Unfettered Scribblings

Cooking As a Newlywed – Day One

 

So, while those of you who know me in RL know that it's been 3 1/2 months since I got married, this idea just came to me. I've decided, in an effort to increase the amount of time I write each day and to actually use my LJ account, I'm going to write about my various cooking adventures as a newlywed. Since I am, as stated, a few months behind, some of the first posts will be out of order, chronologically. Tonight, for instance, I'll be BBQing for my hubby and our friends (okay, mostly his friends, who I've grown to like rather much). Today's post will be about the cinnamon rolls I made because I was reminded of a poem I wrote over a year ago. Tonight's shenanigans will be written about tomorrow (or so I hope). 

The inspirational poem:

Confection

Shivers soothed as warm,

thick, honey-laced cream

glides down tongue wrapped

round spoon and lashes kiss as

smile caresses my face. Fingers

dip into silky mix, drizzle ribbons

over cinnamon rolls, an ambrosial

joy. Burst of frost-laden air cuts

through kitchen, protest quickly

swallowed by a sigh as callused

hands snag aproned waist and tug

into thawing embrace. Hand still

soaked in confection, I lean back

into sweatered chest.

--published in Dash: A Literary Journal

The weather last week, when I made them, was quite the opposite of what the poem describes. It was rather hot, actually, so despite having the craving all day Friday, I didn't start the mixing until around ten o'clock that night. With all the windows and doors open and my husband out of the way (playing WoW), I used a TV tray my delightful friend Julie's family got for us as a wedding present so I could to the mixing, kneading and whatnot in front of our TV. RL friends only get one guess as to what I watched for the next 4 1/2 hours.

With the near-entrancing music and images playing in the background, I followed the recipe for cinnamon (btw, a word I never type correctly the first time) rolls in Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbooks: Bridal Edition. 

A word on copyright issues: unless otherwise noted, recipes mentioned in this blog are not my own. I will be citing (as much as reasonably possible) the recipes I cook. However, out of respect for any non-internet sources, I will not be typing them here. Instead, I'll be listing the page number and title of the book. As a fledgling writer myself, I don't want to take away from what little profit these cookbooks are making. Net sources will be hyperlinked, to save my fingers needless typing.

Page 144 of the Bridal Edition took me on a floury journey (one that necessitated a lot of vacuuming the next day). As you may have gathered from the movie of choice, the mixing, proofing, slathering of cinnamon-sugar mix, rolling, cutting, and arranging took quite a while. I will say, however, that it isn't difficult. Also, the 24+ cinnamon rolls I got out of the deal were more than worth the effort. If I had used cream cheese frosting instead of the powdered sugar glaze the book insisted on (more on that later), they may even have rivaled Cinnabon. I know, big words. The next time I host a girl night with accompanying breakfast, these will be on the menu and my RL LJ friends can comment with their own opinions.

A word to the wise on spreading the cinnamon-sugar stuff. A simple butter knife is not sufficient. The next time I do this, I'll try mixing it with a bit of melted butter and using one of those frosting "knives" I think I still have. Otherwise, the process takes way too long. Mr. Darcy coming of the water right about when I started getting frustrated helped me from yelling incoherent things.

About the frosting: It's incredibly simple and my husband - who doesn't like cream cheese - thinks is very tasty, but if Cinnabon has spoiled your cinnamon roll palate too, it just won't do. Also, if you don't have powdered sugar and realize this at 2 am in a small town where everything but Jack in the Box and Taco Bell close by 10 pm, you'll have to wait until the morning to rectify the issue. 

: ) The good thing about a husband who stays up late playing WoW is that he doesn't notice you leaving the bed at 8 AM to ride your adult tricycle (yes, I meant what I said. It's awesome for grocery shopping) to the local Ralphs. By the time I came back the cinnamon rolls had come back to room temperature - I'd taken them out of the fridge when I woke up in the morning - and were ready for my oven to heat up. Thanks to my dated electric oven in our super-cheap CA apt, that didn't take long. My husband woke up to cinnamon rolls baking in the oven - a good way to start a Saturday. 

See you all tomorrow!

