Disaster Chef: Pear Pecan Steel Cut Oats (project pinterest)

I bought a bunch of steel cut oats a while back because I heard they were healthier than rolled oats. I didn't know how to cook them, so I did the overnight oatmeal with the first batch. It was okay, but my son did not like the 'chewy oatmeal.' So I ended up eating all 5 jars that I'd made for the week. The next time, I tried to cook it, but didn't leave it in nearly long enough and it was very chewy.

This time I made it the right way, cooking it for a long time with lots of water as directed in the article on two vrooms blog.
Here's their recipe:

1/4 tsp salt
1 c. steel cut oats
1 T + 1 tsp butter
1/2 c. pecans
2 tsp sugar
2 pears (peeled, cored, sliced into chunks). If you don't have or don't like pears, try this recipe with apples instead.
3 T honey
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Half and half

In a medium size sauce pan, boil 4 c. water and salt. Add steel cut oats and wait for it to boil again. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Simmer (uncovered) for 25-35 minutes, stirring often.

In a frying pan, melt 1 tsp butter. Add pecans and sugar. Stir 1 minute: the sugar should melt and coat the toasty pecans. Move them to a cutting board and chop coarsely when cooled.

Right before your oatmeal is done, melt a tablespoon of butter in the frying pan again. Add the pears and stir occasionally for 3 minutes. The juice should come out of them and they should be hot all the way through. Add honey and cinnamon.

It turned out delicious. My son even ate it a couple days, though he still prefers rolled oats. For this recipe, I used pears from the tree outside our new house, which was exciting. I'm not a big fan of pears, but I wanted to find ways to use up the ones on the tree, since they were there and obviously all-natural and organic and not sprayed. So we collected a bucket of them and used some in this recipe. I made it later for my husband, and he liked it, too.

I did not prepare the pecans as directed in the recipe. I just used plain pecans. I added more honey to the pears than the recipe calls for, and more butter, and I cooked the pears for probably 15-20 minutes before they got juicy and somewhat cooked. I didn't want to cook the pecans, as I don't like the way sugar-coated things feel between my teeth. Plus, raw nuts are healthier. So I just threw a handful of raw pecans on top. This breakfast was great all week, healthy and tasty. Sure, it's still just oatmeal. But it was as exciting as oatmeal gets
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Review Wednesday: The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory (The Cousins War Book 2)

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Although this isn’t my favorite of the handful of Gregory books I’ve read, it did give me a great sense of respect for the author. That she was able to create a character so unlikeable, selfish, vain, and entitled, and somehow make us sympathize and pull for that character is a testament to the author’s skill. It helped that most of the characters in the book were equally despicable, or more so, ensuring that even though our heroine has few redeeming qualities, we still want what she wants. It also helped that the character was all these things in part because of the awful things that were done to her because of circumstance (being a woman in this time period, of a certain social standing) and the convenience of others (mostly her own family).
The aspect of the novel that struck me most powerfully wasn’t the character, although the protagonist is developed well (unlike many others in the novel). What struck me was the historical background—not the events themselves, which I already knew in outline, but the details of the period. The way children, especially females but almost equally males, were treated by adults horrified me. They weren’t thought of as human at all, but as political pawns used to increase wealth, status, or connections to royalty. Little girls were married off in whatever fashion was most advantageous to the family, while little boys were taken from their families to be raised by others so they could form alliances with other powerful households. That no one ever seemed to stop for a half-second and ask, “Is this going to damage this child?” seems to speak volumes to the money-, power-, and position-hungry mindset of the time. In this social class, those close enough to royalty to increase their standing by manipulation of fortunes through their children, seemed a despicable lot as a whole. That they were too busy vying for position to notice that their children might need, say, a mother, is a testament to the age-old money-grubbing nature of man, and reminds us that this is nothing new in our society, but something that has been going on for centuries, sometimes in more horrible forms than others.




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Disaster Chef: Crockpot Molten Lava Cake (Foodie Friday)

Finished product

I was having a 'Razing the Roof' party a while back, and needed to feed a handful of hungry dudes afterwards. Since the house was a disaster zone, I had to cook on the back porch. Crockpot meals was the obvious solution, since it was not really grilling weather. So I threw some chili in the big crockpot and then went in search of a dessert recipe. I'm picky about my desserts, but this one looked delicious. So I got it together, fixing the dry ingredients first as suggested in the recipe.

