A Fireside Chat (and Crafty Recipe Giveaway)
Jan 9th, 2009 by Marilyn
Well hello! Nice to see you. Cold out there, eh? Nope, winter’s not getting me down, no sir. I’ve got apricot rugelach in the oven, a roaring fire, and, oh look – two steamy lattes.
Chocolate sprinkles on that? I thought so.
Comfy now? Good – first, let’s talk about popularity. I raised the idea the other day, when I recapped Simmer’s most popular posts of 2008 – popular not due to great personalities or loaded iPods or shiny hair, but celebrated for their viewing numbers alone. This left a few readers cold, and I must say I didn’t love it either. Stats don’t always tell the tale.
I heard things from readers like “but the ones I like weren’t even on there,” or “what about the rat head in the drain?” I believe the estimable Country Doctor’s Wife was referring to the mouse head in the dishwasher, bless her heart. I knew what she meant.
After reading everyone’s thoughts I closed the laptop, jammed on a pair of oven mitts and yanked out some burning cheese straws, talking to the oven. “Can’t win…everybody different…burnt…whatever…”
Greg and Josie were watching basketball in the other room. “What,” he said, “did you say something?”
“No,” I said. “I mean…whatever.” Then I puttered around the kitchen. “Stupid oven…popular…please everybody…tired…”
Over the game, they yelled. “Hey! Mumblyrant. Stop it.”
That is what they call me when I’m doing that – Mumblyrant. When I pointed out that “Mumblyrant” sounded like a Harry Potter character, they started calling me Professor Mumblyrant. Nice.
Sadly, they’re right – I do that, especially in the kitchen, and especially when things aren’t going well, and it’s gray outside for the fourth day in a row, and they happen to be doing some pleasurable other thing. Why, it never occurred to me that slamming dough and banging pans and yammering to oneself might sound like martyred, mumbling ranting. But there it is.
Wait – why are you getting your coat?
I’ll get back on topic – popularity. Popular posts. Let’s end that idea once and for all – and perk up the gray days of winter – with a little giveaway. If you leave a comment in which you share your favorite post from this blog, you will be entered to win something wonderful.
Something handmade – a little book containing every recipe from Simmer Till Done, craftily hand-bound, and one-of-a-kind. Let’s peek into the Simmer workshop, where my assistant has already begun production.
Looks like she’s just taking a break.
A two-hour Wallace and Gromit break.
Anyway, name a favorite Simmer post – we’ll set the record straight on quality vs. quantity, and you might just win a little handmade recipe book. You know, when J.K. Rowling wrote Beedle the Bard, her billionairess follow-up to Harry Potter, she created seven handmade copies - six were gifted to lucky people, and the seventh was auctioned for $4 million. One of them is on display, behind bulletproof glass, at the New York Public Library.
So, that probably won’t happen here. But it’s darn cute…and I’m making it myself…crafty…stupid blog…
Perhaps Rowling will feature Professor Mumblyrant in the next one?
Now – go forth and comment, please.
And really, I’m so glad we had this chat.
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Name your favorite – or recently enjoyed – Simmer post in the comments, and you are entered to win a handmade Simmer Till Done recipe book. Winner will be chosen randomly from the comment list. Comments close Saturday, January 10, at 11:59 pm. Winner announced on Sunday. Good luck!
* note: oh, fine, let’s make it 11:59 pm Pacific time, for our dear friends out West. Holy ganache, that’s an extension for everyone else! Thanks for playing along – you’ve made my weekend reading quite delicious.
Favorite. I have lots of favorites but my most favorite is the one where you tell ‘em all to go to hell and you race off into the night. I can’t find the url…argh!
Here it is. Seeing Stars:
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/09/04/seeing-stars/
This would be my second most favorite, Edible Edies:
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/07/10/eating-my-words/
I don’t pick favorite posts really just favorite blogs…this one is right up there. You keep my interest, tickle my creativity, make me think and have lead me to other places I enjoy.
Thank you for that….
Lauren.
This contest needs CATEGORIES, because it is too hard to just come up with ONE favorite post. There are the posts that made me say, “Yes, someday if I ever have company again, I’ll make this!” (then I’d nominate the cherry chicken post)
Another category would be Posts That Made Me Laugh, which would include those with gingerbread houses or Cleo’s nose right above the counter. Posts that called up memories would make me nominate those that contained references to Paris and Chicago, plus The Wedding Cake; posts that made me empathize — Making Chocolate Ganache while the TV cameras rolled. Posts that made me cry, the loving tribute to your dad. I could go on and on, but maybe I should stick to something that was funny, well written and, when I actually tried it, it turned out to be the Apple Almond Braid, for which I truly do hear people say, “Oh, surely you didn’t make this. It had to come from a bakery.”
