Cooking with Drag Queens? No, Drag Queen Cookies!

[lydamorehouse]

 When I signed up for the OutFront MN Zoom event called "Drag Queen Cookies with It Gets Batter," I initially thought I would be making cookies WITH drag queens, which, frankly, sounded like the epitome of fabulous.

However, it turns out that I had signed up to learn how to make a five-minute fondant that would be designed to look like drag queens.

Alas!

But, it was still a pretty fun event.  They sent along a recipe for a sugar cookie and asked us to make the "blank faces" ahead of time. I happened to have an egg-shaped cookie cutter (for Easter Egg cookies, I think, though this MAY be the first time I have ever used that particular cutter.) So, I made those Friday afternoon. They were pretty yummy on their own and since I had way more batter than I figured I'd need for a hour long event, I made the rest into the usual assortment of dragonflies, dinosaurs, cows, and chickens.  

At 7 pm, I dialed into the Zoom. The OutFront folks had us use a password, because Zoom bombing is a thing and this was "queer youth" led, so I mean, yeah, safety first.  Even so, we still had one guy who did no cooking, but just watched the event. Creepy or sad? Hard to know.

At any rate, there were probably no more than a dozen of us on the call. Basically we watched our host make fondant and tried to follow along as best we could. It was not the most organized Zoom event I've ever attended? But I'd say my results were fairly fabulous, nonetheless.


Image: cartoonish face with large hair, all of which is easy to do with fondant because it basically functions like sugar-based play dough.

I was also aided in this process by the fact that I happened to own baking markers. Yeah, like magic markers that you can safely eat. I did all of the "eyeliner" with these markers.


Image: windswept-hair and sultry-eyed cookie.

The fondant itself is not especially tasty, I must say. It is made with marshmallows and powdered sugar and two tablespoons of water. So, I mean, it takes like sugar? I feel like you could add something--lemon, peppermint, or even boring vanilla--and make it more tasty. 

If you are a fan of the local drag queen/king scene in Minneapolis/St. Paul, It Gets Batter is doing a fundraiser for out-of-work drag kings and queens in which they make cookies specifically for your favorite performer, which seems like a nifty charity.  I personally wouldn't have a clue, though I did like watching the Gaylaxicon event with Queens of Adventure.

I enjoyed the baking thing enough to sign up for a Gay Twin Cities virtual walking tour (it is also free)  later this month, which is TWO TIMES as many Pride events than I normally attend in June.

I am one of those old queers who grumbles about how commercialized Pride has become. I don't usually complain very loudly, honestly, because I definitely prefer a world where I can buy my Pride gear at Target rather than having to hand make it at home, hide somewhere to change into it, and then be terrified to wear it in public. And, I do remember those days. They were NOT the good old days; I'm just not fond of crowds.

Of course, no crowds this year, regardless. 

One of the things OutFront is sponsoring tonight that I'd really like to go to is a candlelight vigil for black, trans and gender non-conforming voices at Elliot Park.  However, if I am reading Google right, this park is the one near former Augustana nursing home and parking around there is nightmarish. I still have some time to decide, but I will be there in spirit. If nothing else, I may light a candle on my altar at 7:30 pm in solidarity.

Otherwise, the big excitement of this weekend was that on Saturday, a package arrived from Taiwan. jiawen sent along a care package of bits and bobs of stationary and fun pens and erasers and pins and tea and just a whole lot of lovely things. It was like Christmas in June. I am only sad that I did not think to get her on jitsi BEFORE I opened the box, so that we could have opened it together, but we did chat and I basically squeed happily for a half hour straight. So, that was desperately fun. If you are a pen pal of mine, expect some fun new stationary in your next letter from me.

Friday afternoon, Shawn and I also hazarded a trip to the fabric store which is exciting in these days of the pandemic. Shawn was able to browse pretty well, but that was because I volunteered at tribute and stood in the line for cutting. I was a bit shocked to discover so many people without masks. My friend naomikritzer and my wife both suspect there's some kind of Republican/Trump-supporting bent to the crafters who shop at JoAnne's and I suspect they're both right, though I wish I understood why that's true. Shawn suggested that it's a "homemaker" bent. Like, the kind of woman who learns to sew is more likely to be the sort to stay at home to support her man?  I dunno. I want it to change. Surely, I shouldn't have to go to a more expensive store just to hang out with the other liberal crafters.

I did pick up some more quilting fabric, though, including some Avengers fabric. So, that was worth it.

Today (and most days, if I'm honest,) I also dithered around the garden and discovered a baby native pollinator. 


