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sarea
Okay, I've now decided that reason #1 to bake bread, other than it being fun, is the smell of baking bread in your house. Ohmygod it's so good.
I finally baked bread! And it's good!! Very soft and fluffy ... I was so afraid that my first effort would yield results of, well, a rock. For my first attempt I didn't want to do anything complicated (to up the chances of it turning out well), so I made a simple "World Bread" recipe that's basically just a white loaf.
The fully active culture. To this I added more flour, butter, sugar, salt, and milk. The recipe yielded two loaves.
One of the unbaked loaves after proofing at 85°F for 2.5 hours. It actually rose a lot more than I thought it would -- I was afraid it would collapse while baking. Luckily that didn't happen.
Baking loaves in the oven. Not a good pic, but I couldn't resist taking it. They looked great from my POV; I was pleasantly surprised (I was still expecting disaster from my first attempt).
The finished loaves. Here's where I hit my first snag ... the recipe hadn't said to oil or butter the loaf pans, so I didn't, and it was a real pain to get them out. I had to use a knife to cut them out, but luckily the bottom didn't stick. Did make the sides look a little cut up though. :/
One of the loaves, cut in half.
A close-up shot of the crumb -- love those holey parts. I don't know if you can tell from the photo but the bread is really, really soft ... as fresh bread should be. I let it cool a bit then cut myself a slice and made a quick turkey sandwich. Mmm. The bread has a very light sourdough flavor.
My next project is either going to be a cheese-onion loaf or possibly a free-form loaf (like French bread), assuming the stuff I ordered arrives by the time I want to make it.
Today for lunch I went to a Cajun-style restaurant called Alligator Soul. A week or so ago, I interviewed a woman from Louisiana. After the interview portion we got to talking, and crawfish was mentioned. It's been something I've longed to try, because I love seafood/shellfish, but have never been to the South (except for one day in Dallas, but I'm not counting that). Doing some research online, Alligator Soul was the only place even remotely near me that served actual whole crawdads (as opposed to bits of it in a gumbo, or jambalaya, or whatever). It seems that every other Saturday they do a crawfish boil during the lunch hour, so I went today.
The place itself is a little run down, but that kind of added to its charm. The service was really friendly. And the crawfish plate for one that I ordered came with 1 pound of crawfish, along with some fixings. I also ordered a "side" of catfish, because I love fried catfish. When the food came I was stunned at how huge the portions were. I know crawfish aren't that big, but I wasn't expecting THAT many in a pound. And it came with two corn on the cob, three huge red potatoes, two halves of a roasted garlic bulb, and two good-sized spicy sausages. And all this for $10.95. O.o The side of catfish was basically a deep-fried filet with some really yummy tartar sauce that was great too. And it was only $4.50.
I wish I had brought my camera so I could have taken a pic of the giant platter of crawfish that arrived at my table, but oh well -- maybe in two weeks. :D They were good, kind of a cross between shrimp/lobster, but their shells are so hard that my fingers were hurting part of the way through from opening the shells. The pics that follow are my leftovers, because it was just too much food for one person. Look at how much is in my leftover box (which was really deep)!
Look at all that food. And it's only half what I actually got.
A close up of the so-called "mudbugs"!
Saw The Dark Knight yesterday with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
corianderstem and leiliaxf after stuffing ourselves with delicious sushi. I thought the movie was great. It was so ambitious and what's impressive is that they pulled it off. Heath Leger deserves all the accolades he's getting ... he had never much impressed me before as an actor (even though I had nothing against him), I just put him in the category of Hollywood hunk, who got famous due to his looks and being in the right place at the right time. This really was not just a great performance for him, but for an actor, period. I really hope he does get an Oscar for the performance.
The only thing that I didn't enjoy more about the movie is that I was able to predict too much of it. I mean, it wasn't *predictable* because that would have garnered a different review from me -- predictable would have made it a bad movie. It was a *good* movie, but I guess this is an example where I feel like I've watched too many movies and it works against me.
I totally predicted:
- Gordon wasn't actually dead
- The driver of the armored vehicle taking Dent to jail was Gordon
- During the 'hostage' situation, that the clowns were actually the hostages
- Typing in "Lucius Fox" would cause everything to be destroyed
- The Joker reversed the addresses for Rachel/Dent, so that Batman would end up saving Dent instead of Rachel
- Ramirez was the mole, like super early on, the first time a mole possibility was mentioned
The one thing that stands out for me because I didn't predict the result was that BOTH ships would not end up blowing the other up. I was thinking that the "good/normal" people would choose to blow up the prisoners, and by flicking the switch they blow themselves up instead -- and we're made to think about the implications of that, that those were supposed to be the "good" people but they ended up being more bloodthirsty/cowardly than the murderers/thieves/etc., and ironically paid the price. I liked what did happen as well as the message ... but I think I also liked it because unlike so many of the other "twists," I hadn't expected it.
