Cookie Empress

Coffee Musings - 032008

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:40:00 +0000

I didn't have coffee in the morning yesterday, and I think my co-workers really felt it. I felt good yesterday morning so I skipped the coffee. I drank green tea for a while. However, I don't think I felt good enough. Man, I was grumpy, and contrary. Sure, I wasn't clenching my jaw on the metro like usual, but I just didn't have that spark. I needed it yesterday because it was so grey. Today! I have my coffee! I'm also reading a new book.

Coffee Musings - 031408

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:28:00 +0000

I've been doing a lot of baking. I baked potato bread a couple days ago. I should definitely go the dinner roll route as opposed to the loaf route. Also, I made this wonderful vegetarian Boston Black Bean soup. However, what I've been devoting a lot of kitchen time to is my new blog BRob Bobblehead Biscotti.

Coffee Musings - 031108

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:22:00 +0000

If all goes well I'll be cooking a recipe from each one of these books for my lunch tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Coffee Musings - 031008

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:27:00 +0000

I've been baking a lot! I posted about it on my BRob Bobblehead Biscotti blog. This is a pretty cool project as it gives me something to do on the weekends. Sometimes I need to find something to do or I just stare at the walls or sleep in. Sleeping in isn't so bad, but it's always good to have a plan anyway.

I'm looking foward to finishing this book as I think it's the new Silent Spring even more so than Slaughterhouse. What's interesting is that it downplays environmental factors in cancer, and Silent Spring was all about environmental factors in cancer. Actually, in the China Study it looks like environmental factors create the cancer, but it's food that gives it expression.

Coffee Musings - 030508

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:43:00 +0000

I baked chocolate walnut biscotti last night. The scene here is so cute I was inspired to draft a poem doubly inspired by a Jacob Lawrence painting.

Coffee Musings - 030408

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 01:55:00 +0000

Here is a sample of books that I bought that I haven't read. I was trying to find a book I had on the Library of Congress to photograph with my mug, but I remembered I gave it to the library. I hardly looked at it, so it was a waste of space. I probably gave it away over a year ago, and just missed it today.
I've been in the kitchen all day! First cooking garbanzo beans for hummus, lunch, dinner, baking biscotti. It's like I live there. We'll it's good to live in a place with food, and personality, eh? It has personality because I have many pictures of my nieces and nephew on my refrigerator :)

Coffee Musings - 030308

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:17:00 +0000

Oh, look! More library books I haven't used. I really have to put the pedal to the metal and try these books out . . . or just borrow them at a different date. The Silver Spring library was so efficient. I didn't realize I would have all of these vegetarian books at once. Better a goldmine than a dried up stream, though, eh?

I baked almond biscotti this morning. Someone tried to force a drop cookie into a biscotti recipe. Hey, creativity is appreciated, no problem. It just doesn't work when forcing a drop cookie into a biscotti recipe, though.

Coffee Musings - 022908

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:23:00 +0000

I baked anise biscotti this morning. They were hard as nails, and full of a nice flavor. Maybe a tad too much sugar, but it was a very nice flavor. As I was baking I was listening to a Pearl Jam bootlet, and that was incredible! I was at that concert - E. Rutherford, '06 #1. I took my nephew with me, and he was thrown Eddie's tambourine, and Mike's pic.

Coffee Musings - 022808

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:23:00 +0000

It's been quite a while since I ate an apple. I tried a non-organic apple, and it had the texture of styrofoam, and the flavor of flavored water. Not very good. I finally broke down and bought organic again, and was instantly rewarded once the beautiful taste hit my tongue. Ahhhhh! The pleasures of an apple.

Also, I baked hazelnut biscotti this morning. Hard as nails, but pretty good in taste. A little sweet. It may need one more ingredient to add interest. Easy to make, and I was listening to a Pearl Jam bootleg - Boston '06 #1. "Stoooooooone Gossard!!!" Man, it was great to hear that again:) That was a great show. Even though I've been removed from it for almost 2 years, and the emotion is wearing out, I could still appreciate some of the finer moments towards the end. Crazy Mary, Why Go, etc, just stellar performances.

