Omnomicon

So I update my site after several months and I get one comment??

Clearly, Apollo is my only real internet friend. *tear*

It’s cool, I dig it. Holidays, busy times, finals . . . whatever other crap is plaguing your life at the moment . . . it’s a tough time for a blogger to end a period of truancy. I also suspect the lack of photos and a cohesive recipe may be to blame. Long story short, I am (temporarily) bereaved of my beloved 50mm lens (the one that took all those lovely photos everyone likes) and thusly am forced to endure the frustration of using some other, vastly inferior lens. With a zoom. Which you would think might make my task easier, but in reality does not.

SO I will try to snap some photos of what I’m talking about as I prepare it for my family and dearest friends.

Um, okay. I’ll end my guilt-inducing lecture with that.

While absence might make your lover’s heart fonder, I’m not so sure how it works with blogs. I’ve been especially internet-absent as of late, and in line with my apologetic nature, I’d like to assure everyone that everything’s peachy and no bizarre accidents or illness has befallen me. It’s just that

a) I’m not usually very talented at any one hobby, which is why
b) I rarely hold onto any hobbies for very long.

For example, once I made enough doilies for every appropriate surface in my parents’ house, I pretty much called it quits on crochet, and while I may make a hat every now and again, I’m no longer the lady always working on something like a Charlie Brown scarf.

I feel like I’ve missed a lot of food-related stuff in the last few months, like the opportunity to subversively bitch about Food Inc, or even consider attending the Foodbuzz Festival thing. And to think, I could right this very moment have a cabinet bulging with spice mixes & condiments I would never buy! C’est la vie, as I hear they say in France.

If you’ve been following along, you already know that every time I make a site plan, I can’t stick to it, so no promises here in terms of schedule, or regularity of posting, or anything I have to actually make good on. But I think I will be offering a bit more random commentary here and there between posts, because I prefer my recipe posts to be self-contained and non-referential, but at the same time I feel like I have a bunch of internet food buddies and talking like it’s the first time anyone’s ever been to the site is getting to be a kind of strain. I’m not even sure if that makes sense to sane people, but I’m a woman and my feelings don’t have to be sensical, so there. [side note: I don’t actually believe this; it is merely a convenient sentiment at the moment]

So thank you for reading, and thanks for keepin’ on comin’ back, and hey! I can’t skip a November Recipe Round-Robin—we have Thanksgiving coming up! Look for an announcement some time next week.

In the meantime, check it out. It’s a little boat of husk cherries bravely navigating the husky waters of their own protective little pods.

Hehe.

FACT: Omnomicon has lain dormant for some time. Months, even.

To all concerned: everything’s fine and great! I’m not dead, and hey, I even had time to get all engaged and thinking about a wedding. I’m just you know . . . not busy updating my website.

You see, I’m the kind of person with A LOT of hobbies. Well, a lot of [short-lived] hobbies. So the fact that I managed to go almost six months before lapsing is just remarkable! But in time I need a little bit of a break because if I’m going to burn myself out, I should probably save that for normal stressors like work and personal relationships rather than a website named after a nonsense word.

The lament continues: I’m really not feeling the food blog scene these days. I scroll along my rss feed daily, catching tidbits on Julie and Julia and free samples of rice wine vinegar and Tuesdays with Dorie and seasonal desserts and the culinary scene in upper Peoria, but I skip past most because I kinda just don’t care at the moment. That’s not to say I don’t have a lot of respect for food bloggers (hey, I got friends), but a lot of us are all saying/making/photographing the same stuff. And while it’s not a competition, if I’m not really bringing anything special to the table, why do I feel this overwhelming sense of obligation?

Aren’t you glad I came back to whine a little bit? You missed that, admit it.

The good news is, I’ve no intention of discontinuing Omnomicon, so I won’t make you beg me to keep posting. The not-as-awesome news is that I do not have this huge backlog of stuff to share like I wish I did, so I have to start generating more content. I’m working on it. Hoping to announce a new Recipe Round-Robin soon (and also send out old prizes, my GOD am I behind).

Cute little nose wrinkles,
Aleta

Say CHEEEEESSSEEEEE.

So I’m back in the kitchen, but I’m gonna ease into it slowly. I like this “free time” thing I’d forgotten about and summer is awesome. Expect daily noms (natch) and a weekly update after some fashion on some day or other. Eventually I’d like to get back to my twice-a-week deal, on a schedule even. Yeah!

Left coast, here I come!

Am I like the industrious ant, who steadfastly collected food photographs and scheduled posts for my week away? No, I am the lazy-ass grasshopper who realized too late her vacation was approaching, said “fuck it” then blew out of town. I probably won’t be answering email in this time either.

Meantime, check out this meandering fruit.

Over the next couple months I have a short list of amazing events (read: San Francisco and a music festival) and extra hours to cram in at work to make them possible. As such I’ll be shifting the focus of the site for the next little while so I can get the most out of my summer. It’s like a free vacation from the job that doesn’t pay me. Thanks, boss! (that’s me)

While the photograph/recipe/thousand words/twice-a-week formula has been working quite well for me, I think this is a good opportunity to focus on some ideas that are a little less labour-intensive and maybe even refreshing, as there are a lot of food blogs who do the same thing I’ve been doing anyway. And don’t worry, I’m planning to return to the more familiar schedule in the last couple weeks of July.

So stay with me people, here’s what you have to look forward to over the next several weeks:

• The yummy results from June’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Round-Robin (with plenty of commentary, photos and the recipe as per usual). If you’re following along, you know that the taste-testing is just getting ready to begin!
• The announcement of July’s Recipe Round-Robin, a savoury dish as yet to be determined (still taking suggestions!).
• Daily noms, daily.