And like, it's not like all those things would have been that hard to predict ... all the possibilities kind of do go through your mind when you're watching a movie like this, but the fact that I was able to call almost every one throughout the movie just made it a little less fun/interesting. That in no way means that I didn't like it or wouldn't see it again -- it was a great movie and I definitely would.
I wonder if Katie Holmes HAD come back, it would have provided more continuity, and they wouldn't have wanted to off her? I mean, yes, I know something had to happen to turn Dent, but it easily could have been a daughter, a wife, or someone else important to him. It didn't have to be Rachel. I don't know enough about the canon to know whether this is part of it, so it *was* inevitable, or not. For some reason I thought Rachel Dawes was a character they had made up. I don't think Maggie Gyllenhaal is particularly attractive, but they didn't even TRY to make her good looking. Bad lighting, bad color scheme (did she ever wear anything that wasn't black?), etc. She and Katie Holmes share similar features/coloring, but the resemblance pretty much ends there.
I love Christian Bale, but the voice he has to affect for Batman bothers me. I'm like, clear your throat dude. I totally understand why he has to do it, but that doesn't mean I like it. (Speaking of Christian Bale, I wonder if he's like, fuck it, I tried to be a serious actor and do a bunch of indie films, but just bring on the cash and fame with the mainstream stuff since I can't seem to get there with the little stuff. Or if it really did take this long for Hollywood/people to cotton that he's good looking and a good actor.)
The funniest thing came near the end. When Gordon's wife appeared on screen I was like, who is that? She looked so familiar to me. During the hostage scene when Dent is threatening Gordon's family, she looked even MORE familiar and it was really bothering me that I couldn't place her. I turned to Alicia and asked if she knew. Alicia: "Oh. I don't know. She doesn't look familiar to me at all." Then when the movie was over, I asked Sharon. "Hmm I was wondering that myself. She does look familiar." Alicia: "Really? I didn't recognize her, whoever she is." So we waited for the credits ... and I finally saw her name. "MELINDA MCGRAW! It's Melissa Scully!" And then we laughed about how lame Alicia was that it was XF-related and she didn't even think the actress was familiar at all. Haha!
I finally baked bread! And it's good!! Very soft and fluffy ... I was so afraid that my first effort would yield results of, well, a rock. For my first attempt I didn't want to do anything complicated (to up the chances of it turning out well), so I made a simple "World Bread" recipe that's basically just a white loaf.
The fully active culture. To this I added more flour, butter, sugar, salt, and milk. The recipe yielded two loaves.
One of the unbaked loaves after proofing at 85°F for 2.5 hours. It actually rose a lot more than I thought it would -- I was afraid it would collapse while baking. Luckily that didn't happen.
Baking loaves in the oven. Not a good pic, but I couldn't resist taking it. They looked great from my POV; I was pleasantly surprised (I was still expecting disaster from my first attempt).
The finished loaves. Here's where I hit my first snag ... the recipe hadn't said to oil or butter the loaf pans, so I didn't, and it was a real pain to get them out. I had to use a knife to cut them out, but luckily the bottom didn't stick. Did make the sides look a little cut up though. :/
One of the loaves, cut in half.
A close-up shot of the crumb -- love those holey parts. I don't know if you can tell from the photo but the bread is really, really soft ... as fresh bread should be. I let it cool a bit then cut myself a slice and made a quick turkey sandwich. Mmm. The bread has a very light sourdough flavor.
My next project is either going to be a cheese-onion loaf or possibly a free-form loaf (like French bread), assuming the stuff I ordered arrives by the time I want to make it.
Today for lunch I went to a Cajun-style restaurant called Alligator Soul. A week or so ago, I interviewed a woman from Louisiana. After the interview portion we got to talking, and crawfish was mentioned. It's been something I've longed to try, because I love seafood/shellfish, but have never been to the South (except for one day in Dallas, but I'm not counting that). Doing some research online, Alligator Soul was the only place even remotely near me that served actual whole crawdads (as opposed to bits of it in a gumbo, or jambalaya, or whatever). It seems that every other Saturday they do a crawfish boil during the lunch hour, so I went today.
The place itself is a little run down, but that kind of added to its charm. The service was really friendly. And the crawfish plate for one that I ordered came with 1 pound of crawfish, along with some fixings. I also ordered a "side" of catfish, because I love fried catfish. When the food came I was stunned at how huge the portions were. I know crawfish aren't that big, but I wasn't expecting THAT many in a pound. And it came with two corn on the cob, three huge red potatoes, two halves of a roasted garlic bulb, and two good-sized spicy sausages. And all this for $10.95. O.o The side of catfish was basically a deep-fried filet with some really yummy tartar sauce that was great too. And it was only $4.50.
