ritual musery

We don't usually do Midsummer, but we did this time, and it was good, if a little scattered.

I met my obligation to the fae ally I found with yezida's guidance last training session. I think . . . I think I will wind up working up to doing more painting. And possibly occasionally do some makeup stuff for him in general, when I feel like it. Since I figured out how to make it work a bit in the process. Possibly do more intensive stuff, but the half-face is enough to get us going.

I will write more about that later when it's had time to steep.

I had E vitamins and garlic and bug spray and am still mightily bitten. Including one on my bottom lip which is driving me spare.

Ritual work is good. The fire was excellent (and now I want a firebowl, though we don't have a place to put one as of the moment).

After group ritual I pulled off to one side and did my personal rituals, because it's full moon and I do them at news and fulls for certain. I talked at Heru, mostly, who I have no experience with, but the healing eye was swelling to full and I need that particular light. And I talked at Wesir, because of my devotional.

We went in and had food and people talked and I was mostly quiet aside from coming in and having a small vent about gaming things and then pulling back. Need to write stuff for teinedreugan. Need to write stuff for website.

Not very coherent.

Experimental chicken and sweet saffron rice

So a few days ago, nefersesemet posted this recipe link, to which I said, "Hmm. That sounds good. I should try that sometime."

So yesterday I took the chicken we had in the freezer, which was slightly freezerburned and thus in need of being used anyway, and started it defrosting in a salt water bath. (I think next time I do this I will try the buttermilk.) This afternoon I kicked around on the Cauldron's MUX chatting with people and chopping the onion and stuff.

The scheduling for all this got easier when the sari party fell through, though the processing is made moderately complicated by my Giant Finger. (My right index finger is so swollen I think the only reason it's not more swollen is because my skin is full. But flexing my finger makes it turn all kinds of colours. It's an interesting study in, y'know, hydraulic pressure.)

Mixed marinade in baking dish, added chicken, flipping to be sure it was coated. Cleared space in fridge to put pan so that the cats wouldn't eat dinner. Marinated for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Baked ~20 minutes, decided to put it in for five more minutes because I wasn't sure if it was still pink.

To go with: sweet saffron rice, the process of constructing which I will state for whispercricket's benefit. Two cups water to a cup of rice, as usual. The pinch of saffron, of course. A couple spoonfuls of honey, and a couple spoonfuls of grated ginger.

I figured the pepper and spice chicken would need something fairly simple and gentle to counterpoint it, and it worked out well. For the sweet saffron rice recipe, blame Brust; I adapted it from a description in a Vlad novel. (Sethra served it, I believe.)

Results: successful. Tender chicken, apparently corrected-for-freezerburn, spiced, sweet rice: good.