Me all Hallowe'eny 2006

Well...The above left is the closest thing to a photo of me decked out for this year's Hallowe'en. Yes, that's a wing. Yes, I'm in black. Yes, there was a black maribou halo that appeared to float in mid air above my head. Yes, there were fishnets and stilettos. Yes, I confused a lot folks in the office.

The response ranged from "you look so cute" to "you look like an angel, but some of that outfit...I don't know" to "are you our guardian angel?" I must admit that scenes from Dogma flashed through my mind today.

Unfortunately, I had a wardrobe malfunction and now I have a broken wing...which adds to the entire fallen angel thing. Am currently looking for an industrial stapler to mend the damage...sigh.

Here's the FAQ:
Q: Did you make the wings?
A: No, I earned them.

Q: How does the halo stay up there?
A: Virtue.

Q: So, what did you do to become a dark angel?
A: Do you really want to know?

Yes, all questions asked today, some several times. Yes, all answers given.

What you see on the right are my Hallowe'eny treats. Witch fingers. A pal emailed me a link to them and I was revolted and intrigued at the same time. I knew I had to make them:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=92162&view=findpost&p=1280204

They are incredibly easy to make and quite tasty. I will warn you that there were two reactions: "How cool is that?!" and "Oh my gawd they look too real--I can't eat them."

Some notes:

• The trick is to keep the dough very, very cold--next time, I'll make the fingers and then refrigerate them prior to baking.
• For scraggly digits, roll the dough to about 0.5-1.0cm diameter--the dough does puff.
• Polish the almonds with black food dye (I used a gel that was thinned with a bit of water).
• The jam I used was a cranberry-raspberry, made even more...bloody...by adding some pinky-red dye. to make it look as if the fingers were severed, dip the non-nailed end into the jam (after baking). Jams with little chunks of fruit are very good for this...great effects.
• If you want really pussy looking infections, try gooseberry or any other pale green jam.

cheers!
jasmine

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CBBP #2:Participant round-up

When I put out the call for participants in the second Canadian Blogging By Post, I was curious to see what our wonderful bloggers would come up with. At once our theme (Our Season’s Bounty) was both local and national, conjured memories and begged originality.

Given the expanse of our great land, there were so many different things to be done with many different ingredients. Some foods presented were born of tradition, while others were inventions of abundance. Of course there were themes (and if I read things correctly, the doctor will be staying away from a number of us since apples featured in a few posts), but each recipe made was as individual as the bloggers who prepared, photographed and ate them.

So, without any further delay, here’s the participant round-up. They all made magnificent dishes and wrote wonderful posts, so please do go and visit them.









Jenny of All Things Edible decided that an extra-special Apple Sauce Bread was an excellent way to celebrate the harvest. By making her own rosy apple sauce and using dried apples, she propelled this lovely loaf’s appley goodness and made a recipe her own. Be prepared to spend a while there—lots of wonderfully delicious posts abound (including ones on ribs and ice cream…).

Kelli Ann of avoir une famille n'est pas comme un téléroman returns to CBBP and provides us with a lovely meditation on community-supported agriculture. Her recipe (The Un-recipe) was inspired from the produce basket she received that week, prepared in a simple and (heart) warming way. Her blog is just as warming.



Paige of chef-girl.net reminisces about home and the apple tree that spans her mum’s and neighbour's yards. Paige is now in Halifax where she not only has access to lots of great apples, but also lots of tart cranberries. By creating her own Cranberry Apple Crisp, she’s been able to bridge her mum’s cooking with her new life. Lots of beautiful photos compliment her wonderful dishes.

Anne-Hélène of Les Chroniques de Villeray writes an eloquent piece, describing her relationship with autumn. Her contribution to our event is a Turkish-inspired Elma saray komposto (Seraglio compote) that uses apples, raisins and orange marmalade. Anne-Hélène’s blog is a tasty space, chronicling her culinary life in la belle province.









Living in Ontario, in an area with lots and lots of farmers and several farmers’ markets, I thought the best thing I could do was to try and showcase a number of different veg that were at their peak. This Oven-Roasted Ratatouille is a no-fuss and tasty version of the traditional hearty broth.

Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice went more than a little nutty with this event*, and made something that, to her, signals autumn. One of the original CBBP founders, Ivonne will make some lucky person very happy who receives a bundle of these Vanilla-Orange Nuts in their parcel. Ivonne is an adored, favourite Cream Puff – her site is a wonderful record of her culinary journey.

(*Sorry, Dear....couldn't resist)






Sara of i like to cook let apples take her down memory lane, specifically to her mum’s delicious apple desserts. For CBBP2, she give us a new favourite, a Broiled Apple Parfait that looks so delicious, I’m sure it will be gracing a number of tables. Sara's space contains many wonderful ideas and recipes that help to keep foodbloggerdom peppy.








Brilynn of Jumbo Empanadas’ contribution is a funny and “hits close to home” (at least for me) post about making Apple Butter. Whimsically illustrated, I think this post is a must-read for anyone who’s spent any time in the kitchen. With a title like "Jumbo Empanadas," and a Cabbage Patch Doll as her icon, Brilynn’s blog is always a joy to visit.


