i made it so. | Page 58

baker beware: how my spice loaf mocked me

Posted on November 16, 2010 by imadeitso

i always get a little nervous sharing my recipes. i mean, i see my blog as a way to record the things i make, which sometimes includes a trusted recipe. but i know that putting it ‘out there’ can make it sound like i’m sharing because i know something others don’t, or that i’m some sort of expert.

but when it comes to baking and cooking? nope. not an expert. there are so many variables when it comes to cooking and especially baking. i’ve always equated baking with chemistry. there are chemical reactions going on of course, each ingredient plays a role. there’s physics thrown in there too, with the mechanics of mixing, friction, forces of gravity, altitude effects and so on.

come to think of it, it really is a miracle that any cake rises as it should.

my point is, though, that i’ve often (twice, including this time) said life is too short for bad recipes. meaning, when you set out to make a meal or a dish from scratch, using beautiful whole ingredients, and you spend the time and energy to create something to serve yourself or loved ones, it better turn out like the recipe says it will! i’ve felt the frustration of making dud recipes in the past, so i think that’s why i get a little nervous when i share my favourites here. i’d hate to do that to someone else, although i know that so many of those variables are out of my control.

take the most recent squash spice loaf recipe from the other day. i’ve made this at least a dozen times. i’ve made it for ourselves, for family, for a hostess gift, for a friend who had just had a baby, and so on. each time, it had turned out delicious and moist. consistent. i felt confident sharing that one here.

then, someone i know said she tried the recipe (enter knot in my stomach) and that it didn’t quite turn out (noooooooooo!)…

so last night, i made the loaf again. the same as always. it must’ve sensed my nerves. when i went to pour the mix into the loaf pan, it looked just a little too eager to slip out of the bowl. i should’ve known it was in a rush to mock me.

and sure enough, halfway through the cooking time, it started to bubble over the edges, dripping all over the oven. i placed a cookie sheet underneath, closed the oven door and hoped for the best. the top of the loaf burned, and the inside? mush.

where’s your clever grater trick now, ana?

oh zip it, toots!

ahem. i don’t know what gives. but i felt the need to share this.

the other day, when i was freaking out over something or other, mr.madeitso said “be more like your blog…”

(i immediately took offence, thinking i am my blog, what does he mean, does my blog come across as something i’m pretending to be?! rant, rant, rave, etc.)

always the mellow fellow, he responded “no, just don’t take things so seriously.”… oh. that. i always seem to forget that as an option. heh.

what would i made it so do?

probably blog about it.

then try again.

one more recipe, next time.

(psst! make at your own risk!)

what part of “zip it” don’t you get?

© imadeitso, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to ana at imadeitso.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Posted in in the kitchen, thinking out loud | Tagged insecurities in the kitchen, recipes gone wrong, trusted recipes fail | 17 Comments

weekend in a nutshell – ramona quimby edition

Posted on November 14, 2010 by imadeitso

netflix is new to canada, and the selection is dismal for the time being because of distribution and canadian content laws, i’m guessing. i don’t get excited about most movies. i’d rather curl up with a book, some knitting, or well, you know, the computer…

but this weekend, we found ramona & beezus on netflix (*oops, it wasn’t netflix, see comments). i could not wait until dinner was done and the dishes were cleared so i could watch this movie with my family.

“She was a girl who could not wait. Life was so interesting, she had to find out what happened next.”
~Ramona the Pest, by Beverly Cleary

the movie itself was funny and touching, and i felt it stayed true to the spirit of the books. yes, there have been grumblings about the choices for casting. yes, die-hard fans may disagree with some of the details. i’m sure i could find fault or inconsistencies if i wanted to, but i’ll leave that up to some other curmudgeon. like i said, i don’t watch movies often, i’m sceptical about most of them, i can barely stay awake through the best of them, but i wanted to watch and enjoy this one.

i loved it. we watched it twice, actually.

i grew up with ramona. in some ways, i was ramona. in other ways, i wanted to be more like ramona, or at least hang out with her on klickitat street, in her world brimming with curiosity and imagination. but never did i not want to be like her, even when she got into trouble, which was often. even when she embarrassed herself in front of friends and teachers. she always had a way of getting back up, scuffed knees and bruised ego, holding that little nose up high and carrying on. she taught me a lot.

others who have read these books might know the feeling. there was something about that ramona — the mischief she got into, the way her good intentions had a way of turning bad, the chasm between being a kid and being a grown up and the hard lessons learned when she would comprehend the differences between the two — with which i could relate while growing up. i still can, now, on the other side of things as a parent.

