A HANDSOME ROGUE LIVES IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD

His name is Rocky.

He has intelligent brown eyes and a luxurious, silky moustache.

Rocky’s profile is superb. He knows it and shows it off quite regularly.

This giant schnauzer is a brawny boy. Every one of his 130 pounds looks quite impressive.

My Airedale terrier, Scarlett, thinks he’s a hunk! They have a great time together.

The two dogs have known each other since they were pups. Here they are the day they first met.  Even then, Scarlett stared at him adoringly.

Alas, Rocky isn’t monogamous. He has quite a few ladies on the side. Fortunately, Scarlett doesn’t know that last year, when her love was boarded at a "doggie hotel," he cunningly unlatched the cages of two of them.  Rogue Rocky and his liberated “girlfriends” were discovered frolicking on the dog run!

He’s also opened our back door several times and made a mad dash through our house to see Scarlett. 

Rocky likes me.  I'll be slaving away at my computer in my downstairs office and be startled to see him gazing lovingly at me
through the window.

 

Although he can look intimidating, Rocky is a cream puff with people he knows, other dogs and . . . yes, rabbits. Here he is with Ms. Hopper, yet another woman. But he lives with this one.  She's kind of like . . . kind of like his sister.

Should Ms. Hopper be nervous around this big guy? Nah, this rogue really likes women.  Hmmm . . . 

LAW STUDENTS WHO CAN COOK

Happy President’s Day!  George Washington had a sweet tooth and certainly enjoyed his breakfast of honey and hoecakes.  I think he would have liked our party this weekend!

My husband teaches Legal Writing and Torts to students at American University Washington College of Law. We had a great group of them over last night.  Although I’ve been known to yawn whenever an attorney at my dinner table begins to spout legalese, our young guests were charming conversationalist.   

The dinner was potluck and delicious.  (I was so busy eating I forgot to take pictures!)  I thankfully remembered my camera before the desserts were devoured and offer you a view of several of their scrumptious treats.  

Caramel Croissant Pudding (the recipe was shared) and an apple tart.
These law students can cook!

JACQUELINE JULES REVEALS WHAT'S ON HER FRIDGE!

Today marks the debut of an exciting new feature on my blog.  Once a month I'll ask someone from the world of publishing the burning question, "WHAT'S ON YOUR FRIDGE?"

This month the multitalented Jacqueline Jules reveals WHAT'S ON HER FRIDGE!  

Jacqueline makes her home in Northern Virginia.  She writes picture books, early chapter books, and middle grade novels.  On March 1st, her 21st and 22nd book will be released:  Picnic at Camp Shalom (Kar-Ben Publishing) and Zapato Power #3:  Freddie Ramos Zooms to the Rescue (Albert Whitman).  Jacqueline is also a poet whose work has appeared in over seventy publications and is the recipient of the 2007 Moving Words Award and the 2009 SCBWI Magazine Merit Poetry Award.  Her books have been  named on state and summer reading lists.  Jacqueline's chapter book Zapato Power: Freddy Ramos Takes Off just won the  Cybils Literary Award for short fiction. Jacqueline got a B.A. in Writing in college, but she  dreamed of becoming an author in elementary school.

Jacqueline tells us what she enjoys most about writing:
"I love re-writing and playing with words.  Writing for me is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.  I turn the words around and around until they fit into the image I want to create.  Every word in a poem or a story counts, just like in a jigsaw puzzle.  Some people like to play games.  I like to play with words."
 
Drum roll!  Are you ready?

Here is what's on Jacqueline's 2006 GE French-door model fridge.

We go one step further!  Here's what Jacqueline likes most on her fridge and why.

"My favorite thing on my fridge is my collection of magnets.  In the last few years, I have picked up magnets on trips and favorite outings around D.C.  For instance, I have a magnet of Tai Shan from the National Zoo and a magnet commemorating the 2007 National Cherry Blossom Festival.  I also have a magnet from Seattle's world famous Pike Place Market.  All three of these colorful magnets remind me of a wonderful, day, savoring the pleasures of life.  And that thought brings me to a square black magnet with an anonymous quote I picked up in a small shop with a friend on a rainy day.  In white italicized letters it says, 'Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away.'  I tend to be a workaholic and I need to be reminded that life is about more than accomplishing things, it's about experiencing things."


