Easter Break

Easter was supposed to be a four-day mini-vacation for me, but I actually ended up working most of it. Due to the winter vomiting bug going around, I had to do an extra shift on Saturday, which of course I found out about fifteen minutes before leaving work on Thursday. Thanks a lot, norovirus. I also missed out on board game night on Friday because I was so tired that I needed to rest up to make it through Saturday's shift. Not exactly what I had in mind.

The rest of this weekend's work was a lot more fun: edits for Mrs Rochester's Attic and the Finnish Gothic anthology! You learn so much from working with an editor, and I enjoy the challenge of coming up with solutions to the issues that emerge. Sometimes it feels like a story is unfixable and editing is like wading through molasses, but then something clicks or you wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, and off you go again. When you finish and the next draft is miles better than what you started with, it's a great feeling.

 I also decided to finally finish reading The Scarlet Letter, which I've been reading for a ridiculously long time considering its length. The archaic language and the subject matter is just not doing it for me, but there's only about fifty pages left, so time to power through. I can't believe they make kids (teens?) read this for school in the US. Post coming up soon, though. This won't go on my list of favourites, I can tell you that right now.

Well, time to salvage what's left of the holiday. I'm thinking bubble bath, honeydew melon slices, and an Anne McCaffrey novel, possibly something in the Talent saga. (Not very Eastery, I know . . . Maybe if I add a few chocolate eggs?)

Oh, and did you see the first episode of Doctor Who's new season? I liked the new companion, Bill, but for me something's been missing since the Tennant days. It feels like the show is just steadily okay now instead of every episode being awesome. (Wham-episodes we used to call them back in the day.) I never really warmed up to Capaldi's Doctor. Apparently Kris Marshall is taking over. I was kind of hoping for a female Doctor this time around, but you can't have everything. Moffat is also leaving after season 10, so the show will be very different after that. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens?

Hope you had a nice holiday if you celebrate Easter where you live. There is something very satisfying about not having to go to work on Monday, anyway.  

Happy Easter!

Bunny Buns and Easter Fun

                              

I hope you're all enjoying the Easter holidays. I certainly am. We had guests over so I managed to do some Easter baking, too. These macaroons are stuffed with white chocolate and I piped the little chick faces on with coloured icing. (And no, I didn't make the macaroon shells from scratch. Macaroons are impossible. Sometimes they turn out fine, but 90 % of the time I manage to screw them up: they bubble into huge flying saucers in the oven, fall flat, or break when I try to detach them from the baking sheet. Give yourself a break and buy the shells. Or even buy ready-made macaroons, pipe on the decorations, and accept all compliments graciously. No one has to know.)

I also saw the cutest bunny buns online, and wanted to try them. Apparently they're Japanese steamed buns with a sweet filling. After some googling I found a recipe for the dough, and as I have no idea where I could find azuki beans for the filling, I made a sweet coconut paste.

Here's a work-in-progress shot. You make the dumpling, flip it over, cut the ears with scissors, and use the chopstick to make the eyes. I also used the flat of the chopstick to press on the ear flap for a more three-dimensional look. 

                          

                                      You can see the detail a bit better here. 

                     Unfortunately, the steaming part didn't go so well. Here's the result: 

I don't have a bamboo steamer, so I don't know if that was the problem. I decided to slather the rest with egg wash and stick them in the oven. 

I think these look a bit better. The dough was a bit tasteless, but it held its shape well. I might try make savoury ones next time. 

                            

Here are my back-up bunny buns, made with a tried-and-true recipe. Not as cute, but tasted better. 

                             

                                          Here they are at the coffee table.

                              

                I also attended a board-game night with friends. Kingsburg was super fun!

Image from Wikipedia.org

                                           

I was supposed to get some writing done, but I spent most of yesterday in my pyjamas reading The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Very addictive. I can't remember when I last enjoyed a book this much. The first book of the series, The Name of the Wind, came out years ago, and I actually started reading it. I got about a hundred pages in and still didn't like it, so I stopped reading. Over the years so many people have recommended the book to me that I finally decided to give it another chance. For the first book, it took me to about 60% before I started enjoying it, but the second one is great from the get-go.

It's strange. Usually, if I don't like a book after a few hundred pages, I rarely change my mind. I'm glad I gave The Name of the Wind another chance. I love the story world and all the detail, the characters are (mostly) fun, and above all, I love Kvothe. I know a lot of people are complaining that he's a Mary Sue type character, and he does have many unlikely skills, but it didn't bother me. And I don't think anyone can say that Rothfuss goes easy on him. Nope, Kvothe gets a pretty raw deal. Especially in the second book, Rothfuss' writing is so easy to read and unpretentious that it's very easy to slip into Kvothe's head and live the story. I think it also helps that Kvothe always has a clear, tangible goal, so it doesn't feel like nothing is happening, even in the slower parts. Rothfuss makes everything seem interesting and exciting, and the exposition rarely feels exposition-y.

                            So, have a great weekend. I'm going to curl up with Kvothe now.