Tray Ellis's Blog, page 8
March 3, 2018
rice cake journey
I am on a rice cake journey of discovery and invention.
I started with this recipe:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/2496...
But I didn't have goat cheese in the house, so I substituted a mix of mozzarella and Parmesan. I'm also trying to reduce the amount of frying in oil that I do, so I steamed the veggies.
The first batch (looking somewhat roundish and in a circle) is carrot and onion with brown rice and was shaped in cupcake tins, and the second batch (cut up pieces) is sweet potato and onion with brown rice in a cast iron pan (and then cut up). Both were equally delicious, just different. They can be eaten plain, but I've been eating them with curry spooned over them.
I really like playing with this recipe. It's forgiving and allows for a lot of variation, and it still works. I'm planning on making it again, with some more variations. I want to try it on a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and also to try different veggies in it.
I'm looking for something not too complicated to make, with healthy ingredients, reducing the oil but finding the right way to make it crispier by baking it in the oven, and that tastes quite good and is filling.
I'll keep everyone updated when I try again!
I started with this recipe:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/2496...
But I didn't have goat cheese in the house, so I substituted a mix of mozzarella and Parmesan. I'm also trying to reduce the amount of frying in oil that I do, so I steamed the veggies.
The first batch (looking somewhat roundish and in a circle) is carrot and onion with brown rice and was shaped in cupcake tins, and the second batch (cut up pieces) is sweet potato and onion with brown rice in a cast iron pan (and then cut up). Both were equally delicious, just different. They can be eaten plain, but I've been eating them with curry spooned over them.
I really like playing with this recipe. It's forgiving and allows for a lot of variation, and it still works. I'm planning on making it again, with some more variations. I want to try it on a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and also to try different veggies in it.
I'm looking for something not too complicated to make, with healthy ingredients, reducing the oil but finding the right way to make it crispier by baking it in the oven, and that tastes quite good and is filling.
I'll keep everyone updated when I try again!
February 24, 2018
frozen hiking
These photos are from several weeks ago, but I still wanted to share them.
A wintery hike, and some beautiful and very frozen) puddles and streams. It was cold that day, but the hiking felt good.
It makes me think I should do something with my characters from Pyresnakes set in the winter. Fire and snow, red and white, it could be visually dazzling.
A wintery hike, and some beautiful and very frozen) puddles and streams. It was cold that day, but the hiking felt good.
It makes me think I should do something with my characters from Pyresnakes set in the winter. Fire and snow, red and white, it could be visually dazzling.
a rainforest of socks
I've been doing laundry today and I have a pile of winter wool socks that needed washing -- and with wool socks, you don't put them in the dryer. They need to be hung dry (to make them last longer, these aren't the sort that'll end up felted, thank goodness) and so I've got them laid out on every possible hook and bar that I've got. Over doors, over the shower, along the bar in my closet, etc. It's like fighting through a dense jungle of woolen socks. I expect to hear the caw-caw-caw of birds and monkeys at any moment. Perhaps the low warning growl of a felted wool lion....
The good news is, these socks dry pretty quickly. The jungle will be rolled up and packed away by morning.
Then i can start on the weird sheet city that happens when I get to washing the bedding. Draping of sheets over all the surfaces, like a maze, leading me from room to room.
The good news is, these socks dry pretty quickly. The jungle will be rolled up and packed away by morning.
Then i can start on the weird sheet city that happens when I get to washing the bedding. Draping of sheets over all the surfaces, like a maze, leading me from room to room.
February 11, 2018
Once Upon a Rianbow, Volume II
The Ninestar Press anthology, Once Upon a Rainbow Volume II was released last week and is now available!
It's a lovely mix-up of reworked fairy tales -- the themes and the story-lines are there, but they are all re-envisioned and gorgeous in the re-telling.
The link: https://ninestarpress.com/product/onc...
I've always been enchanted by fairy tales since they occupy a different sort of space in our heads -- they contain morals and meaning, warning and lessons learned, but all done through a spinning yarn story. (Sometimes that underbelly is unpleasant to behold.) You have to take some things at face value for the stories to work -- magic is real, animals can talk, true love exists, people trade cows for beans, and all of that -- as a way to get past the curtain to more glamorous, glittery, enchanted, dark and bitter, this-is-how-we-view-things-as-a-society sort of thing. When you start to deconstruct fairy tales, you see their seams on the inside -- as you look at how fairy tales are told across the years, you see them morph to reflect changes. (If we don't like that the mermaid turns into sea-foam when she can't kill the prince, then we'll rewrite it to make it more palatable. And everyone knows that step-mothers are evil, even if the majority of step-moms out there in the real world are putting their honest effort and resources forth to raise children, without expectation of getting anything in return, and doing a hero's job.)
One of the best things about this anthology is that the morphing is done in favor of romance across the beautiful varieties that love comes in. Well worth a cup of tea, a few cookies on a plate, and some time spent curled up in your favorite reading nook.
It's a lovely mix-up of reworked fairy tales -- the themes and the story-lines are there, but they are all re-envisioned and gorgeous in the re-telling.
The link: https://ninestarpress.com/product/onc...
I've always been enchanted by fairy tales since they occupy a different sort of space in our heads -- they contain morals and meaning, warning and lessons learned, but all done through a spinning yarn story. (Sometimes that underbelly is unpleasant to behold.) You have to take some things at face value for the stories to work -- magic is real, animals can talk, true love exists, people trade cows for beans, and all of that -- as a way to get past the curtain to more glamorous, glittery, enchanted, dark and bitter, this-is-how-we-view-things-as-a-society sort of thing. When you start to deconstruct fairy tales, you see their seams on the inside -- as you look at how fairy tales are told across the years, you see them morph to reflect changes. (If we don't like that the mermaid turns into sea-foam when she can't kill the prince, then we'll rewrite it to make it more palatable. And everyone knows that step-mothers are evil, even if the majority of step-moms out there in the real world are putting their honest effort and resources forth to raise children, without expectation of getting anything in return, and doing a hero's job.)
