• Use a heavy-gauge Pullman measuring 4 by 4 by 9 inches, but without the lid, to encourage height. I like the USA Pan brand made of aluminized steel, coated with Americoat.
• Use only about 2 pounds of the dough for the Pullman loaf. The rest I freeze for 1 pizza. I do this subdivision after the overnight rising, so that the Pullman can get that final rise of about 2 to 3 hours.
• Bake at 400ºF degrees for 35 to 45 minutes, rotating midway. The internal temperature should be 200º to 210ºF degrees when done.

As for a more rustic, I-don’t-need-a-pan loaf, I just plop a recipe’s worth of the multigrain dough onto a pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone liner, then bake at 400ºF degrees for 40ish minutes, turning the pan midway. Again, the internal temperature should read 200º to 210ºF degrees when done.

For pizza, I subdivide the multigrain recipe into 3 or 4 pieces after the overnight rising, depending on how thick I want it. Each pizza is roughly 12 inches in diameter. The uncooked dough freezes nicely, too.

In addition, you could make a multigrain focaccia by prodding the dough into jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone liner. Sometimes I feel round and make two loaves in two non-stick 8 inch (or 9 inch) circular cake pans, without liners.

The Good Stuff

The surprise goodies for me were the Hunger Games trilogy and Santa Olivia. My brain usually turns off at anything hyper-popularized by the media. Nor is boxing exactly a topic I’d care to hear much about. But these, whoa. Go read them! And, well, any of the other fiction I’ve denoted with the bulb icon.

As for cookbooks, if you like Mexican food, get your hands on The Essential Cuisines of Mexico. If you like Mediterranean food, check out Ottolenghi: The Cookbook. Both are inspiring, yet approachable, and offer weight measurements, whee! If you want the book on chocolate cookery, obtain Bittersweet — by the woman who introduced the concept of truffles to the United States. Finally, if you share my obsession with food pairing and substitution reference tomes, you’ll see that I’ve discovered, uh, more.

…And The Bad

I endured really horrible erotica written by Autumn Dawn and Tina Folsom. Although some of the erotic bits weren’t bad, it was the anti-feminist theme of the women protagonists getting married and knocked up — because no matter how independent or assertive they were to begin with, that’s what they truly wanted and needed in order to become fulfilled. What… the… fuck? (As it were? Haha.) Forgivable for some individuals, I guess, but for hot fiction written in the 21st century? Eegad, give me some anthologies edited by Mary Anne Mohanraj or Susie Bright, please, to clean out my poor neurons. Moreover, if I wanted werewolves or vampires thrown into the mix, I’d happily recommend books by Maggie Stiefvater and Robin McKinley as far superior. Anyhow, my lesson is to be more wary of stuff from Smashwords. But, hey, if they have high quality publications, do let me know.

For easier list jumping:

• Comics
• Longer fiction
• Shorter fiction: Warning, it’s a very long list!
• Art monographs
• Non-fiction
• Unfinished books

Comics

Thanks to friends and the interwebz, I’ve added some ongoing webcomics to my reading list in the past year:

• Gunnerkrigg Court
• Malaak: Angel of Peace
• The Meek
• Oglaf. Warning: Lots of NSFW content. As in explicit sex. As in hilarious sexual content. I am not kidding.
• The Wormworld Saga

Brogsol, Vera. Anya’s Ghost.

Hagio, Moto. A Drunken Dream and Other Stories.

Hernandez, Gilbert. Sloth.

Hernandez, Gilbert. Speak of the Devil.

Korea: As Viewed by 12 Creators.

Urasawa, Naoki. Monster, volume 1.

Urasawa, Naoki. Pluto, a manga series of 8 volumes.

Long Fiction

Including a few anthologies. I read and listened to gobs of individual short stories, and decided that they deserved special mention in a separate section.

Barnes, John. A Million Open Doors.

Barnes, John. Orbital Resonance.

Bell, Alden. The Reapers Are the Angels.

Beukes, Lauren. Zoo City.

Buckell, Tobias S. Tides of the New Worlds.

Caine, Rachel. Undone: Outcast series book 1.

Carey, Jacqueline. Kushiel’s Dart and Kushiel’s Chosen.

Carey, Jacqueline. Santa Olivia.

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

Dawn, Autumn. The Charmer and Scent of Danger.

Folsom, Tina. Samson’s Lovely Mortal.

Hopkinson, Nalo. Brown Girl In the Ring.

Hopkinson, Nalo. Midnight Robber.

Hunt, Stephen. Court of the Air.

Jemisin, N.K. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms.

Lafferty, Mur. Heaven, Hell, Earth, Wasteland and War.

Link, Kelly. Stranger Things Happen.

Lo, Malinda. Ash.

Malki!, David, editor. Machine of Death.

Marr, Melissa. Graveminder.

McKinley, Robin. The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword.

McKinley, Robin. Pegasus.

McKinley, Robin. Sunshine

Miéville, China. The City and the City.

Mohanraj, Mary Anne (editor). Wet: Aqua Erotica.

Pratt, Tim. The Nex.

Pratt, Tim. The Strange Adventures of Ranger Girl.

Riordan, Rick. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

Robson, Justina. Keeping It Real, Selling Out, and Going Under.

Stiefvater, Maggie. Shiver: The Wolves of Mercy Falls, book 1.

Stross, Charles. The Atrocity Archives.

Stross, Charles. The Family Trade, The Hidden Family, The Clan Corporate, The Merchants’ War, The Revolution Business, The Trade of Queens.

Tanner, Lian. Museum of Thieves.

Taylor, Laini. Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Book 1 in a series.

Taylor, Margaret. Grizelda.

Valente, Catherynne M. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making.

Vernon, Ursula. Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew.

Vinge, Vernor. A Fire Upon the Deep.

Short Fiction

Due to sheer volume, I’ve limited myself to my favorite shorts of 2011. Many of these are free to read, or listen to, from these sources:

• Escape Pod
• PodCastle
• Podiobooks.com
• Clarkesworld Magazine
• Lightspeed Magazine and Fantasy Magazine
• Tor.com

Arkenberg, Megan. “Lessons from a Clockwork Queen.”

Baker, Kathryn. “Celadon” and “Herding Vegetable Sheep.”

Bear, Elizabeth. “Tideline.”

Bernobich, Beth. “River of Souls.”

Brin, David. “Bubbles.”

Burgis, Stephanie. “Some Girls Can.”

Burke, Sue. “Aliens Love Oranges” and “Poet For Hire.”

Butler, Pete. “Squonk the Dragon.”

Card, Orson Scott. “Elephants of Poznan.”

Castro, Adam-Troy. “Her Husband’s Hands.”

Chance, Karen. “The Queen’s Witch.”

Clare, Gwendolyn. “Perfect Lies.”

Coates, Deborah. “Magic In a Certain Slant of Light.”

