suricattus

I am making cheese mashed potatoes for lunch.

With a dark chocolate chaser.

Don't judge me.

Money in, money out, bills paid, not in debt. Freelancer FTW!

Have spent the day alternating between a new short story and the rough draft read-through for VINEART 2. My first reader reports that she kept turning the pages, wanting to know what happened next, so at least I know the pacing is there [aside: some readers will find these books slow, compared to a contemporary fantasy. That's a planned feature, not a bug.]. Although there's a lot of work to be done ["okay, what did I intend there?" and "what the hell was I thinking?" and "huh, that doesn't work any more..."] resulting in pages red-inked into submission, I'm overall pleased with the way things are going at the halfway point. So, yay.



Deadline is still skeeery, but not terrifying.

Meanwhile, I am now in possession of a recipe for tarragon cucumber pickles. And honey-glazed brioche. And I have a line on some really excellent ground lamb. As soon as the weather cools down a bit more.... lambburgers!

And now I have to wrap things up, get dressed, and head downtown for a fare-the-well party [and to arrange the handover of bookcases. Mmm, bookcases....]

3,000+ new words today. Not bad for first day back on the pony. Tonight, more client-work.

Had a slightly surreal moment -- doing a search on something totally unrelated, and my name came up in a link to a book I had totally forgotten about. No, not one I wrote -- but one I created/edited. "Wish You Were Here" =-- a YA series published by Berkley back in 1996, the year I left to go to Roc/NAL.

How could I forget about those books? They were so much fun to work on... it's sad they didn't take off.

Many years ago, I had a resume that listed all the projects I edited, including the ones I created in-house. I really wish I still had that file... (it ran to three pages, single spaced, by 1996). SF and fantasy, mystery, YA, non-fiction, suspense...

It all seems so very very long ago. A different lifetime. But the memories, for the most part, are sweet.

EtA: om nom nom. A chunk of wild-caught sockeye salmon, pan-cooked with garlic, a splash of white wine, and a sprinkling herbs until the fish is pale orange and flaking to the fork. When healthy food tastes this good and is this easy to prepare, why would anyone eat junk/fast food? (the price really isn't that much different, all told)

Slow, rainy Sunday. I did a load of laundry, wrote 2,000 new words, watched a movie-and-a-half, and made an early dinner.

Mmm, dinner. If there's anything better than organic mature spinach sauteed with garlic and oil, it's that spinach topped with a rare piece of ribeye, seasoned with nothing more than oil and white balsamic vinegar, a sprig of fresh rosemary from the windowbox, and a grind of black pepper. Om nom nom. Anemia? What's that?

And now I have a glass of wine to finish off, and "Merlin" to mock (Tony Head's in it, so I will watch as much as I can stand. The things we do in the name of fandom...). Anyone else going to be watching? We can mock together!

If the show is too bad to even mock, I may write some more. Or maybe go to sleep early...

EtA: well, Tony still has that gorgeous voice....

Asian-style flounder fillet with steamed sweet corn and jasmine rice. A Willamette Valley pinot gris served with (not my choice, but quite enjoyable), and a dried strawberry tart for dessert, with a tawny port.

om nom nom. and the best part was that it took about ten minutes to prep and another ten to cook. Perfect not-stuck-in-kitchen meal.

Random, random.

Much to my surprise, after a late, slow start, I managed about 2,100 new words yesterday. Funny, how remembering to feed the body actually helps the brain function.

This morning, despite it being the kind of Monday where even the cats are willing to sleep in, I got up, made it to the gym, stopped by the greengrocer for coffee and the week's munchables, and, wonders of wonders, remembered to upload my monthly post at BookView Cafe, wherein I Talk the Taboo -- money: specifically how I worked up the nerve, in this economy, to renovate my kitchen, and why.

And speaking of the kitchen....

( every culture has a casserole... )

This week's a crazed one, with much to do before vincam arrives mid-week. I'll be back when I can...

1. 5,000 new word day. Can haz cookie? (it was on two different project but still -- 5,000 words! New!) Also, one interview down and done. OMFG tired.

2. Castle. Yeah. Still processing, but feel free to squee and I'll get back to you with my flailing and nitpicking. NF still the yummiest.

3. House. OMG Egan.... *pets poor Gregory*

4. Here, have a Caption This! feline photo...


(is it just me, or does this photo remind anyone else of ellen_datlow?)

5. I'm officially back to health -- taste buds have returned to normal. Dinner was paprika-and-graham crusted chicken breasts and green beans with fresh rosemary. Very yummy. Poured a Summerland Sauvignon blanc, which was an excellent choice; the green, citrusy freshness was a nice compliment to the herby beans and the delicate sweetness of the chicken. I need to remember to pick up some more of this for the rest of the summer's drinking.


And now I need to fall over. Oh, wait, I seem to have already done s..zzzz.....

