Braisin' Hussy

Friday, April 29, 2005

Okay, I was going to go to Trader Joe's and get more information about my grocery picks, but I left my notebook at work and am too lazy to recopy my very short list. It's such a beautiful day, I feel like sitting on my couch and watching the TV. And making bread.

Well, an hour and a half later, I did go to Trader Joe's. (I needed to go to Walgreen's, and it was right next door.) I didn't buy anything, just stood in front of things copying prices onto the back of a piece of mail. I have a lot of numbers. And I think it'd be pretty boring if I put them next to every item. So I'm not going to. Maybe a couple, but definitely not all.

We'll see if this bread works. I'm trying Alton's Basic Bread in a very shortened time period. I mixed the starter after work, let it sit on the counter for two hours, mixed it, let it rise for one hour, shaped it, let it bench proof for an hour, and bake for an hour. We'll see how it works out. It's 10:30 now, it should be done by midnight.
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Thursday, April 28, 2005

So recently, a few of my friends have been putting together "Guides to Buying Things" on their blogs. Zack started it with The Guide to Buying Video Games. Kenny followed with The Guide to Buying Movies. Cynthia then posted The Guide to 99-Cent Stores. I figure I should join this little meme and post a Guide to Buying Groceries. This is just off the top of my head- I'll elaborate more when I've gone to the shops and checked brand names and prices.

Trader Joe's
Butter
Milk (maybe, I need to check other supermarket prices)
Buttermilk
Cream
Sour cream
Yogurt
Flour
Chocolate chips
Boxed macaroni and cheese
Better-Than-Boullion
Good bacon (best price around for Nieman Ranch)
Italian sausage
28-ounce cans of whole tomatoes
Decent but not great cheese
Green beans, both fresh and frozen
Crimini mushrooms
2-Buck Chuck (mainly for cooking, although it's eminently slurpable)
Tom's of Maine toothpaste

Cost Plus
Spices - the ones in the cellophane packages, not the bottles. Buy your own bottles or keep them in baggies. Mexican markets also have cheap spices.
Le Puy lentils
Panko bread crumbs
Coconut milk

Costco
14.5-ounce cans of chopped tomatoes
Canned Tomato Sauce (plain)
14.5-ounce cans of garbanzo beans
Whole Chickens
Parmesan Cheese (big whole chunks)
Tillamook Cheddar Cheese (good for mac & cheese, decent for eating)
Smoked Salmon
Canned Crab (the good, expensive stuff in the refrigerated case- it's worth it)
Tabasco
Allergy pills/sleeping pills/ibuprofen

Albertson's
Not-so-good Bacon (if you go in the morning, you can often find packages of bacon ends for ridiculously low prices- not for eating with eggs, but for chopping up and cooking with [mm, bacon fat])

Target
Cereal (at least they used to have good prices- I don't really buy cereal anymore)
Pop-Tarts (ditto)

Mexican markets
Spices (as I mentioned previously)
Dried chiles
Dried beans
Pretty decent-looking produce

Farmers' Markets
Fresh produce. Support your local farmers.

Things to scour your circulars for:
Soda - 79¢ to $1 for 2-liter bottles, $2.50 per 12-pack, $5 per 24-pack (Long's and Rite-Aid often have good coupon deals)
Swanson's Organic or Low-Sodium (in aseptic boxes) - $2 per 32-ounce box
Eggs - $1.50 to $2 a dozen for large AA (I buy extra large at TJ's for $1.29, but they're awkward for baking)

Ross, Marshall's, TJ Maxx
Kitchen gadgets and bakeware (I picked up some OXO measuring cups for a steal, and found their salad spinner for five dollars cheaper than anywhere else)

Where I live, we get a "20% off one item" coupon for Bed, Bath & Beyond each week. Might be a good thing to look for, if you need to buy anything on the larger size. I don't think it applies to knives, though.

This is a great pan, if you like eggs, crepes, omelets, quesadillas, homemade tortillas, toasting nuts, bacon, or anything that needs shallow pan frying (my brother uses it for crab cakes and latkes). It's gone up in price a little (used to be $19.99), but it's still a good deal. I waited until it showed up in my Gold Box for $16.99, then bought it. Everyone I know who has this pan loves it to bits. Also, make sure to check the Friday Sale for more deals from Amazon. They'll only have a few kitchenware items, but sometimes you can find really great prices.

See if any stores around you offer knife sharpening. I know Raley's does it for free, although my dad thinks they do a crappy job; Dittmer's, the butcher in Mountain View, does it free once a month; Perfect Edge, in San Mateo, does it for a price. It's like getting new knives. And make sure you hone your blades regularly! A sharp knife is a safe knife!
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Tuesday, April 26, 2005

DVDs of Julia Child's The French Chef just came out today. You know you want to buy them. If only there were a Jon-related holiday coming up! He's been wanting these for a long time.

