It Just Figures

How lazy, or overstressed, does one's subconscious need to be in order to saddle one with a dream where you are told that, sorry, your dream isn't ready on time and you'll need to wait in the lobby and read some magazines until either it's prepared or you're done sleeping for the night?

On the other hand, at least my wacky brain is still living up to expectations - the main article in the magazine I was reading included a piece on how to keep your feet warm now that it was illegal to wear otters as socks.

(And this is yet more proof that I'm *never* going to be a lucid dreamer - even when my own mind tells me that I'm asleep and dreaming, I can't figure it out and do anything about it....)

Cookbook Project, Books #57 and 58

"Favorite Brand Name Mexican Fiesta," Publications International, Ltd

This isn't a glossy checkout booklet, I promise. It is, however, shiny and full of pictures. I picked it up at a fundraiser book sale, mostly because it was cheap, I felt like supporting the fundraiser, and I do really like Mexican food. And while it may not be the most authentic collection of Mexican recipes, there are at least a handful of recipes in there that look good. Alas, this also falls into the category of 'books that I bought but never actually got around to using.'

So last week we made Fiesta Beef Enchiladas. I don't know what makes them fiesta enchiladas instead of regular enchiladas, but they were... okay. I've made enchiladas plenty of times, never with a recipe, and these were slightly different from my standard recipe - it didn't call for frying the tortillas and dipping them in the sauce first, and instead of filling them with meat and veggies, it called for... well, Mexi-Glop. A mix of rice and meat and tomatoes and cheese that can fill almost any tortilla-based dish. It was okay enough that I'll try some of the other recipes in here, but for enchiladas in general I think I'll stick with my make-it-up-as-I-go format.

Incidentally, does anyone reading this have any suggestions for working with corn tortillas? I like the flavor better than flour tortillas for a lot of dishes, but even when I warm them up to soften them, they tend to tear or crack....

"Breads," Sunset Publishing Co.

And back to the collection of Sunset booklets. Like all of the others, this was a hand-me-down from my mom. I've never used it, just like I don't think I've ever used any of the Sunset books, and I'm starting to accept that maybe that was an error on my part. So far, all of them have turned out to be pretty good.

I didn't have any plans this morning, and I need to start tackling cookbooks for things other than dinner, so I decided to poke through this one in hopes of finding an interesting breakfast recipe. I'll admit I tend more towards quick breads than yeast breads, but the recipe for "Pull-Apart Coffee Cake" (better known to me as Monkey Bread, although that may be a regional thing) was just too tasty-sounding to pass up. And it had a make-ahead option that meant actually eating less than four hours after waking up, so I went for it.

It was a lot easier than I had expected - if nothing else, kneading bread is a lot easier now that I have a stand mixer with a dough hook. And most of the work was done last night, so this morning I just had to wake up and stick it in the oven. And... cinnamon, butter, and sweet bread. There is nothing bad there. Even if I never make anything else from this cookbook, it's worth keeping for this alone.