Cooper, Brenda. “My Father’s Singularity.”

Cooper, Constance. “The Kings Tail” and “The Team-Mate Reference Problem In Final Stage Demon Confrontation.”

de Lint, Charles. “The Invisibles.”

DeRego, Jeffrey R. “Union Dues: Off White Lies.”

di Filippo, Paul. “Shadowboxer.”

Doctorow, Cory. “The Things that Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away.”

Falksen, G.D. “Mr. Salad Monday.”

Farland, David. “Against Eternity.”

Foster, Eugie. “My Friend Is a Lesbian Zombie.”

Frost, Gregory. “The Girlfriends of Dorian Gray.”

Howard, Cat. “Sweet Sixteen.”

Jasper, Michael. “Natural Order.”

Jemisin. N.K. “L’Alchimista.”

Kress, Nancy. “Ej-Es.”

Lafferty, Mur. “I Look Forward to Remembering You.”

Lee, Yoon Ha. “Blue Ink” and “Eating Hearts.”

Le Guin, Ursula K. “The Silence of the Asonu.”

Marsh. Ed W. “Head of State.”

Martens, Paul E. “Connie, Maybe.”

McIntosh, Will. “Bridesicle.”

Monette, Sarah. “The Devil In Gaylord’s Creek” and “White Charles.”

Morrow, Bradford. “Fall of the Birds.”

Morton, Lisa Noeahlani. “How Maartje and Uppinder Terraformed Mars.”

Murphy, Hilary Moon. “Run of the Fiery Horse.”

Myers, Kitty. “Stuck In an Elevator With Mandy Patinkin.”

Nazarian, Vera. “Mount Dragon.”

Okorafor, Nnedi. “From the Lost Diary of TreeFrog7.”

Parks, Richard. “Four Horsemen, at Their Leisure.”

Pelland, Jennifer. “Burning Bush.”

Pratt, Tim. “Lacrymose and the Golden Egg,” “Life In Stone” and “Silver Linings.”

Prineas, Sarah. “Seamstress.”

Rambo, Cat. “Worm Within” and “Long Enough and Just So Long.”

Reed, Robert. “The Next Invasion.”

Resnick, Mike. “Down Memory Lane.”

Resnick, Mike and Robin, Leslie. “Idle Roomer.”

Rogers, Bruce Holland. “Don Ysidro.”

Ronald, Margaret. “When the Gentlemen Go By.”

Sanderson, Brandon. “Firstborn.”

Scholes, Ken. “A Weeping Czar Beholds the Fallen Moon.”

Snyder, Lucy A. “Your Corporate Network and the Forces of Darkness.”

Swanwick, Michael and Gunn, Eileen. “The Trains that Climb the Winter Tree.”

Tallerman, David. “Jenny’s Sick.”

Valente, Catherynne M. “How to Become a Mars Overlord” and “Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time. “

Vaughn, Carrie. “For Fear of Dragons.”

Valentine, Genevieve. “The Sandal-Bride.”

van Eekhout, Greg. “Last Son of Tomorrow,” “The Osteomancer’s Son” and “Virus.”

Walton, David. “Anyone Can Whistle.”

Wilson, Daniel H. “The Nostalgist.”

Art monographs

Goldsworthy, Andy. Enclosure.

Goldsworthy, Andy. Passage.

Jackson, Julie. Glamourpuss: The Enchanting World of Kitty Wigs.

Purcell, Hall, Corado and Heinrich. Egg and Nest.

Uelsmann, Jerry. Photo Synthesis.

Non-fiction

Ahern, Shauna James. Gluten-free Girl.

Andoh, Elizabeth. Kansha: Celebrating Japan’s Vegan and Vegetarian Traditions.

Beranbaum, Rose Levy. The Cake Bible.

Beranbaum, Rose Levy. Rose’s Heavenly Cakes.

Bix, Cynthia Overbeck. Ideas For Great Backyard Cottages.

Black and Decker Corporation. The Complete Guide to Garages.

Corriher, Shirley O. Bakewise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking with Over 200 Magnificent Recipes.

Culinary Institute of America. The Professional Chef, 9th edition. After I bought the book, I found out there was an iPad app available: Same content, plus videos and search ability. [Insert soft noises of buyer's remorse.]

Creasy, Rosalind. Edible Landscaping, 2nd edition.

Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed.

Goldacre, Ben. Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks.

Hildebrand, Caz and Kennedy, Jacob. The Geometry of Pasta.

Hom, Ken. The Taste of China.

Huber, Jeanne. The Ultimate Garage.

Joachim, David. The Food Substitutions Bible: More Than 6,500 Substitutions For Ingredients, Equipment and Techniques.

Kennedy, Diana. The Art of Mexican Cooking: Traditional Mexican Cooking For Aficionados.

Kennedy, Diana. The Essential Cuisines of Mexico.

Kennedy, Diana. My Mexico: a Culinary Odyssey With More Than 300 Recipes.

Kennedy, Diana. Oaxaca al Gusto: An Infinite Gastronomy.

Krause, Robert and Molly. The Cook’s Book of Intense Flavors: 101 Surprising Flavor Combinations and Extraordinary Recipes that Excite Your Palate and Pleasure Your Senses.

Lipanovich, Marianne and Wilhite, Tom. Big Book of Garden Designs.

Medrich, Alice. Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life In Chocolate.

Medrich, Alice. Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies.

Medrich, Alice. Cocolat: Extraordinary Chocolate Desserts.

Medrich, Alice. Pure Dessert.

Miller, Gloria Blye. A Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook.

Nagyszalanczy, Sandor. New Built-ins Idea Book.

Nguyen, Andrea. Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, Spring Rolls, Samosas, and More.

Ottolenghi, Yotam and Tamimi, Sami. Ottolenghi: The Cookbook.

Ottolenghi, Yotam. Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London’s Ottolenghi.

Pant, Pushpesh. India: Cookbook.

Petrowski, Elaine Martin. Design Ideas For Home Storage.

Platt, Stacey. What’s a Disorganized Person to Do?

Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Potter, Jeff. Cooking For Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food.

Provey, Joseph. Easy Closets: Affordable Storage Solutions For Everyone.

Prueitt, Elisabeth. Tartine.

Rae, Andy. Workshop Idea Book.

Roach, Mary. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.

Russell, Natalie Ermann. New Backyard Idea Book.

Segnit, Niki. The Flavour Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes, and Ideas For the Creative Cook (UK edition).

Stewart, Amy. Flower Confidential.

Stewart, Amy. Wicked Bugs: The Louse that Conquered Napoleon’s Army and Other Diabolical Insects.

Stewart, Amy. Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities.

Strong, Roy. A Small Garden Designer’s Handbook.

Swanson, Heidi. Super Natural Cooking: Five Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Ingredients Into Your Cooking.

The Silver Spoon (2005).