If there were a bloggers edition of Go Fug Yourself, I totally would have been in it today. Dear lord. I was wearing dark grey slacks, black shoes, and a navy blue sweater. I don't know what I was thinking. Even Jeremy, who is not the world's leading fashion expert, was all, "Dag, yo." The dumbest thing about my outfit? I had something else on, then changed because I thought it looked lame. I don't know why I thought it was a step up. I was washing my hands at work, looked in the mirror, and cracked up, because WOW were those clothes bad.

I need to finish my new D&D character. I'm thinking about naming her Jessa. (Eddie, is that cool? I just think it's a good name.)
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Monday, April 25, 2005

Well, we certainly were productive this weekend. I made three recipes. One was quite good, one was decent, and the last was weird and strange. All had lentils as their main ingredient. It was a weekend of lentils.

Lydia and I made a lot of headway on our Katamari costumes. Unfortunately, we need to go to Joanne's AGAIN, because now we're out of red material. Sometimes we don't estimate things well. My dress/tunic-thing is done, my gloves are done, and I'm making Kuro's head accents. We still need to cover the head, but we are so on track to finish it next weekend. Look at us, completing things well in advance of our deadline! And now that Lydia's done some trial-and-error on my Kuro costume, her Prince will take no time at all. Probably.

I finished my scarf! After only... ten weeks or so. I started it on February 13th. Yay, my scarf!

I need to make rice tonight. All the food I have prepared (which is really not much) needs to be eaten with rice. My kitchen's a mess. I need to clean it so I can cook and make a mess of it again.

Enjoy the soup. It was good. I only wish there had been more!
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Lentil Soup
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated by Sarah

3 slices of bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz.), drained
8 oz. white button mushrooms, quartered
1 bay leaf
1 tsp minced fresh thyme
1 cup lentils (preferably Le Puy), rinsed and picked over
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 box (32 oz.) low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or water
Juice of 1 lemon
1-2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley

Fry bacon in large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Add onion and carrots; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes, mushrooms, bay leaf, and thyme; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in lentils, salt, and pepper to taste; cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until vegetables are softened and lentils have darkened, 8 to 10 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to high, add wine, and bring to simmer. Add chicken broth and stock (or water); bring to boil, cover partially, and reduce heat to low. Simmer until lentils are tender but still hold their shape, 30 to 35 minutes; discard bay leaf.

Puree 3 cups soup in blender until smooth, then return to pot; stir in lemon juice and heat soup over medium-low until hot, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley, taste, adjust seasoning, and serve.
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Friday, April 22, 2005

So, I'm supposed to be cooking, but I am instead watching the TV.

I am a Bad Person.
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Wednesday, April 20, 2005

All right. Thinking about the weekend. Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco. Lydia and I are going to make our Katamari costumes. Laundry list of things still needed for the costumes: large bowls for the sides of the heads, or, barring that, plenty of newspaper for papier-mache; red trim needed for Kuro's head; red and purple slippers.

I need a recipe that involves red lentils and button mushrooms and is served with rice. Any ideas?

Oh yeah, and the new food pyramid? LAME.
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Tuesday, April 19, 2005

I went to bed at ten last night. SO early. And I'm still tired- thanks, Exhausting Cramps of Doom. I was supposed to start some bread this morning, but I didn't. Maybe tomorrow. We don't have D&D this week.
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Monday, April 18, 2005

I made bread again on Saturday morning. It was really good. I gave it to Lydia and Zack. I miss it. Lydia did a photo shoot with Lionel on Saturday (the shots look amazing), then came by my place afterwards. We picked up some Mexican and drove to her apartment for more Yakitate!! and Tsubasa. Good times.

I am really tired. I'll finish the weekend... next week. I just want to sleep. And eat fruit.
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Friday, April 15, 2005

Happy birthday to Sara! I hope your laptop ends up okay. I know the pain of their spontaneous deaths.

Maybe it's happy birthday to Noah, as well.

Rolled up characters on Wednesday night. I'm going to be a wood witch (human, female, middle-aged if Scott will let me), which means I take care of the healing in the party. The problem I have with witches in Arcana Unearthed is that they get their witchery too slowly. I have to wait until level five to get something else that's useful? By then I might be taking on a prestige class! Probably. I mean, if I survive. I've only got eleven hit points. Oh wait, that's wrong. I need to get third-level spells before I move in that direction... that's like, level seven or nine or something. I don't have my book with me currently. Well, it's out in my car (yeah, I drove today- going shopping after work), but it's cold out there. My heater turned on yesterday morning. That's ridiculous. It was set under 60. That is too cold for April in California.

