Family Times.

 It was a busy weekend.  First, my eldest niece graduated from her masters degree program, with honors.  Tickets were limited but I received one, so of course took the time off work on a Friday afternoon.

Then her sister and I flew to DC, where the younger niece lives, and on Saturday went to Maryland Sheep & Wool.  We left midafternoon so I could get to Dulles in time for a flight - more on the trip next week.

I did some stash enhancement.  At left, one of the
vendor's show colourways.  At right, natural-dyed.

My contribution to the lunch.  And bananas.

I joked that I found this too late to be useful.

This is one of the two music performance areas.

There was a great display of knitted and sewn items in the annual Make It With Wool contest.

  

   

We both enjoyed looking at and speaking to the living history group.  I took a few photos but none are particularly good.

[Edited to add the above photos.]

Since I am now on my work computer and it won't let me upload photos.  I only have the ones I preloaded, of a dragonfruit that I finished before leaving.  They are really pretty, but this is the second time I've had one and it has no taste.  Maybe it's me?  Or the ones I've purchased?  All I get is texture.

But they are pretty:

 

From the top, left to right:  Whole fruit, a bit sliced off, better look at the inside, and peeled.

Baking Breakfast Cookies.

A quick post walking through something I baked for breakfast yesterday.  Usually my breakfast is some kind of cereal (oatmeal or a packet type) with fruit (dried in the porridge, fresh with the other, unless it's Raisin Bran) and yoghurt if it's the packet type because that is dry.  Sometimes orange or blended juice if I am eating Weetabix or Shredded wheat.  Once in a while I do a pastry thing, or a sandwich, depending upon what's in the house and my timing.

My friend Jodie posted a link to a recipe for Banana Blueberry Breakfast Cookies, which looked easy and interesting.  I thought I'd make some and see.  Since it's not blueberry season, I rehydrated some of the dried ones I use in my porridge.

Sunday night I took a banana out of the freezer (actually, a whole bag and then separated one when it was half-thawed, and put the rest back) to thaw, instead of buying a fresh banana.  Why waste a fresh banana in baking?  I wanted to do a half-batch because I don't need a dozen.  So these are my ingredients:

The banana looks brown and liquidy because that
is what happens when you freeze and thaw them.
The maple syrup is from a cousin's maple trees.

I didn't do an in-progress photo because it didn't look like much, since everything was fairly brown.  Also, I am not a content creator so I don't remember to take photos at every point and put a lot of natter about the recipe into my posts.  I made six cookies, and since I had a small spoonful of mini chocolate chips, one has very few blueberries and a bunch of chips on top.

They baked for the full time, and didn't get overly golden, but were firm.  I tried one as soon as it was cool enough to do so and it tasted mostly of banana.  Maybe I will try again during fresh blueberries season, but I think these would be fine without the blueberries.  Or maybe try chopped strawberries if you like that combination, or some other fruit that is compatible.

I also ate several slices of dried persimmon from Andy's Orchard.

Today I ate another one, curious to see how the overnight rest might affect the taste.  It was much softer, probably because it was in a closed container and the blueberries and banana held moisture that made the cookies softer.  The banana is less pronounced today, with the vanilla and cinnamon making themselves known.  It's still not something I'm overly excited about, but maybe it's me.

First Sunday Brunch

A friend has been hosting a brunch on the first Sunday of the month for years.  I was invited to join the group a few years ago, and attended when I was in town, meaning I got there about two of three months.  One person would always cook scrambled eggs, breakfast meat (bacon or sausages or both), and potatoes (meat and vegetarian versions, with sweet peppers and onions), and the rest of us brought whatever we liked.  It could be donuts, fruit salad, vegetables, quiche, various baked sweets, orange juice and sparkling wine of some sort.

Then the pandemic hit, and there hadn't been one since March 2020 until today.  A small group of us gathered, and the weather was good so we could use all the outside spaces and move through the house in threes and fours.  It was interesting to be in a group.  I was the only one who kept a mask on almost the whole time, but I felt more comfortable that way.

I'd been thinking about taking fruit salad or just fruit, then I found a recipe for Nectarine Upside-Down Cake, and decided to make it because nectarines are available at the farmstand where I have my CSA share this year.  It came out a bit darker than the photograph, and a bit dry because I forgot the oven was on convection and I should have dropped the temperature and/or baking time.  But it was liked well enough, and there isn't much left for me to take to the bicycle shop this week.

I'd made another recipe from the same blog for the local cooking club (we don't meet in person, so it's not quite as fun as when we could taste each other's cooking) earlier this week.  Most of the ingredients came from the farmstand and this is definitely something I will make again.