1. And lo, the Flesh & Fire page proofs are finished. A number of minor corrections on my part, and a swift kick to the shins to whomever dropped all the italicized dialogue throughout the book (bad typesetter, no biscuit) but it looked pretty clean. And I didn't flinch while doing a close-read. That... was unexpected. And pleasing. (this probably means it sucks. But I'll stick my head in the sand and go la la la too late now)

2. In honor of this, I have a new icon. Yay!

3. Also, I have established a bolthole over on Dreamwidth (because I promised I would). You can find me there under the unimaginative name of LauraAnne_Gilman. Maybe this will teach people not to drop the "e"? Nah.... The name change is simply because "suricattus" was originally established as a fannish follow-along, not a professional presence. Now I have to make sure people can find me easily [or so my editor informs me). I'm still the meerkat though, and will still answer to that (or suri, although you may find me reverting back to 'meer' more often. Old-timers [Nea] will rejoice.) Right now, it's merely a mirror site, but I figured I'd let the Dreamwiders know.

4. And because I was Virtuous (and healthy again) and in need of a little stress-releasing eye-candy, I went with friends to see X-Men: Origins. As a summer genre-action flick, we give it a solid B+. So long as you don't let the plot-thought brain out, you'll have fun, and they do manage to make it all work. On the Estrogen Overload scale, I give it a fantabulous A-. It would have been an A except Hugh bulked up a little too much for my taste, to suit the character. Points were given, however, for nekkid Hugh doing running leaps over farming equipment. (Also, it was determined during dinner afterward that bourbon is better for you than soda. My fandom has Healthy Drinks. Srsly).

5. And, last, a recipe for Drop-in Dinner for Two
Take one doorbell. Ring unexpectedly. Add two chicken thighs, lightly baked, then topped with coarse-chopped tomato, sauteed garlic, fresh basil and thyme, and crumbled Greek feta, and finish under broiler.

Rather surprisingly good, especially when served with a lightly chilled chenin blanc.

And now, having done way too much today, I am going to table everything else until tomorrow, and go fall over....

knowing that I a) needed a real dinner (to offset the non-lunch lunch I had) and b) that my taste buds are still numb, I went deep into the 'strong flavors' recipe files.

1 chicken thigh, previously marinated with dijon mustard and then poached in white wine and chicken broth mixture, chopped coarse
1 cup couscous, cooked in chicken broth, and seasoned with fresh cracked black pepper
a handful of spinach and 4 cloves of garlic, sauteed in oil until wilted/golden

Toss together, and eat. Yum.... (and I could taste every bite, yay!)

Went to sleep last night around midnight, not having done any of the things I meant to do when I got home. Oh well. Sunday's a full day for working, right?

Er. Not so much. Woken up at 2am by the need to call 911 (not for me, don't worry) and didn't get back to bed until 3ish. Woke up again at 4 because -- having closed the window after that, it was too warm. Got out the fan and set it up. Went back to sleep,. Woke up again at 8am, morning near half-gone and still feeling groggy. Some days, the universe is just telling you to take it easy.

Of course, for me that means halving my to-do list, not tossing it altogether. Mostly I did a lot of housekeeping this morning, both physical and mental, stopping now to make lunch (cubed chicken breast, sauteed with sweet red peppers and grilled pineapple, with a splash of teriyaki sauce. Yum.) This afternoon, the manuscript calls to me, forlorn, like a singleton swan in mating season. And there's a large chunk of salmon that wants to be poached.

But first, some e-housekeeping:

Many of you asked if there was anything you could do to help Len Wein and his wife Chris when their house burned down earlier this month. Yes, there is. http://www.povonline.com/weinproject.htm (thanks to Bob and M'e for the link)

Meanwhile, BN.com has finally gotten STAYING DEAD updated to 'available' in their system, yay! Oh, and Amazon.com got on the stick, too! (it only took them two weeks, but then again, they had Other Trauma to clean up, first). And for those of you who prefer to shop elsewhere, Powells' is in the game too

And 24 hours more to enter the puntastic contest!

For my knitting peeps:
Top Ten Reasons Knitting is Better than Therapy (by Knitpurlgirl, via my sister Amy's blog)
__________________________________________________________
For the rest of you, a reminder that "Inferno" is available to either download as a pdf or read on-line at BookView Cafe. And here's a small teaser, to get you motivated....

P.B. took one look at the sea of bodies and skirted around them, not wanting to deal with any more
people today than he had to in order to finish off the job. He knew some humans on a social basis, but they
were Talent, magic-users. They could see beyond white fur, black claws, eyes that were cat-slitted and
the color of dried blood. He had no such faith in these human Nulls to do other than scream and point. Or
point weapons. Idiot humans.

Not that the Talent were any better, overall.

Humans were all annoying creatures.

_____________________________________________________________
And, possibly the last recipe until April:

quick and dirty yum

1 pound ground turkey, browned
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb peeled tomatoes, chopped, plus liquid from can
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup red wine
1 t. chili powder (hot!)
fresh cracked black pepper

Throw it all into a dutch oven or stockpot. Simmer for about an hour. Feeds two reasonably hungry people, with salad. With starch, would probably feed three people. Easy to double, easy to improvise around. I hesitate to call this chili, but it was pretty damn good.