AFTER melting the butter and adding extra milk.

When I was ready to throw it all in the little Crock-pot, it was ready to go. But the recipe may not be exactly correct. With only 1/2 cup of milk, it was thicker than bread dough. I had to add at least another 1/4 cup, maybe more, just to make it spreadable in the bottom of the crock-pot. Then I added the chocolate chips and liquid, like it said.

I apologize for the lack of pictures of the finished product. I was busy feeding everyone and being hostess, so I didn't remember to stop and take a picture. We had one scoop left, which I sent with my husband to work, and he's not very confident in his food photography abilities. It would not look very delicious if I posted the pictures he sent me from his phone before he ate it!


I can't say it was the most delicious dessert ever. I only cooked this one 3 hours, instead of the 4, and it was still too dry and not very lava-licious. Plus, it just tasted a little...healthy. Like it needed some more butter and some eggs. I've never made a cake without eggs before, and I'm not sure I will again. If I'm going to be decadent and eat something like molten lava chocolate cake, I'm splurging. I don't want it to taste all granola. I want it to be rich and sinful, so I can indulge.

Recipe: 2 spoons out of 5--easy, but had to be changed b/c of lack of liquid. Also, it doesn't say to melt the butter, which added a bit of liquid, but still nowhere near enough. If you don't, it's just a blob sitting on top of the dough.
 
Cake itself: 2 spoons

Accepting or Rejecting Writer Advice

You see it every day, all over Facebook, Pinterest boards, Twitter, and every other electronic forum/social media site: quotes by famous authors on writing. Memes. Funny e-cards. All with an overwhelming amount of advice for the hoards of us struggling through, and a lucky few breezing through, our novels. Every time I read one of these, I think it's a great quote with merit. So what happens when these famous authors begin to contradict one another? Do you choose to follow the advice of the one you admire more? The, "I want to be like him so I'll follow his advice" attitude. If that worked, we'd have many more Hemingways and Twains than we do.

With as many writers as we've had, and even more now, it's inevitable that all the advice won't be in perfect agreement. Writers love giving advice. Nowhere can you find a people more fascinated by our profession than writers. Why? Because it's a mystery. The well-known comparison of novel and baby works here, too. There's nothing a pregnant woman loves talking about more than pregnancy. Why? Because that baby growing inside is like some kind of miracle, some wonderful mystery. So, too, is the novel taking place in the writer's head. The only solution is to seek to explain it somehow, make sense of something that makes very little sense even to those doing it.

As with love, as with motherhood, there is no perfect way to write a novel. There are pantsers and planners. There are those who say, with regards to writing as well as love, "If it's worth working for, you must work for it!" and those who say, "If it don't come easy, you better let it go." To this, I will throw in my own two cents. If it's coming easy, that's a wonderful thing. You are blessed. Don't stop writing for anything. Because one day, it may stop coming so easy. And when it does, you will have to, as Hemingway famously said, "Sit down at the typewriter, and bleed."

I speak from experience here. On several occasions I churned out 50 pages in one day, leaving my brain feeling like a cooked potato. Now, I'm lucky if I can pry 5 pages from my miserly muse. I couldn't tell you what changed for all the money in Mr. Gates's bank account. One day it was easy, and the next thing I knew, it wasn't. I thought this was a phase I would let pass, so I stopped writing fiction for two years. I kept a journal, went back to dabbling in poetry, came up with an idea or two and followed them for the ten or so pages until they turned to ether and vanished. And then, I got tired of waiting for the muse, and I sat down at my computer, and bled.

Yes, it is frustrating. Sometimes my characters refuse to tell me what's going on, so I make something up, and later, they tell me I was wrong, and I have to go back and change their family, their back story, even their names. But there is something on the page. And that's better than nothing. Maybe one day, my Prinspiration will come, scoop me up on the inspiration pony and ride away with me. Until then, I'll struggle to pull my ox out of the mud.