Wilska, Emily. Knack Organizing Your Home: Decluttering Solutions and Storage Ideas.

Did not finish

Carey, Jacqueline. Kushiel’s Avatar.

Carney, Scott. The Red Market: On the Trail of the World’s Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers.

Faber, Adele and Mazlish, Elaine. How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, and Listen So Kids Will Talk.

Le Guin, Ursula K. Gifts.

Lowry, Judith Larner. Gardening With a Wild Heart: Restoring California’s Native Landscapes at Home.

McKinley, Robin. Dragonhaven.

Monette, Sarah. Mélusine.

Mukherjee, Siddhartha. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.

Park, Paul. The Hidden World.

Robson, Justina. Chasing the Dragon.

Swanson, Heidi. Super Natural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen.

Vinge, Vernor. Rainbows End.

I’ve been intimidated at the supposed labor and tricky technique involved with making crusty bread. But Jenifer’s recipe makes the process approachable, as it involves a heavy cast iron pot and lots of patient (but easy!) oven preheating. Don’t need a special oven or well-timed water spritzing, either.

I call this recipe “Miranda’s bread,” named after Morrisa and nj’s daughter who enjoyed some I recently baked. That loaf didn’t contain buckwheat flour, so I’ve denoted it as optional.

The key ingredient for this bread is stone ground, California grown Sonoran whole wheat distributed by Sustainable Grains. It’s one of the flour strains used in the original California sourdough breads from the 1800s. They offer that flour, amongst other grains farmed in California, at various Bay Area farmers’ markets.

Note #1: Because this uses a starter instead of dried packaged yeast, this recipe takes a couple days to complete. If you can take the time, it is oh so worth it.

Note #2: If you have a non-sourdough starter, this recipe still works!

This yields a 2 1/2ish pound loaf. To save for later, wait until the bread is completely cool, slice if desired, then either (1) wrap in foil, pop into a zippy bag and store in the freezer, or (2) place in cloth or paper bag, pop into a zippy bag and store in the fridge.

Ingredients

• 4 to 5 ounces sourdough starter
• 8 ounces Sonoran whole wheat flour
• 3 ounces dark (whole grain) rye flour
• 1 ounce barley flour
• (optional) 1 ounce buckwheat flour
• 1 ounce vital wheat gluten powder
• 1 3/4 to 2 cups warm water, at about 105º to 120ºF degrees
• 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
• 2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for greasing the proofing bowl
• 11 to 13 ounces unbleached bread flour

Method

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the starter, Sonoran wheat flour, rye and barley flours, buckwheat flour (if using), and the gluten powder.
2. Add to the water the molasses, salt and sugar, and stir until dissolved. Stir this into the flour mixture. Cover and let sit for about an hour, so that the whole grains can absorb some of the water.
3. Stir in the olive oil, and plop in the bread flour. Using a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, stir until combined, then knead on low speed for about 5 minutes. You’ll want a moist enough dough that will not stick to the sides of the bowl while kneading.
4. Oil another bowl, and place the dough in it. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in volume — at least 8 to 12 hours, such as overnight.
5. Place a 5 to 6 quart Dutch oven, or covered cast iron pot of similar size in the oven. Preheat oven to 450ºF degrees; I use the “convection baking” setting.
6. In the meantime, punch down the dough and shape it into a nice loaf ball. Get a length of parchment paper, and line the bowl with it. This will act as a sling for the dough when it bakes. Plop the dough back in the bowl, and cover. Again, let it rise until doubled; this time it should take about 2 to 4 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is.
7. After the oven has reached 450ºF, keep the pot in there covered and empty for at least another 30 minutes, since you want it as hot as possible for the dough.
8. After the dough has finished its second and final rise, slash its top a few times with a sharp knife.
9. Carry the dough in its sling and place them both in the pot. Cover, lower the temperature to 400ºF degrees, and bake for about 25 minutes.
10. Remove the Dutch oven’s top, rotate the pot about 180º degrees, and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes.
11. Remove pot from oven, then remove the loaf using its handy sling. The bread is done if its internal temperature is around 200º to 210ºF.
12. Cool at least a couple hours before serving. I actually prefer the bread the following day, as its texture is more even after a time.

A note about the yogurt: I use lowfat yogurt that’s smooth in the Australian/European style, e.g., Wallaby Yogurt. It doesn’t contain any thickeners like pectin or gelatin.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar

Method

1. Put all the ingredients in a jar or jug.
2. Stir, but do not whip, until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Serve, or refrigerate until needed.

What follows below isn’t so much a recipe as Rather Vague Guidelines, mind you. My first and current batch are curing, so I’ll need to update this post as to how the preserved satsumas actually turned out. But it’s a start.

Update, 8 January 2012: These go nicely stuffed inside a roasted chicken, as well minced and cooked with roasted vegetables. Also provides nice seasoning in stews like vegetable tagine.

I used jars that were previously used for 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of peanut butter and honey. WARNING: I don’t process these, I just keep them in the refrigerator. My preserved lemons that are over a year and half old are still fine, but y’know, YMWV.

Got any favorite uses for preserved citrus? Please do share! I tend to use preserved lemons in savory applications, like stews and inside poultry cavities. It’d be great to expand their cooking horizons.

Ingredients

• A bunch of green (underripe) satsumas, or similar mandarins
• Lots of fine-grained salt
• ginger, sliced
• green & black peppercorns
• cinnamon stick, broken into 1-inch pieces
• star anise, broken into single “arms”

Method

1. Wash the satsumas and discard any attached leaves or stems. Make sure your jars and caps are clean, too.
2. Make four longitudinal cuts in each fruit, without completely cutting through. That is, the four “slices” should remain attached at the center “spindle” of the fruit.
3. Sprinkle a tablespoon or two of salt in a jar.
4. Stuff in as many fruit into a single layer — two to four, or more, depending on the jar and fruit size.
5. Toss in one or two slices of ginger, one or two cinnamon pieces, one or two star anise arms, and/or three to five peppercorns. How much (or little) spice you add is completely up to you! (Although I’d imagine you might wish to add a bit less for satsumas than for lemons, as their flavor is more delicate.) Add another tablespoon or two of salt.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you reach the top of the jar. Cap off and store in the fridge overnight.
7. The following day, you might be able to cram in some more fruit. If yes, do so and top off with another tablespoon or two of salt. Cap off again, store in the fridge, and wait (mostly).
8. Turn the jars, right-side up, upside-down and vice versa, about once or twice a week for the first three weeks. The satsumas should be cured enough to use after about three to six weeks, but the flavors improve upon further aging.

To use

1. Remove any seeds.
2. Rinse as much of the salt away as possible, without losing any (where possible) rind, pith or pulp.
3. Chop or mince, according to your use needs.

This particular batch yielded eight 12-ounce jars from just under eight pounds of plums, with very tart fruit. YMMV.

