unwell but accomplished; some email oddities

The "unwell" part is shortness of breath. I am coming to suspect that the episodes of bronchitis, and case of pneumonia, in the last few years have left some residual, long-term damage. The current episode is, I suspect, triggered by the cold snap: not that freezing is that cold, but it's a change from what I have been experiencing, and breathing, over the last weeks.

Under "accomplished," file a shopping trip to pick up some useful Thanksgiving supplies and a few things that we've needed for a bit that the most local supermarket doesn't stock, and -- this is the main thing -- I got the super up here, and the kitchen faucet no longer leaks.

I have taken cleanser to it, to deal with such black spots as accumulated in the damp. The next step will be acquiring and using some anti-rust stuff, but that's either a job for cattitude, in which case he gets to schedule it, or one that I'm going to hold off on, given the shoulder (not as happy in the last few days, though the physical therapy went fairly well today) and the not yet entirely grown back fingernail.

I am now going to get (another) clean shirt, and drink my tea in the satisfaction of a day both somewhat restful and somewhat useful, a fine balance that is not always achieved.

---

Both porcinea and roadnotes have sent me email recently that didn't reach me, at least not on the first try. (One got through in the form of a forwarded version of the original message; in the other case, the third email containing the information in question came through.) It is probably coincidence that both messages contained telephone numbers. I don't know what's going on, but it doesn't seem related to the LiveJournal move and related email delays; Roadnotes at least used the redbird.org address. I shall probably investigate this, but maybe not until next week; in the meantime, if you expected to hear from me and haven't, it's possible I never got your message. rysmiel, I suspect yesterday's difficulty was at the Hotmail end, but I'm less sure of this than I might like to be.

unwell but accomplished; some email oddities

The "unwell" part is shortness of breath. I am coming to suspect that the episodes of bronchitis, and case of pneumonia, in the last few years have left some residual, long-term damage. The current episode is, I suspect, triggered by the cold snap: not that freezing is that cold, but it's a change from what I have been experiencing, and breathing, over the last weeks.

Under "accomplished," file a shopping trip to pick up some useful Thanksgiving supplies and a few things that we've needed for a bit that the most local supermarket doesn't stock, and -- this is the main thing -- I got the super up here, and the kitchen faucet no longer leaks.

I have taken cleanser to it, to deal with such black spots as accumulated in the damp. The next step will be acquiring and using some anti-rust stuff, but that's either a job for cattitude, in which case he gets to schedule it, or one that I'm going to hold off on, given the shoulder (not as happy in the last few days, though the physical therapy went fairly well today) and the not yet entirely grown back fingernail.

I am now going to get (another) clean shirt, and drink my tea in the satisfaction of a day both somewhat restful and somewhat useful, a fine balance that is not always achieved.

---

Both porcinea and roadnotes have sent me email recently that didn't reach me, at least not on the first try. (One got through in the form of a forwarded version of the original message; in the other case, the third email containing the information in question came through.) It is probably coincidence that both messages contained telephone numbers. I don't know what's going on, but it doesn't seem related to the LiveJournal move and related email delays; Roadnotes at least used the redbird.org address. I shall probably investigate this, but maybe not until next week; in the meantime, if you expected to hear from me and haven't, it's possible I never got your message. rysmiel, I suspect yesterday's difficulty was at the Hotmail end, but I'm less sure of this than I might like to be.

Enough already

As they've been predicting for the last couple of days, we now have Tropical Storm Delta, off in the mid-Atlantic.

Yes, the five-day track has it futzing around nowhere near land. But still. Δ?!

Enough already

As they've been predicting for the last couple of days, we now have Tropical Storm Delta, off in the mid-Atlantic.

Yes, the five-day track has it futzing around nowhere near land. But still. Δ?!

Cakelings: lemon-pecan

These came about because of a suggestion cattitude made when I did lemon-walnut cakelings a while ago. He was right--pecans are better for this.

This time, I didn't bother zesting the lemon.

2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 ounces (measured, not weighed) sugar
one large egg (which weighs 2 ounces)
one tablespoon fresh lemon juice, with pulp. Well, slightly over, because I had slightly over from juicing the large half of a lemon.
A capful of lemon extract (it's probably about a teaspoon, but I used the cap from the bottle, because that worked last time)
a handful of roasted unsalted pecans, broken into small pieces
a little over a quarter cup (yes, 2 ounces again) self-rising flour

The standard cakeling method: preheat oven to 400 F/200 C (gas mark 6, thanks Jo). Line two cupcake pans (total of 12 cupcakes) with muffin papers.

Melt the butter. Stir in the sugar, lemon juice, and lemon extract. Whisk in the egg. If you're used to making cakelings, notice that it seems a bit thinner than usual.

Fold in the pecans.

Sift and fold in a quarter cup of flour, look at the result, and fold in a little more.

Spoon batter into muffin cups. Break up two more pecan halves and put the pieces into the last few cups, because while there's plenty of pecan in the first ones you made, the last few are very thin.

Bake 17.5 minutes.

They're now nice and just a little brown around the edges when they come out of the oven.

Note, when posting the recipe for your friends, that you have a slow oven, and those with fast ovens might bake this for 15 minutes or less, and should certainly look at them by the 15-minute point. Note also that you meant to use cinnamon sugar, and then forgot until they were in the oven, but they seem to be better without it, unlike the apple cakelings.

Cakelings: lemon-pecan

These came about because of a suggestion cattitude made when I did lemon-walnut cakelings a while ago. He was right--pecans are better for this.

This time, I didn't bother zesting the lemon.

2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 ounces (measured, not weighed) sugar
one large egg (which weighs 2 ounces)
one tablespoon fresh lemon juice, with pulp. Well, slightly over, because I had slightly over from juicing the large half of a lemon.
A capful of lemon extract (it's probably about a teaspoon, but I used the cap from the bottle, because that worked last time)
a handful of roasted unsalted pecans, broken into small pieces
a little over a quarter cup (yes, 2 ounces again) self-rising flour

The standard cakeling method: preheat oven to 400 F/200 C (gas mark 6, thanks Jo). Line two cupcake pans (total of 12 cupcakes) with muffin papers.

Melt the butter. Stir in the sugar, lemon juice, and lemon extract. Whisk in the egg. If you're used to making cakelings, notice that it seems a bit thinner than usual.

Fold in the pecans.

Sift and fold in a quarter cup of flour, look at the result, and fold in a little more.

Spoon batter into muffin cups. Break up two more pecan halves and put the pieces into the last few cups, because while there's plenty of pecan in the first ones you made, the last few are very thin.

Bake 17.5 minutes.

They're now nice and just a little brown around the edges when they come out of the oven.

Note, when posting the recipe for your friends, that you have a slow oven, and those with fast ovens might bake this for 15 minutes or less, and should certainly look at them by the 15-minute point. Note also that you meant to use cinnamon sugar, and then forgot until they were in the oven, but they seem to be better without it, unlike the apple cakelings.