Resolutions Report

Another month when I didn't do the end-of-month report, but we were busier than usual in the last few days because my uncle suddenly took a turn in the level of care he needs, and it turned out the place where he had been living couldn't provide it, so we had to find a new place and get aides to give the extra care he needed until we did and get him moved and settled.  When I say "we" I mean that my parents, who live near him, did most of it, although as his legal representative I had to sign a lot of things and tomorrow I go to a bank to get one notarized.  Conveniently, if you can call it that, the tax payments I mailed to our town mid-month seem to have gone missing so I have to go to their office (paying on line incurs over $60 in service fees) tomorrow to pay, as it's the deadline.  And stop payment on cheques.  So while I am out and have to visit the bank anyway........

I did have some time to do some knitting, and made progress on the Omega Shawl.  I am now working on the mesh border, and so far I am not a fan, but I persevere.  I'll see what I think after one full repeat of the stitch pattern is finished.  I've also made progress on the charity sweater and am about halfway up the yoke.  Since the yarn is solid black it's a challenge to keep track of the decrease rows at night, so I am alternating between the two and steadfastly not casting on something new except as I need it for dentist knitting.  I finished the hat I had, so I need a new one OTN before Tuesday when I go to get the new implant checked.  Yes, I broke a tooth and there wasn't enough to save, and this is the best option.

Where I'm not today, with a shawl

According to the itinerary, today on the Craft Cruise we would be in Dublin, "the home of Guinness Beer, numerous literary greats, and the rock band U2; a fun city that is currently enjoying the status of being one of the hottest and most livable cities in Europe."  Instead, as for the last four months, I am home.

Upside of being home in the summer is the fruit arriving at the local farmstands, and I have had to ration myself on blueberries and peaches or I would eat little else.  Ditto corn, which is so sweet and fresh you can eat it raw!  I am already planning to freeze portions for the winter.  Tomatoes are not yet in enough but when the season hits, I'll be ready.

I get my CSA share about every other week, sharing it with three other people and we take turns.  Yesterday was one of my weeks, and to my disappointment I seem to always miss the weeks with fennel.  I did get parsley, celery, zucchini, eggplant, purple basil, green beans, chard, scallion, and garlic.  My share partner got the napa cabbage instead of chard because her stove is disconnected for kitchen remodeling so she could take only things that can be eaten raw.  She did get the two bigger zucchini as I got the eggplant.  Otherwise we split fairly evenly.  We're both going to farmstands for fruit this week.

Since I planned to start the Boneyard Shawl the day I should have left on the cruise, I had time to finish a hat and scarf for charity:

Scarf folded at left is about 66" long.

Other side of the hat.

These were made from leftovers of my grandmother's holiday vest from last winter.  Lion Brand "Ferris Wheel" in Buttercup.  Just a simple 1 sc 1 dc pattern, hat made up on the fly.

I also started a scarf in the Uzume pattern, using some Noro Silk Garden that had been waiting in my stash for something to happen:

She's right - it's pretty in a shaded yarn.

Shannon Okey, the designer, had mused on Cooperative Press' Facebook page about how it would look in a shaded yarn, and offered to send yarn to a knitter interested in making one.  Since I had yarn in my stash I figured I'd just go ahead, especially as I knew I'd put it aside midmonth.  More photos when it progresses.  The pattern is fairly easy, I've had just one blip when I didn't do the correct cable row in sequence and I decided to frog.

July Mini-Resolution Update

I did start the shawl on July 11th, the day we were to have set sail from Amsterdam: 

The yarn is from Hedgehog Fibres, their merino aran in "Ferrum".  Not one of Stephen West's yarns, although I bought it in his shop.  And ..... I just wasn't feeling it.  It's lovely yarn, quite silky-soft, and the colour glows, but somehow as a shawl it wasn't thrilling me.  I kept seeing me wearing it as a vest instead, even though I don't usually wear autumn colours.

So I went back to the yarn I'd purchased in his shop last year, which included a handful of miniskeins from an Amsterdam dyer called Undercover Otter:

I remember having plans to make mittens out of these but have decided the shawl will be a better use.  Handily, if I were traveling "for reals", it is a very compact item, even though it is growing quite nicely:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3 - Yes, I added a stripe of Colour 2.

Day 4 - Finished Colour 1.

Day 5 - On to Colour 3!  Currently 12" deep, 24" across top.

Clearly, this is Meant To Be.  Yes, if I were on the cruise I couldn't have done the switch, but if I were smart I would have begun and learned the issue before I left home.  Or made the other choice before I left.  Or purchased more yarn in his shop......

