Well, everything is packed and my room is empty. My dad came yesterday to move all of my belongings to Kansas, but I'm staying in Atlanta for another week. Talk about heavy boots. 


I spent the last two weeks in Minnesota, but I'll write about that later. It was what I needed.


I wish I hadn't already sent home all of my kitchen equipment. I have an overwhelming urge to bake. 


Here are some links that I like a great deal.


Steven Pyke's photographs of philosophers.

Neche Collection Photographer Veronica Corzo-Duchardt writes, "Neche Collection (pronounced Ne Che) visually documents materials collected by my grandfather Neche Eugenio Hadad. A Cuban Exile of Lebanese descent, accountant, collector and sometimes thief. My grandfather greatly influenced my work as a artist/designer and passed on his obsession of printed matter and office supplies."

Oscar Ciutat's photographs of caged zoo animals

Isa Leshko's photographs of elderly animals

David Lynch's Interview Project Germany, which captures the stories of fifty different people encountered on a road trip across Germany. This one is from Karl of Buchenbach, which is just outside of Freiburg.

 

The documentary Marwencol from PBS's Independent Lens about Mark Hogancamp who, after being attacked and suffering severe brain and physical damange, creates a 1/6th scale WWII-era town in his backyard as a form of therapy. The town represents his family, friends, attackers, and enemies and he begins to come to terms with his attack and trauma while also redeveloping hand-eye coordination, stability, etc. 

Watch the full episode. See more Independent Lens.

April Inventory

What the heck happened to April? It was busy and I was gone a lot, that's for sure. Plus it's spring and the end of the semester, so the only thing I can expect of myself is to be flighty. This post will be more photos than words, too, since I have two term papers to write before Wednesday. Yikes! I finished teaching and gave the exam. I really liked this bunch of students and will miss them. I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed teaching logic, too.

At the beginning of the month I presented at the Philosophy at Play conference at the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, England. (You can find the abstracts here.) It was my first "grown-up" conference and I'm pleased with how it went. The mix was mostly between playworkers or practioners and philosophers. I think it was the first time I've gone to lectures that I understood and felt like I could respond to intelligently, so that was pretty nice. I'm not sure I learned very much about the particular figures I'm working on, but the conversations and other questions raised were quite fruitful.

The hotel I stayed in was crazy. The curtains looked as if someone had skinned a Muppet, but it was comfortable enough.  Unfortunately I didn't get to spend much time in Cheltenham or England since I had already missed a week of classes (a conference that runs from Monday to Wednesday is bizarre) and it was expensive. Na ja.

Since I've been home from the conference, it's been serious non-stop running. I did manage to squeeze in the FFwD Chocolate Eclairs. I'm not sure how I managed to make them so tiny and they were surprisingly easy to make. I'd never made pate a choux and I was excited by how instantly it came together. I think I'm beginning to trust myself as a baker a lot more now. I had chocolate ganache left over from making these cupcakes the week before, so I just drizzled it on top. In hindsight, I probably ought to have let the ganache warm up a bit more so it looked better, but it tasted fine. The boys polished them off in record time.

And then it was Easter! And I went home to Kansas, where it was cold and a very late spring. Thanks a lot, Kansas. Going home this late in the semester seemed like a terrible idea, especially since I was writing a paper while in the airport, on the plane, and waking up two hours before the rest of the family to squeeze work in, but it was absolutely worth it. I feel more like myself when I get to go home. My family likes to go bumming (Is this a phrase other people use? It sound kind of terrible, but it occurs to me that it might be derivative of the German "bummeln,"  which means to stroll around, go window shopping, that sort of thing, which what we do.) We all got new sandals and drove around to look at houses in the Kansas City area. We missed Ken a whole, whole lot.

Betsy made the above cake out of Melissa Gray's All Cakes Considered. Seriously, what is better than combining npr with baking? Not much, and the cake is proof. I made a bunch of chocolate chip cookies to distribute to people back in Atlanta. Betsy was competing with her boyfriend to see who could make the best cookies, so I helped her a bit, too. Her boyfriend was not allowed to receive any help from his mother, since she's a pastry chef. Betsy was dissatisfied with her cookies, I guess, and entered my cookies as her own. They tied with her boyfriend's, but then it was revealed that he had received help, and was disqualified. Betsy didn't bother to reveal that she had no hand in making her cookies and ended up winning. What a bunch of stinkers!

