amazon_syren

So I actually ended up going to Umi for writing today because Raw Sugar is closed for the rest of the weekend.

Oh, well.

(I confess, I'm not a massive fan of writing in Umi. I'm not sure if this is because there are more people (noise?) at Umi or because the tables and chairs at RawRaw are more stable/comfortable (probably the latter). But still. I got some writing done. huzzah!)


But I came home because I was insanely hungry. As in: Couldn't think straight due to not having eaten since breakfast.
Which wasn't particularly breakfasty.

So I headed home and went to the Kowloon Market on the way.
Holy Shamoli, have they ever renovated in there (this is an ongoing process).


I picked up:

Garlic tips (stems?)
baby bok choy
milk (cow)
tofu (1/2 kilo = $2.50, 1kg = $4.00)
cucumber
snow peas
inoki mushrooms (fresh!)
AND
cilantro (NOM!)


Then I came home and made the following:



VEGAN CILANTRO SALAD OF DELICIOUSNESS

Take:
1/2C each: Millet and Quinoa (rinced)
2C water
1/4 tsp salt

Cook until grain is done (chewy but not crunch)



In the mean time, take:
1 bunch cilantro
12+ cherry tomatoes
1 thick/long cucumber
4 garlic stems (or a couple of cloves of garlic OR, if you prefer, some green onions)

Wash them and chop them roughly (okay, the garlic got chopped small) and chuck them in a big bowl with some dried (or fresh!) dill, basil and peppermint. (The mint and, to a lesser extent, the basil, should be a very light note, but the dill you can go haywire with).


THEN
Mix together:
2-4 tbsp roasted-garlic hummus (left over)
1 tbsp tahini
1-2 tsp fancy hot mustart
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp cooking oil (ideally olive, but sunflower/canola/whatever will do)

So that you have a small wodge of ever-so-creamy dressing that smells tasty and tangy, but not overpowering.


Rince and drain a tin of romano (or other) beans.


When the grain is cooked, add to it the dressing and the beans. Mix well and allow to cool (at least a little bit).

Add the grains mixture to the cilantro mixture in the big bowl. Mix until everything is evenly distributed.

Chill and/or serve & enjoy. :-D


It is an acceptable improvisation.

So. Having used 3C or so of my fresh milk to make yoghurt (and really *good* yoghurt, no less, so yay!) I had about 1L left in the fridge. Some of it I used.
Most of it, however, has gone off in the past day or so.

Which means I've got 2C sour milk in a jug on my counter right now and 1C sour milk baking away in my oven as part of "bishop's bread" style coffee cake (chocolate, almonds and cinamon, anyone?)

I suspect the cake will be delicious. (And thank goodness, because I've been craving sweets for the past couple of days and was going to make Cookies Or Something this afternoon/evening anyway. So yay for finding out the milk was off when I did!)

But I need to use the rest of it up STAT.

I'm kind of thinking, since I've got that awesome yoghurt and all (and a fresh tin of maple syrup, no less), that I might just do buttermilk waffles or something and throw a bunch of them in the freezer (toaster waffles the old-fashioned way!) -- But, at the same time, it'd be nice to be able to do something savoury with them instead. (Also, it would be nice to be able to do something with it that doesn't require a whole lot of eggs).


None the less: CAKE! :-D



- Amazon. :-)

So, last night was my annual Winter Solstice Partay. And - among many, many other things (some of which didn't even come out) - I made a variation on Seanan_Mcguire's Winterqueen Cookies.

Which are chocolate and pomegranate and all sorts of deliciousness, let me tell you.


What I did:


1 C margarine (or butter, or whatever)
1 C granulated sugar
2/3 C brown sugar
1/4 C pomegranate molasses
2 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp (or maybe a little more than that) baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 C cocoa powder
1 C amaranth flour
1/2 C corn starch

1 C chocolate chips (+ 1-2 tbsp whipping cream), melted
1 C spelt flour

1/2 pomegranate worth of pomegranate seeds



Cream together the first group of ingredients.

Mix in the second group of ingredients.

Mix in the third group of ingredients until everything is the consistency of thick batter (Rather than dough).

Mix in the pomegranate seeds.

Refridgerate the dough for about an hour.

Pre-heat the over to 400F.

Grease the hell out of a cookie sheet (you will have to do this for every round of cookies).

Drop spoonfuls of dough (well-spaced -- I did nine to a sheet to allow for the spreading) onto the cookie sheet.

Bake for about 10 minutes.

Pull out of the oven. Allow to cool *a bit* and then *carefully* remove each cookie using a metal flipper/spatula.

