Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Let them eat cake
The week before this week kind of sucked. There was stupidity from multiple sources re: the quilt block swap group (I will spare you any more detail, I promise), a gentle but building panic from newly crafted adults just learning they are average when 6 months ago they were the smartest people they knew (for them this is one of the most difficult things that will ever happen, for us it is the week before midterms) & what has come to be run-of-the-mill behavior from members of our extended family (still doesn't make it fun, just means the bar is set really, really low...& we still have to lower it occasionally). Like I said: sucked.
& by last Sunday I had kind of had it. I was so deflated I blew off all my Sunday stuff. I didn't go to my usual house of worship (the library). I drank my coffee without cream or sweetener because I could not face the grocery store. I didn't get gas (yes, I get gas just once a week) or even leave the house for any reason except to do the bare minimum of outside chores, which mostly means feeding & watering. I just sat & stared at the tv...which was not even on. You read that right. In my defense it is a flat screen & it nicely reflects the bird feeders so it is the same thing as looking out the window, except when I move the birds cannot see it.
At some point, I picked up one of the books that had been recommended & I had dutifully checked out (yes, I go to the library more than once a week). It changed my whole day. The book is All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray. I more or less just planned to look at the pictures, but within the first dozen pages I started rattling around the cupboards. I didn't own a tube pan (I do now!), so I followed the directions (I usually do, actually. Mostly. Sometimes) & halved the recipe & the cooking time & squeaked by with my 4-mini-loaf pan.
Since I was in the kitchen anyhow, I mixed up a batch of unseasoned bread crumbs & Turkish blend, set some chicken breast strips to effectively marinate in a two beaten eggs & boiled & mashed the potatoes that had been sitting on the counter since...I'm actually not sure when. The timing worked so the potatoes could sit in a warm oven after the cake came out. By the time the first loaf pan was empty, it was time for dinner.
You might think that two people who had just shoveled down 1/8th of a pound cake could not then put away breaded & fried (in very little oil, I swear) chicken, A LOT of mashed potatoes with the rest of the sour cream (most of it went into the cake) & steamed pole beans (we aren't savages) but you would be wrong. One of even had seconds on the mashed potatoes (OKay, it was me). Then we had more cake. We would have had all the cake but I put away the smallest loaf (it came out the prettiest, honest) to take to W*****.
A has been walking around since saying it is the best angel food cake he has ever had. To clarify, it wasn't an angel food cake, it was a pound cake, the first recipe in the book. To further clarify, he spent a certain portion of his childhood in the bakery/restaurant his uncle managed for the Selinger family for decades. In short, he has an intimate familiarity with really good cakes & we have the dental bills to prove it, he just doesn't always pull the right word.
On Monday, I bought a tube cake pan. & my own copy of All Cakes Considered.
& by last Sunday I had kind of had it. I was so deflated I blew off all my Sunday stuff. I didn't go to my usual house of worship (the library). I drank my coffee without cream or sweetener because I could not face the grocery store. I didn't get gas (yes, I get gas just once a week) or even leave the house for any reason except to do the bare minimum of outside chores, which mostly means feeding & watering. I just sat & stared at the tv...which was not even on. You read that right. In my defense it is a flat screen & it nicely reflects the bird feeders so it is the same thing as looking out the window, except when I move the birds cannot see it.
At some point, I picked up one of the books that had been recommended & I had dutifully checked out (yes, I go to the library more than once a week). It changed my whole day. The book is All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray. I more or less just planned to look at the pictures, but within the first dozen pages I started rattling around the cupboards. I didn't own a tube pan (I do now!), so I followed the directions (I usually do, actually. Mostly. Sometimes) & halved the recipe & the cooking time & squeaked by with my 4-mini-loaf pan.
Since I was in the kitchen anyhow, I mixed up a batch of unseasoned bread crumbs & Turkish blend, set some chicken breast strips to effectively marinate in a two beaten eggs & boiled & mashed the potatoes that had been sitting on the counter since...I'm actually not sure when. The timing worked so the potatoes could sit in a warm oven after the cake came out. By the time the first loaf pan was empty, it was time for dinner.
You might think that two people who had just shoveled down 1/8th of a pound cake could not then put away breaded & fried (in very little oil, I swear) chicken, A LOT of mashed potatoes with the rest of the sour cream (most of it went into the cake) & steamed pole beans (we aren't savages) but you would be wrong. One of even had seconds on the mashed potatoes (OKay, it was me). Then we had more cake. We would have had all the cake but I put away the smallest loaf (it came out the prettiest, honest) to take to W*****.
A has been walking around since saying it is the best angel food cake he has ever had. To clarify, it wasn't an angel food cake, it was a pound cake, the first recipe in the book. To further clarify, he spent a certain portion of his childhood in the bakery/restaurant his uncle managed for the Selinger family for decades. In short, he has an intimate familiarity with really good cakes & we have the dental bills to prove it, he just doesn't always pull the right word.
On Monday, I bought a tube cake pan. & my own copy of All Cakes Considered.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
It was cookie swap...again
The second Tuesday of the month is usually bookclub night, but we take a break in December (& July & August) leaving the 2nd Tuesday in December available for the holiday cookie swap. Which works in nicely with the month's Lotto Linky topic: FOOD.
I confess, a week before cookie swap I start kicking myself for not starting earlier, but it more or less works out in the end. Our cookie swap rules are simple: make cookies, bring cookies, exchange cookies. Still I usually manage to screw up in some way.
It all begins with the cookies. Make a couple dozen. Or more. Because all cookies are not created equal. I make sugar & walnuts things rolled onto balls & plonked in colored sugar. M****** makes mini-pecan pies. V** makes buckeyes, the original (& much better tasting) peanut butter cups. Their cookies take effort; mine really don't. So I kind of think of 1/2 dozen of theirs equals 12+ of mine. Maybe even 24+. Maybe even more. Seriously, I make them by the pound.
Still, it is worth the effort for all of us. Sure, your kitchen gets turned upside down making a bulk of one maybe two kinds of cookies BUT you unload the cookies you are a little bit sick of & get back a nice mix to make up very pretty plates for your neighbors & co-workers Or to eat on the drive home, your choice.
I made what I make every year (that is the beauty if cookie swap, you don't have to worry about too much of one cookie...yet another first world problem):
Christmas Nut Balls (indeed)
2 sticks of butter, softened
--I prefer to use unsalted butter & then I add sea salt. The general rule is up to 3/4 tsp of salt per stick, but you can do what you want. This makes it easier to make a low sodium version if that is what you want.
2 tsp of vanilla
--put them in the mixer & let it run for awhile
1/3 cup of sugar
--toss it in the mixer & let it run awhile longer
2 tsp of water
--add while the mixer is still running
2 cups of flour
--sift the flour. Add it to the mixer, while it runs.
1 cup of walnuts
--I take whole shelled nuts & pulverize them with a mortar & pestle. The largest pieces are maybe the size of a peppercorn or two...or three, but most of them are reduced to powder. Tip them into the mixer & let it run until it is smooth smooth smooth.
Yes, I could call these mixer cookies. It would be impossible to overmix them. All this mixing (& all that butter) means everything will go easier if you chill it in the fridge for an hour or so. So you can call them fridge cookie, too.
Preheat oven to 325 F. Spoon dough into balls (or roll using your hands), roll in sugar, bake 20-25 minutes. Cookies crumble easily when they first come out of the oven, but set as they cool.
Enjoy!
