Add JoeSoCrafty?

"In the interest of interdisciplinary inspiration, to cultivate creative crossbreeding ... the blogs will be combined!" -- Joe Valeri

When I started doing this blog (and a couple others) the idea was to create different blogs to document different hobbies, projects, phases, etc. I haven't yet created a "Crafting" blog, but I've been meaning to -- and I need to decide whether to create it separately or fold it into the mix here. My thinking has evolved a little bit, and I'm not so sure I want to create a new one. I can see reasons to keep them separate -- and I can see reasons to combine them.

I already added the gardening stuff into this one. Originally this was called JoeSoBakery, and it was going to be just about baking. But I realized that was retarded because I only bake something a couple times a year. I cook fairly often -- both trying new recipes and mastering those I already know -- so I ended up expanding to include all cooking in general. 

I have a separate one for my radio show podcast and DJ mixes. But what should I do with crafting?  I feel like the radio show and the DJ mixes are their own separate thing -- they're a product, almost a brand name, so to speak. So I think it makes sense to package all of that together. It's still "JoeSoHeady," but the weblog remains strictly dedicated to the radio show and DJing. If you want to listen to the show or check a set list you won't have to scroll through posts about planting broccoli or sewing pajama pants out of flannel sheets.

Right, so that brings me back to the crafting.

When I don't have a lot to do (e.g., single and lovin' it) I tend to do more of these hobbies and projects. A couple years ago I did a few sewing projects. Recently I went through a candle making phase. Cooking -- that's an ongoing thing -- but getting into cooking -- that's something I could say goes in phases. So all these things fill the same kind of role -- hobbies, interesting things to do, skills to learn, serious yet fun, practical but whimsical, etc.

I probably do anywhere from 1 or 2 up to 10 or 12 crafty projects over a year. Sometimes I'll stick with the same craft for a while and do several projects, and sometimes I'll just kind of check it out and move on. So it doesn't make sense to have separate blogs for each craft. I would only have 1 or 2 entries each. 

It does make sense to keep crafting separate from cooking just because they are clearly two different things -- but they do fill a similar role for me. It makes sense to combine them because there aren't going to be a ton of posts to either one. If I only do a handful of cooking blog entries and 2 or 3 craft projects over the course of a year, those would both be pretty weak blogs. 

But what about the practical purpose of making the blog in the first place? I mean, who cares if the blog is "weak" because it only has 3 entries over a year and a half period? If the point is to have a place for me to document what I'm doing -- for all the normal, general reasons one would document their hobbies -- then why not keep them separate, for organizational purposes? 

On the other hand ... what about some sort of cross-craft creative inspiration that might occur by combining them together? Crafting projects inspired by work in the garden -- recipes discussed while working on the sewing machine -- furniture ideas hatched over tight quarters in a hot kitchen....

I think that paragraph is the winner! In the interest of interdisciplinary inspiration, to cultivate creative crossbreeding ... the blogs will be combined!

With that in mind ... introducing JoeSoCrafting to the JoeSoCookbook network! Should I start thinking about changing the name again? I do kind of like cookbook still because "cookbook" could be used as a general term -- a collection of ideas for how to make things -- whether you're making a  meal, a dessert, a candle or a pair of pajama pants!

JoeSoCookbook ... a collection of things I've made? 

JoeSoCookbook ... recipes for hobbies? 

JoeSoCookbook ... what's cookin in the mind of Joe?

I'll keep working on the tag line....

Holiday Brownies

Brownies!

I wanted to get into the holiday spirit in a couple of ways. For one thing I felt like doing some baking. But really, what I really wanted, was to have some special medicated snacks available over the holidays. I'm a grown ass man (with no kids) and I want to celebrate on Christmas.  Now, I don't want to be ducking in and out of the house all day -- I'll be with family for one thing -- so I thought it would be a great idea to make some heady treats!

a jar of ABV (already been
vaped) material

This kind of food goes by many names: "special" brownies, space cakes, cannabutter, etc. But no matter what you call it, for the social- and health-conscious consumer, eating your recreational herb is about as good as it gets. I use a vaporizer most of the time, and you can actually bake with the leftover material. Yep, you can use it again. When consumers use a vaporizer, they dump the used material into a glass jar. Because you don't use a flame when vaporizing, none of the plant matter or potent ingredients get burned away when you vaporize. This is great news when you're actually vaping -- 100% of the carcinogens are eliminated. But it's even better news once you're finished vaping -- you have leftovers to bake with.  It's commonly known as ABV (already been vaped) material.