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/10/04/apple-almond-braid-the-bakery-of-you/
Thank you, Marilyn–and Josie–for a year of wonderful recipes and photos and most of all, for sharing your lives with all of us, your far-flung readers. What a year it’s been and I’m looking forward to the year ahead.
Olivia
You hooked me moons ago with the post about the 1/2 bath safe from the storm room. Then came Simmer.
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/01/07/shelter-our-half-bath-storm-room/
The “fear of pears” post and the post about one of your first jobs, where they did not give you any respect, would be my favorites, too. I think that is the link RT posted above.
The fire looks so warm and toasty. Do you have a craft room? and love the prints beside Josie taking a break.
As a new reader I just read all of last years blogs this week….
My favorite:
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/07/10/eating-my-words/
You and Josie in France! My so (age 12) and I loved reading tales of your adventures…
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/06/03/eggplant-sweets-kidney/
Meant “my son”….(who may or may not have a crush on your Josie)…
Okay first and foremost, I LOVE your fireplace! Looks so warm and cozy! My fav post of 2008 would have to be “Counter-Attack” from December 4th.
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/12/04/counter-attack/
Cleo is so adorable and we are currently facing the same problem with our boxer, Riz. Also, I need that cookbook to save trees! I only started reading your blog in July and have wasted several trees trying to print off your incredible recipes! Have a good one!
First thank you for the VERY generous give-away; it’s a major undertaking to pull together something like this and I hope if finds a great home.
My favorite post had to be your touching tribute to your father (Once More, With Feeling). So many “life”style blogs just graze the surface of what “life’s” really about and it was a munificent act for you to share the loss of a very special person with all of us; he was clearly a wonderful man. And to top it off you shared a wonderful soup recipe to comfort all of us.
Apart from your Nov 5th post where you interviewed moi – thank you very muchly – my absolute favourite is Josie and the Pie with Diamonds. Pie, treasure and an “I told you so” moment. Perfect.
Oh you crafty taskmaster! After spending all morning digging around for favorites, I have determined it’s simply not possible to pick just one! So here’s my list of three faves that I don’t think have been mentioned yet:
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/05/28/the-last-time-i-saw-paris/
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/10/08/daylight-snackings-time/
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/12/01/tell-simmer-josie-the-simmering-tween/
I’ll have to go with the Big Fat 90′s Wedding Cake post, but I also love the interview with Josie. And you’re crafty too?
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/11/13/my-big-fat-90s-wedding-cake/
Geez, this is like “Sophie’s Choice.” Picking just one favorite Simmer Till Done post is like picking a favorite child when you have more than one kid!!! You have a wonderful way with words, and your recipes are all winners. My stomach tells me to pick “Quiche Me with Onion Breath” and that’s from your house blog. Does that count? Otherwise I enjoyed the post about Josie’s first Paris trip and the kind bistro owner.
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/02/06/quiche-me-with-onion-breath/
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/05/28/the-last-time-i-saw-paris/
The “Ganache: The Reality Show” – How can anything be bad when chocolate is involved?
Oh, this is EASY! I do indeed have an all-time favorite…..
(and while I’m telling, can you please pass me a scone? No that one, the one with cranberries in it….Thanks Friend!)
My favorite quote (from Josie) “I am sitting on something. I am sitting on something and it’s bothering me.”
July 23, 2008, name of post: Josie and the Pie, with Diamonds
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/07/23/josie-and-the-pie-with-diamonds/
And no one , seriously, ever earned their very own piece of pie as much as she did that day! WAY TO GO JOSIE!
It’s hard to choose just one. The one about your Dad touches my heart. The one about being afraid of pears cracks me up. And more than once I have thought of the one about Josie, the pie and diamonds when I look at my wedding ring and wonder if the diamond is in there tight enough.
I saw it on flashback, but I think “The Last Time I Saw Paris” is my favorite. I also liked (is “liked” the right word? more like was completely heebeejeebied by…) the mouse in the dishwasher. I enjoyed EATING the apple braid. And I’m making the turkey meatballs this week.
But I like them all! That’s like making me chose my favorite kind of pie. I start with sour cherry, then move on to raisin cream, chocolate pecan, coconut, to infinity and beyond.
So I’ll pick the first post that comes to mind: scrambled eggs.
