The Ciel Show

By Ciel - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Journal

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Something to look forward to: naughty fun in the kitchen!

Clear the counters, get out the olive oil... Some friends of mine are making me very happy! This couple are in their 60s and 70s. She has MS, getting into latter stages of disability, though she said not long ago that the doctor has told her, it's the good kind--it isn't the kind that will kill her directly. He has a pumonary disease, the same that took Robert Goulet from the world some months ago. He works, still, when some would have retired, but he loves what he does: he works in tv and on... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 6:06 PM | add or view comments (13) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

The Other Dog

It has been seen around the house, lurking silently... Davy sees it first, and then we watch him watching the Other Dog. We don't approach it, or try to pet it, nor put out food for it. It has an expression of curiosity, sometimes it's a little defensive... But it always waits for Davy to make the first move. Davy speaks under his breath to the Other Dog, but the Other Dog doesn't answer. Davy found him under the tv last night, where Davy crouched, staring and muttering at him under the coffee... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 1:16 PM | add or view comments (1) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Things settle...

Charlie has gone back to school, his dad has come home from the visit to daughter Anne on the east coast. The roof has gotten its bandaids applied before the next round of rains. I'm getting over a brief cold-with-cough. Holidays are over, and it's time to remember what I was doing before the mad whirl of the family season whipped up. For us, that includes birthdays monthly from August through January, plus all the holidays and their attendant feasts and fests. Now the excitement is contained,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 6:47 PM | add or view comments (4) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Last Days of Charlie

the lad heads back to school tomorrow evening, so today is our last day of hanging out together. We have seen movies, we have had nice eatin'-outs, we have road-tripped a bit... Today, we are making my famous real imitation parchment paper! This hearkens back to a time when I was making the paltriest of livings with my medieval-style calligraphy and illumination, selling at Pike Place Market in Seattle. Best job I've ever had! Most simply enjoyable, anyway. The art was something I had engaged... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 2:47 PM | add or view comments (16) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, January 16, 2009

What is hominy, anyhow?

I used a can of it today, first cooking it into chicken chili, then using it later with eggs scrambled with salsa and pocketed in canned roasted green chilis. The first worked better than the second... I'm guessing because it cooked longer, soaking up more liquid. Since my head is fog-bound with a cold today, I'm not sure how good it is, but it has interesting texture. There is a notion scurrying around that it is corn treated in some odd way to make it absorb water and puff up. Benzhina, are... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 4:05 PM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Today I am printing

The 42 pages of my LAYS OF MIDDLE-EARTH. Of course, the one ink cartridge not on deck is the black, so a fast fly by Staples had to happen. Picked up mailing envelopes, too. Came home, but fast as I fly, the job had to be reset... Ah well, these things happen. Oops... paper ran out... be right back... All right, all's well. The printer is half the house away from this desk. Which means I get some exercise in the process of printing. I need all I can get, considering how much time I spend here.... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 4:55 PM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, January 9, 2009

We tried to go for a walk last night

Davy and I... We had done the errands and driven by the usual strolling places, and witnessed them under the river transformed into a madly rushing monster, through the trees, the fields, the parking lot... Or couldn't see them at all, because the road to them was closed off. We stopped finally, after dark, at a park downtown that skirts Capitol Lake. This lake is the place where the Deschutes River--same one being monstrous a few miles upstream--flows into Budd Bay, the southern reach of Puget... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 10:50 AM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Stuffing Bread: The Second Batch

is currently rattling and writhing in the bread machine... More seasoning, more celery, chopped onion instead of powdered, chicken broth instead of water. We'll see... Next time my plan is to add some corn meal. And maybe a few cranberries. My son's favorite stuffing recipe is made with corn bread and sausage. I wonder how sausage would do in the bread machine? Probably the way to do that would be to pre-cook it, getting rid of most of the grease. And use less oil in the bread recipe. Does the... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 9:40 AM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Experiment: A Success!

The Stuffing Bread is just darned tasty! But next time it will be even better--more herbs, and more celery, and real onion, instead of onion powder. Maybe I will try it with some corn meal mixed in, too... I will try that this weekend. Meanwhile, i think another little turkey sandwich is in order... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 11:57 PM | add or view comments (3) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Experiment in Progress...

Hungry? Not yet... read on if you dare...! A couple of years ago I inherited my daughter's bread machine, when she went to live in a place with different outlets. Sunday, I had a delicious and inspiring, but carb-heavy treat: turkey and sweet potato hash, that was also made with a lot of stuffing. I've also enjoyed several of 'Grandma's Turkey Sandwiches ' at Starbuck's over the past several weeks: turkey, cranberries, a slab of congealed stuffing with two slices of whole grain bread. Those are... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 5:41 PM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

April 2025
SMTWTFS
303112345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930123
45678910
Mar | Newest | May
About this Blog

I'm doubtful the events of my life will be of great general interest, but I'd like to share a little more of me to the several of you on Blogit I've come to feel are real friends, and the many I imagine are potentially real friends. We'll see how it works out. ______________________ all my words and images posted on Blogit are copyright 2005-present, all rights reserved.

Recent Entries
People
Blogs

Headlines (What is this?)