One of the best things about this anthology is that the morphing is done in favor of romance across the beautiful varieties that love comes in. Well worth a cup of tea, a few cookies on a plate, and some time spent curled up in your favorite reading nook.
January 15, 2018
Once Upon a Rainbow, Vol II, on pre-order
Once Upon a Rainbow, Volume II is on pre-order now!
My story "The True Love Curse" is in it!
Here's the link to the anthology at NineStar Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/onc...
My story "The True Love Curse" is in it!
Here's the link to the anthology at NineStar Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/onc...
January 9, 2018
pink in the store
Went to the pharmacy today to get some soap and saw the shelves lined with pink things. More than a month until Valentine's Day and already the shelves are overloaded with romance. Or what looks like romance. Pink is a nice symbol of all that, and the color chosen by a lot of manufacturer's, but it is only skimming the surface of true romance.
January 7, 2018
turning water into steam
Having been reminded of the super cool science experiment where boiling water is tossed into super cold air, and having super cold air courtesy of Mother Nature who was giving up double digits in the negative category, I went ahead and performed this super awesome bit of science showmanship. It was pretty fantastic. The hot water, when thrown up into the air, became instantly crystallized and vaporized, and I watched the puff of whiteness blow away on the wind.
This long, bitter cold spell has been terrible, but it does present a tiny moment or two of amazement.
This long, bitter cold spell has been terrible, but it does present a tiny moment or two of amazement.
December 31, 2017
Happy New Year!
Good-bye 2017, and hello 2018!
May we all be happier, healthier, and keep our wits about us in the next 365 days.
Best wishes to everyone out there!
May we all be happier, healthier, and keep our wits about us in the next 365 days.
Best wishes to everyone out there!
December 23, 2017
Released today! A Piece of Ourselves
My Christmas story A Piece of Ourselves releases today!
Link: https://www.mischiefcornerbooks.com/a...
Balancing holidays between two families can make cheerful celebrations into chores. Carson Benedetti's mom has overscheduled the Christmas holidays and she's more than insistent that boyfriend Tynan Harris come into the family fold. There's so much to do Tynan can't find time to bring Carson over to his own family and he feels like they are being left in the dust.
After dating for nine months, and with their relationship becoming more serious, Tynan's patience is sorely tested by the multitude of Benedetti family traditions keeping them busy. Tynan needs to figure out how to find some breathing room, split their time more fairly, and make Christmas more than just tradition by rote.
Link: https://www.mischiefcornerbooks.com/a...
Balancing holidays between two families can make cheerful celebrations into chores. Carson Benedetti's mom has overscheduled the Christmas holidays and she's more than insistent that boyfriend Tynan Harris come into the family fold. There's so much to do Tynan can't find time to bring Carson over to his own family and he feels like they are being left in the dust.
After dating for nine months, and with their relationship becoming more serious, Tynan's patience is sorely tested by the multitude of Benedetti family traditions keeping them busy. Tynan needs to figure out how to find some breathing room, split their time more fairly, and make Christmas more than just tradition by rote.
December 17, 2017
Christmas stories
I love Christmas movies. I can happily watch some truly terrible, cheesy, badly produced movies and be very happy. I know it was a massive hit and everyone loves The Christmas Prince, but I had to pause it partway through because I cringed a tad too much at the plot setups. Although I really liked the little sister and will get back to watching it just for her, I need to do it some other day.
The Netlfix released another Christmas movie, which I just finished watching, A Christmas Inheritance, which was on the watchable side of cringe. I'll have to expound on what elements work or don't work (for me, obviously, others' mileage always varies). But what I really, really wish had happened was that they'd switched the two actors between the un-worthy fiance part and trueheart inn manager part. I think both actors did great jobs as they were, but I think it would have been significantly more fantastic to see those roles reversed. (I wish they could film movies twice or three times, and switch up roles -- do the scenes exactly like they are, but with actors in different roles, and release the movies each way!)
Two articles I found about the release:
http://lacrossetribune.com/lifestyles...
https://www.romper.com/p/is-snow-fall...
And since I'm on the subject of Christmas stories, I'm going to plug my very own. (I love Christmas stories, so I wrote one! I intend to write more!)
I think it is a little less formulaic, but just as fabulous.
"A Piece of Ourselves", at Mischief Corner Books
on sale now, and releasing on Dec 23rd -- only 6 days away!
https://www.mischiefcornerbooks.com/a...
The Netlfix released another Christmas movie, which I just finished watching, A Christmas Inheritance, which was on the watchable side of cringe. I'll have to expound on what elements work or don't work (for me, obviously, others' mileage always varies). But what I really, really wish had happened was that they'd switched the two actors between the un-worthy fiance part and trueheart inn manager part. I think both actors did great jobs as they were, but I think it would have been significantly more fantastic to see those roles reversed. (I wish they could film movies twice or three times, and switch up roles -- do the scenes exactly like they are, but with actors in different roles, and release the movies each way!)
Two articles I found about the release:
http://lacrossetribune.com/lifestyles...
https://www.romper.com/p/is-snow-fall...
And since I'm on the subject of Christmas stories, I'm going to plug my very own. (I love Christmas stories, so I wrote one! I intend to write more!)
I think it is a little less formulaic, but just as fabulous.
"A Piece of Ourselves", at Mischief Corner Books
on sale now, and releasing on Dec 23rd -- only 6 days away!
https://www.mischiefcornerbooks.com/a...
