Money is a very evil thing. If it didn't exist I'd probably be happily doing what I like with no issues what so ever. But school loans come a knocking and college is saying, oops, there was this form you had to sign that we failed to call you about and therefore the financial aid we said you had isn't in fact going toward your tuition...soooo have fun scrambling to try to pay us back while we charge interest.
The world is a mess. And it's a mess and a stress mostly due to this one inane, worthless on its own, vaguely defined thing called money. It drives dictators to starve their countries' populations it, causes economic downturns, provides incentive for environmental depletion and pollution, and is pretty much an overall bad guy. When it comes to money we lose sight of our fellow human being and cause endless suffering of the behalf of a greater idea that brings war and destruction upon us.
And we are addicted and reliant on the ironically named green stuff.
I wish I could cut off my addiction. Maybe once I've payed off these loans and bought some land I can just subsistence farm and cut myself off from civilization.
Ok, enough of the negativity. I have taken a long break from writing, but have gotten back to it. I'm working on 30,000 words on my first draft, but have decided to take time to write a short story. It helps to do a quick project to keep the brain juices flowing when you aren't feeling motivated enough to finish the larger one quite yet.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Money is a very evil thing. If it didn't exist I'd probably be happily doing what I like with no issues what so ever. But school loans come a knocking and college is saying, oops, there was this form you had to sign that we failed to call you about and therefore the financial aid we said you had isn't in fact going toward your tuition...soooo have fun scrambling to try to pay us back while we charge interest.
The world is a mess. And it's a mess and a stress mostly due to this one inane, worthless on its own, vaguely defined thing called money. It drives dictators to starve their countries' populations it, causes economic downturns, provides incentive for environmental depletion and pollution, and is pretty much an overall bad guy. When it comes to money we lose sight of our fellow human being and cause endless suffering of the behalf of a greater idea that brings war and destruction upon us.
And we are addicted and reliant on the ironically named green stuff.
I wish I could cut off my addiction. Maybe once I've payed off these loans and bought some land I can just subsistence farm and cut myself off from civilization.
Ok, enough of the negativity. I have taken a long break from writing, but have gotten back to it. I'm working on 30,000 words on my first draft, but have decided to take time to write a short story. It helps to do a quick project to keep the brain juices flowing when you aren't feeling motivated enough to finish the larger one quite yet.
The world is a mess. And it's a mess and a stress mostly due to this one inane, worthless on its own, vaguely defined thing called money. It drives dictators to starve their countries' populations it, causes economic downturns, provides incentive for environmental depletion and pollution, and is pretty much an overall bad guy. When it comes to money we lose sight of our fellow human being and cause endless suffering of the behalf of a greater idea that brings war and destruction upon us.
And we are addicted and reliant on the ironically named green stuff.
I wish I could cut off my addiction. Maybe once I've payed off these loans and bought some land I can just subsistence farm and cut myself off from civilization.
Ok, enough of the negativity. I have taken a long break from writing, but have gotten back to it. I'm working on 30,000 words on my first draft, but have decided to take time to write a short story. It helps to do a quick project to keep the brain juices flowing when you aren't feeling motivated enough to finish the larger one quite yet.
Monday, June 13, 2011
The Process of writing
Over the past two days I have finished the last two chapters of my project and have begun the first. It's strange but, I feel like once the ending and the beginning are laid out, all the rest is easy. That's how I write stories. I have to know specifically where point A and B are to get from one end to the other. It's going to have to be rewritten a few times, but at least it's out there, no matter how rough the draft is. It's an accomplished feeling. I think I'm going to do a guacamole recipe and update my blog further later today.
So later today wasn't a goal I met, but I have gotten the first ten thousand words of my rough draft written up. I feel like this is kind of a milestone and I need to celebrate it! I know 10,000 is by no means the whole thing. My estimate for when it's finished will be about 75000 or more...still not sure, but I feel like I have enough material to get there. The weather cooled down and what really got me writing was being outside in nature. I have a netbook with a long battery life so I just parked myself out there on a folding chair in the shade of a tree and got to work. Something about the sun can be really helpful sometimes. My point is that perhaps cooping oneself up away from windows doesn't produce an adequately creative state of mind.
