(no subject)

[mrissa]

Non-Novel Gazing readers: I have pictures in today's entry. They include pictures of me wearing two of my three elisem necklaces, "Remember What You Say In Dreams III" and "At the Sign of the Fish and Amulet." Sparklies.

We officially have enough positive RSVPs that I have stopped worrying about the "nobody will come" segment of party-planning and started worrying about the "and there won't be enough to eat" segment. One drawback of having a party on a Sunday in Minnesota is that if one runs out of alcoholic beverages, one can't go get more. We have tried to make sure that will not happen. My kitchen is full of beer. (Well, and cider and Mike's and some wine.) I think markgritter uses parties as an excuse to get a wide variety of beers. I would. I'm also convinced that I need another dessert now, and I'm not sure what it should be. Vegan-friendly fruit crisp and chocolate cake with chocolate frosting seemed like they were pretty complementary. I'm not sure what else goes with them. It's likely to be a strawberry-something crisp, because strawberries are really good right now, so I don't want to do strawberry lemon cheesecake bars or strawberry shortcake. I'd like it to be something sturdy, too, something I can whip up in not too long and plunk down on the counter and let people serve themselves, not something that requires my attention to be served. Bombers? Banana bars? Scotcheroos? I don't know. I was thinking maybe peanut butter fudge, because that would be gluten-free for those who need it, but fudge is really more...a dessert garnish, I guess. Dessert ornamentation. I will give the recipe box a stern poking and see what comes out.

But not until I'm done with the stern poking this story gets. I strongly suspect that my brain is only yearning after short stories because it has permission to work on Thermionic Night revisions. Still, I'll take it.

Comments

[sraun]

Are dark chocolate-dipped strawberries a dessert? What about chocolate fondue?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I think they're a dessert garnish. There will be dark-chocolate-dipped apricots, but that, like fudge, is a dessert garnish.

Also, if I have one chocolate dessert and one strawberry dessert, I think having one chocolate-and-strawberry dessert does not perhaps address substantial gaps in the menu. Do you see what I mean here? Not that all my options are chocolate-free. I'm just trying to think of something that isn't like what we've already got.

[sraun]

I apologize - I mis-read. Igor Bars? <wink>

Re-reading your criteria - bars of some kind. Seven-layer bars? (Butter, graham cracker crumbs, flaked coconut, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, chopped nuts, Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk.)

The scotchies sound tempting. Cookies of some kind would be good. Ooohh - real silliness. Make-your-own s'mores - you'd need a fire of some kind, a charcoal grill outside would be good?

Once you've done a chocolate and a fruit, most everything else is, in some way, a re-run.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Hee. We'll see if you feel that way after the lussekatt, which is something different entirely.

[timprov.livejournal.com]

No tapirs. :(

Maybe his mom's frozen oreo thingy?

[timprov.livejournal.com]

Are lussekatt desserty enough?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Ooh. Hmm. For me they are. And they're very different. We will consult the markgritter.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Oh, that would be good. The only problem with it is that it can't really be set out for people to serve themselves. You have to have a big Ice Cream Dessert Serving Moment.

And no, we're not having tapirs. They're clearly not dessert food.

[timprov.livejournal.com]

I mean no tapir pictures. At least matociquala loves me.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Lucky for you, huh?

[stillsostrange.livejournal.com]

Shinies!

I'll be petting the necklaces at Wiscon.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Petstrokeloff.

[copperwise.livejournal.com]

Wow. Gorgeous.

And the necklaces are pretty, too. :)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

*blush*

[timprov.livejournal.com]

She was clearly talking about the Gritters.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I know. I am flattered by her approval of my family. Obviously.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

We may be there. It entirely depends on my workload and jet lag.

B

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Okay, good deal. You don't need to let us know specifically at this point; I will count you as two maybes, and if you don't get here, no one will be offended. Do you need directions?

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Yes.

B

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I'll e-mail them to you.

[songwind.livejournal.com]

Did the necklaces come with names, or do you name them yourself?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

elisem names a fair amount of her jewelry. I'm bad enough at titling stories -- I don't think I could manage necklaces!

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

The "At the Sign of the Fish and Amulet" necklace reminds me of Mardi Gras beads - not the cheap plastic ones you get now, but the old ones, the good glass ones. Ted (the husband) went to Tulane just long enough ago that you could still catch one now and then if you were lucky, alert, and tall.

And fish and amulets are both New Orleans things, so the name works out, too. Though as a beader myself it's the other necklace that *really* impresses me.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I will now go write on the chalkboard 100 times, "I will not write a New Orleans story."

And yes, RWYSID3 is exactly what it ought to be.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Barbara Hambly has written New Orleans stories most excellently well, but they're mystery, not SF. Sean Stewart has written about the New Orleans aspects of Houston, of which there are more than you'd think. Spider Robinson has written a filk about how awful New Orleans is, but he's wrong, IMO.

You'd think I must have read a good fantasy story about New Orleans somewhen, but I can't think of any. (Confederacy of Dunces is in my bookshelves waiting to be read someday, but I don't think it's the sort of thing I'm thinking of. And Anne Rice of course, but yuck.) Actually, I think the perfect person to write a New Orleans fantasy, of the writers I know would be mechaieh.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Someone in F&SF has been doing a string of NO stories I'm not that keen on, so I'm a little soured on it. And then there's the whole Anne Rice association....

[(Anonymous)]

The summer desert I love that is great for people to serve themselves up with is trifle. You get custard, pound cake, a bit of rum, fresh berries, and whipped cream all in a tasty glob on your plate. My other favorite would be just cheesecake with some fresh fruit for garnish. I usually try to balance a fruit desert, chocolate desert, and some sort of creamy desert like one of these two, a mousse, a creme brulee, etc.

Have fun and I'll see you soon.

Heathah

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

My mom and I had a "what's this I hear about endangered feces?" moment on the phone last night when I was talking about a Swedish saffron bun and she thought I was talking about a Swedish cream dessert because we misheard each other's Swedish pronunciation. "Well, it's like cheesecake anyway." "Um...it is? How?" "The creaminess, mostly. A lot of people get them confused."

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think I've heard it called a "what's this I hear about endangered feces?" moment before. Very amusing. :)

On an entirely different note, I'm sorry to hear about Timprov's grandma. Best wishes to him and his family.

Heathah.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I believe my parents use the "endangered feces?" line as a reference to a Gilda Radner character, and I picked up on it. I could be wrong about the origin, though: it's not something I've seen for myself, just something I've heard them do.

And thanks for the wishes.