Heh, I just submitted our martini picture to the We Love Katamari! fanart contest. It’s not technically fanart, I guess, not in the traditional sense, although we are fans and it was art (well, thanks to Lionel, it was). I just really wanted people at Namco to see our costumes. They were so cool. (And seeing how my sewing is just pathetic, the next one won’t be so cool.)

Awesome t-shirt. (Link ganked from the Grub Report.)

My mom is an awesome mom. She has loaned to me her sewing machine so I can make things that will embarass her and make her not what to answer the question, “So, what’s Sarah up to lately?”

Mom was astounded that I had never touched a sewing machine before (I never took home ec, nor was I previously interested in learning how to sew [I can hardly handsew]). She taught me a bit about it.

Yay, my home.

I made baraziq last night. They are tasty- a good cookie for people who like their desserts less sweet (aka my mom).

Well, I did make something new over the weekend. I just don’t know if I’m going to post it. It was a filled fried bread. First of all, I forgot an ingredient for the filling. And then the dough was far too wet to work with. I think I burnt some butter. Only the first bread turned out properly crisp. My stove is on a slant, so all the oil/butter pooled on one side. It was a right mess. I have so many dishes to do. Egads. It was overly greasy, but not untasty. I might try it again. Maybe.

Have you seen these shoes for sale in the Bay Area? Please let me know if you have. I am looking for them in a size nine or ten. They used to sell them at the Park ‘N Save in Redwood City, but they’re out of stock and are entirely unhelpful in letting me know if they’re ever getting any more. Gr! They’re cheap as all get out- probably found in an “around a dollar” type store. I have a pair in red for my Kuro costume. Yes, I need another pair. In yellow. Yes, I’m the lamest being alive.

In other, less lame news, I had a wonderful dinner tonight with my parents. Dad made lamb chops, and Mom made these adorable wee potatoes and brussel sprouts. I had forgotten just how excellent brussel sprouts are. I am looking forward to when they come back into season.

Oh yes, and my non-functioning and dangerous wall heater was replaced on Thursday. Now I won’t have to choose between freezing this winter and being exploded by a natural gas leak! I can be warm and safe. Huzzah. Now I just need to get my super back in here to paint the wall. It looks ugly.

Wow. I know I’ve ragged on Kepler’s in the past (come on, seven dollars an hour?!), but I always though they’d be there, pretentiously selling books to pretentious yuppies.

Japan #3, the amazing 40-minute bread from Yakitate!! Zack blogged about it recently, posting the recipe, which was incredibly helpful to me, because a) Kuroyanagi speeds through the directions in the anime, and b) leaves out the yeast ingredient.

I made two wee loaves. The first one sucked because I didn’t really know how my new microwave works with power settings. I thought I had been entering Power Level 1 5 or whatever, but I had been blasting the poor dough on full power. So yeah, I sure did kill the yeast on the first loaf (instant yeast, by the way). The second one was more successful. I’m still going to have to futz with the microwave settings a bit (Power Level 1 instead of 2 for the fermenting bits, I think). I used active dry yeast in the second loaf. I also had to stretch the milk with a little bit of water (I only borrowed half a cup from my parents). The baking time should be extended, I think, by five to ten minutes.

This recipe makes tiny little loaves of bread. They’re like rolls, really. Dense rolls. I think more fermentation time is needed, to tell the truth. I will mess with the recipe and if I make any progress, I’ll let you know.

Blueberry Crumble
Adapted from Good Eats

1/2 cup AP flour
1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar, separated
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup crushed animal crackers
2 Tbsp butter, chilled and chopped
12 oz. frozen blueberries
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Heat oven to 350.

Place the flour, 1/3 cup of sugar, nuts, oats, and crackers into a large mixing bowl and combine. Work the butter into the dry ingredients with your hands until it is crumbly.

In another bowl, mix the frozen berries, 2 tablespoons of sugar, cornstarch and a 1/2 cup of the crisp topping. Place the berry mixture into a baking dish and top with the rest of the crisp topping. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes, and serve with vanilla ice cream.

I disagree with Cook’s Illustrated.

Shocking, isn’t it? I just finished reading the latest issue (I want to try their butternut squash risotto), and I have to say, I was pretty disappointed with their findings in the canned whole tomatoes taste-test. Why? My beloved Muir Glen Fire-Roasted Tomatoes ended up at the bottom of the list, in second to last place. Oh, the Jonsauce is SO GOOD with them! You strain the tomatoes and boil the reserved liquid down into tomato sauce. It’s tangy and wonderful. Of course, my Jonsauce is kind of to the point where it’s better as a stew than a spaghetti sauce, which I guess defeats the purpose.

Also, I guess they don’t sell S&W products on the East Coast. They’re my favorite plain canned diced tomatoes. And the best garbanzo beans, bar none. Trader Joe’s canned whole tomatoes with basil are pretty good and quite inexpensive, and I love the Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies for salsa and tortilla soup.

I made a berry crumble on Friday, inspired by the latest Good Eats episode. My recipe is similar but differs slightly from the official Food Network version- I’ll post it soon.

I’ve been perusing Mediterranean Street Food a lot. I want to make r’ghäyef and baraziq.

We Love Katamari, the sequel to Katamari Damacy, comes out on the sixth of September (according to the guy I talked to at EB Games, although everywhere I look, the date seems to be different). I’m very excited.

I rolled up a new character at D&D last night. I’m not sure I want to continue playing with Jessa. She’s useful for the healing- my god, is she useful- but playing her isn’t all that fun. She’s pretty much useless apart from the healing and the two firebursts she can cast a day. The new character is a litorian hawk totem warrior. Litorians are lion-people. They get a +2 to dexterity but a -2 to wisdom. Hawk totem warriors are archers.

I’ll see if this new character is worth keeping around.