And now I am off to do various and sundry things with various and sundry people. Be good, and if you can't be good, at least be original....

Monday we had 6+ inches of snow. Saturday I sat in the local park in jeans and a long-sleeved tee, soaking in the mild temps while doing editing-ish things. Ah, March, you confuse us so.... Is it time to start making sun tea? Hrm.... no, not yet. But soon!

I thinkthinkthink I have now caught up to everyone and everything owed e-mail or comments. If you were expecting to hear from me, and haven't, please let out a yelp now! And just in time to lose an hour of sleep tonight. *sigh* Ready, set, spring!

And now, the foodie portion of this post.

Spurred by curiosity, and an article in the NYT, I picked up some cube steaks this week and gave them a test-cook. The first one I brushed with oil and vinegar (for a shortcut just use Italian salad dressing) and slid into a heated skillet until it browned lightly on both sides. Served plain, with a green salad. Conclusion: texture and taste were both satisfying, if nothing special. Second go-round I cooked the steak with a chopped peeled tomato, layered it on a crusty roll and added and a slice of provolone. It made a very tasty steak sandwich. Total cost of the meat for both meals? $6

I deem cube steak a very useful recession-busting staple. Next go-round I plan to attempt the dreaded Chicken Fried Steak. Eeek.

Another inexpensive and really tasty meal even a kitchen-klutz could handle was tonight's graham-cracker crusted chicken breasts. Dip chicken breasts in either canola oil or egg whites and let the excess drip off, then dredge in graham cracker crumbs. Yes, really. Melt butter in a frying pan and cook the chicken until golden brown on each side. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let the chicken finish cooking (how long this takes depends on the thickness of the breast. That's all. The crumbs give the chicken a crunchy sweetness that went well with a Rhone red.

Also: never let me near your box of Triscuits. Man, I swear. meerkat-crack. Om nom nom nom gone. Oops.

/food neep

My mother made the original recipe last week, and I loved it so much I needed to try it myself. But, since this is me and I apparently cannot follow even the best recipe exactly-as-written... (in my defense, I didn't have all the specific ingredients, so I improvised. The original version was a little heavier.)

Short ribs not-so-Provençale

( the recipe, as improvised )
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Words... cannot describe how fabulous this is. And filling. The couch and a movie calls...

Having words with the felines this morning and I realized that "furry son of a bitch" really didn't work. What is a breeding cat called? Oh, a queen. Right. Well, that explains a lot, dunnit?

Back to work this morning, fortified with bagels and coffee. The apartment is unbelievably messy, but we're inching along toward deadline. But first, a few items:

stephen_dedman tagged me with ( the interview meme )


In the world outside, the Catholic Church is getting tighter, as Pope Benedict XVI revoked the excommunications of four schismatic bishops, including one whose comments denying the Holocaust have provoked outrage. Way to go, Bennie. Bring back that Old Time Religion. You're already advocating women-as-chattel-of-man, so what's next, forced conversions* and the stoning of non-believers? News flash: it's not the umpteenth century more. Going small-and-hardcore isn't going to win you any Crusades, and the wealthy aren't tithing their estates to you.....

But while I'll be watching Bennie and his extreme right-wing adherents carefully, I refuse to let it dim my mood. As I said to a friend overseas, there is a sense of 'we may survive' in the air here now. It won't last, but the lifting of the Bush malaise has been just amazing to feel, like knowing that the class bully and his cohort have been shipped off, at long last, to reform school....
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Dinner last night was extremely good, and deadly easy: Soak flounder fillet in teriyaki sauce and brown sugar and a dash of sesame oil. Heat skillet. Brown two cloves of garlic and a scattering of sesame seeds in safflower oil. Slide fillet into pan, cook over medium heat until flesh flakes easily. Plate and quickly cook string beans in same pan until they turn a more brilliant green. Nom nom nom. Boomer approved; the gonif tried to take it right off my plate.

I will not be having haggis tonight however, piped in or no. I had some on New Year's Day (no piper) an that's enough for the year.




*apparently, part of the recent concessions from the Church have included considering a Good Friday prayer calling for the conversion of Jews. I'm sure that will make many people soil themselves in ecstasy. Pagans and other-believers, this is your wakeup call; we may be the favored targets, but you're on the list too, I'm sure....

Party went, I think, remarkably well. Few leftovers, and everyone seemed to go away happy. All you can ask for, really. And, of course, the moment the last guest was out the door, Pandora was at my heel, demanding to be fed and adored...

for those curious, the menu:

truffle'd bruchetta with tomato and fresh dill
potato fritatta
beef spring rolls with a raspberry-chipolte dipping sauce
salmon mousse en filo [ a pain in the ass to make, but popular]

mini-cheesecakes
mint chocolate chip cookies
ginger meringues (I assume they were popular, since I didn't get any)
brownies (courtesy of MH)
boutique chocolates (courtesy of JH)

port
wine
cider
single malt

Menorah is flickering brightly in the window, and the dishwasher is washing along. And now I fall over go thud.