Page indexing fix? What page indexing fix? 😒

It's been quite a while. The year is 2017 and we're all still trying to digest Donald J. Trump as pre...pres... pr... the hell with it. In much better news, spring is around the corner. It's still cold but the days are longer now, and the warm hint of a breeze here and there makes promises I know the weather will keep... eventually. Welcome to March.

Nacos e Noc's: Sonhos de cenoura

Nacos e Noc's: Sonhos de cenoura

Back to the basics

Ok, I'm interrupting my two-week nap to post the oft-promised basic bread recipe I use with my Zo. It's very simple in terms of ingredients and methodology. I'm actually deviating from the basics today to experiment with all-purpose flour. I thought of playing it safe and using a half-and-half mix of bread flour and all-purpose, but what kind of half-a$$ed experiment would that be? Naah. I'm going all the way. Hopefully the bread will too... Meanwhile here is the tried-and-true basic recipe:

Ingredients

• 1-1/3 cups (minus) ---Water
• 1 --------------------Egg (room temp.)
• 4-1/4 cups-----------Bread flour
• 4 Tbsp.---------------Sugar
• 2 Tbsp.---------------Dry milk
• 1 tsp.-----------------Salt
• 2-1/2 Tbsp.-----------Unsalted butter (room temp.)
• 2 tsp.-----------------Active dry yeast

Directions

Measure the flour by spooning it into the measuring cup so it's light and fluffy. Note: be accurate in all measurements. This is important. For the unsalted butter, the equivalent is 1/8 of a cup PLUS half of that, for a total of 3/16 ths. :) All ingredients must be at room temperature.

Crack egg into 2-C measuring cup. Add a bit of water and mix it so it's runny - do NOT beat it. Add more water until it reaches the 1-1/3 mark. Mix well. Do not beat the egg. Poor thing needs a delicate touch.. Pour into machine basket.

Carefully add the flour onto the liquid in the basket. Cover well, so there will be no liquid showing. Add butter, sugar and dry milk to the SIDES of the basket, on top of the flour. Then add the salt, placing it in an isolated corner so as NOT TO TOUCH the other ingredients (well, except the flour, bien sûr :). Make a groove in the middle of the flour mound and add the yeast on top... yeast must NOT TOUCH any other ingredients.

Turn machine on, set it on the basic bread program and good luck!

-30-

As I previously mentioned, I'm using all-purpose flour today. I will post the results, although I still recommend bread flour, which has more protein and gluten. If you make bread often, like I do, and the flour starts getting expensive, you can always cut the bread flour with the all-purpose... or can you? Your answer later ... (I've been watching way too many season enders on TV...)

Speaking of TV... there seems to be much whining and groaning about Dr. Who's distinct (and judicious) departure from the (gooey) romantic story lines that permeated much of David Tennant's tenure. My two cents: suck it up, people! This is a simple, basic, family friendly sci-fi show, not a prime-time soap. And now that I've announced to the civilized world I'm an unrepentant Dr. Who fan... see you soon with a trenchant outcome analysis of the great bread experiment.

-Results Analysis and Future Research-

Hmm... Hubby and I have our mouths full of bread right now ... and neither one of us can tell the difference between the breads! Seems that the all-purpose flour yields exactly the same results as the bread flour... This may be due to the egg we add to the recipe. I'm not about to experiment with that, but next time I will mix the flours in equal proportion.

-Conclusion-

Follow the original recipe with bread flour first, to give yourself the best possible chance of getting good results and working out the kinks, and then, once you're confident with your (inevitable) recipe adjustments, go wild! :))

Mother's Day

Of Moms and Breadmakers

Mother’s day today. I’m very lucky to have a truly wonderful mom. A strong woman and remarkably talented cook who has tirelessly tried to nurture my occasionally faltering love of cooking and baking. En passant, she also taught me that I should always clean up my mess and that whining about it is not a cost-effective strategy. A life lesson, to be sure :)

Perhaps this is why I think baking is a wonderfully cathartic experience. Even writing about it is comforting. It certainly beats the stuffing out of vomiting your inner demons onto the messy floor of your public blog. Ok, I’m being (really) judgmental. If writing poetry about your shredded heart, tetric soul and vanishing prospects helps you cope, may you get all the online validation you need. Me, I’ll tell you about baking bread. In my Zojirushi. Which I love.