I haven't cooked since I made bread on Tuesday. I've been all busy and stuff. It's lame.

Rob sent me a recipe for lemonade last week. I didn't post it because I haven't made it yet. So Val, Grant, if you want to give me a crapload of lemons, I wouldn't say no. I made reasonably decent guacamole with your avocados on Wednesday. We were missing chiles, but I still liked it.

Jer and I got into a bit of an argument of what a ricer is. I was mashing up the avocados with a potato masher when he called it a ricer. I said that a ricer is the device that looks like a huge garlic press and that what I was using was only called a potato masher. He says "ricer" applies to both things. I wonder if I'm wrong.
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Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Mm. There's few things nicer than a slice of toasted homemade bread with some special Hawaii honey. Thank, Lydia! See pictures from her awesome vacation on her blog here.

I can make Alton's bread in a day if I mix the yeast/honey/flour/water starter before work and stick it in the fridge. The loaf ends up finished at around 10 or 11pm.

So, one of the perks with my new job is that I can ride the train for free. Woohoo! It's a seven-minute train ride followed by a 20-minute walk, or a less time-consuming free shuttle. But it's a nice walk. And yay, exercise/fresh air/blah. If I had a bike, I'd be unstoppable. I could take the train up to Redwood City and tear up the two miles to my brother's house.

I need to finish typing up the damn chicken parmesan recipe. If anything, it'll mean I can stop lugging around this big heavy cookbook. "Sarah, why don't you just photocopy the pages?" Well then, where would my impetus go? If I would just do it... argh. Today at lunch. (Okay, it's up.)

D&D tonight.
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Chicken Parmesan
Adapted from The Best Recipe (I prefer to brine rather than pound the chicken)

1/2 cup table salt
1/2 gallon water
4 trimmed chicken breasts (4 to 5 oz. each)
1 large egg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 - 1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
Simple Tomato Sauce
Some sort of strand pasta

Combine the table salt and water in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the chicken to the brine and move the container to the refrigerator. Brine for a half hour. (During this time, make the sauce and pasta- or at least get the water ready for the pasta.) Remove chicken from the brine and pat dry.

Beat egg and a heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt in a shallow dish until completely broken up. Mix bread crumbs, another heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of black pepper in another shallow dish. Dip the chicken breasts into the egg and coat both sides, then move to the bread crumbs, coating both sides. Set the chicken on a large wire rack set over a jelly-roll pan.

Move oven rack to second position from the top and turn on the broiler.

In a 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the chicken. Cook on each side about 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Clean the wire rack and place it back over the jelly-roll pan. Place the chicken on the wire rack and top with the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Broil until cheese melts and is spotty brown, about three minutes.

To serve, toss the pasta with a little bit of the sauce. Make a base of the pasta, place the chicken on top with extra sauce and parmesan cheese. Serve.
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Monday, April 11, 2005

Simple Tomato Sauce
Adapted from The Best Recipe

2-4 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 - 1 cup chopped onion
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
Dash of red wine
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Small dash of balsamic vinegar or sugar (optional, use if you want a sweeter sauce)
Wee pinch of instant coffee (optional, use if your sauce is too sweet)

Add the olive oil to a saucepan and place over medium head. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, wine, and red pepper flakes (optional). Cook for about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Add the sweetening or bittering ingredients if you want. Simmer longer if it's too watery. Keep warm while making whatever you're making.
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In case you're wondering what they're referring to in the first panel of today's Penny Arcade, check it out here.

As for the next two panels, they reminded me of how a month or so ago, Jeremy and I were at a used bookstore. We were looking at their comics and D&D books, which were in the same general section.

Me: Wow, they've got a lot of Gravitation. Such a pity I find that series totally annoying.
Jer: (picks up a random volume and starts flipping through)
Me: Uh, I don't think you're going to like that.
Jer: (finishes flipping, puts it back on the shelf)
Me: Well?
Jer: Yeah, you're right.

Gabe and Tycho just had that exchange in a more violent manner. Made me smile.
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Saturday, April 09, 2005

According to beloved recapper Couch Baron, Veronica Mars has been renewed for a second season. That makes me so very happy. I thought it had no chance whatsoever. Awesome!
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I made chicken parmesan on Thursday night. It was really, really good. I'll post the recipe later. I'm currently making bread- Alton Brown's bread from Good Eats. I'll let you know how it turns out. I may make lemon curd as well, while the dough is rising.

I did make lemon curd, using lemons from Grant and Val's trees. Thank you! Tasty stuff. I left out the lemon zest for a smoother texture. And let me tell you, a good way to deter door-to-door religious folk is to answer the door while whisking a steaming bowl of yellow. "Oh, I don't have time for this now. If I stop stirring, this'll turn into scrambled eggs. Sorry!" Curiously enough, they only come when I'm cooking. Last time, I was elbow-deep in dough.

