So, I guess I need to make an announcement. Counting the Cost was a Finalist in USA Book News "National Best Books 2009" Awards.
Runner-up is good!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
A 21st Century Rosetta Stone
Most writers who have an on-line presence use Google Alert, which will tell them when someone in cyberspace has mentioned their name or a recent book title.
I'm no exception. I've got my alert set for Liz Adair and for Counting the Cost (a phrase I have found is overused).
The other day, I got an alert that a blogger had mentioned my name. I clicked on the link and found that someone had re-posted an interview that Heidi Thomas had done on her blog a month or so ago. It had apparently been translated into another language and, I assume, since Google knows my language is English, when it came up on my screen, it was computer-translated back into a language I could read. Sorta.
I'm going to post selected paragraphs of the twice-translated text in blue. Under each paragraph, I'll put Heidi's original questions (and my answers) in green. I suggest you read only the blue paragraphs and use the green ones if you get stumped. Some of the twists are hilarious, though if you think about each a bit, you'll see that, in a certain situation, this could be a synonym.
Hilarious or not, it is really miraculous that something could automatically be changed from one language to another and still carry a high degree of clarity.
Here's the posting. Remember, blue is how it came back to me. I've reproduced it faithfully, punctuation and all.
If you don't read anything else, read the last question and answer.
HEIDI: I'm happy to welcome Liz Adair to my blog today. Liz is the Pacific Northwest writer of five novels, including her new Western romance, Numbering the Cost, and she is co-editor of her mother's missives in Lucy Shook's Letters from Afghanistan Liz is besides cognized for her Spider Latham enigma series, for The Mist of Target Seaport, and learns shops on "Victimisation House History in fiction."
Counting the Cost is a marvelous, bittersweet narration that fall out in Land of enchantment in 1935. I take it this is slightly of a going from your usual composition. Say us what exalted this book.
HEIDI: I'm happy to welcome Liz Adair to my blog today. Liz is the Pacific Northwest author of five novels, including her new Western love story, Counting the Cost, and she is co-editor of her mother's letters in Lucy Shook's Letters from Afghanistan. Liz is also known for her Spider Latham mystery series, for The Mist of Quarry Harbor, and teaches workshops on "Using Family History in Fiction."
Counting the Cost is a wonderful, bittersweet story that takes place in New Mexico in 1935. I take it this is somewhat of a departure from your usual writing. Tell us what inspired this book.
LIZ: This is a leaving. My other books were totally carefully plotted, hold a spot of intrigue in them, are placed in modern-day times, and are lighter menu. Numerating the Cost but welled upwards inside me and coerced itself out my fingertips. I consider it was portion of my bereft procedure after my mother went, for the narrative discharge shadows her brother's life.
LIZ: This is a departure. My other books were all carefully plotted, have a bit of intrigue in them, are set in contemporary times, and are lighter fare. Counting the Cost simply welled up inside me and forced itself out my fingertips. I think it was part of my grieving process after my mother died, for the story arc shadows her brother's life.
HEIDI: I understand that you turned upwardly in Land of enchantment on a ranches. How makes that background influence your authorship?
HEIDI: I understand that you grew up in New Mexico on a cattle ranch. How does that background influence your writing?
LIZ: Really, it was my mother who turned au fait a spreads, but she conjoined a man who worked for the Office of Rehabilitation, so we were hydroelectric gipsies. Two of my uncles worked cowses all their lives, and trips back to Nm were full of cowhand narratives and horseback equitation.
LIZ: Actually, it was my mother who grew up on a cattle ranch, but she married a man who worked for the Bureau of Reclamation, so we were hydro-electric gypsies. Two of my uncles worked cattle all their lives, and trips back to New Mexico were full of cowboy stories and horseback riding.
HEIDI: How large a office makes placing drama in your books?
HEIDI: How bit a role does setting play in your books?
LIZ: Putting dramas a major function. One of my readers mentioned that I write on settlement people. I consider that Holds because I'm a settlement somebody myself, and it Holds a comfy voice.
LIZ: Setting plays a major role. One of my reviewers noted that I write about small town people. I think that's because I'm a small town person myself, and it's a comfortable voice.
HEIDI: You give shops on applying menage history in fiction. Is all of your fiction based on your house history?