I confess, a week before cookie swap I start kicking myself for not starting earlier, but it more or less works out in the end. Our cookie swap rules are simple: make cookies, bring cookies, exchange cookies. Still I usually manage to screw up in some way.
It all begins with the cookies. Make a couple dozen. Or more. Because all cookies are not created equal. I make sugar & walnuts things rolled onto balls & plonked in colored sugar. M****** makes mini-pecan pies. V** makes buckeyes, the original (& much better tasting) peanut butter cups. Their cookies take effort; mine really don't. So I kind of think of 1/2 dozen of theirs equals 12+ of mine. Maybe even 24+. Maybe even more. Seriously, I make them by the pound.
Still, it is worth the effort for all of us. Sure, your kitchen gets turned upside down making a bulk of one maybe two kinds of cookies BUT you unload the cookies you are a little bit sick of & get back a nice mix to make up very pretty plates for your neighbors & co-workers Or to eat on the drive home, your choice.
I made what I make every year (that is the beauty if cookie swap, you don't have to worry about too much of one cookie...yet another first world problem):
Christmas Nut Balls (indeed)
2 sticks of butter, softened
--I prefer to use unsalted butter & then I add sea salt. The general rule is up to 3/4 tsp of salt per stick, but you can do what you want. This makes it easier to make a low sodium version if that is what you want.2 tsp of vanilla
--put them in the mixer & let it run for awhile
1/3 cup of sugar
--toss it in the mixer & let it run awhile longer
2 tsp of water
--add while the mixer is still running
2 cups of flour
--sift the flour. Add it to the mixer, while it runs.
1 cup of walnuts
--I take whole shelled nuts & pulverize them with a mortar & pestle. The largest pieces are maybe the size of a peppercorn or two...or three, but most of them are reduced to powder. Tip them into the mixer & let it run until it is smooth smooth smooth.
Yes, I could call these mixer cookies. It would be impossible to overmix them. All this mixing (& all that butter) means everything will go easier if you chill it in the fridge for an hour or so. So you can call them fridge cookie, too.
Preheat oven to 325 F. Spoon dough into balls (or roll using your hands), roll in sugar, bake 20-25 minutes. Cookies crumble easily when they first come out of the oven, but set as they cool.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
52 Photos Project: Dessert
Have I told you about my diet? I don't think I have, so settle in for a small talk about feast & famine. I started when I visited my parents this summer & brought it home & now A is doing it as well....& doing much better than me. I have gone down a size but he has lost 15 pounds. Jerk.
Anyway. The diet is, in a nutshell, 500 calories one day as much as I want the next. Yes, there is more to it than that but I said this was the nutshell. I am finding this do-able, long term. There is almost no day that is so hungry that I cannot make it to the next day. One of the unexpected side effects has been a greater appreciation for the food we DO eat.
Which brings us to the bananas. I have posted about the bananas before, we had a bumper crop this year. & we have been talking about bananas foster for....a while. This past Sunday. A made pancakes & bananas foster for breakfast. Because on not-500 calorie days, that's how we roll.
The dessert-for-breakfast was so delicious the only picture I took was when it was almost all done; the pancakes were made & A was working on the nuts & fruit & rum part. Once it hit the plate, we started eating.
That foil thing is what was left of a stick of Crisco.
So here is the 52 Photos Project for this week: Dessert.....for breakfast.
Anyway. The diet is, in a nutshell, 500 calories one day as much as I want the next. Yes, there is more to it than that but I said this was the nutshell. I am finding this do-able, long term. There is almost no day that is so hungry that I cannot make it to the next day. One of the unexpected side effects has been a greater appreciation for the food we DO eat.
Which brings us to the bananas. I have posted about the bananas before, we had a bumper crop this year. & we have been talking about bananas foster for....a while. This past Sunday. A made pancakes & bananas foster for breakfast. Because on not-500 calorie days, that's how we roll.
The dessert-for-breakfast was so delicious the only picture I took was when it was almost all done; the pancakes were made & A was working on the nuts & fruit & rum part. Once it hit the plate, we started eating.
That foil thing is what was left of a stick of Crisco.
So here is the 52 Photos Project for this week: Dessert.....for breakfast.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Saint in cake
I had no idea there even was a Saint David until I saw him being not-so-much lauded on CakeWrecks. It is not that I thought there wasn't a Saint David, why wouldn't there be? There are two Saint Pelagias from Antioch for crissakes. But aside from Valentine through Patrick to Nicholas, you just don't see many saint cakes & I kind of got to wondering. So, after seeing his cake wrecked, I went cruising for David. It did not take long to find an interesting angle.
It seems in addition to being the patron of Wales (not whales, no matter what other sites might say, altho' in another 25 years he WILL be patron saint of whales because that does seem to be how many of the patronages happen), David is also the patron saint of: Pembrokeshire, a specific bit of Wales-kind of like across the pond, anyone from the US is a yankee, but in the south only someone from north of the Mason Dixon is a yankee, & then in the north, only if you are from the northeast are you a yankee, get to the northeast & yankees are people from New England, then if you actually go to New England they will tell you yankees are people from New York, NOT part of New England, because New York was originally (& I use that term loosely), New Amsterdam. Finally, it turns out Jans & Kees are kind of a dutch version of Smith & Jones.
Where was I? Oh, right, Pembrokeshire, a specific county in Wales. So David is the patron saint of Wales & then in Wales, he is the patron saint of Pembrokeshire. He is also patron saint of poets, which kind of interested me because there are surprisingly few patron saints of poets. Well, I was surprised anyhow. I kind of think of the whole saintly gig with traveling balladeers & troubadours & such. This poet patronage thing is almost certainly a collision with another saint, specifically King David, who wrote the Psalms & was canonized way-later (& I am sure would be appalled if he knew) is probably who was meant to be David, patron of poets but it all got scrambled & now they both are.
Our David is also listed as patron saint of doves. Which made me hope against hope that there is somewhere a patron saint of flamingos. I will keep my eyes peeled.
Finally David is the patron saint of vegetarians. In fact, he is not alone. There is even another patron saint of vegetarianism who apparently did not like the smell of roasting meat, but back to David. I cannot find the reference to how or why he got hooked up with vegetarianism (how hard did I look? not very), but I did discover that his birth was almost certainly the result of a rape.
I have no idea what kind of cake you should have for Saint David's Day. The BBC website has a lot of recipes for roasted lamb & chicken (odd that), but the only cake was Welsh cake which seems kind of lame, like serving green beer just because it's Saint Patrick's Day.
It seems in addition to being the patron of Wales (not whales, no matter what other sites might say, altho' in another 25 years he WILL be patron saint of whales because that does seem to be how many of the patronages happen), David is also the patron saint of: Pembrokeshire, a specific bit of Wales-kind of like across the pond, anyone from the US is a yankee, but in the south only someone from north of the Mason Dixon is a yankee, & then in the north, only if you are from the northeast are you a yankee, get to the northeast & yankees are people from New England, then if you actually go to New England they will tell you yankees are people from New York, NOT part of New England, because New York was originally (& I use that term loosely), New Amsterdam. Finally, it turns out Jans & Kees are kind of a dutch version of Smith & Jones.
Where was I? Oh, right, Pembrokeshire, a specific county in Wales. So David is the patron saint of Wales & then in Wales, he is the patron saint of Pembrokeshire. He is also patron saint of poets, which kind of interested me because there are surprisingly few patron saints of poets. Well, I was surprised anyhow. I kind of think of the whole saintly gig with traveling balladeers & troubadours & such. This poet patronage thing is almost certainly a collision with another saint, specifically King David, who wrote the Psalms & was canonized way-later (& I am sure would be appalled if he knew) is probably who was meant to be David, patron of poets but it all got scrambled & now they both are.
