Aurienne

haven't logged in forever, but I renewed!

aurienne — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 20:59:01 GMT

Paid account - howdy!

Moon-Seed Bread (poppy seed rolls)

aurienne — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 17:06:46 GMT

This is a mix of what's written in Alina Zeranska's The Art of Polish Cooking (the only thing we use the book for) and Travis's notes (mostly the weights - we usually bake with a scale)
They call it "Poppy Seed Rules" or "Strucle z makiem:. I grew up calling it "Munci bread" because I didn't know my aunt was saying Moon Seed Bread with a Ballmer accent.

DOUGH
2/3 cup butter
4 1/4 cups pre sifted All purpose flour (17 oz)
1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted (3.5 oz)
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBS grated lemon peel
2 oz yeast (.75 oz)
1 TBS sugar

FILLING
2 TBS butter
10 oz poppy seeds, ground twice. (We use the kitchenaid's meat grinder. We tried a coffee/spice grinder, but it wasn't up to the task.)
2/3 cup sugar
2 TBS honey
2 TBS finely chopped candied orange rind (I always use Orange Marmelade without corn syrup)
2 TBS finely chopped almonds
1 TBS grated lemon peel
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup raisins, steamed (about 10 minutes)
1 egg white, whipped stuff.

ICING
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 TBS lemon juice

To Make Dough:
Cut the butter in the flour with a knife, and rub in with fingertips. Combine with confectioners' sugar. Add all the other ingredients and yeast mixed with sugar. Knead the dough. Roll out 2 12-inch squares. (Travis's note - add H2O until combined.)

To Make Filling:
Heat the butter in a saucepan. Add the poppyseeds, fry for a few minutes. Add all the rest of the ingredients. Mix.

Spread the stuffing over the dough. Roll. Place seam down in buttered long loaf pans or on a cookie sheet.

Place in the oven heated to 100* F. Cover with a towel, leave the oven door half-open. Let stand until it doubles in size, about 1.5 hours.

Bake in a moderate 350*F oven for 45 minutes. Cool.

Spread with the confectioners sugar mixed with lemon juice.
Yields 2 long rolls. Serves 20.

(I added the paragraph breaks - the original recipe is just 1 chunk o'text.)

Cream Cheese Cookies (actual recipe)

aurienne — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 20:43:55 GMT

this is the recipe we grew up with. I called Mom and finally got it and could make them today.

oven = 350*, for 12-15 minutes each tray. This made 3 trays of cookies. (I used the tree disc on the cookie-press)

Room temperature - 2 sticks of butter, 3 oz of cream cheese. (i>not</i> 8 - THREE.)

In kitchenaid mixer, with the white paddle thingie,

First, the butter and creamcheese.
then 1 C sugar. Go until kinda fluffy. (Add the following one at a time, scraping down if needed. I had the mixer up to medium at times.)
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange extract
1/4 tsp salt (Mom said 1/2 tsp, I think I used only 1/4 though)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2.5 cups (12.5 oz) AP Flour (added in scoops, once it was weighed out, letting most of each previous scoop getting incorporated before the rest.

Then divide some of the dough into small bowls, add some drops food coloring, and stir in. (I did teal and purple. Just because I was in charge of the colors this time.) Always keep some dough uncolored, because it's just prettier that way for contrast.

I used parchment paper (on the flat cookie sheets), but growing up we never did. We also had an insane stack of cookie trays back then.

Load the dough in any combination into the cookie press. Play with it a bit until you get the timing right (once mine started, it was a one-click-and-lift operation.) The spacing of the circle of the cookie-gun provides good spacing. (They puff up, but not a lot.) Don't overbake - they will still be soft when done.

This was 3 trays worth. Mom said she normally would do an 8x or 12x recipe for the holidays. I'm pretty sure our kitchen-aid can only do 2x at a time though, but 2x would still have some flour-chaos. ironkite thinks that the 2 done trays looks like a lot of cookies, but I think it hardly looks like anything.