On Monday I made the Bistrot Paul Bert pepper steak to celebrate Andrew's successful thesis defense. Huzzah! The weather was warm, so we sat out in the backyard. Not bad for a Monday, eh? I wasn't especially wowed by the sauce. I had thought about flambéing it, but we were frying frites one pot over, so that seemed like a VERY BAD IDEA. I'd never made fries before and they went off without incident. I think we were both quite pleased with how it turned out. The dinner was really just lovely. We were both in particularly good moods and it was the perfect temperature out and it was the first time in a while that we really cooked together. Perfect.

I'm pretty stoked for this summer. I'm moving back home at the end of May, since I won't be in Atlanta really until February or March. In June, Betsy and I are going to Turkey for ten days. A classmate of mine has family there and will be in Istanbul while we're there and has very generously offered to show us around. Then I'll be in Italy for three weeks in July for the Collegium Phaenomenologicum, which is a series of lecture courses and text seminars led by some excellent people in my field. Actually, this year's theme is so closely related to my research that I can barely contain myself with excitement. The rest of the summer will be spent working on my dissertation prospectus. I have a committee now, so it's becoming more real as the days go by, especially since I'm now finished with coursework! I received a fellowship to be in Freiburg for the fall semester doing research. That's the plan, at least. 

She knows, she knows! She sings, she sings!

It might be the Catholic in me that thinks of spring as the start of a new year, or it could be that I usually find out in the spring what will happen in the coming academic year, so it feels like the start of something new, or it could be that a fair number of relationships have begun or ended in the spring. Yet while the start of something new, nothing makes me quite as nostalgic and overcome. Yes, Mez, it is springtime Katie. And these memories led me to read my old opendiary entries (and thought it was a good idea to share them with Andrew?). I've been working on the same  philosophical problems for nine years now. I wish I could have an organic food night to go along with it and that we could all frolic in MoBot for a while.

I posted this in OD on April 1, 2002, and I'm writing a paper on the topic again this semester:

Catch only what you've thrown yourself, all is
mere skill and little gain;
but when you're suddenly the catcher of a ball
thrown by an eternal partner
with accurate and measured swing
towards you, to your center, in an arch
from the great bridgebuilding of God:
what catching then becomes a power--
not yours, a world's.
-Rainer Maria Rilke, cited in the fronticepiece to Gadamer's Truth and Method


It's funny that only this time I realized the emphasis on world, rather than individual, play.

And this Rilke, from The Sonnets to Orpheus, I found for the first time yesterday:
XXI
Spring has returned. The earth resembles
a little girl who has memorized
many poems....For all the trouble
of her long learning, she wins the prize.

Her teacher was strict. We loved the white
in the old man's beard and shaggy eyebrows.
Now, whatever we ask about
the blue and the green, she knows, she knows!

Earth, overjoyed to be out on vacation,
play with the children. We long to catch up,
jubilant Earth. The happiest will win.

What her teacher taught her, the numberless Things,
and what lies hidden in stem and in deep
difficult root, she sings, she sings!

And this, which stings a bit:
VIII
You playmates of mine in the scattered parks of the city,
small friends from a childhood of long ago:
how we found and liked one another, hesitantly,
and, like the lamb with the talking scroll,

spoke with our silence. When we were filled with joy,
it belonged to no one: it was simply there.
And how it dissolved among all the adults who passed by
and in the fears of the endless year.

Wheels rolled past us, we stood and stared at the carriages;
houses surrounded us, solid but untrue--and none
of them ever knew us. What in that world was real?

Nothing. Only the balls. Their magnificent arches.
Not even the children... But sometimes one,
oh a vanishing one, stepped under the plummeting ball.

March 2011 Daring Baker's Challenge: Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake

Tada! My first Daring Baker's Challenge. I'd been seeing all my other favorite bloggers participate in the Daring Bakers and was super envious of their creations. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't join before, but I'm glad I finally did. The March 2011 Daring Baker's Challege was hosted by Ria of Ria's Collection and Jamie of Life's a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake. So, over Spring Break on the rainiest day in quite some time, I tried my hand at it.

The thing is, though, is that because it was so rainy, I had no desire to go out and buy ingredients. The lucky thing was that I had all of the ingredients for the recipe already at home. The recipe requires we make the sweet yeast dough and meringue and suggests using chocolate and walnuts. The problem was just that combination of pastry and chocolate, of which I am no fan. I know, I know. Everyone loves pain au chocolate and chocolate covered pretzels and these sorts of things, but I find the combination of anything bready and chocolately just meh. And a little blech. Still! I persevered because chocolate and nuts were all I had and was actually quite pleased with how it turned out.