Our David is also listed as patron saint of doves. Which made me hope against hope that there is somewhere a patron saint of flamingos. I will keep my eyes peeled.
Finally David is the patron saint of vegetarians. In fact, he is not alone. There is even another patron saint of vegetarianism who apparently did not like the smell of roasting meat, but back to David. I cannot find the reference to how or why he got hooked up with vegetarianism (how hard did I look? not very), but I did discover that his birth was almost certainly the result of a rape.
I have no idea what kind of cake you should have for Saint David's Day. The BBC website has a lot of recipes for roasted lamb & chicken (odd that), but the only cake was Welsh cake which seems kind of lame, like serving green beer just because it's Saint Patrick's Day.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Boiling water 101
C****** has been coming by Tuesday evenings & getting some cooking insights. I will wait while you all stop laughing because yes I would agree I am not the best person to teach anyone how to cook. Not that I am a bad cook, more that I am a spot cook. I am prepared to prepare some foods & not others & there are large gaps in basic knowledge (I learned what Crisco was when I was in my 40s; I deep fry NOTHING & make crusts with real butter) while I have worked at areas most other cooks avoid (a souffle rising has more to do with whether or not your bowls, utensils etc. have hard water stains than how well you whip those eggs, trust me).
But none of that mattered last night, because tonight it was pressure cooker basics. & what could be more basic than boiling water?
Sooooo, first we boiled water with a regular (not pressurized lid). Then we boiled black eyed peas with the pressure cooker sealed. For whatever reason, the cooker WAS under pressure but did not give the signs the manual said it would (we knew this though because we knew how long it would take to boil that water..see how that works?) & when we opened the cooker (after doing all the groovy safety stuff) we found that ten minutes had brought us roughly where soaking for 10+ hours had done. Did I mention I soaked black-eyed peas for comparison?
We re-pressurized for another ten minutes & had black eyed peas mush (YAY). Also, this time the signs of pressurization were there. I found this with my own pressure cooker the first time I used it; it just didn't tick or steam like it was supposed to that first time.
Then we took the whole thing apart, cleaning as per the directions & C***** went home with a bag of garbanzo beans to repeat on her own stove. Next week, an actual food; this week the black eyed peas will go to the chickens.
But none of that mattered last night, because tonight it was pressure cooker basics. & what could be more basic than boiling water?
Sooooo, first we boiled water with a regular (not pressurized lid). Then we boiled black eyed peas with the pressure cooker sealed. For whatever reason, the cooker WAS under pressure but did not give the signs the manual said it would (we knew this though because we knew how long it would take to boil that water..see how that works?) & when we opened the cooker (after doing all the groovy safety stuff) we found that ten minutes had brought us roughly where soaking for 10+ hours had done. Did I mention I soaked black-eyed peas for comparison?
We re-pressurized for another ten minutes & had black eyed peas mush (YAY). Also, this time the signs of pressurization were there. I found this with my own pressure cooker the first time I used it; it just didn't tick or steam like it was supposed to that first time.
Then we took the whole thing apart, cleaning as per the directions & C***** went home with a bag of garbanzo beans to repeat on her own stove. Next week, an actual food; this week the black eyed peas will go to the chickens.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Curried eggs
It has been a while since I had a recipe & I don't know about you, but when it gets hot I have trouble eating anything meaty. Alright, I am not a big meat eater at the best of times (I had a cheeseburger a year ago October & by a year ago October I mean 2009), but the simple truth is I need protein just like everyone else. In the summertime, the best way to get it is with eggs. & yes, by the way, it is summertime here again in Fladidah. This week, it is hard-boiled curried eggs over leafy greens (because it turns out I realllly need more iron & spinach is my new best friend).
First hard-boil some eggs. However many you want. Six eggs would last me a week; A could eat that in one sitting. Lets say six: hard-boil six eggs. Then drain them & take make them easier to peel, drop them gently into cold, cold water. Set aside for a minute...or an hour.
When you are ready, return to the eggs & peel them. I roll them around for a bit until the shell cracks & then try to peel it in one piece like an apple. No, I have never been successful, but it is good to give yourself these little challenges, don't you think? Cut them & remove the yolks. Set aside the whites, keeping them as intact as you can, but don't make yourself crazy, this is not deviled eggs after all. Mash the yolks with a fork.
In a small bowl -a really small bowl, I use a teacup- combine 1tsp cardamon, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp red pepper. 1/2 tsp turmeric. Generally these are already ground but if not, grind them now. Grind them together, even.
Finely mince one or two or three cloves of garlic. Three is probably too many, so if you really like garlic, use two. If you buy minced garlic in a jar, try to scoop as much liquid as actual garlic & go for a teaspoon or so total.
Take your smallest pan, ideally a pan with some sides to it (i.e. a crepe pan would not cut it) & put in as little of a light oil as you need to coat the bottom. Any light oil will do. The idea is not to cook anything in oil but to make the temperature more or less even throughout the pan. If you have a gas stove & snazzy cookware, you might be able to get away without the oil. If you are feeling adventurous, or it is the morning after bookclub, you could try a bit of red wine, just covering the bottom of your pan.
Heat the oil, add the spices. Stir. & stir. Do not stop stirring. Add the garlic & stir some more. The spices may smoke a bit, just keep stirring & use your nose. When they "release" add the mashed egg yolks & stir, stir stir for as long again as you stirred before adding the eggs. It is almost impossible to under-cook them, but the longer they heat up together, the more flavor the eggs will take.
Never stop stirring, never ever ever.
When they are done remove from heat, remove from pan (or they will keep cooking, even if the pan is not on the stove) & set aside. Slice the whites into smaller-than-bite sized pieces. I like to put them in a bowl, whites on one side, yolks on the other & spoon it over my salad instead of dressing. Other people scoop them up on pieces of bread or mix it in with rice.
& for those of you who like a media tie-in, I give you Cool Hand Luke. I bet he couldn't have eaten those eggs curried...maybe he could.
First hard-boil some eggs. However many you want. Six eggs would last me a week; A could eat that in one sitting. Lets say six: hard-boil six eggs. Then drain them & take make them easier to peel, drop them gently into cold, cold water. Set aside for a minute...or an hour.
When you are ready, return to the eggs & peel them. I roll them around for a bit until the shell cracks & then try to peel it in one piece like an apple. No, I have never been successful, but it is good to give yourself these little challenges, don't you think? Cut them & remove the yolks. Set aside the whites, keeping them as intact as you can, but don't make yourself crazy, this is not deviled eggs after all. Mash the yolks with a fork.
In a small bowl -a really small bowl, I use a teacup- combine 1tsp cardamon, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp red pepper. 1/2 tsp turmeric. Generally these are already ground but if not, grind them now. Grind them together, even.
Finely mince one or two or three cloves of garlic. Three is probably too many, so if you really like garlic, use two. If you buy minced garlic in a jar, try to scoop as much liquid as actual garlic & go for a teaspoon or so total.
Take your smallest pan, ideally a pan with some sides to it (i.e. a crepe pan would not cut it) & put in as little of a light oil as you need to coat the bottom. Any light oil will do. The idea is not to cook anything in oil but to make the temperature more or less even throughout the pan. If you have a gas stove & snazzy cookware, you might be able to get away without the oil. If you are feeling adventurous, or it is the morning after bookclub, you could try a bit of red wine, just covering the bottom of your pan.