Giving it up for Easter & Passover

I don't make a big deal of religion.  I think it is a personal decision for each person, no matter how you are raised, and in some ways I consider what people call "spirituality" to be more important than formal religion.  To quote Abraham Lincoln:  "When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That is my religion."

That said, organized religion can provide one with a community and support group, which I have found important when moving to places where I know nobody, or almost nobody.  It's the main reason I joined congregations when I moved to the Dallas area and then to Hartford.  However, while most people identify me as Jewish, I don't exclusively follow that religion, and when in Dallas I ended up spending more time at a friend's church - which has a stronger social justice streak then the synagogue I joined, and those who know me know how important that is to me - plus interesting adult learning and a really nice pastor.  I haven't found a church I like as well here, so I just participate in the Jewish community, at both the Reform congregation I consider my main home, and a friend's Orthodox congregation, as well as organizer of some of our community events.

It might inform you to know that in addition to being raised with Christian influences (my mother went to Jewish Sunday school, Catholic mass, and a Chicago Bears game every Sunday during the season, so those are the three religions primarily acknowledged in my family) including the Jesuits from whom my mother received one of her degrees and among whom she taught for a couple decades, I had three sets of godparents, none of whom are Jewish - one each of Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, and Methodist.  My parents chose based upon who would raise us the way they would want us to be raised, which included continuing education and to be good people.  My parents don't see this being limited to one religion.

This explanation is important because every year I give up something for Lent.  I try to make it different every year.  One year it was cookies, which is tough because this is Girl Scout Cooky season.  Another year it was candy, tough because I tend to have some always at hand as a nervous thing (I substituted almonds); another year, it was crackers that I have in my desk for a similar purpose.  And so forth.

This year, I couldn't think of what to give up, and then realized I was almost out of bread, so I decided to give up that.  Also no related baked goods.  This makes it tough at my weekly morning bible study, which usually offers bagels or bread of some kind, with spreads.  (I always take the Passover date, and bring in a noodle kugel made with Passover noodles, which people seem to love because it's not the expected matzoh with spreads.)  It's harder for me because so often when busy I grab a sandwich, and this year I have been quite busy with a play and other activities.  I've eaten a lot of nut/fruit bars and yoghurt!

I did get asked by someone why I gave up bread when you're supposed to give up meat. Part of the reason is that I don't eat a lot of meat on a day-to-day basis, so it wouldn't be a real sacrifice to me.  The reason I do this is almost as a test of myself, to see if I can follow through for the full forty days.  I know some people who take the money they would spend on whatever they give up and give it to charity, and I don't do that (I did give all my Girl Scout Cookies to the troops that year, instead of buying any for myself - usually I do that for most of my order and just get a couple boxes for me), but I do like the mindfulness of having to remember "no, I don't; no, I can't."  It also helps to think about people who have to avoid certain foods all the time, or who don't have certain foods available to them for various reasons.

Now it is Passover, on top of Lent.  This means, if you want to be really observant in the Ashkenazic (Eastern European Jewish) sense, no beans or rice or other whole grains. (Sephardic Jews, from the Mediterranean, can eat them because it's the majority of their diet and their rabbis said it's OK.)  I've heard two reasons for this:  One, that because they swell when cooking, they look leavened, which is forbidden at Passover; and two, because they might have been stored in a warehouse with forbidden items and gotten contaminated. I think the latter is the reason that some won't eat peanut butter - the peanuts might have been in a warehouse with flour.  Since peanut butter didn't exist in 19th-Century Easter Europe, maybe it's just too foreign to their way of observance?

I had a friend who, when I mentioned giving up bread for Lent, asked how I expect to perform the required Passover Seder observances with matzoh?  I said that the small amount required for the ceremonials would be OK to me (to borrow from George Carlin, "my observance, my rules") but I wouldn't eat matzoh otherwise until Easter.  I've done something similar a few years ago, when I had an abscess in my jaw and major surgery with bone grafting just before Passover, and wasn't allowed anything crunchy or crumby.  There are a LOT of ways to cook potatoes, believe me!

These few overlapping days will be tough because often I would eat matzoh for meals when I would usually have rice, or pasta, or cereal.  Not possible until Sunday.  My diet is more limited, but in a way this frees me to be creative with what I do allow myself.  And those who know me know how much I love a cooking challenge!  Luckily I also love fruits and veggies, and I am not obsessive about eating only kosher-for-Passover items.  As long as it doesn't contain the forbidden items - grains, beans, rice - and nothing treyf (pork, shellfish, meat with dairy - I'll eat them the rest of the year, but not during Passover or the High Holy Days) I'm OK to eat it.  My meals may include some less-standard items, such as roasted squash (olive oil, slivered onion, and sage) for breakfast, but there's nothing wrong with that.  Think outside the cereal box.