HEIDI: You give workshops on using family history in fiction. Is all of your fiction based on your family history?
LIZ: All my fiction banks heavily on household history. I name it Viridity Fiction. Recycling, you cognise? It may merely be that I make n't hold any original thoughts. Or that I'm lazy. But, it works for me.
LIZ: All my fiction relies heavily on family history. I call it Green Fiction. Recycling, you know? It may just be that I don't have any original ideas. Or that I'm lazy. But, it works for me.
* * *
HEIDI: State us about Missives from Aftghanistan Were the missives pent to you?
HEIDI: Tell us about Letters from Afghanistan. Were the letters written to you?
LIZ: Yes. I was a immature mother when my parents attended Afghanistan in 1965. My mother and begetter both worked for the Office for International Develoment (Assistance). Pa was in charge of buying machinery and learning the Afghans how to hold it, and mother ran a little hotel/restaurant that catered to the American contingent and seing diplomatists. She holded fifteen Afghan manpowers working for her, and she got really regarded in their lives. She would indite long missives place about her interactions with them. Some missives were uproarious; some were affecting, but none were dull.
I was a busy ma and instruction school additionally, and I'd savor each missive and lay it forth. It was only geezerhood afterward, in 2001, when I attended redact the missives for the menange, that I observed what a treasure these missives were and what a window they were into the psyche of the Afghan provincials.
LIZ: Yes. I was a young mother when my parents went to Afghanistan in 1965. My mother and father both worked for the Agancy for Internation Development (AID). Dad was in charge of purchasing machinery and teaching the Afghans how to maintain it, and mother ran a small hotel/restaurant that catered to the American contingent and visiting diplomats. She had fifteen Afghan men working for her, and she became very involved in their lives. She would write long letters home about her interactions with them. Some letters were hilarious; some were poignant, but none were dull.
***
HEIDI: On the dorsum of your book is a indorsement telling that constituent of your book sales attend gain Portion Women Across lands (SWAN). Say us a trifle about this grouping.
HEIDI: On the back of your book is a blurb stating that part of your book sales go to benefit Serving Women Across Nations (SWAN). Tell us a bit about this group.
LIZ: SWAN is a humanistic outreach organisation that was started by my two girls, Ruth Lavine and Terry Gifford, and I the intention is to assist women and shavers through microloans, malaria medicine, mosquito nets and school supplies and uniforms. Terry is the motivating force, and it is she who visits Bolivia each year to superintend the microloan plan there, which includes a mini-business class and proceeding didactis as the women take out loans and go enterprisers.
Most of the support for SWAN comes from the Pattie Wagoon, Terry's grant laggard that you may see at ball games or at Sedro Woolley jubilations, and SWAN too patronize a Century Motorcycle Drive that cooccurs with Sedro Woolley's Blast from the Yesteryear. You can chance out more about SWAN by seing www.swanforhumanity.org
LIZ: SWAN is a humanitarian outreach organization that was begun by my two daughters, Ruth Lavine and Terry Gifford, and I. The purpose is to help women and children through microloans, malaria medicine, mosquito nets and school supplies and uniforms. Terry is the motivating force, and it is she who travels to Bolivia every year to oversee the microloan program there, which includes a mini-business course and continuing education as the women take out loans and become entrepreneurs.
Most of the funding for SWAN comes from the Pattie Wagon," Terry's concession trailer that you may see at ball games or at Sedro Woolley celebrations, and SWAN also sponsors a Century Bike Ride that coincides with Sedro Woolley's Blast from the Past. You can find out more about SWAN by visiting www.swanforhumanity.org
HEIDI: Thank you for sharing with us Liz.
LIZ: Thank you, Heidi. What luck to hold happend you manning your booth at the Sedro Woolley July 4 Jubilation. As I read your book about your gran, Cowgirl Dreams, I see that we hold much in common. We're kindred liquors.
LIZ: Thank you Heidi. What luck to have found you manning your booth at the Sedro Woolley Fourth of July Celebration. As I read your book about your grandmother, Cowgirl Dreams, I see that we have much in common. We're kindred spirits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow this blog! Remember, the recipe for my world famous Apple Pie is coming. You don't want to miss that!
