Saturday, November 7, 2009

success


“Success is not final, failure is not fatal:

it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Winston Churchill


This morning I had to get right back on that horse and try to successfully make some cinnamon buns...and I did and they are marvelous if I do say so meself! I am also giving the not so good cinnamon buns that turned into perogies 2 thumbs up!



So just what the heck is a perogie Baino asks? Well they are a double packed high carb side dish that also become even more of a weighty dish when you also saute some onions in a whole lot of butter that you then mix with the lovelies and then slather on the sour cream and maybe even some bacon bits!

Pierogi are a dish consisting of boiled or baked dumplings of unleavened dough stuffed with varying ingredients. They are usually semicircular, but are square in some cuisines. In English, the word pierogi and its variants (perogi, perogy, pirohi, piroghi, pirogi, pirogen, pierogy, pirohy, pyrohy) are pronounced with a stress on the letter "o".

Speakers of the local Canadian Ukrainian dialect call them pyrohy, which can be misheard pedaheh or pudaheh by Anglophones unaccustomed to the fast rolled-r sound, or alveolar trill. They are known as varenyky in standard Ukrainian, and pyrohy there refers to a different dish, which is often a source of confusion.

Pierogi or vareniki are half circular dumplings of unleavened dough, stuffed (singularly or in various combinations) with mashed potatoes, cheese, farmer's cheese, bryndza, cabbage, sauerkraut, meat, mushrooms, or other ingredients depending on the cook's personal preferences.[2] Dessert versions of the dumpling can be stuffed with a fresh fruit filling, such as cherry, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, peach, or apple; stoned prunes are sometimes used.

Mashed potatoes mixed with farmer's cheese and fried onions is a popular filling in Poland and Ukraine. In Poland this variety is called Ruskie pierogi.[3] A popular filling for pierogi in Canada is mashed potatoes mixed with grated cheddar cheese.

The dough is rolled flat and then cut into circles using a cup or drinking glass.[2] The filling is placed in the middle and the dough folded over to form a half circle. The pierogi or vareniki are boiled until they float, drained, and sometimes fried or baked in butter before serving. They can be served with melted butter, sour cream, or garnished with small pieces of fried bacon, onions, and also mushrooms. [4][5] Dessert varieties may be topped with apple sauce. Some Polish families in North America serve them with maple syrup.

For dough

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt

For potato filling
  • 1 1/2 pound russet (baking) potatoes
  • 6 ounces coarsely grated extra-sharp white Cheddar (2 1/4 cups)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For onion topping
  • 1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

  • Special equipment: a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter
  • Accompaniment: sour cream

Make dough:
Put flour in a large shallow bowl and make a well in center. Add water, egg, oil, and salt to well and carefully beat together with a fork without incorporating flour. Continue stirring with a wooden spoon, gradually incorporating flour, until a soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with flour as needed to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes (dough will be very soft). Invert a bowl over dough and let stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Make filling while dough stands:
Peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch pieces. Cook potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain potatoes, then transfer to a bowl along with cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and mash with a potato masher or a handheld electric mixer at low speed until smooth.

When mashed potatoes are cool enough to handle, spoon out a rounded teaspoon and lightly roll into a ball between palms of your hands. Transfer ball to a plate and keep covered with plastic wrap while making 47 more balls in same manner (there will be a little filling left over).

Make onion topping:
Cook onion in butter in a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally (stir more frequently toward end of cooking), until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

Form and cook pierogies:
Halve dough and roll out 1 half (keep remaining half under inverted bowl) on lightly floured surface (do not overflour surface or dough will slide instead of stretching) with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 15-inch round (1/8 inch thick), then cut out 24 rounds with lightly floured cutter. Holding 1 round in palm of your hand, put 1 potato ball in center of round and close your hand to fold round in half, enclosing filling. Pinch edges together to seal completely. (If edges don't adhere, brush them lightly with water, then seal; do not leave any gaps or pierogi may open during cooking.) Transfer pierogi to a lightly floured kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and cover with another towel. Form more pierogies in same manner.

