Recipes, tv shows, and books...
May. 26th, 2014 06:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Attempted the almond coconut sponge bread recipe in The Practical Paleo Cookbook - which did not turn out as advertised.
It sounded simple enough:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
6 eggs, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 2 tablespoons coconut milk (full fat), 1/4 cup coconut flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, a pinch of nutmeg, a pinch of salt (what exactly is a pinch anyhow?), one teaspoon vanilla extract, and vanilla bean (which I couldn't find).
Whisk (I don't own a whisk, so used a fork and a beater) eggs, melted butter, vanilla, and coconut milk together, then sift in the dry mixture of coconut flour, soda, nutmeg, salt. Whisk together until combined.
Pour into 9 by 9 inch pan lined with parchment paper.
Cook for 40 minutes or until brown and fork comes out clean.
Well, turns out 20-30 minutes is enough. Almost burned them. And they stuck to the parchment paper. Also turned blue green - which was odd, not white as advertised. Tasted a bit odd, like soda bread. Not bad with almond butter. But don't highly recommend. I'm beginning to wonder about the writer of this recipe book.
On a separate note? I can't digest cauliflower. It's because it is high in insoluble fiber. And my system can't handle anything high in insoluble fiber right now. Although green beans and aspergus has been fine so far. I might be able to do cauliflower if it is mashed up but I'd need to either buy a masher or food processor to do that.
2. Catching up on TV Shows
* Orphan Black (First episode of the season)- Last season was better written. This season is relies heavily on the "religious cult/purist" cliche, which got old with True Blood and I've become tired of. Last season was more of a mystery. This one feels more like a conspiracy theory storyline. I'll stick around for the actress but the writing and plotting could be better.
* Mad Men (First episode of Season) - first episode of the final season, S7 (?), was actually rather good - it continues to depict the rise and fall of copywriter/artistic director Don Draper, and along with him the way of life that he epitomized and sold. An at time adept if satiric take on mid-life crisis in the corporate world. Along with adman Don Draper, we see the rise of various female characters in the work place as they continue to battle the gender wars, fighting to be treated as equals. I was impressed with this episode, it had a lot to chew on. I've actually liked some of the latter seasons better than the earlier ones - Mad Men like a fine wine gets better with time.
* Fargo (pilot episode) - while the Cohen Brothers allegedly have nothing to do with this series, outside of signing off on it, and did not write for it, they might as well have. It reminds me in both tone and content of the movie of the same name and other Cohen Brothers flicks. If you like the Cohen Brothers and noir film, you'll love it. I was rather impressed - with the performances and writing of the pilot episode. It is hard to follow in places, you have to be in the right mood and focus on the story - not cleaning house, surfacing the net, cooking or sketching while it is on. Also probably should record and then fast forward over commercials. Plus close-captioning may be required - I found it hard to hear even with the volume turned at maximum - the characters mumble and there's the heavy Minnesota accent.
3. Finished The Iron Duke - my first and possibly only foray into steampunk. Not really a fan of the Victorian period to begin with. While the writer admittedly had some interesting ideas and did a decent job of world-building, it became confusing in places, and too much emphasis was placed on the sexual interactions of the lead characters. In fact the erotica sort of got in the way of the story and character development as opposed to furthering it. This, I've noticed, is a problem in some romance novels. The writer is thrusting the characters together much faster than is warranted in order to have the "SEX SCENE" or they rush the ending, so they can have another "SEX SCENE". Or as was the case here - they create a big misunderstanding in order to create enough tension/friction for the sex scene to be hot. (It wasn't, just jarring and out of character.) The big misunderstanding was cliche and unnecessary, making both characters seem rather dense. Romance novelists for some reason or other seem to think that if you don't say the words "I love you" multiple times, no one will know. Ahem, there are other ways. This trope is getting old. Stop doing it already, romance novelists! You are only the one's who do.
Shame the writer used it here, when she already had two other seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the hero/heroine's path towards being together. Didn't really need the misunderstanding. It just confused things. And how she wrapped it up, was rather jarring. I thought - this makes no sense. Why is he doing that? Why is she? Huh? (The hero upon seeing the heroine randomly on the street three months after she was almost fatally injured saving his life, is upset she hadn't contacted him. Keep in mind she had saved his life, and had to have a mechanical heart transplant. Plus no excitement for a bit. So, overcome with his lust for her, he decides to thrust her into an empty office across the street and shag her against the door, with barely a hey-de-do. It's Wham, Bang, Thank You Ma'am. Overcome...with his ahem, passion, the heroine breaks down, thinking he just wants sex and once he's done with his lust - he'll cast her aside. Hearing all this, he realizes she loves him. They talk. Exchange I love you's, the end. And I'm thinking, huh? Not only did this scene feel a wee bit non-consensual, but it also felt out of character and jarring. What was the writer thinking?)
