 A few weeks ago I was a guest on Love Romance Reads sharing my favourite Christmas cookie recipe (you can read it here) in which I mentioned the difficulty I had in choosing a favourite candy bar. I’m a firm believer in the use of rewards and chocolate is my go-to reward for achieving a writing goal. Or as comfort should I receive a four-page, single-spaced editing letter for my latest romance novel. If I could have only one specific chocolate bar for the rest of my days, it would be a Nestlé Coffee Crisp. No, wait, I’d choose a Cadbury Fruit & Nut bar. I tell a lie, I’d pick a Lowney Cherry Blossom. Actually… I think you see my problem. Thinking of that last one, the Cherry Blossom, reminds me that I do have a firm favourite within a box of chocolates. If you were to share from your box of chocolates, perhaps that box of mixed chocolates you bought just in case guests dropped in as they are wont to do this time of year, and if the variety contained a chocolate covered cherry, be assured that I would choose the chocolate covered cherry. Every. Time. Certainly, I enjoy the pecan clusters, and the toffee, and the hazelnut thingies, but my first love in the boxed chocolate world is the chocolate covered cherry. Now I must confess to a bit of skulduggery. If the box of chocolates is one of those with two layers, as most are, and the chocolate covered cherry has already been eaten from the top layer, I’ve been known to sneak into the second layer, before the top layer is completely eaten, and take the chocolate covered cherry. I know this breaks a long-held tenet of boxed chocolate eating etiquette but I can’t help myself. Perhaps this requires a public service announcement. Ahem… If I’m anywhere near your box of chocolates, and if, upon exposing the second layer for the first time (or so you think) you discover the chocolate covered cherry is missing, be assured it was not an error in the packaging. DO NOT send an angry email or letter or telegram to the chocolate company demanding a refund or some other form of redress. Also, if chocolate covered cherries are your favourite you might consider removing them from the box of chocolates, both layers, before offering the box to me. What is your favourite candy bar? Or if you no longer eat sugary treats, which treat do you fondly recall from your childhood? Don't forget to sign up for my monthly newsletter - exciting news will be coming soon!
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I’m torn. Or, I’m of two minds. On the one hand, tradition is a great thing, offering stability in these troubled times (a bit of angsty saga there, eh?). On the other hand, some might consider baking the same cake (yes, we're talking about cake here) as THE birthday cake month after month, year after year is akin to being in a rut. I think it depends on the cake in question. Some cakes deserve to be consumed on a regular basis. For many years the only birthday cake in our house was an old-fashioned cocoa cake with cocoa frosting. Three layers of OMG this is freaking amazing. (Hubby is a rebel and always wants an apple pie for his birthday “cake”.) As a youngster quite often my birthday cake was a spice cake with Seven Minute Frosting (cooked egg white frosting = food of the gods). So when I think of that cake, spice cake with the meringue frosting, I’m transported back to the halcyon days of my childhood. And that’s a good thing. That’s what tradition means. Comfort and stability and damn good cake. So which cake will I bake for the birthday this weekend? I’m torn. Is there a clear winner? Yes. Me! Because I get to eat more than I should! I’d be telling an untruth if I said I remember exactly what the pot stickers from last week’s recipe tasted like (way-way back when I actually made them). But I do remember that they were delicious. This week’s version was equally delicious. (We had friends over and they had no problem eating their fair share.) The filling was moist and tasty and plentiful. And the dipping sauce was a pleasing mix of tart, sweet, and hot. Hubby thought it was a tad too vinegary, but I didn’t think so. I was unable to find pot sticker wrappers and so used wonton wrappers – square instead of round. Which meant, I think, that there was a bit too much extra dough after crimping which got a little tough during the steaming portion of the preparation. An itsy bitsy tiny flaw in no way the fault of the recipe. But if you can find pot sticker wrappers, the round kind, use those. Here is the recipe as copied exactly from: Ultimate Appetizer Ideabook 225 Simple All-occasion Recipes Kiera and Cole Stipovich Published by Chronicle Books Pork Pot Stickers In a large bowl, combine ½ medium head shredded napa (or savoy) cabbage with 1 tsp kosher salt and toss. Transfer to a colander and let drain for 30 minutes. Over a sink or bowl, press out excess moisture from the cabbage. In a medium mixing bowl, combine 8 oz (230 g) ground pork, 1 Tbsp thinly sliced green onions, ½ tsp ground white pepper, 1 clove minced garlic, 1 tsp grated fresh ginger, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp mirin, and 2 tsp cornstarch and mix well. Add the drained cabbage and mix until incorporated. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour or for up to 1 day. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle it lightly with cornstarch. Place a 3-in (7.5-cm) pot sticker wrapper in your hand and place a rounded 1-tsp scoop of the filling in the center of the wrapper. Wet the inside edge of the wrapper with water and bring the edges together, forming a half-moon shape and pressing firmly with our fingers to seal. (If desired, pleat the edges together or press with a fork.) Place the pot sticker on the baking sheet and cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap (to prevent drying out) and form more pot stickers using additional wrappers and the remaining filling. (If making ahead, freeze the pot stickers on the baking sheet for 15 minutes, or until frozen solid. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 1 week. No thawing is required before cooking.) In a large heavy-bottomed non-stick or cast-iron skillet (keep the lid close by for later use) over medium-high heat, warm ½ tsp vegetable oil and ½ tsp sesame oil. When the oil is hot, place the pot stickers in a single layer with the sealed edges facing up and cook until the bottoms are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add about 1/3 cup (80 ml) hot water to the skillet and cover immediately. (Stand back from the skillet while adding the water to avoid getting splashed.) Continue to cook, covered, until the water evaporates, about 3 minutes (or about 8 minutes if the pot stickers were frozen). Remove the lid and allow the pot stickers to cook uncovered for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the bottoms are crisp and golden. Transfer to a serving dish and serve warm with Pot Sticker Dipping Sauce. Pot Sticker Dipping Sauce In a small bowl, mix together 2 Tbsp rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp water, ¼ tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger, 1 small clove minced garlic, ½ tsp thinly sliced green onion, and 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes. Use right away or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before serving. Cheers! Slowly but surely the new house is coming together. More importantly, my study/office is taking shape. I still need storage units of some sort (for paper type stuff and for yarn type stuff) and a worktable. But I bought a proper chair for typing. Now my butt won’t fall asleep after sitting for more than seventeen minutes. No, I haven’t timed the interval before butt sleep but I think seventeen minutes is a good guess. I’d hoped to get an all-mesh chair – seat and back – but the only one of that style at the store had a headrest that just got in my way. It could be removed by taking out a few screws, but why pay for something I wasn’t going to use? So the chair I bought has a cloth seat and a mesh back. Quite comfy and with good lumbar support. For the second addition to my study, let me tell you a little story. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago – about seven months back – I had a writing cave on the main floor of our former house. But the printer was located in Hubby’s office on the lower floor, connected to my computer via wi-fi. However, sometimes my computer didn’t play nicely with the printer. I’d click “print”, trot downstairs, only to find – nothing. Blergh. So, up I’d go, try to figure out what happened (a futile proposition given my Luddite tendencies), press “print” again, and again trot downstairs only to find – you got it – nothing. BLERGH! So, up I’d go, grab my laptop and take it to the printer, swearing quite colourfully along the way, and finally get the darn thing to print. Frustrating to say the least. Well, new house = new rules. I got my own printer right next to my desk (a treasured heirloom) so I need only spin my chair a hair and there it is. I’m approaching “the end” of the third book, Love & Redemption, in my historical series. Which means it’ll soon be time to print the manuscript for the final edit before sending to my publisher. (I use “final” in the broadest of senses. Final for that week. Final for the time being. Final only until the next round.). I always find typos in the printed manuscript that snuck by me on the screen. And if I need to do a more rigorous edit, I do a better job working with pen and paper. So much more satisfying to slash with a pen than to hit the delete key a few times. Cheers! |
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