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Archive for the ‘baking’ Category

Getting into the staying at home groove

Posted in baking, distractions, Pandemic, phd, sourdough on April 26, 2020| Leave a Comment »

I have graduated from jaw pain from clenching my teeth.

I’ve gotten over the stress induced weird diet thing, where I couldn’t stomach the thought of meat.

I’m a little less anxious than I was and sleeping better.

I have come to an understanding with myself that I’ll be home for the foreseeable future and that I probably won’t get to campus again, except maybe with a mask and to clean out my desk. I have developed some better habits for staying at home. I’ve progressed to reading novels until my eyes feel like they will fall out of my head.

I have finally sorted out the big mess I made when I was warping the loom and and now in a happy space. Evidence here.

I think I have improved with my smocking project and didn’t unpick it all last time (yesterday).

I am giving away food I bake and prepare. The gyoza I made were amazing and we were able to deliver some to a friend. Well my partner did.

I also made sourdough pizza, which we ate and did not give away (although I have some dough frozen). I also made peanut butter and choc chip cookies but they are all gone.

 

I have received the feedback on my draft (cough) exegesis and have printed it out! Amazing as I had to use my own printer and that hurt me…I get free printing on campus. I will be going through the comments (all bad) and then I’ll start working on the next draft. At least I have a suggested structure to help. I mean it is all there, but it’s buried in the detail or too much information and well…you know at wet mess.

It’s my birthday on Tuesday. A big one, but the restaurant is cancelled and I’ll be hanging with friends on Zoom and I’m having a social distanced high tea with my daughter tomorrow. This is a picture of me a week out from my 60th.

 

Current status treading water on my life.

And signing off I will say that I feel for you out there in countries with lots of community transmission, high death rates and hospitalisations and economic downturn.

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Kitchen Goddess explained

Posted in appliances, baking, Pandemic, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on April 4, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, I started writing a blog post called Kitchen Goddess and although I talked about sourdough as an aside I didn’t really get to the point.

My birthday is this month and because of the Pandemic I had to cancel my planned birthday party at a local Ethiopian Restaurant. My big 60th. I was going to shout family and friends for a meal and feed them cake and fill their glasses with wine and/or lemonade!

While there is no party, I’m still having a birthday and I didn’t really have an idea of what I wanted for a present. My daughters asked me and well… I couldn’t think of anything until I was sitting around in bed on Thursday afternoon. It was one of the those days when it was raining outside and I’d played with the toddler for a few hours and was knackered and world events are just overwhelming at times. Then, an idea hit me. I’ve always wanted a decent stand mixer. Years ago, I bought this absolutely cheap, crap one from Big W or KMart and the beaters don’t even hit the bottom of the bowl and I have to put tea towels underneath to lift the bowl and scrap and basically get cranky.

I watched a few YouTube videos to pass the time and my favourite cupcake place did a review of three types of stand mixer. Previously, I had read Choice Magazine as well so I knew what was in my sights. So after about five seconds consideration and years of lusting, I went on an online hunt for a Kitchen Aid, Stand Mixer. Locally there was a sale of 40 per cent off at Kitchen Aid. Still, they were way pricey. I started talking to my partner and he agreed to go halves.

A special deal was free engraving. On my new stand mixer in almond shade will be my name ‘Donna Maree’ and the line underneath says ‘Kitchen Goddess’! Hence the title of my previous post. I don’t have photos yet as it has not been delivered. Obtaining a new stand mixer goes against the ‘I must stop baking pledge’ and minimal socialisation means it is hard to share product if I do. Yet, I can’t help thinking about what I would bake first. I usually do all my sour dough bread by hand but the Kitchen Aid stand mixer has a dough hook. My Thermomix does knead too but it’s not quite big enough for the double loaves I make. And I like to do it by hand over the space of a day as there is something very calming about the process of making sourdough. But there are other things to bake! And there’s cinnamon rolls! Absolutely deadly!