Ingredients

• 8 pounds plums, washed
• 2 inches ginger, peeled and sliced
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 2 1/4 pounds sugar
• 1 pound brown sugar

Method

1. Slice plums into 3/4 to 1 inch pieces. Remove the pits if you can, but if they cling fiercely to the flesh, don’t worry about it: just toss them all into a large stock pot. Same goes with the skins: both they and the seeds will be removed when run through the mill later.
2. Toss in the ginger slices and cinnamon stick. Over medium heat, bring the plums to an energetic simmer. Once the fruit has become pulpy (30 minutes or more, depending on the fruit and its ripeness), remove from the heat.
3. Run the pulp through a food mill to remove any pits, large bits of skin, and the spice chunks. We used the mill screen with the largest holes. Pour pulp back into the stock pot.
4. Pour in sugars, bring to a simmer, again, and reduce until desired thickness is achieved. For us it took about 30 to 45 minutes.
5. Make sure you have clean jars and caps (i.e., rings and dome/lids) handy. Ladle the hot jam into the jars, quickly cap them off, then process appropriately. E.g., the jars simmered in the canner for 20 minutes.
6. Store in a cool location like a larder or closet. Refrigerate after opening.

Adapted from two recipes, Orange Cornmeal Cake at Simply Recipes, and le Gâteau Piège at Chocolate & Zucchini.

Ingredients

• 7 ounces whole wheat pastry flour
• 3 ounces (about 1/2 cup) quick hominy grits
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• grated zest of 1 large or 2 medium oranges (about 1 to 2 tablespoons)
• 2 eggs
• 7/8 cup sugar, containing 3 tablespoons vanilla sugar, plus 2 to 3 tablespoons for sprinkling
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup yogurt
• 1/4 cup pine nuts

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF degrees; I used the convection baking setting.
2. Butter and coat with sugar a 9-inch round springform pan, or a 7-inch square pan with parchment sling.
3. Sift the flour, grits, salt, and baking powder into a bowl and set aside.
4. Melt the butter, and mix with the olive oil and orange zest; also set aside.
5. Using the whisk attachment for the mixer, whip the eggs and 7/8 cup plus 3 tablespoons of sugars until foamy and pale, about 5 to 7 minutes.
6. Fold into the egg mixture the flour followed by the yogurt, orange juice, then butter mixture.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan, then sprinkle with pine nuts and the 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar.
8. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes; done when sides pull away and a knife comes out clean.

Which podcasts do I listen to?

• Escape Pod
• PodCastle
• Podiobooks.com
• Clarkesworld Magazine
• Lightspeed Magazine
• Tor.com

I also started reading e-books last year, thanks to iBooks (iTunes link) on the iPad, which has enough screen real estate for comfort, and the iPhone 4′s Retina Display, which has enough resolution for that can even read without script correction. And both have backlighting, something that really allows me to read on an electric device.

Note: I haven’t provided comments for every item I read or listened to, as just the list of short stories would take too long to write up! But if there’s a particular book or story for which you want to know more, let me know — I might get around (not to be snarky; more due to time constraints!) to summarizing my thoughts. Once again, the denotes my recommendations.

Comics

Clamp. Legal Drug, volumes 1 through 3 (a.k.a., Legal Drugstore).

Kim, Dong Hwa. Color of Heaven.

Rivkah. Steady Beat. Ooops, I nearly forgot that I had read this back in 2008! Well, the first two volumes, that is. ABC. The final volume 3 remains in limbo due to Tokyopop’s publication snafu’s, afaict, but here’s a link from Rivkah’s blog with some excerpts and information.

Yang, Gene & Derek Kirk Kim. The Eternal Smile.

Fiction

Abu-Jaber, Diana. Cresent.

Adams, C.T. “Olga.”

Buckell, Tobias. Crystal Rain, Ragamuffin, and Sly Mongoose. I read this series because Buckell’s short stories via Escape Pod were so much fun to listen to.

Desai, Kiran. Hullaballoo in the Guava Orchard.

DiTerlizzi, Tony. The Search for WondLa. I think I’ve found an excellent young adult (YA) series to follow (even exceed) Harry Potter.

Kowal, Mary Robinette. “First Flight.”

Malki!, David (editor). Machine of Death.

Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book.

Gibson, William. Zero History.

Lafferty, Mur. Playing for Keeps (audiobook).

Larsson, Stieg. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I found the first part of the book where character histories were being built up more intriguing than the rest of the book. Not bad, but somewhat exceeded my boundaries for horrific violence.

Lee, Yun Ha.

Murakami, Haruki. After the Quake.

Resnick, Mike.

Stross, Charles. “Overtime.”

Swanwick, Michael.

Taylor, Margaret. Grizelda (audiobook).

Wada, Carolyn. “Roci and the Skycat.”

Non-fiction

Bayless, Rick et al. Mexico: One Plate at a Time and Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico. The ideas behind the recipes sound good, but I really dislike the utter gushiness in Bayless’s writing style (for that matter, his TV presentation as well). Time to look at Diana Kennedy books…

Ben-Barak, Idan. The Invisible Kingdom.

Berley, Peter and Singer, Zoë. The Flexitarian Table.

Chung, Taekyung and Samuels, Debra. The Korean Table: From Barbecue to Bibimbap, 100 Easy-to-Prepare Recipes.

Delamare & Guineau. Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments.

Ehrenreich, Barbara. Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America.

Graedon, Joe and Teresa. Best Choices from the People’s Pharmacy: What You Need to Know Before Your Next Visit to the Doctor or Drugstore.

Greenspan, Dorie. Around My French Table: More than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. This cookbook would’ve been a lot helpful for me if it didn’t cop out and provide only the American, volume-oriented measurements. Moreover, the name-dropping (“my friend [insert celebrity's name]…”) became unnerving. What a disappointment — perhaps to due to a publisher’s fear of scaring the audience. Hunh, not if you provide both kinds of recipe formats.

Greenspan, Dorie. Paris Sweets: Great Desserts from the City’s Best Pastry Shops. However, this one provided the more helpful weight-oriented measurements. My guess is that this book had a smaller audience and a more reasonable publisher to allow such recipe presentation.

Herbst, Sharon and Ron. The Deluxe Food Lover’s Companion.

Jaffrey, Madhur. Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India.

Kean, Sean. The Disappearing Spoon and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of Elements.

Kennedy, Diana. The Cuisines of Mexico (1st edition). Fascinating enough that I want to read the later edition and her other books!

Keith, Jeremy. HTML5 for Web Designers.

Lee, Cecilia Hae-Jin. Eating Korean: From Barbecue to Kimchi, Recipes from My Home and Quick and Easy Korean Cooking: More than 70 Everyday Recipes.

Mesfin, D.J. Exotic Ethiopian Cooking: Society, Culture, Hospitality & Traditions, revised edition: 178 tested recipes with food composition tables.