I'm no exception. I've got my alert set for Liz Adair and for Counting the Cost (a phrase I have found is overused).
The other day, I got an alert that a blogger had mentioned my name. I clicked on the link and found that someone had re-posted an interview that Heidi Thomas had done on her blog a month or so ago. It had apparently been translated into another language and, I assume, since Google knows my language is English, when it came up on my screen, it was computer-translated back into a language I could read. Sorta.
I'm going to post selected paragraphs of the twice-translated text in blue. Under each paragraph, I'll put Heidi's original questions (and my answers) in green. I suggest you read only the blue paragraphs and use the green ones if you get stumped. Some of the twists are hilarious, though if you think about each a bit, you'll see that, in a certain situation, this could be a synonym.
Hilarious or not, it is really miraculous that something could automatically be changed from one language to another and still carry a high degree of clarity.
Here's the posting. Remember, blue is how it came back to me. I've reproduced it faithfully, punctuation and all.
If you don't read anything else, read the last question and answer.
HEIDI: I'm happy to welcome Liz Adair to my blog today. Liz is the Pacific Northwest writer of five novels, including her new Western romance, Numbering the Cost, and she is co-editor of her mother's missives in Lucy Shook's Letters from Afghanistan Liz is besides cognized for her Spider Latham enigma series, for The Mist of Target Seaport, and learns shops on "Victimisation House History in fiction."
Counting the Cost is a marvelous, bittersweet narration that fall out in Land of enchantment in 1935. I take it this is slightly of a going from your usual composition. Say us what exalted this book.
HEIDI: I'm happy to welcome Liz Adair to my blog today. Liz is the Pacific Northwest author of five novels, including her new Western love story, Counting the Cost, and she is co-editor of her mother's letters in Lucy Shook's Letters from Afghanistan. Liz is also known for her Spider Latham mystery series, for The Mist of Quarry Harbor, and teaches workshops on "Using Family History in Fiction."
Counting the Cost is a wonderful, bittersweet story that takes place in New Mexico in 1935. I take it this is somewhat of a departure from your usual writing. Tell us what inspired this book.
LIZ: This is a leaving. My other books were totally carefully plotted, hold a spot of intrigue in them, are placed in modern-day times, and are lighter menu. Numerating the Cost but welled upwards inside me and coerced itself out my fingertips. I consider it was portion of my bereft procedure after my mother went, for the narrative discharge shadows her brother's life.
LIZ: This is a departure. My other books were all carefully plotted, have a bit of intrigue in them, are set in contemporary times, and are lighter fare. Counting the Cost simply welled up inside me and forced itself out my fingertips. I think it was part of my grieving process after my mother died, for the story arc shadows her brother's life.
HEIDI: I understand that you turned upwardly in Land of enchantment on a ranches. How makes that background influence your authorship?
HEIDI: I understand that you grew up in New Mexico on a cattle ranch. How does that background influence your writing?
LIZ: Really, it was my mother who turned au fait a spreads, but she conjoined a man who worked for the Office of Rehabilitation, so we were hydroelectric gipsies. Two of my uncles worked cowses all their lives, and trips back to Nm were full of cowhand narratives and horseback equitation.
LIZ: Actually, it was my mother who grew up on a cattle ranch, but she married a man who worked for the Bureau of Reclamation, so we were hydro-electric gypsies. Two of my uncles worked cattle all their lives, and trips back to New Mexico were full of cowboy stories and horseback riding.
HEIDI: How large a office makes placing drama in your books?
HEIDI: How bit a role does setting play in your books?
LIZ: Putting dramas a major function. One of my readers mentioned that I write on settlement people. I consider that Holds because I'm a settlement somebody myself, and it Holds a comfy voice.
LIZ: Setting plays a major role. One of my reviewers noted that I write about small town people. I think that's because I'm a small town person myself, and it's a comfortable voice.
HEIDI: You give shops on applying menage history in fiction. Is all of your fiction based on your house history?
HEIDI: You give workshops on using family history in fiction. Is all of your fiction based on your family history?
LIZ: All my fiction banks heavily on household history. I name it Viridity Fiction. Recycling, you cognise? It may merely be that I make n't hold any original thoughts. Or that I'm lazy. But, it works for me.