Well, because of logistical difficulties, I didn't take my boyo back to meet my fam. We've postponed that to MLK weekend. However, I still got to enjoy the awesomeness of a Grue Family Christmas.  : )

Christmas Eve was a lovely dinner at his grandmother's house, which is actually just across the freeway from where I live. Go figure (lol, notes on that later). We had a yellow pea (whole peas, not pureed) soup with ham and stuff that's supposed to be some Norwegian thing I can't pronounce yet. Then we had real Swedish meatballs and turkey and all kinds of fun desserts. All of this was washed down by some smooth white wine David's uncle brought. The shocker of the evening, for me anyway, was that during the small exchange of presents that they have on Christmas Eve, I was actually given two presents: a cupcake cookbook from David's mother and two small bottles of a summery-flower lotion from his grandmother. Shocker 1.2 was that his grandma gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek when we parted. Thanksgiving was an awkward side hug of some kind. So yeah. It went well.

Christmas Day was made all the more wonderful by the nippiness in the air and the slight drizzle through much of the day. I got to see David from around 11 am to 10 pm, so it really couldn't have been bad. I finally got to open my present from him. He got me a leatherbound hardback collection of Lewis Carroll stories (from a set B&N have put out, so I could exchange it for a different one...perhaps the Jane Austen set, or the Hans Christian Anderson...) and a DVD copy of a Muppets Christmas Carol (my favorite Christmas movie ever). I was very pleased by the second part of the present.  I also got to see him open my presents to him, including a blue and green plaid scarf onto which I embroidered his intials and a set of "love IOUs" that he particularly enjoyed. Lol. Despite it being plenty warm inside their home, he wore the scarf around his neck for a good hour.

Anyway, the rest of the day was spent lounging, eating Christmas Day "dinner" (more like late lunch) and then more lazing, followed by watching Benjamin Button, which was a long but enjoyable film I highly recommend.

Anyway, I figure that's enough for now. I hope you all enjoyed your Christmases and will enjoy your New Year celebrations.

Yes friends, I am indeed posting on my lj page. I figure the next year of my life is going to be crazy and exciting and nerve-wracking enough to require journaling and where better to do it than my already existent LJ?

I must first say that I adore the Christmas season. There are so many delightful things about it. Of course, there are the classic things to adore about it. Getting to listen to the Hallelujah Chorus unabashadly. Celebrating the birth of my savior. Starbucks apple cider and peppermint hot chocolate. Caroling. Giving presents (which I actually do enjoy more than receiving them. Shopping plus making people happy, however briefly, equals awesome) to friends and family. Reading the Dark is Rising Sequence. A whole host of other things I'm forgetting right now...

But what's really awesome this particular Christmas is that I actually have a serious boyfriend during the season. Sharing my favorite time of year with someone I love in that special way is absolutely fantastic. Plus, being taken into his family celebrations and welcoming him into mine - yeah, it's going to be scary and cool all at the same time.

Anyway, that's all for now. There should be rather more regular postings in the future.

Have a blessed and merry Christmas.

Heh - I've been rather remiss in posting lately. Memorial Day weekend was wonderful! We actually did end up staying with Andy's parents and it was far less awkward than any of us had anticipated. This was helped by two main things - Andy was gone almost the entire time we were there and Andy's mother made this absolutely fantastic breakfast of biscuits and chocolate gravy. Mmmm.

The drive up was nice - we got to talk without interruption (both of others and of our own making) for a few hours, which we hadn't done in a while. And of course, the view up the 101 is spectacular, so once we got out from under the LA rain, things were good.

When we got to Lompoc we quickly dropped off all of our stuff, then went to evening services at my home church. LOL! Post-services was like a "meet the parents" to the nth degree. All the elders and deacons are like surrogate dads, and there wives really are mothers to me, so David was understandably nervous, but he did splendidly. Lynn, the elder who drove me to church when I lived in Lompoc was in full, dry-witty form - David had no idea what how to react, but he did well enough (oh, Lynn...his almost British sense of humor makes me grin). Soon, all the men were talking about computers, which David obviously knows well (he majored in Computer Science), so the meal after services was smooth and enjoyable.

After that, we hung out with my best friend from back home - Diane - and watched the first National Treasure movie (since David hadn't seen it) and baked cookies (sugar cookies, chocolate walnut, and experimental sugar cookies with raspberry/strawberry 'filling' (yum)).

