suricattus

The only thing as good as my mom's blintze souffle is my mom's blintze souffle leftovers for breakfast. And a cup of fresh-brewed coffee. *savors*

And work. Much much work today, this Tuesday-like-a-Monday....

The caption contest voting poll will be up later today. In the meanwhile, let's call this an Open Thread. Got anything you want to ask? Anything at all? Here's the time and the place...

I am making cheese mashed potatoes for lunch.

With a dark chocolate chaser.

Don't judge me.

in which Hal Duncan is too brilliant (again) for John C Wright to handle: http://notesfromthegeekshow.blogspot.com/2009/08/open-letter-to-john-c-wright.html

In which my first boss in publishing gets what he deserves:

http://www.nakedauthors.com/2009/08/silver-anniversary.html

(via http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/book_jackets/putnams_25th_anniversary_surprise_for_neil_nyren_124355.asp?c=rss) [yay, Neil!]

where I've been eating: http://www.tablany.com/
Elysian Fields lamb chops & braised shoulder w/spring onions, fava beans, baby turnips, lamb’s quarters & kashmiri-spiced jus *dies of the OMG*


and now that the concrud seems to have released my body from its fever-cold grip, I needs must get me to work...

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...

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!)

For those who wonder, it was Pandora the Duchess who was kitty insane at a painful hour this morning (6 am 'new time' but not according to my very tired brain).

Mostly I don't mind the time change for the same reason I don't get jet-lagged in most instances -- my sense of time is fluid to begin with, and so long as I've had a few hours of sleep I can function normally. But the first few mornings of getting out of bed when it's still dark were always painful. Thankfully, in my non-commuting life, I don't have to! Freelancing FTW!

(actually, waking up before the sun is out always flashes me back to summer vacations and going fishing with my dad. So it's a pleasant memory, and makes me crave Nature's Valley granola bars.)

And, in a rare moment of indulging my slothful ways, I then went back to bed until 10am. Then it was off to a Sekrit Hideaway sans internet connection to workworkwork until it was time to head over to Dovetail for dinner.

You must understand: I've wanted to go to this restaurant since it first opened to rave reviews. Alas, it was not to be, for I am a freelancer of only occasional paychecks, until I was IM'd out of the blue and informed that we had reservations to celebrate the fact that Flesh & Fire was finally into production.

I'm good with that. :-)

( beware: here be foodie talk )

And now, despite many things pending I need to respond to (yes, you), I need to go fall over and digest for the next 12 hours....

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

Peanut butter chips for breakfast seemed like a good idea when I woke up craving sugar.... but then I balanced it out with a homemade nonfat yogurt strawberry-banana smoothie. So that's okay, right?

Despite the meh yesterday overall, I still managed to get in about 1000 new words, and we're reaching a Turning Point. Yay. And there was Attempted Violence. And angst. Poor Bonnie. Life after college is just no fun at all. And then I did more words this morning, and then went off to do Away From Keyboard things, including having lunch with kradical during which we bitched about how slow our respective work is coming, and then parted to go hammer out More Words. Isn't it so exciting?

There's the thing about writing being a job that you don't realize until you're actually in The Life: sometimes it's just as crap as any other brain-eating job. The plot isn't making sense, the characters aren't behaving, you hate everything you type and sometimes even when everything's flowing, you just don't feel it.

This is where storytelling differs from Fine Art. We can't wait for inspiration to strike. When it's your job -- be it your sole job or side job -- you don't have that option. There are deadlines, and production schedules, and a carefully arranged publication master plan that, when one author delivers late, or defaults, has to be reworked madly to keep the system intact [some day I may do a post about that, dredging up all my scheduling horror stories from The Old Days.... any interest?]

So anyway, even on the meh days, the ones where you just want to crawl back into bed, or play tetris all day, or photocopy your posterior.... the writing still calls. The job still has to get done. (Of course, there is still time to play tetris. Or take a nap. Or, y'know, photocopy your posterior if that's what warms your cockles. Just don't let the boss see you.) We're the same as any other clock-watching office-dweller, in that regard. It's sort of comforting to think about: from my point of view, anyway. Some of you may now be depressed at how unglamorous and drudging alleged 'freedom' can be....

