A Week Late for Easter

When I was growing up, my mother made hot cross buns (usually without the cross) all year round. She’d put them in our lunch boxes, cut in half and spread with butter. Because I was an ungrateful child, I’d swap my delicious fruit bread rolls for all manner of junk food with other children in my class. Interestingly, I never had trouble convincing someone to eat my home made roll in exchange for their packet of chips (which my mother would never have dreamed of including in my lunch box).

I had every intention of making hot cross buns last weekend (when it was Easter), but like seemed to conspire against me: I couldn’t find yeast in the supermarket, I found myself spending much more time at work than I had planned, I was busy most evenings… I was determined to make up for it this weekend.

I looked at a lot of recipes for hot cross buns, and decided to go with something British (the American recipes I found seemed a little strange to me) – I ended up going with this recipe from Delia Smith. I made a few changes, mainly because of an inability to source ingredients: I used golden raisins (aka sultanas) instead of currants (as the daughter of a currant producer who can’t find sell his crop due to a world wide glut, it astonishes me that I can’t even find them in the US), and a I substituted a blend of equal parts cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and star anise for mixed spice (it may, in fact, turn out that it’s possible to buy mixed spice in Boston – I didn’t actually try. We have such a well-stocked spice collection that I assumed we’d have some – and we don’t). Because it wasn’t Easter anymore, I didn’t bother with a cross.

While they’re a little mis-shapen, these fruit buns were delicious. They came surprisingly close to recplicating the fruit buns of my childhood – and I actually think I prefer the sultanas to currants. I really wish I had time to make yeast-leavened breads all the time. As I don’t, the occasional weekend cook-up will have to do.

A Fan of Beautifully Illustrated Picture Books

The most recent issue of my undergraduate alumni magazine featured an article on Shaun Tan, a West Australian artist.

I loved the whimsical illustrations the article featured, and decided to see if my library had any of his books – good news: they do. Shaun describes his books as follows:

They are best described as ‘picture books for older readers’ rather than young children, as they deal with relatively complex visual styles and themes, including colonial imperialism, social apathy, the nature of memory and depression.

I’ve just finished “reading” The Red Tree, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s a book about depression – very few (but very effective) words, lush, detailed illustrations, and a note of hopefulness at the very end. I’m not sure I’ve read such a concise and accurate description of depression before.

Needless to say, I have every intention of looking at more of Shaun Tan’s books – The Arrival will be next.

Short on Time

I really do wish I had time to do things like this:

The sad truth is, I really haven’t had time to think recently – much less knit, garden, read, write, or build a knitting machine from lego. I guess I won’t be making a lamp that knits its own shade, either.

Moving

My fantastic housemate bought a condo. This means that she and her boyfriend will be moving out of our apartment, probably around the beginning of May. I was immediately filled with dread at the idea of having to find two new housemates. Aside from the difficulty in finding good housemates, I really dislike the disruption of having people move in and out of the apartment, and my experience is that there may be several personal changes before the apartment settles down for the year.

When my friend, Rachel, mentioned that she was looking for a housemate, I quickly volunteered myself. Rachel lives about a street over from where I live right now, and we both feel we’re well-matched as housemates. Yesterday, I went to look at her apartment, and I’ve made the decision to move there, probably some time in May. There are definitely pros and cons to the move though.

Pros: I get to live with Rachel and her two cats. The new apartment will just have Rachel and I living in it, which I hope means there will be less housemate disruption. I will have a lot more room in my new apartment – aside from my bedroom, I’ll share a kitchen, bathroom, office/spare bedroom, living room, dining room, and balcony. The apartment feels really comfortable; I think I’ll enjoy coming home to it. Rachel and I plan to cook together, and to share the food shopping. I get to stay in my current neighborhood, which I really like. I will be (marginally) closer to work.

Cons: The new place will be more expensive. My new bedroom will be smaller than my current one (although this will be offset by the extra space I’ll have access to in the rest of apartment). There is no washing machine and/or dryer – I’ll be going to the laundromat. The new apartment isn’t in quite as good condition as my current apartment (the appliances are older, from the outside, the building looks like it’s days away from falling down). I don’t think the balcony of my new apartment is going to be as good for growing stuff.

I really do think my decision to move is the right one. In fact, I’m almost unreasonably excited about it. Anyone want to help me move?