The next day we went to Solvang, which consisted of wine tasting (David bought a bottle of our favorite - yays) and eating of soft, ultra-yummy Danish pretzels with their real cheddar cheese. Then we napped and had sushi with Diane (oh, how I love sushi).

So yes, all together, a marvelous weekend of multi-day Davidness.

 So, much has happened since the last time I posted - graduation, joining the work force, paying rent for the first time ever, and so on. The most significant thing to me, however, is that I have a boyfriend now. His name is David and I absolutely adore him. I mean, it's hard to describe how much I've come to love him this past month and a half. (Yes, he used the L-word first, so it's not awkward)  Seriously, we fit in almost every way. Where I'm lacking in something, he makes up for it. We both have a strong relationship with God, which for me is essential. And he's absolutely hilarious, and talented, and simply wonderful. He cherishes me in a way I've never really known romantically and he's taken care of me when I was sick and literally catches me when I fall. 

I met his parents and the majority of his extended family and friends from home the weekend of graduation and it was a blast. His friends are like the ones I had in high school, except less...extreme. I adore his mom - we both love to cook and garden, so we talk about that whenever we're together. His dad and I have less in common, but we've both travelled around in Europe, so that tends to be where our conversations end up. 

This past weekend was lovely, except for the last two hours. We spent basically all of Friday evening and all of Saturday together, either just hanging out alone together or hanging out/having meals with his friends. Sadly, a lot of things happened Saturday evening that reminded me of a friend of mine. A friend who happens to be an ex-boyfriend. My last ex-boyfriend and the only one who actually mattered, which David knows.  Let's refer to him as A for the time being. So yeah, David let me know that the way I talked about him that evening made him feel both inferior and uncomfortable, which made me feel absolutely terrible, since I'm crazy paranoid about messing up our relationship, since I actually love him and can see myself with him for a really long time. David ended up feeling bad that he'd made me feel bad, and suffice it say, the evening ended poorly. 
          But, he surprised me Monday by taking me out to dinner (we both work 9-5, M-F, and live 45 minutes apart, so we don't see each other M-Th very often). It was wonderful and we both felt much better having done so.

Then, and he remains unaware of this, I made something of a faux pas that will hopefully be fixed before David needs to know about it.  The two of us are visiting my hometown for Memorial Day weekend. Since my parents don't live there anymore, I'm trying to find some other free alternative, which shouldn't be a problem. I asked several people from my home church if they'd be willing to house us. The first couple that's responded with an affirmative would be a good option. Except I don't think of them in connection with their son, since I'm friends with them in their own right, not just as their son's parents. Well, it it was upon reading their email and almost (but not actually) responding to them that I realized that they happen to be A's parents. 
                                                   Yeah. Absolultely not an option. Yeah. 
There are a few other people who will likely say yes that just haven't responded yet, but I have to say I'm fervently hoping we don't have to stay at A's place, since that would almost assuredly end up in A and David sharing a room. 
                                                  Yeah. Also not an option. 

I'll let you all know how that turns out. 

So, I was traipsing through the DiR community while at work today (very slow day) and happened upon a book written by someone in the fandom. It costs a bit more than I can afford right now, so it goes immediately onto the book wishlist. For anyone who's curious, this is it:

Four British Fantasists: Place and Culture in the Children's Fantasies of
Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, and Susan Cooper
(Scarecrow Press/ChLA, 2006)

I'm also going to suggest that my uni's library add it to their collection (they seriously need to bolster the "on writing" section, particularly in regards to fantasy).

So, I know there's a song titled "it Never Rains in Southern California," but I wish people wouldn't think that was true. As we've all been made intimately aware this past fall, when California doesn't get any rain, it goes up in flame. Some rain, then, is obviously a good thing. Now, I've lived in Cali for 14 years now, so I know it rains every year between January and March. Anyone who has lived here more than a year should know that. So why are California drivers so wretched in the rain? I just don't get it. It's times like these when I miss London, where the drivers are pretty crazy, but at least they know how to drive in the rain - i.e.: they don't unless they have to.

As such - I'm listening to Celtic music, mixed in with some Heather Nova, to remind me of better places and times.

I just wanted to thank the people whose hard work I've used for my template and mood images: thefulcrum and hobbitholes.  I give them credit and gratitude.