excerpt

Nanowrimo – Title in progress

“Something to show that we are a lot deeper then we had thought.”

Nodding lightly I could see they did not want me to know. Which was aggravating I mean because I had gone out for these guys what could be so painful to look at where two guys one being shot before had finally broken down to tears. Taking a deep breath I decided to see what was on the computer myself going through the door with a purpose. I was mad as my steps echoed off the tiles before stomping away in to the break room. There may have been a slight temper tantrum being thrown however. for everything I just went through including illegal activities, I felt had the right to know.

Opening the door with a silent push the laptop was on the table and with a push of the key the scree was beginning to brighten…

Her tears still got pulled the anger of everything welling up inside her as she pushed away from the desk. She could not put so much of this or she would have to sell the book in the adult fiction section. Looking towards the clock she was halfway through the night with plenty more to get through. The files were a dry shock to everyone’s systems before showing them what they had to do. After all it was just the beginning of that week and now that they were gone she could barely put herself together. She was supposed to go to college figure out her life and live like everyone else. Opening the door to see no one still up she went back to her bed before laying across on it to pull a small shoe box pulling the top off. A collection of items littered the inside of the box in a random placement. Each item lead to something that she would take to remember the situations they represented.

A half dollar, half of an old school stage magician’s wand, an hourglass pendant, the clipping from a hospital bracelet wrapped around a small Johnny Walker blue box in particular drew her attention while everything else seemed to fade in to the background. Running over the old polished metal of the half dollar the late summer wind could still be felt if she held it close. Quickly draining an energy drink had begun to pull the blood back in her wrists the pressure of long hours writing beginning to take their toll. Hopping off the bed with can in hand the desk was soon cleaned and re set with another snack as she had unknowingly snacked her way to the bottom of the package during the last round of writing.

Their was a list with pictures attached to a set of files in a folder labeled “ Business Opportunities”each name was their own sub file filled with a combination of a two word files one marked intel the other marked mission. From those at the earliest file dates marked more then three years ago the pictures had barely shaken off the grainy aspects older cameras would have. The pictures though showed the fates of those they had already gotten to. Graphic bloody violence framed by a scene of what looked to be a battle that was waged before they eventually fell. Clicking on one file and another the small thumbnails of images rattled me as I made my way up the list. There had been almost no survivors up to the pair of names that seemed familiar. Jake Cozy the one above it named Paul Gordon with both files having some pictures from their time in the building it looked like the various steps of. Moving up there was still twenty to thirty files with no pictures leaving the argument open that both of them were top priority.

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Excerpt – Time, Fire, and Cuisine

To this day I cannot say how this classifies. It does not have recipes on every page like a cookbook, but it does have a flow I think so it just remains as a food book. Which if you do not know seems to be a good way to surmise my writings so far. I write about food, how food reacts in the world, how it can be made, how it can be tasted, and really I think you get a better appreciation for it that way. Otherwise it is just another food porno in the world where you can get just get a good camera and some clay and tell people what you created.

From one book to two, with pages that will be switched in and out before it is done.  Then begins the illustrations slash the getting the agents to look at it. If they like it then great if not then I will just have to learn and move on

December 1st – At the beginning

Writing this “little project” has been at the best of times vexing and at its worst one of the fastest routes to a migraine I have had to go on. Trying to figure out what recipes would be best suited while balancing the stories and techniques were difficult with some of the experiences as unique as any piece of fiction.

The reason those pages are there though are to help shed light on the kinds of people and situations that may have gone one. To eat a restaurant is a complex issue of so many things done well that sometimes it is just as much fun to watch the whole thing as it is to just eat what is on the plate. In every kitchen around the world there are many people trying to make their way through life from the server to the chef each with a story to tell. Since you cannot make it through the world without listening to a few you might as well enjoy the ones you do listen to.

Now, with the last month of this project I can truly say that with all the techniques, experiences, terms, ideas, and of course recipes there should be something for everyone to learn one thing at least. If I managed that I would call this a success whether it is how to plate, cook, do things on the fly or even my own little opinion in a grand world.