I found the dough quite pleasant to work with. I enjoyed kneading it by hand while watching the rain and taking my mind off schoolwork for a bit. Kneading dough is pretty much one of my all time favorite things. The rhythm is hypnotic and the feeling of shaping something with my own hands is intoxicating.

After the dough has risen, it's rolled out and the filling is added to it. I wasn't too worried about making the meringue, but I was a little worried about how the goodies would stay inside.

Following this, the dough and goodies are rolled into a log and then shaped into a ring. Slits are cut into the sides and the ring proofs for a while before going into the oven.

While the ring was baking, some of the meringue leaked onto the baking sheet. I was worried about it burning, but it was okay. Actually, it formed into delicious caramelized meringue puddles and I ate them all. The cake was quite lovely in presentation and the sun decided to peek out for this last photo.

The verdict? Good. I liked the dough a great deal and am eager to use it again. The meringue was gooey and sweet, but I still couldn't get past the chocolate/dough combination. What a pity! I think I would make it again with some variations because it really is not that difficult and is attractive. I only had one slice, but I left it out at Andrew's house and it was all gone by morning, so someone must have liked it.

For the recipe, visit here, and for more from other Daring Bakers, see here.

2 French dishes, 3 skirts, and 4 pies

This past week was my spring break and I was quite productive. Well, productive for everything but schoolwork. But that's what breaks are for, right? I had missed the previous week's French Friday with Dorie  since I get migraines from aged cheeses and my mom was in town. I decided this week to double up the recipes so I made the Beggar's Linguine that was assigned as well as Marie-Helene's Apple Cake that the group completed before I was a member.

The Beggar's Linguine was an interesting combination of flavors between the savory pistachios and almonds and the sweet figs and raisins. It was a very easy dish to make and took only about ten minutes total. While the linguine finishes cooking, you heat the nuts and fruit in a pan with lots of butter and then toss the cooked linguine in with it. Easy peasy. I probably wouldn't use quite so much butter next time. My only complaint was that it was difficult to get the noodles and the goodies in one bite, so I was either eating a bunch of veeeery buttery noodles or a few pistachios and figs. But if that's the worst thing, then it's not so bad.

Marie-Helene's Apple Cake was also quite lovely. It was surprisingly chilly and rainy out compared to the weather we'd been having, so one last wintery dessert seemed fitting. I didn't have any rum, so I substituted brandy, which seemed to have worked well. The cake developed a custardy consistency, but wasn't very heavy or dense. I think next time I might try it in a six-inch pan so it is even denser. It also reminded me of the gobs of Apfelkuchen I ate in Germany.



Since it was break, I also got some sewing done. I started with this tutorial with some Anna Maria Horner Little Folks voile that I'd gotten on sale. I don't love the fit since it's a little too voluminous, so I might go back and tailor it later.

I made some adjustments and wished that I'd started with the Kona cotton that I used for the next and saved the voile for when I had a better sense of what I was doing. Oh well. I liked the way this one turned out. The fabric isn't extraordinary quality, but it's comfortable and lightweight.

Finally I made this one using some Amy Butler fabric I'd squirreled away last spring. I made a happy accident with my measurements and had to use two panels for the main skirt instead of one and I think it was quite fortunate that I did. The skirt is a teeny bit shorter than I'm comfortable with, but it's growing on me (figuratively).

Since tomorrow is Pi Day, I've been in the kitchen all evening making four strawberry rhubarb pies. It's still too early for rhubarb, so I used frozen, but the strawberries were delicious and on extraordinary sale. Pictures of those later. Huzzah spring!

Here and there is born a Saint Theresa...

"Who that cares much to know the history of man, and how the mysterious mixture behaves under the varying experiments of Time, has not dwelt, at least briefly, on the life of Saint Theresa, has not smiled with some gentleness at the thought of the little girl walking forth one morning hand-in-hand with her still smaller brother, to go and seek martyrdom in the country of the Moors? Out they toddled from rugged Avila, wide-eyed and helpless-looking as two fawns, but with human hearts, already beating to a national idea; until domestic reality met them in the shape of uncles, and turned them back from their great resolve. That child-pilgrimage was a fit beginning. Theresa's passionate, ideal nature demanded an epic life: what were many-volumed romances of chivalry and the social conquests of a brilliant girl to her? Her flame quickly burned up that light fuel; and, fed from within, soared after some illimitable satisfaction, some object which would never justify weariness, which would reconcile self-despair with the rapturous consciousness of life beyond self. She found her epos in the reform of a religious order.