Heat the oil, add the spices. Stir. & stir. Do not stop stirring. Add the garlic & stir some more. The spices may smoke a bit, just keep stirring & use your nose. When they "release" add the mashed egg yolks & stir, stir stir for as long again as you stirred before adding the eggs. It is almost impossible to under-cook them, but the longer they heat up together, the more flavor the eggs will take.
Never stop stirring, never ever ever.
When they are done remove from heat, remove from pan (or they will keep cooking, even if the pan is not on the stove) & set aside. Slice the whites into smaller-than-bite sized pieces. I like to put them in a bowl, whites on one side, yolks on the other & spoon it over my salad instead of dressing. Other people scoop them up on pieces of bread or mix it in with rice.
& for those of you who like a media tie-in, I give you Cool Hand Luke. I bet he couldn't have eaten those eggs curried...maybe he could.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Goodbye old kitchen
The kitchen in my house is mostly original; the house was built in 1977. The cabinets, the soffits (& the wallpaper!) are certainly original. The dishwasher was new in '99, all the other appliances are older than that, but probably not pushing 50 (maybe 35).
This means that around the same time someone first walked into my kitchen, the Sex Pistols had just released their first album with one of my favorite songs, actually, while Fleetwood Mac released their most important album & another song I really do like; Jimmy Carter took office & pardoned draft dodgers; Anwar Sadat went to Israel & started talking peace with Menachem Begin; at the movies Tony Monero danced his way into the night, while in a galaxy far, far away... well you all know what happened there; & finally back here on earth Fonzie jumped the shark. In short, this kitchen has been overdue for a while. Half the people who eat (& cook) here on a regular basis were not born when this kitchen was installed & they can all vote & purchase alcohol, legally even; some of them have children of their own & some of those kids are in school. OKay, pre-school.
So it is goodbye old kitchen. Goodbye fan/peacock/whatever that pattern is supposed to be wall paper. Goodbye wagon wheel detailing, you were handy for sorting the dry cleaning. Goodbye refrigerator whose door never did open all the way because of that weird pantry shelf. & goodbye weird pantry shelf; I'm still not sure what you were supposed to be anyway. Goodbye breakfast bar, you were maybe a good idea but never really worked for us. & goodbye to your buddy, the over-head cabinets with doors on both sides of the bar, it was fun pushing things all the way thru & out the other side; that's when we stopped stocking up on canned goods...
Goodbye, kitchen. We'll always have that Thanksgiving I broke my leg walking out the front door.
*sigh*
Seriously, what is the deal on those wagon wheels? Was this ever fashionable, even in 1977?
This means that around the same time someone first walked into my kitchen, the Sex Pistols had just released their first album with one of my favorite songs, actually, while Fleetwood Mac released their most important album & another song I really do like; Jimmy Carter took office & pardoned draft dodgers; Anwar Sadat went to Israel & started talking peace with Menachem Begin; at the movies Tony Monero danced his way into the night, while in a galaxy far, far away... well you all know what happened there; & finally back here on earth Fonzie jumped the shark. In short, this kitchen has been overdue for a while. Half the people who eat (& cook) here on a regular basis were not born when this kitchen was installed & they can all vote & purchase alcohol, legally even; some of them have children of their own & some of those kids are in school. OKay, pre-school.
Goodbye, kitchen. We'll always have that Thanksgiving I broke my leg walking out the front door.
*sigh*
Seriously, what is the deal on those wagon wheels? Was this ever fashionable, even in 1977?
Friday, July 8, 2011
The national foods of July
Every month always has foods & usually they are all over the map: desserts & vegetables all mixed in. Not so July. I knew July was National Hotdog Month, mostly because several dachshund rescue-type groups link their fund raising to that whole weiner thing. But there is more...
Ronald Reagan declared July National Ice Cream Month (alas National Jelly Bean Day was in April). According to several sources, he did it to emphasize the nutritional value of ice cream. Voodoo home economics if you ask me but whatever, ice cream is a fine food. It gets better. July is also Baked Bean Month & Pickle Month (although apparently May, June & August also have pickle days).
To round everything else out nicely, July is National Picnic Month. Let me suggest you bring along some hotdogs, baked beans, pickles & ice cream. National Potato Month is not until August but you might want to throw some french fries & potato salad in the mix. & National Apple Pie Month was in May, but go ahead & put some of that in the basket, although I confess to being puzzled about that one, apples being out of season in almost all of the US in May.
Finally, July is National Park & Recreation Month. This one also dates back to the Reagan years. Let me suggest we all show our patriotism by picnicking in the park.
Ronald Reagan declared July National Ice Cream Month (alas National Jelly Bean Day was in April). According to several sources, he did it to emphasize the nutritional value of ice cream. Voodoo home economics if you ask me but whatever, ice cream is a fine food. It gets better. July is also Baked Bean Month & Pickle Month (although apparently May, June & August also have pickle days).
To round everything else out nicely, July is National Picnic Month. Let me suggest you bring along some hotdogs, baked beans, pickles & ice cream. National Potato Month is not until August but you might want to throw some french fries & potato salad in the mix. & National Apple Pie Month was in May, but go ahead & put some of that in the basket, although I confess to being puzzled about that one, apples being out of season in almost all of the US in May.
Finally, July is National Park & Recreation Month. This one also dates back to the Reagan years. Let me suggest we all show our patriotism by picnicking in the park.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Yogurt maker the second
One of the reasons there was no second yogurt maker in the other post is I did not get around to using her until late last month. Hey, I was busy. & then I got a new cow (NEW COW!) & then I had more milk than I usually have & went looking for a purpose.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
The price of milk
We have a new cow. I know I have hardly talked/blogged/whatever about anything else since she arrived. I have milkmaid's wrist, milkmaid's forearm & milkmaid's grip. What tennis is to the elbow, running is to shins, etc. you do the rest.
& mostly it is good. You cannot imagine how good that milk smells when it hits the pail. I want to drink it, warm on a warm day, it is so sweet-(& I only ever drink milk, cold milk when I have a stomach ache or cookies...or both). I have gotten to the point in the process where I am not so exhausted when it is over that I can reflect on how not-exhausted I am, which is its own kind of high. No really. Apparently I have not yet gotten to the point where complete sentences out number the other kind, though. Oh well.
What I do have is just enough energy to kick back & watch one of my favorite movies. Since I am having trouble with continuity, it helps to watch a movie I have both seen before & is not quite continuous itself. Which brings me to The Price of Milk. I love this weird little film. That it happens to be about a dairyman (& yet not about a dairyman) just helps. Also, it is on Instant on Netflix, so go for it.
As a side bar, the next time I hear someone complain about how food prices are outlandish & can you believe what they want for a gallon of milk, I plan to show them my milking bruises & cuts, all for not more than a gallon a day.
& mostly it is good. You cannot imagine how good that milk smells when it hits the pail. I want to drink it, warm on a warm day, it is so sweet-(& I only ever drink milk, cold milk when I have a stomach ache or cookies...or both). I have gotten to the point in the process where I am not so exhausted when it is over that I can reflect on how not-exhausted I am, which is its own kind of high. No really. Apparently I have not yet gotten to the point where complete sentences out number the other kind, though. Oh well.
What I do have is just enough energy to kick back & watch one of my favorite movies. Since I am having trouble with continuity, it helps to watch a movie I have both seen before & is not quite continuous itself. Which brings me to The Price of Milk. I love this weird little film. That it happens to be about a dairyman (& yet not about a dairyman) just helps. Also, it is on Instant on Netflix, so go for it.
