C.J. Cherryh's Blog, page 135
October 21, 2011
We know we're behind with Closed Circle…
…but we are gaining on our difficulty.
Those of you who've been with us a while know that this hasn't been our easiest year. Jane's illness threw us. She hadn't been able to work on things for months, and finally found out why; when I knew she was sick but not with what, my concentration went to blazes, and I am only now pulling out of it; Lynn had her own problems; and things just piled up and kept piling on.
We are all three beginning to dig our way out of the deep emotional pit we had gotten into. We are recovering our energy. And we have learned things about how to do things more efficiently.
We are going to be plowing into Closed Circle with energy and better organization. We have some new offerings in final stages of preparation, and I am working hard on the current book, which is showing signs of being a good one. The Foreigner series will be available from DAW in e-book: you should start seeing these. I have not been idle: I have gotten rights to other books that I will bring out: ie, we have an agreement that makes everybody happy. Books we have promised you that ARE ready or nearly so will turn up (we earnestly hope) before Christmas. Do not despair of Seeking North. I have been the hang-up, and I am about to launch back into that as soon as I get through this current rocky bit with the book.
October 20, 2011
Troubleshooting an android app on an Acer 100 tablet…
problem opening an e-book.
Anyone had experience?
October 19, 2011
page 74 and making progress…and got detained for shoplifting in Walmart…
…well, only unofficially; I picked up a nice little item for Jane at Safeway, down the row, and they didn't deactivate it; I put it in my purse, and went into Walmart to pick up Jane at the optometry area; and the darned thing went off. Fortunately I do not tend to meltdowns, so I handed the guard the item, said receipt's in the car, and surprised the daylights out of the person by actually coming back with the receipt. They probably didn't expect to see me again…
Hey, I worked the register in the 'gifts and flowers' department at GEX where the nicest-looking ladies would switch tags on the merchandise and try to convince you a huge silk rose with bud and leaves was 49 cents. And if you maintained the price was switched they'd try to maintain the law said you had to sell it as marked. Standing guard over fast-moving merchandise is a really stressful job, worse than cafeteria monitor. So I didn't take any offense at all.
I now have all the pie fixings. And am feeling much better.
October 18, 2011
A pie for Jane's birthday…
Banana and coconut cream pies are two of our favorites.
I haven't baked a pie since about 1980…but I do good ones. And I'm going to do another.
AS A RULE: with pies where you need a pie shell—start the day before.
And do not use 'diet' ingredients: use whole milk, real eggs, real vanilla, real butter.
LATE, THE DAY BEFORE you bake the pie.
this is for TWO 9″ single-crust pies, ie, only one bottom. You can safely double these recipes…but the pie crust one is already doubled: use half for just one pie. [Not all recipes can be doubled safely, esp when they involve baking powder: these aren't that kind.]
2 cups white flour
1 tsp salt
COMBINE, per pie: 2/3 cup chilled Crisco or similar: 2 tbs chilled butter. Chilled cold shortening is important. This should not melt AT ALL when mixed. You take a pastry knife or wide-tined fork, and 'cut in' the shortening into the flour, ie, mix it until it looks like a stack of floury fat bee-bees or peas, each with a shortening/butter center. Sprinkle the stack with 8 tablespoons of ice water, stirring the bee-bees about with your fingers. If you still have some totally dry, you can fudge as much as 1 tablespoon more water onto it, but no more than that. Hint, sprinkle off your fingers, do not pour water.
Very gently ball up the bee-bees until you have a ball (per pie) that will stick together, cover, put in bowl, in fridge overnight.
THE NEXT DAY:
heat oven to 450 degrees.
For each pie: Lay the balled dough onto a floured board and roll it out very gently to a flat, even round. When flat, you may double it east to west and north to south only once. Then re-roll it. Stop. Fold in half, gently lift it into pie plate, and open the fold to full. Crimp edge between thumb and forefinger, like a pinch. Then prick the bottom all over with a fork, about 10 times. {This lets any bubbles escape.)
