yepsen - the amount that can be held in two hands cupped together; the two cupped hands themselves

I am, in fact, trying to match the words used in my subject titles to the substance of the article to a certain extent. However, this subject line is a different matter: it's just quickly become one of my favourite words, so I was anxious to put it to use. Notably, I wanted to use it as the title for this here blog, except that Joanne Yepsen beat me to the punch (http//yepsen.blogspot.com). Apparently, back in 2005, she was running for a position in Saratoga. So to this, I say; Damn you, Joanne Yepsen. You get such an awesome last name AND my blog title? I am jealous to the utmost.

Anyway... project status: iffy. Not only am I contending with a poorly functioning colon/semi-colon key, which is unrelated but frustrating, but my seitan is far from a success. Not only did I only make it today, which lies well outside the intended time frame of last week, but it is... well, let's start at the beginning, shall we?

I took the recipe from http://www.vrg.org/recipes/vjseitan.htm, as they refer to it as "wheat meat" and as such, I just could not resist. I trust in the interwebs for most things, but on this front, I should have at least looked for more detailed instructions. For example, the recipe calls for gluten flour; I am still unsure what this really means. That is, I know it requires flour with a high gluten content, but that is 1) more difficult to find than I expected, and 2) does not narrow the options overmuch. I ended up buying semolina duram flour, which may have been an error. I have since learned my dad possibly has a proper crock pot recipe for seitan, and I am already planning on asking him to give me his recipe for a second try.

Throughout the process, the mess I had made did smell good; hard not to when your key ingredients are garlic powder and soy sauce. The gluten I made was ridiculously sticky, even though it was supposed to resemble a dough. From there, the next issue was that the instructions expect said dough to be divided into about 8 pieces, each "stretched into thin cutlets", which means very little to me, especially as I made about 14 pieces that I would consider to be "small" and "cutlet"-like. Since the dough was so sticky, putting it in the broth, which I was simmering in a crock pot, the bits were more "crazy baby octopi" shaped, than "cutlet" shaped.

The instructions say to simmer on a low boil for about an hour. I had class, and it was a crock pot, so I left it three hours. This may have been another error on my part, I confess. I came home to a sludge of dough on the bottom of the crock pot, covered in broth. Lovely, no? I tried to recover from this by removing it and cutting it into more appropriately sized pieces. By now, at least, the dough was not sticking to itself in its previous fashion. After another hour and a half in the crock pot, the seitan was still an odd consistency, but shaping up better. My last desperate act to save my concoction was to put it in the oven to crisp it up. Had I corn flakes or similar, that would've been added, as well. Last I checked on them, the consistency was still... odd, but more promising. I expect it may be edible, or even substantial, fried up with rice. I will not go so far as to call it food, but it is an edible substance. Similarly, I won't consider it a success as a recipe, but at least I gave it a shot, and this is the more important part, methinks. About the journey, not the destination, aye?

Anyhow, it was an adventure, I'll say that much. Based on the facial expressions and commentary of my roommate, I think my experiment spread joy beyond my own attraction to novelty. I'll update on the seitan situation once I cook it in something, or once I try it again. Still, hopefully, the next batch turns into something in which I can have more pride.

So, from last week's rough start, to this week's good intentions - my goal for this week is to become educated on responsible consumer habits. This will probably stretch into the following weeks, both in actually commiting the lessons learned to memory and in the execution of what I learn. Basically, consumers have power, in that they decide what to buy or not. I want my decisions in the market to be as conscious and ethical as possible. I expect this will be tricky, not only in that I expect to find a surplus of information, but also in that I doubt I will find claims that are wholly reliable, either in that they will be argued by another source or that they won't be supported aside from the author's word. Much as I try to trust people, especially those open to peer review due to the onlooking masses of the world wide web, I have been too well trained in the world of academia to not pursue more reputable sources. (Admittedly, I also want to be able to better justify the smug attitude I will inevitably be perceived to have, what with my intent to share/brag/inflict my learning on others.) In short, expect links, o internet.

That's that. I'm off to a rough start, but from what I know of superstition, that is usually a good sign. Cheers.