serai

Crossposts: http://serai1.livejournal.com/977000.html

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Yay rain!

It's raining here, which I'm greatly enjoying. And it's not especially cold, which makes the rain comfortable to go out in. I spent the afternoon over in Glendale, depositing some money in my credit union account and then walking over to the Galleria to buy a couple of things and get myself a nice lunch. Chicken vegetable wontons and a sashimi salad. So long - maybe six months - since I could just buy some nice food to eat that I didn't have to cook myself! (Those of you who can just do that have no idea what a luxury it is, seriously.)

But now my back hurts from all the walking, so I'm going to turn in early. I'll be watching a movie or two on my little portable DVD player in bed, and contemplating an idea for a nice little story I'm hoping to write in the next day or two.

Here is a lovely music vid for you all:

Sapta Jina Bhasitam Papa Vinas ana Dharani - Imee Ooi

Whenever I listen to this song/mantra, I find myself so deeply touched that tears almost always spring to my eyes. The sweetness of the instruments and the pure, gentle longing in the singer's beautiful voice overcome any boundaries of language. I hope you all enjoy this lovely piece.

ETA: This is the mantra she is singing:

lipalipate kuhakuhate taralite niharate wimalite swaha

If I find a translation for it, I will post it. :)

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This weather is seriously freaking me out. This is JULY weather.

I've lived in SoCal for most of my life, and in the last decade I've come to no longer recognize it. The memories I have of huddling around the oven when I was a kid to warm up my clothes before getting dressed for school, of week-long rainstorms, of actually knowing when the divide between winter and spring took place - those memories are describing another place. It's like I grew up somewhere else that used to be Los Angeles, and this has replaced it.

I hope I find a way to leave sometime in the next few years, because I really don't want to live in the hellish oven that SoCal is on its way to becoming. There's a fucking REASON I don't live in Death Valley, thank you. I sure as shit have no interest in moving there without budging an inch to do it.

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Damn, it is RAINING out here. Windy, too. Just what we need, yay! I'm glad my BiL wanted to go to the dispensary earlier, as now I'm all cozy with my little stashbox refilled. I'll be going next door to watch 2001 with my nephew in about an hour. He likes space movies so I thought he should see a movie that takes place in real space for once. I have a new batch of cookies I baked last night, and doubtless we will do popcorn as well. Then I have a pile of mending to do, which will be nice to get to work on while I'm wrapped up on the couch watching something fun.

Now this is more like it!

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Cinnamon Cookies

12½ tbsps (just over 1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup plus 2 tbsps granulated sugar, divided
1/3 cup light brown sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsps plus 1 tsp cinnamon, divided
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp (4 tsps) vegetable oil
1 tsp water

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons of the sugar, brown sugar and lemon zest together on medium speed until the mixture becomes pale and fluffy. Add the flour, baking powder and 1 tablespoon of the cinnamon and mix until combined. Then add the oil and water and mix until fully combined.

Place the dough on plastic wrap and roll it into logs that are 2" in diameter. (Smaller logs are easier to work with than one long one, so it may be helpful to use about a baseball-sized portion of dough to form each log.) Twist the ends of the plastic wrap as you would to wrap a candy to help you achieve an evenly round log. Freeze for about two hours or until the logs are chilled all the way through. (You can freeze the logs, well wrapped in plastic and stored in an airtight container, for up to a month. Defrost frozen logs before using, but be sure they are still chilled all the way through.)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar and the remaining 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cinnamon until well combined.

With a sharp knife, slice the logs into slices and arrange them on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture, then bake for about 10 minutes or until the cookies begin to pick up a little color along the bottom edges. Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool completely on the baking sheet or a cooling rack, then store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to a week.

Makes 30-60 cookies, depending on thickness

This is another of those bitchy dryish doughs. I'm thinking that instead of rolling into logs, it'd easier to just press the dough into the bottoms of a couple of muffin tin, to about 1/3" thick. (I'd line them with pieces of plastic wrap to makes sure they're easy to extract.) In the fridge for about a half hour, then pop the dough rounds out and proceed. I suspect that will be MUCH less of a headache then wrestling with rolling logs and cutting them, ARGH.

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...oh come, never come
Oh, come to me, beautiful rain...

-- Ladysmith Black Mombazo, Beautiful Rain

I've just spent a lovely 20 minutes sitting on my back steps, having a nice long smoke as I dig on the raindrops lacing my lemon tree like ropes of jewels.

Yes, we have RAIN!

At some point in the night, the sky opened up and we've been getting soaked since. The temp is coolish-warmish, which is very nice, and the air is full of that wet smell. It took a while to get Frodo to come in for his breakfast, because he so fucking hates to get wet, but once in he decided that's it for him, and is curled up on my bed doing his level best to forget the sky can even do that. (Casey, of course, didn't leave the house last night and so is now being annoyingly smug.)

I'm gonna cook up some bulgur for breakfast. That stuff is awesome. I've never been fond of oatmeal, so it's nice to find a cooked grain I can enjoy in the morning.

Am considering making some blackberry rugelach today, as I just got a tasty-looking jar of conserves at Trader Joe's. Since my brother's birthday was yesterday, I gotta make him a batch of cookies as my usual gift - baking comes in so handy when you've no money for gifts - so I'll take the opportunity to see if this stuff works for rugelach. I'm told I've gotten really good at making them. *buffs nails on lapel*

So begins the autumn.

Celebrate the Rain - Alice di Miceli

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Just pulled a pair of galettes from the oven. These are a mix of peach, nectarine, and strawberry. I really like the look of these pies, and they're fun to make.

I will sit down to some bean stew and bread, with galette for dessert. Now if only this fucking weather would improve, but at least it's not roasting hot anymore.

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We're having a nasty-ass heat wave here. I actually had to cancel two physical therapy appointments this week, because I'm on the bus and I knew if I tried to go, I'd end up with heatstroke and pass out on the bus. I really HATE this kind of stiflingly hot weather. It sucks away any ability I have to do anything - all I can do is sit in front of my electric fan. ARGH.

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A late fic for

mews1945's birthday!

I so wanted to post a first-time for your birthday, dear Mewsie, but the boys are still too skittish. This is what they gave me instead. I hope you enjoy it!

Storm
by Serai

( Casey stands at his bedroom window, drenched and shivering... )

Chapter 15 of High Contrast
Chapter 16