"Your Beauty Is Beyond Compare"

[sadlikeknives]

Today (after an incident which will be relayed later), I went on a mad pre-St. Patrick's Day baking binge. I made soda bread (but the kind without raisins, 'cause I don't like raisins), cranberry oat scones, and bacon cheese scones. It's all delicious. And then, because I had massive amounts of baked goods, I took TR and her roommates some. They love me now.

Now, the incident.

The power went off last night after I went to bed. So my alarm clock reset. So I woke up and thought, Ah, I still have a few minutes before I have to get up. Then one eye slid open, and...the clock was blinking.

Yeah, it was noon. I missed my first two classes. *headdesk*

teleute12 is sending me various covers of "Jolene". I love this song way more than I should. "Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jo-LEEEENE! I'm begging of you, please don't take my man." And then I babbled crazily at her about Loretta Lynn's "Fist City" and just about every incarnation EVER of "Long Black Veil". I think I've convinced her to check out "Long Black Veil", at least.

Oh! keenai! I saw The Incredibles! It was great! So you can cancel that hit on me now!

Comments

[cosmorific.livejournal.com]

Loretta Lynn pwnz. My favorite is "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin'."

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

Loretta Lynn so totally pwnz. There's a special on CMT sometimes where she's singing "Fist City" with this big grin on her face, and it's kind of weird and cool at the same time.

[cosmorific.livejournal.com]

Dude, she wrote a song about The Pill. There is nothing not cool about that.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

That was apparently an entertaining moment in country radio history. "It's about the Pill, so we might offend people, so we can't air it. But...it's Loretta Lynn! Agh we are torn!"

It wound up getting banned all over the damned place, of course, but still.

[cosmorific.livejournal.com]

...which only made it a bigger hit, I'm sure.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

Oh, of course.

Not to mention helped to get the message about the Pill out to a whole lot of women in the rural South who might otherwise have been severely misinformed. Woo, Loretta!

[cosmorific.livejournal.com]

Well, La Lynn herself had been having kids since she was 14. If anyone deserved a break from childbearing...

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

Fucking WORD.

...that is all.

[jasminelily.livejournal.com]

BACON CHEESE scones? OMG, I need the recipe! The soda bread sounds good too.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

They're SO GOOD. The dough was really dry, though. The recipe makes sixteen, but they're kind of small.

Bacon Cheese Scones (from the Food Network website)

4 slices bacon, chopped
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream, plus 2 tablespoons

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium skillet, cook the bacon, stirring, until crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on paper towels. Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter, cheese, green onions, and pepper with a pastry blender or fork, and work just until it starts to form lumps and come together. Add the bacon. Add 1 cup of the cream and work just until it becomes a sticky dough, being careful not to overwork.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and pat until it comes together. Form into 2 large circles, about 7 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch thick and cut each into 8 wedges with a sharp knife. Transfer to baking sheet with a spatula, leaving 1/2-inch space between each wedge. Paint the tops of the wedges lightly with the remaining 2 tablespoons of cream and bake until golden brown, 22 to 23 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the baking sheet.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I skipped the green onions, but that's entirely up to you. I just don't like onion.

[jasminelily.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, maybe a little more butter and/or cream in the dough? Wait, when you say the dough was dry do you mean the resulting scones were dry or that the dough was dry to work with?

Mmmm, I'm totally going to make these.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

The scones seem fine. Maybe just a touch on the dry side, but I devoured them with butter, so I don't know. But the dough was really too dry to work with. I wound up leaving some flour in the bowl because I could not get it to combine. I think a little more cream would not go amiss.

(And dude, the soda bread has four ingredients.)

[jasminelily.livejournal.com]

Now I want the soda bread recipe too. But I would put raisins in. I like raisins.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

White Soda Bread

1 pound (3 1/4 cups) white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Buttermilk to mix - about 12 to 14 fluid ounces


First fully preheat your oven to 450 degrees

Sift the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center. Pour all of the milk in at once. Using 1 hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more milk if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. When it all comes together, turn it out onto a well floured board.

Knead lightly for a second, just enough to tidy it up, flip over. Pat the dough into a round about 12 inches and cut a cross on it to let the fairies out! Let the cuts go over the sides of the bread to make sure of this. Bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until cooked. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread: if it is cooked it will sound hollow.

[vespered.livejournal.com]

That sounds awesome. I must make those for my Kiwi husband.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

Your husband is Kiwi? Rock!

[redjen.livejournal.com]

I heard a chick sing "Jolene" last time I went to karaoke, and she was fabulous. I hadn't heard the song in ages, and probably never would have thought of it again if I hadn't heard her sing it.
And now it's stuck in my head again.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

Mwahaha. You will love "Jolene"!