Such a lovely gift. Thank you for the giveaway, and as always for your blog.
hard to choose…. the entry I’ve used the most was “25 ways to make oatmeal cookies better” YUM! I can’t get enough of those cookies! thanks a bunch! It would have to be my favorite.
Nothing beats the touching tribute you wrote about your Dad. I’m tearing up now remembering it.
I think I’ve read this one five different times, and each time I can’t help but laugh out loud!
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/12/04/counter-attack/
It’s way too hard to choose just one!
I told you it was too hard to pick just one — my other vote goes to “Why I’m Afraid of Pears”. I’m just glad it didn’t happen to me!
The posting on your father was sad, but sweet.
Dear Mumblyrant: I sympathize with your plight. My spouse and daughter gang up on me on a daily basis. I’m frequently called Mr. Crankypants and constantly reminded that I need to pick up and organize my stuff. At times I feel like a minor character in some absurd sit-com, only there’s no comedy on my end of things. I’m probably a year or two away from mumbling incoherent rants to myself.
Have a great weekend!
The breadboard-check..that’s it…I love it…I want the breadboard, now you know, I am green with envy LOL!!
But Marilyn,my question is-what’s NOT to love here??
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/09/18/breadboard-check/
It’s very recent, but I adore the jello one with the reference to the ‘Donald’. In my family, we had a bowl that was simply referred to as ‘Gwendolyn’. Whenever someone was sick or just needed cheering up, my mother would present Gwendolyn, filled with a heaping amount of fresh-popped popcorn or sugar cereal (typically contraband in the household) to us and we would instantly feel better. Thanks for conjuring up that special memory. It instantly made me feel better!
http://simmertilldone.com/2009/01/06/sweet-and-low-caramelized-banana-french-toast/
Oh, Marilyn. How can we choose? You are a wonderful writer. But in truth, we do have a favorite–one which we have referred to in conversation, usually in our kitchen, several times over the past few months. It is your Seeing Stars post of September 4th. We hope you never stop writing…or cooking…or blogging. We love your style.
[...] Simmer Till Done is giving away: [...]
Hey…are you technically ‘scrapbooking’???
LOL!!!!
All. Every single one of them. Whether you were feeding our creativity, our tummies, our funnybone, or our soul; they all a favorite.
Pick one? Geez. Impossible. But I gotta have that book! I pick the one about Cleo and her duck.
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/11/12/canard-a-lcleo/
Or anything featuring chocolate…..or sugar.
I have enjoyed all that I read. The one which perhaps touched me the most was “Noodle Kugel: Four Sisters, One Card” because it was so full of food tradition and family connections through food.
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/10/18/noodle-kugel-four-sisters-one-card/
I love them all. I click on all the time because I like the way you write. You can picture everything and almost taste and smell the food cooking or baking. Talk about baking – I think your butter cookies always make a big hit whenever you serve them. Much love Ann
my absolute favorite is Josie and the Pie with Diamonds
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/07/23/josie-and-the-pie-with-diamonds/
I think it was the one about your dad, as I am watching my own dad decline, and it’s one of the hardest things imaginable. Thanks for the giveaway, we can all use some fun and excitement in our lives, and winning would do just that!
Ooo toasty fire. I could open a good book and stay in that chair for years. My favorite Simmer post is your wedding cake post, which was one of the best blog entries I have read, anywhere:
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/11/13/my-big-fat-90s-wedding-cake/
Well, I have read them all…from the house building through today’s. I particularly enjoyed details of your house like the front door, and the copper fireplace hood. I have loved your photos of autumn trees and leaves and brick sidewalks. But of course I love the food posts. I have this bizarre urge to see peoples’ rooms and their meals!
My favorite post is hands down the one you wrote about the hours before your Dad died; wandering the hospital halls looking for M&M’s, snow, and onion soup. Sad and warm at the same time. I don’t care what you write about though, I never miss reading you!
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/12/18/french-onion-cider-soup-take-care/
i am fairly new to your site. i really like the one about your dad. i never really knew my dad and your dad was how i imagined he would be. i love all the recipes.
thanks for sharing.
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/12/13/once-more-with-feeling/
marianne
I also really liked the one about your Dad. It was just so amazing and heartfelt and I love that you shared it with us.
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/12/13/once-more-with-feeling/
I really don’t think there is just one that was my favourite. I love the recipes you post and want to make them all.
I really thought your tribute to your father was nice.
