Huh. Why is it that after a hectic day (starting at 6 AM,) I still don't feel like I got all that much done? I thought I would get something done on Red Dress 2.0 today, but nope. So, what did I really do?

1. Baked the White Moravian Spice cookies. Granted, these are rolled and cut, and the batch is huge. Almost 10 dozen.
2. Ordered some linen
3. Took care of fabric/costuming-related email
4. Paid bills and balanced the checkbook
5. Planned mom's x-mas present
6. Pulled out leftover fabric and planned more Christmas aprons
7. Made dough for pistachio cranberry cookies (and ran out of sugar.) Did all related dishes.
8. Went shopping: Xmas presents for J!, more sugar, and ric-rack for aforementioned new aprons
9. Iced 102 cookies. Three hours. I don't enjoy icing cookies, but Aine came by and talked at me, which helped mightily.
10. Took empty Xmas boxes to the basement.
11. Made dough for cardamom butter cookies, and did more dishes...

I'm feeling rather boring at the moment, but logistics are taking the brain-space normally used for insight and inspiration. Your regularly-scheduled-Wendy should return sometime next week.

The cookie posts will continue until Thursday, when mom gets here and party-prep overdrive is going to set in. For now, I have two new ones to review:

1. Peppermint Stars. These are Alton Brown's basic sugar cookie recipe with 2 tsp of peppermint extract and 1/2 c crushed candy canes. The batch gets split in two, and one half colored red. Then they are cut into concentric stars, and small stars of one color set into the large stars of the other. They're pretty, and the texture is ok (I don't usually like the texture of sugar cookies, but these aren't tough.) I did learn that the candy canes need to be very finely ground so that they don't melt and cause holes. Also, my peppermint extract (Simply Organic, alcohol free) is sub-standard in the flavoring department. If I do these again, I need to go get the Boylan peppermint oil.

2. Almond-Raspberry Thumbprints. The story of these cookies begins with a confession. I am inordinately find of Weesper Moppen, which are made with tinned almond paste. And almond paste in a tin is difficult to find. So, when I thought I saw it at the Pasta Shop last summer, I bought about 10 cans. (Operative word is "thought," see where this is going?) As it turns out, I bought a million cans of almond filling. About all that's good for is frangipane tarts, so I'm stuck with six cans of the stuff (I pawned four of them off on my mom.) Might as well use one up, right? (I love Google-cooking!) The only substitution I made was organic raspberry jam instead of their raspberry filling. And these are delicious. Definitely a do-over. Things I learned for next time: do use your hands to form the balls if you want nice round edges. And use a jam (or filling) high in pectin, or the insides may get soggy. (I didn't, so these might just have to get eaten quickly and a new batch made - oh darn!)

The other new ones on the schedule to try this can all be found on Epicurious:
Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies (Gourmet, December 2006)
Cardamom Butter Squares (Gourmet, December 2004)
Walnut Acorn Cookies (Gourmet, December 2000)
Coconut Orange Snowballs (Bon Appetit, December 2003)
Mexican Chocolate Cherry Rounds (Bon Appetit, December 1996)

Had a lovely time at Ysa's T-day. Warm welcome, good company, amazing food, and lots of love. I brought two chocolate bourbon pecan pies, and madbaker brought a not-chocolate one. Lots of pecan pie, and no pumpkin, which seemed to be just fine for everyone there :-) (I like pumpkin pie, but it's not easy to do well.) I also brought some of the St. Catherine's cookies to see how they went over - folks seemed to like them, so maybe they'll be a repeat after all. The turkey and the mashed potatoes were excellent - Bri has some cooking skillz! I am grateful to have such good friends.

In the meantime... I did nothing yesterday, since I was still feeling pretty sick. Sat on the couch and watched season 2 of Heroes, and that was about it. I went to bed (and to sleep!) at 7 PM. But... I'm feeling much better today. So in the morning...

Rum balls, done. Bourbon balls, done. Hungarian Xmas balls, done. And Red Dress 2.0 is finally cut out.

The second set of new recipes has been pretty disappointing - there's only one repeat from these.