As for guacamole. I made some delicious last night!
3 ripe avocados
1 lime
3 particloves of garlic
some salt
1/2 red bell pepper
1 habanero
1 jalapeno
1 small yellow onion
dice everything finely (cut the avocados into chunks) and place in a bowl squirt with lots of lime juice and salt. The combine with a spoon until slightly mushy but still chunky, and enjoy with some chips
Do not blend! definitely not as good, I promise. you want it chunky
So later today wasn't a goal I met, but I have gotten the first ten thousand words of my rough draft written up. I feel like this is kind of a milestone and I need to celebrate it! I know 10,000 is by no means the whole thing. My estimate for when it's finished will be about 75000 or more...still not sure, but I feel like I have enough material to get there. The weather cooled down and what really got me writing was being outside in nature. I have a netbook with a long battery life so I just parked myself out there on a folding chair in the shade of a tree and got to work. Something about the sun can be really helpful sometimes. My point is that perhaps cooping oneself up away from windows doesn't produce an adequately creative state of mind.
As for guacamole. I made some delicious last night!
3 ripe avocados
1 lime
3 particloves of garlic
some salt
1/2 red bell pepper
1 habanero
1 jalapeno
1 small yellow onion
dice everything finely (cut the avocados into chunks) and place in a bowl squirt with lots of lime juice and salt. The combine with a spoon until slightly mushy but still chunky, and enjoy with some chips
Do not blend! definitely not as good, I promise. you want it chunky
Friday, June 10, 2011
Gluten-Free Sourdough bread and overcoming writers block
Well it's the second day of my write every day challenge. I haven't gotten started on my current project yet, but I'll do that after the gym. I've just started a sourdough bread, and once I know how it's turned out I'll post the recipe for you. Here's a note on writer's block. I have a few different ways to overcome it that some of you might find useful. One is stopping everything and going for a jog. Listen to some music, preferably instrumental, and just let your imagination take you where ever it wants to. This could work for a walk too, as long as you get your breathing deep and even and the blood flowing. a good long walk can produce a lot of good ideas. So that's what I'll be doing before I get started. I think the point is to make sure you're breathing. Studies back me up when I say that breathing deeply and evenly, you get more oxygen to the brain, and generally tend to think better. I think the study tested students taking tests and they got better grades when they made sure that they were breathing properly (caffeine doesn't hurt either). Right now I'm on character sketches. I've got the whole plot line written up, and it's just getting more complex as I add more interesting characters. I like to first figure out what's going to drive my plot, and if it's characters- which it usually is-then things tend to flesh themselves out nicely when I write out what role I want my character to play in the story. Right now I have two stories going (well four, but two actively), but I'm going to try focussing on one. Normally I have a few different projects out in front of me and I flip through them as I become inspired. Right now, I'm putting all the rest on the backburner as I turn my focus on this new one. I'm going to for once challenge myself to follow through with one project. While I jot ideas for the others it will perhaps inspire me to finish my current project more quickly so I can get on to the next. :)
I'll be posting again this evening with maybe more writer's block avoidance techniques and pics and a recipe for you. Also, feel free to comment with your special writer's block avoidance techniques.
Much Love to You,
Amber
So that sourdough turned out great! But I'm still trying to figure out how to post pictures. I'll go back and do that for the cheesecake too when I figure it out. I just enjoyed a piece with earth balance and honey fresh out of the bread machine! As for my writing I'm going to be separating the plot into chapters and tackle them one at a time. I think I'll be writing it backwards. I'm so non-sequential when it comes to my writing. I feel like beginning the story is much easier when you have the final chapter written out. You sort of have to reverse engineer the story. Especially now that I'm tackling my first sort of mystery story. Not that it's pure mystery, mind you. I'm mostly a satirical sarcastic sort of writer, and that really shows in the works that I create. So I'm divvying up the story into manageable chunks and starting from the very end. :) I think I'll be writing the last chapter tonight.
