PSA, Daring Bakers, Dr. Horrible (I missed out)

[sarea]

Before I get to the boring stuff that is my real post, I just thought I should do a PSA. To all the people who have me friended because of my ties to HP fandom and D/G love, I should warn you that my journal is going to be much, much less fandom oriented and much more me oriented (and my current obsession -- cooking/baking). That doesn't mean NO fandom stuff ever, but I wouldn't want to keep you here under false pretenses. Feel free to unfriend at will, or stick around, the choice is all yours, no hard feelings whatsoever. And now, the post...

1) I realized at some point that all the books and movies I was buying didn't actually need to be bought. Or in my house. So I've been trying to weed out the things I don't want (or realized I am never going to get around to reading) and either selling them on Half.com or eBay or back to Half Price Books, trading them at paperbackswap.com, or just donating them. And it is inevitable that something gets sold every couple of days, necessitating multiple trips to the post office. Why can't people just buy/request stuff all on the same day?!

2) I need to do the same thing with my clothes and CDs. I don't have that much closet space to begin with, and over the years with all the buying and the hoarding, stuff is like exploding out of drawers. I keep missing the deadline for the truck that comes every month or so to take away donated clothing. ><

3) I forgot to watch Acts 2 and 3 of Dr. Horrible before the Sunday deadline and now it's only on iTunes. Cry. Someone tell me what happens!

4) I've joined the Daring Bakers, with my membership officially beginning next month. Every month they do a baking challenge, chosen by that month's sponsor, and every single member bakes the exact same thing and are not allowed to talk about it on a public forum until the official posting day where everyone reveals their results. There are a number of rules to keep your membership, including having to participate in a minimum of 8 challenges a year (out of 12), not missing 2 months in a row, and providing photos/a run down of your experience with the challenge on your blog. It sounds really fun and challenging, as I've seen some of their past challenges and they run from the fun/easy to truly difficult/complicated. As a novice baker it will definitely help me with my range/skill, and help provide some direction to my projects. <g> So look for my first DB challenge result next month!

Comments

[kstanley.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm bored of the whole HP thing as well. And I love cooking and baking. This week, I made jelly--plum and blueberry jelly--and biscuits. It's all so much better than I can get in the store or in the restaurant.

So bring on the cooking and baking talk.

[sarea-okelani.livejournal.com]

OMG you're still around! Yay! The last entry I see from you is from sometime in 2007, so I thought you might have parted ways from LJ.

Wooooot another cook/baker! Wow that you made preserves of some kind -- I've been intrigued by that (as well as people who can a lot of their own food, but the risk of botulism kind of scares me), but have never actually done it myself.

[kstanley.livejournal.com]

I still check LJ every now and then. I guess the problem is that I have moved away from a lot of the fandoms, and I got tired of all the ego-tripping. Plus I got exhausted from the politcal correctness. It's so hard.

Anyway, I'm always interested in talking about things I am interested in. I'll tell you what they are:

Burn Notice
Mad Men
Doctor Who
True Blood
Cooking
Christian Bale
Ummm...dogs?

I guess I don't have that many subjects these days.

But preserving is not that hard. I grew up with people who did it, and I rarely ate store bought preserves, but as I got older and my various great grandmothers died, there was no one canning anymore. So I bought the Blue Ball Book of Canning, and I taught myself how to make plum preserve (which is my favorite) and pickles and the like. It's not difficult, although you do have to have the right equipment (jars, lids, seals, a big enough pan to boil the jars in). It can be a lengthy process, but it's worth it to me, because I can't buy the jam/jelly flavor that I like in the store--I can only make it. Same with fudge--I don't like anyone's fudge as much as mine.

But if you want to shoot shit about cooking and baking, I'm totally into that. Do you every watch Cook's Illustated in PBS? You may want to subscribe to magazine, which fabulous; go here to find out more: http://www.cooksillustrated.com

I thought of you the other day. I was talking to a high school English teacher, and he was asking what books he could recommend to his students for the summer, and naturally I said, "The Virgin Suicides." It should be required reading for everyone.

[sarea-okelani.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on that last 3!

I just bought a bunch of canning jars -- but not to can with. They're to hold all my sourdough starters/in between cultures! So I guess I'm sort of on my way? I'd need a sealer though -- and I always thought there was much more to the process than that. Also I have no clue where to get some of the ingredients -- don't you need pectin or something like that? Since I've never had home-canned preserves I don't know what flavor sensation I'm missing out on, which is both good and bad. Maybe once I'm comfortable with the whole new yeast thing I'll move on to canning as my next project. :D

I did a trial subscription to Cook's Illustrated in order to get a specific recipe, and it is indeed a fabulous resource. Mostly I'm finding helpful information through online forums and books.

Have you read Jeffrey Eugenides' other book, Middlesex? I still haven't gotten around to it yet. But it's in my piles of books I'm keeping!

[kstanley.livejournal.com]

Here's the site I use for my canning and candy supplies: http://www.kitchenkrafts.com

I recommend the Blue Ball book before beginning any canning--it really is the Bible for preserving stuff.

I did read Middlesex, and I liked it, although not nearly as much as VS.