This is what happens when you forget to put your cake away.
Bad Dog
I left the cake I baked sitting on the kitchen counter. Harriet got into it and licked the frosting off two pieces.
(Yes, I know that chocolate is bad for dogs, but there wasn’t enough of it in the frosting she ate to hurt her.)
It’s my three-year blogiversary today. That sort of boggles my mind a little bit. Three whole years!
In other news, I got up and put a batch of lentils in the crock pot. I was out of any variety of tomato product—both fresh and canned—but I did have a bottle of V8 juice in the cupboard, so I used that instead of water. Hopefully, it’ll work. It smells good, at any rate. It ought to be nearly ready for onions and garlic and whatnot. Mmmm.
I really love lentils, which is weird, because I didn’t like them when I was a kid. Tastes change, though. I didn’t like avocados or cheese, either. Or refried beans, or real butter, or eggs, or oatmeal, or salsa, or brown rice, or dried fruit, or, or, or… You’d think I was a picky eater or something. Ahem.
I also baked a cake last night. A box cake, no less! I never, ever, ever buy mixes. It’s not only that it’s cheating, but it’s just not much more complicated to make a cake from scratch. However, I was stuck in a Saturday-before-the-semester-starts traffic jam in the baking aisle of the grocery store, and I got captivated by the cake mixes. And the jars of frosting. I justified it by pointing out to myself that next weekend is my birthday, and dammit, I should have cake-from-a-box if I want it.
I ended up getting some sort of triple fudgey chocolate concoction with dark chocolate frosting. I made it last night (early, yes, but I can have my birthday cake early if I want, right?). It’s not cockeyed cake, but few things are. (Cockeyed cake, by the way, is a standard in our family. It’s cheap, easy, fool-proof, vegan, and it’s one of those things you can bake when you are out of everything.)
The problem with my scanner being recognized was due to Zone Alarm. All is now well!
acrylic, Portfolio watersoluble crayons, eraser stamp, RoseArt ColorSharp metallic marker, fruit wrapper, and ink in composition book
9 3/4 x 15 inches
I messed around with this last night, while watching The Amazing Race. I was annoyed to see Kynt and Vyxsin go. Even when they had a melt-down, they did so without being mean to each other. Not an easy task, I think, under the circumstances. They did well, and they ought to be proud of themselves for that. Not so much the team that came in ahead of them. Aieee! I hope they’re sufficiently embarrassed by their behavior, but somehow, I doubt it.
I’m cat sitting over the holidays, and my first stop was tonight. The owners received Harry and David fruit boxes, and had extras, so they left some for me and the sitter who’s taking the second shift.
Oh. My. I thought I didn’t like red delicious apples. I periodically try them, but they are always mealy and dry, and without fail, they taste like a wad of old newspaper. Not these, though. I just had the crispest, juiciest, most flavorful apple ever. EVAR!1!eleventy!!!
Harry and David, I LOVE YOU IN ALL CAPS!
I was suddenly possessed by the baking urge, so I spent the evening making 8 dozen chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. They are Teh Yum. Now, to decide whether I’m going to take them to work tomorrow, as a general holiday treat, or to wait until Wednesday, and take them for a coworker’s retirement party.
Decisions, decisions.
I think I’ll go ahead and take them tomorrow, because the baking urge, once it hits, tends to stick around for awhile. I can make something else tomorrow night for Wednesday, right?
Asian Pear (detail)
I (sort of) tried the pear crisp recipe, as promised. I used Bartlett and d’Anjou pears, and substituted sucanat for brown sugar and old-fashioned rolled oats for quick oats. It worked fine. The oats were a bit chewy, which is to be expected, but it was damn tasty. However, in the future, I think I’ll dust each layer of pears with flour, because the juice was pretty runny.
Pear Crisp
1/2 C rolled oats, uncooked
1/4 C packed brown sugar
2 Tbls flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C cold butter
3 sliced pears
2 Tbls lemon juice
Preheat oven 375F
Combine first 6 ingredients in bowl, cutting butter with knives or a pastry cutter. Toss sliced pears with lemon juice. Layer pears in 9 inch pie pan and top with oatmeal mixture. Bake for 20 minutes.
d’Anjou Pear (detail)
collage with acrylic and eraser stamps on 90lb Stonehenge paper
9 1/4 x 11 5/8 inches
And, an instant review: The Wild
I love kids’ movies, but this one was a little bit meh. It did have one redeeming factor, though: Eddie Izzard. And, it was worth watching (or, listening to, as I was painting while it was on) solely for the line: “Do we not have the party hats of death?” I laughed so hard I nearly choked. Teh Enb.
Red Pear (detail)
I meant to do an extra one tomorrow, but I went ahead and did it this evening, instead.
Bosc Pear (detail)
I had some small scraps of denim left over from the book I bound yesterday, so I used one in this spread.
Again, I spread a thin ground of acrylic matte medium on the paper with a credit card. I find it fiddly to work with watersoluble crayons on top of acrylic, but I love the effect. This time, I used Neocolors II, because they harden to a more durable, waxy finish than Portfolios. I also find them easier to work with in most situations, because they aren’t so mushy.
For the first, all-over layer of color, I used a really wet Q-tip to blend. The second layer–medium and dark shadows–was blended with a damp Q-tip. The third layer–dark shadows only–was just smudged with my fingers.
You can see the pencil sketch through the crayon, especially in the light areas, but I kind of like the way it looks.
Asian Pear (detail)
I like the way today’s pear turned out, which is good, because yesterday’s was a bit of a disaster. I reworked it a bit and rescanned it, but I’m still not happy. Sometimes sketches just don’t work out, and that’s okay.
Today’s drawing (painting?) was done by first applying a thin layer of acrylic matte medium to the paper with a credit card. Then, I used Neocolors II watersoluble crayons, working in layers, wetting them with a Q-tip, blending with my fingers, then blotting with a paper towel. I’m usually a slow worker, but this sketch went very quickly.
The recipe is one I’ve actually had, though I’ve not made it. It is delicious.
red paper boat 