I’ll also be chronicling my first CSA summer. Depending on how much free time I can squeeze out of my schedule, I hope to photograph each week’s share, get in touch with my local agricultural roots, and perform a cost-benefit analysis on the experience. And likely some salad “recipes” if you can call them that.

So that’s my big announcement! Not a big deal, but a little different for a little while and then I’ll be back with a veritable onslaught of delicious originals.

Now get away from the internet and take some time to enjoy your summer too! And here’s a daily nom. We made sammiches on whole-grain Tuscan pane bread with Swiss, avocado and roasted reds on the left and muenster, capicola and red delicious apples on the right.

Kay listen, I spent all of this exhausted night writing this post on a truly delicious dinner favourite. Then I had to log in again. Then I lost the entire thing.

I’m going to go to bed and rewrite this tomorrow night or something. Sorry bout that. Here’s a preview for the emotionally invested.

<3, Aleta.

Hola! Como esta? Bueno!

My Spanish isn’t what it never used to be, but guess who has two thumbs and just celebrated a 25th birthday.

->this gal<-, that’s who!

I received so many wonderful gifts from my closest pals, and I include among them the gift of everyone’s presence at my karaoke bash, which is all I really wanted anyway. But SOME people (yes, I am talking about you, Erin) are apparently way the hell too cool and just had to go out and make my birthday extra-special—and I guess I can’t complain because you guys,

Check

This

Out.

Are you frickin kidding?! Totally adorable, funky, completely vintage and all mine. So I prefer family items because what’s vintage really without a good story, right? OH WELL HEY IT CAME WITH ONE OF THOSE TOO.

This lovely oven proof cassarole [sic] was a Christmas gift from Billy to his Nana Mary Nicotera in 1971. Nana cherished it and never used it except to display on the kitchen counter. A lovely family heirloom which could be used as a cookie jar.

Billy purchased it at a fine quality gift shop in Marblehead. Unfortunately the ID card of the manufacturer went astray but it is of fine quality.
Bea Cannata
Billy’s mom 4/15/78

I can’t even believe that I have come to own a 40-year-old piece that may or may not have ever been used, but if it has, it certainly doesn’t show. So until I find a suitable cherry-popping recipe, I will cherish it and admire the class it brings to my kitchen counter.

Thank you, Erin, for sharing the most fantastic taste of anyone I know.

So this is completely unrelated to my birthday, other than I made it the morning of receiving The Great Gift. Finnish pancakes! There’s not too much in the way of ingredients, but they all pull their weight in a crescendo of souffle-like tastiness.

Man, that ingredient set is as white as Rhode Island.

I love the egg yolk peeking out from under there. Hello, little egg yolk!

What makes pancakes Finnish is, apparently, that they are pancaked in the oven rather than the stove top. This is a great way to serve a large number of people piping hot pancakes all at once.

Serving suggestions (2).

Serve with love.

Finnish Pancakes
Courtesy of Massachusetts Poultry Association, Inc.
Buy lots of eggs!!!

4 tbsp butter, melted
4 eggs
2 c milk
1/2 c flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 450^o, and pour the melted butter into a 9″x16″ baking pan.

Beat eggs until foamy but not whippy, until well-blended. Beat with milk, flour, sugar and salt. Pour into pan with butter and bake 20-23 minutes.

Serve any way you like! Serving suggestions pictured include powdered sugar & cinnamon and real Massachusetts maple syrup.

 

 

nutrition summary: (for 1 of 8 servings, made with fat free egg substitute & skim milk) 115 calories, 6g fat, <1g fiber; 3 weight watchers points

So if you have an rss feed to my site, you may have (?) noticed some test posts in there. This is because I have officially migrated my entire site to Omnomicon.com! This is very exciting for me, as it marks my very first domain, and I’m a nerd like that. If you wish to continue receiving updates to Omnomicon by rss feed, please update yours by going to www.omnomicon.com and clicking on this button:

The content at omnomicon.blogspot.com is being abandoned, so this is the only way to keep getting Omnomicon updates. All my old posts will redirect to the new site. If you experience any issues, would you please let me know? I also have a new email address, for this and all other issues/questions/love letters:

aleta at omnomicon dot com.

If you keep me on your feed, that’s so awesome, thanks a zillion bunches for the extra effort! If not, maybe we’ll cross paths again soon.

Either way, big hugs and many thanks.

-Aleta

Hello folks!

So after receiving many lovely, flattering blog awards from blogs that I happen to frequent (which makes these compliments especially flattering), I dropped off the face of the internet to pursue everything else in my life. This is not particularly surprising, as my attention to new hobbies tends to wax and wane and eventually bombs out altogether.

However, since I always have to make food, and also because I got a new Nikon D40 for Christmas (my very own–previously I’d been using Dano’s camera), I declare this blog not dead! The biggest obstacle for me has been the lack of natural lighting. Though I fancy myself a decent photographer, I’m not a talented lighter, and a good recipe with crappy photos is just plain not acceptable. So one of my many goals in the next year is to update once weekly, which gives me the opportunity to shoot on the weekends until the days are long enough to accomodate evening shoots.

I’m marrying this goal to another: lose 10-15 more lbs. At this point, it’s just icing on the cake, so to speak, because I’m already at the weight I wanted to be a year ago, but I know I can do it and it’ll still put me well within healthy limits. That said, my baking has been the biggest obstacle to overcome, and I’ll be focusing on lower-calorie recipes in 2009. Even though high-fat, absurdly rich foods really do take the loveliest photos.

So I leave you with these resolutions, and a photo from a shoot last summer that amounted to a moderately tasty corn chowder and a bunch of unusable shots thanks to unnatural lighting.