I’m a late-comer to the bread-machine crowd, but like many converts I’ve become more papist than the pope. Within its obvious limits, the thing is a true godsend (must… knock off… the religious… references…). Based on informal polling and admittedly anecdotal information extracted from online forums and often-harassed friends, I’ve come to the conclusion that most machines currently on the market do a decent job of baking bread.

Besides my Zojirushi (which I love) I’ve tried mom’s Cuisinart. It’s bigger than my Zo (actually quite a bit bigger, although the basket is paradoxically smaller), has only one paddle, a vertical basket and limited but adequate programming options. It is also harder to handle… It took quite a bit of physical strength and ultimately a screwdriver to adjust the basket and make it more easily removable. I’ve also seen some online complaints about the opposite, namely the basket not being tight enough and coming loose during the kneading process. I’m happy to report that after the adjustments, my mom’s Cuisinart is working beautifully. Friends with Black and Decker machines also report very satisfactory outcomes and much happiness with their bread. So, did my better-half waste his money buying me the Lamborghini of bread machines? Most emphatically no… :))

For a nice review and some comparison testing check out this rather ambitious posting in the Bread Machine Digest.

The Zo is compact, virtually noiseless, very, very easy to handle and remarkably versatile. And the bread! So good! It is also very consistent, once you “master” the operational steps… The machine itself is functionally simple and user-friendly. A nice HCI job! The manual is a bit stingy with the recipes and programming information, but at least it is clear and actually helpful. The Zo comes with a DVD that takes you through the process of baking a basic loaf step by step. It reminded me a bit of those robotic Dharma project videos in Lost (how I miss Lost), but it was very helpful. Follow the instructions – you’ll be sorry if you don’t.

Their basic process works for all machines and is a sine qua non of consistently successful bread making. Make no mistake, there is a process. I don’t claim it’s the only one, but it works and yields consistent results. Good, mouth-watering, yummy results. So by now you’re wondering: when will the blah blah come to a merciful end and the recipe begin? Hmm. Next Sunday. Sorry. But at least now you will have an excuse to do a bit of wailing and curse a false idol or two in your blog…

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms and most especially to mine, who is, of course, the Best Mom. Ever. ♥

Sad Monday

My kitty Meow.. miss her.

Pecan cinnabun Easter Sunday

After much searching, I've finally happened upon the quasi-perfect pecan cinnamon bun recipe. I say "quasi" because I want to account for the possibility that somewhere out there lurks a truly ideal recipe that will make you cry with happiness.. This may not be your nirvana, but I'm happy to report that these buns have elicited a few tears of joy (mine actually, when I realized that all that bloody work had indeed paid off).

But I'll let you judge for yourself.

Note: This recipe is taken from a contribution (Cinnamon Rolls III) to Allrecipes.com. I'm transcribing it here with a few notes, because I found it really confusing to go through all their different versions and comments. So all you have to do is TRUST ME and start baking. I make the dough in my bread machine (more later on my obsessive and rather unnatural love for my Zojirushi) and then let it rise and finish off the recipe.

If you use a bread machine you have to make the dough with all the caveats proper to it: liquids first, flour on top of liquids, none of the other ingredients touching the liquids OR the yeast. Each dry ingredient placed on the sides. I added a tiny tiny pinch more yeast, but just a bit. I used the kind for bread machines.

Pecanbuns (16 rolls)

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups bread flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

Filling

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Icing

• 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons milk

Directions

1. In the pan of your bread machine, combine water, melted butter, vanilla pudding, warm milk, egg, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast. (ok, order matters as I said above… incorporate butter in the milk, make sure it’s not too hot).
2. Set machine to Dough cycle; press Start. When Dough cycle has finished… HERE I let it rise for two hours or so… turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 17x10 inch rectangle. Spread with softened butter. In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over dough.
3. Roll up dough, beginning with long side. Slice into 16 one inch slices and place in 9x13 buttered pan. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes (Note: I found it works better if you just let it rise until it doubles, typically three hours, depending on your kitchen.)
4. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. While rolls bake, stir together cream cheese, softened butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and milk. Remove rolls from oven and top with frosting. I found 18 minutes was perfect, but my oven tends to run hot.
   

Caramel sauce for caramel pecan topping

I make my own, but you can find a good one here. I strongly advise you to use white sugar for caramel. Brown sugar has too many impurities and will not give you that "authentic" caramel taste :)

Enjoy. I have a batch rising right now... :)))

Another year, another blog...