Sansa Clip+ troubleshooter (and striiv=fun)

aurienne — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:35:55 GMT

Not to self re: SANSAclip(plus)...if I can't reset it, and it's frozen and blank, try holding the volume up ND the power button for 10-20 seconds. Not sure why, but I read it somewhere, and it brought it back to life (I love Sansa Mp3s, except for their tendency to brick on me. And I have misplaced a few in the house. But the Clip+ is really good for audiobooks/radio-plays, changing your mind between which one you're in the mood for.)

http://www.sansacommunity.com/forum/thread/12063/My-4GB-Sansa-Clip-won-t-turn-on./?page=2

Oh, and I totally love my Striiv - a gaming pedometer. The popup challenges and energy quests and all that have me doing over 10K steps most days (for most people, that's 5 miles, but with little legs it's only 4...so I'm working on pushing my average up to 12.5k steps/day, 5 miles.) It's been 5 weeks and I still go pretty hard core every day.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/356994541029190/files/ has files to help with the game calculations, and a support group of people who will understand our obsession with fairy trees an tigers.

free books, today only!

aurienne — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 23:48:18 GMT

http://www.freefantasybook.com/summer-solstice-free-fantasy/

PIston is about a year old

aurienne — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:04:44 GMT

I didn't know I had this picture (and I'd really love to see some of Zanther), but since LJ sent me a spammy looking message today telling me something about photo migration, and this is one of the 2 pictures I apparently ha to migrate, and our best guess at Piston's age-at-adoption (August 2011) puts his birthday in early June, I thought I'd post this. I think he was about 6 months old or so w/this photo?

me = in the past

aurienne — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:33:24 GMT

lately I've been listening to http://archive.org/details/cbs_radio_mystery_theater a lot.

I also got a 1917 Corona 3 (http://www.typewritermuseum.org/collection/index.php3?machine=corona3&cat=kf) at the local antic-queue store (to pronounce it like ironkite does). We have it mostly working...awaiting ribbon via ebay.

and otherwise, grading grading grading, of course. just wanted to pop up and say howdy.

(with Ironkite now into Ham radio, I think my summer tech-comm classes will be encouraged to research using "superceded" technology in a modern context for their research paper.)

party foods - many appetizers

aurienne — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 20:04:42 GMT

Besides Ironkite making Gyros (Cook's Illustrated) and Tziki (We used store-bought whole wheat pitas, shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, hand-crumbled feta, we also went crazy with the appetizers. (I even forgot to bring out the cheesecake until after midnight)

http://www.marthastewart.com/312991/loaded-sweet-potato-skins - not terribly popular, only moderately successful. Need something more interesting in the mashed stage. Also, I overbaked them the first time around.

http://www.marthastewart.com/314083/goat-cheese-stuffed-mushrooms - used no breadcrumbs, due to low-carb and laziness, but very awesome.

http://www.marthastewart.com/316783/lemon-parsley-gougeres?center=276959&gallery=274748&slide=259629 - crazy popular -- and I still have a small tray of them in the freezer. I couldn't eat these in sensible amounts.

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/rosemary-pecans-10000001692545/index.html -- very simple -- Ironkite and Anarchy loved them -- they didn't interest me as much as plain pecans.

I made the Tomato-Horseradish and the Remoulade from this http://www.marthastewart.com/281089/shrimp-cocktail-with-three-sauces and also http://www.marthastewart.com/339297/lemon-aioli -- Ironkite made the shrimp themselves.

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/bacon-wrapped-apricots-with-sage-recipe-00000000024610/index.html -- reminder -- do NOT use thick-cut bacon next time.

Cheesecake was from the Protein Power 30-day book, mixing the crust from the Mini-choco-chip ones and the actual cheesecake from the with-strawberries recipe, but I added a few shakes of 5-spice powder to the recipe.

PhotoJill brought salad and macaroons. G&G brought a white-bean pate.

Many people brought robot-costumes, and we're storing them in our attic for next year.

bees delayed, but better

aurienne — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 04:33:43 GMT

Since we need to work out fence issues, we have to delay beekeeping for year. the advantage is we can have GEEKY BEES! more details as we lock in, but we'll definitely custom build our hives in their hexapiary. I'm thinking our two TBHs will be an Apollo rocket, and Babylon Hive*. A BSG Viper for a swarm catcher/nuc, NCC-1701 waterer, something with the ISS, perhaps my work bench...

*(y'all can punch me for that pun)

I still want "treatment free" bees, and I plan to feed them HONEY, not sugar syrup- the pH is all different and all that. A TBH is a top-bar-hive...a lot less stuff to LIFT! Picture a fallen tree... hence the cylindrical ships/stations work well as a base image to play with.

Hexa = we need a fence (legally), but why be efficient and rectangular? B5 has taught me to hate 90-degree angles.

so my icon's not shark-repellent...

aurienne — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:06:45 GMT

(what is the rule, if there is one, for knowing if words end with "ent" or "ant"? I tend to depend on the red-squigglies, I realized.)

Also, for those fond of the Super-Dictionary, especially the pastry thefts -- they're now Canon (until whatever un-canonizes things in DC-world, like a Crisis or whatnot)

http://www.themarysue.com/lex-luthor-forty-cakes-comic/

Muppets & martinis...

aurienne — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:30:34 GMT

...being a grownup is pretty dang awesome. (I found S4 of Muppets (some bay of piratical types, apparently), so I'm seeing some I don't remember ever seeing before*!)