Linda of Kayak Soup found herself with a break in her schedule, much to our benefit. And what did she do on her day off? She made two very beautiful cranberry preserves: a Cranberry-Apricot Chutney and what she calls “Plain Old Cranberry Sauce.” There’s nothing plain with what Linda produces—everyone who saw her entry for CBBP1 and all of us who read her blog know that.







Lynette of Lex Culinaria was a little sheepish about her post, and I’m not sure why. In her informative article, she lets us in on one of her autumn traditions, Brining Olives. Lynette’s site is beautifully designed, photographed and written—a must visit for anyone interested in food.









Mamma Tiff of Life Changes After Birth was our first entrant to CBBP2, setting the standard for everyone else to follow—and what a standard it was! Her Fresh Apple Cookies look so amazing, I’m sure they disappear quickly. Tiff’s space chronicles her family’s life, especially of her darling little ones, Pippa and Clara.


Ruth of Once Upon A Feast finds two fantastic ways of celebrating our theme: Pumpkin Pecan Coffee Cake and a West Indian Spicy Beef Curry. Both look wonderful and are great ways to warm up as temperatures drop. Once Upon A Feast is an incredibly inspirational space for cooks of all abilities to visit.


Sarah Lou of One Whole Clove dispels any misconceptions about what’s available at this time of year, with a hearty and warming Cream of Sweet Potato with Maple Soup. One Whole Clove is not just a foodie’s dream, but also a great site for those interested in Quebecois culture and food.

Orange Soufflé gives us a delcious and elegant recipe. Her Chestnut and Bacon Risotto with Savoy Cabbage is a hearty meal, perfect for these cool nights. A lovely blog written by a very sweet person.





Sam of sweet pleasure : plaisir sucré brings his mastery of all things sweet to his entry. The host of the first CBBP never disappoints us with his creations and this one is no different: Pâtes de Fruits, or fruit jellies. Stunning photographs combined with his down-to-earth posts makes this blog a favourite site for so many people.





cheers!
jasmine

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tags: Canadian Blogging By Post 2

WCB #73 & CBBP #2: A message from Mr. Bean

Hello all you lovely two-legged humman-cats who cook lovely fud and photograph lovely fud and eat lovely fud and read about other two-legged humman-cats who cook, photograph and eat lovely fud.

My humman-cat is running around doing boring, unimportant, hummany things (you know, those things that really don't concern patting ME, scritching ME, nor feeding ME). So she's asked me to fill you in on what's going on around here...which is very cool because it's also Weekend Cat Blogging #73, hosted by one of my favourite bloggers, Linda of Kayak Soup.

Canadian Blogging By Post #2 is taking up humman-cat's time...and cutting into my petting and brushing time. Right now the big concern is a couple of people who forgot to send in their postal addresses. She's emailed them asking for the info because she can't post about the participants, nor can she send out addresses until she has everything in from everybody. She's sent notes to everyone who has entered so if you have sent in your name and your bloglink, but haven't received any reply whatsoever, please email her at cardamomaddict at gmail dot com just to make sure you are in on the parcel exchange.

I'll tell you a secret: When she's not around, I snoop around the Web. Believe me when I tell you that there are some really delicious foods people have blogged about. I just hope whomever sends us the parcel remembers that there's a starving, 20+ lb kitten over here (okay, and two others, but they aren't nearly as kind and loving and I)--I'm sure you can send over a roast chicken, can't you? Please?

Hallowe'en is coming! This morning humman-cat went shopping for ingredients to make some really spooky and scary treats. I'm sure she'll blog about it. And I'm sure I won't be allowed to have any. I don't think that's very fair. I mean, I, being a magificent black cat, was the inspiration for her Hallowe'en costume a few years ago. I think this means I get something special...like a roast chicken.

Gramma's getting demanding. She found out that there's a new cookbook around and that my humman-cat got an advance copy to blog about. So, of course, gramma wants some cooking done. To be fair, gramma's visiting a very sick friend and so my humman will be making some cakes or breads or something for them. Gramma no longer likes to bake cakes or anything as often as she used to, so my humman-cat does all that now.

Now, I need your help.

My humman-cat, as much as I love her, doesn't feed me enough and she doesn't feed me enough yummy fud--"cat food" doesn't count as yummy.

I try being cute and cuddly (well, I don't have to try, I just am), but all I get is "No Beanie, this isn't for you." and "Beanie, this isn't pussycat food." I know that the cakes are yummy (sometimes I get the crumbs that fall on the table or floor...sometimes they need help falling to the floor--especially the big crumbs (I think they are called cuppycakes) and the meats are really yummy (sometimes she gives me a little bit)). I just haven't had any in a really, really long time.

I don't think my humman realizes how difficult it is being a cat. I mean, do you think it's easy for a black cat to shed white hair? What about the grey tabbies shedding brownish hair? Plus there's the entire security guard thing...if we didn't spend our days lolling on chairs, couches and rugs, they'd just get up and walk away.

If you could please convince her to roast a chicken for me, or to make something that she'd eat, but give me some, I'd really appreciate it. I'll love you forever and won't barf in your shoes. I promise.


Miao
Mr. Bean (aka Beanie)

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