Nudity is Only Skin-Deep

I'm almost completed my teapot. Here's the B-side, as of this morning. It's in the kiln now. I just have to finish the lid and then it's done.



My next plan, since I'm still too sick to work out, is to mosey around outside picking flowers. I think I'll make something with dandelion blossoms. I found a recipe for jelly, and another for cookies.

I made these this afternoon, and they are delicious. Moist and puffy, and they smell amazing. I think they'd also be good with the addition of pecans and raisins.

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup raw sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup pumpkin purée
1/3 cup coconut oil
2 eggs

Heat oven to 350 and put liners in muffin pans.
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, beat together pumpkin, coconut oil, and eggs.
Stir dry mixture into wet mixture until just blended. Scoop batter into muffin cups.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Yields 1 dozen regular-sized muffins.

EDIT: They are great with pecans and raisins. They also work well with acorn squash instead of pumpkin.

I got this recipe from my friend Michael, who makes it all the time. I just made some for the second time, today. It is a pleasant, simple recipe, and it smells divine in the oven. It is not a tall, poofy loaf of bread, but a denser type, more like banana bread.

This bread is delicious with butter and jam. Mmmm.....

1/3 cup sugar (I use raw sugar)
3 cups whole wheat flour (I've also made it with 2.5 cups whole wheat flour and .5 cups quinoa flour)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp salt
1 standard-sized bottle of beer (12 oz)

Heat oven to 350.

Mix all the dry ingredients together, and when well-blended, mix in the beer. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for about 30-40 minutes and it starts to raise.

Scrape it into a lightly-greased loaf pan and bake about 50 minutes or until it sounds hollow when you knock on the top.

Allow it to cool before you slice it.

I pulled the base recipe from an Oxygen magazine and tinkered with it, coming up with this:

1 cup 7-grain porridge (Red River type cereal)
2 cups water
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
6 Tbsp cottage cheese
Maple syrup to taste

Heat oven to 350. Combine ingredients in a casserole dish. Bake uncovered for about an hour, or until top of porridge is firm to touch.

Makes about 2 servings.

I like to eat mine with milk. It's pretty good. You can add more protein by increasing the cottage cheese, or by adding vanilla protein powder (although I personally can't stand protein powder in my porridge).

I rarely go to grocery stores. I do most of my grocery shopping at the farmers' market and the local organic food shop. I also grow as much as I can on my patio, but that's not terribly much. At least I have my own herbs, and a few tomatoes and peppers....

Speaking of tomatoes, I bought a whole wack of over-ripe tomatoes. Not rotten, but needs-to-be-cooked-NOW tomatoes. They were super cheap, and I did what I always do when I see squishy ripe tomatoes: I made soup with them.

The carrots I used are locally-grown heirloom carrots in a variety of colours: white, orange, purple, and purple and orange! Although they may look peculiar to those used to supermarket varieties, they do not taste peculiar. The purple ones don't taste like grape or beets. They taste like carrots, and tasty ones at that.

Here are a few photos of my soup-making adventure today. ( The recipe follows.... )

I made these for the weekend, and they were a huge hit. Even f00dave, who does not like rhubarb, likes them.

1/2 cup butter
1 cup demerara sugar
1 Egg
1 c cooked rhubarb, drained *
2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

Procedure:

(* To cook rhubarb: Use a proportion of 4 cups sliced rhubarb cut in 1/2-inch pieces to 1 cup sugar (I use raw sugar, but regular white works). Toss the rhubarb and sugar 1/2-inch pieces to 1 cup sugar. Toss the rhubarb and sugar together and let steep overnight (you will be amazed at how much juice the rhubarb gives off). Pour off 3/4 cup of the liquid and use for a drink. Cook the rhubarb slices in the remaining until just tender but still hold their shape, less than 5 minutes. The rhubarb is ready to eat as is, to use in other recipes, or to freeze in containers.)

• Heat oven to 350.
  
• Cream the butter and sugar together.
  
• Add the egg and beat until light, then stir in the rhubarb.
  
• Stir the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices together and toss until thoroughly mixed.
  
• Stir the dry ingredients into the rhubarb mixture until the two are blended, then fold in the ginger, the walnuts, and the raisins.
  
• Drop the batter by the tablespoonful onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart (cookies spread a lot), and bake in a 350 F oven for 12 minutes, until lightly browned at the edges.

I made this on Friday, and it is very good.

I based the recipe off one found in the January/February issue of Muscle and Fitness Hers magazine.