Narayan, Shoba. Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes.

Nicey & Wifey. A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down.

Page, Karen and ABC. The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America’s Most Imaginative Chefs.

Park, Allisa (editor). Discovering Korean Cuisine: Recipes from the Best Korean Restaurants in Los Angeles.

Rathbun, A.J. and Holt, Jeremy. Double Take: One Fabulous Recipe, Two Finished Dishes, Feeding Vegetarians and Omnivores Together.

Ruhlman, Michael. Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking.

Schnetz, Thomas and ABC. Doña Tomás: Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking.

Theroux, Paul. Ghost Train to the Eastern Star.

Walden, Hilaire. Korean Cooking: Explore One of the Orient’s Greatest Culiary Secrets.

Not finished

Bacigalupi, Paolo. Windup Girl.

Spinrad, Norman. Child of Fortune. Rather than feeling immersed in the protagonist’s culture, with her patois of French, German and Japanese mixed with English, I ended up feeling this was just too pretentious to continue reading.

You can find elderflower cordial online, or at stores specializing in British or European foods; Belvoir is a good brand. If you want some alcoholic zing to the syrup, feel free to substitute part of the cordial with St.-Germain liqueur.

Adapted from The Kitchn.

Sponge ingredients

• 4 eggs at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons consisting of vanilla sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• zest of 2 limes or lemons

Syrup ingredients

• 1/2 cup elderflower cordial, or a bit more, depending on your sweetness preference.
• 3 tablespoons lime or lemon juice

Garnishes

• Powdered sugar
• Whipped cream, sweetened with sugar, cordial, liqueur (e.g., St-Germain), or a mix thereof.

Method

1. Line the base of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper, then coat the pan’s base and sides with butter and sugar. Preheat oven to 350ºF degrees; I used the “convection bake” setting on mine.
2. Using a whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar and salt until pale yellow, tripled in volume and very soft peaks form.
3. Mix butter and lemon zest in a medium jug or bowl.
4. Fold in the flour+baking powder. Scoop out a cup or so of the batter and plop into the butter mixture; whisk that until smooth. Fold the butter mixture into the main batter.
5. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 25 to 35 to minutes.
6. While the cake bakes, mix the elderflower cordial and lemon juice.
7. After taking the cake out of the oven, poke holes throughout it with a thin skewer while it’s still warm in the pan. Evenly pour elderflower+lemon syrup over the cake.
8. Allow the cake to cool and thoroughly absorb syrup before removing it from the pan.
9. To serve, dust with a bit of powdered sugar, along with a dollop of flavored cream, if desired.

Adapted from Epicurious, but more fruity. Yields a scant quart of ice cream.

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar; my version includes 1/3 cup vanilla sugar.
• a pinch of salt
• 2 egg yolks, whisked
• 1 cup unsweetened puréed passion fruit pulp; I used Goya‘s frozen purée, mostly defrosted.

Method

1. Bring the heavy cream, sugar (and vanilla sugar, if using) and salt to a simmer in a medium sauce pan.
2. Temper the egg yolks with 1/2 to 1 cups of the hot cream, the latter added to eggs a couple tablespoons at a time while whisking.
3. Pour the egg mixture into the sauce pan. With the heat on medium low, whisk until it becomes thick, reaching 170º to 175ºF degrees.
4. Remove custard from the heat, and stir in the passion fruit pulp. Pour the custard through a fine strainer (to remove any fibers or curdled bits) into a glass bowl or jug. Chill at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.
5. Prepare following the instructions for your ice cream maker. Scoop into another container for freezer storage. Consume at your leisure.

My version is somewhere between the classic and cream scone recipes from The Joy of Cooking, wherein I use cream, eggs and butter. This yields a very tender and very rich scone, as one could imagine.

This recipe can be halved.

Note that these are more like British scones, which have the barest hint of sweetness, unlike many American ones which are often sweet, nearly cake-like or muffin-like. No frosting on these puppies. However, the fun is in the spreads that can be applied: lashings of clotted cream, or even butter, (try marscapone, anyone?), jams, jellies, lemon curd, etc.! All to be washed down with a good drink, especially tea (chai, perhaps?) or coffee.

Ingredients

• 1 pound pastry flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 tablespoon chunks
• zest of 1 lemon or orange
• (optional) 1/2 cup raisins
• (optional) 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier, or a good brandy
• 2 cold eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup chilled heavy cream

Glaze

• 1/4 cup cream, half & half, or whole milk
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Method

1. If using raisins, prepare them at least an hour beforehand. Put them in a microwave-proof bowl, add the Grand Marnier, and heat until the liquid is hot. Cover and set aside so they can plump up.
2. Mix the eggs and cream in a jug and keep in the fridge until step 5.
3. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.
4. Working in two batches (not necessary if recipe is halved), process the dry ingredients with the butter, until the mixture has butter lumps ranging from cornmeal to pea-sized. Place in a large bowl and stir in the zest. If using raisins, drain them, and add to the dough.
5. Quickly and using as few movements as possible, fold in the egg-cream mixture into the dough until the dry bits just stick together. Try to avoid warming the dough, or making it too wet. If the dough does get a bit squishy, toss in some flour.
6. Form the dough into two thick, flatten discs or squares (one if halved) and wrap them in plastic film. Place in the fridge for at least an hour to rest and firm up, or 30 minutes in the freezer.
7. In the meantime, prepare the glaze. Warm the cream until near scalding, and stir in the sugar to dissolve. Set aside to cool.
8. Preheat oven to 400ºF degrees; I used the convection baking setting.
9. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone liner.
10. Pat out the circle or square directly on the sheet until it’s about 1/2 inch high. Then use a butter knife or scraper to divide the dough into 8 sections. Brush each scone with the glaze.
11. Bake until risen twice in height —a poker should come out clean— and lightly golden on top, about 13 to 17 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.
12. Serve warm or at room temperature. With cream, jams, curds, and tea…

A couple things helped me along. First, I found a couple encouraging recipes that — THANK THE ALMIGHTY FSM — included weight measurements for flour. Second, I discovered the balloon whisk.

Oh, I still need practice using the balloon whisk, like learning to judge when to stop with the folding motions and not deflate all of those lovely egg and sugar bubbles (i.e., do the bare minimum, don’t obsess over batter appearance thoroughness). And I still cheat (with not much guilt) a bit by adding some baking powder. Yet I still love the realization that I can make a nearly meringue-like structure with whole eggs and sugar.

As influenced by Michael Ruhlman’s sponge cake from Ratio, and Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Gold Passion Génoise (minus the passionfruit and frostings) from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes.