Serve and enjoy. :-D

Goes well with secret affairs, whirwind romances, spouses your parents don't approve of, and the milk of paradise. :-)

Okay, I haven't tried these. But they will probably work based on stuff I've done and/or eaten that contains Pomegranate Goo. Give them a whirl and see where they take you. :-)
(Hint: They may take you to the underworld. Bring money so you can come back).


Fancy Winter Queen Cookies

Ingredients

1C chocolate chips
1C butter/margarine/shortening (softened)
1½ C granulated sugar
½ C molasses[1]
3 eggs (3/4 C silken tofu – if using tofu, double the leavening agent)
1 tsp vanilla
5 C flour (or as needed)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp baking power (or 4tsp baking power, if using tofu instead of eggs)
1 pinch of salt
1 C pomegranate juice (or strong coffee, if you want the original recipe)


Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Gently melt the chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat, and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Stir the butter and sugar together in a large bowl, and mix in the chocolate, molasses, eggs, and vanilla extract.
• Sift 5 cups of flour with the cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture by cupfuls, alternating each addition of flour with about 2 tablespoons of coffee, until all the coffee is incorporated. Dough should be soft but not runny. Add more flour if needed to make a soft dough, but cookies will be dry if the dough is too stiff. Use a small scoop or melon baller to form 1-inch balls, and place them on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are set and just beginning to brown at the edges, about 10 minutes. Let cool on sheets for about 1 minute before removing to continue cooling on a rack until slightly warm, 8 to 10 minutes.





Quite a Bit Easier Winter Queen Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup shortening
1 cup pomegranate goo[2]
2 eggs
3 cups sifted flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves


Directions

Cream the sugar and shortening, add the pomegranate good and the eggs, then add the dry ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a couple of baking sheets. Pinch off tsp-sized balls of cookie dough (roll in granulated sugar, if desired), arrange on greased baking sheet, and bake at 350°F for 10 – 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Theoretically makes 4 dozen cookies.




- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-D



[1] OR half molasses, half pomegranate goo as available from Middle-Eastern grocery stores. OR all pomegranate goo. Do as you will and experiment. Switching it to 1C granulated sugar PLUS 1/3 C grenadine could work, too, FYI.

[2] Available from Middle-Eastern grocery stores. You can also use grenadine, but cut out 1/3 C sugar and add a few extra tbsp cocoa to even out the sweetness.

A book review from Tiger Beatdown:
Hos, Hookers, Call Girls and Rent Boys -- An anthology I would like to read, in part because it looks at different types of sex work (and experiences of doing sex work) from the perspective of privilege.
E.G.: A university-educated gal who does escorting in a hotel room and chose the job from a wide variety of other options some of them similarily lucretive and/or flexible is going to have a significantly different experience from an under-educated gal who does escorting in a hotel room (or a street corner) and chose the job from a much smaller variety of other options most-of-which pay minimum wage.
A black rent-boy is going to be dealing with a very different set of client-assumptions and/or expectations than an asian rent-boy or a white rent-boy or what-have you.
Someone who strips to pay for school is going to have a much different view of her experiences (particularly the bad ones, if/when she has them) than someone who strips to pay for surgery/HRT who is going to have a much different view of her experiences (particularly the bad ones, if/when she has them) than someone who strips to pay for the drugs she hooked on, and so on and so forth.

Once again, I want to read this book.


Two articles from Fugitivus (which everyone should read. No seriously. EVERYONE):

A Few Things To Stop Doing When You Find a Feminist Blog -- Which is long and takes a look at The Status Quo, Privilege, Misogyny, Victimhood, and a whole big bunch of other stuff. There's even instructional videos. Go. Read. NOW.

AND

"Sure, A Woman Shouldn’t Be Raped For Wearing a Short Skirt, But If I Leave My Door Unlocked, It’s Only Reasonable To Expect I Will Be Robbed" and Why That Annalogy is So Totally Fucked that It Boggles the Mind -- About social responsibility, paying attention to the nasty things we secretly believe, and huge-assed disclaimers that confirm that you do, too, believe X.
Go read this one, too.


Followed by:

Harlot's Parlour -- A blog about sex work and sexuality from multiple international perspectives (started in the UK).


One Taste orgasmic meditation -- Eight Reflections on Intimacy. (My sweetie and I were looking at these while in NYC).


From Feministing:
The Rape Problem -- About university administration and victim-blaming/shaming.


