vital functions
Mar. 14th, 2021 11:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaberettReading. Max Gladstone, Three Parts Dead (enjoyed the reread) and Four Roads Cross. The latter I am just starting, and I am delighted both by how much of it I'd forgotten and how well it all fits together.
I have also flicked through two cookbooks that arrived this week from Oxfam: Leiths How to Cook and The French Laundry Cookbook.
The former contains an enormous amount of detail on meat, which I don't need, and disappointingly little new information on broccoli (by which I mean that I was hoping to Learn The Secrets of chopping it up in a way that Looks Good but alas it turns out there are no such secrets -- "If the florets are very large, halve them"). However! For all that much of it isn't particularly relevant to me, it is a lovely reference work.
The latter I acquired while dithering around Oxfam essentially because the wikipedia page contains the following passage:
I had hoped that, like the Heston Blumenthal cookbooks, this description meant it would prompt interesting ways of thinking about food, even if I never actually made any of it. And... okay, look, the Heston Blumenthal recipes are definitely more esoteric, and I recognise that Keller has three Michelin stars and all but also he makes a point of saying "I like all cheeses, even Cheddar" and most of the recipes that call for apples specifically call for Golden Delicious AND he says to use FILO PASTRY for Strudel.
And, okay, I recognise that this was written in 1999 by an American, and also that dude has three Michelin stars and routinely gets described as "the best restaurant in the world" so clearly some people think he's on to something and idk maybe he works actual magic with the Golden Delicious, but so far I am mostly... perplexed. I will at some point read some more of it and see if I get any less perplexed.
Writing. The introduction to chapter 5 has gone and rearranged itself on me, I think for the better. I... really need to spend some more time coaxing myself into making the words go, though, sigh.
Watching. Hoodwinked! (2005), proposed by a cousin for the purposes of Watching. I loved this.
Listening. I finally got around to actually buying all the Vienna Teng CDs about a month ago, and a week or so ago they arrived, and this week I have been listening to the two albums -- warm strangers and waking hour -- that I don't already know by heart. Victory Is Mine.
Cooking. Crème brûlée, leek & butternut squash risotto, a round of soda bread, and new-to-us-this-week black pepper tofu, where we started from an Ottolenghi recipe and then, um, substituted palm sugar for caster sugar because hey! we've got it! might as well!
Verdict on that last one: we made a half quantity on the grounds that one block of tofu normally does us four portions, but this actually did do two portions, even with additional broccoli. On the other hand, they were generous portions and I'd probably have been happy with a smaller quantity on this occasion. We proooobably want to drop the black pepper quantity a little in the next iteration (and/or I want to crush it a little more consistently), and I'm still a little baffled by the use of butter, but it was good and we liked it.
Oh! And we have also, er, made three Christmas puddings. Or, well, made one (which is now cooling), with another two in the fridge to get boiled up over the next couple of days before storage -- we have no lidded vessel large enough to take more than one of them at a time, and I decided I'd like to have hob space for anything else at all. A was sort of vaguely aware that one could make these at home but hadn't realised that I could (theoretically) make them at home; I got my mother to send me the correct version of the correct Mrs Beeton recipe from the correct edition, and In Due Course And The Fullness Of Time I shall report back on how they actually worked out.
Making & mending. Progress (of a sort) on getting my bike up and running again. I sold it to a cousin at the point at which I started using wheelchairs, as said cousin was on their way off to university, but it is no longer of use to them and potentially once more of use to me (being as I have done an enormous amount of physio and also have an allotment close enough that cycling on my Sturdy Dutch Upright might Work)...
... but it is definitely in need of some TLC, not least because we, ah, forgot -- when we went to retrieve it -- that my cousin is... A Tol. This bike! had fitted! into the back of a car! the last time I tried!
... it no longer did. And I hadn't brought the heavy-duty hex keys, so we didn't have an easy way to drop the handlebars, so A ended up just... removing the front wheel! to fit it in the car! in the dark and the rainand the stinging nettles. Which would have been less of a problem were it not set up with dynamo lights and a hub roller brake.
Anyway long story short I now understand a lot more about how the front brake system fits together, and also I need a new inner cable for said front brake. Which, given that I also want new mudguard stays and ideally a spare key for the ring lock and also a bike helmet is not the end of the world.
so yeah I've e-mailed my favourite London bike shop, who on the one hand are very much on the wrong side of town and on the other hand Passed The Wheelchair Test with flying colours (i.e. responded with "huh, funny looking bike -- okay let's have a go" instead of "oooh no can't even THINK about touching that we're not INSURED--") lo these many years ago. They have not yet got back to me, which is uncharacteristic of them and I hope means they're tracking all the parts down before they respond.