I'm also experimenting with olives as a garnish -- I think I prefer "a twist" instead. I need to get a more dry vermouth for the next round of experiments. Orange bitters (Regan's) are also winning over Angostura, but I should try a 4:1 ratio. I've been at 3:1 and quite content so far.

Class today - I was exhausted by the end of the day, but in a mostly good way. But no energy for swim class. I almost felt like I'd fall aleep if the red light at Frederick Road caught me for another cycle. But it was "corporate cultures" in the 393 classes, so that was fun.

Between classes, I learned how students play "Quidditch" at a non-magical college:

(from the campus forums, from responses to someone trying to form a team)
It's pretty much Rugby meets dodge ball whilst holding brooms
The snitch is a person, dressed in all yellow and runs around, s/he has to make an appearance every seven minutes on the field but can run anywhere.

I also signed up for a CSA -- I missed not having one for the past few years, and this one allows small shares, and the pickup is at the Farmer's Market we go to anyway. http://www.thezahradkafarm.com/

*currently the Shields & Yarnell ep - http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Muppet_Show_Episodes

Martinis!

aurienne — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:36:28 GMT

Since we're being low-carb (my weight's stable, but my knees are happier), but I like booze, I thought it would be fun for us to explore classic cocktails. (My birthday party, 3/17, is classic cocktails & classic robots themed -- email/PM for details. Even if I just read you and don't "know" you, if you'll be near Baltimore/Catonsville...sure!)

http://www.12bottlebar.com came up from a reference to something else on chow.com (I think I was looking up Gimlets, trying to see if the lime juice HAD to be sweetened, or if we could reduce that). Fascinating reading -- I've just been bouncing around.

Ironkite found some wonderful other mixology sites, of course -- one I'll use in my 393 class as a good example for Definitions and also Instructions (The "smalscreennetwork" link below)

I went to amazon to get some basic tools - mostly OXO to get started -- plastic shaker, short-handled-strainer, muddler, long-bar-spoon (not OXO, alas). We already have several of the 2 oz angled measuring cups -- I love them.

http://12bottlebar.com/bottles/

I had tried gin in the past and disliked it, but I figured my tastes had changed now, since I'm in a different demographic group than the last time I tried. So to get started, I went to our Li'l Grumpy Liquor store where they carded me and refused to sell me some excellent whiskey if I was going to cocktail-ify it. They stock Reyka (vodka) and Pimm's (yes, I know it's a Gin, but I think of it as its own thing), so I love them.

Anyway, starting with Beefeater's Gin (http://12bottlebar.com/2011/09/spirits-reboot-part-1-gin/) (just to have a good baseline...though I suspect I'll rather like Hendricks,) and Martini Rossi as my vermouth. I ordered Regan's Orange bitters from amazon, but didn't realize they were delayed, so Ironkite got some Angostura (sp?) from the same liquor store. We only had lemon for garnish/oils.

We did 3:1 (Gin:Vermouth) to start. I wanted an extra splash of bitters. (I hate things that TASTE bitter, so I was hesitant to try them for ages, but again, I'm a bit more mature or something now). Stirred, not shaken.
http://www.smallscreennetwork.com/video/20/martini/ Their sweet one is basically what we did.

We tried later that night a 6:1 -- what 12Bottles recommended, but it was a little harsh for me -- perhaps a different gin or Orange Bitters would make that ratio more pleasing. (We also watched a few episodes from Mr. Show, 2nd season, since Battlestar (season 3) didn't seem to go with Martinis-after-1st-day-of-class.

Last night we started with a 2:1 -- too sweet or something. (Though we did do Battlestar (3x10-3x12 -- it's mid-love-quadrangle). We had a 3:1 and were much happier, despite the fate of The Threes. My theory is my taste buds are not very strong after a second cocktail, especially a booze-on-booze one as our low-carbiness will focus on. If we get more complicated, such as testing 3 different orange bitters, we may need to make all at once, and then sip to compare.

I am surprised at how much I feel martinis compared to my normal vodka+everything experiences.

My wishlist on amazon, in the food-related sublist, has a LOT of bitters now wished-for.

Ironkite has a coworker who has a lot of classic glassware, so we can also move to proper-sized stuff -- my martini glasses aren't appletini-oversized, but not the early 20t century size either.

