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I have a write-in recipe book. It's got one of Boynton's hippos on the cover. As one might expect for a book I've had since I was somewhere in the late single-digits, it's mostly cookie recipes. It is old and faded and stained, making it hard to read. I've put off typing them up, but I think now's the time. Here's the first in a possible series of modern recipes.

When I was about 17, I lost a bet with my boyfriend, Jimmy. I don't recall what the debt was, but as a result of it I owed him a batch of his favorite cookies. I got this recipe for oatmeal cookies from his step-mom's mother, Grandma Rogers. I've made some additions and changes, but I still think of this one as hers.

( Grandma Roger’s crisp oatmeal cookies )

Current Mood: cold
Current Location: home, sweet home
Current Music: the dishwasher

This morning's bag of snails was 22, most of them no bigger than a pencil eraser. And I cleaned the cat box, so I've got a sense of accomplishment already.

I've got a few more batches of cookies to go before I have enough to send the Christmas boxes out. I'm adding a box this year for GM's godparents, so we're at Mom&Dad, MomInLaw, DadInLaw&BiL_Rik, BiL_Peter, BiL_Andrew , BroChas, Grandma, Nana, GMGodparents, so nine boxes. I feel like I'm forgetting someone, but I can't think of who. Hopefully it will come to me.

This year's list includes: Toll House Chocolate Chip, Grandma Roger's oatmeal with blueberries, Grandma Roger's Oatmeal with candied orange peel, Peanut butter crisscrosses, Refrigerator cookies with hazelnuts and poppy seeds, Jam shortbread cookies, Spice Drops (vegan), Soft Molasses, Orange and cardamom (thanks etaine_pommier!), Peanut butter crisps, Tiny chocolate chip with sea salt (thanks sarahbellem!)

I still hope to make Oatmeal with candied ginger, ginger snaps, sugar cookies (or maybe snickerdoodles), and maybe Rik's favorite almonds thins or my Mom's favorite Swedish ginger thins.

I really should have made a list first.

GM's company party is tonight. At least it's not a dress-up party like his last company. We're being taken to Strike's in Cupertino for food, bowling and arcade games. I hope it will be fun enough to make up for a missing a night of baking.

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: the inty cube
Current Music: David Bowie

GM and I played hooky from dance practice tonight. We went to a concert of medieval music at Stanford, staring falzalot. It was really very pretty. Italian madrigals are quite different from English madrigals. Uh-oh, I might have learned something.
Got home and found a frantic message from Mumsey, pleading for the Queen of Lasagne to call her and give help. My evil plot to rid the world of bad stoffer's lasgne is coming to fruition, she volunteered to make lasagne for her church group when one of the other ladies threatened her with store-bought. Heh.

( Here Speaks the Queen of Lasagne )

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: home, sweet home
Current Music: purring cat

On another message board I read someone was wondering where the idea that G-d's angels envy mankind comes from. I think it's because we have cheese.

I've mentioned before how much pleasure I get from feeding non-SCA people medival recipes.

( Since turkey recovery day when I made this my BotherInLaw has asked me for this recipe three times. )

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: home, sweet home
Current Music: the hum of my hard drive

I had a nice weekend. Friday night I made two batches of brownies, and a batch of the dates-stuffed-with-marcona-almonds-and wrapped-in-prosciutto ("crack" for short, it's

j_i_m_r's horribly addictive recipe) because it was my turn to bring after-church snacks on Sunday.
Saturday morning I made the cheese bread from Guter Spise, but I left the kitchen before the timer went off and the bread was a little ...dark on the bottom by the time I got back to it. Oops. The cheesey top was still good. GM and I will have to eat it because I can't take bad food to church. They've been so impressed with my MadCookingSkillZ, and I hate to disappoint. I was kinda bummed about the food fail, because I get an inordinate amount of amusement in feeding medieval/renaissance recipes to mundane audiences. They really liked the ginger tarts from Epulario and the Ember Day tarts from Ancient Cookery at the brunch earlier this month.
Saturday afternoon GM and I went to a wedding. It was a very nice affair, comfy chairs, pretty site and a ceremony that seemed very personalized and meaningful to the principals. I like weddings. The caterers did another version of j_i_m_r's crack, cream cheese stuffed prunes wrapped in bacon and broiled. Mmmmm. There was a curried chicken tea sandwich I want to try to recreate.
Sunday I woke up early. I pared the brie and covered it with pesto and pine nuts, cut the grapes into the little bunches and stacked up the cheese and salami crackers. I couldn't decide what to do with the other brie, so I ended up covering it with chopped sun dried tomatoes. Maybe for the next party I'll do a mix of sun dried tomatoes and olive tapenade. The snacks seemed to go well and the crack was really popular, but next year I need to remember to take the brownies out of the pans. They were a bit stuck for the dexterity of desperate children. Other mental notes for next time, only one pound of milled carrots, but two boxes of crackers (triscuts or wheat thins) per pound of brie. And three pans of brownies.
Sunday afternoon I pulled the tomatoes, the marjoram and the evil basil out of the garden and harvested the first of the last of the good basil. Sniffle. The end of basil season is always sad. But there's a whole bag in the freezer for making festive holiday lasagnas. I was about to pull out the oregano, but GM argued there was no reason not to leave it until we can plant another one. I took all the dead bits out of the lovage, it might stay another year, but I think's doomed. I've not eaten much of it, and it takes a sunny spot. Soon I must trim the lavender and the rosemary. Hopefully I'll get some more gardening in next Sunday.

Current Mood: optimistic
Current Location: the inty cube
Current Music: Swingerhead

For the upcoming food collegium, I'm teaching a class ambitiously titled "The Medieval Cook as Physician and Priest: the effects of medical theories and church rules on food and beverages. Lecture class on the theoretical aspects of medieval and renaissance cooking. Possible topics of discussion: overview of humours theory, application of humour theory, rules of lent and the lesser fasts, the importance of medical theory to the medieval cook, humorous humor theory for feast shtick, and how to use the rules to avoid eating food you don't like."

Does anybody have questions they'd like to ask? I may not be able to answer all of them here, but I'll be happy to forward you a class handout afterwards (if you are unable to attend).

Current Mood: worried
Current Location: the inty cube
Current Music: Everclear

( a meme gakked from Gurdymonkey )

Current Mood: hungry
Current Location: the pit of dispair
Current Music: sad

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Entries tagged with food

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cookies and memories

for me, it's not Christmas without cookies

music and lasagne, food for the soul

a recipe for my BotherInLaw.

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food collegium on 20Sept08

list of a hundred foods -- meme

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