2022/05/07

Cyclopeeps

Da Goddess @ 09:16

I took a quick snap of my Peeps before they found their way down my gullet.

I had a whole package of cyclops/Peeps hybrids. These were the survivors. For a while anyway.

Lately, Peeps have been less than perfect. I’m not saying the don’t taste as good, but production seems a bit off in terms of quality control. If I worked at the Peeps factory, every single Peep would be a shining example of how Easter candy should appear. You know, for the sake of the children. Any Peep not meeting these exacting standards would have to be destroyed. By. My. Mouth. (My blood glucose levels say this is an acceptable solution.)

So, here are the Cyclopeeps, pink, 2022 edition.

Should I post the yellow ones as well sometime?

Cyclopeeps

2022/03/19

Chicken Soup for the Belly

Da Goddess @ 00:05

It’s that time again. Chicken soup is my jam. Whenever I have the energy and the back cooperates, I cook. It’s now all I do when I have the energy, which isn’t often. I’ve just been extremely run down, coughing, night sweats, headaches, chest pain from all the coughing, and generally tired. I’m lucky to get a couple hours of sleep at a go. I’ve decided if this goes on much longer, it’s off to see a doctor because I just can’t seem to go more than a week or ten days before it starts all over again. What’s the deal with that???

2020/08/22

TJH: Inspire – I Can Haz Anything I Wants With This

Da Goddess @ 18:24
src=”http://dagoddess.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/0819201333b2-500×750.jpg” alt=”Fork Kitty” width=”500″ height=”750″ class=”size-large wp-image-6981″ /> Fork Kitty

Sometimes

, playing with your flatware is almost as fun as playing with your food. Actually, combining the two is just super awesome!

Reminds me of those mod cats from the 50s and 60s.

2019/12/12

Summer Breeze…Makes Me Feel Fine

Da Goddess @ 20:55

“…blowing through the jasmine in my mind…”

Wait. I think it’s winter. Let me che…yep. Winter. But I’m still loving the jasmine in my mind. And in my mouth.

My mom made me some jasmine pearl tea on Thanksgiving and now I’ve had to break out my super secret precious cache of jasmine tea just to feel like a real person again. Since my jasmine tea* isn’t available any longer, I’m rationing it. Unless I get some of the pearls.

I can see this is turning into a problem.

It might be a problem.

This looks like a problem.

It’s definitely a problem.

* my jasmine tea was from the now defunct Fresh & Easy. It was one of the few jasmine teas with a fresh, true, gentle flavor as opposed to the kind of tea drenched in perfumey oil that ruins the taste and feel — yes, FEEL — of the tea.

2019/05/21

Grumble Grumble

Da Goddess @ 20:20

src=”http://dagoddess.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/0521192035-500×375.jpg” alt=”burnt pizza” width=”500″ height=”375″ class=”aligncenter size-large wp-image-6683″ />

I burnt my cheap frozen pizza. I’m still eating it, but it’s not as yummy as it should be.

I guess the charcoal crust will counteract any enjoyment I might experience during the ingestion of said food product. Is it still considered food? How much char takes it out of the food realm? If I were to leave this out by the rat trap, I’m pretty sure PETA would protest. The ASPCA would take away my cat.

Anyhow, if this is my last entry, I want you to tell my mother I love her so.

2017/01/12

True Story I

Da Goddess @ 00:39

My kids didn’t like white bread when they were little. I only bought wheat bread for sandwiches, so that’s what they were used to. Offer them a slice of Wonder Bread and they’d practically run screaming as far and as fast as they could.

Then, one day, they tried a slice of warm sourdough at a restaurant and that was that!

Don’t get me wrong, they still had their sandwiches on wheat, but they no longer fainted at the mere mention of white bread.

Who knew growth came with sourdough?

2015/01/17

TJH: Inspire – Mmm Mmm Good!

Da Goddess @ 03:41

Exhibits A and B as to why I have a big butt.

Raspberry Sherbet

More Raspberry Sherbet - Macro food photography

2014/12/24

Warmly Wishing You & Yours the Very Best During the Holidays

Da Goddess @ 22:46

From our home to yours, from our family to yours, may this time of celebration be full of love, joy, and giving with an open heart. May all you give and receive be cherished always.

For King Arthur and I, we’ve spent the past week quietly picking up small gifts for family, lounging around in anticipation of the drive we’ll have later. Monday, Mojo came up to spend some time with me. She brought a project along: baking little Christmas tree cakes and then decorating them. It was heaps of fun and it was delightful to spend time with my girl. Sadly, we did not get together with KA’s grandkids for cooking baking this year. They were such amazing help last year; I could have used their help again this time around. Never fear, we’ll find time in the future to do some baking. I adore them and sharing a family tradition with them is good times for all. Even without them, I managed to make four batches of fudge, two batches of sugar cookies, and two batches of gingerbread cookies.

Also, since Fletch and Celia never spent a Christmas outside of a shelter until now, we’ve been introducing them to the joys of tissue paper pouncing and shredding. Fletch has taken to it like a champ! Celia’s eyeballed it, yet remained wary. She’s back on antibiotics at the moment and is none too pleased with me for giving her the meds. Such is life with cats.

On my Christmas wish list: one day…just ONE day of walking out of the house not covered in fur; one day off from litterbox duty; more lap time; more cuddle time; and healthy kitties from now on.