Ingredients

• 5 eggs, at room temperature
• 6 ounces sugar (just over 3/4 cup), total; 3 tablespoons vanilla sugar comprised part of this. If you don’t have vanilla sugar, use 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, at room temp or slightly warmer
• 3 ounces pastry flour; I used unbleached white.
• 1 1/2 ounces rice flour; I used white medium grain, not mochi..
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF degrees; I use the “convection baking” setting on the oven. Cover the base of a 9-inch non-stick circular pan — a springform pan would be ideal &mdash with a circle of parchment paper. Butter and flour the base and sides of the pan.
2. Sift the pastry flour, rice flour and baking powder in a bowl; set aside.
3. Combine eggs, sugars, vanilla if using, and salt in a mixing bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, and whisk until the temperature is about 90 to 100ºF degrees. The idea is not to sterilize or even gently cook the eggs like a custard; it’s to warm and dissolve the ingredients so that they’ll maximize in volume during the next step.
4. Using the whisk attachment on your mixer, beat the egg-sugar mixture until it has tripled, or even quadrupled in volume. It’ll become pale yellow, and its texture in between a ribbon and very soft, droopy-drippy peaks. It’s this foamy mixture that will aid in leavening the cake.
5. Sift (again) the flour mix into the egg-sugar mixture. Using a balloon whisk, fold the flour in as few movements as possible. If flour gets on the side, tip the bowl to gloop it with the egg-sugar batter. If flour congregates near the bottom, make a large spinning motion with the whisk to remove and disperse it. Keep in mind, though, that some small pockets of flour is okay, since you still to need to mix in the butter.
6. Add about a cup of the batter — I shake a glop from the balloon whisk — into the melted butter. Using a piano whisk (a narrower whisk good for blending, rather than folding), mix this up well. Pour back into the main batter bowl, and fold with the balloon whisk. Again, it doesn’t have to be perfectly, smoothly incorporated.
7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Pop it into the oven.
8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes; the cake should be done when it pulls away from the sides of the pan. Immediately remove it from pan and place on a rack to cool.
9. After cooling, apply your favorite filling, garnishing and flavoring techniques. Génoise lends itself well to being soaked, er, coated with sweetened alcoholic liquids, such as a simple syrup flavored with Grand Marnier. Buttercream, ganache, jams, whipped cream, or even simply powdered sugar work nicely, too.

On the left is the failed first attempt: too little rise, too dense. On the right is the more successful second attempt. Here are the likely culprits:

• Oven too hot; I had it at 350ºF degrees the first time.
• Not greasing and flouring both the base and sides of the pan.
• Too much flour: too heavy.
• Neglecting to mix in some of the batter into the melted butter. Pouring the butter straight needed more folding and movement.
• Over-baking! As soon as the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, remove it from the oven.
• …And, of course, over-beating the batter…

You might need to rename (or delete) the previous RSS URL you had for the gallery to slurp up the feed again.

In this recipe I ended up braising the cauliflower: first lightly frying it in olive oil, then cooking it in wine. I didn’t need to add more salt because the anchovies (packed in salt and oil) were already quite salty.

Ingredients

• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 head of cauliflower, about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds, cut into 3/4 to 1 inch florets
• 4 cloves of black garlic, minced or smushed
• 2 to 4 filets of anchovies, minced or smushed
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons water
• (optional) pepper, to taste

Method

1. In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Stir in the cauliflower until the florets are coated in the oil.
2. Cover and cook on medium high for about 9 to 11 minutes. Stir the cauliflower every 2 to 3 minutes, so that the vegetable doesn’t burn, but still allows a nice fond to develop.
3. Add the black garlic and anchovies, and stir for about 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Add the wine and water, bring the liquid to a boil. Cover and cook until tender, about 7 to 9 minutes. There shouldn’t be much liquid left by the end; if the cauliflower cook more quickly than expected, remove the lid to boil off any excess to avoid mushiness.
5. Add some freshly ground pepper, if you want. Serve as a side, which I did with some broiled fish and rice. Alternatively, serve over pasta — in which case if there’s excess liquid, don’t boil it off, just add it to the pasta, or add pasta water and/or a bit of cream if the water boiled off already.

I got the hankering for such a pudding when I saw the recipe for American Masala’s Sticky Toffee Cake at Zoë Bakes. The adding of Indian spices to this comforting pud, not to mention the easy blending of ingredients, caught my heart (er, stomach) and mind. But I needed a recipe that gave weight measurements for flour (yes, obsessed I am, Young Skywalker), and found David Lebovitz’s Warm Sticky Toffee Pudding — in which the sticky goodness bubbles along with the baking pudding.

Ingredients

• 1 cup caramel or toffee sauce, plus MORE for garnish
• 3 1/4 ounces pitted and quartered dates
• 3 1/4 ounces pitted and quartered prunes
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 ounces (1/2 cube, 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 rounded teaspoon five-spice powder
• 1/4 rounded teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 rounded teaspoon ginger powder
• 3/4 cup sugar; 3 tablespoons of this was vanilla sugar — otherwise, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
• 6 1/2 ounces whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs
• (optional) whipped cream for additional, extra special garnish

Method

1. Grease a 9 inch square casserole dish. Pour in 1 cup of the caramel (or toffee) sauce so that it evenly coats the bottom of the dish. Pop dish in refrigerator for at least an hour or two, so that the sauce becomes firm.
2. Preheat oven to 350ºF degrees.
3. Combine the dates, prunes and water in a sauce pan, cover, and bring to a boil.
4. Take sauce pan off the heat, stir in the baking soda, butter, salt, five-spice, cardamom and ginger powders, and if using, vanilla extract. Set aside to cool so the fruit-spice mixture isn’t too hot, about 100Fº to 120Fº degrees.
5. In the meantime, sift the sugar (and vanilla sugar, if using instead of extract), flour and baking powder into a bowl using a fine strainer.
6. When cool enough, use a hand blender to purée the fruit-spice mixture. Whisk in the eggs. Then fold in the sugar-flour mixture; a balloon whisk is great for this latter task, as it reduces the likelihood of overbeating the batter.
7. Pour the batter on top of the chilled sauce, and pop unconvered into the oven for 35 to 50 minutes. It should be done when the batter pulls away from the casserole sides, and when a knife stuck in the middle of the sponge portion comes out clean.
8. You now have pudding complete with its own sauce. But don’t hesitate to add barely sweetened whipped cream, for an additional taste sensation. Or, for that matter, more caramel sauce.

I’m still trying to find the Best Spice Proportions, so if you have a favorite recipe for this dish, I’d love to hear about it. But I think this one is a good start.

Before I had the nitr qibe, I used ghee. You could instead use canola oil, too, but the dish —at least when I used ghee; I haven’t tried oil— will lack depth. I was also unsure what particular lentil I needed: Turns out it’s masoor dal, which are the reddish-orange split lentils that’ve also been hulled (skins removed).

