Tyroshi Cherry Brandy

 Ok, so this really has nothing to do with the Tyroshi of A Game of Thrones - but the recipe for Tyroshi Pear Brandy from A Feast of Ice and Fire was such a success, that I am inspired to create more varieties with fruits at their peak of seasonal ripeness...

And so, the idea of Ranier Cherry Brandy was bantered about Qasa Marianne* one fine evening. The very next day, this happened:

I mixed some leftover cherries in heavy syrup (sans syrup), about 1/2 lb of ranier cherries, and 1/4 cup of tart dried cherries from Trader Joes, and added the finest cheap off-brand brandy that money could buy save.

It's in the back of the pantry for a month, until the fruit comes out, and then keep it sealed until, oh, let's say September.  I am already thinking about the fruits about to come in peak season: apricots, peaches, plums...  I'm going to need a lot more brandy!!

* Mi Qasa es su Casa.

Best GIF in the West

#70 Roman Peaches in Honey-Cumin Sauce

I forgot to take a picture of the peaches before preparing them, so I did a quick search on Wikimedia Commons where I stumbled across this little slice of awesomeness!

It's entitled Capuchin squirrel monkey, two guinea pigs, a blue tit and an Amazon St. Vincent parrot with Peaches, Figs and Pears in a landscape, oil on canvas painting by Jakob Bogdany, c. 1710-20

Jakob Bogdani [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

HOLY COW was this dish unexpectedly flavorful.  I mean, everyone loves peaches... even if you hate the fuzzy skin, the sweet fruit meats inside are just tart and juicy and delicious and appealing.*

Not to give the recipe away (because you really should pick up a copy of A Feast of Ice and Fire for yourself and support the authors...) but the ingredients include not only honey and cumin but vinegar. 

Whoa! What results from this bit of kitchen alchemy is not a dessert... I repeat... this is not a dessert.

This recipe goes into the arsenal.  For a quick and relatively easy way to WOW people, serve this as a side dish to roast Turkey or Chicken.

Would also complement pork loin, provided the pork is not prepared with strong spices.  For example, I wouldn't serve this with the lime-cumin pork roast (believe it or not) but I would serve this with breaded fried pork chops.

What's that?  I haven't share the pork-lime cumin recipe with you yet?  Hoooohooo!  I will have to add that one to the list!


* Ok, so Fine, I'm sure SOMEONE doesn't like peaches. Be a spoilsport.  See if I care.**
** (sniff) I care.

Scarab Feather Earrings

This isn't new but I am wearing these today so I thought I'd post them.

I made these earrings about a dozen years ago, soon after moving to New Mexico.  Turqoiuse scarabs, silver mandalas and silver dangling feathers.

I know, they're clipons* which isn't the coolest thing ever but in my defense I started making my own earrings after I injured my right ear by getting a pierced earring caught, tearing the hole partially but not fully.

My ear seems to be healed today, all these years later, but you can always wear clip-ons if you need/want to.

* I have eight piercings.  One in my right ear. 6 in my left ear.*
** Yes, that's only seven.

Happy Memorial Day!

By Chris Creagh (Own work)
[CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Gargoyle 
Magdalen College,  Oxford,  England

Bonus Recipe: Garlic Kale

I am lucky to have friends with green thumbs and gardens, who like to gift me with their green bounty.  (Thanks, Wendeleh!)

This harvest is kale - one of the yummiest and healthiest greens you can come by.  A lot of people juice kale, but I'd like to share with you a recipe from my as-yet unpublished* cookbook:

Wilt that bitch.

Unsure of how to prepare that fresh vegetable? Wilt that bitch!

Coat your cast iron pan with olive oil, add 2 cloves of minced garlic, pile on the fresh leaves and then go make a blog post or two.  Come back to it, stir it, then continue to update your blog.  *cough* Or, you know, whatever it is that you do that only takes about 5 or 10 minutes.  Sprinkle with more oil and with garlic powder, Wilt that bitch a little more, then serve!

Yum!  And remember kids: You can always add Parmesan cheese when you 

Wilt

That

Bitch!  

 
* and as yet unwritten

Bonus Recipe: Banana Apricot Muffins

I made both muffins and bread from this recipe, but the muffins were far superior.  The greased muffin tin allows the oil to seep into more surface are on the muffins, and that made all the difference.  The bread is tasty too, but a little more dry. 

Oven at 350

Sift together in a big bowl:
* 3 scoops of Whey protein powder*
* 1 3/4 cups flour
* 2 1/4 tbsp baking soda
*1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix together in another bowl
* 1/3 cup butter, VERY soft
* 2/3 cup sugar

When they are mixed well, add in:
* 3 bananas (Frozen, then thawed)
* Zest from 1 lemon
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1/2 cup dried apricots, diced

When the liquid is nicely mixed, add everything to your dry ingredients.

Pour into a greased muffin tin (avoid non stick, silicon, or paper cupcake liners for the best result)
bake about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
 

*Always lways put a little extra protein and/or fiber in your baked goods. 

Painting: Ma'at v1

So I had the idea to combine two archetypes that resonate with me: the 1920's prohibition-defying flapper and the Egyptian goddess Ma'at.  Above we see the background tat I put in prior to the underpainting of Ma'at. 

20/2 Hindsight:  Mistake. 

Here she is with the dancer largely defined, and only a thin strip of underpainting beneath where one layer of feathers overlaps the other.  The thinking here was to let the hint of the sky behind her appear through her wings to lend some translucency.  However this approach did not have the desired effect.

So here is the finished product of this study.  She's a little more subdued than I'd like in this version. Colors are a bit flat / muddy. 

