The last official day of vacation

[webcowgirl]

Geez, still three more days with no work after today. This is great!

I seem to have done nothing today besides clean (still working on unpacking, now I'm trying to reduce the sense of explosion in anticipation of tomorrow's party) and cook (made: Dutch apple pancake - breakfast, lamb and squash bisque - lunch, and beef stew - whenever, probably not tonight). I'm going to take a shower and nap in a bit, I think - giving up any hope of being outside before the sun sets. Oh well, that's life when you wake up at 11, and THAT is what I get for going to bed at 1:30 AM again.

Dutch Apple Pancake recipe (since I liked it so much)

4 T butter
1 medium Delicious appple, cored and cut into 1/2 " thick slices (I used three little apples I had lying around, origin indeterminate. Note: no need to peel tem!)
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 T sugar
2 eggs at room temperature (or not)
1/2 c milk
1/2 c flour
1/2 t salt
Confectioners' sugar for dusting (or not, I put some maple syrup on it)

Preheat oven to 400F (that's 200 C) and butter a 10" ovenproof braiser or fry pan. In another fry pan over medium heat, melt 2 T butter. Add apple slices, cinnamon and sugar, and saute. stirring occasionally, until apples begin to soften and brown, 5-6 min; set aside. In a bowl beat eggs with a whisk (or not, fork was fine), add milk and beat mixture until blended. Sift flour and salt into egg mixture and beat just until blended. Melt remainin 2 T butter, add to flour-egg mixture, and beat until smooth (I didn't do this - it was still pretty lumpy - but I probably should have tried a little more). Pour batter into prepared pan and arrange apples evenly over batter (I actually recommend using more apples than they suggest to get good coverage). Bake until pancake is brown and puffed up, 25-30 mins. Dust with confectioners' sugar (or don't) and serve immediately. Serves 2-4 (for me, this served 2; I'd suggest eggs and some other stuff if you're trying to split it up further). Anyway, I've had this recipe sitting on my fridge for about five years and just made it today; it was great!

I finished Delia Sherman's Changeling and enjoyed it quite well. It got my "numbers" up to 33 for the year; anyone else want to read it now? Looking at the, er, well, not "nightmare" of books, but shall I say "house eating monstrosity" of library in this house, I intend to stick to my plan of moving books along as I've read them. booklectic? lilithmagna (not that you read LJ at all)?

I also got my copy of Remembrance of Things Past back last night (*swoon!*) and we got to have some private time alone late in the evening (note bedtime above). Oooh man. So good. But I'm still only at page 350! When will I finish this thing?

Comments

[lovelybug.livejournal.com]

I'm sure Lil will be happy to help you out :)

[splendid-geryon.livejournal.com]

I'm still only at page 350! When will I finish this thing?

The idea crossed my mind the other day to organize "In Search of Lost Time: A Race to the Finish", where you & I (and other interested, similarly Proust-crazed folk) would try to beat each other to finishing the entire work, perhaps seperated into stages, a la Tour de Proust (sic), so we could take breaks between the books.

You, of course, would get extra credit for reading the Moncrieff, and I have no time to read. Otherwise, it seemed a lovely idea...

The Proust is in the pudding

[webcowgirl.livejournal.com]

That is SUCH a brilliant idea. Have you started reading it at all? Do you even have the good version purchased? (And why do I get extra credit for it?) C'mon, let's do it, we can pimp it on nanoreadmo, or write about it there.

I miss you. I hope your life is going well.