Image: a striped "parsley worm" nomming my parsley, probably to the ground, but she will transform into a native pollinator: the black swallowtail butterfly so she gets to have all the parsley she wants.

How was your weekend?

Comments

[spiderplanet]

Argh. The last time I was at the fabric store, it was a few months ago and everyone was there for materials to make masks, therefore, everyone was wearing masks. I'm sorry buying fabric became a partisan activity, that sucks.

[lydamorehouse]

I mean, it wasn't like I had to sit through some kind of impromptu Trump rally or even see Fox News out of the corner of my eye, so it wasn't a total hardship. It's just weird these days to see people being so blaze about masks, particularly here in the Midwest where the numbers are still on the rise.

[offcntr]

Mahvelous cookies, dahling!

And yeah, everybody that ever critiqued them cake decorating shows, including some of the bakers, say fondant tastes pretty much like nothing.

I've been thinking of a JoAnn's run sometime this week, so I can finally assemble all my squares into a quilt. Wonder if it will be any different here in Eugene? I really miss Factory Fabrics, the warehouse seconds and remnants outfit that used to be just around the corner from our old place. Got so many wild teddy bear furs there.

[lydamorehouse]

Yeah, we actually prefer to get our fabric at estate sales since it's cheap, but it's "whatever you get!" and of course, no one is running estate sales right now.

And thank you. I presume you could SEE the pictures?

[offcntr]

Oh yes! I particularly like the stunning blonde on top.

My younger brother used to perform in drag shows in the Fox Valley in Wisconsin, did a lot of sewing for other performers. Don't know if he's still involved with the scene. I'd send him a link to your post, but I realize I don't have his email. Huh.

Edit: I'm also viewing with Chrome, on an android tablet. Will check again once I'm outa bed with Safari on my laptop, see if there's any difference.

[lydamorehouse]

Oh no!

Cool that he used to do drag. And that you used to sew for them! I have only tangential connections to that community, like friend of a friend kind of stuff. But, the few shows I've been to have always been wonderful.

I was so happy to hear that you were able to go back to your usual Saturday market (even though it was without Denise.) I am very much hoping that we can all ease back into outdoor things like that.

[offcntr]

No, sorry, let me rephrase. He sewed costumes for his fellow queens. Also briefly owned a gay-friendly bar, but his business partner was robbing him blind, and the business went under.

[brin_bellway]

I'm glad (and jealous) to hear you live in a place where it's *remarkable* to see people not wearing masks. I suppose I will restrain myself from wishing for my area to be like that, as I feel like that is an extremely monkey-paw kind of wish. *knocks on wood*

(There are too many maskless people here to be explained away as a conservative thing, I'm pretty sure.)

[lydamorehouse]

I'm sure some of it is pandemic fatigue.

[brin_bellway]

Perhaps, but in my case it's harder to see the decline when it never got that high in the first place.

Watching what's going on around me these past few weeks, I have a horrible creeping suspicion that we are settling into, not a political dynamic like in the States, but a *power* dynamic: service workers wear anti-egress masks, while customers are majority (truly essential businesses like grocery stores†) or almost entirely (frivolous shit like takeout restaurants that the government insisted on keeping open anyway, but people who only go out for essentials generally don't go there and so you only see the more reckless people) maskless. The powerless must expose themselves to the breath of the powerful, but not vice versa.

(Well, must expose themselves to the breath of the *somewhat* more powerful. I'm sure the truly powerful have proper enclaves with all their supplies on no-contact delivery.)

(When you look at it this way, the fact that a large percentage of the service workers I know (or even just see around me) are taking off their masks whenever they think they can get away with it makes a terrible kind of sense.)

---

I am--originally happily, but now to my increasing dismay--a fast-food worker, and I personally began wearing a mask on all outings (surgical at first, transitioning to cloth as I ran out of surgical masks) in mid-March. One of my co-workers mocked me, and the franchise owner insinuated that I was driving customers away, but neither of them overtly tried to stop me. I haven't seen the franchise owner in-person since corporate made employee masks mandatory and so don't know what he's wearing, but the co-worker in question is currently not even *pretending* to obey that regulation.

---

Even cloth masks aren't entirely egress-only protection, and I'm seeing clear benefits from wearing a mask to work: I'm not getting sore throats from people constantly opening the front door and letting in pollen. If they invent a magic vaccine tomorrow, I may have to see if I can coerce the franchise owner into letting me keep wearing a mask to work as a disability accommodation. I'd be totally willing to also wear a sign explaining to the customers why I'm wearing it, so as not to drive them away.

---

†Most places don't deliver out here, so showing up in person for grocery shopping really is essential.