I've dealt with this conjunction many times in the past.  The most interesting was the time I was asked to cook a meal for a group in Oklahoma, about 100 persons, with a medieval theme.  I knew that even if there were not observant Catholics in the group, some would be very observant as part of the character they played.  So I developed a multi-course meal that included Lent-appropriate vegetarian and vegan items; plenty of meat; and not many baked goods.  We ended up with very little leftover, other than the chicken liver pate that was on the first course platters (silly people!), salad (although all the rainbow assortment of Peeps® bunnies and chicks I'd used to decorate it did manage to vanish), and some of the lamb stew that was the third course.  I actually heard that people were surprised to see multiple meat courses come out given the ticket price, meaning they had not read the menus I'd placed at the tables.  I shopped well and can plan well, which is why the lamb was the third course instead of appearing earlier, so that people were stuffed with chicken cooked with grapes and herbs, and beef brisket with dried fruit and root vegetables, and didn't need to eat as much of it.  Dessert was strawberries with optional almond cream - edible by everybody except those with nut allergies, who had to make do with plain strawberries.  Awww.

I just saw strawberries on sale at the grocery, come to think of it.  As is asparagus, so there will definitely be an omelet or souffle on my menu this week, possibly on Saturday.  Yum!

Hill-Stead Farmer's Market Today

The Connecticut Farmers Market Trail asked people to post about their purchases at a local farmers market, and I wanted to review the one I usually attend, but Examiner.com is having issues with their slideshow feature.  Bonus post today so I can share the pictures I took, with most of the writeup in my Examiner.com column:

Walking up from the new parking lot.

 The original parking lots were filled by a few minutes after opening.  This walk takes you to the back of the house. The house is open for tours on Farmers Market Sundays, admission free.

A good first stop is the "Friends Of" booth.
Make a donation and get a button good for discounts all season.

Because my CSA keeps me well-supplied with veggies, I was here looking for fruit.  Most of the booths were fairly crowded, so I took long shots and could get a picture at only certain booths.

Fresh bread and muffins were very popular.

Fresh flowers for the table and plants for the yard.

Cherry. Overstuffed Apple, and Fruits of the Farm (Rhubarb, Strawberry, Red Raspberry)

I did not buy pie because I was planning to get some peaches and makes a fresh peach pie.  If this vendor had any peach pie, they were out when I shopped. They did have plums, three kinds of cherries, apricots, and other fruit that I bought for snacking.  Another vendor often has "seconds" of funny-looking or slightly dinged fruit that is perfect for making into jams and pies.

The Italian Ice booth is probably one of the most popular vendors onsite.   In addition to the standard flavours, they offer special written on cards and stuck to their sign - today's are raspberry-lemon, orange-mint, and grapefruit.  Keep an eye out for peach - it goes fast!

Lunch!

You can eat while you listen to music.

There are picnic tables available:

Some lucky people got the rocking chairs on the west portico.

Those who know me are not surprised that I find yarn anywhere I go:

So did someone else!  She spoke to the vendor for quite a while.

Penguins, Santas, and Black Bun for Hogmanay

I have been traveling madly (mostly on business) so my usual holiday cooking is well behind time.  In fact, when I go to a party this Wednesday, instead of my usual baked goodies I might be taking either Penguins or Santas.  I just learned about the latter from a friend's link on Facebook, and while they are easy enough to make I'd probably use currants instead of chocolate chips for the eyes.

The Penguins became a tradition in my family many years ago when I made them as a pre-dinner snack one Thanksgiving.  Since we now go to my grandmother's for Thanksgiving, and all is catered (the best thing my grandmother learned to make for supper was reservations), we now make these at Christmas.  The recipe was in a magazine a long time ago, but of course now you can find a lot of variations on the Interwebs.  In our family, they are just olives, carrot (fresh, not pickled, as some recipes have), and cream cheese.

(Picture added - very cute, very popular, VERY yummy!)

One thing that I should have prepared before now, so it would have a nice "cure," is my fruitcake.  This is not the weird, sugary, nuts-and-candied-fruit item so prevalent now, that're more candy than cake and tends to include something I've always called "that weird pickled green thing" and have learned is either angelica or coloured pineapple.  Neither of which is quite "fruit" in my mind, and I think the things are entirely too lacking in the "cake" element as well.

