Brittle Holiday

Oh, hello! Thought I forgot about you, dear blog? Thought I fell off the earth, out of a kitchen, far far away from pens and paper and crafts and all manner of fun distraction? No no, dear friend, I have been cooking, making, crafting. I've just been... busy? Lazy? Distracted? All of the above. Anyways, welcome me back, will you?

It's that time of the year, and I'm loving every second of it, particularly now that we're finally in New England December - following a tepid, unforgiving, long, long fall. The temperatures are dropping, the air is becoming crisp again, and bus seats are shrinking as puffy Northface's sop up at least two inches between each passenger. It's wonderful.

I've been invited to what will prove to be a lovely Christmas holiday at the Carr/Parkes manse. In return for being hosted Christmas Eve through the day (slumber party!), I wanted to give Robert and David something sweet, something warm, and something fun. I've decided a gift basket of homemade goodies was just the thing, and I'm going to fill it with peanut cashew brittle, dry scone mix, cocoa mix, and a fruit filled chutney. I hope to make a post for each of these projects - so keep an eye out, they have to be done this week!

Yesterday, I made the brittle. After a lot of recipe reading and taste remembering, the Internet taught me that brittle of most any kind can properly be made in the microwave. Yes, the microwave. I know - it's weird, and I feel bad about it. But more on that in a minute. My intention was to make one batch on the stove and one in the microwave, but after making the quick-version first, and seeing how successfully easy it was, I couldn't imagine making it on the stove.

Back to the guilt. I feel it, hard. I feel like I've cheated. Like I've cut a corner that one just doesn't cut. I took the process out of something that seems so dependent upon process, something that surely tastes, in part, as good as it does because it was so belabored for. But let me tell you - making this shit in the microwave was so incredibly simple, pain free, and with equally delicious results, that I just don't see why you wouldn't do it. Especially when you've got to make a lot, and you don't have much (if any!) time. I still feel bad, but I think my guilt is foolish. But then again, (gulp) I've been making almost all of my bread dough in the Cuisinart for the past two years, and I still feel bad about it - so perhaps it's a guilt I'll just have to swallow.

Anyways, here's how you commit the delicious, absolutely fantastic travesty.

Cashew Peanut Brittle, Microwave:

1C sugar

1tsp salt, or so

1/2C light corn syrup

1tsp butter

1tsp vanilla

1C chopped and partially whole nuts

1tsp baking soda

Combine sugar, salt and corn syrup in microwave safe bowl. Mix well.

Microwave for 3min 15sec, stir well. Add vanilla and butter, combining well.

Microwave for 2min.

Mix in nuts. Combine well.

Gently mix in baking soda until sort of foamy.

Pour onto non-stick flat surface.

Try to pour evenly (unlike pictured), avoiding clumps along the way.

The brittle doesn't seem to like being spread, although it doesn't exactly

ruin it either. But I'd say, if you can pour and leave it, that'd be best.

Let set for 30min or so (mine took much less time, but it was a dry day...),

then break away! Try not to eat it all - it's a surefire route to a rumbly tummbly.

Honey Cashew Peanut Brittle, Microwave:

I also tried it with some honey, rather than all corn syrup. It worked, although it didn't set as well as the first batch. It set more than well enough to crack, but when chewed it gets soft instead of retaining its crunch through and through. I have a feeling this may just be a quality of the honey. After attending the Science and Cooking lectures at Harvard the past few months, I wish I knew the science behind how this all works! I bet it has something to do with the water molecules in honey vs those in sugar, but I'd love to get a microscope in my kitchen and watch it unfold in front of my eyes! If only Harold McGee was my bestie/dad/uncle/downstairs neighbor/anything really. Despite the science quandaries and lack of crunch, though, this brittle sure is tasty.