So as promised I have a recipe for you!
To make the starter:
I did a Tablespoon of yeast
1 1/2 cups of warm water
I mixed that and let it stand for ten minutes
I put together
1 cups of potato starch and
1 cups of brown rice flour
Then I sort of loosely covered it in plastic wrap and set it in my warm humid utility room. Make/store in a glass container, and stir with a wooden spoon (once a day for a week before preparing).
I used my oster expressbake, placing liquid ingredients in first and dry in second after
1 cup starter
1 Tablespoon Apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water (lukewarm)
2 cups brown rice flour
1 cup potato starch
1 Tablespoon guar gum
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
and 1 Tablespoon yeast
I set the setting to sweet bread and the crust darkness to medium.
Enjoy fresh and warm out of the bread machine, preferably with a little soy free earth balance and some raw organic honey :)
you will love it with paninis too if you have one of those little george forman dudes. like a chipotle panini with grilled veggies and chicken and a homemade chipotle mayo
recipe for the mayo
get some canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce... use one of those peppers and a particlove of garlic (mince it), and blend with 3 cups of mayo.
oooh and you'd better make some guacamole, I might post that recipe tonight, haha, if you can't tell I make most everything I eat...it's a process, but one that I enjoy :)
Again, with Crazy Love,
Amber Boice
I'll be posting again this evening with maybe more writer's block avoidance techniques and pics and a recipe for you. Also, feel free to comment with your special writer's block avoidance techniques.
Much Love to You,
Amber
So that sourdough turned out great! But I'm still trying to figure out how to post pictures. I'll go back and do that for the cheesecake too when I figure it out. I just enjoyed a piece with earth balance and honey fresh out of the bread machine! As for my writing I'm going to be separating the plot into chapters and tackle them one at a time. I think I'll be writing it backwards. I'm so non-sequential when it comes to my writing. I feel like beginning the story is much easier when you have the final chapter written out. You sort of have to reverse engineer the story. Especially now that I'm tackling my first sort of mystery story. Not that it's pure mystery, mind you. I'm mostly a satirical sarcastic sort of writer, and that really shows in the works that I create. So I'm divvying up the story into manageable chunks and starting from the very end. :) I think I'll be writing the last chapter tonight.
So as promised I have a recipe for you!
To make the starter:
I did a Tablespoon of yeast
1 1/2 cups of warm water
I mixed that and let it stand for ten minutes
I put together
1 cups of potato starch and
1 cups of brown rice flour
Then I sort of loosely covered it in plastic wrap and set it in my warm humid utility room. Make/store in a glass container, and stir with a wooden spoon (once a day for a week before preparing).
I used my oster expressbake, placing liquid ingredients in first and dry in second after
1 cup starter
1 Tablespoon Apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water (lukewarm)
2 cups brown rice flour
1 cup potato starch
1 Tablespoon guar gum
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
and 1 Tablespoon yeast
I set the setting to sweet bread and the crust darkness to medium.
Enjoy fresh and warm out of the bread machine, preferably with a little soy free earth balance and some raw organic honey :)
you will love it with paninis too if you have one of those little george forman dudes. like a chipotle panini with grilled veggies and chicken and a homemade chipotle mayo
recipe for the mayo
get some canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce... use one of those peppers and a particlove of garlic (mince it), and blend with 3 cups of mayo.
oooh and you'd better make some guacamole, I might post that recipe tonight, haha, if you can't tell I make most everything I eat...it's a process, but one that I enjoy :)
Again, with Crazy Love,
Amber Boice
Thursday, June 9, 2011
New Year Resolutions and an awesome gluten-free, soy-free Cheesecake recipe
**There is a recipe at the end of this post!! Scroll past the words if you're hungry and read the rest
while it's in the oven ;) **
Dear Beloved Blog Reader,
I have dedicated myself to writing creatively every day for at least 3 hours. Part of that commitment will be a blog for hopefully someone's enjoyment. :) These are just my crazy thoughts and delicious recipes.