Many years ago when a beloved adopted uncle and aunt held Scottish First Footing parties, and I would travel up to Milwaukee for the night (and much of the next day), I decided to take something to add to the groaning board.  I can't remember how I decided to make Black Bun except that the recipe is in one of the cookbooks I bought when living in England, and it's Scottish and for New Year's!  But I wasn't confident in my pastry-making skills at the time, and dubious about baking a cake inside a pastry case.  So I skipped that part and just made the filling and told people it was Scottish Fruit Cake.

Some avoided it on principle, but I wheedled several into trying it with promises that it really included just FRUIT and CAKE and "no weird pickled green things."  All declared it quite yummy, and I get asked for the recipe.  So here it is, approximately, since I tend to adjust the fruit to what I have on hand or can find easily, and the liquid to what I think the recipients will enjoy.

If you want to do this really traditionally, you can look up a recipe for the details.  To make the pastry case, follow a basic two-crust piecrust recipe, and add about a half-teaspoon of baking powder, to make it a little flakier.  Roll out about 2/3 of it to line a deep casserole, a loaf pan, or some other deep baking tin, and keep the rest to make the lid later.

To make mine:
About six cups of chopped (see Step 1) dark dried fruit:  raisins, currants, prunes, figs, dates, etc. 
1.5 cups flour (if you want to go gluten-free, substitute GF baking mix)
1/3 cup soft brown sugar (light or dark doesn't matter)
Spices:  allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves.  Adjust to taste, about 2 tsp total, up to 1 T.
    NOTE:  It's better to go heavier on allspice or cloves and lighter on the cinnamon and nutmeg.
One-half teaspoon bakng powder.
One tablespoon brandy or orange juice or cider.  (If you are soaking the fruit, up to a 1/4 cup.)
One large egg.

1.  Chop the largest into pieces about the size of the smallest.  So the prunes and figs and dates get cut into pieces about as big as raisins and currants.  Do not use yellow raisins (sultanas) for this.  They are very good for snacking (especially mixed with toasted, salted pecans) and wasted in this recipe.  Be sure you take out any stones/pits and hard stem bits when you chop everything.  The finished amount should be six cups, be generous rather than scanty.

1a.  If the fruit is very dry, soak it in a bit of the liquid for a few hours or overnight.

2.  Start the oven at 325F/160C/Gas Mark 3.  If you are using the pastry case, make sure it is ready.  If you aren't, as I don't, just butter (or oil, or use spray-on stuff) the pan.  Flouring on top of the buttering is optional.  You can also line the pan with paper and butter the paper.  Some people just put paper (parchment or waxed) in the bottom of the pan.  My pans seem to release easily so I don't need to do the extra steps, but do them if you do, especially as this is a sticky cake.

3.  Stir the sugar into the fruit.  Mix the flour, spices, and baking powder together (stir or sift) and add to the fruit.  Mix the egg and liquid together and add to the bowl.  If you used the liquid to soak the fruit, REMEMBER THAT and don't add more, or the cake will be soggy.

4.  Now stir together until everything is well mixed.  The batter should be very dark and lumpy.

5.  Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, cover with a piece of foil, and put it into the preheated oven.  If you are using the pastry case, be sure to roll out the lid and fit it on top and seal the edges of the pastry before you put it into the oven.  You can use scraps to make additional decorations if you like, and if you want to be really fancy brush with a bit of egg wash (beaten egg thinned with water) if you like.  For really, really fancy, tint some bits of the egg wash with food colouring and paint the design, or paint a picture or message on the pastry top.

6.  BAKE for 2.5-3 hours.  Something like that.  Just go away and watch a holiday movie or something, then check.  At some point you might want to remove the foil so the cake (or pastry) can brown.  Alternatively, add the foil after about 45 minutes of baking.  Because of the sugar and fat content, the cake or pastry can burn before the cake cooks all the way through, thus you need to use the foil.  Test the cake to make sure it's cooked all the way through.  Ovens and the size and shape of the cake can affect how long it will take to bake.

When the cake is baked through, take it out of the oven and put the pan on a rack to cool.  If you did not use a pastry case, unmould the cake after about ten minutes and let it cool.  If you did use a case, leave it a bit longer before you take it out to cool.  When thoroughly cold, wrap the cake tightly and tuck it away until Hogmanay.  If you did not use the pastry case, you can brush it every so often with brandy or rum or bourbon or whatever you like to make it more alcoholic.  I don't do this.

When serving, cut thin slices.  You don't need to ice this, but you can do the traditional almond paste coat and royal icing on top if you want to get fancy.  I don't bother, as I like the taste "as-is".