eggs, a crepe with Nutella, and fresh fruit (banana, orange, and the ubiquitous kiwi), had a morning snack with The Dad, went for a freezing cold visit to the park, and then acted as official taster of cookie shards. Good times.

Tomorrow: more shortbread, chocolate/pistachio biscotti, and chicken breasts for dinner. I figure that's easy enough that I should do ok. Right?

The Matrix, Lego Style

Legos have no limits, my friends.

Yay!

No bites today. But I have a new theory. Here it is:

Callie is Iain's bodyguard.

Think about it. Callie is a powerful woman-person. Granted, she's 2. But still - people know not to mess with Callie. And she has taken Iain as her BFF. So as long as Callie's around, nobody is going to bite him. The moment she goes out of town, what happens? Two bites in two days!

When I was in high school, I was very, very close friends with a girl who had the potential to become President, or perhaps Dictator-for-Life. She was gorgeous, for one thing. She was also smart as a tack, hard as nails, and capable of doing whatever it took to get what she wanted. People actively feared her, and at the same time they wanted her to like them.

She adopted me, and one day as we walked along a back alley behind the school some girl mouthed off at me. I was the new kid - it was totally normal. But she walked over, grabbed that girl by the neck (did I mention that she had long, manicured nails?) and explained carefully that I was to be treated with respect.

Not only was there no repeat of the insult, but no one ever looked at me funny. In fact, I learned later (just before departing for the boarding school where I met Charles) that boys hesitated to ask me out because if she did not approve they thought it might be trouble.

I should make clear that I loved this situation. It was great for a geeky girl to be completely safe in a school which had a near-riot while I was there (they locked us in using iron gates!). And she was fascinating, brave, and adventurous.

But it makes me wonder whether Callie and Iain are like a little gang. She's the leader, and he's the faithful sidekick.

In other news, the cookie list is evolving. Today, it's:

Toasted pine nut and dark chocolate meringue cookies
Chocolate-orange espresso thins
Some kind of brittle
2 kinds of shortbread (Lemon-chamomile and regular)
Iced cookies (for color - possibly the ones on the cover of Sunset that look like little packages)
French macarons
Hamantashen (because I like to make a cookie with jam)
Biscotti (because they'll last and they're lowfat and you can eat them with coffee)

If this is the final list (and I'm not saying it is), then I need to start thinking about what to make first. Probably biscotti, brittle, and shortbread, since they keep well and shortbread are better after a few days. Can't make anything with meringue until Sunday or Monday, since these will go out next week.

My shopping list for tomorrow? Flour, sugar, eggs, butter, food coloring, and honey. I think they're going to know what I'm up to.