We all seem devoted to the end product without thinking about everything that made it get there. It seems to happen to me whenever I do go out and I have a great plate that I think of the stories that plate of food told of how it got there to the hands making it. Machiavelli, the man often credited to such a school of thinking, is dead. If people sold in to it as much as they say then at least he would have found a way to continue breathing.

Enjoy the last portion of this book as much as I did writing it, even if it just a couple laughs at my own opinion in life.

December 31st – Final Test

This book hopefully has taught some valuable lessons or at the very least made you chuckle once. Now for the exam. In previous tests you had to use what you gleamed to make a meal. After your finished you need to compare to the dish you had to make at the start. For this time make three dishes from previous experience two of them have already been chosen.

For the first dish: Remake your first test dish and improve upon it using everything you have learned.

Made:_____________________________________

Second dish will be the dish incorporating recipes or formulas in your own plates. Improve upon this recipe and truly make it your own.

Made:________________________________________

The last dish will be your own. Have a friend pick one protein, one starch and one vegetable without your knowledge. Cook for them in the span of one hour a dish a full composed plate of food with the three main ingredients and whatever you have in your pantry.

Made:_______________________________________

Friend: ______________________________________

Protein:______________________________________

Starch:______________________________________

Vegetables:___________________________________

See how far you have come in the span of a single year. Every day you spent reading this either for a few minutes or few a couple hours. Learning what can be in the kitchens as well as the techniques and a good many recipes can be enough for a book. If anything I hope this will not sit loveless on a shelf instead being carted around as a fun read or even as a foot stool because this thing was much bigger then I thought at the beginning and I am proud to see it done .

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Excerpt- Time, Fire, and Cuisine

Sometimes when you need to impress people you need to just get them some food. When you use an alcohol for cooking it is always good to use something of a mid shelf booze. A lower one if you need to burn it off first never get the bottom shelf stuff as most times that stuff is not fit to remove fingernail polish let alone drink.

September 17th -Fruit Romanoff

This dessert comes from much the same line as the zabayon sauce. Both are sauces that work to best show the texture and flavors of fresh fruit. Made from whipped cream folded in to an equal part of sour cream this is easier then to whisk heavy zabayon.

1:1 Heavy cream before whipping to sour cream

Mix the sour cream with a shot of brandy for every cup. Then add an equal part of brown sugar to brandy to the sour cream.

8:1:1 Sour cream to brandy to brown sugar

Whisk the heavy cream until it reaches medium peaks. If you have an electric hand held mixer I would suggest using it especially if your not to strong in the elbow or are not making large batches at a time.

Fold your whipped cream in to your sour cream in thirds as to not lose any of the air you worked to put in to it. For making desserts for events it handles well in if it is made the day of the event. If you hold it for more then twelve hours the bacteria in the sour cream will continue to do their work making your sauce more tart and throwing off the balance. It becomes a sweet crème fraiche and is definitely usable just not for the original purpose.

You can use it to layer different fruit between layers of sauce. Compotes of pear and apple can also be used as well as any small dice in a small amount of sauce. Being dairy based it gives you a lot to work with for what else you can use. Other alcohols in reduced form, cheeses, other fruit, some vegetables, classic dessert sauces, chocolate. Being only slightly sweet makes it an easy tool when creating desserts to your own will.

This is not a bad desert when time is working against you and you have some energy to spare. Warmer months and fresh fruit with a homemade sauce

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Excerpt – Time, Fire, and Cuisine

One of my first friends in college was a Hawaiian girl and between my accent. I sound like a complete bumpkin accent and her pigeon speak it seemed we could understand each other without having to talk to anyone else. The difference is akin to Moxxi from Borderlands with her normal voice and her accent. Below was the first dish she told me about back on the islands.

It was also with her that we talked what kind of books and what we hated about cookbooks nowadays. They seemed like glory shot filled food porn magazines and they did not teach or better someone’s cooking ability. Having this up now on my own blog kinda makes me look back at the path to get here and to any would be authors wanting to start a book of any kind. Be in it for the long haul.