AND

From Sex Geek:

Topping a Top -- about boundaries, respect, intimacy, vulnerability, and how the kink community treats dominant people vs submissive people. Dovetails nicely with this post by Naamah_Darling.

AND

The Logistics of Non-Monogamy. Good advice for those (like my good self) who are out of the harbour and starting to navigate the open (-relationship) ocean for the first (or not the first) time. :-)



In Other News: Making a vegetable stew tonight. It was such an autumny morning (I could see my breath and everything) that I felt a need to make something hearty for dinner. Granted, it's 8:30, I'm tired, and the stew is still pretty soupy. But I shall have a very hearty lunch tomorrow (and probably the next day) instead. :-)

Ingredients:

tamari
sesame oil
dash of chili powder
lots of savoury
some sage
dash of thyme
black pepper

garlic
green onions

water

Romano beans (tinned, but very well rinced and drained)
button mushrooms
yellow summer squash (small and cut into sliver-thin rounds)
sweet potato (1)
yukon gold potatoes (2)
nori (one sheet, roughly torn)
baby spinach (plus extra to add at the end)


I think it will be quite tasty. :-)



- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)

Eating Dinner! :-D

I know, I know, there's a potluck at the Radical Vulvas read-through. But still.

I *made* dinner. (Sort of. It's ramin noodles, except with stuff other than ramin-powder for the broth).

My noodle-soup recipe:

Take water.

Add:
basil
coriander
minced garlic
black pepper
1/8 - 1/4 C lime juice
a little bit of soya sauce
sesame oil


noodles
cooked shrimp (or tofu, or beaten egg, or left-over chicken, or whatever)

Boil until noodles are soft-ish.

Turn off the heat.
Optional: drain off some of the broth, depending on how soupy (vs how noodle-bowl-y) you want this to be.

Add:
seaweed (2"x2" bits of nori! YUMMY!)
1+ tbsp red miso paste mooshed up in some water
Optional: green onions, mushrooms sauteed in a bit of sesame oil.
Optional: a dribble of pre-fab thai peanut sauce (or mix a VERY little chili powder and peanut/cashew butter in with the miso paste - more or less same diff).

Stir until the seaweed is soft and the miso solution is well-mixed.

Serve.

Add extra lime juice if desired. :-)





In other news: I wrote a poem today! :-D (I posted it earlier, but I really damn happy I was able to write it! YAY! :-D I have something to read tomorrow night! :-D)


In further news: Have been collecting most of my Sara Poems in order to turn them into a little book about love and lust. I'm missing three. :-P I'm sure I'll find them somewhere. :-)


- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)

So.

In the interests of using up some milk that went off[1] in my fridge, I am making chocolate-spice coffee cake. :-D


Recipe:

Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
Grease a 9x13 baking pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine:
3C flour
1C cocoa powder
1C granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp each: salt, cinnamon & cloves
0.25 tsp each: allspice, chili powder (and cardemom - optional)


In a medium bowl, combine:
2.5C sour milk/'ghurt of your choice (I used dairy, but soy works, too)
0.25C each: veggie oil, lime (or orange) juice
1 tbsp vanilla extract (or rum/grand-marnier/triple-sec, if inclined)


Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until well mixed and of a uniform colour (make sure to scrape the bottom well, as bits of flour, etc., can stick).

Add: One handfull of semi-sweet chocolate chips, and mix through.

Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake in the oven for 45 minutes (or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the center).

Allow to cool and serve.


NOTE: If you don't have already-sour milk (or yoghurt), use the lime/orange juice to sour fresh milk. This will work just fine. :-)


Cake is due out of the oven in the next 20 minutes or so. We shall see how it turns out. :-)


[EDIT: Verdict = Yummy, but slightly over-spiced. Will leave out the chili and other 0.25tsp spices in future. /EDIT]


- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)


[1] That is, after all, what recipes calling for sour milk are four, right? :-D

Yesterday was quite social.

I went to Stoneface Dolly's for breakfast (buckets o' fruit) with the slasher girls (yay for things being walking-distance from my house!) then wandered back to my place, washed up (most of) the dishes, and had Ami_B + a mostly sleepy Miz Rose over for cake (made the cake - chocolate chocolate-chip with a hint of coffee - while they were here) and talked about gardening and dreams and all sorts of stuff.

And, roughly an hour later, had a spontaneous visit from CSI_Tokyo.

So I find myself now, at 9am Sunday morning, feeling kind of at loose ends. I know I'll be calling Fritzkat and McWetboy this afternoon, but until then. What do I do with myself?

Part of me wants to go back to bed.