1. Cinnamon ducks. I'll make these again. Basically a snickerdoodle dough, though not as sweet. Texture right out of the oven is crisp at the edges and cake-y in the middle. Very good as a basic cinnamon cookie.

2. Hazelnut and chestnut pinwheels. Basic nut shortbread with filling. The ones from the new cookie book are OK, but a little bland. I suspect there are more flavorful pinwheel cookies out there. Not a repeat.

3. Whetstone cookies. The flavor is lovely, but the texture is terrible - hard and tough. I will see if they soften over time. If not, these aren't worth repeating. I will lift the rosewater and caraway as a combo, though.

4. St. Catherine's cookies. Pretty boring butter cookie with currants, and difficult to shape. The ground almonds don't really add much. I have better recipes for currant cookies.

Next up: the requisite rum balls, etc. No more new recipes until Wednesday or so.

And I can't get through to them. I have a continued claim for extended benefits here, that states I have a remaining balance. I have a notice of a new claim (which I did not file, so they must have done it automatically) and and award of benefits. And now I also have a denial of the new claim, sent to me without the appeals paperwork (from DE1000M) they say is included. (I'm denied because I didn't work as an employee in the last year. Dude, that's *why* I'm getting extended benefits, right?)

And they do not answer their phone, and I cannot even get to the part where I would go on-hold. This is really, really weird. No answers on their website either. I guess I'll just send in the claim forms and see what happens?

I really hate this stuff.

It's really worth watching all the way to the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY

I think I have caught J!'s cold. I had managed to fight it off until this morning, when I woke up with a sore throat. (I blame yesterday's lack of sleep.) There is a high likelihood that we will not be at practice tonight, which sucks. But I want to kick this thing quickly so I can go to Turkey Day tomorrow without getting anyone else sick.

LJ-Foodie-HiveMind, please help? I'm looking for a source for real currants (dried.) I can get them fresh when is season at Berkeley Bowl, but have had zero luck finding them dried.

I am tried of using the raisin they call "zante currants." They just don't taste like the real thing, and with the number of English recipes I'm doing this year, it's worth an investment.

Yes, astg, that title was especially for you. :)

ETA: real currants of both the black and red varieties are an entirely different botanical family (Saxifragaceae, Genus Ribes) from zante currants (Vitaceae, Genus Vitis. Zante grapes originally came from Corinth.) They taste completely different. Currant cultivation was outlawed in the US by an act of Congress in 1911, as they were a vital carrier in the spread of a disease that was decimating the white pine lumber industry in the US. New, disease non-participants have been recently hybridized, so US currants *should* be available.

American recipes almost mean zante currants when they call for currants, British and Northern European ones usually mean real currants (Ribes.)

And many many happy returns!

I just raided our pantry because a student at the local HS came by to ask for donations for a canned food drive. I do realize the irony in that fact that I just got done telling J! that we are low on funds for the rest of the month and need to be careful even in the grocery shopping, but I'm OK with that. There are always people in the world less fortunate than us. What's more, I know J! knows this, too. I am blessed.

For a good long while, I have been searching for real Marasca cherries, also known as real maraschino cherries. The bright-red candied artificial ones leave me cold. Well, I finally found them at The Pasta Shop on 4th Street in Berkeley. For $24.99/jar. I hear that Monterey Liquors also has them, at the more-reasonable-yet-still-exorbitant $16/jar. Considering there are about 50 cherries/jar, you can understand why I haven't bought them yet.

And while I could make my own brandied cherries, with my small kitchen canning fruit is an unholy business. I've seen recommendations for other brands, and also for soaking dried sour cherries in liquors - has anyone tried either? Recommendations from the cocktail hive-mind gratefully accepted.


(I need a cocktail icon, I really do. Somebody help?)