As a side bar, the next time I hear someone complain about how food prices are outlandish & can you believe what they want for a gallon of milk, I plan to show them my milking bruises & cuts, all for not more than a gallon a day.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Not your mother's tofu..not that I know your mother, maybe it is her tofu
More than a few people have told me recently that they might be willing to eat more tofu if only they knew what to do with it &/or they had a bad (i.e. bland) tofu experience 20+ years ago & have not been back for seconds. Also, I have had a few husbands say they would not eat tofu, not matter what including one guy who had been eating tofu for let's just say a while without ever questioning what it was. It might be chicken. Very square chicken.
For those who do not know, tofu is what happens when milk made from soy beans coagulates & is then pressed to remove moisture. & before you get all EWW disgusting, chicken nuggets are primarily made from offal. In the game of I-may-never-stop-gagging, chicken nuggets win.
When you buy tofu at the store, it is usual to open the container & move the block to another container of fresh, clean water although I admit if I know I am going to use it within the next day, I don't bother. Once you have moved it however, you will want to change the water every day or so until you do use it. Because tofu blocks are large for a single meal, it is likely you will not use a whole block at once. Just tip out the water, add fresh to cover the remaining block (& then put the cover on the container so you don't slosh water all over the fridge) & put it back in the fridge. Because there is so much water in tofu, I have never frozen it. I am quite sure the texture would change dramatically, but for all I know it changes back, or it is a pleasing change. Someone will have to try that & let me know.
If all of this water changing sounds like too much work, you can do what I do which is cook it all at once & then use it in salads, casseroles, sandwiches, scrambled eggs, etc. over the next few days. If you are going to go this route, you want to cook it in a spice or spices or flavors that will 'match' the rest of the menu for the next few days. Or not, I suppose, if you want something completely different.
This is what I do:
I buy extra firm tofu & cut it into cubes no bigger than my thumb. I have small hands so think small cubes.
I take whatever pan I will be using; I like a big flat pan with high sides, but anything you have would work. If you have been looking for a reason to use that old wok, here it is.
At this point I either cook something else in the pan (sauteing onions is the way I am most likely to go) or in a cold (Okay room temperature) pan I put in as little light oil as possible to cover the bottom. This will involve adding a few drops, & swishing the pan around. Again, because tofu has so much water, you don't want to add any more moisture than you need to. At this point I often also add whatever spices I might be using. Lately I have been favoring a mix of spices from Pakistani cuisine, last summer I was on a kind of chili powder kick, but I have been known to go with curry or sage or sesame or paprika...anything really. A friend of mine puts bouillon cubes in the pan with the littlest bit of water, lets that cook away & then adds the tofu. Whatever you fancy will probably work; tofu picks up flavors readily (another good reason to keep it covered in the fridge).
Then I turn on the heat, let one side sizzle, gently stir, let the next side sizzle. The sides exposed to to the hot pan & spice will shrink a bit, giving it a lopsided sort of look until all of them have shrunk down. All told, it probably won't take much more then ten minutes or so giving you ample time to call your mother or make next weeks grocery list or empty the dishwasher or whatever between stirrings.
When it is done, maybe tip it onto a plate covered with a paper towel to cool. Or spoon it, depending on how wet/oily the whole thing is. After it cools, you can put the cooked tofu into sealed containers & refrigerate a day or three until you are ready to use them.
It doesn't sound like much but added to salad it will add well, calcium & protein. & yes, it will also add some fat, but compared to what you might eat instead, it is an improvement. As for all those studies about increased dementia, keep in mind the study looked at elderly japanese men who 1) ate way more tofu in their lives than you will even if you eat it every day starting today & 2) the same group also had a much lower incidence of heart disease colon cancer, etc & lived way longer than you are going to if you are eating any other fried crap, so stop worrying.
For those who do not know, tofu is what happens when milk made from soy beans coagulates & is then pressed to remove moisture. & before you get all EWW disgusting, chicken nuggets are primarily made from offal. In the game of I-may-never-stop-gagging, chicken nuggets win.
When you buy tofu at the store, it is usual to open the container & move the block to another container of fresh, clean water although I admit if I know I am going to use it within the next day, I don't bother. Once you have moved it however, you will want to change the water every day or so until you do use it. Because tofu blocks are large for a single meal, it is likely you will not use a whole block at once. Just tip out the water, add fresh to cover the remaining block (& then put the cover on the container so you don't slosh water all over the fridge) & put it back in the fridge. Because there is so much water in tofu, I have never frozen it. I am quite sure the texture would change dramatically, but for all I know it changes back, or it is a pleasing change. Someone will have to try that & let me know.
If all of this water changing sounds like too much work, you can do what I do which is cook it all at once & then use it in salads, casseroles, sandwiches, scrambled eggs, etc. over the next few days. If you are going to go this route, you want to cook it in a spice or spices or flavors that will 'match' the rest of the menu for the next few days. Or not, I suppose, if you want something completely different.
I buy extra firm tofu & cut it into cubes no bigger than my thumb. I have small hands so think small cubes.
I take whatever pan I will be using; I like a big flat pan with high sides, but anything you have would work. If you have been looking for a reason to use that old wok, here it is.
At this point I either cook something else in the pan (sauteing onions is the way I am most likely to go) or in a cold (Okay room temperature) pan I put in as little light oil as possible to cover the bottom. This will involve adding a few drops, & swishing the pan around. Again, because tofu has so much water, you don't want to add any more moisture than you need to. At this point I often also add whatever spices I might be using. Lately I have been favoring a mix of spices from Pakistani cuisine, last summer I was on a kind of chili powder kick, but I have been known to go with curry or sage or sesame or paprika...anything really. A friend of mine puts bouillon cubes in the pan with the littlest bit of water, lets that cook away & then adds the tofu. Whatever you fancy will probably work; tofu picks up flavors readily (another good reason to keep it covered in the fridge).
When it is done, maybe tip it onto a plate covered with a paper towel to cool. Or spoon it, depending on how wet/oily the whole thing is. After it cools, you can put the cooked tofu into sealed containers & refrigerate a day or three until you are ready to use them.
It doesn't sound like much but added to salad it will add well, calcium & protein. & yes, it will also add some fat, but compared to what you might eat instead, it is an improvement. As for all those studies about increased dementia, keep in mind the study looked at elderly japanese men who 1) ate way more tofu in their lives than you will even if you eat it every day starting today & 2) the same group also had a much lower incidence of heart disease colon cancer, etc & lived way longer than you are going to if you are eating any other fried crap, so stop worrying.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
A tale of two yogurt makers
It has been many many years since I made yogurt the old-fashioned way: heat the ingredients, cool the ingredients, add the culture & let it sit, warmly, for upwards of eight hours. It has, in fact, been decades. The last time I made yogurt this way had to be sometime before 1992. How can I be so sure? Easy: in 1992 I moved to north joisey & they have laws against doing anything good-for-you that does not involve a hefty gym membership...
OKay the real reason is we moved out of our apartment in Storrs, CT. & what made this such a magical yogurt making apartment, you ask? Well, let me tell you: sometime before my residence there hot water was included in the rent, but that changed. As a result each apartment had to be fixed with its own hot water heater & in almost every case this meant what was the front closet became the hot water heater closet. The hot water heater filled most of the space, but there remained a shelf at the top (for storing anything that could be subjected to daily increases in temperature with or without high humidity depending on the water heater's state of repair). Between the water heater itself & the shelf there was a gap just big enough for a glass topped bowl & with a little big of plywood rigged up a yogurt making/bread dough rising space was created. All I had to do was the heat, cool & add cultures thing, then A took a shower, then I took a shower, maybe did a few dishes, etc. With adequate insulation & spreading these tasks out over six or so hours, it was perfect.