LIZ: All my fiction relies heavily on family history. I call it Green Fiction. Recycling, you know? It may just be that I don't have any original ideas. Or that I'm lazy. But, it works for me.
* * *
HEIDI: State us about Missives from Aftghanistan Were the missives pent to you?
HEIDI: Tell us about Letters from Afghanistan. Were the letters written to you?
LIZ: Yes. I was a immature mother when my parents attended Afghanistan in 1965. My mother and begetter both worked for the Office for International Develoment (Assistance). Pa was in charge of buying machinery and learning the Afghans how to hold it, and mother ran a little hotel/restaurant that catered to the American contingent and seing diplomatists. She holded fifteen Afghan manpowers working for her, and she got really regarded in their lives. She would indite long missives place about her interactions with them. Some missives were uproarious; some were affecting, but none were dull.
I was a busy ma and instruction school additionally, and I'd savor each missive and lay it forth. It was only geezerhood afterward, in 2001, when I attended redact the missives for the menange, that I observed what a treasure these missives were and what a window they were into the psyche of the Afghan provincials.
LIZ: Yes. I was a young mother when my parents went to Afghanistan in 1965. My mother and father both worked for the Agancy for Internation Development (AID). Dad was in charge of purchasing machinery and teaching the Afghans how to maintain it, and mother ran a small hotel/restaurant that catered to the American contingent and visiting diplomats. She had fifteen Afghan men working for her, and she became very involved in their lives. She would write long letters home about her interactions with them. Some letters were hilarious; some were poignant, but none were dull.
***
HEIDI: On the dorsum of your book is a indorsement telling that constituent of your book sales attend gain Portion Women Across lands (SWAN). Say us a trifle about this grouping.
HEIDI: On the back of your book is a blurb stating that part of your book sales go to benefit Serving Women Across Nations (SWAN). Tell us a bit about this group.
LIZ: SWAN is a humanistic outreach organisation that was started by my two girls, Ruth Lavine and Terry Gifford, and I the intention is to assist women and shavers through microloans, malaria medicine, mosquito nets and school supplies and uniforms. Terry is the motivating force, and it is she who visits Bolivia each year to superintend the microloan plan there, which includes a mini-business class and proceeding didactis as the women take out loans and go enterprisers.
Most of the support for SWAN comes from the Pattie Wagoon, Terry's grant laggard that you may see at ball games or at Sedro Woolley jubilations, and SWAN too patronize a Century Motorcycle Drive that cooccurs with Sedro Woolley's Blast from the Yesteryear. You can chance out more about SWAN by seing www.swanforhumanity.org
LIZ: SWAN is a humanitarian outreach organization that was begun by my two daughters, Ruth Lavine and Terry Gifford, and I. The purpose is to help women and children through microloans, malaria medicine, mosquito nets and school supplies and uniforms. Terry is the motivating force, and it is she who travels to Bolivia every year to oversee the microloan program there, which includes a mini-business course and continuing education as the women take out loans and become entrepreneurs.
Most of the funding for SWAN comes from the Pattie Wagon," Terry's concession trailer that you may see at ball games or at Sedro Woolley celebrations, and SWAN also sponsors a Century Bike Ride that coincides with Sedro Woolley's Blast from the Past. You can find out more about SWAN by visiting www.swanforhumanity.org
HEIDI: Thank you for sharing with us Liz.
LIZ: Thank you, Heidi. What luck to hold happend you manning your booth at the Sedro Woolley July 4 Jubilation. As I read your book about your gran, Cowgirl Dreams, I see that we hold much in common. We're kindred liquors.
LIZ: Thank you Heidi. What luck to have found you manning your booth at the Sedro Woolley Fourth of July Celebration. As I read your book about your grandmother, Cowgirl Dreams, I see that we have much in common. We're kindred spirits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow this blog! Remember, the recipe for my world famous Apple Pie is coming. You don't want to miss that!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Am I Not a Man? The Dread Scott Story by Mark L. Shurtleff - A Review
It's been nigh on to sixty years since I was a fifth grader and first learned the name Dred Scott. So, it's not surprising that, before I read Mark L. Shurtleff's book Am I Not a Man?, the Dred Scott Story, I could not have told you (beyond a hazy, hazarded guess that it was about slavery), why the name was in my history book. I'm glad for the chance to renew my acquaintance with Dred Scott.
