Find Me At Nebula Weekend & BookCon
NEBULA WEEKEND. IT IS HERE. Tomorrow I travel to Chicago to lose a major award geek-out with my awesome writer-friends. If you’ll be in Chicago, there are many places to see me and get stuff signed.
Friday
PALMER HOUSE
8:00pm – Booksigning with over 60 science fiction and fantasy writers. FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Bring books or buy there.
Saturday
BOOK CON @ McCormick Place (requires ticket to enter)
1:30-2:00pm – in-booth signing at HarperCollins #2140-#2141 with copies of Clockwork Dagger, plus Clockwork Crown available for purchase!
2:00-3:00pm – in-booth signing at SFWA #1541 with early copies of Breath of Earth (yes! really!)
PALMER HOUSE
8:30pm (central time) – Nebula Awards. This will be streamed online!
#SFWAPro
Read MoreBready or Not: Snickerdoodle Pie
I attend the Nebula Awards in a few days. I don’t expect to win, but the whole thing is freaky and exciting and a cause for celebration. Therefore, I am sharing a special recipe for Snickerdoodle Pie.
That’s right. Snickerdoodle Pie. It happens to be a photogenic pie, too, so brace yourself for an onslaught of pictures.
In all honesty, it would be faster to make Snickerdoodle Cookies than to make this pie. The thing is… this pie is awesome. It looks and tastes like you made an extra effort.
It really does taste like a giant Snickerdoodle, too. I used my tried-and-true pie crust recipe, which is reposted below, but you can use a store crust or your own reliable recipe.
It’s kind of weird how perfectly Snickerdoodley this is, even for being so thick. It’s kind of magical, if magic involves cinnamon, sugar, and cream of tartar.
My husband adored this pie. The slices were great straight out of the fridge, but he experimented and found out it’s even better reheated in the oven. Wrap up a slice in some foil and warm it just enough to caramelize the sugar crust some more. Yum!
This is a special occasion pie. A birthday pie. A holiday gathering pie. A hey-I was-nominated-for-an-awesome award pie.
Plus, if you have pie, you’re a winner no matter what!
Modified from the Taste and Tell Blog and the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book 16th Edition.
Bready or Not: Basic Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, cold, cut into cubes
- 3/4 cup ice water
Instructions
- Make dough hours in advance or the night before. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add in the cold butter cubes, and either use a pastry blender or pulse the ingredients in a food processor until the butter is pea-sized.
- Pour in the cold water and pulse/mix together until the dough forms a loose ball. I like to use my hands at this point. The dough may be sticky, but it will firm up well.
- Pour dough onto a floured surface. Divide into two balls and fallen them into discs. Wrap each disc in parchment paper, then in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least one hour before placing in pie dish, or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Roll out the refrigerated dough into a 12-inch round. Press it into a 9-inch dish, trimming the excess and pinching the edges. Wrap loosely with plastic wrap and freeze at least two hours before using, or keep frozen up to three months.
Bready or Not: Snickerdoodle Pie
Ingredients
- 1 single unbaked pie crust
- 1 Tablespoon raw sugar or coarse sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon divided
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 3 Tablespoons water
- 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract divided
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1/2 cup milk or almond milk
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. In a bowl, combine the tablespoon of coarse or raw sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon. Brush the 1 Tablespoon of melted butter on the bottom of the pie crust, then sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the butter. Set aside on a cookie sheet.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, water, corn syrup, and remaining 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the brown sugar. Let everything boil for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and set the pot aside to cool.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the 1/4 cup softened butter until it's creamy. Add the 1/2 cup of white sugar, powdered sugar, baking powder, salt, and cream of tartar until it's just mixed. Beat in the egg and the remaining 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Slowly beat in the milk. Add in the flour until it's just incorporated.
- Spread the cookie dough mixture evenly in the pie crust. Get the saucepan, and slowly pour the syrup over the top. Sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture.
- Cover the edges of the pie with foil or a pie shield; bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil/shield. Continue to bake about 20 more minutes, until the top of the pie is puffed and golden brown--and looks like a snickerdoodle! Use the toothpick test in the middle of the pie to make sure it's done.
- Cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. The leftovers are good cold, but are even better if warmed in the oven or toaster oven. Reheat a slice wrapped in aluminum foil at 375-degrees for about 10-12 minutes; it'll get warm through, and caramelize the top.
- OM NOM NOM!
Sunday Quote is nervous about next weekend
Read More“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.”
~Beatrix Potter
New Poem in Uncanny Magazine
Uncanny Magazine just published a poem of mine that is near and dear to my heart. “Deeper Than Pie” is about a granddaughter’s love for her grandmother… and pie. My own grandma is in her 90s, and I rejoice in every moment I get to spend with her on trips back home. I cannot take that time for granted. I channeled a lot of that emotion into “Deeper Than Pie.”
My poem wasn’t simply published online, either. It’s also included in Episode 10a of the Uncanny Podcast, sandwiched between an extraordinary story by Seanan McGuire and an interview with Seanan. (Oddly enough, I was featured in a Far-Fetched Fables Podcast with Seanan a while back, too! I greatly admire her work, so this trend leaves me rather awed.)
#SFWAPro
Read MoreBready or Not: Chili Lime Mozzarella Sticks
Hot, melted cheese is one of the finest things in life. Add some flavor oomph and you have the perfect yumminess to stuff in your face.
The concept is simple: freeze cheese sticks. Wrap them in egg roll wrappers. Apply seasoning. Bake. Devour.
To boost this to another level, I recommend jalapeno mozzarella sticks. I was a little worried they might be too hot, but it turned out the flavor was very mild. DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THE CHEESE STICK.
The wrapping process is pretty easy. It gives directions on the back of the egg roll wrap package. However, don’t be like me and forget to brush water on the edges. (I think that’s why my wrappers leaked cheese. This can be categorized as a fantastic problem, because I then had to eat puddles of seasoned cheese off the aluminum foil. Darn.)
Modified from Carlsbad Cravings. First posted by me at the Holy Taco Church.
Bready or Not: Chili Lime Mozzarella Sticks
Ingredients
- 24 mozzarella sticks regular or jalapeno
- 20 egg roll wrappers 21-22 come in a pack; count wrappers and perhaps double up on a cheese stick or two
- 1/4 cup water
Chili Lime Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder or onion flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Unwrap mozzarella sticks and freeze for 1-2 hours. Do this on wax paper so they don't stick.
- Whisk together the chili lime olive oil ingredients in a small bowl while the oven preheats to 400 degrees.
- Wrap your sticks. Follow the directions on the package or you can Google it. Be gentle so you don't tear the thin pastry, and do remember to brush water on the edges so that it seals. Note that you likely won't have 24 wrappers in the pack, so count them and be prepared to eat some naked cheese or do some double-wrapped versions.
- Place the wrapped cheese on a baking rack placed on a foil-lined baking sheet. Stir the seasonings again (the spices will settle) and then brush the oil all over the cheese sticks. Use up all that good stuff.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 400-degrees. Adjust the rack and broil for 3-5 minutes, or until golden, then flip them to broil the other side.
- Eat up! They are amazing fresh--dip them in the oil in the pan. Serve with salsa or guac. Also, these things are amazing cold out of the fridge, if you happen to have any leftover.
- OM NOM NOM!
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