The Writer's Voice Entry #193

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Goal Roundup: April

Well, that month just flew past. And it was, er, kind of a bust, goal-wise.

• Things To Do: Had a "date day" and went to the MFA and then to Margarita's. That was lovely and fun, but not exactly breaking new ground.
• Better Me: Still going to the gym. Managed to read an entire book. Whoa.
• Money: Bought my plane ticket for Taos, so no progress there.
• Writing: Finished the draft of Fury, started working on a query letter, and started the next draft to address the problems D* found. 
• Job Stuff: Still nothing, and one of my best friends got laid off, so if there was a job opening, I would feel guilty if I applied for it and she didn't. 
• Birthdays: Managed to hit the important ones with a card. 
• Household stuff: No money to do anything with this month.

Basically, all of my brain energy is going into this book right now. Which is appropriate, I suppose; I just wish I was making faster progress as a result.

TWD: Hungarian Shortbread

Holy new interface, Blogger!

Here you see my awe-inspiring plating skills, and part of my desk. Oh, and my shortbread.

Assuming I manage to post this at all, what I was planning to say was... this post almost didn't happen at all. I haven't done any serious cooking in weeks; my brain has been Elsewhere, writing even when I am not physically writing (which is most of the time; if I wrote nearly as much as I think about writing, I would have seventy novels).

This weekend in particular was a tough one. There is a hell peculiar to writers of fiction, and it is called the query letter. I spent much of the weekend trying out different approaches and feeling sorry for myself when people didn't like any of them, alternately hating my book, myself, and everyone who has ever given me criticism on writing, however kind and useful it has turned out to be. I didn't think I had the energy even to make shortbread.

Which is pretty damn silly. Shortbread is only one of the easiest things in the universe to make. On Sunday I managed to haul myself out of the Slough of Despond long enough to mix up a bare handful of ingredients (see our hosts, 1smallkitchen and The not so exciting adventures of a dabbler for the recipe), put them in a pan and bake them.

I have to admit, I thought the method in this recipe was really weird--freeze and then grate the dough? What on earth FOR? But it did make for very tasty shortbread, not to mention a good upper body workout. I eyeballed my dough halves rather than weighing them like a sensible person, so the base was probably a bit thinner than it ought to have been, but for what was involved, this is actually a very good, almost elegant (!) nibble.

Next time you're in a writing funk, or any other sort of funk, go ahead and make these. They go very well with tea and self-pity.

TWD: Lemon Loaf Cake

I have made, over the years, rather a lot of lemon cakes. There's the lemon cake to impress and the demure little lemon cake and the lemon cake I make all the time.

Thanks to Dorie and our hosts this week at Treats and The Beauty of Life, now there's another one. Whatever shall I do? This one may become my "all the time" cake. It's a very simple recipe, requires one bowl and no mixer, is firm in texture and modest on the tongue, and goes excellently with an afternoon cup of tea. An excellent sort of thing to have in the freezer for Cake Occasions.

I have not been getting the camera out much lately, but here are before and after shots.

 

She left off watching Kipper as soon as the camera flashed, at which point I became very grateful for how quickly-put-together this recipe is.

I brought it to the office for an afternoon meeting, and it was well-received. I may have had three slices. Maybe.

I have been horrible at visiting everyone else's blogs. I will try harder this week, promise!

TWD: Pizza Rustica

I figured that this project would involve baking things I have never made before; that was pretty much the whole point. As someone who has been baking for well over a decade, I didn't expect that we would be making things I have never heard of. When I saw the words "pizza rustica" I thought, Hey, pizza. I make pizza all the time. Then people started talking about lattice tops and I thought, Uh... what?

Pizza rustica isn't pizza. It's kind of like a quiche, except it's mostly cheese instead of being mostly egg. It's kind of like a cheesecake, except it's savory. It's like nothing I've ever eaten.

But it is seriously good. Also--easy to make! The dough for the crust comes together in two minutes in the food processor, and is very soft and forgiving.

The filling gets a few turns with a spatula and you're done.

Lattice top? Like a boss.

 Put it in the oven. Bake it a bit longer than I did; at 35 minutes it was perhaps a teensy bit underdone, or else I didn't let it cool long enough because we were anxious to eat it!

For the recipe, check out Capital Region Dining and The Place They Call Home!

The recipe said it was usually served as a starter. Since we were having a friend over for dinner, we did that. I made a whole wheat walnut bread, roasted asparagus, Ina Garten's parmesan chicken, and for dessert we had ice cream and Outrageous Brownies. It was, in all modesty, one of the best menus I've pulled off in a long time.

And if you have any left over, I am informed that pizza rustica makes an awesome breakfast.

Lunch Musings

Went to the MIT Coop to stare hopelessly at the SF shelves and wonder why I'm even trying to do this. Bought birthday cards for beloved people, and a ruler because I can never find the one I am certain that we own, and a book because, well, one does. Did not buy goldfish crackers, because when I am moody I crave salt and would eat the entire bag.

Headed back to office. Saw woman taking pictures of granddaughter on park bench. Wondered whether the sky actually is a different shade of blue every single day. Thought about aliens who have four hundred words for blue and the odds of being patted indulgently on the head by Christopher Priest someday (vanishingly low).

Back to work, eating a (relatively small) bag of pretzels to deal with the salt thing.

Goal Roundup: March

After last month's massive update, not much going on in March other than the creepy-early spring weather that ruled most of the time. T'ain't natural.

• Things to Do: Not much. Saw some friends. Finished with the skating lessons. Keeping up with Tuesdays with Dorie.
  
  
• Better Me: Still going to the gym, and in fact had my best run in years this week (and I went to yoga that same day). Reading has fallen off the list (again).
  
  
• Money: PAID OFF THE DAMN CREDIT CARD. 
  
  
• Writing: Momentum acquired, then lost, then tentatively getting back on stride. On average the FF revision has been going smoothly. I should have about a month left over before Taos to work on Go. Inner peace wobbly.
  
  
• Job Stuff: Still nothing on Scrum training. :( No job openings to apply for.
   
• Birthday Observance: March is a light month for my circle.
  
  
• Household Stuff: Got a couple of new chairs. Got myself some new clothes.

 Pretty good, overall.