July 9th – Spam musubi

Knowing that musubi is a Hawaiian dish on default we are going to pair it with something that is about as integrated in to the island cuisine, spam. Looking at the can some people may not enjoy the taste of such a thing and if that is the case you can remove the spam for some spicy Portuguese sausage.

Start your preparation by taking some good sushi rice or in the case that none can be found some medium grain rice cooked so that it is slightly sticky. This can be done by finding a rice grain with a lot of starch and only rinsing it once in cold water quickly. Like the Japanese sushi you will need to create a blend of your favorite vinegars to flavor the rice. I prefer mixing a batch of vinegar that is a quarter of the dry rice by volume. My vinegar mix starts off at 3:2 rice wine vinegar to apple cider vinegar.

After mixing up the vinegars in a container and your rice is cooked you want to remove the rice from the pan in to a bowl preferably wooden. Wooden bowls, not being so popular though may be hard to get to so just relax before taking your favorite mixing bowl out.

Before you flavor the rice though on a cutting board take your spam, remove it from the can and cut in to slices as big as your middle and ring finger combined. Begin cooking these in a pan letting them crisp up a little before topping your rice.

Place your rice in to a bowl and with a firm spatula begin breaking up the rice until you get a half dozen large clumps. Then slowly pour in your vinegar while breaking down the sticky ball so that they have a slightly tacky surface while appearing moist.

Shape your sushi to be held with two fingers. Begin shaping your race making sure to wet your hands as the rice will stick to your palms less. Finish by topping your creation with your fried spam or sauteed sausage. Matches well with anything teriyaki flavored as well as a light seaweed salad.

Sushi rice – 4:1 dry rice to vinegar mix by volume

Vinegar mix – 3:2 rice wine vinegar to apple cider vinegar.

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Rough Draft – Where the line is drawn

I am still on the way of finishing this but here is a passage from my past Nanowrimo attempt. Now about half done before it was pushed back due to personal issues.

It was my Friday in the work week two days off to do with as I please. Finishing my movie before moving on my way back to the store their was only one thing that caught my eye. In the parking lot there was a black SUV bright with the orange light reflecting off of it the model seemingly new like one of those undercover cop vehicles. It didn’t have anything that made me nervous except it just seemed out of place. Getting inside the store did it take me a moment to realize that something was wrong.

All of the lights were off with a small series of voices coming from the main storefront looking out through the windows on the swinging double doors. More then a couple heads were seen in over the top of the dry goods shelves Paul’s hat making him apparent from the people standing opposite from him. Faces were hard to see as the rest of the lights out on the main floor had also been turned off leaving everything to be illuminated by the rays orange light coming through the windows. Something was wrong because only workers should be in the store at these hours our closing time was a couple hours ago. Pulled back there was a glove over my mouth. I tried screaming but no sound came out. Looking up I could see Jake’s face looking out in the main store front a worried expression set as he pulled me away from the window.

“Listen” he whispered.

“We need to get to the p.a room. Follow me and be quiet.”

Having to walk by the people made me feel more then just a little scared.

“How are we going to sneak past them.”

“We aren’t. Close your eyes. Do not open them until I say so.”

Choking up on why I had to be blindfolded I did what I was told trying to figure out what was going on a small strip of cloth was given to me after he had tied it over his own eyes I felt comfortable enough to do it myself. His hand soon found mine as a bright light could be felt on my face the usual tiles underneath felt more like grass, soft yet strangely solid. Walking over what felt a couple feet the tile returned as the light darkened leaving me in complete darkness.

“All done. We can take them off now.”

Pulling off the fabric what I thought would be the back of the store was actually the p.a room. We could not have done it in a couple steps. It was impossible unless something had moved us.

Pulling four items form his pocket he took a moment fidgeting with them placing them around us in the shape of a square. Turning them on from his phone they looked no bigger then a small apple.

“Two way noise cancellation and stereo systems. Some of my earliest inventions, but still one of my favorites. We can talk and I will explain everything after this. Right now though whatever Paul can do depends on what the answers to some questions are.”