After we moved & alas, no such space existed, or could even be made to exist. In Joisey, landlords never ever included hot water so there was space accessible only from the outside for the hot water heater & I caved & got a yogurt maker. Actually I acquired my mother's yogurt maker, a machine that was looking retro even then. & for many years we were happy together.
Sure, me & that old yogurt maker, we had our ups& downs. That timer looking thing on the top there is more like a dial; you set it to the time you should turn off (which in the absence of a fancy-shmancy switch means unplug) the yogurt maker; the appliance itself does nothing on its own except make kinda-even heat. More than once I had a batch of very very tangy yogurt when I left it too long, but it made lovely cheese so all was not lost.
Last week, I taught C****** the heat & add & keep warm thing & sent her home with a batch of not-yet-yogurt & my mother's old yogurt maker. I did this, of course to make room for my new yogurt maker. It arrived on Tuesday, just in time for me to gaze at it longingly while I got ready for bookclub.
After we moved & alas, no such space existed, or could even be made to exist. In Joisey, landlords never ever included hot water so there was space accessible only from the outside for the hot water heater & I caved & got a yogurt maker. Actually I acquired my mother's yogurt maker, a machine that was looking retro even then. & for many years we were happy together.
Sure, me & that old yogurt maker, we had our ups& downs. That timer looking thing on the top there is more like a dial; you set it to the time you should turn off (which in the absence of a fancy-shmancy switch means unplug) the yogurt maker; the appliance itself does nothing on its own except make kinda-even heat. More than once I had a batch of very very tangy yogurt when I left it too long, but it made lovely cheese so all was not lost.
Last week, I taught C****** the heat & add & keep warm thing & sent her home with a batch of not-yet-yogurt & my mother's old yogurt maker. I did this, of course to make room for my new yogurt maker. It arrived on Tuesday, just in time for me to gaze at it longingly while I got ready for bookclub.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The saints' diet
Right about now is when everyone's New Years resolution to lose weight pretty much tanks. So I thought how about a saint known for her inedia? Yeah, I had to look it up the first time too. Inedia is the ability to subsist without taking nourishment except the holy communion for long periods of time. Obviously inedia alone is not enough, you need other qualities like visions. A stigmata doesn't hurt either. & yesterday's saint is the total package. Yea, I'm a day late with this one...so sue me.
Anne Catherine Emmerich was born in 1774 in the Holy Roman Empire. That was the country: the Holy Roman Empire. She already has an anachronistic-seeming thing going, right? Well, I had to look that one up, too & it turns out that the Holy Roman Empire was an actual place until 1806, although it had been getting steadily smaller for a while by then. So we have a person who lived much more recently than I usually like to see in my saints, in a country that sounds like something out of the Middle Ages, which it kind of was.
As she became an adult, she job hopped; probably not her fault. I am guessing that as the empire broke down long-term opportunities in the serf-line were probably also limited. Finally she was admitted to a convent, only to see it closed down by the King of Westphalia. Not sacked, not burned, she was not martyred by being raped/killed/held hostage. They just closed it down. She then asked to join the Poor Clares, but not having any money, they couldn't afford to take her.
& so she continues, as a shepherdess, a seamstress, etc., all the while having "a feeling of disgust and repugnance when in the neighbourhood of old pagan cemeteries, whereas she was attracted to the sacred remains of the saints as steel by the magnet". She also took to sleeping on a cross (well planks on the ground in the form of a cross, which made me laugh out loud because of that oh-so-picturesque Southern expression: get down off of that cross honey, somebody needs the wood).
The food-weirdness seems to have been there almost from the beginning. It began with giving away the best of her food to the poor. Then when there were no poor (no poor?!?), she would leave it as an offering. It wasn't long before 1) she caught the attention of a poet, who began writing about her & 2)she ruined her digestive system.
That first one there is the next anachronism. Relying on poets for publicity had gone out of vogue everywhere by the late 18th century, except in the Holy Roman Empire it would seem. Actually, that isn't true. Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, et al wrote buckets of political poetry, but it just doesn't seem quite the same.
As for the second, it began to get hard to hold down a job (starving, uneducated did anyone NOT see that one coming). By the time the stigmata kicked in & the ecstasies began taking up more & more of her time, she finally qualified for care in one of those religious institutions she was too well off for before. That donut hole has been around for a long time. For another decade or so she subsisted entirely on communion wine & wafers. If the visions had not come first, I would think that explained them right there. She lingered in this state for uhmmmm twelve or so years. If she had lived two hundred years later, she could have had her own reality show & sponsored the Celebrity Saint Diet.
Anne Catherine Emmerich was born in 1774 in the Holy Roman Empire. That was the country: the Holy Roman Empire. She already has an anachronistic-seeming thing going, right? Well, I had to look that one up, too & it turns out that the Holy Roman Empire was an actual place until 1806, although it had been getting steadily smaller for a while by then. So we have a person who lived much more recently than I usually like to see in my saints, in a country that sounds like something out of the Middle Ages, which it kind of was.
As she became an adult, she job hopped; probably not her fault. I am guessing that as the empire broke down long-term opportunities in the serf-line were probably also limited. Finally she was admitted to a convent, only to see it closed down by the King of Westphalia. Not sacked, not burned, she was not martyred by being raped/killed/held hostage. They just closed it down. She then asked to join the Poor Clares, but not having any money, they couldn't afford to take her.
& so she continues, as a shepherdess, a seamstress, etc., all the while having "a feeling of disgust and repugnance when in the neighbourhood of old pagan cemeteries, whereas she was attracted to the sacred remains of the saints as steel by the magnet". She also took to sleeping on a cross (well planks on the ground in the form of a cross, which made me laugh out loud because of that oh-so-picturesque Southern expression: get down off of that cross honey, somebody needs the wood).
The food-weirdness seems to have been there almost from the beginning. It began with giving away the best of her food to the poor. Then when there were no poor (no poor?!?), she would leave it as an offering. It wasn't long before 1) she caught the attention of a poet, who began writing about her & 2)she ruined her digestive system.
That first one there is the next anachronism. Relying on poets for publicity had gone out of vogue everywhere by the late 18th century, except in the Holy Roman Empire it would seem. Actually, that isn't true. Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, et al wrote buckets of political poetry, but it just doesn't seem quite the same.
As for the second, it began to get hard to hold down a job (starving, uneducated did anyone NOT see that one coming). By the time the stigmata kicked in & the ecstasies began taking up more & more of her time, she finally qualified for care in one of those religious institutions she was too well off for before. That donut hole has been around for a long time. For another decade or so she subsisted entirely on communion wine & wafers. If the visions had not come first, I would think that explained them right there. She lingered in this state for uhmmmm twelve or so years. If she had lived two hundred years later, she could have had her own reality show & sponsored the Celebrity Saint Diet.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
If it's Wednesday, this must be the Farmer's Market
Alachua County has a farmer's market six days a week, but the crown jewel, in my opinion, is the Union Street Farmers Market on Wednesday 4-7.
I know, the Saturday market has its fans, but this business of closing when the produce runs out means you have to get there no later than 9am on a Saturday & what with dogs & horses & so forth I have trouble getting anywhere by 9am any day of the week. Therefore I have never made it before half the vendors have packed it in so it just didn't look like much. The Monday market at Tioga also seems to be growing (& it is closer to me), but my Monday's are already crammed. As for the markets in High Springs & Alachua township. you can see how I might not have made it to them more than once, more than a few years ago.