ABV + oil & heat = Yay!

You can actually add the ABV directly to a recipe -- any recipe that uses oil -- or, ideally, you can use it to make "green" oil or butter ahead of time, which you then use in whatever recipe you want. The basic idea, just like baking with regular herb, is that the heat and oil activate the chemical ingredients, which, of course, you then eat. Consumers in more progressive areas are well aware of the variety and creativity abundant in the medicated snack industry.

Here are some basic principles:

1. If you're going to put the ABV directly into the recipe, use something like a coffee grinder to grind the material up. You want it to be really fine.
2. Add an extra egg to make the batter gooier to mask the ABV.
3. Use about an ounce of material per batch of brownies. (You need about 4 or 5 times as much used as you would fresh.)
4. If making the butter or oil ahead of time, you just need to heat them together over very low heat in any of a variety of ways, and then strain it.
5. Use a low temperature -- about 280-300 -- for all baking of this type. This is key.
6. Check out Kads Baker's demonstration!

ground up nice and fine in the Magic Bullet

I used 71.8 grams of ABV in
a double batch of brownies.
It was plenty.

oil and material

It will sizzle when heated!  

I sort of did both techniques. I did make the oil ahead of time and strain out a bunch of the matter, but I let plenty of it go in, which is no big deal. So I'm sure I ended up adding about half of the material into the recipe anyway. To make the oil, I dumped the ABV into a glass baking dish and then mixed in the oil. I put it in the oven for about an hour at 300 degrees.

Here's the brownie recipe I used after I made the oil:

• 1 cup ABV oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Mix the oil, sugar, and vanilla, and then beat in the eggs.
2. Combine the remaining dry ingredients and add to the wet mixture.
3. Spread the batter into a 9x13 greased pan and bake at 300 for 45-60 minutes.
4. Brownies are done when inserted toothpick pulls out cleanly.
5. It might take longer to bake since the temperature is low.

After they cool, try just a couple of bites to see how strong they are. Wait an hour or two to feel the effect before eating any more!

Banana Bread with Blueberries

Last year when I started learning to bake I was making a lot of pies.  When I wanted to try something different I thought I would try banana bread -- partly because it was a size pan that I had, a nice 5x9in glass pan, and partly because  I happened to have some bananas laying around at the time.  It was really easy to make, and I've probably made it 4 or 5 times since then...

Today I cooked a big breakfast for the first time in my new apartment, and I wanted to keep it going after I ate.  So I went right into the banana bread, took some good pictures, and experimented  by adding blueberries.

Start by smashing about 4 bananas in a big bowl.  I decided to add some blueberries as well.  One of the things I try to do is add more fruit and reduce the amount of sugar I use.  

Then all you do is add the following ingredients one after the other, put it in a buttered pan and bake for an hour at 350:

• 3-4 bananas
• blueberries or other fruit (optional)
• 1/3 C. melted butter
• 3/4 C. sugar -- I reduced this to only 1/2 a cup, which is healthier (plus I used the blueberries)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 t. baking soda 
• salt
• 1 1/2 C. flour

That's it!  I used a 5x9 inch glass baking pan and baked for an hour.  It turned out splendidly, and the added fruit is a total bonus.  I do encourage drinking while cooking/baking.  Today I enjoyed some Magic Hat HIPA.

I like sorting my music in iTunes into various playlists for different moods, events, subgenres, etc, and one category I have is cooking lists.  So today I went with a classic, "Cooking List 01," which features Chuck Berry, Eminem, Cake, Ella Fitzgerald, and mc chris, among others.

Check out the rest of the pictures:

smash the bananas, but not the blueberries

melted butter -- I used Earth Balance

about half a cup of sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla

1 beaten egg

just a cup and a half of flour

pour it into a little bread pan

bake at 350 for an hour

looks great!

time for a slice

Introduction to JoeSoCookbook

Two things I do are: 1) dabble, and, 2) go in phases.  This means I try a lot of new things but don't necessarily master them.  I don't mean to suggest this is unique or special to me, but it means I need to document what I'm doing because I don't always commit a new skill to memory -- physically or mentally.  The mechanics don't become permanent; instructions are not ingrained.  I think this type of hobby-ing lends itself well to keeping a weblog.  Other people can read it if they want to -- but it's a way for me to keep track of what I've learned and experienced in a particular hobby.  What projects I'm doing, what I still need to do, what has been put on hold...and why.