This can be easily doubled, tripled, etc., but make sure you have a large enough pot.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion (nearly 1 pound), chopped finely
• 2 to 3 tablespoons nitr qibe
• 5 to 7 cloves of garlic (nearly 1/2 cup), minced
• 1 inch of ginger root, grated
• 1 tablespoon berbere; increase or decrease according to your chili-heat tolerance.
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom seeds
• 1 whole black cardamom pod
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup split red lentils (masoor dal), rinsed
• 2 to 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Method

1. In a large pot, melt the nitr qibe and sauté the onions over medium-high heat until soft and golden, about 20 to 30 minutes. You’ll need to stir this frequently, and it may seem tedious, but you really want the onions to caramelize for this dish.
2. Add the garlic and ginger, and stir for a minute or two. Don’t let the garlic go brown; pale golden is okay, though.
3. Add the spices (berbere, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, non-black cardamom, and black cardamom), and stir until fragrant, another minute or two.
4. Stir in the water, lentils, tomato paste and salt, and bring to a simmer. Set the heat to low, cover and cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. During the last 30 minutes or so you should stir every 5 to 10 minutes, so that the stew doesn’t stick and burn. When done, some but not all of the lentils will have dissolved.
5. Serve with basmati rice, injera, or other flatbreads.

So many spices! Photo by Simon F.

Another aspect of this soup I enjoy is that the lentils have a slightly al dente texture that goes nicely with the kale. This is why I use the French green lentils, such as the lentilles du Puy, because these particular varieties tend to maintain their shape after a long cooking period. You could still use whole brown lentils, but you’d have to watch the pot carefully so that they don’t (mostly) dissolve.

Ingredients

• 1 cup French green lentils, e.g., du Puy
• 2 medium onions (1 pound)
• 4 medium carrots (1/2 pound)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander seed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice & cloves
• 1/4 preserved lemon, rinsed, seeds removed, and minced
• 1 1/2 cups canned or fresh tomatoes
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 4 cups water
• 3/4 pound kale, thick and tough stems removed, and chopped
• 1 to 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
• (optional) crumbled queso fresco

Method

1. Pick through and rinse the lentils. Drain them and set aside.
2. Sauté the onions and carrots in a large pot with the olive oil over medium high heat.
3. When the onions have become translucent, about 10 minutes, stir in the cinnamon, coriander, cumin, ginger, allspice, cloves and preserved lemon.
4. When the spices have become fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes, stir in the tomatoes, stock, water, kale and lentils.
5. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until the lentils have become tender. Depending on how old (dry) the lentils are, this could be range from 20 minutes to an hour.
6. Season with the pomegranate molasses, and serve with a crumbly cheese like queso fresco, if you wish.

Though less sweet, uncoated cookies are still yummy.

Adapted from Chowhound’s Pistachio Mexican Wedding Cakes. Makes 44 cookies, give or take.

Ingredients

• 1 cup shelled and unsalted pistachios
• 2 ounces powdered sugar
• 8 ounces whole wheat or white pastry flour; it’s nuttier if you use all whole wheat
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 2 sticks (1/2 cup, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
• 1 to 3 teaspoons cream or milk
• additional powdered (confectioner’s) sugar for dusting, about 1 to 1 1/2 cups; eyeballing by volume here is fine.

1. Put the pistachios and 2 ounces powdered sugar in a food processor, and pulse in 5 to 10 second increments until the nuts are finely ground, but not pasty.
2. Sift the pastry flour, salt and spices into the processor bowl, then pulse briefly to lightly mix together the dry ingredients.
3. Slice the butter into 4 to 6 chunks for easier mixing, and toss it along with the orange blossom water and 1 teaspoon cream (or milk) into the processor. Pulse in 10 to 15 second increments until all ingredients just start forming a ball. If the dough still seems dry and powdery, add another teaspoon or two of cream.
4. Scrape the dough into a bowl and refrigerate until it’s stiff, at least 2 hours; overnight would be fine.
5. Preheat to 350ºF — this is based on my using the “convection baking” setting. Line a cookie sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper.
6. For each cookie, scoop out a tablespoon or so of dough and roll it into a 3/4 to 1 inch ball. Place the dough balls about 1/2 apart on the cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes.
8. There are two ways to coat the cookies, either way is fine. (1) Place 2 to 4 cookies in a bag with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, and gently jostle them around until coated; this gives a chunkier but more thorough sugar coating. (2) Place the cookies on a cooling rack or towel, and sprinkle them with powdered sugar from a strainer; this method yields prettier looking cookies, but not as sweet as the first method.
9. Serve with tea, coffee, or by themselves. Store leftover cookies in an air-tight container.

Adapted from The Station House Café: 25 Years, 25 Recipes, Point Reyes Station (1999). The pan I used was a 11-by15 inch Pyrex dish, with a capacity of about 4 quarts.

Ingredients

• 10 ounces rich bread including crust, such as Sally Lunn, brioche, or challah
• 1 1/4 pounds tart-sweet apples (e.g., Granny Smith, Braeburn, Golden Delicious, Jonagold), peeled and chopped into 1/2 by 1 inch pieces
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 cups half and half; or, just half whole milk and half heavy cream.
• Garnishes: caramel sauce, cajeta, dulce de leche, crème anglais, etc.

Method

1. Butter a ceramic or glass baking dish and preheat the oven. I set the oven to 350ºF degrees on the “convection baking” setting.
2. Prepare the bread: Cut into 1-by-2 inch pieces and toast lightly so that the outside is crisp, but not completely dry throughout. The bread should still be soft on the inside, so when you squeeze a piece, it should give a bit. Set the bread aside in a large bowl.
3. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and half and half.
4. Mix the chopped apples with the bread, then pour the egg mixture over them. Allow the bread to partially soak up the liquid, about 10 minutes.
5. Pour the mixture into the baking dish, and bake for about 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 325ºF degrees, and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes until the custard has set and the apples (at the top) have browned at their edges.
6. Serve with the aforementioned garnishes. Keeps well in the refrigerator, and can be reheated in the microwave.

• Comics
• Fiction
• Non-fiction
• Art monographs
• Unfinished

Once again, I’ve marked recommended titles with the lightbulb icon, .

Comics

I finally discovered Clamp, a famous group of women manga-ka. Indeed, I’ve added their Xxxholic series to my list of ongoing comics I read.

Byun, Byung-Jun. Mijeong. Did not like, except for the short story of a cat who fell in love with a young woman. My tolerance for the violence and grittiness was overwhelmed too often.

Forney, Ellen. I Love Led Zeppelin. A comic that speaks to me and my generation!

Kariya, Tetsu. Oishinbo: Japanese Cuisine. This is volume 1 of the Oishinbo: à la carte series. As much as I love reading about (or watching!) food, I couldn’t get into this series. The characters were too annoying and not interesting enough for me to continue with the other volumes.

Kim, Dong Hwa. The Color of Earth and The Color of Water. Turn of the 19th to 20th century story about a girl and her widowed mother in Korea. A nice mixture of traditions and themes of individual independence.

