The Friday Five from The Women's Colony...

...coming to you live, on Saturday morning. 

We had a pretty quiet week after a bustling, super-busy Halloween weekend. As soon as I'm feeling a bit better, I'll post photos of the costume I made for Clementine. It took much longer than normal to make, the better part of a week, mostly because I felt so icky. October 31st is Clementine's birthday as well as Halloween, and this was the first year we've let her go to more than just the two or three houses in our immediate neighborhood. For the first time, we allowed her (with Dan as her brave escort, of course) to trick or treat at a few dozen houses. For all those reasons, I really wanted to make her costume special.

Used with permission, by seiyastock, from Morguefile^

I've been sick for about a month, with coughing, a sinus infection, an earache; just feeling terrible. I've gone to bed early most nights, exhausted. I ended up going in to the doctor on Thursday morning after I just couldn't justify trying to say that "it'll get better" when it wasn't. Turns out, it's a sinus/bronchial infection. I'm now on antibiotics, and feel some better already. I need to remind myself that when I'm sick, the doctor is my friend.

 Used with permission, by ppdigital, from Morguefile^

Tonight, after dinner, Dan and I watched a movie on Netflix streaming. In the last few months, we've developed a habit of watching bad sci-fi/monster movies on Friday night. Tonight's feature film was Snake Island^, starring William Katt ( the actor from the awesome 1981 series, Greatest American Hero). People stranded on island full of snakes, snakes pick people off one by one. In the end, only the few people who seemed to be decent folk are left. It was pretty much ok as those things go, unless you're ophidiophobic (hate snakes). 'Cause this movie had snakes. Lots and lots of snakes. And lots and lots of bad acting. Sssssss.

Used with permission, by penywise from Morguefile^

Luckily, neither of us fear snakes. I fear clowns (coulrophobia), so I avoid circuses, and try to live a life that doesn't include day-to-day contact with brightly painted creepy people :)

 Used with permission, by mconnors from Morguefile^

Giant from the Unknown^ was our second movie of the evening. Filmed in 1958, in black and white,, it was about an archaeologist father and his daughter who were looking for the bodies of a evil giant who had been part of a Spanish conquistador expedition into California in the 1600's. They're joined by another man, I think he was a scientist of some sort. They eventually dig up the skeleton of the giant, who is then promptly reanimated by a lightening bolt. The giant rants and raves, kills a couple of people, and generally terrorizes the tiny mountain town until they kill it. It was about what you'd expect, i.e., I loved it. 

 Used with permission, by ladyheart from Morguefile^

Mostly, I love it because it gives us a chance to sit together, chat, and just "be" with each other. It's nice to have a weekly date to spend special time with my love. I can't wait until next week.

Without further adieu, the Friday Five from the Women's Colony^:

Used with permission, by alvimann, from Morguefile^

1. Are you a morning or a night person?

Night person. But I bet you guessed that, since I'm writing this at 3:49 AM. Actually, this is late even for me. I wouldn't be up now normally, but I feel better sitting up than laying down.

Used with permission, by wax115, from Morguefile^

2. You’re having dinner with friends. They all start gossiping about another friend of yours. What do you do?

Ask them to stop, possibly correcting anything said that I know to be wrong.

Used with permission, by clarita, from Morguefile^

3. What is the worst job you've ever had?

I don't know. I don't think I've ever really hated a job insofar as my bosses have been nice enough and most co-workers have been fine. I guess I'd have to say "waitressing" because people in general don't really treat waitresses very well. If you feel the need to cure yourself of your love for Humanity, wait tables for six months or so. It'll fix you right up. 

Used with permission, by duboix, from Morguefile^

4. What magazines do you subscribe to? 

Only one, Living Crafts^, a crafting magazine featuring natural handcrafts. I used to subscribe to Reason^, a magazine for libertarians; &; Skeptical Inquirer^, a science magazine for skeptics. I stopped a few years ago when the subscriptions ran out, but I'd like to resubscribe to both someday when I have more time to read them. 

