Don't Make Bacon Naked

Even I didn't need cooking classes to figure that out. 

But, in my continued quest to live creatively in 2016, I'm finding that reminders definitely have a place among new-to-me concepts, and that humor helps with pretty much everything. 

A few recent takeaways from the Basics of Culinary - 

*  There are Five Mother Sauces from which hundreds of other sauces are made. (Now, for some odd reason, what I hear in my head is this - The Mother of All Sauces - spoken in a loud, booming announcer-like voice. I swear this happens without me having wine.)

*  Toasting whole spices then grinding them yourself gives a whole different depth to the flavor. I know, it sounds like a hassle, but I was surprised by how easy it was. Whole spices are just as cheap to buy, and the packets are smaller so they won't go to waste. (Raise your hand if you have spices sitting in your cabinet that might be older than you?) We made part of a marinade/rub for Marinated-Grilled Skirt Steak by toasting cumin, coriander, black pepper and cinnamon then grinding it in one of those little coffee grinders. The smell was heavenly!

*  You don't need a fancy squeezing thingy to juice lemons and limes. A contraption like that can be considered a "uni-tasker." Instead, put the cut lemon or lime up at the tightest part of a set of tongs and squeeze. This turns the tongs into a "multi-tasker." (I love tips like this because even though I am fortunate to have a nice kitchen with lots of storage, I have a thing about clutter and items used once every three years. This is why I don't own good china and silver.)

*  The juice from those lemons and limes? Went into my new favorite, go-to sauce - chimichurri! (I'm still working on a way to have it for breakfast....)  

Previous posts in this "series" - 

IWSG: The Year of Living Creatively

It Cuts Like a Knife . . .  

IWSG: Fizzle

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Hmm, so it's February 2016, and I've accomplished . . . nothing. 

Okay, not nothing but close to it. I don't exactly know what happened. A few real life incidents arose but nothing serious. I got new furniture for my office that took forever for my husband and I to put together, and my stuff is still kind of in flux. The weather has been funky for our area - cold and stormy, including nearby tornadoes - and that's thrown off some stuff, like exercise. Yeah, so what, right? None of this should've stopped me so completely. 

Probably the biggest issue is that I'm in-between writing projects. I'm dabbling in this and experimenting with that, trying to figure out what to throw myself into next. I'm at the point where no one idea is tugging at me, leaving me standing still, paralyzed with indecision. 

I really wanted to start 2016 with a bang, but so far I've only managed a fizzle. Sigh.

Any advice? Encouraging words? Chocolate?

It Cuts Like A Knife . . .

A chef's knife, that is!

A few weeks back, I talked about 2016 being the year of living creatively, and how I planned on taking a cooking class. Well, the first one was the other day, and it was a blast!

My husband and I have taken Demonstration Classes - the chefs cook and talk while we sit and watch, drink wine and eat. This class - the Basics of Culinary - is Hands On and the wine doesn't appear until the food is cooked and the knives are put away.

A few things I learned:

- you really don't need most of the knives in the knife block. You can use a chef's knife for pretty much everything. 

- the point of the knife is the "toe" and the part closer to the handle is the "heel."

- when cutting up veggies, curl the fingers of your other hand under, making a claw. (I managed to leave class with all my fingers - yeh, me!)

- when seasoning, sprinkle the salt, pepper, parsley, etc from high above the food because that way it spreads more evenly. Too close and it can clump.

We made guacamole and salsa, pollo tacos al pastor (chicken tacos), red snapper escabeche (fish and veggies) and sopaipillas (fried dough with cinnamon sugar and honey - and, oh, honey, let me tell you, they were delicious!)

You know, cooking is a lot like writing - once you know the rules, you can go a little wild, expand and experiment.

And it's a pretty good bet that the next time one of my characters needs to do something dastardly with a knife, we'll all know what kind of knife they'll use....

IWSG: The Year of Living Creatively

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In 2015, my creative well ran bone dry. Thirsty ideas meandered over. Some were smart enough to move along after awhile, but others lingered and ultimately wasted away, leaving behind the shrunken skulls and withered skins of dead stories.

So, I decided to make 2016 The Year of Living Creatively.

I don't have resolutions, and I don't have set-in-stone goals. My "one word," my focus is Creativity. And this applies not only to writing, but also to life in general. I already signed up for cooking classes for this winter and for art classes in the spring. I'll pay more attention to the shadows of the palm fronds shifting and fluttering against the window shade. I'll let my fingers linger on the bumps and creases of the tortoises' shells. Flashlight in hand, I'll immerse myself in the craft of writing horror.

I wish you all a year of creative living! Go for it!