rough draft

Excerpt – Life, Love and Cooking

Here is something from one of the book projects I currently have in the starting round of editing. Something for every day of the year going over kitchen wisdom, recipes, tips, tricks and my own experiences working in various kitchens.

January 5th– Ratios vs. recipes (quick pie crust)

Things do not need to be difficult to be good. Some times I will crack a cook book to find a recipe with too many ingredients, and many of which serving no purpose to the final dish. Pie crust is an ingredient that is a great example of this. Dozens of possible combinations between fats, flours, and flavorings may make things confusing. You will need a pastry cutter for this. Otherwise a pie crust is always within a three step countdown. Ratios you will find to be much more useful then complicated recipes. I will try to give ratios whenever possible in the future.

So three parts all purpose flour with two parts fat either shortening or butter and one part ice cold water. Pinch some salt in with the flour and give it a light stir with the hand. So which fat do you use? Shortening would be useful if you’re new to the crust game for the simple fact that it will not melt as easily so you have more time. Butter will bring better flavor and richer texture just realize that you will need to chill the butter even freezing it may be suggested. If you want to go halvsies on the fats I have found that will give you the best of both worlds.

Put your fat in the flour and using your pastry knife cut the fat in to the flour. This will take some time if you’re not used to it that’s ok. Now how much you cut it to depends on what you are using it for if you need a flaky crust such as the top cover to a double crust pie then you want to cut the fat to the size of frozen peas. Cutting to rice size fat granules will create a mealy crust. Reason for this is that when you roll the dough the fat flattens and the larger size lends itself to creating layers while the mealy crust will be structurally sound. Next add the water do so slowly stopping at the last tenth before kneading together if it seems a little dry then continue with the last tenth until amalgamated. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap before putting it in the fridge to chill before rolling out to whatever you need.

3 parts all purpose flour 2 parts cold fat 1 part ice cold water 1/8 tsp salt for 8 oz of dough.

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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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