 Used with permission, by Alvimann, from Morguefile^

5. What is your favorite restaurant in your area?

Eating out when you don't eat gluten is really hard, and I'm always concerned that I'm going to get "wheated". A couple of restaurants stand out as places that are easier than most. Thankfully, they're delicious, too. Arharn Thai^ has a really well-labeled menu, is very careful about gluten, and hands-down, has the best Thai in town.

 used with permission, by dantada, from Morguefile^

My other favorite place is Bird Dog BBQ^; they have some of the best BBQ I've ever had (and I lived in the South), and are very mindful of gluten.

Either place, any time.

Until later.

Namaste

Attack of the Domo-Kun! (Birthday Party, Part II)

In addition to making Totoro cupcakes (see post below), we made Domo-kun brownies for the combined SuperCat/Daniel's dad's birthday/Halloween party. Who doesn't like brownies? Who doesn't like Domo-kun? I looked around the web and didn't see any food that was Domo-Kun related, so I created these. The brownies were a natural for Domo-kun's body, and the rest was easy to figure out.

When I was diagnosed with Celiac and could no longer eat wheat, I stopped baking for a while. I could no longer just "make" our favorites because it isn't possible to simply substitute any one type of flour for wheat flour. Wheat flour gives food a unique flavor, texture, and taste to food that nothing else really has.

When I started baking again, I started with mixes. My favorites are Bob's Red Mill(^), and Whole Foods' 365 private label(^) gluten-free products.

I am a pretty accomplished baker with wheat flour, but still resort to "mixes" once in a while as I learn to navigate gluten-free waters. One great thing about eating a gluten-free diet is that many of the mixes I've used have fewer processed ingredients. This is because who really wants high fructose corn syrup in everything?

The brownies we had for our party were gluten-free from a mix. We added some extra high-quality semi-sweet chocolate, and used real butter, both of which made them taste a lot closer to "homemade".

Gluten free brownies taste at least as good as "regular" brownies. I like to serve mine about 8 hours after they've cooled, to reduce any chance of them having a grainy texture. After about 8 hours, though, no one I have ever served them to could tell the difference.

If gluten-free isn't a concern and you'd like to make these, use your favorite brownie recipe, or the boxed mix of your choice.

About Domo-kun: Domo-kun is sort of short for "dōmo, konnichiwa!" which means "hello, there!" in Japanese, but can also mean "Hello, Domo!" "Kun" in Japanese is an honorific used for young men. So, sort of a pun, and a play on words.

Domo-kun is the mascot of Japan's NHK television station(^), sort of the way NBC has the peacock. We get stuck with a peacock and that goofy CBS eye; the Japanese have this happy fuzzy monster who lives in an underground cave with a rabbit named Mr. Usaji (a play on the Japan words for rabbit "usagi" and old man "jii").

The TV-watching public in Japan get the better deal, I think.

If you decide to go to their website and see Domo-kun at the link provided above, click through his world. At the end, the fine folks at NHK have a bunch of cool Domo-kun wallpaper and Java widgets.

Recently, the US department store chain Target brought Domo-kun to the US in the form of Halloween toys. I was happy to see Domo-kun, but a bit miffed that there were only a limited number of toys, and that almost all of the items used in their advertising (a Domo-kun Halloween pumpkin, for example) were never available in stores.

Not to worry - I'm already working on my own Dono-kun pumpkin for next year. We tend to theme our pumpkins, so next year will be Japanese icons. You'll have to wait to see what else we come up with :)

Yay that Target had anything Domo-kun related.
Phooey that they didn't even have the stuff in their own in-store pictures, though.

Back to the brownies.

After the brownies were cool, we cut them into blocks roughly 1½ by 3 inches.

We placed the cut brownies on a platter and used mini-Tootsie rolls for arms and legs, attaching them by pushing them gently into place on each brownie.

Next, we placed a rectangle of cut strawberry fruit leather where the mouth would be. I cut the fruit leather using clean scissors. Fruit leather or "fruit rollups" are available in pretty much every grocery store on the planet.