This, by the way, isn't a rant or a whinge. I knew the job was a job when I took it, and I'd honestly be damned uncomfortable [and remarkably unproductive] as an Artiste. Just commenting on the mehness of this week, and how I'm getting through it, one word at a time.

And I just got to use "truthiness" in dialogue. Go me! Suddenly, it starts to click again. 1400 words and rolling....


If I can hit 2,000+ [and, really, even if I don't] there is chicken pizza in the kitchen, waiting for me to add roasted garlic and fresh rosemary to it for dinner, and a bottle of chianti that really does need to be consumed. The week is definitely ending on an up note with that, yeah. :-)

Ah, Monday. Now that I'm trying to keep schedule with an actual 'regular' work-week again, Mondays are all sorts of filled with ...Mondayness. But I still have a really short commute and a very cool job, so I shan't complain.

For those of you itching for a hint of what's to come, there's an excerpt from Blood From Stone over at the Cosa Nostradamus On-Line. And, to get your lazy fingers clicking, LJers who comment there will be entered for a random drawing of copies of Curse the Dark and Bring it On in mass market form, a month before they're available in stores!


Had dinner last night at B Cafe, on the Upper East Side. Mussels and confit pig belly, and Carbonnade Flamande, oh my. Also, salsifis for the first time. Mmmm. Nice little place, solid food, excellent waitstaff, and they seem to have a courtyard in back for warmer weather.

And since it's been a while since my last wine confession:

The bottle we opened to celebrate the final revisions to FLESH AND FIRE was a 2004 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon, a gift from taikyoyo and the lj-less D. Really all I can say about this wine is that it was everything that is classic and good about a Napa Cabernet, and nothing bad.

I've also been drinking a 2005 Cote de Beaune-Villages from Camille Giroud. I picked this up for purely emotional reasons (Beaune was one of the towns I fell in love with while in Burgundy) and 2005 is an amazing year. My personal preference is for the darker fruit of Cote de Nuits, but this is soft, very classic-strawberry pinot noir, and worked very well as a chat-and-cook wine. I also put some of it into the risotto, to excellent effect. $25.

I was also given a bottle of Louis Jadot Beaujolais 2007 by a neighbor and while -- as close readers of the LJ will remember -- I'm not a fan of beaujolais as a rule, this was pleasant, and has excelled at every recipe it's been added to, including the short ribs mentioned last week. Around $10-15

Remember: don't put any wine you wouldn't drink into your food. Your taste buds will thank you.


and now, back to work, me. What's everyone else doing on this lovely Monday of Mondays?

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 )
----------------
Words... cannot describe how fabulous this is. And filling. The couch and a movie calls...

Don't you know I shouldn't eat ice cream? Or nuts?

"YES PECAN!" An Inspirational Blend! Amber Waves of Buttery Ice Cream With Roasted Non-Partisan Pecans.

If you decide to indulge in some “Yes Pecan” in Scoop Shops during the month of January, Ben & Jerry’s is donating the proceeds to the Common Cause Education Fund.

Common Cause is a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization founded as a vehicle for citizens to make their voices heard in the political process. They are committed to honest, open and accountable government, as well as encouraging citizen participation in democracy. Their Education Fund conducts research, education, and outreach activities. Check out http://www.commoncause.org to take action.


Mmmm. Butter Pecan with activist sauce. *loads up on Lactaid and Aleve*

In less potentially painful news, the outline for MUSTANG is to Madame Editrix. Final draft of HARD MAGIC, complete with production matter, is off to Madame Editrix. Various and sundry things have been signed and sent back. Tomorrow, we are back to PACK OF LIES, while waiting for the editorial shoe to drop on VINEART WAR. Maybe I'll buy a pint of Yes Pecan. Or maybe a half-gallon....

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.

submitted without comment, because I...really don't know what to say.


EtA: Jeebus,you people will click on anything! *grins evilly*

Fear and praise me, for I have (successfully) made steamed pork dumplings*. And lo, they are yummy (still working on the 'looks pretty' part).

( the recipe, more or less )

So I am sitting here in a beam of sunlight, drinking tea and eating dumplings and reading a book purely for pleasure. I so love the day-after-Draft. :-)



*my previous success have been fried, including last week's OMG scary-delish butternut squash wontons