Tiger Butter Revisited

I wasn't trying to kill the queen.

Honest.

And I made one teeny-tiny joke about the succession ... then I got hauled up before her and questioned, and slapped with a label I wouldn't be able to shirk.

The Queen's Would-Be Assassin, her scribe wrote on a button, which I donned with a perverse sense of pride. (Probably because she said she might have a use for my talents.) But as the week progressed, the ink wore off, so with her permission I reworded it: Tried to kill the queen. Now I kill for her.

Which really, is not a great title when you want people to try your hand-crafted treat. Even if it makes for a great story.

Context: Last week I was on the most amazing vacation of my life (so far). Don Rocko and I attended JoCo Cruise Crazy, a high-seas adventure with nearly nine hundred other nerds aboard a ship in the Caribbean.

Naturally I brought some tiger butter. It's easy and fun to make, I enjoy sharing it, and I knew that it would likely be a hit. Yes, yes it was. Including with many of the high-calibre entertainers who were there this year ... but that's another story.

I just didn't realize that the Monarch of the Seas (one of whom is chosen every year) would have an allergy to an ingredient in the processed peanut butter.

The fact is, she's not the only one, so this isn't the first time this question has come up: Does this recipe come with variations?

So I figure that it's time for me to share some updates.


Changing the Style

Assassin or no, I've reduced the amount of violence I've used in making this recipe. The reasons? Moving from a basement suite where the floors have a concrete base means that I don't feel *as* much need to drop it on the floor. Also, when chopping it up into as many pieces as I could fit into three 8-cup containers (which turns out to be two double batches' worth), I was more interested in 90-degree angles, so I cut it up with a sharp knife and a deft hand for breaking larger bits in half.


Changing the Ingredients

Two things to remember: sea salt and icing sugar.

I have a lot of friends with allergies and sensitivities, so that has made me aware of the importance to pay attention to these things. (It's also why when I offer tiger butter to strangers, I call it "peanut butter fudge" even though it actually doesn't have the granular texture of fudge so I'm not sure if calling it fudge is technically correct. Plus, mine's smoother. But it establishes the main allergen right away.)

So I've made a version for someone who was allergic to the corn in processed peanut butter. In this case, I made it with natural peanut butter. I had the actual measurements written down, but they were lost in the move. Sorry. [Update: See Below]

First: Follow the original recipe. But make the following changes:

The trick: before adding the white chocolate melting wafers,

1) mix the natural peanut butter until smooth,
2) liquefy in a sauce pan, then
3) add the sea salt and icing sugar to taste.

Note: it will take more than you might think. I remember using at least a tablespoon of sea salt per two cups of peanut butter (for a double recipe), and three quarters of a cup of icing sugar.  [Update May 21, 2015: wow, my memory was correct! Use these measurements to replicate Original Tiger Butter flavour.] But like I said, to taste. The result is delicious.


Versatility

Given that the three basic ingredients are peanut butter, white chocolate, and milk chocolate, this recipe can be changed as needed. On my own list is to try making this with sugar-free melting wafers for friends and family members who need to watch that sort of thing. I've made it with almond butter before, just to try it. And if you want to escape the peanut/tree nut connection entirely, you could go for a tasty soy butter alternative. Any other ideas? I'd love to hear them!

* * *

As for the tiger butter's reception on the cruise, the original recipe went over fairly well. Y'know, despite the whole accidental-attempted-regicide thing. On the last night, I had a tub left (since I'd stuffed it in our stateroom fridge and forgot about it), and that led to more than a few suggestions of, "Hey, you should offer some to [insert name of Special Guest]". So I did. No need to name-drop here, but there's a certain pleasure in knowing that they all liked it, too.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to the other thing I like crafting and sharing and don't mind improving, where I can kill as much as needed: writing.