Part of me wants to do tarot readings for myself (I've been doing them for Sara -- and, according to the wisdom of bits of cardboard, things are going to be tricky for her, with a LOT of Deal With Her Issues, but they will definitely work out very well in the end. So nothing we didn't already know there).

Part of me wants to call Sara but, well, it's not even 8am in Texas, so that would be a BAD idea. Besides. She's got one of the weddings today.
I figure I'll save that call for tomorrow and see how it went. :-)


Part of me wants to go and pick up sour cream and dried mango and some other stuff and have, like nachoes and salsa to munch on today plus make some of the following recipes:

*~*~*~*~*

“Thai” Chocolate Chip Cookies

½ C chocolate chips
¼ C each: dried mango (snipped into bits) and large coconut flakes
2 C uncooked rolled oats OR 2C mixed rolled kamut & rolled spelt
2 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 C soft butter OR ½ C each: soft margarine and coconut oil
1 C granulated sugar OR ½ C each: brown and granulated sugars
¼ C crunchy peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla OR 2 tsp coconut rum

(I’m a tad worried that the peanut butter will over-power everything else. BUT I think it might be a good experiment anyway. :-)



Cherry-Chocolate-Almond cookies

½ C chocolate chips
½ C dried cherries (or dried cherry-flavoured cranberries)
2 C uncooked rolled grain-of-some-kind
1½ C all purpose flour
½ C cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 C soft butter/margarine
1 C granulated sugar
¼ C almond butter (or similar)
2 tsp almond extract OR cherry liqueur OR grenadine-like-substance


*~*~*~*~*


Part of me kind of wants to make bread. :-) Mmm... Bread... :-D


Anyway. I'll figure it out. :-)


- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)

Pumpkin Spice Cookies V.2.0.:


1.25C oat flour
0.5C brown sugar (well-packed)
2 tbsp raw, hulled pumpkin seeds, crushed
1 tsp baking powder [EDIT: This may be a tad too much possible 0.75 tsp?]
0.5 tsp each: salt, cinamon
0.25 tsp cloves
0.125 tsp each: ginger, nutmeg
Pinch each: cardemom, alspice

0.5C veggie oil (or veggie shortening or margarine, etc)
2-3 tbsp mashed winter squash (ideally pumpkin, though I'm using butternut)
1.5 tbsp pumpkinseed butter
1 tsp vanilla

0.25C - 0.5C chocolate chips, chocolate chunks OR crushed up chocolate-pumpkinseed!butter candy (guess which one I used)


DIRECTIONS:

In one bowl, mix the dry ingredients with a fork.
In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients with a fork (or a hand mixer)

Blend (with a fork, or a mixer) the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until smooth (for a given value of smooth)

Add the chocolate bits and mix until well integrated.

Drop by the spoonful onto a well-greased cookie-sheet. NOTE: Leave a good two inches between cookies, as they tend to spread out a lot.

Bake at 325F for 10-15 minutes (I went with fifteen).

Allow to cool (they're delicate cookies -- if you don't do this, they *will* fall apart all over you!), lift off the cookie sheet (carefully), serve and enjoy. :-)


In other news: A Silly Quiz:

The Life Experience Test

Overall, you have partaken in 85 out of 169 possible life experiences. Your average life experience score is therefore 50%. The average score is 51%, making your experiences more than 43% of the people who have taken this test. The average for your age group (26-35) is 53%. Broken down by category: Art: 13/17 (76%) Career & Work: 6/13 (46%) Civics & Technology: 4/7 (57%) Crime & Disarray: 0/11 (0%) Education: 11/18 (61%) Fashion: 8/10 (80%) Fitness, Health and Sports: 0/7 (0%) Life in General: 8/14 (57%) Relationships: 12/14 (86%) Religion & Politics: 2/4 (50%) Social: 11/22 (50%) Travel: 2/20 (10%) Vices: 8/12 (67%)

Take the test and see how YOU compare

The questions in some areas - esp religion - are REALLY limitted. It was a tad disappointing.

So I've been reading this book, Anthro-Porn-Ol-Ogy, which is somewhere between an interesting look into THE-P-WORD in mainstream US culture and, uh, cosmo. Or Sex and the City. Or those chirpy guide-to-getting/being-married books I used to buy (actually *buy*) because I got such a kick out of them.

I have come to the conclusion that (A) the author is a bit of a twit - though it occurs to me that the author may be turning herself into a Character for the purposes of the story, and (B) that I associate my het side with being a useless push-over who doesn't stand up for herself and doesn't live her feminism where it counts.

This last bit is quite a little problem, I think.