I wish I had brought my camera so I could have taken a pic of the giant platter of crawfish that arrived at my table, but oh well -- maybe in two weeks. :D They were good, kind of a cross between shrimp/lobster, but their shells are so hard that my fingers were hurting part of the way through from opening the shells. The pics that follow are my leftovers, because it was just too much food for one person. Look at how much is in my leftover box (which was really deep)!
Look at all that food. And it's only half what I actually got.
A close up of the so-called "mudbugs"!
Saw The Dark Knight yesterday with
corianderstem and leiliaxf after stuffing ourselves with delicious sushi. I thought the movie was great. It was so ambitious and what's impressive is that they pulled it off. Heath Leger deserves all the accolades he's getting ... he had never much impressed me before as an actor (even though I had nothing against him), I just put him in the category of Hollywood hunk, who got famous due to his looks and being in the right place at the right time. This really was not just a great performance for him, but for an actor, period. I really hope he does get an Oscar for the performance.The only thing that I didn't enjoy more about the movie is that I was able to predict too much of it. I mean, it wasn't *predictable* because that would have garnered a different review from me -- predictable would have made it a bad movie. It was a *good* movie, but I guess this is an example where I feel like I've watched too many movies and it works against me.
I totally predicted:
- Gordon wasn't actually dead
- The driver of the armored vehicle taking Dent to jail was Gordon
- During the 'hostage' situation, that the clowns were actually the hostages
- Typing in "Lucius Fox" would cause everything to be destroyed
- The Joker reversed the addresses for Rachel/Dent, so that Batman would end up saving Dent instead of Rachel
- Ramirez was the mole, like super early on, the first time a mole possibility was mentioned
The one thing that stands out for me because I didn't predict the result was that BOTH ships would not end up blowing the other up. I was thinking that the "good/normal" people would choose to blow up the prisoners, and by flicking the switch they blow themselves up instead -- and we're made to think about the implications of that, that those were supposed to be the "good" people but they ended up being more bloodthirsty/cowardly than the murderers/thieves/etc., and ironically paid the price. I liked what did happen as well as the message ... but I think I also liked it because unlike so many of the other "twists," I hadn't expected it.
And like, it's not like all those things would have been that hard to predict ... all the possibilities kind of do go through your mind when you're watching a movie like this, but the fact that I was able to call almost every one throughout the movie just made it a little less fun/interesting. That in no way means that I didn't like it or wouldn't see it again -- it was a great movie and I definitely would.
I wonder if Katie Holmes HAD come back, it would have provided more continuity, and they wouldn't have wanted to off her? I mean, yes, I know something had to happen to turn Dent, but it easily could have been a daughter, a wife, or someone else important to him. It didn't have to be Rachel. I don't know enough about the canon to know whether this is part of it, so it *was* inevitable, or not. For some reason I thought Rachel Dawes was a character they had made up. I don't think Maggie Gyllenhaal is particularly attractive, but they didn't even TRY to make her good looking. Bad lighting, bad color scheme (did she ever wear anything that wasn't black?), etc. She and Katie Holmes share similar features/coloring, but the resemblance pretty much ends there.
I love Christian Bale, but the voice he has to affect for Batman bothers me. I'm like, clear your throat dude. I totally understand why he has to do it, but that doesn't mean I like it. (Speaking of Christian Bale, I wonder if he's like, fuck it, I tried to be a serious actor and do a bunch of indie films, but just bring on the cash and fame with the mainstream stuff since I can't seem to get there with the little stuff. Or if it really did take this long for Hollywood/people to cotton that he's good looking and a good actor.)
The funniest thing came near the end. When Gordon's wife appeared on screen I was like, who is that? She looked so familiar to me. During the hostage scene when Dent is threatening Gordon's family, she looked even MORE familiar and it was really bothering me that I couldn't place her. I turned to Alicia and asked if she knew. Alicia: "Oh. I don't know. She doesn't look familiar to me at all." Then when the movie was over, I asked Sharon. "Hmm I was wondering that myself. She does look familiar." Alicia: "Really? I didn't recognize her, whoever she is." So we waited for the credits ... and I finally saw her name. "MELINDA MCGRAW! It's Melissa Scully!" And then we laughed about how lame Alicia was that it was XF-related and she didn't even think the actress was familiar at all. Haha!
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no subject
Date: 2008-07-21 12:35 am (UTC)But totally - here's a Halls Mentholyptus, dude. Use it well.
Your bread is DELISH! It cut super easily and was great with some butter and honey as the supplement to my popcorn lunch. *g*
no subject
Date: 2008-07-21 02:48 am (UTC)I believe it's required of the role -- Trix said that it was one of the reasons Christian Bale almost turned it down, because he wasn't sure if he could pull it off without sounding stupid. And yeah, I think the purpose of it is that otherwise he would be even more easily recognizable (not that the half mask doesn't already make that kind of iffy). It's kind of cool that they've thought to that level of detail though.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-21 04:13 am (UTC)Adam West didn't bother to change his voice, but I believe he's the only Batman who made that choice, old chap.