So, as those of you who are on the Hrafnar list know, dpaxson's daughter-in-law is in the hospital for a mastectomy here in Berkeley, and my grandmother is recovering from an aortic aneurysm repair in Philadelphia.

( This isn't actually about that, it's just the setup for a discussion of wacky family hijinks, and how we deal with them. )

If you have any interest whatsoever in being in the con hotel for Pantheacon 2012, know you therefore that the room bloc for the con is now open.

CALL. THE NUMBER IS (408) 453-4000 CALL NOW.
They will sell out in hours. Do not wait until you get home, do not stop to look at the passing UFO, do not pass GO, do not collect 200 quatloos ( Read more... )

dpaxson's birthday was yesterday, and I knew she would really appreciate some of my caramel for one of her birthday presents, so I pondered a batch to take with us to Pantheacon. But I'd already made Alton Brown's recipe...well, sorta. Raven's gotta fly, otter's gotta swim, wolf's gotta run, and Lorrie's gotta hack her a foodstuff.

( Discussion of the Food Hacks )

Hrafnar's Disablot was tonight, and not only did I honor my grandmother as usual, but Laurel and I between us made a dish she always made for my mum, but mom never shared: poppy seed roll.

I wrote her a letter tonight, but as it's not like she can read it, I may as well make it open. More details ( behind the cut. )

A few nights, in accordance with some experimental stuff dpaxson and I are doing, I'm making heart stew...which I've never made before, but organ meats tend to want one of two things: seared or braised, because there's a vast gum-rubber land in between.

This recipe is my own creation, but I found it tasty!

( Ingredients )

In association with erynn999, Diana and I proudly present: something to do this Saturday night!

Diana Paxson (dpaxson, author of Taking Up the Runes, Essential Asatru, Trance-Portation, and a stack of fiction books as long as your arm, will be at Edge of the Circle Books in Seattle THIS SATURDAY, October 16th, from 4-6 PM for a book signing ( Read more... )

Tea.

Almost everyone in Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America have something to say about tea, and here I strictly mean the (variously) prepared leaves of Camellia sinensis, steeped in water.

( Musings on the Icing of Tea, and why it is Considered Harmful in certain contexts. )

Last night, the wolf ran with me awhile; it had been too long, and it was good ( Read more... )

Yesterday, I found a recipe online for a Finnish all-rye sourdough bread (scroll down the comments to hansjoakim, who translated this from the Finnish), which I have extracted and executed. Here it is, expanded with notes that I hope prove helpful to you:

( Finnish Rye Sourdough Bread )

I've been baking many different sorts of bread lately--being that flour, even whole grain flour, qualifies as fairly cheap thrills, not to mention the nutritional benefits.

Having combed over several web pages and consulted my Bread Bible, once back from the Brushwood trip I set out to make an all-rye sourdough starter. This wasn't exactly covered ( Read more... )