It sounded simple enough:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
6 eggs, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 2 tablespoons coconut milk (full fat), 1/4 cup coconut flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, a pinch of nutmeg, a pinch of salt (what exactly is a pinch anyhow?), one teaspoon vanilla extract, and vanilla bean (which I couldn't find).
Whisk (I don't own a whisk, so used a fork and a beater) eggs, melted butter, vanilla, and coconut milk together, then sift in the dry mixture of coconut flour, soda, nutmeg, salt. Whisk together until combined.
Pour into 9 by 9 inch pan lined with parchment paper.
Cook for 40 minutes or until brown and fork comes out clean.
Well, turns out 20-30 minutes is enough. Almost burned them. And they stuck to the parchment paper. Also turned blue green - which was odd, not white as advertised. Tasted a bit odd, like soda bread. Not bad with almond butter. But don't highly recommend. I'm beginning to wonder about the writer of this recipe book.
On a separate note? I can't digest cauliflower. It's because it is high in insoluble fiber. And my system can't handle anything high in insoluble fiber right now. Although green beans and aspergus has been fine so far. I might be able to do cauliflower if it is mashed up but I'd need to either buy a masher or food processor to do that.
2. Catching up on TV Shows
* Orphan Black (First episode of the season)- Last season was better written. This season is relies heavily on the "religious cult/purist" cliche, which got old with True Blood and I've become tired of. Last season was more of a mystery. This one feels more like a conspiracy theory storyline. I'll stick around for the actress but the writing and plotting could be better.
* Mad Men (First episode of Season) - first episode of the final season, S7 (?), was actually rather good - it continues to depict the rise and fall of copywriter/artistic director Don Draper, and along with him the way of life that he epitomized and sold. An at time adept if satiric take on mid-life crisis in the corporate world. Along with adman Don Draper, we see the rise of various female characters in the work place as they continue to battle the gender wars, fighting to be treated as equals. I was impressed with this episode, it had a lot to chew on. I've actually liked some of the latter seasons better than the earlier ones - Mad Men like a fine wine gets better with time.
* Fargo (pilot episode) - while the Cohen Brothers allegedly have nothing to do with this series, outside of signing off on it, and did not write for it, they might as well have. It reminds me in both tone and content of the movie of the same name and other Cohen Brothers flicks. If you like the Cohen Brothers and noir film, you'll love it. I was rather impressed - with the performances and writing of the pilot episode. It is hard to follow in places, you have to be in the right mood and focus on the story - not cleaning house, surfacing the net, cooking or sketching while it is on. Also probably should record and then fast forward over commercials. Plus close-captioning may be required - I found it hard to hear even with the volume turned at maximum - the characters mumble and there's the heavy Minnesota accent.
3. Finished The Iron Duke - my first and possibly only foray into steampunk. Not really a fan of the Victorian period to begin with. While the writer admittedly had some interesting ideas and did a decent job of world-building, it became confusing in places, and too much emphasis was placed on the sexual interactions of the lead characters. In fact the erotica sort of got in the way of the story and character development as opposed to furthering it. This, I've noticed, is a problem in some romance novels. The writer is thrusting the characters together much faster than is warranted in order to have the "SEX SCENE" or they rush the ending, so they can have another "SEX SCENE". Or as was the case here - they create a big misunderstanding in order to create enough tension/friction for the sex scene to be hot. (It wasn't, just jarring and out of character.) The big misunderstanding was cliche and unnecessary, making both characters seem rather dense. Romance novelists for some reason or other seem to think that if you don't say the words "I love you" multiple times, no one will know. Ahem, there are other ways. This trope is getting old. Stop doing it already, romance novelists! You are only the one's who do.
Shame the writer used it here, when she already had two other seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the hero/heroine's path towards being together. Didn't really need the misunderstanding. It just confused things. And how she wrapped it up, was rather jarring. I thought - this makes no sense. Why is he doing that? Why is she? Huh? (The hero upon seeing the heroine randomly on the street three months after she was almost fatally injured saving his life, is upset she hadn't contacted him. Keep in mind she had saved his life, and had to have a mechanical heart transplant. Plus no excitement for a bit. So, overcome with his lust for her, he decides to thrust her into an empty office across the street and shag her against the door, with barely a hey-de-do. It's Wham, Bang, Thank You Ma'am. Overcome...with his ahem, passion, the heroine breaks down, thinking he just wants sex and once he's done with his lust - he'll cast her aside. Hearing all this, he realizes she loves him. They talk. Exchange I love you's, the end. And I'm thinking, huh? Not only did this scene feel a wee bit non-consensual, but it also felt out of character and jarring. What was the writer thinking?)