[lydamorehouse]

I kind of hope that masks generally become cool, although it sounds like where you are that's not likely to happen, unfortunately.

I will say, good for you for not letting dark looks get you down. I have also found masks to be helpful in managing my allergies (which aren't severe, but I did notice a marked difference.)

[brin_bellway]

In general I don't think of "not letting dark looks get you down" as something to be proud of: I tend to associate that with exploitation of [other people being too awkward and anxious to assert their boundaries]. But in the specific case where I'm getting dark looks from someone who is *explicitly my superior*, I take it as, if anything, a good sign: if he thought he could order me not to wear one without getting in trouble with *his* superiors, he would have. The fact that he never did means he must *believe* I'm in the right, even if he doesn't like it.

I've been wearing pollen masks outdoors for years, and I *thought* they were mostly but not entirely effective. Given my experience this year, I'm beginning to suspect most of the "leakage" was actually work exposure. The reasons to want a desk job just keep piling up: really looking forward to two semesters from now, when I'll have my accounting diploma.

(All forty-seven of my allergy tests came back negative: we haven't been able to figure out what actually went wrong in my body about four years ago, and so we can't treat it except by prevention.)

[abracanabra]

For some reason, I can't see any of your photos in posts recently. Are you posting somewhere else and then auto-feeding it to DW? Can other people see photos?

[lydamorehouse]

How are you coming into DW? I can see the photos just fine when I come in from several different devices using Chrome.

I don't know what "auto-feeding" is, but can only used the "copy address" function. However, if you have EVER seen pictures before from me, that's all I've ever used.

[lydamorehouse]

I did try resetting them, but it's the same process all over again, so I don't have much hope that I've "fixed" anything. But please let me know how you are coming into DW, because at least I can know what the problem might be so I can complain to the management or some other such thing.

[evilpettingz00]

Was there meant to be photos accompanying this post? I wanna see the drag queen cookies!

[lydamorehouse]

I will ask you the same question. My friend Frank (above) could see them, I can see them on a number of different devices, so how are you coming into DW? I could change the photo, maybe, if I had some other option other option, but if you have EVER seen my photos before I've done nothing differently.

[lydamorehouse]

I did try redoing the pictures, but as it is the same process all over again, I'm not sure if I "fixed" anything. My family has all tried their devices on this page and could see the pictures just fine. Android phones, Apple iPads, laptops, BUT all of them are using the Chrome extension to come in to this site. What are you using?

[brin_bellway]

Chrome works. Firefox used to work, but no longer does. Looking back at some of your older posts, this appears to apply retroactively.

Hang on, let me run some more tests...

Okay! If I turn off everything with any kind of ad-blocking functionality, the compost image I'm using as a test shows up again! It's some kind of overzealous ad-blocker!

Now, to turn them back on individually and see which ones do it...

It's Firefox's built-in tracking protection (the purple shield on the left side of the URL bar). None of my other ad-blocker-type things make a difference when turned on and off, but *that* one does.

And now to check the image URL...

Ah, you're using Facebook image hosting. No wonder Firefox has become concerned.

Advice for the readers: you can see Lyda's images by whitelisting this site in Firefox's tracking protection. Advice for Lyda: you might want to use an image host with a better privacy reputation, so that tracker-blockers will be more willing to go along with it. I personally use WordPress, which offers 3 GB of free image hosting and permits embedding the images on other websites; Dreamwidth also has its own image hosting (for premium paid accounts like yours, the limit is also 3 GB), but does *not* permit embedding on other websites (with a couple exceptions like LiveJournal). Note that 3 GB is actually a *lot* of space for images, especially still images (as opposed to GIFs): I imported nearly nine years (about 4,800 posts) of Tumblr usage into a WordPress and there's *still* a tiny bit of space left.

[lydamorehouse]

Ah! Good to know! I had previously not used any of the uploading functions native to DW, because I couldn't afford a paid account, but I do have one now, so I will use that going forward... and maybe try to go back and retroactively fix some of these images for people.

[abracanabra]

Thanks for investigating! It was the "Facebook container" that blocks Facebook from tracking you around the internet that made the photos not show up. I disabled it for Dreamwidth and *poof* photos appeared.

[evilpettingz00]

I use Firefox on my laptop to access DW. I still don't see photos here. I couldn't remember if I've seen your photos before (yes, I have), so I skimmed through your posts and the latest one that has photos I can see is your May 20th post...but it looks like you were linking to a website's photos? Before that, it's March 31.

[evilpettingz00]

I tried cloudscudding's solution and it worked. I can see the pics now. :)