I went through a sewing phase in the Fall of 2011 when I bought a sewing machine and turned an old flannel sheet into a pair of pajama pants.  I did a few other projects, helped with Halloween costumes, made a few mistakes, learned some lessons...but it was only a phase.  I stopped after a few months, and I'll go back to it at some point in the future.  I'll have to relearn how to set up the freaking bobbin and all that crap again --  should have kept a blog.

In the Summer of 2012 I become a season ticket holder for the Pittsburgh Pirates -- I went into a going to 2 out of every 3 Pirates games and selling a third of my tickets for a good profit phase.  I was hoping they would have a magical season and make the playoffs.  I was hoping they would end 2 decades of losing, so I bought tickets in July for the rest of the season and kept a blog of my experience.  I think it turned out really well and I want to apply a similar approach to some of my random hobbies.

One thing I was doing a lot in the Winter and Spring of 2012 -- after the sewing phase and before the Pirates phase -- was baking: pie, cake, and bread.

I was really working on making a good, classic pie: Dutch Apple, with that cinnamon-y crumbly crust.  SOOO GOOD!  Making a really good pie crust, it turns out, is not easy.  And when you do manage get it right, that doesn't guarantee you will get it right the next time!  One technique I tried was shredding frozen sticks of butter with a cheese shredder to try and ensure the flakiness of the crust.  I also made some blueberry, raspberry, and regular apple pies as well.

I focused on two other recipes besides the pies: banana bread and cinnamon crumb cake.  I do have to say I got really good at both recipes.

The banana bread was really easy and really good.  You just mush up a few bananas, mix in bunch of other stuff, put it in the bread pan, and bake it!  Hahahaha I know those are really thorough instructions, and, you know, you would think -- in a baking blog -- you might see an actual recipe posted, with real tips on preparing it, but I will get to that eventually.  I'm just saying the banana bread was easy.  The recipe fit on a small post-it note and I could always make it without having to go to the store (if I had bananas), which is huge.  I need simple recipes.  When I get the inspiration to bake something, I want to already have all the ingredients. Simplicity is key.

This principle also applies to other hobbies.  When I went through the sewing phase, I would have a moment of inspiration when I would want to work on something, but then I would realize that the sewing machine wasn't set up -- I had to wind the bobbin, thread the needle, all this crap you have to do to get it ready.  I would just want to sit down, line up some cloth, step on the peddle, and go!  A sewing machine can be pretty bad-ass if you're not always fucking around with everything!  I mean, it's loud, sharp, dangerous, it moves pretty fucking fast, and you can make some really cool shit.

So yeah the banana bread had really basic ingredients and was really good.  Here's a confession.  I love to eat junk food.  Well, it doesn't have to be junk.  I just like to eat sweets from time to time.  I often found myself stopping off at a convenience store to grab some Little Debbies or stocking up on Entenmann's at the grocery store.  So I decided to make a little deal with myself.  I said I could eat as much "junk food" I wanted -- IF -- I made it myself.

One of my favorite little convenience foods is Hostess apple pies.  So I was like, alright, I gotta make my own apple pie!  And I did a really good job.  What did I learn...?

You can cut way down on the amount of sugar -- it doesn't have to be syrupy sweet!

Crust is hard to make

Doing the criss-cross crust across the top looks classy and rustic

Crumbly top on the Dutch Apple is amazing

Frozen berries work fine in a pinch

You can make multiple pies at once and freeze before baking!

I learned about this great, simple Mark Bittman recipe -- apple pie pizza.

The other recipe I worked on was cinnamon crumb cake.  The one thing I came up with on my own for this was to add chopped apple.  It worked out really well and added a juiciness to the cake.  And again, you can cut down on the sugar if you use fruit!  Also with this cake I realized that you can mix all the dry ingredients ahead of time.  So I would prepare 4 to 6 cakes worth at a time, then whenever I wanted to whip it up, it was like I had a cake mix already prepared -- my own cake mix!  So this is another great principle that I came to appreciate.

My "principles" as a baker are evolving:

• Junk food is ok when you make it yourself!
• Simplicity: use few ingredients.
• Lower the amount of sugar by 25% and increase fruit.
• Prep extra dry mixes (cake, pie crust, bread) or full pies (and freeze) ahead of time.

So, what will I do in this blog?  Whenever I get back into a baking phase (or just have an isolated baking event), I will document my experiences.  I will add the actual recipes I was using for pies, banana bread, and cinnamon cake, and I'll take pictures of course!  I can pose questions when I need help in case I have any readers who can help me (or any readers, period).  And I will, of course, promote my other blogs, which are going to start popping up now as I go through phases and dabble.