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Yesterday we ran by the Container Store for clear plastic boxes for the closet--the previous weekend we Kondoed the shit out of our master closet. Technically we Reesed the shit out of the closet as I was inspired by Anuschka Rees' The Curated Closet, which is about figuring out your personal style and building a wardrobe around that. Only we skipped the first half, which involves things like taking photos of yourself for two weeks and writing down how what you wore made you feel to figure out what you feel most comfortable in because we already have a handle on that. I basically wear a uniform 90% of the time--soft pants, plain shirt or camisole/tank under a cardigan, mostly in greys, blacks, burgundies, and rose--but it gave me permission to get rid of the stuff I just don't wear, and tools to figure out what the holes in my wardrobe were (like I don't have a black cami/tank shirt, and I didn't have a white one) and info on how to evaluate the quality of the fabric and construction.
The boxes come in because yesterday morning I started cleaning the built-in shelves in the master closet and was thoroughly disgusted by the layers of dust on stuff, because we never clean that stuff (and the monthly cleaners don't go into our closet), and realized clear boxes would work. Because of ADHD if something is out of sight, it just doesn't exist so I don't like to hide stuff away in boxes that I can't see...but clear plastic boxes exist.
The other killer app is that I realized for the first time in the 8 years we've been in this house, that we could put one of our excess trash cans (we ended up with a plethora when we combined households) in the closet, because neither of us was much in the habit of carrying stuff we don't need or want out of the closet so little stuff like tags taken off of clothing or socks with holes would build up until one of us gathered them up and took them into the bedroom. WHO'D HAVE THOUGHT.
On the way to the Container Store, I checked my email to find a Cool Bits Generator person noticed my ENTIRE WEBSITE was missing and let me know, so I got to spend the trip annoyed and mildly upset at that, but at least the generator section was an easy fix. But that, and then working on a cover template for a client ate up the rest of the afternoon so our clear plastic boxes are still sitting in their opaque cardboard box (there was a sale on for clear plastic lidded shoe boxes, so we bought the 10-pack in one box) in the closet.
We'd bought the Elder Scrolls Cookbook last month (it's a Skyrim tie-in for those of you going "Huh?") and planned on cooking out of it last weekend for watching Game of Thrones, but ran out of time and energy. So this weekend it was: Toby did most of the prep, and then once I got to a stopping point on the cover I went out and helped him. We made Chicken Dumplings, so-named because the game named them dumplings, although they're more like pies or hand pies.
It doesn't look terribly appetizing here because we were hungry and took longer to prep than we expected, so took them out of the oven once the pie dough was done but before the egg wash had much of a chance to brown.
Alas, this is one of the prettier-shaped ones. I discovered that when I followed the folding instructions in the book, they looked awful, but when I just folded them in a way easier for me, they looked better. It'll still take more practice to be neat.
The dough is made of a combo of white and rye flour, with a sprinkling of Stormcloak Seasoning, a spice/herb mix made of ingredients I've forgotten and named for a faction in Skyrim. The filling is cooked chicken (we broke down a rotisserie chicken instead of cooking it ourselves), leeks, a bit of carrot, cream, more Stormcloak Seasoning, and a couple of other things. Overall, it was quite tasty. The dough made a sturdy crust, sturdy enough that I picked it up and ate the last half that way after making inroads with a fork, and the filling was tasty. I'd consider doubling the seasoning next time. The way the dough is folded up, which I think is a traditional way of doing apple dumplings/fritters/whatever, kept the dumplings from having blowouts in the oven as the hole in the middle vented steam.
So next time: double the seasoning and maybe start the oven a bit higher or run them under broiler to brown the tops.
The boxes come in because yesterday morning I started cleaning the built-in shelves in the master closet and was thoroughly disgusted by the layers of dust on stuff, because we never clean that stuff (and the monthly cleaners don't go into our closet), and realized clear boxes would work. Because of ADHD if something is out of sight, it just doesn't exist so I don't like to hide stuff away in boxes that I can't see...but clear plastic boxes exist.
The other killer app is that I realized for the first time in the 8 years we've been in this house, that we could put one of our excess trash cans (we ended up with a plethora when we combined households) in the closet, because neither of us was much in the habit of carrying stuff we don't need or want out of the closet so little stuff like tags taken off of clothing or socks with holes would build up until one of us gathered them up and took them into the bedroom. WHO'D HAVE THOUGHT.
On the way to the Container Store, I checked my email to find a Cool Bits Generator person noticed my ENTIRE WEBSITE was missing and let me know, so I got to spend the trip annoyed and mildly upset at that, but at least the generator section was an easy fix. But that, and then working on a cover template for a client ate up the rest of the afternoon so our clear plastic boxes are still sitting in their opaque cardboard box (there was a sale on for clear plastic lidded shoe boxes, so we bought the 10-pack in one box) in the closet.
We'd bought the Elder Scrolls Cookbook last month (it's a Skyrim tie-in for those of you going "Huh?") and planned on cooking out of it last weekend for watching Game of Thrones, but ran out of time and energy. So this weekend it was: Toby did most of the prep, and then once I got to a stopping point on the cover I went out and helped him. We made Chicken Dumplings, so-named because the game named them dumplings, although they're more like pies or hand pies.
It doesn't look terribly appetizing here because we were hungry and took longer to prep than we expected, so took them out of the oven once the pie dough was done but before the egg wash had much of a chance to brown.
Alas, this is one of the prettier-shaped ones. I discovered that when I followed the folding instructions in the book, they looked awful, but when I just folded them in a way easier for me, they looked better. It'll still take more practice to be neat.
The dough is made of a combo of white and rye flour, with a sprinkling of Stormcloak Seasoning, a spice/herb mix made of ingredients I've forgotten and named for a faction in Skyrim. The filling is cooked chicken (we broke down a rotisserie chicken instead of cooking it ourselves), leeks, a bit of carrot, cream, more Stormcloak Seasoning, and a couple of other things. Overall, it was quite tasty. The dough made a sturdy crust, sturdy enough that I picked it up and ate the last half that way after making inroads with a fork, and the filling was tasty. I'd consider doubling the seasoning next time. The way the dough is folded up, which I think is a traditional way of doing apple dumplings/fritters/whatever, kept the dumplings from having blowouts in the oven as the hole in the middle vented steam.
So next time: double the seasoning and maybe start the oven a bit higher or run them under broiler to brown the tops.
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What did that cook at? Was the filling cooked before you loaded them, so you're just cooking the dough?
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Is there yeast or other leavening in the dough?
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1 cp AP flour
1cp rye flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Stormcloak seasoning
6 tbsp cold, unsalted butter
1/3 cp ice water
(Stormcloak seasoning: dill, grains of paradise, mustard powder, fennel seeds, all ground up together.)
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You could use this to line tart pans (or muffin tins) and fill them, eat open-topped warm or cold. Grease the muffin tin well or use liners...
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The seasoning was 4 or 5 things...I think dill, grains of paradise (which we'd never heard of but discovered Central Markup carried them), and ... other things.
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