Sourdough

I am restarting my sourdough starter. It has languished in the freezer for some time now, and frankly, I've been craving bread. Yet, now that I know how tasty and easy it is (and cheap!), I've been loath to buy it, even at the day-old price of $3.

One thing that's nice about the starter currently is it's much more liquid. I had troubles before with it being a little stiff, and I like the consistency that it is. But I've just fed it tonight and we'll see how it takes to that. A warm jar and a warm bowl to be mixed in can do wonders I feel.

Christmas Status

So here's where we are on presents for Christmas:

Mom: buy glogg from LUSH
Dad: buy footstool
Sister: buy sonic screwdriver

Grandma: buy puzzle, give pickles
Grandpa: make fruitcake (I have the fruit soaking in sherry and have for two weeks already)

Mom's BF: make fruitcake (see above)

Stepsister: make slippers (just need to be sewn together -- all crocheted)
Husband: make slippers (have started)
Son: make slippers (still need to decorate like a monster)

Stepbrother: make slippers (haven't started)
Wife: make slippers (just need to be sewn together -- all crocheted)
Son: make slippers (still need to decorate)
___________________________

Mister's Mom: Mister is contributing towards a laptop
Sis#1: no idea still
Fiance: no idea still
Sis#2: no idea still
Sis#3: buy little tea set and tea

The pattern that I'm using for the slippers and modifying for sizes is these double soled slippers. They seem pretty awesome.

As a Christmas present to myself (so I don't kill myself with that much crochet), I'm also working on knitting garters, the kind you tie on. I personally tie them on by: placing the middle of the garter just below the knee. Criss-cross garter in the bend of the knee (back of the leg) and tie above the knee on the front of the leg. Holds stockings and leg warmers on pretty well that way and means I don't need to have more than one garter belt (as one is broken). I also want to have a total of seven sets of leg warmers as my project for January as I want to be able to wear them every day.

New Booze to Make

I want to make this recipe only I'd probably remove the pith. Supreme dem oranges (as Mister put it) and use a peeler on the peel!

Look at how tasty it looks!

Making Ketchup!

I'm trying this recipe. I'll tell you how it goes!

Verdict? Delicious! I made three 8-oz jars and a bit that I ate with oven fries (french fries baked in oil instead of fried in a pan). But because I don't have a blender type object and used crushed tomatoes, I cooked it down longer -- about 2.5-3 hours. Mister is in awe. :-D

Bah

So I stayed home from class today. I just woke up with nasty cramps, and couldn't convince myself to get out of bed. I really honestly hate this. I have had cramp issues for several months now (luckily not as constant as in that previous post), but it is seriously cramping my style... I had to do it.

Luckily, I'm seeing my doctor for a check-up on the IUD next Thursday, so can bring this up to her then, but I wish it was sooner. And of course, Mister has been bugging me to make an appointment for weeks (as in probably five), so this appointment really should have been sooner.

I just wish I knew why my innards dislike me so.

Bored and Baking

When it gets dark early, I get bored easily. I also get cold as we keep the temp low, which makes me want to crawl into my blanket-cave and sleep. So, to keep the return of hibernation at bay, I'm attempting a new recipe! It's a bit modified.

Almond and Polenta Cake. As the woman who runs that site is Irish, her units are in weight. Being a silly American with a shitty kitchen scale, I had to use the power of the internet to convert to volume. My measurements are not as neat as the original, but they're useable. :-P

-- 3/4 c. (100 gr) flour
-- 5/8 c. (100 gr) fine polenta flour
-- 1/2 c. (100 gr) sugar
-- 1/2 c. (100 gr) butter, softened
-- 1 c. (100 gr) almonds, coarsely ground, not bleached
-- 1 egg yolk
-- grated zest of 1 lemon
-- pinch of salt
-- 1 small glass of grappa (or sambuca)

Preheat oven to 170C or ~350F.

Cut flour, polenta, sugar, salt and butter together (I grated frozen butter rather than work softened butter). Mix in almond meal, egg yolk (subbed in some sweetened condensed milk), zest and grappa (subbed in limoncello for zest and grappa).

Spread crumbly mixture in large pan (I used 13x9) and bake until done, ~30 mins.

Photography

We had intended on asking a coworker of Mister's if he would be interested in shooting our wedding, as he does beautiful work. Well, the talk came yesterday, and he said no! :-( He said that there is so much editing that goes into wedding photos that he doesn't want to have to take the time to do it.

Which I understand. And my first instinct was: but we don't want a lot of processing! He doesn't need to do any! Yet, as he's a professional, if he has a minimum level of quality, I don't want him to compromise that level by putting his name on an "inferior" product.

Looks like we're going with bowls of disposables!