Growing. Pulled up a bunch of carrots on Tuesday to eat with ongoing leftovers from the weekend! Which made me very happy, even if I did have to trim the bits the slugs'd got to first.
Elsewise little to report: my seedlings various carry sturdily on, but I have yet to get more started (or indeed the current ones potted up). But soon, perhaps? Hopefully soon!
I have also flicked through two cookbooks that arrived this week from Oxfam: Leiths How to Cook and The French Laundry Cookbook.
The former contains an enormous amount of detail on meat, which I don't need, and disappointingly little new information on broccoli (by which I mean that I was hoping to Learn The Secrets of chopping it up in a way that Looks Good but alas it turns out there are no such secrets -- "If the florets are very large, halve them"). However! For all that much of it isn't particularly relevant to me, it is a lovely reference work.
The latter I acquired while dithering around Oxfam essentially because the wikipedia page contains the following passage:
The Wall Street Journal called the cookbook "notorious for including some of the most laborious recipes in print", commenting that "putting the ingredients together on a plate properly can be an architectural challenge".[5] Restaurants & Institutions called the cookbook "too esoteric for home cooks" but found that it "does inspire, teach and set standards for any chef".[7]
I had hoped that, like the Heston Blumenthal cookbooks, this description meant it would prompt interesting ways of thinking about food, even if I never actually made any of it. And... okay, look, the Heston Blumenthal recipes are definitely more esoteric, and I recognise that Keller has three Michelin stars and all but also he makes a point of saying "I like all cheeses, even Cheddar" and most of the recipes that call for apples specifically call for Golden Delicious AND he says to use FILO PASTRY for Strudel.
And, okay, I recognise that this was written in 1999 by an American, and also that dude has three Michelin stars and routinely gets described as "the best restaurant in the world" so clearly some people think he's on to something and idk maybe he works actual magic with the Golden Delicious, but so far I am mostly... perplexed. I will at some point read some more of it and see if I get any less perplexed.
Writing. The introduction to chapter 5 has gone and rearranged itself on me, I think for the better. I... really need to spend some more time coaxing myself into making the words go, though, sigh.
Watching. Hoodwinked! (2005), proposed by a cousin for the purposes of Watching. I loved this.
Listening. I finally got around to actually buying all the Vienna Teng CDs about a month ago, and a week or so ago they arrived, and this week I have been listening to the two albums -- warm strangers and waking hour -- that I don't already know by heart. Victory Is Mine.
Cooking. Crème brûlée, leek & butternut squash risotto, a round of soda bread, and new-to-us-this-week black pepper tofu, where we started from an Ottolenghi recipe and then, um, substituted palm sugar for caster sugar because hey! we've got it! might as well!
Verdict on that last one: we made a half quantity on the grounds that one block of tofu normally does us four portions, but this actually did do two portions, even with additional broccoli. On the other hand, they were generous portions and I'd probably have been happy with a smaller quantity on this occasion. We proooobably want to drop the black pepper quantity a little in the next iteration (and/or I want to crush it a little more consistently), and I'm still a little baffled by the use of butter, but it was good and we liked it.
Oh! And we have also, er, made three Christmas puddings. Or, well, made one (which is now cooling), with another two in the fridge to get boiled up over the next couple of days before storage -- we have no lidded vessel large enough to take more than one of them at a time, and I decided I'd like to have hob space for anything else at all. A was sort of vaguely aware that one could make these at home but hadn't realised that I could (theoretically) make them at home; I got my mother to send me the correct version of the correct Mrs Beeton recipe from the correct edition, and In Due Course And The Fullness Of Time I shall report back on how they actually worked out.
Making & mending. Progress (of a sort) on getting my bike up and running again. I sold it to a cousin at the point at which I started using wheelchairs, as said cousin was on their way off to university, but it is no longer of use to them and potentially once more of use to me (being as I have done an enormous amount of physio and also have an allotment close enough that cycling on my Sturdy Dutch Upright might Work)...
... but it is definitely in need of some TLC, not least because we, ah, forgot -- when we went to retrieve it -- that my cousin is... A Tol. This bike! had fitted! into the back of a car! the last time I tried!