But I do not recommend rolling out the dough and cutting with a cookie cutter. The left over dough becomes too tough and then it all goes to hell in a hand cart. After watching all my Asian guests make their dumplings I concur that their method is better. Take a little blob of dough roll into a ball then roll into a circle. Then add filling and press.

Bring a 6- to 8-quart pot of salted water to a boil. Add half of pierogies, stirring once or twice to keep them from sticking together, and cook 5 minutes from time pierogies float to surface. Transfer as cooked with a slotted spoon to onion topping and toss gently to coat. Cook remaining pierogies in same manner, transferring to onions. Reheat pierogies in onion topping over low heat, gently tossing to coat.


Everybody's a mad scientist, and life is their lab.
We're all trying to experiment to find a way to live,
to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos.
David Cronenberg

Friday, November 6, 2009

Making perogies out of cinnamon buns...


The quality of the imagination is to flow and not to freeze.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Somedays you just got to go with the flow...or maybe it is the flow that makes your day...especially when you are only functioning on partial ability, have not a whole lot to do through the day and even if you did you have to balance the output with the body's qi level...

It all started last night when I went to a lovely art opening from one of Tyler's friends...and as I am one to invite friends old and new over for a coffee and a treat I sent out the invitation to come by this morning for coffee and muffins...oh she said she didn't think the husband would want to but I had hope that yes indeed they would drop by and we could all have a lovely visit and even better we could do a little squeezing and hugging to the cutest baby in the world!



Up I got this morning even before the usual time. Down to the kitchen I went and at first I had this idea to use up some left over coffee in a muffin recipe so onto the google search engine I went...after finding a coffee muffin recipe I didn't think it looked all that healthy, more of a cupcake but in the scrolling I found a recipe for cinnamon buns and my that was something that found favour in my central processing department.

So I started rattling the pots and pans. Got out the yeast, opened the package, warmed up the milk and with the milk I threw in the butter mixed the flour and salt together and they threw in the milk...hmm something was not right...it was dry but then I looked and I was only supposed to combine 1/2 the flour with the liquids at first then slowly add more flour...so I get in there with my hands and I am kneading and kneading and I add a little more heated milk, throw in an egg and let it sit...and yes the dough relaxes a little but something is still amiss but I kind of think to myself this looks more like noodles than bread dough...

So the time is creeping along and I think this bunch of crap won't be ready if they drop in and I go searching for something else to prepare for a treat...Cornmeal Apple slice and so I start preparing this, but as things go when you are cooking I also started to wash dishes and so while cleaning up the counter I see the package of yeast and it is completely full! I forgot to add the yeast to the dough!

So into the oven goes the cornbread...and I am now left with what the heck to do with the yeastless bread dough...and not to mention the coffee sitting in a glass and some margerine from the other night when I thought a mocha cake sounded good...Being a thrifty chick I thought perhaps the yeastless dough could be used as perogy dough so the potatoes are now cooking.

Who knows where this will end in the grand scheme of things? Will the whole shabang just be a great calkup? Have I now just wasted in addition to a little flour, milk and an egg...a whole wad of spuds and maybe even cheese before I find out that I should have quit and started again? Or could this be an adventure that turns out deliciously well?



Have we all become afraid to take chances these days? Last week at stained glass class we were learning about glass fusing and the teacher had some materials for us and gave us some ideas...but I had other plans for my projects which he seemed to think were a little too out there...and he tried to steer me towards more restrained patterns. But I wanted to experiment I wanted to learn just how different sizes and different kinds of glass behaved and not only that I wanted my piece to be a shape other than flat...

My first dabble in the glass melting art came out to my liking and from this experimentation I learned quite a bit...one big thing I learned is I really am an abstractist because I do not have the ability to create anything that looks like anything.

The second piece is getting fired in the kiln and it will either be stupendous or just plain stupid...but either way it won't be life threatening and it won't cause political or economic unrest so in the big scope of things what the hell! nothing venture nothing gained!