Here is a picture from Amazon.com.au of the almond colour.  It is listed there for $629 AU. If you are interested, here is the Linkstandmixer

The prices in the USA are half this. As they are made there it makes sense. USA Amazon has the red one for $279 US link is here.

This is one heavy beast so Matthew and I had to decide where we would put it given our limited bench space. We decided to move the air fryer because that’s light and can be moved easily.

https://www.amazon.com.au/KitchenAid-KSM160-Stand-Mixer-Almond/dp/B077NTX8RY

In the previous post, I also put up a picture of an award. Now I can share the news as it has been announced. Our short film ‘Implanted’ won the People’s Choice award at the Lights! Canberra! Action! film festival. The film is about nerdy, cat-loving Nigel who is accidentally implanted with a microchip and starts behaving strangely. It’s a rom com. And we need something uplifting these days. At the time it was post bushfires and bushfire smoke and we wanted to take people’s mind of that.

This is the team, my daughter, me and my partner Matthew. A huge thank you to the team, lead actors Michael Slater and Amelia Forsyth-Smith, the crew and to Executive Producer and teacher extraordinaire, Dan Sanguineti from Sanguineti Media, where we did an intensive film making course in February.

Implanted Team Award pic (1 of 1)

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Kitchen Goddess

Posted in baking, Dragon, Dragon fantasy, Pandemic, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on April 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Right now I’m in the process of making sourdough bread. It’s part of my usual routine so not a pandemic hobby. Not that there is anything wrong with baking while you are stuck at home. I find it reduces stress. It’s just that too much baking makes one fat.

To combat this I am trying to increase my exercise. Twice this week I have walked to the local shopping centre-a least 25 minutes away on foot and back again with my little granny trolley. I don’t feel too scared by this as there are all these markers in the little shopping centre showing where to stand to keep your social distancing up and it’s not very crowded.

Today I went to pick up a parcel from the post office and then thought I’d get a few things from the supermarket. There was a queue to getting into the supermarket. It wasn’t long and I was inside in good time. We had to wash our hands with sanitiser and keep our distance. I headed straight to the toilet paper aisle and was victorious. I also scored two small bags of flour and a dozen eggs. I feel like beating my chest and crying out like a victorious Tarzan.

I was surprised by how much food was available and I had this queer feeling. One part of me just wanted to buy stuff because it was there and this is a pandemic and the other part was like all this food doesn’t make it seem like a pandemic. I had to tell myself that the food would be there next time. A lizard brain reaction maybe. Of course, some shelves were low or empty but now that people can’t panic buy there’s plenty. I should also say all the staff were very nice and polite and helpful. Ideally though I leave the shopping to Matthew.

My greatest challenge over the next few months besides not contracting Covid-19 and dying is not to get fat while housebound. So trying not to bake! However, my family are asking for homemade English muffins and hot cross buns and Anzac biscuits (oatmeal cookies) as well as sour dough bread.

We get Youfoodz meals delivered for most of the week and they are calorie controlled and then we cook or do something else-usually a freezer dive as we have frozen left overs meals. That helps a bit because if I totally got into cooking mode I’d cook heaps of things that I love to eat and my self-restraint ? Well there is no such thing!

However, I contrast this with many, many people in the world right now who don’t have food, or shelter or decent medical care. I might be stressed. I might be finding it hard to concentrate but I’m not in a bad way at all.

That might or might not be helpful thinking. My usual life and expectations have changed.

I’m still trying to work on the PhD (difficult) and keep my mental health in a good space. I try not to think of my publishing career and what will happen to the industry. My creativity has been squashed into a plastic bag and tossed into the back of the cupboard.

However, for those of you without books. There is a promotion of free dragon books on Bookfunnel Link

So go help yourself.

I just had a Darynda Jones book delivered this morning. I’m very tempted to start reading it right now. I was lucky enough to meet Darynda in early March as part of the ARRA signings. I like how she puts real life into her urban fantasy and her sassy lead, Charlie.