You know, it’s pretty hard for me to choose a favorite post. It might be the Apple Almond Braid, which I used to prove to my family for the second Christmas in a row that I CAN ACTUALLY COOK SOMETHING! However my parents already claim to know this. With that in mind, I have to choose the first “Challah” posting from this fall.
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/11/21/the-challah-that-we-built/
I chose that one because it’s the first recipe that inspired me to get off my butt, go to the store, and actually bake something! If anything, I’m a cook but rarely a baker and never a bread baker. This one post inspired me THAT much. After years of thinking that I couldn’t bake bread because clearly only real bread bakers can make something like that, I actually discover the error of my ways. Rather, I discovered it within reason because I think I killed the yeast and it never decided to rise even with all the fancy rising time built in. It did however taste very good and helped to inspire me to continue trying more exciting Simmer recipes. Thanks Marilyn!
I’ve just recently discovered you so it’s hard to name one. So many of the recipes on this blog look and sound so delicious! However, I am a nut for pumpkin cake – so I will choose Carole Walter’s Pumpkin Cake from October.
Marilyn, I love your post about you preparing creme ganache in a tv show. It’s hilarious – you reminded me of Vianne Rocher the main character in the book Chocolat. Meanwhile the host attitude made me think of father Reynaud that considered chocolate a sin to banish from the whole world, but that at the end found himself abandoning his restrains and devouring all the chocolates he could find in Vianne’ shop while attempting to it tear it down her shop.
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/09/27/ganache-the-reality-show/
This is delightful! You people are far too generous, but it’s enjoyable. Almost as enjoyable as the Lurker Buffet, which should be visited by all.
And that reminds me, if you’re a lurker, get in here! You can comment (to enter for the recipe book) until 11:59 pm tonight. Since I had a few cappuccinos today, I’ll certainly be up for the end – so see you there.
truth be told, I like THIS post…it’s very entertaining, I enjoyed the pics and plans, but MOSTLY because I’m a wallace and gromet fan too! always have to take a break for that!
I really like you whole blog! I enjoyed 25 ways to scramble eggs.
Hey! Mumblyrant-so that’s what they call it. I do the same thing, complete with slamming the oven door and tossing silverware loudly into the sink. I like your recipes very much but the post on your dad’s eulogy was especially nice.
I love the Josie in the Pie with Diamonds, but I probably had the strongest reaction to the rat head story. Uggh.
I enjoy your blog and many wonderful recipes, but as a dog lover myself, I’d have to say the Counter Attack is my favorite. My dog, Coco, appears in the kitchen when she detects the slightest movement in there. I’m sure she would just love it if I lowered the counters a bit for her! Your pictures of Cleo were a riot!
I’m quite late to this party, but I have to say my favorite post of yours from the last year … is about the dinner you made for me and Jo. That might be because I actually got to see you prepare the meal, smell it and eat it. But that’s reason enough.
Oh dear, I’ve missed the contest cut-off. And a Simmer Till Done recipe book would have looked so good on my new kitchen countertop
\
No matter, I’ll still tell you how much I love your blog
The Why I’m Afraid of Pears post is definitely the one that got me hooked, but I love the ones that give me a glimpse of your real life… Josie & her love of the Twilight books, your trip to Paris, your cooking career memories. Even the brief Werker Werker post brought me a chuckle. The same love and humour in these posts is infused in your cooking. And that’s why I’ll keep coming back 
http://simmertilldone.com/2008/03/26/werker-werker-is-people/
I was out of town for a family emergency and missed this completely! Argh!
What a cool, great giveaway!
Counter Attack, December 4th would have to be my favorite, hands down. Although I have to tell you, it was tough to pick just one. All those delish recipes with delightful and tantalizing photos! I’m like a kid in a candy jar. But Counter Attack, we get to meet another member of the family. And that, I loved.
Jeepers, I never win anything. Maybe I’ll get lucky!
Well, there you go. Another thing I don’t win. I’m always a day late and a dollar short. I suppose it would help if I waited till I read the ENTIRE post before I rush ahead and comment. Gah.
The one about the book you read as a girl and sharing it with Josie.
I love all your posts, but have to go with Edible Edies as one of my favorites. (Too late for the contest, I know, but not too late to endorse a favorite post.)
DAMMIT!!!! How did I miss this? How? HOW??? I think I am relying on my sweet new widget too heavily to inform me of new posts. CrapStupidWidgetGirlScoutCookiesDamnHellSinkFullofDishesCRAP!!!
How’s that for some mumblyrant?
my favourite in your posts is zucchini-ginger bread. Thank u for generous giveaway!