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
  
• 1 lb beef stew meat
  
• 2 large onions, diced
  
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
  
• 1 tsp ground cumin
  
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
  
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes
  
• 1 can diced tomatoes
  
• 1 can tomato sauce
  
• 2 cups beef broth
  
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

• Heat a large soup pot over medium heat and add olive oil. Brown meat on all sides. Don't overcrowd the meat, and cook in batches if necessary.
  
• Remove beef and add onions, stirring until caramelized. Add garlic, cumin, and chili flakes, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce, then add meat.
  
• Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes. If stew is too thick, add more broth.
  
• Add sweet potato and cook for another 20 minutes or until beef is tender. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

The sweet potato I used was enormous: about half the size of my head. The stew is very filling, and the chili gives it more of a bite than I expected.

I am in a food coma. I went to The 41 with f00dave for his birthday and ate far too much food. I even ate cheesecake, and I don't even like cheesecake. The blue cheese cheesecake was acceptable, though, which means to someone who actually likes cheesecake, it was probably amazing.

Link time? Ok.

Woman admits to stealing, beating baby: I am honestly mystified that this woman avoided being lynched.

Burlesque-Performing Professor Gets Fired: This is just balls, I say. Balls.

50 Photos of Basset Hounds Running: Utterly ridiculous. Might make you guffaw.

This dog has just been bought for £1m. So why is he so valuable?: This is also utterly ridiculous.

U.S. bill would make it illegal to take a picture of a farm: If you don't see the unsavoury truths of where your food comes from, you'll probably not worry about it, right?

The Top 10 Psychology Studies of 2010: I think some of these are pretty interesting.

World bee decline signals ‘sixth major extinction’: Not the bees. NOT THE BEES.

Cooking the Perfect Steak: I think I will try this the next time I cook steak.

Ellen Terry's beetlewing gown back in limelight after £110,000 restoration: This dress is utterly insane. Can you imagine collecting and sewing thousands of beetle wings to a dress?

Free Online Courses at MIT: Educate yourself!

Virgin Mary Art Sets Off a Furor in France: I like it!

How to Create Bodyweight Workouts During Economic Crisis: Personally, I don't think you need to be destitute to do these workouts. They're good no matter how much is or isn't in your bank account.

Buttermilk Pie: I plan on making this custard pie for this weekend.

I had a bunch of bananas that had lost all the yellow on their peels and were slowly beginning to melt into my kitchen. Rather than throw them out, I decided today was my last chance to use them. And I baked muffins.

I altered a recipe from Epicurious. Here's what I came up with:

• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 2/3 cup demerara sugar
  
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/4 tsp salf
  
• 3 mashed over-ripe bananas
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
  
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• 1/4 cup milk
  
• 2/4 cup chocolate chips
  

Heat the oven to 350F.
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in one bowl.
Mix bananas, egg, coconut milk, olive oil, vanilla, and milk in another bowl.
Add flour mixture to banana mixture, stirring until just combined. Do not over mix.
Fold in chocolate chips.

Dump into greased/paper-lined muffin tin. I filled mine to the top, and they didn't overflow. Bake for 32 minutes, until lightly browned, or until toothpick comes out with just chocolate, and no crumbs.

Makes 12.



The muffins are very moist and sweet. They're a bit too sweet for my liking, but I don't have much of a sweet tooth, and f00dave thinks they're delicious. Maybe next time, I'll reduce the sugar a bit, or use dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet.

Does anyone within my geographical vicinity have an inkle loom they no longer want/need? I really want to start weaving again. I've looked online, but shipping costs are prohibitive, even if the loom itself is reasonably priced.

I made pretty good progress on the Viking coat yesterday. I don't want to go any further until I can see how it fits knightky. If I had an inkle loom, I'd weave my own trim for the coat, as well as make a belt for it.

Although I'd like to make the coat out of heavy wool or silk, I'm using a thick pile velvet-like fabric, instead. I think it looks quite nice, but so very shapeless on me. Of course, I'm only half the size of Kyle, so go figure.

Here is my template, all laid out on my linty floor, based on guesstimation. When I put it all together, it worked out pretty much perfectly. I guess I still have it, when it comes to template design. Huzzah!



Today's creative endeavor was me making peppermint massage oil. I did it this way:

- 8 tsp sweet almond oil
- 6 drops of peppermint essential oil

I put them into a small, tightly-lidded bottle and shook vigorously. I'll let it sit overnight, and then it should be ready to go. It smells wonderful, and took about two minutes to make.