Tori’s Writing Hole

Ah the legions of viruses… and/or bacteria, they do not leave me alone. I am still sick, three weeks now and going to the doctor. Ick. I’ve started another semester (did I mention I got two A’s for last semester? Well, I did. ) and have absolutely no energy to do my schoolwork and work freelance as well. I’m floundering, folks.

I still have to post my coconut cake escapade (with pictures!) but blech. I don’t even have the energy to do that. I hope whatever magic mojo the doctor has will make me well enough to continue, um, living.

Technorati Tags: sick, college, writing

Ok, so I don’t have a voice. For the last three days I’ve been coughing non-stop, making happy little tubercular noises and generally feeling like poo. The bronchitis got me, man. And laryngitis to boot. Which is super fun when you have a 2 year old who needs to follow direction, or even just listen to you. Sing “Twinkle Twinkle” Mommy? I sound like a toy with dying batteries.

The good thing is I’ve gotten some good poetry written, and I feel ok about that. Bad news is I haven’t really been cooking or doing much else except cleaning the house (mandatory) and sitting around drinking green tea.

Tomorrow’s Stephen’s b-day. I’m making a cake - and will post about that. Cheating and making chicken parm with jarred sauce too… sigh. Oh well, the cake will take most of the day. I just hope I get my voice back in time to sing “Happy Birthday”!

Technorati Tags: bronchitis, poetry, baking, birthday

I am addicted to Stumbleupon. It consumes me, takes up my time like no other time waster. That bar, that little toolbar with its ever-present “Stumble”. And of course, I click it.

It’s funny, with the mix of content I selected as interest, I get a really wide range of pages that pass through my Stumbling experience. Some are useful, like the recipes and craft pages - some are well written, as I’ve selected poetry and other literature as interests. Others, however, are just plain wastes of my brain. I like those best of all.

Comic strips, badly drawn, that are mildly funny and use profanity? Check. Pictures of nerdy guys in cos-play outfits? Another one down. Cute baby animals - well, I’d search those out anyway probably.

I sound like an ad for Stumbleupon, but really I should be putting out a dire warning. This is potent stuff, so don’t install the toolbar unless you’re really looking for another way to procrastinate. If you are, have at it.

Technorati Tags: stumbleupon, click, toolbar, browsing

I need to diet. And I’ve really, really been trying. But before I started this round of diet hopes, I made a cupcake that was so good, I’m still drooling over it. Really. I think there’s a little drool on the keyboard right now. It wasn’t particularly difficult, but oh, my - so so good. And I will share.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes (adapted from Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa container)

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa or HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350º and grease two regular sized muffin tins. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt
in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of
electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).

Portion batter into a measuring cup and pour carefully into muffin tins. You’ll get about 20 cupcakes if you fill to top (optimal if you want nice bakery style cupcakes). Bake for about 25 minutes and check with a toothpick - you may need more time depending on your pan. Remove cupcakes from tins ASAP - about five minutes of cooling time will work. Let cool before frosting.

White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (from Food and Wine)

• 1 c softened butter
• 1 c confectioners’ sugar
• 12 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter at
medium speed until creamy. Beat in the melted white chocolate. Add the
confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and beat at low speed, scraping the
sides and bottom of the bowl, until light and fluffy.

Frost cupcakes and try not to inhale them all yourself. Try. I’m not promising you won’t.

Technorati Tags: baking, chocolate, cupcakes, delicious

Well, I’m between semesters here, can’t bake and I feel a bit lost. It’s strange, the hustle of Christmas and the holidays seemed too much, but now that they’re gone I’m left feeling empty. Time to write, to pull up my brain strings and get some fiction flowing! I just hope I can. Perhaps Virginia’s next Flash Fiction Carnival?

I’m crafting a bit, knitting, and I plan to crochet my father some things, but I *don’t* seem to have time, or at least the concentration, to do those sort of things. Feh, must be winter.

I made my curry special a couple of nights ago (my sort of bastardized chicken curry with potatoes, which is pretty healthy as I use boneless, skinless super de-fatted chicken and let the potatoes cook down for their own thickening) and I made chapatis! These are flatbreads popular in India, but also West Africa and many other places. I didn’t have chapati flour, so I used bread flour, which left them ok, but a bit lacking in flavor. Some reduced calorie butter spread helped. My cast iron skillet was the perfect thing to crisp them up. No pics, sadly.

There will probably be two posts today, as Julia did something AMAZING (well, at least to her parents) and I have to share it like the proud mommy I am.

Technorati Tags: writing, cooking, fiction, Indian food