My best advice for writers is this: Don't stop writing. When it's easy, go with it. When it's hard, dig for it. When you finish it and it's amazingly magically perfect, set it aside and come back to it later (if it's a first draft, it's not perfect, I promise). When it's ugly, edit it and rewrite it until it's passable. Then, when you have finished one novel, whatever your process, whatever your product, pick up your proverbial pen and start all over again.

Disaster Chef: Baked French Toast (Project Pinterest)

This was a recipe I tried out during Christmas break when my family was here. My son isn't the biggest fan of French toast because he says it's too soggy, but he loved this. The recipe can be found here, on Parade.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 (12½ oz) loaf of favorite bread (such as challah), cut into 1-inch-thick slices
• 3 cup whole milk
• 7 large eggs
• ½ cup light-brown sugar
• ¼ cup real maple syrup, plus more for serving
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg

Directions

1. Generously butter a 13 x 9–inch casserole. Arrange bread slices in dish, staggering in rows.
2. In large bowl, beat together milk, eggs, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour over bread and press down, making sure slices absorb liquid. Cover with foil.
3. Refrigerate overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove foil and bake casserole 55 minutes to 1 hour, until puffy and golden. Serve with more maple syrup, if desired. 

I used whole wheat bread and spread it out on two dishes because when I layered the bread, it wasn't under the milk. We only had 2 cups of milk, so I used that and a half cup of half & half. Our chickens definitely don't lay large eggs, so ours were small. I used only 2 tbsp. of sugar and syrup, and 1 tbsp. of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg. I baked until the bread got puffy and took it out. It got nice and crisp on top, and everyone liked it, even my son, since it was not at all soggy.

Review Wednesday: The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory (Cousin's War Book 1)

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I mistakenly started with the second book in this series, which I may have to read again after reading this one. But I enjoyed this one so much more!

Gregory has a great talent for bringing to life all these historical characters, filling in their lives with drama, romance and intrigue. Yes, we are talking about Henry VIII's grandmother here, but don't expect any grandmotherly-ness. The book is full of court intrigue, politics, and lots and lots of romance. It wasn't quite as spicy as something like The Other Boleyn Girl, but her writing has come far since then (adverbs are scare here, thank goodness).

The only complaint I had in this one was that I wanted a more satisfactory answer to the unsolved mystery of the son's disappearance from the tower. But I guess since no one knows what happened, she left the reader with the same frustration we have to this day. I found it interesting that she kept Richard alive, and I have a feeling we'll be hearing from him in The White Princess. I'll be looking forward to it!


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Disaster Chef: Pumpkin Pancakes (Project Pinterest)

So, maybe the first or second thing I ever made off Pinterest was pumpkin pancakes. But apparently I didn't pin the recipe! So this past fall, when we had tons of pumpkins from the garden, I went looking for the recipe I made the year before. Of course I didn't remember it/couldn't find it. But there were about a million pumpkin pancake recipes, so I picked one and rolled with it. This time I made sure to pin it, since my son really likes pumpkin pancakes.

I followed the recipe from table io pretty closely.

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients:
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (I skipped this)
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 
  
Dry Ingredients:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder (left this out)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp pumpkin spice
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (left this out)

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the wet ingredients and mix using the flat beater attachment. In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients with a spoon or whisk. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
2. Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. Spray lightly with cooking spray and add about 1/4 cup pancake batter. Cook the first side until lightly brown and the edges begin to set. Flip the pancake over and cook until browned. Place a clean kitchen towel over the cooked pancakes as you prepare the rest.

I mixed all of it by hand and the batter was super thick. The kind of thick where the pancake doesn't cook in the center. And nothing is more yucky than raw pancakes batter in the center of an otherwise delicious pancake. So I added more milk to thin the batter. But then they got all weird and foamy like my snickerdoodle pancakes. At least these ones didn't taste all weird and sour! I added more flour to thicken them up, and then spread the pancakes very thin. The batter doesn't flow out nicely, so I had to spread each one in the pan, but once I did that, they cooked all the way through and were tasty enough for my son.

Pancake success.

Rating: Recipe 3.5 out of 5 spoons, after I figured out how to cook them.

Needed better instructions on spreading doughy batter. Wasted a few pancakes before I got it right.