I made a lot of resolutions this year. I have a lot of objectives I want to realize before the end of 2011, or at least by December 2012...juuust in case the Mayans aren't just pulling our leg. Thinking about the Mayan Calendar conjures up mental images of some psychic Mayan priest laughing his ass off as he writes the end of the long count on the calendar. He thinks "I may have a fatal case of small pox, but we'll see who has the last laugh..." My imagination is needless to say and strange place and just brimming with ideas. I guess that's why I'm a writer. My opinion of new years resolutions is that they can begin at whatever moment you decide to commit yourself the cause of bettering yourself. Furthermore, I'm getting into shape too! I've been more motivated than ever to go to the gym regularly and work to better my health. I'm sleeping better, thinking more creatively, looking and feeling better, and overall reaping the benefits of a new outlook. I have been attending audition after audition and building what I hope will be an impressive resume, and in the future I hope to post links to the work that I have done. My goal with this blog is to sort of document my journey as an actor and as a writer. I'll share what I have success with and any tips I have. I also hope to provide you with some delicious gluten free baking with easily obtainable and not too expensive ingredients.
I hope some of you will find my journey to be a fun, interesting, and perhaps inspiring read. It is also my wish that you share your thoughts and opinions with me and tell me about your blogs! I'd be more than happy to subscribe. :)
and now to my recipe for the day, but first a note to those just starting out on a gluten free lifestyle.
1. Convenience in eating baked goods just got more expensive
,
2. Invest in a bread machine...they make life sooo much easier...and for some reason my bread just turns out more...bread-y
3. decrease the apple cider vinegar in half if you don't like hints of sour tastes. I absolutely adore the flavor of apple cider vinegar and therefore double what is probably necessary. Not that it's overpowering (should you choose to make it my way), but it may be a bit much for some people.
4. I know it's a tough transition, but I never realized how much fun, albeit difficult and frustrating, baking could be. In this sort of misfortune, I've discovered a whole new aspect of myself- the healthy eating enthusiast and the happy baker/sharer.
The Big Cheesecake
This recipe evolved out of me looking for a recipe without having bought enough cream cheese to make any of them. So I just winged it to an incredible result. For one it was less crazy rich- still rich but not insanely so...which I liked, as did others. It got great reviews among the non gluten free people who sampled a slice. Pictures will come when I learn how to add them.
what you will need:
For the crust-
kinnikinnik smorables- (they're the only gluten free graham cracker I've found that I'm not allergic to...)
approx 1/2 cup earth balance soy free butter style spread- (or regular butter if you'd like)
For the Filling-
2 blocks of cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons potato starch or tapioca...or corn it really doesn't matter (i use bob's red mill because they appear to have a monopoly on the gluten free flour sector of the economy...seriously, Bob, you have no competition, what is that? Are you offing prospective gluten free flour manufacturers as they try to rise up? I mean king arthur's mill has a brown rice flour I've seen but nothing like the variety Bob has...)
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (I like the non imitation stuff, but I'm sure that would be good too)
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
To make the crust:
bust up the whole box of graham style crackers with a meat tenderizer/ heavy hammer type object you have lying around, put them in a plastic bag first (it helps to have some sort of pent up aggression you need to get out...really pulverize them!) or you could go the boring route and break out a food processor...but that's not fun, is it?
melt 1/2 cup of earth balance and pour over you crumbs, you may need more or less depending on how gritty and pressable to mixture is, just add it til it feels right.
bake at 350 degrees without filling for 8 minutes
To make the filling
Melt your 2 pkg of cream cheese by stove top or microwave, once melted add the 2 eggs and one egg yolk and mix thoroughly
add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly
pour over the crust and bake it at 325 degrees for 20ish minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
Resist the temptation to devour the entire thing immediately and cool then refrigerate overnight...or as long as you can handle the wait, at least 3 hours.
Enjoy!
