wood blocks, lino engraving etc

I cannot underestimate how much I love etchings. Not sure what is that does it for me, the simplicity of line perhaps? The kids and I had a birthday dinner last year for me in a Japanese restaurant and we were all three transfixed by the woodcuts. There's some pretty sweet British work out there right now, often with a nostalgic bent to it. Check out Emily Sutton www.stjudeprints.co.uk/collections/emily-sutton and Angie Lewin www.angielewin.co.uk/gallery.htm#gallery Doesn't that just make you sing?

Rats! Foiled again

After starting this I lost touch with the whole blogging notion for quite some time (no idea why: what on earth was I doing?). By the time I got back to it blogspot had lost the memory of my account being linked to it, or in a moment of madness I created a special account, or something, but at any rate I no longer had access to sugarwitch the original. And being in a dogmatic frame of mind and not wishing to rename the blog we now arrive at sugarwitch2. Let's see if I can actually keep this one up!

Adult-oriented chocolate chip cookies

I'm never sure if I like strong flavours and kitchen-sink pizzas because that's the way my tastebuds are, or if they are that way because I overwhelmed the poor devils with a too-long relationship with Tabasco sauce. A relationship that segued into a destructive romance with kimchi, banana peppers on and in everything and chilli pepper flakes.

I'm off all those things now, but am left with a leaning toward stronger flavours. So I don't just like chocolate chip cookies (though good ones are very fine), I like them with additions. One of my favourite additions is green tea.

Chocolate Matcha Cookies

These are gorgeously moreish. The chocolate hits your tongue first and just as you are thinking “I can’t taste the green tea” it comes in, beautifully complementing the chocolate chips. They turn out a lovely natural shade of green, not at all lurid or St. Patrick’s Dayish. You can find small tins of green tea powder, or matcha, in some groceries and in Japanese groceries or on-line.

½ cup butter
¾ cup brown sugar
1 ¼ cup flour
1 egg
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon matcha
pinch of salt

chocolate chips to taste

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Mix the butter and brown sugar til creamy, then blend in the egg. In your measuring cup mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, pinch of salt and matcha), and combine this with the butter and sugar mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop cookies onto a baking sheet and bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until cookies don’t look wet anymore.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

The kids and I went to a sweet potluck at Rennie and Alec's place last night. Partly because it was Shavuot, partly because the Rabbi was up here (from the Bay area where she lives) and partly because it was Brasley's bar mitzvah. At least I think those were the reasons. Perhaps also partly because Alex and Rennie felt like throwing a party.

Now people who know me know I've got a very short attention span for driving (I enjoy it and then *woops* now I'm done) so was muttering to myself about people who live On the Peninsula instead of in town like normal mortals. But having been out there, I get it. It's quite something. They live on a little orchard which, while perched above the highway, is not in sight of the highway. Somehow the highway falls into a valley and what you do see is the lake on the other side of the highway but no cars at all. Can't hear them either. So it's orchard, green bit, lake. Luverly. And lovely dinner and desserts (with requisite cheesecake).

Of course I ate too much. Potlucks are my nemesis! If food is there I eat and I do not stop until it is gone. So if I do something silly like bring Kettle Chips into my house, I put them in a small bowl and, leaving the bag in the kitchen, take the small bowl into the tv room as I know I'm too idle to get up again. I also know I've got no self-control when it comes to grease and salt and butter and sugar so make sure I have small portions, then try to walk away. Potlucks though, there's no escape!!

Plus there was cheesecake. :mad: Tomorrow it's mashed bananas and yogurt for breakfast and lettuce with orange juice dressing (nothing else, just oj) on top. I refuse to buy a whole new set of clothes in a different size so as soon as my clothes start feeling tight I cut back. And go to the gym. Damn you middle-age and your weight-gaining properties!