The other impediment to productivity is Gin the cat. He just plonked himself down on my lap after walking across the keyboard and wouldn’t shift. He just looked at me with those enormous eyes and stared. He also had his claws out so hugging him was like hugging a rose bush. I think it is revenge because the other day I accidentally locked him on the deck for the whole night and it rained.

IMG_1096Next this turned up in the mail. I’ll talk about this next time…

IMG_1095

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A laid back weekend

Posted in A writer's life, baking, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on October 13, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Last week it was Conflux 15 over three days of the long weekend. I’m due to write a post on that, but first I’m just in the relax weekend space. I have some sourdough in the making. I’m making three loaves instead of two as my second daughter wants a loaf regularly too. I currently make one for the house and one for the number one daughter. I think I have this sourdough bread baking in hand. Today though I threw in a bunch of other flour, some wholemeal and some spelt so it will be interesting to see how that goes.

It’s a lovely sunny day outside, though a bit nippy. I can see cloud shadows on the ranges out the window to my left. I find that view comforting and calming.

IMG_9298I’m a bit stressed. Not a lot stressed but just a bit. It’s the 13th of October 2019 and I’m wondering what is happening to time. September I had a schedule to work on my phd novel, which I stuck to, but October started out busy and you know it’s just slipped by.

I did a schedule for the rest of October and I feel sort of less stressed about it. I want to do NaNoWriMo in November but I do have an exegesis to get reacquainted with. I haven’t been at my uni desk for a long time. I’ll be back there next week.

I think the schedule helped me be less stressed because it positioned me in reality a bit. It’s not an overly hard schedule but sitting down and looking at the month let me know that I still have a couple of weeks to get things done. Or shall I say start to get things done. A little bit less of panic, hand waving, screaming mode.

The PhD is not overly stressful. I’m on intermission so how can it be? It’s one of those things I must really throw myself into next year (next year is fast approaching!). I’m not working and earning so that is probably an itch that contributes to this sense of unease. I think it is this sense that time is going too fast.

So today I’m kicking back and relaxing. I have no chance of slowing time, I know that, but I want to feel a minute pass, and feel my breath as it leaves my body. I’m looking at the view and I’m waiting for the sourdough to do it’s thing.

IMG_9077

Recent sourdough bread

I did have something else to say but it’s slipped through the sieve of my mind.

PS. The sourdough starter I dried before I went away revived nicely. I also froze some but can’t discover it in the chaos of the deep freezer.

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Frenetic activity

Posted in A writer's life, All the things, baking, Craft, Crazy shit, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on May 3, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Currently I am living with my partner and his father.

I am pretty much an on the go person, except when I’m not. Recently I have been on the go. Baking bread, trying to weave (both fixed heddle and four shaft), write, bake, teach, study…

I fear I probably need a sedative as I am interesting to watch apparently. Maybe I don’t know how to relax.

Meanwhile, I am finding it hard to focus on the PhD novel. This post is probably an example.

It is just that there is so much to do and life is so short and I know I’ll never get to do all the things…and it makes me anxious!

Maybe I should just take a pill or meditate on what is important and reasonable.

Here is a picture of my 100 per cent Rye bread, first time ever. It’s all gone too. So yummy.

IMG_4680 2

I’ll be posting about my new novella next.

 

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Lasts days of Argenterra at 99 cents

Posted in A writer's life, Australian author, baking, Book cover, cover reveal, Emerald Fire, epic fantasy, science fiction, Science Fiction Romance, tagged , , , , , on April 25, 2019| Leave a Comment »

It’s been a long time between posts and I really don’t have an excuse. Life if just hectic at times. I’ve also decided that my daughter and her new baby will come first this year. That decision requires refoccusing. And I’ve been baking bread, particularly sour dough. It’s therapeutic!

Still on the writing front things have been plodding on. At times, I do not understand this industry. I love writing and making up stories but at times it is hard to be positive about the longer term. Selling a book a day is not sustainable. I will try though to keep positive!