Hee! Oh, my bread has just come out of the oven. Three-quarters of it is pretty, but it looks like it has a tumor or something in the remaining quarter. I think I need to work on my loaf-slashing technique.
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Thursday, April 07, 2005

Another week, another batch of Katamari Damacy cosplay pictures.

Ichigo. Nice head, but I'm kind of meh on the rest of it.

Katamari Cake! As soon as I saw this, I had to show Ryan and ask her if she had anything that might help me do this (but better). Lo, she has a spherical cake mold. We'll see if I ever make it. Lydia and I still want to have a Katamari Party with bizarre KD-inspired drinks.
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Finally, it's over. Jer's campaign ended last night at about 12:30am. It took us, I think, six months to get through it all. And I'm still puzzled about a lot of it. Merreck died again, Mynnyd was unable to get to the battle again, (damn you, Bigby's Interposing Hand!) Cooper almost died three times, and Sagittarius... well, I guess he didn't do anything "again," but he was very impressive using jillions and jillions of arrows. Oh, maybe he almost killed himself disabling a trap again. Anyway, we're done. We saved Manifest. Woo, us. And we all lived happily ever after. (Apparently. Although according to Jer's epilogue, Mynnyd and Merreck take off together to find dragons and explore the land where Mynnyd's clan lived. I just can't see a barbarian and a wizard getting along all that well. Mynnyd would have to take a level of ranger, or something, because Merreck often needs healing. [A barbarian can't wield a wand, but a ranger can.])

Next week, we're going to roll up our Arcana Unearthed characters for Scott's campaign. I'm interested in being a Verrik witch, but we'll see.
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Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Ee, they're adding a new show to TWoP, and the forums are down. Please let it be House. Or Farscape, even though it's been dead a while. I hope it's House. That'd be keen.

No, it was Revelations, the heaven vs. hell show coming soon on NBC. Damn.
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Monday, April 04, 2005

I made a couple curries Friday night. Aloo Matar and a variation on the Massaledarh Sambhar. I poached chicken in its more soupy form while it reduced. It never got quite as thick as I wanted, though. I'm not eating it today, though, because I forgot to make rice. Tonight, then. I also made sourdough bread over Friday night and Saturday morning. It turned out... weirdly pale again. So I turned the broiler on and nearly burnt the top. The bottom crust is still as white as I am. I don't get it. It's getting placed on a rocket-hot pizza stone! Why doesn't it brown?

Went over to visit Lydia (and by extension, Zack) on Saturday. I brought the less burnt loaf of bread as well as my reserved pale loaf from the first time I made it. They thought it was decent, I thought they were being kind. I finally got caught up with them in watching Yakitate!! (And sweet Jesus, in my thread over at TWoP, someone said, "Someone should really change the title of this thread to Yakitate!! Japan." JEEZ. SORRY. I really don't think we're going to get someone saying something completely off topic and then going, "Oh, dear. I'm sorry. I thought this was the Yakitate!! Australia thread." [Sorry, bitter. I'm probably going to get the same sort of flack for my Tsubasa thread.]) It's such a cute show. And I love the new ending, with the manager Ken disco dancing to some surprisingly funky music.

Lydia and I went out for lunch to a soda fountain, which had rather disappointing food and drinks that were slightly too sweet (well, my orange Julius was, I don't know about Lydia's purple cow), but which was amusing all the same. Then we went to Jeremy's, which is... I don't know, like a consigment store? There were used and new designer clothes there. I bought two dresses, a hat, and a pair of boots. All J. Crew, I believe, and it cost me forty-seven dollars total. Lydia bought a shirt and a sterling and rose quartz ring. The dresses were eight dollars apiece. Lydia talked me into the hat, because it matched well to one of them. Actually, my scarf will also match, if I ever finish it. I know, me in dresses, sign of the apocolypse.

Walked around Mountain View yesterday, judging books by their covers. I was looking at the outside of apartment buildings. There weren't any that looked particularly nice. The area is lovely, but the individual complexes generally looked crappy. Oh, well. I'll look again at some point with fresh eyes. I got tired, went over to Rob and Jer's to sit, and then it started raining. Jon and Ryan called and asked if I wanted to come over and eat and see their pretty new car. We watched some Cheap Seats. I think the Sklar brothers are cute.
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Friday, April 01, 2005

So, it's April Fool's Day. Does this mean I make Velveeta fudge or something? Or one of Sandra Lee's recipes? Let's see... last year, I ate leftovers. That's not interesting at all.

Oh yeah, I was going to make bread. That may turn out as a joke. Gr.

Oh, Grant. I think I love you. The rest of you have to check out this link. This picture, though, is what made me laugh and laugh and laugh.
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