A product rave and some nail stuff (look a girly post)

Ok 2 product comments today (I am not a product junky. I am not a product junky. I am not...) and I am deliberately not calling them reviews because they aren't; just comments.

Ok first a new foundation. I am in love with the Fit Me Shine-Free foundation stick from Maybelline. I bought it on a whim expecting very (very) little. In fact, I totally had buyers remorse when I bought this thinking "Uh - this is going to suck. Drug store foundation is never good on me." and it sat around for while before I finally tried it. (I bought it back in July - relax I am still on the month of not buying things.) SURPRISE - not only does it not suck but I am so in love with it I wore it to an audition last night instead of my usual Ben Nye (which I have been frustrated with as of late). I am currently using 115 which is the lightest color but one so there is even a color left for me to go to in January (more product info here). My skin is combination to dry these days and it works out just fine on me moisture wise and doesn't seem to settle into the lines I totally don't at all have... ahem.

And now nails... I am giving up on Sephora brand nail polish. I know it is (theoretically) made by OPI but I have just had nothing but problems with it. Its durability is terrible, it's streaky more often than not, and I hate the brush. For the price it must be better than this so I chucked the ones I have and I am just going to skip it from now on (no matter how pretty it is).

Semi related on the nails, I found a great blog with lots of really good nail care info (also lots of "here is a color holding the bottle photos but I think that comes with the territory). It is called LoodieLoodieLoodie Find her "how to file" videos here. It is good stuff.

Tabata Tuesday

Increasingly when I do my cardio work out I am just not up for complex choreography step, or, well complex anything. More and more I just want to get it done. So I have done rather a lot of high intensity interval workouts lately, to the point where now I know enough stuff that I just make up my own. And then I thought I should write these down. So yeah - I wrote it down...

You should definitely warm up and cool down. I run around the block first (at least 5 minutes) and stretch to cool down. 

If you are unfamiliar, this is basic tabata structure: 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest for four exercises is a round. You do two rounds to make 1 tabata. That is it. They can be as easy or hard as you make them though they are intended to be really high intensity. Check out this article by Cathe Friedrich to find about more about tabata in general. Cathe is awesome and will literally work your butt off.

Dutch Apple Pancake

This is basically a Yorkshire pudding variant (think toad in the hole but with apples - um,  right... I'll explain toad in the hole some other time). It is a little but fussy but still reasonable enough to manage for brunch. 

It does take a bit longer than a batch of pancakes, so if everyone is starving go for those. Otherwise give this a try as it is rich and tasty. 

What you need:

2 granny smith apples sliced ~1/4" thick (any tart apple with do as long as it holds shape when cooked)

3 tbls brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbls butter

3 room temperature eggs*

1/2 cup milk at room temperature

1 tbls sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

4 oz flour 

*If your ingredients are cold you won't get as much puff but the recipe will still work. 

What to do:

First turn your oven on to 500 degrees (yes really)

Then prep the apples. Slice them up, then toss them with the brown sugar and the cinnamon. When the over is hot put a pan in the oven to get hot. This time I used my oven safe 10" frying pan. Sometimes I use a 9" cake pan. There are those who say that the thinner the pan the better because you want the pan to transfer heat into the batter rapidly. Use what you have and don't worry about greasing because... 

When the pan (and oven) are up to temperature put the butter in the pan and then back into the oven just long enough to melt the butter completely and get it hot (but not burnt). Quickly pull the pan, put the apples in and then back into the oven with it until the apples are just softened, about 20 minutes. 

Mine looked like this when they were ready for the next step.

Notice the carmel-y butter yumminess in the pan with the apples. Mmmmm. 

While the apples are cooking make the batter. Nearly all recipes for popovers/yorkshire pudding variants call for making the batter in a blender. I do it this way too, but I have also made it by hand just be ready to really whisk the heck out of the batter. So that said... put the eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar and flour in the blender and blend until thoroughly integrated. If you are whipping by hand do the liquids first until they are well blended and then add sugar, then flour. 

Ok, now the batter is done. Don't worry about it sitting around waiting for the apples to finish, it will be just fine. Some even say you get better puff if the batter rests (Alton Brown says you don't; I am inclined to agree with him). Anyway... when the apples are done, QUICKLY open the oven, pour the batter in and shove it all back in - definitely don't stop to take pictures... This is all about max heat so the less heat you lose from the oven during this process the better. 

Yeah so speed = bad focus but you get the idea.

Now close the over door and cook until GBD**. DO NOT open the door for at least 20 minutes. If you do, the pudding will fall prematurely and not be nearly as light and airy to eat. Total cooking time will range from 20-30 minutes. Even in my oven it seems to range from time to time depending on how many/what apples I use.