Emerald Fire, Cry Havoc Book Two was free on Amazon for five days and people downloaded a lot of it (635). I was shocked. Ruby Heart , Cry Havoc Book One, hardly had any downloads in comparison and that was the book one (about 120). I umed and ahed about putting a book 2 on for free but I did and I’m not sure what it all means. I think my newsletter subscribers are waiting for Ruby Heart to be discounted again so they can have the set. I love writing this series so much. So much fun and research. I will be discounting Ruby Heart in May, which Emerald Fire goes wide.

Meanwhile, Argenterra, Silverlands Book one, has been 99 cents on all platforms for the whole of April. The sale ends on April 30. I even had a paid promotion and I’ve only shifted like 25 copies all up. That’s with newsletter shares and so on. The weird thing is the sell through on Argenterra appears pretty good. People do buy the next books in the series. I love the new covers. I’ll put links below in case you are tempted to sample.

I love the Silverlands series. Argenterra was the first fantasy I tried to write. My second novel ever, rewritten many times before it was ever published. I love the Argenterra world and the characters and the stories of the history.

You have until April 30 to get your 99 cent copy.

Buy links

amazon ibooks Kobo Google Nook

I have a collection of stories from Argenterra planned, ostensibly told from Kushlan Silvertongue’s point of view as commissioned by King Oakheart. A bit of a literary conceit there, having a story teller tell the story.

I’ll be releasing the stories one by one, at first, to introduce readers to the world of Argenterra and an extra for fans of the series. When they are done I will release them as a collection in one volume. They will be free or 99 cents.

The first one of these will be released in a couple of weeks as it is with the proofreader right now. That tale is Vorn and the First Comers, an appropriate place to start. I have thought about writing Vorn’s story as a prequel novel so the novella doesn’t cover the war, just the trip to Argenterra and early settlement. Here is the cover below. It’s from Patty Jansen’s premade cover store and I’ve been eyeing it off for ages.

It is stunning. It is a generic fantasy cover, I know, but evocative and beautiful.

Over the Easter break I did some writing, well technically revision as this novel was drafted years ago and I’m still working on it. I had feedback that meant I needed to change the title and confirmation of my thoughts on this SF romance of mine.

It’s a story that wants to be just SF without the romance, or it’s an SF romance that wants to be romance. In the end, I’ve decided to make it SF with romance on the side. You might think there is no difference, but there is.

Anyway I spied this cover on Patty’s site and I had been eyeing it off. My partner, Matthew, thinks Deleen’s pose is too sexy, but I think the cover is deliciously retro looking and reminds me some 80s’ covers of books say from Lois McMaster Bujold.

My great author buddy, Nicole Murphy, asked for the draft and she read it in one day. I’m gobsmacked! She gave me some great feedback and came up with the new title. The old one was ‘Cold Soldier’.

Patty was really good about retitling this cover many times. I haven’t got a blurb for this yet. They usually come last. I’m still working on the story too. This book having an identity crisis borked me from getting very far into the rewrites over the years. Now, I’m two thirds in and I’ll need to revise it again, but I feel I have better direction. It is also part of a planned series but not a trilogy. The stories should work on their own. Awakening should come out later this year. After I’ve done a few things like this blog post, I will return to it today.

No blurb as I said, but a bit of a teaser.

On peaceful Colony Five there is a coup in progress. The administrator is mysteriously replaced and security advisor, Deleen is sent on forced leave.  Previously unknown cryo soldiers are being taken out of people’s basements and burned in the city parks. People hiding the cold soldiers are being taken away and charged with treason. Disturbing as this is for Deleen, she senses danger as a kind of martial law is being enforced in the city. Then she starts having dreams of a man asleep in a glass case-a suppressed memory that is forcing its way out. She escapes the city her abandoned homestead to confront the past and save the present.

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Well, life is interesting isn’t it?

