Baking Beans and Watching Playoffs

Because what else does one do on a snowy Sunday in January?

We had a bit of a snowstorm last night.  Only four inches landed where I live, but since predictions were up to six inches or more, people hunkered in.  One of the Connecticut police departments had posted this last year, and it circulated again this weekend:

I did not plan as well as some, and so didn't have soup or anything simmering or ready to simmer while the snow was falling.  I decided to make old-fashioned baked beans, so started the beans soaking last night.  I also looked up recipes, and found that most modern baked bean recipes either used canned beans, or dress up pork-and-beans, or some combination.  I was having trouble finding an old-fashioned recipe using soaked beans.  So I went to one of my reproduction cookery books, which has a fairly basic one:

 

I didn't want to make that much, so I used a cup of mixed dried beans, soaked overnight.  Then I drained, rinsed, added fresh water, boiled, and simmered until a bean was soft when tested.  I drained them again and scattered them into my Dutch oven.  Give the quantity of beans, and the size of my onions, I used a half an onion, which I cut into four wedges so they could bury in the beans, which were a bit thinly spread in my Dutch oven:

At that point, I added about a quarter-cup of molasses, and rinsed the jar a couple of times with water to clean it and make sure I had all the molasses.  I doubled the proportion of mustard, adding the full two teaspoons, as I thought it would be better a bit spicy.

      

I also put in two cloves of garlic (one whole, one split) and a bay leaf for added taste.  I left out the pork, having none, nor any other meaty thing that would substitute.  Then I covered the pot, put it into the oven, and left it to bake.  I gave it a look and stir at ninety minutes, then another ninety minutes took another a look and added a cup of water, stirred, and back into the oven:

Then I had a nap, so the next check was after two hours, when I added more water, and at the end of about six-and-a-half hours I decided it was done enough and put the oven to warming until I was ready to eat.  At this point, it looked nearly black and the beans were quite lacquered:

I put the beans in a white bowl to make them easier to photograph.

VERDICT:   Meh.  Rather sweet, of course, and not much tang from mustard, onion, or garlic.  Definitely something you need to eat with other things, to balance the meal, or additional spicing is needed.  No wonder so many of the recipes I found were for dressing-up or added things to the pot.  Some of the beans were also still quite firm, so maybe more water and simmering instead of putting it on low?  Lighter molasses, not blackstrap?   (I'd wanted to finish off the jar, which a friend left when moving out of state.)  Maybe some smoked paprika; one vegan version used liquid smoke, substituting for the pork, and that might have balanced the flavours better, but I don't have any.

I thought about adding hot sauce or some other spices while the beans were cooking, but I wanted it to be reasonably close to the original recipe, so I didn't.  However, when I portioned out the beans for storage, I put a portion into a small dish and added some ground allspice, as I thought cloves might be nice but I have only whole ones, and allspice is similar.

The remainder, about two portions, I put into a larger dish and added most of a can of Ro*Tel fire-roasted tomatoes with green chiles.  I think that will be a nice counter to the sweetness and heaviness.

Will I do this again?  Yes, but with many adjustments to the seasoning.  I've seen recipes use half maple syrup and half molasses, or all maple syrup, and will try that the next time.  I will add more onion and/or garlic, and maybe more mustard (but not if I use all maple syrup), and some ground pepper.  I might do it in my crockpot instead of the oven, as that limited what else I could do in terms of cooking today.  I've been doing roasted brussels sprouts a lot, and also a modified version of British jacket potatoes (partly cook in microwave, finish in very hot oven), and those are yummy.

Resolution Check-in

While I am here, an update on my resolution for January:  Finish Scarves.  I have finished four of the ones I listed:

• Browns - Bernat Super Value Stripes in Beechwood, knit, and Caron Jumbo in Chocolate Variegated crocheted on the sides.
• Patons Lace in lavender and Porcelain.
• Red Heart Fleece Hugs in Jungle.
• Stitch Studio Sweet Dreams in Creamsicle.

I have also made progress on the crocheted one from leftover Ferris Wheel from my grandmother's Christmas vest.  The other two from my original list are pending, as they are not in my current possession:

• Premiere Serenity Chunky Big Ombre in Walnut - in Plano, waiting for my next theater trip, which happens at the end of this month.
• Caron Chunky Cakes in Trifle (red/white/blue) - at my parents', and I will get it next weekend when I am there for the opera.

Unfortunately, the list has grown longer by two, as I found them whilst doing other things:

• Crocheted in Patons Lace in Woodrose (and I have to figure out the pattern).
• Knit in a slip-stitch pattern of Big Twist Premium in Peacock Stripes.

Right now I am working on my niece's mittens and scarf.  I've restarted the mittens and adjusted the pattern for gauge, as I need to use the washable yarn I have and they were coming out huge even though it's a worsted yarn, just not the one the designer used.

Playoffs resulted in the KC Chiefs against the SF 49ers for Superbowl LIV in Miami.  As a lifelong (and fourth-generation) Chicago Bears fan, I am glad the Packers didn't make it.

Endings and Beginnings

New Year's Day posts usually review the successes of last year's resolutions and setting new ones.  I didn't do a post on Wednesday because I was busy and sad - MakeHartford closed, and we were doing final clean-out of the space.  Well, I was; most of the work had been done the previous weekend, and I was freecycling as much of the remaining shelving and cabinets as I could.  This meant being in the space to meet people or otherwise arrange for pickups.