The Union Street Farmers Market is not on Union Street, they outgrew that location quite some time ago, & are now at the Bo Diddley Plaza. About a yer ago there was a campaign to bring people to the downtown area & the idea was floated that the unused Bo Diddley Plaza (unused per the organizer except for the handful of times of year there is an outdoor concert or on Fridays in the summer when they show free movies or the three different annual street festivals...) should perhaps be taken down & sold/rented to something that might make the town some money. This was shouted down pretty quick by the farmer's market people & it was quickly understood that the people/person suggesting this did not actually spend all that much time downtown. It probably also helped that they crunched the numbers & it turns out that short-term leases on very small lots (say the size of a metered parking space in time slots of 20-40 minutes) already net the town about as much as they could expect to see in the early years of any proposed development project & probably quite a bit more, once you factored in the kinds of costs other such proposals actually cost (as opposed to proposed cost). Then the economy tanked & enough other projects stalled/spaces opened up that it has not come up since. On the other hand, when all the students are gone, when & basketball are out of season on the rainiest coldest Wednesday there ever was in this part of the country, the plaza is always hopping.
I know, the Saturday market has its fans, but this business of closing when the produce runs out means you have to get there no later than 9am on a Saturday & what with dogs & horses & so forth I have trouble getting anywhere by 9am any day of the week. Therefore I have never made it before half the vendors have packed it in so it just didn't look like much. The Monday market at Tioga also seems to be growing (& it is closer to me), but my Monday's are already crammed. As for the markets in High Springs & Alachua township. you can see how I might not have made it to them more than once, more than a few years ago.
The Union Street Farmers Market is not on Union Street, they outgrew that location quite some time ago, & are now at the Bo Diddley Plaza. About a yer ago there was a campaign to bring people to the downtown area & the idea was floated that the unused Bo Diddley Plaza (unused per the organizer except for the handful of times of year there is an outdoor concert or on Fridays in the summer when they show free movies or the three different annual street festivals...) should perhaps be taken down & sold/rented to something that might make the town some money. This was shouted down pretty quick by the farmer's market people & it was quickly understood that the people/person suggesting this did not actually spend all that much time downtown. It probably also helped that they crunched the numbers & it turns out that short-term leases on very small lots (say the size of a metered parking space in time slots of 20-40 minutes) already net the town about as much as they could expect to see in the early years of any proposed development project & probably quite a bit more, once you factored in the kinds of costs other such proposals actually cost (as opposed to proposed cost). Then the economy tanked & enough other projects stalled/spaces opened up that it has not come up since. On the other hand, when all the students are gone, when & basketball are out of season on the rainiest coldest Wednesday there ever was in this part of the country, the plaza is always hopping.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
I see your snickerdoodles & raise you two buckeyes
Somehow in the haze that was last December, I never blogged about our first ever holiday cookie swap. Probably because I never took pictures & I mostly only remember I meant to write about something when I upload the digital camera. I have only two time frames: Now & the Distant Past/Future (they are the same thing right?).
Let me give you the highlights:
V** made buckeyes. Dozens & dozens of buckeyes. I did not know what a buckeye was but I do now-it's where Reese's got the idea & homemade is better. Because she committed to buckeyes early, M****** was in. Apparently they are a favorite of C****'s.
M****** made a variety which included these fantastic chow mein noodle peanut butter things. She said "Let's call them manger cookies".
A***** made...I don't remember. I DO remember starting this whole thing because A***** has access to a cache of Hungarian-family cookies recipes & I know I was not disappointed.
They brought with them E****'s cookies. They were the snickerdoodles. I think.
B*** mailed her cookies from Boston. When choosing what went back to her, we left off everything with icing that would just get all smushed. Lucky me!
I made my mother's nut balls. I made enough for everyone at the table to get a Chinese takeout tray of them as a Thank You for Playing take home gift. I also made sour cream jam prints using the last of my homemade cranberry sauce, toffee spoons & Irish toffee spoons.
For A***** & M****** the highlight of the evening was the Irish. So much so that when they left for the gym, I offered them a to-go cup. They thought they would stop at the liquor store on the way instead. M****** went on to tell people it brought her milk in & A***** gave her father a bottle for Christmas.
We are doing this again for sure, although I do not yet have a date. Who's in? Long distance can be accommodated.
Let me give you the highlights:
V** made buckeyes. Dozens & dozens of buckeyes. I did not know what a buckeye was but I do now-it's where Reese's got the idea & homemade is better. Because she committed to buckeyes early, M****** was in. Apparently they are a favorite of C****'s.
M****** made a variety which included these fantastic chow mein noodle peanut butter things. She said "Let's call them manger cookies".
A***** made...I don't remember. I DO remember starting this whole thing because A***** has access to a cache of Hungarian-family cookies recipes & I know I was not disappointed.
They brought with them E****'s cookies. They were the snickerdoodles. I think.
B*** mailed her cookies from Boston. When choosing what went back to her, we left off everything with icing that would just get all smushed. Lucky me!
I made my mother's nut balls. I made enough for everyone at the table to get a Chinese takeout tray of them as a Thank You for Playing take home gift. I also made sour cream jam prints using the last of my homemade cranberry sauce, toffee spoons & Irish toffee spoons.
For A***** & M****** the highlight of the evening was the Irish. So much so that when they left for the gym, I offered them a to-go cup. They thought they would stop at the liquor store on the way instead. M****** went on to tell people it brought her milk in & A***** gave her father a bottle for Christmas.
We are doing this again for sure, although I do not yet have a date. Who's in? Long distance can be accommodated.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Sweet potato chips
For the longest time last season, every CSA basket, every week was flush with sweet potatoes. I admit I am a big fan of sweet potatoes, but I am also not from the USsouth & my repertoire was limited. Fortunately, along with sweet potatoes, they included new recipes for sweet potatoes. New to me anyhow.
This was my new favorite for most of last winter:
- Take a sweet potato, take three, as many as you might eat in one sitting. The longer, skinnier ones are better for this, which is a lucky break because the bigger fatter ones are better for almost everything else. Wash them & peel them, or don't peel them. Wash them for sure, though.
- Slice the sweet potatoes as thin as you can without them having any too-thin pieces. Hmm, how about as thin as you can keeping the thickness consistent, is that better?
- In a bowl that will be large enough for all the slices of sweet potatoes, mix olive oil & salt&pepper to taste. Add the slices of sweet potatoes. If you do this just a few slices at a time, it is much easier to get them all covered. Because they need to be all covered.
- On a cookie sheet, spread out the slices. I used parchment paper underneath, instead of the usual foil & I think this helped the thinner slices not to burn. Pre-heat the oven to 400F (yea, I should have said that before, Sorry!) & sprinkle the sweet potatoes with finely chopped herbs of your choosing (I chose basil & thyme, mostly).
- Cook for 20/25 minutes or so. How thin you sliced them (& whether or not you used tin foil) will play a role here. Let them cool some or that hot oil will burn your mouth! & serve right away or later. Right away is better.
This was my new favorite for most of last winter:
- Take a sweet potato, take three, as many as you might eat in one sitting. The longer, skinnier ones are better for this, which is a lucky break because the bigger fatter ones are better for almost everything else. Wash them & peel them, or don't peel them. Wash them for sure, though.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Something lemon
This past week-end, while getting thru all kinds of end-of-season paperwork, dog licenses, horse inoculations, car insurance, campus parking passes etc. I realized I have put less than 1000 miles on the truck since last May. I have, to be exact, put 815 miles on the truck since May 28th, which makes it official: I need to get out more.
