Yldara - A Glimpse at Poetry & Life
Archive for January, 2008
Curious Mount Serenity
Monday, January 21st, 2008
Words are frail in comparison
to your rugged, jagged slopes
Tumbling without a pattern
this way and that-a-way too
Your summit defies reason
(gravity quit a long time ago)
An off the wall venture
of a purpose driven world
Still, you outright puzzle
to no foreseeable end
all who try to divine
just what you are about
Yldara 2111070721
Author’s Comments:
I wrote this partly light-hearted poem, thinking I could describe a fictional mountain that embodied certain truths and perceptions that we all face. Whether it has manifested itself in our day to day struggle or happened just once, many of us have at one point, met something that seems insurmountable and tried to figure it out all by ourselves.
Truth is, we just cannot do it by our lonesome selves. We need help. Help that comes from friends, family, neighbors, nature, scripture –all, pointing to God’s handiwork.
We, of course, may not like the sort of help, solution or answer He gives us, but with that same answer comes a sense of Peace. And when one really reflects on it, that peace, is profound and always filled with grace, love and mercy.
A peace that surpasses all understanding, AMEN.
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Loading ...Z French Bread
Sunday, January 20th, 2008
I have seen a number of French bread recipe on the net that is for those who are gluten sensitive. Yes, they are gluten free and the reviews on them have been quite good. Unfortunately for me though, I cannot use the eggs or even the egg-replacer (powdered form) that is needed in these recipes because my child has violent reactions to not just gluten but eggs and potatoes as well.
After a whole lot of experimentation and numerous failed attempts, I finally have one French bread recipe that results in a bread that is crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. And I call it -
Z French Bread
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup white rice flour
1 cup tapioca starch flour
3 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (fine)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 cups warm tap water
2 packets active dry yeast (7 g. each)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon arrowroot starch flour
1/3 cup warm soda water
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
additional olive oil for brushingIn a big mixing bowl combine flours (except arrowroot), xanthan gum, sea salt and baking powder.
In a smaller bowl, dissolve honey in the warm tap water. Stir in active dry yeast and proof or let foam for about 7-10 minutes.
While yeast is proofing, in a cup mix well together olive oil and arrowroot starch before adding in warm melted butter.
When the yeast is ready pour it along with oil mixture, warm soda water and cider into the bowl of dry ingredients. Beat well with a hand mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes then beat on high for additional 3 minutes more.
At this point you can either spoon the mixture onto a cornmeal dusted baking sheet forming it into 2 logs or spoon it into a gallon sized plastic bag then pipe it out by cutting a close to 2 inch hole on one corner. Either way, you should yield 2 logs that is at least a foot long each.
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Brush tops of your dough/log with olive oil then cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise ( in a warm and draft free place; usually the top and not inside of your warming oven) until almost double in size. The process takes between 25-35 minutes, based on my experience.
Remove plastic wrap, slash each dough diagonally every few inches if you like and bake for between 40-45 minutes.
Bread is definitely done when you tap on it and it sounds hollow. I usually do the tap test at 40 minutes.
If it passes the test, take bread out and let cool on wire rack for at least an hour before attempting to slice it. I find that it is much easier to slice gluten and egg free breads when they have been cooling for at least an hour.
Left overs can be turned into bruschetta or just eat the bread with some spread–Yum!
I have found that this bread keeps for 2-3 days without refrigeration in its whole log form (possibly longer but my family eats the lot by day 3). Sliced up, the bread is still crunchy and moist until day 2; by day 3 it started to show signs of staleness.
Below are pictures of the gluten free, egg free and potato free French Bread:
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Joaquin
Saturday, January 19th, 2008
Growing up in poverty and conflict, I may have known some people who could be classified as “Notorious”- in one form or another. Yet, for the life of me, when tasked to pretend to know one and write about them, all I could do was ask my father-in-law, if he knew or heard of anyone notorious enough to write about. He then proceeded to tell me of about this guy, Joaquin Murietta, who supposedly got captured and beheaded, with his head being put on display.
There seems to be a lot of myth, good old-fashioned rumor and half-truths about the guy and his story (life and death) from what little research I could do due to an imposed time constraint. But I figured, if he made a good subject of both fiction and truth, he would make a good subject to write about in a poem (however weird, it may seem).
Here’s what I came up with under 15 minutes of writing and editing:
Joaquin
You walk a path, grim trodden
Bent on avenging those you lost
Blood, stains your worn dark boots
Dead bodies, strewn in your wakeWas it not but a while ago
you tended to farming with such love?
Now your eyes are cold as ice
Your heart, beats terror and deathWish time could be rolled back
to days of love, hope and peace
when your smile and laughter
yielded more, than golden fieldsYldara 2511070642
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Water Baloney
Friday, January 18th, 2008
There must have been a time when water was free. A time, when one, did not have to pay to drink or use it - at least, not with money. Maybe, with one’s sweat? Or, is it with one’s head? Most likely both.
Nowadays, water costs (just look at your water bill) a pretty penny to use, be it for drinking, cooking, cleaning up or “watering the yard”. Yes, I thought watering the yard was kind of weird too, until summer came to Texas. My husband had to water the yard before it all (the lawn grass) died on us.
Water these days also comes labeled and bottled which adds to the cost, be it out of one’s pocket or Mother Nature’s.
A few months ago, I read that some bottled water, are so prized by water connoisseurs and/or people with too much money and not enough sense, that they can actually cost between 40-60 dollars a (750 ml) bottle. More, if bought in some fancy club(s) around Tinseltown.
