columbina and I have had our eyes on this recipe ever since it appeared in the September 2009 Gourmet, and in an effort to deal with the last of the apples (only six more to go!), I made the pie this afternoon.

The apple filling is pleasant enough. The crust, however, is amazing – like eating an incredibly flaky, buttery cheese cracker with every bite of pie. Next time, I think I'm going to add some lemon zest to pump up the filling flavor, and maybe sprinkle some smoked paprika in the crust.

Slightly fussy to make, since it requires three separate components you have to make before mixing everything into the final cake batter: a chocolate caramel, sweetened "cream cheese," and silken tofu puréed with cocoa. That said, I thought this was definitely worth the effort, and though it could have used a little more chocolate punch, the undertones of chocolate caramel really made this dish. Recipe here, for anyone who wants to try it.

Fresh rainbow chard and collard greens from the CSA, shredded and steamed in apple cider along with dried black currants; toss with toasted pine nuts and a little more apple cider. Something about the chalky bite of the collards merged perfectly with the sweetness of the chard and cider, and though I've made dishes similar to this before, this version was by far the best.

Am currently full of beer and food from the Cambridge Brewing Company's Brewer's Dinner tonight. SO MUCH BEER. I didn't even finish half my beer (or half my dinner), but man, it was good. I would like to kiss whoever came up with the idea of brewing beer with peppercorns.

( Complete menu after the cut, because the CBC has no permalink for it )

Wolfgang's Vault, aka Bill Graham's gigantic archive of live recordings, now available for free, legal, live streaming.

I am listening to X live from 1983 right now, and I am one happy girl.

Ace/Martha, scars. Took forever to write, and probably isn't kinky enough, but did yield what may be my favorite comment I've ever received on a story. As usual, there's a slightly edited version on Teaspoon; author's notes in the kinkmeme master list.

I have had a moderately evil morning and am going to improve my mood through memeage.

1. Pick 10 of your favorite books or series.
2. Post the first sentence of each book. (If one sentence seems too short, post two or three!)
3. Let everyone try to guess the titles and authors of your books.

Hint: most of these are SF/fantasy.

1. A screaming comes across the sky. Gravity's Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon, guessed by orbitalmechanic

2. "And by the way," said Mr. Hankin, arresting Miss Rossiter as she rose to go, "there is a new copy-writer coming in today." Murder Must Advertise, by Dorothy Sayers, guessed by orbitalmechanic

3. It's almost impossible to pinpoint the beginning of a fad. Bellwether, by Connie Willis, guessed by ms_hooligan

4. The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel. Neuromancer, by William Gibson, guessed by platypus

5. The Deliverator belongs to an elite order, a hallowed sub-category. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson, guessed by luckylefty

6. The island of Gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak a mile above the storm-racked Northeast Sea, is a land famous for wizards. A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. LeGuin, guessed by papilio_luna

7. Georges Leon held his little boy's hand too tightly and stared up from under his hatbrim at the unnaturally dark noon sky.

8. On Friday, August third, 1923, the morning after President Harding's death, reporters followed the widow, the Vice President, and Charles Carter, the magician. Carter Beats the Devil, by Glen David Gold, guessed by columbina

9. I was the shadow of the waxwing slain* Pale Fire, by Vladimir Nabokov, guessed by columbina

10. "Tonight we're going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man." The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman, guessed by elliptic_eye


*This one is a tiny cheat, as it comes from a novel whose author's foreword is actually part of the story, and this first sentence is from the "real opening" of the book. That information alone may be enough to tell you what it is.

Cranky Pumpkin!



( Semi-crappy photo of Cranky Pumpkin, all lit up )

One of the azaleas in the backyard is deciduous, and I've never bothered to take a photo of its leaves this late in the season until now. Which was obviously a shame, as it's quite spectacular this time of year. (In mid-June, it looks more like this.)

I've been worried for a couple of months now that my giant rudbeckia was dead. And look what I found when I went out to the garden today! I am unspeakably happy.

You can tell I'm getting desperate for photos now, because I've been reduced to photographing the geekiest bookshelves in the house. (In my defense, it's been pouring outside all day, so I couldn't go shoot what I'd planned to.)

Not like anyone who knows me or columbina needs further proof of this household's geek cred, but here it is anyway:



Included on these shelves:

• a ridiculous number of Marvel and DC comics collections, including an entire shelf of virtually nothing but X-Men books
  
• a ridiculous number of other graphic novels: all the Sandman books, a whole bunch of Kyle Baker, the complete run of Cerebus (I KNOW, I KNOW, Dave Sim is a sexist pig and a monumental asshole, but at some point I do want to see how the story ends), Keith Knight collections, more Dykes to Watch Out For books than I can count ...
  
• just out of camera range, all our Tintin, Lucky Luke, and Asterix books, many in French
  
• ... and of course, the plush 20-sided die.

Spanish white beans with spinach, a vegan recipe from the last ever issue of Gourmet (CONDÉ NAST, YOU BASTARDS) and one I enjoyed more than columbina, who found it underseasoned. I beg to differ -- I thought the smoked paprika and garlic seasoned things beautifully, though perhaps I just like beans more than my husband.

Leftovers, along with the remains of the 29oz. can of beans (seriously, who makes the 19oz. cans of beans called for in this recipe? I have no idea) and the last couple of pieces of garlic bread, are destined for a puréed white bean and garlic soup later in the week. Mmm.

And hey, I'm up to #40! Only ten more recipes to go!

Simmons Hall is ... interesting.



( Three more photos, after the cut. )

A vegan recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, because we both wanted vegetables. Considering this recipe requires a big bunch of kale, I thought it would fit the bill.

It's ... odd. Not bad odd, just odd. We liked it, though, and I'd probably make it again -- possibly with cashew butter instead of peanut butter, which I think will match better with the kale and pineapple. (I left out the cilantro, which I'm sure affected the overall flavor somewhat, but asking columbina to eat something that tasted like pineapple, kale, peanut butter, and soap seemed like crossing a line.) Served over couscous with pine nuts.

Okay, I fail at not taking more than two cat photos during APAD(ish), but in fairness: look at this cuteness napping next to me and tell me you could have resisted taking a photo. No, you could not. And neither could I.

Have been awake for three hours already. Am supposed to be getting up at a reasonable hour to drive out to the 'burbs to meet a friend for brunch.

Please kill me.

Okay, I didn't leave the house today and was getting a bit desperate for a photo by 6pm, but I'm pleased with how this turned out anyway. Shallots, scallions, and garlic, all used in the portobello and bitter greens mac 'n' cheese currently baking in the oven.

I'm having a nuttier-than-expected day, which means that I'm not going to have time to go take a photo outside, which means that I'm calling in Cat Waiver #2. Hey, I've got two cats, that's how it goes.

I guess concrete counts as "artificial stone."