For this batch, I used:

1C sugar

1/2C honey/light corn syrup (about 4:1)

1tsp salt, or so

1tsp butter

1tsp vanilla

1tsp cognac

a dash of bitters

1tsp baking soda

1C chopped and partially whole nuts

Combine sugar, salt, honey and corn syrup well, microwave for 4min. Stir well and add nuts. Microwave for 3min. Add butter, vanilla, cognac, and bitters mixing well. Microwave 1min. Gently stir in baking soda. Pour onto nonstick flat surface and let set. Crack and enjoy!

Truly an awesome and easy candy making experience. Will do, again and again and again. I'll let you know how long it holds its tooth for - I'm suspicious that it mightn't fall soft before it's due to be gifted this weekend. But so far, so good! (Sooo soooo gooooood).

And stay tuned, folks! I'm feeling ambitious after being granted a part-time lecturer position for Tuft's Experimental College next semester, teaching Changing Tastes in Place: Sensory Ethnography in Boston's Foodscapes, alongside the lovely Selena Ahmed . And who knows, maybe this burst of sharing energy will turn into a steady presence... (don't hold your breath, though).

Until next time, may all your days be merry, your nights be bright, your gifts be clever, and your wrapping be tight!

Illustration Model

In my illustration class that I go to way more often than I planned to, we're building model rooms to photograph for reference. We were supposed to pick a room that was the scene of an emotionally impressive moment in our lives, so that we're invested in the scene and will therefore be invested in our drawings. I chose something that happened in the living room of the apartment Rachel and I shared on Evergreen St., the night before we moved out - therefore it's pretty empty. I'm not done yet - and these are really (really) shitty photos, but I wanted to get this up here before I forgot.






I've still got to make a boombox, papasan chair and light out of clay - then the figures.

Illuminated Text

I've been working on the project I started talking about in my last post. I don't really like the text I wrote but I think it works really well as a text to illuminate. So far I've only done work on one spread - I have a feeling the book will be four spreads, 8 pages. I'm really liking where it's going, though. I have been borrowing the general gist of the decorative aspects from manuscript plates I've found in the books I have on illuminated manuscripts. I sort of want to go back and re-do the initial letter with gold leaf - that was my original intention but I don't have tools to do a small guilding job like that. Hopefully a trip to Michaels will solve that problem.

Here are some pictures of the work in progress -









All I want to do is work on it! Wonderfully inconvenient though, it takes a long time to do anything on it, and without a doubt a very certain calm and focused mindset (which is not always easy to come by...)

I'm working with acryla gouache for the color and a higgins calligraphy ink and flexible nib pen for the text

Also, check out my mixtape blog, i just uploaded a new tape chock full of 80's pop bombs and i bet you'd dig it!

Lately

in class doodles

taking letterform anatomy, again

there are monsters among us
(unfinished)

Apple Pie

So, I've got pie fever. Ever since I made the pie for our 4th party, all I can think about is making more pies. I haven't had a chance to do so until today, and so that's what I did today! I decided it'd be fun to do a step by step post about it:

Started off with apples (fuji and pink lady, my two favorites) as well as the nectarines, frozen mango and strawberries for the reduction.

I peeled and sliced 6 of the apples and put them in a large sauce pan


i then added cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, vanilla and honey to the apples,
and started to cook them over med-low heat


this time i ended up making my own crust because i forgot to buy some
i made it with butter, flour, salt and water, and it may suck, but this is it



next i popped the three nectarines into some boiling water to loosen the skins


then under cold water to peel


then chopped up the nectarines



and put them in a pot with the frozen strawberries and mangoes
(which had been defrosting)

i added a little vanilla to the fruit and covered the pot,
letting it cook down and eventually simmer



because i was having a hard time getting all the fruit mashed,
i poured it through a strainer and finished the sauce that way


meanwhile, the apples have been cooking on low heat


and i've rolled out the top crust and cut it into strips



then i filled the pie with the apples and some of the sauce


and then i covered it with the strips


and then painted some sauce on top and sprinkled a bit of cinnamon


baked it too high at 425 for 20 min, then 325 for 20ish
et, voila



Next up, banana bread!