I mean, it's like associating my creative/emotive/writer/singer side with being intelligent, well-read and interesting, and my efficient/good-at-saving-money side with being paranoid, dismissive and boring. Two sides. Same person.
Which, DUH, means that my dyke side is just as much of a stupid push-over when it comes to relationships, and I'm just as likely to land myself with a manipulative, needy, controlling woman as I am to land myself with that kind of a man.
For fuck's sake.
(On the plus side, chances are reasonably good that, if I'm ranting about The Patriarchy, a woman SO isn't going to feel like I'm attacking her, personally. That said, it's not like there wouldn't billions of other potential sore-spots just lurking under the surface, but at least *that* one wouldn't be on the plate).


*~*~*~*~*

I've sent you two letters
One a hymn
of thanks
One a promise
to read June Jordan
to keep on writing
to be brave
for you
(for me)

*~*~*~*~*

Longing, I want
your hands
on my body
your mouth
thrown open
moaning
Longing, I want to know
what to do to make you
shivergasp, tremble,
want me.

*~*~*~*~*

On the couch,
You at one end,
Curled casually around a cup of tea,
Me at the other,
Nervous,
Breathless,
Trying (too hard) to be the cool
socially aware
political activist
woman I think you want
trying (too hard)
to hide my desire
making inane conversation
and mistakes
to cover the fact that I want
your body
curled around mine
your mouth
soft-lipped and hungry
your breath
hitching
your touch
your kiss
your need

*~*~*~*~*


I can picture you - all too easily - singing the fishheads song with alternate lyrics, singing it in a sudden burst of carry-a-tune-able song, with your nearest and dearest, as you cut leaflets, or marker rally signs, sitting cross-legged on the ancient, slightly warped hardwood of your house/appartmentliving room floor.You are smiling to yourself, sharing that smile with those friends/lovers/sweethearts/comrades-in-activist-arms, at the silliness of singing about marxists and how good they taste. I have fallen for you, hard, already.

I have written letters in support of co-op brothels, abolishing unfair laws, and honouring treaties, because the mere thought of your (imagined) teacherly approval, the thought that (maybe) you would like me more, want my company more, maybe even want ME (if you knew me at all), if I were a better person - has given me reason enough to get off my own scrawny ass and make an effort, small and determined, for other people I don't know.

*~*~*~*~*

Self-improvement through crushes.

It's the wave of the future, I tell you.

I remember when I tried vegetarianism for a year or two. I never fully went veggie -- too many family dinners, for a start -- but I cooked only vegetarian food, tried to go all the way to vegan a couple of times a month, just to see if I could go A Whole Day without ingesting eggs/dairy/honey. (It generally didn't work - I'm far too fond of yoghurt/milk/kefir/icecream/cheese/cream/etc ... and baked goods that incorporate them... to give up animal products entirely).

Part of my reason was because a friend of mine eventually responded to my statement "I'm thinking of going vegetarian" with a disbelieving "Still???" -- when that happens, you know it's time to stop considering and actually DO IT -- But the main reason (the reason I started considering it in the first place) was because I had a crush on a vegan.

<*insert eyeroll here*>

So I learned how to bake without eggs, and found out that I can make one heck of a nice stew using romano beans plus the celebrated What Have I Got In the Fridge approache. :-)

Self-Improvement. Through Crushes.

I find that this crush (on that kick-ass poet from toronto) is resulting in the same sorts of things.
Which is good.
As far as I'm concerned. :-)

*~*~*~*~*

( More Thoughts on the Dream House )

*~*~*~*~*

Anyway. General madness, as all things go.

Two sets of people are looking at my house today. One has been and gone already, the other is coming at 6:30.

I'm going to run errants (and/or surf the internet) until I can go home.


Things I've done today:

- Washed my kitchen floor

- Writen to INAC regarding the honouring of the Barrier Lake Hydro agreements

- Writen to That Guy at Public Works asking if he's got any research positions he needs to fill (he's out of the office until the 21st of July, so it'll be a while before/if I hear back from him, but I figured I'd ask).

- Eaten home made cookies (Mmmm... White!chocolatechip-amaretto-peanutbutter and mocha-chocolatechip... Very tastey...)


( Cookie Recipes )

*~*~*~*~*

Anyway, I think that's it for me. :-)


- TTFN,
- Amazon.

P.S.: Check this out.

Further to yesterday's link: The Brothel Around the Corner.

And (sort of) regarding legalization vs decriminalization.

More on Canada. Here's hoping.

- TTFN,
- Amazon.


[1] Bitter much?