Hmm.. It seems I've missed a couple of years. It's been a while. I think the problem is that I'm not vain or deluded enough to think anyone cares about my clever musings / philosophical meanderings / rapturous insights (were that I had any). Can't share my reno/decorating tips because in spite of spending an inordinate amount of time watching House Hunters and Sarah's House I don't have anything worth noting that could realistically be of any use to anyone. I'm mildly embarrassed by my artistic efforts and sadly devoid of amusingly clever observations on human nature and/or pet behaviour. I suppose I could find rich fodder for commentary at work, but that would be SO inappropriate. Ahem.

I would let this blog die a merciless death, but alas, I'm quite fond of the title. So, I'll find something to imprint on the Internet, whether it likes it or not. I'll start with fulfilling my long-standing promise of posting the recipe for lemon icebox squares (with thanks to Dianne H., who kindly passed along the original recipe). To anyone grappling with diabetes, diets and/or citrus allergies, please move on... nothing to see here.

Note: I've renamed the recipe to be more descriptive of the finished product. I'd add my name to it, but even my narcissism has limits.

Lemon Mousse Squares

Crust

2 Cups Graham Cracker crumbs

(or 20 Graham crackers firmly crushed)

1/2 Cup Brown sugar

1/3 Cup Melted butter

Mix together and press in a 9x9 pan or 13x8 (save a few crumbs for the top).

Filling

1 Large can of evaporated milk (Carnation)

1 Pkg. x8 servings (or 2x4) lemon Jello dissolved in ½ cup boiling water

1 Lemon: juice and rind

1 Orange: juice and rind

1/2 Cup White sugar

** Have all ingredients ready at the point of beating milk

Beat milk until thick. Note, this may take a while -- do not despair. It has to thicken, not just "foam." Fold in sugar, juice, rind and Jello. Spread evenly on first mixture and sprinkle the top with crumbs.

Leave in fridge for at least 1 hour to chill. Cut into squares once set. I like putting them in the freezer for a bit. They're light, but tasty. Truly addictive, if you like lemon. Yum. If you do make it, let me know how it turns out.

Well, this well has run dry for now. Sad, I know. Perhaps if you tell me your problems I can offer you terribly useful suggestions on how to run your life. Nothing that actually requires professional help please -- although I'm an undeservedly happy person, any felicitous developments and outcomes in my life are almost exclusively due to blind luck and other people's infinite patience with my idiosyncrasies. Ok, fine, I won't try to run your life. Just a gratuitous hint: if you're just starting to get your pennies together check out Rob Carrick, either in the Globe or on his eponymous FB site for some really good basic financial advice. I wish I had received some sort of financial education in my younger and more impressionable years. Parents, take heed. I'm actually not joking on this one.

"Next," the caramel pecan cinnamon bun recipe that *I swear* tastes identical to a certain well-known commercial brand that I love but will not mention here for fear of swift legal/economic reprisal. Such is life. The week after that I will tackle the unified field theory and offer some suggestions on how to actually achieve cold fusion. Stay tuned.

Till Sunday,

Redcat

85 Recipe Road

Yes, it's time to post some recipes I'm considering for inclusion in le menu. So here goes a lemony recipe that has been empirically tested on unsuspecting guine... erm...coworkers and friends (I'm actually baking the lemon almond cookies as I type.. yumm. I don't remember where I got this recipe, so I'll randomly credit my mom, Adelaide Redondo in Edmonton, AB, who generously gave me most of my good recipes anyway (and who has to be the greatest cook in the western hemisphere... :)

Warning: these are not exactly part of a sensible health plan :)

Lemon Almond Cookies

3/4 Cup butter (softened)
1 Cup sugar
1 egg (large)
1 1/2 TB lemon zest (freshly grated)
6 TB finely ground almonds
1 1/2 Cup flour

Cream together the butter and sugar with electric mixer. After it's smooth, beat in the egg, zest and almonds. Beat in the flour a little at a time and beat dough until it is well combined. Chill it in the fridge for two hours, covered.

After chilling, form dough into walnut-size balls and place 2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Dip bottom of a glass in some sugar and use it to flatten balls into about 2 in diam. cookies.