Lovely, Jacqueline!  Please share with us your philosophy of life as demonstrated by WHAT'S ON YOUR FRIDGE—


"My collection of magnets also includes a quote by Henri Matisse, picked up at the National Gallery of Art:  'Creativity takes courage.'  This thought inspires me when I become discouraged.  Most people who know me might sum up my personality in one word:  persistent.  Writing is not easy.  Every time I begin a new project or a revision, I am afraid.  But after a deep breath, I summon my courage and put my fingers on the keyboard.  You can't win the lottery, if you don't buy a ticket."

Many thanks to you and your refrigerator, Jacqueline Jules!

AN UPDATE ON THE SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT BISCUIT

If  you read my last post, you know that I was biscuit baking.  I was in search for the perfect biscuit.  The biscuit I ended up with was delicious, but included hard-to-find ingredients (White Lily Flour) and "cutting the shortening/butter into the flour, which can be dicey (pun intended).
My niece, Carol Brown, who lives in Richmond, Virginia, and is currently training to be a pastry chef (my dream job), challenged me with a biscuit recipe of her own.  I think I will feature this recipe as an alternative to my other "esoteric biscuit."  It is easier, and the end result is delicious!  I might add a teaspoon of sugar, but, I'll leave that decision up to you!  Happy biscuit baking!

Buttermilk Biscuits  (made with food processor)

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

2/3 cup cold buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment. (I didn't, and it was o.k.)

Briefly process dry ingredients in food processor fitted with a steel blade to combine.

Cut butter into thin slices and distribute on top of dry mixture. Using several long pulses, process until mixture resembles a coarse meal.

With food processor running, pour buttermilk through the feed tube. As soon as mixture holds together, turn it off.  (I added a smidge more buttermilk).

Pat into an 8 inch circle, 3/4 inches thick. Cut out your biscuits!

Bake for12-15 minutes (it was 15 for me), until golden brown on bottom and light gold on top.

THE SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT BISCUIT

Biscuits have been on my mind lately.  My newest children's book is about baking biscuits on the Oregon Trail.  Last year, when I researched the book, I felt for those pioneer gals who had to pick the insects out of their flour, collect buffalo chips for their fuel, and cook on an open fire instead of inside a GE oven.

A few cups of flour ago I decided that if those hardy ladies could make a decent biscuit under those circumstances, why couldn't I?Since then, I've made about a dozen batches of biscuits.  A lot of them are now resting on my hips.  It's been an interesting culinary journey, but I think I've had enough, literally.

Lard is out of the question for me—hard to find, very saturated. Shortening makes almost as flaky a biscuit.  Butter makes them more cake-like, but flavorful.  Soft winter wheat flour makes them tender.  I ended up using a famous southern staple—White Lily Self-Rising flour (you can find this at Harris Teeter and Wegmans grocery stores), and half butter, half shortening.  I altered an old family recipe and this is what I ended up with.  I think they are rather nice biscuits—especially with butter and honey.

I recklessly agreed to bake biscuits for a signing I'm doing next Saturday with three wonderful authors,  Jackie Jules, Wendy Shang, and Fred Bowen at One More Page, a nifty new book store in Arlington, VA.  Come by and sample a few.  (These will be mini-biscuits—much more dietetic—ha!)  Oh, and if you don't like biscuits, I hear they are serving cookies!

Crusty Hot Biscuits (revisionist recipe)
2 1/4 cups White Lily Self-Rising flour (or other self-rising flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup composed of half butter, half shortening
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
Combine dry ingredients, whisk until blended.  Cut butter/shortening mixture into flour with knife or pastry blender to make coarse crumbs.  Add milk and egg mixture.  Mix with fork until dough follows fork around the bowl.  Knead gently several times on floured board or pastry cloth (I use floured pastry cloth).
Roll or pat dough to 1/2 inch thickness.  Cut out to desired size.  I used a one inch biscuit cutter for my mini-biscuits.  Bake in a 450-degree oven for 10-12 minutes.