Place both pie crusts in oven, middle rack, heat for about 10-12 minutes. Remove, let stand and cool. You can be onto the next part of this operation.
MAKING THE FILLING:
FOR EACH PIE: put in a saucepan
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt…..and have ready 2 cups whole milk
Put water in a skillet, boil it: set the saucepan into the boiling skillet as water boils, ie, your ingredients do not touch the water, which is only to keep the bottom of the saucepan from having the sugar/flour/milk mixture gum up. Stir constantly as you add 2 cups whole milk each pie. Cook 10 minutes this way.
Remove the pan. Beat up 3 egg yolks each pie. Pour half the hot mixture into the egg yolks. Stir until smooth, then pour egg/mix portion back into saucepan with rest and put it back on the skillet with the boiling water. Stir endlessly until you find the mixture thickening (this is caused by the flour and the egg and the heat)…
Remove from heat, and for each pie, add 2 tablespoons real butter, 2 teaspoons real vanilla, and stir until mixed. Fill pie crusts, and stir into one slices of banana, until all covered. Stir into the other, if you made 2, flaked coconut.
Make your meringue: set oven at 225.
a mixer is good for this one, or it builds muscle. This involves, per pie, 4 egg whites, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1 cups powdered sugar (sifted, to be sure the measure is accurate.) Start by beating the egg whites and vanilla, and slowly add the powdered sugar until the mix, if teased with spoon, stands in peaks that do not ebb down or flatten. scatter flaked coconut onto the coconut pie.
Bake at 225 with door slightly opened until you see the meringue peaks all browned. Let the door stand open, turn off oven, allow to set 5 minutes before setting pie out onto stove top.
Allow to cool entirely before cutting.
Enjoy.
October 17, 2011
Page 69…with a whole lot of erasing, and I am absolutely cross-eyed and exhausted…
OTOH, I like what I'm doing. That part feels good. It's just that there are sooooooooooooo many things to track so the reader won't have to wonder that I am on serious overload.
I did a reading for Jane last night and her comments were immensely helpful. I spent the day fixing what she said and feel really good about it.
But it means that my brain is marshmallow at the moment, and I am not going to be worth much intellectual. Nope. No brain left.
You know how I love my bread machine…
I saw it at Costco in the 60 dollar category: be advised.
October 16, 2011
Got a spammer wants in reallllll badddd.
I must've killed 50 posts attempting to get a download code in here tonight.
Sorry, guy.
Well, not really.
I think it's going to be spring rolls tonight…
These are interesting. You create a chicken salad with some sort of condiment (good soy sauce, or Thai sweet chili) and some crunchy uncooked veggies, boil water in a pan and (here's the clever bit) slip this thin 6″ round sheet into boiling water and haul it out without folding it. Load and fold like a burrito, and you've got a spring roll, of sorts, not your typical egg-roll. Serve with side salad. Light, pretty fast, but requiring some sort of utensil I don't own. A pancake turner won't do it that well. I'm going to search among really odd tools you collect over several decades and see if I've got any broad flat thingee with holes. I'm sure there are tools made for just this operation. But I may have something.
If you're looking for Halloween gifts…or stuff to wear…
We have a 'Cat' or 'Guys and Vampire' tee shirt, mug, etc at … (wait for it) …
October 15, 2011
Page 63. Erasing will do that…
But still making progress.
I read the opening to Jane last night. She says it's smooth.
We're going to do a little of that every night until I get into the new stuff. But this is feeling so much better…I don't know when in the last year I've felt this good about what I'm doing. I always say I'm a technician, and I can do anything I have to do—but right now I'm feeling really positive and starting to drop stitches in the real world, while I think about where I'm working in the other one.
That's a good thing. Sitting watching the fountain this morning, brushing Ysabel, my morning routine, I was having no trouble concentrating on the book…and that's not been the case for months.
The cold weather is coming. We're due for 35 for a low this week, for several nights ahead, and today was the first fog of the fall.