Bake in middle of pre-heated oven at 350 F for 10 to 12 minutes (no more or they'll be hard) until golden around the edges (not brown :)

Shoo gluttonous husband off ...oops, those are my notes.... :)



Oh, where's my head... what kind of blog would this be w/out the keywords for my oriental friends?? Chinese (cookie), Peking (duck), Mandarin (oranges)... ;)

So COLD.....

I've been sadly neglectful of this blog. Although the china/food/dinner party is still happening (yes, in this lifetime), these days when I get home, all I want to do is curl up with a good book and complain about the weather. I need some sun! You know, yellow dwarf, planet revolves around it, irradiates all sort of wavelengths, especially in the infrared range? Let's see more of that! I'm getting sick and tired of "arctic air mass," "below seasonal averages," "northerly flow" and "wet and unstable."

Seriously! I have a banana tree at home that's starting to look like ragweed -- I actually (no lie) harvested some sort of alien yellow mushrooms off the soil in my hibiscus pot! Enough with the cold and the rain...If I hear "global warming" one more time...

And since I'm already ranting, what's with Ottawa's tulip festival? Yes, it's very nice, stunning views, great international pavillion, good food, but where are the tulips??? I expected endless vistas of undulating colours, awe-inspiring beds of different petal varieties, people traipsing through the... ok, perhaps not that last one :)

Alas, there were only a few beds, maybe four or five colours at best, and endless waves of.... grass! Yes, the trees were in flower, it was nice, but... Well, perhaps next year. I know they've had financial trouble lately, perhaps I'll send them a few bulbs for next spring.

Cat and I actually had a lot of fun when we went on Saturday. It was a beautiful day -- almost warm!

Skipping dinner....

....and going right to dessert! Yes, I'm good at that... Continuing with the dinner party saga (by the time a morsel of food meets a guest palate, we'll be talking EPIC), I've decided to deal with the many indecisions that sabotage my ongoing planning by sticking to something I know well: dessert.

This week I dusted off my dessert books, consulted the mom-in-law (awesome baker), bought sugar, eggs, lemons, exotic creams and other diabetes-inducing ingredients and set to the arduous task of experimenting with different recipes. I've already decided on the chocolate beet cake as a staple and mama's chocolate mousse with Port as a finisher... what I need is something that will appeal to those alien/mutant/sadly damaged amongst us who don't care for... for... ggnnkk... chocolate (I can't believe my keyboard just survived that sentence without disintegrating into subatomic-hell particles.)

Cat was (not exactly unwillingly) recruited as a guinea pig and I proceeded to measure, sift, beat, blend, mix, curse, peel, grate and burn...er... bake my way into icebox lemon dessert and lemon bars. I prefer the first (nice, moussy, lemony and light), while Cat prefers the latter (substance, he says, has to weigh down my stomach, he says). Hmmm.., I murmur.

Speaking of delicious (and I digress, I know, but this is worth it) I've been looking for a good sweet and sour soup since I died and went to soup heaven at The Peking in Leicester, if you recall from the previous UK-trip blog. We haven't found anything better here in Ottawa, but I'm happy to say that our fave Chinese take-out makes a mean almost-as-good s&s soup. The place is called Hing Lung at Dalhousie and St. Andrew, and they also make the BEST, simply the best, better-than-all-the-rest (thanks, Tina) Szechuan bean curd we ever had. Again, not getting paid, cajoled or blackmailed into advertising, just like to spread the good word about good food when I find it. We're still looking for good sweet&sour in this here town, so if any of you have suggestions, addresses or good stories, let me know.

I would get back to the lemons, but alas, that was a long time ago, and besides, the wench is dead. Which is to say (whooo was that a ...BROAD reference?...that wuz just for you Steve :) that Cat wolfed down both desserts in record time and now I'm ready to move on to ... hmmm lemon almond cookies. Ok, I'm going overboard on the citrus thing... perhaps I was a sclerotic scurvy-infested sailor in another life.

So... dessert is shaping up. I would also like something with a nice sauce on it, but that will depend on the season... warm boozy sauce in the winter, a nice coulis in the summer... who knows? Ok, you putative guests, and you know who you are, this is your chance to put in your two cents. I can't promise I won't ignore your suggestions but I can promise not to laugh. Ok, I can't, but nevertheless I would much appreciate your contributions. And if I don't "see" you before the 14th, Happy Valentine's Day!! (including the visitor from Guatemala... Guatemala? Well, if you pay your way here, you're welcome for dinner and bring us some coffee!! ...hmmmm coffeeeee....:))

I need a mousse...