Coffee Musings - 022608

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:36:00 +0000

I plan on creating a new blog "BRobBaltimoreBobbleheadBiscotti" blog. I plan on posting a picture of something I baked with my BRob bobblehead for each game. I've been thinking about this for a month, and this Thursday is the first Spring Training Game. Ohmygawd! Here I go. It should be fun. I was thinking of baking for each game, but that would be very stressfull. On days when I have more time, I would just bake more biscotti/brownies/cookies etc, and take pictures that would last me for a couple days. I hope BRob gets traded to the Cubs. I only have a Baltimore BRob Bobblehead, and it may look stupid if I have a blog that features the Baltimore bobblehead when he works for the Cubs. HOWEVER, as any baker knows, you work with what you have on hand :)

Coffee Musings - 022508

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:35:00 +0000

A few years ago I was interested in the classic Japanese arts including Haiku and Ikebana. I'm still interested, but I haven't written much, and I haven't designed a floral arrangement. I love flowers! I hope I have a rose garden and a bed of herbs. I think it would be great if I had a cute little bungalow with hanging garlic everywhere to add a comforting smell . . . besides cookies constantly baking.

Speaking of cookies, I made dough from a chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I decided against baking when I found my kitchen sink was leaking. It just deflated my cooking ambition. Hopefully, it will be fixed today. I looked under the sink today, and the paper towel there was dry, but it was not dry last night. I have very dry heat in my apartment, and it's going to prematurely age me.

Also, for the batter I used butter and walnuts that although not rancid, were old. I didn't want to give the cookies away because of those ingredients, but the batter was still pretty good :) I ate some last night, and I didn't get sick so there you go.

Coffee Musings - 022408

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 13:32:00 +0000

Here is a sample of books from my favorite poet. Copper Canyon Press fashioned a really nice series. It was very cool when I worked at an independent bookstore, because the proprietor gave me a very nice discount.

My favorite book of the ones shown is Fully Empowered, and the one I read the most is Isla Negra probably because it's so small and fits nicely in my bookbag. The first book I bought of Neruda's was a companion piece to a movie. I didn't like his poetry at that time, but I gave it another try, and boy did I try! He fits words together that normally would not make sense. The new combination expands the comprehensive limits of the reader, and inspires the reader to create new worlds of words, also.

Coffee Musings - 022308

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 18:29:00 +0000

There should be a dark hole where all unfinished books go to be redirected to someone who has the time to read them. Here are three that I probably won't finish soon, but that I've been reading recently.

That's the thing . . . if I read then I'm not knitting. If I knit then I'm not reading. I may be able to bake while reading and knitting, but I still have to watch that I don't burn the cookies. I haven't posted much about knitting, but I should since I need to. I have a blanket to do for my twin's husband's sister, and then I found out that a co-worker is due in May. Yikes! I better get a move on. Luckily I discovered the brilliance of the technologically contemporary library. I order books, and I return them. So easy. It's technologically brilliant because I don't have to go to the library to view the catalog. This makes life EASY! I only go there when a book is on hold. I've had good success with obtaining books. This is very good for my pocketbook which has holes because of impulse book buying in years past.
Thank Gawd for Jane Austen! If not for her I would not have run down the literature route of reading. I was hooked at 13 and I carried around a volume of her completed works for about 22 years. It was in too many pieces so I had to dispose of it. Now, I must admit, I view movies based on her books much much much more than I reread her books. My favorite book before the movies came out was Mansfield Park, but now that I've seen so many Jane movies, I want to reread Persuasion again.

Coffee Musings - 022108

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:01:00 +0000

A few days worth of photographs. I'm attending a conference so I'm a little remiss in posting.
I've tried recipes from most of the cookbooks except the Mark Bittman book which I borrowed from the library yesterday. I'm looking forward to trying it out. If I like it I'll buy it. I haven't been "WOW"-d by the other cookbooks. Maybe the Mark Bittman book will help me figure out what I've been lacking or help me figure out what the other books are lacking.
Here I am drinking coffee and thinking of tea :) The angel is a Christmas ornament from my mom in Arizona. I have it out all year because it's too cool not to.
I made hummus straight from the bean! However, since I'm attending a coference it's just staying in my fridge unused. It was actually pretty good. I soaked those beans for almost 24 hours. I wasn't planning on soaking them THAT much, but I didn't have time to cook them before then. I'll probably continue to use dried beans as opposed to can for this. I bought garlic especially, and to try the white bean pate again.

Coffee Musings - 021808

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:06:00 +0000

I finished a book yesterday, Slaughterhouse. It was a quick read, and exposed a lot of societal ills that should have been cured with the release of The Jungle. I would recommend it.

