So yesterday was the 200th birthday of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish author of such gothic classics as UNCLE SILAS and CARMILLA. Swan River Press, a small Irish press specializing in gothic horror and half-forgotten Irish authors, has done a rather splendid celebration of Le Fanu, including – a track at last weekend’s Eurocon – a walk through Dublin with Le Fanu’s life & career as the path – a lecture last night by Le Fanu expert Jim Rockhill – and the release of DREAMS OF SHADOW & SMOKE: Stories…
Category: Baking
gardening & not-baking
Young Indiana inspects our potatoes, which are growing like gangbusters. I thought the idea of putting them near holes in the container was that the tops would grow that way, but apparently the whole thing is shallow enough that both layers of potatoes are just reaching for the top. Gangbusters! Several of our strawberry plants didn’t take and I haven’t gone to get more, but two are looking healthy, and our lettuce is growing nicely! In fact, all of that has now been clipped back and will shortly be part…
birthday day!
Today is my husband’s birthday, so I’m baking a German chocolate cake and we’re going out to dinner at a really good restaurant tonight. Mmmm. :) I turned in the copy edits for SHAMAN RISES last night, which means the Walker Papers directory is one final edit pass from being moved into the Finished Projects folder. Pretty strange, after 14 years of working on them. Just, wow. I note that the 28th of January is the 201st anniversary of the publication of PRIDE & PREJUDICE. This may be relevant to…
Rene’s Ginger Snaps
Ginger Snaps 3/4 c vegetable shortening 1 c sugar 1/4 c molasses 1 egg, slightly beaten 2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp ginger 1/2 tsp cloves 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 2 c flour Melt shortening in a large pot over a low heat. Cool a bit, then add sugar, molasses and egg. Mix well (it won’t completely mix together). Stir in spices, then add the flour and mix thoroughly. Chill in fridge until completely cold. Form 1 inch balls, roll in white sugar, and bake at 350/175/gas mark…
cold rise
The last couple batches of bread I’ve made, I’ve done cold rises on. The theory here is that it means not forgetting it’s rising due to Mommyhood, and therefore having it ready to go at lunch time. So I’ve made the dough in the evening to bake in the morning. First time, I did the cold rise on the first rise. It worked all right except the dough was very difficult to manipulate into the loaf pan for the second rise, ’cause it was, y’know, cold. :) One end was…