Project Update

-The Cider: Well, I don't know if this is the recipe, but it's pretty doggone good. Put some caramel syrup (or a caramel cube or two) into a cup of apple juice or apple cider and heat 'til piping hot. Top with whipped cream and a light dusting of cinnamon and/or nutmeg and/or allspice. Yummy.

-Chestnut Roasting: This was way easier than I thought it would be. I just made little x's on the flat parts of the nuts, and cooked 'em at 350 or so for around 30 minutes, tossing them every 10-ish minutes. Let cool 5 min., peel & eat. They were good, but I wanted the outsides to be a little more charred, for the smoky flavor. I think I'll try it again over fire or coals. And they'll be grrrreat with The Cider!

-The bench/countertop: Must wait 'til kitchen has been cleaned out of excess junk. could be years.

-Cooking: Made some stuffed tomatoes the other night. Delicious, and they reheat well. And I sorta improvised the recipe, completely impressing myself. Wanna know how I did it?

See recipe below.

-Costumes: no progress there. Maybe Wednesday.

-Apartment cleanup: made very tiny dent, hardly worth mentioning, except that this is a progress report, and it shouldn't seem as if I haven't done anything, when I have. Just not much. Again, maybe more progress on Wednesday.

-Christmas Shopping: minor progress, and am developing the shopping list so I can do more targeted shopping after Thanksgiving.

Yay free time!

And now for that recipe:

Epiphany's Stuffed Tomatoes

4 Lg. ripe Tomatoes

1lb Sausage (herb-y, country-style)

1/2 Onion, chopped (or 1 small)

2 cloves Garlic, pressed

1 C Bread Crumbs

1 Egg, beaten w/2 T Milk

1T each: Oregano, Basil, Herbes de Provence

1C shredded Cheese (Mozz, Mex. blend, whatevah.)

1/4 grated Parmesan (save some cheese for garnish)

Preheat onion to 350, spray square baking pan with cooking spray.

Core tomatoes, leaving only the shells. Discard tops & guts. Place tomatoes upside down on paper towels to drain.

In med. bowl, mix sausage onion, garlic, bread crumbs, egg & milk mixture, herbs, & cheeses. Use hands to mix and get it all squishy.

Divide sausage mixture x 4, and stuff into tomato shells. Place in baking pan and bake at 350 for 30 min. Sprinkle tops with cheese and broil 'til golden brown.

Put any uneaten tomatoes in Tupperware and refrigerate. Leftovers make great lunch!

Projects

In the last 6-or-so months, stopping the momentum of life to write a blog post has not only seemed unlikely, it has seemed impossible. In that time, I went to NYC/hung out with a fantastic friend/saw some shows, performed in As You Like It, directed my first full-length play, and more - in addition to the usual work and extra-curricular activities. But everybody's busy these days, aren't they?

But lately, things have slowed down quite a bit, to a pace I'm much more comfortable with. I make a to-do list and actually accomplish some of the things on it. I have met and begun dating a Wonderful Man about whom too many lovely things cannot be said. And I have Projects. Projects!

Among them:

-Learn how to make that best-I've-ever-had hot apple cider that you can get at the Biltmore House cafe.

-Roast Chestnuts (this includes finding them and the supplies to do it, and working out how)

-Change the bench in the kitchen into a countertop in the kitchen (avec assistance from the aforementioned Wonderful [-ly handy] Man)

-Cook. Really cook--select a menu, buy fresh stuff, prep it, and cook it properly (not peel-back-plastic-and-nuke or dump some things together and call it dinner.)

-build some Elizabethan-esque costumes for local theatre company (ongoing project)

-clean apartment, throwing out as much as I can stand (seriously ongoing project)

-obviously, Christmas shopping for loved ones, etc. (already underway- hurrah!)

There are more, but this is a start. And I've already made progress: The Fresh Market has fresh chestnuts for $7.99/lb. I bought some today to experiment with the roasting of them. Any tips/suggestions/warnings are appreciated.

Love to you all,

Epiph.