The Other Side of Somewhere

Make a Cake

A day does not feel complete to me unless I make something.   

A collage.

A blog post.

A photograph.

Or ...

 

a cake!

I get the same sense of accomplishment from baking a cake that I do when I make something artistic.  Making stuff (artistic or otherwise) is truly what makes me happy and gives me deep sense of satisfaction and purpose.

The recipe for this cake comes from the same book as this one.  It has a silly name (Philly Fluff Cake?) but who cares ... it is divine (there is a ribbon of melted bittersweet chocolate running through the middle of the whole thing).  I think I'll need to stand on the community corner during tomorrow's commute to pass out free slices.  I really shouldn't be alone in the house with this cake.

Looks like Mudgeon and I will definitely be doing Pilates tomorrow.

Cookie Central: Cherry Pistachio with White Chocolate

Cookie Central: Cherry Pistachio with White Chocolate
Originally uploaded by Jeannine P.

It is Cookie Central at Casa Peregrine. As I am spending Christmas solo I'm not sure who is supposed to be eating all of these cookies. I'm hoping Santa makes an appearance so I can off load some of these!

The recipe for these cookies is courtesy of Food Network. I altered the recipe as follows: the original recipe calls for an 8 oz. roll of sugar cookie dough; this is an error! The little dough man only makes rolls of 16 oz. I smooshed as much cranberry and pistachio as would reasonably fit which is not necessarily the same amount as indicated in the recipe. I rolled up the dough with waxed paper and let it sit in the freezer for a few minutes before slicing. I opted for the drizzles of white chocolate instead of the dunk. These are super easy and quite lovely to look at (I haven't eaten any yet but I'm sure they're yummy).

This year, all I want for Christmas are phone calls from Mr. P (which I get so regularly I'm spoiled!) and the safe arrival of my sister's first baby ... she is on her way as I type this! Welcome little girl ... can't wait to meet you!

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas!

♥

'Tis the Season...

... for movies.  One of my favorite Christmas movies is The Bishop's Wife starring David Niven, Loretta Young, and - swoon - Cary Grant.  Cary Grant as an angel, no less!  This movie is not to be missed!  Fortunately, you have two viewing opportunities this holiday season.  Turner Classic Movies airs the movie on Sunday, December 16th at 2:00 p.m. (EST) and again on Christmas Eve at 8:00 p.m. (EST). 

If you are familiar with Judy Garland's haunting rendition of the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (in which the original lyrics are sung "we'll have to muddle through somehow" instead of the cheerier "hang a shining star upon the highest bow") you can see her sing it in the film Meet Me in St. Louis.  While this is not solely a Christmas movie (the story covers an entire year in the life of a St. Louis family, from 1903 - 1904, culminating in the World's Fair in St. Louis), Judy singing this song makes it the perfect movie for Christmas.  And lucky us, Turner Classic Movies is airing this on Sunday, December 16th at 8:00 p.m. (EST).  Or, maybe (ahem) you already have the DVD.

... for baking.  I continue spending a lot of time in the kitchen, which I'm wont to do this time of year.  Every year I find myself captivated by the sacks of cranberries that appear in the produce section.  Whole cranberries are kind of a mystery to me.  For aesthetic reasons, I love their shape and variety of color (from white to pink to red to claret - a sack of cranberries is a visual feast).  I happen to love cranberry juice, but whole cranberries are - wow - super tart.  Still, I have this weird fascination with cooking and baking with them.  Last night I made Cranberry Upside Down Cake.  I varied the recipe from the original by using orange zest instead of chopped up rind and I omitted the red currant jelly as I didn't have any on hand.  I also used only 12 ounces of berries instead of the entire pound called for.  The cake was delicious, especially with a little whipped cream to cut the tartness.  Next time I make this I will cut further back on the cranberries to get a better sweet/tart balance.

...for song. Really enjoying Joan Osborne's new Christmas tunes, especially "What Do Bad Girls Get", which goes "Good girls get toys for Christmas but Santa, what do bad girls get?"  Bad girls apparently are ones who flirt, tease, and cry (but they have very good reasons).  Another cool song I discovered today is "All I Ever Get for Christmas is Blue" by a (new-to-me group) Over the Rhine.  While I love classic holiday tunes, I love these new songs that provide a different take on the holiday season.

I continue work on my day/week/month project (sometimes referred to as Operation Marking Time).  I hit a snag with the weekly component of this project but the snag revealed a new and unexpected direction for that part of my project.  I hope to pull it together and share it with you after the holidays.  In the meantime, you can see my daily atcs (artist trading cards) over here.

In the Kitchen with Laurie

I started my one year art project last week. These are the first six daily atcs (Artist Trading Cards).  Only 359 to go - ack!  You can see each card in detail over at my flickr photostream, where I upload these daily. 

It's been a bit difficult to muster up the enthusiasm to do these because it hasn't even been a week since Mr. P.'s departure, but once I get started on one, I feel my creativity stir ... I'm sure I'll be back in the studio with more regularity and enthusiasm very soon.

At this time of year, I always find myself reading Laurie Colwin, in particular her cooking essays (Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kichen and More Home Cooking: A Writer Returns to the Kitchen).  It is so nice to read books about cooking that aren't written by a high brow Chef or a TV Personality or a snotty food critic.  Laurie Colwin's style is down-to-earth, totally no-nonsense, encouraging, witty, amusing, and real.  She is someone I would've enjoyed having a meal or cooking with.  In these books, published in 1988 and 1992 respectively, she covers topics dear to many of us in 2007 (organic foods, buying locally and seasonally, for example).  These aren't your ordinary cookbooks, they are essays about food and cooking that happen to include recipes and methods.  I defy you to read these without chuckling or nodding your head in agreement at some of her cooking experiences.

Sadly, Ms. Colwin died suddenly in 1992, making these two volumes all the more precious; there isn't anyone writing about these topics today that writes the way she did and we are all poorer for it.  I can't recommend these books heartily enough.

When I read these books, I am always inspired to try something new in the kitchen.  Today I am making Lemon Rice Pudding (to be found in More Home Cooking, p. 15).  That I am even making rice pudding is a testament to Ms. Colwin's writing - I am not a fan of rice pudding, normally.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

In the meantime, check out the new blog banner I whipped up for the Christmas season ...