That Spanish woman who lived three hundred years ago, was certainly not the last of her kind. Many Theresas have been born who found for themselves no epic life wherein there was a constant unfolding of far-resonant action; perhaps only a life of mistakes, the offspring of a certain spiritual grandeur ill-matched with the meanness of opportunity; perhaps a tragic failure which found no sacred poet and sank unwept into oblivion. With dim lights and tangled circumstance they tried to shape their thought and deed in noble agreement; but after all, to common eyes their struggles seemed mere inconsistency and formlessness; for these later-born Theresas were helped by no coherent social faith and order which could perform the function of knowledge for the ardently willing soul. Their ardor alternated between a vague ideal and the common yearning of womanhood; so that the one was disapproved as extravagance, and the other condemned as a lapse.

Some have felt that these blundering lives are due to the inconvenient indefiniteness with which the Supreme Power has fashioned the natures of women: if there were one level of feminine incompetence as strict as the ability to count three and no more, the social lot of women might be treated with scientific certitude. Meanwhile the indefiniteness remains, and the limits of variation are really much wider than any one would imagine from the sameness of women's coiffure and the favorite love-stories in prose and verse. Here and there a cygnet is reared uneasily among the ducklings in the brown pond, and never finds the living stream in fellowship with its own oary-footed kind. Here and there is born a Saint Theresa, foundress of nothing, whose loving heart-beats and sobs after an unattained goodness tremble off and are dispersed among hindrances, instead of centring in some long-recognizable deed."

Middlemarch, George Eliot

Short Ribs in Red Wine and Port

For this week's FFwD we made Short Ribs in Red Wine and Port. This is the third time I've made braised short ribs in the past three months, which means I must like them. I was disappointed with this rendition, though, but it was mostly my fault and a series of unfortunate events, not a problem with the recipe. The problem started when I decided to buy the short ribs from the grocery store instead of the butcher where I'd gotten them previously. The ribs were sliced surprisingly thin, but I decided to gamble with them. That was a half mistake. The preparation was not unlike the ways I'd done it previously, save the cut of the meat, so I felt very confident with the recipe. The previous times I'd made them, I hadn't refrigerated it overnight and had just used a fat separator for the sauce, but I found scraping the chilled fat off much easier this time. I had pancetta left over from last week and thought I'd make pancetta green beans again. I waited to check the quality of the pancetta until I was about to put it in the pan, only to discover it was pretty moldy. Definite mistake, but luckily green beans taste just fine plain. Then, as I was pulling the pan of ribs out from under the broiler just as we were about to eat, the potholder slipped, I caught the handle with my bare hand and instinctively threw the pan down onto the oven door. Big mistake. It was quite painful and I ended up with a sizable blister on the heel of my hand, but it doesn't hurt anymore. Luckily Andrew was standing next to me when this happened and managed to scrape the meat back into the pan, so dinner was at least salvaged.

So, there we go. It plated up pretty nicely. I had seen a lot of recipes for short ribs that used polenta rather than potatoes, and I thought it'd be a nice change of place. The weird thing was the polenta didn't have much flavor, but still manged to be unpleasant, so I didn't eat more than two forkfuls of mine. the meat was delicious, but I wish there had been a little more to it. I was not very crazy about the gremolata at all. I hate cilantro, so I used parsley instead but I think it was the orange zest that threw it off. It just overpowered the flavor of the meat. Oh well. So, I still think this is an excellent recipe, but I'd use a better cut and potatoes next time while skipping the gremolata. I did actually appreciate that it took two days to make since I usually have mornings off but don't get home from school until the evening, so I like to be able to make something in the morning and finish it quickly later. 

I also used this wine for the sauce and for drinking. I came across it in the store and immediately had to have it since "The Thinker" appealed to me as a philosophy grad student and Alexander Calder is one of my all-time favorite artists. Plus the wine was half off. I've had better, but it was still nice.

Spring is already here in Atlanta. It's hard to believe, but it's true. Huzzah!