Beth Cato's Blog, page 128

Sunday Quote relates to this quote

“I wonder why, on such a day as this, when the story is particularly clear in my head, I have a kind of virginal reluctance to get to it… Today’s work is so important that I am afraid of it.” ~John Steinbeck, Journal of a Novel

Looking at May

I’m really excited that my story “Sanctified Ground” is in Trust and Treachery: Tales of Power and Intrigue, an anthology edited by by Day Al-Mohamed and Meriah Crawford. It’s taken a few years for the book to reach publication, which makes the event all the more fulfilling. Yay!

I have two poems in the brand spankin’ new issue of Star*Line 37.2–”Authentic Mother 2.6″ and “Unanimous.” They can be bought over yonder.

Is anyone else weirded out that it’s now May? This year. This year is crazy.

I’m planning to attend LepreCon in Mesa, Arizona, on May 10th. I’ll post info on panels when I get it.

I will also be socially challenging myself by taking part in Career Day at my son’s school in a few weeks. I get to tell 6th-8th graders about the fun and exciting life of a writer. The vibe I’m going for: “You get rejected constantly. Reviews will scrape your soul raw. The pay rate hasn’t changed since the 1950s. It’s the best job in the world.”

Bready or Not: Buttery Beer Bread

My husband loves beer. He recently decided to start collecting beer growlers from small breweries. I do not like beer. Therefore, he ends up with a sizable amount of artisan beer that needs to be consumed in a short amount of time.

“And this is a problem… how?” he asked.

“Of course. Moderation and all.”

“What? What do you think I could do with beer other than drink it?”

“I could make beer bread!”

He gave me one of those patented husband looks that says you would suggest I use this precious elixir for bread. But that’s exactly what I’ve done twice now, and you know what? He thinks it’s a pretty awesome thing because he loves bread, too.

I have only made this using my Pampered Chef mini loaf pan. I love the size of those loaves! One is perfect for a meal or two, and they freeze fabulously. I just wrap them individually in plastic wrap, defrost in the breadbox, and then warm them with some butter.

My breadbox gets a lot of use. [There's a joke there that a few select people will get. The rest of you, just nod.]

 

Recipe modified from Veronica’s Buttery Beer Bread at Jenna’s Everything Blog.

Print
Bready or Not: Buttery Beer Bread

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tb baking powder
1 tsp salt
12 oz beer
1/2 - 1 stick unsalted butter, melted (make it as buttery as you want)
kosher or pretzel salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375-degrees. Prepare your big loaf pan or mini loaf pans by buttering lightly on the bottom (the sides will be well-buttered later on).
Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Stir in the beer. It may be sticky and need to be incorporated by greased hands.
Drop the dough into your pan(s) and even out the top as much as possible. Melt the stick of butter and pour it all over the dough.
Using four mini loaf pans, it will bake for 30-35 minutes. The original recipe stated that a full-size bread pan needs to bake for an hour. Let it cool in the pan for about five minutes, and then because of all the butter, the bread should pop right out.
OM NOM NOM!
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It’s aliiiive

The new site is now live. Please hop over to BethCato.com and take a look around. There’s a lot of info on The Clockwork Dagger, a neater Bibliography, and other cool stuff. I confess, this is my favorite page because I love how the tabs turned out.

If all goes well, most of my blog posts should originate on WordPress from now on; if you want to follow my RSS feed, you’ll find a link to that in the menu bar at the top of the page.

My test post to LiveJournal earlier was weird because it initially failed, then I tried again and it worked yet I changed nothing. Go fig. This is my idea of living dangerously.

This is a test

Originally published at BethCato.com. You can comment here or there.

Well, hello there!

I have much of the new site ready to go. I still need to do some tweaking here and there, and part of that tweaking is this test.

If this works, it will be seen on both WordPress and LiveJournal.

 

If it doesn’t work, no one will know my failure. MWA HA HA.

 

#2

 

 

This is a test

Well, hello there!

I have much of the new site ready to go. I still need to do some tweaking here and there, and part of that tweaking is this test.

If this works, it will be seen on both WordPress and LiveJournal.

 

If it doesn’t work, no one will know my failure. MWA HA HA.

 

#2

 

 

Sunday Quote thinks "DEADLINES ZOMG"

"The thought that I must, that I ought to, write, never leaves me for an instant." ~Chekhov

Everything in Progress

The work on the kitchen is in progress. The under-cabinet lights were installed on Tuesday, the backsplash tiles yesterday. This morning our contractor did the basic grout work. He'll be back soon to cap the cabinets. It seems he'll need to return on Monday just to seal the backsplash, too. But already? Oh my goodness. IT LOOKS AWESOME. Changes the whole look and feel of the space.

Other thing in progress: my Wordpress page. I made huge strides on that today. I'm using Elegant Themes and I must say I'm very pleased with their walk-throughs and that many elements even include a video tutorial. I'm hoping that I can take the site live by the end of the month and I can start the feed to here. In any case, it will happen soon.

I'm really excited that Bready or Not will be more prominently featured PLUS the recipes will be easy to save or print. There will be lots of information on The Clockwork Dagger, with world maps, character info, and easy links to the excerpt on Tor.com. Whee!

Bready or Not: Chocolate Almond Fudge

Every few months, I need to share a fudge recipe. Because reasons.



This fudge has all sorts of awesome going on. It's fast to make in the microwave, tastes great (even better after a day in the fridge) and keeps for at least a few weeks. The consistency is good, too--smooth, and holds up well if it's kept at room temp for several hours for a party.



You can make this fudge as intense as you want, too. I did it with semi-sweet chocolate but if you love dark, go dark.

FUDGE. Glorious, happy fudge.



Chocolate Almond Fudge
Makes about 50 1-inch pieces
from Barefeet in the Kitchen

14 ounces (1 can) sweetened condensed milk
12 ounces dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup sliced almonds, plus 1-2 tablespoons more for topping

1) Prepare a 8x8 or 9x9 dish by lining it with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Grease the surface.

2) Combine the condensed milk can, chocolate and butter in a medium size glass bowl and heat in the microwave for 40 second increments. Stir well, then heat another 20 seconds, stir again. Continue to heat and stir until the mix is smooth.

2) Add in almond extract and almonds. Pour everything into the ready pan. Chill for at least 3 hours, or overnight. Like many chocolate recipes, this tastes even better after a full day. It keeps well, sealed in the fridge, for at least two weeks.

OM NOM NOM!

Hello world!

I’m experimenting with WordPress. This post will remain here like a scar, soon to be covered by new growth.