I am probably, one of those who will not know and understand why those water elitist pay for the bottle, rather than the water. Still, when all is said and done, it is their money after all - right? It is also such Herodian attitude that pushes and keeps the bottled water business, floating in money and controversy. Of course, one could argue - am just envious of their “success”. But, since having loads of money and a business empire is not my idea of success, that argument fails to impress.
Anyways, with all that in mind I thought of writing a poem considering a scenario, 20 or so years down the road, when clean water has gotten so expensive and scarce that one needs pure comedic relief ( and tons and tons of prayers) just to get through the day:
Water Baloney
My grandchild wrote
to say – His father found
water, cheaper boiled
eight hours this way:
Dig a hole two miles down
and start pumping it up.
Sift through the silt,
rock, sand and blood cup.
Filter it all out,
twenty times four.
Boil it eight hours -
Not a second more.
Yldara 0911070740
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Photo of Spiced Honey Butter Cookies
Thursday, January 17th, 2008
As promised, some days ago — here’s a picture of the Spiced Honey Butter Cookies in various shapes and sizes:
Hope this helps to inspire you to try the recipe out and maybe even flavor it with the spice you like best. Remember that these Spiced Honey Butter Cookies are only gluten free, egg free and potato free - everything else that’s fun filled and full of yummy goodness (according to 3 happy kids) are in them. So…
Click for Spiced Honey Butter Cookie recipe
Happy Baking !!!
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Painted In Silver
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Light shimmers, beckoning one
to come closer. Be enveloped
in radiant warmth and comfort
so silently compelling
Tempting, inviting, in waves
undauntedly moving. Taunting all
to take a plunge and be immersed
in its silken silver rays
Yldara 2011070620
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Two Hundred Three Dollars and Seven Cents
Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
Two racks of lamb, herb crusted
On a bed of brown and wild rice
Pilaf, served with a side dish of
Orange-sesame glazed green beans -
Meal for two over the weekend
Fast forward eight years down the road
And cooking for a family
Of five not two, indeed becomes
A challenge, to this kitchen wench
And a strain that drains the bankbook
Still, we cannot resist the urge
To splurge on merry holidays
Forget the glazed ham, the dressing
And turkey. Break the bank, we say
For those herb crusted racks of lamb
Yldara 2811070619
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Bedtime Blues
Monday, January 14th, 2008
gripping me in sleepy-eyed daze
dragging feet and tired body
checking up on the children, doors
dimming down and turning off lights
brushing my teeth, washing away
all the dirt and grime of the day
putting on my old pajamas
off to bed with a grateful sigh
Yldara 2211070740
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...She reminds me
Sunday, January 13th, 2008
Of a pale yellow rosebud
attempting to bloom in the rain
while the frost of winter thaws
slowly seeps, into thirsting earth
She blossoms in defiance
petals opening, reaching out
to touch hardened hearts
and souls, aged by sorrow
She believes, hopes and endures
more than most, yielding only
to time; withering, resistant
fragrant still, even then
Yldara 1101080712
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Miss M’s Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
Saturday, January 12th, 2008
Want a creamy and doubly rich chocolate cheesecake? Here’s one that my daughter Milyna thinks is “goooood!” It is a bit too soft and rich in my opinion but all three kids and my husband loved it.
Nobody needs to know it is egg free and gluten free. It certainly could pass for the real ”thing” in taste. Although I have not tried making this recipe in a springform pan, I do not think it would make much difference. I would definitely try it next time around and report on the result.
In the meantime, here’s a photo of a piece of Miss M’s Chocolate Chip Cheesecake:
Miss M’s Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
For the crust:
2 cups finely crushed spiced honey butter cookie crumbs
(see recipe also posted on this site)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder (regular)
2 teaspoons dark hershey cocoa powder
10 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
3 tablespoons sugarFor the filling:
3 (8-ounce) package regular cream cheese, room temperature
1 pkg. (1 lb.) Nasoya silken tofu (drained), room temperature
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
grated lemon rind (optional)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup 60% bittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chipsFor the fudge topping:
1/2 cup cream
6 oz. condensed milk
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanillaTo prepare crust: In a small bowl, combine cookie crumbs, regular and dark cocoa powders, melted butter or margarine, and sugar; blend well. Press into bottom of an ungreased 9×13x2-inch pan lined with foil that extends over the side. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit.
To prepare filling: In a large bowl, with a handheld electric mixer set on medium speed, beat cream cheese, tofu, condensed milk, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, lemon juice, lemon rind (if used), and vanilla. Beat until smooth, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add sour cream; blend well. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan. Using a spatula spread out as evenly as you can; shaking the pan helps to distribute the batter as well.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes on center rack. Knife inserted in outer side of cake should come out clean when cake is done. Top might have some cracks. Turn off oven and open door a bit ( I use a wooden rolling pin to keep it just slightly open); let cake sit in oven for another 2 to 3 hours to cool slowly and completely. Cake will somewhat fall but do not worry, this and the cracks will be covered up with the fudge topping.
To prepare the topping: In a small sauce pan heat cream until just boiling. Turn heat off. Into the heated cream stir in chips, condensed milk and vanilla. Beat until glossy. Let cool 15 mins. before pouring and spreading on top of cooled cheesecake.
Refrigerate cheesecake for at least 4 hours before cutting and serving, although I find that overnight is much better; it gives the flavors, time to come together.
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