Poor Claudius Cookies

I saw this today on poor_claudius: Gingerbread Emperors!

Gingerbread Emperors!

I guess this is what happens when my friends and I bake Christmas cookies while watching "I, Claudius".



Top row: Augustus, Livia (with poisoned fig), grumpy Tiberius
Bottom row: Caligula (exposing himself), Claudius (with slightly damaged foot), and Nero.

Nero's awesome fiddle was made by [info]elanya out of a tiny snowman-shaped cookie.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Via poor_claudius: Gingerbread Emperors!

Avocado Shopping

We also ought to be banned from buying avocados, as I can never catch that minute between green, alligator-skinned rocks and smooshy mess, and I feel ridiculously wasteful every time I throw them away. We were better off in China, when we would carry our avocados and gouda back from Jenny Lou’s, and then wait, checking the avocados for that perfect sandwich ripeness each time before we went out for dumplings.

Via Simpson’s Paradox » Blog Archive » Victory Milk

Twitter Soup

Saw this on Beth Dunn's blog, small dots, and it's an awesome blend of budget cooking and tech geekery. Best line:

But in hard times, I can’t. I need to rely more on noodles and ramen, less on nori and rabe.

The whole thing's worth a read.

Via stone soup « small dots

Testing Jelly Without A Candy Thermometer

Elise.com has a simple way to see if the jelly's ready to jell using cold plates. Yay! Because I don't have a candy thermometer lying around.

Too runny to be ready	It's wrinkly, so it's ready

....Put several small plates into the freezer. As the jelly temperature exceeds 218°F, start testing it by placing a small amount of the hot jelly on a chilled plate. If the jelly spreads out and thins immediately, it isn't ready. If it holds its shape a bit, that's a good sign. Push up against it with your finger tip. If the jelly sample wrinkles at all, it is time to take the jelly off the heat and pour it out into jars.

Between this and my last post, you can probably guess what I'm making!

Via Seville Orange Marmalade Recipe | Simply Recipes

Canning Adventures

Just in case it's not clear what I'm cooking:

I was making cranberry relish yesterday when Stick came into the kitchen and looked hungrily at the jars I was filling.

“You can eat the one on the left, ’cause I screwed up the seal.” I told him, hoping to deter him from sticking a spoon in the boiling cranberry-orange goo.

“Great,” he said. “You make jam and save the botulism for me.”

Via Simpson’s Paradox » Blog Archive » Secret Ingredient

Blanch Three Times

 Jenyu.net has a recipe for candied orange peels which is awesome in itself AND solves my problem with marmalade and so forth, where the white part of citrus fruits makes everything bitter.

Some recipes tell you to remove the pith, but without the pith you are
left with not a lot of orange peel even though it may not technically
be part of the peel. I think the concern is that the pith makes the
peel bitter. You can remedy the bitterness by blanching the peels.



blanch the strips of peel three times

(I know what blanch means but this picture is pretty)

Via use real butter » Blog Archive » candied orange peels