Up until May I could almost manage the 3000 miles every 3 months, well more like every 5 months, to make the oil change reminder stickers a little bit timely. Now that I commute with A on Thursdays when I go to campus, the CSA pick-up at the Wednesday farmers market is over, well, I just plain don't go anywhere any more.
So I vowed to get out more. Today I repotted an african violet & drove it to M**** at Bed'n Biscuit. I had grand plans of then going on to one of the two quilt shops in that general direction, but M**** told me about a new bakery & fresh fruit stand right across the street from her & so I went there instead. & they had fresh lemon tarts. So I bought some. & then I was not motivated to go anywhere except home to eat my lemon tart.
I'm afraid that's all there is to this post. I have just eaten the first tart & am eyeing the second. The good news is I am likely to get out a bit more, the bad news is...there is no bad news.
Up until May I could almost manage the 3000 miles every 3 months, well more like every 5 months, to make the oil change reminder stickers a little bit timely. Now that I commute with A on Thursdays when I go to campus, the CSA pick-up at the Wednesday farmers market is over, well, I just plain don't go anywhere any more.
So I vowed to get out more. Today I repotted an african violet & drove it to M**** at Bed'n Biscuit. I had grand plans of then going on to one of the two quilt shops in that general direction, but M**** told me about a new bakery & fresh fruit stand right across the street from her & so I went there instead. & they had fresh lemon tarts. So I bought some. & then I was not motivated to go anywhere except home to eat my lemon tart.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Dear Mom
Bonjour!
Just got back from the shipping out a package(did you ever find that Stockard Channing reading Why I Live at the PO?). It contains:
That really is it. Please let me know when the package arrives.
Je m'appelle M*******
Just got back from the shipping out a package(did you ever find that Stockard Channing reading Why I Live at the PO?). It contains:
- The promised quilt for the new daughter of your ex-son-in-law. If you could trim the edges & sew up the binding (thank you!) & give it to your grandaughter to give as a gift to her new 1/2-sister that would be lovely. I cannot for the life of me remember Rhymes-with-Schmuck's current wife's real name & I cannot very well address a note to her as Biological-Clock-Ticking so if you could somehow communicate "machine washable gentle, tumble dry briefly & then lie flat" I would be grateful.
- A bright yellow railroad-looking spike made of plastic. Remember Crazy R*****, the one who was so obsessed with her doorknobs being thoroughly cleaned, but cheated on her husband in the back seats of strangers' cars? Well, her dogs were just peeing ANYWHERE in the yard & she got one of these & then they just started peeing there & she was able to keep them out of her roses. Yes, the dogs would lift a leg on the only thing in the yard with thorns; they were as crazy as she was. I thought if you put this in a spot along the sidewalk the walked-dogs might use it instead of your hosta (I always want to say Hofstra).
- Your quilt block swap swap blocks from JUNE. Yes, I am a lousy swap-keeper.
- A collection of work-force motivational posters from just before WWI thru to just after WWII. The Harn has an exhibit & I had been wanting to go for a while, but now that C****** is a grown-up with a job, she only has enough time for me to take her to lunch & more recently buy her a crock pot. So I had to wait for a rainy Sunday when A could not work on the greenhouse & then we went. His favorite was the long winded way of saying "keep it brief", but I would not want to pick a favorite for you so we got you the flip-book. We both could picture it in your house, although we could not agree where. I would have gotten another for L***** van A***** but they only had one more & it was mangled.
- Two (2) Lopi sweaters. One you made me in college. It still fits (although the sleeves were always short) but it occurred to me it would also fit one of your grandaughters. Tell A****** it is supposed to have 3/4- length sleeves. The other you made for M****** U***** when we were dating & I think it might fit D***.
- Gator grocery bags for yourself or that rabid Gator fan G***** hangs out with.
- A scarf that needs blocking, but the color is one you like. Way-back-when I was showing C****** how to choose increases & decreases for better shaping & made it up quick & put it aside. Do you want it?
That really is it. Please let me know when the package arrives.
Je m'appelle M*******
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
National Hot Dog Month
It is National Hot Dog Month; has been since the first, but hey, I have been busy. In honor of the occasion I have adopted another dog. Ha-ha, just kidding Mom. I will say though, after firecrackers, actual hot dogs - intestines stuffed with meat or more likely leftover not-meat animal parts are one of my least favorite things about summer. I don't mind the humidity & I like the heat (which is lucky, considering where I live). I am perfectly happy to work/sit outside during all but the most downpour of downpours. M****** & A***** both saw me after I picked up the last CSA shares at the farmers market on the day it was thundering & lightening only at the farmers market (which was kind of cool). Me & the farmer himself were the only ones wading out to the truck to unload. Easily a dozen other people huddled under the canopy waiting for it to clear up.
I am not saying this was a good idea. I was so dripping wet when M****** called while I was making the return trip I was afraid to talk on my cell, so much water was running from my hair I thought I might electrocute myself. A week later, C****** sat on the passenger side of the truck (where the bags of produce had been) & there was still a wet spot. This past weekend I treated the upholstery with AGAIN because that faintly moldy smell just will not go away. In Fladidah, it is unlikely to go completely away until things freeze sometime around Thanksgiving.
All of these trials are preferable to being in the presence of even one hot dog. Which brings us back to: July is National Hot Dog Month. On a completely unrelated note, July is also Bioterrorism /Disaster Education Month. I googled this, hoping to find the official site but found something oh so much better.
What else can I say about hot dogs? Not much, as it happens as I do not eat them, I do not serve them, I live a life generally not-hot dog adjacent. I did read Confederacy of Dunces though. I kind of didn't get it. I mean I could follow the story I just was not clear why anyone would bother. I really only have one memory of anything in particular from the book & that was the last movie watched when he should have been working. It is never named, but it is one of my favorites; I am sure CoD fans everywhere know this bit of trivia, but it's all I've got. I have a vague recollection of my mother recommending this book to me. She also highly recommended Cold Mountain which I could not read. Ditto Wicked. I DID read Managing Ignatius about Lucky Dogs itself. That was interesting.
That's all I've got.
I am not saying this was a good idea. I was so dripping wet when M****** called while I was making the return trip I was afraid to talk on my cell, so much water was running from my hair I thought I might electrocute myself. A week later, C****** sat on the passenger side of the truck (where the bags of produce had been) & there was still a wet spot. This past weekend I treated the upholstery with AGAIN because that faintly moldy smell just will not go away. In Fladidah, it is unlikely to go completely away until things freeze sometime around Thanksgiving.
All of these trials are preferable to being in the presence of even one hot dog. Which brings us back to: July is National Hot Dog Month. On a completely unrelated note, July is also Bioterrorism /Disaster Education Month. I googled this, hoping to find the official site but found something oh so much better.
What else can I say about hot dogs? Not much, as it happens as I do not eat them, I do not serve them, I live a life generally not-hot dog adjacent. I did read Confederacy of Dunces though. I kind of didn't get it. I mean I could follow the story I just was not clear why anyone would bother. I really only have one memory of anything in particular from the book & that was the last movie watched when he should have been working. It is never named, but it is one of my favorites; I am sure CoD fans everywhere know this bit of trivia, but it's all I've got. I have a vague recollection of my mother recommending this book to me. She also highly recommended Cold Mountain which I could not read. Ditto Wicked. I DID read Managing Ignatius about Lucky Dogs itself. That was interesting.
That's all I've got.
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