Everything seemed to be way outside my reach as the words rattled around in my head trying to make sense of themselves. These things seemed to be just madness yet I had been teleported so he was telling the truth. Looking at him I nodded my answer to let him know I was ready to hear the questions.

“Can you be trusted? If we have secrets that we have to show to fight back then can you be trusted to keep things secure? We will have to show you things no one will believe or even think possible.”

Nodding my response he turned around muttering something about how this could have been done better. Pushing the main button the speakers came to life

“Paul, go for it!”

Everything seemed to run slower as the guns were seen reflecting their shapes in the life before the three men fired off a shower of bullets knocking him back down in to the darkness. When they had turned around seemingly for us there was a worry that we would be next. Looking over Jake seemed to be more then comfortable. Seemingly knowing something no one else did as the three men turned back around their attention caught by some noise I take as everyone decided to move down that way investigating to see if he was gone. The bullets had hit their mark at least twice, and for some reason we were not helping him. Shaking his arm he just comforted saying his friend was fine. These two guys had teleported me and taken two bullets without even raising the eyebrow of the other wondering this could have gone on for so long. Bouncing around in the room waiting for some sign of life soon scared me.

From near the back of the aisle a shot of bright almost blue light streaked down the length hitting the three attackers knocking them out. Bodies dropping to the floor in various positions no sound was heard of the attack. Making our way down the stairs myself behind Jake it was soon apparent that the guys had come for some reason to end my coworkers. Stepping in to the aisles it smelled like a lightning storm had passed. Seeing the damage up close left me fearful for the whole experience. Paul was slumped against the waist high freezer near the back. Checking for a light in my pockets the only thing was the flashlight app on my phone running behind Jake it was soon apparent he was breathing the only remainders of the battle seemed to be the four bullet holes in his shirt and pants. Under him sat a small puddle of blood shining red against everything the blood trails from the wounds fresh to the floor. Looking for something to wrap his wounds with Jake was having some conversation with him before moving to the back of the store. Finding some paper towels and cheesecloth from the deli section as well as the bandage roll in the first aid kit there seemed to be enough to dress his wounds.

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Excerpt – “Personal Policies” – first draft

Here is another piece of writing I am working on. It will be a short story when everything is said and done, but here is a excerpt from the first draft. So here we go…

Watching the sun fall over the village all was as it should have been from the outside. Peaceful and many of the soldiers back home with their loved ones. That did not make him feel any better as he stood watching from his place near the window.

For as the moonlight began to glow did the questions begin to come en masse. Why did everyone hate them? Why did they believe they would do them harm? It was only when they had mobilized from the village that the battle truly began and all of his power to stop it was useless at the charge of the masses. She would not be there anymore to help him. Reported dead it was not long before proof of her demise came to him as part of the casualties list and it stung to know that the one he had trusted more then any other would be part of the next life.

Now the question stood was what he would do next. As the then child to the lord and now mayor of the village he had done everything to show them that working with them was the most effective strategy. With her death though it did not take long for the opinion of the town to drop losing allies from the other side of the sea. Shaking his head he moved over to the plush love seat lined of red velvet that they would always sit on as they read in front of the fire. Where the fire of warmth and happiness was now there was only a dark void seemingly all the good from the room in a manner not unlike a magic spell. Looking around the room memories of their happiness seemed to paint the room. Both of them talking about the artist of a painting on the wall while another had both of them sitting behind his desk shoulder to shoulder sharing a candle before she had turned inward taking their first kiss.

Beast folk as they were called in town had been part of the beginning of the future. A future based on happiness and teamwork for all versus what had actually transpired. It was dismal to think what was going to happen knowing that he did everything to make it good only for it to rot in his hands. From the central government he had been called a coward, a leech trying to make peace instead of trying to invade. All of the beast folk encampments had been removed burned in the anger stoked by the fear that only a people with so many differences could conjure on such short notice.

The knock on the door signaled his maid waiting behind the door.

“Come in.”