I may post about how classes went (pretty well!!), but this seemed more like it needed documenting in detail for future reference. Semester starts are always pretty awesome in themselves.

next stage beyond SOPA

aurienne — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:49:15 GMT

Originally posted by electricdruid at The fiasco continues

ACTA in a Nutshell –

What is ACTA? ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A new intellectual property enforcement treaty being negotiated by the United States, the European Community, Switzerland, and Japan, with Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada recently announcing that they will join in as well.

Why should you care about ACTA? Initial reports indicate that the treaty will have a very broad scope and will involve new tools targeting “Internet distribution and information technology.”

What is the goal of ACTA? Reportedly the goal is to create new legal standards of intellectual property enforcement, as well as increased international cooperation, an example of which would be an increase in information sharing between signatory countries’ law enforcement agencies.

Essential ACTA Resources -

Read more about ACTA here: ACTA Fact Sheet
Read the authentic version of the ACTA text as of 15 April 2011, as finalized by participating countries here: ACTA Finalized Text
Follow the history of the treaty’s formation here: ACTA history
Read letters from U.S. Senator Ron Wyden wherein he challenges the constitutionality of ACTA: Letter 1 | Letter 2 | Read the Administration’s Response to Wyden’s First Letter here: Response
Watch a short informative video on ACTA: ACTA Video
Watch a lulzy video on ACTA: Lulzy Video

Say NO to ACTA. It is essential to spread awareness and get the word out on ACTA.

Via Tumblr

SWIM!

aurienne — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:36:02 GMT

Swim class tonight, we had a few more students. after a bit with the floating barbell, I did the thing where one VOLUNTARILY moves from vertical to horizontal position, utilizing both arms and legs to keep in motion. (I can't quite breathe yet -- bubbles yes, inhaling, no. But I'm working on turning my head.) Again, NO FLOATIES, NO HANDHOLDING. (Not even when we did a back-float.)

Swim cap helped -- no bangs in my face. Better goggles* helped -- when I'm blind, or even with eyedrop dilation, my balance is off. Salt water helped -- not as bad up my nose. Some of my attempts at the CCBC class helped, so my body had a rough idea of the movements one should make. Floating with a noodle at Dave's helped a lot - whatever traumas I had seem to have cried away.

Still, I repeat, today, using only technology that Real Swimmers use, I SWAM a short distance, and didn't put my feet down until I hit the wall or the bouy.

*@ CCBC, I had -8.0 prescriptionish goggles. This time around, from aquagoggles.com, I have -10.0, which is close to my real prescription. I wasn't sure if I posted that here, or just on FB

cool article re: new year's

aurienne — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:08:03 GMT

http://catonsville.patch.com/blog_posts/new-years-celebration
just don't want to lose it.

key part:"Instead of resolving to change, we should resolve to first love ourselves as whole individuals, perfect and unique, ordinary and rare. Wrapped up in all our quirks and 'imperfections,' we are whole, we are worthy, we are special."

Resolved: Morpheus (or DannyDream), please listen:

aurienne — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:32:42 GMT

I think I'll go for the truly insane with New Year's resolutions this year -- I resolve to have fewer Creepy Dreams(when I need to verify my identity/universe when I wake up), and fewer Repetitive Ones That Just Annoy Me By Now (like still needing specific undergrad credits to graduate, and then I get stuck trying to open my school mailbox while living on campus).

Some of this can be altered by minimizing bedtime medications and watching other variables. I may try to work out later in the day so my body is exhausted and I fall asleep faster. Maybe I'll try to learn lucid dreaming. But I don't know what good dreams ARE, actually. Hence, the beautiful insanity of this "resolution."

I did re-listen to this last week: http://www.radiolab.org/2007/may/24/ - RadioLab's "Sleep" episode.

flammable foods

aurienne — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:08:30 GMT

This is the Bananas Foster we made (bacardi 151 = fireball of yum)
http://www.chow.com/recipes/28595-basic-bananas-foster

This is the cherries jubilee: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/classic-cherries-jubilee/detail.aspx

We also successfully did a blue blazer, and twice a Cook's illustrated mulled wine with Flaming Sugarcone/Zukerhut (hand made in a champagne flute).

Never got to s'mores (though I had ingredients) or any baked alaska bombes (though if I had time/energy, I wanted to do one w/chocolate sponge cake, orange sorbet, and vanilla ice cream with orange marmalade as the fillings).

still, ever guest witnessed us setting fire to at least one food/drink. (Well, it was all firewater that actually burned, but whether it contributed to a food or drink is the interesting part)

Meta always wins over sincerity, for me.

aurienne — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:39:17 GMT

cleaning -- have some things to give away

aurienne — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 20:35:11 GMT

Stairmaster - claimed by my brother.