...or is that a muse? One good thing about being totally uninspired and neglecting your blog is that now you (and by you, gentle reader, I mean me) are now fully acquainted with writer's block. Why is that good? I could say, wax poetic mayhap, but it all seems so hard right now... (lifts trembling hand to fevered brow...)

The dinner-party planning is proceeding.... slowly. I'm worried about logistics and ridiculous details (do tablecloths have a thread count? Do I trust my beer-swillin' friends with the Baccarat? Do I know where the Baccarat is? Speaking of which....OO la la, la beauté n'est pas raisonnable? What the...? Advertising is going insane...) OMG Battlestar Galactica is on! Oops, sorry buds, I'm so outta here...

Happy 2007! Feliz Ano Novo! Joyeux..yea yea...

First: The dinner party

Yes, another year and getting closer to the dreade... erm... much-anticipated dinnerpartytime. I have cloth, I have dishes, I'm working on the crystal and I'm coercing my friends into bringing their own silver...as a tithe. Ha ha ha. Ha. No, really. I have those covered too.

I'm sure this is all a huge surprise to you gentle reader, as I have not posted for many a fourtenight (ME for those of you anal-retentives who are thinking of inundating my inbox with spelling suggestions and mean-spirited cackles of orthographic superiority). Anyhoos (really, just control yourselves) I have indeed not been neglecting my hostess planning duties and my brain has been busily working on those details that make or break a truly elegant function, such as the crucial (and oh so oft neglected!) issue of chargers vs. placemats. The truly discerning amongst ye (ME ibid) of course already know the answer. In a most felicitous example of serendipity gone wild, the Spode store downtown is selling nice gold chargers for $1.99 ea. instead of the regular usurary 8 buckz or some such. Unfortunately, in a blatant example of stupidity gone even wilder, I neglected to buy some the last time I was there. What can I say, I had been to the cinnabon store and was suffering major sugar-rush neuron shutdown.

I'll keep you updated on my second excursion to aforementioned china store.

Second: Our trip to England

YEESS!!!!! What a GREAT TIME we had!!! We walked, we shopped, we dined, we visited St. Paul's Cathedral (the unfortunate setting of my cowardly behaviour but more on that later), we travelled up North and took in a soccer game, oops football match, we ate full English breakfasts, some delicious fish & chips, we visited the Space Centre in Leicester and then we shopped some more.

Oh, and let's not forget one of the best epicurean experiences EVER! In Leicester, we happened upon a most amazing Chinese restaurant, The Peking. What can I say: the sweet and sour soup was the BEST I ever had (and Cat concurs with me here), the fried rice was simply sublime, and the beef era de comer e chorar por mais. (For you non-lusophones, I just wrote something about eating and crying with ineffable happiness.) Cat was equally impressed with his tofu dishes. We chose the special pre-set meal and it was so much cheaper than their regular fare that we thought we would be getting smallish portions, but nothing was further from the truth. We were well well served!

And speaking of SERVICE.... what a pleasant surprise!!!! Ladies & Gents, we were treated with the utmost courtesy, given free seconds, assiduously helped and smiled at... WOW! We even got a cool 2007 calendar when we left! I will make a point of going back next time I travel to the UK. Lest ye suspicious minds think I'm getting some sort of bonus for advertising the place, or that I'm related in some way to those good people... I'm not, and I wish! Yummmm...



Why Leicester you ask? The UK National Space Centre! Yep, we went and had a terrific time. They happened to be in the midst of a busy Dr. Who weekend, so the place was full of kids (including the big kids :) and rather suspicious, odd-looking (possibly even non-carbon-based) life forms.

One of us (the tall one with the stripy scarf) was mistaken for a certain Dr. and threatened within an inch of his life, as you can see by the rather plungy object perilously near his carotid.














Well, the place is amazing! I learned quite a bit about the early space program and the current UK and European Mars projects (no, they haven't heard from Beagle II yet... sneef). We also learned about underwear-hungry bacteria (click on pic of Cat pointing) and the evolution of space suits.




If you ever go, be sure to check out their spaceship landing simulation! We waited in line for almost an hour and I have to tell you, IT WAS SO WORTH IT!! I just about screamed as we "crash landed" on an inhospitable world (ok, ok, I did scream) zooming through the atmosphere and crashing through ice mountains. WOW!! What an experience!! We LOVED it!!!




