Sunday, October 07, 2007

Miscellany

  • The first bit of miscellany is the pronunciation of the word miscellany. I've always thought it was pronounced with the accent on the CELL, but then, how often do I actually say it out loud? A few nights ago, I heard someone much smarter than me (with a PhD and everything) pronounce it with the accent on the MIS, just like miscellaneous, without the -ous. Dictionary.com says we're both right, although my pronunciation is the British way. That makes sense: central Illinois + Texas = British accent!
  • The high today here in Iowa City was 88º, exactly what it was in San Antonio. I thought one of the advantages of moving back to the Midwest was autumn.....
  • I am knitting, still working on the Red Balloon Scarf, for the Red Scarf Project (and, yes, I'm using red, because I love red, but the fine print says you can use any color suitable for either a young man or a young woman -- which really means suitable for men, because women aren't nearly as picky about colors as men). I took a picture, but it's too dark to see much. This is a fun knit, but I hate deadline knitting, and I've got to finish this by the middle of the week. It's currently four feet long. I was hoping I only needed another repeat after the current one, but it looks like I'll definitely need at least two more.
  • This evening, I cooked up a batch of Dave Daniels' grandmother's sauteed mushrooms for dinner. I had planned on having a veggie burger along with it, but the kitchen was about 100º, since I was also baking a loaf of banana bread. The mushrooms were really yummy on their own, and had the advantage of using up a half an onion that was languishing in the fridge.
  • The banana bread was a disaster, which is weird, since I make this recipe all the time. I could blame it on my oven, which is old and not very well calibrated, but I've made it in the oven several times since I moved. (I use the second Banana Bread recipe from Beard on Bread, if you're interested.) When I took the loaf out of the oven, it looked a little too well-done. I'd tested it with a toothpick a few minutes before, when it was still bit wet, but it definitely looked done when I removed it. So, I immediately flipped the loaf pan over onto the rack like I alway do -- and out of the crack on top (which looked just like it always does!) oozed about a fifth of the batter, unbaked. Yuck. And how do you clean up 350º batter from the counter? Well, you don't -- you let it cool off and hope you remember to clean it up before you go to bed!
  • And finally....
Harley say Hi!
Harley has over come her temporary fear of the lower levels of the condo
and would like to tell you all hello!

11 comments:

Bezzie said...

Yes, but how about those Illini?? ;-)

Yeah it's been hot here too. I told my husband even though he was in MI last fall, he's getting a Texas "fall" here in NJ with these near 90 degree temps!

Anonymous said...

Oooh, those mushrooms look tasty...too bad I'm the only person in the house who likes mushrooms.

It's good to see that Harley is getting more adventurous!

Anonymous said...

What a cutie Harley is! I stress the MIS part of miscellany.

Anonymous said...

Hey Harley!!

I LOVE Beard on Bread. It's easily on of my favorite cookbooks on the planet.

Chris said...

Hello, Harley!

Are you finding today a bit more to your liking, weatherwise?

Anonymous said...

Aww, sweet Harley! What a pretty girl...and she's looking quite svelte. Must be all the stair climbing!

Steven said...

And I was jealous of you living in the far north! Yep, it was hot yesterday. And today. And tomorrow...

Kim said...

Hi Harley!

Yeah, it's hot here. Blah. Too bad about the banana bread. I love banana bread even though I hate bananas!

Helen said...

Uh oh, I think I like your red scarf better than mine....
hmmmm.... I wonder, can I whip out a second on in the next week?
(whap)
that was the reality check upside the head...

never mind.

bellamoden said...

Hello Harley! You're cute.

And thank g-d, fall is here. Yay!

Anonymous said...

Janna, didn't you know that the 80s are back?? I miss ya!