... it no longer did. And I hadn't brought the heavy-duty hex keys, so we didn't have an easy way to drop the handlebars, so A ended up just... removing the front wheel! to fit it in the car! in the dark and the rain
Anyway long story short I now understand a lot more about how the front brake system fits together, and also I need a new inner cable for said front brake. Which, given that I also want new mudguard stays and ideally a spare key for the ring lock and also a bike helmet is not the end of the world.
so yeah I've e-mailed my favourite London bike shop, who on the one hand are very much on the wrong side of town and on the other hand Passed The Wheelchair Test with flying colours (i.e. responded with "huh, funny looking bike -- okay let's have a go" instead of "oooh no can't even THINK about touching that we're not INSURED--") lo these many years ago. They have not yet got back to me, which is uncharacteristic of them and I hope means they're tracking all the parts down before they respond.
Growing. Pulled up a bunch of carrots on Tuesday to eat with ongoing leftovers from the weekend! Which made me very happy, even if I did have to trim the bits the slugs'd got to first.
Elsewise little to report: my seedlings various carry sturdily on, but I have yet to get more started (or indeed the current ones potted up). But soon, perhaps? Hopefully soon!
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-14 11:35 pm (UTC)I've got it, someplace, and while I wouldn't cook most of the contents at home, I wouldn't call it esoteric, either. I think that's very foolish, in fact.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-14 11:36 pm (UTC)ETA: The name is a play on "imam bayildi", which is a phrase (and name of an actual dish) meaning "the imam fainted", which is very high praise.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 12:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 12:03 am (UTC)(also I have had golden delicious I picked myself and ...they were actually pretty good? red delicious are pitiful excuses, yes, but in my experience golden delicious can be entirety decent eating apples. Whether they're good for all cooking applications is another matter, granted.)
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 12:16 am (UTC)*iirc that's how smittenkitchen labeled the format in her book.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 02:44 am (UTC)I have found golden delicious to be an excellent eating and baking apple. My issue finding the apple in places I shop.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 03:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 05:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 07:25 am (UTC)Hoodwinked! is such a great film! I rewatched it recently with N (to whom it was new) when he was learning about folk tales for school. He'd just done a task where he rewrote Red Riding Hood with a different ending and I said "hey there's this film we can watch and it counts as schoolwork ..." He loved it.
I am confirmed by recent monthe in my opinion that Home Schooling Is Not For Me but I have enjoyed finding loosely related media on various topics for the offspring. It's what we used to call "enrichment activities" I think.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 08:12 am (UTC)This whole conversation caused me to go back and reread what is possibly my favorite piece of my own prose writing. It made a bad day a little better.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 08:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 08:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 09:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 09:13 am (UTC)oh I am glad to hear that. <3
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 09:16 am (UTC)Yes, my preference is for Cox and for James Grieve apples, which latter are sadly by-and-large not available commercially because they don't stand up well to shipping -- but they are what I grew up with (i.e. are what the tree at the bottom of the garden was) and so I've imprinted on them as The Platonic Ideal. They're a cooker-eater; I'm mildly amused every time I remember that they're in fact related to Cox's Orange Pippin (probably), because while I know apples don't breed true I think it's still telling that my favourite commercially-available apple is, well...
Similarly my experience of Golden Delicious is, yes, that they are grainy and mushy in terms of texture, with very little by way of flavour.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 09:17 am (UTC)That is helpful, thank you! I was so busy reeling at specifically using Golden Delicious for e.g. apple cake that... well. :-p
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 09:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 09:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 12:18 pm (UTC)Cox's Orange Pippin wasn't commercially available in Melbourne when I was a kid, but my mother talked about how they were Best Apple when she was young. I think her parents' farm had a tree, or someone else in town did. They showed up in supermarkets sometime in my late teens, at the same time that Pink Ladies did, and I liked Pink Lady better of the two.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 12:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-15 12:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-17 05:35 pm (UTC)Thank you, I was about to make roughly the same comment. What I’ll add is:
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-17 07:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-17 08:17 pm (UTC)THANK YOU for providing me with this information!
I will delve further into the cookbook and see if he actually specifies this anywhere in re the GD :-p
(no subject)
Date: 2021-04-06 01:56 pm (UTC)It's specifically the combination of "I like all cheeses, even Cheddar" and the total absence of any such disclaimer about Golden Delicious -- I am perpetually mildly offended by USois attitudes to cheddar, and it just seem[ed/s] utterly bizarre to me that one would need to qualify/explain liking Cheddar, but not to do the same for Golden Delicious.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-04-06 01:56 pm (UTC)It's specifically the combination of "I like all cheeses, even Cheddar" and the total absence of any such disclaimer about Golden Delicious -- I am perpetually mildly offended by USois attitudes to cheddar, and it just seem[ed/s] utterly bizarre to me that one would need to qualify/explain liking Cheddar, but not to do the same for Golden Delicious.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-04-06 08:05 pm (UTC)