I've got a good idea of the changes I'd like to make (with eternal thanks to John Sumrow for his feedback and support).  This includes a full under painting, a different magnification, a darker background ("brooding"), and brighter colors of the goddess herself.

House Cocktail: Cranberry Mimosa

Who says mimosas are strictly for Orange Juice, anyway?

Tyroshi Pear brandy - Finally Unveiled!

Silhouette of the Tyroshi Pear Brandy.
Overlooking the Sandia Mountains and theSandia Golf Course.

 I have been real patient waiting for this brandy.  

We decided to hold off sipping on it until my best friend's 45th birthday.

While the recipe calls for aging the brandy 1 month with pears in and 1 month after removing the fruit, I actually left the pears in for 6 weeks and let it brandy sit for 3 months after removing the fruit.

And it was decided that this was the brandy we should sip while smoking our cigars.

Oh, yeah, baby.

The brandy was nothing short of amazing.

I used bottom shelf brandy and the highest quality ripe pears that I could find.

The prospect of flavoring my own brandies intrigues me now, 

but the key will be to only use fruits at the peak of ripeness.

And here we have international man of mystery Geo Tortola
showing off the brandy's clarity in the finest of glassware supplied by default in the suite.

s

#69 Medieval Apricot Tarts

Don't let the accidental cropping of the Whitworth's Currants box by the pepper mill fool you.
These turned out GREAT.

The fruit mix prior to adding the almond milk and spice mixture.
The fruit mixture alone would be a wonderful topping for pancakes/waffles/etc..

The spices turned the almond milk mixture bright pink!

I used the extra dough and filling to fill smaller tarts.
They were also good and did not require as much time in the oven.

Gratuitous picture of my happy kiddo!

All righty then!

Vacation Time Is

OVER!

Vacation

Haven't been posting, because I'm on some well deserved R&R...
But there's more to come!  Scout's honor*

In the meantime - here's this:

* Nope.  Still not a scout.

#68 Medieval Bean and Bacon Soup

I couldn't find fava beans so I substituted Great Northern Beans in this dish.

Again, the addition of leeks adds a flavor that just resonates well with me.  One of the consequences of this cooking effort is that I now prefer leeks in dishes where cooked onions are called for.

I used the shtompus to manually crush all the beans when cooked... smoothing out the texture but still keeping the rustic roughness to it.

Once the blackened and crumbled bacon was added - very nice.

Painting: The Woods Out Yonder

Acrylic on 

24x30 stretched canvas

Happy Mother's Day!

By Jeroen van Valkenburg [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

#67 Blueberry Tarts (Almost)

I thought I would take a shortcut with these - and the experiment was a failure.  Oopsie.  I am keeping these in the "to Make" list, because I think this was just a yummy but unpresentable mess :)

Here's what happened.  I didn't feel like making the dough fro scratch so I bought some.  But I didn't realize what I bought was actually uncut crescent roll dough

So I tried to bake shells, and I ended up with unfillable knots:

Add a little cinnamon sugar and VOILA! snaky time.

But I had more so this time I baked shells on the outside of some glass bakeware.
Shape was great but they wouldn't come off easily and I ended up with broken crusties like so:

Not presentable.

So, I ended up taking pieces of the crusts, putting them in custard cups, and covering with the blueberry tart filling - which by the way was delicious:

So, not a total loss, but definitely not what I set out to make,  Still, yummy.

Service

Missed a day.  That may happen now and again.

I missed a day because in addition to being a full time single mom with a full time career, I also serve on two boards: on my son's preschool board made up of volunteer parents I am the Secretary, and on a local healthcare financial association board I am the Secretary and the Membership Chair.

All work and no play makes Marianne, Marianne.

When I do get to play though, I like to make it count.  But play, as fun and necessary as it is, never feels as rewarding as service.

Do Good Works. 

Be good to everyone, including and especially yourself.

By anonimous (own photo from reprint edition)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

If you are kind of interested in service, but aren't really motivated to dive in, there's still plenty you can do:

Donate your old magazines to a hospital or hospice center.
Play board games one afternoon in an assisted living facility.
Call your local food bank and see when they need help packing boxes some afternoon or weekend for a few hours.
Join Civitan, or Rotary.
Volunteer at your local Zoo, or dairy farm, or museum.

You don't receive anything unless you make room for it, and you make room for it by giving.

(Gets off soapbox)  Recipe tomorrow. Scout's honor.*

*Still not a scout.

#66 Modern Cream of Mushroom and Snail Soup

Oyster and button mushrooms

Sauteed escargot

There's a lot going on here. 

And it all comes together in one of the best soups that A Feast of Ice and Fire has to offer!

House Cocktail: Mimosa

I know Cinco de Mayo is typically celebrated with beer in the US, but hey - I've never been one to go with the crowd.

In my experience the secret to a good mimosa, is to use cheap champagne - yes, CHEAP bubbly, and the highest quality OJ you can find.  I used an organic frozen concentrated OJ, so I had the opportunity to mix with less water giving it a stronger punch when mixed with the bubbly.

Mimosas are clearly the best thing to happen to mid mornings since bacon.

Clearly.

Puppy Love

This is Claudia Ekkoe, Destroyer of Worlds.*  She's a cute little mutt who came home to us yesterday.

* Name may change at whim repeatedly until one sticks.

House cocktail: Agave Margarita

1/2 cup lime juice - fresh squeezed is best.

1 shot of agave nectar, 1.5 shots of tequila.

Serve over ice in a salt rimmed glass.  

Yum.

It's out of this world!

s

#65 Modern Lemoncakes

Each one of these petite morsels is tart and hearty. 

Gathering the ingredients

Zesty!

Q loved this task

Sous chef on the juicer

Mixing the batter

Cutting the sheet cake into petit fours

Covering with icing and sprinkles