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The Book Learning Podcast: #4 + 5

Hey you! Have you been listening in? If not, you’ve been missing out!

Since I last posted about podcasting, we’ve recorded 2 more episodes. Episode 4 is described and linked in great detail on Gabrielle’s blog, so head over there to learn more/download it/put it in your ears.

Episode 5 is crazy cray cray. We’re beginning to talk about the steps of the editing process. Put it this way: according to Gabrielle, there are 7 steps in editing a novel, and we only covered two of them in this podcast! I’m way in over my head and feel like running away at full speed, but luckily my podcast partner is an old pro with editing and can walk me through it (relatively) calmly. It makes me nervous just writing about it!

If you, too, need a little guidance when it comes to editing your work, I encourage you to tune in to this series. You can watch the video above, or download (and subscribe) to the audio podcast on iTunes here.

Confused by all this podcast talk? If you’re new to The Book Learning Podcast, I have a FAQ written up here.

22 Before 22: Make Sushi

Remember my birthday list? Well, I’m pleased to report that in just a few months of being 21 I’ve checked a couple biggies off. I have the podcast up and running, I’ve corresponded twice already with my pen pal, I’m halfway through Pride and Prejudice, and my friend and I have grown basil and cherry tomatoes – I just have to put some photos up for posterity!

And then, of course, are the “make” goals: I tend to make the quickest progress with those, for some reason. Cinnamon buns, check! And now: sushi. I loved the process of making both these, and I’m hoping that when I make cheese, it will be equally fun.

My friend Billy (longtime fan of my blog, awesome Ultimate Frisbee player and sushi master extraordinaire) offered to bring the supplies for sushi creation to a potluck that another friend was having. I leaped at the idea, and found myself making my very own sushi (and eating a lot of his). I bought calrose (aka sushi) rice at the grocery store yesterday, and am really looking forward to making more sushi sometime soon.

I learned a couple important things about the process. First, the rice should be (if possible) not too sticky. We added rice vinegar to ours, and I think that helped. Second, adding brie cheese into the rolls is a revelation! Seriously, try it and see for yourself. Brie/mango? Perfect. I also learned that you should not be afraid of pressing hard when you’re rolling, and that a recently-sharpened knife will really help in slicing perfectly. Finally, rolling the nori sheets around the rice and filling is infinitely easier than rolling the rice around the nori and filling. Even if it’s a little less pretty, perhaps.

So much fun. I’m so happy that I’ve done this one! Now back to reading Austen.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

xo.

Sweet Potato Tacos

Today, because of the fact that life is so, so sweet, I give you these sweet potato tacos. They’re not literally sweet, obviously, but most sweet things in life aren’t, are they? Take yesterday, for example: one of the sweetest days of my life, recently. Sweet because I had the day off. Sweet because the sky was a bright blue with a couple of beautiful white clouds. Sweet because I spent the whole afternoon running around an amusement park with my best friend, laughing, getting dizzy, eating poutine. Sweet because I was outside all day long, appreciating how gorgeous the day was. Sweet because I got to go up on one of those tall, spinny, swing rides? The ones that sweep you out and around in a circle? I always seem to feel so alive on those. Life is made sweeter because of days where you remember just how sweet life can be.

These sweet potato tacos make my life sweeter. They are, strangely, a conglomeration of most of my favourite ingredients. They baffled my mother when I replicated them at my family home. They don’t seem in the least bit strange to me, however it’s possible that’s because I have them at least once a week. Shall I share? It’s not too complicated.

Set your oven to 425.

Roughly chop your sweet potatoes down to cubes. Try to keep them relatively consistent, but it’s not a big deal. You can rinse them first, but I almost never peel them. I like the cooked texture of the skin.

Put them in a bowl, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and spices of your choice. I usually add some granulated garlic. Then put in about 1 tsp of cornstarch per half sweet potato and mix until there is no sign of the white cornstarch anywhere. Add more oil if necessary.

Space out the pieces evenly on a cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

I adore eating sweet potato fries with ‘garlic aioli’ as my family calls it. Basically, put about 1.5 tbsp of mayonnaise in a little bowl and press 1 clove of garlic into it, and mix. You can add lemon juice, if you like. I usually have a little bit of this in my fridge, and I find that adding just a tiny bit to these tacos gives them a nice flavour. Feel free to leave it out!

Chop your favourite toppings. Mine are fresh red onion, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, fresh lime (for squeezing), and guacamole. I’ve started occasionally buying this “Wholly Guacamole” product instead of the fickle avocado, because it keeps longer. It’s also very tasty, unlike other pre-made guac I’ve tried.

Ready? ASSEMBLE. I usually heat the tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds so they get soft.

And there you have it! One of my current favourite meals. It’s simple, and delicious, and wide open to interpretation. I’ve made these with black beans, salsa, grated cheese, etc, but this is my favourite combination. Try it for yourself!

xo. Have the sweetest day.

Martha’s Macaroni-and-Cheese

It’s summer! Despite the rain, and dreary skies, and the chill in the air, it’s still technically summer and I couldn’t be happier. This will be my second summer in Montreal, and I can’t wait for it to really start. Everyone was moving in and out of apartments yesterday, but I’m staying in my little apartment another year. I’m hoping to do a few touch-ups here and there, but overall I love my place like crazy.

Since I had 2 exams Monday, I didn’t get my act together on the blog. Don’t worry – I’ll make up for it from here on out. I have a couple of great things to share, as well as a brand new project that I’m working on, which is going to be totally awesome. Stay tuned for that!

Today, it’s a mac-and-cheese kind of day where I am. It’s rainy. It’s dark. It’s cold. It’s blah. I made this mac-and-cheese a couple weeks ago, but boy am I wishing I had a bowl right now. I made it right this time: making sure I had all the right ingredients (not just winging it with what I had in my fridge), used real butter, baked it in my Grandma’s casserole dish, tore up baguette for the top, and felt like a regular Martha! For me, the key was the chewy bread “crumbs” – they added a really nice texture that contrasts with the softness of the pasta. I really can’t see myself making any other mac-and-cheese recipe ever again. Except if I’m lazy and just make it from the box!

I used Deb’s recipe, which is adapted from Martha Stewart’s famous recipe. There are many adaptations, but it’s all the same really: lots of butter, lots of cheese, lots of pasta. Carbs. A lot of carbs. I ended up using the Pecorino Romano cheese instead of Gruyere, mostly because I’m a cheapskate and Gruyere is more expensive. My mac-and-cheese was delicious with Romano, as I’m sure it would have been with Gruyere. But just in case you’re a cheapskate like me, go with the Romano and it’ll still taste super-duper.

My favourite part was piling all the sort-of-al-dente pasta into the pan with the cheese sauce. I just think it looks awesome. How do they do that? How do they make tiny little macaroni noodles so perfect? I left it like this for a few seconds before stirring it all in together. By the way, the cheese sauce is out of bounds. If you wanted to stop and dip some leftover baguette into it and eat a bunch of it, I would not judge you. I would understand you.

But it’s worth it to wait until there is pasta and bread involved, until it’s been baked, until there’s a glass of fruit punch (sadly, that’s not red wine, though I wish it had been!) in your hand and you’re ready for a beautiful lunch. Comfort food, for real.

Do you love macaroni-and-cheese? What recipe do you normally follow? Or what brand do you like out of the box? Happy eats, folks!

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