I hope your holidays are warm and exciting!

Merry Christmas!

2014/03/05

Christmas Cookies in March!

Da Goddess @ 00:56

This past Christmas I actually made lots of cookies with King Arthur, Lady M, Lord R, KA’s stepson Lord B, and Lord B’s kids, Miss K and Mister D. It proved to be a little messy, but was tons of fun. The kids, especially, enjoyed the process. Mister D had a great time rolling out dough and deploying the cookie cutters that Lady M had given me as a Christmas gift. Even the adults had a good time with the decorating, except for King Arthur, who thought there was too much work involved. In the end, he liked how they looked.

Because Lady M and Lord R are both graduates of UCLA, we snuck in some school spirit. At one point, we even took a dig at USC (because that’s how we roll around here). Also included, “pirates”. And, there is one cookie that is completely different from all the rest. It’s one from a batch of cookies my sister had made. See if you can guess which one it is.

Christmas Cookies in March

More Christmas cookies

Santa

The ducks

Cookies with one from my sister

I’d fully meant to post these photos sooner, however, I’m lame. Just…lame. But I figure this is a great time to post them as you probably need a break from cats, cats, cats. (I have so many more of those stories, too!)

After seeing these photos, I’m ready for a few dozen cookies. Gingerbread, sugar cookies, shortbread, and some of the chocolate chile cookies. I may need to bake this week or next. We’ll see how it goes. If you have a preference, let me know. I’d love to try some new recipes. My only request is: no nuts. Neither KA nor I eat nuts.

2013/11/15

Quiche Recipe

Da Goddess @ 00:46

I’d include photos, but we ate the quiche too quickly for me to get around to shooting.

First: the crust

Crisco pie crust
1/2 c Crisco
1/4 c butter (not melted, but relatively soft)
2 c flour
1 tsp salt
4 TBS ice cold water

Cut together Crisco, butter, salt, and flour until small clumps form. Slowly add in 1 TBS of water at a time, cutting as you go. Once you achieve a fully mixed ball of dough, break into two sections. Roll out one section on lightly floured surface and place into 10in pie plate. (9in plates work fine, but you’ll have to adjust down in terms of eggs when you get to the filling part.) Repeat step for your second crust.

Blind bake crusts for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Be sure to lightly pierce crusts before baking and use waxed paper with dry beans to hold crust down as it bakes.

Quiche filling
2 green onions (or scallions, if you’re the fancy sort)
1-2 clove garlic (I do NOT recommend garlic salt or powder. In this instance, fresh is best! You can totally taste the difference)
1 TBS butter (optional – I let it soften until it’s barely “solid”)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb bacon (cooked and crumbled)
1 c ham (cooked, diced. Hamsteaks work really well for this)
1-2 c spinach (I used frozen spinach and cut while it’s still frozen. It’s super easy this way)
1-2 c broccoli (Again, frozen florets are perfect and easy to cut. I love love love broccoli and spinach together)
8-12 eggs (depending on egg size. I recommend erring on the side of using too many as opposed to too few as it’s really a pain in the butt to go back and add in more. Too much? Just fill a small ramekin with remainder, bake, and you’ll have a quick breakfast on hand.)
3/4 tsp flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 c cream or milk (your choice and completely optional. If the egg mixture looks nice and fluffy as is, I will hold back on the milk)
1 lb shredded cheese (I prefer Jack cheese. For some reason, Swiss is totally unappealing to me. Use a white cheese for that classic quiche look and then add a little shredded cheddar for extra color and flavor. It works. I promise.)

I mince the garlic until it’s super tiny. Then, I cut the green onion almost all the way to the tippy top of the greens. I dice and cut and cut and dice until it’s almost as miniscule as the garlic. I think it helps to disperse the flavor through the quiche. These two ingredients are the first things I put on the crust once they’re out of the oven.

I then add the spinach and broccoli. Over those, I sprinkle the ham and then the bacon.

Before anything else: place the pie plates on cookie sheets to catch any spillover during baking. It’ll save you from having to clean the oven later.

Now, the eggs, salt, pepper, flour, baking powder, milk, and butter. Beat until nice and fluffy and happy looking. Pour into pie plates. Then, add cheese. If you want to be super “fancy”, add a little parsley to the top of each one before you pop them into the oven. This is also the point where I usually throw a little more salt and pepper at the pies. Not a lot. Just enough to make you feel like you’re enhancing the flavors.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour. If there’s not jiggle in the middle, pull the quiches out of the oven. If there still seems to be a little jiggle (or, if you stick a knife in the center and it doesn’t come out relatively clean and dry), bake another 15 minutes.

Let cool for at least 20 minutes, allowing everything to set nicely.

Note #1: Pair with fresh fruit or salad and you’re set! Or, eat alone because it’s plenty filling by itself.

Note #2: Obviously the butter in the egg mixture will add calories to your meal, but a tablespoon isn’t really all the many calories and seems to make the mixture a bit more decadent. Completely up to you whether or not those calories. Same with the milk/cream. And, of course, fillings are subjective. I just happen to think these ingredients work really well together.

Note #3: Please let me know how everything turns out! I’ve been making this (and adjusting the recipe) since I was 10. I’d like to think 37 years of baking this particular dish would mean it’s worth sharing with you. And you know I love feedback! So, tell me, is it worth sharing?