Mr. Shurtleff presents us history in an easily-assimilated form: in a tale or a fictionalized account of the events of Dred Scott's life. Though the word novel doesn't appear on the cover sheet of the book, it was described that way when I was asked to review it, and rightly so, for Mr. Shurtleff presents imagined conversations and actions of historical figures. The reader realizes that these conversations, and the unfolding events, though they spring from Mr. Shurtleff's imagination, are well grounded in history and the result of extensive research.
The book opens at a riveting point in the Dred Scott story: the Missouri Supreme court has just declared that Dred Scott is not free. Not only that, but through a twist of fate, in the intervening six years that Dred's case has been winding through the courts, his sympathetic former owner has died and ownership of Dred and his family has passed to a powerful, ardently pro-slavery family who demand restitution for the six years they have been deprived of profit from the Scott family's labors.
It is at that point that the book begins.
Mr. Shurtleff then takes the reader through the history of Dred's birth and how he arrived at the place where his suit for freedom was espoused by the family of his former owner and others willing to carry it to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Along the way, Mr. Shurtleff acquaints the reader with the currents of history that are flowing together to make the Dred Scott decision such a pivotal point in American History. I'm not going to reveal that here. If you don't remember it from your grade school or high school years, you need to read this book.
I teach workshops in "Writing Family History as Fiction", and one of the points I make, especially if I'm teaching at a Family History Conference, is that it's the stories that draw people in, that make people want to learn the names, dates, facts of what actually happened.
Mark L. Shurtleff has accomplished this here, because my readling list just expanded to include biographies of Chief Justice Roger Taney, a history of the Blackhawk War, and most of all, a biography of Dred Scott.
If you're interested in reading this book, click here to purchase in paper-and ink, here to buy in Kindle format.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow this blog! Remember, before Thanksgiving I'm going to give you my world famous apple pie recipe.
Friday, October 30, 2009
How to Home-can Apples for Pie and Apple Crisp
Years ago (we're measuring in decades, here), I did a lot of gleaning around the countryside. At that time there were lots of old, abandoned farmsteads that still had producing apple trees. Oh, the apples may have been kind of scabby, but that didn't matter. They were free and they suited my purpose, which was putting them up for the winter. The kids and I would gather half a pickup bed full and head home to start production.We dried a lot and made gallons of apple juice and applesauce, but I was constantly stymied when I tried to can apples like the canned, pie-sliced apples I bought at the store. Invariably, when I put them in a water bath, the apples would swell and the jars would never seal.
A master canner told me the secret of how to can apples for apple pie. I've never seen this in any book about canning, but it has never failed me. Here's how you do it:
Cover the bowl with saran, foil, or a dishtowel, and let it sit overnight. The sugar will draw juice out of the apple.
The next day, sterilize the jars you're going to use. I used pints here, but that's because that's what I had on hand. When I had a family at home, I always put them up in quarts. One quart will do one apple pie.
When I'm ready to can, I stick my clean jars in the oven at 250 degrees while I'm getting everything else ready. I also put my lids in a pot of simmering water on the stove. I don't know if this is scientific or not. It's the way my mom did it, and so it's the way I do it. I never have a problem with a seal.
I fill the jars to within an inch of the brim with apples and spoon in some of the juice in the bottom. I use hot water for the rest of the liquid, put on one of the lids from the pot on the stove, and screw on the ring, making it finger tight. When I have a load for the water bath, I run them through and continue filling jars. The rest can wait on the counter for their turn in the water bath.For pints, I process them for 20 minutes at a gentle boil; quarts go 25 minutes.
When I take the jars out, I invert them, leaving them upside down until they're cool. Like I said, it's the way my mother did it, and they always seal.
Use the apples as you would fresh apples in apple pie and apple crisp. Just decrease the sugar in the recipe by 1/4 to 1/2 cup.
I don't know if you know it, but for more than a decade I had a wholesale bakery supplying pies (made from scratch) to restaurants in Whatcom and Skagit Counties. Next week I'll share my world famous apple pie recipe--and no, it's not the one I used when I blogged about the apple pie service project. This one is way better--unless you're trying to involve a bunch of teenagers. In that case, the simpler one works.