Abominable Snowman toy - about 7" high, 5" wide, plastic with white faux fur. posable, but not good at standing up. Dusty, but seems in ok condition. No star -- I dimly remember it came with that. (Update - star appeared!) Free - just let me know you want it.

Staplers -- I have a slew of them. Seriously.

Wrist Watch - woman's, slightly tarnished but seems fix-up-able for those wear watches or care. Also needs a battery. Fossil brand. Braided brown strap; the face has no numbers on it, mother-of-pearl background, and gold hands, and a ring of semiprecious stones around the face. The glass isn't flat, but slightly faceted.

Decreasing WordCount strategy (and "mountain" strategy)

aurienne — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:02:58 GMT

http://nanowrimo.org/en/forums/usa-illinois-springfield/threads/16605
(I always lose this, and wanted to find it)

Week One
Day 1: 3346
Day 2: 3216
Day 3: 3101
Day 4: 2986
Day 5: 2872
Day 6: 2757
Day 7: 2642

Week Two
Day 8: 2527
Day 9: 2412
Day 10: 2298
Day 11: 2183
Day 12: 2068
Day 13: 1953
Day 14: 1838

Week Three
Day 15: 1724
Day 16: 1609
Day 17: 1494
Day 18: 1379
Day 19: 1264
Day 20: 1150
Day 21: 1035

Week Four
Day 22: 920
Day 23: 805
Day 24: 690
Day 25: 576
Day 26: 461
Day 27: 346
Day 28: 231

Week Five
Day 29: 116
Day 30: 1

Now, since I have not written anything, but I will be writing some today, I decided to make a "mountain" out of this. Basically, a slow ramp-up, and then come down. So my peak writing days will be around the 15th. So let's see what that looks like. (I have the 116 rounded everything UP to the nearest 5, for safety. So word count each day changes by 230, not around-115, as in the "classic" strategy)

Day 1: 120
Day 2: 350
Day 3: 580
Day 4: 805
Day 5: 1035
Day 6: 1265
Day 7: 1495

Week Two
Day 8: 1725 (a week to finally exceed the "classic" Nano pace)
Day 9: 1955
Day 10: 2185
Day 11: 2415
Day 12: 2645
Day 13: 2760
Day 14: 2875

Week Three
Day 15: 3105
Day 16: 3350 - Peak writing day -- less after this each day!
Day 17: 3215
Day 18: 2990
Day 19: 2530
Day 20: 2300
Day 21: 2070

Week Four
Day 22: 1840
Day 23: 1609 (back below the "standard 1667 words/day" pace)
Day 24: 1380
Day 25: 1150
Day 26: 920
Day 27: 690
Day 28: 465

Week Five
Day 29: 235
Day 30: 5

swing, Spidey, swing!

aurienne — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:08:04 GMT

This makes me miss Swing Dancing (not like I was even close to that level:

http://punkadyne.tumblr.com/post/11899635311/for-aurienne-lee-spiderman

Christmas ideas?

aurienne — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:47:05 GMT

My brother is going to Mexico to visit his in-laws for X-mas this year -- so I'm "free" for the week of "real Christmas" (My parents are having some January thing instead.)

So what should I do with this freedom? Seriously. I'm over 35 and never been away from parents for that week, whether I wanted to or not.

ALL the classic Batman Fight Words

aurienne — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:24:08 GMT

http://www.usfamily.net/web/wpattinson/otr/batman/batfight.htm

Explore the site to also learn about the BatGizmos (and many are Alfred-centric): http://www.usfamily.net/web/wpattinson/otr/batman/batgizmo.htm

SuperDictionary is the Best Book Evar

aurienne — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:14:58 GMT

http://www.cracked.com/article_19446_the-6-most-wtf-special-edition-comics-ever-released_p3.html

(I have a LOT of superdictionary icons, so it was hard to choose one for this.)

Signal Boost: Return of the DDoS

aurienne — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 02:34:59 GMT

Originally posted by deathpixie at Signal Boost: Return of the DDoS

For those wanting to know more about the recent DDoS attacks, yes, it looks like it was the Russian government trying to shut down the dissidents again.

As I said last time, while it's frustrating not to have access, LJ is a lot more than a social network platform. From the article:

"LiveJournal isn’t just a social network. It’s also a platform for organizing civic action. Dozens of network projects and groups mobilize people to solve specific problems — from defending the rights of political prisoners to saving endangered historic architecture in Moscow."

So while I know many are considering the move over to Dreamwidth and other such sites, supporting LJ is a way we can help support those who use it for more than a writing/roleplaying/social venue.

Also, as a FYI, LJ is giving paid users effected by the outage two weeks of paid time as compensation.