Tuesday, May 15, 2007

What I've Done on My Summer Vacation of 1 Week

I'm now trying to drag myself out of the depression of realizing that I must hit the books again in order to keep up next year. Sigh. At least it's all out of the classroom and on my own time!

But, at least I've spent the last week to my satisfaction. I have:

Visited the Yale Art Museum (finally)

Indulged in my own artistic whimsy by painting some acorns I collected last fall. I've put these under a glass cloche in the dining room - Molt thinks this is all very witchlike activity. He often accuses me of sorcery now that I spend my school year reading things like the Greek Magical Papyri* and striving to be a Loremaster in general.

I've also indulged in decadent baking:


A berry tart


some traditional English scones


... and some chocolate spoon bread.**

I've also been known to take naps at all hours and to be found reading Anne of Green Gables. And eat junk Chinese food at the mall food court. Mmmmm....Orange Chicken....

* Here's a funny charm from the Magical Papryi: "To be able to copulate a lot: Grind up fifty tiny pinecones with 2 ozs. of sweet wine and two pepper grains and drink it." I'm not sure I could do anything a lot after downing 50 pinecones, however tiny.
**Who is going to eat this all? I find that I generally lose interest after baking something and eating 1 serving. The only people we've had over keep strictly kosher, so I couldn't give them any of this. To me, baking is more about the process and the creating, not the eating. Real food, on the other hand, I can EAT.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want that recipe for chocolate spoon bread! YUMMY!

janjan said...

Chocolate Spoon Bread

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
4 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
4 large eggs, room temp.
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sugar

1) Preheat oven to 350. Butter an 8-inch cast-iron skillet; set aside. Place chocolate and butter in a med. heatproof bowl. Set over a pan of simmering water; stir until almost melted. Remove from heat; let cool, stirring. Set aside.
2) Into a med. bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Sift again, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and vanilla until thick and pale, about 6 min. Beat in sugar until fluffy. Stir in the chocolate mixture. Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined.
3) Pour the batter into prepared skillet. Bake until spoon bread is set but still soft in the center, about 40 min. (cook less for a more molten center). Let cool for 10 minutes; serve warm in skillet.

I think maybe check at 20-30 minutes if you want to make sure you have a moister result. And, the better the chocolate, the better the dessert. Valrhona, Callebaut.