A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.
Grace Murray Hopper

Thursday, November 5, 2009

pie in the sky





quid enim sanctius, quid omni religione munitius,
quam domus unusquisque civium?

What more sacred,
what more strongly guarded by every holy feeling,
than a man's own home?
—Cicero




With today's theme thursday being Castle there are many things that are up for discussion. Yes indeed what is more sacred than a person's home? Homes have to carry out many duties...gone are the days where they were a place to keep the family and the animals out of the elements and safe from predators...yes today they are a whole lot more:

Now they have become holding facilities for all of us consumers to put our stuff!





Funny how back in the day when families were large homes were small...and even funnier people seemed to get along ok. Their kids grew up and left home after they graduated...hmm maybe that is why they left home before they were 42 they wanted more space! But back in the day the home owners of the small home were able to make a life on one salary, and they eventually paid off the mortgage! Could this be a combination of taxes being lower, less stuff bought and a more tight knit family? A family that had to watch tv together because there was only one tv! And in thinking about living in small houses...maybe those small houses taught everyone a thing or two like patience, sharing, and respect...for there was only one bathroom in most cases.


It seemed like the explosion in square footage started in the 1980's and suddenly 1400 sq ft of living space plus a basement was crucial for raising a family of maybe 4. And in remembering the fashion styles back then with those big shoulder padded jackets, sweaters, dresses, t shirts and blouses and all the room they took up a 1400 sq ft house probably wasn't out of line!



But it seems that we are a species that has problems with self control once we get in a tangent about something we just can't seem to put on the brakes...so all the while that we were downsizing, relocating all the well paying jobs overseas we found new jobs for the out of work...yes building bigger homes!



After all now that we were paying some Cambodian family of 8 mere pennies a day to produce all the cheap stuff that we just couldn't live without we needed bigger houses! Now we had tv's in every room even the bathroom and that is good because now we didn't have to miss the commercials when we went to the bathroom and because we now could tinkle and get a lowdown on all the new good stuff that we just may or may not need but what the hell it is offered at no money down and no payments until the baby furniture is paid off!

Funny how the babies grew up faster than the debt for their furniture was extinguished! And with the bills coming in faster than the credit cards were willing to up their limits on their credit cards...drastic action to save the estate had to be taken. Luckily for all the irrational exuberance had spread faster than the H1N1 virus is spreading now and houses were making money just sitting there...and not only that but there was all kinds of lenders crawling all over themselves just trying to give you an home equity loan or remortgage or even slap on a second mortgage.



But of course all good things come to an end and so to with the Castles that were amortized numerous times over...or amortized at a variable rates which wasn't a problem when the rates stayed the same or went lower for these over consumed stretched to the max Lords of the Castle could not afford any more money going out... especially now with everybody in the family within the working age working hard for the money just to get by they were doomed when higher rates crept in.

So in the light of day at the end of the tunnel can we say that we have woke up and smelt the coffee brewing? Have we learned that maybe a small castle is sufficient? Have we learned that most of the stuff we think we need we don't? Have we found out too late that in order for a man's home to be his castle he has to be able to make the payments?


Why is it possible to rescue S&L buccaneers in the early '90s and provide guidance to levered Wall Street investment bankers during the 1998 long-term capital management crisis, yet throw 2 million homeowners to the wolves in 2007?
- Bill Gross, Pimco

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

running with the bulls




"Men, it has been well said, think in herds;
it will be seen that they go mad in herds,
while they only recover their senses slowly,
and one by one."

Charles Mackay

These days the markets are a roller coaster of prices...gold is up one day then come word that the festival season in India is over and down it goes. Oil creeps up then the employment stats come out and down it goes. Houses that you would think would be based on actual value of construction costs and maybe a little of supply and demand would be relatively stable or at least based on some concrete if not wood and motar price seems to be the worst of the crazy random pricing that has taken over the whole world and most of the things in it.

