Of Ducks, Ravioli, and Some Rudeness

Last week, Dorkboy and Little Man fondly remembered the Crispy Duck dishes just about every Chinese restaurant in England has on the menu, and how they miss it. I clearly saw that as a challenge. So off I went in search of a reasonable recipe that isn't overly westernised and all that. And found one. The only change I made was I replaced the sugar with honey for the sauce, too. Cuz, you know, I don't like the idea of sugar. Not that I ate the duck. Well, I tried a bite because I was curious whether it tasted authentic. The guys wiped out 3/4 of the entire duck in one go. Oh, I added cucumber to the scallions for the pancakes, but otherwise, I followed the recipes, including the Chinese pancakes, which I cooked in the crepe pan. I'm sorry I didn't take pictures. Clearly, I was far too excited to think of that.

Then today, my new book arrived. I find good quality books on cooking more of an inspiration than actually looking for precise recipes. I devoured the book for breakfast. Until I reached the page that tells one how to make pasta from scratch. And I thought, Oooooohhhhh, Iz gonna make ravioli; mushroom-filled for us and pesto-filled for the young ones.

( Pasta Recipe )

( Ravioli Filling )

And last but by no means least, ( The world's easiest marinara sauce )

Dinner really was a lovely affair. It's all gone now. A pasta maker has just moved to the top of my 'urgent needs for the kitchen' list.

In other news, I tried signing up for the snuna exchange in time for the postings. Nope, no luck. Mod denied me and argued there is no age statement on my profile. I wrote back saying I understand my profile page being crowded, but age statement is there, and I pasted it into the PM. I guess expecting an answer is too much to ask for, eh? And giving a profile page more than not even a cursory glance, in which banners from various adult-only archives could have been noticed, or glancing at my friends list, which also would have shown the likelihood of me being old rather than underage would have been too much too. *snerk* Sorry to those of you who participate, but I won't be reading or reviewing. Cuz if I can't read all of the fics, then I don't want to at all. *pouts*

On writing, I have to edit one chapter to send to my lovely beta, and I have to complete another chapter of a different fic to send to my other lovely beta. I have an interesting three-word-prompt from stefdarlin, which I am keen to write, but so far, I've come up totally blank. Lucius is very keen on progressing the other two fics, and I've been spending far too much time in the kitchen lately. I think tomorrow the cooking will be simple; maybe kugel, asparagus, and some green salad.

I still owe a few comments on the writing thread, which turned out overwhelming in a very positive way. I received much food for thought on the why and was surprised to find that a lot of the reasons you've given apply to me.