Akemi has been chocolate souffles lately. A lot of chocolate souffles lately. It started the other day with her attempt to recreate a successful chocolate souffle she’d made.
“So, how is it?”she asked as I cracked the hard top, dipped my spoon into the soft chocolate center, and tasted her creation.
“Amazing,”I told her.
“Is it hot?”she asked.
“Well, no,”I said truthfully. “Not hot. But delicious!”
A couple of hours later, she summoned me into the kitchen to sample – yet another chocolate souffle. “This one,”she assured me, “Is better.”
I sat down and sampled her second try, this time cutting the richness of the dark chocolate ganache with the, uh, richness of vanilla Haagen-Dazs ice cream.
“Is it good?”she asked.
“It’s great,”I said.
“Is it hot?”she asked.
“Well, it’s warm…”
Fast-forward to dinner. And dessert: yet another chocolate souffle.
“How is it?”she asked me for the third time that day.
Hey, guess what I had for dessert today? But I’ve got to be careful. I think she’s on to me!
In addition to eating chocolate souffles, monitoring my fantasy football leagues, and spending quality time with my dogs, I’ve also been doing a little scriptwriting for a project that, if all goes as planned (which it rarely EVER does), should go to camera sometime in early 2014. Two weeks since I started and only 38 pages in. Damn. After all these years, it still doesn’t get any easier!
“I’ve also been doing a little scriptwriting for a project that, if all goes as planned (which it rarely EVER does), should go to camera sometime in early 2014. Two weeks since I started and only 38 pages in.”
wish it was stargate! 🙁 :p
Wonderful! Wish I could visit Akemi this week.
Oh Joe, you poor boy! Having to continually be Akemi’s taste tester of all her food creations. Must be really hard to be subject to that day in and day out. And the dogs too, my goodness, the horror in their eyes as they wait for their experiment to come out of the oven. Really wish I could help you out and take some of that burden off of you. 😉 Stay strong!
I just read yesterday’s blog entry, and wanted to add my 2 cents: I wouldn’t spend any money watching a new Stargate movie or series that did *not* respect the established canon of the TV series, SG-1 in particular. In my world, the best case scenario would be to have the original O’Neill, Carter, etc., played by RDA, Amanda Tapping, etc. But, if they had to re-cast these characters with new actors, then I would expect the canon to be respected (i.e., characterizations, relationships, etc.).
And, I *definitely* would *not* watch a Stargate movie helmed by Emmerich. TBH, I found the original Stargate movie to be very middling. I thought I would enjoy it more than I did, since I love archaeology and SF, and wouldn’t a combination be great? But, while I was underwhelmed by the original movie, I *loved* the TV series.
Thanks for a great post explaining the different scenarios as you see them.
Akemi, great job on those chocolate soufflés!
Poor Joe. Souffles and football and puppers. I weep for you.
I notice that Akemi never says ‘smoooth sailing’ when she undertakes a project. She doesn’t get cocky or over-confident, but instead becomes more determined than ever to be to be successful. She acknowledges her need to improve, even asking opinions of others and then acting accordingly to those opinions. And she doesn’t sleep until she gets it right! Go, Akemi! 😀
Hmmm…I betcha she could write a script in a weekend. 😉
das
Here’s my foolproof chocolate soufflé recipe:
2 tablespoons caster sugar
125g (4oz) plain (dark) chocolate
2 tablespoons brandy or coffee (optional)
4 eggs, separated, plus 2 extra whites
icing sugar, to serve
Preheat oven to 200C (400F/Gas 6). Butter a 1 litre (32 fl oz/4 cup) soufflé dish (or four 1 cup ramekins) and dust out with 1 tablespoon caster sugar. Break chocolate into pieces and put into a double boiler or a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water with the brandy or coffee.
Set over medium heat and stir until smooth. Take care not to overheat the chocolate or it will lose its gloss and become very thick and difficult to combine with the other ingredients. Remove from heat and beat in egg yolks with remaining caster sugar. In a bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold 1 tablespoon of egg whites into chocolate mixture, then scrape chocolate mixture into egg whites and quickly fold together using a metal spoon.
Pour into prepared soufflé dish(es), place on a baking sheet/tray and bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes, until risen and just set. Serve immediately, dusted with icing sugar.
A tip for getting a good rise is to run your finger around the edge of the soufflé mixture when it’s in the dish so there’s a shallow groove right around. That will stop the mixture from sticking to the sides as it rises and allow it to grow up out of the dish. The buttering and dusting of the dish helps with this too. With a soufflé it’s all about the rise!
I occasionally use this recipe to use up left over egg whites after making ice cream.
No I want a soufflé…. Can Akemi practice making pistachio cake next?
Ponytail: Texans need a Summer home. 😉
You had best be careful Joseph. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you weigh 500 pounds and Akemi is force feeding you chocolate souffles ten times a day.
This is clearly the start of a diabolical plan.
Pix of pug caught my eye…story is scarey. Doggies get sick and some do not survive. FYI…just in case.
http://shine.yahoo.com/pets/5-things-know-8220-circovirus-outbreak-8221-163600014.html
@Joe:
Can Akemi make a white chocolate souffle? Or maybe a caramel one? With Akemi’s determination, it seems like you two are headed towards your own pastry shop or maybe a pastry cook book?
@for the love of Beckett:
We passed Indianapolis today (I waved!) and we arrived late this afternoon in Santa Claus, Indiana (it’s Christmas in September!) Tomorrow we’ll take the kids to Holiday World (a theme park with roller coasters) for the day. With the Christmas themes around here (the elves are a little creepy), I feel like I’m in a National Lampoon’s Vacation/Christmas Vacation cross-over.
And tomorrow night…Nashville!
@Tam Dixon:
Can’t wait to revisit the Loveless Cafe…thanks for passing that on last year!
i read a lot of stargate fanfiction, a LOT (through the years), and i think that’s part of why i believe so strongly in the idea that there’s so many stories left to tell.
i understand mgm going quiet for a while, i understand them being careful on what they take on now, but…
stargate has a huge and devoted already-existing fanbase, and mgm not taking advantage of *that* is something i don’t understand. and the longer they wait, the less chance of success they can get.
it’s too early in stargate’s life to reboot -especially by someone(s) with the writing depth of a puddle- so take what you have and refurbish it and polish it and… do something.
you really can mix old and new.
(but the old isn’t that old, so even better! :-p )
Mmm.. souffles.
Me, today:
I don’t think I’ve ever had a chocolate souffle and it is something that I definitely would eat. They look beautiful. Good luck on the script and give the pups snuggles and hugs from me. Did you find a pet sitter yet for your trip?
All can say is yum, thanks for the pictures!! Akemi can try her desserts out on me anytime.