Houses went up like no tomorrow based on a hot economy...in many places it wasn't based on population growth causing a shortage in land, materials and labour costs...no no no it was based on low interest rates and housing being used as a bank machine...buy high and in no time it will go higher and then sell!!!!

Of course this merry go round couldn't last forever for eventually the riders got sick. Eventually the ride ran out of steam and everything just stopped. Then those same houses for the same amount of people became not so valuable and in some areas they became virtually worthless.

So does this housing bubble and all the other examples of historical bubbles tell us something? Is there anything for sale that is worth the price? Or are prices simply a reflection of the buyers mood and what they are willing to pay? No wonder there is such a thing as buyers remorse and I bet some long dead Dutchman is really turning over in his grave for spending 6,700 guilders on one bulb in February 1637 which was"as much as a house on Amsterdam's smartest canal, including coach and garden."

So why is it that we only want what others want? And it seems that a fever overtakes us and before you know we are willing to risk all to get what our hearts desire...We seem to lose all sense of critical thinking for not only do we run madly with the bulls but it seems that when the tide turns and the herd starts running for the hills we do too...and we even do this when our real needs are unmet...and maybe even worse we are willing to sell and sell at a loss just because the crowd is in a panic.

Hey in this time of bipolar mania we have commercials to sell your out of style jewelry and cash in the high prices of gold...we have people storming the gates of mortgage lenders to cash in on the low interest rates thinking that this is their last chance to buy a roof to put over their head...even if they have to get in over their head to do it. It doesn't even stop at a monetary price for it seems that if a person is deemed not valuable by some, the herd will get wind and before you know they are ostracized, demonized and put out to pasture...or just traded for a different cow.

And if there is a thing I have learned from living this crazy life is that no matter how precious your stuff is to you, no matter how much you paid for it...the price it is worth is what some smchuk will pay you to take it off your hands...and what that price is depends on the mood of the herd.

Now I must remember all this and refrain from getting caught up on the bidding frenzy of the latest ebay auction...ending in 1 hour!


Money, again, has often been a cause of the delusion of the multitudes. Sober nations have all at once become desperate gamblers, and risked almost their existence upon the turn of a piece of paper.
Charles Mackay

Monday, November 2, 2009

the makings of art...how to spend 60 billion

Conditions for creativity are:
to be puzzled;
to concentrate;
to accept conflict and tension;
to be born everyday;
to feel a sense of self.
--Erich Fromm


The last wee while has been quite full... had the 3 weeks of stained glass classes and to my surprize I produced a wee window that I find quite delightful...and also to my surprize I did not maim meself in the process of making it. The classes did suck the life out of the little pea brain though for the cracked head just cannot take the classroom experience of having to listen to the teacher, block out all the conversations and noisy light and coffee maker, and radio all the while concentrating on cutting glass but not cracking glass.

After a couple of hours of total brain work out I drove myself home at the break neck speed of 25 km/hr and with one eye shut to settle down the bright lights that pierced through the dura matter making me nauseous. The overload of stimulation and outpouring of brainwaves sucked the life out of me and just when I had recovered it was time to go to another class.

Then I got hot to trot making blurb books and sent off three different ones to blurb publishing while the sale was still on and while this also gave the old noggin a work out it was less stressing because I was in solitary confinement in the comfort of the abode. Funny how much managable life is when you have your own sanctuary where you can control the elements.

The artistic endeavors and the process of being creative is so exciting and satisfying...but alas the process also takes hard cold cashola...and there is the other flip to what the hell would you do with 562 different blurb books or 287 stained glass windows? So I guess all that is left to do at this point in the monthly stipend cycle is to just get back to the old blog that has been left festering away while the brain was otherwise drained from philosophical/sociological thought...for in addition to draining the $$ this little excursion into the visual arts sucked all other artistic thoughts from the whole ball of wax.