Yippee! I finally tried the White Bean Pate recipe from Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean. I didn't have garlic, scallions, parsley and capers. It definitely needed more flavor, but it's good enough for lunch. I wonder if I put too much olive oil in. I followed the recipe except for the stuff I didn't have on hand. A couple weeks ago I had the stuff on hand, but I didn't finally dig in until yesterday. I cooked those beans for 2 hours after an overnight soaking.
When I was six I received a dog stuffed animal for Valentine's Day. I named him Valentine. When I was 36 or so I decided to throw my stuffed animals away in the spirit of Feng Shui. I associated him with open heart surgery as I received him when I was in ICU. I thought if I threw him away that any residue from that time would leave. I regret throwing him away. He was a good stuffed animal. So, I told my twin this for a couple years, and I got the bug in her daughters' ears. For a belated Valentine's Day present they bought me Stella Heart. Isn't she beautiful! I just asked for the gift to be a girl and a dog. I thought up Stella Adriana, but my niece wanted to name her Heart. We both agreed on the wonderful name. She is full of good energy, and she sits on my sofa near my knitting stuff, guarding my Becoming Jane DVD.

Coffee Musings - 021608

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 04:22:00 +0000

I'm hanging out in the Columbia Mall in Maryland with my twin as she studies for the bar. This book in the picture I borrowed from the Silver Spring branch of the Montcomery County Public Library, and it keeps my interest. It was one of the 2007 top books on the Washington Post list. Also on that list was Ralph Ellison: A Biography. I would recommend that book, and I posted a review on Next Stop Graduate School. I started The Unnatural History of the Sea, but I couldn't finish that. It was on the Washington Post list, also. I didn't get past page 50 with that one.

With this book I'm already trying to find the contemporary social activities that mirror what occured in Edith Wharton's time. For instance, currently the food pedigree is slightly different than it was then. Sure, food was praised for where it came from, and how it was cut etc, but did people care if it was organic or not? Probably not, because the huge use of pesticides didn't come into agribusiness until after World War II when the chemicals used in war started to be used on a war with the earth.

Coffee Musings - 021508

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:20:00 +0000

I'm all set, and ready to work. I have my coffee, my computer, and a cute glass of water :) Also, there's more to read about regarding the Orioles since it's Spring Training. I still hope Brian Roberts gets traded for his sake.

Coffee Musings - 021408

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:58:00 +0000

Happy Valentine's Day! I found a recipe for Almond Fudge Brownies on www.lovenbake.com. I needed a reason to use up past almond paste, but I bought a new tube of almond paste in case. I just used all of the new tube, and I still need a reason for using up the remainder of the old tube. Go figure! Taste isn't bad. They are tall brownies, and the baking time was 1.25 hours, but I only did it for 1 hour. We'll see how my work likes them!

Also, after 6 months, I'm finally seeing Becoming Jane on DVD! I woke up at 5am to bake brownies, and watch Becoming Jane. Today is sponsored by the Letter B!

Coffee Musings - 021308

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 12:15:00 +0000

Happy 3rd Birthday to my youngest niece!

It's exciting to be there when history happens. To be a reason why history happens. For instance, when I vote in November, I'll be part of why history will happen. I didn't vote yesterday because I'm not affiliated with a particular party. I've been that way since my Nader-voting days. Which may resurface at some point. However, this election in November I'll vote for the Democratic nominee who will change the face of the good-ol-boys-club. Many years from now people will ask, Where were you when Kurt died, or Where were you when 9/11 happend? They will also ask Where were you when a woman or Where were you when a man of color was sworn into office? Pretty cool!

Coffee Musings - 021208

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 03:28:00 +0000

I planned to bake potato bread from the recipe in this book today. However, to my surprise I realized that I didn't have potato peelers. I attended pastry school, and at some point I had 2 peelers. One was heavy, and one had a black handle, but I couldn't find either of them. Oddly enough my pastry teacher said they were both for lefties. That didn't make sense to me as they were not marked as "lefty" tools when I bought them. They sucked, though, so that's probably why I don't see them. I probably threw them away. I remember a potato peeler my parents had for years and years and years. Probably some cheap thing, and worked like a charm. *shakes head*

Coffee Musings - 021108

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:23:00 +0000

Two of my nieces have birthdays this week. They are siblings, too. Neither was born on Valentine's Day, but they definitely can take advantage of all the love in the air.
I baked brownies last night, and they were good! I used roasted pecans. As the pecans were cooling from roasting I tried a couple and knew I was on the right track. I definitely recommend roasted pecans or roasted walnuts with brownies. If you like nuts, that is. Hazelnuts/fiberts and almonds are too hard, and the textural invasion takes away from the taste pleasure.