Ok, so I still have a lot to say about the delectable shopping (hint: it's true that the regular stuff is way more expensive in the UK, but the designer duds are CHEAPER!) Yes ladies, hold on tight to your YSL and Dolce & Gabbana, I fool you not! My wonderful husband did buy me my heart's desire, TWO pairs of really funky (and yet oh-SO-classy!) Docs but I must confess that a part of my left ventricle is still stubbornly attached to a pair of pumps in Covent Garden.... sneef. Sneef. I think I have lost those heart cells forever. And by forever, I mean next season.



More on St. Paul's, the gallery of whispers and my abject cowardice next week, aka acrophobia ruins my fun.... gnnkkkxxxx...

Anyways, feast your eyes on some oddly hungry bugs...:) No, don't get your knickers in a knot, they won't be invited to the dinner party.... :))

Takin' off eh?

...or the most excellent adverntures of two Canucks in London... YESS!!! Praise the gods and all assorted hangers-on in the holy firmament, Cat and I are blowing this joi... er... leaving our lovely home to spend a few days galivating in the UK. Your perspicacious powers of observation have no doubt already told you that I didn't update this site last Sunday. Yep, just finishing off a horrendous week of assignments, assignments and more assignments. Oh, did I mention...ASSIGNMENTS???!!

Whining & Dining

No. 1 perp on most wanted list for heinous crimes against china. He knows what he did!

This is not going well... Three weeks into the PLAN and the brie is hitting the fan. I have made little progress on the wine thing (right now Plan B, befriend an oenophile and manip... erm... delegate, is looking good). I also haven't decided on the style of china, and the much-touted filet lace tablecloth I so judiciously scored at the vintage sale last week seems to be too *B*&%^@# SMALL. As some people I know would say, la moutarde me monte au nez...


To continue this deliciously low litany of woes (lifts trembling hand to fevered brow), this blog is a visual desert, since Cat has not yet coughed up a comic strip and I have been too laz..busy to select/scan/upload pictures. Soo... I decided to dip my toesies in the frigid waters of china-arranging and put some plates together to see if the mix-and-match thing would fly with anybody. I did away with the flash and used a tripod to avoid glare and add warmth. Looks a little too baroque to me, but with the right crystal, it just might set off the expensive top-o'-the-line designer clothes my invitees will undoubtedly be wearing. Right, guests? Right.

I will be gathering people's opinions on the plate combinations shown here and make a decision based on yays, nays, ers..., and incidences of shifty eyes accompanied by overbright smiles and dubious declarations of sudden emergencies. As a bonus, I include a mug of the no. 1 on my most-wanted list of china-destroyers, Cinzano (top right). Did I mention the leettle episode with the 200-year-old Limoges? Yes, I think I did.

Anyway, the first mix-and-match combinations are all Wedgwood charger, Limoges plates. The one on top is pretty but looks too precious.


The one below left is simpler. Too much red perhaps? How about the one on the right? The dessert plate is the "Garden of Allah" pattern, which has a nice blue that picks up the Wedgwood Crown Sapphire. Yes, I did tell you I was a China geek.




I'll leave these here so people can come and visit them. I know I will (see above). Please let me know what you think. I can still go all stylistic and "simple"with the Rosenthal, which is basically white with a really nice engraved gold border. Or I can match everything, but what's the fun in that?

Cat and I are also serious Halloween aficionados. I know the thing is long over but I can't resist posting a couple of shots. Yes, I'm wearing a tail coat. With tails. (Oh and those aren't my hips, they're the TAILS.) Cat looks dangerously menacing but I was the one who made a poor kid shriek. No, really BWAAA HAHAHA HAAA


and...



Next week... Results of china poll and whether I care. Also, the menu is taking shape. Some recipes for invitee (and your) approval, including Adelaide Shrimp Rissoles. Hmmm....

Of Madeira cutwork, filet lace and stained perfection

AH soo.. I have noticed a soupçon of incredulity (and a few hints of glutonous greed) amongst some of my so-called friends, who have the temerity to doubt the outcome of this most excellent dinner-party venture. One of them even mentioned something about midterm diversionary tactics (aka procrastination), or some such nonsense. Pftt!, I say to you, faithless non-invitees. Yep, you'll have to labour long and hard to get back into that gold-trimmed, hand-scripted, Martha-approved seating plan.