Posted in baking, Crumpets, Emerald Fire, English Muffins, Pan breads, Ruby Heart, self publishing, sourdough, Steampunk, strong female lead, tagged , , , , , , , on March 1, 2019| Leave a Comment »

It is now the 1st of March 2019. What happened to two months? I know I’ve been occupied with the new granddaughter, but really? I’ve let my blogging lapse and and have really slowed down on other things.

However, I will focus on the good things. I’ve been baking. Yeah, I know weird.

I am fascinated by yeast breads cooked in pans so I tried crumpets (delicious) and English Muffins. I also made hot cross buns (oven). The English muffins, though, were a winner! None were left for freezing or toasting.

Here are some pictures of the muffins and the crumpets.

These are the crumpets.

 

I’m not sure what’s happening with my display options on WordPress. Sorry about that.

Yesterday, I had a ‘me’ day and I tried sourdough bread (oven based). I’d been working on the starter for about five days and tried out a recipe. It takes a long time to make sourdough bread according to the recipe I used. It’s an American method — long and complicated. I’m going to try it again as I ended up with two smallish loaves. I’ll make one big one instead.  Delicious by the way. I probably stuffed it up somewhere but so delicious. Worth the effort. The first picture is of the loose dough, which has to be folded every 30 minutes, six times. The second shows the dough getting tougher as it is folded and the last is my first loaf, which was a bit small and pancake like. I had an issue transferring the dough to the hot dutch oven. I tried a smaller casserole for the second loaf and it turned out great.

I also subscribed to a You Tube channel on sourdough bread making and I might try that method too. I’ll put the links below in case you are interested.

I’ve been playing around with the 100 day goal approach to things. My insights so far is that I have way too many goals. I think it is useful though, I’m just not good at doing a little bit each day. And having a newborn baby around certainly kept me distracted. I’m more like–today I will do X and only do that. Sort of binge goals!

Other things I’ve managed to do so far. I finished my Kimono quilt, which was one of my goals. I had another quilting goal that I have not moved, but I did do some sewing. Baby hats to be specific. The shops did not have new born sizes.

The house is a little tidier and I’m working on the motto of a place for everything. At present everything that doesn’t fit goes in the garage and that’s now full of guff!

My phd progress is slow. I won’t say zero but close to. I’m on a break so that’s okay. I was planning on keeping the fires burning and the novel ticking over. I’m also tutoring again. Just a few hours over two days.

I managed to get Ruby Heart in print and Emerald Fire published and also in print. I have one more book to do in the Silverlands series and I can get them printed, too. I am doing a book signing in Sydney in March so time is going well. My job for the next few months is just to keep the indie publishing stuff ticking over as I need to focus on the PhD novel–the next draft. Then I’m free to write what I want. Yay! Or polish something I’ve already written.

I tried the Kindle Unlimited route with Ruby Heart and Emerald Fire. I did all the things, advertising and cross promotion but I don’t think it’s worth keeping the series in Kindle Unlimited only. I will be putting the books out on other platforms when time has expired.

I recently had a promotion of Argenterra (England, Canada and Australia) with the new covers and I’m pleased to report that a good percentage of people are buying the rest of the series. That’s such a good feeling. I love the Silverlands series but I was beginning to think I was the only one.

I am also trying a ACAP machine for sleep apnea. It appears to be working. I don’t feel as tired and my cognitive ability has improved. I am also getting longer periods of undisturbed sleep. It’s only been a few days. Apparently in another couple of days I will feel the full benefits.

I had a lot of other things to blog about but a can’t think of them right now.

Here are the links.

I love cooking (Ireland)

The Kitchn- sourdough starter recipe

Sourdough bread recipe

Many thanks to Emma from Kitchn.

I also used this recipe for English Muffins for the Thermomix!

English Muffins using the Thermomix

And the crumpets using the Thermomix

Crumpets using the Thermomix

And if you are interested in Ruby Heart or Emerald Fire, they are steampunk themed, with gothic horror and a bit of romance. Think-manners, magic and mayhem.

Currently only on Amazon.

Ruby Heart

Emerald Fire

 

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