Then, we placed two rows of teeth, made from a flattened bit of roled fondant left over from the Totoro cupcakes onto the top and bottom of each mouth. To make the teeth with fondant, thinly roll out the fondant, then use a sharp knife point to cut the teeth. We allowed the fondant to set up lightly covered with paper toweling overnight before we used it to decorate the Domo-kuns.

If you would like to make these but don't want to purchase or make fondant, a rolled out piece of white taffy cut to size would be a fine substitute.

After that, we pushed semi-sweet chocolate chips into his "head" for eyes, and that was it. Done. The one thing I would have done differently is that I would have used brown M&Ms for eyes if I had had them. They are slightly larger and shinier, and would have looking a bit better in my opinion.

Here they are (click each for the larger size)






























This was our menu:

Wild antelope burgers (from my hunting husband)
Organic uncured buffalo dogs
Bratwurst
Tomatoes
Onions
Lettuce
All sorts of condiments
Wheat buns (I just skip the bun if I want a burger and use a fork)
Hash brown casserole
Twice-baked stuffed potato
Tossed salad greens with veggies

Chocolate cupcakes with fondant Totoros

Domo-kun double-chocolate brownies

Several different delicious ice creams.

Everything was wonderful, and we had great company. Dan and his dad did the grilling, his mom made the salad, the hash brown casserole and the twice-baked double-stuffed potato (made after she noticed gluten in one of the casserole ingredients).

We were joined by the SuperCat's grandparents, her aunt and uncle, her two cousins, some dear friends. It was a lovely day to celebrate.

I have to say, these were so incredibly easy that I will certainly make these the next time I bake brownies because they add only a few short minutes to the process, but were so much fun to make and eat.

Namaste.

My Neighbor Totoro

Two of the last three weeks have been... I'll settle for "interesting", since "pitifully sad" sounds so... pitifully sad.

My husband got sick on the day of our 5th anniversary. By the end of the day, (Saturday, October 18th), he was yearning for the sweet release that only Ibuprofen and a swig of NyQuil can bring. What followed were two weeks of flu-ishness in everyone. I had it three different times. SuperCat had it once. Yuck.

Thankfully, the next week, the week leading up to Halloween, we were all given some sort of Get Out Of Jail Free card by the Universe. We were healthy, we were happy, and we got everything accomplished that we'd planned. We carved pumpkins (my husband and I each carved n owls and the SuperCat helped with her Blue pumpkin, from Blue's Clues). This year, her grandfather grew pumpkins for all of the grandkids, and shortly before Halloween, led Supercat out to the pumpkin patch to harvest her very own, home-grown pumpkin!








On Halloween night, we went Trick or Treating with the SuperCat. Or, we did after she finished giving out candy, because as soon as the doorbell rang, she ran to the door with a tin pail of candy, ready to dispense treats to all of the other kids in the neighborhood. None of them scared her, either, even though this seemed to be the Year of the Zombie, costume-wise. Because Halloween is her birthday, we started early, when SuperCat was about eleven months old, telling her that none of the scary stuff was real. As a result, she calls everything scary-looking "not reals". Skeletons, zombies, witches, goblins and the like are all "not reals" and she isn't the least bit afraid.

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday both because of the good memories I have of it as a kid, and because of the memories I have of my own children's Halloweens. The costumes I've worn, the costumes I've sewn, the pumpkins we've picked out and carved, the candy. I don't think I have any bad memories of Halloween at all, just happy thoughts.

So, I was happy when the SuperCat was born on Halloween. She'll always have a national dress-up party on her birthday with special foods, decorations and games. How much fun is that?

With her actual birthday being Halloween, we've decided that at least while she's young, it really is too much to ask for everyone else to miss their Halloween, and besides: SuperCat's grandfather's birthday is 4 days later, and postponing the party two days allows us to all gather for a combined party, which is so much fun!