Our President arranged for us to merge with other spaces in Connecticut, but I have yet to accept any of the offers (given my longevity, it would be a free year at the new space of my choice) although I probably will later this month.  I just need a little time.  And to organize the things I culled from the space, mostly fiber and paper arts supplies, and the infinity mirror class supplies, and other oddments.

I did get to several yoga classes in the last week, since work was quiet and I had the time.  I tried a Restorative Yoga class and decided it's more meditation than yoga and not for me at this time.  Good to know, as I'd been curious about those.

I'd planned to do more cleaning and organizing of my own home, but kept losing time to being at the space.  In the end, I am glad that things went to good homes, but I feel I'll being doing catch-up at my own home.  I already have some donations to make to the local thrift stores, and will probably do a run this week.  I've had discussions with people about whether to itemize or not; last year my donations exceeded the standard deduction, not by a lot, but enough, so I was glad I kept detailed records of what I donated.  I'll probably keep doing it out of habit.

I haven't made further progress on last year's resolutions since my September post.  The remaining UFOs are still unfinished, although I did make progress on the "Omega" shawl.  The sweater that I was going to take apart and reuse turned into a nice scarf, which I finished last night:

I did get the pantry somewhat organized, although I am now re-organizing it to turn the bottom shelf into storage for supplies and equipment from the makerspace.  I got a small microwave that I can use to melt soap for melt-and-pour projects, and the two crockpots we used to dye yarn.  All of these are technically foodsafe so can be stored and used in the kitchen, but now I don't have to put my own items to double use.  I also have the toaster oven we used for polymer clay - NOT food safe and well marked to indicate this.

I didn't get rid of the china cabinet.  Still need to do that, either through a yard sale (at a friend's house, we're not allowed to hold them in my condo complex) or donation to a local charity.  While at it, I have one or two other items of furniture that can go.

Much of November and December I spent making items for family.  My grandmother's annual vest was joined by two shawls, since she really likes shawls these days:

The vest is Lion Brand Ferris Wheel in Buttercup; I knit a tube to the underarms then back and forth.  The green shawl is Lion Brand Cupcake yarn in Peas and Carrots (slight playing with the yarn to pull out the white and use it for the edging) and the other shawl is Caron Cakes yarn in Buttercream, which she chose when we were out and about one day.

And DNiece#2 asked for a hat with ridges to mimic the hat she has been wearing while portraying Thomas Cromwell in a course at college.  Here's the hat:

She wanted more of a beanie style.  And maybe a scarf.  And mittens? I offered.  Why not.  I got the hat and mittens done for Christmas:

DNiece#2 was surprised to find out how the mittens fit, and realized she's been wearing the same ones since about third grade, and now they barely cover her hands to the wrist.  I am still working on the scarf (based on a Hufflepuff house scarf - hence the yellow stripes on the wrists of the mittens and inside the hat, to tie the set together) and I think I'll whip up another pair of mittens to send with it.  A few years ago I did a hat and scarf for this niece in blue, her favourite colour, and I have a bit of it around in a similar yarn, and mittens work up fast, so - obvious!

RESOLUTIONS for 2020

I was thinking about this, and then read an article about doing micro-resolutions: a small one each month, something you can focus on and achieve, but which doesn't seem so daunting because you commit for only 28-31 days.  The author also talks about resolutions to add things to your life, not just take things out of it.

I'm going to do easy things.  First up, resolution for January:  Finish Scarves.  I've started a number of scarves for charity, and this month I would like to focus on getting several of them finished.  Of course, I also have to finish the scarf and mittens for my niece, but I want to try to not start anything new until I get a bunch of the charity scarves done.  I keep starting new ones when the old ones are too big to easily carry around, or if something fiddly happens, and I need to get focused and pin some together (rolling them to be a smaller item) to make them more portable and thus get them finished.

I've started this by frogging one, which I realized wasn't too skinny but would be very, very long if I use all the yarn, so I am going to make it wider.  Luckily it's garter stitch and the kind of thing I do easily on planes and in movies and while standing on line everywhere.

Current list, done from memory, and all plain garter stitch unless noted:

• Browns - Bernat Super Value Stripes in Beechwood and Caron Jumbo in Chocolate Variegated on the sides.
• Patons Lace in lavender and Porcelain, held double (the fiddly one, because the yarn sticks to itself).
• Red Heart Fleece Hugs in Jungle - crocheted corner-to-corner.
• Stitch Studio Sweet Dreams in Creamsicle - the frogged one.
• Premiere Serenity Chunky Big Ombre in Walnut.
• Caron Chunky Cakes in Trifle (red/white/blue).
• Leftover Ferris Wheel from my grandmother's Christmas vest, crochet.

I always have at least one in the car, easy to grab when I run into shops or the post office.  At least one should come with me on a business trip next week - I will have to convince myself it's small enough, and I don't need to start a new one!

I'm going to try to read (or finish, as I'm partway through one right now) at least one book a month.  I'd love to read more, but since work requires me to read all day, my brain gets tired of processing words.  I'll report as I finish.