Pham, John. Sublife, volume 1.

Urushibara, Yuki. Mushishi (Wikipedia | Animé News Network), volumes 1 and 2.

Fiction

Bellairs, John. The Face in the Frost. Excellent twist on battling wizards in a delightfully eccentric estate.

Clarke, Arthur C. 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Bad: Anthropology-primatology FAIL: How could a primate have no concept of memory or knowledge of parenthood, yet still have a sense of so-called honor when battling rival tribes? The Ugly: Dated sexism; every time a female character appears, she is always a girl, with a capricious or cute manner. In a group of journalists, all the men ask questions, but the lone woman demands! Sheesh; grow up, little man. The Good (which I save for last, because it is worthwhile): the ideas of space travel, of civilizations so ancient and advanced as to be wondrous. Enough to make me curious about the remaining three books in the series; not to mention seeing if his writing actually matured (re: gender roles) over the years.

Clarke, Arthur C. Childhood’s End (reread). I had read this novel for the first time as a 13-year-old. All I got from it back then, and all I could remember, was a terrifying, oppressively depressing feeling. I’m so glad I reread it. Sure, it’s still tragic, but it’s also an incredibly thoughtful take on alien-human contact, as well as humanity’s development. Loads of super high technology, including the oldest example of virtual reality that I’ve heard of. For a book published in 1953, it’s barely dated, with only a few nods towards unequal gender roles. I hardly noticed that the Internet didn’t exist!

Gaiman, Neil. Anansi Boys. Good, although I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as American Gods.

Goto, Hiromi. Kappa Child. An odd yet touching combination of Japanese myth (from a Japanese-Canadian) and sexual identity.

Lee, Tanith. Mortal Suns. A more recent novel I picked up at the library after I had finished Silver Metal Lover. It was an overwrought fantastic epic which utterly fell flat on its face, for me. She has written much better than this.

Lee, Tanith. The Silver Metal Lover.

Miyazawa, Kenji. Milky Way Railroad (sometimes also called Night on the Galactic Railway). An interesting novella for children that considers the cruelty of children, and death. Miyazawa weaves both Eastern and Western perspectives by including Buddhist and Christian themes.

Miyazawa, Kenji. Matsuburo the Wind Imp, translated by John Bester. This is a collection of three short stories in a bilingual book published by Kōdansha. He seemed to have it in for foxes, in the other two stories.

Miyazawa, Kenji. Selections, an anthology of his poems. I enjoyed his mix of the scientific (often geologic, meteorological and agricultural) with the spiritual and humor. Particular standouts: “Report and “Traveler” for their terseness; “Winter & Galaxy Station,” “The Tsugaru Strait,” “Good Devil Praying for Absolution,” “The Snake Dance,” “The Prefectural Engineer’s Statement Regarding Clouds,” “(Untitled) No matter what he does, it’s too late,” “While Ill,” and “(Untitled) Neither rain / nor wind / nor snow nor summer’s heat / will affect his robust body.”

Ogawa, Yoko. The Housekeeper and the Professor (a.k.a., The Professor’s Beloved Equation). So much better than The Diving Pool. A touching story about how a single mother gets to know her elderly client, a mathematician whose short-term memory (due to a car accident) lasts for only 80 minutes.

Scalzi, John. Agent to the Stars. A delightfully goofy, yet thoughtful, first-contact novel.

Scalzi, John. The Android’s Dream. Superb story where Earth and humans are near the bottom of the galactic ladder (technologically-speaking). Thus it becomes an intriguing yet hilarious story involving a lot of manipulation and diplomacy. Reminds me of Stephenson’s work, but much better edited, and with more empathy.

Scalzi, John. The Old Man’s War series, consisting of Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony, and Zoë’s Tale. I didn’t think I could into war-based science fiction. This series taught me otherwise!

Stephenson, Neal. Anathem. when I first saw this book I thought, “Oh no. Did his editor(s) fail their role (roll, as it were)?” In some places, yes, there could’ve been some severe trimming. But overall this novel was, at the very least, a fascinating anthropological study.

Swanwick, Michael. Stations of the Tide. Meh, took me far too long to read through this novel. Afraid I still didn’t quite “get it.” I admit, I do prefer Swanwick’s short stories…

Williams, Tad. The Otherland series, consisting of City of Golden Shadow, River of Blue Fire, Mountain of Black Glass, Sea of Silver Light. Reminded me of long-standing role-playing games, but in novel format.

Winterson, Jeanette. Lighthousekeeping.

Non-fiction

I also went through a slew of house remodeling books. Rather than listing all of them here, read about the ones I recommend.

Bastianich, Lidia. Lidia’s Italy. I often enjoy Bastianich’s television shows, where she prepares often non-fussy yet delicious-looking dishes, while at the same time describing the history of the food. This book was too much like a travelogue: Many photos of where she visited, hardly any of the dishes from the recipes! True, I’m a sucker for pretty pictures, but for something like a cookbook, I depend on such photos being relevant to the content. Show me pictures of what you’re cooking!

Art monographs

Nara, Yoshitomo. Lullaby Supermarket. A thorough retrospective of Nara’s work up to 2001. Much more informative than Nothing Ever Happens.

Nara, Yoshitomo and Sugito, Hiroshi. Over the Rainbow. Beautiful collection of their collaborative project influenced by the movie of the same name. Nara drew and painted much of the subjects (girls, dogs, etc.), whereas Sugito seemed to add subtle but mesmerizing highlights and details to landscapes, backgrounds, and what seems the subjects’ eyes.

Sowa, Michael. Sowa’s Ark: An Enchanted Bestiary. Flying pigs galore! (Without wings, too.) I particularly like “A summer night’s melancholy,” where a dog in another building seems to be sadly ignored by a purposely obscured cat.

Unfinished

Butterfield, Jeremy. A Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare. In spite of a disconcertingly unclear introduction (didn’t he learn that throwing around undefined terms in a preface is poor form in expository writing?), this books is chock full of interesting tidbits on the English language.

Gonick and Smith. The Cartoon Guide to Statistics. I got lost and stopped reading at z-transformations and t-distributions.

Kirino, Natsuo. Real World. The combination of gritty reality with personalities that felt superficial (not too mention blasé) didn’t work for me.

Ladinsky, Daniel. The Subject Tonight is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz. It happened again: I fell into the trap of thinking that Ladinsky translated Hafiz’ poems. No, no, a thousand times no: This collection is merely Ladinsky’s own poetry inspired by the Hafiz he has read in English. To be clear, he states in the Introduction that he’s illiterate in Farsi. So the title? Misleading. The poetic content? New-age drivel. Anything else? Ladinsky does helpfully point to The Green Sea of Heaven by Elizabeth Gray, and Fifty Poems of Hafiz by Arthur Arberry as good sources of actual, translated Hafiz.