Coffee Musings - 021008

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:24:00 +0000

Today I'm giving a recap of the past few days. I took the pictures on the right days, but I just didn't upload or write.
Well, it's almost that time of year. The Erik Bedard trade went through. Some say that Brian Roberts is next. I think he'd be a "face of the organization" wherever he plays. He will probably be involved with community outreach, and good baseball playing wherever he starts in 08. So, whatever the Orioles lose will definitely be a gain for the next team. I hope he goes to the Cubs because they are a better team, and as a competitive player he could be more proud of the team he's on.
Today was all about branding :). Look it works! I would prefer coffee from a little mom*pop exceptional coffee house, and maybe a biscotti. However, I was hanging out at my twin's house, and she was very gracious to go get stuff for me. I'm not demanding, but I need my latte, and her daughters expect Saturday morning donuts :)
Here I am about to work, with my morning latte. My twin bought it for me before she went to work. Her kids were off school today, and I am able to telecommute on Fridays to help out. Her oldest isn't old enough to baby sit the youngest, but she will be by the end of the year. I'm more comfortable hanging out there now. I run, I work, I play Dogopoly, and I eat a lot :)

Coffee Musings - 020708

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:38:00 +0000

I LOVE haiku. I love that it is a flash of insight. I love that it brings the spirit in alignment with the world in a moment. Here is a selection of the books I have on haiku. When I lived in Seattle I would sit in the same place for hours, and just write haiku after haiku after haiku. My best ones I posted in my inspired blog. I also post many haiku to my Ms. Haiku blog. Sitting in a cafe, with a cup of coffee, pen, and notecards. That's the life of an urban haiku-ist. Looking for that flash that moment of the world.

Coffee Musings - 020608

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:34:00 +0000

Today is the first day of Lent. I consistently visit Pearl Jam Synergy Board, and someone wrote a thread asking what others were going to do for Lent. Ooops, I forgot! Last year I gave up fear, and it worked! I ran more mileage in one week than I have any other week in my entire life. Also, I ran more in one run than I have in my entire life. March 2, 2007 I ran 10 miles non-stop on a treadmill. Pretty cool! Well, this year, I'm going for mileage per week again as I am training for the Cherry Blossom Run. However, I want to give up meat (except eggs and dairy products) and I want to bake at least 3 loaves of bread. That's why I modeled a random selection of my bread cookbooks. As you can see they are almost in pristine condition. A couple I've had over a year, and a couple I've had over 3 years. I haven't baked bread since I moved to Maryland in 2003, but the thought is always there. I attended pastry school, and it totally sucked, so that's probably why it takes a while for me to get into baking something new. Of course, now I bake quite a few sweets, and it's time to expand my horizons. My best sections in pastry school were cookies and bread. This makes sense because I baked bread and baked cookies growing up. Potato bread, here I come!
I baked a pan of brownies yesterday, and there are some things I recommend you DO NOT do. From the book, Culinary Artistry I saw that lemons could be paired with chocolate and almonds. Eureka! Why don't I add roasted almonds and organic lemon zest to the On the Fence brownie recipe from the King Arthur Cookie Cookbook? I did, and don't do it. I added 4 oz of roasted almonds. The texture is not right with brownies. It reminded me of a time I had a Spring ravioli dish at Dahlia Lounge. Usually, I like their spaghetti dishes, but they added corn to the top of the ravioli, which is a BAD BAD Texture combination. Almonds and brownies reminded me of that. Roasted walnuts or roasted pecans are better choices with brownies. Also, I added the zest of one lemon. If I wanted more of a presence I should have added zest of two lemons.

Coffee Musings - 020508

noreply@blogger.com (Bibliobella) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:06:00 +0000

I was all set to post yesterday, see I even had the image with the Sarah Vaughan CD. Unfortunately, I had to take an anti-histamine in the afternoon. By 8pm I was done, and I didn't go back on the computer to post my blog. There are times when my ears just seem to clog up for no reason. In the midwest I would get hives, too. In Seattle, I think it was dehydration from living above the clothes dryer, and standing next to ovens in pastry school. A lot of times my first question is, "What have I been eating," but I think it's more situational. So, part of me was here, and part of me wasn't anywhere :) As far as today, man I'm doing as many So Duko as possible during down times. Right as I wake up, before I go to bed, if I have insomnia. That's what I had this morning, maybe due to the antihistamine, so I just couldn't run. Hopefully, I'll run tomorrow.