But enough about those ingrates. Today Cat and I went to a vintage clothing show at the local Chateau Frontenac and I took the opportunity to look for a vintage, hand-made tablecloth, some beautiful (yet practical) wisp of diaphanous (yet sturdy) fabric that would set off the Limoges (or Rosenthal, I haven't decided yet -- in fact, depending on the numbers, Lenox Aristocrat may be de rigueur. Take that, you Globe and Mail ersatz hostess! No el-cheapo italian stoneware here!). Some may call me obsessive (ok, many already do so -- frequently) but I think good food deserves great china. But where was I, ah yes, the tablecloth.

See, here's the thing. I have some gorgeous ones already. Most are family heirlooms -- beautiful linen, intricate embroidery, French filet lace or Madeira cutwork (the genuine articles, too), but these are way way too good to eat on. Not like you can rub padded stitching with salt and soda to remove those inevitable wine stains. I mean, I already have to suffer through the utensil scratches on the Limoges ok? But I digress. The vintage clothing show: Some of the vendors had gorgeous cloths for sale, but they were expensive (as they should be) and ...pristine. Aack. I already have pristine, what I need is almost-but- less-than-perfect! I despaired. I sighed. I walked around with a heavy heart and even heavier purse (inadvertently brought all my keys with me). And then...

...there it was! Filet lace! Handmade! No tears, breaks, frayed ends, nothing but a couple of gorgeous near-invisible yellow stains near the centre. Marked down to ten bucks! Yes! Canadian! Dollars! TEN! Someone make a movie! (Miracle on Rideau street..?). So now my friends can eat, drink, be merry and be pigs, too! Am I the perfect hostess or what?

Ok, so there is the small problem of matching this rectangular jewel to my very round table, but what the heck... I need new furniture... and there's this leetle darling antique store going outta business on Wellington st...

I've yet to decide whether I'll be going for art nouveau sleek (matching service, Rosenthal) or for mix-and-match rococo elegance (pretty much everything else). I put a few plates together and took pictures (because I'm a china nerd), so I'll be uploading them soon. I'll also include a picture of my feline china-breaking bandit (aka, 200-year-old Pouyat bites the dust) and I'm still begging my hyper-talented hubby to let me publish one of his famous Droid Life cartoons. Please honey??

Next week: Decisions on the plates, choosing the chargers and embryonic thoughts on, what else, food. Ah yes, the wine. I'm still working on that. Turns out there's ... ahem... a rather abundant set of data on wine out there. Not all of it clear. Or concise. Or rational, but that's another story, for another time.

Good Food Goes Fast

Some time ago, while watching a friend scarf down a pizza in exactly 30 seconds, I realized that I hadn't thrown a truly elegant dinner party in years. Oh ok, I never did throw a truly elegant anything, with the possible exception of a romantic dinner for my husband back when I was still trying to impress him (totally wasted effort, since he doesn't know Limoges from Made in China, but what the heck, I liked it). I went home and stared at my impressive collection of cookbooks, fine china and elegant crystal... all in boxes. Yes, I'm just starting a new job and so far no space, no furniture and no haute socialites to befriend and invite to an elegant soirée. Then again, I have met a few people who definitely show pseudo-snob tendencies (pizza-scarfer notwithstanding). I must cultivate them and encourage such pedantic leanings. For the sake of my china. And my cookbooks, all thousand and fifty two of them, a living testament to my unfortunate hoarding habits.

I have made an early New Year's resolution to throw a magnificent dinner party within the next year and invite all my friends (perhaps even some acquaintances if necessary). Unlike the luminaries recently featured in the Globe and Mail, who resort to professional caterers, florists and wait-staff (!!!!), I will plan it all myself, from the madeira cutwork tablecloth to the judicious mix-and-matching of the china (crud! I still have to get some decent cutlery) and the thoughtful and socially sensitive intrincacies of the seating plan. Ah yes. I will also plan (and execute) the menu and choose the wines. This last part may prove somewhat problematic since my knowledge of wine is rather limited. I know grapes are involved and so is stuff like "overtones" and "bouquet." That's ok. I mean, how hard could it be? That's why we have the Internet, right? Don't know sumthin,' google it. Right. I'm ready. Next week, the choosing of the cloth.