Love,
Amber
while it's in the oven ;) **
Dear Beloved Blog Reader,
I have dedicated myself to writing creatively every day for at least 3 hours. Part of that commitment will be a blog for hopefully someone's enjoyment. :) These are just my crazy thoughts and delicious recipes.
I made a lot of resolutions this year. I have a lot of objectives I want to realize before the end of 2011, or at least by December 2012...juuust in case the Mayans aren't just pulling our leg. Thinking about the Mayan Calendar conjures up mental images of some psychic Mayan priest laughing his ass off as he writes the end of the long count on the calendar. He thinks "I may have a fatal case of small pox, but we'll see who has the last laugh..." My imagination is needless to say and strange place and just brimming with ideas. I guess that's why I'm a writer. My opinion of new years resolutions is that they can begin at whatever moment you decide to commit yourself the cause of bettering yourself. Furthermore, I'm getting into shape too! I've been more motivated than ever to go to the gym regularly and work to better my health. I'm sleeping better, thinking more creatively, looking and feeling better, and overall reaping the benefits of a new outlook. I have been attending audition after audition and building what I hope will be an impressive resume, and in the future I hope to post links to the work that I have done. My goal with this blog is to sort of document my journey as an actor and as a writer. I'll share what I have success with and any tips I have. I also hope to provide you with some delicious gluten free baking with easily obtainable and not too expensive ingredients.
I hope some of you will find my journey to be a fun, interesting, and perhaps inspiring read. It is also my wish that you share your thoughts and opinions with me and tell me about your blogs! I'd be more than happy to subscribe. :)
and now to my recipe for the day, but first a note to those just starting out on a gluten free lifestyle.
1. Convenience in eating baked goods just got more expensive
,
2. Invest in a bread machine...they make life sooo much easier...and for some reason my bread just turns out more...bread-y
3. decrease the apple cider vinegar in half if you don't like hints of sour tastes. I absolutely adore the flavor of apple cider vinegar and therefore double what is probably necessary. Not that it's overpowering (should you choose to make it my way), but it may be a bit much for some people.
4. I know it's a tough transition, but I never realized how much fun, albeit difficult and frustrating, baking could be. In this sort of misfortune, I've discovered a whole new aspect of myself- the healthy eating enthusiast and the happy baker/sharer.
The Big Cheesecake
This recipe evolved out of me looking for a recipe without having bought enough cream cheese to make any of them. So I just winged it to an incredible result. For one it was less crazy rich- still rich but not insanely so...which I liked, as did others. It got great reviews among the non gluten free people who sampled a slice. Pictures will come when I learn how to add them.
what you will need:
For the crust-
kinnikinnik smorables- (they're the only gluten free graham cracker I've found that I'm not allergic to...)
approx 1/2 cup earth balance soy free butter style spread- (or regular butter if you'd like)
For the Filling-
2 blocks of cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons potato starch or tapioca...or corn it really doesn't matter (i use bob's red mill because they appear to have a monopoly on the gluten free flour sector of the economy...seriously, Bob, you have no competition, what is that? Are you offing prospective gluten free flour manufacturers as they try to rise up? I mean king arthur's mill has a brown rice flour I've seen but nothing like the variety Bob has...)
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (I like the non imitation stuff, but I'm sure that would be good too)
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
To make the crust:
bust up the whole box of graham style crackers with a meat tenderizer/ heavy hammer type object you have lying around, put them in a plastic bag first (it helps to have some sort of pent up aggression you need to get out...really pulverize them!) or you could go the boring route and break out a food processor...but that's not fun, is it?
melt 1/2 cup of earth balance and pour over you crumbs, you may need more or less depending on how gritty and pressable to mixture is, just add it til it feels right.
bake at 350 degrees without filling for 8 minutes
To make the filling
Melt your 2 pkg of cream cheese by stove top or microwave, once melted add the 2 eggs and one egg yolk and mix thoroughly
add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly
pour over the crust and bake it at 325 degrees for 20ish minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
Resist the temptation to devour the entire thing immediately and cool then refrigerate overnight...or as long as you can handle the wait, at least 3 hours.
Enjoy!
Love,
Amber
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)