So, if you want to make sure you get that apple pie recipe, follow this blog! Click on the 'follow' button on the left hand sidebar.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
I Love the TV Show "Castle"
I have a couple children who live more than a thousand miles away, and I really, really miss them. Both are good friends and I love to visit with them, even when they call during Dancing With the Stars. Luckily for the mother/son tie, both live in later time zones, and I've never had to choose between chatting with them and the newest segment of Castle.
Castle is an hourlong program that is billed as a drama, but it's witty and fun, and a 'can't-miss' for me. I don't watch much TV, but I never miss Castle.
The program is about Rick Castle, a successful mystery writer, who wangles his way into shadowing good-looking homicide detective Kate Beckett as she tries to solve her cases. She keeps telling him to stand back and keep his mout shut, but he's irrepressible and exasperatingly acute, even though the things he comes up with are pretty off-the-wall and quite possibly straight out of his latest plot line.
Nathan Fillion plays Rick Castle and Stana Katic plays Detective Kate Beckett. Both are believable and endearing, he in a sweet, roguish way and she in a strong-but-vulnerable way.
One of my favorite bits was when they went looking for an armed, dangerous susupect. The detectives put on bulletproof vests with POLICE written in large white letters on front and back, and Castle put his on, too. It had WRITER written on it, and when Beckett told him to take it off, he quoted, "If you shoot me, do I not bleed?" Naturally, when she got busy doing police stuff, he put the vest back on, followed them in, fouled everything up, but ended up saving the day after all.
Rick Castle is divorced and single-parents his teenage daughter, Alexis. She's well grounded and very mature for having a flaky actress mother and a will-o-the-wisp, writer father. Oh, and a flaky actress grandmother that lives with them, too. However, where his daughter is concerned, Rick Castle is conservative, protective, and willing to take the heat for an unpopular decision, as when he called Alexis's friend's parents after he had to rescue the two girls from a party where there had been teenage drinking and the friend got very drunk.
Maybe I like this program because I write mysteries, but I think it's more than that. Castle has engaging characters, witty dialogue, great puzzles, and understated sexual tension instead of torrid bedroom scenes showing a lot more than I would care to see.
Try Castle, and let me know what you think. It's on Monday nights on ABC, right after Dancing With the Stars, which turns out to be 10 p.m. here in the Pacific Time Zone. Or, you can watch it on your computer at ABC.com (complete with commercials).
Click here to read ABC's blurb about the show.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow this blog! Coming soon--how to can apples to be used in pies and apple crisp. I learned this from a master canner after I had had umpteen failures. The apples kept swelling and breaking the seal. So, gather your apples and be ready, and I promise it by Sunday.
Friday, October 16, 2009
How to Make Sopapillas
Today I'm making good on my threat to teach you how to make sopapillas, a type of Mexican frybread.
As usual, you don't get the recipe without wading through some of my family history: My father ran a dragline when I was little, and his oiler was a Mexican American fellow named Joe Gray (but with a Spanish pronunciation: roll the r and pronounce the ay as aye). His wife's name was Romelia, and if you've read Counting the Cost, you've read the description of this lovely lady.
One summer we were on a highway project in northern New Mexico, and we camped out all summer in the woods near Ojo Caliente. Every morning, Romelia would make tortillas, and mother would let me go watch her. I always came away with a warm tortilla, and ever since that time, tortillas have been comfort food.
But, back to sopapillas. Romelia made those, too. I called them sofa pillows and thought they were the most lovely thing I had ever eaten. I was disappointed to find, when we left New Mexico, that Mexican restaurants in Arizona and California didn't serve them.
They're simple to make. Here's how:
This recipe will make about 16 2" x 3" sopapillas.
2 cups white flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons shortening
2/3 cup warm water
Cut the shortening into the flour. I used a food processor, but you can use the whip or beaters on a mixer. Add salt and baking powder and mix. Then add the water and continue to mix. Your dough should be soft but will make a ball that will hold its shape. Knead for a minute and then separate into four balls and let it rest for 10 minutes.In the meantime, take a small pot or skillet and put 2 to 2 1/2 inches of oil in the bottom and heat to about 375 degrees. I don't have a thermometer, so I just put it on high and when the oil gets hot enough, I start turning it down. I usually end up with it between medium and medium high. The oil should bubble up instantly when the dough is put in. If the sopapilla doesn't fill with air, your oil isn't hot enough.