a few years ago, i relived all the beverly cleary stories again by introducing them to my daughter. the stories are timeless, i think, and as appealing to me now as they were then. and those illustrations of ramona in the original books? i wanted to try and capture the style of those drawings. for me, they were as much a part of the story as the words. so i made a little sketch of ramona from one of those early books…

sketch of ramona by ana @ imadeitso.com

i must pay homage to the original illustrator, louis darling. he was assigned to cleary’s first book, henry huggins, in 1950 and went on to illustrate her other books until his death in 1970. alan tiegree, beatrice darwin and paul o. zelinsky are amongst the handful of other artists who also illustrated beverly cleary books.

the most recent novel, ramona’s world (published 1999), was illustrated by tracy dockray and she is also the illustrator of the current harper collins’ reprintings of beverly cleary’s books. she has received some criticism from those who remember and reminisce about the original artwork in the books. but i think it is unfounded.

yes, ramona’s image has been updated. but she is still ramona, she still has that innocence and mischief about her. and it’s not like she has been hussied up like a bratz doll and wearing an “i heart bieber” t-shirt to sell more copies. all hope is not lost for the next generation. take a look at some of tracy dockray’s work if you have a moment. i think you might like her style if you look at it as her style and not louis darling’s.

(well that was an unexpected rant! :-) thanks for enduring)…

and finally, if you’re out there mrs.cleary, listening or reading, i mean this with sincere respect and gratitude: thank you. thank you for ramona, and for all the stories you shared with us.

Posted in 2D art, kids made it so | Tagged books, louis darling, my doodles & drawings, netflix, netflix in canada, new illustrator for ramona books, ramona and beezus, ramona and beezus movie, ramona drawings, ramona illustrations, ramona illustrators, ramona quimby, tracy dockray, weekend in a nutshell | 13 Comments

new feature: friday archive dive

Posted on November 12, 2010 by imadeitso

one of my favourite things to do when i discover a new blog is to read back a bit into the archives. what initially attracts me to a blog is usually the most current post, through a link or topic that might be of interest to me. but when i start digging back into the archives, the style and personality of the author comes through.

the thing i enjoy about reading blogs is that it is about perspective. it’s one person’s take on something and how they chose to present it. there are some amazing and inspiring ideas out there, and some of the best posts are hidden deep within the archives. it’s just the nature of blogging, a very chronological, linear thing. you write a new post, and your last one shifts down further into the past.

it’s staggering to think that about 175 000 new blogs are started. each day! there is absolutely no way i could read through all the archives of my favourite blogs, let alone all the potential blogs out there which i’m sure i’ll bump into in the future. but, i’m thinking, i can get to know the ones who pass through here a little better, one topic at a time…and you can too, by diving into the old archives here every friday.

friday archive dive blog authors hold great value in past writings, even though we are mostly focused on what we are writing now and what we might share in the future. how do i know? almost all blogs have a little “archives” tab somewhere. and we all have a slight panic when it seems that some glitch in the matrix may have caused our blog to disappear. worst nightmare, anyone? (back that thing up!)

it is, after all, a web log. a journal. a journey of sorts. we write about a topic because it means something to us at a given time. and it’s interesting to look back sometimes, and be reminded of where we’ve been.

so, where to begin? why not at the start. this week, dig up your very first post, and share it using the linky tool below. (if you’re not familiar with these, just click the blue frog button at the bottom and it should walk you through the steps. just remember to link to the actual blog post you wish to share, not just your blog url.) you can click through and read other posts on the same topic. then visit back each friday for a new topic. we’ll see how it goes.

that’s it!

that’s it ana?

that’s it.

what, no rules about content or about linking back here or leaving a comment before leaving?

must you suck the fun out of everything?

people want to know!

no rules unless they become needed. just share in the spirit of sharing, stay on topic, be nice, don’t spam, don’t beg others to follow you (ick), viagra guy you will be deleted. you get the idea.

share. read. enjoy. comment if you like. you can copy the code below if you want to help spread the word. jump in, the water is nice…

friday archive dive logo

nice swimsuit.

thanks! it’s vintage.

ya don’t say.

Tagged friday archive dive | 29 Comments

speaking of nuts: a squirrely tale

Posted on November 10, 2010 by imadeitso

i still have another recipe to share, but i think i’m going to save it for another time. i had a little visitor to my yard and i feel the need to share the story. in doing so, i realize i will come across as one of those crazy ladies that has conversations with the critters in her yard. this should come as no surprise. remember chippie?