The menu included a double-baked and stuffed potato for me (gluten free), delicious hash brown casserole for everyone else, a salad, and cake and brownies for dessert.

This year, when I asked SuperCat what sort of cake she'd like, she told me, "ponies... no... kitties...", then quickly changed her mind and blurted out, "Totoro!"

Totoro is from a Japanese animated film titled Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro) by director Hayao Miyazaki. It's about a giant forest sprite (Totoro) who befriends and helps two little sisters in post-World War Two Japan. It has been a part of the childhoods of all three of my children, and if you haven't seen it, check it out. The children in the film are smart, able, and they are respectful of adults. The adults in the film are smart, help and comfort the children, and are competent and caring. In short, it's everything a lot of children's films aren't.

My Neighbor Totoro is a wonderful film, one of our favorites. The story is winsome, sometimes sad, always touching and beautiful. It's on DVD, so if you get a chance, check it out.

This is a Totoro:









So, how to make a Totoro cake? I don't live in Japan, where products with Totoro are sold, so buying a Totoro thing for the top of the cake was right out.

I don't do Wilton-type decorating (although learning how to is on my list for 2009), so that was out as well.

I do craft in polymer clay, and I'd made a Totoro before, but it's best not to touch polymer clay to food, and besides, a Totoro that would be appropriately sized would weigh several pounds and would take a ton of (expensive) clay. I finally settled on fondant. And instead of a cake, I'd make cupcakes. Our wedding cake was covered with rolled fondant, and although I didn't make it, I had always wanted to work with fondant.

Fondant is a mixture of sugar, water, gelatin, glucose (or white corn syrup), a bit of glycerin, and some flavoring and/or coloring, if desired. You mix all these things, bring it to temperature, take it off the heat, and knead it till it is a soft, smooth dough.

Fondant can be modeled, rolled flat to cover entire cakes, made into bows, any sort of shape you can think of; in short fondant is like edible candy modeling clay.

Fondant doesn't really taste like much except "sweet", so it's a good idea to frost the cake before the fondant is applied, since most people don't eat it.

But I didn't want to make it because I've never made it. For one thing, I live more than 6000 above sea level. Water boils at a lower temperature where I live than where most other people live. It's drier and it's cooler, both of which affect candy making. I didn't want to risk making it for the first time, so, I went with Wilton's pre-made. Five pounds is about $22.00 at Hobby Lobby; around $13.00 or so with a 40% off coupon, and is enough to cover a 3-tiered cake or make probably 3 dozen Totoros. I've promised to add "making fondant from scratch" on my list of things to do in 2009, right below learnng Wilton-style design.

I only needed about a dozen Totoros, so I saved the rest of the fondant for Thanksgiving (squirrels for decorating a gluten-free cake ) and my husband's birthday (within a few days of Thanksgiving). He's getting Tux the penguin cupcakes (Tux is the mascot of the operating system Linux & my husband is a Unix/Linux systems administrator).











Last Saturday night found my fabulous husband and myself standing in the kitchen, molding about a dozen Totoros. We followed a picture and were done in about 90 minutes. He's basically a flat-bottomed egg shape, with pinched tubes for arms, cones for ears, a ball for a tail, ovals for eyes, a thinly rolled oval of white for the bib, and that's it! Stick the parts on with water if they start to dry out, and try to keep the yet-to-be used "clay" covered with a moist paper towel while you work.

Sky blue Wilton's paste food coloring was used to dye the fondant to make the body, ears, arms, and tail; I left it plain white for the eyes and the chest; and used the blue paste food coloring watered down and applied with a sharp toothpick for the pupils, fur, and noses. Before I tinted it, I flavored the fondant with vanilla and a bit of orange oil so that if anyone decided to eat it, it wouldn't taste really icky.

The flowers are Smarties candies. The grass is coconut dyed with green Wilton's paste coloring.

Here are the results. You can click on the pictures for bigger versions.
















































We were happy with them, but SuperCat was thrilled.
Happy 3rd Birthday, sweetheart!

Namaste.