Yes it is true that once a great multi tasker gets whacked at the side of the head the world becomes a little more one dimensionable for the circuits they are a little slow...probably the inside of the brain is looking like a highway improvement project that are littering the countryside with slow signs, detours, holes dug here, half paved parts there, traffic control people making you stop and wait for a big truck or big roller to do their thing...and like a road restoration project brain injuries cost a fortune...and a fortune in not only money but careers, relationships, memories, health, self worth...life.

So here we have governments scrambling to help the economy, they are so desperate that they are throwing money around like it is water...tax incentives to paint your house, road restoration projects so more vehicles can get to the same place only faster...and faster in their inefficient north american gas guzzling car instead of investing or reinvesting in public transportation like trains, buses...yes they are investing in the status quo and the status quo is broken and the reason it is broken is because it is unsustainable. Hey here in the frozen North we are in hock almost 60 billion...and this is from a country that only has a shy over 30 million people...heck they could have given everbody 2 million...now that would be interesting seeing just where the purchasing power of 30 million people took us...



Those who think green would buy green products, solar panels, hybrid cars, build new green homes and because of the demand those businesses suppling them would grow. Those who are consumers would just go crazy at the malls and all the third world countries would boom. Students wouldn't get their degree with 20 years of debt attached. Young people could have their families before they are too old to have them. The homeless could buy homes, renters could buy homes, heck all those 20 or 30 something kids living in mom and dad's basement could buy homes...hey maybe with the funds those who are brain injured could get therapy that would allow them to get back on the highway of life...but in any case even if therapy didn't work I could spend my days making books and stained glass until the cows come home!


ECONOMY, n.
Purchasing the barrel of whiskey that you do not need
for the price of the cow that you cannot afford.
Ambrose Bierce

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

state of nature


I put for the general inclination of all mankind,
a perpetual and restless desire of power after power,
that ceaseth only in death.
Thomas Hobbes

Sometimes I think maybe I have too much time on me hands that I spend thinking...and not that this is bad but sometimes my thinking leads me to wonder just what kind of animals we are? We just never seem to be satisfied with anything. We seem to go out of our way to be cruel. We lust after all the things we don't have but yet have so much that we have to have bigger and bigger houses to store all the stuff we don't use.

But maybe I am painting a bad picture on all humans when there are many different cultures out there that do seem to live more in harmony with nature and themselves. Maybe it is not human nature per say but rather it is our western society that turns us into snivelling, greedy, mean people...

Today I got a surprize phone call from my friend's son and at first I was a little worried that Ryan was phoning me...maybe something bad had happened...but the sweet lad that he is was only phoning long distance for my chicken wing recipe! Then his mom got on the phone and of course what do we all naturally navigate to these days but H1N1...

Their 26 year old daughter who is a single mom is terribly sick. She lives 500 miles away in the big smoke and has been struggling to raise her young son alone in a city where she knows little and all the while her young son's father is waging constant war...so here she is sicker than a dog and she asks the one person who you would think would want a healthy happy strong mother for his son for help by getting him to pick up her prescription for Tamiflu and he refuses! My friend is so upset she said she thinks he wants to see her daughter dead.

Kind of reminds me of another creep of a father who refused to pay child support for his kids because his wife might actually benefit...I don't know but Thomas Hobbes was so right when he said humans in the state of nature are inherently in a "war of all against all"and what is so disturbing and so sad that it seems that the war seems to be the most brutal against the people that supposedly came together and made children together out of love.

Yes it seems that our society is one that those who come out on top...come out on top over the carcasses of all those they stepped on to get there. So are these men who refuse to pay support or refuse to even be supportive such the all round successful big men that they would like everyone to think they are when they leave others in a state of poverty, illness and mental stress? And why is it that these oh so nice guys who would do anything for a buddy or even an aquaintance go out of their way to ensure that the women who contributed to their life are ground down in the dirt. And I just have to wonder how they could even profess to love their children who were born and raised by these women when they treat the mothers of those children with such disregard, contempt and ignorance?