Roll one of the balls of dough out to about 1/8 inch thick. You should not have to flour your rolling surface or the rolling pin. 
Cut your flattened dough into four diamond-shaped pieces and drop them into the hot grease. They should swell up into little pillows. If they don't immediately, hold them under the hot grease for a few seconds, and they should pop up and start swelling.When golden brown on one side, turn the sopapilla over to brown on the other. When it's done, lift it out onto a paper towel to drain.
Sopapillas are best eaten warm with honey, jam or powdered sugar on them.The two sopapillas pictured at the bottom left are ones that were cooked before the oil was hot enough. They are flat rather than puffed up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow this blog. I've taught sopapillas, but I've got to teach you how to make flour tortillas. You'll need a rolling pin made out of a 1 1/2 dowel or a piece of conduit like the one pictured above. Make friends with an electrician and see if you can get one. It needs to be 6" long.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Eternal Corporation
I’ve been married forty-six years. I think that qualifies me to philosophize about marriage, and I’m going to do that today.
I have come to the conclusion that there are two things that contribute to a happy and successful marriage:
1. The first is the makeup of the people who enter into the marriage. I think the most successful marriages are made up of two people who each have the capacity to be happy alone. A person who can be happy alone is not dependent upon another for contentment or fulfillment and so doesn’t look to her partner to provide that in her life. This also makes it so the union is a free-will offering on the part of each.
2. I feel that a good marriage results when two people realize that, when they marry, the two of them ally to form an entity that is made up of the two parts, but is different from either. It’s better, stronger, more than the sum of its parts. I call it The Corporation. Each is an equal shareholder, and each must be steadfastly loyal to The Corporation, because disloyalty to The Corporation means disloyalty to oneself. I would not lie to my spouse, because in doing so, I would be lying to The Corporation, and, by extension, lying to myself. If I cheat on my spouse, I’m cheating on myself, since both I and my spouse share equally in The Corporation. When I serve my spouse, I’m serving myself, because I’m serving The Corporation. It’s a kind of enlightened self-interest and does away with any 50%-50% or 60%-40% or 90%-10% propositions about who should give more to the marriage or who is the dominant personality.
Of course there are lots of other things that contribute to a good marriage: being equally yoked as far as intelligence, education and religion; having a sense of humor and being able to laugh at yourself—which are not necessarily the same things; being fiscally responsible. All these are important, but I think the two things I’ve listed above are basic to a lasting marriage.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow this blog by clicking on the 'Follow' button.
I have come to the conclusion that there are two things that contribute to a happy and successful marriage:
1. The first is the makeup of the people who enter into the marriage. I think the most successful marriages are made up of two people who each have the capacity to be happy alone. A person who can be happy alone is not dependent upon another for contentment or fulfillment and so doesn’t look to her partner to provide that in her life. This also makes it so the union is a free-will offering on the part of each.
2. I feel that a good marriage results when two people realize that, when they marry, the two of them ally to form an entity that is made up of the two parts, but is different from either. It’s better, stronger, more than the sum of its parts. I call it The Corporation. Each is an equal shareholder, and each must be steadfastly loyal to The Corporation, because disloyalty to The Corporation means disloyalty to oneself. I would not lie to my spouse, because in doing so, I would be lying to The Corporation, and, by extension, lying to myself. If I cheat on my spouse, I’m cheating on myself, since both I and my spouse share equally in The Corporation. When I serve my spouse, I’m serving myself, because I’m serving The Corporation. It’s a kind of enlightened self-interest and does away with any 50%-50% or 60%-40% or 90%-10% propositions about who should give more to the marriage or who is the dominant personality.
Of course there are lots of other things that contribute to a good marriage: being equally yoked as far as intelligence, education and religion; having a sense of humor and being able to laugh at yourself—which are not necessarily the same things; being fiscally responsible. All these are important, but I think the two things I’ve listed above are basic to a lasting marriage.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow this blog by clicking on the 'Follow' button.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)