I Hate Salads (or, Resistance ain't Fertile) - March Madness Check-In, Day 24 #WIPmadness

Happy Monday, Mad Marchers! Still hanging in there? I am ... but I'll admit it hasn't been easy. I've hit a few bumps in the road to outlining this new novel, but I think I'm back on track now. How about you?

Today I wanted to talk about something near and dear to me: food.

The past few years for me, it hasn't been super fun, because I was gluten intolerant. Spoiler: it went away a few months ago. Great for my sanity, not so much for my waistline. Sometimes, these things happen, which is awesome, but don't ask me to explain the whys behind it all. I'm not a doctor. But let me say one thing: trying to eat out when one has dietary restrictions can be very frustrating. Even more frustrating was the question I was asked, almost without fail:

"Can't you just have a salad?"

Within weeks I was ready to bite the head off of anyone who dared suggest such a thing. Maintaining my calm, my nostrils would flare, my expression would flatten and I would growl, in a voice two octaves lower than usual,

"NO."

(Forget that I sacrificed five years of my teens and very early twenties to a certain fast food chain and was even in charge of *making* the salads on some mornings, so I know how much is just bland iceberg lettuce with some flavourful toppings and a pack of salty-sugary-fatty dressing for extra disguise. So I wasn't exactly a cheerleader for the things. But I digress.)

After awhile, people stopped asking. And I went on my merry way, trying to figure out creative adaptations of fast food and restaurant menus without resorting to gluten, which at the time was giving me trouble.

But one thing I did start to like was spinach. That was healthy and I could take it in my lunch without dressing. And then after that, in 2012, I was in Vegas as a bridesmaid for my best friend's wedding, and we went out for dinner and the menu's pickings were slim, but they did have this really nice ... you guessed it ... salad. Except that it was "chicken, mandarins, walnuts and raspberries on a bed of spinach". No lettuce to speak of. And that got me to thinking, wait a minute. I could totally try it if there was spinach involved. Spinach, at least, was reasonably healthy.

So I tried it. And it was delicious.

And when I got home, I started re-thinking what the word "salad" meant to me. Yes, it was still something I'd only be interested in when the days are warm, but trying out *my* variation, using ingredients that *I* liked, changed everything.

And suddenly I was enjoying salads.

 
So, what does this have to do with writing?

More than you'd think. Because one thing I've learned about myself is that the things I resist the hardest are the things I should give some consideration. Especially when it applies to critical feedback and my work.

I've told the story before about how when I wrote the novel I'm currently shopping around, I used first person present tense, and thought that because that's how the novel first came to me that I should keep it that way. It's a great example. So many people tried to tell me to change the tense to past, but I was so stuck on the idea that this was how my main character had spoken to me, had told the story, that I refused to listen to reason.

Luckily I have an awesome CP who found a way to get through to me and make me re-think this resistance that was really holding me back. As a result, I was able to discover my voice and make the story, IMHO, sing.

Have you ever had such an experience? Where you keep saying "no" to an idea or change, or perhaps a manuscript revision, only to realize that, "Wow, that's so much better!"? It's happened to me more than once. (I'll save the story about why I had to cut the man-eating lizards chapter for another day.) Each time, I resist. But each time, after some grumbling, I notice an improvement.

Even if it's just in my lunch.

* * *

So, how are you faring with your goals, Mad Wipsters?

Newcomers: Don't know about March Madness for Writers? I know it's fairly late in the game, but if this is the first you've heard of this crazyfun approach to achieving goals, it's still not too late to get a full week's worth of work in! Just sign up here. We've got a great community that hangs out at #WIPmadness year-round, and we always have room for more. Check us out!

And of course, don't forget to check out Shari's blog tomorrow!

p.s. The recipe, as such:
- Baby spinach base
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar
- frozen raspberries
- frozen strawberries
- mandarin wedges (from a Dole jar)
- Dressing: 2 tbsp FINI Modena Basalmic Reduction, mixed well with the juice of the thawed/jarred fruit on top