Category: minutiae

I made bread again on Saturday morning. It was really good. I gave it to Lydia and Zack. I miss it. Lydia did a photo shoot with Lionel on Saturday (the shots look amazing), then came by my place afterwards. We picked up some Mexican and drove to her apartment for more Yakitate!! and Tsubasa. Good times.

I am really tired. I’ll finish the weekend… next week. I just want to sleep. And eat fruit.

Happy birthday to Sara! I hope your laptop ends up okay. I know the pain of their spontaneous deaths.

Maybe it’s happy birthday to Noah, as well.

Rolled up characters on Wednesday night. I’m going to be a wood witch (human, female, middle-aged if Scott will let me), which means I take care of the healing in the party. The problem I have with witches in Arcana Unearthed is that they get their witchery too slowly. I have to wait until level five to get something else that’s useful? By then I might be taking on a prestige class! Probably. I mean, if I survive. I’ve only got eleven hit points. Oh wait, that’s wrong. I need to get third-level spells before I move in that direction… that’s like, level seven or nine or something. I don’t have my book with me currently. Well, it’s out in my car (yeah, I drove today- going shopping after work), but it’s cold out there. My heater turned on yesterday morning. That’s ridiculous. It was set under 60. That is too cold for April in California.

I haven’t cooked since I made bread on Tuesday. I’ve been all busy and stuff. It’s lame.

Rob sent me a recipe for lemonade last week. I didn’t post it because I haven’t made it yet. So Val, Grant, if you want to give me a crapload of lemons, I wouldn’t say no. I made reasonably decent guacamole with your avocados on Wednesday. We were missing chiles, but I still liked it.

Jer and I got into a bit of an argument of what a ricer is. I was mashing up the avocados with a potato masher when he called it a ricer. I said that a ricer is the device that looks like a huge garlic press and that what I was using was only called a potato masher. He says “ricer” applies to both things. I wonder if I’m wrong.

Mm. There’s few things nicer than a slice of toasted homemade bread with some special Hawaii honey. Thank, Lydia! See pictures from her awesome vacation on her blog here.

I can make Alton’s bread in a day if I mix the yeast/honey/flour/water starter before work and stick it in the fridge. The loaf ends up finished at around 10 or 11pm.

So, one of the perks with my new job is that I can ride the train for free. Woohoo! It’s a seven-minute train ride followed by a 20-minute walk, or a less time-consuming free shuttle. But it’s a nice walk. And yay, exercise/fresh air/blah. If I had a bike, I’d be unstoppable. I could take the train up to Redwood City and tear up the two miles to my brother’s house.

I need to finish typing up the damn chicken parmesan recipe. If anything, it’ll mean I can stop lugging around this big heavy cookbook. “Sarah, why don’t you just photocopy the pages?” Well then, where would my impetus go? If I would just do it… argh. Today at lunch. (Okay, it’s up.)

D&D tonight.

Chicken Parmesan
Adapted from The Best Recipe (I prefer to brine rather than pound the chicken)

1/2 cup table salt
1/2 gallon water
4 trimmed chicken breasts (4 to 5 oz. each)
1 large egg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 – 1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
Simple Tomato Sauce
Some sort of strand pasta

Combine the table salt and water in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the chicken to the brine and move the container to the refrigerator. Brine for a half hour. (During this time, make the sauce and pasta- or at least get the water ready for the pasta.) Remove chicken from the brine and pat dry.

Beat egg and a heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt in a shallow dish until completely broken up. Mix bread crumbs, another heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of black pepper in another shallow dish. Dip the chicken breasts into the egg and coat both sides, then move to the bread crumbs, coating both sides. Set the chicken on a large wire rack set over a jelly-roll pan.

Move oven rack to second position from the top and turn on the broiler.

In a 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the chicken. Cook on each side about 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Clean the wire rack and place it back over the jelly-roll pan. Place the chicken on the wire rack and top with the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Broil until cheese melts and is spotty brown, about three minutes.

To serve, toss the pasta with a little bit of the sauce. Make a base of the pasta, place the chicken on top with extra sauce and parmesan cheese. Serve.

Simple Tomato Sauce
Adapted from The Best Recipe

2-4 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 – 1 cup chopped onion
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
Dash of red wine
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Small dash of balsamic vinegar or sugar (optional, use if you want a sweeter sauce)
Wee pinch of instant coffee (optional, use if your sauce is too sweet)

Add the olive oil to a saucepan and place over medium head. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, wine, and red pepper flakes (optional). Cook for about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Add the sweetening or bittering ingredients if you want. Simmer longer if it’s too watery. Keep warm while making whatever you’re making.

In case you’re wondering what they’re referring to in the first panel of today’s Penny Arcade, check it out here.

As for the next two panels, they reminded me of how a month or so ago, Jeremy and I were at a used bookstore. We were looking at their comics and D&D books, which were in the same general section.

Me: Wow, they’ve got a lot of Gravitation. Such a pity I find that series totally annoying.
Jer: (picks up a random volume and starts flipping through)
Me: Uh, I don’t think you’re going to like that.
Jer: (finishes flipping, puts it back on the shelf)
Me: Well?
Jer: Yeah, you’re right.

Gabe and Tycho just had that exchange in a more violent manner. Made me smile.

I made chicken parmesan on Thursday night. It was really, really good. I’ll post the recipe later. I’m currently making bread- Alton Brown’s bread from Good Eats. I’ll let you know how it turns out. I may make lemon curd as well, while the dough is rising.

I did make lemon curd, using lemons from Grant and Val’s trees. Thank you! Tasty stuff. I left out the lemon zest for a smoother texture. And let me tell you, a good way to deter door-to-door religious folk is to answer the door while whisking a steaming bowl of yellow. “Oh, I don’t have time for this now. If I stop stirring, this’ll turn into scrambled eggs. Sorry!” Curiously enough, they only come when I’m cooking. Last time, I was elbow-deep in dough.

Hee! Oh, my bread has just come out of the oven. Three-quarters of it is pretty, but it looks like it has a tumor or something in the remaining quarter. I think I need to work on my loaf-slashing technique.

Another week, another batch of Katamari Damacy cosplay pictures.

Ichigo. Nice head, but I’m kind of meh on the rest of it.

Katamari Cake! As soon as I saw this, I had to show Ryan and ask her if she had anything that might help me do this (but better). Lo, she has a spherical cake mold. We’ll see if I ever make it. Lydia and I still want to have a Katamari Party with bizarre KD-inspired drinks.