Pear Sorbet

The pear sorbet worked! And it was ultra tasty! I've been eating it with slices of manchego cheese, which it goes with very, very well. It was also very much enjoyed Friday night, as dessert for our weekly dinner with Jed.

And yesterday was fun as well. Charlie and I met up with Pete, Caroline, Nigel, and Megan to go to the new fashion/architecture exhibit at MOCA. The exhibit itself was fascinating, although the fun for me was brought down by the guards, who were yelling at people for even looking at the pieces too closely. There was sort of a jail for art atmosphere going on. That said, I haven't felt that at past exhibits there, and I suspect I won't in the future. I think it was a combination of big crowds, and the fact that sadly, those dresses and architectural models are worth way, way more money than any paintings they would display.

But anyway! It was still really fun and really interesting. And afterwards, everyone came back to our house for dinner and board games. Everyone met Rusty, and played with Smee. It was a great evening.

-Pear Sorbet-
5 red anjou pears, peeled and cored
19.5 oz. pear nectar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp brandy (optional, but don't leave it out if you're worried about tasting the alcohol, it's more of a flavor enhancer it this case.)

Combine pears, 11.5 oz. pear nectar, sugar, and vanilla in saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 40-45 minutes.

Puree in food processor until smooth.

Stir in remaining pear nectar, and brandy.

Chill in refridgerator for at least three hours.

Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Blueberry Ice Cream

Well. I have not been so good of late on my promise to myself to update the blog more. In my defense, it's been really busy here. Not even fun busy. Temp work busy.

Fortunately, it should transition into non-temp work busy soon. I'm hoping that in two months time or so, I should be hard at work on something in my field! My current career path plan is to balance a combination of puppetry, painting, and illustration/graphic design. And it's actually looking like I'll be able to do that.

My other project of the moment is cooking. Not that I'm not always cooking- the vast majority of our meals are at home, and are made from fresh ingredients right before we eat. But I'm trying to create more of my own recipes. I have a hope to someday publish a cookbook. It could be self published. That would be fine. I'm mainly interested in getting more people cooking more often. I think it's something a lot of people are afraid of, and I want to get the word out that it isn't that hard. Even things that people think of as tricky, like souffles and custards, are actually pretty easy.

Anyway, we've been really into homemade soups and homemade ice creams at our house. The picture above is the blueberry ice cream I made on Monday. That one isn't my own recipe; I got it from William-Sonoma Ice Cream, a book I highly recommend. Everything I've tried from it has been wonderful. Today's project is a pear sorbet. I couldn't find a recipe that was quite what I wanted for that, so I've made up my own. If it turns out well, I'll share it.

cupcakes!!!

I came home today to the most wonderful surprise. No, not the pillow the dog had torn apart or the puddle of urine he left on the bathroom floor. I came home to those too, but they weren't that big of a surprise. No, the surprise was that while I was off working a temp job, my husband went to the store and bought a strawberry cake mix and chocolate frosting,and he made me some cupcakes! They are very tasty, and so very, very pink inside.

And last night we had a fabulous time! Between our friend Pete and Charlie's work, we were able to see The Animation Show, and for free! The shorts were really good this year, for the most part, and we got to see a lot of friends. One of those friends is Shane Acker, the director on the movie Charlie has been working on most recently. The short that the feature is based on, "9", is screening at the festival, and Shane did a little Q&A afterwords. It was actually one of the better movie screening Q&A's I've been at. People actually asked decent questions, and Shane had excellent answers. Anyhow, if you get a chance at all, go see The Animation Show, and definitely go see the 9 feature when it hits theaters.

After the screening, a big bunch of us went to a bar in Santa Monica. I got to talk to some people I haven't seen in awhile, and I got to meet Shane's wife Sibyl, who's very nice. Charlie got up and did Led Zepplin for karoke, and as always, really got into it. It was fun.

Then we got home, and weren't in bed until around two, and then it took me awhile after that to fall asleep. So of course today was the day the temp agency called me, after not calling all week, and not calling last week except for Monday. Fortunately, it was the office I worked in the last time, which is a slight pain in the ass the get to with the traffic, but is filled with extremely nice people and an office that is set up incredibly well. So it was an easy, quiet day, and the only bad thing I brought away from it was a big blister on my foot.

Now I am hanging around at home, while Charlie is off helping a friend with a possible project. I had planned to go to the West Hollywood Stitch and Bitch, which I've been going to most Thursdays lately. But between a full day's work and a late night last night, I'm wiped out. So it's off to read my new book about getting started as an illustrator for me.

Rusty!!!!!

So. I did not get back to the blogging so fast as I intended. I meant to. Really I did. But a certain Charlie got pulled back for a week's additional work on a movie he had been with most of last year. Which meant limited computer access for me. Also, since it was a very last minute deal and on a tight budget, I ended up being Charlie's defacto unpaid assistant. Lots of flagging scripts and running off to buy things at Office Max. It was actually kind of cool, if a bit tedious. And now he's off cavorting with movie stars for the day while I work on art related business.

Also! We got a cat! A cat named Rusty! He's five years old, and cute as a button. He talks constantly.
As cats often are when the first come to new homes, Rusty is still a little shy. He's coming around, but he still likes to hide under the bed and behind the washing machine for hours on end. Also, yesterday, I couldn't find him for about seven hours (impressive in a house this small) and by the time Charlie came home I was getting a bit worried. We ended up in full on panic mode, taking the house apart, when Charlie heard a little mew coming from the kitchen. Rusty had not only gotten into a cabinet, he had burrowed behind several layers of pans.

And I've been busy with the art and the craft. There's been a lot of painting, and a good deal of crocheting as well. I'm making myself a queen sized blanket, in the skinny stripe style that seems to be sweeping the crafty internet these days. I figure I get a nice blanket at the end, and with the added bonus of clearing up lots of yarn stash clutter.