please note: all squirrely thoughts are from my imagination, extrapolated from my own limited experiences and knowledge of nature, and which are the culmination of the following sources, including but not limited to:

real fact as learned from hours of watching mutual of omaha’s wild kingdom, marty stouffer’s wild america, and david suzuki’s the nature of things as a child. what? we didn’t have cable. i turned out “ok” ;-)
fairy tales and imaginative books and stories where animals have been personified.
things my children have taught me because they read encyclopedias and tell me things like “mommy, remember that mouse in the house last week? you know how you said you’re getting rid of it because they don’t belong in our house? yes, well, i looked it up in a field guide. and it said that it is a “house mouse.” so really, this house is its habitat, so it belongs here. just like us.” (really, what do you say to that? should i start charging the mouse rent and utilities?)

also, my apologies to mother nature for imposing my thoughts on unsuspecting animals. i am a silly human, along with the other roughly 6.8 billion of us, and as such, all squirrel thoughts will be denoted in a hazelnutty brown colour.

a couple of days ago, i looked out the window into the back yard and noticed a squirrel. not at all an uncommon occurrence here, especially at this time of year. but the problem was that this one wasn’t like the others i’ve seen scurrying about, hiding nuts and patting them down safely below the leaves. (and don’t you just love the way they dart a quick glance over their shoulder while doing this, as if to make sure no one sees what they are up to? like they’re the first squirrel to ever think of burying a nut. “i am a genius! *snickertitterheehee*”

but anyway, this squirrel didn’t look quite right. i was a little worried about it, the way it had its snout down into the top of the fence like that, with its front paw clenched into a fist under its chin and the tiny back foot dangling out the side…

i mean, what squirrel does that? i knew my daughter would love to see photos of this little guy, so i took my camera outside with me. but the truth is, i was worried that the squirrel may not be all well, so i kind of held my breath, stepped towards it slowly…they can be aggressive little things. while at university years ago, i remember walking by a garbage bin when suddenly, an angry city squirrel came running up the side of the bin chattering obscenities at me. i’m pretty sure it shook a threatening fist, too.

no movement. at this point i’m thinking this is the cutest little thing i’ve ever seen, and i’m also a little heartbroken because it must be sick or dying to allow me to come so close to it. i am only a few feet away from it when it begins to open its eyes, ever…so…slowly…

then it lifts its fuzzy little head and turns it slowly towards me…

and as if that was just too much effort, the heavy eyelids begin to close again…

and shut me out.

look at that sweet nose! here i am thinking this adorable little thing has chosen a sunny spot on my fence to breathe its last little breaths.

but then, i take one more step towards it. this last step must’ve encroached on its personal bubble of comfort, because it begins to sit up, does a slow-mo cat-like stretch of its limbs…

and suddenly, it darts right to attention! almost as if it remembers how it is supposed to behave around humans, with all its nervous energy and alert eyes and ears. then just like that, it scurries off the fence full speed and bounds away out of the yard.

lil guy was just having a nap!

i was so relieved that i was able to share a happy story with my daughter when she came home from school, along with the photos. but i do feel badly for interrupting a squirrely slumber. and for assuming the worst just because it was behaving differently than i expected. (that’s a lesson i could take through life with me. huh.)

i wonder what it was dreaming about…

p.s. this squirrel was no scaredy-squirrel, letting me come so close. but it did remind me of canadian children’s author and illustrator mélanie watt. my kids and i adore her books and drawings, so clever and funny. if you have a chance to read, borrow or buy any of the scaredy squirrel or chester series of books, do so. (chester is a megalomaniac cat, by the way. i mean, come on! you’ve got to read it.) they are favourites in this nutty home.

p.p.s. it’s almost friday! join me then for a new feature here. should be fun :-)

© imadeitso, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to ana at imadeitso.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Posted in around the house, pixel shaking, thinking out loud | Tagged a squirrely tale, chester the cat, melanie watt, scaredy squirrel, squirrel hiding nuts, squirrel in the yard, squirrel on the fence | 16 Comments

roasting pumpkin and squash seeds

Posted on November 10, 2010 by imadeitso

i scoop out the seeds…

pumpkin seeds scooped out

i pick the flesh away, wash the seeds in a collander and lay them on a towel and pat dry. i spread them out on a non-stick or parchment-lined cookie tray. most recipes say to add oil, but i don’t and they turn out fine. the seeds don’t have to be perfectly dry, they’ll dry off in the oven…

pumpkin seeds on tray

i usually just add some ground sea salt and pepper (cayenne pepper is nice too, sometimes a dash of curry or cumin), mix it, and pop it into the oven. 325 F (approximately 160 C) til they start to turn light brown. you may hear a couple of them pop open along the way. mmm, can you smell it?

[insert beautiful photo of pumpkin seeds that got eaten by mr.madeItSo & the kids before i could even get my camera]

so you’ll have to take my word that i made them, and take their word that they are delicious!

look at these lovely roasted pumpkin seeds though, scattered about those muffins…

pumpkin muffins and seeds lifeologia