Thomas Hobbes believed that the only way to remedy the state of nature is by a strong government...and this is another problem...for the most part the government is men and so the laws have been drafted by men for men...and even now when there are laws in place that might help protect women from the nasty brutish ways of these asses the women need money for a lawyer to go to court to get the help of the government's legislation...and with the inbalance of women/men incomes this is something that is out of reach for most women.

So what happens when the laws are out of reach for the many? What happens when the government does not do its duty to keep control on human nature? Well that Thomas was a smart fella and as he says...

During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war;
and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

just in case


“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure , the process is its own reward.”

Amelia Earhart




I got an email from someone last week saying they had listed me blog on a website and they would like me to post a link to theirs. Now I checked it out and am confused so I am just sitting here wondering what to do...actually I am just a little leery of how a substance abuse counsellor and cheap ink go together so into the delete file it goes.

It occurred to me that throughout the course of the day we are faced with many decisions that leave us wondering just what action we should take. Sometimes we fear losing money on a product that is just not up to snuff. Sometimes those who push the product are just too smarmy like that slap chop guy make us wary of the whole ball of wax...even though the product looks very promising. Sometimes the price is just too low and that makes us suspicious...

Then again it works the other way as well and we buy in whole heartedly without much thought or investigation like all those who get sold on becoming their own wholesaler to everything they could possibly need or want or even not need or not want but they buy it anyway because holy cow those points! Or they have been sold a pile of well thought out words that have them believing that they can have the "American Way"of life if they just go out and about and find others to sign on to the huge pyramid scheme.

Oh some products and some marketers have done a few things to help lesson our purchase angst so we have less trouble handing over the cashola with money back guarantees and exchange policies that aren't always so wonderful when they slap on usage fees or just give gift cards instead of real money.


So as the days are getting shorter and the temperature is dropping my mind naturally starts thinking of that day of infamy that is fast approaching...and with light pockets but a warm heart I naturally start thinking of all the gifts that I have/should/want to give...This year I am sure there are many out there just like me who are one step away from debtors prison or the streets since our Fearless leader has only announced he was going to help fight crime and homelessness at the same time by building more jails...so if you are poor and have no job and because you have no job you have no home no problem...the only way you will get a warm roof over your head with this bunch is to break the law...even though you would rather have had a job.


But I digress what the heck can you give that is cheap, meaningful, well made, unique, and darn right great and stay within your budget? A couple of weeks ago I started a stained glass class and I had not only visions of cranking out the lovely colourful delights as Christmas presents for one and all but I was also going to be a star! Oh this was the ticket to making money so I won't have to be incarcerated in Stephen Harper's gulag...or homeless...but then I went to class and although I didn't cut meself and gush blood everywhere another lady did...and although I didn't burn myself so far...I did realize what a bloody lot of work to make a little project! I tell you only the super rich would be able to afford my work with the $$ I would have to charge to keep me off the streets and with the world economy in the state it is in I think I will have to delay this dream for a while.



So back to the drawing board I went and eureka! Blurb saved the day and not only that but kept me busy for a day or two to boot. I made photo books! It was easy! It was fun! Not into photos? Well hows about a book of poetry or maybe even a book of your blog? It can all be done! and done well and done for an extremely reasonable price! My first book came in a week and that was with the cheapest form of shipping.

So just in case you were wondering what the heck you could possibly give for your loved ones on that day that fills our heart with gift giving angst...or heck what the hell for any other reason you might want to give a gift or even just because you want to just be creative...or heck maybe you might even be so talented that being an author could just a way of making your fame and fortune and keep you off the streets! check out blurb...and right now they have a 20% off sale on and free shipping.

To get you started, we’re extending an offer that’s more generous than any in Blurb history: 20% off on books you make, plus free ground shipping on any order up to five books.* Simply enter the promo code BLURBTREAT at checkout to redeem. We’ve never had an offer like this, so enjoy it while it lasts (which is through November 24, 2009).

“The best books for a man are not always those which the wise recommend,

but often those which meet the peculiar wants,

the natural thirst of his mind,

and therefore awaken interest and rivet thought”



William Ellery Channing