She bounced in happily no doubt from her own husband returning from the latest of the encampments turning to dust. Looking over as her long auburn hair was tied up in a bun he felt nothing but venom beginning to burn in to his spirit poisoning all it touched with the malice. His own voice was rough from lack of use hiding himself in the manor while he coped with her death. While the head butler had been knowledgeable of the relationship she had been less so with her own smile making him wish for the chance the one person that would understand him to return from the grave.

“How are you doing tonight, master? Some of the men are going to the pub and would like you to show up?”

His head snapped at the speed it turned looking at her with what had to seem a fiery glare as she was unused to such vileness in dealings. Standing up from the couch he motioned her over to the desk littered with papers in two sets of handwriting. Lit candle moving closer began to illuminate everything for her as his own eyes had been used to the night. Pulling from the bottom of the pile with practiced precision brought a small report from one of the forests surrounding the village. Handing it over the woman did the most to read it with little luck.

“Miss, do you know what builds this house and every other house in the village?”

She looked up for a moment thinking before answering, “Yes sir, wood.”

“That paper is part of a packet of them wherein they all say the same. Our forests are becoming ill from something and it is turning all the wood brittle making the roots weak. Do you know what happens in the next two years if there is no wood.?”

Listening intently she could only imagine where this was going. The eccentricity of her master had been talked about more as a joke at times seemingly married more to his work then to any lover.

“We trade for it? We can still hunt for fur and use it for farmland can we not?”

His smile seemed dark enough for her to catch it as he leaned down to open the drawer closest pulling out a stack of papers as tall as a draft bottle.

“Correct, except what happens when the entire forest within a week and a half is susceptible, showing signs of this disease? Many of our animals have began to migrate out of our forests if you have not noticed the hunters have not bagged any formidable game in a couple of fortnights.”

Nodding in understanding she had noticed the supply of meat not being so plentiful despite the spring season. She had just thought it was just a hiccup of life.

“I do not know. We go further to get what we need?”

A growl was stuck in his throat as what little of his patience seemed to blow itself out like the candle flame they were standing around. Throwing the papers across the room leafs of it fell softly to the floor while the remaining stack landed in the fireplace on top of the cold ashes. The simplicity of her answer made him want to scream and yell before it all drained from him in a heartbeat.

“My dear, let me ask you a question. I did not certify by any means the hunting of the beast folk so who did?”

The question had caught her off guard. While many thought he was just being bureaucratic about the action to hear he did not endorse the attacks at all made her eyes go wide for a moment that he had caught. Silence settled in the room before she had begun to voice her answer in the tone much like the small birds outside his window would use in greeting.

“Malley, sir. He had started the movement and took it upon himself to attack the beast folk. At the pub he made them out to be creatures of evil to be destroyed.

The light of another candle came in through the doorway held by an older man with mournful eyes. Head butler of the mayor’s estate had been a job he had worn with the greatest of honors, but seeing what had happened to his master as he explained to one of the younger maids. It was all very heartbreaking to see such a fall of spirit. As her voice died to catch his explanation he bowed his head slightly because he did not put together the pieces fast enough to help the younger man currently knuckling in to the desk in what seemed to be a mix of rage and sorrow. Turning back the mayor had nodded a greeting before falling in to the chair turning less of a person and more of a defeated pile of humanity.
“Sarah, is Grast correct?”

Nodding to him she could only wonder of the many questions that began to flit through her unhampered skull.

“Grast, you knew. You. knew me and her. You had heard.”

His hand seemingly tried to find the words he needed to use except their were none left. Turning his head Grast took a moment to remember the child that would look at him with tears in his eyes because a bird had died. Before exclaiming to make the town better and everyone happy. It seemed funny in a dark sense because although they looked like the same face the emotions were so much deeper.

“Miss Sarah. What you may not have realized is with the crisis with our timber and possibly even our food there were attempts to make a treaty with the beast folk across the sea. It had gone seemingly well they were more then ready to help us in our fair town’s time of need while all they wanted was to grow and explore this land that was so foreign to them. That is until the attacks began. Now with this set of attacks they will most likely counter not with the civic minded group that was over here but with the trained soldiers of the empire of more then millions .”

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