sarea: (bread)
Yesterday [livejournal.com profile] significantowl asked for ideas about what to do with apples. I suggested cheese fondue, because when Jade and I were in NY not too long ago we went to Artisinal and got cheese fondue, and our server recommended apples for dipping. We were both rather skeptical (maybe because our last experience with dipping fruit with cheese was on our Oregon trip when Amdoch was dipping fruit and cookies on a dare into the pot of Velveeta Rotel that Krim had made), but we were pleasantly surprised by how yummy it was.

So I've been thinking about delicious, gooey cheese fondue, and how easy it is to make. Artisinal is known for its fondue, but what we had tasted exactly like what I myself have made a number of times from a recipe I got at the NY Times. If you have the desire for fondue, make it! You don't even need a fondue pot as long as you have a container that retains heat well, such as a cast-iron skillet. You can get one for like $10-20 new (depending on size), or perhaps even better, find one at a yard sale, sold by someone who doesn't appreciate the years of food memories that have gone into seasoning the skillet. And once you have it, it's good for sooooo much more (traditional Southern cornbread, for instance!).

Classic cheese fondue recipe. )

It is 62°F today. *weeps* Come back, summer! I hardly knew ye!

This lack of sun is also bad for my new basil plant (I guess the thyme plant too, but I care much less about that one). I've trimmed the leaves as much as I can -- it's recommended everywhere that you keep basil trimmed so that it's encouraged to grow and not to flower -- but I don't see any growth activity. I don't expect it to sprout new leaves overnight, but ... it's been days and the plant looks the same. And yet I'm supposed to prune it every 4 weeks, so there should be extra leaves to prune, right? I mean I suppose I'm glad it's still alive, given my track record, but I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Maybe overwatering? But in the past I've always underwatered and that's why my plants died, and I don't want the same thing to happen. >< Maybe I need to go to Lowe's and get something that simulates sunlight.

The colder weather has also started to make my starter act sluggish. I'm starting to think that I am just going to keep it in the fridge, since I'm not baking as much. I tried the English muffins again and they were successful, but a little too oily for my taste. Will try again some time.

[livejournal.com profile] akscully, I got my copy of The Bread Bible! I can see why you love it. I'm going to attempt the sourdough loaf and pizza recipes first. Have you baked anything you would recommend in particular?

Also, still trying to decide whether or not I want to get Heroes S2. I've just heard such terrible things about it, and it's only half a season -- do I want to waste money on that? (How dare they sell Lost S4 for the same price as previous seasons when there's only half the eps, btw.)
sarea: (fried chicken)
So I've recently gotten into making homemade food a lot (if you couldn't tell by my rambling yeast trials), and I went on another Amazon splurge and got some attachment rollers for my stand mixer that will enable me to make my own pasta. I've always been kind of curious about doing that, but have never had the will/impulse to actually do it, feeling that that would cross some kind of "you've gone too far" line in my mind. Well, the line is good and crossed. In a way it makes sense ... if I'm making things with dough anyway, why not just make another form of it?

I also bought a digital scale so I can measure ingredients by weight as well as volume (should have done this a long time ago), the two bread books [livejournal.com profile] akscully recommended, because now I'm good and hooked on making bread, as well as a baking book by Dorie Greenspan, because her recipe for "Perfect Party Cake" looks delicious and I'm interested to see what else she has up her sleeve in that book. (Links go to my Vox journal, which has only recipes on it.) Seriously, look at these pics. )

Along those lines, I went to a farmer's market with [livejournal.com profile] corianderstem yesterday where I bought a bunch of fresh veggies, both to cook on their own and as ingredients for salad fixings and borscht, which I've never made before but have had imitations of. I love beets and the idea of a gorgeous, wine-red soup. I've also got the ingredients for a mushroom asparagus risotto recipe that Jade gave me.

And!! At the farmer's market they were selling herb plants, and I finally have my own basil plant! (And thyme, since I've been doing some French cooking lately and they all seem to call for thyme.) This is exciting for a number of reasons ... I love the idea of growing my own herbs that I can use whenever I want, and now I don't have to buy herbs in the store anymore, where they usually are a) expensive; b) sold too much in bulk, which means a lot of times it gets wasted because I don't use it all.

We also saw Mamma Mia, which was very cute. It's one of my least favorite roles of Meryl Streep's (usually I adore her but not so much in this one, don't know why), but I loved Julie Walters ("Go BILLY!") and Amanda Seyfried, who I hope becomes a bigger star. She's way more tolerable than the likes of Jessica Alba (and really, any other Jessicas), Lindsay Lohan (who I used to like), and most of the other girls in that age bracket. Of course, I could just be biased because I loved Lilly Kane from Veronica Mars, and was pleasantly surprised that she could actually sing!

Edited to add: This X-Files Quiz Meme ... respectable results but obviously my obsession is gone baby gone. )

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