Let cool slightly when you take it out, and it will shrink. Don't panic, it is suppose to fall. This isn't a souffle, you didn't break it (some of the same chemistry at work though). Slice it up, sprinkle on the powdered sugar. EAT! 

Look! I remember a plating photo this time. Now if I could just find my real camera...

** Golden brown and delicious. So yeah, Good Eats fan. 

It is all about making choices

The other day I read an article about auditioning and it contained a classic Steve Jobs quote "A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” This is when it struck me how similar what I do at my desk all day is to what I do when I work on a character. 

At my day job I am the product owner for the home page of a large website. Shortest version of "um so what do you really do" is I set the strategy & feature roadmap for that page. This means I spend my time analyzing data and doing research. I assimilate all this information and then I make choice about what I am going to do. I have to absolutely commit to these choices that I make about my product to in order to be successful. 

We talk about choices a lot in acting; making choices about your character's behavior, position, voice, physicality, etc. Your choices are informed by the text (and research as required for a role) and you have to commit to them.

It was just a bit of a shocking realization that what I do manage a product is really actually quite similar to what I do to create a character.

Turkey taco, burrito, whatever filling

I made my taco filling the other night and as promised I actually noted down how I make. This recipe is admittedly rough. I have been making this stuff for years based on what I used to watch my Mom make so I have always sort of made it by feel. I think she used some sort of recipe at one point but who knows. I come from a long line of make it up as you go cooks.

This is a really useful thing to be able to whip up off the top of one's head. It can go into anything: tacos, burritos, salad, the taco bites and M and I even used left overs last night for Mexican tortilla pizzas. It is also quite fast so it is a good weeknight meal, so I always have what I need to make this around.






What you need:
1 package ground turkey (these are always about 1 1/4 pounds for some reason)
2 ish Tbls Chili powder (I use a blend, currently New Mexico blend)
1 ish Tbls Ground Cumin
1 ish Tbls Paprika (use a medium heat one)
1/2 a large onion chopped fine (this is about a cup I think)
Several garlic cloves minced (I usually use 4ish, but this is really to taste)
1 8oz can tomato sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
Cooking oil (I pretty much always use olive unless I am doing high heat)


Notes:

• If I have a container of salsa in the fridge that has been laying around for a while I will mix that in too. It is a good way to use them up and adds a fresh note to the flavor. 
• Also all my measurements are heaping, hence the "ish" 
• Yes, you can use beef, or pork and beef mixed which is in my opinion the best flavor. I use turkey because, you know, saturated fat... 
• Finally, my family is full of spice wimps. On the rare occasion I get to make this just to suit my taste ground cayenne or chipole pepper goes in too, but that pretty much never happens any more so I use Cholula hot sauce on mine. Or I just whine because spice is always better cooked in... 

What to do:
Chop up all that onion and garlic.
Put a nice big pan on the stove, throw in a bit of oil and let it heat up. Now put the onion & salt in there and soften it. Note the dutch oven above. I used it because of the large cooking surface, not the volume.

When the onion is translucent (yes that mysterious state) in goes the garlic. About a minute later (when you smell garlic cooking), the meat & turn the heat up a bit. I break the meat up as I put it in. Now brown it. Put it in there and DON'T TOUCH IT. I know, you want to stir. Don't. Browning, real browning, is what separates good food from great food. When it starts to look cooked from the top, then you may stir (no I don't have a picture - I forgot to take process pictures. Next time).

During the browning period is when I fling all the dry spices in. I just sort of sprinkle them over the top, then they all get tossed in on that first stir. When I do stir, I stir it well breaking up any large clumps, etc. There is probably a bit stuck to the pan. Excellent. At this point your meat should look mostly cooked. When you pour in the sauce, use that to moisten and scrape up those bits (deglaze that pan), which you do now (also that salsa goes in now if you are using it). Really now I just cook until I am sure the meat is done and the flavorings have come together, 5 minutes or so.

Now you probably noticed I didn't include any "turn on the stove to medium high" type instructions. That is because every stove is different. I have a professional stove so I do nearly everything on medium or less because my stove is rocket nozzle hot. For you, the onion might be medium then the meat browning might be high. Also there are no cooking times really, because it cooks until it is done and you shouldn't walk away because this whole thing is going to take maybe 20 minutes.

So the August of buying some things...

Well, August is over and looking back and I have done okayish. I bought a few things here and there, but overall I was definitely more mindful about shopping and there were even a few moments of putting back impulse buys. As mentioned, I plan on doing this again in September but I already haven't started well. I ended up buying a few things at H&M over the weekend (having of course forgotten all about my pledge of not buying things). I like all 3 shirts - in fact I am wearing one right now. But still I didn't need them, and I kind of bought them in a flurry of "I want some new style-y things." Gah. Changing habits is so hard.