39 steps - masterpiece classic

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The most useful thing I did to prepare for watching this program (programme) was to never see the two movie versions that preceded it, nor did I read the book. This allowed the twists to work to their full extent and keep me engaged. Once again, we have a film set in my favorite (favourite) period, just before the great war in Europe. I really liked this film, and intend to chat about it here at more length.

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leaf on the doorstep

Oh, all right. I admit it. I scanned this leaf instead of taking out my camera and doing it right. Be that as it may, this festive little jasmine leaf was sitting on my welcome mat when I went out for the morning paper, just begging to have his picture taken. If there's some unpleasant reason for the colored striping, such as some kind of dire plant malady, I'd actually prefer not to know.

As always, please click on photo to enlarge.

night light

light show

running to catch up

A black dog (recall Winston Churchill's name for his occasional depression) has been hanging around lately. And while he isn't to blame for this long blogpresence silence-- I must take responsibility for that myself; details not important-- but the pesky fellow has slowed things down for me. The dog, I mean, not Sir Winston.

It's nothing serious, but I do struggle just a little with it now and then, usually a fleeting challenge... not that anyone would be able to discern this condition very easily from the more or less positive attitude I maintain and present to the world.

Maybe instead of my more typical long rumination on a single topic, what I might do today, within one or two blog entries, is a series of quick non-sequitirs. This will fill in a few gaps.

Regarding this blog: One of the items on this year's to-do list is to link up my various archived blog posts into categories, if only for my own big-picture navigating convenience. Another stated goal was to develop some theme organization both within this blog, and across my various other (neglected) blogs. And yes, January was the new year and this is March and I'm falling behind on nearly every front, and I don't have my plan of action yet; I do know that. I keep meaning to create a blogging schedule, and stick to it. This will help a lot.

What few readers I do have are deserving of that respect, but it's also clear that without goals, structure, and urgency to my various writing projects... what, then? Let's just say there's a dramatic whooshing sound as calendar pages fly off left and right in a series of slow camera dissolves, cherry blossoms bloom and drop off, clock hands chase each other around at a dizzying speed, autumn leaves blow in and out of the frame, all of this underscored with haunting orchestral phrases... and before you know it, we're setting our clocks back an hour. Again. By the way, I can't imagine any of you guys actually enjoy reading about my private struggles with this stuff, but I'm hoping there's some psychological power in this confession. Thanks for indulging me.

Supermoon: Yes, the moon was bigger and brighter. I don't know if I would have figured this out without reading about it first, but I made note of it and went out on the balcony to view it. Alas, the cloud cover turned our celestial neighbor into a ghostly apparition. I did capture an image digitally which turned out even more ghostly because it was hand-held for several seconds.

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More later. And I really will go back and fill in some blog gaps, if only for my own satisfaction.

there and here

heavenly cheese zombies, aromatic memories

Mount Diablo Unified School District ZOMBIE RECIPE

To make 2 ½ pounds of dough: 2 cups warm water 1½ - 2 Tablespoons yeast 6 cups bread flour ¼ cup sugar 1 – 1 ½ teaspoons salt (depending on taste) ¼ cup butter Directions Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add remaining ingredients and mix with dough hook about 10 minutes until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Dough should be soft and pliable. Let dough rest a few minutes then divide into 1-pound portions. Roll the portions into logs. Cut each log into 5 equal pieces. Place your favorite filling on top of each dough slice, then pull dough up from the sides to cover filling. Pinch closed very carefully. Place zombies pinched side down on parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet pan (parchment works best). If desired, brush with egg wash. Let rise until almost doubled in size. Bake @350 degrees until brown on top, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Fillings: If traditional filling is desired [note: the only REAL ZOMBIE is a CHEESE ZOMBIE] use 1 ½ to 2 oz. of cheese per zombie. * * *

What is a zombie? Why am I posting a recipe here? The story of the wonderful Cheese Zombie is a tale of a special stuffed homemade yeast roll, the stuff of poignant memories. At our high school we had a brunch break each day, and the ZOMBIE was a favorite student treat. The aroma during the morning baking was incredible, filling the air all around the Academic Building where the snack window and bakery kitchen was located.

The crust of the ZOMBIE was sort of Dutch-crunch buttery and sort of cracked, and the inside was cheesy-melty goodness.

I did some online research, and it didn't surprise me to learn that the ZOMBIE was a school favorite for years. Former students from all over the district would go to great lengths, years after graduation, to try and secure the recipe, and to post their effusive thanks for the ZOMBIE memories.

Zombies!