Friday morning: urban hike, in the rain, and a little 4th Street (Berkeley) shopping.
Friday noon: Cheeseboard pizza and salad
Friday afternoon: wine at the office, surprise lamb snack!
Friday evening: Decadent meal at Bix, sponsored by two of the best friends ever. Thank you AGAIN, jimr and tafelspitz. It was really, truly loverly.
Sat morning early: cut more gollars. (I'm on a gollar kick, I know.)
Sat day: sewing, hanging out with GM, cooking (napa cabbage salad with buttermilk dressing FTW,) checking an old pattern and it still fits beautifully, and "Cheri."
Sat evening: time with Edith, chicken tacos, "Erik the Viking," watching Edith crack up during "Cold Comfort Farm." Two more gollars finished.
Sunday morning, very early: three hours of ironing lots of 14th c gowns.
Sunday, until Sundown: photo shoot in Mountain View Cemetery (Oakland) with dear friends. With picnic lunch provided (by Man Scout Dave.) We got six dresses documented. That's a lot for one day.
Sunday evening: Man Scout Dave cooks yummy spaghetti for two very tired photographers and one exhausted model.
Now: reading, maybe popcorn, and bed.

The best friends put up their hoods and loan you their umbrellas. :)

I am admittedly *very* bad at documenting my costume work, especially the work I do for other people. And it's time I stopped that. I can do it going forward, but I need help documenting all the other stuff that is no longer in my possession. So I have a favor to ask of those of you who I have made clothing for: if you have pictures of it, would you be so kind as to share them with me? Photo and model credits will be given, of course. I'd be extremely grateful for anything that's out there.

THANK YOU!

(This will be cross-posted to FB and some of you will be getting an email as well - just trying to cover all the bases.)

For my school application, I only get 20 slides. I have waaaay more clothing than that. So I ask my pals who have seen me in many of them: which are you favorite outfits, and which do you think would make the best portfolio pieces?

I inadvertently opened a can of worms when I asked about what happened to take us from two Collegia to one, but since it's open anyhow... Instead of talking about what happened, let's talk about what we want the arts to be and how we can get them there. We already have cook's play dates, salons, public classes at Kingdom level events (performances, round tables n stuff) - how do we drum up more interest in the arts, and make people excited to learn?

rowstr said The current system isn't working -- it isn't drawing the attendance that everyone here believes collegium is due. So we need to address that, figure out why people aren't attending and try to fill those needs.

allergicone said I'm in total agreement with the numerous people who have said that these (A&S/Collegium) events are where they are because of a lack of interest. They're not "sexy" at this point.

callistotoni said I think the whole Collegium topic is a good thing to (re-)examine and discuss. I'm still thinking about it, but the analyst in me wants to do a requirements analysis on the whole thing. ;-)

and redcount said ... as long as you are going back to the drawing board, find what IS working elsewhere and see if we could make it work here.

I just read that Spring Collegium 2010 has been canceled(!) and Fall Collegium 2010 will moved from October to November - can somebody please fill me in on what happened?

Chock full of non-SCA stuff. I rarely get to go grocery shopping anymore (J! hits the stores on the way home from work,) so a few hours Saturday morning spent in Berkeley Bowl were heaven. So I have a lovely menu planned for this week. Most of the rest of the day was spent reconnecting with GM and cutting the sleeve guards on the new German dress (matching brocades again - will I ever learn?) Sunday was gormflaith's day. She helped me pull crabgrass, we plotted costumery, went fabric shopping, ate yummy lunch in the City, and walked all over GG park. J! and I also finished watching season 2 of Mad Men in there somewhere.

And now that the sun is coming up, I'm going out front to put the weeds into the green waste can and get otherwise filthy before hopping in the shower. I don't have much dirt to garden in, but least I can clean up what I have.

But I am not going to let it beat me. I can't use my old camera with any operating system later than NT (I know, it really is old!) But the repair guy is here looking at the phone line (it's them not us, so he thinks about 20 minutes,) and J! is going to Radio Shack to see if he can get the right AC adapter to run the new-to-me camera off an outlet.

Meantime, anybody have suggestions for a camera? Mostly I need good detail and color accuracy in order to take pics of fabric and costume. Predictable, non?

ETA: Phone is fixed. So that's one down!

My new camera seems to think that its battery is dead. I've tried four (4!) new ones, and it won't turn on. Currently waiting for the old batteries for my old camera (9 years old, don't expect high quality pics) to recharge so I can get going.